Heidi:1 Blizzard:0

That's right, Mother Nature, I am calling you out. Sure, you had this West Coast city girl worried a time or two, but I'm a HIGDON! You may win the battle, but I will win the war!

In yet another 'you're not from around here, are you?' situation, I have survived my first blizzard in this place that they call God's country. After the most horrifying 2 mile drive to get home from work on Tuesday in 6 inches of snow and 40mph winds creating total whiteout conditions where I had to drive with my windows down just to see ANY glimpse of where the road ended and the ditch began, I relished in the warmth and safety of my home and prepared to enjoy Snowmageddon 2011.

Here I am, making winter look good, after putting Feivel in his garage and before beginning the trek to my front door:

Once inside, I decided to document just how much snow we were about to get. This is the accumulation on my porch as compared to my screen door at 3:30pm on Tuesday, February 1st, 2011...4 hours before the 'bad' part of the storm was supposed to hit. At the time, it didn't occur to me to start shoveling (not that I own a shovel anyway) so that I could have a path in the morning.

Fast forward to 7:00pm, still not dawning on me that this could be a potential problem:

Some of me enjoying the fun and practicing to be named Snow Queen:

Then came the serious part of the storm, probably around 9:00pm --- 50mph winds, 3 - 4 inches of snow an hour, lightning, and thunder:

After staying up until midnight watching it pour, I snuggled into bed anticipating a lovely night of sleep before my first ever snow day. I don't know what the big deal is, I mean, yeah there is snow and it's windy, but it's not THAT bad.

6:00am Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011:

Uh-oh. Yeah, that's a 4 foot snow drift against my door. THIS is the moment it occured to me that I should have been keeping a path clear last night instead of curling up in my window seat and being a passive spectator. Alright, Mother Nature, I may be down, but I am NOT out. I could open my screen door about 3 inches before it hit a wall of snow that felt like cement. After 10 minutes of trying to muscle the door through the snow (not a great exit strategy, but gives a great cardio burn!), I knew I would have to shovel my way out. And I did:

You're probably thinking, 'How can she shovel from the INSIDE of her house?' and 'I thought she didn't own a shovel?!' I'll admit, I was stumped on these as well for a moment and then I said to myself: I know I have seen a very small shovel-like appliance around here before. Though I have never used it myself, I have seen others use it many a time. Sure, they were working with a soupier type of substance, but it's the same basic idea...

I may not have a shovel, but mom made sure I had a ladle! That's right. I ladled my way out of the snow bank. Beat that, MacGyver!After a very long, very determined effort, here I am celebrating my victory amongst my handywork with my prized tool:

Now, about getting to the car...