We just had our first real snow storm of the season! It always creates a special buzz in our house. With this definite sign that winter’s on the way, I get particularly excited for everything that a new season brings, and last night my mind was on this drink.
Continue readingHave you tried snowshoeing yet?
We believe that spending time outdoors is important year-round. Yes, even in winter! I know that instincts tell us to hibernate when the weather gets cold and the days get short, but that’s when it becomes important to spend some time outside recharging our souls, resetting our state of mind, and burning a few calories.
If you’re new to the activity, snowshoeing is a great way to spend time outside. Once you get the shoes strapped on, just start walking. It’s that easy! Continue reading
Hiking is definitely one of our favorite outdoor activities, and I happen to have two kids that are always up for a hike. We love our weekday hikes the best. The trails are relatively empty and we feel carefree to move along the trail at whatever pace feels good, even coming to a complete stop when we find spy a treasure worth investigating.
Continue readingWe originally published this post in February of 2014. Five years ago! We’re republishing it this year, because we still stand by these 5 ideas for fighting the February blues. And don’t forget to click on those links, it’s always nice to see what the research shows – especially when it comes to that last item on our list!
I love the roller coaster ride that is our yearly trip around the sun, fully enjoying the rush of each new season, but without fail, somewhere in the middle of February, I start to lose my winter cool. By this point, winter just seems like it’s going to go on forever, the days that I used to refer to as crisp have turned to bitter cold. The evenings that were dark and cozy are just too. darn. long {and still very dark}. Over the years I’ve developed a few tricks for fighting the February blues.
Of course, sometimes I also curl up with a good book, some hot tea, and ride out the February storm. What are your tricks for keeping the mood light and your heart warm when winter just won’t quit? Share your #winterhigh with us!
Has winter arrived at your place yet? Here in North Carolina, we had our first major snow and probably the biggest snow of the season. It was a heavy, wet snow, and we have lots of clean up to do this coming week. Besides clearing downed trees, this early (for us) snow reminded me to prepare for winter with a little winter car maintenance. Is this a part of your yearly routine? Kind of like spring cleaning?
Growing up in Pennsylvania, there was always this shift some time at the end of October where you add a blanket, jug of water, ice scraper, and a few other necessities to your trunk. You never knew when a snowstorm or black ice would show up in our middle-of-nowhere mountainous region. Over the years, I’ve formulated a little winter car maintenance routine. I usually mark this on my calendar and give myself a week or two to check off all ten items on the list.
Now’s the time to scrub away last season’s buildup from your vehicle’s exterior. It’s good to then apply a quality car wax to protect against the impending barrage of snow and road salt.
Hopefully, you’re changing your oil regularly. We have a sister who didn’t realize you needed oil changes on new cars, hah! Besides regular oil changes, before winter is a good time to switch from conventional to synthetic. Synthetic oil flows freer at lower temperatures and doesn’t require any time to warm up, which is crucial and immediate protection for your engine’s moving parts. If your car isn’t suited for full-synthetic, ask your mechanic if you can switch to a blend. Definitely, check the recommendations for your specific make and model.
Summer heat tends to take a toll on batteries, you probably won’t notice the weakness until the first really cold morning, when your battery fails to start. Prepare your battery for winter by having it tested and if need be charged. If it needs to be replaced, put it on the to-do list.
Another thing to note, if you live in an especially cold climate and you rarely use your vehicle, you may want to keep your battery attached to a maintainer. Basically, your battery is working harder in cold weather and will gradually lose power over time if it isn’t in use.
Of course, it’s important to see, but it’s also really important to be seen, especially in the winter when it’s dark early and there is salt covering every damn surface. First, make sure all your lights are working. If your lights are dim, replace the bulbs, clean your lenses, and position them properly, it makes a world of difference.
Replacing your windshield wiper blades is one of life’s simple pleasures. Truly. Go buy yourself the best set money can buy, it won’t be more than $30 and you’ll thank me when you’re stuck in the middle of a Pennsylvania snowstorm after you accidentally made a wrong turn that added 45 minutes to the drive. True Story. After you replace the blades, fill the windshield washer tank with a deicing fluid. It’ll help you out on those cold mornings.
Traction, traction, traction. Look at your tires and if your treads don’t have sufficient depth, you’ll obviously need a new set. It’s best to check this out sooner than later in case you need to save up a pretty penny to pay for them. Depending on where you live, snow tires are not a bad investment. We are talking about your life (and whatever precious cargo you’re carrying!) here. Also, keep your tires properly inflated. Poorly inflated tires wear faster and reduce your traction and handling. They also don’t help your fuel economy. It’s really easy to check your pressure at those air pumps at gas stations. If you don’t know how to ask literally any friendly looking person at the gas station and they’ll help you.
