Hurricane Wilma and Life Since...

Okay, where to begin. Well, I’m sitting (laying actually) on my bed typing this out before we head off for Starbucks, which is the only place we know of close by that has an Internet connection. Thankfully they have high speed Internet there so that I can update you all on the happenings of the past 5 days or so. Not much has happened that I can think of to tell you about. Yeah right! It all started one blustery Monday morning when a little storm called “Wilma” decided to pay us a visit. It was amazing! I don’t know that I was really all that scared during the storm. There was only one point in which I really felt like I should move from where I was. I was like the little kid who was seeing something for the first time (well, it was the first time I’d ever witnessed a hurricane) that couldn’t take her eyes off it. To see the winds howl and blow everything around was so awesome, and I don’t mean that in the “cool” sense of the word, but in the “awe inspiring” way. Sydney woke up around 7 Monday morning, so we were up to see it all start. The winds had started blowing a bit during the night, which made it so that I had a horrible sleep anticipating what was to come. But in the morning it wasn’t too bad, but that quickly changed. I woke Jeff up around 8:30 so he’d be able to see it all begin. At around 9 or so the hurricane force winds started up in our area. It was just surreal. I don’t think there is any better way to describe it than that. It blew like crazy for about half an hour before our electricity went out. Then continued for another hour and a half or so before the eye made it’s way over us. The rain poured and poured at made it’s way under our front door pretty quickly so that we had almost all of our towels laid out trying to soak up the water before it made it’s way to the electrical stuff. Then, suddenly, the winds calmed down as the eye passed over us. It was eerie, this strange calm after the crazy winds. You could see people venturing out to check on all their stuff and tie things down that had gotten loose before the second half off the storm made it’s way over us. Jeff and I decided to try and nap during the eye because we’d had such a bad sleep the night before and Sydney was sleeping, so it was our chance, but I don’t think I got even a little bit of sleep. I was just too amped up about the whole thing. They rear end of the storm started making it’s way over us around noon. We thought that the worst had past and the back would be a piece of cake, but boy were we wrong. The back was worse than the front. This Wilma character decided to challenge everything that we knew about hurricanes. Normally they weaken much more over land, and generally the back end doesn’t pack quite as much of a punch, but no, not Wilma. So it got a little crazy and pulled our fence down on one side completely (thankfully that was all Jeff really had to fix) and tore about a shed that was already falling apart from the last hurricane last year. We went into the addition that’s a wood frame (compared to the masonry that the rest of the house is) and you could really feel the affects of the wind. We have five huge windows in that room and man were they shaking. That was probably the only point when I really felt a tinge of fear. Seeing blades of grass and leaves flying at you at 100 miles an hour really puts things in perspective. So we left that room pretty quickly. After just over an hour and a half the storm calmed and we were able to go check the damages. We didn’t really have anything major, just the fence, the shed and a couple shingles that Jeff had to stick back down and lots of debris from neighboring yards and trees. We were so blessed in how well we did. Some places close by didn’t make out so well. A house just beside and next to us had a screened in pool that collapsed and a shed that collapsed. Also a bunch of houses that had huge trees we mauled, leaving very few branches on the tress, and more in the roads. A couple of stores close to us were completely ruined, the ceilings caving in completely and windows blown out.

Because our electricity was out, we decided to meet with a few of Jeff’s other staff members and their families at his office, where there still was electricity. The drive there was crazy. Seeing all the destruction was more than you could really take in. It’s amazing how much damage wind could do, but then when you thought about how strong the wind was, you’re amazed that more damage didn’t occur. Power lines were down everywhere, making traveling pretty treacherous. The usually 15 minute drive to the office took almost twice as long, but it was super neat to see how everyone was doing and the destruction that occurred. We had a great time at the office (it’s basically a townhouse that’s been converted into offices, so it has a full kitchen, two full baths and two half baths, laundry, everything you need) basically partying with our friends. We are so blessed to work for such a great church. Anyways, we stayed there until around 7:30. When we left we found out that there was a curfew in place (7pm) by being pulled over by the cops and being asked what we were doing out. The curfew has been in effect since; although, last night they bumped it back to 9pm! Wow, we can stay out all the way to 9pm, you’re kidding!

Well, I should get moving on here. The last few days have been pretty uneventful. With no electricity there hasn’t been a whole lot to do. Our senior pastor lent us his generator (he had electricity right away and didn’t need it) so we’ve been able to watch TV through bunny ears for the past couple nights. Jeff just brought home his microwave from the office (ours is plugged straight into the stove or something so we can’t run it off the generator) so I’m so excited that I don’t have to warm Sydney’s milk up by boiling water on the bbq any more. It’s totally like camping around here. Just to wash dished you have to boil a pot of water on the bbq so that the water is warm enough to actually degrease everything. And the lack of a warm shower is starting to really take it’s toll, thankfully I’ve been able to take one at the office while we were there yesterday. But life is still continuing on. We’re all doing great and having a great time. The weather has been super nice, so Sydney loves it, it’s actually cool enough to take her outside for a bit. We spent most of the days for the last while playing outside while we worked. It’s starting to heat up a bit, so hopefully our electricity will be on soon and the fans and air conditioning can begin again. I’m a little agitated in the fact that the people across the street from us has power, but still, we don’t.

I’ve been asked a few times how much longer I’m going to be, so I think that I’ll be stopping here. I’m not quite sure what Jeff put in his blog (he went to Starbucks this morning to do his) but he probably has more info there if you want to check it out.

Sydney News

Well, Sydney decided to finally take her first tentative steps on Monday while we were partying at the office. It was so cute. I think she’s probably only taken a total of five steps or so by herself, but it’s a start. She also started standing by herself on Tuesday, although, again, she doesn’t do it all that often. When she did, as soon as she realized what she was doing she started freaking out and squatted back down.

I guess this is the end for now. Please keep us in your prayers. As soon as our electricity and cable comes back we’ll try and update you more and hopefully included some pictures.