Landscapers

It is STILL SNOWING IN PROVO! ALL. THE. TIME. But it's like a tropical island here, now: we're hitting at least 30 degrees everyday!

And so the winter adventures continue. We did, as stated previously, go ice fishing.


Billy drilling with the augger--so crazy and so fun!

The ice was like two feet deep.

We, of course, did not catch anything,but it was sweet to walk around on the lake afterwards. We were just walking on the lake! We could hear these cracking noises the whole time we were out there and it was freaky walking around and seeing cracks deep in the layers of the ice. Nerve wracking! But all was well and we were only a little disgruntled that we didn't catch anything.  

 

School continues. The following pictures are a funny discovery of my life. I've worked in the Grounds Office for almost three years now and I'm always dealing with or delivering these master landscape plans for campus and I never once stopped to notice the meticulous lettering or carefully drawn bushes--becuase I had no idea anyone even cared! 

But apparently, there's a whole landscaping handwriting and drawing technique!

How strange! Half of Billy's homework these days is just drawing pages and pages of these particular letters and strange bushes haha!


Speaking of the crazy landscapers of this world, we went showshoeing with the landscape management club--I was going for the sheer adventure of snowshoeing through the mountains. They were going to discover the world's largest white fir, and oh man, were they excited when they found it! 

That's it in the background, not nearly as large as the Redwoods, obviously, but still pretty impressive. Of course all the landscape boys, especially Billy, were climbing all over it before I could even get my snowshoes off.

It was so funny; when the LS professor finally made it up to the tree he gathered us all around, distributed elk jerky made from elk he had shot himself, demanded we sing "High on the Mountaintop," then lovingly showed us the treasure he'd been collecting on the hike up--white fir tree seeds! "These are so rare, and so hard to find!! I'm going to take these seeds, plant them in my backyard and in seven or eight years, I'm going to chop them down and use them as Christmas trees!" (because why bother trying to outgrow the magnificent species already before our eyes?)

Landscapers. haha.

Of course, all 5 our trucks were stuck when we got back down, so that was another adventure. But we made it.

This weekend, the Carters! Hooray!

It is COLD in Utah

Winter has hit us full force. For all the winter we didn't get last year, we are being bombarded in the face this year and probably the marrow in our bones will never fully thaw.

But, as always, we have found ways to entertain ourselves. One such opportunity came last weekend, in the middle of a ferocious storm, when temperatures were at their lowest: snow camping!!

We took the Perez's and it was freee-eee-zing cold. I mean COLD, people.

We drove to Strawberry Reservoir (becuase we were planning on going ice fishing the next morning) and set up camp in haha a parking lot. but you couldn't really tell it was a parking lot other than the fact that it was right next to a lake because there was so much snow in it. And it was still snowing. And it was bone-chilling COLD.

But so fun!



After much diligent effort from the boys   men, during which bum and I just stuffed hand warmers in all of our socks and gloves and pockets, we got a nice little fire going and roasted the best brats I have ever had in my life (whether that was because they were chock full of cheese or because my taste buds had frozen so I didn't know the difference, I'll never know)



Either way, it was COLD. Colder than the time I spent the night in Goblin Valley last year or up behind the Y the year before that. You'd think I'd've learned my lesson.

But no,

despite the sleepless night on lumpy piles of snow nuzzled next to Billy in a two sleeping bags zipped together to make one giant sleeping bag that, despite our best efforts, came unzipped by the feet throughout the night leading us on the pathway to Mary Goble Pay's fate, and the snow that was blowing in and forming ice crystals on top of our sleeping bags and the snow plow that came by at 3:30 in the morning (at least he didn't wake us up or anything becuase we obviously weren't sleeping) and the useless attempts to hold in pee for three hours so that I wouldn't have to get out and go outside but eventually having to anyway and thus exposing my naked bum to the elements while urine isicles hit the ground by my soon-to-be-amputated feet and the wet clothes we had to put on in the morning and the sun that didn't rise until 8:30 and the fire that wouldn't start because the bitter morning winds kept blowing out any kindling that caught, making frozen little flames before we had a chance to enjoy Andy's gourmet ham and egg sandwhiches,

I'd do it again in a heart beat!

Even though it was COLD COLD COLD. Weather reports the next day caused us to hypothesize that we survived a -5 degree night. Nonetheless, there was much bonding and much adventure and even though I'd probably bring an extra hand warmer or two and some wood that wasn't soaked in oil and maybe my own sleeping bag, it was fun and I'm still alive (and two-footed, all ten toes in place) to tell the tale!

The COLD, however, has not relented. Provo experiences single digit temperatures on a daily basis and receives lots of moaning and complaining from even the most native of all native Utahns. Those poor Grounds guys, whenever they're not out pushing pounds of snow, they're looking for excuses to come to the office, and it's not becuase there's cute secretaries up there.

Below is an example of a very common sight all around the city:

Talk about DEATH!!!! These things have doubled in size since we took this picture 4 days ago, and I, for one, refuse to touch them to break them away. I hope the Christmas lights still strung up beneath them are doing ok. But probably not, becuase they're touching ICE.

 

We even get calls in the Grounds Office for people asking our guys to go knock 9 ft. isicles down cus people  are scared that the isicles will fall and impale someone. And seriously, that's a legitiamate concern. Those ice guys are crazy.
In the meantime, Billy and I have been working away, I am quite enjoying my final semester of education, and Billy is researching like crazy to get ready for the summer. And helping Rob remodel this kitchen:

We are happy and all is well--tomorrow we are going ice fishing! It will likely be COLD!