The Majoue Family

New Year, New State, New Blog!

2009-01-05T20:27:00.004-06:00

We've started a new blog to chronicle our adventures in Texas. Join us and see what we're up to by clicking on the picture or the link below. See you soon!

http://wendingourwayhome.blogspot.com/

A Whirlwind of Flurries

2008-12-11T08:36:00.008-06:00

So, what's new with us?

Well, there's this:

But that's old turkey, right? As if we didn't indulge enough in our Thanksgiving bird over the course of several days, we decided to eat more in the form of turkey legs a few weekends later- as evidenced by this:

We enjoyed it here...

at the Renaissance Festival in Hammond.

Even Emily was getting into the turkey leg eating action.

The boy's favorite event overall was the hand-to-hand high speed knight combat. Scott, Aaron and Troy were mesmerised and especially thought it was something else when one of the fighters took off his helmet and was sporting a nice sized goose egg that was bleeding. Boys!

We meandered around eating samples of sugared nuts, listened to harpsichord and watched various acts such as the one above where a juggler was standing on a ball and was thrown fiery torches from audience volunteers.

The girls especially liked cheering for these guys:

The jousters. Calyn was super excited to cheer her knight on in the jousting tournament.

After the jousting, we gathered around another juggler and watched as he stood on a plank as he balanced on a PVC pipe on top of a wooden chest WHILE juggling a machete, a torch on fire and some one's shoe from the audience. Impressive.

One of the last shows we went to go see (before the boys got their fill of hand-to-hand combat one last time) was the Birds of Prey show where they talk about different birds and their habitat. They also show some flying demonstrations of how they hunt which was pretty interesting.

And yesterday morning I finished baking up some Christmas goodies.

Here's one of the finished plates: Chocolate-Peppermint Cookie trees, Russian Tea Cakes and B utter Cookies with a snowman relief pressed into the unbaked dough from House on the Hill.

What else... today IT SNOWED!!! Having lived in Alaska for 15 years, I sure do miss the snow sometimes and I especially miss a white Christmas. The snow today did my heart good.

Our pool side gazebo was decked out in the sparkly white stuff. I love that fluff!

P.S. Just thought you might be interested in what our future home that we're building will look like. Isn't it pretty? I am so excited!

It's your turn- what's new with you?

Language on the Pioneer Front

2008-12-01T10:26:00.002-06:00

This past week, it seems like Peyton has had all kinds of things to say. For those of you who have toddlers Peyton's age that are already talking and have been, then hats off to you. Peyton has been a little slow to adopt formal language on his own. He's been seeing a speech therapist once a week for an hour to help him build his vocabulary. Here are the things he says so far {keeping in mind that this is to the best of his ability to communicate}:

Mama
Dada
Elmo {thanks Calyn :-0}
Bah {Ball}
Up-ah {Up- as in "pick me up"}
Sss sss {kisses}
All done {this one is a little muffled but he makes the same intonation}
Gah {frog}
Deedee {bunny}
Moh {more, said accompanied with sign language}
Nigh Nigh {Night, night- he also uses this to say goodbye and waves while he says it}
Uckie {duckie}
Shoes
Ap-pul {apple}
Hiyyyee! {hi shouted really loud to Troy or I when we come home or rescue him from his crib}
Ayton {Peyton}
Ohh-wah! {he also learned this from Calyn- she blows kisses and makes the sound for them and now he does it too}

Not bad considering he could only say Mama a few months ago and I don't think he even knew that it meant me! We love to hear all of his new words- they are so cute!

Speaking of Blessings...

2008-11-26T12:11:00.001-06:00

What a blessing that Christian is up and running again! Heavenly Father definitely has a hand in all things and he certainly had a hand in preserving Stephanie and Christian. I am inspired by their love and example and for the faith and prayers that have buoyed them up and set them back on their feet. It is truly a miracle.

New Orleans- Crime Capital of the Nation and Turkey Day Preparations

2008-11-26T08:36:00.004-06:00

Yep- We live in the hotbed of crime and violence according to a new ranking of America's most dangerous cities. Troy and I heard this on the news two nights ago and we both just looked at each other like, "Can you believe this?" I guess it was determined based on the 19,000-plus incidences of six major crimes {including 209 murder cases} in 2007.

209! Can you believe that?! They said that the data is drawn from FBI statistics on murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, theft and motor vehicle theft. I have some experience with burglary from our truck break in from last year. If I escape this heck hole with nothing more than getting my truck broken into, I will consider myself lucky.

My goal was to get the heck out of dodge before Peyton went to school and thankfully, I will get my wish next month. I am really excited for the little guy because the public school he will be going to in Texas is considered exemplary. I don't think any public school in New Orleans would fit that title. Maybe some of the private schools, but not the public ones. Troy grew up and went to school here all the way from elementary to college, and while he turned out ok, even he's noticed that since he's graduated the schools have gone down hill.

So anyway, not only is this our last Thanksgiving and Christmas in New Orleans, it's also our last holiday season in an apartment! We will live in an apartment in Texas for about 4 months while our house is being built and then we will move into our first home. We are super excited! By the time the next baby comes we'll be in a house and have a back yard for Peyton. We'll also be a complete little family {all done with babies after this!} so it's nice to know that our house will accommodate all 4 of us {3 bedrooms upstairs- one room for each kid plus a spare room and the master bedroom downstairs}.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we are all set. The turkey is brining in the refrigerator, I am making a pumpkin pie and cranberry relish today and there will be rolls, cornbread stuffing, corn and peas, mashed potatoes and gravy tomorrow. Yum-yummy! Since it is only three and a half of us {Troy, his Mom Linda, myself and Peyton} I will only be making one pie- I wasn't as ambitious as Amy who made five. Five! They sound delicious though, Amy.

We have so many things to be thankful for this year- a new baby, a new job for Troy, a new state of residence next year, our first home together and new friends to be made {since I didn't do so well on the friend front while living here- I made a few good friends but not as many as I would like to have since my heart was just never into it and because I never felt like this was home}. I hope you are counting your blessings too. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

My Little Sock Monkey

2008-11-19T16:54:00.005-06:00

Haven't you heard? The newest fashion is to go dressed with one arm in your shirt and one arm out...

Like this! Apparently this fad has been in style since February of this year. You should totally try it. {And send me pictures!}

Our little monkey has been living up to his name lately...

A few weeks ago, after he kept fussing about something in the kitchen, Troy picked him up and carried him over to the counter to find out what he wanted. On the counter was a whole cluster of bananas, and our little monkey wasted no time in leaning over and grabbing his prize.

The only problem was that he didn't know it had to be peeled before it was enjoyed. Before we could stop him or at least give him a hand, he bit into the outer peel and took out a nice big chunk. Obviously, this was not the taste he was expecting from the disappointed and pretty disgusted face he gave us. After Troy and I got over our giggles, we opened up the banana and let him have at it. I think we have a real Curious George in the house!

My Winning Weekend- By Troy

2008-11-17T17:40:00.014-06:00

So last week, Lexi entered me into several online sweepstakes to win tickets to the LSU game , a new movie release, and the Jerry Springer show. Unfortunately, due to an unlucky period in my life in which I deliberately walked under ladders while holding a black cat and breaking mirrors, I only won the tickets to see LSU and the new James Bond movie before it was released. Of course, even though I had to give up my dream of chanting "JER-RY! JER-RY!" while the father of the baby of a red neck crossing dressing, hermaphrodite, former stripper and KKK member was determined, I was able to take some comfort in knowing that at least I would get to see a cool new movie and march to Death Valley to watch LSU crush some loser team (whose players may have had one or more family members appearing on the aforementioned episode of Jerry Springer).

Anyway, turns out the free ticket said LSU was playing me- Troy. Didn't I tell you I had bad luck? Not being one to back down from a challenge, I decided to single handedly take on LSU. However, upon seeing my resolve, LSU attempted to soften me up by giving me a bunch of free stuff like LSU shirts and hats, ipod accessories, a beach towel and bag, and $1000 in Taco Bell Bucks (which is worth like $30 in American money or 125 burritos and 2 orders of cinnamon twists). LSU also said I would get to hang out with the band during pregame (which means "before the game" in Tiger language I guess) and then march to the LSU Stadium in front of the band and stand on the sidelines before kickoff.

Prior to the game, LSU made good on its promise and let me hang out and watch the band warm up. Warming up was critical if I was going to be at my best versus LSU... and because it was like zero degrees kelvin outside that night.

They also let me hang out with their mascot, Mike the Tiger, who I suspected may have been a girl under that costume in light of her height, mid chest protrusions, and the fact that she smelled like Stetson for women (an unforgettable smell that is just too good for any store other than Walmart or an Arabian French Market vendor stand). Either way, I gave Jerry's number to Mike, or Micala as she later asked to be called. Stay tuned for that episode. Maybe I'll get to go to THAT one.

After hanging out with the cross dressing mascot, we marched down the hill with the non-dressing golden girls who were freezing the skin off what used to be their butts. Apparently, a shimmery bathing suit, hair extensions, fish net stockings, and spray on tan are not enough to shield an anorexic person's vital organs from the elements.

As you can see in the picture above it was either snowing on the Golden Girls or the ghosts of former Golden Girls who also froze to death were manifesting themselves as light orbs. I'll defer to Lexi, the ghost hunter on that one. However, judging by Lexi's smile below and the absence of the orbs in the picture, I must conclude that the orbs were either ghosts or smudges on the lens. Of course, logic tells me that it was more than likely ghosts.

Next, it was on to watch LSU warm up. By this point it was -1 degrees kelvin so we all needed to
warm up again. During warm up, I realized that LSU players are a lot bigger in person, except for Trindon Holliday who was about as tall as Micala...hmmm. Of course, you normally wouldn't be able to tell since Trindon is so fast. In fact, the picture below was taken of Trindon using ultra high speed digital film because he was actually invisible to the naked eye.

Trindon is also in the picture below, but the idiot taking the picture forgot to put it on high speed.

Next we got to watch the Band march onto to the field with a noticeably taller, more masculine Mascot with a purple jersey, who also goes by the name of Mike. I knew they were just screwing with me at this point. So I decided it was time to throw down.

However, the throw down had to wait until another riveting performance by the Frozen Girls who were suffering from hypothermic tremors by that point. Of course, that is the price they pay for breaking fashion rule #1- Don't wear a bathing suit, even a glittery one, when it is frickin freezin outside.

So as I said, I was pretty mad by the start of the game so I went out there and basically embarrassed LSU. In fact, I was up 24 to 3 but I decided I was hungry so I wanted to go use my Taco Bell bucks. Once I left, I listened on the radio while LSU supposedly staged some kind of amazing comeback. Some comeback! I wasn't even playing anymore. Oh well, they can have their stupid victory, I got Taco Bell in my warm vehicle.

In the end, I guess we all had a winning weekend...except for the Golden Girl pictured above, who died shortly after that photo was taken and now resides as a light orb near the stadium.

A Minimal Christmas

2008-11-13T08:55:00.004-06:00

I adore Christmas. I love all of the twinkling lights, the decorations, the Christmas music {in moderation} and the general feeling of goodwill to all. I also love giving and gifting. I love to hunt for the perfect gift and I will usually agonize over if it is the perfect thing. I just love to see the look of surprise and joy on some one's face and the feeling you get when you know you've given the very best thing.

So this year, it is very hard for me to say that we will be having a very minimal Christmas due to the fact that we are moving. We will need every extra penny since we are moving on the 27th of December to pay for a moving truck, gas money, last minute cleaning responsibilities for our old apartment as well as setting up our new place by stocking the pantry and filling the refrigerator with new condiments {since we will not be lugging ketchup and mustard to Texas}.

Troy, Peyton and I will most likely only exchange stockings this year since we will literally be in the midst of packing on Christmas Day. We also will have our hands full with all of the things we have accumulated over three years time! So needless to say, we do not need to add to that stuff with more packages under the tree. As much as it will kill me to not be able to Christmas shop for all of our friends AND family, I hope that you will understand why we will not be giving OR receiving gifts this Christmas season.

We would however appreciate a phone call, a Christmas card, an email or a visit to hear how you're doing. We also never turn down tasty goodies and treats :-)

Sorry to be the Grinch this year, but we will be back to our usual holly jolly selves next year when we're hopefully in our first home! I hope you all have a very merry holiday season!

P.S. This goes for everyone- yes, even you Mom and Dad {who spoiled us to pieces enough for six Christmas's while they were here last} Linda, Bruce and Chris, and the rest of the family. We love you and expect a phone call or a visit from each of you in lieu of gifts! :-)

Breakfast?

2008-11-07T08:26:00.004-06:00

So Troy left for Texas yesterday. He's staying with Aidan and Jeremy in Dallas and I am totally jealous! Aidan is MY friend Troy, you goober you! :-)

I'm at home watching Peyton because he just would not be able to handle the non-stop whirlwind that Troy is about to go through in the next 2 days. If you haven't heard, we are moving to Texas at the end of December and Troy starts a new job in January. We are also working on baby #2 which will be arriving in June of next year.

So basically, life is about to get super busy and really interesting in the next few months- new state, new job, new apartment, new church, new friends {hopefully!} and a new baby. As if that isn't exciting enough, Troy is looking at having our first house built while we stay in an apartment in the interim. So this trip is a scouting trip- to scope out a new apartment and to look at which neighborhoods he likes best. If we don't like any of the areas where they're building, we'll start looking to buy. Either way, we'll be in a new place by the 4th of July so we can BBQ to our hearts content next summer!

Meanwhile, I'm all by my lonesome- except for squirt here. Anyone up for some breakfast tomorrow morning at Tiffin Inn? I'm feeling some German Apple Pancakes. Mmmm. Give me a shout if you do- I'd love to go!

You've Got Your Work Cut Out For You Mr. President

2008-11-06T19:11:00.003-06:00

Click on the thumbnail to watch the video.

In a Nutshell {a Large, Large Nutshell!}

2008-11-05T14:33:00.008-06:00

My parents came to visit last month, did I tell you? We had a great time but none of us were smart enough to remember to take a family photo since it was the first time we were ALL together in one place at the same time for several years. Both my Mom and Dad have visited previously but because one or the other was working (usually my Dad) they couldn't both come at the same time. So this was a special treat. I'm just now sitting down and writing about our adventures- I really hate goodbyes and after someone leaves I have to get out of the blues before I can write about all of the fun happy things we did. So here goes...

We did the usual touristy thing of going to the French Quarter and window shopping one afternoon after lunch, but we also did some new things too.

I had never been to the Oak Alley Plantation and had been dieing to go ever since it had been featured on Ghost Hunters. My Mom, Dad, Peyton and I all hopped in the truck and drove to Vacherie to visit it. We had lunch first at the restaurant located on the property and I have to admit that I was a little sceptical if the food would be up to 'Louisiana' par or if it would be mild for the tourists palate. Peyton and I shared the Red Beans and Rice and it was pretty good! After walking around for a few minutes, we met at the front door to begin our tour.

It was interesting to me that the house had sat abandoned for the space of several years until the current owners bought it. It was open to the elements during that span of time and cattle and other wild animals had trampled the floor on the first level. Apparently, there used to be marble floors throughout the bottom level and the only remnants of it that you can see is in front of the hearth of the fireplace in the dining room. If you look at it closely at an angle, you can see it is indeed broken up.

Back then, rich plantation owners prided themselves on being different so although marble fireplaces and mantels were readily available to them, it was too "common" to have something that everyone else could acquire. The mantle and outer fireplace in the sitting room was actually made out of wood hand painted to look like marble {and it really looks like the real deal!} Of course today people don't buy imitation, they buy the real deal, but back then this would have been considered special and rare.

I forget a lot of times that the people in the 1800's were shorter than most of us are now. Most men back then were no taller than 5'4. So to have these huge soaring ceilings which are impressive to us in these times must have been out of this world for them back then. If you pay close attention, you can see that the doorknobs on the doors are fairly low and that the banister railings going up the stairs are also mounted low to accommodate the height of the people back then.

An interesting {and an apparently Creole tradition} was that the wealthier you were, the larger your silverware was to boast your wealth. This is pretty amusing since everyone was pretty short and they have these huge shovels for their silverware. Something else that was unique was that the silverware was all placed face down {spoons and forks included}.

There was no air conditioning back in the grand old 1800's so it had to be pretty stifling wearing the corsets and tightly fitted dresses with yards and yards of flounce underneath that were the common fashion back then. Imagine sitting in the dining room with 20 other couples how hot it must have been. To aid in this, they would place a large block of ice on the table and a large fan mounted from the ceiling would be pulled by a slave from a rope that was connected to a pulley system. By continually pulling the rope, it would create the fan to swing back and forth across the whole table and the cool air from the ice and the movement of the air from the pulley would create some semblance of air conditioning for them back then.

When family members died they also did something similar, in that they would remove the mattress from the bed, lay the coffin in it's place and underneath the bed skirts they would put a large block of ice to keep the body cold and to help prevent it from decomposing faster in the hot heat. It made sense when the tour guide said it but I had never thought that that was how they kept the bodies 'fresh' throughout the wake until it was ready for burial.

I didn't get many pictures partly because I was trying to wrestle my unruly squirrel into behaving but also because they don't allow pictures on the inside. We all enjoyed it although my Dad made an interesting point that the rooms didn't seem as large as they could have been maybe owing to the thick brick walls {painted over to look like plaster walls}. I think that this was a pretty common trend though, because Myrtles Plantation also had smaller rooms as well. It's interesting that high ceilings were a given for a plantation home back then but overall space wasn't a prerequisite.

Once Troy was off of work for the weekend, we hit the road again to go to Folsom and visit the Global Wildlife Center there. It took awhile for the tour to start because they were trying to fill the wagons, but once we got started, it was a lot of fun. Peyton wasn't really a happy camper on this trip so Troy had to keep a strong arm wrapped around him. This boy loves outside so it just about killed him to be outside but restrained from jumping out of the wagon and running free with all of the wild beasts. He would calm down intermittently, especially when an animal got close enough for him to pet.

One of my favorite animals were the zebras even though you're not allowed to pet or feed them. According to our guide, they are "...black and white and mean all over."

I also really liked the Axis Deer. They have these lovely speckles all over their backs and they just look majestic.

Here are some baby Axis Deer. Aren't they cute?

Sally the camel was acting pretty snooty when our wagon rolled by. She was looking at all of us sideways through her long lashes.

I was tickled to be the first person to coerce her into coming over and getting a bite to eat from my cup.

My parents spoiled all of us while they were here. They got all of us some much needed new clothes and my Mom {and Dad in spirit- he was back home and working again the second week my Mom was here} sent me on a shopping spree to get some new maternity clothes since I wore what few clothes I had from Peyton down to holes (literally!). Sometimes I fell going UP our stairs so my maternity pants had to be discarded after Peyton was born. I was so grateful that they both thought of me and wanted to do this for me. Thank you again guys!

After our shopping spree, my Mom and I caught a movie in Baton Rouge. We went to see The Secret Life of Bees.

All of the girls from B.R. book club, remember how good the book was? The movie was just as good and the whole cast did a wonderful job. I highly recommend it to you. My Mom hadn't read the book and she was able to follow it because they did such a good job portraying the novel. There were a few things that were different but they were little and didn't affect the story at all. Go watch it and tell me what you think!

Thanks for coming to visit us Mom and Dad! Hopefully soon we will only be a few hours away so we can visit you often. Love you guys!

So I woke up and yada, yada, yada... then I voted and went home

2008-11-04T14:31:00.012-06:00

Don't be a donkey today- smart elephants remember to vote!

I made my way to the polls today just ready to do this thing and get it over with already. I wasn't excited about either candidate, but I had to make sure O's "O" didn't prevail in the state of Louisiana (that's Oprah's Obama if you didn't catch that). I'm all up for lending a helping hand but I'm not up for redistributing the wealth to those who don't want to work. I've seen too many "gimme this's and gimme that's" after Katrina that I don't want to relive that again.

Regardless, I think Osama {I mean Obama!} is going to pull this through for the win. I just have to remember that whoever does win will be held to higher checks and balances so hopefully the country won't go to hell in a hand bag over night.

What are you doing just sitting there and reading? Get out there and vote already!

P.S. Don't forget your reward of a free Krispy Kreme donut or a scoop from Ben & Jerry's Scoop shop for doing your part. Or if you're a bean water drinker, you can get a free cup of joe at Starbuck's. I wonder if they'd give out a cup of hot cocoa instead?

FINALLY!

