So, that's what it looks like on my porch right now. On April 12. Welcome to life in Montana. 

M came into the kitchen and said, "Come look! I got you an icicle garden!"

My response was something like, "I don't want an icicle garden! I want a real garden, with green things!" 

In a way, the wintery weather is fine since I'm exhausted and feel less guilty about being a bum than I would if it was a glorious spring day.

But since I'm stuck with another view of pure white, I'm thinking about all the things I'm looking forward to for spring, while wearing socks with flamingos on them. Wishful thinking, maybe?

+ Getting veggies in the ground.

+ Running/playing with puppies outside.

+ Visiting the chickens in their soon to be built coop.

+ Creating our backyard oasis. 

+ Planting flowers. 

+ Not needing snow boots.

+ Running along an unfrozen river.

+ Kayaking.

+ Getting the chickens outside so the mudroom remodel can start.

+ Sangria.

+ Backdeck parties.

+ Grilling.

+ A walk in the park.

+ Fresh flowers in Mason jars.

+ All the energy that comes with spring.

What are your favorite things about spring?

Back around New Years Day, Alicia and Eileen sent me tweets and emails saying, "Hey we're signing up for the Shamrock Shuffle 8K, want to come?" 

Of course I said "Absolutely!" and promptly booked a flight. 

I've run half marathons on the fly, so I figured training for an 8k in two months would be cake. Of course, I forgot how much I'd struggled to train all last year and then it snowed, and snowed, and snowed some more and there were several bouts of -20 or colder temperatures. As I type, it's snowing and 21 degrees.  I've only managed a few outdoor runs so far this year, but I'm hoping that I can pull out an 8k drawing from skating, some mini indoor workouts and sheer force of will.

It might be a sad sight to see, me trudging through the 8K, but I'm mostly excited to meet Alicia and Eileen in real life and spend the weekend chattering away about running, blogging and life.

To celebrate our race weekend, Alicia is here talking about her training experience and running in Chicago and I'm posting over on her blog, Jaybird.

Hi there, readers of Near and Far Montana! I'm Alicia from Jaybird, where I write about running, eating and figuring out the ins and outs of adulthood in Chicago. I moved here last summer after two years in the suburbs, and I love exploring the city and adapting to a different pace of life. Today I'm here to talk about running in a city--I've learned that the challenges and perks are way different than they were out in the burbs--and to show you a few glimpses of my runs in the past few months.

Running in Chicago this winter has been a bumbling, trying effort. Jenn and I, along with Eileen, are gearing up for the Shamrock Shuffle 8K in less than a week (!!!), and I've been worried about training enough to be able to finish the race! We seem to be stuck in a neverending cycle of snow and melted puddles, and that's on top of the usual city running concerns like traffic, potholes and pedestrian safety.

When I'm running in the city, I see a lot of ick: black and grey slush, litter, people honking, dead pigeons (seriously) and deep puddles that I manage to step in every time. My neighborhood is made up of tiny streets and four-way intersections, meaning that each run happens in fits and starts and timing my pace seems impossible.

But on the weekends, when I have time to break from my normal routine, I find beauty in Chicago: the skyline emerging from around a bend in the path, Lake Michigan's frozen waves, colorful murals and even (I remember from summer) wide green medians that will hopefully reappear soon.

I've learned a lot by exploring the city on foot. When I’m running errands or meeting up with friends, I navigate the city with one eye on my smartphone, attempting to control for my atrocious sense of direction. When I'm running, I have to mentally orient myself every few blocks, carefully calling up my memory of which streets are north-south, which are east-west, and where everything is in relation to my home base.

Somehow, the city’s hustle and bustle has become my most desired location for meditative thought. Even as cars stream by and I follow fellow runners for a few miles, I feel alone in a calm and reassuring sense of the word. Ideas cycle through my mind and by the end of every run I have the equivalent of a journal entry or a few blog posts lettered in my mind. I watch the world that I typically drive by or view from the inside of a bus, and I gain a new appreciation for every inch and mile.

Though I’ve grown to love running alone, I can’t wait for Sunday when Jenn, Eileen and I will all get to run together! Having running buddies from afar has kept me motivated during frigid 5 a.m. jogs and longer runs, and it’ll be quite an experience to lose ourselves in running with a throng of thousands of people. I’m both excited and incredibly nervous for my first race--do you all have any tips for enjoying the race experience or running around big groups of people?
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Make sure you check out her running playlist and if you aren't already following her blog, you should be, this girl is wise beyond her years. She's got recipes that I am planning to try as soon as we get our new over and her Love Your Body Resolution series is simply amazing. Get to know her on Twitter, Facebook + Pinterest.

Maybe I'm a little different, but I like winter. Summer is always hard for me with my sunburn prone fair skin (I've been called lobster girl more than once in my life), my incredible dislike of being hot and sweaty, my hair gets frizzy and it's apparently easy for me to overheat. Like going to be sick overheat. In Montana, humidity is low, so that's a nice change from most of my summers spent in ridiculous humidity in Virginia and Alabama. 

All that has led me to being partial to the cooler months. 

A few things I love about winter.

+ Sweater weather. I love sweaters and I love sweater weather. 

+ Cold, snowy days are prime time for cuddling up inside with a cup of coffee or a glass of wine by the fireplace and reading a book or watching a movie and not feeling bad that you're not outside doing yard work or something productive.

+ Looking ridiculous in 17 layers of clothes and untied snow boots doesn't lead to all kind of judgmental glances. It also makes it harder to get sunburned under all those layers, though, I've proved it's not impossible.

+ Snowcapped mountains and snow dusted forests are beautiful. 

+ No snakes. Or bears. 

I live in Montana now. I understand that reality here is that the possibility of snow runs through about June. 

This winter has been especially cold with several bouts of subzero temperatures, lots of snow and wind, freezing rain. 

I'm over it. 

+ I'm over not being able to feel my face, or hands, or feet, or any limbs. 

+ Fearing the possibility of a snow drift on the hill I drive between the house and town. I got stuck in it once and had a meltdown. I've since improved my driving skills but that snow drift hill terrifies me. 

+ Almost wiping out in the parking lot, on the sidewalk, street, where ever because it's all ice. I'm not all that coordinated really. 

+ Having my pen freeze when I'm outside on assignment. M bought me some military pens that don't freeze. Of course, that's assuming I can still feel my fingers enough to actually hold the pen and write. 

+ Wanting to get started building the chicken coop, or preparing the garden or running or doing anything outside, but it's snowing. Again. 

Is it spring where you are? What do you love/hate about winter?