Hurricane Sandy-- During

With the help of my parents, we were able to lift all of the brand new furniture about 8 inches off of the ground.  I bought 4 sets of bed risers that are normally used for college beds, and got them up off the ground.  Chase thinks it's amazing, but I am hoping to not need those 8 inches

 We were able to pile a lot of things on the pool table to get them off of the floor

 

 Since the fireplace is up so high, the 8 inches really only lifted it about 4-5 inches off the ground, but we'll take it

 Late last night, Walt and Ryan brought over this bad boy.  It's a pump that runs on gasoline so that if the power goes out, it can act as the sump pump so the basement doesn't flood.  I think it was an excellent $40 spent to give Jason some piece of mind

 

My parents were in Ocean City, New Jersey this past weekend for my Mom's birthday.  Since it is a whole different state, we thought that maybe their Lowes store would have better luck since ours were all sold out.  On Saturday, they told my parents that they would be getting a shipment in on Sunday morning and it was first come, first served.  So my parents got up at the crack of dawn like it was Black Friday and waited in line, only to find out that the shipment never came in.  Bummer #1

Then, the Lowes in West York said that they were getting a shipment in between 2:00-3:00 and it was first come, first served.  So over we were headed.  Only to find out then that they handed out numbers and they were gone before we could even get out of the neighborhood.  Bummer #2

My Aunt Jolene works at the Lowes in Carlisle and she called with 2 minutes for me to make a decision about a 5500 watt generator she put her name on at work.  I knew we didn't need that many watts, but our friends Ben and Amy did, so we got them hooked up with that one.  We knew we still needed one, but since Walt and Ryan were bringing the gas pump down, we thought it was only fair to get them that generator.

We went to bed last night hoping for the best and knowing we had the gas pump to use if need be.  Jason woke up every 2 hours to check on the basement, and I felt him get out of bed, but never knew what was going on other than him saying the basement was fine.  I woke up the best phone call ever-- MY DAD FOUND US A GENERATOR!!!!!  Our friend Kevin told us that Gander Mountain was getting a shipment in, but like all the rest, we figured the shipment wouldn't come, but my Dad checked it out anyway.  He was able to get us a generator and get one for his own house!!!  Dad saves the day!!

So here is the big sucker that has already been put to good use.

I started typing this post around 11:00 this afternoon and then we lost power.  It came back on about 15 minutes ago, so I was able to finish the post and get it published, so hopefully we don't need to use the generator again, but most likely we will at some point!!

Stay safe please, everyone!!!

Hurricane Sandy-- Before

We have been in our house for 1 year and 7 months, and we've had water in our basement twice.  The first time was when Jason and his Dad were trying to run where the sump pump dumps (say that three times fast, haha) the water in our back yard by running piping away from the house so it drains near the back.  They think that since they were messing with it, something came loose and caused the water to leak.

The second time was when our sump pump just completely stopped working and the sump pump well was overflowing with water.  Luckily, time number two was one week before we got Hurricane Lee that came through last year.  Jason and my Dad got a new and improved sump pump which helped us get through the last hurricane.

Now, we face the impending Hurricane Sandy and there isn't a generator or D battery in the state of PA.  We've gone through the ups and downs of thinking stores are getting shipments of generators only to find out that the trucks never came in.

Yesterday, after babysitting I stopped at Target to pick up a flashlight and some batteries.  That was a fail and a half....

This is what the battery shelf looked like

And this is what the line looked like to check out.

It was like Black Friday had come early.

Today after church, we stopped at Giant to pick up some food for lunches like I do every Sunday.  I figured that I will still need lunches as some point this week.  The checkout lines were crazy there too!!

With the help of my parents, we were able to "hurricane-proof" the basement- that will come as post number two tomorrow when I can be proud of that we have done.  It was hard work, and we appreciate how much my parents helped us.

Ryan and Felicia and Walt (Felicia's Dad) came down and brought a gas water pump to help if the electric goes out since our sump pump obviously needs electric to work.

If we have power, I will keep you updated on the progress as often as possible.  Stay safe everyone!!

Basement Makeover- Part Two

I am very pleased to announce that the new furniture has arrived and after lots of rearranging and running the cable to a different part of the basement, we finally have it complete.  All that is left are some throw pillows for the couches and to move the wall hangings since the couches are in different places now, but without further ado....

I will share the after pictures of the other sides of the basement once we get the furniture out of it that we are giving to my sister!

