Back to the grind.

We are back from our week off and back in full force to the grind of life. Full day of work, bills to pay and things to do around the house. Man, it hits you hard coming back but at least it's a shorter week, which makes it easier to get through. After seeing some of what I did see in New Orleans I am so grateful for my home, my job and my life here. We drove through the 9th ward one day to see all the damage that had been done by Hurricane Katrina and the levees that had broken. It has been three years since that happened and it was still a disaster. Only about 1 in 10 homes had been redone and the others were just abandoned. There was still writing on the side of the houses from where they had written if they had found anyone in the house or not. It was really heart breaking. The streets were all torn up and we hardly saw anyone living in the area. Those that did had totally new homes. It was crazy. You could totally see a difference between the haves and the have nots. It was really sad but it put life into perspective for me. I am so thankful for all I have and I don't want to be a have that doesn't give back. Underneath the bridges there were hundreds of tents were homeless were living. I'm sure many of them were victims of the hurricane. It was also good to see projects that Brad Pitt has started and Oprah to get some homes built and get life going again. It was very moving.

The wedding was awesome too. It was such an honor to celebrate with Shawn and Rebekah. We have been through so much with Shawn and it was just such a great moment to see him take a wife and a wife that adores him. Apparently Shawn was a legion down in the dirty south and all t he girls wanted him but Rebekah won his heart. She kept thanking him for picking her. So cute!The wedding was very traditional with communion and their vows. Then the reception was in a barn that is all made up for weddings. The floor was bark and in each corner of the room they had different scenes from southern homes set up. So quaint and very cute. Outside they had tons of oak trees to walk through. Hammocks to lay in and rockers to rock on. It was very peaceful. We did some line dancing and some slow dancing and best of all some good old karaoke. So much fun! Shawn and Rebekah were out there the whole time. Us California people totally stood out with out colorful cloths and our tan skin. Plus, we didn't have an accent! One guest said they knew which to groomsmen were from California because one looked like a surfer and the other was tan.- in a southern accent. So funny! But we celebrated till the ever end and sent them off in style. I'm sure I'll be sharing more with you from our trip. We had a blast! It was everything I wanted it to be and more!