North Dakota in the news

It's a big day when North Dakota makes national news. 

As I'm sure many of you have seen, North Dakota has been quite the a media darling lately. Too bad it's primarily about flooding and not something more cheery.

I've seen many of the news reports and through them all, there are two that stand out that I'd like to show off. Ironically, they both have CNN in common. The first is a documentary of what CNN found in Fargo, ND - a great story about the dedication and spirit of the people in Fargo. The second is a Daily Show segment that pokes fun on the CNN reporter in Fargo.

Happy viewing.

Video 1

Video 2

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I just posted three more flood photos to this post. My friend Kara Speidel snapped the photos while helping sandbag homes in our neighborhood. Thanks Kara!

Putting things into perspective

In the post I wrote earlier today, I talked about this book, "The Children's Blizzard." According to Wikipedia, "the blizzard came unexpectedly on a relatively warm day, and many people were caught unaware, including children in one-room schoolhouses."

Shortly after I posted that blog today, I got an e-mail from my Grandma Katy (my dad's mom) that said that her mom's mom (my great, great grandmother) was born in 1888, near Florence, SD, during the blizzard.

And she survived.

Amazing.

Here she is on her wedding day. Her name was Anne Jessame (she was Norwegian). She married Charles Murphy (an Irish fellow).

She was the oldest child in her (very, very large) family. I was told that Great Great Grandma Anne lived a long life (over 90 years) and passed away in Watertown, SD.

I think I got her hair - wowzers. Lucky me. Ha.

How lucky we are that, today, when blizzards happen, they are a pain in the butt, but (thankfully) not normally deadly.

Buy the book on Amazon:

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8:15 pm UPDATE:

I just cracked open the book. On one of the first pages is this quote:

"It was as if we were being punished for loving the loveliness of summer." —Willa Cather, My Ántonia

Oh how fitting!!! Last summer was fabulous!

Yet another snow day.

It started snowing last night.

Had this been in November or December, this would have been the most beautiful snow of the year. The wind wasn't blowing (yet). The flakes were huge and hanging in the air. But ... here we are, late March, anxious for spring and summer, still very worried about flooding ... so all snow is ugly. Very ugly.

Since last night, so far we've received 14.5 inches of snow. And it's still snowing. (The table and deck were dry and clean yesterday afternoon).

Work was cancelled today. Corey took my car to work because the snow was so deep that his car would have gotten stuck. I'm snowed in at home. Our totally awesome neighbors used their snowblowers and cleared our driveway. Corey should be able to get back in the garage after work. Thank you neighbors!

I decided to take some photos of my authentic winter survival gear, our new snow, and some other randoms that I happened to come across while wandering around the house.

I'm getting cabin fever again.

Before this year, it had been over 15 years since the University of Mary cancelled class/work. Caitlyn and I tried to count how many snow days we've had this year. I think today marks six. Crazy.

This is my friend Heet. In the winter, I pour Heet in my gas tank after every fill up. It keeps my car running on the coldest of winter days. It's a gas line antifreeze and water remover. Thank you Heet! Corey and I buy this by the six-pack.

This, my friends, is our sump pump hole. For some reason I kinda feel like showing this is like showing my underwear. To those of you that don't know about the wonderful world of sump pump holes ... since we have a basement and we live in a low-lying area, there is ground water. This ground water would seep into the basement if we didn't have one of these. The process takes the water from the ground around the house and filters it into this hole in our basement (through the black tubes). When the water reaches a certain height, the pump kicks in and the water is pumped out (though the white pipes).

Since I'm the paranoid type, we also have an electronic, battery back-up sump pump. This pump will kick-in in cases of power outages, pump failure or if the water is flowing in too fast for the main pump to keep up. With the spring we've had, we have become very thankful for our sump pumps. Thank you trusty sump pumps!

DVDs. Thank goodness for cheap entertainment.

Wine. Lots of wine. There's just nothin' like a good bottle of red wine the night of a blizzard.

This is a random photo. This is my quilting room post-evacuation. It's not really usable right now, but after the snow is all gone, I'll get it reorganized and resume my quilting hobby. Until the flooding threat is gone, my beloved sewing room will stay like this.

I bought this book about two years ago but never got around to reading it. It's about pioneer families in the Dakotas during a horrific blizzard in 1888. I may have to read this one soon - I might need to learn a thing or two from these pioneers.

