Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

We all remember that day in 2005 when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and ultimately changed the lives of us all.  It was heartbreaking witnessing all of those who lost their homes, their family members and their city.

We drove through the Ninth Ward which is the area that was completely under water after Katrina.  Alot of the homes still had the "X" on the house which is the symbol that the rescuers used to identify alive/dead/rescued/lost people during the search.  Alot of the homes are still boarded up and have been deserted.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie started a program where after Katrina, if you owned your home and could pay for half of the rebuild of your home, they would match it and rebuild your home for you.  But these aren't just any homes.  They are energy efficient homes to the extreme.  They are all solar paneled and in the summertime, their meters run backwards because they are so energy efficient.  They are very different looking and I am told that if there is another flood, they will separate from their posts and FLOAT!  Wow!  Check out these houses....

The new levee....

Pretty cool, huh?! It is so humbling to see what these people went through but so glad to see some good has come of this situation!

Southern Baptist Convention

The Convention itself was good, yet really busy.  Meeting after meeting for several days full of great speakers and wonderful people.  One day we went to a Pastors' Wive's Luncheon and Jeannie Elliff and Pam Tebow both spoke and both were wonderful.  

Slideshow about Pam Tebow included pics of her son, Tim Tebow....

Tim Tebow's mom, a wonderful, Godly woman...

Here is a video of her singing scripture to song which is what the Tebows have done since the kids were small.  She admitted she can't sing a lick but sang anyway...so neat!

I got to see one of my favorite people in the whole world while we were in New Orleans, Jackey Perry.    She is also a college friend and we were bridesmaids in each other's weddings.  She was my accountability partner for years after college and we went through some really hard times together.  We haven't seen much of each other since then because after her and Justin married, they moved to North Carolina for seminary and then moved to Tampa, FL to start a church after that.  We met up and it was SOOOO good to see her!

Meredith Anderson was there leading worship one day at lunch....

The Pastors' Wive's Luncheon with Jackey and Elaine.  It hosted over 2,500 ladies and they sold out and people were turned away after that!

One afternoon at the Pastor's Conference these were the speakers.  David Platt was my favorite!  Listening to him never lacks zeal or conviction!

Overall the convention was great!

New Orleans, LA

This past week Jay and I spent the week in New Orleans at the Southern Baptist Convention.  I love to go on these "work" trips with Jay because I love to go to the Pastor's Conference/Convention as well as it is a great excuse to sightsee different cities.  Last year we were in Phoenix and this year, NOLA.  

Jay and I have been to New Orleans once before when we went on a cruise together back in 2002 with some friends when we were only dating.  Of course that was before Hurricane Katrina so things have changed some since then.

NOLA is an interesting town to say the least.  The town is so unique and the homes are beautiful.  People are blunt, honest, individual and confident.  There is some wonderful history to the town and lots to explore.  I took random pictures of NOLA as we ventured out during the week so these may be a bit random.  This post is dedicated to the town itself and more "Convention" posts to come.

We did eat beignets (french donuts) and coffee at Cafe Du Monde once and they are soooo good!

One morning we rode the street car (trolley) to Cafe Du Monde for beignets for breakfast and the line was down the block just to be seated.  So we ate across the street here.  It was a good thing because about the time we sat down in this restaurant it started pouring down and people in the Cafe Du Monde line started scattering.

This restaurant has been featured on the Food Network several times....

The french market was so fun and unique!

Hmmm....not too sure I want to try this.

One morning we opened up our window and saw a cruise ship.  It took us back to our dating days when we went on our first cruise.

This is a tribute to Hurricane Katrina....

Our hotel one block from the convention center...

We ate here one day for lunch with one of my good friends Jeri Ann and her husband Clay.  We live several hours away so it was great to get to see them!

Jeri Ann is a college friend and would have been one of my roommates my Sophomore year but ended up not coming back to Union.  We have kept in touch over the years and have been each other's confidant over the past year through some hard times that we were both going through.  It was soooo good to hug her neck!

We saw our friends Bro. Danny and Mrs. Rhonda several times over the course of the week.  More than twice we ended up being at the same restaurant at the same time.

Cool jewelry shop....

Jackson Square....

You can't go to NOLA without taking a picture of Bourbon street (don't worry we didn't spend any time there!)....

We went to Deanies' Seafood Restaurant several times over the course of the week with our friends James and Beth.  Their oldest daughter, Olivia, was my buddy! :)  They also have a daughter Karis.

 I walked through this tent as they were putting it up at our friends hotel a couple of hours before this picture was taken.  We didn't know why they were putting it up however my cousin Kara Morgan took this picture later that day and the Vice President was staying there that night ha!   

We ate breakfast one morning with my one of my friends Jackey and her husband, Justin Perry.

This is my ZTA big sister Elaine!  They actually live in NOLA because her and her husband have started a church there.  When we found out the Convention was in NOLA we were so excited to get to see her and her husband Matt!  We met up with them multiple times and it was so fun!

There were so many things I loved about our trip however my favorite was getting to spend the week with this handsome man.  :)

More NOLA posts coming!