We're in the thick of it here in Iowa.....Winter is here to stay!

You know that feeling of dodging a bullet and escaping your worst night mare come true??? Well that has been our feeling so far this winter. With a few snow "flurries" and no "real" (read significant) accumulation we've totally lucked out in the whole "winter weather" department so far (think South Carolina snow/winter weather and that's what our winter has equated to)....until yesterday.

*cue daunting suspenseful music*

All that snow and cold we have been escaping from late October/November until now was dropped on us like an ice cold atomic bomb yesterday in the form of blizzard/blowing snow, zero visability, and freezing temps (we're talking negative double digit windchill).  The worst part about it all....the towns down shut down like they do back home in dreadful  winter weather. You don't stay home and watch tv/play in the snow here.....no.....you put on that huge heavy coat over your hoodie, mittens, hats, scarves and every pair of pants you own and brave it girlfriend! You go to work (in spite of the panic attack you have trying to drive there), and you carry on your day to day activities as if it were a bright and sunny day at the beach! I'm going to tell you all right now there is nothing like the feeling of getting your breath taken away from you as you get blasted with icy wind/snow in your face when you step out the door to try and brave the roadways! Yesterday was the most terrifying day we've had to date. So now that it's done and over with and put behind us....I decided to take some photos of the day after our snowy doomsday.....put on your coats SC friends...you may get cold even looking at these photos!!

If this view alone doesn't make you want to stay inside curled up on the couch under a huge heavy blanket in your warmest pj's I don't know what does! While you may see all that snow out of our hallway window....you don't feel the wind....and that's what gets ya every time!!!!!!!

This is the view from our building down our "courtyard" area looking towards the bike trail....I'm going to take a little "photo" walk with you down (and back up) that side walk and I want you to notice how right in front of me it looks like just a dusting of snow on the ground.....

.....look at how the snow was blown between the buildings....almost covering the AC units and the bushes....it's crazy to see how some places look completely bare...and then right beside you there's this huge pile of snow that's up over your knees! (the parking lot and sidewalks were scraped by the landscaping crew...but in between the buildings was done by pure wind....that's crazy!)

My fav thing about when it snows alot...is when they scrape the sidewalks and they make these little "tunnels" .... when we had the real blizzard last year (when there were snow drifts over your head and a couple of feet of snow) the tunnels really were crazy...like almost up to your waist crazy! Needless to say it makes taking winter walks fun!

P.S. Have you ever seen snow that's covered the bottom of a door before??? Now you have!!! Now that's what us southerners call "snowed in"!!!

Here are more snow drifts around the buildings looking back up the sidewalk...you can see how some of them are totally covering the bushes!

This is the view of where you drive into our parking lot from our "driveway" into our complex...see those HUGE drifts that are almost up to our road sign???? yea all that was covering the parking lot when I came in from work last night at midnight....let me just say it was a challenge just trying to park...but I managed like a pro! My car may be old.....but Charlie Cavalier was a champ on the road way yesterday and took great care of me in my snow panic stupor!

And I can't leave out the view of our porch!!! Our mat (that is atleast a couple of inches thick) is all covered up in there somewhere....who wants to enjoy a nice sunny sit on the porch in our snow covered chairs?!!!!!

Joke of the day: Last night at work (when the overnight nurses were coming in) the staffing office called to make sure everyone made it in ok....I loudly stated that if I could make it in...no one else could even have an excuse....and let me just say...the humor is in the truth of that statement!

It is still snowing out there right now (and while I was taking these photos...take your moment...feel special) with flurries in the forecast for the rest of the day ...and after braving the apocalypse yesterday...I'm not even scared of the roadways today (mostly because I can actually see the actual road....and I don't have to guess where I'm driving)!  So Winter is finally among us...and I think it's safe to say....she's going to stick around awhile! We're hoping to get to break in the snow toys Santa brought this weekend....stay tuned for the snow filled fun to come!