Before I begin, you can read about The Holy Fire here.

August was by far THE most challenging month of the year for me.  It started out very well! August 3rd  –   August 5th I took a “solo vacay” to Las Vegas and attended The ConnectHer Media conference.   I enjoyed the long drive, quiet time, and spending the weekend learning more about the blogging and influencer world.  I left the ConnectHer conference feeling energized and full of ideas to implement with the blog.

Then Came Monday

That Monday I saw on the news that some crazy ass lunatic decided after a fight with his neighbors and homeowners association to start “a little fire” to teach them a lesson.  The fire started in Trabuco Canyon and as far as we were concerned was isolated to the surrounding area.  I live in a Master Planned Community nestled in the bosom of Cleveland National Forest.  On the other side of this vast mountain terrain is Trabuco Canyon in Orange County.  As Monday and Tuesday wore on, the “little fire” began spreading.  The first indication that this wasn’t going to turn out well is when the Forest Service gave the fire a name: The Holy Fire. The name was logical since the fire initially started in Holy Jim Canyon. So as of Tuesday evening, we had a name, visible flames, lots of smoke, a volunteer evacuation advisement, and zero containment.  I went to my girlfriend Dana’s house where a group of us sat outside and drank champagne and kept an eye out to see if they would be able to stop the spread.  Wednesday, I decided to stay home from work because I didn’t want my Daughter to be alone. God forbid something happened, and I was unable to make it back home.

I downloaded the Swift911 app on my phone, to ensure that I received timely updates.   We watched the news outlets and started following the US Department of Forestry on Twitter.  By that afternoon we all received text messages on the Swift app that we are now on MANDATORY EVACUATION status.  My Daughter and I began throwing items in bags, took pictures off the walls, grabbed our important documents, computer, laptops, and everything else we thought was relevant and packed up the cars.  My Husband was still at work over 50 miles and 2 hours away.  We waited for him to come home so we could transport the dogs, and grab his belongings.  Dana and I went to the neighborhood park several times to check the progression of the fire.  It was a madhouse.  Luckily, my Mom and my Husbands parents live 35 miles away, so we didn’t have to find a hotel (all the local hotels were sold out within hours).

Even though we were on mandatory evacuation, there were A LOT of neighbors that did not leave.  They figured it wasn’t going to spread so much that it would burn down the neighborhood.  Since they didn’t evacuate, we had eyes and ears to keep us posted.   By Thursday, the fire has spread to over 12 thousand acres.  The flames were visible from our front windows, and the air quality was getting worse.  Aryn and I came back Thursday morning to get her car and to check on the house.  By then the CHP created a blockade at all entrances of the community.  Those that left couldn’t get back in, and those who stayed couldn’t leave.  The Sheriffs Department was going door to door telling people to leave, and red tagged the houses of those that remained.  My street looked like a ghost town.  It was eerily still and quiet.  The fire was at the worst point by Thursday evening.  It was so dark with smoke that it looked as if it were 10 pm and it was 4 o’clock.  

I got on the freeway, looked back and hoped for the best.  To make this long and harrowing story short, we ended were evacuated from our homes for a total of 5 days.  Yes… 5 days! After we were allowed back home the clean up began, and we tried to find some normalcy in our daily routines.  I did not have time to blog at all and before I knew it, the month was coming to a close.  

Being directly affected by The Holy Fire did teach me a few things:

• I am beyond blessed and grateful that we have our parents close to us and it was comforting to know “you can always go home”.  I know our parents enjoyed having us home even for those few days.  It gave my Mom and I a chance to spend quality time together.  That is something that I’ll always cherish.  

• Social Media has its good and bad points.  Facebook and Twitter were essential in following the progress of the Holy Fire and receiving evacuation updates.  We have a community Facebook group where everyone posted new information.  This also lead to miscommunication, bullying, and heated exchanges because we all know everyone has an opinion.  When you have 2000 people displaced in once capacity or another people starting going bat crazy.  By Saturday, I think we all wanted to overpower the CHP and get back home, similar to a zombie apocalypse.

• Make sure you have your documents in a safe place.  In this day and age everything is electronic.  I unplugged my desktop and put it in the trunk.  If something were to have happened, I knew I had copies of everything stored in the cloud

Going through this turmoil really put things into perspective for me.  Not knowing when we’d be allowed to go home, having friends barricaded in their homes, friends going from hotel to hotel and worrying how they were going to pay for additional expenses, was emotionally taxing.  

The entire experience left us emotionally and physically drained.  It was a reminder of what is truly important.  We are grateful that no homes in our, or the surrounding communities were destroyed.  It’s still sad to look at the mountains and see a charred forest where there used to be a beautiful green landscape.  All in all the fire burned more than 23, 000 acres.

So in a nutshell that is why I’ve been MIA.  I’m looking forward to getting my blog back up and running!!!  I appreciate your support and patience!