I love a good sky! That’s no secret for sure. Though we don’t see these kinds of skies when it’s cold outside! I long for the big puffy clouds of summer. For now, this will do. It warms me up inside.

[weird, this one has some pixeling issues when resized and uploaded.] But you get the idea. The trees are budding!! Just when it seems like spring will never arrive in our neck of the woods, the sky turns bright blue and my gorgeous maple shows me these little gems. I love it!

Dillan and I were sitting out in the front yard just hanging out and watching the cars go by. I looked down and found 3 ladybugs! Dillan did have them all in his hand at once but those little critters woke up out hibernation and were busy little bugs on a mission. They had no intentions of doing anything slowly or for just hanging out. In fact, I couldn’t get a picture in focus because they just moved too fast. This is the only one, out of 20 or so.

When people think of North Dakota, they think we are burried under snow all year round. We get our fair share but we actually get less than some other areas in the country. But when we get snow, we rarely get to play in it for very long. It’s usually powdery which doesn’t pack well and after it snows it tends to go way below zero which keeps us indoors too. But a good spring storm brings the moisture and the warm sun that makes for hours of outdoor play. It was awesome! Connor made this snowman on his own and he’s so proud!

There is so much beauty in a heavy, wet snowstorm. Everything is covered. It’s amazing. But couldn’t this have happened a couple months ago? This has to be exactly what we DIDN’T need in the valley right now. This tree is in my backyard neighbor’s yard, clearly seen from our balcony. It’s stunning in snow.

I’ve said it before, I LOVE a good sky. The winter skies are usually pretty uneventful – either blue or grey or a partly cloudy. But spring and summer bring great sunsets and big puffy clouds, and storm clouds that make really cool patterns. This is the beginning of many cool skies to come!

We had some amazing lights this morning. This isn’t an uncommon scene in North Dakota, it’s always cold and we typically have some frost flakes floating around. My foreground scenery could have been more pleasing but I wasn’t about to head out of town in hopes of it still being visible by the time I got there. Sun Dogs make me happy.

My dear James gave me awholelotta roses for Valentine’s day. This morning they were opening beautifully. I love how a rose smells but I also love how the petals swirl around and around. They’re just so pretty!

On our way to Mom’s house for my birthday dinner, I snapped this image out the windshield. I love a beautiful  sunset. I know this would have been even more gorgeous if we were outside of  town. I love the strong colors and the spires of the sun.

We were getting some nice snowfall in the morning  so I decided that I’d take a little detour after delivering some images today. I drove down to Lindenwood Park to capture the snowy landscape. By the time I got there the flakes had gotten quite a bit smaller and they are barely visible in the image – though they are there! Winter sure is pretty, I just wish it wasn’t so cold.