Sandy, Athena, and Sophie Jean

I know that everyone is very well aware of the nasty Miss Sandy, we survived.

Winter Storm Athena roared through our neighborhood on Wednesday...

This is the only picture I took, because I only went outside once and I wanted a glove back on my cold little hand, but we survived.

Yesterday I received a frantic call from my other half, our doggie Sophie Jean wasn't feel well. This is not normal for our little girl, she's been extremely healthy and minus the troubles caused by our previous landlords...read about it here.

We take her for regular check ups, she gets her necessary medicines (flea, tick, heart worm), all in all she is a happy and healthy doggie.

So, being that this was out of the ordinary we rushed her to the vet where we were told (after some crazy expensive test!) that she was suffering from pancreatitis. She would need to be admitted to the pet hospital for overnight care, then returned the following day for continued care. 

We took her over to the same hospital that saw her for the above mentioned incident. She was admitted and we went home, helpless. As crazy as might sound, Miss Sophie Jean has filled my life with love for nearly 8 years. My husband has become incredibly attached to her and we just felt horrible. She wasn't there to keep my feet warm or to snuggle with us on the couch, it was a sad sad night.

This is what she looked like when we picked her up this morning at 7am

They had to put the cone on her because she was chewing at the IV in her right front leg, poor thing.

She was dropped off at the Vet at 9am and we will pick her up before 7pm tonight, she is expected to make a full recovery.

So, we will survive!!

Bring it on life, this little family can handle it all!

Sandy: Between the Facebook Posts

October 29, 2012 7:25am

"The wind is picking up a bit and work is officially cancelled."

The wind was really blowin by this time, I was honestly surprised at how loud and constant it was all day. The wind in Oklahoma is steady on a daily basis, but not quite like this. We just sat around all day watching the news and waiting...and waiting...basically the exact opposite of a tornado! 

October 29, 2012 6:38pm

"I think it's almost here...wind is really blowin now. Just praying the trees don't blow over..."

We have a large tree in the backyard and two in the front. I was very scared that one or all of them were going to come directly into our house. We don't have a garage so we were also hoping that both of our cars would stay damage free during the storm. One was parked in the driveway and the other we parked down the street, as far away from the trees as possible.

October 29, 2012 11:06pm

"just lost power :( going to bed and hoping this calms down by tomorrow"

I'm honestly shocked that we didn't lose power earlier, seriously. We packed up our stuff and moved to the bedroom for the night, hoping for the best in the morning.

 

October 30, 2012 10:53am

"We are so blessed! We made it through the storm, so far. The wind and rain is still going, but it's dying down. We don't have power and our phone lines are out, I'll keep everyone posted via Facebook as long as we have cell phone towers.

Thanks for all the prayers and well wishes!"

 I was so extremely excited that our house wasn't damaged. Our cars made it through with only some minor scratches and crapload of leaves on them. We spend the majority of the day talking to the neighbors and listening to the news. The paper wasn't delivered so we had only seen a few pictures of the damage online...like these...

This is the PATH station in Hoboken. I have walked by that elevator, put my Metrocard in, and rode the train to Manhattan or back to Jersey City.

This is Point Pleasant, NJ ... the beach we took my parents and brother to during their trip in NJ...it kinda looked liked this...

Sunny, warm, and a very clean beach.

October 30, 2012 6:33pm

"We are still here and doing well! the apartment has stayed rather warm and we stocked up on candles before the storm.

I'm so bored that i have started to reorganize my closet by candlelight, but thank god we are safe and we had no damage to our personal belongings.

 Please pray for those that lost their home, cars, and even their lives to this horrible storm."

We had spent part of the day cleaning out our two spare bedrooms, of course this could only be done during the daylight hours. I did do my closet at night with the help of 6 candles and 1 amazing flashlight, it looks mighty awesome. 

We also realized that everything in the fridge was done or almost done. So we cooked up an entire package of turkey bacon. I ate my on a sammich with some mayo, husband added some cheese to his. 

We through everything else away, our greatest loss.

October 30, 2012 10:21pm

"Wanna test your cooking skills? Try unplugging your fridge, microwave, and toaster oven! Fun times.

We are officially out of refrigerated and frozen food, minus a small cooler that we are hoping stays frozen until we get power. Time to bust out the Ramen noodles! yum!"

I found out that you can toast bread in a skillet and it actually tastes better.

October 31, 2012 7:27am 

"Work is closed again today and we still have no electricity. The houses on the next block have power and they predict that we will get it back today.

I guess we are lucky to live near a major post office, NJ Transit Railway, and two busy roads. Right now, I would much rather hear the sounds of the train...the emergency sirens are just overwhelming as I think about where they could be going."

