I'm Back!

Hello!

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days!  I have been having tons of fun soaking up my last days :'( of Christmas break.  Can you believe that school is back in TOMORROW???  I can't.

On Wednesday, I completed the Perplexus puzzle ONE TO ONE-HUNDRED!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have been trying to complete it for quite a while, and I FINALLY got it!  You're probably wondering what the Perplexus is.  Well...

...THAT is the Perplexus!  In a nutshell, you basically have a little silver metal ball that you are trying to move around on the tracks without falling off.  It is hard because of the MANY obstacles that you encounter along the way.  The tracks have numbers on it from 1-100.  I have been working on it for about 2 years, off and on, and I decided to bring it out again on Tuesday.  I started off pretty well, and completed both level 2 and 3 pretty quickly.  I had never fully completed level 2 or 3; only level 1.  So, that made me happy!  My goal then became to complete level 1-3 (1-100).  I wanted to complete it on Tuesday, but that didn't happen.  Then, after about 4 straight hours of working on it on Wednesday (yes, I was slightly obsessed), I GOT IT!!!!!!  It was an amazing moment of joy.  I am now working on the Perplexus Epic...

...which is insanely hard.  Unlike the Original Perplexus, it does not have levels, it is just one thing that goes from 1-125.  The obstacles are WAY harder than the Original Perplexus.  So, I will let you know when I complete this one.  It may be awhile, because I've only gotten to 26.

On Thursday and Friday, we went skiing.  We had a lot of fun, and I am starting to go on some more fun, advanced runs!  I love it!

Yesterday (Saturday) we went skating on WILD ICE!!!  We had a 45 minute to an hour hike in the snow to get to the lake.  Some of the terrain was flat, but most of it was sloped.  We had to pack in our skates, extra clothing, and all our food for the day.  It was fun to hike in the snow.  Once we arrived at the lake, it was SO amazingly beautiful.  The experience overall was incredible!  It was really hard to believe that we were actually skating on a lake.  It was super cool, because in some spots, we could actually see the bottom of the lake.  Another very neat and special (but also kind of freaky) part of skating on wild ice, is the sounds it makes when it's cracking.  It cracks, and then it makes a sound that almost sounds a bit like a dog barking.  There was one crack that was really big, and when you skated over it, it moved, and a bit of water came through it!  The ice was 3 plus inches thick, so we were totally safe; the ice is constantly expanding and contracting and cracking.  On most of the ice, you could not see through.  The spots that you couldn't see through had TONS of tiny bubbles underneath the ice.  It was super cool!  There are also these really neat formations of bubbles under the ice called bubble gardens.  Here are some pictures:

A crack in the ice and some branches from a fallen tree underneath the ice.

A beautiful view across the lake. 

I love the lighting in this picture!

A part of the ice by the shoreline where you can see RIGHT THROUGH!!  You can see my skates in this picture.

A bubble garden.  Isn't it incredible?  Here are a bunch more bubble garden pictures:

So cool!

I think this one is the coolest one.  It reminds me of the Jetson's little houses and the big mall in the middle!

This is another picture of the one above from a different angle.

These people had their lawn chairs and stuff out on the middle of the ice, which we thought was cool/funny! 

It was so cool to just look right through it! 

A very interesting, beautiful cloud formation over the mountains. 

A reflective picture.

We had a wonderful time.  It was such a beautiful experience, and it might be our only wild ice skate this season, because it is snowing today!  Once the ice is covered with snow, you can't skate on it.  We aren't supposed to get much snow, so it's possible that the snow will melt into the ice and freeze.

I hope you enjoyed this post, and all of the pictures!  Have a great day!

~Grace

P.S. If you haven't already, please participate in my survey here!

Christmas Day!

Hello!

Thank you so much to my 2 new friends, Wendy and Janna-Mandy!

I hope you've had a great couple days.  I have been skiing, and I am really, really loving it, and I actually got to go on some more advanced runs yesterday!

Ok, onto Christmas!  We had a very relaxing, beautiful day!  We actually had a white Christmas, and on the day after Christmas, it snowed like CRAZY!!!  We got 2 feet!  We had a very nice morning, opened gifts and cards, and had our traditional DELICIOUS cinnamon roll breakfast!  Yum!  We hung out the rest of the day, played with our new AG stuff, and started making a video for our YouTube Channel.  We had an amazing dinner of Ham, Green Bean Casserole, Cheesy Potatoes, Pineapple, and Cranberry Sauce.  It was super delicious!!!!!  We ended the day with the classic movie "White Christmas."  It was a wonderful movie, and we all enjoyed it very much.

