Sold my old car (2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue); it was a great car for me (after Jared totaled my last car with me in it) but Jared wanted me to get a new one
Got a minuscule amount of snow on the 4th--only snowed for a couple of hours that night and melted at our house by midnight (some people in neighboring towns still had some snow on the ground the next morning but not for long)
Have been busing decorating, online shopping (I love Amazon.com!!), wrapping gifts, making cookies and all of the other Christmas to-do list stuff
Went to Lafayette with Jared to eat and see the Daughtry concert!
Played piano for the youth's Christmas play at our ward party--the kids did great!
Went caroling and handed out gifts at a nursing home with some friends
Am anxiously waiting for Kiki and her family and Nikki to fly here next week!!! I CAN'T WAIT!!!!
{Me & Jared eating at Prejean's in Lafayette before the Daughtry concert}:
Up on the schedule for this weekend: Jared is a groomsmen in a friend's wedding (Wendy Barker, for those of you from Hammond) and we have the rehearsal dinner Friday night, the temple sealing Saturday afternoon and the ring ceremony and reception Saturday night, after which we will run home and watch what's left of the Saints game. GEAUX SAINTS! WHO DAT?! Sunday, I am playing the piano (for all the congregational hymns and special music #'s) in sacrament meeting for our Christmas program. Monday, I will head to my parents' house and wait for Kiki & her family to get there from the airport. WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!! I will probably stay most of next week and the week after that at my parents' house and Jared will come and stay when he can (he still has to work, dangit!). If I don't post before Christmas, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends!
Temple night with the youth (Jared was released as YM president, BTW)
Bought a new car! A 2009 Toyota Camry LE--I love it!
Dinner and midnight showing of New Moon with friends
Lots of Saints games, mostly at home after church but one Monday night game at my parents'--they are still undefeated! WHO DAT?!
LSU games with family--we ended up 9-3 and are headed to the Citrus Bowl vs. Penn State on New Year's Day. GEAUX TIGERS!
Went to Albany Ward to see Belle in her first Primary program, then had dinner at Becky's parents'
Went shopping at the French Market in New Orleans with my mom
Thanksgiving at my aunt's house in Jackson, MS (I missed Ben and his girls but it was nice hanging out with my aunt, uncle, parents, brother Tim, Maw-maw and some distant relatives. And AWESOME food (fried turkey, smoked turkey, ham, artichoke casserole, mirlinton/shrimp casserole, sweet potato casserole that tasted like praline, homemade mac & cheese, my ambrosia plus other stuff)!!!!
Bought a TV for my scraproom
Went shopping and to lunch and a movie with Jared on Black Friday (no, we didn't do the early morning thing)
Some pics:
{Jared hanging out with the guys outside on Thanksgiving}:
{The Gold Guy in the French Quarter on the day my mom and I went shopping}:
Some home decor additions: {Curtains in the TV room (as opposed to the flannel blanket that was hanging up)}:
{Vinyl words (cut with my Wishblad machine!)added above the tub in the master bathroom}:
{Vinyl fleur de lis added above the toilet in the guest bathroom}:
I had a great Halloween. I woke up early that morning to drive to Hammond to play the piano at the memorial service for a dear lady from my church in Hammond, Mary Nelson. She was also a pianist, a very good one, and was always so supportive of my musical endeavors and always told me she loved to hear me play. While I was sad to hear of her passing, it makes me happy to think of her being with her husband again.
