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Beating Those Winter Blues.
Oh the winter blues. We have them!! Do you??
This is our second winter in Alaska. It seems like it's winter here all year long! I haven't seen my grass since September. It can get a bit depressing. The summers are wonderful, but way too short.
It was definitely a big adjustment moving here from California, where we had very mild winters. We have adjusted though. I have gotten used to plugging the car in at the grocery store, bundling the kids up in 50 layers of clothes (slight exaggeration), dealing with frozen pipes, etc.
It's actually not the cold itself that bugs me so much. It's the darkness and the lack of fresh air.
When it's below negative 20 out, who wants to spend any extra time outside?? Not me.
Especially since everyone keeps their cars running at the stores and has the heat going in their homes which makes the air outside icky. I know that you imagine Alaska having such fresh air, but let me assure you that isn't the case during the winter in town. Yuck.
I sometimes feel like we're a family of bears, hibernating for the winter in a dark cave. Wake me when Spring comes....in April or maybe May??
The only way I keep myself sane is to keep busy. We get out of the house throughout the winter (unless it gets below negative 40 - then we usually try to stay home if we can). We had a few weeks off during the holidays and then we had a cold snap where it was below -40 for a week or so. We were really going stir crazy. Cabin fever had set in. I'm glad to be back to "normal" again.
I keep the kids in gymnastics and dance so that they can burn off some extra energy - otherwise they are bouncing off the walls at home, and I don't blame them! They are also in Girl Scouts, AWANA, and art classes.
I have a treadmill which I try to get on every day. It cheers me up :)
I wish I had more answers on how to beat those blues, but I don't. I'm anxious to read how you all do it!! I could use some good ideas - and some sunshine :)
10 comments:
we are in New England and I thought winters are bad here! :) Love the moose pic-I've always wanted to see one close up, but I never have.
Love that middle pic there. I live in the midwest US and it has snowed more this year than before I was born (I'm nearly 28).
I am thankful, though, that we have moved to a bigger house for a winter like this. Our old house was so tiny that we were always bumping elbows and it CAN get stir crazy in there. I have not felt like that so much here. I'm happy for the warmth of my homey home.
But, like you, I have my eldest in ballet to get her out once in a while. My husband will take a child or two out with him to run errands, too. There are definately a variety of things to do. Just gotta get some heads together to think on them, eh?! :) Good question!
I'm looking forward to next week's, though I'm a little camera shy!
I live in northern NH and it gets well below zero here too. We are okay, as we are in the warm house but we have farm animals that I often worry about.
Love the moose picture!! We have lots of moose up here, and I would rather see them in a picture then standing in the middle of the road!! EEK!! :0)
Your blog is great!! :0)
Ok, I will never complain about the winters in south Georgia again! 40 below??? OMGosh! You're a military family, right? When do you get orders??? LOL
I figured you would be the expert on winter blues since you deal with them 8-9 months a year! I agree, the key is to stay active, and also to keep some routine. Some days we just keep plugging away waiting for everything to thaw outside. It'll come, eventually, right?
~Erin
WOW, thank you for a peek into what a true winter in at the North Pole!! LOL! Yeah, like another poster said, remind me not to grumble about our winters in the south! Enjoyed seeing your photos! Very unique!
Wow we are trapped inside during the winter to to allergens not the cold. You guys are real troopers. Love the photos.
Your photos are beautiful and so is your blog. I must keep things in perspective. While I am no lover of winter I see that I do have it much easier than many do.
~Blessings.
~Rhonda
Keep your self busy Jen, and spring will be there before you know it :)
SOOO interesting! That was a really fabulous peek into life in Alaska. I had no idea about the plugging in of cars thing! Wow!
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