be prepared

Nick, Madeline and I survived our first hurricane experience here in Philadelphia. I'm not going to lie, all the media and talk a few days before the storm hit had my heart racing and feeling very uneasy. Mainly because I've never been in a hurricane before and I wasn't sure what to expect. And mainly because I was worried about Madeline.

I grew up with Tornado weather and experienced heavy storms and scary situations... but I never saw a tornado growing up despite the crazy weather I've seen. I have actually always loved tornado weather... but I really think it's because tornado's have never actually threatened my home. I love the sound of thunder and rain and the amazing sights of lightning bolts lighting up the sky. We used to sit on our front porch, windows open and everything, watching the storm brew in the big Texas sky.

Being in a hurricane was a much different experience.

 I had a husband and baby to worry about ( I care about them more than anything). Again, I wasn't sure what to expect. When the storm finally hit on Monday, everything was shut down, Nick's school was canceled, and we just sat and waited inside our little apartment. It rained hard all day long with gusts of strong wind every now and then. It really made me feel super vulnerable because mother nature doesn't mess around when she's angry. There was literally nothing we could do but sit tight and just wait. We figured the worst that could happen would be flooding & power outage for days if not weeks. I kept thinking the worst: our windows breaking because of fallen trees, flooding in our home, my baby girl getting hurt, etc, etc. My mind kept racing.

All day long we were wondering if our power would go out... but nothing ever happened. Nothing. I kept looking out the window and looking at the trees to see how hard the wind was blowing. It definitely was blowing hard... I kept seeing the tree outside my window bend over and almost touch the ground because of the wind. Tuesday morning, I woke up, definitely expecting the power to be out this time... but our home was warm and our power was still on. Blessings from above.

The storm had passed.

 Our area had only experienced strong winds and rains. A few trees had fallen in our area, but no one was hurt. ( The heart of Philadelphia experienced lots of flooding and fallen trees & power lines.) My heart was so full and never before have I been so grateful for the little things ( like water.) I was so thankful the storm didn't hit us as bad as it could have.

We checked online to hear the sad news that Jersey and New York got hit the worst. My prayers go out to those people who are currently suffering because of the hurricane.

I feel like we dodged a bullet and it really opened my eyes to how fragile life is and how important it is to listen to the living prophets. ( Keep food storage up to date and 72 hour kits!)

Friday, when I heard Philadelphia ( and the east coast) was expecting a HUGE hurricane to hit on Monday, I immediately started researching 72 hour kits and things to have during a hurricane. 

Nick and I have talked about 72 hour kits and we *kind-of* already had them ( but I looked through them and they were SUPER lame... so I dumped everything out of them and started fresh.) 

I went to Target and filled our cart with everything I felt we'd need during the storm. I'm going to share those items with you now incase you need some ideas for YOUR 72 hour kits. :) 

ps- On Sunday, we heard that many stores were out of water, bread, peanut butter, etc. Many people were scrambling at the last minute to get much needed food and water. Saturday night, Nick and I decided to get a battery powered radio incase we needed to hear the news during the storm. We thought it wouldn't be too hard to find one at the last second... but we went to 7 different stores and they were ALL sold out. Everyone else had the same thoughts as us. Finally, the last store we tried had a few left. Another eye opener to just be prepared long before a storm hits. 

( I'm no professional) 

OUR 72 HOUR KITS: 

( I bought large zip lock bags to put our first aid stuff, food, and other items in.) 

FIRST AID:

sterile adhesive bandages (4-6)

2 and 4 inch gauze pads ( 4-6)

adhesive tape

scissors

tweezers

bandages and Band-Aids

needle and thread

moistened towelettes

antiseptic

thermometer

safety pins

cleansing agent/soap

latex gloves

baby ibuprofen

ibuprofen 

tums

pepto bismol 

TOILETRIES

Toilet paper

girl supplies

plastic garbage bags ( could also be used as ponchos if needed)

anti-bacterial hand sanitizer 

toothbrushes and toothpaste

BABY ITEMS

extra diapers

extra formula/bottles

binkies

lots of extra baby food jars and spoons

3-4 changes of clothes

4-5 socks

coat

2 blankets

beanie

a few toys

( anything your baby might need.)

IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS:

( I bought a binder and sheet protectors to put all our documents in. Keep this in a safe, fireproof place.) 

Family evacuation plan 

Our Will

Important contracts

Social Security Cards

bank info

ID's

Birth Certificates

Wedding Certificate 

checks/cards

Important phone numbers

A current family photo ( incase they need to do a search)

passports

immunization records

family records

CASH ( make sure it's all small bills because people might not be able to give change during or after a disaster.) 