Duh. Antifreeze helps the liquid in your engines cooling system from freezing, so it’s important. You can use an antifreeze tester or ask your mechanic (or do it during your oil change) to measure the antifreeze’s strength. This test basically tells you the lowest ambient temperature to which the engine is protected from freezing. Also, check your coolant reservoir level and top it off.
The radiator cap, man. Little part, big role! Your radiator cap keeps the antifreeze in your vehicle, however, a leaking radiator cap can cause the engine to overheat and the antifreeze to leak. Big surprise, you want neither of those things to happen. Simply take a good, close look around the radiator cap for signs of leaking fluid. If your radiator cap is a few years old and you want to be proactive, replace the cap with a new one. Radiator caps are like $5, don’t be a cheapskate.
Another critically important component of your heating and cooling system is the thermostat. If it’s not functioning properly, you could find yourself without heat. Check it out (or ask them to check it when you get your oil changed) and replace it with a new one if necessary.
Or just have the whole system replaced like me! Just kidding, that sucked. Cooler temperatures cause performance issues related to the fuel system. Adding a fuel injector cleaner helps to restore lost power, eliminates rough idling and hard starts. Any water present could be a problem if the temperature drops low enough. A good way to avoid fuel-line and system freeze up is to use HEET fuel-injector cleaner because it’s designed to remove water from your fuel system.
Diesel fuel lines tend to “gel” up in the winter time. Use a product like Diesel 911 to easily avoid this common problem. Also, watch your diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) levels. On many passenger and commercial diesel vehicles, a dedicated tank contains DEF which is automatically metered and sprayed into the emissions system. Woohoo. Many vehicles have built in warnings and alerts to prevent DEF levels from being exhausted. They’ll also perform at significantly restricted levels, or not at all, so it will be quite apparent.
That’s it! Honestly not too tough to ensure you get home safely. Beyond these easy checks and general winter maintenance, it’s always good to have some emergency supplies in your car. I’m the furthest from a prepper, but even I have the following in my car at all times:
Hey there! I don’t know about you, but I need at least three more weeks of November. I need time to SLOW down. There’s just too much good stuff to pack into one month. Too much eggnog to drink, too many candles to burn, and too many festive events to attend.
So, I’ve done what any holiday-loving person would do : I started December by jumping in with two feet. This past weekend was spent hanging decorations, walking slowly among the shops downtown and finding the perfect gifts, and evenings on the couch working on holiday photo projects.
As the year comes to a close, it’s natural to look back at the previous 12 months. For me, much of that reminiscing starts the moment I start compiling our annual family photo album. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed by the thought of a year of photos, putting together a personalized calendar with family photos is a great alternative. I just ordered ours on Shutterfly, and (big surprise) these make great gifts for grandparents! Word is that Sarah’s working on a few photo projects/gifts that she’s going to share on the blog this month.
The photo projects are always the first on my to-do list because of their early printing deadlines, but once I’m done with those, I have a few other projects up my sleeve. Similar to last year’s coffee mugs, I’m going to work on another project from the boys. This one requires a little bit of work on my part, and I’m excited to see how it turns out. I’m sure I’ll share the results, but it’ll probably be after the new year.
As in previous years, I’m starting to think about my 2019 resolutions. For us, these are part self-improvement, part check-list of things we’d like to accomplish. I’m sure we’ll share our resolutions when January arrives… I just checked my previous resolutions posts, and realized that this year may be a catch-up year, because I have a few unaccomplished goals that are still nagging at me!
Between the looking back and looking forward, there’s going to be plenty of living in the now this month. For me that involves not over-scheduling our days. I want to enjoy the holidays without getting caught up in having/wanting to do everything. And yet, in the process, our days will feel so full.
There will be plenty of days like today. Our favorite Christmas music will be playing. I’ll set the boys up with a holiday craft or two. I’ll spend a bit of time in the kitchen and a bit on the couch working on gifts. We’ll make sure the bird feeders are filled for our feathered friends. And, if we’re lucky, we’ll take a brisk walk before the sun sets.
Of course, If you’re starting to feel the angst of being cooped up on these short winter days, the end is near! December’s Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year, and you can take solace in knowing that by the end of the month, we’ll be creeping our way back towards summer and longer days. And definitely mark your calendars for the Christmas Bird Count. It’s a great reason to get outside. Want to do it with a group? Many parks and wildlife organizations hold group bird counts near the end of the month.
There’s no better time than now to decide how you want to spend these precious and oh-to-short December days. We hope yours contain plenty of joy and nog.
Happy December everyone! We love this cozy time of year. Sarah loves it even more now that she lives in a mild climate, just yesterday she walked her dog in a t-shirt! What a dream. Even if the outdoor temperature isn’t below freezing, you can still celebrate the season by adding a little snow to your desktop. We’re sharing some of our favorite images from winters passed. The snowy Christmas tree field will probably be Sarah’s favorite set of images until the end of time. The light, the big flurries, the situation just couldn’t be any more beautiful, no Photoshop involved. Scroll down to see the rest and choose one for your desktop.
