Wildfires

When you are a kid you dream about the future life you will have one day. You do this even as an adult. You imagine what kind of house you will have, what kind of car you will drive, how many kids you will have, the type of pet you will own, your job, your good lookin spouse, etc. You don't think about all the scary things in life that could bring those dreams crashing down around you. 

TJ and I purchased our home October of 2011. It is our dream place. We don't own a brand new house with all the latest this and that's, but we have our home. He wanted a place to shoot his bow/guns and hunt, I wanted a place with a back porch and a place we could start a family. When we found our house we jumped on it. This house holds so many future memories. I already imagine decorating a nursery  and where I will hide Christmas presents when playing Santa Claus. I think about making updates to the house and putting in new floors and painting walls various different colors based on my mood! This house is our home, a place we picked out together and that belongs to our present and future. 

Friday night our home was threatened by the wildfires in Luther. We don't live in the town of Luther, we live in the country side south of the town. Friday after we realized what was going on and that the fire was two miles from our house I tried really hard to get home. All of the roads leading to our house were blocked by fire. TJ was at the command post trying to find out the situation and help where he could. He had 15 years with the fire department before he got hurt. I was trying to find a back road in to our area. Finally, I went through Jones and followed Britton Rd to Highway 102, up to Wellston to a dirt road that would take me in a back way. When I turned the corner on Route 66 this was the image I saw:

My heart was racing. All I could think was what if I couldn't get to my house? What will I do if they won't let me in? I just wanted to be home and see TJ face to face and find out a plan. TJ met me at the dirt road and I followed him in. Car after car passed us going in the opposite direction. When we finally got in the house, the news said they had extended the evacuation area to include where we live. I had a bag packed, the dog's stuff ready, our important home owners paperwork, and just a few little other things packed and ready to go.  We were waiting it out. The fire had moved north to the town of Luther. Around 7 something the power went out at our house. Since we have well water this meant that not only did we not have electricity, we didn't have water. We had to leave quickly as it was getting dark and we would have no way of knowing if the fires continued to move towards our house. So we left. 

We drove in to Edmond. I dropped the dogs off at my sisters house and I met up with TJ to figure out a plan. It was late and we were exhausted. My dad called us and offered to get us a hotel room on Memorial. We were so very thankful for this. In that moment we were tired and couldn't think. We needed a plan and didn't have one. Every hotel in Edmond was full and that is not an exaggeration. We literally checked EVERY hotel. I didn't want to put anyone out especially since we had two dogs with us, my moms and Elizabeth. I just wanted to lay down and go to sleep. Kaytie kept Elizabeth and Jacob took Molly (my mom's dog) home. We made it to the hotel sometime after midnight. I had kept it together for the most part, but on the way to the hotel I cried. The whole situation was stressful. 

As we were driving away from our house that night, all I kept thinking was that with one shift of the wind or one ember to start the fire up again our house could be gone. I don't really care about the items in the house, it can all for the most part be replaced. I had TJ and Elizabeth and that is what mattered most, but I have strong emotional connection with our home itself. This home is so much more to me than a place with walls for a shelter. It is ours for all the reasons I mentioned above. It may sound silly and I know we could rebuild, but it would never be the same. 

Around 5:30 am Saturday morning our neighbor called to let us know the power had come back on. We slept in until about 10:30 and then started to get around. TJ headed to the house and I went to get Elizabeth. When TJ got to 164th and Luther the roads were still closed and they were diverting traffic. He talked to the County officer and explained where we lived. TJ waited for me to get there and then the officer let me follow him in. We drove by charred land and firefighters were still out there watching the hotspots. It was so sad to see it all burned up and scary to see how close it was to our house. The fire stayed about two miles from us, but that is two miles too close. When we finally got to the house, I made us some sandwiches and we fell asleep for the rest of the afternoon. We were home. 

It never really crossed my mind when we moved to the country that wildfires could be a threat. However, with as much wide open space that surrounds us it will always be a possibility I guess. I am thankful we are safe and that our property was not damaged, but my heart is heavy for the little town of Luther. So much was lost, but thankfully no lives were. Thank you to all the men and women who have been working non stop to try and get this fire under control.  Thank you to all our friends and family who offered us a place to stay and expressed concern. It meant more than you will ever know. As for the crazy man who started this fire, I hope you get caught and go to jail for a long time.

This was the view from our backyard.

Talk to you soon,

Leigha

Hawaiian Vacation Part 8- Oahu (Our last day)

Our vacation has finally come to an end. Today was our last day in this beautiful state! I love it here, however, if I had to live here, I would choose to live on the Big Island. It is much quieter and not quite as touristy!

