Tuesday's Ten!

As 2008 is coming to an end I think it's time to reflect on this amazing year!! It has been my most eventful year thus far, and I can't wait to see what's going to happen in 2009

Ten Things I have LOVED about 2008!!!!

(I will try to go in chronological order)

• I went with the hubby (then boyfriend) to New Orleans for my bday present. We had an amazing time, and decided then that we should just do it and get married! It was such an amazing trip, and we're repeating it this year for my bday!!


• I got engaged on Jan 13, what a whirlwind that was! I knew it was coming, but was still nervous for Steven to ask my Dad since we had only been dating for two months. My parents knew exactly what Steven and I knew, and were ECSTATIC!!
• Lilly Martin was born on my birthday, Jan 16. I don't get to see that little one as much as I would like to, but I still love her like crazy!
• I had an amazing time doing my student teaching with two wonderful teachers! This really showed me that I have a huge passion for teaching, I still have it I just need a job to fill it!!
• I finally graduated college, only took 8 years (with time off) but I did it! It was a huge accomplishment that was overshadowed by my wedding, but it happened!!
• I got hitched, which was AMAZING and really overshadowed most of my year. This was hands down the best night of my life, and I really have to thank my Mom for that. She (and my Dad's wallet) went above and beyond to make sure it was the most wonderful night of my life. It was beautiful, I just wish it would have lasted longer. I'm sure my parents are glad it didn't last longer, after the big alcohol tab :)
• I became an instant Mom! I went from no child to a 9 year old daughter. Yes she's my stepdaughter, but she really treats me more like her other Mom. I love that little girl so much, and I don't know if I could love her more if she was my own. She is teaching me so much, and I know that will continue with the impending teenage years just around the corner!!!
• We went to McMinnville and Portland, Oregon for our honeymoon which was the best trip I have had thus far. We were able to relax, eat good food (which was nice since I starved myself for the wedding ;), and drink lots of yummy wine. If our life ever permits it Steven and I will move to Oregon, yes we loved it that much!! When we win the lottery we will buy our second house there, oh if wishing only made it so....
• I also had a wonderful trip to Tennessee with my amazing mother, Elisabeth, and Steven. I have talked about that recently so I won't bore you with that again.

There's some of the highlights of 2008 for me, and WOW there were some major life changes for Laura. Not just changing my last name from (easy to say) Turner to (hard to pronounce from the spelling) Falgout (Fal-goo), but many many more. We'll just have to wait and see what changes 2009 holds for me! I hope you all have a happy new year, and PLEASE stay safe! The hubby and I are both working at L'Auberge du Lac so we'll be able to meet each other in the employee hallway for our new year's smooch ;)

Can't wait to hear what 2009 holds in store for the rest of you either!!!

Tennessee....FINALLY!!!!

FINALLY I am getting to update my blog! Sorry I haven't done it in a while, but things have just been a little busy here lately.

Finally.... Our Tennessee Trip!!

Here's some of our highlights from the Falgout's first family vacation


I am so glad that my Mom got to go with us! She had a great time being with the Falgout family, and I do have to admit it was a little strange for me to be the Mom instead of her. It wouldn't have been the same trip without her, and Elisabeth had a wonderful time with her being there too :)

We actually loved Dollywood! It wasn't as cheesy as we thought it would be. We were the youngest people there (by far) which did have it's advantages! We were able to ride the roller coasters without standing in line. I was very impressed with our little daredevil, as long as she could sit by Daddy she rode every ride! I did them all except for the wooden roller coaster because that's just out of my comfort zone!

We had so much fun on our train ride through Dollywood at night, but did freeze our butts off during it! We went to Gatilinburg to get to the top of a mountain. Of course we had already decided ahead of time what day we were going to do this, and were not aware that it would be 15 degrees outside!! The wonderful thing about it was the snow (I didn't know at the time we were going to get a freak snow storm in the south later) Elisabeth had never been around snow before that actually stuck to the ground, so she was EXCITED!!! The not so wonderful thing about it was how cold it was!!!!
Our highlight of our trip had to be visiting the Biltmore Estate! This was an experience like no other!! We all thoroughly enjoyed it, and visiting it was well worth the money. We spent the whole day there, and still didn't get through everything. We started with a tour of the house using our self guided audio tour. Elisabeth was so funny with this because she HAD to listen to every word, and stay staring at whatever they were talking about until the person stopped talking. We kept getting way ahead of her in the castle, and I had to keep going back to find her. We then toured the gardens, which I'm sure are an amazing site when spring is in bloom!! Of course in November there wasn't much to see outside of the greenhouses. Then we did a wine tasting, and Elisabeth was our official grape juice taster. The wine wasn't that good, but it was still fun :). Then at night we had a tour of the estate complete with carolers, and ballerinas. It was so beautiful!! If you are ever in that side of the country you HAVE to visit the estate! It's so amazing. Steven and I would really like to visit it and stay at the Inn for a future anniversary.

