Hurricane Harvey--everything else, mostly

I've lived on the Gulf Coast my entire life (apart from the three years in north Louisiana for college) and I have never seen a hurricane do what Harvey did.  Our first year at Louisiana Tech (heck...we had only been up there 2.5 weeks), both of our families evacuated to us as Hurricane Rita gave our home town, Lake Charles, a direct hit.  We stayed up watching the weather channel all night, a little bit in disbelief that Jim Cantore was standing in our city, trying to get as much information as we could.  My dad had to stay for work so we were talking with him as we could as well.  We woke up the next day to see absolute destruction.  Because of the dangerous situations that arose after Katrina, mandatory curfews were put in place for people who had stayed, and no one was being allowed back in for several days (mostly until they could clear roads from all of the trees and debris).  But we could see what had happened.  The people we knew who stayed were able to check on homes for us and friends, give us updates about what damage had been done.

My last year at Tech, Hurricane Ike once again directly hit our town.  We had put a contract in on a house in Bridge City--exactly where the tidal surge rushed in.  This time, it flooded the house we planned to make our home...Thankfully we were able to get out of that contract, but it definitely altered our life plans for the time being.  The plant where Hunter works also took a good bit of water and the problems that come with it, so he was working around the clock (as was everybody else in town).

The difference in these two and Harvey?  As soon as the weather cleared the next day (have you ever noticed that hurricanes always seem to hit at night??), people were able to asses the damage and start figuring out next steps.  With Harvey, many people were having to wait up to two weeks before they could even get to their homes and see what to do.  It was awful to talk to people a week later and ask how they were...and the response was, "well, we still can't get home so we don't know."  Orangefield, where we live, got right at 52" of rain; just over the bridge in Port Neches Groves got over 60" of rain.  It was absolutely unreal.

Now, it's been a year since Hurricane Harvey hit, but the damage he left in his wake is still very much a reality in this area.  Businesses and restaurants were closed for months on end, some unable to reopen at all.  Some friends of ours we just able to get walls back up in their house this month.  Hunter delivered some doors we were parting with to a family who wanted them--they were just now working on getting a front door up (and this was in August).  There are still campers in driveways, serving as temporary homes; there are still dumpsters and roll away bins scattering neighborhoods; there are contractors and construction teams working constantly on homes around town.

I was receiving money from so many people, some I didn't even know...friends and coworkers of my parents and sisters, friends of my in laws, congregations of people who know my family, high school and college friends, relatives I know well and some I don't, and the list goes on.  It was and still is literally unbelievable that my little Facebook pleas had a reach far enough to elicit that much response.  And it was an honor to be trusted with the mission of spending and delivering those funds wisely.

I will also tell you that I have never been so grateful for Facebook in all of its existence (and I've been on it since the beginning when it was just meant as a way for college students to connect).  It served as a major form of communicating rescues needed; it served as a very quick way to spread pictures and information about what was going on where; it was a very easy way to get in touch with people; and it was my only method of reaching out to ask for donations.

I quit keeping exact track of funds at some point.  But my best estimate of cash I received to help flood victims was around $10,000.  I am still blown away.

I had three families that continued to give monthly support for up to a full year after the storm.  I had a couple of congregations take up special donations and they sent those funds to me.  I had another congregation that for Christmas, adopted those five families we helped evacuate.  Their living room was full of gifts (toys for the kids, baby gear, dishes, pots/pans, towels, you name it...).  I even had a LuLaRoe supplier who collected donations from her group and mailed me a huge box of free LLR to give out to flood victims (I was able to give 3-5 pieces each to 14 women who had flooded!)  I was able to make four trips over to Orangefield (and bring a little to my Lumberton peeps) with food and supplies I had purchased with donations.  And I have been able to divide and place between 5 and 6 thousand dollars cash straight into the hands of a few families that flooded.  Incredibly humbling and incredibly exciting.

People are still good, y'all.  When I think about the money and donations people directed at me, I can hardly believe it.  But then I think about the bigger picture and how much money and time and resources were being donated along the entire Texas coast, and I can hardly wrap my head around it.  People are still good.

I mentioned in a previous post about the Cajun Navy and all of the amazing help those guys offered.  I also can't even tell you how many people we met from all over the country who literally hooked up their boats, started driving, and figured out where they could help once they got here.  Businesses were gracious in caring for their employees (I really do have to give a shout out to ExxonMobil and the way they handled this entire event.  They cared for their people above all else, and they went above and beyond to help them and the community.  They also played a huge part in getting water back to the city of Beaumont.  Hunter and I were both thoroughly impressed with them, and honored that he got to be a part of those efforts.)  Multiple organizations and church groups came in from all over the place to cook and hand out meals, to help gut houses and salvage what little could be, to offer hope and comfort and camaraderie in a time of deep loss.  Communities and neighborhoods and states banded together and bonded over tragedy and recovery--and those are bonds that will never be lost.

There will be more storms that come to our little part of the world and country.  That's part of living near the coast.  But I can tell you, that seeing firsthand how the people on this planet came together and truly loved each other through this one, we're all gonna be alright...

