Shillig 4 Family

Aimi Lark, "Why is the Book of Mormon called the Book of Mormon?" Solomon, "Because a bunch of Mormons wrote it" And here are their first day of school pictures.  The girls are in 5th grade at the high school where I graduated from and the boys are now at the elementary school I went to (in the new buildings, they tore down where I actually went). It's a ton of transition, but they are handling it like champs. They're so brave & resilient. They take all the change that comes in their life in stride. I'm so proud of them

I realized that since Hurricane Harvey I have changed my standards, priorities, and goals.  I feel like my attention span is not very long.  I think often to myself is it worth it?  Does it really matter?  Is that really important? In a way I think it's good to take a step back and reevaluate our goals and priorities, but in a way I think the hurricane has stolen my ambition and drive.  I feel as though I am becoming complacent because my brain thinks at the end of the day food, shelter, and most of all family are all that we really need. I am optimistic though. I am optimistic that my drive will return and I will find the desire to have big goals again. Goals that go beyond simple survival mode. Eventually I will want to thrive not only survive. Eventually, it will all be ok. It's not right now. But, eventually it will be.

HOUSTON (KXAN) — The people responsible for keeping Texas civilians and members of the military healthy are evaluating the overall response to Hurricane Harvey … and to saying “thanks” to those who are helping. When a catastrophe of the magnitude of Harvey hits, no one can really be sure how the health care infrastructure will respond. Planners were quick to set up an air medical staging facility inside a warehouse at Bush Intercontinental Airport in north Houston. “A component of the air medic evacuation system that is put in place so that patients can be transported to a central location at the airport then loaded onto aircraft and moved on to the rest of the country,” said Col. Craig Manifold, the Chief Medical Officer for the Texas National Guard. Houston EMS Medical Director Dr. David Persse says the city is very fortunate that Houston hospitals were not forced to evacuate. “Doctors are telling me we were this close to becoming a mass casualty event in Houston...

The floodwaters were waist high as Capt. Jacob Shillig and his team of soldiers drove down the street in their Humvee as relief responders for Hurricane Harvey. “You are just precariously driving through (the floodwaters) hoping that your vehicle, which is designed to handle this, doesn’t have any problems,” Shillig said. Capt. Jacob Shillig and his family live in Vidor, Texas. Shillig was the medical operations officer over a task force helping with relief efforts after Hurricane Harvey. (Jacob Shillig) Shillig and his family live in Vidor, Texas, and were one of the first to evacuate prior to Hurricane Harvey. Shillig, a captain in the National Guard, was asked to be the medical operations officer for a task force covering affected Texas cities near Vidor. “I’ve been training in the National Guard for 12 years to do this job, but I actually was in a situation where I was a part of the guard unit of the state the disaster happened in.” As medical oper...

Last night as we laid in bed we found ourselves listing off to each other all the things we were stressed about and as we talked the more I felt defeated. I realized I am not going to focus on what we are stressed about, but what we do have right now in such a terrible time of our lives. SO MANY friends and family have reached out and helped us and buoyed us up. We have a roof over our heads living with some amazing people from church. We have flood insurance and a contractor who we trust. We have our health and each other. "If money can fix it, it's not really a problem" These pictures were taken when we were reunited after the flood and at first all I could see were my flaws but then I saw something beautiful something bigger than flaws I saw us Us who can overcome and come off conqueror. During all of this I want to remember

I haven't addressed the fact that we were ravaged by Hurricane Harvey's flooding. We were evacuees and now are displaced from our home since it is uninhabitable. Jake wrote a poem last night that sums it all up so perfectly. I will try to blog soon.  Someone mentioned I should, saying it's therapeutic. The Behavior Born From the Devastation of Harvey From the ashes of the Phoenix rises new life Selfless Service rendered amidst all the strife The Cajun Navy saved countless lives day after day The Diesel Brothers came too from far, far, away How could something dreadful bring out the best in men The heroes risk it all to save the little children The lowest breed the looters take our treasures great The boys in blue and green sent in by the state Protected by their rifles, but danger now unseen Generators in the garage make the air unclean Military Doctors and Medics arrive eager to save Menacing gators in the water but they press on...

Our home. This is what rain from a hurricane does to your home. I have not written the specifics of all of this and I don't know why I cannot find the mental energy to break down the events of the catastrophe.  I know I need to and I know I will, but for now here are the photos that I am starting to wonder if I've shared before. Actually I change my mind. Here it goes.