Tornado Tragedy in my Hometown

It's everywhere on the news and I've posted all over Facebook. I've been keeping myself mostly updated through my friends' newsfeed on Facebook and Yahoo has run several articles along with video of the destruction. It's been on the national news too. So if you don't know, you live under a rock.

Last night around dinnertime, a massive F4/F5 (category still yet to be determined) struck and left in shambles my hometown of Tuscaloosa, AL. My parents live here. My friends live here. My memories live there. I called my parents, and as of yesterday, they are okay. I've seen posts from friends so I know they are alive-some of them do live in the damaged areas- the extent of damage to their residences are unknown to me. My heart is saddened for my hometown that I can barely recognize. I watched a video that showed the tornado destroying the mall I once worked at. The areas where both my youngest and oldest sister lived...are gone. The elementary schools I student taught at are destroyed. As funny as it might seem, the Krispy Kreme where I had many "hot/now" donut runs is gone. Those are memories that are gone, those are landmarks I can't recognize.

I couldn't sleep last night because I kept checking the news for more updates. I could hear the wind outside here in Bloomington and I was scared. This realization that a tornado can strike at any moment and leave behind absolutely nothing, made me shake to my core. Earlier this week, Bloomington was under a tornado warning. I woke Pip up and stayed in the downstairs bathroom until the sirens went off. I hate to admit, but I usually ignore the sirens and check the news first. After what happened to my hometown and the pictures I've seen, I don't think I'll be doing that anymore. This tornado was so powerful and massive that even taking refuge in the bathroom wouldn't have been enough. It leveled most of what it touched.

I'm grateful that my family is okay. I'll be visiting Tuscaloosa in a few weeks and I'm scared of what I might see. My heart is very full of sorrow for those who have been more deeply affected than I.

Here are some articles and a video of the tornado.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail...with a whole bunch of pics

HaPpY EaStEr!

Oma made a dress for Piper.

The Easter Bunny delivered an Easter basket filled with fun stuff: coloring book, a new puzzle, a toy car and tractor, a watering can, and some bubbles. Pip was more interested in the "Easter grass" which she termed as "hay" and kept trying to feed her horsey, Sunshine.

Pip was invited to see the movie Rio with her friends. This was her first movie theatre experience and she did A-MAZING! She actually watched the entire movie and munched on popcorn. It helped that the movie was full of fun music and colorful birds.

At the Kelley Kids Easter Party! Pip was excited to go outside and hunt for eggs. She was too slow for older kids. She did, however, get to enjoy an Easter egg Hunt in preschool. She fared better here and got a few eggs. She was pretty proud of herself.

We also painted sugar cookies for preschool. Pip loved this activity and sat quietly while she painted about 10 cookies. Most of them ended up in either my or Pip's mouth. They were deee-licious.




Here's some cute random pics of Pip and her path of destruction. She is really into putting together puzzles. She calls them her "picture puzzles" (it's a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse thing). Lately, she'll take all her puzzle pieces out and group them together.

Don't leave a bag of chips around where Pippy can reach them. She devoured a good chunk of the bag while watching cartoons. She takes after her daddy!

Here's Pip being an artist. I was in the bedroom packing up some boxes and let Pip play in the bathroom with her toys. I suddenly heard silence and I know that silence usually means something bad. I walked in to find her coloring with her bath markers on the tub. I would, under normal circumstances, stop this...but she was entertained and it gave me a good 30 minutes of packing time. Bob cleaned up the mess.

Things are going well here. Piper got her cast off on Monday and has been walking around like a little Bambi. Poor thing! She was super brave when they cut off the cast and didn't even cry. She's so cool- most kids and some adults would've been crying. We go back next week to get her brace. Luckily, the brace will not hinder her walking ability too much. She'll sort of walk like Frankenstein. She'll have to wear it for a few months. Her foot looks great and she healed nicely. There's a tiny scar.

Pregnancy is going well too! Baby B is still kicking around and has developed a fear or love of storms. It's been raining/storming a lot and she always wakes up and does a little rain dance in my belly. It's not super fun. I'm huge and I have to keep reminding myself that I am 5 feet 2inches- there's not a whole lot space for a baby to go but OUT.