Basement Makeover- Part One

Jason and I Jason has been working really hard on making our basement into both a man cave and a second living room space.  I thought I would share some pictures of the progress so far!

Before:

Step 1: Blue/grey color on the walls and furniture we got for free :-)

 


Step 2: New Paint, New TV, New Fireplace TV Stand

On Tuesday, we will be getting new furniture delivered to replace the mismatched furniture in the living room area, so stay tuned for the Part Two Makeover post!!

Amazing!

Through your whole life, you hope that you will find your Forever Friend.  I saw it with  my Gammy as my Pappy was passing that her friend Cathy who was there to support her through the whole process.  It's easy to see how much they mean to each other and it makes you so happy!

I have had friends come and go as different events in my life happened.  From high school when I wasn't "cool" anymore when I didn't drink and smoke and the friends pushed me out, to college when other friends naturally grew apart, I feel that I have always been lacking in the friend department, but have an amazing family who filled that void in my life.  I love the quote that says that one true friend is better than a thousand casual friends and believe it whole-heartedly!

When Jason and I got engaged, I joined a chat board on The Knot website where a bunch of girls who were getting married in June of 2011 chatted with each other and shared wedding details and questions.  I would have never imagined that these ladies that I bounced wedding ideas off of would be the greatest friends that I now have.  I consider each of them to be one of my best friends, and they know more about me than most of my real friends in real life!  Of course they are also my friends in "real life" I just never get to see them.  That will all change next summer, thankfully!!!

Anyway.... they have really been supportive of me during these last few weeks with all the struggles that I have been going through.  Last night when I got home from Pappy's visitation, there was an envelope in my mailbox.  At 11:30 at night, I fully woke up and got extremely excited when I saw what was inside!!!

Before I show you what was in my package, let me first tell you a little bit of information.  When the Juneville babies started being born last summer, I had a necklace personalized for each of the Mommies with their babies name, birthstone and heart on it.  They looked like this:

When I opened up the package the first thing that I saw was one of the sweetest letters that I have ever read.  It was so heartfelt and it made me feel absolutely awesome!  The letter alone was enough!

 Once I could see again since my eyes were filled up with so many tears, I found two of the greatest gifts:

 A date night with my hubby

 And a donation made in Kadence's name to not only Penn State Hershey, but the Child Life organization which Kadence loved SO much!

Finally, I found a little mesh bag and I was so excited because I knew what was inside!  I had thought about getting a rembrance necklace made for Kadence, but I had not figured out what it should look like.  They did the work for me!!!

 Here it is up close, complete with one of Chase or Daisy's hairs on the pool table ;-)

Words cannot even begin to express how much I love these ladies and how grateful I am to have them in my life!  I have never met such a thoughtful group of people and I am lucky to have each of them in my life!!!

Cleaning Magic!!!

When we bought our house back in March of 2011, one of the most disgusting things in it was the track on the slider door.  Now believe me, the whole house was gross, but this one definitely was at the top of the list.  We tried lots and lots of products, and even asked Jason's Mom who cleans for a living, but we could not find something that would bring up the years of dirt that the previous owners left so graciously for us.

 That is until tonight!  I was on Pinterest (which I love, have I not said it yet today) and I came across an amazing pin that said it was created for OCD people.... is that me or what??  Anyway, it said that the secret was to clean the track with a q-tip and vinegar!  Now this was a HUGE pain in the butt because ours was so bad, but a million q-tips and paper towels and half of a bottle of vinegar later, it's beautifully clean!!

Just wanted to share this cleaning tip with all my friends :-)

Heart of Gold

I already knew that I married the right man, but I have be reassured of that yet again.  Being a teacher you see just about everything, and it is hard sometime when you see sad stories.  Mostly you hear the stories, but when a student opens up to you personally, it's a whole different story.

These peanut butter & jelly sandwiches may not look like much to you, but they are part of the lunch that we are now packing for one of Jason's former students.  It absolutely broke my heart to hear the story of this young man that Jason taught last year and the struggles that he is dealing with.  At 18, life shouldn't be so hard and he shouldn't get only one meal a day.  So starting tonight, I am packing him a lunch along with the lunches I pack for Jason and myself.

The fact that Jason has bonded enough with this student that he is so completely honest with him reminds me that Jason is in the right field and although it's very stressful at times, teaching is absolutely the job for him!

Both Central and I are VERY lucky to have him!!!