MY REAL LIFE BY YVONNE

Blogging Again… After 16 Years

When I first started blogging back in 2009, the internet felt like a much kinder, gentler place. Sixteen years later, it’s a whole different world—louder, harsher, and honestly, a lot less forgiving.

So why come back? Simple: I love to write. And this space is where I can leave pieces of my life for my kids, grandkids, and whoever else happens to wander in.

Friends keep pushing me to write a book—and maybe one day I will—but blogging has always felt different. It’s less formal, more “me.” Truthfully, when I can’t sleep, I often write entire blogs in my head. Funny thing is, those midnight drafts sound amazing… and then I fall asleep before I can type a word!

What Will I Write About?

There’s a lot on my mind, but much of it is controversial. Sure, I could stick to recipes, travel stories, or thrifting adventures (and I love those things), but let’s be real… that’s not all I have to say.

Sometimes I joke that I’ll write blogs to be published after I’m gone—so I can be completely honest without losing friends. If I wrote all my thoughts now, I might not have many left!

Does What I Say Really Matter?

Probably not much—except to my family and a few close friends. And maybe not even then! But I’m going to write anyway. I feel like I’ve gathered a lot of wisdom over the years (whether I always use it or not is another story!).

One thing I’ve learned is how to read people and situations. I’m no prophetess, but it doesn’t take me long to see how things are likely to turn out. When I say, “I’ve got a feeling about this…”—my family hates it, because I’m usually right.

When I was younger, I felt guilty for being “negative.” Now? Zero guilt.

A Little About Me Now

Here’s the truth: I’m a cynical person. You’d never guess that by looking at me, but that’s because no one can read my mind! My trust level with the general public is almost nonexistent, and honestly, a lot of that comes from my years in ministry.

So “My Real Life by Yvonne” might not always sound hopeful, but it will be real. After the past 16 years of highs and lows, I still have my ultimate hope in God—but day to day? I’m just plodding along, praying for no new disasters. At this stage in life, I’m happy when we make it through a month with:
✔ No hospital visits
✔ No car accidents
✔ No major repair bills

That’s where I’m at. Just being real.

So… stick around if you want. It might get interesting.

Recap of 2025 thus far......

 Well I got y'all up to 2025 with a little back track to Hurricane Milton.  Thus far this year has been ok we've had a few medical issues (of course we have) Sarah was in the hospital 2x for her tummy issues and is not quite right.  Jon gave us a scare and had to have a heart cath.  Thankfully it was clear/stable.  Shad moved into his own apartment with a roommate and has decorated it nicely (in a manly way) 

Molly out with me she loves to go!

Easter 2025

Sam often goes with me to see Selah

one of my favorite places in the world.  

Baby has quite a story I'll tell it sometime.  Right now he is in the teen years and driving us crazy lol

Pray for this boy!

I hate the motorcycle but he does look good on it!  He loves to ride

One of our caregivers was happy to work the 4th of July so we got to go out with just the "big kids" 

When a family has special needs children they have to make sure they still connect with their other children.  I will say Steve and Shad have always been so very understanding and I appreciate them for that.  But we always like to carve out time with all of them.  

This is the infamous Olive Garden where Jon and I had our first date almost 36 years ago!  Boy we had NO idea of all the times we'd take our growing family there days in the future:)

Then on to the movies where the dinosaurs made me scream and jump 

When we got home Sam demanded his daddy time :)  He is all about going out. 

Onwards to Taco Bell

Sarah was not feeling good that day but she posed a little for me

she had just got out of the hospital  Thankfully she had a turn around from that day forward.  She has had issues because of the malrotation of her small intestines and the slow mobility of her digestive system    That night I called her doctor and he offered to put her back in the hospital for the 3 rd time or letting me do a colon cleanse.  I hated to put her back in but I wasn't looking forward to the colon cleanse but we did and and survived.  It was the right thing to do and she has been better since then.

Epcot while Jon had a conference in Orlando

Then a summer cruise with my bestie and her hubby

It was hot as hades!

We took a cab into town and saw the local church

Then we walked down to the beach- see the ship in the background.... well just to the left of the picture there was a pipe coming out of the bank and raw sewage was pouring out.  the smell was horrible.  The worse thing was that up by the ship there is swimming and back behind us were several beach clubs!  So do not go swimming at Costa Maya!

Cozumel was better we walked some and got a cab to see the churches.  

We've stopped at both locations several times but either we had a exercision planned or we stayed on the ship.  But Jon and I like to explore off the beaten path.  It's a little cray but we see things most tourists don't see.  Usually it's magical but the raw sewage was an eye opener (and nose opener)  I'm never going swimming in places where I do not know what is around it!  

Don't forget Kay's Tours and Cruises will help you with all your vacation plans!

Hurricane Milton

 So my plans were to share about our Hurricane Milton experience but.....my son and daughter in love are on an Alaskan cruise and tonight are in the passage way between Vancouver BC and Ketchikan Alaska.  Thankfully my son just called and said the captain has reassured them that they are safe and will stay in deep waters until the danger is passed.....I still want them to sleep in their life jackets!  

Natural disasters are so hard to deal with and it seems like there have been so many that have affected the world and my world in the last few years.  Living in Florida we know all about hurricanes.  I have NO idea how many hurricanes I've lived through at this point but Hurricane Milton was rough

If you've never experienced a hurricane, it's basically like being stalked by a turtle.  You know it's coming but things change sometimes hourly.  2004 was a year etched into my memory—a year of relentless storms. We faced not just one, but three direct hits from hurricanes. On top of that, we had to make an unforgettable journey: driving through a hurricane to get to an important doctor’s appointment in Miami.

