The Taylor's Tales

The start of something bad...

2010-03-10T17:33:00.000-06:00

So this happened the same day that Kate got stitches, just to let you know how bad of a day I had, lol. We had just gotten to a friend's house to play, and I got Sarah out of the car. She instantly ran across the street to someone else's house. I yelled after her to come back, that her friends house was on the same side of the street that we parked, as it always is. She started running again, and I thought she was running back to the other side of the road. So I turned around and started unbuckeling Kate. By the time I got Kate out of the car and turned around, less than one minute, Sarah was gone. I was looking all around, and Kate ran in the direction that we thought she had gone, totally afraid that her sister was missing. We couldn't see her anywhere, so I ran up to our friend's (Rachel) door and knocked. When she opened it I asked if Sarah was in there and she said No, that their door had been locked. I panicked. I started running down the block looking for her and Rachel ran down another block. (Rachel lives on the corner, so there are 3 ways she could have ran.) Luckily enough we found her semi-quickly. She had gone to the end of the block, turned the corner and was in someone's front yard picking flowers and putting them in her purse. Talk about relief! I don't know how anyone handles a child being kidnapped, or gone missing. Those were definately some of the worst 5-10 minutes of my entire life!

ONE LITTLE MONKEY JUMPING ON THE BED ....

2010-03-10T17:03:00.000-06:00

SHE FELL OFF AND BONKED HER HEAD...

MOMMY TOOK HER TO THE HOSPITAL AND THE DR. SAID....

11 STITCHES FOR HER HEAD...

The next day...

And the next...

She only had to have the stitches in for 5 days, and this is what it looks like now, one week from when it happened...

You can barely see it! I definately will be using Vitamin E oil, seeing that it is on her face, but I can't even believe how fast it healed!

So, for the story... I was sitting at the computer about 2 feet away from Kate, when she started jumping on my bed. I turned around, and was in the middle of telling her to stop jumping so that she wouldn't get hurt when, before I could even finish the sentance, she fell head first and hit her eye on the corner of the bed frame. It sounded like she hit it really hard, so I hurried and picked her up and was trying to calm her down when I felt something wet on my arm. I tried to pull her away slowly because she was obviously in a lot of pain, when I saw blood everywhere. I hurried and ran to the closet to get a washcloth and started putting pressure on it. When I pulled it away to see how bad it was, I instantly knew that she would need at least 10 stitches. So of course I was kind of in a panic, because it was only 7:15 pm and Dan has class until 8:00. By the time he usually gets home it is around 8:45 or later. So.... I couldn't get ahold of him, and Kate's bleeding wasn't stopping. I told Sarah that we had to go to the hospital while I was trying to figure out how I was going to get there without getting blood all over, seeing that I couldn't hold her in my lap while I was driving. As I was trying to get us out the door, the bleeding started to clot so I was able to calm down a little bit. I was so grateful that Dan's mom wasn't busy and was able to meet me at a McDonald's on the way to the hospital to pick up Sarah. I finally got to the hospital about an hour after it happend. They took us back pretty quickly and the nurse wrapped her up and put some numbing stuff on her eye, which thankfully helped her to fall asleep.

Dan got there around 9:30, then we just waited for the Dr to finish up with some more serious patients. So the Dr hadn't seen the cut when he came in to do the stitches. He informed us (before he saw it) that if the cut was on the eye, he wouldn't be able to use the glue, because it would make her loose her eyebrow permenantly. So we said that was fine he could do stitches if he needed to. So he unwrapped her and said, well, I am going to try to be conservative and only use one spool of stitches. (Even though the cut wasn't on the eyebrow, it was just too bad for the glue.) So, he started sewing, and 30 minutes later, she had 11 stitches on her eye. Poor girl.

And just because I know you are all going to ask... she stopped jumping on the bed for about 24 hours, and then started right back at it. Of course, I make her stop every time I see her, but why can't she just learn!

Family Pictures

2010-01-23T16:56:00.007-06:00

Happy Anniversary Dan!

2010-01-17T21:30:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was our 6 year Anniversary! We were able to have a friend watch the girls so we could go to the temple in the morning, and then Grandma let the girls sleep over so we could go to dinner and then to watch a late showing of Avatar at the 3D IMAX theater. It was so fun spending the day just the two of us. Thanks so much for everything you do for me Dan. You are the greatest and I love you more than ever.

A few pictures from my first Craft Show

2010-01-08T11:43:00.002-06:00

A visit from MiMi and PawPaw

2010-01-08T11:29:00.002-06:00

We were verr blessed to have MiMi and PawPaw come and visit us for a couple of days in December. The girls had a blast and we all really enjoyed the visit. We are so sad that they had to leave after just a coupl of days.

My 2 Georgous Girls!

2010-01-08T11:18:00.002-06:00

Sarah

Kate

album 06-24-09 (247 photos), by Beckie Taylor

2009-06-24T22:02:00.001-05:00

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
http://www2.snapfish.com/fbshareredirect/p=772241245898919901/l=2454398007/g=49521286/redirectURL=share/otsi=SALBBL/AlbumID=1146803007/a=49521286_49521286/usercomments=I_xqd%20like%20to%20share%20my%20Snapfish%20photos%20with%20you.%20Once%20you%20have%20checked%20out%20my%20photos%20you%20can%20order%20prints%20and%20upload%20your%20own%20photos%20to%20share./counttext=247%20photos/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish

Who wants to play?

2009-02-16T12:37:00.002-06:00

So I got this from my sister's blog and it looked like a lot of fun! So here we go . . .

The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!

2- What I create will be just for you.

3- It'll be done this year. (might be a little while)

4- You have no clue what it's going to be, however if you know me, you know it will most likely be a craft, or a cake if you live near me :) It may be a story. It may be poetry, shoes, bags, or a little invention of my own! I may draw or paint something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows?

5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. Believe me... it may blow your mind!

