I guess it's about time

Okay, so it's been way too long since my last update. Sorry... busy bee I guess.
I will start with Thanksgiving since those are the next pictures after the New Orleans visit. Delinda & I went to Uncle Mark & Aunt Sally's house and got to see their daughter Laura & Jack and cute little Grace. We didn't get to stay for too long- but we had wonderful food, great family time together and wonderful weather. We love going to their house because it's the closest we have to home!Delinda and I arrived in Utah on Christmas Eve around the same time- but her luggage got lost. Luckily after working with the airport and going through a huge fiasco, she got it on Christmas Day. We had a good Christmas eve night- mostly relaxing and just being together. Christmas day Greg and Sam and the 3 girls (Alyssa, Brooke & Courtney) came and we opened presents and anticipated the arrival of the rest of the family. And then to make it even BETTER, John & Clau and their 3 kids (J.C., Nick & Missy) and Shauna came! We had the WHOLE family there and it was wonderful! One of the best Christmas's ever in my opinion. We had a nice dinner where we all crammed into mom and dad's bedroom (minus the bed) and ate GOOD food!After my visit at mom and dad's I got to go to see my friends down in the Utah County area. We got to see the new Joseph movie at Temple Square- it was quite good! It wasn't even that cheesy! My friend Christina's brother Joel plays Parley P. Pratt and so we got to get all excited to see him in it! After that we (Andrea, Travis, Ryan, Kate and Christina) just watched movies and talked, exchanged gifts and enjoyed each other's company at Andrea & Travis's house of fun. Then the next day I had to come home to an empty house with out my Delinda.For New Years I drove to Knoxville, TN to Laura and Jack's house (my cousin) and got to ring in 2006 with them in an enjoyable QUIET evening... just the three of us. We had chips and queso and Fresca and it was just right!It was quite an eventful three weekends, because for one weekend I was in Utah for Christmas, then Tennessee for New Year's and then the weekend after that I went with my friends Cecilia and Karen to Panama City Beach, Florida for a Young Single Adult conference. It was a ton of fun and we got to meet some really great new friends. It's about a 6 hour drive, and the beaches are very pretty- however the city isn't that pretty, but then again, it was Winter. We had a group of people from Huntsville, AL that took us under their wing and we became friends with them very quickly. They are the ones in the pictures with us.Since then my social life has gotten remarkably better. I have been making new friends and have been able to do a lot of fun things. I finally got to go camping this weekend at Lookout Mountain with some friends from the singles ward. I have put some pictures from that trip in there too. They are fun people and I'm glad I'm getting to get to know them.
I guess that's it for now. I'll give some more detailed updates when I haven't had only 2 hours asleep and it's 11:40 pm on a Saturday night.

New Orleans Clean-Up 10-29-05

Well, I had the chance to go to New Orleans this weekend. It might be my last opportunity to go and assist with the hurricane clean-up before the end of the year. So I was glad when they mentioned the chance to serve again.

It was a long drive but made very bareable by the Chalmers who are very wonderful and gracious. They spoiled me! And we enjoyed listening to a book on tape. Very riveting!
We didn't go to any of the REALLY devasted areas. Mostly just places affected by the hurricane winds. But we did drive by the area that was majorly flooded by Lake Pontchatrain. That was a very sad sight to see. We just did the usual tree and yard clean-up.
On Sunday morning we had a 45 minute Sacrament Meeting. I haven't felt the Spirit that strong in a really long time. The man that is heading up the relief effort in N.O., Bro. Walker, spoke on how we need to love one another and spoke on King Benjamin's sermon in the B of M and to never turn away the hungry and needy. The Stake Pres also spoke about how Charity never Faileth. It was an awakening for me because so many people are with out and there is so much we can do for them. I felt very privalged to be there. It was very humbling experience.
I will always be SO grateful for the chance I've had to go and help out. I can say that I have much deeper understanding of Christ-like love for my brothers and sisters, and also of how blessed I am in my life.

Waveland, MS clean up

Delinda and I went to Waveland, Mississippi this weekend with our Church group. There really aren't words to describe how destroyed that city is. It's really very sad. The pictures show just a small portion of how bad it is down there. So much is destroyed... it looks like a war zone. But the people are working hard to recover their lives and move on. I admire their persistence and motivation to keep going when there is so much to pull back together and repair.

