Thursday

I know I haven't been blogging much. There just isn't much going on here and even less to post about.
Idaho is cold. I love it here, but it's just so dang cold! We have barely any snow, which is really the only thing worthwhile about the cold. School was canceled today b/c it got down to 30 below at the river. I think it was only 20 below everywhere else. My pipes are frozen and I can't get them thawed. I'm lucky to have cold (and I mean ice cold) water running in the bathroom still, but not a drop of hot and none in the kitchen. I've kept water heated in the crockpot to use as needed and bowls of warm water in the sinks for hand washing. I have pots of water on the stove waiting to be boiled for dishes and a bath tonight. The laundry is just going to have to wait (darn!). And as if the pipe situation isn't frustrating enough the power in half the house went out this evening. I climbed my way through the garage, over a frozen dead mouse stuck in a trap (who knows how long he's been there), and moved a bunch of stuff to get to the breaker box. I flipped every single switch, twice, and still no power. Of course Darin came home and got it working in seconds. He said the switch was just loose or something. Grr.
Anyhow, the fam got frozen pizzas for dinner b/c it made for less dishes, and so I didn't have to handle raw meat (in the dark) when I don't have a decent way of washing my hands. I went to a Relief Society Christmas dinner, it was great food and great company. We have some really fabulous sisters in this ward and I'm doing the best I can to get to know some of them. They don't do as much as my old ward did, so that makes it sort of difficult. My days are much lonelier than they were in Ohio, but even that's kind of nice in a way I don't think I could explain in words. But really, I feel like this is where we should be. Whenever I've been away to see my sister or shop or whatever, when I'm heading back home and I catch sight of the Tetons, or when I go around the bend that first brings the valley into view, I get the most peaceful happy feeling. Every single time. Or even when I'm out driving around the valley and I can see from one end to other and the sky is so enormous and beautiful over head, its the same thing. It's strange to me to feel this way about I place I barely know. But I suppose that's just God's way of helping me put up with the cold. If I liked this place any less I'd have been on a plane back home 2 months ago, and though I'd probably like that very much, I don't think that's part of God's plan for us. And so I'll take what I'm given and do my best. Come what may and love it.