OTHER IMPORTANT ITEMS:

flashlights

extra batteries

waterproof matches

hand and feet warmers

thermous

whistle

Map of the area you live

Radio

can opener

external hard drive with important documents/photos 

a deck of cards :)

books :)

Nick and I packed back packs with 2-3 pairs of clothes, shoes, beanies, gloves, & a warm coat. We also put these things I mentioned above in zip lock bags and distributed them into each other's 72 hour kits. 

FOOD

lots of bottled water ( we also filled zip lock bags with water and put those in our freezer. We also filled our bath tub with water.) 

ready to eat canned foods ( like soups) 

canned fruit

canned chicken

PB & Jelly

bread

crackers

trail mix

( basically things that you don't need to cook and won't go bad.) 

* We also gathered our photo albums, Madeline's baby book and journals and put them in a spot (or container) so we could grab them if we needed to evacuate.* 

We filled our cars with gas & kept our phones charged. 

Even though I felt uneasy at times before & during the storm... I felt peace in my heart because we were prepared. As prepared as we could be for a hurricane. 

I urge each of you... even if you don't live in a hurricane zone... you probably live in a place where tornados or earthquakes could hit . Listen to the prophets and get your homes in order. :) I promise you won't regret it. 

and finally... my most important recommendation to have during a storm: 

is PRAYER & FAITH. 

I feel so blessed that my little family is safe. Again, my heart goes out to those who are facing the effects of the awful storm & we're going to find ways to help them. 

click HERE and HERE for more great 72 hour kit ideas! 

“We have built grain storage and storehouses and stocked them with the necessities of life in the event of a disaster. But the real storehouse is the family storeroom. In words of revelation the Lord has said, ‘Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing’ (D&C 109:8.)”

Sandy, Hood Rats, and Autumn

Hurricane Sandy: 

Well, it's Sunday night and our new friend, Sandy is on her way to grace us with her presence. Actually, Sandy is a hurricane who is threatening to flood our streets, leave us with no power, and who knows what else. Super rude of her. 

I've never experienced a hurricane before, but we're taking the meteorologists pretty seriously when they say Sandy is HUGE and will do lots of damage to a lot of the East Coast. We live right smack dab in the middle of it all... right in Philadelphia. It's crazy they've shut down the subways and trains in NYC and in philly too. Nick's school has been canceled Monday and Tuesday for sure. ( I'm SO glad about that.) People around here are pretty nervous about this hurricane. 

When I found out about it, I quickly researched 72 hour kits and what people put in them. I went to Target and got a lot of necessities that we may need this week after the storm hits. We're good on food, batteries, flashlights, lots of baby food and supplies, blankets, books and games ( of course.) We went to the store last night to try and find a radio that could run on batteries alone... It was discouraging when we went to 7 different stores, and they were all sold out. Finally and thankfully we found one. It was so weird seeing a lot of the food shelves empty ( like canned foods, bread, bottled water... EMPTY.) I was so thankful we are all prepared for whatever disaster we face. 

It was a huge testimony builder to me that the prophets mean it when they tell us to have a good supply of food storage and 72 hour kits ready. What a blessing it is that we have a living prophet today to guide us and lead us under the direction of God himself.

I'm sure we'll be JUST fine. I've just been nervous about it because I don't know what to expect. It's especially nerve wracking because I have a sweet little baby girl to protect.  Even though this is supposed to be a HUGE hurricane and might do lots of damage... I'm finding peace knowing we're prepared and we still have prayer to rely on... even if the power goes out and the phone lines are down. :) We've learned a lot in the past few days about the importance of being prepared and listening to the prophets' council. We truly are in the last days. 

Hood rats: 

So. We've had some little hooligans come harass our apartment every weekend since we've moved here. ( We've never seen them because they run off so fast, but we know they're little because when they yelled F bombs into our mail slot last weekend, they clearly haven't hit puberty yet.) Over the course of 5 weeks, they've yelled obscene things into our mail slot in our door, threw a tomato at our door, they bang on our windows at late hours of the night, and last night they shot an air soft gun at our windows and front door. That was the last straw for me. We called the cops and hopefully those little boogers don't come back. The cops never saw them, but they were really nice and told us to call them again if they come back. I've tried MANY times to get up to go strangle them, but Nick always holds me back. They for real need some SERIOUS cub scouting in their lives and WHERE are their parents?? Whatever happened to playing night games and tag with friends? Why are these adolescents out causing harm and hurting people?? NOT okay. I'm wishing I still had my air soft gun, because I have NO problem shooting them with it. Stinkers. 

ANYWAY. 

PUMPKIN PATCH: 

We've done lots of really fun things this beautiful fall season together. It seriously is breathtaking out here in the fall! I LOVE this time of year ( minus hurricane season.) We took Madeline to her first pumpkin patch and we had a lot of fun. It was a family owned farm who raise their own dairy cows, pigs, and chickens. They even had a yummy ice cream parlor made from the fresh milk from their cows. ( Milky Way Farm.) 

