Given the weather in New Jersey today, most people probably chose to spend the day indoors.

Not us.

We again hunkered down with our friends in Sea Bright. At first, the storm seemed like it might be a bust, as the promised heavy snow was instead nasty, driving sleet. But finally, the snowstorm came around and pounded us for several hours.

And then it was time to head outside.

First, the view of the river...



Then, we headed oceanside to check out the incredible wave action in the Atlantic...



I can't remember the last time I saw waves this impressive in New Jersey...



Work was canceled today. I know it's a lot to ask for a second consecutive snow day but I am cautiously optimistic. Power is out in many areas of the state and snow continues to fall heavily.

While we're on the subject of beautiful skies and winter weather, I realized I never posted any photos from our trip to Vermont last month (which may have had something to do with my focus on the Jets' unexpected playoff run at the time).

The Captain and I headed north with friends for a long weekend in Killington, where we found fabulous conditions and a surprisingly uncrowded mountain. There was an amazing amount of snow, which made the lack of skiers even more surprising.

The views from the top of Killington Peak were stunning...

It was our first ski trip together and we had a blast. Despite being a mixed relationship (me = skier; him = snowboarder), we skied at a similar level. For the first time in many, many ski trips, I skied without a single fall. Which I'm sure had more to do with skiing more conservatively than being a better skier.

The combination of bitter windy cold and a lack of motivation meant we never got outside yesterday to play in the snow. But the crazy day of weather did give us one final surprise, which made an interesting bookend to the scene 24 hours earlier, when the ocean was calm as the sun went down on the day...

Then, after the storm that dumped snow and blew very heavy wind for the better part of the day...

the storm died down and left in its wake a stunning, peaceful sunset...

so vivid you could see the color from the sunset reflecting in the river...

With the threat of a massive snowstorm looming, we kept a close eye on the weather reports heading into the weekend. While most people were at the grocery store buying milk, bread and flashlights, we got wine and lobsters. We then hunkered down with friends who live across the street from the ocean in Sea Bright.

And what a storm it has been so far. At times snow has fallen at a rate of two to three inches per hour. We took a quick walk to the ocean early this morning, before the snow and wind got too crazy to be outside.

This is the snow blowing sideways off the ocean...



And this was taken standing on the seawall, overlooking the ocean. It was bitterly cold - the wind made it difficult to look into the snow...



The last few hours have been insane but we're hoping it settles down soon so we can get back out there.