Hi friends! Em here. Our blog has been dark for quite awhile. But here I am to post an update on life and what’s been happening the past half a year or so.

Our posts stopped in the middle of our last trip to Alaska. I hope to one day finish writing about our Alaska trip in the near future as that was one of our favorite trips we have taken and the most beautiful pictures.

But first, a little about what’s been happening with us since we last blogged.

We got back from Alaska at the end of June and spent the summer wake surfing and soaking up the sun.

The end of August we packed our suitcases and flew to New York City. Bighead Technology is working for a company based in NYC and wanted to know if RJ could fly out to work in the office. So, off we went to the Big Apple. RJ spent a majority of the time at the office while I sought out good coffee shops, rode the subway to random stops, and walked the streets of Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.

Sam and Mom flew out for several days to visit and that was a highlight getting to show them around the city.

(A lot more pictures on my instagram here.)
At the end of our 2 month stay, we were sad to leave the city we had immediately fallen in love with but we were excited to head back home to peace and quiet and the fresh mountain air.

But, less than a week after arriving home, the Camp Fire broke out. My Mom woke me up the morning of November 8 wondering if I was aware of the fire down the hill from us and if we were evacuating. I told her I didn’t even know there was a fire but I was sure it wasn’t anything too serious. We have fires all the time around us and even if we are given an evac warning there’s usually nothing to worry about. I told her I’d keep and eye on it and let her know if we had to evacuate. A few hours later, the smoke cloud had grown substantially and we could see RV’s and pickup trucks with pets and personal belongings stuffed in the bed driving up our road and heading out of the fire’s path. We lost cell service and internet and RJ and I decided we should pack up and evacuate as well. We loaded up our truck with clothes, food for our journey(we had no idea how long it was going to take to evacuate to a safe place), and other items that were worth saving. I took pictures of our house and the things we were leaving behind in case we never saw them again. We began the 4 hour evacuation to my parent’s house in Chico (normally takes 45 minutes). We had no idea how bad the fire was as we didn’t have any service to keep up to date with our local news coverage. By the time we crawled in to Chico where the cell service finally picked up again, we had family and friends in panic mode, having tried to reach us on our phones again and again to make sure we were ok.

We would spend the next 3 weeks with my family while the fire raged on, getting closer and closer to our house. Two days after the fire started, RJ and I and a friend of ours were miraculously let through the road blocks to rescue our precious pregnant donkey, baby goats, cat and dog. We were some of the very first to see the mass destruction the Camp Fire caused, wiping out thousands of homes and businesses in its path. Downed power lines and burned cars covered the roads while houses smoldered and small fires burned around us. We drove back up the hill several more times in the next couple of days rescuing more pets and feeding and watering those we couldn’t.

We were a few of the lucky ones and we were granted access to our property about 3 weeks later. Others weren’t allowed back for another 2 to 3 weeks after that. The fire stopped about half a mile from our place and surprisingly we didn’t have any smoke damage to our house but we had to replace the refrigerator because of the rotting food. (Now that is a terrible smell!!)

The main road up to our place was blocked off and the back roads are very windy and take an hour and a half to drive so we opted to continue staying at my folks until one of the roads through Paradise opened up again.

During our stay at Mom and Dad’s, RJ was given the opportunity to fly back to NYC to work in the office again. Because we didn’t have any power, internet or cell service at our place yet, we decided to fly to New York for the next 3 weeks. We stayed at the same apartment building as our previous trip which was great because that meant we didn’t have to spend hours looking for a decent place to stay. We hit up some of our favorite restaurants after RJ was done working for the day, and I spent my time window shopping and finding the best Christmas light shows and spent way too much money on coffee.

By the end of our 3 weeks in NY, it was nearly Christmas and I was anxious to go back to our home because we had only been home for several days since we first left for NYC in August. It felt so good to be back in our own house but it also felt lonely and a bit weird. Our house somehow survived the fire while others right down the road were burned to the ground. It’s hard not to feel guilty to have a place to call home while so many others are suffering loss.

…Today, 5 months later, the clean up crews are still hard at work. There are dozens and dozens of workers throughout town cutting down hundreds of trees, making the town safe. Debris cleanup is in full swing with over 1,307 sites cleared, tow companies are hauling out burned cars and the few businesses that are open still don’t have running water. (Paradise probably won’t have potable water for two to three years.) One of our grocery stores and the hardware store just opened back up this past month along with Dutch Bros opening its drive through a couple weeks ago and everyone celebrated another three businesses opening their doors. And, if that wasn’t enough celebration, the first building permit was issued last month.

The clean up process is slow and it’s a daily reminder of the tragedy that struck our town but the community is strong and rallying together, hoping to see Paradise come back better than ever.

In January, we started a remodel for our kitchen and living room- something we have been wanting to do since we moved in.

So, for two months we lived in our bedroom while our kitchen/living room was remodeled. Our bedroom is somehow big enough to fit our fridge, tv, couch, bed, closet, dresser, and RJ’s desk.

And, praise the Lord, just when I thought I couldn’t take another day cooped up in our bedroom, the contractors finished installing the countertops and sink. I was baking an apple crisp before they had time to clean up their tools.

The day after the kitchen was finished, we flew back to New York for another week. RJ was back in the office while I walked around the city and hit up my favorite coffee shops.

Since our latest trip to NY in March, it’s back to normal life. RJ is hard at work, occasionally taking a break to eat and sometimes sleep. I’ve been babysitting, working around the property and Jessie and I have been dealing with our dumb animals. We love them but sometimes we wonder why we put up with them and their shenanigans.

We are gearing up for our next motorcycle trip so I’ve been busy running errands, making sure we have everything for our trip and helping RJ plan our route. RJ took the bike down to Chico to have it serviced and new tires put on. I packed the side cases to make sure everything fit. And now we wait for the trip to start.

Well, that’s all for now, folks!

~em