Knitting has definitely been a winter survival tool for me. It keeps me calm. Here is the latest photo of my progress of the diagonal-stripe blanket. It just keeps getting cuter.

Watching my Easter batch of wheat grass grow has been a good distraction from the weather. Yay for seeing green! I saw a few birds fly through our yard yesterday. I squealed with delight at seeing something alive outside.

Spring is here, believe it or not.

What would you pack?

I've seen the scenario. 

You've got 30 minutes to pack and leave your house. What do you bring?

I always knew I'd pack things like photographs and important documents, but what I didn't realize was that, in the heat of the moment, I'd also pack some very obscure things. 

Along with the predictable: computer, external hard-drives (where my photos are stored), cell phone, clothing, toiletries, and safe deposit box; I also packed two jugs of juice, my college diplomas, a box of popcorn, my knitting bag with projects, a pillow, six quilts, a camping lantern (with extra propane),  two flashlights, and a bottle of wine. 

Packing both the flashlights was a big mistake because I ended up needing them after I turned off the power to our house. doh! We actually turned the power off twice because the first time we flipped the main breaker switch, we accidently left the garage doors open. So, we turned it back on, closed the doors, and then flipped the switch a final time. All done in the dark. So instead of using the flashlight, I had to make my way through the house, down to the basement, into the utility room, find the breaker box, flip the switch, and then get back upstairs and go outside. Twice. In the dark. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

I wasn't the only one packing strange items ... I know a fellow evacuee who packed a swimsuit because she knew they'd be staying at a hotel with a pool. But she forgot to pack socks. Her husband packed a bottle of wine. 

There's just nothing like being prepared.

You've got 30 minutes to pack and abandon your house. What would you save? (must fit in a car)

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On another flood note, Corey's car had been running rough the last few days. Fearing that he had water damage to his intake or engine, he took it in to the shop. Thankfully, they found that while it didn't have water damage, it had some ice built up around the engine. They thawed it out and it's good as new!

I'm sure you've all seen it on the news, but Fargo, ND, is experiencing some serious flooding danger. Please keep them in your prayers. We have lots of friends that live in or near Fargo, and after my flood scare, I'm terrified for them. 

We're back in, and dry!

We're back in our house. We turned our water and power back on. MDU came and re-lit out pilot lights so we have heat and warm water again. I got to unplug the drains. I do have to say that oatmeal-filled nylons are a great drain plug. 

The street is dry. Very icy. But dry.

Our neighbors said a snow/ice plow came by at about 3 am (I imagine that would have been VERY VERY noisy). This is very obvious by the large mountain of ice in our driveway. It got down to about 10°F last night, so the ice is ROCK hard. We can't even begin to think about driving into our driveway right now. There is so much ice. We picked up a metal shovel and heavy hoe thing and 80 pounds of rock salt ... hopefully those will work to clear our driveway.

We're so thankful to be back in a dry house. We're going to keep the sandbags around until the snow is all melted. Thank you to everyone who helped with the city sandbag efforts, to all our family and friends, especially my grandparents and Chad and Tara. Thank you!!!

I'm going to get a ride out to work very soon. Corey's going to take my car to work. Tonight we've got some major "stuff" moving to do. Our house is all mixed up - there's stuff everywhere!

A (good) update

Thank you so much for the prayers and good thoughts. They seem to be working. 

Corey and I stopped by our house at about 7 p.m. today and were pleasantly surprised to see two things: 1. the water is significantly lower than this morning when we evacuated. 2. our amazingly wonderful neighbors sandbagged the entire front of our house.

We are so blessed to have so many wonderful friends and family (and neighbors). We sincerely thank you.

Corey and his cousin Chad spent the better part of the day helping to fill sandbags at the Bismarck Civic Center, stacking sandbags around our basement window wells and moving more of our basement furniture to higher levels. Needless to say, he (and I) are very worn out.

We're still not out of the woods. There is an even larger ice jam just north of town (up river). If that breaks before they get the lower ice jam cleared, we'll be in for some serious problems. Also, there is another large snow storm forecasted for early next week which could mean more trouble.

Before we went over for our house check up, I picked up my camera and was able to snap a few photos. I must say that I felt rather silly taking photos of the "high water" after the 12-inch drop from this morning ... however when I look at the photos I'm still very disturbed at the amount of water on our street.

Since Corey and I thoroughly sealed our house, we don't have heat or water, so we're staying with my grandparents in north Mandan (one a hill! yay!) until we can be sure there isn't an immediate flood danger.

