Grapevine Fires (IDAHO is BURNING) & Rising from the Ashes

F I R E

These are pictures of the Charlotte Fire (as it is being called) or the Mink Creek/Gibson Jack Fire in Pocatello, Idaho aka where I live.

On Thursday, the day started out just fine and then went up in flames literally!

I was leaving work and stepped outside to see this fire! Right as I got outside the hospital doors I am facing these HUGE plumes and clouds of smoke darkening the sky. The flames raged wildly. I could see them from where I was standing. It looked like a volcano exploded or a war zone! I was in complete shock. Pocatello was burning. What was the most frightening thing was that my family live up Gibson Jack right where the fire was.

It was the worst fire I have ever witnessed in my life. I immediately pulled out my phone and called my mom. My stomach churned and twisted in knots with fear and anxiety when she answered, crying and freaking out. My heart sunk. My mother explained that the police were not letting people go up Mink Creek and Gibson Jack or anywhere near the fire. She said it was close to our house and that she and Bob (my stepdad) thought the house was going to burn down!
I raced to my grandma's house (where we had all decided to meet) listening to Death Cab for Cutie's "Grapevine Fires" and praying, praying, praying that our house would be saved, praying for a miracle in a situation completely out of control. My mom, Jordan (sister), Chrish (brother), my grandma, Madison (Jordan's friend), and my Aunt Michelle were all gathered together in the living room glued to the TV screen as the news reporters updated us on the fire.

I felt so bad for my mother who couldn't stop sobbing. She was worried because Bob went up to our house, climbed the hill, so that he could save our horses and let them free. He was taking a long time. We couldn't get a hold of him and it scared us because he has bad asthma. 

We were all incredibly relieved when Bob pulled up safe and sound in his truck. My mom ran to him and embraced him. He was upbeat, calm, and positive in the time of such a crises. I love that about him, always optimistic and hopeful. He let the horses go. They got away. He thought our home was going to turn to ashes and burn down. He took some stunning, terrifying videos of the raging inferno that was only yards away from our home.

Everyone who lived in or near the fire was evacuated. For a few hours, we sat, paced, talked, prayed, and waited ever so anxiously and nervously for the outcome. The question that hung heavier than the summer heat in the air was suffocating: will the house be burned to the ground, leaving my family homeless? Or would we be ever so blessed with a miracle, that our house would be spared?

All the while we were reminded of what truly matters, the most important thing is each other, the ones we love, family, people. Home isn't where your material possessions are stored. It isn't a place with polished hardwood floors or chandeliers hanging from vaulted ceilings or big theater rooms filled with every movie imaginable. Home is in the hearts of the ones we love. Home is family. Home is each other.

What a beautiful thing this life is, no matter the fire that burns all around us. If we just stick together, hold onto each other, and never take anyone or anything for granted, then I know we can make it through anything, through everything. Fire doesn't just destroy, it refines and purifies. It may hurt and burn at the onset, but the end result shines bright as the stars. Life is about thriving and triumphing after tragedy, together forever.

We kept getting mixed messages from friends of our family members that our house was burned one minute and the next that it was spared. It was nerve wracking. I felt so badly for everyone in this town. Prayers for rain were on my lips. I was just in total shock and awe that the unexpected always happens. We must always remember that people are what matters. Love matters. Everything else is replaceable, but family, love and friends are irreplaceable. Look at the people struggling with this exact same situation in Utah, Colorado, and other places in the United States. It only takes one spark to ignite a fire that can burn miles in minutes. This could happen to you. 

mY miracle

This is my family's house... a safe place in the midst of disaster and destruction. Some people may believe it is luck, but I know it as a miracle. Life is beautiful no matter the fire that burns around us. Home is in the hearts of the ones we love. Home is family. Our house was saved. I wish I could say the same for others. I heard nearly 60 homes were destroyed. I can't even begin to offer an explanation. I can say God is good. I know this was a miracle.

Just because you can't see or imagine a good reason why God might allow something to happen doesn't mean there can't be one. What matters now is coming together as a community and reaching out, helping, and sending prayers to those who were affected and victims of this fire and the fires all over the country. We all need one another and should never take this fact for granted, never forget it or take it lightly. Caring is sharing. Open your hearts lovelies and lets make this world a better place one person at a time.