After the service, I went to my brother, Ben's, house and hung out with his family all day. He spent most of the day working while my SIL and I went shopping with the girls and prepared for the Halloween party we attended that night. We all went to a friend's house, along with my parents, that night for their annual party, which always starts with a hay ride around their rural neighborhood to go trick-or-treating with the kids--then we go back to the house and eat lots of yummy food and just hang out the rest of the night. Jared worked all day (he actually left the house before I did) so he didn't attend the party with me. I missed having him there but it was really fun. Here are some pics from the night:
{Belle was Pocahontas and I was an Alabama fan, AKA a redneck, ha ha! This was taken at the beginning of the hay ride}:
{Ben and his beautiful family--Ben was Jack, Becky was an LSU Tiger, Brenna was the cutest monkey (who slept through the first little bit of the hayride)}:
{Brenna the monkey while trick-or-treating}:
{Belle hamming it up for the camera}:
{Brenna enjoying some of her loot}:
It was a really fun night and the weather was amazingly perfect all day and night. It was the first Saturday that I didn't watch football most of the day but it was worth it to spend the day and night with my nieces. LSU skunked Tulane 42-0. Geaux Tigers!!! We are still #9 and are 7-1. And last night, the Saints won yet again and are still undefeated. Who dat?!!! :)
Not too much going on this week outside of normal obligations. I'm going with the youth to the temple tomorrow night, which is always special, after which we are going out to eat. I'm not gonna get to watch the BIG game this weekend (LSU vs. Bama) because I will be co-hostessing a wedding shower for a friend from Hammond. I'm really good friends with her mom and adore her whole family--actually, her brother's house is where the Halloween party was. I had a part in getting the couple together--the guy is from my current ward. While I am going to sorely miss being able to watch the game with family and friends, I am happy to be there to celebrate the up-coming marriage of two people that I think are great. I'll just have my brothers text me with updates of the game throughout the shower! :) I REALLY hope the Tigers can play their best and pull out the win against the #3 team! GEAUX TIGERS!!!!!!
Well, it's been three months since my last post. Jared keeps asking me if I'm gonna do anything on my blog so I decided I'd come and actually post. Here's what I've been up to the past few months (besides all the regular stuff, like piano lessons, Young Women's every Wed. night, etc.):
Last week of July:
My friend, Seth, was in town from Houston, so we had dinner with his whole family at his parents' house
I got a nerve in my neck "burned" and was "down" for about three days--It didn't work at all, I haven't gotten any more shots or procedures in my back or neck since; I decided to give up on the shots for the time being since they're not working (and they're expensive and I get SUPER worked up and nervous before each one)
was driving in Baton Rouge and saw a squirrel fall from a tree, scamper furiously around, and very narrowly escape the tires of a passing car. I have no idea how that thing missed being squashed!!
watched a friend from drum corps way back when I was a teen throw knives on the Conan Show
August:
Went with the youth to the temple to do baptisms
Enjoyed the finale of So You Think You Can Dance--my fave, Jeanine, won!
Went shopping and out to eat at Olive Garden with a few of the young women and two other leaders
Had Sunday dinner at my parents'
Went to the Bishop's Storehouse with the youth
Started getting bi-weekly massages from a volleyball friend, yay!!!
Drove to Georgia for our nephew's first birthday--Jared's sister & BIL who live in FL also went, as well as his mom; we had so much fun hanging out, having a birthday party, going to Stone Mountain, and just enjoying our nephew
Seth was back in town for business so I had a bunch of our friends plus my brothers over to play Guitar Hero--we had a blast!
September:
Had a great day babysitting Brenna and got the cutest video ever (see below)
Finished the last Harry Potter book--I LOVED the whole series!!!
LSU FOOTBALL SEASON STARTED!!!! Spent most Saturdays watching football all day
Watched all the Harry Potter movies (1-6) with Jared
Made a new friend--I visited with an elderly lady from our church who isn't able to attend church for health reasons--she was fun to talk to and I'm visiting her again tomorrow
Had a girls' night out with friends from church; one of them had just been diagnosed with breast cancer--she is going through chemo right now :(
Did not enjoy the temps of over 90* and 60% humidity at the end of Sept.!
Started playing volleyball again every Friday--my back hurts afterwards but it's too fun not to do!
October so far:
The month started out really hot and humid, finally got a little cooler for a week, got hot again for a week, cooled down again the past few days. Crazy weather down here!
