The Infamous Ice Storm of '09

I am finally able to post pictures of that dang ice storm we had here 2 weeks ago. Yeah, the one that claimed our electricity for 10 days, in which we lived like nomads. Moving from place to place and sleeping where we could. Ok, it wasn't that bad. But, we really didn't have power for 10 days and it really was frustrating. I can't say we were the only ones. The whole city was powerless! After the storm hit, we stayed in our powerless house for 2 nights (we were able to stay warm by a gas heater we have in our laundry room---which unexpectedly heated the main parts of the house) before running to Memphis to our mommy and daddy's where they had power and heat and food. We stayed there for a few nights, hoping that by the time we got back, we'd have power. We got back the Monday after and nope, no power yet. Soooooo, I humbly called my sweet friend Lisa, who said we could stay with them. They let us crash in their spare bedroom for 4 nights. How sweet they were to do that! We are so grateful for their generosity. Here are some pics from the event...

The night of the storm. Ross was running outside every 2 minutes with the flashlight, like a kid in a candy store. I think he was just excited because something was happening.
We were trying to throw up gang signs, ha. We felt all gangsta with our skullies on.
All the trees looked like this!
The aftermath.



This tree was blocking our driveway.
This is beside our house. Yep, those huge branches are laying on a power line.

The next day, we went to our friends', The Housleys', house to hang with them since we didn't really want to stay home. It was a really sweet time. Here is Jude playing with their new daughter, Layni. They just adopted her from China, she's Jude's age and SO DANG CUTE!

Jude loves these Johnny Jump Ups.

So, what I learned from all this....

Humility. It's pretty humbling to have to ask someone to stay with them for an extended amount of time. I know our friends were glad to help, but I still felt like a burden.

I hate tv! Since we were at places that had cable, and there wasn't much else to do, I watched a TON of tv in the 10 days we were gone. I am so, so glad we don't have it.

People really are generous. I am so disheartened today by how everyone just thinks of themselves, not many people reach out. During this time of need, I was so inspired by how much people really wanted to help! I am a little shamed because I feel like we didn't help as much as we should have.

I am really spoiled. Enough said.

To lean on God, and praise Him for electricity...and even not having electricity! God taught me so much about Him and myself through this that I know it was His plan for us to wait a few extra days in getting power back.

We really didn't even have it as bad as some of the other states that got hit! I was so thankful we didn't have any house damage, we didn't freeze, and we had warm places to go to.

So, I just want to publicly thank our friends and family who helped take care of us during the hard times, you guys are the best. I thank God everyday for the wonderful family and friends He's put into my life.