I'm almost through packing- pictures coming soon. I gave myself a deadline of next week Wednesday. At that point, everything not being actively used, must be in a box and ready to go. I will not be packing or cleaning on graduation weekend or on Mother's Day! I want to relax before I get to unpack all those boxes.

Today, I will complain

I don't complain much. I really don't. BUT-Today, I will complain. Since this acts as a journal and after I write this it will still be legible as opposed to writing it in my "real" journal where the more I get worked up, the more erratic the handwriting. So here goes:

*I'm tired. I'm so tired that my entire body hurts. I can't sleep very well. I feel sleepy, but as soon as my eyes close my mind starts to go over all the things that need to be done and then I get hungry so I have to eat. My brain feels like it could possibly explode and even if it did, I probably wouldn't even notice it was splattered in front of me in a huge pile of gray goo.

*Pippy didn't take a nap today and it's getting harder and harder to get her to go to bed at all. Since she's been less active, she's not near as tired.

*I want that stupid cast off my kid's foot. I have to carry her everywhere. I can't set her down to fish my keys out of my diaper bag. I can't send her upstairs in front of me while I waddle behind her. I have to sponge bathe her and she screams the entire time. I miss regular bathtime. She cries to go outside and play, but she can't do anything. She gets angry and frustrated because she can't do anything. It makes me so sad. I'm liable to cry if the doc says she has to be in her orthotic 24/7.

*Packing boxes stinks. I seriously think that the house is vomiting up more stuff. I pack and then BOOM! there's more stuff oozing out of the closets and cupboards. The more I look at it, the more I want to set fire to it and do a naked dance around the bonfire.

*I ordered a cute skirt and dress from Old Navy and it supposedly arrived last week Friday. So I emailed and got replacement order sent to me. Then my neighbor across street rings my doorbell delivering the original package I just had reshipped. Apparently, it was placed in his mailbox and instead of walking it over to me (like I do everytime I get his mail in my box), he left it in his box hoping that the postman would take it back. He finally decided a good 5 days later to just walk the whole 100 feet to my house and deliver it. I told him next time that happens, to just place the mail on our doorstep. So now, I have double the order and a moral dilemma.

*I don't want the dog to ride in my new car when we drive down to Houston. I want to shave her so she doesn't get fur all over my seats.

*Pippy throws about a thousand tantrums a day. I feel like crying and running very far away from her. I don't pass her off to Bob as soon as he comes home, but lately...it's all I can do to stay sane.

*My darn knee hurts from that fall and my hip hurts because of the rain we had last night.

*I have a $25 gift card to anywhere and I can't find anything under $25 to order off the internet. It's sitting in my wallet begging to be used.

*It would be nice to have at least 2 of me. 1 to tame the child and the other to pack the house.

* I'm not ready to move yet. I don't feel like we've been able to do anything FUN because every weekend is spent doing something for the move.

* I want to take a vacation and I realized that the next vacation we can take will be next summer. That's in 1 year.

* SIGH...

Today- I will complain about everything.

Thrills and Spills

First, the THRILLS!

In grand tradition of MBA bragging (I'm an MBA, I can say bragging because gosh darn it, we earned it after 5 years of indentured servitude to the fine colleges of BYU and IU): WE BOUGHT A NEW CAR! It seems that everyone we know is buying/doing something big to celebrate their 2 year sacrifice/poverty to MBA school- whether it's a house or a car or a cruise. We missed the boat (ha ha mind the pun) on buying a house so we figured a new car was better than nothing. We debated long and hard on this purchase. We couldn't justify a new car, but a used car seemed less of a deal and more of a headache. We went back and forth and I had to lengthen my apartment stay to make it possible, but I'm okay with that. Bobby will now be driving my old Camry- the car I bought all by myself at the ripe old age of 22. We plan on getting the old car detailed and looking nice again- it's been through the ringer these last 8 years. Bobby and I have challenged each other to see who can keep their car the cleanest the longest. I have new rules for my vehicle- no food, drinks, or DOG! allowed in the vehicle. I already see myself winning.

Now on to the SPILLS.