LSU lost to Florida only by 1o points; they are now 6-1 and #9 in the country
Enjoyed General Conference--went to my parents' between Sunday's sessions; the power went out (rainstorm) halfway through the second session
Spent a few days being really sick and missed YW, all my piano lessons, a fun Elder's Quorum couple's activity and a wedding shower
Made some Halloween decorations
Completed a huge food storage order (still waiting for it to arrive)
Bought tickets to see Daughtry with Jared in December--I can't wait! :)
Babysat both nieces here one day--we played outside, watched "Ice Age: The Meltdown", ate Halloween candy...
Has been watching the Saints game the past few weeks--they are undefeated so far!
Here are some of my fave video and pics from the past few months:
{A frog that was hanging out on our raised pond 7/30}:
{Me & Jared on top of Stone Mountain in GA 8/22}:
{Riding the paddle boats at Stone Mountain}: {Brenna and I went for a walk around the pond 9/1}: {The girls played in the puddles after General Conference 10/4}: {Belle put her Halloween costume on so I could take some pictures 10/10}: {The girls eating ravioli and green beans for lunch at my house 10/22}: {They played in the rain when Becky came to pick them up}: {I made one of these for each of my Mia Maids--the "bat droppings" are Tootsie Rolls cut up into pieces}: {A decorative witch hat I made for my house}:
{I made a few of these for each of the ladies I visit teach--they are painted tuna cans, filled with candy corn}: Well, that's it in a very small nutshell. I'll try to do better at keeping this blog updated, although I doubt anyone really cares. If for no other reason, it's just a good way for me to go back and remember everything I did. I might even have one of those blog books made--they take your blog and make a book out of it! I just need to remember what company does it. I think someone should do that for Facebook statuses, too. Anyway, I hope everyone has a very happy Halloween! Jared will be on call this weekend so he'll either be at work or he'll stay home; I'm going to a friend's annual party--they always have lots of food and they do hayrides around the (rural) neighborhood to let the kids trick-or-treat. It's really fun. My brother, SIL, and nieces will be there so I'll get some good pics of the girls in their costumes. Happy Halloween!!!
7/12--We left my MIL's house and drove to Kiki's house. Jared stayed a couple of hours then drove to the airport to fly home. I just hung out with Kiki and the kids all day (and played Lego Indian Jones with Judson) then Nikki and Levi came over and ate dinner with us. Judson loves playing with Wyatt and Wyatt ADORES his big brother!:
7/13--I just hung out at home all day with the Kiki and the kids. Carma told me the Bolt story and said I was "the best girl in the world". She cracks me up!
7/14--Another day of hanging out. Kiki and the kids and I had ice cream cones and Wyatt enjoyed playing in a basket: 7/15--I went with Kiki to Carma's dance class. It was so funny to watch 3- & 4- yr.-olds tap dance and do ballet! Carma was SOOOO cute in her tutu!!! She was also in her own little world most of the time, ha ha!
When we got home, I did a quick photo session with Carma outside in her tutu: 7/16--Wyatt enjoyed a Push Up popsicle that morning: One of Kiki's mission companions, Angela and her three kids and her teenage niece and her friend (the niece and friend live in England) had come to stay at Kiki's for a few days. They arrived late Monday night (7/13) and left Friday morning (7/17). On Thursday, two of my and Kiki's friends and their 4 kids plus a couple of friends of Angela's and their 4 kids came over to hang out. At one point, there were 6 women, 12 kids age 6 and younger (Judson was at a friend's house) and 2 teenage girls. It was kind of hectic but mostly fun. Kiki and I stayed up late every night talking with Angela after all the kids went to bed. It was so fun to hang out with her but it was nice to have peace and quiet in the house after they were all gone, too. There were a couple of times when I thought I was gonna lose my mind but it was mostly fun. That night, Carma danced for us--she loves the song "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas, ha ha:
7/17--I had lunch at Winger's with Nikki and Levi. Wyatt started crawling on his hands and knees (instead of just doing the army crawl on his belly). He also had fun skinny dipping (or "chunky dunking" as Michael would say) in the baby pool that evening. Kiki and I made a black, white, and pink tutu for Carma. It came out so cute!!! 7/18--Kiki and I went and ate at Tucano's for lunch then did some grocery shopping--Kiki has turned into a major savvy shopper with a huge coupon binder and everything! Wyatt got to take a dip in the baby pool in the backyard and loved it: 7/19--Went to church but I came home in the third hour to stay home with Wyatt, whom Kiki brought home to nap. He was just way too tired and miserable to stay at church. Carma ate dinner naked at the table; don't ask me why she did that but it was hilarious. Nikki and Levi came over later and we played Settlers.
