Welcome to 2016!

We've now entered the sixth year of this little blog.  This post is coming from mid-January, though it contains pictures from the beginning of the new year.

As Christmas break (sadly) drew to a close, my fiancé and I went to downtown Omaha to watch the family fireworks show.  It was incredibly cold, and we rushed back to our car only to have a crazy long wait to escape.  However, I did get a few cool pictures out of the deal, as shown below.

The following day, I made the trek to Lincoln to see a friend. It was the first time back in Lincoln since about July, so it was interesting driving by my old stomping grounds. I must admit, that sometimes I really miss living in Lincoln...  I spent six years of my life there, so on many levels it still feels much more like home than the Omaha area.

Anyway, following lunch, I continued on to Grand Island to see my family for a bit before attending my sixth and final Christmas celebration of the season at my grandparents' farm near Wood River.  It was relatively mild weather, so I went outside to try to snap a few shots.  Here are a few that I kept and edited.

Since taking these shots, life has been rather busy....  School started up again, which mean exhaustion has been commonplace.  The past couple days have been insanely cold (only 5 or so degrees as a high, with subzero windchills), so all I've done is hide out in my fiancés apartment and take unnecessarily long naps.... I think the cold will break tomorrow, but winter is nowhere near over yet....

Late December Snows

Well, we were lucky (if that's the way you think of it) to have a white Christmas this year, as well as another snow storm today.  The dusting we got before Christmas wasn't much, but it did give my fiancé, brother, sister, and me an opportunity to hit up Tornado Hill in Grand Island.   Needless to say, many foolhardy decisions were made.  I'm just now recovering from some of the bruises I received as a result of sled crashes on Christmas Eve.

Sledding at Tornado Hill

The railroad tracks at Genoa, Ne behind my grandparents' house

The holidays themselves weren't too horrible for travel, though there were some moments of ice or sleet.  The real traffic hazard was today (December 28) in which Omaha received about 3-4 inches of snow over the course of the day.   I ventured out briefly to take some pictures and walk around, and the roads were a bit slick and traction was difficult.  I only took the risk because I felt claustrophobic and bored at my apartment.  My fiancé was snowed in at his apartment, I was snowed in at mine, and my brother (roommate) is still back at my parents' house.  I used to live this way all the time with a long distance relationship and no roommate, but I'm not used to being 100% alone anymore.  I probably could have been productive and gotten some lesson planning done, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it.  I still have a week until school starts and I'm trying to spend as little time as possible thinking about it.

Anyway, here's one photo below from my little excursion.  I was really hoping to catch some deer out and about, but all I saw were some fairly tame wild turkeys.

Mid-December

Well, it has been very hectic indeed recently...  It has been go, go, go ever since coming back from Thanksgiving break at school.  Kids are bouncing off the walls and I think both teachers and students alike are ready for Christmas.  With all of the action, it's been hard to do too much photography, though I was able to go downtown for a few pictures of the Christmas lights.

All in all, I'm hoping for some time to actually wedding plan and actually sleep coming up after break.  The wedding is close to six months away and much still needs to be done.  There has just been absolutely no time with the craziness at school...

Mid-November, 2015

Well, so far November has proved to be a considerably faster month than October.  It's actually incredible how much quicker it appears to be going.  Whereas October felt like the month that would never end, November is already half over and next week is a short week because of Thanksgiving.  By the time we get back, it'll be practically December, and we'll be staring finals week in the face.  I can't say I'm disappointed.  While this month has been easier, it's not necessarily because my job has been easier.  I think I'm just getting used to the level of stress...it's getting more "normal".

As far as weather goes, it has definitely started to feel like winter is approaching.  There have been days in the upper 50's and 60's.  It's been rainy and fairly tolerable temperature-wise.  However, there have been hints of snow and the temperature seems to drop a lot more at night.  I believe Friday is supposed to be the first potential snowfall accumulation of the year in Omaha.

Anyway, here are a couple random photos from the past couple weeks.  I went home to Grand Island for my mom's birthday a couple weeks ago, and some of the others are from walks around town.

November 1, 2015

Well, November was a welcome sight to me.  It meant the end of one of the hardest months I've had in recent memory and some new beginnings and upcoming holidays to look towards.  Despite the fact that we are well into fall and rapidly nearing winter, it has been shorts weather all week.  I've been taking advantage of the nice weather to go on walks in my area.  I know that I tend to get a little SAD (seasonal affective disorder) in the winter, so I want to hold that off as long as possible by enjoying nature while I can.

Here are a couple photos I took (in shorts and a t-shirt--man, am I going to miss shorts weather) on the first day of November.  One is a view of the autumn brightness you can see across West Omaha due to all the red and orange trees planted around here.  The other is a relatively impressive sunset.  Enjoy.

October is nearing an end....

Well, 'tis Halloween and the last day of October.  I have to be honest, though October is typically one of my favorite months, this one left much to be desired.  The weather was great and the fall colors were beautiful, but stress was at a high point at work.  The students I teach haven't had a true break since early September, and they are in desperate need of one.  It was just a long haul, and I'm glad I'll start Monday in November.  Parent teacher conferences are this week, which is (strangely) a relief. It means only three days of regular class, which will give students some time away.... and the teachers time away from them.  It's funny how everyone's face reads "FATIGUE" these days.

Anyway, as I mentioned, fall is out in full force.  I tried to get outside as much as possible to take advantage of photography opportunities.  Here are a few mixed Instagram and "nice camera" shots I took around Omaha:

Tropical, very non-autumn plants in the greenhouse at Lauritzen Gardens.

Indoors at Lauritzen Gardens

Wide angle shot of a fountain at the greenhouse

Another wide angle shot of the tropical-ness

Stones under the pond...how serene.

Mums...the quintessential fall flower.

Red....

Trains!  

Not sure what these are, but they're interesting.

Memorial Park looking gorgeous on a fall night.

Another shot of Memorial Park.

Bright leaves...

West Maple after a rain storm I got caught in..... I got stuck on a trail with no real roof to stand under...it was special.  I had to call my brother to come get me because the rain wouldn't stop.

Autumn in Omaha has finally arrived...

Due to extremely wet and warm conditions, trees have been taking their sweet time changing colors in the Omaha metro area.  However, nighttime temperatures have finally started dropping and we haven't received any precipitation for a couple weeks, so the colors have finally begun appearing.

I have a several Instagram photos attached from my walks around west Omaha.  Taking walks is one of the few things that helps me de-stress after a long and/or horrible day at school, so I'm taking advantage of the outdoors as much as possible before winter.  School has been busy and grueling recently, so I'm really just trying to make it through October.  I've heard from several veteran teachers that once you reach November, things go considerably faster.