All in all it was amazing! We had so much fun together, and I can't wait until we can go on our future family trips together. We will have many, many more Falgout family vacations! Thank you Kelly and Kenny for letting us use your timeshare, it was so nice to have a decent sized place to stay in for 5 nights!

I will have to add my favorite part of the trip.... My Mom told me after the trip was over that she is so happy to see the family that I have created for myself. She told me she loves the way we are together, and is very glad of the choices I made for myself. I know all of this, but it was really nice hearing it from my Mom! Love you Mom, and thanks for coming with us!!!

Not me Monday

Well I have seen a few people do this, so I figured I should jump on the bandwagon! Especially since this weekend I have a LOT I can add!

I DID NOT work three different jobs this last week!

I DID NOT call one of the jobs after my first day and tell them I could no longer work for them! (It was for my hubby's friend's catering company) oops!!

I DID NOT secretly want to ring my stepdaughter's neck when she told me she didn't like my chicken fried rice because it didn't taste like Panda Express!!

I DID NOT want to call Elisabeth's Mom to give her a piece of my mind this morning because she packed her shorts for school! It was 43 degrees outside this morning!!

I DID NOT realize I'm becoming a HUGE nerd and have found the all Christmas music station in Lake Charles, now that is NOT all I listen to.

I HAVE NOT procrastinated on updating my blog from our amazing trip!

I DID NOT hit my head on the car door today....AGAIN!!

I DID NOT become an emotional basket case for no apparent reason last night! It's definitely NOT because I'm going to start my period any day now!!

Well there's a few of my NOT ME MONDAYS! I hope you all are doing well, and I promise once I get my pictures downloaded I will update about it :)

Ok I got tagged....

I did just get back from my vacation, but instead of writing about that right now I'll just answer my tag. The vacation update will come soon...


8 THINGS....

8 TV SHOWS I WATCH

1. General Hospital
2. The Mentalist
3. Brothers and Sisters
4. Desperate Housewives
5. Eli Stone
6. John and Kate plus 8
7. Any HGTV show
8. Law and Order (not my favorite, but my Steven's)


8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS

1. Kyoto (Lake Charles)
2. Snake River Grill (Lake Charles)
3. Luna (Lake Charles)
4. Truluck's (Houston)
5. Baba Yega's (Houston)
6. Dick and Jenny's (New Orleans)
7. Chuy's
8. Taste of Texas (Houston) --- yes I worked there, but the food is still good :)


8 THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEKEND - ok this is a sneak peak into my vacation

1. shopped, shopped, shopped at the largest outlet mall in North America
2. ate at a VERY disappointing restaurant for Steven and I's (dating) anniversary dinner
3. froze our BUTTS off in Tennessee!! (Friday it got down to 15)
4. toured the Biltmore estate in North Carolina
5. watched ballerina's at the Biltmore
6. spent LOTS of money at the Biltmore
7. went to a wine tasting at the Biltmore (Elisabeth was a grape juice taster)
8. Had the TIME of my life with my family!!!


8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO

1. Coming to Houston to get to see everyone!!
2. Meeting Lincoln James Glass
3. Going to lunch with Karen and Angela at Taste of Texas
4. My first Christmas with my new family
5. Getting my own class ASAP
6. not having to drive for 13 hours any time soon!!!!!
7. Growing stronger in my faith
8. My next Jodi Piccolt book I will read


8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST

1. Some new shoes
2. My own classroom soon!!! (I know I already mentioned this)
3. Moving into a house
4. Getting to see my family more often
5. New clothes
6. New purse
7. Our water to be on....... NOW!!! (long story I will explain later)
8. My hubby to be off of work for Christmas and a few days after



Ok now I tag.... Krystyn and Kelly

Off to Tennessee we go!!

We are leaving Wednesday morning at 5:00am to head out to Tennessee! I'm so very excited to go on our first family vacation, and that my Mom gets to go with us! Steven and I are packed (minus toiletries) with our two HUGE suitcases so I am ready to go!!!

I went ahead and packed today because I didn't have to work, so I feel very accomplished and ahead of schedule :). Really, I'm not that ahead because I would have no time tomorrow. This will be my day: I have to work from 7-3:15, go pick up Elisabeth (who I'm PRAYING will be packed), come home to get Lilly and go to Houston. We will be making a mad dash to Houston to pick up Mom and drop off Lilly with Slick (that's what Elisabeth calls my Dad). I could have boarded Lilly, but last time we did it was a DISASTER because poor thing got SOOOO sick!! We only boarded her for two days, and she could not keep food down. Luckily I have my Dad who's gracious enough to watch her for a whole week. Then, we will make a mad dash back to Lake Charles so we can get some much needed sleep before waking up at 4:00am. Wooweee I'm gonna be a busy girl!!

