Duluth Flooding

Well we have had a bit of excitement here in Duluth over the past several hours. Thunderstorms began the afternoon of June 19th, and have continued throughout the night and day. Apparently another storm with hail is coming our way now.

Several incidents have occurred-- many just being people trapped in their cars (who were thankfully rescued by City people), but there is also a child missing in a sinkhole near UMD, several zoo animals were drowned, a Polar Bear and Seal were MIA for awhile but both were brought back safely. Also my mother's apartment's front entrance was washed away and the sidewalk outside of our apartment also washed away. It has been nuts seeing all of this unfold-- there is still water rushing down the sides of 2nd street outside our place, and intersections/ the mall area/ proctor/ lake superior/ etc are still flooded, many places up to the car windows, and sinkholes are opening up everywhere!

Please keep travelers and workers in your thoughts and prayers today that they get everywhere safely and thank the rescue teams and city workers for all of their help with this crisis. In my seven years living here I have never experienced ANYTHING like this...it is SO crazy!! Here are some photos of the area right now....

Working and travelling and moving... oh my!

Whew! It has been a BUSY week thus far. APAC (Avalon Performing Arts Company) just began rehearsals this past Friday, and I am busy trying to have choreography ready in time for each rehearsal!

I also am just beginning my 25 days without a day off of work. My easiest day is 4 hours in the studio... my hardest day is 12 hours of work, teaching and studio time. Whew! Saturdays with working at the tourist-season toy shop followed by teaching a 75 minute dance class and then running rehearsal for four hours is quite exhausting!! BUT I only have 19days to go until I get a break, so we're into the teens!!! Can you tell I'm almost AGGRESSIVELY adopting the "glass-half-full" mindset?? lol

...On that note, it is also only 20 short days until we fly to NY!!!! Thank goodness I check my expedia itinerary every so often because we recently found out our first flight out of the cities went from 6:55am to 5:45 am!!! Whew! We have a layover both ways but nothing long enough to be annoying. I AM worried about being in a small plane though. Strangely enough-- I get motion sickness if I read int he car, but I also get motion sickness (only in small planes) when I DON'T read....huh....figure that one out.... ANYHOO, I am soooo excited! I've started charting out what we are doing each day, including the times everything is open and the addresses and then I will be mapping out our routes. We purchased NY passes over memorial day wknd (good deals!!) because we found out we could save over $150 by doing so. APIECE. So, naturally, we're doin it. Lol! We have tons of sightseeing (united nations, tall ship cruises, madame tussads, RadioCity Music hall, intrepid museum, lincoln center tour, etc, etc, etc.), plus tickets to ABT's Swan Lake, info on getting rush broadway tickets (plus a hotel on broadway and two blocks away from times square which DEFINITELY doesn't hurt), some family visiting plans, a trip to carlo's bakery and wafles and dinges planned, and a romantic dinner for me and my honey on our last night. I'm also excited for a beautiful carriage ride through central park with my two favorite peoples :)

Lastly, moving. Well. We now have been in touch with different gated communities, the better business bureau, and the police about different apartments and have narrowed down the list considerably. We also looked into moving costs, planned our last week in the state, talked with our landlord and are being let out of our lease early and I'll soon be informing my boss I will most likely be moving in about 2 weeks. Wow. The more I look out at Duluth, the more I have conflicted emotions about moving. BUT I know it's for the best and I know I will be miserable staying here another year. SO I am terribly excited to start this new chapter with my hubby <3

RECIPE OF THE DAY:
Homemade granola :)

Ingredients

• 8 cups rolled oats
• 1 1/2 cups wheat germ
• 1 1/2 cups oat bran
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds
• 1 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups raisins or sweetened dried cranberries

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Line two large baking sheets with parchment or aluminum foil.
2. Combine the oats, wheat germ, oat bran, sunflower seeds, almonds, pecans in a large bowl. Stir together the salt, brown sugar, maple syrup, honey, oil, cinnamon, and vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to coat. Spread the mixture out evenly on the baking sheets.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until crispy and toasted, about 20 minutes. Stir once halfway through. Cool, then stir in the raisins or cranberries before storing in an airtight container. 

ENJOY!! :)