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Saturday, June 30, 2012

My week!

So, I had a pretty great week this week. Yay! I am thrilled that it's the weekend, though. Right now, it's 8:30 am. I'm sitting in my cozy chair with my feet propped up on the ottoman, covered in my favorite blanket. My doggie is sleeping between me & the arm of the chair. Hubby is in "his" chair in the same room. And we both just finished our first cup of coffee. 

Ahhhh. Saturday. 

Oh, how I love Saturday. Tonight is the wedding of my beautiful friend, Danielle, and i cannot WAIT. 
Aaron & Danielle - SO CUTE!

She is going to be a beautiful bride! 

Anyway... my week was pretty routine: work, gym, home, law & order, bed. Hahaha. Yeah...that about sums it up! But here are some more specifics...

{one}
The newest member of our family was born! Izaac Lucca. I cannot wait to meet this little cutie!
 
{two}
It feels SO GOOD to be back to good health! I hit the gym everyday after work (Monday - Thursday) & did either the elliptical or the treadmill. I meant to do Friday, but i had yucky cramps & just wanted to go home. Still, four days is good! And I also ate very well about 90% of the time. You can read all the specifics at my other blog if you want to. But i just had to share here, because it was a pretty big part of my week! I did lose over 3 pounds this week, too. Yes!
 
The screen shot of my iPhone to remind me of my goals.

Leaving the gym on Wednesday! Woohoo!

 {three}
On Wednesday the electricity went out at work around 2:00. Now. Not only is it 100 degrees (or so) outside, but we have almost 200 students. So while my boss tried to get in touch with entergy to find out when we were expected to get electricity back, i went & hung out with the students who were hot, cranky, and slightly delirious!
 Me & my coworker Mallory, sweating it out at work!

We did end up getting the lights back after an hour. Then two of my students, Ayme & Jessica, came to harrass me. These two are HILARIOUS together.They're like an old married couple, except they're best friends not a couple. FUNNY GIRLS.


{four}
I am obsessed with Law & Order SVU. It's so bad that i think about things like DNA way more often than the average citizen! It's not that i never saw this show before, it's just that in the past i might catch one episode every few months, but now i've been watching one show after another every night from season 7 to season 11. I'm at the end of season 11 now. Then season 12. Season 13's premiere will air in September. It is SUCH a good show. It's just good writing & acting. 

Honestly, i'm obsessed with Mariska Hargitay. She is my favorite actress right now. Last night, i ended up watching several interviews with her & a bloopers reel too, which was great. I really like her. I like her character in Law & Order and i like her in real life. She's a fantastic actress. 


She was saying in one interview that it takes 8 days to film one episode. They spend four days in the studio rehearsing & those are the days family & dogs & friends come up & hang out & it's just crazy but fun. And the next four days they're filming on location. It's 14-15 hour days. These are the things i find interesting & like to know more about. It's the acting bug in me. I love it! 

{five}
Another obsession you need to know about. My greek yogurt. I have never been a big yogurt fan. I always would buy it & then never eat it. I have been hearing how great Greek Yogurt is for you, it has SO much more protein than regular yogurt & a whole lot less sugar. Or less "bad" sugar. Anyway... i have one everyday for breakfast. DELICIOUS.
 This was my first time having the mango one & i really liked it. I have to say Mango & Strawberry are probably my favorites. But i love them all. The apples & cinnamon one is really good, too.

Hmmm... that might be all I have to share this week. Except maybe a little Fievel for you. :)
 

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

A B C D E F G...

Saw this on Tami's Blog & decided to do a little ABC's myself. I used to do these kinds of things ALL THE TIME, but I haven't in awhile now. So...here ya go. Just some random things about me!

