February 2022
Highlights from February 2022 | Omaha, NE & Council Bluffs, IA
As born and raised Midwesterners, we have always thought that February was the worst month — it’s when we’re so tired of winter, but the cold and snow are unrelenting, giving only tiny teases of spring before dumping more snow and plunging back into bitter cold. This year, that wasn’t the case — this was the most beautiful February I’ve ever experienced, excluding my winters in Southern areas of course. It was honestly funny to me how snow would pop up in our forecast a few times, but each time the storm ended up going South and we continued to have beautiful weather. I can tell that I’m stronger this year than last year, and just the thought that this could again be our last full Midwestern winter for a while has also made me want to relish the colder days more.
That being said, this was another good month for us personally. We received some answers about our future and made some big decisions. We always talk about how we don’t feel like “real adults,” but having to make decisions for ourselves rather than having the military tell us what to do feels like a big step in the “becoming a real adult” direction. As time goes on, we’re starting to get a better idea of what we want in the future and where we want to end up, and it’s so exciting to start to take small steps in that direction!
Anyway, all that is still a ways off, so we are still striving to live in the moment and enjoy our days in the Midwest. Here’s what we were up to in February, besides hiking 10 miles on the Wabash Trace Trail:
- We enjoyed all the beautiful weather with lots of walks outside, usually to our favorite lakes, but this month we branched out and visited another one for the first time: Lake Cunningham on the North side of Omaha. Like our other favorite lakes, there is a paved path that goes around the entire thing, which was actually completed last summer. We walked the entire 7 mile loop around the lake on a brisk and windy day, and while we enjoyed it and were glad we did something new, we like our other lakes on the South side of town better and also weren’t crazy about the longer drive.
- We had two game nights with our friend group where we continued our long legacy play through of Betrayal. We have about 3 games to go before reaching the end!
- We spent many afternoons in Glenwood at the Makers Space — follow Curtis’ progress on his wood topographic map on his Instagram account, @squatchis, or search the hashtag #woodtopomap. I like to go along to hang out, work in a different environment, or sometimes go for walks in the nearby park.
- I finished 7 books this month — my goal for this year is still going strong! I enjoyed all the books I read, but my favorite was “Our Woman in Moscow,” a historical fiction by Beatriz Williams.
- We returned to one of our favorite spots to hike in the Loess Hills, Hitchcock Nature Preserve North of Council Bluffs. It was a warm and sunny day in Omaha, but we arrived to find it was more overcast and windy in the hills. We still braved the cold and went for a nice loop hike. While there wasn’t any snow on most of the ground, the North-facing slopes had some tightly packed snow that made walking up or down on them more treacherous. On our way home, we stopped at the Lincoln Monument and enjoyed the views overlooking Omaha, and saw the Black Angel statue and other monuments in the nearby cemetery.
- Curtis finished another class in his master’s program — only 3 to go!
Besides all that, we watched as things unraveled overseas and found ourselves in that now familiar spot of wondering how this will impact Curtis’ job and any future plans we might make. We hope & pray for peace, and are trusting God that everything is under control and will all bring Him glory.
