Let’s get straight to it…the recipe. If you want pics, see below!
Makes 4 servings.
Takes 30 minutes. Legit, that’s all. Even prep time. Since you chop stuff while other stuff cooks. It’s magical.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground pork sausage (I use breakfast sausage since it’s got good flavors in it)
2 bags (16oz each) coleslaw mix (shredded cabbage and carrots)
4-8 minced garlic cloves (8 for me…depends on how much you like garlic!)
1 Tbsp minced ginger
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 Tbsp sesame oil
Instructions:
Pick your big skillet. I used a wok. Needs to have a wide base and tall sides.
Brown the sausage over medium heat. Break it up so it crumbles as it cooks.
Don’t drain it!
Add the bags of coleslaw mix, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce to the skillet.
Cook until it’s soft and it’s cooked down, which was like about 10-15 mins for me…depends on how hot your stove is, I guess?
Remove from heat.
Sprinkle on the green onions.
Drizzle with sesame oil.
Stir it up!
Enjoy!
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment below!
I first had this deliciousness at my Fun Aunt Rachael’s house when I was visiting her years ago….and I loved it! She shared the recipe with me and it was so fast and easy that I now make it every few months – I hope you do, too! Original recipe from Buns in my Oven. I added more of some things and like it both ways….but I make it my way!
Why are they called Naked Egg Rolls? Well, that’s cuz it’s just the stuff from the inside of the egg roll…an egg roll without the wrapping! So I guess you could also call it Egg Roll Guts? Well, here’s some pics of the process…
I start by browning the sausage….
While that happens, I cut up the garlic and ginger in my handy dandy chopper! I also measure the soy sauce.
Then I pour in all of that in with the cabbage and carrots! I find that the Kroger brand of coleslaw mix has more carrots than the Dole brand does…yay! Plus, it’s cheaper!
Then I cut up the onion and measure the sesame oil.
Once it’s done cooking, I mix it all together and YUMMMMMM
This is Jodi Picoult, an author I discovered recently and I have become enthralled with her books. I love the amount of knowledge I gain after reading her books. I can tell that she researches and dives deep into the topics.
I discovered that she’d be in Houston, so of course I jumped on the opportunity to see her! It was about an hour of her talking with Q&A, and then she did photographs. We also got a copy of her new book, A Spark of Light! I WAS TOTALLY FANGIRLING.
I want to share some of what she said, because I sure do wish everyone could have been there.
First of all, I made a new friend last night! As I was waiting in line to get in, someone asked if she could take a pic of my 2 different shoes so she could show her daughter. Needless to say, we became Best Book Friends and sat by each other and got to know each other a bit throughout the night. I’m so glad I met Amy! We even got BACK in line to get a picture with Jodi Picoult together 😀 I definitely hope Amy and I get to spend some more time together! We live on opposite sides of Houston, but meeting in the middle needs to happen, at least!
Now, A Spark of Light is a book about abortion. It’s a controversial topic, and Picoult was saying last night that the book isn’t pro-life or pro-choice…but people reading it often see it one way or the other. She said that “When women don’t tell their stories, other people make up narratives for us.” She encouraged everyone to share stories of things they’ve been through – abortion, sexual assault, racism, etc. Just share. Talk about it.
Before the event began, we could submit questions to ask….so I submitted 4.
Is there a topic you’ve wanted to write about, but haven’t quite figured out how to yet?
Did you write when you were younger? AKA when did you start writing?
Who are your favorite authors?
Which book of yours was hardest to write?
Now, she didn’t answer all 4, but 2 of my questions were answered!
In response to question 1, she said that there was a topic that she’d wanted to write about for a long time, but wasn’t sure how. It took her a long time to crack. It’s the recent book she wrote, called Small Great Things (which I just bought at Half Price Books and am looking forward to reading!). It’s about racism in America. She said her book isn’t here to tell people of color about racism. It’s for white people. She said that racism is prejudice plus power, and that she lives her life very differently now because of that book.
Someone else asked her what her favorite book is that she’s written, and she said it’s Small Great Things. It’s the only book she’s written that’s made her change as a human being.
In response to my question #2, she said that she did write when she was younger! Her first book, which her mom still has, was called “The Lobster that was Misunderstood” and it’s complete with words and pictures all her own.