By this point calling to see if work was open was partial hope for a place to go to keep warm and the other part was fear of how horrible I would like if I were to go in. I hadn't been able to use a blow dryer in days and the ponytail look was gettin old. 

The entire neighborhood was hopeful for power soon. Directly to the west about two blocks is a major sorting center for USPS and we can also see the railway. We spend hours discussing this with our newly found neighbor friends.

October 31, 2012 4:15pm

"Keeping myself occupied with this awesome book! seriously, highly reccomend it!"

If your not a major baseball fan, or at least a fan of the Mets, you probably don't know who R.A. Dickey is...hey I didn't until we saw him pitch in 2011 at CitiField! I probably actually saw him pitch while he was in the minor leagues in OKC, but I can't be sure. This book is a great read for anyone that loves baseball and/or needs a little hope that there are people that are still willing to dream and work hard for their dream. 

The Mets just signed R.A. for another year! whoop! 

October 31, 2012 4:36pm

"classy dinner time...still waiting on power"

Horrible dinner, horrible. I have 6 of these in my pantry and they make me sick everytime I look at them. 

October 31, 2012 4:49pm

"Obama says we will get power back today...he best be right, my toes are gettin cold!!"

A few hours earlier we heard Marine 1 and the other helicopters fly over our area...how crazy is that? I never thought I'd be in a natural disaster zone and have the President fly over. He stopped off in Wayne to see the flooding and then down the Jersey Shore. I wonder if the people of Staten Island, Long Island, and Hoboken are pissed. Just a thought. 

October 31, 2012 8:36pm

"turning the electricity on in 15 second intervals is just plain mean. come back sweet power!!!"

While reading the book pictured above the pretty lights in our apartment came on! We could hear our downstairs neighbors celebrating, even some whoops from across the street...and then blackness. 

About 5 minutes later we rinsed and repeated the same story above. 

And the power stayed off.

October 31, 2012 11:03pm 

"Still no power...Obama promised power to JC by the end of the day. You have ONE hour mister!!" 

Husband went to bed and I held out hope that the promise President Obama felt he needed to make during his press conference earlier that day would actually come true...all of Jersey City would have power by the end of the day! 

**Spoiler Alert**

It didn't come back on...and still isn't on for some people in Jersey City.

November 1, 2012 10:27am

"3rd day without power. Work is open, but the roads to get there are blocked. It's starting to get chilly in here...we might have to put a sweater on Miss Sophie Jean!"

I woke up Thursday morning to learn that work was open, but the roads to get there were blocked or were at a standstill. I also learned that I had a migraine. I think that it was from the tension of sleeping in house that was around 50°F.

My father-in-law had to work at the airport that morning so he offered to come by and pick me up...they have a generator so their house was at least 68°F or warmer!

We had to detour a number of times and I saw a few parts of Newark that I hadn't seen before, but we made it out there. I was able to work a little bit and finally saw some pictures of the damage.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I heard that Hoboken was flooded, but I could see the restaurants, bars, and the PATH station that I have been to with water still high. I learned from facebook that Point Pleasant was bad, but to see the reporter walking down the same beach I had sat on just 4 months ago was crazy.

Not too long ago I took a flight to California from JFK and I could see the streets and homes in the area that were damaged...

November 1, 2012 5:02pm

"finally made it out to the in-laws house where they have a generator! yippee!! still no power at our house (17 hours after we were promised!)

Continued prayers for those in Hoboken, Staten Island, Brooklyn, Queens and the entire Jersey Shore...damage is beyond belief and imagination.

We just were informed that gasoline will only be given to Police, Fire, Utility Companies, etc...NJ and surrounding areas will suffer a great shortage in the coming days." 

Mr. E came to join me and Sophie at my in-laws house for a nice warm dinner! 

A lot of the places you see on TV I have been to and a lot of them I haven't been to, but to see the people that literally lost everything is heart breaking. 

I spent the first part of the evening working and after dinner I just sat and stared at the TV as Mayor Bloomberg said that the Marathon was still going to take place, but that lower Manhattan shouldn't expect power before the end of the weekend. All of this was signed by the worlds most enthusiastic English/ASL translator I have ever seen...and then translated by the Mayor himself in amazingly horrible Spanish.

The Governor of New Jersey gave constant updates about the status of New Jersey, the state that took the brunt of the blow of Sandy. Chris Christie is a bad word in my husband's family, since he attacked the Firefighters, but overall I have to say that his attitude and blunt nature is appreciated by this gal, in this situation at least. He was upfront and didn't hold much back...especially to the Mayor of Atlantic City.

