Holy Cow!!

We just had an earthquake! Granted, little ones happen a lot down here, and I don't ever feel them but this one was different. It was a 5.8 out in Chino Hills which is about 40 miles south east of where we live. I was standing in the bathroom and I heard a crashing sound and I thought that our upstairs neighbors were just being noisy again but then our shower door started to rattle and the building felt like it was rolling. In my head I was thinking "What is going on?...Oh no, an earthquake! Get in the doorway, Emily!" I ran to the doorway and just stood there panicked watching the closet door swing back and forth for about 15-20 seconds. It wasn't a violent shaking, just a gentle rolling and it made me a little dizzy, kind of like being sea sick and I could hear the building rumbling. It was a pretty scary experience though because I no idea where my hubby was or if he was safe or if I was going to need him to protect me and take care of me. He was going to go out to lunch with his team today and it was about that time but he could have been at the office still but I just didn't know. So I think that's why I was scared, because I was alone and didn't know if Brent was safe. I also didn't know if it was a warm up to something bigger or if my building was going to all of a sudden fall into the earth. Lots of exaggerated panicked thoughts because I've never experienced this before. As soon as the closet door stopped moving and I felt that it was probably over, I turned on the news and got the details. I figured it wasn't an earthquake too near to us or things would have been falling off of shelves and the power would have gone out. I also immediately started trying to call Brent but I guess all of the other 12 million people in LA county were doing the same thing because I couldn't get calls out. After about 20 minutes, and hitting redial about 1,000 times, I finally got through to Brent. He is fine. He didn't seem as panicked as I was. He did say his building swayed for a few seconds. He's felt little quakes at his building before and he was with a big group of people. I'm so thankful that we are safe. And I'm thankful that no people were hurt anywhere, and that the aftershocks have all been 3.8 or less. It was a good feeling to know that if it did get bad enough or close enough that we were in danger, that we have our 72 hour kits (Thanks Mom & Dad Gray!!!) and I have a good friend that lives around the corner.

Man, that really freaked me out! I think the adrenaline has finally worn off. Looking back it wasn't that bad, it was just my first experience and I was home alone. Who knew you could have so many thoughts in just a matter of a few seconds? Anyway, long story short: earthquakes = scary. But we're fine.

And we're off!!

We are going to be in Utah until early, early Monday morning! I'm sure we'll have lots to post once we get home. Don't miss us too much! :)

Our luck ran out...

We have a little bamboo plant that we bought when we first moved here to Studio City back in June of '05 and I noticed yesterday that it is pretty much dead now. So sad. Bamboo is supposed to signify luck, so now that our "lucky" plant is almost gone, does that mean our luck is almost run out too? That could be bad.

I am NO good at keeping plants alive. I'm not sure why. I always make sure it has enough water and the tag said it can survive in any kind of light. Hmm. I am the opposite of a green thumb. What would that be? A red thumb?

Anyway, this little plant started with 4 or 5 stalks and has slowly been dying off and now the last little guy is barely hanging on for dear life. Here are some sad pictures. Hopefully someday when we finally get a house with a yard, I will get better at this whole plant thing. Either that, or Brent will just have to do it all. :)

And so it begins...

For those of you that don't know yet, we found out about a week ago that Brent passed the exam he took back in May. So with that news and the fact that it's now mid-July, we are back in "study season" again. He will be taking exam 6 at the end of October so we are 15 weeks away, not that either of us are counting down already. :)

Yesterday, Brent took his first paid study day off of work. I am so proud of him. He woke up early and studied pretty diligently all day long. I believe he said the final count was 8.75 hours. Go Brent! There's no way I would have that much will power to stay focused all day. Especially if my spouse was home. Brent gets to divide up the 100+ hours of paid time from work into how he wants so this time, instead of taking the afternoon off a couple of days a week, he is going to take the entire day on Wednesdays. It should be pretty good. I just need to make sure that I have enough stuff to do that doesn't involve using the computer or needing to go into the bedroom a lot so that I don't interrupt him. Yesterday, I went downtown with a couple of girls to buy fabric. I have a feeling that is going to be a pretty common Wed activity. Good thing the stuff is cheap!

I'm always so amazed that Brent has the stamina to keep taking these tests every 6 months. He studies upwards of 300 hours for each one and 2/3 of that time is after work and on the weekends. 5 down, 4 to go! What a guy!

Good luck, Bubs!