Post #201 - 12.01.11

as i type this post, i'm sitting in my office at one of the churches. it's super quiet cause no one is around at the moment.
but i'm liking the solitude and stillness so that i can take time to sort through various thoughts

1. it's december. my favorite month has passed (cause who doesn't like the month they were born?). last month had some awesome dates (nov 1 = 11.1.11 and nov 11 = 11.11.11) as well as a couple holidays (veterans day and thanksgiving). but now it's the last month of the year and i'm not sure how it came so quickly...nor do i know how i will keep my sanity in the midst of advent, christmas decorating, hosting a youth party, putting on an open house, three christmas eve services and one christmas morning service while baking the turkey and meal for the family since i'm hosting christmas. but i will get thourgh it and then it will suddenly be january and 2012 (hopefully not the last year for the world...)

2. it's sunny and mostly brown/green outside. i live in nd and yet we have barely any snow on the ground at the moment. we got a light dusting yesterday, but the sun and wind could quickly rid us of what little white we have. i'm just waiting for the giant snowpiles to build. and i know they will. the almanacs are predicting lots of snow, the meteorologists are calling it "la nina" (and astonishingly enough, this is the second year in a row) but i'm actually worried because of what nature is telling us:
- i heard about onions predicting a ton of snow for this month.
- i saw the giant muskrat homes (lodges) as they are building up high in anticipation of either lots of snow or lots of spring water or more likely both.

3. upcoming travel is keeping me excited. i hope to not make a big trip this month (three trips to south dakota last month was quite a bit...my car that i got on halloween already has added 4000 miles in the past four weeks). but i know in january i'll do some traveling. i have a first call theological education retreat, and i'll be taking time off for vacation (with a wedding thrown in) as well as attending luther's convo. and of course, i'm working on planning a big trip to wyoming and new york for graduations in may...my car should get more than enough miles on it. but it's worth it to see family and friends

4. christmas gift shopping. i love black friday because i love to watch people and to spend time with my sisters. this year i went home for thanksgiving, which meant i could make the 20-mile trip to mitchell. kayla and i drove up twice with just the two of us in the car (late night thursday and early morning friday) and we drove up with kendra, kiana and colten friday afternoon to watch the twilight movie. i bought mostly movies and nothing for my secret santa gift. i've been going to thrift stores for that... and thrift stores have awesome deals and a weird variety to make for an amazing gift!

5. i need to force myself to go shopping and pick up a new planner for the coming year. but i'm picky so i'm trying to find one that i simply love and will work best for me.

hello old man winter

it's been a while since i wore gloves
(yes, i wore them while at football games this fall cause it was in the 30s with strong winds and i was outside for hours)
perhaps i should say: since i needed to wear gloves if i was going to be outside for more than 10 min

i broke out the wool peacoat (it's a pretty purple) but have yet to succumb to the heavy duty coats still hanging in the closet, nor have i started wearing scarves
(in fact, this reminds me that i should look for and wash my scarves...)

i switched to close-toe and preferably boots for walking through snow
(i found my snowboots for subzero temps but haven't worn them yet)

i drove through snow drifts and on slippery roads and through whiteout conditions for the first time since april (yeah, that's 7 months...which is a long time in the dakotas, esp north dakota!)
of special note: nov 15 seems to be a late day for north dakota to have it's first winter weather advisory...especially since we had frost way back in mid-september

"weather-permitting" is a standard clause for all event planning over the next few months
(in fact, early tues afternoon consisted of cancelling tues afternoon activities so i could go home early)

hello winter and goodbye spring?

this was yesterday afternoon after a glorious week (give or take a day or two):

and this was last night (right before we got a few extra inches of snow to up the winter's total to approx 85 inches):

and these are pics of the violet that is going crazy on the windowsill:

snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow snow

today i pondered how, in future decades when talking to future generations, i would talk about this winter.

and today i came up with the perfect summary:

snow

yep. snow.

why snow? you ask

because we've had a lot of it this year.

but did you not also have wind and ice and sleet and days below zero and days above freezing? you ask

yes, but we had a lot of snow.

twice, the amounts were over 10 inches. numerous other times, we would get anything from a light dusting to a few inches.