Someone asked her how long it takes her to write a book. She said it depends on the book, and the amount of research needed. It’s pretty easy to find, for example, lawyers to talk to and interview, but harder to find, say, an Eskimo. But in general, it takes about 9 months, which she likened to growing and birthing a baby.
When asked how she chooses the topics to write on, Picoult said “If I keep thinking about it and it keeps me up at night, I should write a book about it.”
Someone asked about the next book she’s working on, and she said it answers the question “who would you be if you weren’t who you are now?” She added that it also involves Ancient Egypt, to which Amy and I assumed she’s got trips to Egypt in her near future for research!
Also discussed was how to get kids interested in reading when they don’t want anything to do with books. She said to not start with the big classics and popular books….let them read about topics they are interested in! If they love baseball, let them read baseball books and baseball stats. If they love Minecraft, let them read books about Minecraft. Once they read about topics they love, they will naturally fall in love with reading and will eventually be more open to other topics. But let them read what they want.
She was also asked what the best and the worst thing is about being an author.
Picoult said that the best thing about being an author is meeting people and hearing how her books have affected them.
She then said that the worst thing about being an author is Twitter. There are some mean people on Twitter.
She mentioned a few times about how she enjoys getting and answering fan mail….I’ve never sent fan mail, but you bet your butt I’m gonna.
There was so much more shared, and I won’t be writing it all here. If you ever have the chance to see an author speak, GO. This was my first time, and I foresee many more in my future.
I had some spare time today, so decided to spruce up my laptop keyboard with some Washi tape!
Here’s how it’s done….
Well, it started out like this….I have a keyboard cover so my keys don’t get all nasty.
But really…how boring is that?!
And dusty. It also needed to be washed.
So, I rinsed it and hung it to dry….I hand wash all my dishes and my dishwasher is simply a drying rack…
Then I chose my tape! I picked 4 different ones and alternated. I measured out how big the keys were, cut squares in that size, and then cut them in half so I could cover half the key and still see the letters.
Now…FYI….I’ve always wanted my keyboard to say “Avada Kedavra” instead of “Backspace”…..so now was my chance!!!
I have a label printer since I shop a lot on my clothing business….find me at http://www.shopwithchloe.com 🙂 So, I measured out my backspace key and printed my own sticker!
It doesn’t blend in as well as I’d ideally like, but I still love it!
And BAM. Finished up the Washi tape letter keys.
At this point, I decided my space bar was rather lacking…so I picked another tape and helped it out a bit 😀
So pretty all together!
And, of course, the cover needs to go back on because (1) it will get very dirty if I don’t and (2) the Washi tape will come off as I type if it’s not covered!
So. Much. Better, yo.
And THEN I noticed the water spots on my keyboard cover. And decided I didn’t care.
Last week I was helping my friend Emily move, and so I acquired some gems…including a plethora of black frames! I tend to only use black frames…and prefer black furniture…..so I took most of the black frames she was getting rid of!
Today I had some time to spare, so I grabbed a frame…..
It’s not very ME…..so I went to my craft stuff and gathered some buttons and keys…
Now, of course, my favorite super glue EVERRRRRRRR. Loctite Super Glue Ultragel Control is the only one I buy. It’s simply the best.
And I went to town…I wasn’t really sure at this point where I was going with it, so I just picked 3 colors and started filling it up with buttons….and then started gluing keys around the outside, still unsure of what my finished product would be.
My little plates were very useful in the process!
It was at this point that I decided I didn’t love the keys around the outside…I liked them…but didn’t love them. They looked so BLAH…like they didn’t belong. I really wanted keys to be a part of it, and they were already super glued on there, so I had to think….
…and I noticed the super glue was drying white on the black frame…..BLEHHH.
ALSO I ran out of super glue….so I planned my meals for the week, made a grocery list, and headed to Michaels, Kroger, and CVS.
At Michaels, my goal was to find some Stickles…it’s a brand of glitter glue that I love for crafts…but I haven’t bought any in yyyeeearrrsss and wasn’t sure if they had any. I wanted black Stickles to put over all the white…maybe outline the keys, maybe put swirls on the black frame…I wasn’t sure. BUT, lo and behold, no Stickles…just other colors and other brands of glitter glue…so I searched for inspiration…and came across the paper flowers I had used for other frames around my house! I bought two packs of gray/black ones and went on my way to Kroger for groceries and super glue.
