Tagged!

Debbi T tagged me.


Here are my responses:

Question 1: Ten years ago
I embarked on a journey that would change my life forever. I decided to quit my teaching job and move from Louisiana to Utah, even though I didn't have a job lined up there. I found a job right away (ended up working there for over 7 years) and met Jared just over a month after I got there and the rest is history!

Question 2: Five things on today’s “to do list”
1. Finish a layout I'm working on
2. Do some laundry
3. Pack for my trip to Utah tomorrow!!
4. Make some phone calls to take care of some things before my trip
5. Get other last-minute things done before my trip

Question 3: Snacks I enjoy.
Chocolate! Little Debbie Swiss Rolls, M&M's, Brown Sugar & Cinnamon Pop Tarts, Nutella on graham crackers, Laughing Cow cheese on Wheat Thins, Funyuns and the list could go on and on

Question 4: Things I would do if I was a millionaire
Buy a new house with a pool and lots of land--hire people to take care of the yard; buy wave runners, a boat, 4-wheelers, snow mobiles (to keep in Utah); go CRAZY at scrapbook stores; travel the world

Question 5: Places I have lived
At least eight towns in Louisiana and two towns in Utah

Here are "the rules" of this tag: Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post the player then tags 4 people and posts their names with links to their blog, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answers.

I'm tagging:
Kiki
Beth
Amiee
Becki

*****************************
About my bday cake--Amiee asked "i just happened to notice it looks like someone stuck their fingers in it for a taste! who was that?" It was Belle, of course! She LOVES cake--especially the icing and just couldn't help herself! I meant to add that to the post but I forgot, so thanks for asking, Amiee!

I'm leaving for Utah bright and early tomorrow morning! YAAAAAY!

Early Birthday

Since I will be in Utah for my birthday next Saturday, we went with my parents, brothers, SIL and niece out to eat for my birthday. We ate at Tope La in Hammond. It was yummy! My parents gave me, what else, LSU shirts! And some cash for my trip next week. Ben & Becky also gave me some $. Yipee! We then went to Ben & Becky's house for cake. They didn't take the baby to the restaurant because she's still not supposed to go out in public for a couple of weeks, so it was fun to go to their house and see her--she was across the street at Becky's parents' house. Here are some pics from the night:

{I thought this one was pretty funny--my dad was goofing around while I was taking pictures at the restaurant and Jared's face was priceless!}

{Belle made a big mess at the restaurant}
{Jared called first dibs on Brenna as soon as we walked in Ben & Becky's house}
{Paw-paw was being naughty--pretending like he was giving Brenna some cake}

It was a fun night and I want to thank my family for taking the time to go out to eat with me and especially for giving me presents. I love y'all so much!!! I'm a lucky girl to get an early bday with my family here, then spend it with my sisters, nephew and niece next week--plus Jared flies into Utah on my bday so it will be extra fun! I can't wait!

Look who we got to babysit last night!

{Trying to wake up}

{Baby yawns are so cute!}
{Squirmy, squirmy, squirmy!}

Becky took Belle (along with Becky's sister, mom, and nephew) to a circus and Ben was working, so they asked us to watch Brenna! Yay! She is such a sweet angel. My only complaint is that we barely had her for two hours and she slept for 45 minutes of that--I wanted to keep her longer. I only took six pictures of her because she was just waking up and needed her diaper changed right away (poor baby has major diaper rash) and was hungry--so she was pretty squirmy. I didn't get any really good shots because I didn't have time to play around with my camera settings and how she was situated. Oh well, still cute!

I got some cool news yesterday--I get to go to Nauvoo with the youth next month! Woohoo! It's gonna be so much fun! I haven't been there yet so I'm super excited. And I love being with the young women. The only downside is that I will probably have to drive someone else's van there and back. The stake paid for one bus but they are trying to save money so they asked a few people to drive vans because it would have been another buttload of money for a bus that wouldn't be full. So I guess the girls in our ward get stuck riding in vans and I will have to drive one of them. Oh well, one minor issue on a trip that I'm sure will be fabulous otherwise. I can't wait!

Speaking of being excited--I leave for Utah in FOUR DAYS!!!! WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!!

Eliminated

So the elimination game between North Carolina and LSU started Thursday. They didn't even make throught the top of the 1st inning when the game was halted because of rain. So last night (Friday) they picked up where the left off (UNC had already scored 2 points Thursday night); there was an hour & 1/2 rain delay but they were able to finish the game last night. We entered the 9th inning tied at three and they loaded their bases and, by some miracle, got a grand slam by one of their guys who usually doesn't bat that great. Figures. We had last bat but were unable to do anything so we lost 7-4 and are out of the College World Series. I'm pretty disappointed but I have to say that I am very proud of them for making it as far as they did. No one would have thought at the beginning of the season, or even the middle, that they would go as far as they did. Way to geaux, Tigers!

