we are safe...

just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe and sound. we arrived in pensacola sunday afternoon. we lost power here for a day or so b/c of the wind and rain, compliments of Katrina. although kyle's relatives we are staying with do have a generator (so we had most of the house powered) we lost cable late sunday night so we relied on radio to keep up. that night we found out that b/c of all of the damage, no communication was getting out of or people getting in to see the MS gulf coast. so today it's been very sad seeing what used to be our home. we have have had a very hard time recognizing where the images and video was taken that is being shown on tv. most of our landmarks are obliterated or have been moved.

with the more footage that we see, the more we realize we probably will not have anything to actually call home. but really we have no idea, we haven't been able to see our street in the tv footage. And we have no idea right now when we'll be able to return to survey the damage. we have already started the paperwork trail with FEMA, as they were already stationed here in Pensacola b/c of hurricane Dennis a couple months back. we have tried unsuccessfully to get ahold of our home insurance company, farm bureau.

i know many of you have tried calling our cell phones. we have found out today that we are not getting any service whatsoever. we cannot call out or receive calls with them. we have resulted in calling from kyle's uncle's land line. but frustratingly, we cannot call out from this phone right now. the phone system is probably just overwhelmed at the moment. the good thing is that we CAN receive calls here, just not make them. so if you would like to talk to us please call one of our parents for the phone number here (Marie B. and Emily A. also has this number).

we can check our hotmail.com email account, which i will update to be my blog email contact as well for now.

our spirits are high, but it's only because everything seems so surreal right now. although i know it's my home city, it's hard to believe that the images on tv are actually real. most of the time i am pretty calm, but every once and a while i get really emotional about eveything and have to break down. i know everything will change once we are actually home and see it all with our own eyes. but foremost, i am worried about friends who also live in Biloxi who i have not heard anything about, especially Jennifer S. and her family. if anyone knows ANYTHING about this family, please relay.

as long as we are stationed here in Pensacola, we will have internet access and i will do my best to let you know what i know.

thank you for all of the warm wishes and prayers. please keep all of those who are devistated by Katrina in your thoughts and prayers as the days and weeks go on.

peace and love,
Shelley