Dead or Alive?

I'm ALIVE!!! So let's not recap on everything that has happened since my last post in...um...February.....instead let's focus on the recent tasks at hand. 1. We are FINALLY in the house! And loving every single detail about it. Huge front and backyard with a sweet little picket fence surrounding us (Berkeley loves loves). A quite large front porch to relax on with these yummy cooler nights we're having (thank you Tropical Storm Lee!). Hardwood floors throughout the entire house (goodbye ugly stinky carpet!). A new washer and dryer (now knocking out laundry all in one day!). And most importantly, quiet. So quiet. To the point where I could walk out my front door naked and not think twice about it. ok maybe not. But really, the neighborhood is extremely quiet and I love it. Soon I will post pictures of our new little bungalow home, please be patient. We've been busy decorating and I promise they're worth the wait. :)

2. I am completely done with the daycare scene (Praise Jesus!) and now nannying 3 days a week. It's fantastic and I love my little Saints family across town. My "welcome aboard" gift was a free haircut from the Aveda Salon as well as 12th row tickets at the Saints/Titans preseason game. It. Was. Awesome. Yes, It was preseason so not a lot of craziness going on but to be that close to the players was incredible! And even though I'm a Titans fan, Drew Brees looked smokin!

3. Vacation Vacation Vacation!!!! After almost a year of being married (ONE WHOLE YEAR ALREADY???) we are FINALLY taking our honeymoon....with some extra baggage joining us! My cousin Becca, her husband Chadd, my bff Danielle, and other bff Andrew are all coming along for the celebration! We are headed out of New Orleans to Mexico, Belize, Honduras, and back to Mexico! Excursions include; Cave Tubing in Belize, Tour of ruins(blah...my husband has to be such a downer with his history sometimes ;) and hoping for a day at a tequila farm. We are waaay past over due for a vacation so we are going all out for this one. Which leads me to my next topic.....DIET!

4. The dieting has begun. For the next 7 days I will be taking part in the Arbonne 7 day Body Cleanse. This is the same detox that I did a year or so ago and it worked miracles. I was able to lose 17 pounds...just in time for my wedding. This time around I've decided after the detox to join weight watchers. I've also done weight watchers in the past and had great results, plus doing a detox means you have to seriously watch what you eat or else you are bolting to the bathroom every 15 minutes. And ladies, that just ain't pretty.

5. In August, I lost my Kakies(grandmother) to congestive Heart failure. Fortunately, I was able to visit with her and spend time telling each other all our I love you's and her knowing how much she has always meant to me. It's been a sad few weeks but knowing that she's in a better place with the love of her life makes me a little more at ease.

And on a lighter and happier note, I'd like to announce that Berkeley will be attending his very first obedience training starting tomorrow. He's real nervous but excited to start learning how to be a good boy. Mommy and Daddy can't take his bad attitude anymore. Say a prayer.

Slight Obsession with Trash

Recently I've come to the realization that....my husband and I are addicted to trash TV. There, I said it, it's out. It all began last summer when he introduced me to the Real Housewives of New Jersey....and now that we're married his influence has made things even worse. As if one reality trash television show wasn't enough we have to watch three or four others. I guess there's just nothing better than a bright orange tan, cat fights, and expensive woman dressed to the nines that just keeps us coming back every week.

Jersey Shore......duh.

Jerseylicious(I know right...)
the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills

the Real Housewives of Atlanta

and Teen Mom...

These are probably the worst shows every made but I can't seem to ever get enough! I once was obsessed with a little show called Grey's Anatomy....now it's more like "Grey's who?" I haven't seen one episode since before Christmas.

Maybe it's the Snooki poof. Maybe it's the GTL. Maybe it's Alexa's smokey eye? Maybe it's Olivia's spandex pants. Maybe it's all of Kim's wigs? Maybe it's Camille's friend Allison. Or maybe I just need that much more excitement in my life. I really do look forward to these special moments.

