Hurricane Season

This weekend, we weathered Hurricane Irene as she came ashore in North Carolina.  Now being in Charlotte, this meant just some stronger winds and what amounted to fall-like weather, which my aunt and I enjoyed while sitting outside drinking wine.  But my mind was elsewhere.  Almost 6 years ago to the day, I was a giddy freshman at Tulane University.  I was worried about 1000 things besides the hurricane churning around the Gulf.  After living in Tennessee my whole life, I knew the dangers of tornadoes, but was blissfully unaware of the power of hurricanes.  After getting most of my things unpacked and meeting my roommate, my dad and I were going to go to the bookstore when the RA's called everyone out into the hall.  Since Katrina was not suppose to directly hit New Orleans, they decided to just postpone school for 3 days.  My dad and I left New Orleans with every intention of coming back shortly.  I was thrilled to have a few more days of summer with my Memphis friends.  However, 3 days turned into 2 weeks, which turned into the cancellation of school until January.  So while I only lived in New Orleans for 1 night, all my things and clothes got to stay there for 3 months.   I was allowed to return to Tulane in November to retrieve my things from the dorm.  Here are some of the photos I took while there.  This was almost 3 months after Katrina hit.

I was thinking about this experience a lot the past couple days as I read tweets and new articles about Hurricane Irene.  While many people found it a pain in the ass and superfluous to have the NY transit system shut down, mandatory evacuations across the east coast, and so many other precautions taken, I am glad that government officials actually learned from Katrina.  While Katrina was a cat 5, with 175 mile an hour winds, and caused over 1800 fatalities, Irene seems to have mellowed out quite a bit.  I am thankful for this, and am eagerly awaiting the news from the coast.
 

A Belle's Return to the South

The Move from Colorado to Carolina!

2,078 miles.
115 highest temperature (Oklahoma)
40 42 mosquito bites.
7 days with my grandparents.
6 days at Folly Beach.
5 siblings visited.
4 days in Memphis with family and old friends.
3 dolphins spotted in the river.
2 JOBS SECURED IN CHARLOTTE
1 nearly dead Mountaineer.

I made it! I managed to fit all my earthly possessions in my Mountaineer with the help of a rooftop bag, including the Detective, Lola, and myself.  Lola didn't have much wiggle room but she did very well.

Although she did enjoy stretching out on her very own bed at the hotel in Wichita...

I made it to Memphis and was happy to see my family and catch up with old friends.  Memphis was, as expected in August, unbearably hot and humid.  It immediately reaffirmed by decision NOT to move there. It was good to catch up with some of my mother's friends and my Rhodes friends.  While I was there my friend Whitnaynay got engaged to our favorite Law Ginger, so that was exciting. When did we get old enough to get married?! I was very excited to see my brother Chef Aleks in his element at Silky O'Sullivan's.  I am so proud of him, especially for working at what I assume is the only bar east of the Mississippi with a CSU flag hanging on the wall!

After Memphis, I met up with my brother Drew, the Mississippi geological engineer, to meet up with my grandparents in Atlanta then head to Folly Beach for a week.  We are both interested in living in Charleston someday, so several of our days were actually spent touring Charleston and exploring.  Although I did get a pretty wicked Chaco tan from hanging out on the dock.

 Two places in my future.

 View of the Folly River.

 Chaco tan!

 This iron fence and gate has been standing around St. Philips Episcopal Church since before the Revolutionary War.

I love old Southern homes like this! Saw this on our tour of Charleston.

So I've been in Charlotte a week now.  Over the past week I have interviewed for, got offered, and accepted a job offer at a KD alum's small law firm, set up a job to nanny for 2 kids in the afternoons, and already made money dog sitting.  After much apprehension, prayer, and tears, things are finally coming together and I feel like this was definitely the right move to make.  I am very optimistic right now.  I have been networking and even have a meeting set up with the Director of Sustainability for Duke Energy to just discus her career and learn more about perhaps a career for me in that field. We will see where it goes. I finally feel excited about the direction I am going.  Everything is a learning experience, and I am trying to enjoy the ride.

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Cheers!