NEW JERSEY, USA:  Hurricane Sandy

NEW JERSEY, USA: Hurricane Sandy

Sandy Flooded Homes

A week ago, Hurricane Sandy made landfall very close to our home in New Jersey.

We live in a waterfront neighborhood, where some people live bay-front and the rest of us live on lagoons. Even though a mandatory evacuation was issued, we wondered whether we really needed to evacuate, since we live on one of the furthest lagoons from the bay and because we knew how many feet above mean high tide we are. But, with young children, we chose not to take any chances and heeded the warning. We spent the hurricane at a cousin’s house, leaving our home on Sunday. The storm was at its worst on Monday and by Tuesday afternoon we were able to return home.

From my cousin’s home, we watched strong gusts of wind come and take down trees and saw some flooding but that was nothing compared to what we would see when we went home.

We were very lucky. We could see the water line in our yard. If the water had come up another 1.5 feet, we would have had flooding inside our house. We lost part of our dock, stairs and walkway, all of which were still under water when we first got home. We had some branches come down and a shutter fly off the house.

We have now spent a few days working in and out of the house and are just about back to normal. We lost electricity but it was restored four days later. Now we have a freezer and fridge to clean out. We saved what we could, but couldn’t save it all.

(more…)

Maggie Ellison

Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!

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SOUTH CAROLINA, USA: Breaking Down and Building Up

We all, I think, have our hard times when we think, “that’s it!  I’m done!  I cannot take it anymore!”  Life throws us curve balls that we don’t expect and some are much tougher than others.

As I have written about before, we have moved around a bit in the last 5 years: 4 times to be exact and 3 of which we thought were going to be permanent.  No, we are not in the military.  My husband just seems to be in the wrong field at the wrong time.  He works in research and when the economy is down, there is less money available to support research.  His last 2 jobs were lost because of funding cuts.  It’s been tough.

When my husband got his last job about 8 months ago,  we had to move again, but we were filled with hope.  He was going to make a comfortable salary, it was in a place we both liked, and we were close to family.  Things were going well for months and although it has taken some time to adjust to living in an entirely new area again, I have felt so content and happy.

Since having my kids, all I have wanted was to be able to stay home with them, have a good school for them to attend and that I could be a part of, live in a nice place and take care of our needs.

(more…)

Maggie Ellison

Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!

More Posts

SOUTH CAROLINA, USA: Breaking Down and Building Up

We all, I think, have our hard times when we think, “that’s it!  I’m done!  I cannot take it anymore!”  Life throws us curve balls that we don’t expect and some are much tougher than others.

As I have written about before, we have moved around a bit in the last 5 years: 4 times to be exact and 3 of which we thought were going to be permanent.  No, we are not in the military.  My husband just seems to be in the wrong field at the wrong time.  He works in research and when the economy is down, there is less money available to support research.  His last 2 jobs were lost because of funding cuts.  It’s been tough.

When my husband got his last job about 8 months ago,  we had to move again, but we were filled with hope.  He was going to make a comfortable salary, it was in a place we both liked, and we were close to family.  Things were going well for months and although it has taken some time to adjust to living in an entirely new area again, I have felt so content and happy.

Since having my kids, all I have wanted was to be able to stay home with them, have a good school for them to attend and that I could be a part of, live in a nice place and take care of our needs.

(more…)

Maggie Ellison

Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!

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SOUTH CAROLINA, USA: Giving the Whole Bathroom a Bath

My son is 7 1/2 and has been taking showers on his own for a while now.  Recently, he has been taking baths. The last 3 times, he has completely soaked the bathroom.  The floor was flooded, the counters were wet, and I just couldn’t imagine what he was doing in there.

He’s really into weather and the ocean, so I always say, “No tsunamis in there.” He knows I mean that he can’t make big waves in the tub that cause the water to spill out.

He’s an honest kid, so I believed him when he said he hadn’t been making tsunamis in the tub after the first time I found the bathroom soaked.

After his next bath, it was the same thing.  Water was everywhere.  I started thinking he was just walking around the bathroom when he got out and not drying off.  I thought of this soft ball that he throws in the tub. I figured that maybe he was throwing it out and getting everything wet.  I meant to ask him about it, but I was busy so I dried up the floor and forgot to talk to him. (more…)

Maggie Ellison

Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!

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SOUTH CAROLINA, USA: Interview with Maggie Ellison

SOUTH CAROLINA, USA: Interview with Maggie Ellison

Where in the world do you live? And, are you from there?
I am originally from Georgia, but was raised in New Jersey since the age of 2. I went to college in North Carolina and lived there for 13 years. About 2 years ago, we moved to South Carolina.

What languages do you speak?
English and some Spanish

When did you first become a mother?
I was 28, in graduate school and had been married for 5 years. It was a welcomed surprise and I had my baby boy a month after I graduated.

Are you a stay-at-home mom or do you work?
Actually, I do both. (more…)

Maggie Ellison

Maggie is so grateful to be raising her 2 children with her husband in the low country of South Carolina. Life at the beach is what she’s always known, although living in SC is new to this NJ native! The beauty of the live oaks and the palmettos takes her breath away on a daily basis and being able to go to the beach all year is a dream for her. Art and music have also always been a part of Maggie’s life, and she is happy that her family has the same love and appreciation for it that she does.
Maggie and her family are also very active. Her husband coaches both kids in soccer, and they like to spend their time outdoors kayaking, biking, swimming, camping, etc. They try to seize every moment they can together, and they feel that it’s not just the family time that is important. They want their kids to know a life of activity and respect for the outdoors, expose them to new things and teach them about the world! Maggie and her family are no strangers to overcoming life's challenges. They've had to uproot their family several times when jobs have been lost in the economic crisis.
They also lovingly face the challenges of having a child diagnosed with special needs. Through all this, Maggie has learned to celebrate the good times and never take them for granted. Her family is everything to her, and she is incredibly grateful for every day she has with them and for every moment she has shared with them. Not a day goes by that she doesn’t tell them she loves them and how lucky she is to be her kids’ mommy. How sweet!

More Posts