2008-11-04T08:15:00.002-06:00

Our friends Becky and Adam our now officially engaged! They have been dating FOREVER {like 10+ years} so this has been a long time coming. Congrats you two! I think you should have your reception catered by Mestizo's- crawfish enchilada's and salsa and chips.... yum! Really though, Troy and I are just excited for you. Becky, I want to hear all of the fun details when you get a chance! Hopefully it went better than N's proposal to J {not that that would be too hard} but I know Adam knows better than to do that to you ;-)

Burninating the Peasants

2008-11-01T14:02:00.002-05:00

The dragon was not a friendly beast last night. He rampaged the countryside looking for donuts and hot dogs and ravaged candy bowls by the snout full. Pretty soon, he turned into a fire breathing, screeching dragon of epic proportion which meant that it was time to go home and dwell in a cave in utter solitude {or at least go to bed for the night}.

We'll see if we can placate the beast next year with offerings of other culinary delights and promises of cavity nourishing chocolate and other satisfying treats. Stay tuned for updates next year.

More pictures at Jeni's page.

Third Time's a Charm

2008-10-31T09:24:00.004-05:00

When you're out of the loop for a few weeks, things really start to pile up! There were over 300 posts to catch up on not to mention all my own personal emails (although there weren't too many of those). Needless to say, I am overwhelmed with how much someone can miss by just being away a few days.

I know it's really crummy, but there is no way I can comment on all of the wonderful blogs that I just spent some time catching up on. I have read about new babies, a trip to the E.R., family outings (or in-ings), a new vehicle, a nursery that is being lovingly put together and so much more. So please don't think that I'm ignoring you or that I don't care about all of the wonderful (or maybe not so wonderful) things going on in your life right now. I'll be starting from this point on to be an active participant once more.

So while I was gone, I got tagged three times. Three! One was the ghost you see at the top of the page that visited me one night with a plate of cupcakes and instructions to ghost two more friends. Troy and I had fun sneaking up on our own chosen victims, leaving goodies, banging on the door loud enough to wake the dead and then running like the dickens.

Tag #2 came from Courtney. The tag was to post the 4th picture in your 4th folder when you open up your pictures file on your computer. We didn't have a digital camera until literally a month or two before we had Peyton so all of our digital pictures only go back to 2007. The 4th picture in my 4th folder is of a brand new baby Peyton that Troy took while experimenting with the color selection tool on the camera. As you can see, he made the picture black and white and only highlighted the blue.

I think it was also around this time that we finally got new cell phones that could take pictures and upload ring tones on- the Alltel employee was flabbergasted that our phones were so outdated. Yep, we're a little slow on the technology front in this house!

Tag #3 came from Charity. The tag was to post 6 of your quirks. Only 6?! ;-)

1. I really dislike being touched in the crease of my arm near the elbow. I've always hated having my blood drawn so whenever someone grabs me around this area, I start to get queasy and anxious as though I'm about to get jabbed by a needle.

2. If I feel like I'm being followed or that a car behind me has taken too many of the same turns, I won't go home until I lose them. My biggest fear is of being abducted and murdered (which is quirky in and of itself, I know). If they still tail me even after I've tried to lose them, I try to find a police station or a really busy and well lighted place until the person passes me. I think I've just read too many cases in the news of scary abductions and also after having dealt with my own stalker situation many years ago, I am always super cautious now.

3. Sometimes I won't answer my cell phone even if I'm sitting right by it. I go through anti social phases where I don't feel like I have anything to say or I don't have the energy to appear bubbly and outgoing over the phone. I think this comes from growing up in a Caller I.D. house- if we didn't recognize the number, we didn't answer the phone. I still field my phone calls and I'm really bad about calling people back even if I really do intend to. It's nothing personal- sometimes I don't call Troy back!

4. I don't like to celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th like everyone else. One year when Troy and I were still newly married, we both didn't get paid until the day after Valentine's Day so we decided to celebrate then. It was a much better experience- we could go to almost any restaurant and it wasn't over crowded so as a result, we got better service. There weren't limited menu's so we had a bigger selection to choose from. Traffic wasn't as crazy because everyone else had already celebrated and if you decided to buy flowers you got fresh ones instead of the overpriced wilted left overs that they try to stick you with on the actual day. Now if we decide we're going out, we do it the day before. If we decide to stay in, we'll celebrate it the day of, but we'll have all of our shopping done the day before so that we can just make a fancy dinner and curl up watching lovey dovey movies on T.V. Troy and I also take turns being in charge of 'Heart Day'. Every other year is my turn and alternately, if I plan Valentine's Day, he plans our anniversary and vice versa. It's a pretty good system.

5. I'm really weird about lunch meat, fruit or vegetables that look like they're going bad and leftovers that have been in the fridge for a few days. If the lunch meat starts to feel slimy or if I think I smell a strange odor about it, I'll toss it even if it 'says' it's not expired yet. Ditto with milk. My grandma and my Mom both chop off the bad parts of vegetables and salvage the rest but if I think it looks questionable it's in the trash. Same thing with left overs- if I haven't eaten it in two to three days, it's gone. Also, if food has been sitting out for longer than an hour I'm pretty wary about wrapping it up unless it's been left warming. I've had food poisoning about three different times so that's where my food phobia comes from.

6. Every day I have to open my blinds and let the sunshine in- if I don't, I get really down in the dumps. I love natural light and seeing the trees and birds outside my window. After I had Peyton, I went into a pretty bad post-partum depression because the recovery room I was in at the hospital had thick heavy drapes blocking out the sun and I was in there for two days. Then when I got home, I was sleep deprived so everyone kept telling me to shut the blinds and block out the light and try to sleep during the day when Peyton was. Unfortunately, it made me feel like I was living in a box because I'd try to rest unsuccessfully during the day with all of the windows covered up and then I was up all night with Peyton when it was dark out. With this new baby, I'll know to get out of the house and to open up my windows so I can get some sunlight in.

Was that quirky enough for you? ;-)

Since I'm not positive about who has been tagged and who has not, I'll leave you to decide if you want to post a picture from your file or talk about 6 of your quirky things. Have fun if you do decide to do them!

Reviving the Anti-Flirt Club

2008-10-30T20:36:00.007-05:00

Well, I'm back. I thought I'd give you some background on my new background. Seriously people, this is a real picture {I colorized the letters to make them pop for my header}.

I just adore Shorpy and all of its super cool pictures that give you a peek into the past. Sometimes you even get a little tidbit about who, why, when and where the picture was taken; like this one for instance. The caption reads:

February 27, 1923. "Miss Alice Reighly, 1409 Harvard Street, president of Anti-Flirt Club, which has just been organized in Washington, D.C., and will launch an 'Anti-Flirt Week' beginning March 4. The club is composed of young women and girls who have been embarrassed by men in automobiles and on street corners."

The comments on Shorpy can also be enlightening and sometimes funny as well. One reader found this little gem:

Anti-flirting indeed. {What's up with the wink, Alice?}

Another commented this: She obviously has a sense of humor, as she is winking and thus breaking one of the "rules."

Busted.

Speaking of the "rules", yet another commenter posted this doozy:

The code of guidance for the Anti-Flirt Club, as published in The Post, Feb 28, 1923:

1. Don't flirt: those who flirt in haste oft repent in leisure.

2. Don't accept rides from flirting motorists - they don't invite you in to save you a walk.

3. Don't use your eyes for ogling - they were made for worthier purposes.

4. Don't go out with men you don't know - they may be married, and you may be in for a hair-pulling match.

5. Don't wink - a flutter of one eye may cause a tear in the other.

6. Don't smile at flirtatious strangers- save them for people you know.

7. Don't annex all the men you can get - by flirting with many you may lose out on the one.

8. Don't fall for the slick, dandified cake eater - the unpolished gold of a real man is worth more than the gloss of a lounge lizard.

9. Don't let elderly men with an eye to a flirtation pat you on the shoulder and take a fatherly interest in you. Those are usually the kind who want to forget they are fathers.

10. Don't ignore the man you are sure of while you flirt with another. When you return to the first one you may find him gone.

While I can see the wisdom of this advice, reading about dandified cake eaters and lounge lizards just gave me the giggles. Thankfully, my days of having to worry about 'the one' are over- I've got a keeper {even if he's not a Dapper Dan Man} ;-)

Do you ever feel kind of frantic?

2008-10-09T12:47:00.003-05:00

My Mom and Dad are flying in tonight and I've got a million trillion things to do. I've already been to the grocery store, made a white bean and tomato salad, also made a pumpkin cheesecake for dessert, getting ready to make Rosemary bread and I still have to clean the house and pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner!

The blog might be quiet for a while since I'll be busy entertaining, plus, the computer is in our bedroom where my Mom and Dad are staying so I'll have to find a moment or two when the room is free to slip in and share some pictures of our adventures. Anyway, here's my recipe for pumpkin cheesecake... be forwarned- it IS delicious!

Pumpkin Swirl Cheesecake
Filling:
3 8-ounce packages of cream cheese
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves

Crust:
2 cups crushed ginger snaps
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
6 tablespoons butter, melted

Press crust mixture into a 9-inch springform pan.
Beat cream cheese, 3/4 cup of the sugar and vanilla with mixture until blended.
Add eggs one at a time.
Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the plain batter.
Stir in remaining 1/4 cup sugar, pumpkin and spices into remaining batter.
Spoon 1/2 of batter over crust.
Top with spoonfuls of plain batter.
Repeat layers.
Cut through batters with knife several times for marble effect.
Bake at 350 for 55 minutes until center is almost set or 3oo for 55 minutes for dark pans.
Let cool before refrigerating to prevent cracks.

P.S. To tell you how frantic I was, I put in a whole can of pumpkin instead of a cup. Oops! I wonder if it will still turn out with an extra 1 1/2 cups of pumpkin. I guess I'm about to find out! ;-)

Would you believe...

2008-10-08T15:46:00.004-05:00

I had never seen Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin until yesterday?! Where have I been, right? Although, that isn't too surprising since I had never seen Star Wars until I was in my early 20's and I still haven't seen The Goonies! So here's The Great Pumpkin in case you hadn't seen it either:
[And don't forget to press pause on the music player WAY at the bottom of the page!]

Perfect 10's

2008-10-08T07:38:00.008-05:00

I went shopping the other day. It was HORRIBLE. All I really wanted were a few tee shirts since my wardrobe is basically non-existent (trust me, if you've seen me for a week and a half straight, you've seen everything I've got).

So there I was in Old Navy, going through the Clearance racks and checking out the new tee shirts for Fall and getting excited about the possibility of a new collection... until I went to the dressing room. I had gathered size medium shirts and had about 7 shirts in the dressing room with me. Not. One. Fit. They were all glued on to me like a second skin and showed off every lump, squiggle and underwear line.

Hot and sweaty after trying on and ripping off a half dozen shirts, I emerged from the room with my hair sticking up every which way and my confidence shattered. To make matters worse, the employee back there manning the rooms asked if everything fit okay. I just handed her the pile and said "Nope, nothing fit." and kept walking.

I called Troy on my phone from the parking lot and told him that this was the reason I've always hated shopping. I don't feel overweight until I go to try on clothes and then every flaw seems magnified. When you're a size 6-8 on top and a 10-12 on the bottom, it can complicate your shopping experience drastically. Finally, after some tears of frustration, I reversed out of the parking lot and went about running my errands and tried to forget the whole experience.

Then last night, after watching all I could handle from the Presidential Debates, I flipped through to see what else was on. I ended up on the Lifetime Channel which for once didn't seem to have some show about someone trying to murder, sabotage or steal a spouse that wasn't theirs. A show I had never heard of called 'How to Look Good Naked' was on. The host was a guy named Carson who was formerly a part of the hit show 'Queer Eye for the Straight Guy'.

On the show were two sisters who desperately wanted to feel that they were beautiful again like they were in high school. They were both curvier and each had their own unique problem areas. Carson went through and showed them each what clothes would accentuate their good parts and what would hide or camouflage their problem areas.

Then my epiphany happened- Carson took the sisters to a department store that has one of those window displays that face the street. Behind the glass were about 10 ladies all in just their bras and panties, all with different body shapes. Some were taller, some shorter. Some were thicker, some thinner. In front of every girl outside the window was a stand with a flip pad. On the pad was a number starting at size 4 and going up to size 10.

Carson told the sisters to decide what size each girl was by flipping to the number on the stand in front of each girl. I started guessing mentally too- 'That girl looks like a size 4. Ooo! That one has to be a size 8." After they were all done, Carson revealed what size the girls were- and they were ALL a size 10. Every. Single. Last. One. Of. Them. Even the sisters were a size 10! I was completely flabbergasted. Here I am, a size 10, and there were girls that looked thinner than me in that window that were a size 10. There were also girls that were curvier than me that were also a size 10. It was fantastic!

That got me to thinking more about what happened on Monday- if you think about it, places like Old Navy make clothes to fit the general mass. They have to fit as many body shapes as possible and have to encompass teenage girls as well as middle age women and every age in between. Somewhere along the way, when you make clothes to fit as many people as you can as generically as you can across the board, someone is going to be left the odd person out. That's why I don't ever fit the clothes at Gap and Old Navy but nearly every thing I try at Ann Taylor Loft does- because those clothes are made specifically for women and not their teen aged daughters too.

It also made me think that we can't look at someone and label them as a certain size because a size 10 for me is different than a size 10 for you. I love the Dove ads, because they show real women with real curves and they don't airbrush them or cake them full of makeup to make them something they're not. Have you ever watched any of those wrinkle cream commercials? Troy and I always crack up because most of the time, it's some woman in her late 20's to early 30's trying to sell a wrinkle cream who's never had to worry about wrinkles a day in her life. I think we get bombarded by all of this ad campaigning about what is beautiful and what we should look like until we look at ourselves and think, "This is not beautiful."

I try to limit the amount of beauty magazines that come in my house for that very reason; currently all I have are Pottery Barn catalogues and a Martha Stewart Living magazine- pretty tame stuff. When I'm not surrounded by images of anorexic women and ideas of what I should be looking like, it becomes a little easier to get dressed in the morning. Some days are still harder than others and I will most likely always hate shopping, but now when something doesn't fit I can think about why it might not be fitting and try something different or go some place else.

I'm a size 10! It was so refreshing to learn that it's not a curse being in the double digits. There were tall and thin girls in that window who were my size and they were beautiful. There were curvier full bodied women who were my size in that window, and they were beautiful too. It's time to start loving ourselves and our bodies for what they are. Sure, we have problem areas, but the fact is we all have them- even the super models. Why do you think they have air brushing? Models get pimples like us, have bad hair days like us, and gain weight too. They have some clothes that fit well and some that don't which is why models are hand picked to walk the runways according to what they look best in.

And guess what? If we all looked the same, how boring would the world be? Having different people with different opinions and different body shapes makes life more interesting. Do you feel better yet? I do. We need to stop thinking of size as being a label that we are branded with. Like age, size is only a number. We are all beautiful in different ways, even me with my big bondunie.

How fun does this look?!

2008-10-07T09:34:00.004-05:00

Pumpkin Bowling

Set Up

Step 1) Find a flat place to play this game; indoors or on short-cut grass.

Step 2) Ensure several small pumpkins are available in case someone breaks them in play. Sugar pumpkins are great because they are small, round and roll easily.

Step 3) Make your pins by putting a small amount of sand at the bottom of plastic soda or water bottles to keep them standing upright until knocked over. You can also use a store-bought set of plastic pins.

Step 4) Cut out ghost shapes from white felt or construction paper and draw ghostly faces on them with a black magic marker. Sew or tape them around your pins to customize them Halloween style.

Step 5) Mark off the start line with masking tape or by laying down a strip of rope.

Step 6) Set your pins up several feet away from the start line; how far away will depend on the age of the players.

Step 7) Arrange to have someone stand at the back of the pins to retrieve the rolled pumpkins and to reset the pins.

Playing the Game

Step 1) Give each bowler two turns to roll the pumpkin toward the pins and knock them down, just like in a real game of bowling.

Step 2) Earn a point for every pin you knock over.

Step 3) Win the game by being the player with the most points.

Step 4) Make it extra fun by giving out candy or another type of Halloween prize to the winner.

One day I'll do this.... when I have a yard!

Easy Peasy Halloween Project

2008-10-06T11:13:00.002-05:00

1.) Get a plain black shirt.
2.) Get a plain orange shirt.
3.) Trace and cut out a jack o' lantern face of your choosing on your orange shirt.
4.) Put on your black shirt.
5.) Put on your orange shirt.
6.) Check out your super cool pumpkin face.
7.) Go trick or treating!

It's Always Our Choice What Secret Garden We Will Tend

2008-10-05T17:22:00.006-05:00

Did you hear Thomas S. Monson today? His words spoke to my heart and told me what I needed to hear- especially with all of the changes that are happening in our family right now. Here are some of my notes of what he said {keep in mind I was writing quickly and paraphrasing a lot}:

There is nothing as consistent as change.
Change can be welcome or at times not wanted but changes will happen in all of our lives.
Time never stands still.
We have our one and only chance at mortal life.
Life is brief.
Opportunities come and then are gone.
We need to learn what is important and what is not in this life.
Find joy in the journey-NOW. Do it today. There's no going back.
Don't dwell on the past. Live for today and make pleasant memories for the future.
To mothers: Fingerprints on newly cleaned surfaces, toys strewn over the floor and laundry piled up disappear all too soon.
Let your loved ones and friends know that you love them- don't assume they know.
Say "I love you" more. Express thanks for those you care about.
Never let a problem be more important than a person.
Share love with your family and friends.
Have gratitude for your blessings.
It's always our choice what secret garden we will tend in life.
Whatever God has given you in life, TAKE IT so you can say you lived happily.
In everything, give thanks for this is the will of the Lord.
Fill your lives with things that matter most.
Jesus' life is a legacy of love- try to follow his example.

[Creating pleasant memories for the future with jack o' lantern burgers.]

What memories did you make this weekend?

Breakfast at the Halloween Grill

2008-10-05T09:02:00.003-05:00

If you haven't seen the post before this, check it out! Troy and I got really cool Halloween pancake molds and we woke up early this morning to try them out.

As soon as we began, Peyton decided to throw a tantrum as if to say:" I want my pancake's face to look like THIS!"

The process was really quite easy. Just throw some bacon on the grill and use whatever pancake recipe or mix you have to pour into the mold. Of course, you have to make sure you have to spray the mold with Pam so it slides out easily. {Yes Pam. We've already had this discussion :-) }

The pancake puppet master in action.

One happy jack o' lantern and one angry skull face coming right up! Do you see the similarity between the skull face and Peyton's face up above? Talk about art imitating life or vice versa!

Troy's breakfast plate: The angry skull face with bacon cross bones.

OooOoooh! Creepy. ;-)

My breakfast: A happy-go-lucky pumpkin face wearing a bacon scarf.

Ahhh. How cute. It lasted all of five minutes before I devoured it's face! That pumpkin never saw it coming!

Getting Into the 'Spirit' of Things

2008-10-04T20:14:00.004-05:00

I woke up with 'high spirits' today so I decided it was time to pull out the Halloween socks.

Speaking of 'High Spirits', has anyone ever seen that movie? It was a favorite of mine when I was a kid and not a bit scary- just a funny, campy and silly movie. *Click on 'High Spirits' to watch the trailer.*

Anyway, Troy and I made a trip over to the mall today and we snagged ourselves some truffles, including of course, a pumpkin truffle thrown in the mix to keep up with all of our holiday fun.

I also coerced him into getting me these super cool pancake molds from Williams-Sonoma (I got them Jeni!). Troy is just so-so about them... he thinks the molds will make pancakes that are too big . Pshaw, I say! Just think of the fun we will have making Halloween pancake faces an annual tradition. Plus, if I'm upset with the kids, I can give them frowny face or mad pancakes because I'm all about visual representation. {Just kidding!}

P.S. I just found out that Lakeside Mall has an Apple Store. When did THAT happen? I'm getting old. I don't know who new artists are on the radio, what's playing at the movie theater or apparently what new stores there are at the mall. I guess it's a small price to pay to be called "Mama" right?

Just for fun

2008-10-03T20:54:00.003-05:00

Dinner tonight: Crescent rolls and hot dogs (with tater tots on the side).

Wrap the crescent rolls around your hot dogs and you've got creepy mummies straight from the crypt!
Peyton ate a whole one all by himself! He scarfed it down and there wasn't anything left but little crumbs.

Dessert: Jello jigglers that wouldn't set.