Just needed to admit my obsession. Please tell me there are others like me out there? Please?

Speaking Puppy

I realize it's been a little over two months since my last post and I really have absolutely no excuse for it. While I am still unemployed I'm still getting all the household chores during the week but these days it's a little harder because I am currently trying to entertain a 4-legged furry friend 24/7. Thats right, my husband bought me a puppy for Christmas! So yes, I guess I really do have an excuse for not posting in a while, considering that his diet consists of chewing socks, rugs, and computer chords...therefore we stay out of the computer room. Growing up we always had a dog running around the house so I automatically thought that patience working with a puppy would come naturally....I was wrong. Now, every night I pray to God for patience. The point of this puppy was to steer my in the complete opposite direction from having babies and now is when I look at my husband and think "that is one really smart man" because no, I am not exactly ready for a child. I know I'll be ready one day but today is not that day. Looking past all the annoyances that come with having a puppy, he really is a good little guy. He is a rescue puppy from Tennessee. Two weeks ago we had our first vet visit and found out a lot..... 1. He is a month younger than what the rescue ladies told us. And 2. He is a full blooded Cocker Spaniel. We are very blessed to have this little guy, he really is a hoot and it's nice to have someone to talk to during the day....even if most of the conversations consist of "NO!" and "outside go potty?" Needless to say, my vocabulary and grammar has gone to the pot. I really do enjoy his company during the day and all the smiles he gives me. I now know what I'm in for when we decide have a baby and saying "NO" so many times in one day does make me wonder if I'll be a good enough mother one day but for right now I think he's good practice for what I think I'll one day be ready for.

Just a few pictures from the past few months of us and the new addition to our little family! In other news, V and I made an 18 hour drive to see my parents for Christmas and it was all worth it. We really enjoyed being home for a week to celebrate the holidays with my sister, brother-in-law and neice. It was a perfect Christmas.

We are now looking forward to visitors from all over to celebrate the Mardi Gras season. We're not big on the city of New Orleans but since our friends have decided to plan trips to come down for the festivities we decided to stay in town and take advantage of the craziness.

V has also started a second masters....because he's the overachiever in the family and cannot get enough of school......I will never understand this but go along with it anyway. He's also been accepted to teach an undergraduate class at the University of Phoenix. I never really realized that there were that many hours in the day for one person to do so much but he seems to handle it all quite well. I am extremely proud of him for all that he does, I couldn't imagine my life without him.

Unemployment = Loads of Laundry and Dishes

The weeks keep flying by and I still have yet to find a job. It's getting a little frustrating but with the support of my loving husband, I know it will all be ok. Day in and day out I clean the house, doing loads and loads of laundry, kitchen clean up, and vacuuming the hardwood floors that are like magnets for my long luscious brown hair. Ew. And then I spend part of the day on the computer trying not to apply for crap. I really can't believe that it's been almost 2 months since I've been unemployed, seems like just yesterday I was in that daily work routine of getting up early to sit at a front desk where people liked to complain to me about their premiums. Where did those 2 years go? I had my first Louisiana interview last Monday for Aflac, but.... 1. going back to the insurance world was NOT my plan and 2. 100% commission is something we definitely don't have patience for, so I turned the job down when it was offered to me the next day.Since our plan is to not be in this area for very long we've decided that it would be best if I found an administrative position somewhere, which I'm totally ok with.....if I can ever find it.Louisiana has definitely been an experience for us, the people, the culture, and the area is a lot different than where we both come from. It's bothersome living in a place where people don't take pride in their community, trash fills the streets and broke down cars line the interstates....where am I? We decided on Slidell because it was the closest town to my husbands work place and it looked like it would have all that we could need; a mall, a target, a drive thru daiquiri bar....it all seemed fine to us. Now, we might be regretting it. Unfortunately, we are sticking it out until V's done with his second masters(yes, that's right, he's starting school again in December to get a second masters....I'llnever know what it's like to want more school....ever). So hopefully once he is done we can move on to thenext big and better move of our life. Stay tuned. To keep ourselves busy and occupied on the weekends we try and get out of the apartment and do something fun! And since I'm not working and all I see everyday are these walls, it's a nice break for me. This past weekend V was invited to go fishing with some guys from work on someone's boat dock on the bayou. So after work he headed out for night fishing, coming home with these little suckers!