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it!Sounds like fun, right? So, let's play

5 Years Ago . . .

2009-01-16T11:06:00.001-06:00

It is hard to believe that it was five years ago that Dan and I were married; it seems as if it was only yesterday. It is such a great feeling to know that I have found someone to share everyday of the rest of my life with. He always knows just what to say or do to make me smile or laugh. When I have a bad day he comes home and gives me a hug and I feel like nothing else matters. All of my stress just disappears. I love to sit and watch him play with our two beautiful girls, and see the love that they have for their daddy. He is so patient, loving, and intelligent and I feel so blessed to not only be with him in this life, but for eternity.

Here are some of our Engagement and Wedding Day pictures.

Dan . . . I LOVE YOU, Happy Anniversary!!

Click on the photos to enlarge them.

Accident Prone . . . or . . . Lacking Intelligence?

2008-11-10T14:50:00.004-06:00

Anyone that knows me knows that I am constantly doing dumb things and getting hurt. I have always just chalked it up to being accident prone, but I think yesterday's occurrence might be more of a lack of intelligence. I mean, I have been burned before, many of times.

One of the first times I remember was when I tried to make scones and forgot about them while they were cooking. They caught on fire, so I took the pan outside to dump it our on the ground, and dripped the oil down my thumb. Then there was the time when I worked at KFC (my first job while I was in high school), when I went to get the Macaroni and Cheese out of the oven and stupidly forgot to use an oven mitt. Or the time when I decided to try waxing my eyebrows and put the wax in the microwave too long, so when I put the stick in it exploded all over me (and ruined my favorite shirt). And of course all the countless times when I am baking and accidentally touch the pan. In fact, just a month or so ago I burned my hand pretty bad, not nearly this bad, when I grabbed the pizza pan out of the oven without a mitt.

It isn't just burns either. It doesn't matter what I am cutting or chopping, but there is this one knife that I always use, because it is the best, that I cut myself with every time. You would think I would get rid of the knife, or better yet, quick cooking and stay away from the kitchen. But, seeing that I love to bake and cook, that's difficult. You would think that I would learn from all the times I have been burnt and cut and not do it again, yet here I am today, with a huge burn all over my arm, and you ask, well, how did you do it this time.

Well, my stove doesn't work quite right. So in order to cook, I have to use a tiny burner with my big pan. To do this I have to turn the stove to high so that it will actually heat up. So I did this, and then poured in the olive oil. You would think when it started to smoke I would have realized it was too hot, and turned down the stove. But smart me didn't, and put a piece of chicken in the pan. Since the pan was bigger than the burner, the oil was all gathered at one side. So when I put the chicken into the pan, the oil tidal waved out of the pan and clear up my arm. And this, is the result.

So you tell me, I am accident prone, or just lacking in intelligence!

By the way, after soaking my arm in cold water and ice for about 9 hours yesterday, I did get to sleep, and today, I have little feeling in the burn area. So, very little pain today.

Oh, and the scar on my arm is from a car accident 3 1/2 years ago. Boy am I going to have a good looking arm or what!

Halloween Fun!

2008-11-04T13:04:00.003-06:00

After a long day of making antennas and trying to decorate a cake, all while trying to keep my kids from destroying the house made for quite the day. The cake didn't end up quite like I wanted, seeing that it is pretty hard to decorate a cake with cream cheese frosting, but I finally got it done. Of course, right as I finished Kate had to run up and stick her fingers in it. Then we finally got in the car, just to have Sarah kick the cake. Oh well, it still tasted good. The girls got a lot of candy at the Trunk or Treat, and had quite a bit of fun. Kate was so tired that she fell asleep on the way to Dan's parents house, but Sarah was still awake, so we thought that we would take her Trick or Treating a little bit. She loved it. While we were out we ran into one of her friends, so we finished going around the neighborhood with them. She keeps reminding me, "Remember mom, I went trick or treating with Jasmin", her friend was dressed up as Jasmin. Her bag was so heavy by the time she was done that I had to carry it for her. After she was done she went to her friends for a late night of watching the new TinkerBell Movie. She loved it, but was sooooo tired by the time she came home, around 11 PM! I know what a late night for a 2 1/2 year old. All in all my little lady bug and bumble bee had a great Halloween!

My first Tag . . . Thank's Celeste

2008-11-03T12:28:00.024-06:00

I've been tagged by Celeste:

8 fav. TV shows:
*The Unit
*Prison Break
*Grey's Anatomy
*Brothers and Sisters
*Ugly Betty
*Heroes
*24
*The Office

(These are links to the previous episodes)

8 things I love to eat:
*Chips and Salsa (especially Pico de Gallo)
*Tomatoes
*Shepherd's pie
*Cereal (The really sugary ones they make for kids, lol)
*Oreo's
*Deep Fried Turkey (That makes me miss Thanksgiving with my family)
*Caesar Salad
*Breadsticks from Little Caesars

8 Things I did today:
*Went to the Chiropractor
*Cleaned the house
*Checked email/blogs
*Unpacked some more
*Talked to my sister on the phone
*Looked up where to vote at
*Took out the trash
*Took a shower

(Ya, Ya . . . not much, but hey, it's only noon.)

8 things I am looking forward to:
*Taking a nap later
*Visiting NC (Hopefully) after Christmas and staying at the beach
*Logan comming home from Iraq safe (not for a long while)
*Chris and Heather's wedding
*Finishing my Medical Transcriptioning course
*Getting the girls Halloween Pictures back (SO CUTE!!)
*Our five year anniversary (in January)
*Moving out of this apartment (I know, we just moved in, lol)

8 Things I love about FALL:
*The temperature is pleasant, instead of scorching hot.
*Halloween
*The leaves turning colors
*Not having to do my own yard work and rake up leaves all day, lol
*You can do more outdoor stuff... since the weather is just getting cool
*Thanksgiving
*Relaxation (for some reason Fall seems more relaxing then the other holidays, like the calm down period of the year)
*I can't think of anything else, it's actually one of my least favorite times of year.

8 Things I WISH for:
*For Kate to be old enough and ready enough to be potty trained.
*For Kate to quit screaming and learn to Talk
*To buy a house
*A cool vacation for our Anniversary (anyone have any fun yet not too expensive ideas)
*A maid....(I'm with Celeste on this one)
*To move to NC when Dan is done with school
*For my brother to be safe in Iraq
*That I didn't care what people thought of me

I now tag: Mel, Chelsea, Katie, Shannon, Marci, Eliza, Amy, Kim, Melissa

My brother in Iraq

2008-10-18T10:24:00.001-05:00

Doesn't he look great!