A is for age: 34
B is for breakfast today: greek yogurt & a granola bar
C is for currently craving: carbs...more specifically, cereal
D is for dinner tonight: Low-carb cheesy enchilada bake, leftover from last night. So good!
E is for favorite type of exercise: Zumba
F is for an irrational fear: I don't have any irrational fears. Only rational ones. (I'm serious!)
G is for gross food: sushi. green olives. beets.
H is for hometown: Baton Rouge
I is for something important: family time
J is for current favorite jam: strawberry
K is for kids: One day
L is for current location: my cozy chair
M is for the most recent way you spent money: eyeliner at Walgreens
N is for something you need: Oh, about 20k would be good... would let me get rid of debt & buy a used car :)
O is for occupation: Student Records guru at a cosmetology school
P is for pet peeve: I guess the most recent one is the chic today who apparently didn't know how to merge onto the interstate... you have to pick up speed BEFORE you get on the interstate, people! Also, Walmart on Saturday - I was in the ONLY lane open besides the express lanes. With 20 or 25 lanes, that is RIDICULOUS!
Q is for a quote: Comparison is the thief of joy.  Theodore Roosevelt <--- this is the quote Tami had, but i must keep it. SO something I need to remember these days!
R is for random fact about you: I once fractured my ring finger in a sliding van door. It's still crooked.
S is for favorite healthy snack: I am currently loving greek yogurt.
T is for favorite treat: Chocolate chip cookies. Homemade.
U is for something that makes you unique: I have fake teeth. :) I should say veneers, but it scares people more when i say fake teeth for some reason. (This isn't really unique is it? Just random.)


V is for favorite vegetable: broccoli


W is for today’s workout: I did 20 minutes on the elliptical. I know that's not enough! But it's better than nothing!
X is for X-rays you’ve had: the previously mentioned finger...teeth... & my ankle
Y is for yesterday’s highlight: Getting home to be with Brad at the end of the day. The highlight of every day (I'm sorry if that's cheesy - it's also TRUE!)
Z is for your time zone: Central

Sunday, June 24, 2012

babies, babies, babies


My coworker Jamie had her little man! Isn't this the sweetest picture ever?! Baby's name is Max. He was born on my hubby's birthday. :)

 In other baby news, my hubby's cousin Meg will be having baby Izaac ANY DAY NOW. He was actually due on my hubby's birthday (June 22). She's still pregnant, though... looking forward to meeting him! My friend, Amanda, did their maternity session. She got some great pics! This is just one of them.

 
And then we found out this sweet couple is having TWINS! Oh, my!! (Blake's mom is my husband's cousin & also my mom's best friend.)
 Blake, Andrea & Parker...yes, this pic was taken in June...as in they will have three kids under 2 by the time the babies are here!!) Her facebook status was too cute. "We are truly blessed, really excited & a little scared!" LOL! They are a precious family... and i love twins. Maybe they'll hire me to be their nanny? Hmmm. ;) (Just kidding!)

But i REALLLY wanna meet baby Judah still. I don't think that's gonna happen until November, though, when they come for Becca's wedding! Don't they look so happy here?! I love it.

Alright, enough baby news... just had to share. :)


Friday, June 22, 2012

What a week!

Wow. What a week!

Monday, my mother-in-law had to rush my father-in-law to the hospital. He was having chest pains. Doctors believe he was about to have a heart attack, but Mrs. Cheryl got him there in time for them to get him stabilized.

Monday evening, I started feeling really crappy.

Tuesday morning, I awoke to Brad telling me he was going to the hospital for his dad's heart cath. I was bummed because i wanted to go with him, but Brad was already dressed and heading out. He told me to stay in bed! Yes, sir! Haha. I went back to sleep. I was SICK. 

My father-in-law's heart cath went smoothly, and they found a blockage right by his heart. They put in a stint and when he woke up he was feeling MUCH, MUCH better.

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday are all just a blur of me in & out of sleep & watching one Law & Order SVU episode after another. I finally went to the doctor Thursday, because i HAD to go back to work Friday but i couldn't. I had a sinus headache so bad I thought my head would explode. There was no way i was going back to work with that! I could deal with all the sneezing and coughing and a sore throat. But not the sinus headache! It was killing me!

So I went to the doctor Thursday & they gave me a shot. Not a cortizone shot, a different kind. She told me it would get rid of that sinus headache. And it did. Thank God! 

This morning, I walked out of the house with my purse inside... and locked the door. I had no phone, no keys & no purse. I went to the only neighbor that i actually know & knocked, he didn't answer. I kind of walked around the street a bit, hoping somebody would come outside. It was HOT already (at 7:30 am) so i am already sweating! The man came out of his house pretty quickly though & let me use his phone. I called Brad, he called his parents & his dad came & brought me a spare key. WHEW! I was still feeling terrible when all that happened, but i guess around early afternoon, that shot kicked in, because i started feeling MUCH better. Yay. :) 

Oh, and today is my favorite person's birthday!!
  