Not much else going on except hoping I feel better tomorrow. I started getting a sore throat yesterday and woke up this morning feeling yucky, with more of a sore throat and some coughing (trying really hard not to cough because it hurts my throat so bad) and feeling tired and headachey (is that a word?). I missed a wedding shower I wanted to go to and got a sub for Primary tomorrow morning. I hate missing my Primary class but I don't want to get any of them sick--two of them have brand new babies in their home. So not the best weekend for me but I can at least look forward to going to Utah in 10 days!!!

What a comeback!!!

LSU played Rice today. The loser of the game was headed home. We started the bottom of the 9th inning trailing 5-2 (for those of you that don't know baseball, that means we batted last and it was our very last chance to score). Our first batter up grounded out. Yikes, I thought. Our next two batters got base hits, then the next batter got a base hit, bringing one of the runners home and the others advanced to bases 2 & 3 off a field error by Rice (heh heh!). Things were looking up but I was SO nervous!

So then it was 5-3 and bases were loaded. Blake Dean went up to bat, hit a double off the leftfield wall (it was almost a homerun) and the three other runners scored, putting us up 6-5, making us the winners! Whew! That was way too close for comfort!! I'm sure most of you can just see me jumping and screaming by myself here at home. Then, of course, I had to call my brothers and dad.

So the Tigers are still in the College World Series and I will be rooting them on in their game Thursday night. It would be so awesome if they could be the first team to lost the first game and go on to win it. It would be a very long shot but anything can happen. GEAUX TIGERS!

I survived Girl's Camp!

I went with the Young Women in my ward to Girl's Camp. I had so much fun with the girls. They are really great girls--sweet, helpful, obedient, valiant. I sure wasn't that good when I was their age! I still feel a little tired, even though I've been home since Friday mid-morning! We did all kinds of stuff: had classes on all kinds of stuff (fires, sanitation, first aid, nutrition, etc.), played water games and swam (just the girls did this but it was fun watching them), did some line dancing, had a family home evening lesson and activity, played games ("Do you love your neighbor?" was SO much fun, even though I have a bruise on my arm from being elbowed!), saw a presentation at the Nature Center which included a tarantula, snake, millipede, and hedgehog, watched each ward's skit (our was the best!), went on a 3-mile hike (felt like much longer in the hot humidity with long shirts and pants on!!!), went canoeing down the river, fished, made placemats for kids at St. Jude's and lots of other little fun moments. We got to stay in air-conditioned cabins with a mess hall but there were only two toilets and two showers on each wing (with ~24 girls/leaders on each of the two wings). BTW, my mom went as one of the cooks. We had lots of great food! We did a lot of walking so my back is still hurting a little (and my paddling the back of the canoe didn't help much). I was so happy to get home, put a load of laundry in the washer, take a long shower, nap for a couple of hours, take a long, hot bath in the jetted tub and sleep peacefully in my own bed without the sounds of creaking beds! I hope I get to go again next, year, though.

We went to my parents' house straight from church yesterday. My mom made baked chicken, baked potatoes, corn, salad, and rolls and Jared and I made brownies and homemade ice cream. Tim, Ben, Becky, Belle, and Brenna were there, as well. We gave my dad a new camera memory card and card reader (Kiki and I went in on it together). We stayed until the LSU baseball game ended after 9:00.

It was LSU's first game in the College World Series since 2004 and they lost to North Carolina. There was one play in the 8th inning where the ump called an out on us but the replay showed that he was totally safe. That was the 3rd out and we had other guys on base so I wonder what would have happened if the ump had gotten it right. Oh well. We're still in the tournament, as it is double elimination, but no team has ever lost in the 1st round and come back to win it. Maybe we can be the first!

Here are some pictures I took yesterday:

Brenna has hip dysplasia (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_dysplasia_%28human%29 if you don't know what that is). Poor thing to wear this brace for four weeks but it's so cute on her! BTW, I had it when I was born, too, and had to wear a brace. I never knew that until yesterday!

This is for Kiki to see Dad opening our present. He said he was going to buy that very same picture card but kept putting off buying it. And he was excited about the new card reader!
Daddy Ben with his 2 girls. Aaaaw!

Not too much going on the next couple of weeks--just piano lessons a couple of church mtgs. I'll just be gearing up for my 2 week trip to Utah that starts on July 1!!!

Tigers headed to Omaha!!!

Just a quick post to say congrats to the Tigers, who WHOOPED UC Irvine tonight 21-7!!! They are headed to the College World Series next weekend! The game was over four hours long and we were ahead so far by the 6th inning that they switched to another ballgame on ESPN, so I had to finish it by listening on the radio. I had to watch/listen while I packed for camp. I'm all packed now, just gotta get up at 5am to get ready go. Later!

GEAUX TIGERS!!!!

Busy, busy, busy!!!

