An LC Tradition

Well this weekend is a favorite tradition on LC's campus....Mom's Weekend. Every year we have a weekend designated for moms to come spend the weekend with their daughters. the whole event is spent wearing matching pj's, eating lots of yummy food brought by the moms, taking pictures, a concert by the Louisianians, and a big brunch on Saturday. It's always great fun and the RA's do an excellent job planning and decorating for the event. This year was "Hollywood" themed and I was lucky enough to stumble into lots of decorations when I was home in Birmingham. Here are just some of the pics from the evening.


Meg, Me and Alana


The Louisianians


Mrs. Kathy, our guest speaker


Elizabeth and I in our matching PJs

Breaking All the Rules

So for any of you who know me well you know that I have quite a few quirky rules that I live by. I try not to impose these rules on others but I live by them myself. One in particular has to do with the celebration of holidays. It is against the "rules" to decorate for another holiday before the previous one has passed. Simply put....you cannot decorate for Christmas, which includes putting up the tree, hanging outside lights and even listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving. I don't know why this is such a big deal to me but it is. Honestly, one of my favorite road trips all year is when I have come home for Thanksgiving and am getting ready to head back to wherever I am living at the time because its the first time I break out all my Christmas music. The drive from Birmingham back to Pineville is filled with 7 hours of Christmas pleasure!

Well as of yesterday, October 27th...I have officially begun listening to Christmas music. I couldn't help myself! Shane and Shane released their new Christmas CD and its phenomenal. It's one of those CDs I will probably listen to year round. So I sincerely apologize to all my previous roommates (Amy especially) and friends (Jason Kees) who I threw a tantrum around when you tried to play Christmas music in November because in my world right now IT'S BEGINNING TO SOUND A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS!

Rock the VOTE

Well well well....at the tender age of 30 I am going to exercise my right to vote. I have taken much criticism from Jen Young Rice as well as other women in my life who have been disappointed with me as a Christian and a woman for not voting. If my voter registration card gets here in time I will be supporting John McCain and Sarah Palin. I won't lie I have lots of worries and reservations about this election and both presidential candidates but I am sticking with the republican party for good or for bad!

Jesse Boy is One

Today is a monumental day. Jesse is one year old today. Elizabeth and I took our cake decorating class with Jesse's birthday cake as our goal. Jesse loves monkeys so it was only fitting that he get a monkey cake. After a few hours of mixing colors and filling bags here is our masterpiece. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESSE!

LC Homecoming 2008

This past weekend was homecoming for LC and what a busy but great weekend it was. In my three years here I have never experienced the energy and excitement that I did Saturday. It was wonderful to be able to have a stadium on campus to play the game....a TRUE HOMECOMING. All the events leading up to the game were well attended and lots of fun. Monday night was Fear Factor sponsored by the BCM, Tuesday was Homecoming Honey hosted by the LC Cheerleaders, Wednesday was Last Man Standing, Thursday was Hoedown sponsored by Union Board and Friday was the bonfire and prayer/dedication of the field.
Last year we started a tradition of the homecoming parade. The winning float this year won a $1000 cash prize so Residence Life was in it to win it. We worked on our float all week. I didn't get any really good pictures of it but it was a giant football helmet made of 1500 balloons. Wowzers. We also got the Little Caesars chariot to parade the mascot and Dr. Joe. WE WON!!!!

Here are some pictures of the weeks festivities:


here is the side of the helmet


part of the RA staff riding in the truck throwing candy and shirts


the Wildcat, Alex, and his chariot


the construction begins!


a sweet treat fro the occassion....putting my cake decorating skills to work


Megan and Matt in a sea of balloons


my wildcat paw print pumpkin that rotted before game day

GREAT NEWS

So I have some great news from this weekend.....AUBURN didn't lose!!!! Okay, okay, so Auburn also didn't play this weekend but we will take what we can get. I have to laugh to keep from crying but every team has its down year(s)...let's just hope ours doesn't last as long as Alabama's did. Despite the rough season Matti still sports her jersey proudly every Saturday.

