I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas...

Oh how I love the snow, but I love the snow especially when I don't have to drive to work through the ice, slush, and those idiots on the road who seem to think my car is a target worth aiming for.  I'm so thrilled that our time in PA has included more than just a few "flurry storms", which typically have PA residents scurrying to the grocery store to stock up on milk and bread just in case those tiny spects of harmless precipitation may accumulate to a lite dusting on the road making it, of course, quite hazardous to drive for at least a week and therefore requiring the need to stock up on bread and milk.  (Sorry for the bunny trail....I am now a resident of Montana and although I haven't seen all that Montana winters have to offer, I have had to drive through snow in Montana out to a ranch in the middle of nowhere, where grocery stores are scarce and it's quite possible you may be stuck there for much more than just one day.  There is NOTHING like driving through snow on a gravel road....or rather attempting to drive through it so I find it rather funny to watch people race to the grocery store at the first hint of snow.)  Jamie and I actually braved the storm on Saturday night and visited with a few friends for a couple's Christmas party.  And much to Jamie's delight he got to show off ALL the horse's under the hood of his truck as we got called back to help pull a friend's vehicle from a snow drift.  Ah, my Baby was happy that night!

Anyway, I love taking pictures of the snow almost as much as watching it come on down.  So the following are a few of the pictures I took.  I hear we are supposed to get a white Christmas this year and I'm all for it.  I say, bring on the snow...but I won't shout that too loudly as I'm sure Papa Smurf may have a few choice words for me being that he would have to once again spend his day off clearing the parking lot at the shop.  (Sorry, Papa Smurf...I just love snow!)  Forgive my amatuer photography....I'm a work in progress with much to learn about my camera.  (Any advice is always welcome!)

(Ok this one has nothing to do with the snow, but I liked the color it added.)

And this one I couldn't resist.  Rachel loves the "no" too.

Date Night

Since our move to Montana and the place we now call home is no longer surrounded by more options to eat "out" than our deck out back, a date night has become a rare and treasured occasion.  The last several months have been some of the toughest so far in our marriage and it seemed as though we had lost some of the spark.  So when Jamie announced to me a week ago that I was to keep Monday night open because "we are going out", my wifie heart skipped a few beats.  I felt like a teenager again, except not nearly as many butterflies were involved this time because whether he liked it or not, at the end of the night he was stuck with me regardless how well the date went.

Date night actually started out this afternoon when I recieved a call from my wonderful hubby wondering if I had gotten my "special delivery" yet.  I had an instant smile and almost couldn't contain myself from going and sitting by the front door to await my surpirse.  I didn't have to wait long before the front door opened and in walked my sexy man with a huge bouquet of flowers that he had picked out himself at the flower shop.  (When we lived in PA, the girls at the flower shop knew him well because he always picked out his own bouquets for me, so the girls were all to happy to assist him once again.)  I was beginning to feel like a queen!  So we got slightly dolled up and my Mom was all to happy to capture a few pictures before we left.  When we left I even got picked up at the door...what a gentleman!

He took me to El Serrano's in Lancaster.  We had been there one other time for an anniversary and really enjoyed it.  The setting is beautiful for a romantic evening.  The lights were low, Christmas music was playing in the background and right outside the window by our table was a snow covered courtyard.

The whole evening was perfect and we had a wonderful conversation.  I feel like we are finally tracking on the same page....in the same book.  I couldn't have asked for a better date night or a better husband.  He sure did knock one outta the park tonight and even got a high-five from his MIL when we returned.

