A Post From Away

This is the first time I've posted from someplace other than the comfort of my living room. I wanted to give an update on our situation with Hurricane Ike. We evacuated yesterday and went north to stay with my in-laws as planned. What we didn't really expect, however, was that our town would get a direct hit. We honestly thought Ike would hit south of home, but it continued to creep northeast and will be making landfall shortly, right where we hoped it wouldn't.

We are so thankful to be safe and with family. It's good to be able to be back in my husband's hometown, the town we called home for a few years when we were first married. There are lots of great friends here still and we plan to make the best of the time that we have here. Today we were able to accompany my mother-in-law to the cancer center as she continues her treatment and it was nice to see that she is in good hands!

We have heard from many friends and family members today and it seems that most people got out. We do have a neighbor and some friends nearby who decided to stay, so we are concerned about them and praying for their safety.

We have no idea what will happen at home. Before leaving town we boarded up the doors and windows and tried to pick things up off the floor indoors in case of flooding. We are worried about the very high winds and the storm surge. Our house has never flooded due to heavy rain, but a storm this huge and the associated storm surge are a different story.

As we evacuated, our car was loaded down with our most precious keepsakes - about 10 full photo boxes, all of my scrapbooks, and our computer (which has hundreds more photos). Everything else can be replaced, but it is still very unsettling to leave so much behind. It's completely out of our hands.

Thanks to all of you who are praying for us and keeping up with this storm. My family in SW Louisiana decided to stay put, and as of tonight they still had electricity. I'll try to write another update as we find out more.