Tales from the Hurricane

Here are a few excerpts from Stephen's little story about the hurricane. As much as I would want to say that this sounds exaggerated, it's really not!

My brother in law tells me that Lufkin’s Wal -Mart had to be closed due to a fight over gas and water.

Once I got there and exchanged pleasantries with Stacey’s relatives from the Port Arthur/Beaumont areas, a bad sign of things to come started with a puff of smoke. Apparently, the people who live across the street from my father-in-law had a kid who was left home alone. The kid was probably 12-14 years old, unsupervised, and he thought he would be smart and burn a trash pile before the storm hit. Bad!!! One, there was a burn ban in place due to the area being over 10” below normal on rain. Two, the winds from the outer bands had started picking up and we were having swirling winds with 20+ mph gusts. So, we have a fire on our hands and it’s on the verge of getting out of control and headed towards my in-laws’ house. So, all available males go put to try to control the fire. The fire department comes and quickly puts the fire out. So we think. About 3 hours later, it re-ignites in a pine thicket and we get to do this all over again. We watch stories on the news of robbing/looting of stores by evacuees from Beaumont/Port Arthur, so we dare not risk getting onto the roads with these desperate people.

So, around 9:30AM, the worst part of the storm begins. The roof on the deck rattles and looks like it will come off at anytime, but it doesn’t fail. Once again, proving my father in law’s boasts that “Aww, this porch will withstand a hurricane.” I ran to the shed to get ice and rock and roll and little while getting the ice out of the deep freeze. 100’ tall trees are no longer upright, but at 45-60 degree sways. Falling pine cones become missiles shooting across the yard and smaller limbs and branches begin breaking. Soon afterward, trees on each end of the property fall while the sheets of rain continue to fall sideways. This fun lasts for about 2-2.5 hours as my father in law returns home.

Rita pics...

http://www.dailysentinel.com/news/content/news/slideshows/rita/

Here is a slideshow of pictures from our newspaper.

No more taking electricity for granted....

Well, after having no power or water for 5 days, we got electricity back yesterday evening. I have a new respect for the older generation! It is nice to have things get back to normal. Of course, now it is cooler. Go figure! Now we're just hoping Stephen will be here soon!

Stephen's first post

Well, I am finally getting with the program and trying to post on the blog. After going through what some call Survivor Nacogdoches (Hurricane Rita and it's aftermath), I'm trying to post. So bear with me as Stacey and I try to input our stories of the craziness of what happened in Deep East Texas during the hurricane.

I must say, after going three days without water, electricity and standard imenities in 100 degree heat, I have a newfound respect for what people have had to endure with Katrina.

I'm sure you're dying to know what happened with my interview. Well, the first interview occurred Monday morning and went very well. Mid-afternoon, the HR representatives called back for a second round of interviews and I returned to interview with representatives of two other departments/divisions. I have one more round sometime early next week and that should be the determining factor. Just keep us in your prayers.

Stephen

We don't needa rita!!

It looks like we will have the eye of the hurricane pass over us. We have a lot of family that came up to stay with us that live in the Beaumont area. It looks like that area might get a direct hit. My school cancelled classes tomorrow and Stephen is driving here as we speak for his job interview. Keep us in your prayers please!

School Update....

I just wanted to give everyone an update on how school is going. I am staying very busy. There is just so much to do and not enough hours in the day. I have not been very good about posting to the blog or emailing lately and I apologize. Things should start to settle down soon. Plus, my FAVORITE time of the year is fast approaching. I LOVE the fall!!! I get a much better attitude once the weather cools a bit!! I also cannot wait until Christmas gets here. I am worse than a kid!!

Another prayer request

Hello everyone! I just wanted to ask you to pray for Stephen. He is coming to Texas for a job interview next weekend. We pray that this will work out! I am ready for him to be here with me!!

The Amish Village

This is an actual Amish buggy that we saw on the way back to the Nashville airport on Monday. There is a little Amish village just north of Lawrenceburg, TN. This is a very busy 4 lane highway. I guess people there are just accustomed to seeing these people on the road and slow down for them. Talk about stepping back in time.....

Ready for Texas

I have already made a Houston Astros fan out of him! Now if we can just get him here!!!

Heavenly Skies

I took this picture recently when I flew home to see Stephen over the labor day holiday. I had plenty of time to reflect on the plane. It just made me think about how beautiful God's handiwork actually is.