A Green Thumb

Don't worry I don't have some skin disease that is turning my hands green. I have finally begun to inherit by Dad's green thumb when it comes to gardening. About this time last year I began buying some plants for the patio (what little patio I have anyway) and working in the yard. It seemed like every Saturday I was out there piddling and truly loved it. It stinks to realize you're getting older and you have to admit that you like "old people" things like gardening. I thoroughly enjoy being in the yard and seeing my plants grow and bloom. For a while I struggled but as you can see from the pictures below, all my plants are doing well this fall. All the colors make it nice to be outside hanging out while Matti takes care of "business." Thanks Dad for teaching me the tricks of the trade and helping me to keep my plants alive and healthy.

Boss' Day

Yay for Boss' Day! Who would have ever thought someone would let me be another persons boss? But, Louisiana College has entrusted me with the supervision of the Residence Life Staff and some of them surprised me this afternoon with a gift that just yelled my name. These kids are good! I got this cool fleur de lis plaque for my wall and a gift card at my favorite nail place in town. Thanks Alana, Megan and Matt....you guys are the best.

Meet Big Rob

I've mentioned several times throughout the blog about my quest to lose weight and get in shape. I wanted to introduce you all to my trainer, Rob Wilson. Around LC he is known as "Big Rob." Rob was named player of the week this week after blocking two field goal attempts by Hardin Simmons. You can tell by the picture that he doesn't play around. He may be the death of me but I owe him a big thanks for helping me in this adventure and for putting up with my stubbornness. He doesn't put up with my excuses and he pushes me way more than I think I am capable of. That determinations and drive probably comes from the four years he served as a Marine. Had I known that I probably would have gotten a different trainer....oh well, I guess I will come out of boot camp stronger or die one!

A Good Getaway

Our trip to Arkansas was well worth it. Elizabeth and I headed out Friday morning and took our time getting to Mt. Ida, AR. We stopped for a few hours at the Boardwalk in Shreveport and got a little shopping done. I am happy to say that as of October 10th I have purchased my first Christmas present, yay! After our shopping adventure we headed north and finally arrived at Mountain Harbor around 6pm. I just want to take this time to say that direction websites and GPS systems make me crazy. We had Billy and Elizabeth's trusty GPS which I affectionately call Rita as well as yahoo directions I printed and mapquest directions that Elizabeth printed and oddly enough all three were different! Ugh.

Nevertheless, we arrived safely and ready for a relaxing weekend. We started with a fun adventure when some random man walked up in our room. Needless to say we kept the door bolted after that. We took in a good chick flick and then were off to bed on rock hard mattresses. The irony of having hard mattresses at a spa and resort. After sleeping late, which was so nice, we were off for a morning hike around the lake. As if I didnt know the difference between a "thinker" (Elizabeth) and "feeler" (KB) personality, never was it more obvious than when we witnessed a baby duck drown in the lake. The rest of the morning I kept saying, "I just need to believe that the duck came up somewhere and we didnt see it...he's still alive." To which Elizabeth quickly responded, "the duck's dead!" Fun times! After our hike and lunch we were off to get our full body massages...THANK YOU LORD! That pretty much wrapped up Saturday with the exception of a new card game Elizabeth taught me and them repeatedly killed me at. Then Sunday morning it was home bound. What a great girl's getaway!

The view from our back porch.


This is me at one of our rest stops on our hike.



Elizabeth and her new friend, Tanto.

A New Look for the Fall

For those of you who know me its no big surprise that with the change of season came a change in the arrangement of furniture at my house. I admit it...I have a problem. I am a seasonal changer! Instead of rearranging the inside (primarilyl because I did that not long ago) I decided to redo the outside of the front of my apartment. I moved my good chairs out front and bought some fall mums. It looks great and Matti and I have thoroughly enjoyed our new resting place every afternoon.




Matti chilling and watching the cars go by:

Big Finale

Well the cake decorating is officially over....at least course one! We had to make roses for the final cake which I hate making and stink at making. This is my final cake and though the overall cake isn't bad a close up view of the roses will reveal my lack of talent. There are two good roses on the cake but sadly enough my instructor, Nelda, made those. Oh well! If you need a cake and you want roses I am not your girl.