I proceeded to buy ALLL the super glue (only my fave kind) from Kroger, along with my groceries, and then went to CVS to pick up the photos I’d ordered for the frame.
Ate dinner and then continued on with my frame!!
I finished the keys and buttons!!! Then it was time for flowers…so I just glued them on over the white areas, and found that I now LOVED it!!
Now, I didn’t want those stock photos on my wall, I had to add pics of me and my bestie!
Emily had envisioned this as an earring holder for me, but my wall in that area of my room was full…
So I simply moved a hat, hung the frame, and moved my green earrings from my flamingo to my new frame!
I spent hundreds of hours volunteering throughout my college career, and one of my FAVORITE places to volunteer at was Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf. At SLCAD I met amazing people that included me in their organization and gave me roles that allowed me to really help. I managed their Facebook page, advertised for and assisted with various fundraisers and walks, monitored the hotline, and I was even organizing other volunteers at some point…all in American Sign Language. Before I moved from Utah to Romania and then back to Texas, the included me in their staff/board appreciation dinner and I felt ultimately honored to be among people from such a wonderful organization.
I sincerely miss volunteering with SLCAD and using my ASL on the regular. I have, however, found a way to help out, and you can, too! When I shop on Amazon, I shop with smile.amazon.com and I have it set up to donate a portion of each purchase to SLCAD. I also hold fundraisers for them! I am currently running my second fundraiser for SLCAD with my LuLaRoe business. You can buy clothing for yourself (or your children), and a portion of each purchase will go directly to Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf. We were able to raise $240 for them last time, and I am hoping to surpass that this time around.
Click here if you’d like to participate in the fundraiser for SLCAD: http://bit.ly/SLCADLLR
Sego Lily Center for the Abused Deaf is a 501 c3 non profit agency that provides direct advocacy services to Deaf, Hard of Hearing and Deaf blind victims of abuse throughout the state of Utah since 2000. Their mission is to “promote a safe and empowered community for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Deaf-Blind people by providing culturally accessible services, advocacy and education.”
Things that were pulled from my apartment by the cleanup crew after the fire.
It’s been almost 8 months since my apartment burned down and I’m just now going through some of the things. I’m throwing most of it out, though. If I’d gone through it earlier, I might have been able to save some of it.
Most of it got wet from the rain the day of the fire, the fire sprinkler, and the DAYS of rain that followed the fire.
Yet, things were brought to me. And I stored them away. Yes, I went through boxes and bags for DAYS, seeing what I could save and what I had to throw out. And I’m grateful for the friends that helped me during that time.
But I couldn’t do it all. So I stuck some of it in my new storage unit by my new apartment.
Now it’s almost 8 months later.
My apartment called me today because I still have my things in my storage unit over by my old apartment. They said there’s no rush, just to let them know when it’s empty. So I decided today was the day.
I went down to my new storage unit and opened it up. Inside were 3 bags and 1 laundry basket of things from my old apartment. I moved them to my porch and swept out and bleached that little room so I could move things in there.
I’m now on my porch going through things. Things that were wet from the fire, covered in ash, and now have mold. Those things are being thrown out today. If I’d cleaned them off and gone through them earlier, I might have been able to save them. I’ve been able to clean and save a few things from today, but not much.
Yes, they are “just things” – but they’re my things.
Now my trash.
Throwing away memories and THINGS.
I took pictures of some things so I don’t eventually forget them completely.
It’s now time to move things from my old storage unit to my new one. Those are things that were untouched my my apartment fire. They were in storage, and I am forever grateful for that.
As I sit on my porch of my 3rd floor apartment in a cute red chair that a dear human bestowed upon me, I am watching a girl carry things. She’s got a trunk full of things and is carrying them up to her apartment. A box, a sombrero, a skateboard – ya know, things.
And I’m grateful for things.
Things that remind us of love. And of despair. Things that make us smile. And make us cry. Things.
After my fire, I was often told “at least you’re safe” and “I’m glad you weren’t hurt” and “things can be replaced” and “at least you get new things” – and that’s nice and well-meaning.