Today we had our big time plane ride where we tour the island from a Cessna. So everyone really enjoyed it! We got to see all the beauty Oahu has to over from 1500 ft up in the air! It was really cool! Mom loved it and so did TJ. I on the other hand got sick! Turns out me and tiny planes are not friends!! I had horrible motion sickness! I think if I could have taken some Dramamine before we started I would have been better off. Poor TJ has claw marks in his hand from where I was doing everything I could not to hurl! It was still really pretty though. Even though I could only look out the side of the plane that had land and not the other with the water. Ridiculous!

How cute is my mom?

I was so sick in this picture! LOL!

After the plane ride around the island we headed up to North Shore. On our way we stopped at the Dole Plantation! It was really cool! We had pineapple ice cream and walked around a bit.Once we got to the North Shore We spent a few hours on the beach swimming. We then headed in to Haleiwa for some lunch. We found a little area with lots of food trucks so we thought we would try it. It was actually pretty good! Then last but not least mom and I had to get Shave Ice! It was pretty good I had some strange local flavors with ice cream. There were some weird beans we could put in them, but I tasted it and opted out. After the Shave Ice stop we headed back to the hotel to pack.

TJ is done! LOL!

Our vacation has come to an end and it has been an crazy fun adventure. TJ and I are talking about coming back for our 5th anniversary. I would like to renew our vows on the beach and have a very Hawaiian ceremony and embrace this part of his culture. I have no idea what is waiting for me at work. I turned my email off on my phone over a week ago now! For now, I will cherish these fun moments I have had with my family and enjoy my last few minutes before we get on our plane.

Aloha,
Leigha

Side Note:
We finally made it home!! We landed at DFW at 1:00am Monday morning and drove straight home! We got in about 5:45 am and we were exhausted! My poor mom had to be on another plane to Nashville at 1pm today for work! I don't know how that lady is going to do it! Elizabeth Taylor is spending the day at Bow Wow. We needed to sleep without her here! We are going to get her shortly and bring her cousin Molly home with us since mom is out of town for another week. I loved our trip and I am ready to go back if simply because the weather here sucks! Just sayin!

Hope you enjoyed the blog! I will get back to regularly posting now! And yeah I am still on Weight Watchers! I'll update you all soon with that progress!

See ya!

Hawaiian Vacation Part 7-Oahu (One of my most favorite days)

Today was SO MUCH FUN! It was probably one of the most fun days when it comes to activities. Well, at least for me. Since, I gave the crew a day to rest, we were running out to time to climb Diamond Head. TJ agreed to wake up bright and early with me and climb it first thing in the morning. Surprisingly, mom agreed too! We left the hotel at 5:30 am. The park opened at 6 am and since we already had a full day planned we had to get there and get it done. All of the guides said it would take 1.5-2 hours to complete. TJ wanted to build in 3 hours since he was essentially climbing with one good leg. The hike was amazing. Mom was a powerhouse and went up ahead of us and I hung back to walk it with TJ. The sunrise over the ocean and the Diamond Head crater were beautiful. I am so glad we did it in the morning. We made it to the top and down in under 2 hours. TJ rocked it and so did mom. We started the day with a bang and it was only going to get better!

Diamond Head was an old military base!

In a bunker!

Yeah we climbed that!

TJ helping mom over come her fear of tiny spaces!

After Diamond Head we headed to Pearl Harbor. TJ and I share a love of history, so this was very interesting to both of us. Before we started our tour, we met a little boy named Jacob who was there with Make-a-Wish. He was very sweet and very chatty. His family was with him and he told us all about the exciting things they were doing in Hawai'i. It was really sweet! Anyways, the tour opens with a video about the attack of Pearl Harbor. It walked us through the days leading up to the attack and the night before. The video had footage from both the Japanese and US. It was so very sad and so very humbling. It served as a great reminder as to why we must never forget the lives lost and honor those who continue to fight for us today. The USS Arizona Memorial was beautiful. It was quiet and peaceful. I think my favorite part about it was that for those few that survived the attack that day on the USS Arizona, they could choose to be laid to rest with their shipmates on the Arizona. There were a list of 35 names added to the memorial wall. I am so thankful I was able to see this memorial and be reminded of its importance.

Oil from the USS Arizona

After our visit to the USS Arizona we went over and toured the USS Bowfin, the Pearl Harbor Avenger submarine. It was really cool! I had never been on a submarine before and honestly, I don't know how those sailors did it! Those spaces were incredibly TINY!

Finally the last activity of the day was a luau!! We went to one at Paradise Cove. It was very touristy, but so much fun! They had all types of activities. TJ threw a "spear", mom and I made flower bracelets, they showed us how to fish with nets and they even cooked the pig in the ground. It was such a fun evening. They even had a moment when all those in love danced to the Hawaiian Wedding song. So of course we danced on the beach. It was a great luau!

Tomorrow is our last day. It should be lots of fun with a visit to North Shore and an airplane tour! I am sad to see it end but at the same time I do miss Elizabeth Taylor and my bed! :)

Aloha,
Leigha