LSU vs. Auburn, high school football and volleyball

So besides the usual (physical therapy 3 x's a week and a few piano lessons), my last couple of weeks have included the following:

A wedding shower for a family friend. It was fun! It was in Hammond and I had to drive from the church to my parents' house in the rain, though, and that was NOT fun! I waited around for a little bit to see if the rain would subside but I figured I would have been waiting there all night so I just bit the bullet and drove.

We watched the LSU vs. Auburn game at my parents' house that night. We had Louisiana sausage (had to oven bake it because of the rain but it was still delicious) and ordered pizza. There were about 15 people there (if you count the kids). Here are a couple of pics:

Jared with the girls (he always steals Brenna from me!):

LSU made the winning touchdown with ~1 minute left!:

LSU 26, Auburn 21! GEAUX TIGERS!

I stayed that night at my parents' house because I played a special musical # in their ward the next morning.

I was in charge of a Cub Scout pack meeting last Thursday. It went really well and the boys had fun. I went to a high school football game Friday night. I went to see one of the young women in my ward--she made drum major and it was their first home game. I stood on my feet too much Thursday night and sitting in the bleachers (even with a bleacher chair) was too much for my back so I lay in bed all day Saturday and watched college football all day. I was supposed to go up to the church that night to watch the Women's Conference but I didn't feel up to it so I Tivo'd it and watched the LSU game, instead. They beat Mississippi State 34-24. LSU is now #3! Last night, I went to a high school girls' volleyball game to see another couple of young women in my ward play. They finally won in the 5th set! The game lasted much longer than I thought it would but it was fun and worth the back ache I have today from sitting in the bleachers (once again with a bleacher chair).

So that's what been hap'nin'. Not too much going on this week. The weekend will be calm because it's General Conference weekend--we'll just watch it here at home--and LSU doesn't play this weekend. :( I'm looking forward to hearing the prophet speak, though!

Fun Quiz

I got this from my friend, Becki's, blog. I would love to know your answers!

Here are the rules: I have to answer the following questions with one word answers and one word only!
1. Where is your cell phone? here
2. Where is your significant other? work
3. Your hair color? brown
4. Your mother? eccentric
5. Your father? hard-working
6. Your favorite thing? LSU
7. Your dream last night? none
8. Your dream/goal? stay-at-home-mom
9. The room you're in? scrapbook
10. Your hobby? scrapbooking
11. Your fear? wrecks
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? mom
13. Where were you last night? game
14. What you're not? healthy
15. One of your wish-list items? Blackberry
16. Where you grew up? Louisiana
17. The last thing you did? typed
18. What are you wearing? clothes
19. Your TV? BIG
20. Your pet? gorgeous
1. Your computer? fun
22. Your mood? average
23. Missing someone? family
24. Your car? Intrigue
25. Something you're not wearing? bra
26. Favorite store? scrapbook
27. Your summer? humid
28. Love someone? Jared
29. Your favorite color? any
30. When is the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? yesterday

Post-Utah

So I got home from Utah Friday night (9/5). Our electricity had come on Thursday afternoon so I got home to a nice, air-conditioned house with all the modern conveniences, except internet (which came on the next Monday night). Unfortunately, Jared had given away or thrown out our freezer food so we didn't have much "real" food in the house and electricity was still out through most of Baton Rouge and around our town so it wasn't worth braving Wal-Mart. Then, we heard about Ike maybe coming our way so we put of major grocery shopping even longer. I don't know how many times we've eaten canned soup the past week & 1/2!

The day after I got home, I enjoyed my day by watching college football. The only let-down was that the LSU game had been post-poned due to all the damage and power outages around Baton Rouge and damage to Tiger Stadium. Church was cancelled on Sunday because there was still not power at our building yet.

Monday night, Jared's sister, Michelle and her family came to visit us. I had dinner ready for them when they got there. Tuesday, we went and ate at Waffle House (the girls really wanted to eat there), then we drove to Ponchatoula to go to the alligator farm but it was closed due to damage from the hurricane so we took them on a swamp walk, instead. Here are a few pics:

After eating dinner that night, I played dress-up with the girls (they tried on my clothes, ha ha!)--they had a blast!:And Jared had fun playing with the baby:

On Wednesday, we just hung out most of the day, then Jared took them all to Bass Pro Shop and to Wal-Mart--I stayed home because my back wasn't feeling up to all that walking around and standing. We had pizza for dinner, then I scrapbooked with the girls; we made a few pages of pictures they had taken on their trip so far. They left at 3:30 the next morning and we really miss them! It was so fun having them here!

Other than that, the only thing I've done (besides physical therapy and teach piano lessons) is go to my brother's house to watch the LSU game. We smashed N. Texas 41-3. My nieces were extra cute in their LSU cheerleader outfits:

Not too much on the agenda for the rest of the week, besides physical therapy and piano lessons. I'll be at my parents' house watching the LSU game Saturday night and I will stay the night there because I was asked to play a special musical # in their ward on Sunday. TTFN!