For our trip we have some really great things planned, it includes a trip to Biltmore Estate in North Carolina since we will only be about an hour and a half away from it. I'm most excited about our visit to the estate because I have heard nothing but amazing things about it. We of course will go to Dollywood, go on a ski lift that has a mini amusement park on the mountain, possibly do indoor skydiving, and just see what's out there to enjoy.

The Biltmore Estate


While we are on our vacation Steven and I will hit our one year mark (since we were "officially" a couple). Are we insane or what?? Sometimes I can't believe I have been married to a man for 5 months, and it's only been a year since we were officially a couple! Yes we were insane, but I definitely know it was in God's hands for us to get together. This has definitely been the best year of my life! It makes me sad that we're getting close to 2008 ending because this year has been the most amazing for me! In 2008 I got engaged, graduated college, got married/became a step mom, and moved to Louisiana! I just don't think 2009 will be quite that eventful for me, but it will be an amazing one I'm sure. If you don't hear from me don't worry I will update after we get back :) I can tell you right now that it won't be until after Thanksgiving, so I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! Make sure to wear stretchy pants :)

Tuesday Ten

Ten things I miss about Houston:

Let me start off by saying, I absolutely LOVE my life and wouldn't change a thing but of course I miss things from my hometown! Secondly these are not in order of importance just merely in the order they popped into my head!!

10. I miss watching my dog Lilly get to play and play and play with Rowdy (Mom's dog)! She's getting a little lazy these days :)

9. I miss the Taste of Texas salad bar!! When you work there you get so tired of it, but now that I haven't had it in a while I really miss it. Maybe I should try and squeeze it in while I'm in town for Thanksgiving. Anyone want to join me??

8. I miss my Mema! I hate that I can't be there for her like I would want to be during this tough time. My Papa is on home hospice care, and it hasn't been a walk in the park for her lately. I just wish I could come and spend time with her more often.

7. I miss Kohl's and New York and Company!! I used to HATE Kohl's, but I have realized that they have really great clothes for work. The closest one to us is in Baton Rough 1 hr and 45 minutes away! Then New York and Co has always been one of my favorite stores, and I know we don't have one here. This just makes me spend less money on clothes, so I guess it's not the worst thing in the world.

6. I miss my nights with Mom. I have turned into a younger carbon copy of my mother, and really miss the nights we used to have. We used to lay in her bed and watch all of our dorky HGTV and TLC shows almost every night. I catch myself watching those shows whenever I can, but it's not the same without my Mama :)

5. I miss traffic! Oh wait that's the major thing I DON'T miss!! The longest I have ever been stuck in traffic here in Lake Charles is probably 10 minutes, so no I don't miss that!

4. I miss good restaurants. We do have a few here, but there's really not many out here which kind of stinks. If I ate fast food, or fried food, or gross greasy po boys I would LOVE the food here. Since that's not the case, the restaurants aren't quite the same.

3. I miss going to my Texas Country concerts with my Dad!! He and I would go whenever we had a chance to Robert Earl Keen, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Charlie Robison, etc. and it's been a while since we've gone. I have heard through friends of some great concerts that have been going on out there, and I sadly have missed all of them :(

2. I miss seeing little Lilly Martin grow up!! I hate that I haven't been there to spend a lot of time with her as she grows up! She's going to be 1 soon, and I can't believe it!!

1. I miss my girls!! You know who you are out there!! I haven't seen most of them since my wedding, and that's rediculous!! Angela, I miss your squeeky voice! Karen, I miss going to Onion Creek and talking for hours! Kelly, I miss your craziness and that big ol belly! Those are the three that popped in my head quickly, but trust me I miss others very much too!!

I have added some pictures of my girls, these are all from my bachelorette party. I would love to add more, but they are all on my laptop which my Mom is using. No, we don't drink a lot! Almost all of us are married and have families, but it was my bachelorette party so we let it all hang out!! Even the pregnant ones had a lot of fun that night :)

Some of us girls at Howl at the Moon
Kelly and I being retarded! We're pretty good at that

My cousins and I

I didn't write this because I'm sad and lonely! There are times that it gets a little tough, especially when Steven's working and I'm BORED out of my mind!! I'm doing really great out here, I just miss things from home. I want all of you to know that I do appreciate you all very much, eventhough I may not call as often as I should I still miss you all like crazy!! I get to see most everyone soon with the holidays coming, and I LOVE that :)

Yay it's November!!