I know it was a lot to read (it was a lot to write too, haha...I didn't realize I had so much to say until I started typing), so if you hung with me, kudos to you and thank you.  Ours isn't even a story of tragedy (I know many, but those are not my stories to tell).  But this storm changed our lives and changed our communities and changed our lenses through which we view everything.  Hunter and I have never embraced "being Texans"...and probably never will :P  But what happened during this event and how people reacted and worked together made us proud to live in Texas...and how quickly and completely Louisiana jumped in to help made us proud to be from there.  Roots run deep...

A family friend embroidered these kitchen towels for me, my mom, and sister and mailed them to us as a sweet surprise.  It will always hang in my kitchen as a solid reminder of not only devastation, but of hope.  Of how to not only look for the helpers, but to be one.  Of how I saw God without a single doubt in the midst of all of that water...

xoxo, angie

Hurricane Harvey--our aftermath story

So Wednesday morning, I couldn't put my phone down. Between talking to Hunter and my sister and checking in on every person I could think of, it was like a lifeline for me.  A close friend of mine lives down a road right on the bayou (and her parents are next door), so I had been checking on them pretty regularly.  The night before she had sent me a picture of her standing in her house with water up to her ankles.  That morning she sent me a picture of their flooded house from the boat they were using to evacuate.  It gutted me.  The pictures on the news was one thing; but this was a house I had memories in.  These were people I cared about deeply and my heart absolutely ached for them.  Thankfully her parents had stayed at the fire station (she works there) so they were safe; but their house had also flooded.  Right around the corner from them was a friend of ours who posted pictures of her kayaking out of her kitchen with the last of what she could save, and then a view of their roof from the street (which was now a lake).  Gut wrenching.  Another friend is a nurse and she had gone into work--and then couldn't get back home.  Her husband works at the refinery and had also gone in and couldn't get home.  So they were both stuck in Beaumont while their two kids were stuck in Silsbee.  Some friends of ours in Vidor had flooded (her husband was away for work so it was just her and her adult son)...that's only about a 10 minute drive from our house and they needed help.  I told Hunter and asked if he could go get them and let them stay at our house--but he told me there was no way to get to them (even though they seemed so close in my mind). Every single person I checked in with told me their story...and every single one broke me inside.

These pictures are of Interstate 10 near Winnie.

Like I said in the previous post, it was overwhelming...and I felt helpless...

At about 8:00 that morning, a friend of mine from high school wrote me on Facebook to check on us and see how we had fared the storm.  We chatted back and forth a bit... and then he did something I would have never ever expected.  He offered me their house.  They were leaving on vacation, and if I could find anyone who needed a place to stay, he and his wife wanted to open their house to them.  I was absolutely floored--and of course immediately started crying (as you can tell, I'm a crier, haha).  But then I got to work.

See the hard part wasn't finding someone who needed help--it was getting them across the state line.  Even getting to the next town seemed impossible.  So even though I had so many people I could have put up in that house, I was struggling to find someone who could feasibly get to it.  And then my curriculum coordinator when I had taught posted that they and all of their kids had flooded.  She was close to Orange, so much closer to Louisiana than my Lumberton people.  We went back and forth a little bit trying to figure out how to get them there, and for a while we didn't think it was going to be possible.  And then out of the blue, she said they had found a ride to Lake Charles and they were starting the process of heading that way.  Now don't fool yourselves and think that this was easy to do...we're talking 12 adults (1 pregnant), 2 small children, and I think 11 dogs.  They were rescued by boat, had to walk to the shuttle, and wait and wait and wait.  They decided to rent a truck since they had no vehicles, and they also reserved hotel rooms for that first night since they had no clue when they'd actually make or nor what shape they'd be in when they got there.

I finally felt like I could do something and it snapped me out of my wallowing.  I immediately reached out asking for anyone to donate money or supplies or food if they were able and willing.  My sister and I went shopping to get immediate needs for this family coming over (snacks, diapers, drinks, anything we could think of).  We made a huge pan of spaghetti for supper for them and were so excited to get the call that they had made it over.  As soon as I heard her voice, I cried again...there was something so special about knowing what they had been through and knowing I was about to get to see her face.

My sister and I got to the hotel that night and I will never forget the look of their faces coming out of that hotel room or the hugs we all got.  Tragedy will bond you with community like nothing else.  We took all of their wet clothes home and washed them (they had literally grabbed a change of clothes each and left...I cannot imagine) so they would at least have another clean set for the next day.  Their sweet little four year old was starving and kept hugging me and my sister asking if we had brought her food (they said when she got up to the room she ate, I think, three plates!).  We got them situated, and then my sister and I took all of their dogs up to a kennel in Ragley.  Again, the same friend had some connections and was able to find a lady with a kennel business who was willing to take care of all of these animals.  We were going to work it out somehow, but this was just amazing and more than we could have dreamed.  They were wet and scared too, and had been kenneled (multiple dogs per travel kennel) for a long time.  I don't even like dogs...but it was so sweet to see them relax and get excited and fed.

This family came and stayed back at my parents house the next night until my friends left for vacation.  They were able to relax and decompress and be together.  We also added my GT coordinator and her daughter and grandson to our group that day.  She had driven through higher water than she should have, but she made it.