Turned into THESE little suckers....

I would have preferred to have both the shrimp AND the blue crabs but I forget about the circle of life and the fact that the crab would have devoured the shrimp on the ride home, therefore I'm ok with just the crab. The next day while the crab chilled in the refrigerator V and I decided to head over to Covington, LA to experience the Renaissance Festival that was taking place at a park.

It was a pretty intense festival, the old wooden building were all decked out like in medieval times. We were able to watch the Wench Show, which were hilarious dirty *laundry washers* After the show we walked around a little more and was confronted by a man and his lute, V asked the man to sing me a love song, I'm not sure if it was his red beard that played the actual lute or if his fingers were actually strumming it...either way it was cute and very sweet of him to talk of my lips and my hair the way he did...

So after the impressive serenade by the old salty man, we headed over to see the jousting!

I was very excited, all I could think about was the movie "A Knight's Tale" and kept hoping that Heath Ledger would surprise me and jump on one of the horses. Of course it did not happen however the show was a hit and definitely the best thing I saw at the festival, very comical, and after much british lingo we were ready to hit the road back home to muster up something yummy to make with the crab that awaited us. On the way home we decided why not make some Crab Wontons? Should be easy? Right? Pretty easy indeed, of course I let V do all the cooking while I supervised. They were heavenly. We used a sweet & sour sauce as a dipping sauce but reduced it with orange juice, H-E-A-V-E-N-L-Y! While we shoveled our faces with awesome homemade wontons we caught up on the Harry Potter movies. A few people from V's work have invited us to see the new Harry Potter this weekend at the IMAX in New Orleans! We are very excited so getting caught up on the movies was an absolute must!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! Next week is Thanksgiving!!! Gobble Gobble!

Wedding Sneak Peak!

I can't believe its already been 2 weeks since I said my vows to my loving husband. The San Francisco/Napa wedding week was absolutely phenomenal! I decided to the fly out early a week before the wedding to spend a little time with my parents before everyone else flew in and all the craziness began!

It was so great to spend some time with just my parents in San Fran. I had never been to the city so Iknew I was in for a real treat from what everyone has always told me. Monday and Tuesday were spent just doing the tourist site seeing things, best part....the sea lions...yeah, they were prettystinking cute and hilarious to watch...we spent a while just watching them yell at each other!

Wednesday my aunt and uncle had gotten into town early so we all decided to take a bike ride over the golden gate, let mejust describe this experience to you really quick.......A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!!! We had an absolutely blast and to the men that told us it would only take us an hour and a half to bike an 8 mileride.....should be smacked because in reality it actually takes 6! Of course that includes a stop at a restaurant for margaritas...of course! On Thursday everyone started flying into town and this is when I began to realize that I would now have to start sharing my time between my family and V's family.....for the rest of my life. I can share, I'm a twin.....I definitely know how this goes. Friday everyone got t

ogether and headed out two a few wineries in the rain, kind of a bummer seeing that V and I had our engagement pictures to do but the rain held off for some awesome shots!

V's friend took us to some really great places that were off the tourist map, they were so perfect! It was great to spend some time with everyone just hanging out and enjoying some magnificent wines! That night the guys had planned on having a girls night back in the city and of course the girls had to crash it!

It was awesome to be out in the city at night and see some of the crazies that make up what we all know as San Francisco = trip complete.As soon as I thought the weekend was slowing down, it would speed right back up and sleep depravation began. Saturday was a pretty laid back day just walking around Calistoga and then St. Helena having lunch with V's dad, grandparents, aunt and uncle, and friends. Later that night was the rehearsal/family dinner in Santa Rosa at Bistro 29. Perfect night with some of the perfect people that I know.

