I thought I might die - no joke

Everyone has their own story about Derecho. Here is mine.

 

When we left the wedding we filled up with gas and headed home. About an hour into our trip we started seeing ridiculous lightening. It was almost constant. We went through heavy wind but it stopped quickly. I think received a phone call from my sister and a text from Drew saying there was a horrible storm in Roanoke. An eerie storm where wind was blowing over our grill and causing major power outages, etc... While I was on the phone with Katie we were going over a bridge right near Harper's Ferry when the wind started up. It was fierce and creepy and came out of no where! People were turning around and parked at the Exon where rain was pouring, lightening was flashing and the wind was so loud Peyton woke up screaming! It was crazy how much trees were bending and branches were flying! Those of you who haven't been to Harper's Ferry, let me explain it to you. It is a gorgeous area where you drive on the side of a mountain while looking over a huge river - beautiful in the fall, but unsafe to drive through with wind 80 plus mph. So we waited it out for about an hour, had to turned around twice, and finally weaved through the trees in the road to make it home around 3am. Poor baby was as patient as can be but definitely needed his bed!

Exhausted.

That’s what 65 hours without power will do. We were so blessed to have been able to go to my dads to get relief from the heat. But it has been a whirlwind of a couple weeks. Between spending the night elsewhere so we can watch the NBA finals, wanting to hang out with my sis as much as possible the week she was here. We also had VBS, and hung out with Tana who was in from Baltimore, and then we went to the wedding in Baltimore, and came home to a stuffy, dark house around 3 AM Saturday morning. We packed up that evening and headed to my dad’s. Finally around 9:30 Monday night we were home, and mostly unpacked. Baby was sleeping and Drew and my feet were all propped up.

Exhausted is what I am. And thankful that we are safely home. I love my little family. And the rest of my family who is there for us when we need them!

never a dull moment

I never updated about our crazy plumbing incident after the super high bill scare and the oh wait, God knows what he is doin' reminder.

We looked around with a couple different plumbers for prices and found someone that would do it for just a few hundred dollars more than what was in our savings... HUGE blessing! Obviously, that savings was for when I was home with Peyton not working, but we will see God answer that prayer later... Cause My God can. I'm not worried. :)

Basically, our main sewer line had a belly in it, so stuff was getting stuck and couldn't get out. So they have to replace the whole pipe in our front yard. So we waited on miss utility to mark up our front yard. Then it rained Tuesday and Wednesday. On Friday, our plumber came to replace the pipe. They dug up our yard (slightly overwhelming to see when I came home from work) and then realized there was a bigger problem. Apparently the pipe in the road that connects to ours in the yard are at the wrong heights. Whoever built our house did it WRONG and we have no idea how the sewer water hasn't been coming into our house. The pipe leaving our house apparently has to go uphill to fit in the one in the road... which is not correct.

ANYWAY, our plumber was saying it could be a good 10 grand to fix it due to the fact the road in front of our house has to be dug up. He called water authority and they came out and looked at it. They said they could have someone out here on Monday to fix the road's side of things... and then left. Drew looked at our plumber and said, "Does that mean free??" He said "I think so, you would be getting out your check book before they left if it wasn't."

Let's stress something for a minute. The plumber said he works with the water authority a lot, and they don't just do big things like that for free... That's God. No other reason for it. So hopefully our road will be dug up on Monday, and then Tuesday our pipe can be put in. It might be an extra hundred dollars or so just because of the extra time... but the 10 grand number... looks like that disappeared. My God loves me, that's all I'm saying. Although if we did have to pay that, I know my God still loves me, apparently He would have thought I just needed to learn some important lesson that I'm glad I don't have to learn! :)

All that to say, until then, my yard is dug up, and there is no water. So we packed up and moved in with my mom until probably Tuesday. Inconvenient. Yes. Worth it compared to alternatives. Absolutely.

Thanks mom for letting us and our puppy invade!