Just to give you and idea of what I've been doing:

Wed.: got up early to practice the piano, drove to Hammond for my uncle's funeral (at which I played the piano), stayed for the family luncheon afterward, drove to Baton Rouge to see my new niece again

Thurs.: Went and picked up my parents at their house so we could pick up my sister, Kiki, from the New Orleans airport. We stopped to eat then drove to B.R. to see Brenna again. I stayed at my parents' house that night.

Fri.: Went to breakfast with my mom and sis then we waited for Brenna to get home from the hospital. We went to Ben & Becky's house when they got home, left for a bit to go out to eat with our good friend Shelly and her Mom, then went back to their house and stayed until after 11pm. I stayed another night at my parents' with Kiki.

Sat.: Kiki, Mom and I went and shopped at the French Market in New Orleans and met up with my brother, Tim, and had lunch. We drove my mom back to her house then headed to my house, where our friend Shelly came and spent the night with us. We had a great time snacking (never go grocery shopping with two pregnant ladies!) and chatting the night away (we stayed up until after 2am).

Sun.: Kiki, Jared and I went to church, then Kiki and I headed to my parents' house straight from church. Jared went to work after sacrament mtg. and went to my parents' house a little later. We had roast beef and ham po-boys at my parents' with our family and Becky's family and watched the LSU baseball game--they were losing but came back and won in the 9th inning! Whew! I stayed yet another night at my parents'.


Mon. (today): Brenna had a dr.'s appt., so Becky dropped her off and Kiki, Mom, Dad, Belle and I went to eat at a great place in Hammond. When we got back to their house, Dad brought Kiki to the airport. I stayed with my Mom until Becky picked up Belle (so I could see Brenna for a minute), then I drove home to shop, do laundry, and pack for girl's camp in the morning.


I'll be at camp from tomorrow until Friday. I hope it doesn't get any hotter over the next few days so we won't burn up and be miserable. At least we get to sleep in air conditioned cabins and all our food will be prepared. BTW, my mom is going as a camp cook, ha ha! Don't envy that job! I'm sure I'll have a great time with the girls but wish me luck!


Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure :

{Brenna on her pink LSU blanket in the hospital on her 2nd day}

{Angel Baby--day 3}

{Kiki, Jeannie, Shelly, Me Fri. night}

{Belle, ready for bed, Fri. night}

{Kiki, Mom, Me in New Orleans on Sat.} {How cute is that?! She has enough hair to have bows clipped in, not stuck on with Caro syrup, like most baby girls!} {This is at my parents' house on Sunday}
{Jared & Brenna}
{Kiki & Belle this morning}

A new niece!!!!

My brother and his wife had their 2nd girl today. She is BEAUTIFUL!!! She looks a lot like Belle did but she has darker hair, and more of it. Her name is Brenna:
Her Daddy and big sis:
Her favorite aunt, heh heh!
A kiss from her big sis:
A kiss from her Daddy:
Check out that hair!
Cute little tootsies!
Beautiful girl with her eyes open:
Anxiously awaiting mealtime with her Mom:

I already can't wait to see her again! Huge congrats to Ben & Becky! Y'all are one lucky couple! :)

Lagniappe Days at Alex Box

Lagniappe is a Cajun French term meaning "a little something extra." Since the last game at Alex Box Stadium was supposed to be May 11 (due to a new baseball stadium being built at LSU) but the Tigers continued to win and sweep through the SEC championship, LSU fans and officials are referring to the regional tournament as "Lagniappe Days". And, since they won all three games they played this weekend, they will now get to host the Super Regional tournament next weekend. BTW, their win streak has been extended to a whopping 23--a new SEC record. Two more wins and we're in the College World Series! Here's to more Lagniappe at the Box! Laissez le bon temps rouler!!! [Let the good times roll!]



I haven't posted since last Monday but not too much has been going on except lots of church stuff--Young Women's Wed. night, a Cub Scout pack mtg. on Thursday and lots of prep for both. Jared's bday was Tuesday but he just wanted to stay in so I made dinner and we just relaxed. I gave him some stuff for his gas BBQ grill--a meat thermometer, spray-on cleaner, and a cleaning brush. He got some good stuff at his birthday party--a shirt and money from my parents, a "The Dirty Dozen" DVD (one of his all-time favorite movies) from Ben & Becky, and cologne from his sister.



I got my birthday present really early:22" monitor! This baby is huge--notice the two programs sitting comfortably side-by-side. Trust me, this thing is bigger IRL than it looks in the picture. We took advantage of a Memorial Day sale and it arrived only three days later! I love it!

We had stake conference last night and this morning. It was really good--yet another reminder that we really need to get more food storage, though!

One of my dad's brothers died on Friday; the funeral is Wed. I might play the piano at the service but they haven't told me for sure yet. On to brighter news:

Tuesday afternoon I will have another niece (Ben & Becky's 2nd girl)! Can't wait to see what she looks like! Then Kiki is fyling in from Utah Thursday night. Woohoo! She leaves the night before girl's camp starts so I will be extremely busy for the next two weeks. It will all be fabulously fun, though!


Happy Summer, y'all!!!