I'm still waiting for that darn jello to set- I don't think it's going to :-(
I would have had purple ghosts and orange pumpkins but all I have is mush.

Do you like my witches brew? I love the black ice effect-even if it's all a wash in the end. It was still plenty of fun.

We put Peyton to bed and then watched ourselves some House on Haunted Hill. That movie never gets old! What Halloween-y things have you been doing?

Making Pumpkin Gingerbread

2008-10-02T17:50:00.010-05:00

Are you ready to make some pumpkin gingerbread? Lets get cooking! First, put on an apron because you don't want to ruin that $5 t-shirt you have on.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 176.667 degrees Celsius for all you snooty people who like Celsius.

Spray 2 loaf pans with PAM...yes PAM only because any other cooking spray is just lame.

Open up a 15 oz can of pumpkin puree or you can just open up a can of whoop butt on an innocent pumpkin and get the same product.

Break open 4 eggs into your mixing bowl. For fun, see if they break differently if you break them vertically or horizontally.

Add 3 cups of sugar. Yes three. (Remember, it's for two loaves, not one.)

Add 1 cup of vegetable oil because 3 cups of sugar alone isn't bad enough.

And 2/3 cup water and you'll have almost an eighth of the water you need for a day.

Then add your 15 ounces of pumpkin puree, that you or someone else so violently took from an innocent pumpkin.

Don't forget your spices! Add 2 teaspoons each of Allspice, Ginger, Cinnamon and Cloves. If you like it less spicy, you can play with the amount until it comes out like you like it.

Also add 1 1/2 teaspoon salt to achieve the holy trifecta of yummy unhealthiness for any baking project- Sugar, Oil, and Salt.

And 2 teaspoons of Arm and Hammer baking soda. I don't even know if they make another brand of baking soda. If they do, I'm sure that like non-Pam cooking spray, it's lame.

Last ingredient: flour, which combines with the holy trifecta to make a holy quartet of ingredients for any baking project. Put in 3 1/2 cups all purpose flour. Mix, mix, mix. Electric mixers help here but are not required.

Divide batter between pans. Make sure they're even or they will fight in the oven. And you don't want that.

Put 'em in the oven for a time out.

Set your timer for 60 minutes. A long time out I know, but it will help them become the best they can be. Trust me.

It's all good when a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean. Take the loaves out of the pans and let them cool on a rack. Give one loaf to a friend and keep one for yourself or keep both if that's how you wanna be. Either way, yum, yum, yum.

Wooo Hoooo! It's October!

2008-10-01T12:57:00.005-05:00

I love {LOVE} love all things spooky-licious. Isn't this time of year the best?! There are super cool decorations {that I always vow to copycat when I get some mula}, all of your favorite candy {just handed to you!}, eerie books to read {with the covers pulled up so that the spookies don't get you}, spine tingling movies to watch {with your honey close by in case it gets really creepy}... yep, I love it all. Speaking of scary movies, here are my two all time favorite movies to watch for Halloween:

The House on Haunted Hill- I've only ever seen it in black and white but they now have it in color!

...and of course the ORIGINAL version of The Haunting- not the stupid 1999 Catherine Zeta-Jones/Owen Wilson version!

Has anyone seen these? The House on Haunted Hill is a fun movie but not very spooky, and The Haunting SCARES me {or it did the first couple of times- now I know what's going to happen so I'm able to relax a little!}

Anyway, I'm looking for some new favorites that are creepy but NOT gory {hard to find these days}. Got any faves? I'm a sucker for Alfred Hitchcock style filming like Rear Window or Psycho. Tell me your faves and I'll watch the ones that sound the most intriguing. Perhaps there may be a prize in it for the person that introduces me to a new Halloween favorite.

Trick or treat!

What to do, what to do

2008-09-30T11:58:00.002-05:00

My parents are coming to visit for 2 weeks (actually, they'll BOTH be here the first week from the 9th to the 16th and then my Dad flies back to Indonesia so then it's just my Mom the last week until about the 25th) of October.

I'm trying to come up with some fun things to do while they're here. October is a perfect month for them to come because hopefully it will start cooling off and there are a TON of things to do. This is where I need some recommendations and your two-thumbs-up stamps of approval.

We've done the zoo route, never been to the Aquarium, have seen the French Quarter about a million billion times... so I need something new and fantastic to go see.

Here are my ideas so far:
Global Wildlife Safari to get up close and feed the animals
Red Bluff Farm to tour a pumpkin patch and farm
Angola Prison Rodeo to see some inmates get chased by a wild bull
A visit to The Myrtles Plantation because I'm always up for some ghost hunting (at night this time)
Oktoberfest to enjoy some authentic food and music
Farmer's Market to grab some fresh-from-the-field produce

What else?!

I've been to The Myrtles and to the Farmer's Market but nothing else on that list. Any tips? Any that you love or hate? Any secret spots that you love to visit?

We'll only have one weekend where ALL of us can do something since Troy is at work Monday thru Friday. The next weekend will just be my Mom, Troy and I (and Peyton of course). I'm thinking that the Global Wildlife Safari is a must the first weekend (although it is pricey) because my Dad loves to hunt Big Game and would love to see Zebra, Eland, Bison and other fun animals up close. Other than that, I'm open for anything.

Any advice or stories about your fun adventures will be appreciated. And Mom and Dad, feel free to put your thoughts in the mix too- I don't want to drag you somewhere where you don't want to go! :-)

The Soup Question

2008-09-26T12:47:00.006-05:00

Did you ever watch the movie, Finding Forrester that came out in 2000? If you didn't, here's a little background info:

Finding Forrester is the story of Jamal Wallace's life in the rough world of the inner city. Although Jamal is intellectually gifted, he puts little effort into his schoolwork to avoid criticism from his friends. On a dare, he sneaks into a recluse's apartment and, to his surprise, befriends the inhabitant. The man helps Jamal with his writing, in exchange for Jamal keeping a secret: the man is William Forrester, the secluded author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, Avalon Landing, his only published book. When a highly selective private school, Mailor Callow, sees Jamal's test results, he is offered a scholarship. Jamal accepts, although it is a major culture shock to go to this elite school. He is immediately befriended by a board member's daughter, which eases the transition.

Later, a professor named Crawford accuses Jamal of plagiarism because he incorporates the first paragraph and title of an essay by Forrester into one of his papers. The essay had been written by Jamal in Forrester's apartment, and despite the fact that he was told to keep anything he wrote in Forrester's house in Forrester's house, he turned it in. In the end, Forrester leaves the apartment after all of those years, pays a surprise visit to the school to address the professor's accusations in person, and reads one of Jamal's writing samples in order to prove his innocence.

One of my favorite scenes of the movie is when Jamal is visiting William Forrester while he's eating a bowl of soup. Jamal asks him what kind of soup he's eating and Forrester basically tells him that knowing what kind of soup he's eating is of no importance or meaning to Jamal; or point blank, that it was a stupid question.

There on out, whenever Jamal asks such a question, Forrester labels it as a 'soup question', saying: "That isn’t a soup question is it? It fails the basic criteria of a question in that it does not solicit information that is important to you.”

Now that you're all caught up, I can really begin my post now. Here we go!

I'm sure that some people are going to read this post and think that I'm an unfriendly person that doesn't like to interact with strangers. Really, I don't mind making small talk with people I don't know but what I dislike are the 'soup questions' of life, if you will.

Case in point: Yesterday I was at Winn-Dixie in the check out line trying to get the conveyor belt loaded up with groceries while prying little fingers off of magazines and candy packages conveniently located at a fingertips brush. A man behind me pushed up his cart and started chit chatting with Peyton. Then he looks at me and asks the dreaded 'soup question'. "How old is he?"

Maybe this doesn't bother anyone else as a parent, but it can be bothersome for me; especially if you have to answer this 'soup question' over and over again {complete with fake smile plastered on} in the course of one day. Anyway, back to my story- I answered politely and returned to my task of balancing things on the moving belt when I hear the man speak up again. "I'll bet he's a handful, huh?"

Now really. What do you want me to say to that? Does it matter how old my toddler is (that you'll probably never see again?) What if he IS a handful? Is that going to affect YOU one iota? I know that he was being friendly and outgoing. And it wasn't that I was rude, I was just frazzled from my experience of trying to get in and out of the store in one piece and I didn't have much patience left to pretend to be a loving, doting Mom that has endless patience and a perfectly prepared dinner on the table at home.

I concede that there are of course exceptions to the rule. If someone was behind me that had a toddler that seemed close in age to Peyton, I could understand if they were to ask the age question because maybe he/she were comparing the developmental milestones between their child and mine, so hence, the question would be of some importance to them.

[Do you think I need an umbrella?] is a better question to ask to gain information than [It looks a little wet out, doesn't it?]. Do you see the difference?

I am sure that some of you are now worried that you should be extra censorious in your conversations with me from here on out. That wasn't the point of this post at all. Like I said before, I don't mind small talk; in fact, I'm probably as guilty as the next party when I don't know what to say and just need a little banter to buoy up a conversation. But you'll never find me approaching someone I don't know with the sole purpose of asking them a 'soup question'. Because frankly, it wouldn't matter to me what the answer was anyway since I would gain no information from it.

So,what do you think about soup questions? {Because I really DO want to know)

Say Hello to the Birthday Boy

2008-09-25T12:44:00.005-05:00

Here are some fun facts to celebrate my partner in crime's 29th birthday:

1. We currently live 3.38 miles from the Tulane-Lakeside hospital where he was born 29 years ago.

2. His favorite colors are Superman red and blue. He also like purple, which shouldn't surprise anyone since he's practically royalty (according to him).

3. Speaking of Superman, that is Troy's numero uno super hero character. His brother was always Batman and Troy was always Superman as a kid (and still is today- you should see the number of Superman shirts this guy has!)

4. Going back to the color purple, Troy bleeds purple and gold for the LSU Tigers. I think he'll be rooting them on even when he's 80 years old.

5. Troy can remember every football field that he ever played at in high school; he always points out which ones nearly every time we drive into New Orleans. Now it's a joke between us!

6. He can also recall with clarity every wrestling match he was a part of and loves to retell all of the gory details...

7. Which doesn't help his love for all things U.F.C. Or boxing. Or any fight between two willing competitors. The gorier, the better.

8. He also watches tennis, golf, basketball, college football, pro football, baseball (in small amounts) and hockey (in small amounts).

9. He has two pairs of tennis shoes- the crappy pair and the pair that are hidden away from little fingers on the top shelf. He only uses the nice pair for running so he doesn't 'wear' them out.

10. When Troy comes home, he always tries to park beside the Hummer. I joke that the blue Kia is stalking me. Even in vehicles he doesn't want to be separated from me ;-)

11. Troy's favorite types of candy consists of Peanut M&M's, Reeses Peanut Butter Cups (the miniatures), Snickers bars (the snack size) and 3 Musketeers and Twix (both tied for last place).

12. His favorite ice cream is anything cake batter flavored (his favorite is Cold Stone's Cake Batter version or Blue Bell's 4-H sundae that has bits of cupcake, frosting and sprinkles in it).

13. He always brings home a file folder from work but 89.9% of the time, he doesn't even look at it. It just looks like he's busy and important to everyone else. It doesn't fool me anymore :-0

14. Troy is like a dog when he goes to sleep. He has to toss and turn no less than three times to make a 'bed' for himself before he can go to sleep. If he gets up to get a drink of water or use the bathroom, the whole process must be repeated.

15. Troy loves to cook. Those of you girls thinking that I am so lucky to have a husband that wants or knows how to cook haven't seen the kitchen after Hurricane Troy has been through- except maybe Jeni. That man can cook.... and can also create disasters!

16. As for food, his favorite food is lamb. He is like a kid on Christmas when he sees it on a menu when we go out to eat.

17. Speaking of lamb, that's what he'll be ordering when we go to Outback tonight so that he can indulge. I'm 100% sure that's what he's ordering {because he told me he was} :-)

18. Troy loves to read as much as I do and actually reads faster than I do {much to my dismay sometimes when he's hovering over my shoulder reading emails}. Unfortunately, he hasn't had much time to devote to reading lately (actually the last 4 years it seems) since he reads so much legal jargon at work. His favorite reads are ones involving Philosophy, Mythology and good Sci-fi/fantasy.

19. Troy does NOT eat broccoli. If Superman's demise is Kryptonite, Troy's demise is broccoli. Even the smell does him in...

20. As well as coffee. I happen to like the smell of coffee and it doesn't affect me either way- but Troy will gag when we walk by a coffee shop and I'm always puzzled why he has such a look of disgust on his face until I remember how much he loathes the smell of it.

21. Troy is a big kid at heart- don't let his super serious lawyer facade fool you. This is the guy that will shoot me with the marshmallow blaster, put on my robe and slippers to pretend to be me, and will chase me through the house just to tickle me.

22. He loves to calculate things. All. The. Time. He calculates so much that he even uses the calculator on his cell phone. He has spreadsheets of all of his favorite calculations. If I had to pick his favorite hobby besides watching sports, I would say this is it.

23. He is a wonderful husband and father. Peyton lights up when Troy comes home and it's just the same for Troy. These boys are two peas in a pod. They love to play together. Troy also treats me like a princess and I couldn't ask for a more loving and compassionate guy.

24. Unless you ask him to clean the house ;-)

25. Troy is a sucker for power ballads from the 80's and 90's. He also has a thing for Kelly Clarkson (the first 2 albums), Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and Ashlee Simpson. It's only with great control that I can let him listen to Celine on the radio since she makes me want to claw my ears out. It must be true love.

26. Troy's favorite movies are all typical guy faves: Matrix, Rambo, Bourne Identity, Superman, Rocky, and anything with Bruce Lee or Jet Li.

27. His favorite breakfast during college was Little Debbie snacks washed down with Kool Aid. He has since 'grown up' and now eats Lucky Charms for breakfast.

28. If we're talking about Troy's favorite hot breakfast, it's toast, eggs and bacon which is also tied with his love of omelets. He loves meat, and if he could have it, he would for all three meals. I think he would be a rock in a hard place if a doctor told him that he had to become vegetarian!

29. He has the best smile and laugh. It's incredibly contagious and catching. All I have to do is look at him and he can make me smile.

Happy Birthday Troy! When you get home, I get to give you all 29 of your birthday spankings, plus one to grow on, so get ready! ;-)

A tag from Jamie

2008-09-24T09:59:00.009-05:00

I was tagged by Jaime to do this post so here it is. It was a lot of fun!

I am: Married to my best friend.
I think: Age is just a number; it's all in how you live it.
I know: I could start and finish writing a book if I would just put my mind to it.
I want: More hours in the day to accomplish all of my dreams.
I have: More than I need but not all that I want.
I dislike: Being told that I can't do something or being told HOW to do it.
I miss: The exhilaration of running and seeing how far I could take myself.
I fear: That I will never 'make something of myself'.
I feel: Excited about the future, especially this next year.
I hear: Little hands keeping busy; exploring, rooting and learning.
I smell: The scent of pumpkin spice wafting from the dancing flame of my candle.
I crave: Fresh flowers, crisp apples, cool air, changing leaves, homemade bread and sweet treats.
I cry: When I think about loved ones leaving or dieing.
I usually: Get lost once it gets dark. Thank goodness for Tom Tom!
I search: On Wikipedia when I don't know something.
I wonder: What books and hobbies my kids will like when they're older.
I regret: Some choices that I made as a kid but I also recognize that those choices are what made me who I am today.
I wish: On falling stars.
I love: Dreaming about our future home and how I'll decorate it.
I care: About what others think.
I always: Fall asleep when reading in bed.
I worry: That I won't get to do all of the things I want to do in this life time.
I am not: Your typical girl.
I remember: Having endless energy, being fearless, and unafraid of meeting new people.
I believe: That some things are meant to be.
I sing: In the car when I think no one is watching.
I don't always: Agree with film critics, book reviews or food write ups.
I argue: Without logic- my emotions take over and I can't think clearly.
I write: To release tension, to organize my thoughts, and to always remember.
I win: Some.
I lose: Some.
I listen: To advice but I don't always take it.
I don't understand: Mathematics, chemistry or advanced physics.
I can usually be found: Reading a book, cleaning house or looking after Peyton.
I need: To feel like I belong and that others care about me.
I forget: Phone numbers, names and directions after being away too long.
I am happy: To be outside when the weather is nice and I can go for long walks in the park.

I now tag Aidan, Courtney, Stacy, Becky and Aimee {unless you've already been tagged!}.

New Life

2008-09-22T19:35:00.001-05:00

This post has been temporarily removed pending notice to certain parties. All news is the same.

Happy first day of Autumn!

2008-09-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

This begins my favorite time of year.

It starts with subtle changes like the falling of leaves and the feeling of cooler weather on the way. You can smell it in the air- wood burning fireplaces, wet leaves, pumpkin scented candles, fresh baked goodies. Colors give way from the bright chirpy colors of spring and shift to the warm enveloping colors of autumn- forest green, goldenrod, chocolate and holly red.

Some may argue that summer is the time that families come together while going on vacation about the country with pit stops to visit relatives, but I feel in my heart that it's the winding down of the year, of becoming a little less selfish and a little more selfless, of enjoying each others company and all of the wonderful autumnal enticements that delight our 5 senses. I hope you have a pleasant Fall and Winter and that your Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years celebrations are spent with the very best of friends and loved ones.

Now go carve a pumpkin ;-)

2008-09-18T12:24:00.004-05:00

Hi, this is the Majoue family answering machine. We're not here right now because we're either halfway to, halfway back or currently in Dallas right now {depending on when you get this}. Leave us a message if you want and we might get back to you as soon as we're back in the State of Lose-riana again. Thanks! *Beeeep!*

Livin' La Vida Loca!

2008-09-17T14:12:00.003-05:00

Ahh yes. Wouldn't you just love to be me right about now?

Monday, maintenance came and spray painted over my vents to 'fix' them.

Tuesday, someone came and ripped out the sheet rock down to the framing in my storage closet.

Today, someone came to clean out my vents from 'mildew' and told me they had to do it three times because the AC unit was so dirty and that maintenance is putting too much freon in our system.

Then, two minutes before the air people are wrapping up, two roofers climb a ladder and start banging away on my roof {during Peyton's nap time}.

This afternoon, I am waiting for Early Steps to fill out paper work with me so that Peyton can be evaluated for his speech {or lack thereof}.

I love strange people in my house. Oh what the heck.Wanna come over? We can make it a party. Just brush off the fine white powder from the table tops and we can party till the cows come home!

Anyway, I guess I should be glad that 1st Lake Properties is on the ball this time. Our roof leaked for two years after Katrina so this is an improvement in response time {for them}. But my closet still looks like this:

Yep, that's my fireplace folks!

Nothing like looking into the rafters. Yesterday, there was a peep of sunlight that shone through and also attributed to our 3 inches of standing water INSIDE our fireplace everytime it rained last week.

Oh, there you are little carpet of mine. Nice to see something familiar in all of this mess!

I need a vacation. Or maybe a diet coke. Or maybe both.

Idiots at Work

2008-09-16T10:11:00.005-05:00

We've lived here for three years now. Long enough to be annoyed with this, that, and some more of this. Will the idiocy never cease? Now look at what the schmucks in the maintenance office are up to:

What? Nothing looks wrong in this picture to you? Well maybe that's because somebody spray painted over what's REALLY there. Here's a closer look at what's hidden when the vent is closed:

Nope, that's not a type of artistic paint splatter. That's genuine bonafide grade A mold.

But it's not really there you see, because it's been spray painted over and thus it is now considered "fixed".

Whew! I thought I'd have to worry about getting sick and wondering whether Peyton would develop allergies because of this. I feel SO much better now that it's covered up and that it poses no problem to the health and well being of my family.

The genius's strike again!

Morning Glory! See the Rain, Dear?

2008-09-16T08:07:00.005-05:00

My grandma used to say this to me every morning to wake me up when she was visiting for Christmas. I never understood it as a kid because to me it sounded like she was missing the 'Good' out of 'Good Morning' and why in the heck was she calling me glory anyway?! And then for the last part- in my little kid mind, I couldn't process the 'Rain, Dear' part because I thought she was saying Reindeer. See the Reindeer?! What reindeer? Santa's reindeer? The moose outside the window? Maybe I didn't get it because I was so focused on it being Christmas that I thought she was eluding to something about the holidays.

