Monday, September 29, 2008

First Day Back

Well there is so much going on mind that I don't even know where to begin. We came back on Thursday of last week. After two weeks at my brothers home, we were home sick. So we spent Thursday afternoon packing up and came home. The lights weren't on yet and the weather wasn't cool but we were home. And just to prove He is God, as soon as we started our generator and began to settle in, he turns on the power. We unplugged the generator and rejoiced in the light.

We stood outside with many of our neighbors. All of us with stories or rumors of went on during the storm. Stories of police told to stay during the storm. Their escape to the second floor of our city hall as the waters rose in the first floor during the storm. Stories that our small passed a reform a few months ago that does not allow drop off spots to be set up in our city. But a storm hit and rules couldn't be broken so citizens set up drop off spots in their yards so that those who needed help could get it.

My daughter started school today. She came home with an upset stomach...nerves. As I signed her out, I saw a long list of other kids that left. The nurse that many kids are just nervous. Kids were in class talking about who lost their complete home, who was flooded, who was homeless and who came out okay. In class they filled out forms on where their family stands so that the school could get an idea of what they were dealing with.

Red Cross is amazing. They have been out everyday handing out water, hot meals, smiles and even just "We care and are here". They have been a blessing. If you have never seen them at work...consider yourself lucky. That means you probably have never been in a disaster as big as this. I have been blessed but it is nice to see others here to help those that need help.

All the hand painted signs in the yards. Some serious..."keep out" "residents only, no tourists allowed", "please dont steal what we have left", "thanks for nothing Fema", "Looters will be shot", "small dog, big gun". All with a true meaning. We were there. We contemplated a gun to keep looters from stealing our generator. not so much our generator...things are things...but strangers in my house and possbibly harming my family.

Then there are those signs that just let you know we are going to be okay. "ike can't beat us like Tina" or "yard of the month" (this was in front of a house that had all this debris, trees down...devastated) or a plastic Frosty the Snowman with a life preserver around his neck that read "I survived Ike".

Is it going to take a long time to get back to normal? Yes. Will it be tough? Yes. But we will make it. We will survive and we, as a community, will do whatever it takes to make our community, safe, clean and home again.

Welcome back Seabrook!! We have missed you!! Pin It

First Day Back

Well there is so much going on mind that I don't even know where to begin. We came back on Thursday of last week. After two weeks at my brothers home, we were home sick. So we spent Thursday afternoon packing up and came home. The lights weren't on yet and the weather wasn't cool but we were home. And just to prove He is God, as soon as we started our generator and began to settle in, he turns on the power. We unplugged the generator and rejoiced in the light.

We stood outside with many of our neighbors. All of us with stories or rumors of went on during the storm. Stories of police told to stay during the storm. Their escape to the second floor of our city hall as the waters rose in the first floor during the storm. Stories that our small passed a reform a few months ago that does not allow drop off spots to be set up in our city. But a storm hit and rules couldn't be broken so citizens set up drop off spots in their yards so that those who needed help could get it.

My daughter started school today. She came home with an upset stomach...nerves. As I signed her out, I saw a long list of other kids that left. The nurse that many kids are just nervous. Kids were in class talking about who lost their complete home, who was flooded, who was homeless and who came out okay. In class they filled out forms on where their family stands so that the school could get an idea of what they were dealing with.

Red Cross is amazing. They have been out everyday handing out water, hot meals, smiles and even just "We care and are here". They have been a blessing. If you have never seen them at work...consider yourself lucky. That means you probably have never been in a disaster as big as this. I have been blessed but it is nice to see others here to help those that need help.

All the hand painted signs in the yards. Some serious..."keep out" "residents only, no tourists allowed", "please dont steal what we have left", "thanks for nothing Fema", "Looters will be shot", "small dog, big gun". All with a true meaning. We were there. We contemplated a gun to keep looters from stealing our generator. not so much our generator...things are things...but strangers in my house and possbibly harming my family.