Now that they were settled, it was back to my phone and figuring out how I could get home to help there.  They issued a warning that if you stayed once the rescues were over, you needed to be self-sustainable because you'd be on your own.  Several people on our road had stayed, so when I talked to Hunter, the biggest thing they needed was food.  Supplies weren't in high demand yet because people still couldn't get in their houses.  The roads were clearing up some, but the water was still very high.  AND as if all of this wasn't bad enough, the powers that be were saying that both the Neches River dam (Dam B) and the Sabine River dam (Toledo Bend) were going to have to be opened....which was going to send unimaginable amounts of water to our already flooded area.  There was going to be a little window that weekend that we'd be able to make it over (going around some back ways because the highway to our house was no where near opened) before they released the dams and who knew what would happen.  So I got to work gathering donations and food.

I had so many people reaching out to offer help.  It is literally the most humbling experience in my life.  I had received at least $1000 within those first two days, so I headed to SAMs to load up.  One of the guys from the family we had been able to get across was willing to drive my dad and I to my house on Friday in the truck they rented.  It was a lifted diesel so it could handle the water we still had to drive through (and it wasn't a personal vehicle so we wouldn't be as worried).  We loaded down with water and gatorade, 15 gallons of milk, dozens of eggs, apples, vienna sausage, granola bars, chips, lunch meat, bread, and any non perishable item SAMs had.  Early Friday morning, we loaded up the truck and headed home...

The police and military (I think National Guard) had set up a checkpoint at the last Louisiana exit on I-10, and if they didn't let you through, you didn't get to Texas.  I was a little unnerved about this part, but the guy driving us had gone through it the day before ok.  We had to wait in line a bit, but all they did was ask where we were going, took a look at the truck loaded down with ice chests and bottled drinks, and let us right through.  Then we had to figure out where to go from there.  We took several different paths to see which roads were open.  There was still SO much water everywhere, even though it had gone down significantly by that point.  We tried to go down our highway first, but didn't get far at all.  There's an Expo center not even a mile up the road, and it had been set up as headquarters.  There were soldiers and trucks and game wardens with boats and policemen all over the place.  That sight hit me like a ton of bricks.  My little road home looked like a battlefield...and in a lot of ways, it was.

The highway to my home...both shoulders looked like this for at least half a mile--all the way to the flooding.

So we turned around and tried road after road, driving through some water here and there (and being very thankful for that lifted truck).  There were businesses with glass busted out, no electricity in places, stranded cars on the sides of the roads and some in the most random places (just dropped where the water left them).  It was a lot to take in.

We finally made it to my house--my boy was hard at work making calls (he was put on the team to help assess and assist affected ExxonMobil employees, specifically at his plant.)  He was smelly and a little gross (let's remember we had no sewer), but he was the most beautiful sight I'd ever seen.  When he finally got off the phone and we were able to hug and talk a little...I'll never forget that feeling.  **I walked around our house and saw all the signs of his efforts and some fear.  Everything we owned that could be lifted (so our moving boxes and smaller furniture) were up on top of the bar or the kids' bunk beds.  The most impressive sight?  My large, solid wood, full of blankets/quilts hope chest was on top of our high King Sized bed.  He had lifted that thing that high alone--if that's not a sign of pure adrenaline, I don't know what is.**  Then he went back to work making calls, while dad and I went to work setting up my house like a makeshift one stop shop.  I sent out the message on our neighborhood Facebook page and texted the few neighbors whose numbers I had to spread the word.  People we probably would not have met, but live on a different part of our same street, started showing up one by one.  They were so grateful to have some food (especially milk, bread, and eggs!).  People who had survived a hellish four days, and every single one of them tried to pay me for this.  They were almost as shocked as I was that we had received so many donations.

One of my favorite stories of connection happened this day.  A friend of mine from church in Lumberton who at the time lived in Dubai (right?!) posted on Facebook that her niece in Bridge City needed help.  I wrote and told her I was on my way and to send her to me.  She sent me the contact info, I called her, and she was going to stop by with her daughters before we headed back to Louisiana.  When she walked in my house, she looked at Michael, the friend who had driven us over and they both said, "What are you doing here?!"  They go way back and are close family friends--and we connected together that day through her aunt completely around the world!  I just loved it.

This little "home store" not only gave us the chance to meet a lot of our neighbors, it also set us in touch with some people in other neighborhoods as well.  Too, we met several people who were members of one of the churches we planned to try when we moved (and that congregation's response to Harvey is absolutely the #1 reason we went there first and are still attending a year later).  Side note:  Hunter and I prayed when we moved here that we would be given an opportunity to get to know our neighbors and figure out some ways we could love on our new community.  Well, the Lord delivered in a big way...  Be careful praying for big things, haha ;)

