Last week chicago was hit with a history making blizzard... yay? we got a couple feet of snow and it was blown around by 70mph winds. it was pretty brutal to say the least. when things finally calmed down, i couldn't resist the urge to go out and play:

I made a snow angel, tromped through snow mountains and seriously, burn some calories! trudging through snow is hard work-yo!

the fun was pretty short lived because lotsa snow + car = lots of work shoveling snow. for those of you who have never had to do this. shoveling snow? NOT FUN! it's HARD! seriously, people actually die of heart attacks while shoveling. according to the news there were a few deaths last week from snow shoveling. Rodney and i worked together, but still... it took us 45 minutes and i was sore for 2 days. NOT COOL! anyway, we now have mountains of snow that has hardened and it looks like it isn't going anywhere anytime soon. great.

In other news, I've made some progress on my 2011 list.

i *TRIED* to go sledding, but the conditions weren't right.

i also attempted to hike somewhere new in order to see ice falls in one of the canyons at starved rock, but i almost slid to my death in my crappy kohls snow boots that have zero traction.

BUT, i was successful in a few things:

surprise my hubby with a treat at least once a month- i bought him a silly zombie food shirt from teefury.com. it didn't arrive until this week, but it counts for january cause i bought it then and told him about it then lol

send my babies a package of goodies, once a month- Amber and Tyler recieved their package of goodies a couple weeks ago... cute sets of papers/stickers/envelopes to make your own cards along with tinkerbell accessories (ps the socks in the photo, didn't go. because DUH! look how small those are. i forget amber is EIGHT now! ) and for tyler, some toy story 3 books (he's currently learning to read) and coloring books.

go on a photography adventure once a month- last month we went to starved rock to see the eagles. dozens of bald eagles flock to this island in the middle of the river. it's really kinda cool. it's hard to get good photos. even with our telephoto lense, they were less than stellar. but it was fun and rather interesting

i only wish i had more exciting things to report. but honestly, i'm doing everything i can to not crawl into bed and stay there for the next few months. I've had the worst time this winter. I have gone beyond the winter blahs and have Seasonal Affective Disorder. i've started taking some supplements and am happily surprised that they help. in fact, last night not only did i not have to fight to stay out of bed until 9pm, but i easily stayed up until almost 11pm! that's progress! ha!