I fell at church today! I seriously don't even know how it happened. I was waddling and talking and probably chewing gum at the same time and then I was on the ground. My shoe caught the edge of the sidewalk and I sprained my right ankle and then to prevent myself from falling forward on my belly, I braced myself with my hands and my left knee took the entire weight of the fall. It took a good 5 minutes before I could even get up. My knee was all bloody and really stung. When we got home, I iced the ankle and knee. My right ankle is fine and I can walk on it, but my left knee is really banged up. It's swollen and I'll have a nice bruise on it. I'm glad I didn't fall on my belly. That would have been bad. Falls are funny when you see someone else do it, but when an old person or pregnant lady falls- it's kinda scary. I didn't cry and I wasn't really embarrassed about it. I hated the fact that I had a bloody knee in my brand new car. BUMMER!

Pregnancy 27 Weeks and Bloopers

The Official 27 Week Belly Shot

And...the outtakes.

The first attempt. According to Bob, I don't know how to stand sideways. Maybe he should stand sideways to me!

I thought this picture looked cute, but the shirt wasn't hitting right.

My face after Bob used the forbidden "f" word one should never utter in front of a pregnant lady. I'm sure many of you can guess what that word was.

According to my Lily Pie ticker, I still have 90 days to go. Sheesh... The pregnancy continues to go well even if it does feel like F-O-R-E-V-E-R. Baby B is kicking like crazy and has the hiccups. Pip had the hiccups both in utero and when she was a teeny baby. We would get so worried about her hiccups, but the doctor said they go away and don't usually bother her as much as it bothers us. I guess Baby B is taking after her big sis already. Pip loves her baby sister and refers to her often. She likes to take a flashlight and shine it on my belly so she can "see" Baby B. She'll tell people about her sister and likes to kiss and hug my belly. She's also convinced there's a baby in Bob's belly as well, but...we won't go into that. My weight gain has spiraled out of control since our vacation to Texas. Apparently, everything really is bigger in Texas because I gained like 4 lbs. At this rate, I'm allowed to gain 1 pound a week if I plan on staying under my max weight I was with Pip. I've come to the conclusion that, no matter how hard I try, I'll always gain 40lbs. Eeek!! It doesn't help that I continue to crave McDonald's and now cold things like ice cream and Popsicles. Plus, I haven't been able to exercise as much. Baby B likes to sit very low in my belly which causes a lot of tenderness in my hip region. It's quite uncomfortable. I figure that I'm getting plenty of exercise carrying around 23lbs of Pip up and down the stairs. I'm getting anxious knowing that in 90 days there will be another human in my family. I feel completely unprepared for the addition and go over all the things I have and all the things I'll need. On top of that, I'm having a hard time finding a doc in Texas especially since I'll be far along when I transfer. I know all will go well, I need to relax and trust that everything will work out.

Packing, Packing, and More Packing!

Why is it that packing, no matter how hard you try, never goes smoothly? Well, for starters, being about 7 months pregnant does not help the situation. The entire month of April will be spent packing and decluttering as we prepare for our big move in May. When I look at the calendar the moving date seems far away, but when I think about it...it's only like 3 weeks away and that is right around the corner! This past weekend was spent making some money- we sold our Lazy Boy furniture for pretty close to asking price and then had a garage sale with some friends. I priced everything to sell and we made about 47 bucks in about an hour. The garage sale didn't last long since we had a huge rainstorm blow through. I was kinda bummed, we could've sold most of our stuff and made at least $50. I was surprised by what actually sold- VHS tapes. Yep, those ancient cassettes were my biggest money maker. People buy such crap and they want it for near nothing. I've determined that garage sales are more work than what they are worth. I basically paid for my moving boxes. My plan of action for moving is to tackle one room/task each week. Last week, I did the books and DVDs. Most of the books will stay in storage until we move into a house. I refuse to unpack and repack those suckers in the same year. This week, it's finish packing all the wall art and pictures. If I'm feeling ambitious, I might pack some kitchen stuff that I don't use regularly. The house is starting to get that "not my home" look to it. We have no living room furniture and what's left in the living room-bookshelf, table lamp combo, and tv stand- will be sold or given away. Our family photos are packed and the decor items I used to have were sold at the garage sale. I fool myself into believing that each move gets easier, but it doesn't. I get sad everytime I start to clean out an apartment and remove the bits of our family from the walls. But our new home is begging for us to come live in it, decorate its walls, and fill it with memories of us.

Happy Anniversary!

7 Years Ago...

We made a commitment and stuck with it.

Happy Anniversary!