Something Old, Something New

I’m still playing blog catch-up…I guess I’m okay with that. I can give a rundown of the past little bit…

While I was off on my “adventure” learning the proper way to park a camper, Mom and Dad ripped down the old barn. I know this sounds absolutely silly but I actually choked up a bit. I have a ton of memories in that barn, both bad and good. It has always been there, was there before us, and I think part of me believed that it would always be there. They said it came down fast and a majority of the burning went pretty quick. It was very alarming for me when I came home and saw “its space” in the light of day. The new barn is already going up, Dad decided, because of how busy his spring has been, he was going to hire it to be rebuilt. So two guys, my age, come out every day and slowly it’s beginning to take shape again, slowly. I feel bad for the guys working in the mud and slop.

Also, in the past little bit, I attended the 2nd Great Plains Young Professionals Summit. I honored to be a presenter. The conference was a great opportunity to broaden my network and hear some amazing speakers. I attended the first summit, in Bismarck, and was impressed with how well Fargo had done in such a short amount of time.

House selling has become somewhat of a pipedream lately. After having the past 2 buyers back out, we were finally able to get our hands on a copy of the report. Nothing surprised us but we decided to try to fix a bunch to help with the next inspection. I put a new door in, repainted the porch, had the shower plumbing redone, reviewed the inside soffits, had a little electrical work done, and so on…and when I say I, what I really mean is my amazing family and Matt. They spent some time helping me, if it weren’t for them I don’t know what I would have done. I admit, sometimes this process has been so overwhelming. I am ready for the house to be sold and to move on, it’s just hard. Someday, I know all of this worry won’t matter….I’m looking forward to that.

This past weekend was great; Matt took me back up to Lansford, as he was the best man in his best friend’s wedding (Brendan and Claudia). We stayed at his parents’ house again, they are so good to me. It was fun to hang out with them while Matt was preoccupied with wedding stuff. I will admit though, my favorite parts of the weekend was seeing him dressed up in his tux, having fun on the dance floor, and being able to hear his best man’s toast. You can tell that him and Brendan have an amazing friendship and I like how genuinely happy he is for Brendan.

With as much good that’s been happening, there have been some dark spots; the flooding that happening around the state is devastating. Bismarck/Mandan has been dealing with the river for the past month. Houses are starting to be taken away, close to 500 families have relocated, and all people are doing is wondering when this will be over. In the meantime, Minot’s Souris has also flooded. It has incapacitated the city with over 1000 houses impacted, many businesses, the roadways, the surrounding towns, etc. It was a shock to see places that I had memories with from my college years submerged or had a levee running through the front yard. Then when the boil order was issued and the tornado sirens go, how much more can they take? While I was in a meeting, Matt assessed the downtown area, he ran into a woman who was crying. She had put everything she owned on the second floor of her house and when she pointed it out to him, all you could see was the roof. She had lost everything and kept saying, “It wasn’t supposed to get this high.”

This quote seemed to fit the weekend; it reminded me of Matt’s speech dedicated to the newly married couple. “How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” ~From the movie Annie

Lessons in Camping, edition #1

So I officially have been reintroduced to camping. I don’t think I did horrible, I could have done better, I won’t lie…but I did get another invitation at the end of the trip. Matt and I loaded up the RV and went to Richardton…within 5 minutes I informally reminded him that I haven’t been camping. I thought the block that he handed me was to put in front of the tires, to stop the camper from rolling forward, similar to what I’ve done in the past with the livestock trailers. Not really what that block was for….it was to level the camper out. Lesson #1. Oh he’s had a ton of laughs about that one.

Lesson #2 involved the shower. For those that don’t know me well, I like showers. I clean everything, including brushing my teeth. Matt “gently” reminded me that I had a limited number of gallons of water and he had just used one, so I would not be able to take my standard 7 minute steamy shower. It was an interesting 5 minute ordeal, which made me appreciate my home shower just a bit more.

Lesson #3, if I ask nicely Matt will start the generator which allows me to blow dry and straighten my hair otherwise, forget it. GASP!

Lesson #4, this one is my favorite…s’mores are acceptable for breakfast. When I saw 2 of the kids that we were camping with snacking on them for brunch, I realized the wonderful aspect of camping that made me forget about my onagainoffagain shower.

Lesson #5, Matt is a sore loser when it comes to horseshoes.

Lesson #6, second favorite, the food that is made is amazing. Matt has always made amazing food for me but the collaborative dinner was awesome!

Lesson #7, Brendan (one of the preteens that went on the trip) is excited to rat Matt out from previous camping adventures….I learned a lot in a short amount of time.

