WHAT the HECK!!!

As this is mine and Nik's first winter with snow, many have warned us about Spring Fever.

Spring Fever is when the weather starts getting warmer and the snow melts away, you get really excited for the new season. New season of windows being left open, flip flops popping out, and short sleeved shirts.

This last week has been in the high 40's and low 50's.

BEAUTIFUL!

Then out of NOWHERE comes this storm.

Let me describe this GLORIOUS day for you....and hopefully you could catch the eye-rollage I just gave.

Thursday March 4, 2010.
Wake up at 6am.
Turn on the news at 6:30am.
Weather is at 32degrees.
I thought to myself "Oh what a wonderful day this will be!"
The weather man lays out the temps for the day...
Morning: 32. Noon: 50. Afternoon: 46.
Grant - KSL's weather man, says that in the afternoon there will be rain with a chance that it turns to snow.
Now, just so you know, Grant has not been the most accurate when it has come to these storms.
I didn't believe him...or maybe just didn't WANT to believe him.
Nik and I went to work with short sleeves (mainly because we were going to be inside all day) and I brought a light "Arizona" jacket to ride home in.
We leave for work at 9am and it is a beautiful morning.
The sun is out, people are jogging, and I am happy!
Nik comes over to my office for lunch at 1pm and there is a little cloud cover.
He leaves from lunch at 2pm to go back to work and there is a slight drizzle.
Now the fun begins...3pm hits and the rain comes down harder.
In my office, I have a glass wall and door ahead of me, so I can see everything going on outside.
The rain begins acting strange.
The rain comes down casually, then hard, then casually, then SNOW, then hard rain, then BIG SNOW, then a drizzle, then a spray, then SNOW, then hard rain...over and over again.
All of this goes on and each new change lasts only a few seconds to a minute of two and then it is on to the next change....snow, rain, barely anything, rain, snow, etc.
Well, 4pm rolls around and Nik needs me to run to BYU's Surplus Sale right down the street.
They sell their used electronics and he wanted a new flat screen monitor.
I told my boss about it and he wanted to check it out too since he has never been before.
At this point it is snowing but not sticking...Hallelujah!
This was good.
So I took a picture of what my office parking lot looked like before my boss, Paul, and I went to the sale.

Paul and I stood outside for at least 20 minutes at this sale waiting in line to get in.
We got in, I found Nik a used, but in very good condition, flat screen monitor for $50.
Paul wasn't impressed with anything he saw...but for poor college students, these sales are awesome!
Paul and I went back to the office.
5pm rolls around and this is what the parking lot looks like.

CRAZY!
When we were standing in line, I was catching HUGE snowflakes. The size of quarters!
It was awesome but so freezing because I was in my "Arizona" jacket...i.e. a thin hoodie.
When Paul and I were driving back, you couldn't see a quarter mile ahead of you because of how hard and fast it was coming down.
I was so scared because I knew that in an hour I would have to drive down and pick Nik up from work.
Luckily the snow slowed down to where I could drive when I got off work at 6.
Here is a picture of the top of my car when I was leaving.

That is at least an inch. Maybe 1.25 inches.
I should have put something up in the picture to give reference. sorry.
Anywho....here is a pretty tree right in front of where I parked.
Remember, 3 hours earlier this was a brown tree and completely green grass.

Pretty, huh?
See, I can handle the snow if I can be inside my house.
It is very pretty to look at when wrapped in a blanket, watching a movie inside, and having a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup for dinner.
I was able to pick Nik up safely and return home with both of us in one piece.
I was lucky the snow had slowed down and so it wasn't difficult at all to drive.
It was just very weird that EVERYTHING was white when only hours before it was green and brown.
He is a panoramic shot of the front of the building Nik and I live in. Cambridge Court.

 

And here is the shot of what we see outside our window every day. Glenwood Apartments.

It is very pretty....and cold.

Now this morning I woke up to the cars slushing outside on the streets.
Snow has covered even more of the roads and sidewalks and trees.
I wish I could stay home with Nik and we could cuddle up with The Office, lol, and some hot chocolate.
We can't wait for Spring and to be done with this white STUFF.

Here is a picture Nik sent me (sorry it is from a phone) this morning as he was headed to class. This is our parking lot...and it didn't look like this last night. Thank goodness we were able to find a spot in the parking garage.

Now, don't think this is a "downer" post. We are very happy to have to opportunity to live up here and go to school and have all these learning experiences. Neither of us have lived outside of AZ, except for the 2 years Nik was on an LDS Mission in Japan. We have learned so much about ourselves and what we want in our future.
Thank you Utah for being so pretty, but please cut it out with the snow.

The End.

Oh deer.

Friday Night

6:05 pm

Dark Highway

Open field to the East

50 mph speed limit

Truck

Deer

BOOM!

 

 The big dent on the hood is from the deer's head.

The damage to the grill is from the body.

The bumper didn't budge hardly at all.

Dead stupid deer.

The antlers broke off from contact to truck and asphalt.

The nice police officer lady drug it off to the side of the road for safety.

 

Look at that hair on the bumper.

