As I mentioned in my previous post about my account of the 9/11 attacks, I knew some people who were in the towers that frightful day. I would like to share the accounts of that day written by David.
I will warn you, it is a lengthy description of the day. Please click through to read.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
11 years ago...We will never forget
Where to start? I have such a vivid memory of that day, which I assume everyone who witnessed it does. It is so hard to believe it was 11 years ago already, it feels like it was so much more recent. I suppose I will tell my account of the day. I find it interesting to read/hear about what everyone was doing or where they were that day.
Let's start here, I was a junior in high school, living in southern California. I used to get up early because I actually had a class (jazz band) before school. I got up, took my shower, and stumbled back to my bedroom, just as I had every morning.
I turned on my radio so I could listen to the morning radio personalities on my favorite station. They were talking about how some idiot had crashed into the World Trade Center building. This was before anyone knew what was happening, the first plane had just hit and none of the media knew it was a commercial airliner. They went on and on about how this must have been a private plane and they were trying to figure out how someone could be so stupid to not see a building in front of their plane.
With every passing minute they seemed to find out more and more information without actually knowing exactly what happened. At one point I decided to turn off the radio and put the news channel on in my bedroom as I continued to get ready. Things on the news seemed very chaotic already while the anchors tried to get more information.
Once I was ready for school I went downstairs and told my mom that a plane had flown into the WTC; she had not yet turned on the TV or heard anything. I turned on the TV downstairs and it seems like just as I turned it on the second plane crashed into the second tower. This was when I knew something was seriously wrong and to be perfectly honest I was terrified.
We watched the news for a while longer and then it was time for me to go to school. I left for school and when I got to my class (which again was before all of the other classes started) there were already a few students there. The room felt very eery, very somber. Our teacher said we wouldn't be practicing like we usually would, and allowed us to turn on the TV.
The atmosphere that day at school was a mixture of chaos and zombies. Some people were crying, but most were very stoic. No matter where you went on campus the tv was on and teachers weren't teaching; you couldn't get away from it. I have to admit it was sensory overload for me.
I did, however, have one teacher (my history teacher) that insisted that we do something other than watch the tv. He knew we were getting entirely too much exposure to it. I don't remember what we did but we didn't watch tv. He told us to remember that day because as sad as it was we were witnessing history.
Once school was over I went home and my mom had the tv on. Like I said, there was no getting away from it. We started wondering if they were going to try to hit something in California or what else these people were capable of. We could hear some of the military planes (out of San Diego) flying overhead, but none of the regular commercial air traffic that we were used to.
My dad was on a business trip in San Francisco and had been in the Trans America building (one of the tallest buildings in SF) earlier that day. We were hoping that they weren't going to try and target SF. We got a call from him and he said he was fine but he wasn't going to be able to get a flight home that day due to all flights being grounded. Eventually, he was able to get a rental car and decided to drive home from SF (about an 8 hour drive).
The following day things were still overwhelming but things seemed a bit less chaotic. My dad informed me that some of his friends (and coworkers), two in particular, had been in the towers. Luckily they both got out of the towers before the collapse. One of the guys (his name is Mike Hingson) is blind and he got out with his guide dog and the other guy (David). I can't even imagine what it was like for them. I was on the other side of the country when it happened and I was terrified.
I will never forget. I will never forget the way that day changed the US. I will never forget the overwhelming sadness of that day.
Let's start here, I was a junior in high school, living in southern California. I used to get up early because I actually had a class (jazz band) before school. I got up, took my shower, and stumbled back to my bedroom, just as I had every morning.
I turned on my radio so I could listen to the morning radio personalities on my favorite station. They were talking about how some idiot had crashed into the World Trade Center building. This was before anyone knew what was happening, the first plane had just hit and none of the media knew it was a commercial airliner. They went on and on about how this must have been a private plane and they were trying to figure out how someone could be so stupid to not see a building in front of their plane.
With every passing minute they seemed to find out more and more information without actually knowing exactly what happened. At one point I decided to turn off the radio and put the news channel on in my bedroom as I continued to get ready. Things on the news seemed very chaotic already while the anchors tried to get more information.
Once I was ready for school I went downstairs and told my mom that a plane had flown into the WTC; she had not yet turned on the TV or heard anything. I turned on the TV downstairs and it seems like just as I turned it on the second plane crashed into the second tower. This was when I knew something was seriously wrong and to be perfectly honest I was terrified.
We watched the news for a while longer and then it was time for me to go to school. I left for school and when I got to my class (which again was before all of the other classes started) there were already a few students there. The room felt very eery, very somber. Our teacher said we wouldn't be practicing like we usually would, and allowed us to turn on the TV.
