Unexpected Snow Storms

This morning my Mom and I got up all nice and early to hop in line at the Disney Store to grab limited edition Frozen dolls (more on that tomorrow).  Yes, there was a line before the store even opened.  And no, I didn't mind a bit.  We had nice conversations with the people we sat next to, and found creative ways to answer mall pass-by-ers why we we're there in the first place.  Dolls.  Dolls are cool!  And guys were in the line, too, but mainly as a favor for their wives.

It was amusing watching all the people who come to the mall early to walk laps.  Sounds like a fantastic idea, really.  The mall opens its doors at 8 am, but the stores open up at 10, so 2 hours of temperature controlled walking without the temptation of buying, unless you're there past 10, of course.

But on the way to the mall just before 9 the weather was nice and pleasant.  Cold enough to need boots and a coat, but nice.  No hint of any weather changes to worry about.

When the morning excitement at the mall ended, dolls claimed, we headed to the exit doors only to be greeted by white.  A full on blizzard in the works!  And all the mall guests getting ready to exit, horror struck.

So glad I wore a coat and not a sweater, which almost happened!

Even my phone didn't get the blizzard message.

I know the East Coast has been super hard hit this year.  Hasn't Boston received somewhere around 20 feet of snow?  But here in Utah it's been abnormally warm.  February 2015 is officially the warmest month in recorded history.  Several sweater days that felt like early October.

But now it's all melted, and you would never know there was a snow storm this morning, unless you look at the mountains which are gorgeously dusted with snow.  The sunset this evening was so beautiful.

Flash Flood in Orem UT

(Photo I found on the internet.  

I don't know who to credit)

You never know where you're going to be when tragedy strikes.  I was spontaneously in Salt Lake City and missed all the action last September 7th, a little over 4 weeks ago.

A week before that I was in Southern California when a flash flood hit Riverside.  I was in Ventura at the time, but my Uncle told us all about it, warning us to be careful on the drive back.  Apparently the Riverside Community College suffered some flooding.  Then, driving home, we had to take the long way because there were flash flood warnings in Palmdale, Littlerock, and Victorville CA, which is the path we take to merge unto the I-15.  My Uncle called later and said that there was a flash flood in Victorville, around the time we would have passed through.

Then on the 7th my Mom got the sudden idea to go to Salt Lake, when we were going to originally hang out near the University Mall.  There was a light rain in Salt Lake, but nothing major.  Just nice and warm.  But as soon as we headed back to the Valley my Mom and I were hit with all these stories.

There was a green sky and the beginnings of a tornado, but thankfully, thanks to the mountains, it didn't completely form.  My brothers went out to watch, high winds and flashes of lightning every second.  There was a game going on at BYU, and according to a couple people it was super scary.  And the next day I found out a lot of people suffered flooding in their basements.

We were lucky. 

The following week there were flash floods taking place all over Colorado.

Crazy, slow storm.

The New H&M Store at the Orem University Mall

Last Thursday was the grand opening of the new H&M store at the University Mall in Orem UT.  It's a pretty big deal here, and my brothers and I thought we'd check it out.  (I think my brother Robbie was more excited then I was . . . he actually bought clothes.)

There was a promise that the first 100 in line would get a gift, and people started lining up 6:00pm the night before.  I never saw what they got, but I heard notebooks were involved and one lucky person got a $300 gift card.

I mainly stayed on the outside of the mall, waiting in the line that enters the store there, but I thought I'd quickly check out what was going on inside.  There was a lot of noise, shouting, and dancing, sound echoing the walls.  It was amusing for a bit, until I fled outside where the Autumn air was cool, and everyone more subdued.

They handed these wristlets out to those of us in line, and the texture was really weird.  The clothe felt like a diaper, so I won't be using it.  Maybe I'll put some emergency stuff in it for my 72 hour pack. 

When the store opened I did head inside, and after peaking my nose around a little, and pausing frequently for large crowds to pass, I left to join my Mom elsewhere, who didn't want to bother with the crowd, and bought some things at the Disney store.  I thought it would be fun to head over to Archiver's and look at scrapbook stuff . . . and thanks to a sale I bought a few cute things, which will go into Christmas presents.  (I'm making scrapbooks, which I better get started on soon because it's really time consuming, but rewarding.)