A guy a went to school with generously gave me a laptop to work on until we get a place again of our own.

Thank you Brian.

We are hanging in there.  I am still at my brother’s house.  We’re still waiting to do our taxes.  We have had so much to do with getting into the apartment and saving what we could.  My brother, dad, BIL, and Justin are over there right now.  Today is the last day to get our stuff out before they lock the building down and throw everything out.

They are just throwing stuff into bags and putting it in the garage so I can look through it.  I can’t tell what is ruined until I get outside of the apartment and see it in the light of day.  Smell it.  I can’t bring it all to my brother’s, so it’ll have to wait until we get a place.

So far all of my living room furniture was destroyed.  My kitchen furniture also.  I’m not sure about my small appliances.  The stuff in the pantry is probably gone because there was tons of water in there, so much so, when you pick up the food boxes they fall apart in your hand and the food goes all over.

My new food processor made it through it.  Priorities people, priorities.

For real, it’s the little things that make me happy right now like buying new hair ties so I can do my girls’ hair.  You have to take joy in those things or you go slightly crazy.

I can’t dwell on everything that was lost.

I am refusing to believe anything except that we will come out of this stronger and in a better place than we were before.  There is no other alternative.

Life sucks, then your apartment burns down.

You move on, adjust your attitude, think positively, and just start living again.

You know?

You find out how many people care about you.  People you didn’t even realize thought of you as more than a passing acquaintance.  You see a community gathering around a group of 13 families (with children in the elementary school) to protect them from everything.  You see them work so hard so these kids don’t miss what was lost.  So these kids have clothes, toys, so that their lives go on.  You see them doing everything they can so these kids have a reason to get up and smile and not cry.  They have just wrapped their arms around all of us.

I’ve found so much love and support from my fellow Waukee Warriors.  They too have just done everything they can to make this easier for us.  The support coming from people that I haven’t seen in years,  but have reconnected with over Facebook, it brings tears to my eyes.  It fills my heart to the point of bursting. 

My digital scrapbooking community to has just been so amazing.  They’ve listened to my cry, they’ve listened to me vent.  They’ve reached out over the miles to do whatever they can to help us.

My bird friends, they have been an amazing support unit too, they are just as amazed as I am about the budgies surviving the fire.  God cares about even the littlest sparrow and I’ve never been more aware of that than I am now.  I swear he put a net of guardian angels over their cage.  There is no logical explanation for why they survived 5 hours in a building that was on fire.  In a building I was choking when I ran out of it with the other animals.  No reason other than they had their special angels around them.

My friends, my family, all of you who read my blog who have offered prayers and thoughts, every single last one of you, I love you.  I thank you for everything you have done for me.  From leaving comments with your thoughts and prayers to donations.  You don’t realize how many people care about you until a tragedy like this occurs.  I know my family and friends love me but the love I have received from across the world really, it is the most amazing thing. It doesn’t matter what we’ve lost when I think of what we have gained.

Thank you again every one.

From the bottom of my heart.

I love you all.

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