Couldn't be more Proud!

2008-10-06T15:01:00.004-05:00

My brothers Chris and Logan

Chris and my Mom

My Mom and Logan

I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell my brothers how proud I am of them.
My brother Chris graduated from a Police Academy in North Carolina a few months ago, and got his first job as a police officer! He is loving it, and I am so proud of him for following him his dream!

My brother Logan is in the US Army with the infantry. He just recently got stationed in Baghdad. I want him also to know how proud I am that he is over in Iraq serving our country.

I miss you both so much, and wish that I could see you more often. I love you!

Happy Birthday

2008-10-05T18:20:00.001-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Logan, Mom, and Chris!! Logan, GOOD LUCK IN BAHGDAD!

Sarah's 1st Hospital Trip/ Ambulance Ride

2008-10-05T17:54:00.005-05:00

Exactly one month after Kate had her first hospital trip, Sarah climbed up and got Grandpa's medicine and took some blood pressure pills along with a bunch of other pills. After calling Poison control we were informed that she would have to go to the hospital for a 24 hour observation. GREAT!! We were kinda annoyed, but took her in just in case she had a reaction. When we got to the emergency room, the Dr looked at her and told us that they couldn't keep her for that long, so she would be taken by ambulance to Texas Children's Hospital downtown. I just had to laugh. They gave her an IV (which took 3 tries) and put her on all kinds of monitors. She had taken the medicine around 8 PM, and we took her in around 11 PM. We got to Texas Children's about 2 AM and then stayed there until nearly 9 PM that night. They did let her get up and walk around. They had some toys, games, and movies so that helped occupy her for a little while. They even let her go for a walk with us to the cafeteria. We were gone for over an hour. Basically, she just had to be there 'just in case'. Luckily she was fine the entire time, but here are some pictures of our interesting day.

Kate's 1st Hospital Trip

2008-10-05T17:47:00.003-05:00

So, this actually happened the day after we left Nacgodoches (August 1st), but things have been pretty crazy until now. Anyways, Kate tried to grab a plate of oranges off of the table and this was the result. Three stitches and 10 days later, the cut was still split open so the Dr. had to put the paper stitches on it, which of course she pulled off. Two months later and she still has a nasty scar.

Hurricane Ike . . . Part 3 . . . The Clean Up

2008-09-30T14:27:00.001-05:00

Thanks to the few members of the ward that helped us clean up!

The one good thing Ike left behind . . .

2008-09-30T14:22:00.003-05:00

Some great pictures of the Sky . . .

Hurricane Ike . . . Part 2 . . . The aftermath

2008-09-30T12:11:00.006-05:00

Well, there was no church Sunday because no one had power, and lots of people had damage to clean up.

We got power back Sunday night at about 8 PM. We were really lucky, as there are still people even today with out power (about 150,000 or so). The neighborhoods all around uround us were without power for nearly 2 weeks. Driving was pretty crazy seeing that most of the traffic lights were inopperable.

Our neigborhood was pretty lucky because they have taken down a most of the big trees. I did drive through the last 2 neighborhoods that the Taylor's lived in where every yard has multiple huge trees, and every yard had at least one tree, if not three or four. Their are trees and fences down everywhere. Here are a few pictures (these pictures don't even give Ike an ounce of justice, it really was worse than these depict)
Here is the Taylor's neighborhood

Here is some of their last neighborhoods

I tried going to the store on Monday to get diapers and see if their was any food, because the older lady that lives behind Craig and Elaine didn't have much food. It was pretty interesting. Wal-Mart had hardly any food at all, but did have power. Kroger had some non perishable food, but no power. They would only let a few people in the store at a time, and you would have to use a flashlight to see what you were looking for. The gas stations and grocery stores both had extremely long lines, and higher prices. One gallon of milk (about 5 days after the storm) was $4.68 (about $1 higher than usual). Here are a few pictures

Many people have tremendous damage to their property. Many people still have no food or water. Some people lost everything that they own. Hurricane Ike distributed damage to many not only in Houston and Galveston, but many places in Texas and other midwest states. Please keep everyone in your prayers.

Hurricane Ike. . . The aftermath Part 1 . . . The Story and Pictures you have been waiting for!

2008-09-30T10:02:00.007-05:00

First of all, I am sorry it has taken me a couple of weeks to get this up. I have recieved quite a few emails and calls wondering how we are doing and what happened, so hopefully this will answer a lot of questions.

The night of the hurricane I took the girls out to play. It was a little breezy but not bad. The girls enjoyed playing and running around in Grandma and Grandpa's backyard. I was watching the neighbor's weeping willow tree sway in the wind, and would try to imagine what the wind would do to it. As the girls were running back and forth I looked up at the one and only pine tree in the backyard, and noticed that it was getting blown a bit more than the others seemed to. I just had a bad feeling about the tree. When I came in, I mentioned that the tree looked like it was going to fall over, but Megan informed me that it just what trees do here, but that she was sure it would be fine. My nerves were calmed, so I went in and put the girls to bed, and of course posted more stuff on here about what was going on, while Dan and Megan watched a movie.

I went to bed around 12:30 AM and then Kate woke up at 3 AM. So I took her out to the living room, where I found Craig listening to the radio. I guess the power went out around 2 AM. We just kind of sat there and watched Kate play for a little while. Around 4:45 Kate fell back asleep, and Craig was starting to doze. I figured I would wait a little bit to ensure that Kate wouldn't wake up, when we felt the house shake and heard a big thud, and the light in the formal living room clink around. We were like, umm. . . what was that? So I went and layed Kate down, and Craig and I tried to peer into the dark to see what had happened. Of course, with no power and no sunlight, it took us about 10 minutes to realize that the tree had in fact fallen on the house. You could only see about 3 feet of tree hanging off the roof. So, I went and woke Dan up and we proceeded to try and get all the furniture moved out of the Dining room so that if the ceiling fell down that it wouldn't ruin their new furniture. Luckily enough Craig had some sort of battery thing that could run a lamp, so we at least had a little bit of light to be able to see.