November 1, 2012 6:44pm

"I cannot believe they are going to have this event (NYC Marathon). As an aspiring runner that would one day love to run this exact race it's obviously not because I dislike the road closures or the sound of a starting gun. Way to go Bloomberg"

For reals, dumb move. I'm glad they opted to cancel. Many of the runners are helping to clean up after the storm. KUDOS!

November 2, 2012 11:15am 

"On our way back to the apartment, we hear we have power now! whoop! 

Drove behind these wonderful people! thanks for the extra ambulances Philly!"

I can't get the photo off of facebook from some reason, oh well. Our neighbor texted early in the AM to let us know that the power had been turned back on! WHOOP! 

We ate some breakfast at then started the trip back to Jersey City, many detours and alternate routes later we pulled up to see that we did in fact have power! Oh, sweet power! 

November 2, 2012 2:16pm

"I have to say that my favorite things about this situation are the nice neighbors that we have met and Mayor Bloomberg's horrible Spanish, it's hilarious!"

If you happened to catch SNL I hope you saw the impression of Mayor Bloomberg, while I found it to be just a bit racist and I know they wouldn't have ever done the same skit in the wake of Katrina, the Spanish part was quite funny.

All in all, I hope that my first hurricane is my last. It wasn't Golden and it wasn't great. I will selfishly choose power and a dry home any day.

My in-laws finally got power back on November 4th and many others still do not have power. I am sure that NJ and NY will be recovering from this storm for a long time to come. I pray for those that lost everything, for those that still don't have power as the weather gets colder.   

The Calm Before Sandy

Before we get punched in the face by Sandy I thought I would share some pictures and fun times from last weekend. 

Here in the Northeast people are majorly obsessed with dying tree leaves, aka 'Fall Foliage'. So, we locked poor Miss Sophie Jean in her crate and jumped in Raymond the RAV to see these leaves in all their glory.

The first colors of orange were less than impressive.

 Oh wait, those are construction signs.

 We looped by Giants Stadium (MetLife) 

 

Then headed toward the G.W. Bridge area...

A little further North and we stopped at an awesome lookout point with pretty trees!

 And great views of NYC!

 GWB with Manhattan in the distance

 Mr. E checking out the views

 North of Manahttan

 A little closer view of Manhattan

 Only 25 cents!

I think that these things are cool, not sure why.

 Checkin out the view myself. Photo taken by Mr. E

One last look before heading on our way

 Driving on Palisades Interstate Parkway

 Stopping at our 2nd lookout park

 Red/Orange trees

 I have an affinity for old slightly rusty signs

 The rocky cliffs on the Palisades!

 Continuing on a little further North

 We made it all the way to New York State!

And then it was too dark to take any more pictures.

Overall, the leaves are nice to look at and I will probably go again, but I hear that since the Summer was really warm the leaves were not up to their normal amount of amazing. 

We are prepared for Sandy. Candles, flashlights, battery operated radio, and massive amounts of Ramen noodles have been purchased. Thanks for all the emails, facebook posts, text messages and prayers for our safety. 

We have a land line that will be used to keep our family informed, if you need the number let me know. I think that we are in an area that will weather the storm well...just hope we keep all of our windows and our cars aren't damaged! 

 

Homeland

Wednesday

I arrived at the Tulsa 'International' Airport Wednesday evening and was greeted by two pretty smiling faces! My parents went the extra mile to meet me inside! How special am I?



I am one happy Okie!



We hugged and such while we waited for my bag. When it arrived on the belt, upside down, I played the Dad card for some help...he nearly fell and/or lost an arm, but my luggage was properly retrieved.

The short drive home was overwhelmed with orange barrels, cones, and detour signs. Seriously?! What's up Tulsa?!

On the way through Catoosa we had to make a special stop -

Yes, at 10:45pm I ordered a delicious Number 6 (Beef Mucho Nachos, Taco, and Diet Coke) and I ate every single yummy bite.

Thursday

I was able to sleep in a bit while my parents went to work. After a few errands I met up with my Mom, Dad, and Shalise for lunch. I just realized that we didn't get a picture *vacation fail*. Shalise had just finished a Chemo treatment and apparently you can get 'chemo brain', this is new to me! Either way it made for an interesting lunch at Dex's Mexican Grill. Yes, I had Mexican food twice within an 18 hour period. I have no shame.

Mama and I quickly did some shopping before I headed off for a manicure and dinner with Chandra! Again, no photo...what is with me?! It was so nice to get caught up in person, so much better than facebook, text, and phone! Chandra - can't wait to see you, Ryan, and Caden in December ... I assume that Caden will probably be taller than me by then, too.