While looking at the photos, note that this morning when we evacuated, the water was to the tops of all the snow/slush banks in the roads (about a foot above where it is now). Also notice how well sandbagged our block is. 

Looking north at the corner of South 12th Street and University Drive. About 1/4 mile from our house.

A flooded ditch on University Drive.

Standing in our driveway looking south.

A neighbor hauling sandbags.

Corey standing toward the end of our driveway.

Standing in our driveway looking to the end of the block to the north - someone decided to forge into the water by foot. burr.


Looking south again.

Our sandbagged house. Thank you neighbors!!!

Looking out to the street from our house.

Me. I'm super glad I have my trusty rain boots.

At the corner of San Angelo Drive and Tacoma - looking east, toward my sister's apartment.

UPDATE: March 31, 2009 - additional photos added

Thanks to my friend, Kara Speidel who took these photos while helping neighbors sandbag :)

Our street - notice the water is completely over the sidewalks and median.

Our street intersects with this street at the far end of the block. Yikes.

It was a great day to own a pickup truck. This is the south corner of our street.

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I just noticed this marks my 100th post ... what a whopper of a post. Jeesh.

Abandoned

Wow.

Corey and I work up multiple times last night to check the evacuation notices. Nothing was directed at our area, so, this morning we both work up as normal, showered, and got ready for work. I knew the snow and roads were bad, so we decided Corey would take my car to work and I'd try and get a ride with a coworker.

I started straightening my hair and at about 6:45 am, Corey suggested that I look out in the front yard and if we should be worried. What we thought was lots of snow in our street was actually rising water. We quickly changed our plans from going to work to preparing to abandon our home. Our first task was moving Corey's car (small Ford Focus). So I drove our SUV and Corey drove his car. It's a good thing we left when we did - I don't know if we could have made it out with his car had we left a few minutes later. We dropped his car off at his aunt and uncle's house in north Bismarck (thankfully on a hill).

We then drove back down to our house to pack and prepare to evacuate. In a very short time, we threw what we could in suitcases and moved a few treasured belongings from the basement to the second story. A huge thank you to Corey's cousin Chad, he brought his big pickup and helped us pack and move some furniture.

We abandoned our home at 9:30 am. Before we left, we turned off the water, gas and power. We drained all faucets, since it's so cold they would freeze and burst. We plugged the toilet and drains down in the basement to try and keep the sewer back-flow out.

I'm at Corey's wonderful cousin's house - home of Chad and Tara and their three kids. Tara does daycare for a bunch of adorable kiddos that are keeping me distracted from the disaster.

Corey and Chad are in his pickup looking for sandbags. Last I heard there were lines over 5 blocks long at the distribution area, so they went back to our house to try and move more furniture upstairs.

I'm devastated. We had no warning. We were getting ready to go to work today! I'm so thankful for all the support and prayer from our friends and family. Keep them coming.

My sister Caitlyn lives in a third-floor apartment very close to our home, she's also evacuated. My sister's boyfriend Chaz is also evacuated. I know so many others that also have abandoned their homes, including my boss.

We're preparing ourselves for the basement to be completely flooded. Hopefully the water doesn't get high enough to reach the main level.

I would have taken photos, but my camera is stranded in Corey's car. Apparently I don't think straight when I'm in survival mode.

I called my mom as were were driving away. I totally broke down. I was sobbing. I'm trying to remind myself that "we are safe - it's just a house" ... but it's so hard.

Cell phone usage is getting hard and many calls are not going through because of the heavy use.

I'll write more when I hear more.

Tuesday afternoon update

The river is less than three inches from flood stage. It's estimated that the river will rise another 12 inches by midnight tonight. The entire Southport and Fox Island areas of Bismarck have been evacuated. If you're not familiar with Bismarck, the area that has been evacuated are homes that border the river. 

We are located two miles east of those homes. The thing about Bismarck is that it's really flat. Although we're two miles east, it's not much in terms of higher ground. Actually, it may even be lower. And there is a (very full) drainage ditch about 1/2 block from our house. What happens if that over-flows? What happens when the river floods and this has no place to drain?

There is talk of using some sort of explosives and salt to break up the ice jam. That's all fine and dandy except that we're in a blizzard and no helicopters will fly until (at the earliest) tomorrow. Until then, we wait and pray.

We're still in our house for the time being. 