I again feel very blessed to have what I have. I'm blessed to have been able to assist in a very small way in comparison to what needs to be done there. I hope that I can get back down there to work some more. There is SO much to do and so many people to help.We got there late on Friday night (Saturday morning rather) and camped... well sort of. We slept in the car, or tried to. Got to work early in the morning. We were the only girls in our group. Yeah, we rocked- that's right.We stayed at this stake center the next night and slept in one of the classrooms on the floor. The building had also been flooded and all the carpet was taken out and about a foot of the wall from the ground up- so we laid our sleeping bags on the cement and tried to get sleep after a LONG day of work. We had Sacrament meeting in the morning, and then all returned to working before we drove home. It was a neat experience, but quite strange sitting in the chapel in our jeans and t-shirts taking the sacrament! We were grateful to be there having such a neat, once-in-a-lifetime experience though. This was the group we were with at the house of the couple in the center of the photo. They weren't on our list, but they were next door to one we were working on so we went to help them.

Charleston & Jack Johnson- LABOR DAY WKND

Hello?!?! I totally forgot to mention that Delinda, Megan and I went to Charleston, SC over Labor Day weekend!! Duh... One of the Sales Managers that I support at work bought me 4 tickets to see Jack Johnson there. If you haven't heard of him, you should- he's a very good musician and if you're into really laid back and relaxing music, you'll like him.

We stopped in Gilbert first to stay with Unlce Mark & Aunt Sally which is about half way to Charleston. They were gracious as always. We love staying with them because it's like being at home. It's good to know that they are so close (3 hours away). Then we headed to Charleston the next day and drove around in the town trying to find our hotel, but also checking things out. If you ever go there, Meeting Street is a good sight-seeing, happening street to be on. We found our hotel across the bridge and checked in and then went back to Meeting St. to get lunch and check out "The Market". The Market was one of the former slave trade markets. We got a free lunch across the street- they said it was because our lunch took too long to get to us, but I think that it was mostly because we tipped our waitress with our extra ticket to the concert.
That night we went to the concert and it was a lot of fun, except there were TOO many teenagers that looked like they walked off the Abercrombie & Fitch photo shoot down the road. They kind of ruined it for me, but the music was GREAT and Jack was awesome.

I just wanted to share some photos from my wonderful experience this weekend in Mississippi. My friend from the single's ward told me that the ward was asked to send people down to assist with Katrina clean-up in Hattiesburg, MS- the town we were actually in was Oak Grove, but just outside of Hattiesburg. I couldn't leave work early- so me and two guys from the ward that wanted to leave later also took off on Friday night after work. We pulled into town at around 2am, and were kind of confused because we didn't see much destruction or any apparent damage to buildings... but of course it was dark! Anyway- there was a big camp out of about 100-150 (or more) LDS people at a middle school where there was a large field that they let us camp out on. After a pretty rest-less night of sleeping, or lack thereof, due to barking dogs and snoring men and needing to go to the bathroom and being disgusted by the out houses (breath) - we got up around 6 or so. I did mostly because I just couldn't sleep anymore. Then around 8am we got our assignments and took off.

There were about 21 or 22 people in our group, including two members of the Bishopric and a couple of their family members.As we drove to the neighborhood we were helping out in, we finally saw why these people needed help. It's not like anything I'm sure you all have seen on TV, but considering the town is about an hour away from the coast- they got hit HARD. There were several homes with large trees that had just fallen right on them. Some of them we were pretty sure there was no way to repair. Apparently they got winds up to 100 MPH and there were also tornadoes.

Anyway, the first two houses we cleaned up downed trees and limbs and either filled up a trailer and drove it to the street or just dragged them. The men had chain saws and cut down trees that were dangerous to leave standing, and cut the wood up so that we could load it on the trailer or drag it easier. The third house a very large tree had fallen through the home owners bedroom. Luckily when it happened she was in her basement. We didn't get to meet her though because she wasn't home and didn't even know we were there- so I'm sure that will be a VERY nice surprise when she comes home. We got to meet her next door neighbor and one across the street and they were grateful that we stopped by to help.

By the time we got to the last house all of us were pretty exhausted and all about to suffer from heat stroke- but we cut down three trees and cleared them out in about 1 1/2 hours. We left feeling very blessed to have had the experience because the lady that lived there cried tears of joy and was overwhelmed with how much we did in such a short time. What took us that short amount of time would have taken them months to do. She hugged a lot of us and thanked us and I know that we touched her and her family. Even her small kids were SO happy that we were there. It was touching. None of the people that we helped were members of the Church, but if anything we've planted a seed! The guy that owned the first house we worked on said "We were thinking about becoming Mormon- but you guys work too hard! And it's amazing that even though it's hot and you're working, you're still smiling!"