However, things aren’t just things. I miss my things.
Yes, I got a new toaster. New pots and pans. New flamingos, a new bed, new couch, new apartment.
Well, I started with my plain light covers…..many of them in a 1-bedroom apartment!
And that’s boring! So….Washi Tape to the rescue!
I collect ’em when they’re on sale!!
I have lots of Christmas and Valentine’s Day themed ones, too…but those stayed on the shelf for this particular project 🙂
And so I went to town!! Grab your flat head screwdriver and take the plates off of the wall. Then you get the Washi Tape and just stick ’em on where you want ’em…and fold them over the back! You can see that I used shorter strips over the switch rectangles. And it’s Washi Tape…so it’s super easy to reposition it!
If you want to go diagonal over a switch rectangle, you just have to cut diagonally into the corners and fold it down! Like so…
Here are my completed works!
And here they are in their natural environment. Much cheerier than they were this morning, that’s for sure!
Watch for when Washi Tape goes on sale, and start building up your stock!
That building back there is the non-burned side of my old apartment building. The side that had smoke and water damage, no fire. I now live on the other side of the apartment complex, but the mailboxes are on the side I used to live on. Sometimes, when I check my mail, I have a desire to go look at my old, roof-gone, burned down apartment. To stand there and cry. I don’t know what else. Just do that.
I think only 1 or 2 times I actually turned the corner and saw it. But not recently. This is the farthest I’ve gotten in a while. I can’t seem to bring myself to turn the corner and see it again. I just can’t look yet.
I’ve been very well taken care of since my apartment burned down. I’ve even started my own business, and it has blessed my life in many ways. Feel free to shop with me if you so desire!
I know I’ll eventually have to look at it. I’ve got some things in a storage unit over there, that was separate from the apartment. I need to move them to my new storage unit, near my new apartment. But not yet. I just can’t look yet.
Check out this picture of part of my old apartment, before it burned down. Now, take a moment to read the black canvas.
This is something I made when I was in college, and it was hanging on my wall during my apartment fire.
Now, here is a picture that the contractors took with my phone after the fire, of the same area, but from a different angle. See that black canvas?! It’s still there! It was saved! They were able to bring it down to me, though it looks a bit more rugged than it once did. And I love it even more. It wasn’t moldy, or smelly, so I kept it!
Oh, and that black/gray thing in the top left of the picture? That’s the roof. Yup. This picture still makes me cry as I long for what was lost.
However, remember what that canvas says, y’all?
Don’t save something for a special occasion. Every day of your life is a special occasion.
How true this is, y’all.
How fitting that this is the first thing that I hung up in the living room area of my new apartment.
Y’all, every day of your life is a special occasion. Enjoy things while you can.
I often now think of my fancy hat collection, and that I should have worn them more often instead of saving them for special occasions. I think of my flamingo serving platter that I should have used to simply eat dinner, instead of using it only when someone came over. These and many other things that I have lost I now wish I’d used more often.
Yes, it’s important to have special things that you only use for special occasions….but seriously. Use things. Love them.
Use them. Get out your fancy plates and USE THEM. Get out your special shoes and wear them. Get out your nice dress and enjoy it.
I really love this picture because if you compare it to the first picture in this post, you can see that it has some scars from the fire. And I love it like this.
It’s been one week since I watched my apartment burn down. It’s been one week since I have had to start redefining normal and rebuilding my life.
This is in no way a full account of events, but a slightly detailed summary, we’ll say.
On Wednesday, August 17th, I went to work. I’m a special education life skills teacher at a high school, and I love my job. It was the week before school started, and after work I went to visit 3 of my students. They bring me such joy! I then went to Pizza Hut to pick up the pizza I had ordered 4 hours ago, and I STILL had to wait 20 minutes for it to be ready.
Can I just say that my heart is racing as I type this, because I know what comes next?
I left Pizza Hut and got to my apartment complex 3 minutes later and saw smoke coming from behind the front building. I got worried about what it might be, but never thought it could be coming from somewhere familiar to me. I turned the corner and saw my apartment building on fire. I started freaking out, parked, and called 911. As I was on the phone, I was frantically texting my friend Teo, my friend Danielle, and my supervisor, telling them that my apt was on fire and I didn’t know what was going to happen.
