Friday the 13th Storm

My 29th birthday was on October 13th (a Friday). It was not a typical birthday for me. The largest accumulation of snow recorded for Buffalo, in the month of October, fell on Friday the 13th (some the night before). Our power went out on the night of the 12th and didn't come back on until the night of the 14th. I am one of the luckiest in Buffalo, because several of my co-workers still don't have power and it's been a week.
Buffalo was declared a disaster area on the 13th and a driving ban was put into place. So many things happen when the power goes out on such a large scale. First of all, the county water pumps don't work so they told us to conserve water. I did that. Then they said that we had to boil any water that we cooked with or drank. Because there was no power anywhere, I couldn't escape my house and lets say, go to a movie. Everything was closed for at least two days. No groceries, no gas, no laundry, no TV, no movies. Nothing!!! I was going crazy by the end of the first day. I had my friend drive as close as he could to my house and then I hiked out to meet him so that we could drive out of town to find a movie theater that was open. So for a couple hours I was entertained. It really goes to show how much I rely on media to entertain me at night time. Pretty sad, I know.
On the second day our basement had 5 inches of water in it and the water was just about to crest over the stairs. So my roommate and I started to carry the water out by bucket; up and down the stairs. After about 30 minutes I was just exhausted and my hands hurt from all the shoveling the day before and now carrying heavy buckets. My sister soon came home and she joined us for another 30 minutes. But we only lowered the water by about an inch an a half. We left to go a friends house who still had power so that we could charge our cell phones. I also used my car to charge my cell phone as well. Anyways, we were lucky that we found a submergable pump at Lowes (that was out of sump pumps) and by the time my roommate got home with the pump the power had turned on. The pump did the rest of the work that night. No more buckets of water for me.
My office was closed for three days. So I didn't have to go to work but I visited some of the restaurants to see how they were fairing anyways. Anyways, I thought I'd share this, my most recent adventure with everyone. I've included a picture of the road I drive to work everyday and my car. Enjoy!!

A little Visitor

For the past 10 days I have been playing hostess, along with my sister Cathy, to my oldest niece Sileena. She is 10 years old and as cute as can be. We flew her out from Longview Washington to visit us her in New York. We started out showing her the Mormon historical sites out in Rochester, NY. I quickly realized that 10 year olds are not too interested in "historical sites". So we took her to get icecream to make up for the not so interesting afternoon.
I learned several things from having my niece come to visit for those 10 days. The first thing I learned is that I love being singel!!!! Now those of you who are reading this (my mother for example), who are worried about me never settleling down, don't worry. I'm not saying that I don't want a family someday, but I am enjoying being single and care free while I'm here. With just one 10 year old, I had to do three loads of laundry!! She went through so many sets of clothing, I was actually shocked!! I also couldn't just come home from work and sit in front of the t.v. with whatever leftover I had and eat dinner. I had to prepare a healthy meal and sit at the table. Then there was the fun job of getting her up in the morning in time to make it to the day came that we had her enrolled in so that Cathy and I could still go to work. I was late for work twice because I failed as a child morning motivator.

Single life is much easier. But I will not fail to highlight the positives of having a 10 year old around the house. So here they are:

-Having someone to sleep on your shoulder during church
-Hearing funny stories that only a 10 year old could tell
-Hearing the giggle of a 10 year old
-Snuggling while watching a family friendly movie
-Answering questions about subjects that I haven't thought about in years
-Feeling "rich" because you can afford a movie and icecream

I'm sure there are other benefits that I have failed to mention but I enjoyed having Sileena with me for those 10 days.

Other than Sileena's visit, my life has been pretty normal. I have recently been given a calling in my church here in Buffalo called "Education Counselor" in the Relief Society. It was overwhelming at first to think of being in such a position in a family ward, but I realize that I'm not as young as I think I am, so I'm excited to jump in and see what I can do.

I hope everyone is doing well.

Friends & Family

I haven't posted in over a month. I have been busy playing here in New York. I have a new friend who keeps me busy. I have purchased a Kayak and most recently a rack on my car to carry the kayak. About three weeks ago I went to a "Young Single Adult" conference near Rochester, NY. Basically a singles mingle. It was my friends birthday and she wanted a jacuzzi in the hotel room. So we ordered the jacuzzi, which nearly broke the bank for me. It was a fun weekend so it made it all worth it. Alas I did not meet any potential young men. If I'm still single at 30, I'm joining some sort of online singles meet and greet. But I am still enjoying being single for now.
My sister Cathy just ran 20 miles on Friday in preparation for her marathon that she is running in St. Petersburg Russia on the 24th of June. I was supposed to run with her, but my funds ran out so the trip soon became impossible for me. My sister and I enjoy doing things together but sometimes I just can't afford to keep up with her. Maybe next year. It was fun being her watergirl while she did the 20 mile training run. She did such a good job. She didn't even look tired. She was running on a 1.8 mile loop and I just walked/ran around for the 3 1/2 hours of her running, while also giving her gatorade and water as she passed WAY TO GO CATHY!!!
Some more family news is that my cousin Paul just returned from being a missionary in Canada and my adopted little brother as well, just returned from Paraguay. They were both gone for two years. I am sad that I won't be able to see either of them give their homecoming talks, but I am so very proud of both of them. I hope all my friends and family are doing well.