I finally told her that I hadn't seen any {a little exasperated} and she laughed but never did tell me what she was actually saying. It finally popped in my head a few years back that she wasn't saying 'Morning' as in a salutation per se, but instead, it was meant in the context that a morning glory is a flower and the phrase was meant to ask if I felt refreshed. It was like a light bulb went off! I finally got it!

Over the years, I've heard different songs and phrases that when slurred or muffled can sound like something else. For me, the granddaddy of them all is Bruce Springsteen's 'Blinded By the Light' which sounds like he's saying douche instead of deuce. That one boggled my mind forever too- I mean, how can you cut loose like a douche? Obviously, it's cut loose like a deuce, but really, what do YOU hear?!

Another favorite misunderstanding of mine is in Savage Garden's song 'I Want You'. I always hear 'Like a chicken cherry cola', but what they're really singing is 'Like a chic-a-cherry cola'. What does that even mean?! Chic-a-cherry cola? Why not just a regular cherry cola? And can I just say that until I finally looked up the lyrics {like 5 minutes ago} I always thought that a chicken cherry cola would be pretty nasty unless it was meant as chicken WITH a cherry cola. But anyway...

This leads to another favorite conversation that Troy and I have about recording artists and producers. At what point do you think, hmmm.... we should really add a 'Mmmm bop' right about here and a 'oohhweeeoohwweoooo' right there? Pretty funny if you ask me. So go ahead and spill the beans- do you have any funny misnomer stories? I promise to laugh right along with you!

What To Do On a Rainy Thursday Morning {when you can't go to the park}

2008-09-11T12:50:00.006-05:00

See the rain. Watch it fall. Watch it fall down.

Go to the mall. Park in the parking garage.

Realize that your crazy Dad has forgotten to put your umbrella stroller back in the truck.

Have your Mom call your Dad and tell him the situation. Listen to her laugh.

Meet your best bud Calyn and her Mom at the mall.

Have your Mom tell her Mom the situation.

Go on a wild goose chase trying to find something to rest your bondoonie in.

Give up after there are:
A.)No rental strollers
B.)No strollers at J.C.Penny's
C.)$25 umbrella strollers at KB toys that barely fits your tush and is dangerously close to crushing the family jewels.

Tell your Mom that you'd rather walk anyway.

But then you get tired and you just gotta sit already!

So you bum a ride from your hot girlfriend.

Sit in the "back seat" and let her cop a feel {or maybe just let her caress your cheek since she's a nice girl}.

Dress up like the dino beast you are.

Run through Gymboree to see if your Mom still has moves.

Isn't this hat the best?

Show the world that you are dino-mite.

Get back in the stroller {built for one} and let your girlfriend feed you crackers. They taste better when you're eating right out of her hand anyway.

After an hour, head home, eat lunch and crash in bed...
It's exhausting being me!

What To Do On a Lazy Wednesday Afternoon {After Nap Time}

2008-09-11T12:22:00.005-05:00

Watch Mom blow bubbles {IN the HOUSE!!!}

Try to catch some before they wink away into nothing.

Try your hand at coloring.

Then try to decide which crayon is more fun to color with!

Once you've got it down, show off your moves.

After all of that, share an apple with your Mom and giggle at the crunching sounds. Get apple drool all over yourself and smile while still chewing to show that you are indeed a multi-tasker. Then coerce your Mom into going outside in the courtyard where you can chase the neighbors cat and call it "Uh-dee"- which is your name for anything soft and fuzzy {including the original Uh-dee which is your favorite stuffed bunny that your Mom's Uncle Bruce and Aunt Chris got for you}. Climb three flights of stairs {all by yourself! and call the day a success.

Hurri-cation Evacuation

2008-09-09T16:37:00.015-05:00

Well, we've been back from our Hurricane evacuation/vacation {read:Hurri-cation} since Saturday evening. Troy flew into Shreveport from Houston on Monday and hung out with his good buddy Adam until Wednesday when Aaron, Jeni and I met him halfway in Natchitoches and brought him back to Leesville. I've just been enjoying the last few days {at HOME!} of getting back into our regular routines. I have some pictures of our adventures the last couple of days I wanted to share so here we go...

Heading out. In front of me is Jeni who is following behind Aaron driving the Camry.

New Orleans sending in reinforcements. Both Jeni and I agreed later that seeing the lines of Army trucks going in to the city made us feel a little anxious especially after having gone through Katrina the first time.

Bobby Jindal was on the ball. We left Friday and the troops were already rolling in to be in place for Monday or Tuesday when the storm would make landfall.

We passed a long string of ambulances evacuating critical care patients. Then when we were coming home, Troy and I saw about 20 out of state ambulances heading towards Baton Rouge.

When we got to Leesville, Aaron dumped out my cooler of ice and it didn't take Peyton long to discover the pile. At one point, he was sucking on that giant chunk of ice that is at his feet in this picture.

Yum. Ice and grass. Someone should make that a new ice cream flavor- I think Peyton would eat it up!

When the babies get bored, just strip them naked and give them an empty water bottle- it keeps them entertained forever!

Two of the cutest tushes around!

I love Calyn's expression- she is loving that water!

Taking a break...

Later, Peyton went and hid in the laundry room for a bit to relax.

Of course, he couldn't resist giving me cheese face when he saw that he was busted. Yes, that is lint on his face ;-)

More toddler diversions- we spent about 15 minutes at the park before we all died of the humidity and had to go home. In Aaron's words, it felt like we were "living on the sun."

All smiles for these guys!

There's nothing better than rolling around in dirt... Peyton ate ice, grass, lint, dirt and attempted eating rocks on this trip. He is definitely an outdoor lover!

Best baby friends in action.

Playing peek a boo.

Isn't she the cutest?!

I love this picture- the guys were so exhausted that they both passed out on the couch- Aaron still has a firm grip on the remote control!

Lunch with the gang. We ate so many fajitas that we didn't eat dinner until almost 9 that night!

Seen outside the Walmart in Leesville.
It says: Slow *Loud *And* Bangin'*. What a nice SLAB!

Two amigos.

We tried our hand later at bowling.

Go for a strike Jeni-Bear!

Fun with facial hair! The boys both decided to get funky with shaving since they were on hurri-cation.

Not only did Peyton teach Calyn to climb on the table but in two blinks of any eye they had discovered how to get in to the cookie containers and both kids were taking bites out of the chocolate chip cookies!

Badness!

What better way to end the trip than to take a dive in a huge bin filled with stuffed animals!

Toddler heaven!

Thank you to everyone who called, emailed and kept us in your thoughts. It meant a lot to us! We are now back to our usual selves. I hope all of you fared okay during the storm and didn't get nailed by the thousands of trees that were all over the place!

Anxious is my middle name

2008-08-30T21:53:00.003-05:00

Like everyone else, the one thing on my mind right now is Hurricane Gustav. I spent 4 hours on the road yesterday following behind my good friends Aaron and Jeni as we made our evacuation to Leesville in northern Louisiana.

We will all be up here for the duration of the storm. Right now, we are pretty prepared- Aaron's parents went and got a generator today and they have food and water stockpiled. Hopefully because we are so far north, the storm will weaken before it gets here. Regardless, we will probably experience power outages and downed tree limbs by the time this thing is said and done. Thank goodness we are out of the city of New Orleans which during Katrina turned into a fish bowl. I never thought I'd have to do this again, but here we are!

As it stands now, I have no idea what Troy is doing to get home. His itinerary was to fly into Houston Monday from Japan and then to hop on a plane up to New Orleans. However, the New Orleans airport will close this Sunday after 6 pm meaning he could be stranded in Houston or re-routed to somewhere else in the U.S.

If he is in Houston, I will probably be able to get him since it is about 3 hours from here. Otherwise, we will have to wait and see what this storm does and if we have a home to meet back up at. Communication has been difficult due to the time zone differences and also because our cell phones don't have international plans. Needless to say, I am getting a little anxious to find out what will happen to him {I miss you honey!}.

Please keep everyone that is currently residing in the states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas in your thoughts and prayers as we will need them! I will try to keep everyone updated for as long as we have power. Love and best wishes to you all. Hopefully I see you all sooner rather than later.

2008-08-29T08:54:00.002-05:00

The bags are packed and we're ready to go; the only thing missing is you.

Hopefully we three will be together again soon, snuggled up on the couch in our family room.

It won't be too much longer until we see your face; what a comfort that will bring! Communication might be difficult for a few days, but I have brought my phone for when you reach the states and I'll be checking my email occasionally. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers for you are {as always} in ours. Let's hope this storm just ends up being a few wet and soggy days... like the time we stayed home in our pajama's and made pancakes and grilled cheese sandwiches and watched movies together; just riding out the gusts of wind from the so-called storm blowing down our street.

Whatever the case may be, you and I will be together soon. That much I know for sure. I love you to infinity and beyond and will remain always and forever your loving
~Lexi

2008-08-28T14:58:00.009-05:00

From dusk until dawn, I try to keep busy. Our living, breathing alarm clock does his job- tirelessly moving from one activity to the next; always keeping me on my toes. Schedules are not dictated by me so much as they are by him. We revolve like watch hands on a time piece, a turntable slowly spinning out the sweet symphony of our lives.

Night came too soon after the last rays of the dying sun descended below the horizon. Together, Peyton and I ate dinner- the vestiges of the meal I had prepared for you prior to take off. I pulled up his seat to the kitchen counter while I stood and ate, too anxious to sit but merely going through the motions of survival. As Peyton hunkered down for the night, I began making lists, of what to bring, what to turn off, what not to forget. As the storm churns in the gulf, so do my thoughts of the here and now, the future of events not yet played out and as always, my thoughts of you and when you'll return to nestle in my arms once more.

Sleep eluded me last night. I simply could not grasp the fringes of Mr. Sandman's coat tails for the life of me. Tossing and turning, I stared as the clock illuminated the room; minutes going by like hours and my mind continuing to strategize while the black sky of night shifted colors in graduated hues until night became morning.

I wish I could talk to you right now- the discrepancies in time between here and there is mind boggling. Today is already tomorrow for you. My phone has never been this utterly silent. I miss our little chats, the daily conversations we have about everything in the world or nothing at all. What do you do when you lose your best friend over night? I have no one to talk to, and no one to look forward to coming to rescue me from myself {at least not today}. I can't wait for your return, to see the twinkles in the eyes I know so well; to inhale that scent about you that I adore. Until then my dear, I am counting down the seconds.

I love you my forever sweetheart.

It's NieNie Day!

2008-08-28T09:50:00.011-05:00

Oh my goodness, are you in for a treat today! There are a million, gazillion {or so it seems} silent auctions being held today in honor of NieNie to help raise money to offset the Nielson's rising medical bills.

See below for my older post about this subject if you have no idea what I'm talking about... but believe you me, this is one excellent cause. As many of you know, a trip to the hospital is no chump change and Christian and Stephanie are in for some astronomical hospital bills. Stephanie was burned on over 80% of her body and Christian was burned on over 30% of his. They will need many skin grafting surgeries which will add up quickly. Please take a moment to check out some of the goods that are being auctioned off today and know that every little bit counts. Go to Design Mom to check out the current lists.

Right now, I have my eye on this beauty:

What lovelies did you come across? Happy Bidding!

P.S. Updates of how Stephanie and Christian are doing can be found on her sister Courtney's blog: cjane enjoy it .

2008-08-27T11:36:00.003-05:00

There's a hurricane in the gulf and a black hole in my heart.
Dawn broke through our window this morning throwing rays of sunlight through the blinds across our bed.
In my bleary eyed state, I rolled over to see that there was no pillow on your side. There was no 'lump' in my bed. There was no you.
I found evidence of your departure in the spaces in between; a bowl and a spoon in the sink,
An absence of things once there, a note tucked away hidden in the truck.

My heart aches for you. It was worse in the early morning hours when Peyton reached for me and snuggled into the nook of my body where neck meets shoulder.
I held his warm little body, part you, part me, part his own creation and spent the early morning 'Daddy time' with him; fetching cold milk from the kitchen, changing his bottom, getting him situated for breakfast.
The daylight hours won't be so bad since you are always gone during the day; away to work and to provide for the family that loves you dearly.
But when night settles in, and dinner way gives way to bath time and story time; once the lights are out in Peyton's room and the only noise is the echo of his breathing, my heart will flounder.

Five days isn't an eternity. But it's long enough to feel empty and no longer whole; to feel that something is missing and can't be filled only by wishing it to be so. I already miss your smile, how your fingers fold into mine like they were made to fit, the sound of your voice and the whisper of your breath against my skin.

Please have a good time and try to make this absence worth your while. Until you return, I will meet you in my dreams where we can have a vacation that all of the celebrities in the universe would envy. Believe me, I have enough destinations to last us a lifetime + infinity!

Love and kisses from the U.S. We adore you.

Sending Rove from Rouisiana

2008-08-26T13:05:00.015-05:00

Troy's leaving tomorrow. On a jet plane. Don't know when he'll be back again.

Okay, just kidding about that last part. I just love that song... you know the one- 'Leaving on a Jet Plane?' Ok, never mind. *Feeling sheepish*

But he really truly is leaving tomorrow to go to Japan at the bum crack of dawn.

Yep- he's flying to the other side of the world.

To see a wedding.

Of two people who are already married but are just now throwing themselves a big bash {yeah, I'm a bit bitter... don't ask}.

Especially since Troy and I haven't even gone anywhere on a plane together.

Ever.

In 5 1/2 years of marriage. And our honeymoon consisted of 3 days in New Orleans {where Troy grew up and where we now live}.

But tomorrow he's leaving on an INTERNATIONAL TRIP.

All. By. Himself.

And I can't go with him because I'll be with Peyton.

At home. Everyday. 24 hours a day. For 5 days.

All. By. Myself.

I COULD have gone too. But could you imagine an 18 month old on a plane for 14+ hours and THEN dealing with time zone issues? Yeah, me neither.

So, anyway, I was trying to find something not contentious about this whole trip to lighten my mood while we were getting ready for the day this morning. Troy and I were speculating about what the trip would be like and if the food would be edible and also whether or not anyone would swap their letter L's for R's.

Me: Could you imagine if someone met your Mom and called her 'Rinda?'

Troy: *Snickering*

Me: Oh hi Rinda! Nice to meet you. So you're from Rouisiana? And this must be your daughter Racher. I'm so sorry your daughter Raura couldn't come. And Rexi is at home with Peyton?

Troy: *Laughing* Rexi!

Me: I know! I sound like a dog. Come here Rexi!

Troy: And you know what else? I think I'll be the tallest one there too.

Me: You're taller than Jason?

Troy: Yeah. I'm taller than everyone in my family.

Me: Oh, and you might have a hard time keeping everyone's faces straight.

Troy: Yeah- I might not recognize Naoko's Dad.

Me: You could always mark him with a marker like Michael did on 'The Office' when he couldn't tell those two Japanese girls apart.

Troy: *Laughing* I might just have to do that. Oh yeah!

Me: What?

Troy: I just remembered we have to do that whole bowing thing.

Me: I forgot about that! Your Mom is going to have a time with that one. {She injured her neck a few months back}

Troy: Wouldn't that be funny if you were wearing a neck brace and you had to bow like this? *He improvises an ungraceful and crazy bow*

Me: That's hilarious. Or is it hi.rar.ious?

Troy: Ha ha. If we were in China it would be the opposite.

Me: Oh, you mean the letter 'R's would be 'L's? Like flied lice. And your name would be Tloy.

Troy: Yeah, they would have some problems with my name.

Me: But not everyone will mix up the letters, right? That would probably only happen with people who haven't studied English in depth or speak English fluently.

Troy: Right. I'll put it to you this way- most people will speak enough English to communicate, but I'm sure there are some people who might still flip the letters.

Me: I don't know how you're not going to bust out laughing. *Laughing myself*

That's just a peak at some of the zany conversations we have at our house. We crack ourselves up sometimes! I'll keep you posted on what Peyton and I are doing to while away the time so check back in soon.

{With all my love}

2008-08-24T14:17:00.018-05:00

Have you ever been touched by someone you didn't know but felt as though they were your friend all the same? This is a post about friendship and how even people far away can become enmeshed in your heart and can inspire you through words and pictures on a page.

I love to read blogs- many of them are friends that I really do know in the flesh and blood; friends I've had lunch with, talked with, laughed with and spent time with. Then there are other blogs that I like to visit because they inspire me with a love for life, family, friends, children, cooking, writing, fashion and more.

Although I haven't met some of these "friends", I feel like I know them through the pictures they share and the life experiences they have gone through. I laugh at the silly things their kids say, try recipes they adore, admire the fashion they love and the confidence they exude or read the poetic words they post about their lives all of which brings me hope and comfort to get through another day.

NieNie from NieNie Dialogues is just one of those many blogs that I read to uplift and inspire me. This girl is clever and amazing. Even her nickname NieNie is a play on words- her name being Stephanie and her last name being Nielson. Get it? NieNie. Very cool.

I also love to look at the colorful snapshots of her everyday life with her four darling children and doting husband, socking ideas away for when my little guy is old enough to enjoy them and to soak up the fun and joy for living that she and her family share.

Of the many adventures she writes about, I loved to read about her recent adventures that she and her husband shared while flying. Christian {her husband} had just recently earned his wings so she began posting about their trips among the clouds. She loved to post about the weather conditions, where their destination was and what they did when they arrived. It was a visual vacation for your eyes.

You can imagine my surprise when her sister Courtney {from C-Jane enjoy it} posted last week that both Stephanie and Christian were in a plane crash with Christian's flight instructor, Doug Kinneard. Unfortunately, Doug didn't pull through and he died at the hospital surrounded by his family. Stephanie and Christian fared better, although both have severe burns on their body. Stephanie is in for months of surgeries and recovery. Christian may be able to return home within a few weeks.

Inspired by a tradition that Christian's family cherishes of releasing helium balloons in celebration of a birthday or other life event, Stephanie's sister, Courtney asked that everyone release balloons yesterday with prayers and wishes for their recovery. I couldn't pass on such a touching and fitting tribute to a wonderful woman, wife and mother. Here are pictures of my balloon launch:

Stay tuned this week to Gabrielle Blairs' blog; Design Mom to find out more about how you can raise money to help offset Stephanie and Christian's medical bills, silent auctions being held in their honor and pictures of other balloon launches from around the world {literally! There was a launch yesterday in Australia}. I hope this post inspires you to reach out and help someone who is in need of some T.L.C., to hold your loved ones a little closer and to know that Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us and is with us every step we take. Love and kisses to you all.

~L.

P.S. You can also donate here:

Don't Worry Mom~

2008-08-22T08:20:00.005-05:00

I didn't fall off the face of the planet! I just didn't think you wanted to hear about my rather mundane last few days of house keeping, laundry folding, grocery shopping or my exciting visit to Dr. Aaron, Dentist in training. I COULD tell you how many loads of laundry I've washed and folded, how many cycles I've run through the dishwasher, how expensive produce has gotten at the store and that I found a green peanut M&M and 4 pennies and a dime under our couch cushions (and they're still there) but who wants to hear all about that? ;-)

Wednesday was spent making a CD for Troy's Mom, Linda, for her birthday on Thursday and it literally did take me all day. I knew who I wanted to put on the CD, I just didn't know what songs I wanted by those artists. It was a fun musical adventure and sometimes it was hard to pick and choose! I was able to get a good many of her favorites on there: The Eagles, Santana, Chicago, Earth, Wind and Fire, Lynyrd Skynryd, C.C.R. and more!

Yesterday I was running around like a mad woman- going to the grocery store for last minute things, calling Troy and Jeni about culinary questions, booking it home to begin baking while my little monkey had free reign of the house. First I began the cake- I decided on making Jeni's fabuloso carrot cake again because it is heavenly and delicious. If you ever decide to make it, try not to think too much about all of the sugar, butter, and cream cheese goodness you're putting into it because then you might not want to eat it. But it is {oh so good}.

After the cake was baked and sat cooling on a rack on the counter, I began making the rosemary bread. It took four hours in the bread machine to mix, knead, rise and bake, but the smell was glorious and made my stomach grumble just smelling it. And let me tell you, it was D*E*L*I*C*I*O*U*S! We tore through almost a whole loaf and Troy's sister Rachel even joked that she could have a whole meal of nothing but that bread- and I would have to agree. It was THAT good. We paired it with some bow tie pasta tossed in pesto and rotisserie chicken from Sam's. Then we washed it all down with some strawberry lemonade. Yummo!

