Tornados, Way Too Close!!!

Hi all! Just wanted to share what happen yesterday where I live. By the way, we haven't moved yet but will this coming weekend. We had actually been working on our new property from this last Saturday until yesterday morning, when my son and I came back here...Forney, Texas...to continue to pack up the house. What we thought was a normal day, was not to be. By the way, we are fine and our home was not hit. 

All morning the skies were gray and cloudy...rainy and maybe stormy looking but no wind, no rain, no thunder. All over the Dallas and Fort Worth area, they were getting hit left and right with horrible storms and tornadoes. I didn't know! I just happened to be watching the national news and they showed a LIVE video of a tornado in Dallas. What??? I turned to a local channel and sure enough there were these huge storm cells all over DFW. I called my husband because he was in the path. I called my parents-in-law because they were in the path. I called my mom because she was in the path. Then my friend called me to make sure we were fine. I told her that nothing was happening here. Then my dad and step mom called from Arkansas to make sure we knew what was going on. While I was on the phone with them, Forney flashed across the news and they were saying to take cover NOW that there was a tornado on the ground. I had already put blankets on the hallway floor and a mattress to pull over us just in case because my hubby told me to earlier. So son and I ran to the hallway and ball ourselves up, pulled the mattress down over us, and started praying. I prayed...then he prayed....all while listening to the news that was still blasting in the background....he prayed again! The news had a storm chaser on the phone following the tornado. The electricity kept going off and on, so we knew something was happening. The crazy thing was that there was still no rain or anything going on outside.....that I could hear. It missed us and hit downtown Forney which is about a mile north of us. But it didn't hit too hard there. Then it went about  5 or 6 miles north to the neighborhood in the pictures below.

The storm chaser said there was a second tornado down. Then just like that, he said it was leaving Forney. He stopped to help people. It went through a neighborhood and hit an elementary school with children, teachers, and parents there. No one there was injured but it look the roof off and flipped cars over. That same tornado went on to Rockwall, Royce City, and Greenville, doing major damage. From what I understand, there were no fatalities but some injuries. God is great! This could have been so much worse.

Here are some pictures that I took today while driving by the neighborhood that was hit directly. I could only get pictures there because police wouldn't allow anyone that didn't live in the neighborhood in. This only represents a small portion of the damage that I saw while coming up on the area. It was just horrible! And unbelievable! 

This house, below, was completely flattened except that one small corner. On the other side of that wall is a bathtub. This is where a grandmother, her 19 month old grandchild, and two other children she was watching took cover....the ONLY place in the house that was left untouched. She said that the tornado was pulling her 19 month old grand child away from her and she held onto him. The baby only had injuries when it was all said and done. God put his hands over them and protected them! God is Great!!!!

Below are my pictures that I took but here is a link with her story:
http://www.wfaa.com/news/Grandmother-recalls-saving-child-from-tornado-146076975.html

40 Weeks Post Op (And yes, I'm still alive!)

Oh boy! I hope I still have some followers out there. So sorry, I hope I haven't let anyone down. I've missed talking to my blogging friends. :(  Hope you're still there!

Though I've missed blogging, I've needed the break. We recently purchased some land and a home. The home has needed a bit of work before we could even consider moving into it. So, after an hour drive one way there and then an hour back AND all the work we were doing while we were down there...I was just too tired to even think of blogging. We've made so many trips back and forth AND I'm still schooling my son AND we've been passing around some kind sick...sigh! We are almost to the finish line though! I have a lot ahead of me over this next week or so but our plans are to move a week from this coming Saturday. YaY!!!!

I will tell you that I haven't been real religious about weighing myself lately. I suppose with everything going on, I just haven't made that a major priority. I know I'm not gaining and for the moment that's good enough for me. I WILL get back to it though hopefully real soon. The last time I weighed, sometime last week, I was down to 178 lbs. I'm in awe of it! That means that I have so far lost a total of 102 lbs. And the most exciting thing for me is that I'm not done! Big, HUGE smile!!!!