HALLOWEEN: 

For Madeline's very first halloween, we dressed her up as a cute little Indian for our ward Halloween party. She is seriously SO much fun and she is VERY social. She thinks she's much older than she is because she is constantly wanting to crawl over to the 3 and 4 year olds to hang with them. She has no fear and doesn't know a stranger. She is often giving strangers courtesy smiles and totally winning their hearts over. She really is such a doll and so much fun. We also hosted another murder mystery dinner this year. This time, the setting was a wedding reception and the bride was stabbed in the back... literally. We had a yummy dinner and spent a few hours trying to figure out who the murderer was. It was a ton of fun! 

OUR ANNIVERSARY: 

I can't believe it's been 4 years since we've been married! I love Nick more today that I did the day we got married. He's such an amazing husband, father, and friend.  I'm so glad we got married in October. There's always so many fun things to do. We take turns each year planning how to celebrate our anniversary and it was my turn this year. I surprised Nick and took him on a 3 hour dinner cruise on the Delaware River. It was a lot of fun. We rode on a beautiful yacht, ate delicious food, and sat on the top of the boat and enjoyed the beautiful lights, buildings, and bridges. It was so much fun. 

FAMILY OUTING: 

Last week was seriously PERFECT weather. It was in the 70's and we have passes to the Zoo here. I've been wanting to take Madeline and thought last week was the perfect week to go. IT WAS. I asked Nick if he could come along ( on a Wednesday) and he DID! I was so excited ( He never would have been able to do that if he was still at BYU. We are loving medical school so far!) It really was such a perfect day... probably one of the best days I've had in Philly since we've moved here. On top of the weather being SO great, there was hardly ANYONE at the zoo and that was awesome! Madeline had fun looking at all the animals and so did we. ( My favorites were the polar bears and the tigers & lions.) After that, we decided to try genos or pat's philly cheese steaks. ( VERY famous touristy spot in Philly for people who wanna eat cheese steaks.) Nick had already had Genos once before, so we had Pats.( I'll have to try Genos sometime.) It was delicious of course. After we ate, we walked across the street to the fenced in park ( it's in the middle of the city.) Normally, I would have been nervous about it... but it's weird how you just kind of start to get used to that kind of stuff and it doesn't seem as bad after you've lived in it for a while ( plus, I've seen MUCH worse neighborhoods than the one we were in.) Lots of people were out playing basketball and swinging on the swings. We decided madeline had been cooped up all day in her stroller, we took her to the swings ( one of her favorite things these days) and that was a lot of fun! Such a wonderful day. 

OX is in the Mire: 

Today in church, the bishop asked the elder's quorum to go and check on the people they home teach to make sure they're prepared for this storm ( food, water, etc.) So that's what the men did the third hour during church. Nick couldn't get ahold of one of his less active families he home teaches by phone, so he drove over to their house while I was in relief society. He came back and reported that their cupboards were empty because they're struggling to pay their bills this month. His wife is 8 months pregnant and my heart just goes out to them. Our wonderful bishop gave us the go-ahead to buy them food and water to help prepare them for this hurricane. After church, we ran to the store, got them much needed food, and dropped it off at their house. Nick said they were almost in tears, they were so grateful. They even asked Nick to stay for a prayer of gratitude as he was leaving. Bless their sweet hearts. I'm so grateful for the amazing people in our church who are there for each other. We truly have an amazing support system and the church is SO on top of things, especially during a natural disaster. My prayers go out to other less fortunate families that might not have anything in their cupboards tonight. I wish I could find and help them. 

Now, we sit and wait for the storm. It's supposed to be at it's worst tomorrow afternoon and tuesday. We'll see how it all pans out. My prayers go out to everyone out here on the East coast. 

Again, I'm sure we'll be fine. XOXO

And since this has been the longest post ever... I thought I'd make it even longer with a million pictures strait off my phone. 

You're welcome. 

Here we are at the Milky Way farm for the pumpkin patch. 

that is the farm owner's home. So cute. 

Hay ride to the pumpkin patch

Our murder mystery dinner

Murder Mystery Dinner ( wedding reception themed) 

the bride ( or random photo I found online.) 

the guests

haha... Nick set up the crime scene himself. 

she was the murderer! :) 

This sweet baby girl LOVES her books

I LOVE them together. So sweet. 

Our dinner cruise 

This guy LOVES to dance. I do not. 

Our beautiful Indian baby girl 

she LOVES this bookshelf more than her toys. 

our day at the zoo

there's so many cool, old buildings in down town philly 

will smithin it up 

her favorite time of day

Sandy