The Shower that Tried Not to Be: Bliss’ Beautiful DFW Shower! {And the eventful Trip Home}

On the morning of February 27th, Matt and Nash hit the road for DFW while Q went to school and I ran some errands. Then, at 1:00, I picked Q up from school and we started our own little Road Trip! We made our necessary Buc-ee’s stop and drove on…just my big boy and me. Fun times!

Meanwhile, this little guy was getting to spend time with his best buddy from Grapevine. Matt said it was seriously priceless and they picked right up where they left off….
And, as soon as we drove into town, Q and I met up with Matt and Nasher so that these best buddies could play. Serious cuteness…

That night, ThePoeFam got to spend the night at Brad & Remy’s and had such fun catching up with them. Then, on Friday morning, Q and I went to get my hair done while Nash had some more play time with Ev.
After maternity pics, the boys hit the road to go back home and I got some much anticipated girl time! Goodness I love these silly girls…

That night, I got to have a fun sleepover with Shannon…and, on Saturday morning, Mammer drove in to town. We shopped and shopped and patio dined and shopped and ate “Bliss cupcakes” and stayed together in a hotel in Allen. A fun day with Mammer…no boys allowed!

And, sometime in the night…after our beautiful 75 degree patio lunch the day before, this happened!!!…
Sleet...ice…”thunder snow” (I’d never heard of it either)…and more sleet and ice!!!…It was CRAZY and SOOOOO cold! And, as much as we hoped that the sun would come out for my beautiful, spring shower for Bliss, there was no such luck! The shower was to start at 2:00 on Sunday afternoon…but, it was getting worse! So, I quickly texted everyone I knew that was coming and told them we were going to move it up to 1:00 to try to beat the worst of the storm.

Sadly, 3 of my hostesses and the majority of my guests were not able to make it to the shower safely. There was NO way that they could drive in the conditions!

But, the show…errrr…shower must go on. And, my sweet hostesses had worked so hard. So, I pretended that it was still a beautiful spring day (like it had been the day before) and dressed in my short sleeved outfit…and drove with my Mom to Shannon’s house for the MOST gorgeous shower for my soon-to-be Baby Girl!!!
Seriously, the details…the flowers…the décor…the food…it was all STUNNING beyond words.
And, as time went on, I got at least 25 texts from guests who just couldn't make it. As much as I understood, it was so disappointing to not get to see all of those sweet friends and for them to not get to see how beautiful this shower was!!…

But the people that did live close enough and were able to brave the elements are some of the MOST precious people to me in the entire world! Nothing can take away the sweet time I had celebrating Miss Bliss Priss with them.

And, these Hostesses…no words for how much I love them all!!…
And, goodness me, the GIFTS! PINKKKKKK! I can’t believe it still! So many precious things!!!
After saying goodbye to the guests and watching as Shannon’s sweet hubby loaded my car full of gifts in the “thunder snow,” I checked the weather and decided it was going to be ok for me to be on my way home. It seemed to be worst in DFW and better as I travelled.

So, at about 5:00, I was on my way. The roads were CRAZY icy…but people were being careful and not going too fast. And, I had confidence that I could do it.
But as I got further from Dallas, I realized that things weren’t improving! It actually seemed to be getting worse. I was staying in contact with Matt and my Dad, but there wasn’t much information available to them that showed it was getting worse. What they could see showed that I should be out of it “soon!”
No such luck! It kept getting worse…and I kept having to go SLOWER and SLOWER! (sometimes as slow as 5 miles an hour) I saw more and more wrecks and stalled cars…and I was trying so hard not to freak out! I’d talk to friends back in Dallas that were trying not to worry…and I knew they were praying…and I loved having them on the phone to keep me distracted from my fear!

Right after dark, I pulled off of the road because this preggo momma was starving and needing to take a pit stop! Taco Casa was hopefully going to be the fuel to keep me going. (Considering it was almost 9:00!)

But, look at all of those red tail lights. It wasn’t looking good…

At around 10:00, things got worse…and I came to a COMPLETE stand still. I had Matt and Dad calling and looking for hotels…but they were all full…and, I don’t guess it would have mattered anyway because WE. WEREN’T MOVING!!! I was trying not to panic when I’d think about running out of gas…or needing to tee-tee…or being hungry! After sitting completely still for almost an hour, I started seeing people venturing off and getting onto the access road. I watched car after car go with such ease. And, I got brave!!! I decided that my Swaggon and I could do it! So…we went…and we were going good…and, THEN…just feet from the access road…I STALLED!!! And, I completely panicked! Bawling…crying…panicked! Matt was on the phone…and he panicked too. But what in the world could I do about it now? I was stuck!!! Seriously stuck!!!!

Matt and my Dad tried to talk me through getting “un-stuck” but it wasn’t going to happen! So, for 30 minutes, I sat! Until, the nicest guy…in a big truck….stopped and offered to help! BLESS HIM!!! He was so nice and tried for more than 45 minutes (in the FAAARRREEEEZZZIIINNNGGG cold) to get me out…but, the Swaggon wasn’t budging. The funniest was when he realized I was pregnant…his phrase might have gone with an expletive…which might have been completely warranted! Mercy!

Then, around 10:30, a few other guys (that were stranded on 45…where I SHOULD still be…but, my stupid, brave self got me stuck!!!) came over and tried to help him. But, once again…no luck! Moments later, a State Trooper drove up and joined the attempts…NO luck! But, I was so thankful that so many people were trying to help me!

And, when it all seemed hopeless…and Matt was trying to figure out who to call to come to my rescue…out of nowhere came a TOW TRUCK! Seriously…a tow truck!!! It was like the smoke cleared and it came out of nowhere!!! My jaw hit the floor! …The saint of a State Trooper flagged him down. The tow man was actually on his way to a call and stopped! I told him I only had $35 dollars cash or would gladly give him a credit card…and he said that $35 would be great! WHAT?!?!? I would have guessed that he’d charge hundreds!!!
After hooking up my car, it took him all of 3 minutes to get me out…and I seriously could have cried!!! Within no time, I was safely driving down the access road with NO traffic…and all of HWY 45 to my left was still at a stand still! In about a mile, I came upon a gas station. I decided to pull in and fill up with gas and go potty…just because I didn’t know what the rest of the trip/night would hold. It was now almost midnight!
But, after my stop, I slowly cruised on the access road for another 30 minutes or so until it forced me to get back up on the HWY. Very few people were on the roads, but I could tell that the conditions were SO much better and the roads were getting less and less icy. Within 15 miles on HWY 45, I was on COMPLTEELY clear roads and was driving 75 miles an hour! PRAISE THE LORD!

By 2:30 A.M. I was pulling into my driveway! I walked in the door and Matt was awake waiting for me. It had truly been the scariest thing I had EVER done! It took me 10 1/2 hours to get home…when it should have taken 3! After hugging Matt, I went upstairs to kiss my sweet boys and LOST IT! I was so thankful to be home with my sweet family…and I was, once again, humbled by God’s protection and the AMAZING power of prayer! I got in bed and sobbed and sobbed! I was home. I was safe…and I NEVER want to see snow again!