Now, for some NIVs! I've been mowing the lawn. This is something that I haven't done in probably 20 years. One, I was way out of shape. Two, I didn't want anyone watching me. And three, I was way out of shape! lol  I didn't think I would enjoy it but to my surprise, I loved it! It felt so freeing and so awesome that I could not only handle be that physical but that I couldn't wait to get out there again and again.

Another NIV! You know, way early on...somewhere back in my long ago post....I talked about my bottom half being my main problem. I talked about having huge legs that no matter how or how much weight I'd lost in the past, it just never seemed to change the shape of my legs. They would get smaller but still look really fat. Well, I'm losing different this time. I don't know why! All I know is that my legs are slowly slimming up. They're changing shape! My pants no longer suffocate my legs. I'm so happy about this.

And another NIV! I wore shorts for the first time in about 15 years. Yes, neither my husband or son had ever seen me in shorts. I wasn't sure about it at first but when my husband and son gave me compliments, I just couldn't believe it. It feels so liberating! As if I've finally been let out of big leg pants jail! I haven't worn them in public yet and nor do I plan on it anytime soon but I do see it in the future which is something I would have never dreamed of before.

AND another NIV! My thighs don't rub together any more! Love, love this one!

Okay folks, that's all I can think of right now. Miss y'all!

35 Weeks Post Op, (Boy, it's been a while!)

Hey friends! Wow, I almost forgot how to blog. We've had so much going on lately that blogging moved to the back burner. I hope all of you are doing good.

For a quick update, I'm now down to 182 lbs. that means that I've lost a total of 98 lbs. and have 52 lbs. to go to hit my goal. I've never felt better! I love, love, love my sleeve!!!!

My son had his last basketball practice yesterday so the coach made the last half of practice pure fun. He surprised all the parents by asking us to come scrimmage against the boys. Ohhhh, I was scared! I really didn't think I had the energy and I didn't think my hip joints would withstand all the running, jumping, and jarring. Let me tell you, I not only surprised my son but I totally surprised myself, too. It felt so good to run around like a kid again and not be crippled up afterwards. So today I took my son to the park and him and I hit the courts again. We ran and laughed and just had an awesome time. If it doesn't rain tomorrow, we may do it again.

I will try to update again, SOONER than later. Lol

Totally Surprised!!!

Hey! I was over joyed yesterday when I was pleasantly surprised in my closet. Okay, for starters, I've been going on and on over the last week or two about my size 18 jeans not fitting right and even being a bit tight...remember? So yesterday, we were going to get out of the house for a little bit. I went in the closet and stared down the size 18 pants and really didn't want to mess with them. I even thought about putting back on my size 20's just to be comfortable even though they just practically fall off of me.  So, I got a little crazy and thought I'm going to try on one pair of 16's just to see how far I can get them up...thinking that this would motivate me to push myself a little harder. Wellllll, you won't believe this because I sure didn't, but I fit into that pair .... it was a perfect fit and comfortable. So, I thought, it's just the brand and how they cut them. So, I pulled out another pair of 16's. They fit, too! What is going on? So, I pulled out all 9 pairs (some pants, some jeans, some capri's) (And yes, I hoard my old clothes...always with the hope I'd get back into them one day) and started trying them on. ALL of them fit perfectly....now, 2 of them were a little tight in the waist but still, they fit. They're all different brands and so it's not just a different cut or anything. I'm in total shock! I'm thinking that my 18's were just a tighter cut brand...I only have 3 pairs of those.

Anyways, I'm so excited over this! I came out modeling for my husband with every single pair. He wasn't surprised like me...he said he could tell I'd lost more. He even told me I had some sexy curves! So, I'm feeling really good right now but I'm just blown away by this. So are my 18's really size 14-16's? Whatever, I love that 9 pairs of 16's fit!!!! Hot dog! I'm loving it!