Define: Frightened.

Yesterday at this time, I was beginning to become very scared. 

Yesterday at this time, North Carolina was pounded with tornadoes. 

I spent the better part of my afternoon sitting in the hallway, 2 floors below my room, waiting for the storms to pass. 

Let me just set the scene a little bit for everyone:

I was sitting in a dark hallway underground, with no windows, with 20 or so girls from my building (a few were hard-core freaking out, crying, screaming, yelling, taking pictures?), no TV, no idea what was happening outside, and worried that the storm would maybe tear my building apart and ruin all of my belongings. I made sure to grab what I valued most before the great descent: my computer, my phone, and my wallet. 

I think next time I should be a bit more prepared. 

Maybe I'll take wheat thins like the girl next to me.

Best case scenario- there is no next time.
In case you need a visual... I'm at the end of the hallway on the left.

I told you someone took pictures.

And after about 2 hours of intense storms and powerful winds, we finally were in the clear.

I wanted to kind of get an idea of the damage done in the state, and was a little freaked out by what I found. 

Click here to see a video of the damage in downtown Raleigh.

My campus is located just outside of downtown. 

At most, it's a 5 minute drive (but that's mostly because of traffic). 

This is a link to the news article about the storms. I am in Wake County. According to some rumors I heard while huddling in the hallway, one of the tornadoes touched down and was traveling just one street away from where my campus is.

So, totally and completely freaky. 

I have never before experienced something like this. 

But I didn't even experience anything! 

Our campus came out virtually untouched- a few tree limbs scattered around, but nothing nearly as serious as what others experienced.

Want to see the storm approaching the city? Click here!

This time lapse video thing was taken on top of the RBC center in Raleigh. 

Remember when I went to the Carolina Hurricanes game? That's where I was- the RBC center. Conveniently located approximately 5 minutes from campus. 

So flipping scary! Had I known a cloud like that was coming towards us while I was crammed in the hallway of the ground floor of my building, I probably would have been a lot more worried.

But! We're okay. 

And the Crains are okay. 

Phew! 

Thanks to everyone who warned me about North Carolina's great positioning in what people like to call, tornado alley. 

That was so sarcastic- I had no idea I was moving myself to tornado alley. I would rather be safe in PA and learning about such places and disasters from the safety of my home on the mountain, surrounded by valleys and hills and all that good stuff. 

But here I am, so close to destruction. 

It's so sad- so many people affected. 

Apparently downtown Raleigh was closed yesterday after the storms went through because there was such a need for emergency services and stuff. 

Intense. 

I survived though, phew! 

Hallelujah, praise God! 

Because with only 8 days of classes and a week of finals left, I would have been very, very upset if that got screwed up by a flipping tornado. 

My apologies to the Shaw University students as this is the situation they've found themselves in. 

That would stink.

So that's the story that kind of took the front seat in my life. Nothing else that is necessarily "blog worthy", unless everyone would be interested in hearing how I'm going to clean our bathroom today, or that I bought a skirt for $6 at Target, or that my floor is dirty, or that I didn't straighten my hair today, or that we were out of hot water all day yesterday... 

Just nothing exciting. 

Nothing.

OH, I lie. 

I have 19 days left until I'm finished with my very last final!! 

Time flies when you're in college, regardless of the amount of fun you're having. 

Because seriously, I could have sworn that last weekend I was home, surprising my family with a quick weekend visit. Or that I was just bonding with my car in the middle of the intersection on 340 this morning. 

Holy cow! 

So, 8 days of classes, 7 days of finals, and 4 days of weekend/days off. 

That's totally achievable. 

Totally. 

(Next weekend I'm going to the beach, I promise to have more up-lifting and fun stuff coming after that!)

Until then, continue to keep the people affected by the tornadoes in your prayers! And don't forget to thank God for keeping YOU safe-- even if you're not in North Carolina or Virginia. 

Thanking you =)