Pretty sick.

I would show you the poo smear on the driver side but figured I would lose a few Followers of my Blog.

I know my Mamma would appreciate that picture being left out.

 

Here are the antlers that we picked up out of the street.

The right one broke in pieces but the left looks like a clean whole break.

Truck in shop

Hopefully:

It's declared a "Total Loss"

Brother (owner of truck) gets check

We fix truck (if worth it)

Everybody is happy

Now we are back to one vehicle.

Not too hard with our schedules.

Luckily we only work a mile from each other and only a mile from home.

P.S. I have one huge thing to be thankful for in this mess...Nik wasn't hurt one bit. Thank Heavens.
And for those of you who know me...you know my reaction to this was not as lite as described...I just figured I would save you the details because I bet all of you could picture it yourself. :)

Slower Traffic Keep Right

Ok....lemme tell ya....I am not the biggest fan of Utah drivers! They are always speeding and driving crazy and seriously I miss the speed cameras in AZ. When I was there in AZ I hated them but now they seem like a really good idea. Well I guess there is a law here in UT that does not allow for such cameras and it really ticks me off! Do you know how many red light runners I see on a daily basis?? At least 2! How about speeding?? Too many to count! This really scares me because what is going to happen when snow and ice come? The same thing!!! And of course there is never a cop around when you need one. So...here comes by story...

Nik and I live in Provo and on this one Saturday I was heading about 20 minutes south to Payson to help my Aunt paint her house that she is trying to sell. I am heading down the freeway and there is tons of construction. I watch for the speed signs because the last thing I need is for a ticket and especially a ticket in construction where the fines double for speeding. I finally find the speed limit sign and follow it going just a little over 5 mph over...I was trying to keep up with traffic.

Well the speed limit kept changing as I went in and out of construction. It goes from 55 to 65 to 75 to 55 and so on and so forth. I kept a pretty good eye out and always went 5 over what it said.

Sidenote: I got a ticket about 1.5 years ago for going 15 over...all because I wasn't paying attention and never saw the new speed sign. So a cop on a motorcycle on the other side of the road WAVED ME DOWN! He didn't even come after me with lights and all...he WAVED! Ugh! So I turned around to go get my flippin' ticket! I was afraid that if I didn't turn around he would come after me and I would get in even more trouble. DUMB! So yes, I got a speeding ticket and it was a nice $172.75 fine. Let me tell ya...I am very cautious now when it comes to speeding because I know what it does to your insurance, as that is my line of work. It scares me to death!

So...back to the story...I am driving along with traffic and as I turn a corner I freak out because I see a cop standing next to his murdercycle with a speed gun aimed at traffic. I was in the middle lane and hoped he wouldn't have caught me because I forgot how fast I was suppose to be going and what my actual speed was. I flipped out, let go of the gas pedal real fast, and couldnt keep my eyes off the rear view mirror to see if he was coming after me.

After staring for like 30 seconds behind me....HE WAS AFTER ME...LIGHTS AND ALL! I was shaking and tears started filling my eyes. I was trying to come up with some horrible excuse about some friend of mine in the hospital and I was her only friend so I had to RUSH there...but nothing was coming to mind. ugh! He is after me at full speed. Comes right up behind me for what felt like an ETERNITY!!! My heart was racing, my hands were shaking, and I was sweating.

After probably 15 seconds, he turned his blinker on and moved in the lane to the right of me and sped off. WHEW!!! He was after someone else. Now...I was freaking out but this time I was not going to "give in" and get a ticket like I did last time from a simple wave of the cops' hands. I was thinking that if he really wanted to pull me over he would put on his sirens and I would make him work for it! hahaha. Thank goodness it wasn't for me. whew! The whole rest of the drive I was shaking and so scared. Even when I got to my Aunt's house I was shaking and still short on breath. And let me tell ya....the whole 20 minute drive back home guess which lane I occupied. THE RIGHT! Yep. Let all them UT drivers pass me and get them some tickets!

But wait...the story doesn't end there! That night Nik and I went to West Jordan to visit one of his comps who is half Japanese and his mom would make us a traditional Japanese dinner. (Nik went to Japan for his mission so that is why this is cool to us). So...on the 40 minute drive there I was so worried about speed. We finally got our selves in the HOV lane and figured we would be safe. Only 15 minutes into the drive we saw a cop car coming full speed behind us with lights on and everything. GAH! My heart dropped - AGAIN! Luckily the cop was just trying to get in front of some other vehicles to be able to move across the lanes all the way to the right and off he went after some other dude. The thing was....the car he pulled over looked to be going the same speed as everyone else, so I don't know why he got pulled over and I never will...but if that cop just felt like picking him out of the crowd that was all going about 12 MPH over the speed limit...then the cop could have pulled ANY of us over...Nik and I INCLUDED!

GAH! Speeding scares me and the tickets that follow. Not a fan! Twice in one day....scary!!! So the right lane is my new favorite place to drive. I don't care...I will not speed....I will go a couple over the speed limit but I will not get myself another speeding ticket. They cost so much money and stay on your insurance for 3 years!!!