I can't believe it's been 5 years since Katrina, I've been watching all the coverage on it's come back since then and it's amazing to see. New Orleans is my favorite city in the US, it really is filled with so much culture, architecture, and amazing people.  I lived there in 2003 and even met my husband while I was there:-)  By the time Katrina happened I was back in Chicago, and David had literally just moved up to Chicago about 4 months before it happened.  So many of our friends there lost everything and it was devastating to watch from afar.  We wanted to do something to help, so we rounded up about 20 people from our church to go down do some work.  The first picture is current state and the following ones are some from our trip the January right after it happened.  The second picture I think, sums up what happened.  We gutted a house in Lakeview and the only thing this woman had gotten to help was a box from the Red Cross with a broom, dustpan, and mop.  We also went to the coast of Mississippi where one the ladies who came with us, her parents had a home there that was destroyed down to the foundation.

It is awesome to see how far it has come, especially New Orleans.  There are more restaurants there than before Katrina, which I totally miss the amazing food there.  The most interesting thing I was watching is that it's the 3rd most popular city to film movies, it's becoming the "Hollywood of the South".  Plus who couldn't love the Saints and their first Superbowl win ever!!