You can upload one or all of these photos to use as your desktop background or even as phone and tablet wallpapers. Simply click on the download link below each photo (or right click on the image), save, and enjoy!
Click here for pastel sunrise.
Click here for Gingerbread House.
Click here for Christmas trees.
I’m a little bit obsessed with my new winter jacket. (Sarah’s probably snort- laughing right now as she reads that; “a little bit” would be the understatement of the season.)
I tried to talk her into buying one of these for her last Nepal trek, and it was so obvious that I really wanted one for myself. Picking up on my hints overt gushing, I received this awesome gift for Christmas!
What it is? It’s the LOKI Mountain Extreme Hoodie.
My obsession is due mainly to the built-in mittens. Now that I’m always adventuring with kids, I find that no matter what gloves I’m wearing, I have to take them off multiple times during an outing to help the little guys with something or other. I’m always worried that I’m going to lose a glove during these moments and the last thing that I want is the trouble of having to go back and hunt for the crucial item.
Enter LOKI apparel: it’s made to simplify our gear needs. The jackets and hoodies have built-in mittens and face masks. Now I can walk out the door with just my coat and not worry about the losing anything. LOKI also sells a puffer that looks great, and I’m intrigued by the lighter weight zip-up (it could be perfect for spring and fall hikes in the mountains!).
I’ve skied, hiked, and sledded in this coat. It’s so cozy, and the fit has been great whether the gloves and face mask are on or off. Honestly, it’s the best active “mom” jacket around. Now I can adjust goggles on the lift without worrying about losing my gloves. And since that’s my biggest worry, I’m one lucky bum.
The only little change I made to my jacket was to add some conductive thread to make them touch-screen compatible for the moments when I want to take a quick phone pic without removing the mittens. You can see the thread in the photo below – I used quite a bit to make sure that I had a good connection between my finger and phone. I wasn’t ready to sew into that brand new thumb material yet, but I’m testing it out this weekend on a ski trip – if I like it, then I may go back and clean up my sewing job to make something that’s more refined.
If you don’t know what I’m talking about, check out one of our very first DIY posts on the blog!
Happy last day of the first month 🙂 Hopefully, 2018 came about gently, without too much hesitation. I find I can become overwhelmed at the beginning of each year. So many possibilities and dreams and wants, where to start, ya know? I only had a few days like that this January, but each time I felt overwhelmed I turned to my meditation practice. Meditation allows me to put some space in between my thoughts and emotions and myself. It’s my mental health medicine and I cannot thrive without it. If you’d like to join, I send out a Meditative Monday email each week with a guided meditation. Sign up here. But, back to the images…
You can upload one or all of these photos to use as your desktop background or even as phone and tablet wallpapers. Katie captured all of these in Colorado this past month. To use the images, simply right-click on the photo, save it, and set it as your background. Enjoy!
What a winter break we’ve had! We have one more day left tomorrow, and we’re going to do what we’ve been doing the past couple of weeks – spend it outside. It seems like we’ve really hit our stride this year when it comes to embracing the winter. Of course, it’s all about good clothes, a good spirit, and just doing it, but I’ll talk about that in another post. Today, I’m sharing just a glimpse of what we’ve been up to these past few weeks.
We started our break in Steamboat Springs, CO (one of our favorite ski towns in the state!). We arrived at the start of a snowstorm that lasted well into the next day and maybe the day after? I can’t remember. But we still had a great time skiing and snowshoeing all over the mountain.
On our third, and final, day in town, we visited Strawberry Park Hot Springs before driving home. We had been here once last winter, and it was just as magical as I remembered.
We arrived home the same day that Sarah and our family flew into town, and then every pitched in and helped us prepare to host a big party for C’s office. There was definitely a moment of “what are we doing?!” the night before, but in the end, the party was awesome, the food delicious, the company amazing, and the music pumping.
The party was followed by a day of rest and then it was off to the mountains to ride the Georgetown Loop Railroad with Santa! We did this last year and I was really excited to do it again. When you arrive at the station, there’s hot chocolate and roasted chestnuts to munch on. Then you board the train and start riding with the excitement of knowing that Santa’s going to come and sit with you to say hi. It’s such a nice way to visit Santa, because there are no lines – you just wait in your seat on the train until Santa gets to you, meanwhile, the train’s moving through the beautiful Colorado mountains.
Back in Boulder, we did more hiking. 
And snowball throwing. 
And then it was off to the mountains again for more skiing and snowshoeing!
Home for more hiking…
And here we are, relaxing, making our list of resolutions, and preparing for one more day on the slopes before we’re back to a regularly scheduled week.
I hope your break was full of warmth, family, food, and all of that holiday magic. xo