We've got two sump pumps in our basement (one is a backup on a battery) and we've got a few buckets of water filled in case the water is shut off. I filled nylons with oatmeal to plug drains if the sewer backs up - although I'm still not sure exactly how to "install" these.  Corey is busy shoveling our driveway of the seven inches of snow that has fallen. 

We've got our escape planned in case we're evacuated. 

I keep thinking I'm going to wake up and this will all be a crazy nightmare. I still can't believe it "THE RIVER BACKED UP!" ... in my wildest dreams, I never thought this would be possible. 

If you're wanting more "real" news ... check out the Bismarck Tribune, KXMB TV or KFYR TV. 

In case anyone is wondering ... I boxed up my favorite quilt fabric and sewing machine and moved them from the basement to the second floor. They should stay dry up there.

The bad gets worse.

The water keeps rising. The snow keeps falling. Work was cancelled for me today because of the blizzard conditions.

I'm getting scared. The drainage ditch about a block away from our house is getting very full. It drains into the Missouri River, which is dangerously close to flooding.

I moved our treasured possessions upstairs from the basement – just in case.

If you can spare any prayers, we'll take all that we can get.

A sad day for North Dakota

The water is rising.

Fargo is begging people to help fill sand bags. They estimate a need for two million sandbags. All schools and colleges cancelled their classes to create more manpower. 

Bismarck has road closures.

Residents in Bismarck's Fox Island area are being asked to evacuate. They say ice jams down river are causing the river to rise rapidly. Frightening.

Over 40 families evacuated in Beulah, ND. 

Mott, ND is under water.

About 75 families in Linton, ND, have abandoned their homes. One of them is very close to my heart - my bonus cousins (Corey's uncle and his family). They are the same family that visited our house Friday. It is sad, sad news.

It's hard to grasp what is happening. The areas that are flooding were not built teetering on riverbanks. They do not flood every year. They were not carelessly built with the knowledge that one day they could flood. It's just a bad year. A '100 Year Flood' ... a freak occurrence. And yet, the water continues to rise. Prayers are needed.

I'm home sick today ... stationed at my post (on the couch), watching the news. We're still forecasted to get about a foot of snow, starting tonight.

Photos (Bismarck Tribune).

Sunday update

Wow what a weekend.

Here are the top 10 things of the weekend:

1. Our yard water situation is much improved and is draining. Yippee.

2. The house seems so lonely right now - all our visitors have departed. Corey's mom, sister, three brothers and sister-in-law were here since Wednesday. Corey's brother Andrew just returned from Europe so we had a great time viewing all the photos and consuming all his imported treats.

3. It's my mom's birthday today! Happy birthday mom!

4. We're in for some crazy weather the next few days. We're supposed to get lots of rain, then lots of snow, and tons of wind. Should be interesting.

5. Along with our house full of visitors, some of Corey's cousins stopped by Friday evening. I just couldn't resist taking a photo of all the cuties with braces.

6. Corey mom, sister, and brother will be back at our house Saturday. Us gals are going to go see the University of Mary's Sound of Music musical. I'm SUPER excited. The boys will hang out and watch basketball while we're at the show. My grandma and grandpa are going to the show with us. Fun fun.

7. I still haven't had a chance to watch my borrowed copy of Mary Poppins. Maybe later this week.

8. Water, water everywhere. We're very fortunate to not have any major water problems here. All of the state is is a flood warning. Fargo is definitely at risk for some serious flooding. I hope it doesn't end up as bad as forecasted.

9. Saturday was National Quilting Day. We went for a little trip to the North Dakota Heritage Center for Quilt 'Till You Drop Day. The Heritage Center is so much fun and the gift shop is even better. If you are ever in the area, definitely make a stop at the Heritage Center.

The Bison in front of the Heritage Center

The Hager ladies with a few bison.

10. Corey and I are going to the circus on Friday. I have no doubt it will be thoroughly entertaining.

I have a feeling this week will be pretty exciting with all the crazy weather forecasted. Stay tuned.

I always wanted water-front property ...

Spring is here and in a big way.

With temperatures steadily climbing the last week, much of the snow has melted — creating lots of water. Lots of water. Lots of water in our yard.

When I got home from work yesterday, I found that we now had water-front property. Not good, if that's not what you're supposed to have. We're lucky that the house and basement stayed water-free. But, nevertheless, I was not comfortable with that much water less that a foot away from a basement window well. 

So, with shovel in hand, I went to work.

I took these photos about half-way through my water rerouting project. I was a bit too nervous to be snapping photos before I made some serious progress.