I also send my thoughts and prayers with a heart overflowing with love and gratitude for all the brave firefighters who risk their lives and work relentlessly and fearlessly to put out these fires and triumph over disasters. 

Live by love

<3 Charley Brooke

This is what I believe to be true: You have to do everything you can, and if you stay positive, you have a shot at a silver lining and the moon and all the stars that light up the night sky.

Helena, Montana Wedding

A few weekends ago, the family [mom, Bob, Jordan, Chrish, & I] flew in Bob's plane to Helena, Montana for my stepbrother Jordan & his new bride to be Britton's wedding. 

McHale & Alex drove.

Helena is gorgeous. 

The view from the plane was amazing and it's overall such a beautiful place.

We stayed overnight in this awesome hotel with these huge suites that each had their own kitchens, dining rooms, & living rooms (along with bedrooms & bathroom). 

I shared a suite with Christian.

After going to dinner at the Macaroni Grill with the family & extended family members, doing some shopping, and sightseeing, we went back to our hotel.

Funny story about Chrish & I's suite: we walked in and were still just amazed at how big the suite was... we were exploring around looking at the kitchen, living room, dining room, two huge TVs, bedroom with two huge beds, and bathroom. We are thinking to ourselves "wow... this is cool!" and then we look out this window in our bedroom and see a graveyard right outside our window! No lie! Haha kinda sketchy and a little creepy. 

My stepbrother Tyler lives in Montana & when we told him about it he said, "That's Helena, Montana for you!"

Chrish & I stayed up watching "Storage Wars". It's kind of an addicting show but not as much as "One Tree Hill"! We are obsessed with "One Tree Hill"... I got all my siblings obsessed about it. I can't believe I didn't know about it until recently! I bought all the DVDs & just love love love it. We would've watched it, but there wasn't a DVD player. You should check it out if you haven't seen it because it's a-m-a-z-i-n-g. 

Anyways, the next day was the wedding--Saturday May 12, 2012--Jordan & Britton got married at the Helena Country Club outside. It was lovely and pretty outside where it was held. Britton looked stunning, like a bridal model. I am so happy for them, Mr. & Mrs. Jordan and Britton Allen. 

 view from the plane of Helena, Montana!

 Another picture over Helena.

 Christian [the little brother] & I in the plane...

 Gorgeous view from the sky.

 My mom, me, & Jordan [sister] at the reception.

 Jordan creeping on me at the wedding. She's a notorious creeper!

 The twin & I 

[haha so Christian & I aren't really twins but we were both born on October 14 [me 1989 and him 1996] & look the most alike out of all of our siblings so we call ourselves "twins 7 years apart" cause in reality we kinda are!]

 My beautiful family.

Jord, Chrish, mom, Bob [stepdad], Colton [stepbrother], me, McHale [sis], & Alex [Kale's boyfriend]

 Family & Friends > Everything Else

 Most of the family... not pictured are three other stepbrothers... yes we have a BIG family. 

If we all go somewhere (dinner, movie, etc) together we often get called the Brady Bunch.

 Kiss the bride... Jordan & Britton Allen.

The happily married couple... they are the cutest. I am so happy for them!

Family, Friends, & Lovelies Oh My

There are 7 billion people in the world... & I have love in my heart for all of you.

Honestly... there isn't a person among the billions that I hate.

My heart is overflowing with love. I believe in love and unconditional kindness.

I cannot make everyone love or like me, but I can choose how I feel about others. I can choose how I act towards everyone. I can use my energy lovingly. 

I am blessed to have the most amazing, lovely people in my life. My words can't even begin to scratch the surface of expressing my love and appreciation for all of you. However, that doesn't mean I can't try or do my best at it...

I wish I could name all of you. 

God & My Savior who I love infinitely for every reason... for creating me and you and this world. For every blessing in my life. For the trials which make me stronger. For love. For forgiveness. For my life. For everything. 

Angie (my mom) for being the most incredible mother and friend. This woman rocks my world. She is superwoman. For always being there for me. For being the hardest working person I have ever known and instilling such work ethics in me. For being beautiful inside and out. 

My other parents (dad, Robert Allen (stepdad), Angie (stepmom), Debbie, Gene) for loving me and doing so much for me. For making me always feel at home. For all the things you do for me.

McHale, Jordan, & Christian for being wonderful siblings. I loveee the three of you to infinity and beyond. For all the hard & good times you have stuck through with me. For our adventures. For all the inside jokes that could fill a library. For making me smile and laugh everyday.