After we were done moving everything, Dan and Craig went up in the attic to see what damage had happened. That's when they found out that their were quite a few holes in the roof, and water was comming in. So they went and got a bunch of plastic that Craig had bought, and proceeded to try and cover up the insulation and such so that it wouldn't get all wet. Then they put a bunch of buckets to catch the water.

When it was light outside we tried to run out in between the wind gusts to see the tree and the roof. It was pouring rain so we ran fast and couldn't get any pictures. The part of the tree that had broken was almost completely on top of the roof, and was hooked over one of the ridges into the other side of the roof. We figured that there wasn't anything that we could do about that part, and just figured we would try to keep the inside of the house from getting damage.

We went back into the dining room, and noticed that the ceiling was really wet and looked like it was going to fall through in one place. I tried to encourage them to let me cut a little piece of sheetrock out of the ceiling so that it could drain and not cause such a mess, but by the time I had talked them into it, it was too late. About 5 seconds later the ceiling fell down in that place. There had been a bucket of water in the attic their, so that came crashing down. Water and insulation went everywhere.

The buckets had all been used by this point, so we got a big red tub that the water could drip into. Then the water started leaking through all over the place. We ended up with half of us in the attic for the majority of the hurricane, trying to keep the damage to a minimum, with the others working in the house.

Then when another big wind surge came through the tree got dislodged from the roof where it had landed, and rolled down the roof where it caught on the chimney, where you see it in the pictures. When it dislodged, it pulled all the little tree nubs out of the roof, causing even more water to come into the house.

We tried to keep as much water as we could from comming in, but we still had about ten 25 lb tubs of water that we had to take outside. We even tried duct taping the holes closed.

I will let the rest of Saturday suffice to say that we spent the day cleaning up the inside of the house.

Well, we thought that was it. Then Saturday night it started raining again. Dan and I were sleeping in the front guest bedroom since our room had stuff all over from the carpet being pulled up. The girls slept upstairs. About 5:00 AM Sunday, Dan woke me up saying that water was dripping on his back. So we started again, trying to get the rain out of the attic, and trying to get all the furniture moved out of the bedroom.

This story, however, could go on forever. So, instead of continuing this novel, I will let if again suffice to say that Sunday we spent the day again, cleaning up the inside of the house, Here is a list of some of the damage and a few of the 400 pictures that we took of the damage. (Yes, I know thats a lot of pictures, but mostly for insurance sake.)

The formal dining room will have to have the whole ceiling redone, as their are 2 large holes, and many other wet places in the sheetrock. The entryway/hallway and front coat closet will also have to have the entire ceiling replaced as their are multiple places where water came through (just small holes), but the sheet rock is all wet. It came through the light fixture and a few other places in the entry way, and through the ceiling in the closet, and down the wall in the closet. The carpet pad and possibly the carpet will have to be replaced in the formal living room and the coat closet.

The front guest bedroom that the girls had been staying in also was leaking water from the ceiling. It was comming from the vent, but wasn't very bad until Saturday night. Then the water came through the ceiling and down the wall. The ceiling will have to be redone, new carpet pad, possibly new carpet. Plus the wall will have work done.

The back guest bedroom and Megan's bedroom had water come in some how so that the carpet all along the wall was wet. So we had to pull out all that carpet pad as well.

The attic has at least 12 holes from what we could count. The vent for the front 2 bathrooms is broken (the one comming out of the roof). One of the water heaters is unattached in the attic, and the exhaust vent is bent. The wood on the roof near where the exhaust vent comes out is broken. The vent for the Gas stove came loose, and the pipes for the heater came unattached. The fence will have to be replaced, the tree taken out, and some of the lanscaping fixed. The rain gutters will have to be fixed, and the insulation will have to be fixed. Plus, who knows what else. This is just what I can think of right now!

It is so sad to think that they just built this house, and that they haven't even lived in it a year yet and now their is so much damage.

Anyways, look for part two of Hurricane Ike.

Farwell for now

2008-09-12T21:28:00.003-05:00

Sunset
Sunset in Spring
Take a Hike Ike
Current Track as of 9 PM Friday
Seawall Friday Morning
Sealwall Friday Morning
Statue dedicated to the devastating Hurricane in 1900
Traffic on I-45 Northbound

Here are some pictures from Friday. I will see you on the other side of the storm! Pray for us all

Currently . . .

2008-09-12T13:44:00.006-05:00

Ike is schedualed to arrive around 2 AM (That is the center of Ike, winds will start this afternoon/evening). He is projected to be a strong Hurricane 2 or weak Hurricane 3. However, the Surge levels (not wind speeds) are more like a hurricane level 5. Parts of Galveston are already under water. The piers have already collapsed and homes are already beginning to flood. Those who are still in Galveston have been told that if they don't leave, they WILL DIE! The whole island of Galveston is supposed to be completely under water for at least 12 hours, possibly days. SCARY!!

The Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale

2008-09-12T13:44:00.001-05:00

Category One Hurricane:
Winds 74-95 mph (64-82 kt or 119-153 km/hr). Storm surge generally 4-5 ft above normal. No real damage to building structures. Damage primarily to unanchored mobile homes, shrubbery, and trees. Some damage to poorly constructed signs. Also, some coastal road flooding and minor pier damage. Hurricane Lili of 2002 made landfall on the Louisiana coast as a Category One hurricane. Hurricane Gaston of 2004 was a Category One hurricane that made landfall along the central South Carolina coast.

Category Two Hurricane:
Winds 96-110 mph (83-95 kt or 154-177 km/hr). Storm surge generally 6-8 feet above normal. Some roofing material, door, and window damage of buildings. Considerable damage to shrubbery and trees with some trees blown down. Considerable damage to mobile homes, poorly constructed signs, and piers. Coastal and low-lying escape routes flood 2-4 hours before arrival of the hurricane center. Small craft in unprotected anchorages break moorings. Hurricane Frances of 2004 made landfall over the southern end of Hutchinson Island, Florida as a Category Two hurricane. Hurricane Isabel of 2003 made landfall near Drum Inlet on the Outer Banks of North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane.