A funny side note about the chicken- when I first got a membership card to Sam's, I was perplexed by the line I would see over by the bakery and deli area. After seeing this phenomenon a few times, I finally decided to investigate and saw that everyone was waiting for the chicken to come off of the spit. I thought to myself that surely chicken couldn't be THAT good that people would stand in line for it, but curiosity killed the cat {so to speak} and I found myself waiting with everyone else. It was tasty and worth the wait- not blow your socks off good, but still yummy. Ever since that initial experiment, Troy always asks me to pick him up a chicken if I'm shopping there.

On to the table decor- I was inspired by the colors on Linda's gift bag and the bright vivid orange of the carrots to pick up some flowers that would make the table POP. I also found some birthday candles at the store that matched and I had a few more loose things around the house like ribbons and paper lanterns that tied it all together and made the dining room look like a mini garden party {sans garden}.

I love bright cheery colors! I can't wait until I'm able to add some colors to our walls. Unfortunately, that will have to wait until we're home owners. *Sigh* Some day...

Here's a look at the table before the party. I hung the lanterns with left over green ribbon, tied pink and white striped ribbon on the stems of the glasses and wrapped the glass with the flowers in left over tissue paper. It really made the table delightful.

A better look at the table.

Here's Linda and my sister-in-law {Rachel} before we all sang Linda the customary Happy Birthday song.

The three of us girls. For some reason, Troy didn't make it into any of the pictures. :-(
He was there though!

Linda and Mr. Cheese.

So now you know what I've been up to the past 4 days! I assure you, it wasn't all that exciting (with the exception of yesterday) but it certainly was busy. I think I'll take today to relax!

Crazy Eights

2008-08-16T22:41:00.003-05:00

Wow. This guy is simply amazing to watch in action- especially the race for gold medal number 7 that came down to a brush of Phelps' fingertips at the finish line leaving him the winner by one one-hundredths of a second. It was cool to watch history in the making- even better that it was in the 8th year of this century, in the 8th month, on the 8th race making the 8th gold medal. What a feat!

And could Michael's Mom be any cuter?

She looks like the sweetest lady ever- she was so cute cheering him on in the stands. You can tell that the love is mutual because he's always looking for her in the stands too. Way to go Michael! This is one well deserved title!

Complete Garbage Series for Sale

2008-08-15T16:13:00.009-05:00

All because two people fell in love.... *sigh*. I have had as much as I can take from all things Bedward and I'm ready to move on. Up for grabs are the entire 4 books of complete ~~trash~~ scintillating lovey-dovey nonsense. Come and get it. You can name a price or you can haggle or barter with me for them. Maybe you have some decent books I can trade you for in exchange.

At any rate, I guess I should explain to those who HAVE read the complete series my disgust for these books so I'll do so as brief (ha!) as I possibly can.

WARNING: SPOILERS

DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED THIS SERIES:

This pertains mainly to the last book so be forewarned.

In book three, Bella has come to terms with the fact that she will have to give up her family and 'human' way of life in order to become a vampire and be with Edward forever. Rosalie warns her that she'll have to give up the thought of having kids because vampires don't have children. Bella doesn't seem to give this much thought because all she has wanted all along is to 'get with' Edward before she marries him and signs her life away by becoming a dead shell of herself. Also, it's hard for her to think of becoming a Mom because she is after all only 18- she hasn't had decades to sit and stew about this like Rosalie.

Then there's the whole issue of Jacob. In the previous book, Bella acknowledges that she might have a thing for Jacob after all- and she continues to string him along. In the tent, Jacob's thoughts wander as he thinks about Bella in what can only be considered intimate ways which we gather from Edward's scathing remarks. Then in a subtle plot setup, we find out about the wolves and how they imprint to find their soul mates- one of whom imprints on a two year old kid. Jacob assures Bella that it's 'not like that' since while the little girl is young, the guy/wolf will just be her friend and protector. As she get older, they'll be best friends and then when she's old enough, she'll realize that she couldn't love anyone else. How convenient (as we see in book four). And let's not forget that kiss she shared with Jacob- she enjoyed that quite a bit much to her dismay (and probably Edward's).

Soooo... book four. Bella begins the book complaining once more about the flashy car Edward has bought her, the preparations that Alice has put forth for her wedding and she is still bemoaning the fact that she has to get married just so she can 'seal the deal' with her vampire hotty- why doesn't he want to just do it already?! Complain, complain. Finally, we get to the wedding where Jacob shows up as a surprise guest and she gets a dance with her 'best man'. Then she spills the beans about honeymoon night and how she hopes everything will be okay because she plans to still be human for her big night and she has to worry about whether Edward's super human strength will kill her (or if he can't stop himself from biting her while in the act). Jacob flips and runs off and we fast forward to honeymoon night on Isle Esme. {Is it just me, or is Stephenie a little too absorbed in the whole sexual side of this story? She paints Bella out to be this desperate girl who can't wait to take her clothes off.}

Bedward finally gets to do their thing complete with shredded pillows and all and then several days later Bella finds out she's pregnant. Say what?! In book three, we find out vampires can't get pregnant themselves or get anyone else pregnant for that matter... until we learn in book four that it's only the vampire girls that can't get pregnant. Bella isn't one of them yet and still human, therefore she's still able to get pregnant. Once again, how convenient. I don't even want to get started on how that happened since Edward's body is dead and shouldn't even have ' baby batter' left in his body. Oh, and don't forget that this is a book for YOUNG ADULTS (meaning teenage girls...)

So the baby is growing at an accelerated rate because it's half human/half vampire and Stephenie manages to squeeze a full term pregnancy into 4 weeks to hurry the story along. As this happens, Jacob has come over to find out if Bella is dead yet and finds out the horrible truth as he looks at her freakishly distorted body. This doesn't stop him from thinking how she would look normal if Bella was pregnant with his baby. Nice. Then Edward begs him to talk to Bella about getting an abortion because the baby is killing her and he pleads with Jacob to try to offer Bella his junk to impregnate her so that she can have a normal baby. Ugh. This is just too much. And too messed up. Really.

Of course, Bella refuses and the baby continues on it's path of destruction. Then we find out that the baby can communicate and that it loves it's Mom so much already- and then Edward is smitten with it too. Also in the midst of this, Jacob realizes that maybe the baby is craving blood since it is half vampire. They decide to test the theory, and of course it works. What is surprising is that Bella doesn't even get squeamish with the smell or taste of it (because she's pregnant and craves abnormal things). Clever. Remember, this was the same Bella that would pass out at the sight or smell of blood and needles. Now she has no problem downing gallons of blood if only to keep her baby alive. Where are the sacrifices? It should have at least been a struggle which she was able to overcome in order to save her baby. There's not even that.

At this point, Jacob finally decides to get the heck out of dodge because he's had enough and he storms off to the city to see if he can imprint on someone so that he can forget all about Bella. That doesn't work so he comes back to try his best to protect her from the rest of his pack who wants to kill the baby. Finally the baby is born (after Edward bites it out of her) and she names it Renesmee. Could she have picked a weirder, uglier name? Now Bella is finally a vampire, and everything is fine since she holds more restraint than any of her vampire buddies did when they became vampires and now she has a rockin' hot body. Where are the scars BTW? Jasper was covered in them but we don't see evidence of that on Bella because her stomach is instantly flat and she turns graceful and lithe.

Well, after a few days of being separated from Renesmee, she finally meets her and finds out that Jacob has imprinted on her daughter. At this point in the story I was pretty ticked off. How clever that Jacob, after not able to realize his dreams with Bella can now imprint on her daughter who has her hair and eyes! Of course, it's not 'like that' since she's just a baby. Except of course when we find out later that she will be full grown in 7 years. Not too bad of a wait for Jacob to finally be with his woman, don't you think. Sick.

On a side note, Jacob decides to clue Bella's Dad, Charlie into what's going on in a not so subtle matter of phasing into a wolf in front of him. He comes to terms with his 'need to know' relationship with Bella and she can breathe a sigh of relief that she doesn't have to throw her family away like she thought she would have to. Another convenient plot move by Stephenie.

Of course, there's the whole issue of the Volturi coming their way thanks to Irina narking them out, but even that's anti-climatic after they decide that the vampires represented in the clearing could hurt the poo out of them. So they slither away and we have our happy ending. No one is hurt, separated or lonely. So basically it should have made EVERYONE happy since all of the characters got their plots resolved. Only I'm not buying it. The only reservation Bella has in the end is thinking about her daughter and Jacob in 7 years and how she'll be his mother-in-law. I'm sure that would sting a bit after that kiss they shared in book three. Oh, and I wonder what 'Nessie' will think when she learns that her husband once pawed and made out with her Mom. So disturbing.

Where is the sacrifice, Stephenie? Where is the hardship Bella thought she would endure? She seemed to have had no problems once she became a vampire- I would have liked to have read more about her struggles with drinking blood, or more about how disturbing it is that Jacob is now linked to her daughter. This book had potential and I really tried to like it but it failed miserably.

Thank goodness I'm done reading THAT!
Now I'll have time to read all of your hate mail.

Show Me Those Pearly Whites

2008-08-14T11:05:00.003-05:00

Well, Peyton is a part of the no cavity club again! We went to visit the dentist this morning and he did great. Our last visit was quite a challenge because he cried and squirmed his whole way through the visit. Maybe since this is his third visit, he is getting used to it- or maybe he was just in a pleasant mood this morning. Either way, there were no quiet rooms left (where they take the younger patients in case they get scared so they don't freak out the other kids) so he was out in the open and didn't cry once! He wasn't sure at first whether he wanted Miss Tina to polish his teeth, but when he discovered that the cookie dough flavored paste was yummy, he was opening up his mouth for her voluntarily and licking his teeth in between brushing.

Peyton playing in the waiting room before his visit. Dr. Parker's office is the coolest- there are ocean murals like this all over the walls.

I told him to smile but he just opened up his mouth instead. You can kind of see a glint of those freshly polished teeth. When Miss Tina offered him his choice of three different toothbrushes to take home, he tried to grab them all! He ended up settling on the caterpillar toothbrush when I told him he couldn't have all of them. I guess I'd better get used to him liking bug related things, huh?

Speaking of bugs, while we were waiting for Dr. Parker to check his mouth out, he got to play dental hygienist with the offices' stuffed bug that also happens to have a full set of artificial teeth. Bugs with teeth?! Who knew? He sure got a kick out of the giant toothbrush!

Maybe I should try to find cookie dough flavored toothpaste for him- because he sat so still and was so good today- not like his usual thrashing monster self that I have to deal with in the mornings and evenings when we try to brush his teeth! I guess he doesn't like the fruit splash flavor we have here at home ;-)

At-whay Anguage-lay O-day Ou-yay Eak-spay?

2008-08-13T17:23:00.007-05:00

So I have a bone to pick with the U.S. of A. It seems that we worry so much about stepping on other people's toes that we eventually crush our own in the process. When it comes to foreign aid and immigration, we turn into lap dogs and roll over any time someone is in need. Watching and hearing the news gets tiresome at times because it seems like we are always bailing some other country out or sticking our noses where they don't belong.

In the process, we deny our own country of the intrinsic components that are needed on our own home land soil. We are in the midst of a mortgage crises, rising gas and oil prices, issues with securing our borders, homelessness, not enough money all around to improve education, roads, retirement, and you name it. Yet, there are starving children in Africa! We have to break up the fights in Iran! Russia is terrorizing Georgia! Quick! Jump in and help! I don't mean to seem insensitive, but sometimes things can get out of hand. There are two issues I'm talking about here. One is our over willingness to help when we have so many things going on here in America that need our resources and attention. The other problem is denying and falsifying who we are as a nation.

How did our nation get it's start? Many of our ancestors separated from the British crown rule in order to distinguish themselves as a separate entity- one that had the ability to stand on it's own two feet- united we stand, divided we fall. It's true that many were also immigrants from other countries, a melting pot of cultures and backgrounds united in one front to be free. Free to choose, free to speak, free to live. Eventually, most immigrants who found their way to North America learned to speak what the majority were speaking: English. Being the melting pot that we are, we represent many different cultures but I think it can be safe to say that most people communicate with English still.

Rapidly, as we see illegal immigrants flood our borders, it is becoming increasingly common to see applications and forms with instructions in both English and Spanish. This is becoming a problem to me, because other nationalities who have immigrated here in the past have at least attempted to learn the language instead of forcing others to learn theirs. Imagine my dismay when I went to check on Yahoo for the Olympic Medal score and saw this:

Largest city: New York
Official languages: No Official Language
Total area: 3,794,083 miles² (9,826,630 km²)
2008 Estimated population: 303,824,646 people

What do you mean 'No Official Language'?! Do we not speak English here? Have we not spoken English since this nation got it's roots? Why can Japan claim Japanese as their official language and China claims Mandarin as theirs but America has no official language?! For some reason, this really upsets me. It's okay to want others to feel included and accepted, but it's also okay to stand up for who you are and what you stand for. I'm American and I speak English {gosh darnit!} and I think as a country we shouldn't be afraid to tell others 'this is who we are'. I mean our Constitution is written in English for goodness sake! Does anyone else feel this way? English, do you speak it?!

The Money Jar

2008-08-12T16:12:00.002-05:00

When Troy and I first got married, I knew we were a perfect fit. We hardly ever fought, we liked many of the same television shows, enjoyed playing video games together, reading like minded books and we loved to banter and talk about many different things. Except sports. Sports never came up in conversation for which I was pretty grateful. My Dad wasn't a sports buff growing up {and neither was my Mom} so as a result, my exposure to sports was limited to the few times we felt obligated to watch it because we were invited to some one's Super Bowl party or the few times that we made it out to see a Seawolves hockey game at UAA in Alaska. In fact, hockey is one of the few and only sports that I enjoy watching once in a blue moon, just in case you were wondering. Oh, and I guess I'm okay with going to see an LSU football game as long as it's live- I just can't concentrate on televised sports much.

Anyway, we moved out to married student housing on LSU campus after about a year of living with my parents which had the added perk of free basic cable. Joy. I was about to discover a side of my husband that I hadn't known before- the sports loving Mr. Hyde side of him. At first, it would be poker games that he would tune in to, and I yawned thinking 'how boring' and also 'at least it's not sports'. Then it slowly expanded to football season {at first only LSU}, basketball season, an occasional baseball game or two {not Troy's favorite sport out of the bunch- too slow} tennis, golf, and UFC {the bane of my existence}. Pretty soon, there was always a game of SOME kind which Troy just HAD to watch on Saturday or Sunday {which would thus eat up our weekend}.

It wasn't so bad when he would ONLY watch LSU football or only watch a game of this or a game of that. But then, he was asked to be a part of Fantasy Football and it all went downhill from there. Instead of only watching LSU football, he "needed" to watch any and all games that his drafted picks were playing so he could see how he was measuring up with his buddies. Then it wasn't only college football, it was pro football, then it was golf and tennis in between and then basketball finals and UFC fights intermingled. Aarrgh! For the past 2 years, I have observed the gradual increase in sports watching with a slow and cold dread. I now had to admit that I had one of THOSE husbands. A sports buff. G-r-e-a-t.

When Troy gleefully told me that football season was about to begin again recently, I groaned. Not this again. Completely joking, I told him that for every hour he watched a sport, that he had to pay me $5. He was flabbergasted at first and laughed saying, 'That's too much!'. Then I joked back saying that he was actually getting a bargain- he was paying me less than minimum wage. He slowly calculated the cost of watching all of his games and he told me that if he watched all of the games that he was thinking of watching that I would have a pretty nice chunk of change in my pocket at the beginning of next summer.

Well, fast forward a few days from that whole conversation and surprise, surprise, there was a game that Troy wanted to watch on T.V. I saw him settle into the couch cushions, remote by his side and a glass of water on the end table for when he got thirsty at his left elbow. I looked at him until he looked up and then I said with the biggest Cheshire Cat grin, 'You know you owe me $5 for every hour you watch, right?' I was completely kidding and he knew it- he started laughing too. But then he surprised me by opening his wallet and peeling off a $5 to give to me. He asked me what I was going to do with my newly acquired money and I told him that I was going to save it and count it up next year. To prove my point, I went and got one of my canning jars and stuffed the money in it and sealed it up. That was how the money jar got started.

So far, there's only a few bills in there {he gets a discount for watching less} but I know that soon it will change because last night I caught him drafting for Fantasy Football again. I'm going to be rich next year! On another note, Troy didn't want me to tell this story because he thought that he would be putting other husbands in the dog house and they would have to pay up too. I figure that all of his other friends are big boys and can handle themselves, right? ;-)

Cinna-what?

2008-08-12T11:41:00.002-05:00

Ok, so the cinnamon rolls weren't Cinnabon, but Troy assured me that they were scrumptious regardless. He gave them a 9 on a scale of 1-10. Then we passed some off to our friends who also thought they were pretty tasty, so I believe they have passed the taste test. Things to do differently: wrap VERY tightly- even tighter than you might think you should so that none of the filling oozes out. Also, I placed them not touching on a cookie sheet but then they expanded and the filling came out anyway. If you've ever been to Cinnabon or Cinnamonster or anywhere that serves cinnamon rolls, they generally pack them into a pan and they bake up scrunched into the pan so that you have to cut them out with the spatula- but this also assures that the filling will ooze out over the tops and soak in the goodness. I will definitely try that method next time. Yumm! Oh and Aidan, you'd better make good on your cinnamon roll recipe so that I can put it to the test- you've got me curious! ;-)

Anyone up for breakfast at my house tomorrow?

2008-08-08T17:25:00.003-05:00

So Troy got me a bread machine for my birthday... and I love it! We've already made our own pizza crust with great results. I'm thinking my next foray might be making homemade cinnamon rolls. Actually, more like THE cinnamon rolls. You know... the king of all cinnamon rolls... from Cinnabon. I found a recipe online and from all of the rave reviews, they are supposed to taste EXACTLY like the real deal. This recipe is for making them by scratch, but I might cheat and try making the dough in my machine instead. Here is the recipe:

Famous Cinnabon Rolls
Ingredients:
ROLLS
1/2 cup water
2 (8 g) packages active dry yeast
2 tablespoons sugar
1 (3 1/2 ounce) package vanilla pudding mix
1/2 cup margarine, melted
2 eggs
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups flour

Filling:
1/2 cup margarine
2 cups brown sugar
4 teaspoons cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING
8 ounces cream cheese
1/2 cup margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups confectioners' sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Directions:
1) ROLLS: In a bowl combine water, yeast and sugar.
2) Stir until dissolved.
3) Set aside.
4) In large bowl, take pudding mix and prepare according to package directions.
5) Add margarine, eggs and salt.
6) Mix well.
7) Then add yeast mixture.
8) Blend.
9) Gradually add flour; knead until smooth.
10) Place in a greased bowl.
11) Cover and let rise until doubled.
12) Punch down dough and let rise again.
13 )Then roll out on floured board to 34 x 21" size.
14) Take 1/2 cup soft margarine and spread over surface.
15) In bowl, mix 2 cups brown sugar and 4 teaspoons cinnamon.
16) Sprinkle over top.
17) Roll up very tightly.
18 )With knife, put a notch every 2".
19) Cut with thread or knife.
20) Place on lightly greased cookie sheet 2" apart.
21) Take hand and lightly press down on each roll.
22) Cover and let rise until double again.
23) Bake at 350 15-20 minutes.
24) Remove when they start to turn golden.
25) DON'T OVER BAKE.
26) To make frosting, mix all ingredients until smooth.
27) Frost warm rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting.

Of course, I might be halving this recipe, because I don't know what I'd do with 20 cinnamon rolls!

Uh oh...

2008-08-07T18:28:00.006-05:00

Guess who's discovered how to climb on to the bed (which is at least as tall as he is) all by himself?

I'm in trouble now. First climbing stairs, and now this. A few days ago, he tried to get in our bathtub head-first. He can also open up our closet door now and enjoys dragging out every pair of shoes we own and trying them on. Another favorite is opening the pantry door and raiding (finding) goldfish to snack on. Ahh, the joys of boys.

What a little monkey!

I'm a lucky girl

2008-08-07T16:11:00.005-05:00

I had a spectacular birthday on Tuesday- and I definitely felt showered with love. Troy and I were able to have a scrumptious breakfast together at Le Madeleine's before he headed off for work and we had made plans to go out to dinner that evening as well. My day wasn't very event filled, it was pretty low key and quiet spent with my boy. Just when I remembered that I was going to buy myself some flowers at the farmer's market to beautify my table, I recalled that it was too late and it would be closed when I got there. Suddenly there was a knock at the door and I was presented with these:

I don't know how my Mom and Dad knew, but I was thrilled to get these!