V's family and mine all enjoyed a great meal while getting to know one another better(my parents and his parents, of course our sisters are already BFF's.....). And then a night on the town in Santa Rosa where we glared and stared at all the Halloween costumes that we came across. Very enjoyable. And then.....

WEDDING DAY!!!!

The day started off with my brother-in-law and I having an intense conversation about what I wanted for breakfast, such as a bagel with cream cheese. After a 30 minute wait on my bagel.....he came back to the hotel room empty handed.

Breakfast for everyone BUT THE BRIDE!!! I soon forgave him when he hauled bootay down to the nearest Starbucks for a bagel AND a pastry....thats RIGHT! :)

Since the wedding wasn't until 6 that night and I wasn't planning on being at the venue until 3, I literally had all day long to sit, relax, and take my time getting ready. At one point my dad looked at me and said "shouldn't you be stressing right about now?" I looked at him and said "stress about what? my hair and makeup artists are all at my fingertips....no need to stress." After hair and makeup were done we were off to the venue to watch the place turn into a magical heaven for me and my groom. Many, Many, Many pictures were taken and then it was time for me to walk down that long, long, long long, long, long, long, long aisle. Seriously, it was the longest aisle I'd ever had to walk (comparing to my sisters wedding of course..). As I turned the corner I could see and hear the beautiful song that my mom and now the song that I was to walk down the aisle to. It was all so perfect and tears began to fill my eyes as I focused my eyes on my handsome groom.

He could not have looked more perfect that day and as I got closer and closer I kept thinking of how amazing and perfect my life would be with this man who stood before me. I could not have been a happier bride at that moment. After the beautiful ceremony we were escorted away from the guests to have our what felt like hours of pictures, but of course I'm soo soo glad we did, the pictures are the one thing that I could take away from this amazing day. As we finished up with our families we then headed into the greystone where all our guests awaited with champagne, wine, and awesome food! The food, oh the food, V and I did an excellent job on the amazing food! The cocktail hour was interrupted by the Chef of the Greystone banging his pots together and announcing "Ladies and Gentlemen, Dinner Is Served!" As we all headed up the stairs to the dramatic dark barrel room we were all greeted by a large family style dinner table. And then...the fun began! Everyone then got out their masks and the laughing and noise level rose to a 10. Seeing everyone with their masks on really made the night! It was so much fun to see everyone get a little silly and enjoy themselves. And then after a long incredible dinner, picture slideshow, and newlywed jeopardy game, it was then time for us to make our big departure! Everyone headed downstairs where they filled the entry way and front stairs. As we said our goodbyes I sneakly grabbed a few of my lollipop wedding favors and then we were off to our secret honeymoon suite! V kept our honeymoon suite a secret and I am so glad he did. We had a room at the Churchill Manor in Napa and it was absolutely beautiful and perfect. It was full of antiques with antique furniture and I must say walking around in the house in my wedding dress, I really felt like a princess. A great ending to an absolutely perfect night!

I still can't believe that the day has already come and gone. The entire day and night I kept waiting for something to go wrong and it never did. Everything was so perfect. I am so thankful for the person God finally put into my life, the wait was

definitely worth it ALL! I thank him every day for putting

such an amazing person into my life.

One Week Down

My first week in the bayou has consisted of so many things, ok not really but seriously forthe past 4 days I've been doing nothing but the following.

UNPACKING

Cleaning

UNPACKING

Cleaning

UNPACKING

oh and Cleaning!

The entire day Tuesday was spent in my closet, unpacking my 2948984693847 clothes. No really, I have the hangers to prove! Thats 100 hangers, plus the ones we had already bought the day before which makes a grand total of 150 HANGERS! Seriously, I have a problem. On a good note, I threw an entire black trash bag of clothes out, Goodwill, here they come! I feel like I've given that place my entire life the past couple of months, bags and bags and bags of junk that I owned for years. It feels good to be getting rid of this stuff but at the same time it's a little sad, sad that one person owned that much stuff! Insanity!