It was HARD work and it was hot and humid (the most humidity I've ever felt) but everyone was SO grateful. It was amazing how all of us pulled together and just worked. No one complained, everyone cooperated with each other. No one made assingments of who should do what- we just did. It was so awesome to just be working hard together and to know that everyone was pulling their weight. It was so much fun!! I felt very blessed to be there, not only to help these people- but because of what I have and how lucky I am. I'm grateful I was able to serve those people and hope that I will have more opportunities.

update

Well, I can't believe that it's already the middle of August! Time has really gone by fast. And I also can't believe that Delinda and I have made it to our year mark this month here in Atlanta, and we're still alive!
Things here in the ATL are going well.I will be a little more happy when it's not so humid and hot though. And it's been raining like no body's business just about every day. I actually really like the storms here though, because it REALLY storms here. The lightning is great to watch- it can be scary at times! But it sure is green and pretty. Almost jungle like!
Delinda is back thank goodness and things are somewhat back to normal! She starts school next month and so it'll be back to being quiet and not bugging her while she's studying!
I've been able to get out and see and do a few things lately that have been fun. Last month I went to Chattanooga, TN for the day with Derek. If you don't already know about him, just email me and we'll talk. We went to the Aquarium there which was pretty impressive and then watched a IMAX movie on Sharks. It was a fun day trip and a great time to see more of this beautiful country we live in. I'm glad to live so close to so many different states. We're only about a couple hours drive from TN, SC, NC, FL & AL.
Also, Jill & Brent Woodson paid a visit up to the Atlanta area for two family reunions, and I was able to visit with them as well. I just love those guys, and their little Seth (who isn't that little anymore) is a cutie!
I just got back from a trip to Utah to see my little niece Courtney get blessed. Most of the family except for Shauna were there, so I got to see all the kiddies and John and Clau as well.
It was good see the gang; Andrea, Deb, Emily, Christina, Marin, Travis, Ryan & Kate. We got to go up to Hobble Creek and have a camp fire and hang out at the Hatch's property. We also got to take a drive up the Alpine Loop and also visited my parents in Logan. My friend Megan came with me so she could check out "Mecca" as she is investigating the Church, she also had a couple of people to visit as well. We (Andrea, Delinda and a friend Ben Bingham) took Megan to Temple Square and did all the "temple square" things. It was a good trip, but I was ready to get back to reality here in Atlanta. I'll attach some photos from the trip.
During Labor Day weekend, we're hoping to make a trip- well we ARE making a trip to see Jack Johnson in concert in Charleston, S.C. It's just a matter of who is going with Delinda and I. I ended up scoring 4 free tickets to the concert. Charleston is right close to the coast too and a historic town- so it should be tons of fun. Hopefully, more travel is in the books. I'm loving seeing my surroundings.
That's really about it for now. Thought I'd give an update in a nutshell. Life is good. And I'm grateful for all the many blessings I have in my life. This last year has really been a growing experience for me and I have learned so much about myself, the Gospel and just life in general. I feel so inadequate at times, but I am so grateful for all that I have and am blessed with. I have so many good people in my life and also have had so many good experiences that I couldn't be anything else BUT grateful.
Heather

first spaces entry

Well, I thought I'd give this a try. I guess to kind of keep people updated with how things are shaking in the Peach State of Georgia.
I'm finally starting to feel settled in. Not completely mind you- but almost. I have a few friends that I'm most enjoying being with. I do, however, miss my friends in UT. But I'm glad that we still have our friendship and that I know it will always be there. I am grateful though that I'm finally making some connections and getting a fan base. I MEAN! Friends! Ha, oops.
My brother John just left yesterday from visiting here in the ATL. He was here for a Primerica Convention and he and his buddy Ronnie stayed here with me. We got to go to Stone Mountain Park and then before I took John to the airport we went to Six Flags amusement park for a few hours and rode roller coasters. We managed to also get soaking wet on a ride as well! It was LOTS of fun.
Delinda (sister & roomie) is in AZ right now frying. Well, she's teaching at ASU also... but she should be back here, well someday! Not sure when yet- but hopefully my lonely streak will be over soon! It's been a huge blessing to live with her and for us to get to know each other even better and draw closer to each other as sisters and friends. So I miss her immensly right now... but life goes on. She'll be back before I know it.
I enjoy my job a lot. I'm learning and growing a lot. I work for a company doing sales support for Sales Reps that go to companies or merchants to sign them up with Credit card processing. I've had the chance to meet some very cool and interesting people! One of them is my friend Megan who is now taking the discussions and hopes to be baptized in a couple months. I'm excited to have been able to share the Gospel with her and that Heavenly Father prepared both of us for this experience! I feel VERY lucky to have this opportunity and feel like it was one reason I was supposed to move here.
Well, that's about it for now. Peace out.