PS: I, along with most of you are probably wondering, "shesh, they always have water problems, and around the holidays too!" Well I am hesitantly reporting to you that I think we have covered most of the big water damage scenarios, so hopefully it will be the end. Or we might just sell before we see another!! ;)

The Good and the Bad

Oh the adventures we have! :) I love that life is rarely boring. The Farmer family (my grandparents, dad, Dreama, aunts, uncles, and cousins) rented a house at the Outer Banks this past week. Drew and I couldn't take the whole week off, so we packed up on Tuesday afternoon and headed out with Katie, Audrey, and Owen. We were packed tight but I loved it! Audrey sang to us, and refused to use the potty even when she asked. Pictured below is a the first bathroom we stopped at, and although we wouldn't have made her use it she would have non of it anyway. Katie went to get her out of the car and said "Need to go potty" and she looked out the window and said loudly "NO TANK TU NO TANK TU, BEACH." You probably had to have been there but it was hysterical. She did end up going in some grass. Strange and yet entertaining child. I think the last hour or so she kept saying 'water' over and over while Drew would reply 'beach.' She was a tad excited to be headed to the beach. An eleven o'clock swim definitely ensued when we arrived at the beach house. Not before some yummy sonic ice cream!

 

We spent Wednesday at the beach both in the late morning, and then again that evening. Bocce ball, sandcastles, kite flying, skim boarding, all took place, with some napping, yummy food and 'Bee Movie' (a new favorite of Audrey's) in between.

Thursday most of us stayed by the pool, alternating the relaxing and baby chasing. Some of us went to a super greasy and yet yummy pizza place for dinner while the others hit up a seafood buffet. (I personally am not a fan of anything fishy!) Then we headed up to the beach for family pictures. I was quite pleased with the pictures, since Drew and I rarely do 'photo shoots' and I wanted some of just us before baby came. Drew and I went on a date after that, and then came back for a nighttime game of volleyball in the pool. 

Those were all good things. Then the bad happened, at least for me around 3 AM Friday morning. The Summer Stomach Bug of 2011. (We seem to have a lot of those come up don't we?? Thanksgiving was NOT that long ago!! Anyway, I thought it was pregnancy related until I realized early that morning that my dad, Johnny (uncle) and Macy (cousin) also had it. Everyone packed up in a hurry and as soon as their family was able to travel we booked it back home. With 20 people in the house, it was sure to spread, and sure enough it did. Thankfully they made it home first. I was SO sad that I couldn't say bye to Audrey and Owen, we had been together for a whole week! It's hard being far away from them! It was also disappointing that we only had 2 days at the beach, but I am grateful that Drew stayed healthy and that we did have two great days of sun and fun! :)

The City of Brotherly Love

Oh the adventures. Growing up, my mom always called terrible experiences 'adventures' so Katie and I would think that we were doing something exciting. It didn't usually work but we went with it. Sometimes things turned out okay, but they ALWAYS ended up making 'memories', which is another favorite Farmer Girl word. I can tell you right now that this trip was a whole lot of memory making. :) My post would be super long if I did our whole trip in one, so look for updates about our 'date week' as this week continues.

Love was shown to us while walking towards to Philadelphia Museum of Art. He honked his horn and exclaimed, "You guys are so cute! Have a good day!" Gee thanks mister!

We walked up the steps and took pictures of Drew acting like Rocky. We also visited the Liberty Bell and some other historic places.

Finding a decent Philly steak was harder than it looked. Philly is not the safest area so we didn't want to stop just anywhere. Finally we found Larry's Steaks : Philadelphia House of the Belly Fillers which was delicious.

We talked to a couple of homeless guys, and one really scared me. All I saw was a blanket... or so I thought. And then it moved. God led me to give a box of Cherrios to one lady that had a sign saying 'Very Hungry'. Even though that was supposed to be our breakfast on the way to New York, Drew made the comment, "I don't think I have ever truly been able to say that, or ever will." So if you are ever thinking about feeding someone, just put some boxes of cereal in your trunk. It is way easier than running through a drive-thru and risking the person not being there when you get back. I have heard of that happening several times lately.

Dates #23 - Christmas Time is Here

Shesh there is a lot going on right now! We have had many busy weeks with parties and finishing school! I think several of the below activities could count as quality time with my man. It is so nice having someone with you around the holidays! I am pretty grateful for him!

SamShe's Birthday 

Drew and I, along with some good friends, drove up to Covington to celebrate SamShe's Birthday. I love her a lot, and although we don't see each other much, when we do it's great! Her husband is also a youth pastor, so it is so encouraging to not be alone in this crazy field of ministry!

First Baptist
My cousins Riley, Macy, and Chris, along with my uncle Joe were in a Christmas play at First Baptist Church. It was definitely not your average Christmas program, but it was great! I loved all the music, and they pointed out a few things I hadn't noticed before.

