The First of the Christmas Festivities

We spent most of today--our last free day before going back to work after Thanksgiving weekend--decorating for Christmas and trying to get into the holiday spirit. While our new Christmas music played, we put up the tree we've used for the past few years and decorated it.

Decorating with new gold ornaments.

It was a lot of work to unpack Christmas decor and pack up the fall ones, but it looks pretty festive in here now.

It doesn't look very Christmasy in the pictures, but I love how it looks when the lights are turned down low.

Looks like they are burning, but it's just the overhead lighting :o

We don't really go overboard with Christmas decorating. The few decorations we have are spread throughout the house, but I keep adding to my collection every year!

The Things We're Thankful For

We are just finishing up our long Thanksgiving weekend by enjoying a relaxing evening at home. Even though it flew by, a lot of things happened and we learned to be thankful for a few that we could easily have taken for granted.

Dan and his little nephew became buddies.

For example: On my way to work on Wednesday, I witnessed a car accident that could easily have been me and my new car. I'm not sure exactly what happened, but one of the vehicles flew through the intersection where I was about to turn and hit another car that was driving through it, without slowing down. If I had been a few seconds faster, it could have been me.

Dan didn't work that day and I was able to leave work a little early. We headed back home for Thanksgiving by 2:00 p.m. and I was driving while he--ahem--napped. I was getting tired to the point where my eyes would hardly stay open anymore, so I decided we needed to stop in Watertown, SD for some coffee. The first gas station I saw looked really busy, so I decided to go to the truck stop where we normally stop.

Dan decided to use the bathroom while I took Mila to go potty. Right then, I noticed a maroon colored semi that was about to leave the parking lot (I always look twice when they are any sort of red) and noticed that it had lots of familiar designs. I looked at the trailer and saw the name of my dad's trucking company in huge letters. Trying to think quickly, I started waving my arms to get his attention. I'm sure he was trying to figure out if he knew who the crazy person was. When he realized who I was, my dad pulled back into the parking lot and we had coffee before we hit the road in opposite directions.

It's amazing how things sometimes just work out. I hadn't seen my dad in about three months, if I remember correctly, and he wasn't going to be home for Thanksgiving. We very nearly missed him, too; if even one of many factors had been different, we never would have known we were in the same, random town at the same time: if I hadn't been able to leave work early; if Dan had worked that day; if we had stopped at the first gas station; if Dan had taken Mila to go potty instead (he would never have noticed my dad's truck); if we had left just a few minutes later or stopped at a couple more red lights.

The weather was nice all weekend, if a bit chilly. Dan's entire family made it back for the holiday, and most of my family was home. We got to spend time with both of our families, as well as some time in Fargo/Moorhead. We were able to get some shopping done--and we were able to head back early enough to spend some time at home before going back to work. I wanted to decorate for Christmas, which I was able to do today. I'll post pictures in another post since this one is getting a bit long.

All in all, it was a good weekend and we had lots to be thankful for.

The First Snowfall (2011-2012)

We heard it was supposed to snow this weekend, so last night we hurried to finish bagging up the leaves we raked into piles last weekend (this past week has been too crazy, and it gets dark way too early now). We finished up just before dark. At about midnight, I let Mila out one last time before bed and she sort of skidded to a stop. I told her to go potty and stepped out onto the deck. I was pleasantly surprised to see tiny snowflakes whirling around in the air.

This morning, we woke up to a thin blanket of snow on the ground:

No more leaves! Just snow.

It's amazing how much all the whiteness brightened up the inside of the house this morning and afternoon. It was sooo pretty, until we had to go out and do some grocery shopping. At least I got to test out my car on snowy roads, and found out it's not too bad. It definitely feels heavier than my last car did.

Mila had forgotten all about snow, and was nervous about going down the steps to go potty on the ground. So, she squatted on the deck.

Once she remembered how much fun it can be, Mila had a blast running around the yard and tracking snow inside the house.

Loki just enjoyed watching from inside the house while we finished covering the windows in plastic.

Upon realizing that we don't have a shovel (there wasn't enough snow to use the snowblower), we ended up at Wal-Mart and got a huge, fancy one to clear off the deck, front steps and driveway, plus a little one to keep in my car--since I go to work before the snow plows come out and, from what I hear, they don't clear the road past my workplace very well.

But wow, was the Wal-Mart greeter simply amazed at our new shovel, or what. He just had never seen a shovel like that before, and told us that at least three times as he followed us all the way to the door. Apparently nobody else who shops at Wal-Mart can afford such a fancy shovel. ;)

Once we got home, Dan did the shoveling and I made us each a cup of mocha cappuccino hot chocolate with two huge marshmallows. Not sure if he finished it, since he's pretty into his new video game.

And I just finished the blog post I started hours ago....

Welcome to South Dakota

Who would have ever guessed we might end up in Nowhereville, South Dakota? The plan was to find jobs in Chicago and eventually move there. Maybe we will...someday. How did we end up here, anyway?? That's a long story. In short, Dan was contacted about a job here (by mistake, it turns out) and they liked him more than better-qualified applicants. So, here we are.

This is hard to admit, but I actually miss our first apartment...and all our awesome friends in Fargo.

It was small, but cozy.

I think we both had a hard time adjusting. As excited as I was to get away and start over, Huron was a huge disappointment. We were told that it's a "growing town". Why then, may I ask, is the once-hopping mall now abandoned? Why are they tearing down the old college (and replacing it with a water park, of all things!)? There used to be lots of things here, we have been told.

~

We packed up all our things and moved into our new, very old house. Blindly, I might add. We got lucky when we actually found a decent house without ever seeing it (other than in pictures). Sure, there are things I hate about it--the kitchen, for example. But that's a story for another time. I do love that we have a fenced-in yard for Mila and lots of space. More space than two people and two animals need. But, we are getting a decent rate on rent and our landlady didn't ask for a pet deposit. Plus, we get a lawnmower, snowblower, washer and dryer (and some random pieces of furniture/artwork/"decor") to use while we are here.

Our little backyard.

Maybe it was a sign that we were supposed to stay in Fargo, or something, but I had to go back to work for another week after moving here and, of all things, my car was totaled on my very last day (I wasn't in it, thankfully). A half hour before I was supposed to leave. As you might guess, I didn't move that evening.

Darn it, I was trying to find the video coverage again, but it seems to have disappeared into cyberspace. Oh, well, I did end up getting a ride here and buying a new car--after trying to make it freelance writing and deciding to take a job I'd been offered (despite the fact that I wasn't even trying to find a job)--since I needed some way to get to work. I guess I just got lucky that way. Funnily enough, I was offered a job with Dan's company--but a different location.

I guess I'm adjusting to waking up at 5 a.m. We are both working long hours right now. Luckily, we have a four-day Thanksgiving weekend to look forward to. Do you know it's been a long time since we haven't had to rush back to work immediately after a holiday weekend?

~

This is turning out to be a longish blog post about a lot of random things. All in all, our life here isn't that exciting. We're finally adjusting to life in Nowhereville and I'm starting to forget that I wish we were back in Fargo. We just might survive. Oh--I can't forget to add that Mila and Loki adjusted very quickly. They love having all the space to run around.

If you're interested, check out the page called "Our Babies" to see more adorable pictures of the critters. (When Dan saw the title of that page, he just groaned really loudly and tried to act all manly, but we all know they are his babies, too.) And I'll try to post more off and on.

So, now all our friends and family can keep up with life in South Dakota. Visitors are welcome!

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