Apparently January isn't a good month for Ben and I. We're 2-for-2 when it comes to the month of January in our married life.
Last January was the fire.
And yesterday, Ben got laid off.
Next year, I'm going to try and find a way to skip the month of January completely. Does anyone have any ideas of how to do this?
Friday, January 30, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
One Year Ago - Starting 2008 Off with a Bang
Sunday, January 20, 2008:
Ben and I had just woken up from a Sunday afternoon nap when there was a loud banging on our door. I went to the door, opened it, and no one was standing there. I looked down the hall and saw a man just going door to door banging, but I also saw a large cloud of smoke charging down the hall - our apartment building was on fire. Since the smoke alarms on our end of the building weren't going off yet, I am very thankful to the man who was banging on doors. Ben and I quickly grabbed our toiletries and glasses/contact stuff (since we figured we'd probably be out of the building at least over night), a few things that were easy to carry, took pictures of the apartment just in case, and we headed to his parents house - who only live about half a mile away. We were probably out of our apartment in less than 3 minutes, but in that little amount of time, we reeked like smoke and it was getting very thick in the air. We drove back a few times through the night to check on things. It was a big fire. The fire started on the complete opposite side of the building, and destroyed the whole third floor. Just FYI - it was an electrical fire.
The Aftermath - look at all the ice coated trees. We had to chip about 3 inches of ice of of Ben's truck to get it out.
-
We weren't allowed back into the building for 2 weeks. The third floor was a complete loss. Our floor, the second floor, and the first floor suffered primarily smoke and water damage. They had to make sure the building was structurally sound before we were allowed to enter. They also had crews come in and rip the ceilings down in all the apartments because large chunks of drywall were just falling at random. Here are a few pictures of our apartment:
The difference in carpet - we had a TV stand sitting in this spot
Our closet. The bar fell, and our clothes were sitting in 3 inches of nasty, sooty water for 2 weeks. Lovely. Needless to say, they all got thrown away.
Thankfully, we had renter's insurance and were able to recover most things. The fire seems like yesterday, but it also seems like so long ago. We're so grateful to all our wonderful friends and family who supported us in various ways this past year. Our home is always welcome to you, if you need a place to stay!
Ben and I had just woken up from a Sunday afternoon nap when there was a loud banging on our door. I went to the door, opened it, and no one was standing there. I looked down the hall and saw a man just going door to door banging, but I also saw a large cloud of smoke charging down the hall - our apartment building was on fire. Since the smoke alarms on our end of the building weren't going off yet, I am very thankful to the man who was banging on doors. Ben and I quickly grabbed our toiletries and glasses/contact stuff (since we figured we'd probably be out of the building at least over night), a few things that were easy to carry, took pictures of the apartment just in case, and we headed to his parents house - who only live about half a mile away. We were probably out of our apartment in less than 3 minutes, but in that little amount of time, we reeked like smoke and it was getting very thick in the air. We drove back a few times through the night to check on things. It was a big fire. The fire started on the complete opposite side of the building, and destroyed the whole third floor. Just FYI - it was an electrical fire.
The Aftermath - look at all the ice coated trees. We had to chip about 3 inches of ice of of Ben's truck to get it out.
- 
We weren't allowed back into the building for 2 weeks. The third floor was a complete loss. Our floor, the second floor, and the first floor suffered primarily smoke and water damage. They had to make sure the building was structurally sound before we were allowed to enter. They also had crews come in and rip the ceilings down in all the apartments because large chunks of drywall were just falling at random. Here are a few pictures of our apartment:
The Bathroom
The difference in carpet - we had a TV stand sitting in this spot
Our closet. The bar fell, and our clothes were sitting in 3 inches of nasty, sooty water for 2 weeks. Lovely. Needless to say, they all got thrown away.
Thankfully, we had renter's insurance and were able to recover most things. The fire seems like yesterday, but it also seems like so long ago. We're so grateful to all our wonderful friends and family who supported us in various ways this past year. Our home is always welcome to you, if you need a place to stay!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Puppy Fever
I have serious puppy fever. Now that we are in a house and actually have a yard, I cannot wait to get a dog. Both Ben and I grew having a dog as a pet, and life just seems so empty without one! We've been in contact with a few Australian Shepherd breeders and we are hoping to get a puppy within the next few months. How can you resist this?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Living Room: Before and After
We're finally back up and running!!! Here are pictures of the painting project. The room isn't totally done... the walls are still fairly bare, etc, but you get the idea. We are very happy we went with the blue - I love it!
Monday, January 5, 2009
Still No Internet
...at home, at least. Why does hooking up internet and TV have to be such a pain? Anyway, someone is supposed to come out today and figure out why it's not working, so hopefully tomorrow I'll be back up and running. It's just too much of a pain to take house pictures and load them onto the work computer. Soon.