Category Three Hurricane:
Winds 111-130 mph (96-113 kt or 178-209 km/hr). Storm surge generally 9-12 ft above normal. Some structural damage to small residences and utility buildings with a minor amount of curtainwall failures. Damage to shrubbery and trees with foliage blown off trees and large trees blown down. Mobile homes and poorly constructed signs are destroyed. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Flooding near the coast destroys smaller structures with larger structures damaged by battering from floating debris. Terrain continuously lower than 5 ft above mean sea level may be flooded inland 8 miles (13 km) or more. Evacuation of low-lying residences with several blocks of the shoreline may be required. Hurricanes Jeanne and Ivan of 2004 were Category Three hurricanes when they made landfall in Florida and in Alabama, respectively.

Category Four Hurricane:
Winds 131-155 mph (114-135 kt or 210-249 km/hr). Storm surge generally 13-18 ft above normal. More extensive curtainwall failures with some complete roof structure failures on small residences. Shrubs, trees, and all signs are blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Extensive damage to doors and windows. Low-lying escape routes may be cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of structures near the shore. Terrain lower than 10 ft above sea level may be flooded requiring massive evacuation of residential areas as far inland as 6 miles (10 km). Hurricane Charley of 2004 was a Category Four hurricane made landfall in Charlotte County, Florida with winds of 150 mph. Hurricane Dennis (pdf) of 2005 struck the island of Cuba as a Category Four hurricane.

Category Five Hurricane:
Winds greater than 155 mph (135 kt or 249 km/hr). Storm surge generally greater than 18 ft above normal. Complete roof failure on many residences and industrial buildings. Some complete building failures with small utility buildings blown over or away. All shrubs, trees, and signs blown down. Complete destruction of mobile homes. Severe and extensive window and door damage. Low-lying escape routes are cut by rising water 3-5 hours before arrival of the center of the hurricane. Major damage to lower floors of all structures located less than 15 ft above sea level and within 500 yards of the shoreline. Massive evacuation of residential areas on low ground within 5-10 miles (8-16 km) of the shoreline may be required. Only 3 Category Five Hurricanes have made landfall in the United States since records began: The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, Hurricane Camille (1969), and Hurricane Andrew in August, 1992. The 1935 Labor Day Hurricane struck the Florida Keys with a minimum pressure of 892 mb--the lowest pressure ever observed in the United States. Hurricane Camille struck the Mississippi Gulf Coast causing a 25-foot storm surge, which inundated Pass Christian. Hurricane Katrina (pdf), a category 5 storm over the Gulf of Mexico, was still responsible for at least 81 billion dollars of property damage when it struck the U.S. Gulf Coast as a category 3. It is by far the costliest hurricane to ever strike the United States. In addition, Hurricane Wilma (pdf) of 2005 was a Category Five hurricane at peak intensity and is the strongest Atlantic tropical cyclone on record with a minimum pressure of 882 mb.

From the National Hurricane Weather Center

2008-09-12T08:49:00.002-05:00

AT 700 AM CDT...1200Z...THE CENTER OF HURRICANE IKE WAS LOCATED NEAR
LATITUDE 26.9 NORTH...LONGITUDE 92.2 WEST OR ABOUT 365 MILES...585
KM...EAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI TEXAS AND ABOUT 230 MILES...370 KM...
SOUTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS.

IKE IS MOVING TOWARD THE WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 13 MPH...20 KM/HR. A
TURN TOWARD THE NORTHWEST IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY...WITH A TURN
TOWARD THE NORTH EXPECTED ON SATURDAY. ON THE FORECAST TRACK...THE
CENTER OF IKE WILL BE VERY NEAR THE UPPER TEXAS COAST BY LATE TODAY
OR EARLY SATURDAY. HOWEVER...BECAUSE IKE IS A VERY LARGE TROPICAL
CYCLONE...WEATHER WILL DETERIORATE ALONG THE COASTLINE TODAY...LONG
BEFORE THE CENTER REACHES THE COAST.

MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS REMAIN NEAR 105 MPH...165 KM/HR...WITH
HIGHER GUSTS. IKE IS A CATEGORY TWO HURRICANE ON THE SAFFIR-SIMPSON
SCALE. SOME ADDITIONAL STRENGTHENING IS POSSIBLE DURING THE NEXT 24
HOURS...AND IKE IS FORECAST TO BECOME A MAJOR HURRICANE BEFORE THE
CENTER REACHES THE COAST.

IKE REMAINS A VERY LARGE TROPICAL CYCLONE. HURRICANE FORCE WINDS
EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 120 MILES...195 KM...FROM THE CENTER...AND
TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS EXTEND OUTWARD UP TO 275 MILES...445 KM.
AN OIL PLATFORM IN THE NORTHWESTERN GULF OF MEXICO RECENTLY
REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 109 MPH...176 KM/HR...AT AN ELEVATION OF
400 FEET.

THE ESTIMATED MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE IS 956 MB...28.23 INCHES.

COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF UP TO 20 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS BATTERING WAVES...CAN BE
EXPECTED NEAR AND TO THE EAST OF WHERE THE CENTER OF IKE MAKES
LANDFALL...EXTENDING A GREATER THAN USUAL DISTANCE FROM THE CENTER
DUE TO THE LARGE SIZE OF THE CYCLONE. SURGE FLOODING OF UP
TO 25 FEET...AND POSSIBLY HIGHER...COULD OCCUR AT THE HEADS OF BAYS.
COASTAL STORM SURGE FLOODING OF 6 TO 8 FEET ABOVE NORMAL TIDE
LEVELS...ALONG WITH LARGE AND DANGEROUS WAVES...CAN BE EXPECTED
WITHIN THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING AREA ALONG THE NORTHERN GULF
COAST. ABOVE NORMAL TIDES IN THE EASTERN GULF OF MEXICO SHOULD
GRADUALLY SUBSIDE OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO.

IKE IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 5 TO 10 INCHES OVER
EASTERN TEXAS AND EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA...WITH ISOLATED
AMOUNTS OF 15 INCHES POSSIBLE.

ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE TODAY OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN
LOUISIANA AND EXTREME SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE
POSSIBLE TONIGHT OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN LOUISIANA AND
SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS.

REPEATING THE 700 AM CDT POSITION...26.9 N...92.2 W. MOVEMENT
TOWARD...WEST-NORTHWEST NEAR 13 MPH. MAXIMUM SUSTAINED WINDS...105
MPH. MINIMUM CENTRAL PRESSURE...956 MB.

THE NEXT ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER AT
1000 AM CDT.

Update

2008-09-11T21:00:00.005-05:00

Well, last I heard, Ike has moved a little northward, and is projected to make landfall in Galveston and Houston as a strong level 3. If you go to the 3rd 'here' in the previous post of " . . . Is A Hurricane a blowin?" you will be taken to channel 13's website. Here you can go to the interactive tracker of Ike, and can zoom into Spring, where you will see that we are currently projected as being less than 5 miles from the eye of the storm. However, things change frequently, so I will update again in the morning. Hope everyone has a peaceful night!

Hurricane Ike

2008-09-11T11:24:00.003-05:00

Is It Raining? Is It Pouring? Is A Hurricane A Blowing?

2008-09-11T10:13:00.008-05:00

So, As most people have probably heard, Hurricaine Ike is on its way to the Houston Area. Right now the projection is for Ike to hit Freeport, putting Galveston and Houston on the dirty side (worst side) of the storm. Ike is projected to be either a strong level 3 or weak level 4 (out of 5 levels) when it hits, sending 15-19 ft storm surges (rise in sea level) with waves on top of that. Winds are supposed to be about 125 miles an hour when it hits, and about 100 miles an hour when it hits us in Houston. It is supposed to Rain 6-10" so flooding is inevitable, and power is expected to be out in some parts of the city for up to 2 weeks. Mandatory Evacuation orders have been placed in most coastal areas, and Voulentary Evacuation orders have been placed in other parts of 3 different counties.

We, in North Houston have been asked to stay put unless we live near a bayou, so that the coastal people will actually be able to get out and not be stuck on the freeways. A lot of things are shutting down tomorrow.

We are planning on staying where we are and riding out the storm. Later today we will go shopping for more food that doesn't have to be cooked, and other necessities that we may need. For those of you who want to be up to date on the hurricane here, you can go here, here, or here. We live in North Houston (Spring), which is near I-45 south of The Woodlands, just off 2920.

Dan did have school today, but doesn't tommorow. I am just hoping that with all the evacuations that it doesn't take him hours to get home from school tonight.

Well, to sum it up, YES!! A Hurricane IS A BLOWIN!! (from Willy Wonka)

I will keep you updated if at all possible, but for now, wish us luck!

New posts are comming

2008-09-09T13:30:00.001-05:00

So . . . It has been kinda crazy lately, so I haven't been posting a whole lot. But, I am getting ready to upload a bunch of pictures and write a bunch of new things that have happened in the past few months, so get ready! There will be pictures from my trip to Idaho, and pictures of both of the girls trips to the ER, Sarah's swimming lessons, and more. So, just be patient, and soon enough, my blog will become interesting once again, lol.

A Major Change in Plans

2008-08-03T16:39:00.002-05:00

So as many of you know, we were supposed to be moving to North Carolina a few weeks ago. However, after a lot of debate, and some unplanned surprises, we decided that it would be best for us to stay in Houston. Dan will attend the University of Houston where he will work with some of the top researchers in his field.

Since we decided to change our plans the day that the girls and I came back from Idaho, we had a lot to do. We stayed in Houston at Dan's parents for a few days trying to find a place to live, but after little success decided we should hurry home and pack up the house and clean so that we could be out in time. Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Megan, we were able to leave Kate for 5 days that we had left to move. We took Sarah home with us however, since we knew she wanted to see her friends before we moved.

Each day we were there Sarah was able to go and play with friends. The first day was interesting. She went and played at her friend Timmy's house. Well, although Sarah is potty trained, she had an accident and pooped all over their floor. That wouldn't have been too bad in and of itself, but they also have a little boy, Ben, who is Kate's age, who found the poop before my friend Michelle, the mom, did. I can see your imaginations rolling, and yes, Michelle found Ben hunched over eating Sarah's poop. When I found this out I felt horrible! I can't believe that happened. I would have thrown up if I had seen it. I feel so bad! Sorry Michelle and Neal, I hope Ben is okay! Thanks for dinner too, your pizza was great!

Anyways, as we were trying to get the house ready to leave, we figured we also better make sure the Aurora was in working condition so that we could bring it with us to Houston. This was 2 days before we had to be moved out. First, we figured we should make sure that it would start. . . And it didn't, so we tried to jump it . . . And it wouldn't jump. So Dan took the battery into AutoZone, who was having computer problems, to get the battery tested. The charged the battery for an hour and told him that it was completely dead, but that they couldn't look up the warranty information because their computers were down, so just to take the new battery! That was lucky. When Dan got home he put the battery back in the car (which is so conveniently located under the back seat, thats right, you have to take the back seat of the car out every time you want to jump or replace the battery and fuses), and the car started right up. Great, right?

Well, the battery kept dying because the lights kept flickering like every 10 seconds (as if the hazard lights were on, only they weren't, even while we were driving). So, the next day (the day before we were supposed to move) we drove to another car parts store, O'Reily's, or something like that. We told them the situation and asked if it might be a shorted fuse, and if they might be able to check it. They couldn't check fuses there, so they sent us next door to a car repair shop to ask the guy there if he would look at it for us. After about 5 hours we called to see what was wrong and he informed us that the lights kept flickering because their is a short in the computer system. He said he would try to find us a used part (that would still be at least a hundred dollars just for the part). However, after he called around everywhere he found that there wasn't a part anywhere that would work for the car. So . . . he told us that he would put it back together and we could go pick it up the next morning.