Western New York Life

I feel as if I'm starting to catch onto what it means to be a Western New Yorker. First of all the Buffalo Sabres are in the NHL Play-offs. Hockey is crazy popular here. It is probably due to the fact that Canada is only about 20 miles from here. I wonder why "Curling" hasn't caught on as much as hockey? Besides hockey, lacross is also a popular sport. The Buffalo Bandits are also in the NLL (I think that is what it is called) play-offs. The locals say that Lacross came from the native american tribes who lived here way back when. I guess the Western Native Americans didn't catch on to the trend of Lacross back in the 1500's when it was really popular; thus the lack of interest in the sport out West.
Here comes the tricky part of trying to fit into Western New York (Buffalo). When you are watching one of the above sports you MUST have Buffalo wings to serve if you have guests over. Pizza is a preferred side dish. Actually in Buffalo they are almost never served separate. So I watched one of the last Sabre's hockey games at my "native" friends apartment and BOOOMMM. There were Buffalo wings and Pizza!! Some days I feel like an anthropologist in a foreign land trying to figure out the mores and traditions. I have included a picture of me in New Hampshire at the longest single lane covered bridge in the USA. Nothing to do w/ the Western New York topic but I like the picture and I loved visiting New England last fall(which I was able to do because I lived here in New York). See I knew I could fit it in somehow.
I feel it is my duty to spread the word that there are such things as mountains, spacious back-yards, jamba-jucies, houses newer than 20 years old, fry-sauce and non-catholics. Alas; When in Rome.........
So I am loving the New York life along with the people I am meeting and the traditions that I am learning.

The Wedding

My best friend is officially married now. I got back late Sunday night from Utah. I was the maid of honor and had the opportunity to be dressed in Pink. I have never really been a fan of pink, but my dress was pink. It is good to bring out the more feminine side of me. I have included a picture of me in the Pink dress for those friends who don't believe it possible. Did I mention that I had to wear a pink dress? As the maid of Honor I had special duties, such as cleaning up after the wedding. While cleaning up, I decided to try and entertain the brides brothers. I just love an audience. So I was showing off my amazing gymnastic skills by jumping up onto the stage in the gym. The first time went well; a perfect mount and dismount. From the reaction that I received from the audience I decided to try it again. I didn’t make it. This caused an even larger out pouring of laughter than when I was successful. Needless to say, I have a huge bruise on my left thigh. The show must go on and the brides' brothers were entertained.

On a more serious side, it was amazing to see my best friend getting married. I am so happy for her. It was a great week!

Working Out!

Yesterday I went with a 22 year old friend and worked out at her gym. I have not been in a gym for about 8 months. I have been running but not lifting weights. So yesterday I tried to lift what I was lifting before moving to New York. Overall I did well, but when I was doing leg extensions, something went wrong there. When I got home and sat on my bed (which is pretty low to the ground) my left butt muscle went into a spasm. So there I was writhing from a pain in my "#*#". It was quite the sight to see. But all is well today. Other than that my life has been rather normal. I will be heading out to Utah for a week. My best friend is getting married. I am really excited for her.

Getting Out

This past Sunday was very difficult for me. In the morning I got up to go to church. My sister told me that she wasn't feeling well and needed me to teach her Sunday School class. So during the first meeting of church I had to prepare my lesson. The lesson turned out alright and no harm done. I always enjoy teaching anyways.
Then when I got home I was feeling traped in my house. I made a very pathetic phone call to a friend of mine asking her if she was willing to save me from bordom. She was very gracious and allowed me to come over. It was a beautiful day so we went for a long walk. It was exactly what I needed. What would life be with out friends? I don't even want to imagine.
On Monday my sister and I went shopping because we had no food in our house. It was quite the spectical to see. As we walked through the grocery store we each would slip a little something into the basket that we didn't want the other one to see. We had been out of food for so long our inner child stepped up and made several impulse buys. We bought things like, popsicles, a flat iron, a piture, expensive orange juice and rice pudding to top it all off. Sometimes I just love being an adult because I can buy whatever I want at the grocery store. What amazing freedom that is!!

Getting in Shape

So last night I decided to mix up my workouts. I usually just go for a 30 minute jog a few days a week. Nothing special. But I read this article in "Runners" magazine that said by doing sprint workouts a person could increase their overall race times and shrink their waist line. So I was very excited to put this sprint workout to the test. So I jogged over to the closest high school track (about a half mile away). On the straight part of the track I would sprint as hard as I could and then walk the curves. I have come to realize that very few adults run as hard as a they can on a regular basis if ever. I was trying to justify why I couldn't even finish 100 yards at full speed. Anyways, as the high school kids started to mill around the parking lot, I became painfully aware that I looked like a pathetic old person trying desperatley to get into shape. After each sprint I was huffing and puffing like I smoked my entire life. I am proud to state that I finished my workout despite the young students watching.

Nice Cops

In the past I have had mixed feelings about cops. But on my drive back from Washington D.C. the Cops have added a point to the positive side of the score board. While driving back I was in a southern NY town and I was pulled over for speeding. I will not disclose how fast I was going but lets just say my Father would be ashamed. Anyways the cop explained to me the ramifications of my pending speeding ticket. I started getting nervous by the words that were coming out of his mouth..."court, 4 points on license, fines". He then went on to explain the legal consequences of not wearing your seatbelt. After all the explaining he proceeded to ask me a yes or no questions, which he told me to think about before I answered. He then asked me if I was wearing my seatbelt when I passed him. I didn't think and immediately answered, "Yes"! He said "Maam, you didn't think about the question". He said a seatbelt violation was only $50 and no points on my license. Despite my very honest answer he gave me a seatbelt violation ticket. Did I mention that the cop was kinda cute. So I lucked out on that one.

Trip to Washington D.C.

My sister Cathy and I are here in Washington D.C. visiting friends and family. We drove down late last night (a 7 hour trip). I am hanging out with my Dad while Cathy goes to a birthday party for a friend of hers from Darden.
We both like to travel and these random weekend trips are always an adventure for us. We will be back in Buffalo by Sunday afternoon.