Our holiday season was wonderful. Ben and I both had a week and a half or so off of work and got to spend some precious time with family, friends, and just enjoying our new house. We are almost completely settled and loving it. We were supposed to go to Minnesota for 4 days over the break, but after attempting to drive there on icy roads, we decided to turn around after being in the car for more than 5 hours and not even making it to the Michigan border. Having 4 extra days at home was a blessing in disguise. We played a lot of games (I got Ticket to Ride for Christmas - so fun!), had friends over to go in the hot tub and hang out, went back to the old apartment and moved the remaining things, got some great after-the-holiday deals. New Year's Eve was spent up at our friend's cottage about 45 minutes north. We played tackle football on the iced over lake, ate, played games, and just had a lot of fun.
Pictures to come... hopefully soon! I feel so disconnected from the world without email and TV - sad, isn't it?
Our holiday season was wonderful. Ben and I both had a week and a half or so off of work and got to spend some precious time with family, friends, and just enjoying our new house. We are almost completely settled and loving it. We were supposed to go to Minnesota for 4 days over the break, but after attempting to drive there on icy roads, we decided to turn around after being in the car for more than 5 hours and not even making it to the Michigan border. Having 4 extra days at home was a blessing in disguise. We played a lot of games (I got Ticket to Ride for Christmas - so fun!), had friends over to go in the hot tub and hang out, went back to the old apartment and moved the remaining things, got some great after-the-holiday deals. New Year's Eve was spent up at our friend's cottage about 45 minutes north. We played tackle football on the iced over lake, ate, played games, and just had a lot of fun.
Pictures to come... hopefully soon! I feel so disconnected from the world without email and TV - sad, isn't it?
Monday, December 22, 2008
We are all moved in!!!
Well, Saturday was moving day. Thankfully, it was the one beautiful day of the weekend! We had lots of friends and family help, and got everything out of the apartment and into the new house in just over 3 hours. A big thank you to everyone who helped - we REALLY appreciate it! Ben's dad had a small encounter with some ice and our nightstand and ended up needing 6 stitches in his chin, but other than that things went well. We are loving the house and can't wait to spend Christmas there.
Yesterday, we spent most of the day at home. Church was canceled, but we did venture over to Ben's parent's house for lunch. We live on a cul-de-sac, so we are about the last people to get plowed. That's why it's nice to only live 2 miles from my parents who have a plow truck. :)
We decided to paint the room blue. And not just the one wall - the whole room. We LOVE it. Pictures will be coming soon... our internet at the house is getting hooked up on Tuesday, so I'll upload them then.
Hope you all have a wonderful and very Merry Christmas!
Yesterday, we spent most of the day at home. Church was canceled, but we did venture over to Ben's parent's house for lunch. We live on a cul-de-sac, so we are about the last people to get plowed. That's why it's nice to only live 2 miles from my parents who have a plow truck. :)
We decided to paint the room blue. And not just the one wall - the whole room. We LOVE it. Pictures will be coming soon... our internet at the house is getting hooked up on Tuesday, so I'll upload them then.
Hope you all have a wonderful and very Merry Christmas!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Carmelitas
I brought in some of my favorite treats to work this week for our holiday foodfest (people sign up for a day and take turns bringing treats in), and I thought I'd share. These bars are so delicious and people always rave about them. One little thing - this recipe is for a 7X11 pan, NOT a 9x13. Enjoy!
Carmelitas
preheat oven to 350
36 caramels
5 Tbsp evaporated milk (you can use milk with some non-dairy creamer mixed in as well)
Melt caramels with milk in microwave. Set aside.
1 C. flour
3/4 C. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. dry oatmeal
1/2 tsp. soda
3/4 C. melted margarine
6 oz. chocolate chips
Combine flour, sugar, salt, oatmeal, soda & butter. Press half of mixture in a greased 7x11 pan. Bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over oatmeal mixture. Cover with caramel mixture. Top with remaining oatmeal mixture. Return pan to oven. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.
Note: It's best to make these bars when you have a few hours to let them cool on the counter. If you refridgerate them, the carmel gets kind of hard and chewy.
Carmelitas
preheat oven to 350
36 caramels
5 Tbsp evaporated milk (you can use milk with some non-dairy creamer mixed in as well)
Melt caramels with milk in microwave. Set aside.
1 C. flour
3/4 C. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 C. dry oatmeal
1/2 tsp. soda
3/4 C. melted margarine
6 oz. chocolate chips
Combine flour, sugar, salt, oatmeal, soda & butter. Press half of mixture in a greased 7x11 pan. Bake 10 minutes. Sprinkle chocolate chips over oatmeal mixture. Cover with caramel mixture. Top with remaining oatmeal mixture. Return pan to oven. Bake an additional 15 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.
Note: It's best to make these bars when you have a few hours to let them cool on the counter. If you refridgerate them, the carmel gets kind of hard and chewy.
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