Looking toward our house from the south ... we now have a babbling brook.

I'm not going to lie - this was actually kind of fun.

This is the basement window I was worried about. When I got home, the water was roughly a foot away from the bottom lip of the window well.

Our back yard. Oh, I mean lake.

Well that concludes the water feature tour.

The water is still slowly flowing away and I couldn't be happier. :)

Our neighbor's yards flow into our yard, so I can only hope that the water is flowing away faster than it is flowing in. I think it is.

Adding to our water situation, we're supposed to get rain this weekend. And we're in a blizzard watch for Sunday and Monday. Crazy weather.

The return of cruise control

Happy first day of spring! It sure feels like spring here - sunny and 50°F. Time to get the bikes tuned up and start planning my gardens.

With the return of spring (and roads that aren't covered in ice and snow) comes the much anticipated return of cruise control. I am a huge fan cruise control. Once I get out of our neighborhood, I have one road, with only one stoplight between me and work. It's a 7.5-mile drive, much of which has a speed limit of 55 MPH. Being a college road, it's highly patrolled for speeders. I'm no Speedy Gonzales, but since I've driven on the same exact same road, at least once a day, Monday through Friday, for over seven years, I tend to unintentionally have a heavy foot.

Enter: Cruise Control.

I don't remember using cruise control much, if at all, when I lived in California. But, here in North Dakota, it's the only way to drive. The roads are flat, straight, and empty.

Ahhhh. Just another reason that I love spring.

My baldie

Corey shaved his head today. He participated in the St. Baldrick's Foundation fundraiser that raises money for children's cancer research. This is his 'before' photo. He's such a hunk.

Corey raised $1,000 in less than two weeks for the cause. Thanks to all our friends and family who donated. You are all heros too!

Corey was one of five folks from MDU Resources that braved the shave today. They had the event at their headquarters in Bismarck. They were shaved by one of Corey's coworkers, who, (conveniently) also has a cosmetology license. 

Corey had some pretty crazy designs going on.

And some very funny faces.

I realized that he has an interesting collection of head scars. 

Putting on the final touches ... or I guess taking them off?

Here's a before photo of the five dudes braving the shave and their stylist.

This is the after photo, plus the star of the show, a little boy that has cancer (he's also the son of the shavee on the far left). I was a bit nervous about corey shaving his head, but watching that little boy help shave his dad's head made it all worth it.

Check out the before and after photos of the guy in the solid green shirt. He lost the most hair, by far. He even auctioned off the shaving of his eye brows. No, I'm not joking.

And finally, my baldie. Yup. Still a hunk.

Español and embroidery?

I'm in the process of teaching two people how to quilt and three people how to knit. The three knitters-to-be were surprised that I was able to teach myself how to knit in one evening with a few YouTube videos. It is a pretty complicated craft, especially the start of a project. 

This got me thinking.

Are learning different sewing crafts similar to learning foreign languages? When I was in high school spanish class, our teacher - Señora Michaels - kept us motivated by saying that the first foreign language you learn is always the hardest. It's the most difficult because so much is new - from the concept of verb conjugation to the massive amount of new words. Similarly, is the learning curve for the first sewing craft steeper than the second of third? I believe so.

I learned how to quilt when I was a sophomore in high school, thanks to my high school boyfriend's mom (hello Mary Jo!). Last summer, when I learned how to hand embroider (thanks to my bonus mom, Andrea!), I already knew a few basic stitches and was familiar with needle and thread motions (thanks to quilting). When I learned how to knit, knowing basic knots (embroidery) and being familiar with how patterns are written (quilting) were instrumental in my understanding knitting.

So for all those that might be getting frustrated with learning a sewing craft for the first time ... keep going! It will only get easier. Learn another sewing craft when you master this one. 

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Since I claim to be a sewer (ha!) ... here's what I worked on this weekend ...

A diagonally-knitted blanket - with stripes! I had started this previously, but had to take it out because I skipped a few stitches. It's two-tone pink with white and dark gray. Pattern here.

I'm plugging away at my improvisationally-pieced red/black/white quilt. 

I'm at a deciding point. To border in white? or not (see below)?

I made the bottom right corner block this weekend and I like the wider, simpler borders. Maybe I should make more like this? Or maybe I should scrap all the blocks (use them for the back of the quilt) except this one and make all the remaining blocks with this 'look'?

Any ideas?

Sorry for the horrendous photos.