That night, I met Troy downtown to go to dinner at one of Emeril's restaurants, NOLA.

I thought it was cute that Troy was peeking out waiting for me behind the door as I stopped to snap some pictures.

I ended up ordering the Grilled Pork Porterhouse with Brown Sugar Glazed Sweet Potatoes, Toasted Pecans and Caramelized Onion Reduction Sauce. Yummm!

Troy ordered the Buttermilk Fried Breast of Chicken with Bourbon Mashed Sweet Potatoes, Smithfield Ham Cream Gravy and Sautéed Sugar Snap Peas. It was pretty tasty, but mine was the best ;-)

Here's my cutie.

Afterwards, we strolled through the French Quarter to give ourselves time to have room for dessert. Here we were walking by Jackson Square as dusk set in.

Here's a head on shot of the infamous square.

Of course, I couldn't resist making a wish like Tom Hanks did in the movie 'Big' that I could be a kid again. It didn't work. :-(

After our walk, it was time to get dessert! We had planned on going to Brennan's for two reasons: 1) Banana's Foster was invented and originated from Brennan's. 2) Their 'Red Room' is reportedly haunted, and I wanted to scope the room out myself. When we ended up strolling by though, they were closed for Tuesdays and Wednesdays! Bummer. So we went to another Emeril restaurant, Delmonico's, and ordered the Banana's Foster there instead.

Can you see the gianormous flame coming from off of that pan? Inside was a flambeed brown sugar and buttery goodness.

The finished product. It was so good!

We ended the evening by going to Barnes and Noble for a quick look-see. As you can tell from the picture above, the final book in Stephanie Meyers series about a love story with a vampire was extremely hard to come by. They were literally flying off (collecting dust on)the table. I will obviously have to wait to find out what happens seeing how there aren't enough copies to go around! ;-)

Thanks Jeni, Aaron and Calyn for keeping Peyton company so we could go out on the town!

The next night, the love continued. Aimee and Scott dropped off a cupcake birthday cake- isn't it the cutest? And Troy's Mom dropped off a nice smelling bath kit too. I also got a lot of other cool goodies as well, so I want to thank all of my family and friends for making my birthday this year the best day ever. You guys are wonderful.

The 29 Things I Love About Lexi- By Troy

2008-08-05T11:10:00.008-05:00

In case it wasn't clear from the title, this is Troy, not Lexi writing. Although Lexi has already written herself a birthday post below with answers to some questions people asked about her, I figured that I would chime in with a few more details about my lovely wife. I know that this is not an original concept for a husband to do on a birthday, so I added my own little twist of making the number of items on my list correspond to her age on her birthday today-29. Genius, I know. Anyway here's the list of 29 things I love about Lexi:

1. Lexi has read more books than the scanner at the Library of Congress…no seriously she has read over a googolplex (look it up) of books, not including the ones she has read a few times.
2. Lexi is not only a great reader, she is a great writer.
3. Her name rhymes with sexy…and she more than fits the description.
4. She is a master of logistics. She somehow manages the herculean task of stocking and cooking enough food daily to fill my seemingly bottomless pit and Peyton’s little pit which is deepening by the day.
5. She can cook just about anything and it always looks and tastes great.
6. She went through labor without any epidural or other medication. Admittedly, she did take one piece of pez after it was all over though.
7. She loves camping and the outdoors.
8. Lexi is an accomplished climber. She has, on numerous occasions, climbed cliffs, mountains, and the obscene amount of stairs up to our apartment.
9. Lexi once killed a snake with a shovel, but still remains a little freaked out about roaches and spiders. Silly, I know.
10. She is the best bed maker I have ever seen. You would need some serious magic or space age technology from an advanced alien civilization to even come close to duplicating the perfectly smooth, glass like surface and razor sharp corners on any bed Lexi has made.
11. With Lexi, any and every day could be and should be a holiday or cause for celebration.
12. Although Lexi loves to decorate, celebrate, and throw parties for every occasion, Christmas is her favorite. She turns our house into a colorful Christmas Winter Wonderland every year.
13. Lexi loves giving gifts more than she does receiving them. She loves searching for and finding the perfect, thoughtful gift and then watching the recipient enjoy it.
14. Like her bed making skills, Lexi’s gift wrapping skills are nearly impossible to duplicate in either precision or aesthetics.
15. If you count the nicknames Lexi has given me, she has added more new words to the English language than Shakespeare.
16. Lexi is fascinated by anything involving ghosts or hauntings. She loves watching tv shows and movies about ghosts and hauntings, and reading books about the subject. However, she would still be scared silly if she ever saw a ghost in person.
17. She is a loyal friend. Lexi would, and often does, bend over backwards to help, uplift, or just hang out with any of her friends.
18. She wants to travel the world as much as I do. Of course, the first stops are in England, France and the other western European countries. After that, we hope to see all of the Seven Wonders of the World, and everything else that’s awesome to behold on this planet.
19. Like me, Lexi is a big kid at heart. She still loves kids’ movies and books, candy, and good old fashioned, childish horseplay.
20. Lexi does not have a sweet tooth- she has a sweet mouth. She loves all treats and desserts unconditionally and frequently.
21. She has the Lexi touch. Just like the Midas touch turns everything to gold, the Lexi touch turn everything into something aesthetically pleasing. Anything Lexi touches or works on just has that extra hint of cuteness and care. Peyton should be thankful for that.
22. She is a good mother to Peyton.
23. She has an eclectic taste in music, movies, and literature from across the world. She literally listens to, watches, and reads stuff from every continent. However, she sometimes goes through phases where she is into one type more than the other.
24. Despite my best efforts, she somehow keeps the house clean everyday. I call her the Cleaning Fairy because sometimes, if I walk away from my mess for even a minute it will be cleaned so quickly and thoroughly that no CSI investigator could find evidence I was ever there.
25. She loves candles and wood burning fires and frequently uses them to create a warm and cozy atmosphere for us…or, if we have the ingredients, she makes us smores, which are good too.
26. She has sort of come to terms with my unhealthy addiction to sports, even going so far as buying me tickets to my favorite sporting events such as football and ultimate fighting.
27. She knows how to make me laugh and we laugh together often. (I’ve learned that this is important because if she is not laughing, it may not be funny).
28. She hugs and kisses me several times before I leave in the morning and then waves at me from the window as I go to the car. She always greets me with kisses and hugs when I come home. I am beginning to think she has a thing for me.
29. Lexi is the most wonderful, talented, intelligent, and loving wife I could have ever dreamed of. In other words, she is the girl of my dreams.

Lexi, I love you forever. I hope you have a Happy Birthday!

An interview {of sorts} with the birthday girl

2008-08-05T09:17:00.011-05:00

French toast topped with fresh fruit for breakfast at Le Madeleine's.

Best Buy gets a free plug in the background

It's my birthday! I'm the big 2-9 today. I can definitely tell that I am getting older because I no longer count down the days until my birthday or Christmas- but I still manage to wake up excited the day of! Today my post is all about me (how self-centered of me!) and I'm posting all of my answers to the delightful questions that all of you have left for me. It was a blast answering them, and some even took me a few minutes come up with an answer!

First though, I was tagged by Jessica R. on her blog to list 6 words describing myself and to add a fun picture of me as well. She did this eons ago it seems, but I had chipmunk cheeks from my debacle last week so I wasn't about to post a picture of my puffy face then. Obviously as you can see from the picture at the top, I am recovering pretty well now! So without further ado, here are 6 words describing myself:

1.) Tenderhearted

2.) Particular

3.) Loyal

4.) Winsome

5.) Inquisitive

6.) Stubborn

Now my job is to tag 6 more people to share their pictures and to list 6 words describing themselves. Forgive me if I re-tag you: Stacy H., Jeni M., Holly B., Jaime H., Tracy V., Shannon C. Have fun! I can't wait to read your posts!

Okay, on to the questions... here they are in no particular order:

Courtney R.~If you were a superhero, what would your power/s of choice be?
What a great question. I used to think that I would want the power of invisibility because you can sneak into places and overhear top secret information and smuggle a few goodies to enjoy when no one is looking. However, after thinking more about it, I think I might just enjoy the power of flight. One reason being that I could fly wherever I wanted to in the world and have a mini vacation on a moments notice (because you could always fly home in time for dinner, right?). How awesome would it be to fly to Cairo one day then tour England the next?!
I also think it would be a practical power especially in today's economy because I would never have to buy a vehicle or gasoline again. Flying in the rain and wind would definitely suck though ;-)

However, I think you stated your question as what my power {or powers} of choice would be... so I think I get a bonus power! I think I'll stick with the power of flight and add shape shifting- that way I can stretch and mold myself into whatever body shape I want! Finally, I could have the body (and hair) I've always wanted. What a sweet deal! This was a fun question- thanks Courtney!

Becky T.~ Are you still running regularly? Training for any new races?
Unfortunately, I am not :-(
During the Crescent City Classic, I torqued my leg the last half mile that I was running (in a 6.2 mile race) and every time that I have tried to run beyond 3 miles, I feel that same resistance like my leg wants to give out. I decided to give my body a break so I have been trying the elliptical machine, stationary bike riding and weight lifting instead. These last few weeks my schedule has been pretty sporadic what with Peyton either teething or waking up from night terrors and also because I've been recovering from my own wisdom teeth removal. Hopefully I can get back on track again soon!

Kathy F.~What is the best and worst part about being a mother to little P & the Best/worst about being married to Big T?
The best thing about little P are his kisses for sure- even though they are open mouthed and slobbery, they make my day. When I say, "Kisses!" he grabs my face with his two little hands and leans in and gives me a big one. Sometimes he even makes the "Mwahh!" sound too. Very cute.

The worst thing about little P is his temper... and the fact that he has recently discovered that diapers hold poop-very gross.

The best thing about big T is that he treats me like a queen and loves me more than anyone else ever has. He is also the most patient person I've ever met- this comes in handy because I am the opposite of patient. He definitely mellows me out.

The worst thing about big T is that he is messy. He is not even aware of the trail of goobiness that he leaves behind half the time! And forget about sharing a glass with him when he's eating ribs or some other finger food.... yuck!

Katy M.~Mustard or Mayo? :)
Actually, neither! I was raised with Miracle Whip and Dijon or Honey mustard. We don't even have mayo in our house. We do have mustard because Troy likes it on his hot dogs and I use it for my meat loaf recipe,but that's about it! I am also not a condiment junkie- I use very little in the way of ketchup, salad dressing, sauces, etc. In fact, when we go to Raising Cane's, Troy ends up finishing my sauce and there is usually half a container left!

Tracy V.~ If you could spend this birthday anywhere with anyone, where would you be and with whom? Oh, I love this question! I would definitely be in Europe touring castles and other historical places with Troy and eating delicious fresh croissants from France for breakfast (there is no better fresh bread!). Then I could go for having a few croque-monsieur's with some ice cold Orangina for lunch. On the agenda of things to see (among many) the home of Charles Dickens, Madame Tussuad's Wax Museum, The London Dungeon, the Jack the Ripper walk, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Kensington Gardens, The Tower of London, The London Bridge (the faux one), Leonardo Davinci's home, Anne Hathaway's home (where Shakespeare wrote some of his works), the Globe theater to see a work of Shakespeare, A ride on the River Thames, the Louvre, the Arc Le Triumph, the Eiffel tower, Mont St. Michel, Chartres, Notre Dame and more! Of course, I would be hard pressed to fit all of this in, but I can dream, right? ;-) In the evening, I would go on a ghost hunting expedition with the T.A.P.S (The Atlantic Paranormal Society) family to one of the most actively haunted locations in Europe because I am a sucker for all things paranormal and I would like to try my hand at all of their cool equipment!

Toni M. ~What are some things you would like to do before you turn 30?
Can I just say that I can't wait to be thirty? For some reason, I feel like once I'm thirty that I'll finally be an 'adult' and people just might think that I look like one for once!

Anyway, back to the question at hand... one of the top things on my list is to 'make a friend' for Peyton. So a sibling for the little guy is definitely in order. I would love to be in our own home too- I like our apartment but it is definitely time for us to move on soon and to have a yard so that our kid{s} can have room to run around and play! The other major thing is to move to Texas. The housing there is so much better and so are the schools. I think I'll breathe easier once we are finally settled out of Hurricane Alley.

Jessica R.~What is your favorite flavor kool-aid?

What is the one church calling you fear getting more then any other?

Alaska or Louisiana???

Wow! Three questions! Where should I begin? Maybe at the beginning, huh? ;-)

#1:Lets see...I don't have a favorite kool-aid flavor probably because we haven't had kool-aid in our house since we lived in married student housing on LSU campus! After measuring out all of that sugar and seeing it settle to the bottom, it kind of ruined my love for it. These days pretty much all I drink is water- I'll have herbal tea, hot chocolate or hot cider on occasion too (usually a cup in the evening before bed). I've also phased out drinking diet soda {and all soda in general} as well {although you might catch me ordering one if I go out to eat} but usually I'm an ice-cold water kind of gal.

#2:The one calling I dread more than any other at church is a child related calling. I know that seems funny since I've been babysitting since I was old enough to, became a preschool teacher in my professional career, was a nanny for a few years, and I'm now a Mom, but I seriously dread it. I have actually been a nursery leader and a teacher in primary in the past and I will admit that I did not love it. I think part of that came from the first time I was called to nursery- I was still a preschool teacher of 32 children {ages 2 to 5 }Monday thru Friday and then I still had to come in on Sunday and do that same job. I was burnt out! It was a lot different when I was a nanny- I felt like those kids were my family since I saw them nearly every day and I got to know their individual personalities. 45 minutes in class {4 times a month} doesn't usually give you enough time to create a deep bond with your students (especially when you're trying to keep them in line and get them to answer your questions!) I guess it also comes from feeling very uncomfortable teaching gospel basics since most of those kids know more than I do about basic church knowledge (I was baptised in 2001)- they could probably school me!

#3: Alaska hands down. There is no way that Louisiana could even touch Alaska with a ten foot pole {LOL!}. There is so much more to do there- from hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, kayaking, 4-wheeling, skiing, sledding, snow machining, biking,camping, taking the train to Denali National Park, climbing a glacier, taking a cruise around the fjords, animal watching (moose, bears, eagles, caribou, fox, Dall sheep, puffins, etc), gold panning, white water rafting, watching the Iditarod, checking out the Native Alaskan crafts, building an igloo or a snowman... etc, etc and ETC! I really miss seeing the mountains out my front door too. I'm still dying to go back and take Troy to show him all of the coolest places that I love. That will definitely be an adventure for sure!

Aimee R. ~If you could be an animal- which one would it be?

How much cake can you/would you consume on your birthday?

What is your favorite cake/ice cream?

Another three questions! This is incredibly fun (you should try it sometime) ;-)

#1: If I could be an animal I think I would be a White Siberian Tiger because that is my favorite animal to visit at the zoo. I think they are such beautiful and sleek cats- not to mention fast and strong!

#2: I'm not sure how much cake I could consume given the chance to just over stuff myself, but I could stand to eat a piece after lunch and one after dinner... Troy and I have also been known to eat cake the day after our birthdays for breakfast too!

#3: My Mom makes the best German Chocolate cake that I have ever tasted so that would be one of my top faves- also up there is carrot cake (Jeni's is the best) and traditional yellow cake with chocolate frosting (here I'm a plain Jane- I like the straight-from-a-box recipe). Yum! Trying to figure out what my favorite ice cream is definitely a tough one- I like so many! I think my top favorite flavors are Cherry Garcia, Mint Chocolate Cookie, Bananas on the Rum (all three are made by Ben & Jerry's) and also the banana split flavor from Bluebell. When I still had my ice cream maker, I could make some mean pumpkin ice cream.... delish!

Troy M.~Could there ever be a world where everything is the opposite if opposites there would be the opposite such that everything would be the same? Oh Troy... {rolling eyes}. With your imagination, anything is possible. I would imagine that the opposite things would be different only in color and texture and would be mirrored in image only (hence the differing colors and textures) Perhaps all of the sounds and smells would be skewed too since it is hard to completely clone something. So I suppose there could be a world like that, but you haven't gotten around to creating it yet, wise crack ;-)

Jeni M.~ Hmmmm...when and where was your first kiss? My first kiss was the summer my Mom and I went to visit my Grandma's house in Wisconsin on Katinka Lake when I was 12 years old. My two cousins, Ann and Mary, were visiting as well and all summer long we hung out with a boy named Phillip {who was also related to the guy that MY Mom liked when SHE was growing up and had visited there during her summers on the lake (pretty funny!)}. We were all swimming and diving into the lake and trying to avoid the horseflies that were trying to sting us so Phillip and I ended up hiding under the canoe that he used to come over and visit us on. We popped up out of the water and while everyone else was scrambling for the shore we shared a quick peck. Then for my birthday, he gave me a ring and a necklace and I was smitten (until I went home and started school and developed new crushes ;-)

Stacy H.~ What is your earliest memory? One of my earliest memories was when I was about 5 or 6 years old and I was still living in North Carolina in our town house. I remember that it was Easter and I had gotten my goodies in my basket and was riding around on my bike over the sidewalk with my new bike bell that I chimed over and over while chomping on my chocolate bunny. I had a friend who lived in a town house a few houses away so I rode over to see if she was home and to see what she got in her basket. No one was home, so I left part of my chocolate bunny on her door step to share with her. I went home, and later rode over again to see if she had gotten my treat. I was pretty sad to discover that it had melted all over in a big puddle and that my friend still wasn't home! To this day I still wonder if her parents suspected that I was the one that muddled up their front stoop!

Aaron M.~Here's what I want to know:

1. Which would you rather do, drink a hot mug of hot dog water or go 2 weeks without brushing your teeth?

2. If you were a beverage, what would it be?

3. Do you look after you wipe?

4. How often do you shave your armpits and legs?

5. Do you ever drink milk straight out of the jug?

Aaron, words escape me.

#1. Seeing how you're my sometime dentist, and I am trying to get my mouth in order {not out}, I will have to say I would chug the hot dog water and hope I'm not sick after!

#2. I would be water, because nearly all beverages in the world start with some percentage of water and everyone drinks it!

#3. The question should be do YOU look? ;-) I would be lying if I say I have never looked. Ewww.

#4. I shave my legs pretty much every time I shower and I always do my armpits because I hate that scratchy sandpaper feeling if you don't do it regularly. Shaving my legs gets worse though when I'm pregnant because it gets harder to reach- and I get lazy.

#5. The milk jug in our house is safe. I do not generally drink milk unless it's in my cereal bowl and I happen to ingest some or if I have cookies or cake I might have some (and even then it's in small amounts). The jug you have to worry about is the water jug. Hee hee.

Heather O.B.~ Wow- I've been intimidated by Mangoose's (Aaron M.'s) revolting questions!!Here's what I want to know:Who are the three best kids that you have babysat for and cooked for and worn fairy princess dress-up clothes for and killed snakes for??? Heather, that would be the three best kids I have ever worked with, namely: Kennedy, Marin and Stuart. I love those munchkins. And I would protect them from snakes and hornets, wear dress up clothes, play Barbies and Polly Pockets, cook or play with them any day of the week. I miss them!

Anonymous~Favorite book? Yes, you have to pick one. Just one. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. Just kidding- Really, it would probably be Five Children and It by Edith Nesbit. It's quite a bit of fluff, but fun of the best kind- and it's a children's story so it's a quick, light read. Very entertaining. Would you believe that this was the hardest question of all?

Thank you to everyone that left me a question and helped me celebrate my birthday! It was great fun!

Hey!

2008-08-03T15:31:00.003-05:00

Have you asked me a question yet? There are still 2 more days left! I can't wait to answer all of them :-) Look for the 'interview' on Tuesday!

Yes Indeed...

2008-08-02T17:22:00.003-05:00

We are so proud to be a chocolate city that we even have ice cream proclaiming us as such. I'm so grateful to Mr. Willy Wonka {A.K.A. Ray Nagin} for leaving us this historical legacy. I'll be sure to send you a thousand chocolate kisses (will you settle for white chocolate?)

Ready for the Collections Agency {The Tooth Fairy Division}

2008-07-30T13:40:00.008-05:00

That so called 'tooth fairy' hasn't left me a little somethin'-somethin' under my pillow yet for all of my hard troubles yesterday. I mean, I know I'm almost 29 and all, but give me a break, those wisdom teeth were the worst ones to come out!

