On the Move!

So I write this from my cousins Jeff and Melanie’s lake house. For those who don’t know Hurricane Gustav is in the Gulf of Mexico and it is going to hit the Middle of Louisiana. I live in Long Beach, MS and work in Pass Christian, MS, if anyone wants to look those up, and the east side of the storm is going to hit there, which is the strongest side. Yesterday when I realized that the hurricane went up to a category 4 I knew that I wanted to get out, it has since gone back down to a hurricane 3. So I packed up all that I have and I left. Philip and Jeanine came with me, so that I am not all alone. Which is really nice! Other than the hurricane this week was a lot of fun. We didn’t have any volunteers so we just did a lot of small things. We also got the trusses up on the Smith’s house, well not all of them, and hopefully they stay up! So it was a restful week too. Oh and I also started running this week! Philip and Jeanine run so I decided that I would start running with them. They run for an hour, which I did on Tuesday but it was too much for me and so I biked the next day and ran only 30 minutes the day after that. This week there was also a group staying in the house. They are from Arizona and were really nice, always inviting me out with them and visiting with me. They left Friday, which is good because they got out way before the storm. This week I ask that everyone be in prayer for the Gulf Coast, the three year anniversary of Katrina was this past Thursday and Friday, and to relive it all so soon has got to be hard. But God is good and knows what he is doing!

In His Name

~Sarah

This is Leah, who is technically my boss, but is more of a friend

This is Leah's mom Annette, she is lots of fun!

So this is a great picture! Leah is at the top then Sam, Matt's employee is hanging, then Philip is in the green shirt and Matt, Leah's dad is the guy in the yellow hat.

Annette also trying to help, but just being crazy!

The house with the trusses!!

Long week

So this was the longest week so far! Normally the weeks go by very fast, but not this one. We had a group on Monday, but got a different group for Tuesday. The group was from Massachusetts, three of which had gone to MIT, so needless to say they caught on very quickly even though none of them were skilled. The week from then on was much better. On Wednesday two of Leah’s friends, who have come down many times before, came and they are both skilled so it is great to have them here. Their names are Jeanine and Philip, Jeanine just graduated with a degree in interior design. Philip is one of the craziest, sarcastically funny guys that I have ever met! They are here for a month. We don’t have volunteers again until September 6^th so it will be nice to work and have fun! So I am including some pictures of the house I am staying in and as you can see I can see the ocean from my house! Ok, so you may have to strain your eyes but hey, it is the ocean!

In His Name

~Sarah

View of the Ocean

The House, my room is the far window on the right!

My Room

From where I was in the shot above I just turned around and there is the sink which is huge!

The door you can see above leads to the bathroom!

And folks we have walls!!!

This was a tiring but great week! So last Friday I learned how to hang joists, so that I could learn and then teach the volunteers how to do it this week. Not only did the volunteers hang all the joist on the house for the Smiths, but they also put up the exterior walls. The volunteers this week were two different groups, from New Jersey and New York. The group this week was a good mix of kids and adults and was all very competent. The fact that they did so much meant that I was on site all the time and that they had many questions, so they kept me hopping all week. For a little history on the Smiths, they live further back off the coast and are not on a flood plain. They left when Katrina came, her niece came and took a look at the house after the storm, and said there was no damage. Well, all the damage was on the inside. So they had to live in a FEMA trailer, and now lives in a Mississippi cottage. Mississippi cottages were designed by architects, to solve the problem of the lawsuits against the FEMA trailers. So MEMA, bought them to replace the FEMA trailers. So a lot of the health problems people had from living in the trailers got better. But the Mississippi cottages have to be gone by March and so all of the people living in them have to have houses. So now we are in the process of building them a house and Mrs. Smith is so excited and bought the group this week oranges. I have been learning so much and just love this experience!

A Mississippi Cottage

Smith's House at the beginning of the week

Smith's House Friday morning



Smith's House Friday afternoon

First week for real this time!

Wow, what a week. This was my first full week and it was great! We had a group of middle schoolers from Florida. They finished up the dry wall on one of the houses as you can see in the picture. Usually Leah, my boss, just gets the volunteers started and mostly lets them work without much supervision. But recently we have had to stay with the groups all day and supervise them. The middle school group was great and got a lot more done than I thought they would. Friday I spent all day with Matt, Leah’s dad. He is a contractor and so I spent the day hanging joists, 19 feet of the ground. Sam, Matt employee, and I hung about a third of joists. So now Monday I can show the next volunteer group how to hang joists, this time they are only 3 feet off the ground. Yesterday Leah, Jessy, and I worked on one of the houses making sure that the house is ready for the dry wall guy, Bubba, to come and finish it. Well I am excited to start another week.

In His Name

~Sarah

First Week....Kinda

Hello,

Well I finished my first work week. It was two shorter days. I worked with a volunteer group who was from Wisconsin. They were a youth group, and the kids were great! It was great though because I have learned a lot already and have helped too. Right now Leah, my boss, is gone for some meetings and so Jessie, who is the intern over the summer, is here and I am learning the ropes down here from her. She is the same age as me so it is great to just hang out with her. I am having a lot of fun and can’t wait to start again Monday!

In His Name

~Sarah