Brie & Tyson for their love and support through every hardship and trial I go through. For never giving up on me even when I feel like giving up on myself. For always letting me stay over when I don't feel like being alone. For 18+years of friendship from Brie. For truly being the best friends a girl could ask for. For the best advice. For endless game, movie, pizza, nights. 

Paige Madison I just met you towards the end of this year. I needed you in my life and God brought us together. For being such a genuine, fun girl who gives me the most amazing advice. For listening to me. For our letters. For helping each other through the hard times and sharing the good. For being such a sweetheart and always having my back.

Taylor for proving that sweet, chivalrous boys do exist. For always putting a smile on my face and making me feel pretty. For fun memories and the best letters.

Stacey for the memorable New Years Eve we had last night at that silly dance and how we can relate when it comes to guys. For the many memories I know we will share in 2012. For being such a totally awesome lady.

Emma even though we live across the globe, your reach is undeniable and ever present! You are the sweetest, most lovely girl. For meeting through our love of Kate Walsh & Caterina Scorsone :) For never failing to inspire me and keep me believing in the good. For being such a strong person despite all you have been through. I hope we someday can meet in person.

Nicole for being the younger sister I should've had. For being such an inspiration to me. For always being there for me no matter what. For the confidence you have in yourself and others that radiates back to me. For our friendship that will never fade ever. For helping me in countless ways. You are such an amazing girl! I hope we can meet someday!
Anna, Colette, & Erin my lovely new roommates! I am so excited to get to know you girls! I can already tell you are amazing and it's going to be a wonderful semester together. For making me feel so very welcome and being kind to the new girl.

Dakota & Sid I am so proud of the men you are becoming and the service you are giving to others. You both amaze me beyond comprehension. For your letters that never fail to brighten my days. 

Lexie for being the absolute, hands down nicest person I have ever met. For being so completely genuine and sweet. For all the fun times we have had "loitering" and what not! For being my friend since we were little kids. For the memories ahead--we better see each other more in 2012!

Mitch We met a year ago to this day and you have made my life better. For your love and kindness to me. For believing in me as I believe in you. For helping me through a lot.

Matt We just met and it was enchanting but just because it can be magical meeting someone doesn't mean it will stay that way. For being another example that even though we meet people and want them to stay in our lives doesn't mean they will nor that they are meant to stay. For being incredibly nice to my family.

Tyler Knott Gregson for your daily Haikus on Love which inspire me endlessly and keep me believing in love. You always stun me with your words. You make magic with your poetry. 

Hannah, Rian, Mat, & Brooke for the time I did share with all of you. Unfortunately in life people change and go their separate ways. Friendships fade away. As you have all exited my life, please know you will remain in my heart. I am grateful for the memories we have.

Shonda Rhimes for making Thursdays my favorite days. 

Lovelies aka all the rest of you reading this now... You are all astonishing. I love you all with all of my heart. I am always always always here for you. You inspire me. You all do. I am just overwhelmed by all of your love and support. Thank you.

In honor of 2012, one of my New Years resolutions is to post on the Inspiration Nation every single day. I plan on making this happen. Never give up on your dreams or yourselves. I believe in you. Lets make this year ours! Have heart, be loving, and always dream.

Always know, I am not the type of girl to let people walk out of my life and pretend that they don't matter anymore. I may not like that person anymore or talk to them but I still care. I'm always going to think back to my life and say I wonder what happened to so and so. I hope they're alright. I will actually mean it. That is the type of person I am. Once you're in my heart, you're there forever. YOU ALL MATTER.

With Love,

Charley Brooke

ACT. This is [was] HaLLoWeeN

Halloween 2009

Two years ago, I was a nurse for Halloween :)

Halloween of 2009 was spent with Brie, Ty, and Sam (my exboyfriend).

We had lots of fun going around taking pictures in the graveyard, ISU and other places.

Sam was a doctor.

Brie & Ty were masquerade. So cute.

Then we went to Pizza Hut and had dinner. It was a great time.

Halloween 2010

 Me. Mariana. & McHale (sister) went to an Institute Halloween dance.

I was an angel, Mariana was masquerade, and McHale was Jonah Hex.

It was a blast!

We convinced Hannah to come. She joined us at the Halloween dance and had fun! She dressed up as someone from the '80s. 