I realized that I never posted a picture of our tree!  Here it is:

Here is what I got for Christmas:

Of course, my favorite gifts of all!  Jack...

...and Maggie!


Here's the story: Daydream Doll Boutique was having their Holiday Giveaway for my dream doll, Hailey.  I love her short curly hair, and I had wanted her for over a year.  Lindsay's doll, McKenna (check her blog out here) won!!!!!  As a Christmas present, she gave Hailey to me!!!  I love Hailey, and she is a beautiful doll!


The Reindeer PJ's!  I have really, really wanted these, so I was super, duper excited.  They are so cute, and I love the little thumbprint design!

The Sweat Treats PJ's!  I have also really wanted these, and they are ADORABLE!!!  Now Audrey has some pj's!

The Sporty Sandals!  These have been on my list for a few years now, and I was so excited to receive them!  They are SUPER realistic, and look exactly like Keen shoes.  I love them!

The Raspberry Hoodie!  Lindsay and I each got one in our stockings, and they look super stylish on the girls!

The Our Generation Home Accessory - Kitchen Baking Set!  I love this set!  Elizabeth now has some really cool baking tools!

Review of the AG items coming soon!

I hope you had a very wonderful Christmas, and that you are having a great day today!

~Grace

Oh How Pinteresting Wednesday ~ 5

Hello!

Here are some of my favorite pins from the week:

Grumpy cat is so funny!!!!

Exactly!

DIY Bow Bookmarks.

Ballerina Paper Snowflakes!

Chocolate Oreo Peanut Butter Brownies!!!!  YUMMY!!!!

Thin Mint Truffles!

Dip straw in nail polish and apply to your nail!  So cool!

How to glitter your nails... perfectly!

SINGING CAT!!!!!

Cinnamon Roll Pancakes!

 So cute!

LOVE THIS OUTFIT!!!

And this one!!!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas, and that you are having a nice relaxing day today.  We WERE going to go skiing today, but we can't get out of our driveway, because there is 2 FEET OF SNOW ON IT (and counting)!!!!!  Have a great day!

~Grace

P.S. Christmas post coming soon!

Skiing + TONS OF SNOW!!!!

Hello!

We have TONS of SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!  It is SO AWESOME!!!!!!  We have almost 2 feet!  I LOVE SNOW!!!!!!!  It was pretty blizzardy earlier today, but it is lighter right now. :P

Now that we have a ton of snow, skiing is going to be great!  I am learning how to ski this year (I went twice last year, but that doesn't really count, because they were about 3 months apart and I didn't progress much).  It is soooooooo much fun!  I love it!  I was able to ski twice this past week.  I started out on the baby hill, and then went to the bigger bunny hill.  On Wednesday, I got in about 2 1/2 hours, and then danced for 3 hours after that.  Thursday, I skied for 3 hours, and then danced for 1 1/2 hours.  Needless to say, I was tired, but it was so much fun and well worth the extra tiredness.

I am now ready to take the lift further up the mountain and ski some runs the next time we go.  I have gotten turns down pretty well, and I can't wait to get on a more exciting hill. ;o)  I love being out in the snow skiing, and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the resort's terrain.  It will be so beautiful.  I love going down the hill, and feeling in control!  Now that I can control my speed, and stop quickly, I can go faster, which is SUPER FUN!!!!!  Skiing has been a total blast so far, and I can't wait to go again!

I hope that you are all having fun skiing, or doing other winter sports, or just enjoying the beauty of God's creation!  Have a great night!

~Grace

Happy Winter + THE WORLD DIDN'T END!!!!!!!

Hello!

WE ARE ALL STILL HERE!!!!!  THE WORLD DIDN'T END!!!!!!!  YAY!!!!!  Did anyone think that was ACTUALLY going to happen?  Not moi; at least not because of a Mayan Calendar.

Anyway, Happy Winter!  It is FINALLY officially winter!  It sure felt like it today!  It has been snowing, and is supposed to keep on going till Christmas!

Do you like my Christmas blog design?  I think it's really cute!

We have our tree up and decorated, our nativity scene set up, and it feels very Christmasy in here.  We are also doing our Advent calendar to hear the true story and meaning of Christmas, which we really enjoy.  It's not about candy and gifts - it's about JESUS!  Are you doing an Advent calendar?