I wonder if she'll ever get around to leaving me something good ;-)

Speaking of the tooth fairy leaving behind a prize, what's the going rate for teeth these days? I'm thinking it's gone up from a quarter since I was a kid, but then again you can never tell these days with the market being the way it is. At this point, the fairy could bring me a smoothie and I would be happy with that! Anyhow, I'm doing better today- just a little sore from the side that they had to cut to pry out the tooth. Hopefully I'll be as good as new soon.

While we're on the subject of tooth fairies, what were the tooth fairy traditions in your house growing up? Do you do any of the same ones with your kids? Anything different?

Oh the agony!

2008-07-29T16:47:00.007-05:00

So...the wisdom teeth. They're out now. And let me tell you, it wasn't pretty. Now those of you who know me know that I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I don't like to take medicine because most of it makes my heart race and makes me feel pretty loopy and then I don't sleep at night.

BUT.... teeth extractions are a whole different ballgame. I went to the dental school for my procedure today, so there was no laughing gas or going to sleep for me. I was awake the ENTIRE time! Looking at the x-rays, it appeared that all of the roots of my wisdom teeth were pretty straight. But of course, when it came down to trying to yank them out, those puppies weren't going anywhere. They pulled. I felt pain. They injected more stuff to numb me up, then pulled again. A-n-n-n-d repeat.

Finally, after this pull/inject/pull battle had gone on for a while, the professer stepped in and worked his magic. As it turned out, not one of my teeth were 'easy'. Not even the top ones which are supposed to be a cinch. Every single one of my teeth had a hook at the end which acted as a fish hook and trapped the tooth in the gum. In the end, the professer pulled them all (so I basically got a pro to do it). Here is what some of those nasty boogers look like:

Thank goodness that's over. Oh, and I WILL be taking the Vicodin- especially after all of that yanking and pulling!

Okay...

2008-07-28T10:35:00.008-05:00

How mad would you be if you went to a birthday party and had to wear one of these party hats? I feel really bad for the kid wearing the 'Boob McNutt' hat. Sheesh. Also, the girl wearing the 'Gravy' hat looks like Katie Holmes! Click on the picture to see it bigger.

Speaking of dirty boys...

2008-07-26T21:20:00.004-05:00

I caught Troy in the act of cutting his hair this evening.

Talk about sick!

...And this was only the beginning...

There was seriously enough hair to cover a small animal. I think I married Wolfman.

Dirty boy comes clean

2008-07-26T18:33:00.003-05:00

The Hummer has been sitting outside wallowing in his own filth until we took the initiative this afternoon to coerce him into cleaning up his act. Here is evidence that the job was done and that he can really clean up well.

Troy counting his allowance {in quarters} for doing the dirty deed.

'I have how many seconds left?!'

The things I do for this guy!

Ready for my close up!

Awww, you can find romance in the craziest places- even at the car wash!

Taking a break and drip drying after a long luxurious shower...

The boss approves.

At last, we don't have to hang our heads in shame any time we are seen in the presence of that filthy boy!

Well, drat

2008-07-25T13:15:00.002-05:00

It turns out I will NOT be getting my wisdom teeth out today because:

A) I'm apparently not in enough pain to get them out.

{and}

B) They don't want to do it right before the weekend in case I need something- they want to do it on a weekday so that the school will be open.

So anyway, I guess I will let you know when I finally get these suckers out! At any rate, at least I know that I'll be able to eat dinner tonight- that's one consolation! :-)

Shouldn't every girl feel like a fairy princess on their birthday?

2008-07-25T11:29:00.005-05:00

So.... a little birdy whispered in my ear the other day that it's somebody's birthday soon. I wonder who that could be...

Alright, alright, I confess~it's me! My birthday is coming up next month on the 5th (the big 29!), and as a way to kick off the celebration, I'm going to open the floor to you and let you ask me any question you'd like {about me of course!} and I'll do my best to answer them. I'll post my 'interview' of sorts on my birthday so you can read all of the answers. Your questions can be zany, goofy, serious, curious or whatever! Just keep them clean and I'll do the same! So, what are you waiting for? As the soon-to-be birthday princess, I pronounce this floor open to questions! Ask away! :-)

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go

2008-07-24T12:28:00.004-05:00

Recently, I've gone to a few appointments without Peyton in tow which has been nice (not having to struggle to keep him entertained and occupied) but in the same token it's been a little hard for my psyche too. You see, I go to every appointment (usually to someone that I haven't previously met) with a little trepidation that I will hear THOSE words. You know the ones- they go a little something like this..."So, what do you do?".

It's a fair enough question I guess, but I loathe it all the same. It's not that I hate being a stay at home mom, it's the silence that I get whenever I answer the question. I guess it's a sign of forward movement to have people assume that you have a career and a way to fill your days, but what irritates me about our society is the fact that motherhood is not always considered a full time job. So backtrack a few decades and you'd find that the social attitude towards wives working outside the home would be considered a faux pas, but then fast forward to our time and you see that people instantly seize up and don't know what to say when you tell them that you stay home. I once had someone ask me if I stayed home with Peyton {gasp} all day! Then she told me that she would just go stir crazy and die if she had to stay at home ALL DAY. Thank you {because I really enjoy going stir crazy myself every day}.

I had the same trepidation when I moved to Louisiana and the church I attended was located on LSU campus. I could expect to hear those other dreaded words, "So, what's your major?" anytime I was introduced to someone new. You could have heard a pin drop when I told them no major, just a job as an assistant preschool teacher for me. It wasn't that I had decided to forgo the academic route, it was that I couldn't afford college AND pay for rent at the same time {rent in Alaska was $800; without utilities and other incidentals, like FOOD for instance) and by the time I moved to Louisiana, I thought it was too late for me to go to school- the whole thought of trying to go and begin just overwhelmed me.

The whole 'major' question especially panged me (and still does a little) because I didn't want it to be a reflection on me- like I wouldn't be considered an intelligent person if I didn't have a diploma. Now when I answer the whole motherhood question, I fear that people will think me lazy because I choose to stay at home with Peyton instead of contributing to the household. The last person who asked me the 'What do you do?" question was the Endodontic dentist that was working on me at the LSU dental school. I sucked in air and then sighed out the answer with a nervous laugh, "Oh I'm just a stay at home mom." There was a brief pause as he was fiddling with his tools before he said, "Oh my wife is too- she's at home with our twins. It's a lot of hard work, huh? I don't know how she does it." I was mercifully relieved.

Speaking of the dentist, I was able to get an appointment at the school tomorrow to get my wisdom teeth removed {finally}. I am terrified. Any words of advice? Please keep your horror stories to yourself- at least until after I have my own story to tell ;-)

Those Keebler elves have nothing on me

2008-07-23T13:01:00.007-05:00

So guess what? My Mom and Dad just recently moved to Indonesia! Really, I swear it's true. My Dad's job is working in the oil industry so that basically means he gets to be all up in Chevron's business of managing their 'Upstream' labs. Not only does he get to be the head honcho, but he gets to do it while living in paradise, that punk! {Just kidding Dad, I am really happy you got this promotion.}

Still, it's a little hard to see my family move THAT far away and to know that they are a full 12 hours ahead of me... (for goodness sake, it's already Thursday there and I'm still muddling through Wednesday here!) but the good news is that they have an AWESOME place to visit and go island hopping, or we can shoot over to Australia or New Zealand sometime too! Singapore is also only a little over an hour away so they have it made for world travel.

Before they left, and while they were still deciding on what to keep and what to pack, my Mom asked me if I would like any of her kitchen stuff; namely this:

Heck yeah, I wanted the Kitchen Aid mixer!!! When that bad boy showed up at the door, I just about kissed the UPS guy (don't worry honey, it wasn't like that). I tore into that box and lifted that gem of a kitchen gadget out and washed it down and dried it and stared at it with stars in my eyes for several minutes. I can tell you that it is one dangerous contraption (with experience). I fully expect our house to turn into a Keebler cookie factory before too long. Tucked into one of the four boxes that arrived at my door was this to aid me in my edible creations:

Sweet. {Literally!} There were a lot of other fun goodies too that I adored (too many to name) but there was also this:

I almost cried when I saw the box. A few years back, my Mom bought one of those smart sewing machines that also does embroidery- and you can custom make designs on your computer and send it to the sewing machine! I was seriously stressed out just looking at the picture on the outside panel. I mean, I can't even remember HOW to thread a sewing machine and I gave a presentation for 4-H on it once a long, long, long time ago. Any smart cracks about how it's like a bicycle and you never forget how to use it will just be considered a bunch of hoo-hah 'cause it's not true.

I REALLY don't remember ANYTHING. I need some serious tutorials here soon. I had grand visions of sewing Peyton's Halloween costume on it before they were shattered in an instant just by LOOKING at the box. But I asked for it! Don't worry Mom, I will try to be studious and figure it out- even if it means getting you to fly out here to teach me ;-)

I also got some birthday presents but I will post those later when I post about my birthday (look for an update about that on or after August 5th).

Life right now is going good- I was kind of in the slumps for a while after returning home from our visit to San Antonio to visit our friends Courtney and Jared (kudos to Jessica and Kristel for noticing something was awry- the blog is usually the first thing to go when I'm feeling blue). I have been keeping myself busy by stockpiling some good reads from the library and by spending some time with the little guy. Here he is wearing some pajama's that my Mom sent along- doesn't he look excited?!

What a cheese!

Now that I'm back to my blogging self again, I'll probably have more posts for you on a regular basis. Until then, I hope things are going well for you in your neck of the woods ;-)

Father's Day... how long ago was that? Oops!

2008-06-26T17:42:00.004-05:00

Our gift {Peyton and I} to Troy:

My Mom and Dad's gift to Troy:

What does a bag of marshmallows have to do with this box?

Let's find out.

I wonder what this is. Any guesses Troy? There are two of them in there!

Ah ha! There are two MARSHMALLOW SHOOTERS in there! How fun!

Troy had to check out the goods...

And do some pretend shooting.

Then it was time to load the real gun and get down to business.

...Of having a marshmallow fight!

Thanks Mom and Dad... Troy loved it! And so did I! Let me just state for the record that I won.... and Peyton got to eat some of the shot marshmallows! :-)

Black and White Wednesday

2008-06-26T17:05:00.004-05:00

Makes me laugh...every time

2008-06-19T11:25:00.003-05:00

Okay... I know this is an old one, but this particular episode makes me laugh every time! The fight between Dwight and the computer is truly hillarious as is Phyllis's attempts to deal with Angela's party planning attitude. I love it!

Up for sale

2008-06-13T08:46:00.006-05:00

Ok, all you local Mom's... Here's the deal. I just got this in the mail yesterday:
and realised that it's not going to work for my dining room table. I really don't want to pay the return shipping on it, so I am offering it for sale at the same price I bought if for (since I would not consider it used- it was taken out of the box, tried, and returned to the box in less than a half hour).

What is it? It's called a Kaboost system which lifts your chair so that your children that need booster seats can reach the table, but feel like 'a big kid' since they are sitting in 'a real chair'.

As you can see, it has two height positions and it is SUPER easy to put on since it has spring loaded arms. It fits nearly any chair and it has rubberized grips which make it nice if you have wooden or tile floors- it actually makes it safer for your child to climb up in since it will not slide all over the floor. Plus, it can be removed and you can take it with you- to a friend's house, grandparent's house, restaurant... you get the idea.

The reason why I can't use it is because of the way my table is designed. The chairs sit high already, and the table is low. Plus it has all of these decorative features which make trying to elevate a chair for Peyton difficult:

As you can see, I JUST ordered this and got it yesterday.

I paid $35.26 for it and didn't have to pay for shipping and handling.
I would prefer not to have to go back to the Post Office and pay the return shipping so I am offering it to you first. If I have no takers, I will just send it back. Leave me a post or give me a call if this is something that you're interested in. Thanks!

The arrow points the way

2008-06-12T12:05:00.004-05:00

I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for all of the warm thoughts that you posted to cheer me up about Peyton- it really helped a lot! It's good to know that I have friends looking out for me. One thing for sure: these kids know how to keep us on our toes! Just when I think I've got it figured out or I can worry a little less, Peyton puts me in my place :-)

..And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Thanks again!

Close encounters of the E.T. kind

2008-06-12T09:47:00.004-05:00

Let's get this party started!

Peyton meets E.T. for the first time...

Peyton : 'How do you do, E.T.?'

E.T. : 'Be my friend.'

Scott was excited to hear that REAL pizza would be served... not lame-0 pizza like Domino's :-)

E.T. gives Papa John's pizza his version of a thumbs up!

After Peyton went to bed, Emily was Queen of the castle... or at least of the Ottoman.

No E.T. party would be complete without some Reeses Pieces. I was a little sad that they were blue and black and not the traditional colors, but they still tasted good!

One last farewell to E.T. at the end of the night. We had a blast!

Etc...

2008-06-10T16:36:00.003-05:00

He calls it a school bag. I call it a backpack. You say potato, I say po-tah-toe. Really though... what do you call it? Post any thoughts below. ;-)

Moving on....

Lately I've been meandering the house in a state of self inflicted isolation- partly imposed by the burgeoning heat and partly from feeling the blah's. Honestly though, what can one expect when you isolate yourself... people banging down the doors for your attention? That sounds about right in my bored and lonely state ;-)

Lack of friendly contact with the outside world did not stop Troy and I from having a whole 'date day' last Saturday ... a first in several weeks. We woke up early Saturday, headed downtown and perused the Farmer's Market, had breakfast in a coffee shop {sans coffee}, took Peyton to the Children's Museum then treated ourselves to some poboys for lunch. We ate at Crabby Jack's- the owner of which also owns the ever famous Jacque-Imo's downtown. Troy and I split the Fergi, a roast beef and ham poboy smothered in melted cheese and 'debris' which is a gravy meat sauce. Needless to say, it was Fergi-licious and must be eaten rapidly and with gusto before it deteriorates and gravy rolls down your elbows. Good stuff.

Before returning home, we made a pit stop to William's Plum Street Snoballs and each indulged in some shaved ice deliciousness. Troy went for the strawberry cheesecake and I opted for the banana's foster. Double yum. Then it was home again to put Peyton to bed for his nap so we could lounge around for a bit. We made plans for our 'real date' that evening. Troy and I (with a little help from his Mom and sister to keep an eye on Peyton) went to the 5:00 showing of Indiana Jones then capped the evening by sharing some pasta and a slice of cheesecake at The Cheesecake Bistro afterwards. It was a fantastic day.

Currently, I'm trying to finish reading 'The Count of Monte Cristo' which unfortunately keeps getting interrupted by other books that I've reserved at the library and can only be reserved for short periods of time, thus making me put it down for undetermined periods of time. So in the course of starting it, I have read 5 other books while trying to finish it! I'm nearing the end though and although I still have questions, each chapter is resolving more of the mystery for me.

Also in the works, Troy and I are making plans to visit the grand ole' state of Texas at the end of the month in hope that it will become our future home (we hope sooner rather than later). We are ready for a fresh start and a clean slate. This will be especially exciting for Troy as he has lived in Louisiana his whole life. I'm just looking forward to seeing some hills (and not the man made ones!).

As for Peyton, he may be seeing a Developmental Specialist in the near future over concerns from our pediatrician that he has not spoken yet. She says that it is early in the game, but that she would like him to be screened so that if there is a concern we can catch it before it becomes a bigger problem. Those of you who are close to me will know that this has been a concern that has been on my mind a lot lately. It is hard to hear and see other children his age doing tricks (like waving bye-bye on command or making noises of the animals they see in their picture books) and talking when Peyton is not.

As a Mom, this especially hits hard because your heart hurts to think that your baby isn't doing something that others his age are. Troy has talked to some of his coworkers who said that they had similar problems with their sons and that usually it's a time thing- but it still doesn't diminish the worry when you hear about all of the things that he should be doing from your pediatrician. Peyton has always been cautious to change ever since he came home to live with us. He definitely digs in his heels when it comes to anything new. He was resistant to going from breast feeding to the bottle, from the bottle to baby cereal, from baby cereal to jarred food and from jarred food to table food. He battled us while transitioning to a bottle, then while transitioning to a sippy cup, and most likely when it is time, we imagine he will let us have it over a real cup.

Troy and I have resigned ourselves to the thought that potty training will be the ultimate battle of wills and that going to a big boy bed will be a test in patience. So I guess in all of this what I'm saying is that there is hope. Peyton likes to do it his way or to be forced into doing it a new way until he adopts it as his way. Hopefully, the talking and hand motions that so many of his friends are doing right now will catch up to him... when he's ready to. I just can't wait to hear that first word from his lips- something I've been waiting for since day one. I can't wait to talk to him and to hear all of his little thoughts.

So on to a happier note (at least for me!)... tomorrow is my E.T. party! I am super excited- even though it will be just Troy and I since every one else seems to fear the friendly alien from outer space as though he were the alien from 'Signs' or something ;-) There will be pizza, Reeses Pieces and root beer and of course, E.T. Fun, fun fun! Pictures to follow.

Beeee Goooood!

2008-06-02T17:22:00.003-05:00

Speaking of movies, is anyone up for coming to my yearly E.T. party? This tradition started about a year or so after Troy and I got married when we went to Universal Studios and I rode the E.T. ride. At the end, I couldn't leave without getting a huge talking E.T. that says about 5 or 6 phrases and his heart and finger would light up at the press of his palm. Very cool. That weekend, I celebrated my birthday in Orlando, and what could be more perfect than watching E.T. and having pizza (just like the first scene in the movie) having Reeses Pieces, and drinking Beer (Root Beer that is!). This year, the party is on Wednesday the 11th which commemorates the night that E.T. was first released. If anyone would like to come, let me know!

P.S- I fully admit that I am an E.T. nerd. I have the large E.T. that I just wrote about, a furby E.T. that can play and communicate with you, a tin lunch box (an original) and of course the collector's edition of the movie which has both the old version of the movie (I guess that means I'm old... haha!) AND the newer revised version.

Movies {For Boys}

2008-06-02T15:16:00.005-05:00

In the 6th grade, my best friend Willa and I were practically inseparable. We sat next to each other in our classes, ate lunch together, had slumber parties (usually at her house) and even had those tacky 'BFF' heart shaped necklaces that are split in a jagged line down the middle, but put together form one whole heart which we got together at the State Fair...now that is TRUE dedication I tell you!

During the following summer, I usually 'lived' at her house, sometimes spending whole weekends with her staying up late and telling each other ghost stories, singing Paula Abdul and Janet Jackson songs as loud as we could and calling boys to find out if they might like Willa (or me if she was doing the calling). Aside from all of that though, one of our absolute favorite things to do was to be dropped off at the video store and to pick two or three movies then get all of the junk food you could ever possibly imagine and pile the couch up with blankets to snuggle in for some marathon movie watching.

The movies we would almost always get were 'The Labyrinth' or the 'Neverending Story'- iconic movies of our childhood. We must have watched those movies a dozen times over the course of the summer and we would always lament when it was rented out to someone else and we had to pick something other than our favorites. We would sing along to the songs in 'The Labyrinth', off key and out of tune, but word for word. Willa's Dad always laughed when he caught us singing in the basement (where we had set up the movies).

Within the last week, I have watched both of these movies-both now a part of my DVD collection so I don't have to try to summon up a copy at the video store- and yes, I even sang. I don't know what it is about those movies, but they still hold some magic for me. In 'The Labyrinth', I was always nervous for Sarah even though I knew she'd prevail to the end and rescue Toby from the Goblin King, Jareth. It's a story about not giving up, finding friends in unlikely places and of course, magic. 'The Neverending Story' was great for me because as I didn't always feel like I fit in at school, so I felt that I related well to Bastian who had insecurities that he was needed and that he had anything to provide. The end scene where he rides Falcour the luck dragon to chase down his old bullies until they jumped in the dumpster was one of my favorites.

Watching these movies made me wonder what movies Peyton might enjoy as a boy. Peyton is nowhere near ready to watch movies, but I know the time will come within the next few years and I'd like to build up my collection. As it stands now, Peyton has limited exposure to the television- he's never even seen PBS! However, I do know that the 'Neverending Story' will definitely be a movie we watch (and hopefully enjoy) together. Besides that, I'm wondering what other gems should be on the list to get for our home collection. We've got E.T., The Superman movies, most of the Harry Potter series, The Jungle Book...etc. I know we'll end up getting Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, The Sword in the Stone and Peter Pan. Probably Aladdin too.

