Thankful Amidst Trying Times

Hi there friends. I had a completely different post in mind with thinking about what I was going to write about today.

Those of you in the Atlanta and surrounding areas, I hope that you are safe and warm. Although the snow is pretty, it sure has caused a mess out there.

The view from our new living room

Because of our move this past weekend, I was lucky enough to make it home from the office at around 2pm yesterday, however, many of my coworkers and loved ones were not. My mom had to cut her trip short and pull into the driveway of an old friend to take shelter for the night, another friend had to ditch her car on the highway and make a 3 mile walk home yesterday afternoon, and many others are still left stranded. I walked out of the office around 1:30pm with another one of the dietitians who was headed in the direction that I would have been had we not moved, and around 10:30pm last night she text me to let me know that she had finally made it home.

Unfortunately, for Dustin, Boss and Gunner, this wasn’t the case.

They started trying to make their way to our new place with a load of stuff at around 11am yesterday morning, thinking there was plenty of time to make it. After being stranded for 10 hours in the car, my dear cousin put her thinking cap on, did a little networking and a solution was proposed. At that point, Dustin decided to ditch the car and make a 4, what turned into 6, mile run to my aunt and uncle’s house at around 10:30pm last night. No dog food and no leashes, Dustin had to rip towels into shreds, tie them together and use them as leashes for the dogs.

Per usual, he remained positive the entire time and sent this text to my family about 10 hours in.

I couldn’t stand it that I could do anything to help them out.

Dustin called me at around 10:30pm to let me know of the plan. He said that he would call me after about two miles in to let me know that everything was okay. After about an hour (Dustin is a pretty fast runner keep in mind), I finally received a phone call from a random number. It was Dustin letting me know that his phone had shut down with 80% battery power leaving him with no directions to their house. I hate technology sometimes. He told me to tell him the next two or three roads that he needed to take and then he would find another phone to call me from at that point. Another hour went by and I hadn’t heard a single thing from him. It was late, cold, and dark and they were running on windy and hilly roads – the worst kept running through my mind.

Finally, my cousin text me to let me know that Dustin’s phone started working again and that my aunt and uncle were guiding him there. Although I still hadn’t heard his voice, I knew he was at least still on track to make it there.

I finally talked to him a little later on and he let me know that he was okay – slightly cold but happy to be out of his car and in a warm place. God is always watching after us.

Today, I am so thankful for a family that put their minds together and helped us during such a helpless time. My aunt and uncle welcomed not only Dustin but two hungry dogs into their home too, feeding all three of them warm food!

I know that they are in good hands!

I have been at our new place, unpacking and prepping for what I thought was going to be a fun snow day with my hub and the pups. Although, I’ve been able to get a lot done around here, I would much rather be at work than watching this nightmare unfold.

I prepped a huge pot of chili in hopes to have someone to share it with but it’s looking like the roads are still pretty bad… maybe tomorrow though!

My prayers remain with those still stranded on the roads and hope that those away from their homes make it home safely.

Stay warm wherever you are!

Good health!

Tagged as: atl snow, atlanta, atlanta snow, snow, snow storm, thankful, winter