groundings: walking in a winter wonderland

It's beginning to feel like we just might have a white Christmas this year - since we've had snow for a week now, with more falling today and more expected Tuesday/Wednesday. I'm loving it. Yeah, it sucks for travelling in and a lot of people are stuck at airports right now, but there is also a beauty to seeing everything freshly covered in white.

My parents and I braved the roads after church this morning. They're on their way to visit R & H in Victoria, and I have to work tomorrow, so it was back to Richmond for me. The roads were pretty snow-covered as plows hadn't been out yet in many areas and the snow was still falling. I dropped them off at the ferry terminal and finished the last stretch by myself - the only place I was worried about getting stuck was when I turned onto the side streets by our house. They haven't been travelled on much and had thick layers of fresh snow that I was plowing through. I made it, though, and the car is now safely tucked into our underground parking lot where it shall remain until the return trek tomorrow evening.

After making it home, I couldn't help but go for a walk in the snow. There's something magical about snow, and it makes everything so quiet and peaceful. Unfortunately for me, I discovered that I sent my camera to Abbotsford for the week and couldn't take any pictures of this wonderland!

Last week, Mark and I had the chance to go skating in the Olympic speed skating oval - such a cool experience! All last week they basically had it open for free skating every lunch hour and evening to showcase the building. Here's a few pics from that adventure:

I'm enjoying a cup of hot chocolate now and I think tonight I'll make some shortbread cookies. A perfect activity for a cozy winter evening.

I'll leave you with this photo taken of some bushes in our courtyard last week - just imagine a thicker layer of snow lining each branch and it'll be like I just took the picture today. :)