I asked what some specific needs were to each family that passed through and went home on a mission to bring back as much as I could as soon as I could.  Luckily, that chance came on Sunday.  This time we brought more milk, bread (this was even hard to find in Lake Charles), lunch meat/hot dogs, and eggs.  But we also started bringing clean up supplies.  As the waters were slowly receding a few people were starting to be able to get in their homes--and I don't know how much all of you know about flooded homes, but the sooner you get in and get them gutted, absolutely the better.  So my parents and I drove back over again Sunday with another load...and again, every single person tried to pay.  Humbling.  Hunter had gone in to work that day for a meeting and to work out some remediation details (and to deliver water--I also forgot to mention that the entire city of Beaumont lost potable water.  That means the hospitals, nursing homes, refineries, and every single home had no water.  It was awful.)  As he was coming home, I started seeing posts that the Neches River bridge was flooded and closed (remember they were releasing the dam?  So now, five days later, we're dealing with a whole new round of flooding) and I was seeing posts that they were closing the Rainbow Bridge in Port Neches as well.  These were his only two ways to get home.  And I started freaking the crap out.  Luckily he barely made it before they closed the Rainbow Bridge (he had to do a little coaxing to get the cop to let him through).  But he made it home.  This time I got to spend the night at my new home (that at this point I had only slept in for nine inconsecutive nights) and my parents went back to their house to keep my kids. I was unbelievably grateful for this.  We went to a neighbor's house and ate dinner (he had been doing this every night), so it gave us a chance to have fun and laugh, as well as a chance for me to get to know everybody.  He brought me back to my parents house the next day so he could see our kids (that was such a sweet reunion), but then he drove back home after supper.

*"Fun" Fact from I-10 flooding near the Neches River (due to the dam release).  It was absolutely awful because it completely flooded Rose City, a tiny little town just before Beaumont.  However, when the water finally receded, the problem came with the interstate cinder blockades...  They were acting as a dam and refusing to allow the water on the south side of the interstate to flow back naturally.  So they had to use dynamite to explode a hole in some of those, letting the water go.

The highway to our house stayed closed and had water covering it for 9 days after the storm.  This whole time, I also desperately wanted to get to my people in Lumberton and Silsbee but there was no physical way for me to get there until the Thursday the week after the storm.  Getting my hands on my people up there who had flooded (and all of my friends who hadn't) was a feeling like no other.  We worked with the church up there a bit, getting volunteers in, meals cooked for those volunteers, supplies to my people, and unloading supply trucks from a disaster relief organization.  Hunter was helping gut houses once people could get into them; I was helping go through and salvage what had been taken out.  It was hard work, it was hot work, it was exhausting and taxing on the body and the emotions.

The kids and I ended up staying at my parents' house for 12 days.  We could have gotten home a couple of days sooner, but I was getting a lot of shopping and collecting done in Lake Charles/Sulphur that I couldn't count on over there yet (and I had help over there).  When we finally made it home it was such a relief, but we also had a pretty big wave of "survivor's guilt".  Every single place you looked for almost three months had people's entire homes and life stories piled on the side of the road.  Massive black waste trucks from all over the country passed by endlessly, gathering what they could as they could.  For three months.  It was a daily heartbreaking sight.

Mail and garbage pick up didn't run for weeks.  Many schools were cancelled indefinitely as the districts tried to figure out what they could do when entire campuses were completely unusable.  Even the districts who started just a little late had to keep in mind that even though the school didn't flood, many of their students' homes did.  Many schools were having split days (ex: some grades go 6-11 and some go 12-5).  Several schools were meeting in church buildings--teachers would have to bring in what they were using that day and take it back out every single day.  In Orangefield, the Elementary flooded almost completely, and the high school sustained a good bit of damage.  So Arabella was supposed to start school on August 28, and ended up finally starting on September 25 (and we had no idea of a start date until the 21st).

Tiny baby Kindergarteners at big ole Junior High tables...

Since the elementary campus was out of commission, they had PK-6th at the Junior High and 7-12 at the high school (with plywood up as makeshift repairs).  We walked Bella in for her first day and saw the gym separated into 4-6 classrooms by hanging blue tarps.  The band halls, foyers, gyms, libraries were all converted to classrooms, most of them housing multiple classes at a time.  As a former teacher...I.Cannot.Imagine.  They also weren't allowed to do anything that required the students to have money--so no field trips (we did get to go to the park at the end of the year), no parents at class parties, no fundraising...a much different Kindergarten year than we had expected. We were finally able to move K and 1st over to the elementary after spring break (mid-March), but the building was still blocked off except those two little halls (and the walls were plywood, some of the floor is pulled up and hasn't been replaced, the "gym" was a blue tarped off area in the cafeteria...).  This year, most of the grades are back at the Elementary campus (with the help of some granted temporary buildings), but things are still no where near fixed.  But those teachers and administration and students are going with it and making the best of what they have.  Resiliency at its finest.

We are stronger than the storm...

xoxo, angie

Hurricane Harvey, my story

A year has passed since Hurricane Harvey ravaged our little part of the country.  For a solid week, this monster of a storm made land fall leaving destruction in his wake...only to dip back in the gulf, regain strength and water, and come back a little further up the coast.  He completely wrecked the entire Texas coast.  It was (and still is) absolutely unbelievable.  I never sat down and wrote out my personal account of the storm, so I thought this might be a good time to remember.

First of all, let me paint a little picture.  We had moved from Lumberton to Orangefield August 18-19 and then closed on our new house on Tuesday, August 22 (they graciously let us move in early so we could move over the weekend--plus we were originally supposed to close earlier).   As good southerners do during May to September, we were keeping an eye on the weather and discovered good ole Hurricane Harvey was making his way into the Gulf and gaining strength.  At the time, he was predicted to hit between Corpus and Houston, so we weren't too worried about it.  But since (as adults) we had been through a direct hit from Rita and Ike, we knew better than to take him off our radar.

