Everyone Knows it's Windy!

Thursday morning we woke up to no power and a lot of wind. We looked outside and saw our humungo pine tree down. I never imagined that tree could be blown down. Here are some blogs that I follow that describe the disaster: Misty and Sue.

Here is a picture of Andy and the tree root.


Though this picture is really crappy, you can see the size of our tree. You can see Andy on the very left and the size of the tree compared to Andy's size. LOTS of work to be done.

Most of our community had their power back the same night. Ours didn't come on for two days. I'm not one to enjoy sleeping in a cold house. Fortunately Andy's sister, Kim, had power and she invited us to stay at her house. Kim took care of us as though we were staying in a 5 star hotel. My kids saw it as a big slumber party. I saw it as a big blessing.

We returned home on Saturday to a nice warm house. I think that's when it finally hit me that I faced the reality that our entire community experienced a natural disaster. I only believed those happened in Florida, Kansas, and Japan. Fortunately, this wasn't as tragic as others, but it was still a change.

We had to start getting that big tree out of our yard and I was dreading that huge task. I texted a few friends asking for chainsaws. My text brought at least 20 people to our house with chainsaws, arms and legs to carry the branches away. Tears kept creeping up as I thought of the service that friends were giving as they worked away on our tree. It was an overwhelming feeling of hope and love as I watched these friends move from house to house to help those in need.

I ran to the store to get some pizzas for our friends. The longest line I've seen at 1 PM. I spoke the the person behind me as we shared that we were both there to feed our friends who were working so hard. I paid the employee only to learn that my card declined. Crap!! I suddenly remembered that my card expired in November and I hadn't activated my new card. My life was on hold for two days and I forgot to take care of my debit card. I had no cash. I had no checks. I felt helpless. I started telling the cashier that I had to go home to get my money and the woman behind me said "I've got it. Just put her order with mine." I looked at her puzzled, "But? Where? What?" I didn't know what to say, what to do. Suddenly, a man in the back of the line said "How much do you owe? I'll pay the difference!" I was so overwhelmed. I held back my tears. The woman behind me paid for my pizzas. After I said thank you I walked out saying, "I will not cry in Little Cesar's Pizza", one of the customers in line said "I already am". I still get choked up as I think of my little heart inspiring story.

Despite all the discomforts of my home life, I still had to work every night this was all taking place. Last night I worked 11 hours on my feet. I came home exhausted. I looked in our fridge and my friend, Cecilee, had made a pan of enchiladas for us to eat the next day. Again, a little choked up.

I am amazed at the strength, stamina, love, compassion, and sacrifice my family, friends and neighbors have. I hope that we don't have another disaster like this in our lifetime but if we do, I have the hope that we will be okay. I feel blessed and grateful for the angels God has put in my life.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa,

As I was browsing through the Orvis catalog today, I noticed this Squirrel Nut Bowl on one of the first pages. Why would anyone spend $98 on this bowl? Who would put this bowl on their Christmas list?

Thanks,
Alison

Delish!

I'm loving this peanut butter I found in the store. It's not loaded with sugar and tastes super yummy! It does not taste like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup but I'm done with trying to find the cure all for my lack of sugar.

Anglophile

Anglophile is a person who is fond of English culture or, more broadly, British culture.


My friend, Cecilee, used this title as one of her pinterest boards. How brilliant is that? I've been a huge fan of the UK ever since I went there. It's kind of embarrassing when I say I'm little obsessed with this this Royal:


And this couple:I didn't care too much about the Royal Wedding until I decided to record all the TV shows the week before. When the "Big Day" came around, I had to see her dress. I reassure myself that I'm not too obsessed because I didn't stay up all night to watch the event. I did manage to wake up, twice, to check my phone to see what the dress looked like.

So you might ask, "Why am I a big fan of Kate Middleton"? Well, she's not a slut, she's conservative, sharp, and she's 100% class. I am realistic that the castle might come crashing down and I might be disappointed in her, but I'll enjoy the fairytale while it looks like they aren't having affairs or looking completely sloshed.

In fact, I LOVED this quote I read while all the royal hoopla was going on...

But we need fairy tales. Without them, where is the hope for a happy ending? The human spirit needs that hope despite the disappointments of life. The royals, too, have disappointed us, but William and Kate, we are counting on you to keep this never-ending human need fresh and alive.

Long live the happiness of the duke and duchess of Cambridge. Not only for themselves but for all of us.

Crate&M

The other day my iPhone was giving me some problems so I made an appointment at the Apple store to see if someone could help. Hmmmm....Gateway or Fashion Place Mall, which one should I go to? Crate&Barrel, H&M....of course, Fashion Place Mall!!!!!!

I drove into the parking lot and sure enough, the huge Crate&Barrel sign outside the mall was screaming my name. My blood was rushing through my veins as I walked through the mall doors. It took everything I had not to shout hallelujah and run into the store as fast as I could.

I grew up in California. I went to Crate&Barrel over 20 years ago! When I went to New York, one of the stores on my to do list was H&M. I went to H&M in London as well. Finally, Utah has reached a significant mall status. It's about time!!!

So here's the stupid part to the whole story. I made my appointment with the Apple store so late that the stores were closed when my phone was fixed!!!! Duh!

Seriously though, seeing those signs outside the store was the only adrenaline rush I needed to make my day. I went home as happy as clam!

Pinteresting!

Pinterest brings out the best in me. Except for those ridiculous "inspirational" pictures of girls who are too skinny. I'd die first before I looked like that. Since I don't dedicate 10 hours to exercise a day, I'll pass on posting that as something pinteresting.

I was so proud of my masterpiece I made for a Halloween party. I took the guacamole and salsa from Costco, mixed it together, and cut some avocados.

Another thing I made was on our "Pinterest" night. Every month we get together and make a fun, quick, project. This was super easy and we had a lot of fun chatting as we punched our thankful notes. My kids immediately put some thankful notes on the tree. One of the notes said "Jasper", our new dog. Another note was "Temo", our dead hamster.

Proud Mama

Brrr, I hate football when I have to watch in the snow. This year I'm investing in some good boots that keep my feet warm no matter what! Anyway, I had a proud mama moment today. Though I'm not one to brag, I am a bit proud of my cute son, Max. Max's football team played West today. West has only lost 1 time in the past 5 years! The game today was to determine who would go to the final playoffs. (honestly, I don't mind when they lose because that shortens the season) 0-0 and the game was over. By this time, I knew my feet were goners but I actually didn't pay attention to them because it was intense. Double over time. Suddenly, I look over and number 36 is running in to make a touchdown. "Oh my gosh, that's Max! That is Max who made the touchdown to win the game!" I was so excited! Such a proud mama moment for me. He was on cloud 9 all day. It was magical!
Unfortunately, it wasn't as magical as I had hoped because I had to go home and make lunch for everyone. No wand for me to shake and have instant lunch on the table.
I'm grateful for great days like today.