Hurricane Sandy

Have you seen this video floating around on Facebook lately?

http://vimeo.com/joshuabrown/hurricanesandy

Isn’t it awesome? I cried all three times I watched it (no surprise there though…say the word “cry” and tears practically prick my eyes haha). Maybe I especially loved watching this video because Rob and I were lucky enough to be able to participate in it all. Our ward building is still without power from the storm so for us, this past Sunday wasn’t the usual! We had a Sacrament meeting at 8:30am in which everyone showed up in their “work” clothes. Definitely never been to church in sweats before—I much preferred it to wearing a skirt and heels. Shh! Don’t tell.

Anyway, at 9:30 we all piled onto a couple of buses and began the journey to Long Island. I knew what to expect as I’ve watched the news and seen the devastation, but no camera or TV can quite depict the devastation that was and still is so wide spread. The entirety of Long Island is literally destroyed: cars totaled, houses wrecked and covered in mold, yards and streets full of debris, structures collapsing, mud and sand caking the sidewalks and floors, glass shattered, and garbage every where. Not only did it physically look devastated, but emotionally as well. The streets were empty of people and when you did see someone you could almost feel the burdens they were carrying. It was a real eye opener and I wish so much that I could save everyone and everything that was touched by the storm.

So, where was I? Oh yeah, the buses. We unloaded and immediately split into teams, grabbed our “Mormon Helping Hands” vests, as well as masks, tools, and anything useful for our efforts. I spent the day gutting a house on the coastline. According to the homeowner, the basement was completely filled with water during the storm, as well as a portion of the upstairs. The house was completely ruined. We gutted the basement pulling up carpet, knocking down walls, and throwing away anything touched by the water. It took us all day to work on one house that really isn’t even close to being finished. It was crazy. There is still so much work to do.

Though I was saddened by my inability to help everybody, I feel so blessed to have been able to go and help even just one family—because even though they won’t remember my name, and I will probably never see them again, I made a difference in a small way. And I represented the church I love so much and everything that it stands for. It was overwhelming to see the neighborhood covered with people in yellow vests, doing good with every step they took.

Here are a few pictures from the day

this was the before picture when we were all happy and energized

There were cars washed up on people's front lawns. 

Some of the debris from the house we gutted

no explanation necessary

  This is the after (obviously). Lets not talk about how exhausted i look, haha. 

So I guess the take hope for this blog post would be 1. To count your blessings because you never know when something is going to happen that completely changes your life, 2. Serving others makes you happy, and 3. Never ever live by a beach. 

my demise

Winter Coat…check

Boots…check

Gloves…check

Scarf…check

Car Scraper…check

Will power and desire to go outside…uh...mmm…fine. I’ll do it.

That was the mental checklist this morning. After staying in doors for 24 hours while storm Athena ran its course, I finally braced the cold winter weather this morning and am happy to report back that I survived. Barely.

Winter! Ahhhh. When will I ever get used to cold weather? Never I tell you. Call me crazy, but numb fingers and toes, a runny nose, foggy breath, biting air, watering eyes, and whipping wind just don’t seem to tickle my fancy, to say the least. And while I’m having yet another vent session on this blog about my pure and utter detest of winter, can I just say that scraping a car is the absolute worst?? Somehow snow manages to get into the smallest of openings through my many layers of clothes so that not only do I freeze, but I’m wet the rest of the day. Joy. And you all know the moment when you think you've done a superb job of scraping, only to finally climb into the front seat of your car and have a heap of snow land on your lap just before you close the door. Oooooor maybe that only happens to me. But seriously, you think after all this technology and innovation these days they would have come up with something more genius than the average car scraper. Until said invention graces our presence, I guess I will continue to scrape and scrape and scrape—with a few grumbles in between.

So aside from scraping my car this morning, it was a pretty good day consisting of frosted toast crunch (yum), helping my sister with preschool (4 boys=complete chaos), a winter stroll, exercising indoors, a few phone calls, a stop to Trader Joes, and an attempt to be domestic. The key word here is attempt. I decided to try making my mother-in-law’s oh-so-delectable rolls and also to give my new Bosch a whirl. I failed miserably you guys. Unless, that is, you like to eat rolls that weigh100 pounds and double as a weapon. The saddest part of this story though is that I’m not exaggerating for satirical effect. I only speak the truth. But, on the bright side, I now have 3 dozen paperweights to use at my disposal.

Oh the ups and downs of life!!

my new home

Well, I’ve officially been in New York for 50 days. Can you believe it? 50 days!!! Sometimes it is pretty hard to believe. Other times, well, it’s not. Some mornings I wake up and hardly notice the roaring of the train outside my window; other mornings, it scares the living day lights out of me. Sometimes I feel like I no longer look like a deer in headlights as I stroll the streets; other times I feel like I have a blinking sign above my head saying “spot the Utahn”. Sometimes I think I’ve gotten used to narrow lanes and crazy traffic; Other times I find my shoulders slowly shrinking in, mentally believing making myself smaller is also shrinking my car. Some days I feel confident and bold; other days I wonder what the heck I’ve gotten myself into! Most days however, I’ve found that I really do love this state.