THE CAKE AND ITS CREATOR



MY CAKE

Stuck Between a Rock and Hard Place

I think for all who know me its clear how much I love Auburn football and this season has truly been a heart breaker. We hired Tony Franklin at the end of last season as the offensive coordinator to run a spread offense. I will admit that watching them play with a spread offense makes me a nervous wreck and obviously we haven't faired well this season offensively. In four games we have a total of five touchdowns...thats sad. I am not sure how we only have two losses but when you play in the SEC the mentality is WE DON'T LOSE...period. Many a good coach has a short lived career for not putting up W's. Add to that list Tony Franklin who we "relieved of his coaching duties" today. Part of me is relieved the other thinks "oh crap" how do you let a coach go in the middle of the season. For Auburn, I think we were stuck between a rock and a hard place and Tuberville did what he thought was best. With a lot of anxiousness I will stand behind our coach and I am and always will be PROUD TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!

FALL BREAK

If you look for me during fall break I will be nowhere near Pineville. Elizabeth and I will be in the mountains in Arkansas being pampered for three whole days. I CAN'T WAIT! I hope to come back a new woman....refreshed, relaxed and all those other good adjectives.

Off to a Great Start

I had mentioned earlier that I had started working out in a quest to lose weight and get in shape. I had an appointment last night to have my measurements redone after two months of a workout routine (minus the week I lost from the hurricane) and I was pleasantly surprised and incredibly encouraged. I have lost 6lbs, 11.25 inches and 2% of my body fat. I still have a long way to go but its a great start!

Shop 'Til You Drop

After 5 years of living in Louisiana I finally got to experience the Louisiana Boardwalk in Shreveport. We decided to take a fun family outing on Saturday to the Boardwalk to meet some friends for lunch at the Cheesecake Bistro (one of my personal favorites) and then to do a little shopping at the outlets. The day started with a minor kink when the Johnson's car wouldn't start. A new battery and an hour later we were on the road and ready to shop. As you can see from the pictures Jesse and Bailey were shopped out. It was all in a days work! We got some great deals and we are all styling and profiling in our new clothes.

SICK OF ICING

The newness of my cake class is wearing off and I am getting tired of making cakes and icing. I have a horrible habit of wanting to lick the bowl and taste the icing and I don't need it! More than anything...who has time to bake a cake and make two batches of icing every week? Okay, so it's really not that bad. If I am being honest I am just frustrated because I stink at making roses. For our final class we have to be able to make roses out of icing and as much as I tried I am horrible at it. I finally got one good one at class last night but that was it. Elizabeth does pretty good roses but neither of us like it! The pictures above are of my rose, my third cake which looks ugly but it had to incorporate lots of this weeks lessons so its just random with clowns and flowers, and one of Bailey helping her mommy decorate with icing (she loved it).One more week and then no more cake and icing for a while.

Where There's a George There's a Way

You know the old saying where there is a will there is a way....the same can be said for Angie's dad, Mr. George. I have been wanting a shelf put above my dishwasher so that I could get my microwave off what little counter space I have. I had help this past weekend in this pursuit and we failed miserably. We ended up with three LARGE holes in the concrete and no shelf to show for it. Resolved that it wasn't possible for me to drill into filled cinder blocks and securely attached the shelf to the wall we gave up. Little did I know that Mr. George was coming to town. He was not only able to hang my new shelf but he was able to cover the giant holes we put in the wall originally. YAY! Thank you to Elizabeth for even thinking up the kitchen "rearrange" and thanks to Mr. George for making it happen!

Fallin' In Love

So I woke up today and realized I am loving the FALL weather! As I type this I am sitting at my desk with a chai latte candle filling the room with yummy goodness, a good cup of coffee in my hand and enjoying the warmth of a jacket. Does life get much better than this? I think not....okay, maybe if I was sitting in a football stadium somewhere drinking hot chocolate, but for a Thursday morning this will do!