You may all go to Hell, and I will go to Texas.- Davy Crockett
Right after the sun finally came out I met some friends at the park to desperately get the kids out of the house to play. We were all feeling the survivors guilt of why them not me. When one friend said, "it's just our time to serve". 
*Now this post is not to brag it is simply for me to always remember what happened during this time and the generosity and service of others.
August 29: The first day we were able to leave our house (only to go in a small radius since a lot of the roads were still flooded). The boy's elementary school was gathering donations for the local high school near us to be used as a shelter for those displaced. Filled up my van with goods to take over.
The line to drop off donations wrapped around the block. Over 200 people dropped off donations at our elementary school alone. Love our PTA.
All of my stuff stuffed in someone's van to take over.
Later that day we saw the sun for the first time in a week! Oh, it felt glorious!
We had to take advantage and went on a walk.
Our yard looked like a jungle!
I have two friends that live in the neighborhood that got flooded by the controlled release. One friend is in my Bunco group, her and her small family left in the middle of the night with only a few clothes. So everyone in our group donated money and a friend and I went to Target to buy her some much-needed clothes. She is pregnant and has an 18-month old girl and I must say it was so fun to go shopping for a little girl!
While we were at Target we were notified by the relief society that our ward is helping a family of 11 in our stake that was flooded and that since we were already there if we could get socks and underwear for their 9 kids. 8 boys and 1 girl! Other ward members helped donate. I must say that the clothing department in Target was looking pretty bare. Especially the men and underwear department. I think a lot of people were doing the exact same things we were.
Since our friend had lost EVERYTHING, her close friend in our bunco group wanted to surprise her by gathering up furniture and baby supplies for a nursery and a room for her toddler. She posted on Instagram asking for donations, and knowing that my neighborhood is very family friendly and very generous, I posted in my neighborhood Facebook page. Within 20 minutes I had a whole baby nursery; crib, dresser, changing table, another crib that converts to a toddler bed that we could use. A little child's table, toys, diaper pail, boppy pillow, and more. I broke down in sobs (even writing this I'm tearing up). I could not believe the generosity of my neighbors. Neither could my friend who organized it. This is what she posted:
This friend repurposed the bedroom set and surprised her with a grand unveiling.
(she did a great job didn't she)
Our dear Morenci friends, the Hickenlooper's, were also in the same neighborhood that got flooded. We are obviously closer to the Hickenlooper's because Morenci friends are like blood brothers, they become forever friends. Plus her husband Steve was Brad's first boss out of college so ya know were pretty tight.
The Hickenlooper's didn't leave in the middle of the night like my Bunco friend. They left earlier thinking that they might be without power for a few days, and maybe an inch or two of water. She said in hindsight had they'd known how much they were going to flood they would have prepared better. So the day after I went to Target for my Bunco friend I turned around and did the same thing for our Hickenlooper friend. This time my shopping buddy was fellow Morenci friend Brittany Theobald (its fun that all three of us landed here in Katy, all Industrial Hygienists. What can I say Texas has better job opportunities in that profession!)
Their house (and the neighborhood) was under water longer than most people who flooded in Houston. They were not able to get to their house for 3 weeks! Fortunately, they were able to stay at his brother's house, during this time. But after 3 weeks of sitting in nasty filthy water, this is what they came home to:
Steve being an Industrial Hygienist, knows all about mold and the dangers it holds. Everything had to go. It was heartbreaking too, just this spring they remolded their master bathroom.
Carson came home from his first day back at school with this card that he made that he wanted to give to our friends. I thought it was the sweetest thing. Christine thought so too.
"I wish your home wasn't flooded but I'm happy that you live with your husband's brother instead of a shelter because there's less places to sleep"
I've been asking for donations from friends and family for help for them. Although they do have a type of Go Fund Me page, they won't be able to access that money for months, and I knew that they needed immediate help. I was able to raise over $1,000. One of the sweetest donations came from my 17-year-old cousin. He totally surprised me. His donation probably meant the most to me. He paid just $9, but I know that was his hard earned money from working over the summer, money that he's saving for a mission. It was so sweet.
(FYU I'm still collecting money! They literally have a bare house and need everything replaced. Next up is drywall, which is expensive, and are needing all the financial help they can get)
School and work were canceled for two weeks. The school the Hickenlooper's go to was flooded extensively, but it's the coolest thing. The University of Houston has a satellite campus, just a mile down the road from that elementary school that's empty, so they were able to move the elementary school into the college campus! Couldn't have asked for a better situation. 5 other schools had damage in our district, but that school was the only one in our district that was flooded so bad that it couldn't be open to students within that two-week time frame.
A lot of jobs started back up to work the day after labor day, except Brad's. Which was a huge blessing because since a lot of major highways were still flooded, and the 1-10 down to only 2 lanes also because of flooding. It took people in our neighborhood almost 3 hours to get to downtown (normally takes 45 min)!! Brad's office didn't flood but the surrounding area did and the roads were not accessible to get to his office. The new building that Conoco recently built just a year ago, did receive some flooding, but what made them close the office was that the power went out and all the food in the cafeteria went rancid! A month after the fact and I still don't think employees are able to work at that building and now are either working from home or squeezing into Brad's office building.
It was so nice having Brad and the kids home for 2 weeks. It was like a paid stay at home vacation! And since school was only in session for a week it was like summer all over again. This time though we were busy serving.
Our stake has been helping Katy Christian Ministries throughout this whole ordeal. KCM is a food bank. When it first opened up to flood victims Carson and I went to help.
Cannon's mom Jenni and I were in charge of diapers
Carson and Cannon helped carry all 80 1-gallon waters to the front for easy pickup. When the boys had something to do they were happy serving. When they didn't they complained how hot it was. (We were there for 4 hours). Luckily there was a lot of water to carry!
That evening we went on another walk and caught a beautiful sunset. The beauty felt most appreciated on that day.
For the two weeks after the hurricane, never had words been so true. My sister Katherine told me it was labor day weekend and I was blown away! With no school, work, or church to give us some barring, all the days seemed to blend into one.
Since Brad didn't have work he was able to come with me to work at the food bank. This time we felt very needed!
We were in charge of water. KCM had huge amounts of water donated, and they couldn't get rid of it fast enough. They had rooms just filled almost to the ceiling full of water. At first, we were weighing (everything donated had to be weighed, not sure why) and then carrying them out to the front, but we soon realized that no one was distributing the water to the people so we took over that too.
It was probably an hour long wait for the people in line. So Brad and I also passed out snacks and water bottles to everyone. One lady, however, didn't have much to eat all day and the snacks weren't cutting it, she felt like she was going to pass out. I tried to find some real food to give her, but the best thing I could find was a protein drink. Then a blessing from heaven. A lady drove up and said she had something to donate. Donations go to the back so we directed her there, but then she showed us what she brought. 50 or so sub sandwiches for everyone! We told her she was an answer to prayers!
These two men just drove straight from Tennessee to help with the relief effort. KCM was their first stop and I put them to work helping with water. It was amazing to see all the volunteers to help!
It was a long exhausting day. I was tired and filthy but felt oh so humbled and thankful. It was a good day.
It has been a month now since Harvey hit, and things feel back to normal, that is until I drive by certain neighborhoods and still see the huge amount of trash sitting on their front yards, or when I talk to Christine and hear what their needs still are and everything that they need to do. It's very sobering and overwhelming.
I drove by mansions today with everything they own sitting on the curb. It was very striking. Harvey didn't discriminate.
"We will survive. We will thrive. We will rebuild. We will be stronger than ever. Because that's what Texans do."
