Mall shopping

I went to the Mall of Louisiana with my mom today. I am NOT a mall shopper. I don't like shopping in the first place and, with my bad back, it kills me to walk around that long. I don't care to ever go back to another mall again, unless I absolutely have to and it is just to one specific store and I know right where in the mall that store is. I didn't even get anything there, which is what really sucks. But, we did stop at Target on the way back to my house and I got the shower curtain and towels I've been eyeing. So here's what my guest bathroom looks like so far:


The guest bathroom


Close-up of the shower curtain


Decorative towel


Close-up of the towel

And here's my master bathroom--Jared and I got this stuff last week:


Master bathroom


The towels by the jetted tub

I really like the colors I chose for both bathrooms. I still need to get some pictures and more decorations for both rooms, though.

Jared put up plywood in the attic so we can use it for storage (we're missing the basement we had in Utah). Now, we need to put up all the boxes that are in the garage (I've been able to park my car in there but there isn't enough room for Jared's truck, with all the boxes in there) and put up a few other boxes that are still around the house. Need to get everything clean and ready for my furniture arrival--one week to go! That's about all we've been up to. TTFN! [that's Ta Ta For Now] :)

Traffic in Baton Rouge/LSU valance

I went to Baton Rouge to find an LSU valance for my scraproom yesterday. I got stuck in a little bit of traffic on the way there but then it took me 2 hours to get the 22 miles home! I couldn't believe it! I had even taken a backroad, thinking I could miss the horrendous traffic on the interstate but it was even worse! Makes me never want to go to B.R. again anywhere near rush hour.

Since I didn't find the LSU valance I wanted, and I'm not about to drive all over Baton Rouge looking for it, I made one. It looks pretty simple but it took me a while to do because (1) it has a lot of lines on it, so everything had to match up perfectly, (2) it has a purple lining on the back, so the light doesn't shine through it, and (3) DH helped me design it so that the rod and the wall mounts don't show. Because the pattern is so busy, I didn't want to do something with pleats or ruffles. Anyway, here it is:






I can't wait to get the rest of the room decorated, but I still need to get more LSU stuff. Hee hee! Of course, I'll share pics as I do more to the room. Ta ta for now!

Cleaning fool

I feel like I have been unpacking and cleaning for months but we haven't even been in our house two weeks yet. I haven't even started yet today and my back has had it! Our list of things to do around the house seems never-ending and includes buying living room and bedroom furniture, which hasn't been as fun for me as I thought it would be.

Other than that, everything is going great. Jared is liking his job and is even starting to understand some of the guys when they talk. :) Everyone in our neighborhood and in our church is so nice and friendly. And it has been nice to hang out with family and friends here. We've even been to a crawfish boil already, MMMMM!

Just have to share this pic of my cat, all doped up on sedative for our drive on the way here (pic was taken in a hotel room one morning):

Poor thing!

And for Kiki, I thought I'd post a couple of pics and a video of our niece from the past two weeks:


Eating ice cream cake on Mother's Day. MMMM!


Once she had enough cake, she wanted to go right to sleep. It was so funny!

And this was on my dad's birthday; she put way too much cake in her mouth:


Have a great day, y'all!

My new house!

Well, here are pics of our new house, finally. These were taken before all of our stuff was moved in. We are still unpacking and need to buy living room furniture and a new bedroom set. I will post pics of some of the rooms as we get them decorated (might be a while).

The front of the house:


The front door, which I love:


The foyer:


The living room (the foyer is to the left of that doorway, the doorway leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom):


Jared's TV room (no more messing up the living room while watching TV!):


This is what the closets in the TV room and my scraproom look like (I love the double doors!):


The kitchen, as seen from the living room; the kitchen is around the corner from the foyer (that white door opens to a good-sized pantry):


The dining room, which is off of the living room:


The kitchen, as seen from the dining room (we have since gotten a fridge to go in that big empty space):


The laundry room, between the dining room and the garage:


The storage room in the garage--the garage is 2-car, with a few extra feet on one side for shelves or whatever Jared wants to put there:


Master bedroom (doorway is to master bathroom):


Window in the master bedroom:


Master bathroom--two vanities, yay! Door in between is to the HUGE walk-in closet:


Jacuzzi tub:


Separate shower (with a bench to sit on or shave legs :) ):


Straight across from the master bedroom door is the door to the backyard; this fish pond is right outside of that door (needs to be emptied and cleaned, then filled with fresh water and fish):


Back patio:


Our backyard--protected forest, which means no one will be building behind us. Our property actually goes further out to the left, so we are going to move that fence and put a fence across the back, so we will end up with a much bigger backyard:


The pond next door--this my view from my scraproom (not as great as the snow-capped mountains I'm used to seeing but it'll do):


We are loving the house so far. I am especially love the air conditioning, since we had a swamp cooler in Utah. I'm sure I will be spending most of my time this summer in the a/c!! :) Any of you are welcome to come and visit us anytime!