After we danced the night away haha we went to Walmart and bought a bunch of snacks.

Then McHale, Hannah, and our friend Tod came over and we watched some scary movie

My angel costume from 2010.

 We even tried to make our house as "Halloween-ish" on our college budgets.

 That is our witch we put on the window.

 Gotta love the cheap paper Halloween chandelier. 

 Another shot of the living room in #305.

 This was our sitting area on our balcony. We hung up Halloween lights and leaves along the balcony posts.

Haha that vampire was scary! We all would walk into the kitchen late at night at different times and all were freaked out when we saw Drake (that's what we named him) because the darkness made him look like a person! 

Halloween 2011

Me in my angel costume & blonde wig.

 A (Aubrey) "Brie", C (Charley" "CiCi" Me). & T (Tyson) "TyTy" 

went on another annual Halloween photo shoot at our beloved shutdown elementary school--Bonneville Elementary.

Brie and Ty were both pirates, and I was an angel.

This is us trying to be fierce!

 Snow [less] angel.

 Daydreaming. This is one of my favorites because it has a movie/dreamlike quality.

 The angel & The Pirate-ess

 Tyson's photography skills amaze me.

 My photography skills amaze me too :) 

 My best friends are pirates!

 It's a love/hate relationship haha... TOTALLY kidding. It's all love.

 Yo ho yo ho a pirates life for Brie & Ty

 Not to sound proud or bragging, but this picture I look of Brie was harder than it looks to take and turned out incredibly.

 I'm flying, she is watching.

 Aw kiss recreation from a photo of Sam & I two years prior.

 No one messes with Brie.

 Hate my smile but love you--XOXO

 To fly you must let go, ignore the risk, & take a chance.

These next shots are adorable. Someone drew that I <3 (heart) to the left of Brie and it makes for some cute pictures. I heart Brie!

 I <3 ?

 Brie hearts Ty.

 Best friends don't let best friends make bad decisions. 

 We didn't have anyone to take these pictures for us so we each had to trade being photographers to being photographed... so the three of us rarely got any pictures together. We put our camera on a staircase and set a timer so we could all pose. This picture turned out amazingly I must say. It shot it right at the right time!

 Aww presh... husband/wife laugh. so happy! I captured this moment.

 Another picture of the three of us. The "Fab Three" 

About this Halloween...

I got all dressed up for work in my angel costume. 

They told us everyone could dress up.

Soo... I get to work, and I'm the ONLY one who dressed up...

Needless to say, I was a little embarrassed.

Luckily, EVERYONE (coworkers and patients) loved it and went on all the about how cute I looked.

Some people even said I looked like a Victoria's Secret angel.

It was worth dressing up to see some of our older residents eyes light up like I was a magic angel.

I'm glad I dressed up. 

You only get to do that once a year.

Brie, Ty, & I had our Bonneville/Halloween photo shoot.

We hadn't had one since Sam and I were dating and Tyson and Brie had just started dating.

It's so sad how that school is falling apart and people are disrespecting it by breaking the windows and graffiting things. 

I'll never forget the Bonneville years and memories made there.

Those can't be damaged or torn away like the building.

Our photo shoot was fun and turned out cute.

I must admit for being amateurs we did quite a good job with the resources we had. :)

I LOVE how they turned out as you can see above.

When the shoot was finished, we headed to the Young's.

They bought this rad spider pinata that we all took turns hitting.

Brie believes on the matter was we should have to work for our candy.

I sure did, and I have the battle scars to prove it!

We were hitting the pinata with force because it wouldn't break.

Then the broom we were using to hit it broke and gashed my finger--the cut was rather deep.

Ty and Brie nursed me up though.

Those two are the best.

We finally broke it though and got our candy.

After that I headed to my mom's house. 

My stepdad was out of town so she wanted to hang out.

McHale (sister) spent some time with us too.

Mom made dinner and we all talked and watched Hocus Pocus (which in my opinion, is the best Halloween movie ever).

There were no trick or treats--it's not at all surprising due to the fact their house is so isolated and way up in the mountains with basically no neighborhood.

Oh well haha... more candy for us ;)

To sum it all up, it was a very Happy Halloween!

"Fear plays an interesting role in our life. How dare we let it motivate us, how dare we let it into our decision making, into our livelihoods, into our relationships. It's funny isn't it, we take a day a year to dress up in costume and celebrate fear."

-Robert California (The Office)