The Power is Back!

Now that might be a strange title for my post today. Since this is a post involving the SU! Only Challenge we're having. But, for any of you that know me, know that I live in Alabama. All of you know what happened in our quiet little state last week. We have been knocked to the ground, literally for some people. Some have nothing left after many, many tornadoes passed through Wednesday, April 27, 2011. That day will forever go down in history as the deadliest tornado outbreak since 1931. The closest tornado to us, was the one that ripped through Cullman County. It missed our house by 4 miles. We watched it go passed. It was the most hair raising, out of body experience I've ever seen. Everything was calm around, no rain, nothing but the sound of a train roaring through. That train being an F4 tornado. Some are saying it should have been labeled an F5 with as much damage that was done.

All of our family is okay. No one in our family was harmed or has damage because of the storms. You just don't know how amazing that is since there were numerous tornados that touched down in our state. The tornadoes were no respector of persons. They touched down in big cities. One being the biggest College town in our state, Tuscaloosa. They are still, today, finding bodies there. The tornadoes hit little towns, places with no mayor or city hall. Places where people had no insurance because they are living at or below the poverty line.

We were out of power for 4 days. Our kids re-discovered (haha) some of their toys & played outside a lot. We cooked everything on our outdoor gas grill. You know biscuits are, I think, better cooked on the grill! We had to cook, prepare, everything in our freezer before it spoiled. We invited my sister & her family over (they stayed for 2 days because they didn't have a gas grill at home to cook on) along with my parents for meals. What we didn't eat, we gave away to our neighbors.

Baths were a challenge. I boiled water on the gas burner (on the grill) and added it to the icy, cold water we had in the tubs. :) But, on a nice note, all the candles in the bathroom while you took a bath were very soothing! hahaha

We are not complaining though. We still have our home. The power came back on Sunday at lunch. We are better off than a lot of folks. I pray for them every day. I plan on volunteering in nearby Cullman County, once the kiddos go back to school. I feel an obligation to do so. Any of you that have lived through a natural disaster know what I'm talking about.

Please pray for Alabama. We so need it.

Okay, the card I have today is for the SU! Only Challenge we're having. Create a card with a butterfly(butterflies).

When I heard butterflies, I immediately went to my SU! embosslit. I love that thing! I used dsp from the brights collection. My sentiment is from the Family Phrases stamp set. The ink is Pretty in Pink.

Thanks so much for visiting. I hope to see you over at SU! Only challenges. The link is in my sidebar, top right.

Until next time...

Blessings...

Melina