overall (as of march 8, 2011), the cities have had 78.7 inches, making this winter the 8th snowiest on record (only 0.3 inches behind 7th place) with more snow predicted for tomorrow night and the day after tomorrow (which just so happens to be my favorite movie). so by wednesday evening, we will likely be able to claim 7th place.

in case you were wondering, a lot of that snow remains on the ground, most commonly in piles along roads blocking intersections or pushed into fields.


update in the early am of march 9: 7th place with 79.5 (1.8 inches behind 6th)
update from march 12: 7th with 80.2 inches (behind winter 1961-1962 with 81.3)

snow day!!!!!!!!

i was trying to remember the last time i had a snow day. i know it was in college.

at least, i think i recall one day where classes were cancelled at augie...

for the first time since i started at luther in 2007, i have a snow day!!!!!!!!!

it was announced last night via email (3 of them sent at 9:48, 9:58 and 10:10 pm) and the luther website. and for those who missed the official notices, it was all over facebook as me and my schoolmates went crazy over the fact that we have no school today...so if anyone didn't know by 11pm, it was not for a lack of news spreading like wildfire

want/need proof that i have no classes today?

Post 140

Happy New Year!

technically, it's still new year's eve, but i figured i could jump the gun a bit. especially since there are parts of the world that are already into 2011.

year changes are about as weird as they come. it'll take me about four months to stop writing 2010. cause that's what i does.

today i can't help but think of the saying we have for the month of march: in like a lion, out like a lamb. here's to hoping that saying will work with 2011. especially since 2011 is being brought in with winter storms and blizzards...not much travel is being advised for the state of south dakota. yesterday was freezing rain followed by snow and wind. and the snow and wind are continuing today along with low temps. as in, single digits.

which means:
wind + temps in single digits + several inches of snow = icky blizzard conditions

if that doesn't count as a lion, then i don't know what would

that and i'm going to be staying indoors for a bit longer. didn't go out yesterday and have no intentions today.

add to that we have libby here. who is a riot. chatty little girl who speaks really well for being 2 years 2 months old. she's entertaining and energetic. and smart. really smart. and of course, the age where you say something and she repeats it 10 min later...

snow-nami lingerings

i don't think many people in southern minnesota (or wisconsin or iowa) are gonna be traveling too much this morning...i can't imagine how bad it was yesterday when the snow was both falling and blowing as opposed to just blowing today...and of course, it's subzero temps/wind chills today for much of the region

snow-nami

old man winter,
i told you to bring it on (via facebook status yesterday) and you did. well done. thank you for the snow-nami that permitted me to be lazy and not venture out. i appreciate the day off. (even though i should be productive working on finals)
thank you

snow-nami is not my term, but i'm lovin it!

for those of you who don't watch the weather channel or live in minnesota/wisconsin area, we are having a wonderful winter!

i heard that it's the snowiest winter in two decades.

i'm not really complaining.

cause it's fun and pretty.

fun cause the city shut down. literally. minneapolis/st paul recalled all buses. hennepin county (minneapolis and its suburbs) pulled plows off the roads until the snow lets up a bit. i was unaware that the twin cities ever took snow days...snow day!!!!!!!!!!!

pretty cause the snow makes everything look gorgeous and fresh and clean.

highlight: the fact that my car is currently not covered by the snow drifts. want proof? here it is...

from our window on the third floor

katie and i ventured out to investigate the snow drifts

and to play (well, katie did...)

yay winter!

self-imposed snowday

it's so amazing how something so white and fluffy can affect moods, travels, temperature, and activities.

friday night was game night at the library on campus. i drove up cause i was not about to walk up the hill through several inches of snow that had fallen during the afternoon/evening. and i know it was quite a bit of snow since i had been out shopping in the afternoon/evening. after game night we made some snow angels with two fellow students from texas. the whole community will work on educating them about the differences between snowman/snowball snow and the sparkly, light, fluffy snow perfect for snowangels.

saturday was a snow day. theoretically i could have left my apartment. but i didn't. cause i didn't want to. so i watched tv shows and movies via netflix.

i liked taking it slow. of having a day of rest before the craziness of the week(s) to come. of having time to relax before i jump in and work on finals.

i miss not having a computer of my own so i can be multitasking. with only my wii for internet and movies, i'm so limited. i can either check my email (and only one account at a time) or watch tv. no flipping between tabs on the browser while having some movie going at the same time. no reading blogs while also checking the latest news. no playing music while researching for class. so limited...

i hope tomorrow i will be freed from my boredom. cause my computer is supposed to arrive tomorrow...

