I have to drive in this stuff?!?

Our first real snow fell yesterday and we got a bit more than we expected. It was only supposed to be an inch or so, but we ended up with three. It's so gorgeous and serene.

Yesterday was my first ever attempt at driving in the snow. When I left home at 8:40am for an Avon function, I was anxious about how it would go. The drive there was a breeze as we only had about a quarter-inch of snow. As I watched the snow fall from the window in our meeting room, I became more anxious about my drive home. At 4pm, I finally left for home and trudged through the snow in my high-heeled boots (dumb idea). When I got to my car and saw the pile of snow covering it from fender to fender, I just laughed. Here I am, a California girl, in the snow in stylish boots, knit dress and leather jacket trying to figure out how to get all that snow off my car. It was nearly ankle high in some points. With nothing else in my car to do the job, I used a magazine to swipe the snow from the windows and got in before my toes froze to the faux leather. Honestly, the wind wasn't blowing, so it was only in the low 30s and not that cold. After a call to Scott and a prayer to the good Lord above, I started home. Everyone was driving 10-15 miles slower than the speed limit and being very cautious. This comforted me a little. Then, I turned down 7th street and started to cry. The trees, cars and lawns were covered in snow and it was so pretty. I was reminded again about how much I love this place. In the end, it took me a few minutes longer to get home, but it wasn't as bad as I made it out to be.

Today, I made another friend! Hooray! Adam and I are going to her house for a play date and coffee on Friday. They just moved here a year ago from New York and live about three miles from us. I'm so excited!

Papa's Pumpkin Patch

What a day today has been. We started our day with a photo shoot at the local portrait studio. Adam had been all excited about going to see Thomas (the portrait studio just got a new Thomas background) all week. We get there and he wants nothing to do with Thomas, the studio, the photographer, or really even me. Soon enough, he came around and the photographer snapped some of the best shots of Adam ever. Two weeks and then you can see for yourself.

From there, we went to a late breakfast at Perkins. Yum. And then off to Papa's Pumpkin Patch down by the river. What fun that was! A couple hours later and we were all ready for a nap, so we left under one condition: Bring Grammy & Pops back to this autumn wonderland this week-end.

What is autumn?

Fall is here in full force. The trees are gold and chartreuse with flaming edges. The air is crisp and fresh. Having spent my entire life (except for Summer 1998 when I was at Oxford) in California, autumn is new to me. It is absolutely breathtaking! I think it might be my new favorite season! There are so many colors to see and the air is sweet with the scent of smoking chimneys. The weather is good too. Mostly the days have been in the 60s and low 70s and the chilly evenings reach the 40s. But, this past week-end was hot with temperatures in the mid-80s. In fact, on Sunday Bismarck was only 2 degrees cooler than Honolulu!

The big news of the week is Karianne bought a home last week. It's an adorable 1930s house on about five acres just nine miles from here. It is exactly what she was looking for and is absolutely adorable. She moves in at the end of October and we'll post pictures then too.

Things are going well here. We're putting final touches on the rooms and unpacking the unnecessary yet cherished items like books and collectables. My Avon business is picking up again and I've been busy with the leadership team. I joined MOPS two weeks ago and both Adam and I have made friends there. I'm starting to meet people and make friends which helps fill the void of friendships left behind. We had dinner with our pastor's family again last week and are really enjoying their friendship. Tonight we start Bible Study at their house and look forward to meeting other people from our church.

Uncle Wayne has been here since last Thursday and goes home today. It's been a lot of fun to have him here and show him our new life. We went up to the ranch (pictures coming) and picked apples from the trees on Friday. On Saturday, we went to the farm in Butte and had a picnic. We explored the old farmstead and I even found an old car sprocket. Grammy and Scott found remnants of the old outhouse and Uncle Wayne pushed a roll of hay. Sunday, they all went back to the ranch for some coke can hunting while Scott made preparations for a fish fry and I baked two more desserts from the apples we picked on Thursday.

At Baba's farm on Saturday, it was hard not to imagine Baba and her seven brothers and sisters playing and doing chores in the Dakota sun. The farm, only about eight miles from the town of Butte, has a tranquility to it. As a kid, it was just a water pump we had to pose next to before visiting the cousins up the road. But, the visits as an adult, and especially this last one, have made it sink in that this place is so much more than an obligatory photo op. It was here that 103 years ago my great-grandparents set down their roots after immigrating from Ukraine. And on this very stretch of land, they built their home in 1915. Perhaps because Scott and I have now planted our family roots here in ND the old water pump has taken on so much more meaning. Life is so, so much easier than it was in the early 20th century, but this is still the frontier.
Every day, I thank God for bringing me "home" to Bismarck.