Videos of Carma

Here are a few quick videos of Carma that I never got around to posting before I left Utah:

Here she is trying to do a hula dance:

Aunt Nikki teaching her some ghetto talk:

This one's for Ben:

She is one very cute, very funny girl!!

Baptism, Utah, Gustav

Well, it's been fairly uneventful here in Utah. Between Kiki being pregnant and on semi-bedrest and my back and neck problems, we both haven't been able to do very much so we've spent most of the time here at her house. Kind of sucks that I haven't been able to go out and enjoy this awesome weather and beautiful mountains. My back just hurts too much to do anything. I even opted out of playing putt-putt with everyone (except Kiki and Carma, of course) and I haven't made one trip to a scrapbook store--so you KNOW I'm in bad shape! :) My parents' flight here was cancelled in that big airline communication break-down so they decided to drive. So, instead of getting here the same day I did, they got here 3 days later (on Friday).

Judson's baptism (along with his twin cousins) was Saturday morning. They were so cute! Here's a pic of Juddy:
There was a luncheon after the baptism at Michael's parents' house. Because of the hurricane, the LSU football game was moved up to the same time as the baptism so we missed the first half. It was supposed to be televised on ESPN but, because of the time change, it was on ESPN Classics, instead, and we didn't get to watch it because they don't have that channel here at their house. Oh well. At least they SMOKED them!!!

I also took pics of Carma in the Southern belle dress. She LOVED wearing it!! She was so excited! I just have to say that she is SO sweet and funny! Every minute with her is either entertaining or good for your ego. :)


On Labor Day, we BBQ'd ribs (SO yummy!!!) and had pot roast, baked potatoes, homemade bread, and corn on the cob. And we played games and just had fun together.

And here are some other random pics from the past few days:
I have some really funny videos of Carma I want to post but I've been sitting here at the computer waaaaaay too long and my back and neck are killing me! So I'll try to post those tomorrow.

About Gustav:
I spent Monday worrying about Jared and our house, and Ben and Becky. Jared worked most of the weekend, even staying overnight, so he was home all day on Monday, the day Gustav hit. Becky had to work at the hospital so Ben decided to stay there with her and they sent Belle and Brenna with Becky's parents, sister, nephew and my brother, Tim. They were supposed to go to Memphis but ended up going to Montgomery, AL, instead. Everyone is OK, and all of our homes are good. I am so grateful that it ended up not being as bad as initially predicted! Now we just all need to get our electricity back. Ours went out at 10am Monday morning. If it doesn't come back on by tomorrow evening, I may try to have my ticket changed to fly home later. We'll see. I hope the power comes on soon!!! But if that is all that happened from the storm, I call us all lucky, lucky, lucky!!!

Southern Belle

Mom & I took Belle to a plantation on Saturday to take pictures of her in the same dress that I wore for pictures when I was 4. Here are some of them:

And here's pic of smiley little Brenna on Sat.:

If I have a chance later, I'll post the picture of me in that dress. I'm off to teach piano lessons, then I'll make last-minute preparations tonight to fly to Utah at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning!

Edited>>

Here's the picture of me:

Update, Tim's Master's party

We have really enjoyed watching the Olympics! We're pretty much addicted to watching it--we Tivo everything and fast forward through commercials and some of the stuff. Our favorite sports to watch have been swimming (it's been thrilling to see Phelps win all his golds!), gymnastics (even though we get ticked at some of the scoring that seems to favor the Chinese gymnasts but we are so proud of Shawn and Nastia!) and beach volleyball (May & Walsh rock!!). Other than watching the Olympics, pretty much all I've done is go to a Cub Scout swim party (I was in charge and thankfully other people helped a lot) and to a party at my parents' house, as well as a wedding open house.

As far as my recovery from the wreck, the real pain started a few days after the wreck, after the stiffness went away. It's been hard to find any relief at all and to get any sleep. At some points, I've been in so much pain I've cried. I went to see an orthopedic surgeon last Monday and he had me take lots of x-rays (didn't see anything, of course, since any real damage would only be seen in an MRI) and he sent me to physical therapy. I started the physical therapy this Monday and am going three times a week. Fun stuff, let me tell ya'! I'm happy to report that after only two sessions, the horrible pain I felt around my right shoulder blade, with referral pain in my chest, has lessened. I only hope I continue to feel better and better. I will defintely do all the exercises and stretches I'm supposed to!

I want you all to know how great Jared has been. Since I haven't been able to do much around the house, he has really been a huge help, coming home from working all day to do stuff around the house plus keep up with his yardwork. He really takes great care of me and is being so sweet and understanding (although he doesn't usually know what to do or say when I start crying because I feel bad for not being able to do very much). I love him so much!