Lesson #8, I need to bring my camera and take pics…I forgot I left it in my purse…Boo to that situation. I would have liked to get a few pics of the experience. I didn’t remember my camera until Mr. Smartypants said as we were leaving. “We should take a pic of the ground where the leveling block dug into the ground because you put it the wrong way.” Oh, he’s real funny.

"I got into an argument with a girlfriend inside of a tent. That's a bad place for an argument, because then I tried to walk out and slammed the flap. How are you supposed to express your anger in this situation? Zipper it up really quick?" -Mitch Hedberg
*Good thing we had a pickup and an RV (just kidding)

Floating on....

Another crazy week that has been influenced by water…expressway has been closed, the national guard is running around the clock, millions of sandbags have been filled, and people are being forced out of their houses. Grace and Rick along with Wade and Lynn have been forced out. There have been dikes built at both of their houses and our fingers are crossed that they don’t have to be used. I think the worst part is not knowing what damage will be done or when they can go back.

The real estate market has gone crazy…people are grabbing up north side house and south side houses are falling off the market like crazy with people surrendering their earnest money for the security of dry land. It has made it hard for me to look at houses. They are very here today, gone tomorrow. But maybe it’s a good thing that I can’t look as my buyer backed out of the offer. Oh well, there will be others, but it bummed me out for sure. I’ll keep waiting and things will work through this bottle neck.

It was another great weekend as I spent it in Dickinson. Aubs, Jer, and Becca met Matt and I for drinks on Friday night. I had some house showings on Saturday while Matt was off fighting fires but he was able to make some time for me for supper before we did some packing. On Sunday, I took off to cousin’s Lola’s house to celebrate my Grandmother’s 80th birthday. It was a packed house and 52 of us dined on fried chicken, sloppy joes, pasta salad, fruit salad and funfetti cake. Mom and I did wander around Brad and Lola’s for a bit and checked out the bum lambs…kinda made me think it’s time for a Spud Jr.

And work has been going amazing. I'm able to start working....like accomplishing things and learning. I'm still a little Bambi-ish on what is happening but the projects I've been starting have been fun and I've been enjoying myself!

"I love the lambs, not the sheep." --Roger Peyrefitte

Flooding and Family....

So now I know two things from this past week:
1. Water is awful
2. Family is amazing

My second week on the job could have stood to be a bit more boring as Bismarck has been impacted by the Corp-created flood. It’s amazing to see how much has changed in a week: the amount of sandbags, the fear in the unknown, and the rise of the river. A week ago, I was sitting eating lunch by the riverbank thinking that it’s awful high and now people are being forced to evacuate and change their lives. I hate it. I hate how this is impacting my family. Lynn and Grace are in danger of losing their houses, their lives are being turned upside down and their days are filled with words like levee, mold, 150,000 cfs, corps, whatif, and sandbag. Both families aren’t sure what will happen, when they can come home, and what they will come home to.

I’ve been amazed at how the family has come together to help them prepare and protect. Prepare their houses and remove everything that they can, from the photos to the carpet and appliances and protect their homes from the oncoming water. It’s not that I doubted it, but once again I feel safe knowing that my family would be there if I need them.

I also had the opportunity to meet Matt’s family as he took me home for a graduation party. I met his mother, father, grandmother, best friend, and family friends. I liked watching him in his element and he only squirmed when they started telling me Matt-stories and when his mom brought out the pictures. I will admit, thinking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pajamas brings a smile to my face! His family was so nice and I’m looking forward to going back up later this month for his best friend’s wedding.

When we were coming back through Minot, we realized that Bismarck/Mandan is not the only ones fighting flood. The Souris was higher than I’d ever seen; it was coming over the bridges, rerouting traffic, and flooding the streets. I found out yesterday that they began mandatory evacs of parts of the city. Then this morning, I watched a convoy of military vehicles heading north. Breaks my heart.

House hunting has been slow and painful. I put an offer on a house and was rejected and I need to be okay with that…something will come along. I’m also not sure what’s going to happen with my house as the inspection ordered by the buyer came back and it wasn’t so favorable. I’m hoping the demanding market in Dickinson will continue to drive the sale.

The week had another highlight with Alaina’s graduation. We celebrated on Sunday with family and friends. She looked very nice and I’m excited to see her future start unfolding with her last “free” summer and starting college in the fall. I was there when she got her roommate assignment; I know she’s pretty excited. She’ll do wonderful…I know she can do anything that she puts her mind to.

“Are you upset little friend? Have you been lying awake worrying? Well, don't worry...I'm here. The flood waters will recede, the famine will end, the sun will shine tomorrow, and I will always be here to take care of you.” -Charlie Brown to Snoopy