Since we couldn't do anything more about it, we just went and picked up our moving truck so that we could pack up the truck that night. We got to the rental place, and they didn't have any 22' trucks. They offered to give us a 26' truck for the same price but we figured that would be way too big, and decided to go with a 16' truck instead. Bad idea. We get back to Nacogdoches, and some guys from church came to help pack up the truck. After filling the truck halfway they could tell that their was no way that we were going to fit all of our things in the 16' truck, and by this time the rental place had been closed for a few hours. Now what! I was so stressed I couldn't even think about what we should do. So Dan got on the phone and got it all lined up with his family, that his mom would drive down his sister's van early the next morning so that we could go rent a uhaul trailer and put the rest of our stuff in that. Well, after we got the truck filled as much as possible, a couple of my great friends, Taiya and Leah, stayed until midnight to help me get my upstairs clean (Thanks girls!). They were such a great help, I couldn't have done it without them.

The next morning (the day of our move) we went over to the parts store to get stuff to try to recharge the air conditioner, and to get a switch to put on the battery (and idea a friend gave us so that our battery wouldn't die all the time. The switch would turn the battery off so that the lights couldn't flicker.) After we got everything that we needed, we went back over to the car repair place, and asked Jon, the guy who looked at our car, how we would put the switch on. After looking at our car he determined that the switch wouldn't work for our car for two reasons. One, the battery was under the back seat, so it would be extremely unsafe, and two, the main connector to the battery also connects to the fuses, so we couldn't have connected it right for some big long reason I don't know how to explain. So we went back to the part store, where we returned the switch, and they attempted to look for the next 30 minutes for where we should put the recarge kit for the air conditioner. They thought that our car only had two high pressure valves unstead of one high and one low. So finally, after forever of looking, they told us to go ask a car repair place. We felt stupid to have to go back to Jon, so we went down to a place a little further down the street. By this point we were extremely frustrated because the 30 minute trip to go pick up our car had turned into what at that point was more like 2 hours. This of course was super stressful for me seeing that although my upstairs was spotless, the downstairs had barely been touched cleaning wise.

So we got to another repair shop, and they showed us that the valve was in fact a low pressure valve and showed us what to do. After 15 mintues, the AC still wasn't working right, and some friends from church stopped at the repair shop and talked with us. They were so great to give me a ride home so that I could start cleaning (since by this point it was already almost 11 AM). Dan's mom was already almost to Nac. and she was going to go pick up the Uhaul and then come help me clean. Dan was going to go get more freon and get some drinks from the store, then come home and load the trailer. Well, Dan stopped at Brookshire Brothers to get the drinks, and when he came back outside, the car wouldn't start at all. And it wouldn't jump. Great.

So Dan took out the battery yet again, and waited for his mom to come pick him up from the grocery store. They took the battery back over to AutoZone who told him that the battery was fine, and that wasn't the problem. So they got some lunch and brought it back so we could eat, since it was already after 1:00. Elaine helped me clean while Dan loaded up the truck, and when Taiya got off work she came and helped clean too.

We finally finished cleaning around 4:30, and Elaine took Sarah and they went back to Houston. Dan and I went back over to Brookshire Brothers (BB) and for the next 2 hours preceded to try and figure out if we could get the car to start so that we could get it out of the parking lot to somewhere we could keep it. But to make an extremely long story at least a little bit shorter, we couldn't figure anything out, and got permission from BB to leave the car there.

We got to Houston at about 11:30 pm Thursday night, and Saturday morning unloaded our truck/trailer into Dan's family's garage. Now, we are just trying to find a place to live, so we can move our stuff yet again!

P.S. Just to say, our Aurora didn't make it, and is still sitting in the parking lot of Brookshire Brothers in Nacogdoches!

Packing and moving was definately not a fun task, but thanks to some great friends we were able to get out in time, and should be getting back our full deposit! Thanks to the Doug, Bro. Ault, Cory, Bro. Dormady, and the new family (sorry I don't know your names) that helped us load the truck; Michelle, Jill, Leah, and Nila for watching Sarah; and Leah, Taiya, and Nila, and Elaine for helping me clean, and Carol for the fabulous homemade onion bagels! I coudn't have done it without you guys!

Visiting Idaho

2008-07-15T19:05:00.003-05:00

Well, as some of you know, I am currently visiting family in Idaho. I arrived here without too many complications (Just a delayed flight, luckily a man from our flight offered to help me run clear to another terminal and over 40 gates down the other terminal since I had the 2 girls, a suitcase and the diaper bag) and am currently at my sisters. It is always nice to see family, but a little stressful to try to split my time with everyone. My girls love seeing their cousins and having constant friends to play with. My only wish is that Dan could have came with us. It has only been 8 days, and I already miss him so much! I can't believe that I still have 8 more days till we go home!

Sorry there aren't any pictures, I forgot my cord for my camera at home, so I will have to see if someone has one that I can use.

The Somewhat Official Update

2008-06-02T22:00:00.000-05:00

So I have had quite a few inquiries lately as to what has been going on in our family lately, and what are plans are for the future. Some of you just wanted clarity on where we are going and what we are doing when we leave the great town of Nacogdoches. Others are dear friends whom we had lost contact with and recently found. Who knows, maybe there are even some Blog browsers here. Anyways, for all those who have been wondering, I will try to remember everything.

For the past two years we have been living in Nacogdoches, Texas, where Dan has been pursuing a Masters Degree in Psychology. He has been doing great, accomplishing a perfect 4.0 the entire time, and will be graduating on August 9th. After his graduation he will be starting school at UNC Chapel Hill to begin a PhD program in Educational Psychology. With this he is hoping to teach Psychology on a University level. He has been very blessed in his Master's program go have the opportunity to teach a few classes. This summer term he is teaching a General Psychology class while finishing up his Thesis, an extremely vague description of the topic is motivation and stereotype threats. If you want to know more you will need to ask Dan, lol. I don't claim to be smart enough to understand it all.

