Oh the Weather Outside is... Delightful!

Well this post came fast!

I still haven’t had a chance to get my summer pictures organized and up and here we are with almost all the leaves off of the trees! Time flies when you’re… not 4 years old.

Although I’m not a huge fan of the cold in general - I. LOVE. SNOW!

The first snow of the year is ALWAYS magical. I love when it happens overnight so you get to wake up and look out your window to a magical winter wonderland. It’s still glittery and beautiful and undisturbed.  

People hate snow. I realize this. How did we get to the point where we use an entire season as ANOTHER reason to be grouchy and displeased? That’s all ANYONE talks about in the winter. Everywhere you turn, people are looking at the forecast rolling their eyes. Or talking about how horrible and inconvenient their lives are about to be over the snow. To you all I say: you stink! Either move somewhere it doesn’t snow or dust off your Grinch-pants and enjoy all of the wonderful things it offers - because you're certainly not going to stop snowfall with your crankiness. Open yourself to the magic. Look at it through a child’s eyes… or at this point a 26 year old’s eyes who still loves snow and sees all the opportunities you are missing.

It is the very first sign that Christmas is coming. When everything smells like balsam, the world is lit up in lights, people are more inclined to be kind to one another and nativity scenes fill vacant lawns and lots. My pandora is shuffling 6 Christmas stations. We get to enjoy a very short time of these seasonal favorites. I start early.

Everything becomes white. Like the biggest blanket God could knit is laid over the world. All cleanly white – the color we connect with purity, peacefulness, newness. It doesn’t fall violently and hit you in the face like a hard rain. It falls gently, tickling your eyelashes, tracking your steps, creating a blank canvas over and over for every kid who just wants to make the best snowman they could imagine.

It forces us all to slow down and be more considerate on icy roads.

It gives us undeserved, bonus days off from work and school.

 

It’s a wonderful excuse to walk around with hot chocolate and/or coffee all day to warm up your outsides and your insides.

It gives us a reason to pull out our flannel sheets and sleep on a warm, soft cloud for 4 months – not to mention an extra whole hour of sleep!

Shoveling gives us a great reason to change out of our pajamas and get some exercise since we all tend to put on a “little holiday weight” when it gets colder. You know… the weight we label “holiday weight” but that really started in November before Thanksgiving and will last until March, wayyyy after the holiday and cookie season. Or we get to pay our adorable little neighbors to shovel - giving them their first jobs, first set of responsibilities and the first contribution to their piggy banks.

We get to break out “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Enough said.

We don’t have to mow our lawns anymore! Or in my case, trim it with scissors and get stared at.

It’s a reminder that the holidays are near and although that can be a really hard time for those who have lost loved ones– it’s a great reminder that this is not our home and we will be with them again-

We get to pull out our adorable scarves, gloves, hats, coats and boots. The humidity is gone so our hair isn’t 3X its original size and finally stays the way we originally had it all day.

The winter movies start on Lifetime and Hallmark. Yes – they are full of washed up actors and predictable story lines, but they mean cozy, snowed-in days to me.

You can plow and shovel your neighbor’s driveway and bring them cookies – which always make you feel good.

We get to light fires in our fire-places and pull out our softest blankets.

Not to mention: sledding, snowmobiling, skiing, snow boarding…. Are you going to make me go on and on and on? I LOVE SNOW. What a wonderful time. What a wonderful season.

Are you all overflowing with warm and fuzzy feelings about the season? I hope so. Because the season holds with it a handful of possibilities that are ours to choose from.

**I want to give a shout-out to all of my amazing friends who are ALL embarking down new and amazing paths. People who couldn't be more deserving of all of this joy! It certainly is the time of year for change, thanksgiving and finding new hope. I pray you all experience all of these things and more as this magical season begins.

XO