That Thursday after closing, I brought the kids to Bella's school for Running Start.  She was starting Kindergarten and we were so excited to see her classroom, unload her supplies, walk around the school, and meet her teacher.  We were all set for school to start Monday morning!

...this was the only time she got to go to this classroom...

However, by that time, Harvey was about to hit Corpus and was predicted to travel up the coast our way a bit before dying down.  Hunter and I talked a lot that night and decided that the kids and I would go ahead and evacuate just to be cautious.  We weren't worried about too much, but we also didn't want to be stuck with the kids with no electricity or impassable roads (in our heads, due to trees) or any other discomfort even small hurricanes can tend to bring.  So Friday morning (mine and Hunter's 10th wedding anniversary...), the kids and I loaded up and headed to our friends' house in Alexandria, LA.

We only stayed there one night because Harvey had hit Rockport, just up the coast from Corpus, that night (the 25th) and we had barely a breeze or sprinkle at home.  I really just wanted to be home with my husband in our new house and figuring this out together.  At worst, we expected to get some bad thunder storms the next week, but nothing we couldn't manage. After all, that's what all the other storms we knew had done--make landfall and then progress north up the country losing momentum, bringing some bad weather, but nothing extreme.  {Well, Harvey didn't play by the rules...}  So the kids and I headed back home Saturday night.

These couple of days/nights run together.  We stayed up either Saturday night or Sunday night watching Harvey reek havoc on Houston (the 26th/27th).  Our power was getting spotty so we got the generators going for the fridge and our phone chargers (Hunter had gone the week before and scavenged the city of Beaumont for generators...we bought the last two he could find anywhere).  We were texting his brother in Houston quite a bit.   He was safe and dry in his house (after having to get a ride down a flooded street from a buddy with some type of big truck).  Some other friends of ours over there had flooded, but they were out of town, so at least we knew they were ok.  We watched reports and pictures coming through of streets and highways we'd driven many times completely flooded...we just couldn't believe it.  However, we still thought he'd fizzle out and we'd be ok.

By Monday, we were getting a lot of rain.  School was cancelled (it was supposed to start that day) and Hunter was told he could work from home.  Mind you, at that time, Landry was 9 months old.  Hunter went to town for formula (we only had a two day supply and I needed more than that to feel ok with hunkering down to weather the weather).  He called me and told me his truck had messed up and he was parked under an overpass.  I still needed formula...so the kids and I loaded up and went to meet him (brought him breakfast--nasty gas station donuts :( ), he called our insurance agent and a tow truck.  It was going to take a while for the truck to get to us because there were already several cars needed to be pulled off of flooded streets (don't drive through water if you can't see the road!).  So the kids and I drove to the closest Walgreens in Vidor to grab the formula.  It was pouring there.  The exit I needed to take was already closed so I had to pass it up and come back around.  The road was holding water on the sides and the rain was still coming.  I parked and ran into Walgreens (no way was I getting the kids out) and bought every bottle of formula they had....which was 8.  Like a drowned rat, I made it back to the car and we started the trek back to Hunter.  This is where I started to get a little scared...the frontage roads were ok for the most part (some water on the edges but not completely covered).  However, every single turnaround under the overpasses I passed were completely flooded.  I was really getting worried that I was going to get stuck going to Beaumont and not be able to get turned around going the right way home...  Luckily, the very last turnaround before the bridge into Beaumont was open enough for my van to make it through, and we hopped back on that interstate as quick as we could.

Tow truck came, I got real donuts from the stand down the street, and we came home for a family nap.  I think this is the day/night that we lost power (but it might have been Sunday night).  Anyway, we made it through the night ok and still didn't expect to get much more than a thunderstorm...

We woke up Tuesday morning, August 29th and decided that if we were going to be stuck inside for a couple of days waiting out the weather, we wanted good food...specifically gumbo.  So Hunter stayed home with the kids, and I ran up to Market Basket in Bridge City (just up the highway from our house).  It was raining, but not insanely; just steady.  I noticed on the way that the water was over the shoulders of the road, but the road was absolutely drivable.  I spent about 45 minutes in the store (with SO many other people gathering last minute food!) and got stuff to make several good comfort meals.  When I left, I stopped at the gas station on the corner to get a new bottle of propane...that's when I noticed that the intersection I had just driven through an hour earlier, was completely covered in water now.  Again a drowned rat, I got the propane and got back in my car to drive home.  And now, the right lane in both directions was covered in water...  Again, an hour after I had just driven the same road.

I got home and unloaded the groceries; Hunter was on the phone (with his cousin and my dad who were at work in refineries in Sulphur).  We finished about the same time and he asked me how the roads were.  When I told him how quickly they were coming up, compounded with all of the shut down procedures the Sulphur plants were starting, he knew I had to go.  So he just looked at me and said, "Angie, you and the kids have to leave.  Like right now."  Let me remind you that we had been living in this house for a week and a half.  And we had already evacuated and come home once.  I didn't want to.  But I knew he was right.  He called our neighbors in Lumberton--we still owned that house and our renters weren't moved in yet, so we thought I could evacuate there and stay close.  She told us that the highway into Lumberton was already completely flooded and closed.  THIS set us in gear big time.  Absolutely unbelievable.