Thanks for a beautiful evening together, Baby!  I love the way you love me and I'm proud to call you husband.  I look forward to growing old with you....you complete me and I'm a better woman because of you.  XOXO

Capturing the Joys of My Heart

I've developed a love of photography within the last few years and have been contemplating a career change as a result.  Last year I recieved an early Christmas gift from Jamie...a Canon SLR camera and I've recently discovered that it can do so much more with it than I realized and oh, the possibilities!!!  My brother Jason and his wife Lacey have graciously entrusted me with taking their family photos.  And oh how my heart beats a little faster with ALL the possibilities!!!  I look at other photographers who have seemed to master this art and hope that one day I too can create beauty by looking through my lens and pushing that beautiful shiny button on my camera.  The following are a few pictures of the Joys of Heart.  It is so fun to watch my little brother be a daddy and a husband.  This beautiful family holds a special place in my heart and it's a joy to capture their happiness.

Thank you Digger and Lacey for trusting me and giving me a chance to explore my creativity.  Digger, I have enjoyed watching you grow into a man and watching you be "Daddy" to your 2 little girls is a true delight.  Carry on, my good man.

Faces on a Mountain

As promised, here is my post about our visit to Mount Rushmore.  Neither one of us had ever visited this particular historial monument before and we had a beautiful day to do so.

We passed Pactola Lake on our way to Mount Rushmore and the color of the water matched the sky perfectly.

As we began driving up the mountain, this soon came into view.  I was not fast enough with my camera but at some points in the road we could see the lake to the side of us, the monument in front of us and a spectacular bird's eye view of the Black Hills below us.

We walked through this walkway to get to a better view of the monument and discovered that the pillars had a flag of each state in the US as well as the when that state was admitted into the union.

Our home state...this will always be home for us.

And of course this is our new home state and my, my...he actually does know how to smile.  (Sometimes getting a decent smile from my husband is like asking him to clean bathrooms...all I get is a grunt and stupid expression.)

(We were having a little bit of fun with George...we thought he would look good with a goatee.)

These steps lead up to the inside of the studio the sculpter used during the construction of Mount Rushmore.  I liked the old-time feel they had about them.

This is inside the studio where the sculpter worked on his amazing design.  The 4 presidents can be seen through the triangular window in the background.  The picture below was taken through that window. 

Lo and behold, wouldn't you know there happened to be a blue-eyed snow snake sighting right there at Mount Rushmore and I just so happened to have my camera ready.  I captured him just as he was slithering behind that wall.

And be forewarned....he may be coming to a state near you!!  Be on the look-out...you can never be too careful when he's on the loose.

As if seeing the blue-eyed snow snake was weirdo enough for us, we just had to pass this redneck....uh....thing in the parking lot.  I couldn't resist taking a picture...even this is a little too over-the-top for our country lifestyle.

A Little Slice of Paradise

As I previously blogged, Jamie and I celebrated our 5th wedding anniversary in September and to celebrate our anniversary we took a little trip to the Black Hills in South Dakota where a tiny bit of paradise sat waiting for us.

This cabin was our "home" for a few days and we soaked up the luxuries while we had them.  (As you can also see, we got some snow on our last day there.  It was so pretty!)

We were told a hot breakfast would be ready us every morning and on each afternoon the day before someone would bring us all we needed for the next morning.  This was perfect for us because we love to sleep in, so no getting up before 10 am to get a hot breakfast.

The following is a picture of our own private hot tub out on our deck.  The view from the hot tub was absolutely beautiful!  We could hear the creek from inside the cabin which added to the beauty of the mountains behind.

(This was our view from the hot tub...I loved it!)

The last 2 pictures were actually taken as we were driving away from the cabin.  This was the view we got to see every day when we drove to and from our cabin.

I told Jamie that the only "present" I wanted for our anniversary was not to worry about where we were going to eat the rest of our meals.  So he spent a few hours online finding fun places for us to eat.  I was impressed that he had even taken the time to read reviews about each place and knew what made them special.  I loved the look of this old building.

Downtown Rapid City is full of history and is beautiful to walk through.  On just about every corner was a statue of a US president.  This is FDR and I like how each statue was unique to that president.  You can see his cane propped against the podium.

Well, I'm a few months late in posting this but I finally had some time to sit down and work on it again.  We also visited Mount Rushmore for the first time during this trip, so check back soon for another posting from our trip.