Then there are those signs that just let you know we are going to be okay. "ike can't beat us like Tina" or "yard of the month" (this was in front of a house that had all this debris, trees down...devastated) or a plastic Frosty the Snowman with a life preserver around his neck that read "I survived Ike".

Is it going to take a long time to get back to normal? Yes. Will it be tough? Yes. But we will make it. We will survive and we, as a community, will do whatever it takes to make our community, safe, clean and home again.

Welcome back Seabrook!! We have missed you!! Pin It

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

The Devastation

I went back to my hometown today. We still don't have lights but I can't complain. My husband and I drove around our small town. I couldn't help but cry. We are a town of 12000. I don't even know where to begin. We have a lot of woods in our area and jogging trails that wind through them. But they have the cadaver dogs out searching for victims. They are looking in the trees because they believe a 30 foot wall water came on shore. In those waters were people. And in some places where there were homes, all that is there is the foundation. Or maybe their homes are there...1/2 a foot to the left or right of the foundation. There are TVs, baby clothes, dressers, refrigerators in the woods, the parks and in the middle of the street. We had a wholesale fishing market street....just empty land now.

But for everyone...just imagine everyone in your neighborhood taking everything, and I mean everything, out of their house and putting it on the curb. Rugs, sheet rock, insulation, furniture, clothes, baby strollers. food, toys, pictures, just everything and putting it on the curb. It piles up about 10 feet and spans the length of your yard. Now imagine everyone in the neighborhood does this. There is no electricity, mosquitos are everywhere and you have nothing to drink or eat. You wanna stay to keep cleaning but you can't stay in your home. And you are limited on gas. Sure you can get a "snack pack" from FEMA but you have kids and that is not enough. If you are fortunate your job lets you take care of things. If you are not, you have to get to work or worse, your employer no longer exists because it was wiped out by the storm.

Kids start school on Tuesday in a building that has no AC and you don't have any AC either. For me, that means 75 miles one way to get her to school. I may have to enroll her into a school in Spring. She is worried about her friends and just wants to see familiar faces. She remembers how everyone ahhed and ooohed the Katrina evacuees that enrolled in her school and she doesn't want that kind of attention.

No picture on TV or story can even begin to touch the reality of actually being out there. I was blessed with just a few shingles gone...I am in awe of the difference of my house and almost everyone around me. I can't wait to get back and just help out my neighbors. We are going this weekend and help anyone we can.

Pray. Pin It

The Devastation

I went back to my hometown today. We still don't have lights but I can't complain. My husband and I drove around our small town. I couldn't help but cry. We are a town of 12000. I don't even know where to begin. We have a lot of woods in our area and jogging trails that wind through them. But they have the cadaver dogs out searching for victims. They are looking in the trees because they believe a 30 foot wall water came on shore. In those waters were people. And in some places where there were homes, all that is there is the foundation. Or maybe their homes are there...1/2 a foot to the left or right of the foundation. There are TVs, baby clothes, dressers, refrigerators in the woods, the parks and in the middle of the street. We had a wholesale fishing market street....just empty land now.

But for everyone...just imagine everyone in your neighborhood taking everything, and I mean everything, out of their house and putting it on the curb. Rugs, sheet rock, insulation, furniture, clothes, baby strollers. food, toys, pictures, just everything and putting it on the curb. It piles up about 10 feet and spans the length of your yard. Now imagine everyone in the neighborhood does this. There is no electricity, mosquitos are everywhere and you have nothing to drink or eat. You wanna stay to keep cleaning but you can't stay in your home. And you are limited on gas. Sure you can get a "snack pack" from FEMA but you have kids and that is not enough. If you are fortunate your job lets you take care of things. If you are not, you have to get to work or worse, your employer no longer exists because it was wiped out by the storm.

Kids start school on Tuesday in a building that has no AC and you don't have any AC either. For me, that means 75 miles one way to get her to school. I may have to enroll her into a school in Spring. She is worried about her friends and just wants to see familiar faces. She remembers how everyone ahhed and ooohed the Katrina evacuees that enrolled in her school and she doesn't want that kind of attention.

