Last week I had an appointment in Fargo for my citizenship test and interview. I was so excited to finally get this part of the process over with. It originally was planned for February then got canceled. You would think that the weather would be better in March right? Wrong! The weather was far more favorable For the February appointment. Alan would of been able to go with me too. Oh well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be.

Since Alan couldn't take the time off I asked my good friend Debbie Billings to go with me. Poor thing she didn't have a clue what she was getting herself into! I had heard there was going

to be a huge storm. I have to admit I was a little nervous about it but I couldn't miss my appointment. I knew Debbie was nervous too. We were both afraid we would get stuck in Fargo overnight. Just as precaution we left on Sunday night. We didn't know for sure when the storm would hit. You know those weathermen they're not always right! We didn't want to risk our lives or a chance of missing my appointment. Well, it was a good decision the weather got nasty over night and by morning we were hearing about accidents on I-94 near Casselton. From Jamestown to Fargo the roads were icy. By the time we went into the immigration office the snow had stopped and it looked like the storm was calming. We thought maybe we would try to make it home. By the time I finished and we came out the snow had come back with a fury! We decided right then we wouldn't even try.
The only thing to do was to go to Hobby Lobby and get stocked up on scrap booking supplies. I had suggested to Deb we bring our scrap booking to have something to do. It turned out to a good idea. We ended up getting stuck in Fargo for three nights. I-94 was closed from the Minnesota border to Jamestown, ND. I-29 was closed from the Canadian border to the South Dakota line. By Tuesday morning they were advising no travel within the Fargo city limits. Schools, banks, the mall, and most businesses were closed. We could get food delivered. We had Cheetos and pop for dinner that night.
This is what we saw outside our window. It reminded me of what I don't miss about Fargo. It was not a pretty sight! It was also freeeeezing!!!



Deb brought her Cricut (not sure about the spelling) so we had a great time figuring out how it works.

Deb got inspired to scrapbook again and got a lot of pages done.

I got caught up on Monica's baby book which I had ignored for so long. I got about eight pages done. When I got home I organized all of her baby pictures so I can keep going. We also decided to get together once a month to keep each other motivated!

By Wednesday morning the storm had ended but the roads were still closed. We checked out of our hotel room having faith that the roads would open later that day. We killed some time by having lunch with my friend Jody Barret. She treated us to lunch at The Green Mill. Then we hung out at the mall. Meanwhile Debbie kept checking the road conditions. This is a picture of the pool in the hotel. This was at ground level and if you look closely you can see how high the drifts got. It covered the windows. The sun was shining you cam see a little bit of it peeking through. The roads finally opened about two that afternoon. It was smooth sailing most of the way home. The closer we got to Bismarck the better the roads got. We got home abour 5:45 that evening. We were happy to be reunited with families.

We are so grateful for the inspiration to stay. There were many accidents some of them fatal. I was grateful for my good friend who was willing to go with me. She has twos boys who really need her at home. One of them a special needs child. I know she missed them terribly! So, I really appreciate her very much!!
If you're wondering if I passed my test, don't worry I passed with flying colors!
7 comments:
First of all....WHOOOOHOOOOO! I am so proud of you for passing your test!
Second....I'm so glad you made it there and back safely.
Third....I am SOOOOOOOOOOO glad I don't live in that frozen he#* anymore. Seriously, it takes a special breed.
Fourth...I bet your buns were warm and toasty on that long cold drive thanks to Whitey fabulous seat warmer feature.
Congrats on FINALLY becoming a true blue citizen of the great USA!!! YIPEEE!!
And what's up with all the snow? Don't you North Dakotans know we are in the grips of global warming?
That's so awesome Ana!!
Congratulations!
I'm glad Debbie was able to go with you! Do you think we could get her to start a blog too??
Also, thanks for the saline advice... I've been doing it before, but I need to go to the store to get more... it's just a challenge to get there!! he he
I hope this goes away quickly!!
Love ya!
Woohoo! Good job passing your test and staying out of danger's way. I can't believe you stayed so long in Fargo. Looks like you turned it into a little vacation...
Congratulations on your test, Ana!! I think being an American is something a lot of us take for granted. You're awesome! You should have called my mom while you were stuck in Fargo! She's always up for Hobby Lobby, and my Dad was basking in Arizona while she sat frozen in Fargo.
If your brother-in-law the best weatherman lived in Fargo (and goodness he doesn't, 'cause I wouldn't put up with the blizzards)you would have had a forecast you could count on. Not all weathermen are bad. I'm pretty touchy about that bash the weatherman stuff :)
So glad for promptings and that you're safe.
Congratulations, paisana! Hey- you should have borrowed Ammon's snuggie for the trip! You could have taken some footage of you driving through the snow storm in the snuggie and sent it to the infomercial people, I can't believe they didn't put someone snuggie-ing on the road in their TV spot. Wait don't let Ammon read this, he'd probably do it...
:)Ev.
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