The first storm, Hurricane Charley, was predicted to be a monster. All the reports warned it would come straight up Tampa Bay and deliver a devastating blow to Tampa. We prepared for the worst.  When the alert came, we packed what we could and decided to stay with my brother-in-law for safety. Sam was a newborn then, and making sure he had everything he needed was my top priority. I ran to the store for extra medication, hoping I had time.

By the time I returned, the forecast had shifted dramatically. Instead of slamming Tampa, Charley veered south and hit the Arcadia area. While we experienced heavy rain and fierce winds, the catastrophic damage we’d braced for never came.

Little did we know—this was just the beginning. We would face two more hurricanes and have to drive to Miami for an eye emergency while they prepared for a direct hit of a hurricane 4 Ivan.  Thankfully it did not hit Miami as predicated.  

So we've been through it!  When we first started hearing about Milton, we were concerned, but not overly worried. Our older boys decided to stay at their homes but planned to come to our house if they lost electricity since we had a generator. Before the storm hit, they came over and helped us prepare the yard and secure the house. Honestly, we didn’t expect much.

Still, I was nervous—it would just be my husband, myself, and the little ones, Sam and Sarah.

When the storm began, everything seemed manageable. Our yard was dry; there was no water in sight. But as night fell, the situation changed drastically. By midnight, water was lapping against our front porch and the south side of the house.

Then came a heart-pounding moment: we had to rescue our chickens during the worst of the storm, opening their cages to give them a fighting chance to escape if they needed to.

By 2 a.m., the water had reached our house. Waves—actual waves—rolled toward us. We still had electricity thanks to the generator, but that didn’t calm the dread. At one point, we laid out sheets, planning to wrap Sam and Sarah so we could pull them up into the attic if things got worse.

Thankfully, around 3 a.m., the water stopped rising, and the rain eased. We collapsed into bed around 4 a.m., exhausted.

Morning brought a new shock: our neighborhood was submerged. We couldn’t leave for 3 or 4 days. Cell service was spotty. Our sons tried to reach us but couldn’t get through the flooded roads. It was a sobering experience—a reminder of nature’s power.

We were left with damage to our roof, our fence, and our front porch. But many people in our town were much more affected than we wee!

Most of these pictures were about 2 days after the hurricane!  They are a bit mixed up with time frame

I literally put lawn chairs in the chicken pen so they could get out as the water was so high.  T

After the water receded we found our fence was literally pull apart!

my son took this from town lol  Jon and Sam love Taco Bell

our road

Literally the side of the house with standing water.  You can see the water line

outside Sam's window

outside Sarah's window

church

!  

the river bridge

Alot of what looks like grass is leaves from the trees. the WAter was still up to the house!

you can see the water line on the gas tank

About a week after the hurricane my son's job sent a trailer full of supplies to our town.  Our church worked with another church to distribute it all  

my friend Christy and I took supplies to people and this is a picture of us STUCK in the mud on my road!!!

We were still smiling and a "good ole boy"  pulled us out!

 I am trying to post videos but it's not working.

After almost a year our home and church still have damage.  We are dealing with flood and regular insurance on our house and church.  I think we will be getting payment from the flood insurance soon but the roof is another matter.  We are all hoping for no hurricanes this year! 

35th wedding anniversary!

 So 2024 was our 35th wedding anniversary so we ....took a cruise!  We splurged and got a balcony.  It was a longer cruise we went to Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico (our favorite)  St Thomas and St Croix.  Honestly it was the most relaxing cruises we've ever taken!  Our room was near the back stairs/elevators and we were on the 6th floor right above the dining rooms and below the buffet!  We did the stairs mostly in order to make up for the eating LOL  We also brought our meals back to our room and ate on the balcony several times.   We even saw a UFO!  NO lie!  It was December 2024 and UFOs drones etc were all over the news

Our oldest son actually has his FAA drone license and he watched the videos and said he felt it was a very large drone.  We were in the southern part of the Bahamian islands going directly south to the Dominican Republic.   We were not close to land.  That night we had high winds which would make it crazy to have a drone out far from land.  My son said it had to be some type of governmental drone certainly not a private one because no one would be stupid enough to have it out on a night like that!  Winds affect drones and use up the battery trying to keep it on course.  We actually saw it 2 nights in a row and we did notify security.  The second night they got to our room in time to see it and were shocked!  Ironically Jon's assistant chaplain was on another ship a day behind us and they saw a drone out at sea nearer to St Thomas!  Crazy times!  I will admit the first night I was "boo'ed up" as they say in prison meaning I was a little scared!  What do you think???

Despite drones or UFOs we had a blast!

DR!

In the old city

Jurassic Park vibes!!!!

He's looking like Indian Jones

Puerto Rico

We walked the old city and look what we found!  A 300 year old saint in wax!  We had quite the debate on whether it was a real person or not...it was!  This is why we like to do our own tours!

St Thomas

it was HOT

my friend posing

After a shower we had supper with St Thomas in the background

St Croix

Self guided tour of the old fort and town

    

This church was on the outskirts of town.  We had to go pass a government housing project where there was a loud drug deal going on.... I admit that was a bit much but we just kept on walking!

And look who said good bye to us by the dock

Love our rainbow off the balcony!

Home in time for Sarah's 18th birthday and Christmas!  Don't forget about Kay's Tours and Cruise  Ovi can set you up for a great cruise or other types of vacations.  Tell him Yvonne sent you:)

Thus 2024 ended....thankfully it was a good year overall for us We did have a ROUGH time with Hurricane Milton!  I have pictures and videos of that and plan on doing a blog about it soon.