I must say though, I can't think of 2 more different states than Utah and New York. In the 50 days that I’ve been here I’ve seen, heard, and experienced things I never did in Utah. For example, have you ever seen a black squirrel?? Well, I hadn’t. Out here, black squirrels are everywhere…creepy little things, by the way.

In New York there is a Dunkin Donuts on every corner. I have yet to try one of their notorious morsels of dough, but I hear they are pretty darn good.

Out here, it is not uncommon to be honked at literally every time I drive. And most the time I have no idea what for.

In New York, I am finding that people don’t know much about Utah. One lady asked me if it was near Florida…uhhhhh, sort of? Ha! Another man asked me if I had ever had a bagel or chinese food, because apparently Utahns don't have a variety of food in our dry state. One fellow asked what kind of bike I had because according to him, all Utahns bike. Some people haven’t even heard of Utah. Just yesterday I was stuck in traffic and watched as the lady across from me grimaced at my license plate and mouthed the word “Uuuuuttttaaaahhh” as though she had never read such a word in her life. She then looked up to see me behind the wheel, and I smiled happily, laughing to myself. She however looked like she wanted to give me the bird. How dare I be friendly.

Out here the cold is biting. Stepping outside on a cold morning is like dunking your face into a bucket full of ice water. Brrrrrr—and its not even winter yet. Gulp.

In New York, autumn is breathtaking. Reds, oranges, and yellows like you wouldn’t believe. And the amount of these colorful trees surrounding you 24/7 could leave you with the impression you are in the middle of a blazing fall fire. The colors are insane.

Out here, life is expensive: an arm and a leg for groceries, a foot and a hand for soda, and hey, you can have the rest of me for rent. 

New York is opening my eyes to a lot of things and so far, i feel blessed to be having this experience. If you haven't been to NY i highly recommend it. And i heard there is a pretty great newly-wed couple that would love to show you around ;)

And just in case you are interested...here is life lately, according to my iphone. 

Happy November everyone!! 

I'm baaaaaaaack

Dear faithful and not-so-faithful readers,

It’s Brianna. Remember me? I am the pathetic author of this blog who has completely neglected her writing duties for far too many months now. But I’m back now with vim, vigor, and lots to write about so here goes nothing.

*WARNING: this post could be a word and picture overload. Brace yourself.

Oh my goodness, I don’t even know where to start. How about August? August was the dawn of change, a goodbye to academia, a celebration of survival, a hip-hip-hurrah-fist-pump-I’m-so-relieved-kind-of-month. Why you might ask? Because this girl officially became a college graduate! That’s right. For all you who doubted my ability to make it out alive—I did!! So take that. I didn't say I made it out a sane woman, but hey alive and crazy is better than nothing! It’s kind of strange to have an Alma mater—to have memories of college instead of making memories of college. Not to go all nostalgic or anything, but I am honestly going to miss that awesome time of my life. BYU shaped me into who I am right now, and I will always look back on those 4 hard, but incredible years and be grateful for them.

So…diploma, check! The rest of August consisted packing, unpacking, repacking, and more packing. I also had some amazing bridal showers (in which I was completely blown away at the love and support I received); I spent good quality time with the people I love most, aaaaaand I turned into bridezilla. Okay, okay…slight exaggeration—but I sort of felt like one. No I wasn't the bridezilla that demanded perfection down to how many grains of sugar were going to be used in the cake icing. I was more like an emotional bridezilla that cried at the drop of a hat and felt like she was going to spontaneously combust if one more change or “to-do” was added to the list. Good thing I have a mom who is seriously a rock star. I fully admit that I could not have done ANYTHING this summer without her. If I was in elementary school I could probably pick a pretty good fight as to “why my mom is cooler than your mom”…good thing I’ve moved on from those days :) 

Anyway. September finally rolled in and 4 days into the month I decided to oh, I don’t know, GET MARRIED. Crazy! Rob and I tied the knot in the Salt Lake Temple at 10:26am, to be exact. Now he is stuck with me for time and all eternity (bless him)! Being married is crazy. As a little girl (and even up until the minute I got married) I always pictured what it would be like. I thought that once I was a wife I would feel different. Guess what though? It doesn’t feel any different! Well, let me rephrase that. I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to Rob, but I’m still the same old me. The only difference now is that my last name is Craig and I get startled in the middle of the night when I realize there is a man sleeping next to me. Haha. 

 (I'll post wedding pictures when i get them, but for now...thanks for the pic Mari!) 

