Easter 2012

This Easter was a little different for Chris and I this year since we ended up needing to spend it apart. Chris was already scheduled to be in Ohio the day after Easter and so we had planned to spend Easter in Indiana with his family.

Then my dad had open heart surgery a few weeks ago. So I decided that since I had a 3-day weekend, that I needed to go see my family and spend the time with them. This meant that Chris and I would have to split up since it would have been very tiring for him to drive 8 hours on Sunday and then drive all the way to Ohio from home on Monday.

So Chris headed to Indiana (with Maggie in tow) and I made my way down to Missouri. I left on Thursday night after work (and a haircut and finishing packing...it was a later night!) and headed to my sister's house so I could carpool down with them on Friday.

Here are the few pics I took during the weekend...

pretty sunset while driving

We took the long way down to Joplin and stopped at the outlet mall in Osage Beach on Friday. We hit up Coach, Bath and Body Works, and Fossil. (I may have made my first Coach purchase :)

We stopped for drinks (and for gas and to air up our tire) on our way out of the lake area. And I found out they have Jones soda in a can! I used to buy these all the time in high school when they came in glass bottles.

Love the pictures on them :)

We had a good weekend. Saturday was a busy day of helping our parents run errands and lifting things that they can't lift since my dad is still on a 10-lbs. weight restriction and my mom is used to my dad doing the heavy lifting. It was great to see that my dad is doing so well. (And he's even lost a little bit of weight. I'm hoping he will be able to keep it off.) We just wore him out on Saturday since we had to go to several stores in search of a new tv for their bedroom - just a lot of walking for him. And I found out that my dad's heart now sounds like a ticking watch. That was pretty interesting!

We also saw the house that they are rebuilding at the site of our old house. It's different but a similar layout to what the old one was.

We also went to Kohl's on Saturday and I got to do some birthday shopping. That was lots of fun!

Sunday was a good day. I woke up early and ran before going to the 8:00 service. But it turned out to be worth it since I got to see the sun start coming up and that's always really meaningful to me on Easter morning. Breakfast at Immanuel was good as always. My parents had a break from it (for the most part) this year, so I know they enjoyed that.

I sadly didn't get a picture of all 5 of us together but I did get these...

(in front of mom's pretty roses :)

(thanks to my sis for taking my new favorite picture of myself :)

It ended up being kind of tiring weekend and I missed not being with Chris and Maggie and Chris' family, but it was well worth it to spend the enjoyable time with my family and to be able to help my parents out while I was there. I hope you all had a great Easter as well!

busy with...

finishing out work for the year (and enjoying holiday lunches at work).

buying the last of our Christmas presents.

enjoying the Christmas season.

putting up Christmas decorations (most the weekend before last and others as I have time).

had our first Christmas party last Saturday with Chris' co-workers and spouses.

having a white elephant gift exchange with the youth group tonight.

getting things ready for our small group Christmas party at our house this Saturday.

thinking our Christmas cards will finally go out next week.

anticipating the upcoming travels and time with family and friends.

working on a project for a Christmas gift for someone in our family that I really hope they love...



I hope you are enjoying this wonderful Christmas season! Are you going anywhere over Christmas break?

Joplin schools and sb memories

I read an article today about the Joplin schools returning to school on time and mentions several different people's stories who were affected by the tornado. I think it's a really good read. I think we can learn a lot from these people's determination and ability to focus on the positive when it would be so easy to focus on the negative.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-08-14-Joplin-tornado-schools-resume_n.htm

The discussion of many schools needing to find temporary locations for the school year (including the high school) and the reference to one of the girls playing on the softball team reminded me of one of my favorite pictures from my senior year of high school...

(my parents and I on senior night on the softball field with the high school in the background)

That year was my first of playing on the varsity team. I was the only senior that year. My coach even let me keep my jersey at the end of the year since they were getting new uniforms the next year.

It's funny how memories like this can mean that much more after almost 10 years has passed and a certain place has changed so much since.

May 22, 2011...one month later

An F-5 tornado hit the center of my hometown, Joplin, MO, on May 22, 2011 causing billions of dollars in damage.  The night it happened I couldn't believe the images I was seeing online.  It was impossible to really understand what had happened and for me to even believe it as a reality.  How could something like this happen to my hometown?  How was it even possible that there was so much damage? 

[ I was never more relieved to hear that my parents were ok (which I actually heard at the same time as I heard about the tornado). I had just talked to them that afternoon to wish them a happy 35th anniversary! They were actually at Red Lobster for their anniversary dinner when the tornado came through town. The RL staff had escorted them to the cooler so they could ride out the storm. I'm thankful that Red Lobster ended up not having any damage - my parents only had a broken back window in their car. (It took them about an hour to get home that night, instead of 20 minutes.) ]

I didn't sleep much that night (it didn't help that Chris was out of town).