March to the beat of your own drum

That's what my niece and nephew were doing at my house the other day. I have this little LSU key chain thing that plays the LSU Fight Song and they kept playing it and marching around the house:








Nothing much else has been goin' on 'round here. My parents fly in tomorrow night and will be here for almost two weeks, so I should have plenty of pics to share between some of the activities we'll be doing, my niece's 2nd birthday, and a trip to Vegas to see my youngest sister get married. Have a great couple of weeks if I get too busy to post!

Spoiled...

and I know it! My printer (Canon i950) stopped working right (I'm pretty sure the printhead went out and a new one costs $100!!!), so Jared let me go out and get a new printer yesterday. He's SOOOOO sweet!!!

I got a
Canon PIXMA iP4300. I was going to get the iP6700D but it is the same as the iP4300, only it has an LCD screen to view photos from your camera and enhance them before printing. I would never use this feature, since I like to edit my photos in PhotoShop Elements, so I decided to save $80 and get the iP4300. Also, when I went and got it at Staples, I found out that there was a $40 rebate. Bonus! So, it actually is only going to cost us $60 (plus $15 service plan). Not bad, right?

Here is my first picture printed on my new printer:


I'm a very lucky, happy girl! I love you, Jared!!! {and not just for spoiling me}

Mardi Gras Party

My sister and her family and I went to a Mardi Gras party at the home of a church friend from our hometown in Louisiana who just moved here to Utah. Jared missed out because he was working. She had tons of great food and it was really fun. She gave out little gift bags to the kids, which my niece and nephew enjoyed:


Judson checking out the stuff in his bag


Carma havin' fun with the maracas in her bag


My sister and Carma--this picture cracks me up! She knew she was cute with that mask on! She actually kept it on and walked around the house for a while w/ it on!

Here's Carma shakin' it, along with some maracas:

Monster Jam!

You know I love my DH if I'm willing to go to a Monster Jam show with him. It was my Valentine's present to him. Actually, it was kind of fun. We went to dinner with my MIL and BIL first, then we all went to the show. Here are some pics:


"Shattered"


"Monster Mutt"


"Dragon Slayer"--a track hoe dressed up as a car-eating, fire-breathing dragon

BTW, my Valentine's present is a Wishblade--it's on pre-order (it's the new version due next month). I can't wait to get it! Isn't Jared the SWEETEST?!!!

Valentine's Day

I am behind in posting, so I'll just make a few short posts of my goings-on the past couple of weeks. Valentine's Day was OK. I went to my sister's house. We exchanged cards and I gave her and the kids each a little box of chocolates. The kids enjoyed them:



Here's a pretty funny video of my niece eating a sour candy my sister gave to her:


Jared had to work really late, so we didn't do anything special that night to celebrate Valentine's Day. We had other engagements for the following two nights, so we didn't do anything to celebrate until Sat. night...

Dancin'

That's what I've been doin' with my niece lately. I've taken a couple of videos:





And here's a video for my mom, dad, brothers, and SIL:


Oh, and I've added a few new LOs to the slider at the top!

Got my box from Rebecca Sower!

She sent a great package! Here's a pic:

Now I just need to send her a thank you card. That was SO sweet of her to send that.

I made another hat for my niece last week (in the pic below). She loves clothes and hats (she's not even 2 yet!); it's so cute!

My MIL and BIL spent the night at our house on Sat. We went out to eat at Winger's (mmmm!) Sat. night and they went to church with us on Sunday. I sang a solo in the choir and was VERY nervous! It went OK. Sunday was a very busy day! I had church mtgs. from 8:30 to 10:30am, early choir practice @ 12:30, church from 1-4, reg. choir practice from 4:15-5:15, dinner with the in-laws (my SIL and her boyfriend came over, too), then another church function from 7-8:30. Whew! Sunday is my only busy day like that but I always feel good doing all the things I do and enjoy doing things for the church (OK, maybe not ALWAYS but most of the time ).

My sister moved out of our basement this weekend, too. I think we are going to move my scraproom to one of the rooms down there (along with the TV from our bedroom) and move our living room TV down to the living room down there (so DH doesn't always mess up the living room that people see when they come over ). We'll see. I'm making plans for a new scraproom!

It's snowing here right now. I hope we get lots so there's a beautiful white winter wonderland out there in the morning. Just hope DH is safe in it, as he will be driving in it. OK, well, I'm off to scrap (what else, hee hee!). Oh, and I added new LOs to the slider at the top of the blog. Love you all! ~Dana Marie