Belated Adventures OUT of the North Pole

Somehow I keep thinking that I have nothing to write about, but I continue to have things or experiences that I pass up writing on because I think it's "too late."  As in, Jared and I spent a weekend in Chicago in late March and had a blast, followed by a week in Las Vegas spent languishing in the sun after we thought we'd never see it again.  I took tons of great pictures in both places, and then nothing.  I get to doing other things, put off writing (although I love it) and then several months pass and I think I've missed the opportunity.  Well, too bad if this is random and way past any relevance it may have had, but...I do what I want. (and Jared is out of town for three weeks, so I'm bored and can only watch Netflix so much with the dog)

So, a few months back, back when the snow hadn't let up and I thought I would never be warm again, Jared and I decided to book a trip during the school's spring break. Somewhere warm. We researched online, and found a great deal through Allegiant Air out of Appleton (a town about an hour away) and compulsively made the purchase.  Five days in Las Vegas, where sunshine and warmth exist in abundance. (Can you tell us weenie southerners aren't cut out for northern winters? ugh.)

Anyway, around that time one of Jared's former classmates and good friend Drew invited us to Chicago to see a show he was in, so we rolled it all in to one awesome trip, starting with Chicago the first weekend of spring break.  We ate tons of good food (tapas, swedish-style breakfast, classic Chicago-style pizza, etc) walked through Millennium Park (yes dear, I told you the "bean" was a real thing) went through The Art Institute, as well as the Lincoln Park Zoo.  And of course, we saw 25 Saints, the fantastic show that Drew was in.  We had such a blast, and can't wait for another opportunity to go back! Awesome town.

That Sunday afternoon, we drove almost all the way back home, and made it to Appleton for our flight out that evening to Vegas.  We were completely exhausted, and unbelievably exhausted by the time we actually got to Vegas and checked into our room at The Mirage.  We slept off our travel fatigue, and spent the next almost week eating awesome food (have you figured out the way to our hearts yet?) saw Ka and Love by Cirque du Soleil, went to the Hoover Dam with our friends the OBriens, and generally enjoyed sunshine and...not working. ha. We had such a good week. If only sunshine, enjoyment, good food and relaxing didn't have to be so directly tied to how much money you spend...we'd do this more often.

So, that's how we saved our sanity from the crazy long and cold winter up north. Although random and way after the fact, it was write-worthy (although admittedly my writing on this particular post is pretty sub par) but, be grateful I didn't go back and do a post on last summer's family vacation to Colorado (although the pictures were awesome, so you're missing out.)

Greetings from the North Pole

When I logged in to write this, I saw the picture in my last post of our house in the late summer, with nice green grass, flowers, and sunshine. As a phrase that keeps occurring to me goes, I forgot "that was a thing".   For these two transplanted southerners, our first northern winter has so far been an entirely new experience.  So, I thought I'd share some of the things we've learned so far, and what things I've come to appreciate at the "north pole".

So, here are some things I've learned:

• Don't go two weeks without turning your car on.  I found out (the hard way) that if you do that and then think you're going to drive yourself to work, well, you're wrong.  I was attempting to drive myself to a conference in Milwaukee one morning, only to find that my car battery had died due to what I'm assuming was the cold and not turning it on for an "extended" period of time.  But, I didn't realize "that was a thing" until after I frantically called my dad (in Kentucky) and mimicked the noise the car was making.  "So I turn the key, and it just goes eee eeee eee! and I don't know what it means!" Or something to that effect.  Sigh. This does not happen (due to cold weather) where I come from.
• Don't procrastinate shoveling, or your front steps may turn into what looks like a slide too.  Ok, really we didn't procrastinate that time, but I'm still in awe of how much snow can accumulate in a short amount of time up here.  Our neighbor had kindly used his snow blower on our driveway that afternoon, but when we got home at 5 we still  had to shovel again due to accumulation.  Is it spring yet? Lame.

• And lastly, I've learned that your snot can literally freeze in your nose when you walk across a parking lot when it is -8 plus windchill.  And your'e welcome for that image.

And here are some things that I've come to love and appreciate up here:

• An electric blanket.  Trust me, when it's below zero outside (and you're too cheap to turn the heat up any higher than 65) a regular blanket just isn't going to cut it.  And the pup agrees.  It's an animal magnet. (The cat would be on here too, if she hadn't discovered that hot air comes out of the vent. She mostly just sits on it now. Jerk.) 

• Long Johns.  I know those sound like something (precious) old men wear, but they are wonderful under work clothes to keep you from freezing your legs off.  (Thanks for buying me some, Sandy!!)  And really, there are some cold days that I come home and change out of my work clothes and just walk around the house in my long johns. Picture a really weird gray body-suited super hero without a cape. I don't know why the super hero part, but stick with me here.  I just like to remind my husband what a catch I am, I guess. (Bless his heart)
•  Ice Remover Spray stuff. I don't remember exactly the brand, but it comes in this windex-like spray bottle, it's yellow, and you spray it on a frosted windshield and it just melts all that stuff off. It's wonderful.  We've already gone through one bottle this winter, and immediately bought two more. For 1-3 bucks, so worth it to not have to scrape the ice off your windshield every morning.
• A good humidifier. As many times as I've fussed about southern humidity making my hair a frizzy mess, I had no idea how much humidity affected my skin until we moved up north where there is virtually none.  Since we've been here, and especially since it got cold, I've felt like I've just been drying up. My skin gets so dry, and I've been getting sick more (which I read can be caused by cold dry air that keeps viruses/germs/etc alive longer, or some such like that). So, in the midst of my second cold in about a three week span, we went out and got a warm mist humidifier.  We only use it every few nights, but I really think it's made a difference in how dry my skin is, and I haven't been sick since! (knock on wood).  

So, that's about where we're at right now with winter and being cold and stuff.  Let me know if you have any good tips/things we should know about surviving a northern winter!