Both photos are excellent and testament to your dedication to going out in the cold and working to get a result. I am sure that you are pleased with the results and think that the effort was worthwhile.
I noticed that you said you have combined two different exposures to create the perfectly exposed final first picture. I dont know exactly which method you chose as in two completely different shutter actuations or the same image processed differently twice and then combined. The second method is best done if you shoot raw, as the files can be processed with a +/- 2 stop range without loosing detail if the original picture was correctly exposed. This very useful technique is often overlooked but it lends its self very well to this style of photography.
After looking at both shots (which I like very much) the foreground lighting on the first is better than that on the second, but the sky on the second is better than that on the first. I wonder if the position of the camera was the same for both shots and so each shot may have exactly the same framing? If this is the case, you have an opportunity to combine the best areas from both to make a different, but possibly better, third photo. The effort may return a worthwhile and interesting result.