Next on the agenda was tailgating and the TU game! Ran into a few friendly faces here and there and had a special visit from Mrs. Melissa (McLean) Peterson!



Family of TU fans!

UTEP 11 - Tulsa 33!!! GO CANE!

Friday
Dad and I got up for a morning, slightly rainy, slow run ... our last before the big race!

I took a long drive on the Creek Turnpike to meet up with my lovely massage therapist. Darlene is easily one of the sweetest people on earth and I've missed seeing her on a regular basis. Just like most everything on this trip the time seemed to fly by, but I'm so glad we were able to catch up! Tulsa Friends - If you're in need of a quality LMT let me know!

I spent Friday afternoon at TU borrowing Mama's computer to keep up with my job, a few short hours later I said my goodbyes to the lovely ladies of HR. Miss you all! I appreciate all the prayers and well wishes!!

That evening we went to dinner at one of my favorites, the location of my first job ever! MOLLY'S! We had a wonderful evening catching up with Linda and Russ, eating a perfectly cooked steak, and even doing a little bit of shopping.

Brother and I headed downtown for a few drinks and his roomie Nate joined us. Yep, that's right I hit the town with two guys named Nate...sounds like a great TV show. Beers for me, manly drinks for brother, and girly drinks for Nate...all made for a fine evening!




I enjoy anything served in a Copper Mug

Saturday

Early in the AM we headed to Kansas to see two of the four people I would nominate for the greatest Grandparents of all time. (hint: the other two art my late grandparents, I'm just that lucky)

Emma was our navigator

I walked in the door to smiling faces and big big hugs!

I never get tired of these hugs

 Oh - and a special treat :)



mmmm.....

Rockey Mountain Oyster Sammich! Yep, judge if you must.

We ate our food, chatted for a while and then Dad and I loaded up to make the journey from Fredonia to Wichita.

Rural Kansas

Sweet artwork in near Derby, Kansas

We arrived, picked up our packets, and had some dinner with our Cousin Jerry. I recently signed up for Ancestry.com and I may or may not be completely sucked into it. So, we spent the majority of the evening reviewing family information and adding it to our growing tree! So interesting!!

We were able to get bed fairly early in prepration of our run.


Sunday

We ran many miles in preperation, picked our clothes carefully, and tied our shoelaces just right...and then someone drank too much coffee and we nearly missed the race! Note to self - lines for the bathroom will never be longer than they are prior to a long distance run.

We crossed the starting line with 30 second to spare an dour 13.1 mile journey had begun! Our pace was solid through the first few miles and only slowed slightly when we hit a couple of hills. We walked a few water stations and somewhere near mile 8 my toe thought it would be great time to cramp up, we walked a bit and then pushed through the pain!

I have to say that mile 9 and mile 12 were probably the most difficult, but we finished! WHOOP!

WE DID IT!

We celebrated with a drive back to Fredonia and they were so proud of us that they endured our stink for a hug!

Runners with Grandpa - look! no shirt!

 

Runners with Grandma!

Then I got a big plate of these...okay...I had two.

hello yummy.

Thanks Grandma for making my tummy happy! I had dreamed of biscuits and gravy for MONTHS!

We said our goodbyes and headed to my Dad's hometown, Neodesha, to catch up with our cousins ... yes, I have a TON of cousins!

Emma enjoyed the ride

On our way out of town we stopped by my Granpa's old shop - Dad painted that many many years ago!

Marrs name still holding strong!

And we were on our way back to Oklahoma!!

Tulsa in the distance!

My favorite skyline

Hello Boston Avenue!

We visited Brother's house before heading back to Verdigris...

Sister and Brother



Me, Mom, Emma, Nate



Me, Dad, Emma, Nate

And then it was over, another trip to Taco Bueno, bed and the airport.

Counting the days until I can step onto that beautiful red dirt.

On a side note - I'm full on sucked into Homeland, watch it.





I'm Goin ... Home.

That's right. I'm goin' home, at least for a little bit.

I know I know...I've lived in Jersey for almost a year now, but I honestly think that Oklahoma will always feel like home.

That isn't just because it's basically in the name, but because it's so much a part of me.

A number of years ago we took my Grandma to Maryland. As we walked down the road to the house where she was born she said, "It's been so many years since I left, but it still feels like home." Now, that's been a long time ago so don't literally quote me on it, but I totally understand what she was saying. It's backwards for her, she left Maryland for Kansas...I left Oklahoma for Jersey. 

So, in about 24 hours I'll board a plane and when I land I'll be in a place where biscuits come with too much gravy, ya'll is a proper noun, and someones heart is always being blessed.

Believe it - if you have never been you're missing out.