My story isn't quite as interesting, lol. I tried to go back to school when we first moved here, but that was short-lived. Since SFA was lacking an Architecture program I decided that I try out Interior Design. I liked it a lot, but after one semester found out I was pregnant with Kate. Seeing that I had been sick nearly everyday throughout Sarah's pregnancy, and thought that Kate's would be the same, I decided it would be best not to continue. However, the pregnancy was completely opposite and I was hardly sick the entire time. Oh well, I got plenty of quality time with Sarah before Kate came along. Most recently I have been "broadening my horizons" so to speak. In the past 6 months I have made 2 wedding cakes, started making and selling Handmade Photo books, Embellished Sandals, and Tile Photo boards at the local Farmer's Market and Flea Market, am trying to create a blog store for selling my crafts, and am taking an online Medical Transcriptioning Course (Transcriptioning is a job that you can do from home, and my past medical classes are really helping me out.)

Sarah was 7 months old when we moved here, and was instantly the most popular child in the ward. We have sometimes joked that seeing Sarah made everyone want to have babies, because about a month and a half later tons of the women started becoming pregnant, including me. While I was pregnant with Kate, if we told Sarah to give the baby kisses she would kiss my stomach. When Kate was born Sarah would always put her finger to her mouth and say shhhh, baby sleeping. Ever since Kate has been born she lights up Sarah's world. Sarah is a great big sister, and is very intelligent. She loves to sing and dance, and loves anything to do with the Disney princesses.

Kate (Katelyn Gayle) was born June 26, 2007, just 18 months and 1 week after Sarah. She is now almost 1 and is running just as fast as she can to keep up with her big sister. She has a mouthful of teeth and loves to eat. She probably eats at least twice what Sarah does. She is trying to talk quite a bit, but you can't understand hardly any of it. Occasionally she does get out a clear word though. Her favorite thing is to blow on anything she can find to create a "farting" noise. It is actually kind of shocking how good she is at it. She also has just started trying to do the actions to "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Popcorn Popping". It is so fun to watch her learn and grow.

The past couple years has also brought a few tragedies.

A year and a half ago my brother Nate was in a car accident in which he received extreme brain damage. He was in a coma for quite a while, and the doctors were not sure if he would make. However, I am proud to say that he is recovering amazingly and is currently attending BYU-Idaho. He no longer has therapy and seems to be happier than ever.

The most recent tragedy happened the week after Thanksgiving. This is when we found out that Dan's younger brother had passed away while attending BYU. He was a very brilliant young man who was loved by everyone around him. We miss him very much.

Anyways, I think that pretty much sums up the past couple of years. I hope I didn't bore any of you with my lengthy ramblings, lol.

Easter

2008-06-02T21:10:00.000-05:00

First of all, I am sorry this is out of order, but because I am redoing this sight in order to have the slideshow work, it has to have the current date; So just ignore that Easter was awhile ago. And realize that in the future, a lot of my posts may seem a little late. :)

Easter brought lots of fun while visiting at Grandma and Grandpa's house. Saturday Megan and Jen went to an Easter Egg hunt with us. Sarah had a lot of fun with the free activities that they had there. They gave Sarah and Kate free Easter baskets and Easter bunnys for being one of the first ones at the Egg Hunt. Since we got there way before the hunt started we decided to check out all the other free things they had while we were waiting.

First, we went and saw the petting zoo. Both of the girls just loved seeing all the animals. At first they were a little apprehensive to touch them, but once they realized that they weren't going to bite they had a lot of fun. Next we went to the bouncy pit/slide. Sarah was kindof small for it, but there was a little girl that was probably 4 who just kept taking her hand and helping her up the ladder to the slide. It was so cute. Then she got her arm painted with a picture of a castle, complete with glitter. Boy was she excited. We got some free popcorn, but the snowcone machine broke right before we got to the front of the line. That was too bad cause it was soo hot outside. The egg hunt ended up being kinda crazy. I don't know how many kids were there, but it was extremely crowded. When Sarah's age group had their turn she had fun looking for the eggs. It was kinda cool that they had little toys in them instead of candy. Sarah was so excited to get little necklaces and rings, and had to put on a bunny necklace right away. Then we went and saw the Easter Bunny. I wasn't sure how the girls would react since Sarah had been afraid of Santa Clause, but neither of them cried and Sarah even smiled. She couldn't look at the camera until she showed the Easter bunny that she had a bunny necklace on though. And she was so jeaulous that Kate was sitting on his lap and she wasn't. It was so cute though. The girls also got some cool balloons that were in the shape of flowers.

Sunday the girls woke up to an Easter Egg hunt around Grandma and Grandpa's house. We were quite surprised at how much Kate liked it, we figured she wouldn't even notice. Both girls had a lot of fun. Sarah especially loved her Barbie Horse, which she thought would be fun to try to ride. I don't think she quite understands size ratios yet, lol. All in all, it was a great Easter!

2008-06-02T21:06:00.001-05:00

Farrington Lakes

2008-05-28T14:43:00.008-05:00

So, last week Dan and I made a quick trip to the Durham/Chapel Hill area to look for a new place to live, while the girls stayed with Grandma and Grandpa Taylor. After looking at about 20 different apartments and townhouses, we decided to go with Farrington Lakes. It is only about 4 miles from UNC and is right off the freeway. They have a lake with a Pier that you are able to fish off, a pond, a sand volleyball pit, 2 tennis courts, and 2 swimming pools. Our apartment is going to be on the first floor, and the balcony faces the pool. It will be a little different living in an apartment again, but it will be nice to have everything on the first floor. I think the girls are going to love it. Because we are going to be so close the pool I will be able to take them over there whenever its warm (and open). It also has an enclosed porch with a sliding glass door so you can see out from the living room or the kitchen. So now, only 2 1/2 months until we are there!

That can't be comfortable

2008-05-17T15:46:00.001-05:00

So Sarah used to fall asleep in her high chair all the time, but Kate is usually so busy eating that this had never happened. Usually after she is done eating she starts screaming until you get her out. When it was quite for longer than it should have been, I wondered what was going on. When I went to look, here is what I found! She must have been so exhausted.

Finally . . . .

2008-05-14T23:43:00.003-05:00

So, after playing with this blog trying to get the formatting that I wanted for forever now, I have finally gotten something that I kinda like. I was trying to get something different than every other blog out there, and now I have it. Now we can get to all the good stuff! I will try to get pictures of the girls and all that fun stuff up soon, so check back as often as you'd like. Also, this is a friendly blog, so if your just browsing, feel free to drop me a comment!