More Pictures!!!!!!!

Here is a sampling of pictures that i (finally) took off my camera. Some are more recent than others...

Krissa's move-in helpers, aka the Vassar's Women Rugby team. 

Note: the men didn't help haul anything...

Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis

Night of the Birthday Bash...traveled with the best sign and friends ever!

Winter Storm - Nov 13, 2010

Beautiful SD sunset

Three teepees built by the kids of Luther Seminary students

dear minnesota

i hate you with your winter storm and your crazy drivers, two of whom were sliding on the road in front of me.

thanks for making me waste precious hours of my life yesterday driving at 30 mph for 2.5 hrs and having to add an extra 60 miles on my way back home to south dakota, which greeted me with sunshine as soon as i passed the state border. i did not enjoy making my typical 5.5 hr, 330 mile trip to 390 mi and 9 hrs. not cool in my book.

and just for the record, having several of inches of heavy snow does not constitute an excuse. that is what plows are for: to push snow off the road so i can drive home.

sincerely
kara

oh october

i'm still in shock that the month of september is over. it was gone in the blink of an eye and i really don't have much to show for it.

except for some purchases (like a bookshelf and new futon), it doesn't seem like much is going on new in my world.

oh, and i got a new haircut last weekend. 14-15 inches go to locks of love.

like yesterday was 10-10-10. And I did nothing to celebrate! I did make brownies with Jess and topped it off with Madagascaran vanilla ice cream (delish), and I went to a youth/young adult picnic with church here in the Twin Cities, and I went shopping, but that was about it...pretty much a slacker day...

weather has been fantastic. absolutely beautiful. nice, warm temps so i've been able to pull out the tanks, shorts and sandals to enjoy before retiring them for the winter. plus being able to go on long walks to enjoy both the temps and the scenery. and the leaves have been simply stunning. autumn is truly my fave season. crisp, clean air and rich colors. what more could i ask for?

in a fog

literally. i'm in a fog.

i'm looking outside my window (while breaking from planning vbs and putting the library books back) and through the haze of fog can make out the trees on the other side of the parking lot.

it was not fun to wake up to a foggy morning.

i purposely picked out which of the three bedrooms to sleep in (did i mention that my apartment/duplex is a three-bedroom?) because i would get the morning sun. and i know i get up faster when i have sunlight pouring down on me and disturbing my rest.

even if the room is the same side as the street. which means people drive by and make noise.

like the drag racers last week. seriously, two idiots were drag racing down my street. fortunately i live near the start line.

or the like the construction workers. cause the road is currently being worked on. and some days they start at 7 am. which is ridiculously early to be hearing the beep, beep, beep of the big beasts as they back up. or to have them going at the cement with jackhammers.

but i digress. part of the issue is the fact that there was no sun this morning. not that i ever see the sun actually peek over the horizon (stupid trees...), but i do notice a distinct change in lighting by 7:30 am.

so i started my morning sluggishly. got up after sleeping through alarms. ate breakfast. got dressed. went to work.

but now i have an amazing headache that is growing. i know it's part stress, part weather. stress because i have two weeks before i move. and a lot to do then. so much that it's hard to know exactly where to start. weather because i'm a human barometer who notices major changes. like from yesterdays sunny, partly cloudy weather to today's dreary fog. my head can feel it. and the brain is definitely slow and understanding is foggy this morning.

so i'm in a fog. or in fogs, as the case may be. i'm just hopin and prayin that the fog(s) will clear up...

the weather

i'm always amazed at how much my mood is affected by the weather. and how sometimes it's not.