No picture on TV or story can even begin to touch the reality of actually being out there. I was blessed with just a few shingles gone...I am in awe of the difference of my house and almost everyone around me. I can't wait to get back and just help out my neighbors. We are going this weekend and help anyone we can.

Pray. Pin It

Monday, September 15, 2008

House was spared!

My house was spared from Ike. I was one of only 5-10% people that did not get water in their house or wind damage. A few shingles came off but not much more.....Tired...emotionally. Going to bed, will post more tomorrow. Pin It

House was spared!

My house was spared from Ike. I was one of only 5-10% people that did not get water in their house or wind damage. A few shingles came off but not much more.....Tired...emotionally. Going to bed, will post more tomorrow. Pin It

Friday, September 12, 2008

Tired





It is 9:47 at night and the winds are still calm. I have stopped watching the news...same thing over and over...my house will flood. My husband is sleeping on a couch at my brother's place. He is emotionally and physically drained. He spent all day yesterday measuring windows, cutting boards and hanging them with hurricane clips. We drove to my brothers and today we spent the day worrying about the hurricane. He is from Canada and this is his first hurricane. Let him sleep. He is worried about our home and feels powerless. He knows the rough journey we have ahead of us and we have learned to put it in God's hands. Let him rest...give him peace. Pin It

Tired





It is 9:47 at night and the winds are still calm. I have stopped watching the news...same thing over and over...my house will flood. My husband is sleeping on a couch at my brother's place. He is emotionally and physically drained. He spent all day yesterday measuring windows, cutting boards and hanging them with hurricane clips. We drove to my brothers and today we spent the day worrying about the hurricane. He is from Canada and this is his first hurricane. Let him sleep. He is worried about our home and feels powerless. He knows the rough journey we have ahead of us and we have learned to put it in God's hands. Let him rest...give him peace. Pin It

7:59 PM

Well Ike hasn't hit yet. We have had a pretty weird day. Nothing much going on but we are just in wait and see mode. This is how our day has gone:
8 am--wake up and like Christmas morning...run to the front room in anticipation...not for gifts but the most current news on the storm.
8:15 am We realize it has moved closer but we are now on the dirty side.
9:00 am See the 17 foot Seawall in Galveston disappear
12 noon See the small township next to ours underwater
2 pm Make sure all the clothes are washed....preparing for water to be shut down
3 pm cool down the house...feeling the house will lose electricity

Last run to store
Just waiting and see...taking baths in case we can't for a few days
Finishing up stuff for work...the rest of the world still revolves

My daughter's friends that stayed in Seabrook are updating with photos from our area...Toddville, the road into our neighborhood is under.

I have feeling my house is already gone. Pin It

7:59 PM

Well Ike hasn't hit yet. We have had a pretty weird day. Nothing much going on but we are just in wait and see mode. This is how our day has gone:
8 am--wake up and like Christmas morning...run to the front room in anticipation...not for gifts but the most current news on the storm.
8:15 am We realize it has moved closer but we are now on the dirty side.
9:00 am See the 17 foot Seawall in Galveston disappear
12 noon See the small township next to ours underwater
2 pm Make sure all the clothes are washed....preparing for water to be shut down
3 pm cool down the house...feeling the house will lose electricity

Last run to store
Just waiting and see...taking baths in case we can't for a few days
Finishing up stuff for work...the rest of the world still revolves

My daughter's friends that stayed in Seabrook are updating with photos from our area...Toddville, the road into our neighborhood is under.

I have feeling my house is already gone. Pin It

It's coming

So the storm is on it's way. I am at my brothers house, it is about 75 miles from our place. We are watching on TV as the storm starts to take over Galveston. As I write this the update is showing on TV and the storm is a CAT 2 and they still believe storm will strengthen. It's crazy. But I have peace. I know I can and have put it in God's hand. As my mom says, "This too shall pass". Pin It

It's coming

So the storm is on it's way. I am at my brothers house, it is about 75 miles from our place. We are watching on TV as the storm starts to take over Galveston. As I write this the update is showing on TV and the storm is a CAT 2 and they still believe storm will strengthen. It's crazy. But I have peace. I know I can and have put it in God's hand. As my mom says, "This too shall pass". Pin It

