We survived Hurricane Irma!  This week has definitely had its ups and downs but beyond, anything else, I am feeling so GRATEFUL!  This storm could've been so much worse.  With that said, there are still a lot of people without power, water and who have suffered a lot of loss including their homes, cars and maybe even their lives.  My feelings of gratitude are a huge understatement given the magnitude of this natural disaster.

I've never felt so grateful as I did when I came home yesterday, flicked on my lights and actually had power.  Let me tell you, after 6 days of no power- so, no lights, no AC and everyone taking freezing cold showers- you become very grateful for the basics.  I was ecstatic to have power back in our home.  I don't think I've ever looked forward to cleaning out my fridge so much as I was after getting our power back.  That's what happens when you get back to basics- you appreciate the little things.

I also appreciated spending extra time with my girls over the course of the LONG weekend. We spent our days hunkered in the house playing board games, singing, coloring and eating tons of junk food (another reason I was eager to start fresh with our fridge; clean eats). 

All in all, I was out of the office for a week, Olivia will be out of school for two weeks (thankful for daycare, too) and we are all just looking to get back to our normal  routines.  These events are bittersweet in that, while most of us appreciate the extra time spent at home with our family, the circumstances surrounding it are not so great.  We want to get back to normal but it's also great to be able to do things out of the ordinary.

I definitely have a new found appreciation for just about everything and another lesson I've learned; buy a generator.

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