Polar Vortex?

"Polar vortex"... if you live in Wisconsin, you've been hearing this phrase non-stop since the beginning of 2014. Polar vortex has brought some pretty frigid temperatures to our lovely area lately. Temperatures below freezing plus wind chill temperatures, meaning weather that feels like -35 to -40. Absolutely freeeeezing outside!

On the plus side though, there's no school today so I'm spending the day watching SVU, working on assessments, and working on lesson plans. The dogs are loving having mom home because they get to work up a sweat by laying on the couch cuddled in blankets all day. I know, hard work right?

2014 has been very cold lately, so that means lots of staying inside, cuddled in blankets, sitting next to the woos burning stove. And since we live in Wisconsin, cold temperatures and wind means it not very fun to travel outside because a) the wind blows the snow everywhere and b) let's be honest- it's cold out there!

But- last weekend Brad & I braved the elements and took a much needed trip to meet up with some friends. Friday night, we meant some of Brad's fraternity brothers for dinner. We had drinks, yummy food, and enjoyed laughs and conversations with friends. Our drive home was not so wonderful because it was snowing ((again!!))...

Saturday was family day! Brad spent the day snowblowing the driveway, and I spent the day doing my weekly cleaning. After all of that it was time to enjoy time with my family. Along with my sisters and parents we went to Madison for dinner and a hockey game. We love going to the "Nitty Gritty" for dinner before Badger games. They have great food & beer, and it's always jam-packed with other Badger fans! We headed over to the Kohl center to watch the Badger hockey team take on Ohio State. Unfortunately it wasn't Bucky's night and they lost, but it was still a really great game.

It was fun weekend and we enjoyed not being cooped up in the house. I'm counting down the days and minutes to nice weather so we can get back outside and we spend more time with friends.

Stay warm out there people!

Xo, Tiffany

Welcome to the New Year!

It's hard to believe that it's already 2014, and it's been over a year since I've posted my last blog. I think that it's taken this long to post something because I was searching and looking for something "big" to post about. You see we live in a world where we put everything out there for people to see; we have Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snap chat, and about a million more other apps; we carry smartphones that are instantly connected to emails, and all of these social medias sites; we have all of these apps in our lives to connect us to the world in a minute second. But you know as I've been thinking about starting to blog again, and thinking about what goes on my life, and what is really "worth" putting out there for people to read; I've realized that people only put information on these websites that they want people to see. People want other people to see how fantastic their lives are, and then we compare our own lives to the "lives people want us to see." No one is obviously going to put up pictures of them crying their eyes, or how horrible their day was because they ran into the wall, got in trouble at work, and got into a huge fight with their significant other. We put up pictures of the good times, of family get-togethers, parties, sporting events, and nights out with friends. I think I've taken so long to get back into blogging because I've been comparing my "social media" life to the lives that people want me to see, the good times.

Now don't get me wrong... I love social media... I love reality television... and I love my smart phone. I love being connected to people and to everything going on around the world. But I need to remember in this coming year, that my life is my life. I don't need anyone's approval; I'm perfectly ok with sitting at home on a Friday night, snuggled up with my husband & our dogs; I'm not ashamed that I don't go out to the bar every weekend and get so drunk that I need my pictures to remind me of the night. I'm 25 years old, I'm married, I have a big girl job and I love my normal, quiet life. I don't have to answer to anyone but God about my life.

My goals for 2014:

-build my relationship with God; turn my monthly devotional time into daily devotional time.

-spend more time with my family & Brad's family. There's nothing better then sitting at the dinning room table, playing cards with my family, or fishing with my Papa, or enjoying a nice relaxing day sleeping & reading on the dock with my mother-in-law.

-spend more time with my friends; leave the cell phone in the car (or at home even!); and really just spend time enjoying the moments with my friends. I don't live as close to my friends as we did when we were in college, and grown up lives have seem to gotten in the way lately.

-get back into biking. I completed RAGBRAI a couple years ago, and it's my goal to one day complete it again. I would like to ride 100 miles in one day with no problem.

-just enjoy the year; I really feel that 2014 is going to be a great year, I have high hopes & expectations for this year. I'm excited to see what it has in store for us!

Here's to good health, Happy Times, & a Great new year!

Welcome 2014!

 

 

Xoxo- Tiffany