Blizzard '09

When I was younger, we had two blizzards: 1993/4 & 1996. I was only 10/12 years old, so to me, it was fun. It meant I got out of school and got to play in the snow all day. Our power went out, but it was fun b/c we had a fire place, kerosene heater and a bunch of blankets. It meant that I got to snuggle up under a bunch of blankets w/ my family. We drank tons of hot chocolate and played in the snow for hours a day. Those two blizzards are why I love snow so much.

Now, fast foward to 2009. I'm 25 years old, married with a job. And, I still loved snow. I was so ready for this snow storm to hit, but I was pretty skeptical that we'd get any at all. Usually, the weatherman will predict snow, but we won't get anywhere near what was predicted. This time? Ole' Dave Dierks hit the nail right on the head.

Friday it started raining around 11:00 and around 2:00 or so, we saw the first signs of snow. By 3:30, we were in a full on blizzard. The main branch called and told us to shut the doors at 4:00 and get home. Ashley and I made it home safely. I was really concerned about making it up the hill that our townhouse sits on, but we made it up the hill with no problem. Her boyfriend, Jay, was here when we got home and said he'd take us back out to the store in his truck. He was so nervous! He kept telling us to hurry and that we had fifteen minutes to get what we needed and out. Well, fifteen minutes was almost too long. We barely made it back up the hill! Thankfully, we did and made back in to Ashley's warm apartment. In all of the fuss, I happened to lock myself out of our apartment. Kevin was having to work late on a leak and wasn't home for me to get in. We headed over to Ashley's sister's apartment b/c they had a kerosene heater. They live in the apartment next to us! We ate and just waited for the power to go out. It kept flickering and around 8:00, the transformer outside blew and we were in the dark. My hubby made it home five minutes later, but had to catch a ride from a co-worker who had a truck and had to walk up the hill. I was so glad he was home! When he got home, we packed up the eggs, lunch meat and cheese in his lunch box and put it on the picnic table on our patio. We packed snow all around it. We also sat our milk out there, too and then I put chairs over top of them so the Devil Cat and his buddies wouldn't get into it. Ashley had an empty fire pit, so we put things in it, as well. We put the screened lid on top of it and packed snow all around it. We were quite proud of ourselves!

Our makeshift fridge!

The firepit fridge!

The next morning, we had 7.5" of snow! I called my parents to let them know we were okay and that we still didn't have power. Dad told me that a tree had fallen thru their roof and that they didn't have any power either. :( I was so upset. I hated being so far from them! Whitney had taken Emma to a friend's house that still had power, so I had some relief, but not much. We spent the day tubing down the hill and boiling a pot of water on the kerosene heater to make hot chocolate! We headed over to Ashley's once it got dark and played poker. Around 8:00, our power came back on! Thank God! We were all so excited. Jay said we should turn every light in the house on! haha!

This is what it looked like when we fell asleep!

This what we woke up to!

Me & my hubby out in the snow!

My parents are still without power and my mom is all to pieces. Whit still has Emma at her friend's and mom says she isn't eating well and won't stop crying. :( I'm trying to tell them to get the baby and just come down here. We have room for them to stay here and its warm. It may not be comfortable, but it will do! Mom said that when she called the power company they told her that there are 10,000 people in the area without power. :( Plus, she can't get in touch with the insurance agency to file a claim until tomorrow. There's no emergency number or anything.

This was the first "crisis" I've had since I've been out on my own. It has really made me feel grown up, knowing that I can handle things as well as I did. I learned that, although snow was fun as a kid, as an adult it isn't so much fun. It was nice watching it snow, waking up to the beautiful view and enjoying the quality time with good friends. But, having no power, not being able to get ahold of my family that's an hour away and not knowing if my other friends are okay wasn't so nice. I never realized how much my mom and dad had to worry about when it snowed. I also realized how much we depend on cellphones, tv and the internet! Its scary!

I hope everyone is okay and that you're warm out there! Please pray for those who aren't so fortunate to have their power back on!

This is the view from our front porch.

I've yet to use the panoranmic setting on the camera correctly. It is still pretty though!