Sandy Storm.

Well!! We have survived our very first hurricane. Or Frankenstorm. Or Megastorm, Superstorm, or just Sandy. Whatever you may be calling it {our family has been referring to it as Sandy Storm.} We made it, in one piece with all of our belongings just as they were before the storm hit. And to be honest, I don't feel all that different from a few days ago when I was just plain ol' Kristin. Not this new Hurricane Survivor Kristin, Kristin the Sandy Slayer, a key component of the Hansen Family Hurricane Heroes... I could keep going, but I shall refrain.

I definitely didn't expect to need to know how to be hurricane ready when we made the move to NYC. Godzilla attacks, Cloverfield style invasions, Day After Tomorrow weather atrocities- surely. But Sandy?? She was one sly little lady. Very unexpected on our part.

Between the media playing it up to be the most devastating storm of this era and my neighbor George brushing it off like it's no big deal I was pretty confused with how to prepare for this storm. So I went for the safe middle ground.

Flashlights, batteries and candles? Check.
Blankets? Check.
Canned foods and bottled water? Check.
Wine and Nutella? Double check. {Thanks, honey :)}
A little bit of cash just in case? Check.
Multiple cases of water and canned goods? No, thank you.
$40 Police status Magnum flashlights that could light up an entire block? Nah. {Sorry, babe}
Boarded up windows and sandbagged stairwells? Not unless our Super insisted. {Which he didn't.}
Car moved to the top of a parking garage that was sure to remain flood free? Eh. We could gladly call that claim in.

Aside from a few extra groceries and a case of water we went along with our regular lives. And though I am sure Nic will disagree, I feel like I did remain pretty level headed throughout the entire process. What really helped was when I FaceTimed with my bro Kevin and sis Meryl and he told us we should video blog about this intense storm we were experiencing. {At that point we hadn't seen a drop of rain, and the winds were barely pulling the already loose fall leaves off of their branches..} And I thought he was joking-- until he text me asking for a video update a few hours later. SO we had some fun with it and made some silly video blogs. Complete with Nic going outside shirtless, claiming to have lost Hudson and I in the chaos and to be seeking shelter.. Needless to say, it helped keep our spirits light.

Not to trivialize others experiences, of course, because I DO know that lower Manhattan got pretty bad,  with power outages and insane flooding and a construction crane dangling from atop a building on 57th St, Long Island had significant flooding and even a huge blaze down at Rockaway, and NJ got wrecked with entire towns underwater and coastline homes and structures torn into the raging waters. My heart just breaks for all that people have lost in this storm.. and for those still dealing with the aftermath. We have weathered the worst of it and everything should be looking up from here.  I feel SO blessed.

We really truly lucked out, for as awful as it was in other areas and how much the news teams had us prepared for the worst- this Hansen family has made it safely. I made the joke that God gave me Hudson to keep me from doing stupid things-- last night it was SO hard to not venture out into the storm to check out the flooding and such. Nic did a few times, and I did for but a moment but quickly retreated when I saw a scary looking man with a less-than-inncoent look in his eye {Don't judge me! I am not one to judge quickly but in this sort of a situation you never who is out and about nor what their intentions are!} We had flooding in our area, some a little close for comfort (hardly 1blk north and Hudson's favorite park 3blks south was underwater), and many fallen trees and branches, and lots of debris strewn in the streets... Aside from our internet cutting out a few times we were perfectly comfortable throughout the entire storm. What a huge blessing.

This is a picture of the flooding that was just a block north of us-- 2 cars were completely submerged and others were up to their roofs. This was taken when Nic went out on one of his Sandy Storm adventures.

And I obviously can't take credit for this photo, I found it with a search for blacked out lower manhattan during Sandy and this one one that came up.. I just thought it was a pretty neat representation of the power outage that occurred during the storm! 

Also can't take credit for this one but my friend that lives in Brooklyn took this from her apartment moments after all the lights went out in Lower Manhattan! Just a crazy view.. It's amazing how different the city looks when the lights go out.

So, all in all, we feel so thankful to have weathered this storm safely. We are so grateful for all of the sweet phone calls, Facebook messages, texts and other ways people were reaching out to us to make sure all was well. Our hearts and prayers are with those who were not so lucky.