Lists with Friends - 1

Today I am starting something called "Lists with Friends".

I don't know much about it - who started it, if it's been going on for longer than just 2014, who can participate, what one's lists are about, what it's point is, really.  So I'm sorry I don't have a link for you to click on.  I'd love if I could find a list (haha) somewhere of all the people participating.

Anyway, from what I have gathered, generally it is a fun blog thing to do if you love making lists (ME!) and it seems like most, if not all, of the people participating are into scrapbooking (ME!) or at least crafts in general.

I'm not sure how often I'll post a list.  I'm not going to commit to one specific day of the week because that type of thing just doesn't work for me.  But we shall see what happens!  Here is my first list:

13 Things I Love Like About Winter
(Because, really, there's not much to love about Winter in Manitoba, Canada!)  I love God's creation (most of it - I could do without spiders!!) and I enjoy photography, so each season you can find me outside, camera in hand, finding things in His creation to praise Him for.  Ever since we moved from the country into town this has required a little more effort & imagination!  But here is what I am thankful for this Winter:

• That first snowfall, when everyone gets excited and is announcing it all over Facebook, and people are boasting about how much they got in their area.  This year our first snow came on October 20, but didn't stay.
  
  
•  The first big snowfall that turns your world white and means Winter is here to stay.  Ours came on November 17.
  
• Any time there is big, fluffy snowflakes floating or swirling down.
• When the pine trees get heavy laden with snow and the branches droop almost to the ground.
• The anticipation of the Christmas season coming.  
• Getting ready for Christmas - shopping for presents, putting up the tree, decorating the house, wrapping presents, the smell of cinnamon candles, Christmas music.
• Going to all the gatherings - spending time with people, exchanging gifts.  All the better if there are those previously mentioned big, fluffy snowflakes on Christmas Day!
• Birthdays in January - two of my nieces and my sis-in-law.  Having parties to attend makes the bitterly cold January go by faster.
• When fog the night before causes there to be stunning frost on everything in the morning.
  
• Blizzards that cause a little excitement.
• Valentine's Day - another thing to help Winter go by a little faster.
• Finding God's beauty in unexpected places - frost patterns on the sidewalk, little birdie footprints in the snow, crazy ice formations on the neighbour's chimney, frost-covered dried-up fruit still hanging from the trees, etc.
• And when a fresh snowfall covers everything in yet another coat of white, covering up the dirt and footprints underneath, I'm often reminded of Psalm 51:7 - "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow." and Isaiah 1:18 - "Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:  though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."

What are your favourite things about Winter?  Are you doing Lists with Friends this year?