Picture of what’s left of my Snow Angel after a little snow melt.
I grew up in Metro-Detroit. It was a given every winter that it would snow, sometimes big and sometimes small. But there was little doubt that it would happen. As a child of Michigan (like children of all cold northern states) I remember waiting by my radio to hear my school districts name be called as canceled for the day, then screech in delight as I heard it or pout because I didn’t hear it and I had to brave my way to school. It was a tradition. When I was little my Mom dressed me before school, and boy did she ever keep me warm with the gloves and scarves and boots and such. I remember getting an award in Elementary School for “The Most Warmly Dressed Student” (I kid you not, they actually gave out an award for that). So, I was set in the younger years. When I began dressing myself though, I didn’t pay attention to the details as closely as my Mother did. So, I’d end up freezing my hands, ears, or feet off because I just didn’t bother to take the time to dress warm enough for the conditions. This unpreparedness made me hate winter. I’d get the worst ear aches, and have the most cold hands, and my tennis shoes would be soaked by the time I arrived home from the walk from school. Talk about stupid, I wish I would have just “got with the program” and wore warmer clothes so I could have enjoyed the winter more.
I moved where I am now after Graduation from High School, and moved to a bit warmer climate. We occasionally would get a big snow, but that was far from the norm. It did get cold, and there was a pretty big ice storm in February of 1994 the same week that my Uncle Tom died (which made it treacherous to get to the cometary with the ground frozen solid). But, even though it was a bit better on the snow side, there was a definite winter.
From here I moved to Northwest Indiana to go to school at Valparaiso University. The brief time I was there, there were several snows, and I remember walking to some of the academic halls freezing my butt off. I bought a really awesome sweatshirt from the student store though, that I wore quite regularly because it kept me so very warm. One incident that I remember not being so pleasant though was slipping on some ice and spraining my ankle, and my dorm’s elevator breaking the same day. It was not fun going up those stairs (to floor 4) on crutches. But, nevertheless, we definitely had winter.
After my nine month stint at Valpo I moved to Sunny Florida after meeting my husband online while I was sick at Valpo, and ended up with some really severe respiratory issues. I absolutely fell in love with FL, I loved the fact that during the dead of winter I could walk out to the mailbox with bare feet. I loved the heat, even when it was at it’s worst. I also loved the afternoon thunderstorms (you could almost time it by your watch). I just loved rubbing it in to those northerners that my temperature was 65 while they were in the middle of a snow storm. When it was decided that my family and I would move to Kentucky, I was in a state of absolute dread. Thinking about having to wear winter clothing, never to walk to the mailbox barefoot again. I was very depressed. That first year it was tough, we’d get these driving cold rains and I just could not stand it.
Fast forward, the past year to year-and-a-half I’ve been praying for snow. We don’t get much here, so it’s a big deal when it happens. The first and second year we had a mere dusting here and there. This school year we’ve had several “snow days” for ice and freezing rain. It’s been so disappointing. Yesterday that all changed. We got a very significant amount (I don’t know the official number, but it was several inches). I spent until the wee hours of this morning just watching all the weather websites, waiting for the snow to come. It finally did, and at 2AM this morning I was out in the snow shooting pictures and just letting it fall down on me. The best part though was when the kids woke up they were just itching to go outside and play. I tried to push them off a couple of hours (they were in there around 6AM) since I’d been up so late just waiting for it to come. But they kept bugging me, and around quarter of eight I was up and getting them layered to go outside to play. Abe, Erin, Austin, Joel and I made snow angels, threw snow at each other, and just had the time of our lives. Later on this afternoon Jessica came home from Grandma’s house and she and I went out there and played in the fluffy (now going hard) snow. I really enjoyed the one on one time with her, and she was just having the best time.
I’ve come to really appreciate seasons. While I enjoyed living in Jacksonville, and miss it sometimes. I don’t miss it half as much as I used to. Our life is just not there anymore. Everything feels just so good being here, and we definitely made the right decision to come here. The kids get to spend all kinds of quality time with their grandparents. The kids have a great school, they’re all relatively healthy now, and it’s a great place to raise kids. I do think I want to live in a more northern climate at some point in the kids lives though, the snow experiences are just priceless. Time will only tell what the future holds.
We were already supposed to have snow, and all we have is some gusty winds 
We’re still supposed to get snow this afternoon/evening but what an absolute bummer. I want us to get a real big snow so the kids can see what it’s like to fall big.
Hope that we get some significant amounts later 
While we’ve had several of these of late due to ice storms, sleet, freezing rain, and the like this day is special. This is the first “Snow” Day that actually involved the white stuff itself. I’ve been awake since 4:30AM because I just couldn’t sleep (probably contemplating whether today would involve school and all that’s involved with that…i.e. getting everyone up and dressed and fed breakfast, etc.) Well, the call just came in and there is going to be no school today. The main roads are ok, but the secondary roads that those school buses have to traverse are slick and have potential black ice. Since the kids have had so many snow days lately this one probably won’t cause as much glee as some of the others, but we’ll have a good day together, enjoying each other’s company. Erin gets an extra day to do that homework that she neglected to do last night (after much prodding I might add). I hope she “wakes up” and “gets with the program”. Anyway, you enjoy your day…I know I will!