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Hurricane Ike

Well, we have to evacuate by noon. No scrap things going just albums and pictures. I'll blog later about it...some pics of our attempt to keep the rain and wind out of our house when it hits. Gotta keep telling myself...it is just a house and this too shall pass. Pin It

Hurricane Ike

Well, we have to evacuate by noon. No scrap things going just albums and pictures. I'll blog later about it...some pics of our attempt to keep the rain and wind out of our house when it hits. Gotta keep telling myself...it is just a house and this too shall pass. Pin It

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Ideas to scrap

I always seem to find myself in a dilemma of what to scrap. I have all these creative juices flowing but don't know what to scrap. So here are a few ideas that I can review later, when I am not half asleep and have some time and energy to scrap.
* Proverbs 31 and a good women...how that doesn't mean a really clean house
* My dad and why he is my hero
* My mom...thanking her for putting up with me as a teenager
* My weight goals and rewards
* My top ten favorite things right now
* Why my husband is so special to me
* My grandmother
* My crazy dog, Max Pin It

Ideas to scrap

I always seem to find myself in a dilemma of what to scrap. I have all these creative juices flowing but don't know what to scrap. So here are a few ideas that I can review later, when I am not half asleep and have some time and energy to scrap.
* Proverbs 31 and a good women...how that doesn't mean a really clean house
* My dad and why he is my hero
* My mom...thanking her for putting up with me as a teenager
* My weight goals and rewards
* My top ten favorite things right now
* Why my husband is so special to me
* My grandmother
* My crazy dog, Max Pin It

Monday, September 8, 2008

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

So I am revamping my blog. So if it doesn't look the same as yesterday...it isn't....and it may be different tomorrow. Stay tuned. Pin It

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

So I am revamping my blog. So if it doesn't look the same as yesterday...it isn't....and it may be different tomorrow. Stay tuned. Pin It

Square Mini Album





I thought I would post some images of a mini book that is one of my favorites to make. I got the idea from 2Worlds . This is one of my favorite blogs. She has so many great ideas. Here are two books I made from one of her tutorials. Pin It

Square Mini Album





I thought I would post some images of a mini book that is one of my favorites to make. I got the idea from 2Worlds . This is one of my favorite blogs. She has so many great ideas. Here are two books I made from one of her tutorials. Pin It

Saturday, September 6, 2008

My first pages in a long time





I saw this page in Scrapbook Trends that just really caught my eye. So I scraplifted it. I did a digital version and a traditional page. That is how I scrap most of the time. I like Challenges and looking through magazines to get my creativity flowing. They were simple to do and not time consuming, perfect for my firt pages back into the world of scrapbooking. Although, I have to admit, sewing on the pages took a lot longer than I expected. Pin It

My first pages in a long time





I saw this page in Scrapbook Trends that just really caught my eye. So I scraplifted it. I did a digital version and a traditional page. That is how I scrap most of the time. I like Challenges and looking through magazines to get my creativity flowing. They were simple to do and not time consuming, perfect for my firt pages back into the world of scrapbooking. Although, I have to admit, sewing on the pages took a lot longer than I expected. Pin It

Friday, September 5, 2008

It's coming back!

I am working on my first layout in months. I am working on a digital one and a traditional one. The baby book is as about finished as it can be for now. I only need to finish the calendar pages but I can't do that until the baby is born and I know which month is the first month, November or December.

With that almost done, I feel free enough to do some scraplifting. I found this wonderful layout in Scrapbook Trends that I am scraplifting in traditional and paper. I can't wait to show them to you. Pin It

It's coming back!

I am working on my first layout in months. I am working on a digital one and a traditional one. The baby book is as about finished as it can be for now. I only need to finish the calendar pages but I can't do that until the baby is born and I know which month is the first month, November or December.

With that almost done, I feel free enough to do some scraplifting. I found this wonderful layout in Scrapbook Trends that I am scraplifting in traditional and paper. I can't wait to show them to you. Pin It