Oh, did i mention my sweet husband has been trying to fix my car all week, too? He's been driving it around & ... i don't know... [insert car talk here] for me all week...and he doesn't love dealing with cars at all! He took my car to work today & had me take his so if it broke down or got overheated, i wouldn't have to deal with it. So sweet.

I love this man SO much. He's so sweet & kind & I cannot imagine not getting to be married to your best friend! He loves me back - with all his heart - & he treats me so well. I love him to pieces!!!

It was low-key for his bday, just the way he likes it. I picked up Wendy's for him (seriously - i told him i would cook him ANYTHING he wanted... or go get him ANYTHING he wanted... like potato soup from La Madeline's or a shrimp poboy from Brewbachers - two of his favorites - his response? "I want a baconator." Um, Gross?! But anything for you, babe! Haha!

So i stopped & got him his Baconator & a root beer & also his favorite ice cream in the world (mint chocolate chip from Baskin Robbins) & i am surprised it didn't melt on the way home. I sat in traffic WAY too long, UGH! And it was hot! And his a/c only works SOME of the time! His ice cream was fine but his root beer was melted! He was happy, though! :) Later, we went to his parents for coffee & a movie. It was good to visit with them!

So that was his low key bday, although i am sure we'll celebrate it with his family later. :) And we celebrated it with mine last weekend. :)

So excited about tomorrow.... we have NOTHING planned. Yay. ;)


Sunday, June 17, 2012

Father's Day & B-day celebrations!

Had a great day yesterday! I got up early & headed to the Farmer's Market. Picked up some bell peppers, some blueberries & a watermelon for my dad for Father's Day. He loves watermelon! We headed to mom & dad's in time for lunch. My sister & brother-in-law were there, too, and we celebrated Father's Day, Michelle's birthday & Brad's birthday (which is actually next weekend). We had a great time!

I brought my camera & took a few pics. :)

 Mom made two homemade cakes, this chocolate one (Brad's favorite) & the one in the background is "wedding cake" which is like a vanilla almond cake (Michelle's favorite). Don't they look divine?!


Bali was begging for a little cake, too. Such a sweet face!

 Soon-to-be birthday girl!

 Michelle & Daddy! We love our daddy!

 Us & our sweet momma!

 Michelle & Mike

 This is a coffee pot mom found for my hubby at an antique shop. This is the only way he makes coffee & it's the secret to making the best coffee ever! He's been wanting another pot, but they're hard to find. :)

 Sad this one is blurry & my hair is all crazy! But it's a family pic! Haha!

We had a great time. That evening, we went to Brad's parent's to celebrate father's day with my father-in-law. Had a great time with them too! And church today was great. Afterwards, we (me & two other ladies) served ice cream cones to the men of our church. It's become a Father's Day tradition there!

Since then I haven't move much from this chair, where I have been watching one Law & Order SVU episode after another. Haha!

Hope you had a great weekend too!

Friday, June 15, 2012

Famous Friends, and other randoms :o)

So, I'm in a crazy-good mood, and I have no idea why, nothing has changed much in my life, but I had a good day & a good day calls for a good mood. PLUS, it's Friday. :)

I accomplished a ton of work today & then texted my boss to see if she minded me heading out an hour early. She said okay, so off I went. It ended up being 45 minutes early, but enough time to get me across town to pick up a certain sister's birthday gift. It was POURING rain. And by pouring, I mean i could barely see through the windshield, even with the windshield wipers going. Crazy! I got to my destination & just sat in the car waiting for it to calm down just enough for me to get inside the store without getting SOAKED. Yes, I had an umbrella but the rain was CRAZY, y'all. And thunder & lightning. Eek!

So i got the gift & headed home. And tomorrow is Saturday. The best day of the week!

Here are some randoms for you!

* * * * * * * 

A student I know & love auditioned for American Idol last week & made it! Let me rephrase... you know how they have a round BEFORE you actually see Steven, J.Lo & Randy? She made it past that round. So next she sings for Simon Fuller and if she makes that, she sings for the famous judges. I am so excited for her! I can't say who she is or post a pic (which i would love to do) b/c she isn't supposed to post any of this for the world to see or anything. But still I had to share. 

* * * * * 

Because, also? Another wonderful friend auditioned for AI & didn't make it... so she auditioned for The Voice - and she got a call back! Woohoo! 

She can sing very very well. And she's cool. 