The atmosphere that day at school was a mixture of chaos and zombies. Some people were crying, but most were very stoic. No matter where you went on campus the tv was on and teachers weren't teaching; you couldn't get away from it. I have to admit it was sensory overload for me.
I did, however, have one teacher (my history teacher) that insisted that we do something other than watch the tv. He knew we were getting entirely too much exposure to it. I don't remember what we did but we didn't watch tv. He told us to remember that day because as sad as it was we were witnessing history.
Once school was over I went home and my mom had the tv on. Like I said, there was no getting away from it. We started wondering if they were going to try to hit something in California or what else these people were capable of. We could hear some of the military planes (out of San Diego) flying overhead, but none of the regular commercial air traffic that we were used to.
My dad was on a business trip in San Francisco and had been in the Trans America building (one of the tallest buildings in SF) earlier that day. We were hoping that they weren't going to try and target SF. We got a call from him and he said he was fine but he wasn't going to be able to get a flight home that day due to all flights being grounded. Eventually, he was able to get a rental car and decided to drive home from SF (about an 8 hour drive).
The following day things were still overwhelming but things seemed a bit less chaotic. My dad informed me that some of his friends (and coworkers), two in particular, had been in the towers. Luckily they both got out of the towers before the collapse. One of the guys (his name is Mike Hingson) is blind and he got out with his guide dog and the other guy (David). I can't even imagine what it was like for them. I was on the other side of the country when it happened and I was terrified.
I will never forget. I will never forget the way that day changed the US. I will never forget the overwhelming sadness of that day.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Meal Plan Monday
Welcome back to Meal Plan Monday! I know I have slacked on this, but I plan to get back on track. I am changing my format on this just a bit. Instead of posting what we will be eating for the upcoming week, I will be posting what we made the previous week (Monday-Sunday). I haven't been real great at meal planning lately, but this way I will have something posted every week and I will be able to comment on what I made for the week. We try new recipes quite often and I will be giving a bit of a review on these as part of Meal Plan Monday.
Please let me know if you try any new recipes and how they were. I will try some of them out and they might end up a part of Meal Plan Monday.
Meal Plan 7.23.12 - 7.29.12
Monday
Spicy Basil Chicken w/ white rice
- I have made this recipe several times now and it is delicious. I make it slightly different because we don't like to use the fish sauce. This is possibly my favorite dinner right now, it is easy and cooks quick.
Tuesday
Cheddar Potato Soup
- We picked up a packet of the Shore Lunch Cheddar Potato Soup at our local grocery store. It was a just add water deal. We added some green onions and chopped up bacon to this. You could add just about any topping you want, we liked the onion and bacon to make it similar to a loaded baked potato soup. My only complaint with this soup is that it was overly salty.
Wednesday
Sloppy Joes w/ Baked Potatoes (regular potato for C and sweet potato for me)
- This sloppy joe recipe (by America's Test Kitchen) is by far our favorite. For a while, C was asking for these every week. This week I used a 100% whole wheat sandwich thin as my bun and I must say, it was delicious.
Thursday
Grilled Chicken w/ Steamed Broccoli
- Grilled chicken is a go to for us when we can't think of anything else to make. We used the Weber Beer Can Chicken Seasoning on our chicken and it is so good. I didn't have time to marinate the chicken, which is what we usually do. I simply steamed the broccoli on the stove and drizzled a bit of soy sauce on it when it was done.
Friday
Homemade Grilled Pizza w/ Mozzarella, Cracked Black Pepper, Green Onion, and Speck
- We recently tried grilling our pizza and it is so good. Using the grill created a very crispy crust that you just can't get in a regular oven (even with a pizza stone). These toppings have become a favorite of ours. What are your favorite toppings on homemade pizza?
Saturday
Homemade Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad
- We have been making this recipe for years. We both love caesar salads but we ahve always been hesitant of using raw egg in our dressing. We substitute the egg for silken tofu and it works wonderfully. We simply grill our chicken with a little salt and pepper and put it on top of our salad.
Sunday
BLT Sandwich w/ Steamed Summer Squash
- This one is pretty simple, just a BLT. We decided to spread some of the leftover caesar dressing we had on the bread instead of mayo. We bought some heirloom tomatoes and used the Costco pre-cooked bacon. I steamed some summer squash as a side dish for myself and C had a sliced tomato with his.
*Note: I am not being compensated for mentioning brand names, these are just the products I use and like.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Wedding Pictures
I have been a bad blogger, I haven't written since Halloween. The holidays always throw me off schedule. Speaking of the holidays, I created custom wedding albums in Adobe Illustrator for our grandparents and parents. I have been promising wedding pictures to my readers for a while, so I have included the layout of the pages from the albums I made. This should work well as an overview of our wedding and to show off some pictures to everyone. I hope you enjoy! Click to see more.
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