7/20--Kiki and Michael left in the afternoon to go to Park City for the night for their anniversary and I stayed with the kids. They were so good for me. Judson went and played for a little while at a friend's house after his karate class and Carma had a friend over--it was cute to watch them play together. That evening, Wyatt found a piece of gum somewhere and was actually chewing it; you can really see him chewing towards the end of this video:
It was so cute and funny! Carma told me for probably the 1ooth time, "Nonnie, you're my friend!"
He went down really easily for all of his naps but it wasn't so easy that night. I was up with him 'til 1am. Anytime I would rock him in his room he would cry but he was fine as soon as I took him downstairs. We figured out the next night that it was probably because it gets too hot in his room. Thankfully, however, he slept until 8 the next morning so I got plenty of sleep!
7/21--I made the kids clean up a little--Judson put dishes in the dishwasher away and Carma put away shoes that were in the front room. As she was doing so she exclaimed, "I can't handle this, Nonnie!" Ha ha ha! She's so funny!!! She also informed me later that day that sharks like cheese with their people. Wyatt sucked on another Push Up and I got this cute video:
I also did a photo session with Carma in the tutu Kiki and I made. How cute is she?! That evening, Kiki glittered our toenails--mine in purple, of course, hers in turquoise and Carma's in pink. Nikki did hers that night in purple, as well. Judson actually let me take a picture of him. He's such a handsome boy! I did laundry that night and forgot that I had put my cell phone in my pants pocket before I took them off to throw them in the wash. I remembered after the washing machine started filling with water. I ran to the laundry room when it occured to me what I had done and frantically fished my cell phone out of the pants pocket. It got a little bit of water on it but it was OK--I got it out just in time!
7/22--Nikki brought me to the airport that morning. I had started getting sick the previous couple of days and was coughing quite a bit by that morning. It was really embarrassing on the plane! But I finally stopped coughing after taking some extra medicine and sucking on quite a few cough drops. Jared and I were supposed to do something that night and the next day to celebrate our anniversary but I just did't feel well. It was probably the worst anniversary yet and it was our 10th! Sad--but we'll celebrate with dinner out another night and we'll eventually go shopping for a new mattress! Oh and Jared gave me a LSU baseball cap and a LSU Pez dispenser. I made a card for him. We weren't supposed to do gifts since we are getting a mattress but Jared is a stinker like that. :) I would also like to get professional pictures done of us in the next couple of weeks. We'll see. Anyway, Happy Anniversary to me and Jared! 10 years, can you believe it?!!
[There are WAY to many pics to put pics of every activity so I just picked a few and I don't really feel like editing photos today so they are all straight out of my camera.]
7/3--We flew out in the afternoon; when we got to Salt Lake, we picked up our rental car and went out to eat, then we went back to the airport and picked up my SIL, Stephanie (who flew in from Tampa), then we headed to my MIL's house.
7/4--We got up early to go Grandpa Crittenden's for the breakfast at the annual Crittenden camp-out reunion. We stayed there for a while and got to hang out with lots of cousins, aunts and uncles.
