Why I blog and a Winter Wonderland

I started this blog over a year ago as a way to keep in touch with my family and friends and keep everyone involved in our lives here in New York. It took me a year to realize (I know....I'm slow) that not only am I keeping everyone involved, but I'm documenting memories and photographs that Gavin and any future kids will hopefully be able to look back on one day. I have tried my hardest to keep Gavin's baby book up to date. Finally, I'm getting caught up on his scrapbook. But, I'm horrible at writing down the cute little things that I hope I'll never forget. Like how I just went in to cover him up and his arm is hanging out between two slats of his crib and his cute little mouth is wide open. Or, the serious little talk we had at 5am today, right Dad? :) I realize that everything I blog about may not seem significant at the time, but I know one day, I'll be thankful that I wrote it. And I also realize that some of you receive email updates when I add to the blog. For that reason I've tried hard to limit my entries to one per day. However, forgive me if I begin to blog more than once in the same day and fill your inbox with memories I never want to forget. :)

Ok....enough of the sentimental stuff. On to the winter wonderland that is Rochester these days. Seriously, winter here is unlike anything I've ever experienced before. I remember visiting last winter and being so amazed. It's so normal here that I know some people probably thought I was crazy when they saw me walking around yesterday taking pictures. But, it's so gorgeous and I wanted to share it with all my Ohio family and friends. Here are some of my favorites. I know there are a lot....but it was so hard to choose!

Look at these icicles! And believe it or not, these aren't even the longest ones. Some of them on other buildings are reaching the middle of the first floor windows. I noticed them coming into the parking lot today but didn't have my camera.

Piles of snow are everywhere thanks to the plows, which are really bulldozers.

If you look closely on the left side of this picture, you'll see the plow. That will give you some perspective....well, that and the fact that the snow pile is higher than those doors. Crazy, huh?

I tried to find our snowfall totals thus far, but was unsuccessful. The last time I saw it on the news, we were at 37.7 inches. I'm guessing we're probably around 43-45 inches so far. Much different than southern Ohio :) How many days until spring???