It was hard for any of it to process the next day, the day after that, and the day after that. I couldn't stop looking at images and watching videos that I found online. I "liked" a couple of the tornado recovery pages so I could keep up-to-date with the recovery efforts. I was trying to find a time to travel down to Joplin to hug my family and help out in some way.

Then I found a time that I could go when work was really slow. And my brother was even able to go down with me, keep me company on the drive, and volunteer with me. (I wanted to go as soon as possible because I had a feeling that I would be going to work at CAT soon.)

I am thankful for the time that I was able to spend in Joplin (got there on June 5th and left on the 9th). It was difficult to see in person how the town is hurting and trying to recover, but at the same time it was exactly what my heart and mind needed. I broke down crying in the car (while my mom and I were driving through the worst of it for the first time) when we were at the top of a hill by St. John's and were overwhelmed by a panoramic view of horrible destruction. Being in an area of such destruction is indescribable. Everything I knew of the area was turned upside down. The hospital structure was still standing but unsafe. The shelters and mature trees in Cunningham Park was just gone. Only a basketball hoop and the brick sign remained. Only the trunks of some trees remained in the nearby neighborhoods. Debris was everywhere. Street names spray painted on random pieces of material or the pavement. As we drove down 26th St...my old orthodontist office was gone. So many houses just leveled. Some walls on some houses remained but houses upon houses were destroyed to the point of being unlivable.

Then we came up on St. Mary's Church where much of the building was destroyed but the cross remained.

This is what I always turn back to when I think about the tornado...God still remains in the midst of death and destruction. His goodness is still evident. His presence can still be felt. He has never left the people of Joplin. I've heard so many miraculous stories come from this event. People that stepped into help others. People that miraculously survived even after being picked up by the tornado and landing down the street from where they started.

God's love is being shown everyday by the volunteers that showed up to help with relief efforts. This time is so impressionable on the residents that were effected. I think God uses situations like this as an opportunity for revitalization and a time to turn people towards Him. I pray that people who have lost everything realize that this world truly is temporary and that God is their only hope.

Here are only some of the pictures that my family and I have captured. Follow the links below for more.

At the entrance of my parents neighborhood

the storm was so strong that it removed bark from trees (pic near high school)

near 27th and Joplin St. - old J-town/Salvation Army/IGA building in distance

destroyed classrooms of high school in A hall

remains of Dillons grocery store

view down 26th St. near hospital

looking down W. 29th St. (neighborhood we used to live in)

childhood home (my parents moved away from there 2 years ago)

end of 29th St. (looking off to Schifferdecker)

RV on top of Teeter's old house on 29th St.

view of huge area of destruction off to the west of high school

looking east down 26th St. - you can see St. Mary's Church in the distance plus remains of Dr. Baker's old office and nursing home

tornado twisted sheet metal around trees

brick eagle still remains on the exterior of the high school

Go here to see the pictures that I posted to Picasa. My parents took these pictures.

Go here to see the pictures that I posted on Facebook (that are different from the Picasa pics).

The people of Joplin are resilient and strong but this situation wears on them financially, emotionally and physically. Please continue to pray for recovery efforts and the long road ahead of repairing and rebuilding. Only God can give the strength to continue on day after day to overcome something like this. Even those who are unharmed and have an undamaged house have been effected in some way by the aftermath of the storm.

Lots of good news

I've received some good news recently so I just wanted to share it with you all!

Last week, I officially found out that I passed my PE exam!!! I was randomly looking online one day and discovered that it said I had passed. This was confirmed when I received a letter in the mail last Friday. I still have to finish up some paperwork before I actually have a license in hand. (In Illinois, you can take the test before you have had your paperwork submitted and approved.) I'm relieved that I only had to take it once and that I've actually remembered at least some of what I learned in college ;) All that studying paid off!

I found out this week that I will be doing some work at Caterpillar again! They called this week and I am going into the plant on Monday! (Once they have approval for something, they normally act pretty quickly.) I'm happy about this because it means that I will be working full-time again and I'll get some time out in the field and away from a desk, which is always nice.

In other news...I've been down in Joplin this week. I picked Kyle up in St. Louis on Sunday and we headed down here to help at church and to see our parents. (I had been itching to come down and I had the opportunity during a slow time at work.) We're heading out tomorrow morning. I'll have to post about our trip down here, along with some pictures (and maybe video) that we captured. Please continue to pray for Joplin as they work to recover. The reality of some people's circumstances seem to be setting in and worsening with the onset of mold, dealing with insurance companies, and the possibility of not having a house back for a year.