An EARTHQUAKE a BIRTHDAY a HURRICANE and a 10th WEDDING ANNIVERSARY...all in one week!

When David was applying to residency I was very open to moving just about anywhere he wanted to go (hence Baltimore!) but I did rule out a couple of places. 1. Baylor (Houston)...I was scared of hurricanes. 2. California programs...I was scared of earthquakes and the cost of living. So I suppose Baltimore can blame me for both our recent earthquake and hurricane...all in one week. My sister thinks natural disasters follow me, but they still have tornadoes in Oklahoma...with or without me. When the earthquake hit, I was brushing my teeth with my Oral B Sonic toothbrush. I was amazed at the extra vibration it was creating, until David informed me we were really experiencing an earthquake. Fortunately, we had no damage.

Just days later, Irene made its mark on the East Coast. She left us without power for 60+ hours and Ben's school was closed for the first 4 days! Many thanks to our friends who saved the bulk of our refrigerator and freezer foods, let me and the kids crash their houses for meals, and even shared their hot water so we could all bathe! . We were the lucky ones. Two of our neighbors had very large trees fall on their houses, but fortunately no one was injured. Here are just a few of the pictures I took of the damage.

Our Neighborhood




My friend Liz's back alley (just a couple of miles away). This spot made the front cover of the Baltimore Sun! She was one of the last to get power restored!



Through it all, we still managed to celebrate David's 32nd birthday. I think I finally mastered the traditional Behrmann German Chocolate cake.



For our 10th wedding anniversary I made David a 100+ page digital hardbound scrapbook of memories and pictures through the years. It was quite a project! While I was working on it, Ben told me, "You should really thank yourself for that book." I asked why and he said, "You are the one that really wants it." Such a smart boy! David also made arrangements for us to go on a 4 night cruise in November. Grandma Jacobs will be flying in from Colorado to take care of the kids! I am very excited! We were even able to go out to dinner on our anniversary thanks to the Ebert family. They brought their family to our house and falsely claimed we were doing them the favor (they were still without power and ours had just come back on). We are thankful for so many good friends!