What is winter doing?!

Winter is here. I mean, looking out the window on Monday I saw the epitome of winter in North Dakota. Snow is blowing. The sky is grey/white because of the clouds and precipitation. The wind is blowing (30mph thankyouverymuch). It’s winter.

I know that Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow, therefore we’re supposed to have an early spring. But I’m overly skeptical today. Maybe it’s because I grew up in Northern Minnesota and it seems that an “early” spring makes a debut at the end of April and a “late” spring doesn’t arrive until the end of May. But a blizzard doesn't give me much reassurance.

I don’t have high hopes for spring arriving any too “early”.

Kyle and I got phone calls from the school district Monday morning at 5:30 letting us know that it was a 2 hour late start. It was wonderful to hear that. But when I looked at the list of area schools, I was glad that I wasn’t driving anywhere. There were 80+ weather related announcements and the road reports looked rough.

So, we’re very thankful that we have jobs in town and that we have reliable vehicles to get us to and from school every day.

And on that note, who is planning a “spring break” trip? I need some warm thoughts sent my way, as I look out at the blizzard blowing outside my window.

Happy Wednesday!

Five on Friday

I've set the goal that I'm going to blog three times per week. Unfortunately, that's not exactly happened. The holidays were crazy. Getting back into the swing of school was crazy. The end of the semester is today...so that's crazy. My life is just crazy right now and that's okay. Life goes in cycles and this is one of those crazy cycles.

So here's another Five-on-Friday to start off your weekend with.

one | hockey

Our Christmas gift to some friends were some UND Men's Hockey tickets. I always enjoy a good UND hockey game and it's even more enjoyable to go with friends. So we are putting our UND gear on and we're heading to the game. Hopefully the boys will drop us off and go park the cars since it's supposed to be 8 degrees below zero...with a Real Feel of 26 degrees below! Ah!


two | winter

is officially here. It snowed all day yesterday and the temps are back to our typical January temps...down below zero. Yay.

three | alan rickman

So Alan Rickman died yesterday and it's sad. I'll need to go back and rewatch Harry Potter now.

four | essential oils

I reeeaaaallllllllyyyyyy don't want to get sick and I don't want Kyle sick either. It seems like all of my students are sniffling, sneezing, or coughing. Or some combination. So we've been using Young Living Thieves oil every night before bed. We use a few drops of grapeseed oil, a few drops of Thieves, and we rub it on the bottoms of our feet. Kyle hasn't started sniffling yet. Here's to hoping.

And if you want to order any...let me know. I'll hook you up.

five | end of the semester

It's so hard to believe that it's already the end of the semester! School has been in session for half of the year already. For some reason...I feel that second semester tends to move faster. There are more events, more activities, more things to get done and it keeps my mind off the fact that we're running out of time to fit everything in for the year.  How do you other teachers do it? I get a whole new batch of kids on Monday and we're off to the races! Wowza.

Have a lovely weekend and I hope to catch you all on Tuesday!

Five on Friday: Home Improving?

I really, really, REALLY wanted to have some great renovation/home improving photos for you. Alas, it isn't so. So...this will be Five on Friday: Misc edition.


one | home improving updates

Our kitchen is painted (?!). I know. Big steps at the Entzel house.

We also have a new door on the front of our house. It's an $800+ door that we scored for $200! Thank you, scratch and dent!


two | fall

The fall is wrapping up. Every day I sit at my desk and look outside at the sad, sad, sad trees lining the street and our building. And there are NO LEAVES. Boo.


three | snow

It's November 13 and we've not had an accumulating snow yet! How awesome is that?? We live in North Dakota, so snow is a staple in our wintry lives.

Two weeks we had some large, pretty, fluffy snowflakes. Unfortunately fortunately they didn't stick around long. It was a bummer for hunting and tracking (not that our hunters needed it), but it's not keeping me up at night.

I originally wrote this post for last Friday. Unfortunately we now have snow on the ground. So, scratch all of the information above.

four | upcoming projects

I really want to redo our front entry way. I'm thinking about tearing all of the wallpaper down and  some tile for the flooring and a nice storage bench for future littles to store their shoes and hats and mittens. I'm thinking something like...

source

 

five | Friendsgiving

Tomorrow we are celebrating our first (hopefully, annual) Friendsgiving here. I've been asked to bring the dessert. What should I make? Cupcakes? Carrot cake? Pie? Help!

 

As always, head on over to see who else is participating in today's Five-on-Friday. 

 

 

 

Chocolate Peppermint Cookies [per request]

Many moons ago (close to 4 years to be exact), I made some tasty cookies for a friend of mine. I'm pretty sure we demolished them in one sitting. Bethany, correct me if I'm wrong!

Here are the Chocolate Peppermint Cookies I brought to Bethany's house!

Ingredients:

1 box Devil's Food Cake Mix
2 eggs
1/4 c oil

peppermint extract

powdered sugar
milk
crushed candy canes

Mix the cake mix, 2 eggs, & 1/4 c oil. Add in peppermint extract to preference. Roll the dough into small balls and bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 7-9 minutes (or until done).

For the frosting, use approx 2 cups powdered sugar, 1-2 T milk, a splash of peppermint extract, and crushed candy canes (to taste). If you want the frosting to set better, use 1-2 T melted butter instead of milk. The thicker the frosting, the easier it will be to frost the cookies.


My goal is to make these cookies again soon. When I do, I'll make sure to take photos and upload them here! Let me know how you liked them!