7/5--My Birthday!!! We went to church, then drove (with a BIL, 2 SIL's and a niece) to my sister's house to have pizza and cake and ice cream. I brought the Wii MarioKart game Jared gave me for my birthday and we all played it, as well as Guitar Hero. Jared also gave me some perfume and cologne (for him to wear, ha ha) and an LSU wallet. My MIL had bought me a yummy birthday cake (even though she was down in AZ helping one my SILs) and my sister made a DELICIOUS chocolate torte cake and gave me a LSU pillowcase she made with her kids. My other sister and her DH were also there. Jared brought some fireworks that his mom transported from Louisiana to Utah for him a couple of summers ago. They were so big and loud! Some little girls next door had come out on the driveway to watch and one of the fireworks shot all the way from the road to right where they were standing. Thankfully no one was hurt but I was stopped breathing for a minute or two as the fireworks went off right at their little feet. Poor things! Some of us shot off Roman candles, too. The fireworks were illegal in Utah and a cop pulled up and told Jared that he could pay $1000 fine and get up to 6 months in jail but just gave him a warning. Whew! It was a great birthday and I had so much fun hanging out with family, despite the scare, ha ha. 7/6--Another SIL and her three kids had arrived late the previous night; we hung out at my MIL's house and played with all the kids and hung out with SILs. That night, Jason (Jared's little brother) was ordained a priest (I still can't believe he's 16!). Here's Jared, Jason, and their Grandpa Lingmann: 7/7--Jared and I got up at 5:30 to go fishing with Grandpa Crittenden at Rockport Reservoir. Grandpa sure knows what he's doing! We caught our limit (4 fish each) fairly quickly and even hooked a few that got away and let one go. It was so fun and the scenery was beautiful: Jared and Grandpa gutted and cleaned the fish at the cleaning station at the dock then Jared and I went home and buttered and seasoned them and wrapped them in foil to freeze them and have them ready to cook on the camping trip. Later that afternoon, we went with Jason and Steph and her DH to Echo Reservoir for the boys to swing on a rope swing. The scenery there was also beautiful: That night, everyone else had already gone up to ID to stay at a SIL's house so we took my MIL out to eat at Ruby River in Park City.
7/8--We woke up at 4am to drive to a SIL's house in ID. From there, we drove to Targhee National Forest, in WY, right off the border of ID. Our camping spot was so beautiful: We had sandwiches for lunch and set up camp and had our fish that night for dinner. They were so yummy! Here's Jared eating one: And, of course, we had s'mores for dessert! It got so cold at night, BTW! I was enjoying the nice weather during the days, though.
7/9--Jared went into town that morning to buy a fishing license and I went on a hike with all the kids and all the SILs and a BIL. The scenery was amazing: That afternoon, we all painted white t-shirts. There was some amazing creativeness going on! Here's Jared's shirt: And here's mine: Jared went with everyone else to take the kids wading in the stream while I lay down because I was having back spasms. That night we did skits. Jared and I did "The Bucket Song". There were some pretty funny skits by others.
7/10--Jared got up really early and went fishing with all of the guys. That afternoon, all of the kids and a couple of adults (Jared included) made boats for a boat race. Jared's was really cool!: That evening there were some more skits, all of the "big boys" shot a very big, very loud potato gun, we played a game of charades, and we had a talent show (I played "The Entertainer" on my clarinet).
7/11--We saw a mama moose and her baby moose (I wasn't able to get a clear picture, though). We took down camp, cleaned up and took family pictures. Here's Jared with his mom and siblings: Here's some scenery leaving the Nat'l Forest: We ended up stopping at both of my SIL's houses in ID before heading back to my MIL's house in UT. We were supposed to go and stay the night at my sister's house but we got back too late and were just too exhausted to drive another hour to her house.
So that's the first 1/2 of my Utah trip. The camping trip was so much fun. It was a joy to be around all the nieces and nephews and watch all the babies eat rocks and dirt, ha ha. We have the most adorable nieces and nephews in the world! :)
Up on the schedule for this weekend: Jared is a groomsmen in a friend's wedding (Wendy Barker, for those of you from Hammond) and we have the rehearsal dinner Friday night, the temple sealing Saturday afternoon and the ring ceremony and reception Saturday night, after which we will run home and watch what's left of the Saints game. GEAUX SAINTS! WHO DAT?! Sunday, I am playing the piano (for all the congregational hymns and special music #'s) in sacrament meeting for our Christmas program. Monday, I will head to my parents' house and wait for Kiki & her family to get there from the airport. WOOHOOOOOOOO!!!! I will probably stay most of next week and the week after that at my parents' house and Jared will come and stay when he can (he still has to work, dangit!). If I don't post before Christmas, I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends!
