Today, Jim & I went to look at a couple of homes for rent. Afterwards, we decided to drive out to Lakeside Mall so I could find some workout clothes. As we were driving down M-59, this is what we saw:
Thick, black smoke in the sky.....and at this point, we were still about a mile away from it!
We decide to keep driving to find out where it was coming from. Turns out, it was an apartment complex. I happened to have my camera with me since I took some pictures of the houses we looked at. 
If you click on the images to enlarge, you can actually see the flames.
The weird part of all of this was it was a year ago this month that I saw the fire at a Coney Island & took pictures of that one, too.
I just hope & pray that no one was hurt or killed in this fire! 
There was a young man in the parking lot that apparently lived there. I wanted to go up & give him a hug so badly, but he was surrounded by other people. I just wanted to let him know that you can get through something like this as I have been there myself before.....I lost everything I owned 20 years ago in an apartment fire just like this one! Now for a really scary picture:
I was debating whether or not I should post this before picture of me (you won't see my side view picture!), but I figured it would be one way to hold myself accountable to keep going to the gym :) I tell ya.....seeing myself, my whole self, in a picture was a HUGE wake-up call! But I'm finally on the right track! And since Jim is doing this with me, I thought I might as well post one of his before pics as well (he doesn't know that I posted his side view picture yet ;):
Friday was our first day at the gym & we spent a little over 2 hours there. 25 minutes on the treadmills, 20 minutes on the recumbent bikes & then the rest of the time on weights. I thought for sure I would wake up sore this morning, but surprisingly, I didn't :) We're going to attempt to go again tomorrow afternoon, but we're not sure how busy it'll be.Now for a pretty picture:
My Rhododendron in bloom :) Fire update: We just saw the story on the news about the fire & it seems it started by a gas grill that someone was using on a second story balcony of the apartment building. No one was hurt, so that's great news! But I can't believe that someone would even use a grill on an apartment building balcony! Nuts!74 wordsSpeedtest
I saw this on Staci's blog & thought I'd give it a try. I even surprised myself! 74 words per minute!!! I guess taking typing for 4 years in school has paid off :) Give it a try & let me know your typing speed.
I was also tagged by Lida to answer the following questions:
Last music you listened to - Whatever was on the radio station on the way home from the mall.
Last thing you watched on TV - The local news to see about the fire.
Last movie you saw - Hmmm.....good question. I haven't been to a movie in a while & really only watch shows on tv.
Last book you read - Photo Freedom (still reading it).
Last person you spoke to - Jim
Last thing you ate - 3 Nutter Butter cookies (I know, not good for the weightloss, but they ARE good!)
Last time you laughed - Yesterday at the gym (yes, exercising can be fun!).
Last place you visited - The mall.
Last website you visited - Two Peas & my blog.
Last thing you scrapped/crafted - A picture frame for a Breast Cancer Relay Bowling Event, which you can see below:
Click on it for a better view. I used lots & lots of Stickles on it & just highlighted the flowers to make them 'pop'. I was so happy with the way it turned out & so was the person that won it :) Now, I tag: Lorrie, Staci, Jewls, Kim, Cindi & anyone else that wants to play along :)
That's all for now.....have a safe night & give your loved ones an extra hug tonight!
Benita