Speaking of Christmas... Can you believe it's only 4 days away?  I sure can't.  I mean... where has this year gone?  It has been a fantastical year, full of many ups, downs, and wonderful things.  I can't believe it is almost gone already.  It seems like every year just gets shorter.  Farewell, 2012.  But, there's only one thing you can do, right?

2013, here I come!!!!!!

Haha!  But seriously.

I hope you are all having a wonderful First-Day-of-Winter-the-World-Didn't-End-Day!!!

~Grace

P.S.  Thanks so much to my new friend, Rachel!

Snow + A Reminder

Hello!

So, if you saw my post yesterday, you know that it was snowing!  We got about 8 inches total, and there is supposed to be more coming Sunday.  It snowed a bit this morning, but not much.  Here are some pictures:

During the storm yesterday!

Not sure if this was taken yesterday or today, but this shows the stormy sky and the silver lake.

The stormy clouds.

How much snow we actually got.  It is a bit compacted in this picture.

This is one of our favorite views.

The snow is so much fun, and it's not supposed to melt this time, because it's getting cold.  We are supposed to get more on Sunday and next week.  Yay!!!!

I still have 4 spots open for guest posting in the month of December!  You can choose any days you want except for Christmas Eve (24) and Christmas Day (25).  If you are interested in guest posting, please visit this post and email me at americangirlgrace@yahoo.com.  Thanks!

Have a great night!

~Grace

The Cool Pup and a Snowy Update!

Hello!

Thank you for all of your entries to my giveaway!  I will be revealing the winner tomorrow.

Lindsay has these glow-in-the-dark glasses that she received from the library as a prize for completing her reading goal this summer.  We put them on my dog, Kooper, and he looked ADORABLE!!!!  He doesn't like wearing them very much, though. ;o)  I came across them today while going through some stuff, and I just HAD to show you!  Here is the 'Cool Pup':

Isn't this funny?  He is such a sweetie, and he was very good about me putting these on him, and getting a picture.

Now, for the snowy update!  It snowed a little over a foot last night!  It's so beautiful!  Since this morning, it has begun to melt just a little, and it has compacted down.  Tonight is supposed to be the last stormy night for a little bit, and it will warm up this weekend.  All of the snow might melt!  Isn't that terrible?!?!  I'm so bummed!  I know that it will be back soon, though.  Here are some pictures that I took this morning:

A lot more snow than yesterday!

LOTS of snow!!! 

In this picture, I was trying to capture the clouds coming into the snowy trees. 

 Don't the clouds look like they are rising right out of the lake?

Have a great night!

~Grace

It's Snowing!!!

Hello!

Thank you to my new friend, Betty!  I now have 35 friends!!!  Thank you so much everybody!

Today is the LAST day to enter My Giveaway, so if you haven't entered, click here!

It's snowing!!!  This is our first snow of the season, and I am so happy!  It started snowing around midnight last night, and it hasn't stopped.  We have about 6 inches so far, and counting.  It's so pretty outside with the snow on the trees, and it is very special because all of the Aspens are still yellow and orange, so they look absolutely beautiful with the snow on them!  

Our dogs love the snow, so they are very happy, too!  Our German Shepherd, Kaptain, LOVES to play in the snow!  He runs around, plays with his sticks that he finds, and does other doggie things!  Kooper loves the snow, too, but he can't go out too much for two reasons:  1) He gets snow and ice all balled up in his fur that are hard to get out.  The 'snowballs' cause him pain (they pull at his fur), and make him super cold!  We just groomed him, and I got him a sweatshirt and jacket, so hopefully that will help.  2) He loves to eat the snow.  This wouldn't be a problem, except for the fact that he has potty accidents in the house after eating so much snow.  We're hoping that this year, he will not be so obsessed with eating snow, and that he will be able to go out more!  

Here are some snowy pictures:

We use our deck railing as a gauge of how much it's snowed!

My 'slipper-prints' on the deck! :D 

When it rains or snows (particularly snow) the sky gets very ominous, so you can't see the lake all the way across.  I call it the 'Ocean Effect.' :o)

I love the snow in the trees! 

I was trying to capture the snow coming down, but it didn't work that well!  You can kind of see it on the right a little. 

An Aspen tree with a little bit of snow on it; isn't the color beautiful against the background?

Has it snowed at your house yet?  Have a great day!

~Grace