- One of the characters was a manger. He was talking about how he used to hold Jesus as a baby. He loved and cherished Jesus and was important in the story of Jesus' birth. Then he found out he was also the one that held Jesus on the cross when he was dying. (His name was Woody). How often do we do this? Think about it. We cherish Jesus. We hold Him tight and are in Awe of who he is. Then, we ridicule Him. Whether by a lack of time spent with Him, or rejecting Him towards others, we reject Him. And yet His love never changes. That is pretty awesome, great, indescribable if you think about it.

- The other scene I was in awe of was how they had the crucifixion/resurrection scene and people were dressed in 'bible time' clothes but also street clothes we wear today. What a cool picture of how Christ didn't just give His life for those He knew then, but for those He knows today. He thought of ME on that cross. and He died because of that love he has.

Cooking with Silers
We didn't end up making anything edible, but it was nice being able to hang out with them a little. :)

Snow Day
I LOVE snow days. :) Despite the fact I spent it with annoying fans all through my house that are drying out the walls and carpets, it was pretty relaxing. The usual got accomplished: sleeping in, laundry, watching TV, and then we had some visitors. Last year, Drew and I went to save Starr from the snowstorm. Who would want to spend several days alone in a house when you could spend it with me ?? :) This year she came by with Wes (a new friend) and kept us company. Talking with friends in a warm house is a great way to spend the afternoon. We were pretty disappointed that the snow wasn't great snowman weather, maybe next time.

Skillet Concert
Drew took the teens to the Skillet concert. Although, I took Becca and Mckinsey a couple hours early to get good seats and then found out that we had reserved seats, it was still good quality time with them. I really do enjoy hanging out with them, and wish we could do more! They are some great girls, with big hearts to do what's right. When you, my few blog readers biggest fans, think about it, please pray for our youth. Not just at Oakland Baptist, but everywhere. It is amazing what they deal with these days and the pressure they have to act a certain way.

House Update

Oh the stories. This week has been so up and down when it comes to the 'wet disaster.' There have been ServePro guys and insurance people in and out getting quotes and trying to dry out everything. When I came home yesterday, my kitchen ceiling was 2/3 gone, and dry wall downstairs gone as well. There are still lots of loud obnoxious fans blowing around so I definitely will be anxious for peace and quite. Thankfully, Insurance wrote us a check, and we get to choose who we get to do the work. That means we should be okay having family over for Christmas.Assuming the fans are gone by then.

Just another Tuesday night... not

USUALLY my Tuesday nights consist of...

getting off at 4:15

cook dinner with Drew

have bible study with some amazing young women 

This Tuesday the plans were...

My wonderful brother in law called wanting to do dinner. Sarah, his girlfriend, was headed back to Canada in the morning for Christmas and we were all going to go to Nathan's basketball game and then have dinner together. I was also going to make cookies before the 5:30 game.

What REALLY happened tonight...

• I come home from work, get the mail, walk in the house, and calmly pick up the phone, FREAK out and call Drew. "We have a major problem! Water is raining from our kitchen ceiling!"
• He told me to turn the main water off, but we had a hard time finding it.
• I immediately call my dad when I hang up with Drew because, well, he knows a lot of stuff. Especially about houses. He is very handy like that. So he came over right away. 
• Turns out, we have a pipe running from under our kitchen sink, up through the ceiling, and back down into our refrigerator for our ice maker. Yeah, it was squirting out water like a water fountain, for who knows how long. We both left the house at 8:30 this morning it could have been 8 hours.
• My granddad came over with a carpet cleaner (also extractor) and started helping with that, Drew starting ripping insulation out of the attic. Dad and I headed to Lowes to buy more. 
• Once we got back, we were debating about whether to talk to insurance. We have a certain deductable, is it worth trying to fix on our own and then risking mold or something else to be wrong? Do we pay the people and then realize it was probably unnecessary?
• Once Drew and I saw that our kitchen table is spotted, and the grout on our tiles turned pink (the water from the ceiling was pink, I'm guessing insulation?) we decided to go ahead and pay our deductable so we would have to waste hours, and money, and then possibly still need to get something fixed later on. 
• So that's why I'm still up, because there are men in our house soaking up our carpets and setting furniture on blocks

The Damage - upstairs and down

Soaked carpet

stained ceilings

speckled kitchen table

pink grout on our tiles in the kitchen

wet insulation

The Blessings

My camera, although in the kitchen, remained dry

it did not happen while we were gone to NY for a week 

We will probably still be able to go to NY (anniversary trip), hopefully 

We had unexpected guests drop by for a visit. They make us happy. :)

Pictures to come later. The nice guys left, and I'm freezing and sleepy.