A Snowstorm and a Ball!

I didn't blog much all winter, but if I had, I would have spent a considerable amount of time complaining about the lack of snow.  Once it hit March, we pretty much gave up.  I should have remembered that the biggest snowstorms we've always had up here have ALWAYS been in the spring.  I also should have figured that the snow would hit on literally the one night of the year that we had plans.

A few months ago, our friend Renee asked us to attend a formal ball for her sorority's alumni group. We were really excited to have an excuse to dress up (well I was anyway) and hit the town.  We even finally got a babysitter specifically for the occasion.  Of course, when we woke up in the morning, it was snowing, and by the time we were driving home from the gym around 11 am, this is how the roads looked:

Uhh...

By the time Olive woke up from her nap around 2pm, we had to shovel and we decided to finally give the sled a spin!

All smiles! she loved it...

...but not as much as Ripley!

Not only did it snow a lot, but the lack of snow combined with the generally horrible drivers and the fact that a bunch of people ditched their snow tires early this year meant the roads were treacherous. There was a 20+ car accident that closed the Seward Highway for most of the day.  We didn't let it stop us though!

All dressed up!

Andy and Renee.  Isn't she just the prettiest?!

We were actually pretty under-dressed for the event, which was FORMAL formal.  I wore a short dress because it was all I had without hitting the mall (thanks for the bridesmaid dress, Lauren!). Most of the women were in long gowns and the guys were in tuxes.  Andy said he didn't think he'd seen so many people (400+) so dressed up since our wedding.  I think we haven't been around people THAT dressed up since our respective proms.

Speaking of prom...

My skin is actually reflective I am so pale.

They had a photographer taking pictures in front of a backdrop.  This one got the LOVELY Sheraton ballroom carpet in the frame, which matches the red nicely.  Also we selected the prom pose because we thought it was funny, but I didn't realize it would be quite so unflattering.  I also just noticed that it looks like we just met each other, which is strange.

I even danced!! Which was intimidating considering the crowd...

I don't know why Renee and I are the only ones with our hands up...

As you might have noticed, Renee's sorority is a historically black sorority.  She did mention that it's not exclusively for African Americans, AND that they let older people pledge as adults, which got me thinking about pledging.  I feel like my dance moves might have won me some points with the board, too!

...and then we started taking pictures like this:

Oh well...I don't think I'm cut out for the sorority life anyway.  Can't wait until next year's ball, we had a blast!