today for example. it's raining out, which is kinda disappointing to me since i would prefer a bit of sun, which i got this morning when i first woke up ridiculously early before going back to sleep. and the next time i woke up (with my alarm going off, of course), it was raining. nothing really major, but enough to bring moisture to the very sandy soil that is oh so common up in these parts.

someone recently had finally explained to me why on earth they need so much rain around here. it's because they have very sandy/clay-y soil that doesn't hold any moisture. which is not really what i'm used to since i seem to have grown up in a part of the country where the soil can get saturated quickly thus leading to flash floods.

but back to the drizzle outside.

it's a calm rain. kinda pleasant to watch, but i'm definitely in thunderstorm mode. i want the torrential downpours that are over in minutes as the clouds pass and the sun comes back out. so much more interesting to have the extremes. there is something to walking in a downpour with the sun shining down on you.

but i'm noticing that despite the lingering rain, i'm in a pretty good mood. i spent all day yesterday, which just so happened to be memorial day, by myself at home. i curled up on the couch and watch tv shows. movies on tv and tv on dvd. it was a much needed break and down-time. i needed to be able to spend a day literally doing nothing and forgetting the world outside. of having my phones on but no one calling.

except my mother to double check on when kiana is going to come visit me so we (the two of us plus people from church) can traipse on down to the science museum in minneapolis where the dead sea scrolls are on display. which is less than two weeks away! yay!

on another note, i finally got around to planting the seeds to start my tomato and strawberry hanging pots. and i put all my plants out on the patio deck yesterday. where they will remain until there is a frost warning. i had been keeping them inside so i could shelter them a bit from the extremes of the outdoors. and because the soil was more likely to retain water inside while i was gone for four days. most of them are growing. not fast enough in my mind, but at least i'm seeing green amid the dark soil. and now they are lined up in hopes of getting the morning sun.

snow in may

that's right...it's snowing. and today is may 7. cause that's what it does in northern minnesota.

i was really hoping that the predicted snow would not come, that the weather folk were wrong.

stupid correct predictions.

so here i am, as i have been for the last few hours, watching it snow.

stupid snow. doesn't it know that it's may? and by my reckoning, it should not be snowing in may. cause it's may.  and i should not be dealing with snow in may.

i know that's all repetitive (did i mention that we should not have winter weather in may?), but here is another reason why i'm so upset: it's may and the flowers are blooming. were blooming.

ugh. 

stupid snow in may

the setting of the sun

as i sit on my couch and work on worship-related planning, i am blinded by the sun

well, the shades are down so i'm not exactly blinded, but it's like looking at the sun through sunglasses. shielded and yet still blinded

but that's not why i'm writing about the sun

today i am happy because the sun is setting in a different location in the sky

for the duration of winter, it set far in the bottom, left-hand corner of my window (aka the south).

but today...it's on the far-right side of the window! yay for the changing of the seasons! and the fact that it's not completely dark before 5 pm...it's after 7 and still shining strong!

oh, and i know it's getting warmer since i broke out the sandals today. cause that's what i wanted to wear. and my toes didn't turn blue right away. score!

warmth!!!!!!!!

or not.

it's feeling much much warmer these days. after the awesome cold freezes of so long where i have not experience temps much more than 20 degrees above and instead more along the lines of 20 below, there is a possibility that it will almost hit above freezing.

almost above freezing.

and i'm expecting it to feel like a sauna if it does actually get to the melting point.

which would be pretty much amazing since i'm not used to be sub-freezing point for months at a time.

well, let's see what mother nature sends my way over the next couple days as i work on putting away xmas decorations. like the ucky tree outside

let it snow...

we still have some flurries going on here, but from what i understand, the bulk of what snow we are going to get has already fallen to the ground.

this is the first place i've ever lived where the snow simply falls and stays where it fell.

i grew up in south dakota, which is one of those glorious states notorious for wind.

which meant the christmas blizzard of 09 was a blizzard back in south dakota and a few other areas in the midwest, whereas we just had a dumping of snow in bemidji, minnesota since up north in the woods there is not as much wind.

these were taken last evening (it looks really late since it gets dark ridiculously early but it actually was just a little after 5). i love how much the branches are bowed because of the weight of the snow:

and this morning i ventured outside to take some measurements of the snow.