But back to the wedding: The day was perfect. The ceremony was so meaningful and the spirit was so strong. It was so fun to finally get to wear my wedding dress, Rob looked adorable, I was surrounded by everyone that I love, the food was amazing, the décor was stunning, the weather was beautiful…it was everything I could of hoped for. Now if I could just remember it, it flew by so fast!

Before I knew it I was off to Hawaii on my honeymoon.   

Hawaii was bliss. It was the perfect vacation and Rob and I loved it there. 

 

 

 

1 week later I was back in SLC only a day away from the dreaded move. Don’t get me wrong, I was excited to go to New York. But I was not excited to say goodbye to every familiar face I had grown up with, every family member and friend that I love so dearly, and essentially childhood. My family joked that in order to actually get me on the plane I would have to be sedated. They had no idea how right they actually were! Sitting on the plane and watching Utah disappear behind me was quite possibly one of the hardest moments of my life. No wonder I cried all the way to the Great Lakes! 

But now, I am here in New York—a land where the homes have character, a gallon of milk is 5 dollars, strangers don't smile back, and traffic laws don’t seem to exist. Don’t worry though, Rob and I have somehow managed to get 2 parking tickets already. What are the odds? The thing is, New York isn’t so bad. Thanks to my incredible in-laws who drove a moving truck across the country for us, our apartment is starting to feel like a home. Thanks to my sister Chelsea, I’ve got some family out here to spend any free moment with and to call around the clock. Thanks to my new ward, I’ve already met some really awesome people. Thanks to map quest, I’m starting to learn my way around. Thanks to fresh air, gorgeous weather, and breathtaking trees, I love the area. Thanks to my husband I feel so loved out here. And thanks to technology I’ve been able to stay in touch with the people I am missing so much. We’ve even started to have a few adventures… 

Well folks, that's the end of my update. If I had to summarize this post in one sentence, i would have to borrow the words of my dear friend Pooh Bear. He said, "How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." And that couldn't be more true. I have been so blessed to have an incredible life surrounded by people that I love so much and while i miss that life so very much i can't wait to tackle life's next adventures with Robert Craig by my side! And who knows, i may even love it here :) 

Stay tuned for regular updates...i'm back in the blogging world!!! 

Oh one last thing. Isn't this family just the cutest? I don't know what i would do if the Chappell family wasn't out here right now.

 The End. 

see ya lata

Dear Computer Labs,

Today is my last day working for you. You have been on this college journey of mine for quite some time and I have to say, it’s been an interesting ride. I’m not going to miss dressing up every day and I’m certainly not going to miss sitting at a desk for hours feeling like my brain cells are rapidly diminishing. I won’t miss not knowing answers to people’s computer questions and I’m not going to miss pretending to know what I’m doing. I’m not too sad to never wear my neon yellow lanyard again and I won’t miss clipping that walkie talkie to my skirt. I won’t miss being humiliated in front of hundreds of students as I fail to fix a projector in the middle of class and I won’t miss ornery professors taking out there problems on me, the lowly lab assistant. I won’t miss strange boys hitting on me in weird ways and I will definitely not miss 7am shifts. There are a lot of things about this job I will never miss. In fact I would be completely happy to never dwell on them again.

That being said, this job has been the absolute best. I will miss friendly faces and employees who have become very dear friends. I will miss learning about computer programs and shortcuts that seriously saved my life when writing papers in the wee hours of the morning. I will miss having a job that pays me to blog, Facebook stalk, and do my homework. I will miss telling people “oh, um, its actually not a touch screen” as they continuously slam their pointer finger on the screen trying to push okay; and even more than that, I will miss seeing their mortified faces when they see a mouse by their right hand. I will miss helping people and saying hello to strangers. I will miss being able to drop and pick up hours whenever I want and I will miss pay raises every couple of months. I will miss the income that saved my life the past couple years and I will miss free printing again and again and again. I will miss making lab visits and I will I will miss looking important. Most of all though, I think I will miss feeling that in some small way, I was contributing to the school that has done SO much for me.

So, thanks for all the bad times and the good times Computer Labs. It’s been real.

Sincerely,

An old employee moving from one adventure to the next! 

cute little cousins

I have an  informal, summer/before i get married/before i move to New York, bucket list. 

I haven't written it down because it seems that wedding planning takes priority these days (which i love)and i don't want to be disappointed when i have a very uncrossed-off list come September.  BUT i am happy to say that after this past weekend i can check another thing off my mental list. 

And that was to hang out with these cute boys:

My sister and i got to babysit my cute cousins this weekend and it was a complete blast. Lansing, Dawson, and Preston are ALL boy that's for sure. and i sure do love them. From games, to water balloon fights, to cupcakes, to wrestling, it was a perfect weekend. They are definitely on my list of things i am going to miss the most when i move to New York in a couple months and i am SO glad i got to spend some time with them!!

Who knows what i will cross off next on my bucket list, but i am getting excited to cross off another wedding to-do...taking my bridals! Can't wait to wear my dress tonight :)