* * * * * 

Most exciting of all, is that Shelley Regner, a theater friend of mine, was cast in a movie that was filmed here in Louisiana. I have plenty of friends who get cast as extras, and i assumed that's what Shelley was doing. Only because it's her first movie, not because she's just semi-talented. The girl is VERY VERY talented. Some of you may remember that a long time ago (a year or so?) she was competing for a free trip to NYC to audition for the Broadway revival of Rent. (She didn't win it but she was *this* close!) Anyway, i saw the preview the other day & saw her all throughout the trailer. She plays Ashley, one of the singers in this girl group. It was fun to see a familiar face in a preview! ;) So this is her. And she is amazing. And she will be in the movie, Pitch Perfect, this fall. I am excited!!

Pitch Perfect - that's Shelley on the far left (black tights, white shirt).
Check out the preview, it looks so good! 
Later i looked her up on IMDB. And she's there. WHAT! 
It's just fun. That's all. Ha! 
* * * * * * 
Hmmm. What else? Well, I've been healthy all week & even started working out again. It is about time, that's all I gotta say! I am going to Planet Fitness. And i LOVE IT! $10 a month, y'all. TEN BUCKS A MONTH. I mean, wow.

* * * * * 
Having fun reading, too. I read Beverly Lewis' "The Fiddler" & it was SO good! And now I have this stack to dive into. Nope, I won't be needing to buy or borrow for awhile!
My mother-in-law is getting rid of stuff & gave me a huge bag of books to go through. Here are my picks. Yay! I just started "Embrace Me" by Lisa Samson, and it's really good so far!

* * * * * * * 

Last thing. I downloaded the app, "versagram" so i can write random things really cute. (Because that's important???) Anyway, this verse has been playing in my head every so often, because of a sermon that i really needed to hear not too long ago. 

 
* * * * * 

Last, but not least, and i fear i have chosen the wrong post to include this info (I mean...not-yet-famous friends, new gyms, books I'm reading...etc etc etc)... but please head over to Mo Isom's blog & watch her testimony. She spoke at our church recently & I just love her. She is the girl who tried out for the LSU football team... she is also an outstanding kicker on the LSU women's soccer team. Anyway. She is sold out to Jesus & it is awesome to hear her testimony. WATCH IT. 

* * * * * 

Well, that's more than enough news for one day! Have a great weekend!


Sunday, June 10, 2012

Tim & Amber's Wedding Day!

Yesterday was an exhausting but wonderful day. :) 

We had a wedding to go to in New Orleans for the evening. I had decided we would go up that morning & hang out with my sister & brother-in-law before the wedding. They live in Mandeville, which is on the way to New Orleans. That morning, Brad was checking out my car to make sure it was okay for the drive. Turns out our spare tire was FLAT! We needed to get that fixed & didn't really want to end up with a flat in Nola & no spare! So i went to the tire place first thing Saturday to get that fixed. Glad we took care of that. I had to wait there for almost two hours, but at least I brought a book. I was just glad it could be repaired & they didn't charge much to do that for us!

We finally got on the road at 10:40. Mom took Fievel for the day since we figured we'd be getting in really late.

We went to Mandeville, and had lunch at Friends. We went there last time & I was so mad then that i didn't bring my good camera. This time I had my camera, but it was POURING rain, so i decided to leave it at Michelle & Mike's place. Would you believe, before we even got to the restaurant it cleared up so much that we got to eat on the back porch again! There were turtles in the lake this time. And it was suddenly pretty out. I was so mad i didn't have my camera AGAIN! Ahhhh! After lunch, we stopped for snowballs & then just hung out at Mike & Michelle's. Relaxed. I even took a short nap. 

It was finally time to get ready & head out for the wedding. It STORMED the ENTIRE WAY to the wedding! (She had an outside wedding, by the way!) I was driving and there is this long bridge over Lake Pontchartrain (almost 24 miles, to be exact). It rained HARD the ENTIRE drive. I was going 10 under the speed limit & felt like it was too fast. There were signs "Strong crosswinds. Reduce speed." Um, yeah. I had no trouble doing that. I felt like my car might blow right off the bridge. Geez! I think my knuckles were white gripping the steering wheel! Yikes! 

 from my seat at the wedding...gorgeous! new orleans city park

But we made it to New Orleans City Park & wow. What a beautiful place!!! I do not remember ever going there before, which is crazy! Of all the times I've been to New Orleans! I took pictures during the wedding but it was too dark & raining a little after the ceremony as we were walking to the reception. I must go back one day just to walk around & take pictures! We walked to the wedding in the rain but it calmed down some, and it calmed down a lot for the ceremony. Whew! ;) 

The wedding was so beautiful. I got emotional. Tim cried when she started her walk down the aisle. She was absolutely beautiful. The pictures don't even do it justice. She was stunning. 