So through tears (I'm sitting here crying again just remembering how that day felt), we threw as much as we could into bags.  He emptied the fridge and freezers into an ice chest for me to take (if our house did flood, we did not want to have to deal with the smell and nastiness of that); I grabbed clothes for me and the kids by the handfuls, not even paying attention to what I had (except I was sure to grab my LLR, haha!  It's nice and it's comfortable and it's what I wanted).  He put all of his guns in my van and I grabbed my shutter fly books and the pictures I could find--remember...most of our stuff was still in boxes.

And that was it.  In 15 minutes, I was loaded in the car with my kids heading to my parents house in Moss Bluff, LA (at least for that day.  I was honestly expecting to have to leave there too and head further north)... I was leaving my husband and my new home, completely not knowing what was going to happen.  I was an absolute mess.  Hunter swore to me that he would leave if it got bad...he was loading the truck with his tools as soon as I left, getting ready to go if he had to.  And if worse came to worst, he had the boat (except the little aluminum boat he needed wasn't running...and neither was the Bronco...of course, when we need them!)  Anyway.  We hugged and kissed like we never have before, and I drove away.  Sobbing my eyes out.

We live down a highway that's about 6 miles from the interstate.  I called Hunter about 3/4 of the way down and begged with him to leave now.  I had already driven over three places where the road was completely covered; and I had just passed people doing boat rescues (and the worst part of the storm hadn't even reached us yet).  He assured me again that he'd be fine and that I just needed to go, quickly, but safely.  That drive on I-10 between my house and the state line was the eeriest drive I have ever made in my life.  I did not see a SINGLE car going the same way I was.  I did however pass military vehicles and Entergy trucks--more than I could count--going the opposite way, toward Houston and Corpus and everything in between.  But I felt like I was going to the wrong way or was going to get stuck or was driving into absolute danger because I was completely alone.  And then my mind started wondering how long it would take someone to find us and help us if something did happen.  The road was drivable, but the rain was so thick and I definitely hydroplaned several times.  And I was crying uncontrollably.  (My kids however were the quietest they've ever been in their whole little lives.   I can't imagine what this whole scenario was like through their lenses.  And they definitely picked up on mine and Hunter's fear and emotions.  Bless their hearts.)

Once I passed the state line, it was like an invisible barrier had lifted.  The rain slacked off, traffic reappeared, and my emotions calmed down a smidge.  I made it to my parents' house, poured myself out of my car, and set up camp in front of the weather channel.  Thankfully, my sister and her family had decided to stay there that night as well, so my kids were so happy to play with their cousins.  And between my mom and sister, I didn't have to do much with my kids.  I stayed in contact with Hunter pretty regularly...he stayed home the whole time.  The last time I remember texting with him, he responded that the water in the front yard was about 6 inches away from the corner of the house (the kids' room) and it was rushing over our driveway/RV slab like a river.

I told my niece I'd stay up with her and watch our next Harry Potter movie (we watched them all together) since I'd be staying up all night worrying anyway.  Well, the good Lord intervened so graciously.  About 30 minutes into the movie, I was sound asleep (according to Aby, haha).  She woke me up when it was over, I apologized, and curled in my bed right back to sleep.  I have no clue how I was able to sleep aside from divine intervention.

I woke up the next morning around 7 and immediately reached for my phone.  I was mortified that I had slept through the night while my husband was home alone during a hurricane (technically tropical storm by this point).  The first text message I read was from my sister in Kansas City, Missouri.  "Half of Kansas City was up last night praying for your boy and your home."  I completely lost it.  I immediately called Hunter to get the details and see how he was doing.

Highway 105 and 1442 intersection (Bella's school {all three campuses} is down this road)

Miraculously our house didn't not get any water in it (and we never lost power! But we did lose sewer).  We had a tree fall on the fence, but it just barely knocked the roof of the carport, thank Jesus.

The front half our street drains to the bayou, which is what overflowed, so he assumed most of those had water in them.  However, the back half of our street drains straight to the marsh (through our ditch beside our house) and the water kept moving all night.  He could give you a much better idea of what that night was like.  It was terrifying and loud and the rain was relentless.  I can't even imagine; and I still struggle with the fact that I wasn't there for him during that.  (even though again he assured me it was ok and he was glad I slept so I could take care of the kids).  He tried to leave in his truck that day, but our neighborhood road and the highway it meets were all under water and impassable.  So he went and talked to several neighbors, scoped out the situation, and jumped in a boat with one to go rescue people (which was also terrifying for me, but I would have expected no less from him.  That's who he is).

Here's a link to the actual article attached in that picture.  It's a great one.  I'm beyond grateful for my outdoorsmen and every single one of them that stepped up that week.  

We had no idea when I would be able to get home because literally every single road that could get me anywhere close to home was flooded...the interstate was even shut down.  So I sat helpless in Moss Bluff, frantically texting all of my people and getting status checks.  Several had been boat rescued; several houses had flooded; several were ok but stranded (Silsbee and Lumberton were literal islands; and no one in SETX could even get to the next town over...there was water everywhere).  The Cajun Navy again unleashed like a pack of bloodhounds (they had done this as well when Baton Rouge flooded the year before) and I just sobbed every single time I saw (in person or on Facebook) a truck full of guys hauling a boat heading toward my home.