Could a boy like 'Mulan', or is that too girly? I love that movie. What about 'The Indian in the Cupboard'- is that any good? I like movies where kids go on quests or solve mysteries and give watchers a reason to cheer and root for the main characters. So let's hear it you Moms (and Dad's if there are any reading this) of boys. What movies do your sons hold dear? What should I put on my list of things to watch in the future with Peyton? I won't limit this to just movies- if you know of any good books to read together, speak up! I can't wait to go on adventures with my little guy- I know we'll have a blast. I'm sure there will be plenty of play acting and imaginary sword fighting in our house ;-) Thanks in advance for all of your ideas!

Where's Peyton?

2008-05-29T17:41:00.002-05:00

Pardon my yucky side profile chewing face- I was caught unawares! If you follow the Cheerios trail, you can find Peyton peeking out from his perch. This was taken in Shreveport where we were visiting Troy's old roommate from college who had just graduated the weekend before. It was a fun food filled weekend. Seen before us were homemade seafood enchiladas (before the chicken enchiladas had come out of the oven). Also, there was rice, beans and stuffed jalapeno peppers. Everything was very tasty. To top it all off, there was swimming, volleyball, a wrestling match between the boys and ice cream from Marble Slab to end on a sweet note. Peyton did very well and slept like... well, like a baby! He did not enjoy the ride to or from there, but beggars can't be choosy!

What's wrong with this picture?

2008-05-20T13:03:00.001-05:00

10 points if you can figure it out. Here's a clue: who organized the aisle in this way?

See Mimzy... it fits!

2008-05-20T12:52:00.002-05:00

I {heart} my bug collection, Mimzy! It gives me the giggles.

And the sillies. Here's my new funny face.

I was chasing Dad around the house to try to yank the camera away but I got tired and had to take a breather.

But the fun was too good so I was up and back to chasing again. Just like I'll chase those bugs in a year or two. Mom says I can't have bugs in the house though because their home is outside. Can I bring bugs in your house Mimzy? Please?!

What I've been doing

2008-05-20T12:32:00.002-05:00

Adoring these:

...from the farmers market as well as fresh peaches, green tomatoes and ice cold milk.

Reading this:

...it is way better than the movie already and I'm only 175 pages in.

Retyping these:

..because they are so worn and loved that some of the recipes are literally fading.

Laughing at this:

Peyton is back to wanting a morning nap. I haven't decided if this is because he's teething or growing or both but this happened while I was vacuuming. I even vacuumed around him and he still didn't wake up poor guy!

Profoundly happy to be a part of this:

...life is good especially when you can share it with your best friend!

Growth

2008-05-13T09:28:00.004-05:00

In March of 1964, Alaska was rocked to the core by an 8.6 earthquake. I wasn't even alive yet, but my friend's Mom said that she had been taking a bath when it hit and it sent the bath water flying out of the tub. Years later, we would move to Alaska for my Dad's job and even in the 80's there was subtle evidence of this catastrophe still evident. From Anchorage to Palmer and from Girdwood to Anchorage, the locals call the flat land that stretches across the valley floor the 'mud flats' because ever since the '64 earthquake, it has become a muddy landscape that leaves no firm foundation for building.

Near Turnigan, you can see old cabins abandoned and sunk into the earth, water and wild vegetation reclaiming the wood as it's own. Downtown, you can visit Earthquake Park with it's deep crevice and see pictures of homes that tumbled in to the abyss. Growing up, we were taught about the '64 earthquake in our geography classes by teachers who were children themselves when the earth split open. We lived there in Alaska for 15 years, always with bated breath any time we felt the earth tremor.

Scientists still speculate that Alaska is overdue for a major earthquake and fortunately in our modern world, they now have Seismic Earthquake Stations located strategically near fault lines to record the data every time an earthquake occurs and they can now predict future calamity from their research.

When my parents moved to Louisiana and I subsequently followed, we all breathed easier knowing we had dodged 'the big one'. Of course, Troy and I ended up evacuating for Hurricane's Katrina and Rita, but luckily our apartment was not damaged. It's been interesting to see the parallels between these natural disasters. Three years later, you can still see the water line on the homes as you head down the Earhart Expressway towards downtown New Orleans. Several homes still have blue tarps on their roof tops and some buildings and homes lie in rubble. Beautiful homes in Lakeside still stand, gutted to the rafters and devoid of walls, insulation or floor boards.

Recently in the news, I've been reading about the major earthquake that hit China and the thousands that are missing, injured or dead. The pictures are eerie and the devastation severe. Since I managed to evacuate for the hurricane, I can't say that I know what it's like to survive something that catastrophic. I came after. After the winds blew and the water rose. After the military aid stood guard outside the city holding rifles and after helicopters were already weaving through the skies taking note of the areas worst hit.

Three years later, the city is making progress, but it still reminds me of Anchorage. It reminds me that after a disaster, there will always be scars. If you look hard enough you can still see the evidence. It makes me wonder about all of those lives that are being affected in China right now. It makes me think about all of those family homes that were dismantled in the blink of an eye. How parks where children played are now gaping holes. It makes me sad to think that the places that people cherished were swept away and crumbled to the earth and that those living memories were tattered and torn and can be rebuilt but will never ultimately be the same.

But in every disaster, there is always new life. If you look at a forest fire, you can see the tiny shoots of fresh grass rising up from the ash. In Alaska, you can see the fireweed and wild irises growing across the sunken mud flats. Here, you can see birds that have returned and wildlife again where strangely there weren't any in the weeks after the storm. I wonder what kind of fresh start the people in China will have after the wounds have closed and all that is left is a scar.

But if you think about it, it keeps us strong, these battle wounds. It means we've lived to survive another day. That we can depend on each other and even on people we have never met in the face of a disaster and that we are all united together to put the pieces back wherever they may fall. I think that that's the most promising bit of it all. Life is a cycle and it continues to revolve just as the earth does. Pain is a part of the healing process, but so is growth and living.

Every day it takes new resolve to live and to appreciate all of the new growth and life around us. Live today to the fullest. Repeat tomorrow...and the day after. Help others to see beyond the scars and to see the beauty that is blooming all around. Count your blessings while life is good but also in the face of tragedy. We have so much to be grateful for. I have so much to be grateful for. Let's rise above the ashes of our own problems and remember how to live again. I'm right there with you.

Follow the tissue paper trail

2008-05-09T15:18:00.002-05:00

The husband is sick.
The son is teething.
I'm recovering.
We need a mental vacation.

Remember this?

2008-05-08T13:58:00.004-05:00

I just got it at my door today! It is every bit as cute as I thought it would be... dimpled thighs and all. Of course it would be too breezy to jump in the pool today but when it's nice and toasty again out there, watch out! I'll be taking a dip with Peyton so we can both test our new suits out. All we need now is for Troy to have a day off so we can have a pool party and grill up some dogs and burgers. Mmmm. I {heart} BBQ!

Maybe if I'm lucky, I can look as adorable as these bathing beauties:
Check out the fella's leaning in for a closer look on the left! If you're looking for a modest swim suit, these girls have got 'em! ;-)

Today

2008-05-07T15:43:00.002-05:00

Today I:

Didn't take a shower
Slept in (I usually get up at 6 to run, but since I've been sick, it's more like 7)
Checked my email- got nothing but crap
Ate a bowl of Kashi's Cinnamon Harvest
Fed Peyton banana oatmeal softened up with whole milk then mixed with a jar of apple cinnamon oatmeal- whoa, that's DOUBLE the oatmeal!
Checked updated blogs
Entered a few Mother's Week give-aways on said blogs
Found out I didn't win anything from the give-aways from the previous days
Felt bad that I didn't win anything
Wondered whether I should use more exclamation points to win next time
Brushed my teeth, swished some mouthwash around
Dry shaved my armpits with my razor, applied deodorant
Brushed Peyton's teeth
Finally got dressed at 9 after wandering around the house in my underoo's
Changed a very aromatic diaper from Peyton
Headed to the mall to be there when it opened at 10
The store I wanted to go to was open 4 minutes early....score!
Got in, wandered around looked at stuff, smelled other stuff, hemmed and hawed, finally purchased the MIL's Mother's Day gift- I hope you like it :-0
Went to another store to get a few little things to throw into the gift bag
Hurried home (no speeding, I promise!)
Fed Peyton Mac & Cheese, Peas & Carrots, applesauce and a sippy cup of milk
Fed myself Lemongrass Coconut Chicken
Checked some more blogs
Hurried out the door to Jeni's
Dropped off Peyton
Booked it to the LSU dental school
Got there and got my root canal from a few weeks ago looked at
Didn't get the permanent filling in like I thought I would
Made ANOTHER appointment to do ANOTHER root canal on the tooth next to the tooth that was just done
Hurried back to Jeni's
Chatted with Aimee and Jeni about jewelry making for a few
Grabbed Peyton and headed home
Put him down for a nap since he missed his real nap time
Made a phone call to maybe cheer up a friend
Got a box from UPS for some books that I ordered
REALLY liked one book I got, surprisingly not the one I had initially intended buying
Was disappointed in the book I thought I wanted
Got the loser book ready to ship back
Talked to Troy and woke Peyton up on accident
Gave him some water and crossed my fingers that he might go back to sleep
Yeah right...
Lit my new lemon candle in the kitchen
Ate some candy while I was in there- you know, the good stuff
Sat down to write out my day
And now I'm off to rescue Peyton from his crib who is now crying to get out

Wow, wasn't that exciting? Don't you wish you could do this everyday like I do? I know. My life is Soooo glamorous.

Question

2008-05-06T12:33:00.003-05:00

Is it bad to laugh when your son is afraid of the vacuum cleaner? I was just wondering... for no reason at all. Just a hypothetical question- I mean, who laughs at their kids when they're scared? Oh man, I'm busted aren't I?

In other news, I have a head cold that won't quit. I'm convinced I've gone through at least 2 1/2 mondo rolls of Charmin's super soft toilet paper and the end is nowhere in sight. At least I can taste again. Last night, I couldn't even taste dinner- it was horrible (not tasting that is. Troy said dinner was great but he would say that 'cause he cooked!).

Oh and one more thing- why is it that when you try to copy cat someone, it almost never comes out the same? I tried to copy Kristel because she has this awesome lemon candle at her house that smells deliciously like lemon cream cookies. She got hers from Cracker Barrel, but I wasn't about to drive to Gonzales to get one. So I went to Linens & Things and got a Lemon Creme candle that smells really good, but it's not the same. I guess if I want to enjoy the same lemon scented wonderfulness, I either have to go to Gonzales or get invited over to her house again so I can bask and dream of lemon cream cookies. Yum.

Giggle Monster

2008-05-05T13:31:00.003-05:00

This is what happens when Peyton doesn't get a good nap in for the day- he turns deliriously happy at night! His giggles had us both laughing hysterically.

Ole`!

2008-05-05T12:39:00.003-05:00

On the menu for our Cinco de Mayo feast:
Chips & salsa
Beef fajita's with guacamole and sour cream
Yellow rice w/black beans and cilantro
Tamarindo (for Troy- I can't stand the stuff)
Fried ice cream

What are you cookin' up?

Bad news for the Tigers?

2008-05-02T14:55:00.007-05:00

Today, Ryan Perrilloux, LSU's star quarterback was kicked off of the team for legal and disciplinary problems. Could this bode ill for the Tiger's chances at the Championship this year? Let's hope either Andrew Hatch or Jarrett Lee can fill the position. We're rooting for you Tigers!

P.S. I know you're celebrating Maren, you Gator fan, you! No gloating from you yet though, we might still hold our own ;-)

*Correction: The Post Script should say, 'We WILL hold our own' not 'We MIGHT still hold our own.'

Thanks Rebecca!

2008-05-01T08:49:00.004-05:00

1. What is his name? Clark Kent... just kidding- it's really Troy Preston Majoue

2. How long have you been married? 5 years and an eternity to go (and I mean that in a good way!)

3. How long did you date? We dated, were engaged and married all within 6 months! Crazy, huh?

4. Who eats more? Ummm... do you really need to ask?! Everyone knows that Troy is the one who can put away some food- which is why it's worth it for him to go to buffets. Me... not so much. Now if you mean who eats more candy...

5. Who said I love you first? I did- I whispered it in his ear when we were watching a movie while we were dating but then I burrowed my head in his shoulder because I was afraid he would laugh or worse, not say ANYTHING. He said 'I love you' back though so it was ok!

6. Who sings better? Hahaha! Oh wait, that's a real question! Ummm...sing we do not. Either of us!

7. Who is taller? Even if you don't know us, you have to know the answer to this one! So silly.

8. Whose temper is worse? Peyton's!

9. Who does the laundry? I do 99.9% of the time. When Troy does laundry it's because a) he has a stain on something and needs to wash it right away or b) because I haven't washed whatever he needs when he needs it so he just does it himself. But usually, I'm the one washing up ;-)

10. Who does the dishes? That depends. Most times it's me because I'm particular about how the dishes go in the dishwasher and where they go when they come out. Troy does help when the kitchen 'blows up' though.

11. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Is that facing the bed or lying in the bed?! Really though, I sleep on my left side so my feet can dangle off the bed when I get too hot. Figure that one out!

12. Who does the cooking? I guess Troy does now that Peyton has come along. He does an excellent job too I might add. Troy is really good at making the quick fixes and I enjoy making the 'destroy the kitchen' meals.

13. Who is more stubborn? I guess we're talking about me here. *Sigh*

14. Who proposed? Troy did. I got off of work and went out to my car and saw something that wasn't in there before. I was kind of creeped out until I opened the door and saw a cassette player and a love song CD with a note attached in Troy's handwriting. The note told me to play the cassette and to stop the tape every time he stopped talking. The CD was a mixed CD of love songs that I played on the way to my scavenger hunt. At every stop, I found a goodie and got more directions from the cassette player to get to the next spot. At the end, Troy was waiting for me with candles lit on a picnic table and he proposed right then and there. Of course I said yes!

15. Who is most likely to admit that they are wrong? Well, Troy has no temper and is so clever and brilliant that he's usually never wrong so that leaves me to apologize for being the dufus.

16. Who's parents do you see the most? Troy's Mom because she lives 20 minutes away. I sure miss my Mom and Dad though!

17. Who pays the bills? That's all Troy. I take care of Peyton and he 'brings home the bacon' (that's an inside joke/song)

18. Who wears the pants? I really enjoy wearing jeans and he's usually in khaki's for work so I guess we both do! If you were wondering who the boss was then I'd have to say we both have our little jobs that we oversee ;-)

19. Why do you love your husband? What's not to love?! He's handsome, funny, intelligent, kind, patient, helpful, strong... and he's mine... ALL MINE! LOL!

20. Who are three other people you are going to tag? Becky T., Shannon C., and Aidan J. Have fun!

A walk with Dad in new shoes

2008-04-30T12:29:00.001-05:00

Tired... so tired

2008-04-29T08:47:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm back. I have no pictures to show for myself but that's okay. We had a great time in Northern Louisiana despite lack of sleep and a rushed time table. The decorations came out really cool- the colors were red, white and black and everything really popped. The flowers were gorgeous as was the bride. And the cake was yummy (and perfect without almond flavoring). All in all, it was a great success and I was honored to play a part in such a special day for Stephanie.

Since I've been back, the last two days I've been doing nothing but lounging and sleeping- today I was supposed to get up at 6:00 and run 3 miles but when the alarm went off, I literally couldn't get out of bed. I'm hoping that I'll be able to jump back into my regular routine tomorrow. I haven't been this lazy since before Peyton was born!

When I got home, I found out that my Mom had sent me a package while I was away. I was ecstatic to find out that she got me the book I've been eyeing- 'Hello, Cupcake!'. I can't tell you how tickled I am... really. This book is AWESOME. There are so many cool ideas in it that I'm itching to do. Is anyone having a birthday soon?!

Not much else is new- more later when I can think straight!

Decisions, decisions

2008-04-23T17:17:00.003-05:00

Today I had to go to the grocery store to pick some food up for Peyton so he'd have something to eat in Leesville. As I stood there shuffling my feet and trying to decide what kind of food sounded good (when I'm not even eating the darn stuff), I had to laugh.

I kept going over the combinations in my head... 'He LOVES the pasta with meat sauce, the beef ravioli and the mac and cheese. He's so-so about the cheese ravioli and the chicken with gravy. Should I get more of this kind since they're his favorite or should I buy him this type to get him to branch out? This one has spinach which tastes fine cold but might be yucky heated up... especially microwaved. But I want him to be versatile so maybe I'll throw one or two in the cart.'

I was there for about 10 minutes which would have taken Troy about 2.5 minutes from start to finish. I just second guess everything when it comes to food. And then when it' s time for dinner, I stand there looking into the cabinet for Peyton and dig through the jars and containers and decide that maybe tonight mac and cheese will be tasty- but who am I kidding?! I'm not eating this stuff, so why am I so choosy about what Peyton is eating for dinner?

I think I caught Troy in the 'choosy food' act one day- he was pushing around the jars in the cabinet and when I asked him what he was looking for, he told me that Peyton didn't like the chicken with country vegetables and he was looking for something better for him to eat...!!! At least I know that Troy does it too- that way I can't be called crazy for deciding what random food my kid is going to ingest when I'm not sharing any part of the meal with him.

Does anyone else do this?! Fess up! ;-)

Blame it on Blogger

2008-04-22T16:58:00.002-05:00

So... I can't upload pictures to save my life today. Blogger is being a poot (as it can occasionally be) but what can I say- this blog is free so I can't really complain. I WAS going to post pictures of the wedding preperations... you know- my dress, the new shoes I found, the earrings Jeni made me, and the uber sexy Honeymoon basket I put together for the Bride and Groom (only I can't show EVERYTHING in the basket since there are some....huh hem... unmentionables tucked away inside). So now you will have to use your imagination- only please imagine me with a smaller nose, whiter teeth, a smaller behind and the loveliest legs you can think up. Thanks, you're a gem! Look for real pictures to follow next week *if and when* Blogger decides to cooperate.

P.S. Starting tomorrow night, I'll be M.I.A. up in Leesville- so the ol' blog will be silent and mute until I recover from the whirl wind of activities. Ciao!

Random Thoughts

2008-04-21T17:37:00.003-05:00

Have you developed any pictures lately? Did you ever wonder, as you were flipping through your stack of shiny photo paper prints who in the world the people in the background were? You know the culprits... the people who pop into your perfect frame, who linger on the edge of your sunset on vacation, who appear as a blurb whirling by in the snap of your flash. This is the best kind of people watching because you can't get caught and sometimes you catch hilarity in action when all you really thought you were capturing were the graceful lines of a historic building. In one picture, a little girl is digging in her nose, in another, a man makes eyes at a woman walking by... only she is oblivious. How many unnameable faces have we photographed over the course of our lives- people just out of the scope of being 'in frame'? How many times have we ourselves been captured in the aperture of a foreign lens, our moving images frozen in time? How many picture albums and frames might we unknowingly grace, a 'guest family member' for life? Makes me wonder and think...

Oh My Gosh!

2008-04-18T13:04:00.005-05:00

So, I'm going to be in a wedding on April 26th- yikes! That's NEXT Saturday! I've been trying to decide what in the world I'm going to do with my hair because it's not very long so a french twist is out of the question as is any do's requiring elaborately coiffed curls. I HAVE decided that I will put my hair into a low pony tail and pin my hair into curls with bobby pins and hope for the best.

Months earlier, I had been talking this same subject over with Jeni, and I had just finished watching Pride & Prejudice and was still wrapped up in the world of Jane Austin. I loved how they adorned their hair with beautiful combs, bobby pins, jewels, flowers and ribbons. I told Jeni that I wanted to run ribbons through my hair or to wear a a head band- something that looked Grecian and gorgeous. Today I was blog surfing and came across a new find! Here before my very eyes was THE hairdo I've been envisioning (except I don't have as much hair!).

Isn't it divine? There is a new collection of hair thingies out called Trash Ties by a woman named Heather Bailey. You can do nearly anything with any length of hair with these ties and they have both long ties and standard shorter ties. I guess they cinch kind of like a regular twist tie only they don't snap or rip your hair like elastic hair ties.

I am so excited! Too bad it takes about 2 weeks to process and ship or I would have ordered some to make the cool headband look at the beginning for the wedding. I'm going to have to improvise!

I love how they come in different colors so you can accessorise with whatever you're wearing.

There are a million gazillion ways it looks like to wear your hair with these things. Now I wish I had long hair!

Ok, how cute is this hair do?

Or these?!

Man I need to get me some of these!