I met these two in 2006, we were all in Beauty & the Beast together that summer. Tim & Amber were dating THEN. So yeah. It's about time they tie the knot! ;) 

Talia, who was our Belle back in Beauty & the Beast, sang during the unity sand part & did a beautiful job.



The bridesmaids were gorgeous...this is my friend Jessica. She looked so pretty!

They wrote their own vows, and that part of the ceremony was truly special & emotional!  I loved it. That's Amber's parents sitting in front of me. :)


You may kiss the bride!!!


The reception was just a short walk away, also at the park. It was great. The food was DELICIOUS, there was lots of dancing & visiting & hugging & smiling. Fun times!

I had NO IDEA my good friends Charlynn & Rachel were coming! I saw them right after the ceremony & was like, "WHAT!!!!" Haha. I was so excited. i LOVE these two! 

So funny, Brittany is one of my friends from Beauty & the Beast, and she has been dating Thomas forever, but I have never really had a chance to talk to him a lot. I did last night & he is so funny! He was cracking me up! I was telling her this & she said, "I know, isn't he just the Sweetest-Cutest????" It was the way she said it. So cute. Love her. They're adorable!

Here are a bunch more pics from the evening!

 Tim & Marion!





I don't even know how to describe what happened here. I think you can tell it was a funny moment though. This guy is hilarious. 

The newlyweds!!!! Love them! 

Congrats, Tim & Amber!

We had a great time & made it home at midnight. So glad it wasn't storming on the way home, too! We made it to church this morning... exhausted... haha. But it was worth it. We had a great time & I'm so glad we went! I wish Tim & Amber many years of love & joy!




Friday, June 8, 2012

Photo Booth Fun!

Just want to say THANK YOU to Dow Louisiana Federal Credit Union for sponsoring Baton Rouge Little Theater. They have actually been my bank for almost 10 years & I have never had a problem with them. They are great! But they're even BETTER in my eyes because they are huge sponsors of BRLT!

This year at Beaux Arts we had a photo booth! This was made possible by Dow, too. The photographer, StaciPhoto, got some GREAT pics! Here are just a few of them. (Okay...not a few...another overload. Sorry!)



 
 
I guess I'll change it up a bit & show you some other faces! Haha.

 She got so many good shots of this moment. This is Danielle, Susan, Megan & Lauren. Megan is prego & I can only imagine the conversation that has her cracking up! ;)

 Kaitlyn won "Outstanding Actress in a Play" for her role as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire. I was THRILLED since this was one of "my" shows, haha. But she was BRILLIANT. She is such a fantastic actress. As I mentioned in my last post, Marion won for "Outstanding Actress in a Musical" for her role of Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray. Yay! 
 
 Three wonderful, hilarious, talented women: Beth, Rosilyn & Mary!

Chris & Emily

Staci also took some photos during our ceremony. 

 This is Ernest. He wrote & performed (along with others) the parody for the ceremony this year. They always do a parody about all of the shows from the past season. He did a great job!

 Ernest & Hugo, performing

Marion & Hugo

 Robby won for his role as Clown 2 (where he played 100 or so roles!) for his part in The 39 Steps. Yeah!

 And Sam won "Outstanding Actor in a Play" for his part as Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire. Another one of "my" shows! Yes! Haha.

Robert, a dear friend of mine, won Outstanding Technical Volunteer award this year. I got it in 2010 & it was so exciting & special to be recognized for the hard work that goes into working backstage for a show. Robert SO deserved this award, especially this year! So glad he was honored in this way! 

 During the ball this year, Brian & Janell (center) were inducted into the BRLT hall of fame! This honor is given to those who have volunteered for DECADES at the theater. Awesome! :) 

And here's a few more good ones! You can check out the rest of the pics or more of Staci's work at StaciPhoto

 Danielle played Penny in Hairspray, Tracy's best friend. I think they are reliving one of their songs here. 

 I love this pic. Keith & Sam after Sam's win! ;)




GOOD TIMES!