So after a long day of cleaning out and weeding through

my things, I knew I had to spend a few hours on the outside of these walls. So yesterday I took the day and ventured out into this unknown land. Since I've been here, I haven't been out on my own and it felt good to drive alone and take matters into my own hands hitting up the Hobby Lobby and the UPS Store. Woop Woop! Big day, huge. Along the way I began to see things, things that were literally staring me in the face, like whoa.

This one something is something that it looks like I'm going to have to start getting used to....do I have to? I get it, the Saints are kind of a big deal here, but does it need to be on display literally EVERYWHERE I go? EVERYWHERE! Who knows maybe in a year or so I'll become a small tiny kind of fan. Anything can happen, right? However, do NOT think that my car will be used as marke

ting for the team. I get it, you're team won the Superbowl and you're all happy because it's kind of like you're comeback from the awfulness of Hurricane Katrina, but really does it have to be everywhere you look? It's crazy. I may not fit in here after all. Moving on.

So yesterday fiance texted me on his way to work at 6am saying there was a Circus coming to town yesterday and today and asked if I wanted to go. First off, its 6am and I'm totally confused. Where is a Circus coming here? On the lake? Huh? And then it hit me as I drove out of the apartment complex and saw this large object.... Yes that is a giant Circus tent right across the street from my apartment.

1. I've never been to the circus before(or at least non

that I can recall) and 2. I've seen those crazy youtube videos where the animals go crazy on their trainers and then attack

people in the audience, sooo no thanks. Looks cool, but no, can't happen. UNLESS, alcohol is involved....than we can maybe discuss taking a step onto the premises.

So I hope everyone is having an excellent week! Wedding countdown is 18 days! We are getting very excited about the big weekend and all the activities that are being planned! Really? Just ready for a great vacation weekend with awesome friends and family!

Cajun Country!

Well here I am, getting all snuggled and settled in New Orleans! Finally! Last week was a long week considering I had to wait until Thursday afternoon for my final dress fitting. All week I was worried that it wouldn't be done and that I wouldn't be able to leave. However, my dress fitting went perfect and being that I was so anxious and ready to hit the road on Friday, I went ahead and left Thursday night! I stopped in Jacksonville for a few hours rest and then hit the road bright and early Friday morning for the remaining 6 hours! It was a gorgeous drive along the pan handle and seeing the sun come up behind me made me realize and think about all the things and people I was leaving behind. Charleston will always hold a very special place in my heart, it gave me some of the best friends, new family, and of course my incredible fiance! Though I was sad to leave behind those that I love, I am excited to be starting something totally new. New Orleans may not ever be what Charleston was but I know that it will give me more great memories.

My first weekend in my new home didn't really consist of a lot, which is exactly what I wanted. Not seeing fiance for 5 weeks was torture and all I wanted was a weekend locked indoors spending time with one another, which we did...lots of wine, popcorn, and movies were had! It took us two days to finally walk downstairs and unpack my car that was loaded down with luggage, clothes, large buckets, etc. Sunday we decided to finally get it all done, which turned into an all day project......that I'm still working on today...... ugh. Fiance went back to work this morning so I've been busy cleaning, putting away, and more cleaning. Its amazing how much stuff one person can actually have! And between the two of us...it's a little ridiculous.

So only 20 days more to go until we are husband and wife! I am so excited about the wedding weekend in Napa! Planning activities for 40 people in one weekend is a bit much so I'm sure things will NOT go as according to plan... :)

Thursday everyone flies in, day in San Francisco

Friday wineries while finally doing our engagement pictures

Friday night downtown in San Francisco

Saturday more wineries and spa day for the ladies

Saturday night rehearsal dinner for the family

Sunday WEDDING!

Hope everyone enjoys the new blog look. I thought it was time to change it up a bit!