It was overwhelming; and I felt helpless.

Until I got a Facebook message from some friends of mine from high school...

xoxo, angie





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A Change is Gonna Come

Well HELLO!  I have been terrible at keeping up with this little blog these past couple of years.  Look, I've even had another kid and he's not even on the side bar over there yet. #momfail  But then again, let's be honest.  He's absolutely the main reason that I haven't kept up with this blog very well.  So I guess that's an even trade (I want to put the raised arms/"oh well" emoji right here).  I digress.  Here's what's going on...

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that when she turned 30, something changed in her.  Like all of a sudden she realized she didn't have to put up with other's people's crap; she stood her ground and stood up for herself; she just felt good.  That always stuck with me.  And let me tell you--I turned 30 last year...she was right ;)

It took a little while for me, closer to 31.  And although I do feel a little more sure in my own footing and care a little less when people get their feathers flustered, I more so found the umph to quit putting up with my own crap.  So here are some changes we've been making in this household lately:

1.  In May, something clicked and I decided that at 31 (aka, a grown ass woman...insert eyeroll emoji), it was time for me to start making my bed.  This is not a habit that ever ever stuck with me  My mom makes hers religiously, but never required it of us; and I had no interest in extra "work".  I'm just going to crawl back in it tonight anyway! Which is still true...but it is so much nicer to crawl into a made bed than have to figure all the covers back out.  But mostly, it just looks pretty.  My room automatically feels cleaner and bigger and more welcoming to me.  It took a couple of weeks of making myself do it (my husband telling me every night how much he loved the bed being made definitely helped).  But as they say, 21 days makes a habit--and so it was.  By week three, it was a breeze.  And now I'm to the point that I can't stand to walk back in my room if it's not made.  Literally less than a minute to make my whole day feel better--winning.

(This also made me decide to make my kids make their beds every morning.  Right now, that's just Arabella--Kaplan tries sometimes, but not regularly.  She knows she has to have it made/be dressed/teeth brushed before she comes in for breakfast.  It's lovely...and she likes the way it looks too!)

2.  I decided in March-ish that I was going to set a goal this year to read a book a month.  I would love for it to be a book a week, but that's just not realistic for me right now in this phase of life.  But I felt like a book a month was very achievable.  I love to read, but I had slacked off BIG time.  And the major culprit aside from my children?  The TV...  ugh.  I'm going to write a whole post about what all I've been reading so far, but I am happy to say that (thanks to the Harry Potter series!) I have smashed my one/month goal so far!  I'm on number 14 :)  I still watch TV some, but mostly just the shows that Hunter and I watch together.  If I have a chunk of time, now I reach for my book instead of the remote.  Beautiful.

3.  As we hunkered down for school to start up again, my sister told me she was making a schedule for their family to follow each week as far as chores and exercise and such.  Simultaneously--and without knowing my sister and I had talked about this--one of my best friends started asking what my schedule was for laundry and chores (it was "whenever whatever needs to be done").  The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of having a schedule and a defined routine.  So I took a look at the examples that had been commented on the book of faces, and I set out to make our own chore chart.

For some reference, Arabella is almost 7, Kaplan is almost 4, and Landry is almost 2.  My husband works full time and I stay at home.  And Rosie is our robot vacuum ;)  Pet care will be added eventually for the kids (we have an outside lab, so right now, daddy does all of her care taking).

Most of these are things I was already doing, inconsistently and irregularly (besides mopping--I mean hello.  That's hell with a handle).  This was fine, but it also meant I was doing it all.  And it's about dang time these kids started doing some chores!  We really started following this schedule this week, and so far they are asking me (excitedly) what their chore is.  Today they folded towels (Bella the big towels, Kaplan the rags and hand towels)...  This was a big "let go" one for me because a) they sat in a pile on my bed until Bella got home and I really wanted to fold them myself and get them out of the way; and b) I mean they're not great at folding towels...so the fact that I put them up the way they folded them (with a little help--it was their first time solo so I was showing them how as they went), well that's just huge.  Deep breaths, mama.

I tried to pick chores that needed to be done on a regular basis that were also age appropriate (Landry was tough, but he's learning as we go).  I also added in some things we weren't doing often enough (ahem mopping...and also ceiling fans, changing sheets, bathrooms, and cleaning out the van...I don't like to clean...).

Hopefully with a laundry "schedule", the clothes we need will always be clean.  And if I don't have SO much to fold at a time, maybe I'll actually just fold it once it dries...hmmm.  But seriously--I have found now that I make my bed, if I'll bring my pile of laundry in there to fold, it gives me a chance to listen to a podcast away from as much children noise...and I'll fold it that same day because it's on my bed.  The pile on the couch used to sit there for daaaaaays on end because I just didn't want to fold it. And then we were wrinkly and it was an actual mountain of clothes and we were digging through the pile for what we needed and I just hated it.

4.  Hunter and I have talked regularly for the past year+ about needing to be healthier.  We are both the heaviest and most out of shape we've ever been (let's face it, I've never been in shape)...but yet all we ever did was talk.  Well when I made the chore chart, I also told him I wanted to start getting up early to exercise (who the heck am I??) every morning.  WUT.  So for the past two weeks we've been exercising, and since school started, we've been getting up at 5:30 to do so.  Help me, Jesus...it is so early.