Teo is my best friend who lives in Romania and was asleep at the time, but she is the one I talk to about everything all the time.
Danielle is my friend that lives 6 minutes away…I am basically family. I nannied her kids for forever.
My supervisor needed to know that I didn’t know if I could come to work the next day.
And then I waited. I wondered what would happen. I pleaded with the fire to stop growing. I tried to breathe. As soon as I saw the teenagers that lived next door to me, I got out of my car and we hugged each other as we watched our apartments burn and let the rain soak us through. I cannot explain how we felt.
I took this picture after about 5 minutes of arriving home. It was still small. My apartment is up the stairs on the 3rd floor. On the right side of the staircase. I could see that there was already smoke coming from it.
Danielle arrived and she couldn’t get in because police and fire trucks had already blocked the area. She had to park at the movie theater across the street. Hard is not the right word here, but it was hard for me to walk away and go across the street to her. We were able to walk back, but couldn’t get back to my car. At this point, I just wanted the pizza on the front seat of my car. Because I didn’t know what else to do. As we watched the apartment burn and people being evacuated from surrounding buildings, I cried, tried to breathe, and kept thinking of things that I had lost. My scrapbooks. My flamingo collection. My pictures. My green box (full of super important personal things). My letters. My journals. My quilts. My kitchen. My BOOKS. My personal library! I am a girl of many collections, and I was watching them burn.
I went through stages of crying, naming things, staring at the fire, and trying to breathe. Danielle called my mom for me (she lives in Utah) and she also called my supervisor. I could not talk to anyone. I could not breathe.
Danielle recently told me that I kept trying to walk closer to the building, like I thought I was going to be able to save something, and she had to lead me away.
After a while, everyone from building 3 was called into the front office. The American Red Cross and the apartment management handled the situation very well. The investigator from the police dept (I think) was super insensitive. I got up and walked away from him. It was ridiculous.
I could not stop crying. Danielle was calling anyone I asked her to, and explaining the situation to them. I did not want to be contacted because I didn’t know what to say to anyone. I had just watched my apartment burn.
I always have a book in my purse, and I had my purse, so I did what I knew how to do. I read. That was the only way I could be comforted. No words could be said and no action could be done to make me feel better. I needed to escape. So I read. I didn’t get very far before I started thinking of all of the books that I had just lost. And then everything else that went along with that.
Danielle was amazing. She was right there with me, holding me, helping me, and gathering all pertinent information from the authorities, because I was in no state to remember things.
When Teo woke up, we finally got to talk. I was in Danielle’s car across the street, charging my phone as we talked. She is my sanity, and I was relieved to finally be able to talk to her. We couldn’t talk for long, because I had to go back to the apartment office and take care of things with Danielle. But it was comforting to finally be able to talk with her.
Before we even left, I had a small glimpse into the miracles to come.
Every human and every animal was saved from the building. THAT is amazing.
Danielle posted about the tragedy on Facebook, and within minutes my friends were rallying together to help me rebuild my life and redefine normal.
I was amazed at how many people were offering help. Friends, family, acquaintances, and strangers alike.
Turns out, lightning struck the apartment at 6:30. I arrived at 6:37. We didn’t leave until 11:30, with generous help from the American Red Cross and an offer on a new lease in the same apartment complex.
I was grateful that I could stay with Danielle’s family, but it was not my home. My home was gone.
I slept for only about 2 hours. Mostly, I cried.
The next day, I went with Danielle to sign the lease on my new apartment. I was lucky that they had a vacancy in the same complex, 3rd floor.
My friend Raspbana showed up to take over when Danielle had to leave. We can equate this to babysitting. I needed someone with me. I simply did. Raspbana was the perfect person for the job. I figured out insurance, signed on the new apartment, and ignored a call from LuLaRoe Onboarding.
You see, on July 8th, when I was in Romania, I signed up to be an Independent Fashion Consultant for LuLaRoe. I knew there was about a 2-month waiting period to onboard, and I was expecting my call at the beginning of September. I had been doing many things to prepare, and even bought some of the supplies I would need.
