Tara and I were both looking forward to our first real winter after two years avoiding it abroad. So far, it has only snowed twice, and neither storm deposited enough to do anything fun in, except take a few photos. By this time last year, our friend Alex was already camping in the igloo he built! We still can't wait to make one of our own, but who knows if we'll ever get the chance?

Though the season hasn't been white, other signs of winter are clear: the skies remain a perpetual shade of gray, fading to black when nighttime arrives at the early hour of 5PM. We've had our a fair share of chilly days and bleak afternoons, too.

We're still hopeful that candlelit cross-country skiing and weekends spent snowshoeing are in our future, but alas, nature has other plans for us so far. We had a nice walk in yesterday's flurry, though! Too bad the dusting of snow melted as quickly as it arrived.

As we work and save like crazy to pay for our land, we're keeping tabs on the weather in our home-state-to-be, Vermont. Disappointingly, it seems that everyone is having a mild winter this year.