He enjoys running (I absolutely do not...  He convinced me to run with him way back in the day before children, and it quickly got to the point that I didn't want him to come home from work because it meant we had to run.  The worst.  He however loved it and took the dog every morning to RUN 3 miles...the whole way.  I can't breathe just thinking about it.  But then he broke the tip of his toe the week before we had Arabella and that was that; hasn't run much since.)  So now, once again, he wakes up in the morning and goes for a run.

I really enjoy my CU24 Advocare video.  I did it consistently the first time I did the 24 day challenge several years ago and enjoyed it then (and could tell a difference).  So I wake up friggin early and do my video.  My schedule:  MWF are actual workouts and TR are core stretch exercises.  The weekends can be whatever.  Each video is only 24 minutes (so manageable) and are broken into 9-12 different exercises that they repeat.  There's also a beginner/intermediate/difficult pose for each exercise as well as a beginner/intermediate/difficult time limit.  So you do what you're able for as long as you're able and don't feel like a failure when you can't keep up.  Plus I turn down the volume on the video and turn up my pumped up playlist--music really does help you get pumped!
**PS--just found out that these videos are on YouTube!  So you can check em out if you're interested.

5.  And here's the kicker...FOOD.  I mean come on.  We're from south Louisiana.  Food is everything to us (and hardly any of it is healthy).  I'm pretty good about cooking most nights...but I'm not great about making sure things aren't loaded with carbs and cholesterol and sodium and processed everything.

My sister and I were able to sneak away and go see Rachel Hollis's documentary "Made for More" last week...incredible.  I already loved her, but this attracted me to her like a moth to a flame.  And I also went home feeling ready to keep some promises to myself.  Since I was alone on the way home, I listened to one of her podcasts and she talked about going from a size 14 to a size 2 (I had NO idea she had struggled with that...she's a tiny person at only 5'1" and I've only ever seen her tiny waisted as well).  She mentioned that she had done a podcast with the nutritionist whose book changed her diet (not as in a fad, but as in the food she consumes), so I went and listened to that one too.

And it all just made a lot of sense.  Kelly Leveque wrote the book Body Love which goes into a lot more detail (it's next on my to read list!).  You can go to the "Rise" podcast and listen to her interview with Rachel for some details and an interested conversation.  She talked a lot about blood sugar, and why carbs are needed but can also be really bad...in a way that I understood basically (and I have very little knowledge about all that jazz).

So now, after our early morning workouts, we start our day with one of her fab four smoothies for breakfast.  The ones we've tried so far have actually been pretty good.  And I can guarantee you they're better for us than the pop tarts, cereal, oatmeal, or straight nothing we'd been eating...

For lunch, we've been trying to eat lighter.  He usually has leftovers; or if he goes out to eat, he's mindful of what's on the menu and balances his entree and sides.  I eat a salad for lunch almost every day (which is HUGE because I'm not a salad person).  I also keep boiled eggs on hand at all times.  Cucumbers, sweet potatoes (very little sugar, a little cinnamon), apple with peanut butter, a small scoop of chicken salad (with a green salad or cucumber)...some combination or variation of any of that.

And for dinner--that hasn't changed a ton.  I don't do rolls or bread anymore just for the sake of having them.  And most of our vegetables are fresh now instead of canned (although we do still have some green beans/peas/corn every once in a while).  I've done a lot of broccoli, zucchini, squash, and cauliflower chopped up, seasoned, and baked (in whatever combination you choose).  Also asparagus.  And salads some nights too.  But last week we had lasagna to go with it.  And tonight I made some rice a roni.  And this weekend we had macaroni as a side.  We even had key lime pie Sunday night (and it was SO good)! And I'm ok with every bit of that--because we used portion control.  And instead of having heaping helpings of all those things, we got an actual serving...and ate our vegetables first to fill us up more before we even got to the starches.

I cut the cokes out again (not that hard since I wasn't drinking them often, and he hasn't had one in like 13 years).  We cut back on the wine/beer.  And I cut back on the sweet tea :(  He switched to half and half a couple years ago, and now actually enjoys straight unsweet tea (gag me with a spoon).  I however am a proper southern lady and want my tea as thick as my accent and sweet as I am too ;)  I don't ever keep it at home--it's that urge to stop at Sonic that's harder to break...but I've done well!

It's been harder at some times than others, but we already feel better.  I went into this food thing refusing to do Paleo or Keto or Atkins or whatever named diet there is...I also refused to count micros or macros and anything (I don't do numbers and that crap confuses me).  I really just wanted this whole experience to be about making better choices for our bodies.  We're not that far from 40 (eeeesh) and that's kinda when you're body can start working against you more than for you.  And I don't want to be in a bad place then and have to do a major overhaul...so we're trying to just be better to our bodies and ourselves in general.  Plus, we want these changes to be something that we keep up with, not a phase we go through.  Learning to make good choices is something we can keep.



Phew, that was a lot!  I know this seems like a ton of change, but it's happened semi-gradually for us.  And none of it is so major that it's hard to manage.  I just wanted to share what was working for us in case you might be interested in making some changes too, but just don't know exactly what you want to do yet.  Change is never easy, but it can be so so good!  You really can do it ;)

xoxo, angie