Another side effect of the wreck--post traumatic stress disorder! We went to my parents' house on Saturday for the party to celebrate Tim getting his Master's degree. It was the first time I've ridden in a car in the rain since the wreck. I was petrified! I started breathing heavy, almost to the point of hyperventilating and I actually started bawling from being so overwhelmed with fear. Jared felt so bad--he said seeing me like that ripped his heart out. He had to stop at the first exit after we got on the interstate and wait for me to calm down. Then, he made me lay my seat back and close my eyes, and he turned the music way up, for the rest of the drive. I'm sure I will eventually get over that fear, or least mostly over it(it has to since we live in Louisiana and it rains so much here!), but I'm not looking forward to facing that fear again.

Here are some pics from Tim's party:

{Jared and Belle taking a rest from playing--love that outfit we gave her for her bday! :) }

{Tim and Brenna--dontcha just love that outfit, especially the shoes?! It's an LSU shirt, BTW}

{Belle changed into this adorable outfit to go to a friend's birthday party} {Brenna is smiling a LOT--it doesn't take much to make her smile! She is such a sweet, sweet baby!}
{Best buds Brandon, Tim & Greg--Tim wearing an SLU shirt, even though this party was to celebrate getting his Master's from LSU!}

Pictures fixed

I used Picasa to create the posts about the wrecked car and Sunday dinner—not sure what happened with the pictures.  It’s fixed now, though.

David A. in the New Era magazine

So I noticed one of the young women in my ward reading an article about David A. in sacrament meeting yesterday. When she closed the magazine, I saw that it was the New Era! If you haven't seen it, here's what it says:

David Archuleta, a 17-year-old from Murray, Utah, a town centered in the Salt Lake Valley, made it as one of the top two on American Idol, a television singing competition.

In one interview given while in the middle of the competition, David was wondering about the changes that were coming with the fame of performing for millions of viewers each week. He said that he still felt like “I’m just David from Murray.”

The nation may have been surprised to hear such a pure, clear voice coming from one so young, but David’s classmates at school, and especially those in seminary, were not surprised at all. They already knew he had an amazing voice because they get to hear him sing at school programs and for seminary devotionals.

“Every time it’s his turn to do the class devotional,” says Brother Justin Harper of the Murray High Seminary, “he asks if he can sing. Then the other teachers will bring their classes in just for devotional to hear him. It really sets a wonderful spirit for class.” Even while busy and involved with the television show, Brother Harper said David reported on his daily scripture reading to keep up with his seminary class.

Mietra Aarabi, one of David’s close friends, says that David did not enter the competition to become a celebrity. She says, “David understands that he has a talent and that his voice affects people. He’s not arrogant about it. He is as humble and thankful to those who help him as you saw on the show. That’s how he really is.”

Was David the popular guy in school? Jessica Judd, another of David’s friends says, “If by popular you mean people like him, then yes, everyone likes him. At lunch, you know how everyone has their own group to sit with. You can never find David because he’s going around talking to people. He cares about you.”

The Church is a major force in David’s life. “He is so strong,” says Mietra. “He is the one that reminds us of what is right. He will keep on doing what he believes.”

“Even while he was so busy in Hollywood, he asked about the meeting schedules of wards in the area and went to church,” says Jessica.

David Archuleta is not just David from Murray anymore. The music world now knows about a great guy with an amazing voice that has a quality they can’t quite describe. Those at home in his ward, in his seminary class, and his hometown know what that is. What he believes shows.

{picture from the article}

--------------------------------------------
That just makes me like him even more! :) BTW, he won the Teen Choice Award for Most Fanatic Fans. Yeah, I might be one of those fanatics but I love to promote him because I love his voice and there is finally a true GREAT example for the young people to follow! Nope, I don't care if any of you think I'm a dork, ha ha!

Sunday dinner

We had dinner at my parents' house yesterday after church. They bought a trampoline for the grandkids and Belle was a having a ball jumping with Jared and her dad:

Little Brenna is getting chubby! It's so cute!!! :)

She's such a beautiful baby!

Ben cracked us all up with his deer impression on the trampoline:

The wrecked car

So here are some pics of the car, which my dad had the tow truck drop off in his front driveway:


Before he actually saw the car, he had hopes of taking the battery out and using it in his truck but, nope, it's a gonner! He will get the gas out of it, though, and hopefully the fairly new transmission! ;)

5 Five FIVE!!!!!

That's how many freaking car wrecks I've been in now!