My computer was gone, along with all of the work I had done to prepare to be a LuLaRoe consultant. The supplies that I had bought for my new business were gone. I didn’t know what to do. So, when LuLaRoe called me to onboard as a consultant, I didn’t answer, knowing that they would call back twice if I didn’t answer.
It was very rainy. Each time it rained, I cried. I was thinking of my apartment, with no roof…I knew that anything that could possibly be saved was now getting rained on. Again. Each time it poured. Each time it sprinkled. Everything that was left in my apartment was getting wet.
Yes, logically it was already wet from the fire hose and the rain on Wednesday night. But it was like pouring salt into a wound, letting it rain on my already burned apartment.
Raspbana and I went back to Danielle’s house and started to make the list of everything that was in my apartment and the cost to replace it all. Oh, daunting. I can’t even tell you how many little treasures. Well, just think of your house. Try listing each and every thing inside of it, while sitting 6 minutes away. Furniture, books, clothing, trinkets, kitchen goods, floss, everything. And then finding out how much it all costs. And then imagine that you will never see any of that stuff ever again.
On Friday, I was outside of my apartment looking up at this.
They were pulling things out of my apartment!!!!! I couldn’t believe it!!! I had to sign a release form so that I could get things…drama. First they said that nobody was allowed in the top 4 apartments. Then they said they were. Then they weren’t. Long story short, the apartment didn’t want anyone in. The cleanup crew said they were going in. So, I am forever grateful that they went in!! It looked like they threw anything in a bag that they could get to, and that looked like it could be saved.
Then it started to rain. Again. I had to wait my turn for them to get to my apartment, and I needed to be present for them to bring stuff down. So I could not leave. I needed to see what I still owned.
Eventually, they started bringing my things down. I cried. This time, happy tears. Not all was lost.
He said there was about this much more up there, but he had to wait until the crew got off lunch and then they would take it down.
I had nowhere else to go. So I waited. Danielle and Lucas showed up just as I was going through A SCRAPBOOK. THREE of my 12-ish scrapbooks were saved!! The three that my mom had made for me as I was growing up. I turned each page and cried as I savored the half-soaked pages. Worth saving.
I spoke to Damien, the main guy on the cleanup crew. Oh, he was a miracle worker.
Then they started bringing stuff down.
See that green box by my left hip? That’s THE green box that I mentioned wanting earlier. AND IT WAS BASICALLY UNTOUCHED. It’s like the fire jumped around some of the things that were most important to me. God works in mysterious ways, y’all.
Damien was amazing. He kept going back up and getting things for me…passport, journals, and more. The structure of the 3rd floor was unsafe, especially with the ceiling hanging down, but he kept going back. That man is amazing.
Going through the bags would have been impossible without the support of my friends. Danielle was there, and Raspbana and Sarah showed up shortly after. Their presence was invaluable.
Honestly, we had to throw most of it out. The water and smoke damage did most of it in.
However, I GOT WAY MORE THAN EXPECTED!!!!!!
We took a lot to Danielle’s garage, and over the next few days I slowly went through things, with a little help from my friends.
I spent hours each evening in the garage…with a hair dryer, drying out journals. But I am grateful to have them.
The kitchen table at Danielle’s house is full of my journals and scrapbooks drying out. And I am grateful to have them.
A few days after the fire, I was going through a bag, and I found my box of letters!!! The red and white box itself was ruined, but WHO CARES!? I had the letters!!
We laid them out to dry, but I still have to go back and wipe off ashes and rubble.
A lot of the stuff we took to Danielle’s garage had to be thrown out. But that’s okay. I just wasn’t ready to let go of it yet on Friday, but by trash day on Monday, I had come to terms with the fact that I had to rid myself of the damaged items that could not be kept, and move on.
I cannot tell this story without mentioning the love and support that I have received. Danielle stepped right up and basically took over my life, answering questions, receiving phone calls, and managing donations. I don’t know how she could handle it all.
HUMANS ARE AMAZING.
Once my LuLaRoe consultant friends found out what had happened, they contacted other consultants that they know, and by Saturday I had a whole new wardrobe being built. I HAD CLOTHES!!!!
After seeing the response from my LuLaRoe community, and after talking to some key people in my life, I decided to go forth with my LuLaRoe business. I decided that I wasn’t going to let the fire hold me back. I was going to continue my life as planned, and start a new business venture. Now I just had to wait for LuLaRoe Onboarding to call me back.