i walked out on my deck.

very far indeed.

and i took a ruler with me. after taking measurements, i realized that my selected ruler has an extra blank spot before the ruler starts. an inch of blank plastic, to be precise.

here are the pictures from my deck:

and i really like how the snow was able to hang over the actual edge. pretty much an awesome sight:

and so, there was still  about 7 inches on the railing

       

and there was variable amounts on the floor of the deck (minor drifts and some fell down through the cracks to the ground below) so it says about 9 inches, which is actually 10 due to the awesome extra inch on the end of the plastic (see above picture for proof of the extra):

and last but not least, the amount sitting on my little table (also 10 inches):

and so, due to my amazing reasoning skills, i estimate a minimum of 10 inches (and i'm willing to bet that it's more like a foot) that fell at my house. of course, a little bit more fell in the front lawn than on the deck on the back of my house since the back is a bit sheltered.

however, i cannot really measure exact amounts since the driveway was cleared off when there was roughly 4 inches when i cleared it off on christmas eve in the afternoon. but i can inform you that another 8 inches fell from shoveling on christmas eve through this afternoon.

and just so everyone knows, that is a lot of snow to shovel off.

oh, and i totally made a snow angel. and learned that it is difficult to move around 12 inches of snow in order to make a recognizable snow angel.

i'm dreaming of a white christmas...

oh, wait. it's a reality. so perhaps it should be "i'm looking at a white christmas"

as i sit here on christmas morning, i am watching snow continue to fall. on top of the several inches already on the ground. i cannot deny that it looks gorgeous.

and here is a picture from my front stoop of what i got to see when i woke up this morning (and yesterday as well):

other highlights/lowlights of the day:

1. waking up all alone in a large house on christmas morning. of course, santa went to the house i was supposed to be at but due to the weather am not able to drive back. also, i noticed that it was weird to not have kids (aka my little sisters the youngest of whom is now 18) being super-excited to open presents that are under the tree. btw: this is a lowlight.

2. calling germany. i finally called my host family after a few months of promising to do so. talked to my host parents, oma and an aunt. always nice to hear from people. highlight.

3. white christmas. the trees are gorgeous. the only times i like trees are during autumn with the changing colors and during winter with the snow on trees. highlight

4. since we had a few inches fall overnight, i decided to check and make sure that my inflatable nativity will be able to be displayed tonight. so i turned it on and this is how it got stuck. so i had to traipse through the snow nad free the sheep, mary and jesus from the confines of a weighty snow. well, primarily the garland attached to the star since that was the main culprit. highlight.

screaming on the inside

so yeah, not the most uplifting title for a post, but that is basically how i feel today.

this week is crazy. the first 3 1/2 months of internship flew by without any funerals. now we have two this week at church.

and of course, this week also happens to be christmas.

i'm okay with being busy, but what saddens me most right now is that my xmas plans are changing.

let me elaborate.

i decided last week that i was going to leave early friday morning, aka christmas day, to drive home to my parents house so i could see my family, get out of minnesota, retreat to the south, and play with cats. then spend a total of 24 hours in parkston before traipsing back north to bemidji on saturday evening so that i would be back for sunday services.

and i was getting really excited.

but that does not seem like i will be able to do any such trip.

cause the weather predictions are not friendly.

according to the national weather service and meteorologists across the midwest, snow is very, very, very, very likely for christmas.

but not just a nice, pretty dusting.

oh, no.

this morning, predictions for snowfall in bemidji until saturday, december 26: 5-8 inches. as of just a few minutes ago, that estimate was bumped up to 8-12 inches of snow. and the farther south i would drive, the more snow predicted. such as the 12-16 inches for much of eastern south dakota. or the 16+ for the south eastern south central part of south dakota, aka the part between i-90 and nebraska and between the missouri river and 1-29. the exact part of the state in which parkston is located.

that's right. predictions of roughly a foot and a half of snow for my hometown while i would have to traipse through a foot of snow the entire way home.

which means that if these weather people are right with their predictions, there is no way i'm going to be able to travel home on christmas.

which is why i'm screaming in disappointment on the inside (i'm too midwestern to let my emotions show up in vocalized outbursts)