I took a ride with my mom to go pick up my Maw-maw to go bring her halfway to my Aunt Patty's but we only got 15 min. from my parents' house before we got in a pretty bad wreck. It was raining and this guy behind us hydroplaned, lost control of his car and hit us from behind. I was on the phone with my dad when all of the sudden my mom was looking in her rear-view mirror and screaming and saying, "He's gonna hit us!" Before I knew it, we were headed for the left side concrete guard rail (we were in the right lane) and we both started screaming. [So my dad heard us screaming, then the phone hung up.] We crashed in to that side (going at least 65 mph), crossed the interstate, and slammed into the right side concrete barrier. [Sound familiar? Yeah, that's because it's almost exactly what happened when Jared and I got in a wreck in Utah Christmas Night 2002! What the h*%#?!!]

So the airbags deployed, of course, and there was smoke so my mom was FREAKING out and yelling to get out of the car. So she gets out, was standing out in the rain, looking at the car and screaming like a banshee. I'm laughing about it now but it was freaking me out! So, of course, my dad called back and my mom was still screaming but I was trying to stay calm because I didn't want him to freak out, too. Last thing I heard him say was "Well, I'm leaving here and I don't care what they say!" hee hee! So he left work and headed our way.

It took a good bit for my mom to calm down. I thought she was gonna hyperventilate! I was so worried about her, though, that it kept me from freaking out. Thankfully, an off-duty paramedic stopped to help a bit before the cops and ambulance got there. Let me just tell you that the car was TOTALED! Even worse than when Jared and I got in that wreck--I know some of you have seen those pics. I didn't have my camera so I took some crappy pics with my cell phone so I'll put them on here later if I can.

We decided to go to the hospital and get checked out, especially because of my existing neck and back injuries. They strapped us onto the gurneys and everything. Those neck braces are very uncomfortable and I had to wear it for at least an hour, until they took some x-rays of my neck and I was cleared to take it off. Then, they took more x-rays of my neck and back. They said they didn't see anything major with either of so we waited to be discharged and they gave us each some Lortab for the pain. I am already in pain in my chest (from the seat belt--that'll leave a mark!), my neck, back, and butt (not sure why on that one). I know tomorrow will be worse and they 3rd day is typically the worst. I will probably ended asking my dr. for an MRI--my existing injuries were only seen using an MRI, not an x-ray.

Jared "won't let me" drive home, especially since it has still been raining, so I'm staying at my parents' tonight and I think my dad and brother will take me home tomorrow. I just wanted to post this tonight because, from past experience, even though I don't feel that great right now, the next few days are going to be miserable.

I am thankful to still be alive, though--I thought for sure that, since we hit the 2nd side pretty much straight on, that we were going to flip up, end up in the swamp, and get eaten by an alligator--my mom said she thought the exact same thing. I must have some major work to do here on Earth since I always come out fairly unscathed from all the close calls! Gives me chill bumps. I am starting to wonder what's wrong with me, though, that I attract so many car wrecks--especially when other people are driving. So, if you are ever driving me around and I am constantly "sucking wind" (as Jared says) or clutching the door handle, you'll know why! It's called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder! I already had fears while riding with other people and now it's gonna be tenfold. But, I'm still alive...I'm still alive!

David Archuleta's first single!

OMGosh, David's first single premiered this morning on a radio show in NYC! Go to http://z100.elvisduran.com/pages/news/davidarchuleta/ to hear it! I love it!

I listened to the interview, too--he's just so sweet and adorable! :)

Ya just gotta laugh

So Jared had the opportunity to sleep in ‘til 8:00 this morning since he’s taking a ½ day off today.  So what does Chloe (my cat) do at 6am?  First she starts playing with a plastic grocery bag that is on the bedroom floor.  Jared threw a pillow at her so she stopped.  A few minutes later, she jumps up on the bed and starts meowing and Jared yells, “Just get up and get her what she wants—she won’t stop until you do!!!”  So I finally had to get up and turn on the tap in the bathtub for her for a couple minutes then I went and filled her food bowl.  She doesn’t always do that, BTW—I usually put food in her bowl before I got to bed to keep that from happening but I had forgotten.  Yes, I have a very spoiled cat but I love her.  And I have to laugh that, of all days for her to meow incessantly early in the morning, it had to be a day that Jared could have slept in.  Hee hee!  Sorry, Jared!

Facebook!

Ack! I have a new addiction! I finally joined Facebook yesterday, after several friends and family told me about it a while back. If you love getting in touch with people you’ve lost contact with over the years, or if you love to stay in contact with people, you must join. BEWARE, however, it is very addicting! I’m not feeling well today so I spent much of the day resting and watching TV and the rest of the day on Facebook! I have gotten back in touch with tons of friends I haven’t seen or spoken to in years. It’s fun to see what all my LSU Tigerband peeps have done since they graduated. So cool!

BTW, it is hot as h*** here!!! It is 98* right now—The Weather Channel says it feels like 103! Yep, I’m staying indoors!!!