our arizona vacation

We recently got home from a fantastic trip to Arizona.  We try to make a trip out every year in the winter to enjoy their nice weather but this year we made different plans.  My 10 year high school reunion was this October and after much debate I decided I wanted to go.  It was fun seeing old friends and I was surprised by how many people were exactly the same. 

I guess some things never change, huh?

Here I am with some good friends.

We also went to Apple Annie's Orchard in Wilcox, AZ.  We took my son a few times when he was a toddler and it was fun so we went again and everyone had a good time.  Here I am with my husband and little girl.

When we moved to North Dakota we had to leave our Sulcata tortoise behind.  We left her in good hands though.  She now resides in my in-law's backyard where she is spoiled daily with a wide variety of veggies.  She has gotten so big. 

 My son is 6 years old if that gives you an idea of how big she is.  And she's still growing.

We had a great trip and we loved spending time with our families.  I also loved all the shopping.  I have been deprived of great shopping here in the sticks (a.k.a. where I live).  My new favorite store is definitely H & M.  They have a ton of super cute yet affordable clothes.  Although I'm not a fan of the men's or boy's section.

When we left Arizona the temp was in the 80's and when we arrived in  North Dakota it was in the 40's.  As much as we loved the warm flip flop weather it's nice to be home and experience the fall season.  After living here I don't know if I could ever live anywhere without a true fall season.  I love it! 

Now don't get me started on winter though.

still dry

I am happy to report that we haven't had to evacuate and we hope we won't have to in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, almost all roads leading out of town are flooded and all that keeps that freezing cold water out of our town are dikes and a levy. I pray daily that they stay strong cause swimming in water this cold just isn't an option.

Here is a picture of my town from the air. I put a little purple dot around where my home is on the map. This was taken on the 8th of April so I am guessing it's gotten a little worse since. Just about all that water shouldn't be there (we don't have any lakes around here just two rivers).

click on picture to enlarge it

We are at 52.3 ft as of this morning and seems to stay around that number. Our flood stage is at 42 ft and our major flood stage is 52 ft. If we get close to 53 ft. my family will be leaving. Sorry for all the flood posts but it seems to be the topic of most discussions these days and it's hard to think about much else.

red river

This will most likely be my last post for a week or two. Not that I have been great about keeping you updated lately. We are one of the last towns that the Red River runs through in North Dakota and she is moving quickly our way. Our town is as ready as it can be.

We are new to all of this so we asked around to get some advice on when or if we should leave. A friend gave us some good advice:
1. have all valuables up off the ground or basement

2. decide a river level which you want to leave at and be ready

We decided to leave at 52 ft. because at 53 ft. our town will become an island and there will be no getting off for who knows how long. Or worse, the town could flood and we would be stuck here. Some people who live in the country or outside of town have already had to evacuate because the roads to their homes are under water. See the house in the background?

Where are we going, you ask? We will be staying in a hotel about 70 mi. away. Some people who have already evacuated prefer to stay close to home and family. We don't have family here and don't have a motor home either.

Our hermit crabs and beta fish will join us but our dog will go to the doggy sitter cause pets aren't allowed at the hotel. We are hoping not to be gone for more than a week but who knows at this point.

The crappy thing (yes, crappy) is that we have to turn off our electricity which means all the contents in our fridge will spoil and most be thrown away before we leave. Yes, I have considered bringing an ice chest but really only for the most important stuff. I can't put frozen meat in it with milk and expect it to keep for a week or more. Another thing is that our office /craft room, and bedroom are on the bottom floor of this house. We have so many things to bring to the top floor and we have only done the office so far. We will have to carry our mattresses and 1 dresser plus clothes and shoes up stairs still. And since I am pregnant I am unable to help with this and my poor husband is breaking his back.

As of this morning the river level is at 50 ft. It seems to be rising about 1 ft a day.

At this rate we will be gone in 2 days but with mother nature you never know which way she will go.

not for the weak

If there is one thing I have learned in the 8 months I have lived in North Dakota it would be that this state is not for the weak or lazy. I have never worked so hard as I have this winter. Just getting out of the house takes planning not to mention the extra 30 minutes it takes to warm up the car (that is IF you remembered to plug it in last night and it even starts).

On any given morning out here, you will see a 70 year old woman out on her porch shoveling snow half the size of her, an 80 year old man using a single shovel to clean off an entire street, ranchers out in -30 degree weather birthing cows, and volunteers show up at all hours and temperatures of the night to walk around a dike to make sure the town doesn't flood.

Speaking of flooding...Fargo. I am sure you have heard (if you have cable) about the Red River which is just about to run over into the Fargo/Moorehead area. So many people are affected and Fargo is just the beginning of it. The Red River heads north to Grand Forks and then through smaller towns (mine included, but I think we will be fine though as we have an excellent dike and levy). My husband happens to be in Fargo tonight and who knows when he will return home. I hope it's soon because that will mean that Fargo's dike holds.

I found this photo on Flickr and had to share. A photo can say so much. Click on it for a link back to the photographer to see more of their flood photos.

The people here are amazing and I have started to think that maybe I am not cut out (or tough enough) to live here. I would much rather curl up on the couch and wait for the bad weather to pass. Unfortunately, it sticks around for quite some time. We are at the end of March and our low tonight is 0 degrees (without the windchill, which really makes a difference). Maybe I am just tired and emotional (pregnancy will do that to a person) or maybe I am just a pansy. Either way, I hope next winter goes easy on me since I will have an infant to take care of as well.

My insurance agent said something to this degree, "All winter you wait until spring and then it floods and it's a muddy mess and then you pray for summer which is too short but the mosquitoes are so bad from all the water that you hope for fall and...well, fall is actually quite nice but it ends too soon and we are back into the frigid winter again."

That pretty much sums it up. I am praying for dry ground for those of you along the Red River.

our 1st blizzard

We are currently experiencing our 1st North Dakota blizzard. This info is from wunderground.com and was update Sunday Morning around 9am. I circled our temps in case you missed that. Brrr!!! With the windchill it's -41 degrees out and we're expecting -48 to -53 still. Until I moved here only Eskimos crossed my mind when I thought of people actually living in anything below zero degrees. This is only the beginning of our winter weather. Luckily I don't mind being indoors.

The storm should pass by Tuesday so until then I will stay busy cleaning up the house, baking, watching some Christmas movies, and hopefully get some sewing in. I just made some great applesauce. I had a ton of apples so I doubled the recipe. You should try it.