Long Last Time: So Silent and Peaceful

Happy 2013 everyone.

I am not going to make any resolutions this year. I am just going to hope and have faith that peace and harmony will find me. I want everyday of 2013 to prove to me that calmness can exist in our souls and that everything does happen for a reason. Of course I am going to strive to be more healthy, more organized and hopefully incorporate simplicity into my life. After a couple years of chaos and darkness....I am wishing for a year of reflection and happiness.

Winter is such a gorgeous season, especially when it snows. Very rarely does it snow here in Arizona, so when it does...it's extra breathtaking. Yesterday, when I woke up to get ready for work, I felt an extra chill in the air and David softly said..."It snowed." When I looked out the window, our backyard had a thin, glittery blanket of white! The huge tree outside my window had piles of snow covering the branches and leaves and the brick walls that surround our yard were all lined with glistening snow! As I drove to work, I felt like I was in another place. The trees were all covered in snow and the houses looked like a winter scene from a Thomas Kinkade painting. It was absolutely gorgeous. Although it probably wasn't very safe...I tried snapping pictures with my phone as I drove to work. Needless to say...the pictures came out pretty blurry and by my lunch hour...the Arizona sun had melted all the snow away.

The peaceful feeling stayed with me throughout the day, even though the snow was gone and the workload at the office was as plentiful as any other day. I didn't care...for some reason, the crisp, snowy weather just made me want to listen to soft, folksy music and dream about the future. For some reason, every New Year's Day, I just get the feeling to drive out to the Arizona Folklore Preserve here in our town. It's a cozy little venue that hosts folk singers and poets. It's on the way to the mountains, tucked away off a windy, country road called Ramsey Canyon. It so quaint and charming and stays pretty cold, so the snow was definitely present. I made cupcakes for a New Years wedding there a few years ago and I remember falling in love with the gorgeous scenery and snowy surroundings. I decided, yesterday as I was daydreaming of the magical white New Years Eve we were having, that I wanted to make the trip to the Folklore Preserve, a New Year's tradition. And so I did. David, his mom and I all drove out there this afternoon so that we could see the snowy mountains a little closer and admire and snap pictures of the enchanting preserve. Being out there was an absolute breath of fresh air and here are some pictures that I took.