Also, I had to start school on Monday. I had to be there for my students. I needed them in my life, now more than ever. I spent most of the day on Saturday on campus, preparing things. I had missed work on Thursday and Friday, so I had quite a bit to get done. Luckily, an amazing lady, Lisa, came up and helped me with my classroom!
The first day of school came, and I was in full work mode. I didn’t have time to think about my problems. These kids needed me. And I needed them.
I am glad I went back to work on Monday. Connecting with my students had a sort of healing power that helped me in a way that I cannot describe.
I am overwhelmed at the support I have received in the past week.
Danielle had created a GoFundMe account, and I still can’t believe how many people have donated. It warms my heart to know that I have financial support to redefine normal and rebuild my life.
Renter’s insurance, y’all. Get renter’s insurance. And the right amount to TRULY cover your belongings. I now realize that my policy basically just covered my book collection…but at least I had insurance!
Thanks to friends, family, and friends of friends (of friends, too)…my Converse collection is being restocked, my flamingo collection is beginning again, my Alice in Wonderland book collection has restarted, and my personal library is being rebuilt as well.
The booster club at my school has raised money for me, allowing me to go this weekend to buy new furniture for my apartment, among other things. The support I have received is incredible and unbelievable!
Most importantly, this is not the end. It is a new beginning. Everything that is in my new home will have a story and will be there because someone loves me and supports me.
LuLaRoe Onboarding called after work on Tuesday. I pulled over, took the call, and became an Independent Fashion Consultant for LuLaRoe. I am so excited for this journey ahead. I am proud to be a part of a company and a support system of ladies that have helped me through this trial in my life. And let’s be honest, I can’t wait to share these comfortable clothes with everyone! Plus, a little extra income right now would definitely be useful as I try to rebuild. Shameless plug: Go ahead and “like” my business page on Facebook! LuLaRoe Chloe Palethorpe
And now for the name sake of this post…Just Like Fire.
This song came out with Alice Through the Looking Glass in May of 2016. I fell in love as soon as I heard it. I have been jamming to this song ever since I first heard it. And now I listen to it all the time.
This part of the chorus speaks to my soul:
“Just like fire, burning out the way If I can light the world up for just one day Watch this madness, colorful charade No one can be just like me any way”
I am going to let this fire define me. It is part of my life. It changed my life. I will now burn my own new pathway through life, lighting up the world, even if for just one day. No one can be just like me.
However…
I still have moments.
I was driving home from work on Monday, listening to the radio, and I heard a song come on. I remembered that I have a really cool mashup of that song, and then I remembered that it was on my iPod, and then I remembered that my iPod is gone, and then I started thinking of all of the other things that are gone. I had to pull over to cry before I could finish driving home.
Last year, my class read an adapted version of the book Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. I read the full version before we read the book in class. There’s a character named Aunt Elinor. She is a crabby old lady who lives by herself, and every room of her house is filled with books. And she has a library that has her most special books inside. Elinor left her home to help her niece find her father, who had been taken by Capricorn. When Elinor returned, she found that Capricorn’s men had burned down her house and destroyed all of her books. As I think of the hours I spent standing outside, watching my house burn and knowing that my books would not be spared, I feel connected to Aunt Elinor, as she stood and mourned the loss of her precious books that defined her life.
I still have thoughts along the lines of “if only Pizza Hut had had my order ready on time…I could have been home.” I tend to think that I would have been able to save more things. I could have thrown things off of my 3rd floor balcony, down into the grass, and then I could have been able to save more of my scrapbooks, my books, my quilts…but people keep telling me that “at least I’m safe” and I don’t know that it would have worked out that way.
I know they are right. But I can’t help but have these thoughts.
One week ago I watched my apartment burn. I have seen a lot of positivity since that dreadful night.
I am forever grateful for the first responders that were there that night. I found out shortly after the fire that my friend Madeline was one of them. She went in towards the end to put out hot spots on the 3rd floor (my floor). About 8 months after the fire, I found out that a friend from high school, Matt, was in my apartment that day putting out the fire. It truly is a small world. These people put their life in danger to save others, and I am eternally grateful for their service.
Musings of a Marvelous Me 