November, December, and January are my three favorite months in the year, and I'm soooo excited November is finally here! It's crazy though to think that 2008 is really close to being over, I guess it's true what they say..."The older you are the shorter the years become!" To tell you the truth I have never felt as old as I do currently (trust me I know I'm not old). My days are filled with working, and my nights are filled with laundry, homework (when we have Elisabeth), cooking dinner, and cleaning. When did I get so old?? It's crazy when you go to your best friend's 30th birthday party, and it's scary when you realize that you aren't that far around the corner. Ok now that I have that off of my chest, here's an update on Laura's life:

For the past 11 days I have been sick! I got an upper respiratory viral infection, and my Doctor told me reluctantly that there was nothing he could do for me. That was frustrating, and once my fever was gone I have had this "gunk" in my chest, and completely lost my voice. It has been a VERY frustrating few days, but I am finally getting back to normal. I am ready for my immune system to get stronger so I can handle working with kiddos, and not get every sickness they carry! I haven't updated my blog lately because of this crud, but since I woke up this morning I have been feeling great! Still coughing, but I have a voice so I'm happy. That's another thing, it's Sunday and I woke up at 6:30am! It will take my body some time to get used to this time change, but 6:30 is REDICULOUS!!!

The hubby and I are thoroughly tired of our opposite schedules, that we know will just get worse as time goes on. With this the hubby has decided he is going back to school to get his teaching degree to teach high school. It will be less money for us, but the schedule will be so much better. Once we have kiddos we know this schedule will just get harder, and harder so Steven will be a student at McNeese University starting January. I'm very happy about this decision, and I think it will be great for us and our family.

We were very boring this Halloween! We saw the kiddo all dressed up for Halloween, and her stepsister. They were so cute! Cassidy (Elisabeth's stepsister) was a southern bell, and Elisabeth was Hermione from Harry Potter. They had a lot of fun, and probably stayed up really late since Halloween was on a Friday. I was a little disappointed that we didn't have a single trick or treater, but we do live downtown so it does make sense. Once we move to the suburbs I'm sure we will have nonstop trick or treaters.

So there's a wrap up of the Falgout's these past few weeks, we have been working, going to soccer games, and being sick. Soccer season is now over, which means we get a break until softball season starts :) We are going on our family vacation to the Smoky Mountains in a few weeks, and I can't wait for that!! It will be Steven & I, Elisabeth, and my Mom! We are going to have a BLAST!! It's our first family vacation, and I can't wait. I hope everyone has had a great couple of weeks, and I promise I will update more often. Until next time.....

The southern bell

Our cute Hermione

Whew what a weekend!!

Look at that scowl!! Little Lilly Martin
Here's little Lilly with her Aunt Laura
Here's the cutie Trevor!!
Look at the size of that head!!!
Our pumkins, this will be the before picture

I had such a great, but busy weekend this past weekend! Saturday I went to Elisabeth's soccer game at 9:00am. Let me tell you that little girl is AGGRESSIVE!! She's not quite the girly girl I was at 9 years old. Then I ventured to Houston to go to a show with my Mom and Grandma. We're TOTAL nerds and love the show "So You Think You Can Dance" so we went to the live show. It was really good, but not as good as the show from last year. (Yes we are dorky enough to have gone both years, and will go again next year!) When I got to Houston my Mom was watching my cousin Michelle's little boy Trevor, who's really not so little!! He's 5 months old, and looks like he should be walking!! What a sweet baby he is though, and I was so happy to see him since I hadn't seen him since the day after he was born. Then on Sunday I had an ABSOLUTELY crazy day!! Mom and I got up and went to church, then went to get a quick bite to eat for lunch. After lunch I ran a few errands, then went to see my Dad for a little while. I felt bad that I couldn't spend much time with Dad, but that's the way things sometimes go :). Then I hurried and drove from Humble to Katy, which takes an hour and a half on a good day. I went and spent some good quality time with my best friend Angela, who's now an old lady at the age of 30!! It was her birthday, and I'm so glad I could be there. I haven't seen her since my wedding 4 months ago, and I missed her terribly! I also got to see my sweet little niece(not by blood) Lilly Correne Martin. She has gotten SO big!! That baby girl is my birthday twin, and I couldn't love her more if she was my own. Then, I drove home and of course got stuck in horrendous traffic! The trip home took me almost 4 hours instead of the 3 it was supposed to take me, but that's the way it sometimes goes. I'm really glad that I could be gone on Sunday because Steven and Elisabeth really had a good Daddy-daughter day. Since we have been married the two of them haven't had a day alone together, and before I was in the picture that's all they had. I know that she missed those days, so I was glad they could get one in. It did make me feel good when I called her to tell her goodnight while I was on the road, I asked her if she was glad she got to be alone with her Daddy and she said, "Yes and no... I had a lot of fun with Daddy, but I really missed you a LOT!" That really made me feel good, I just love that little girl!

Then last night Elisabeth and I were super busy! We went to pick out our family pumpkins that we are going to carve next weekend. Of course Elisabeth picked out the three largest pumpkins she could find, and she wants the biggest one for herself naturally. Then we rushed home and made Halloween cookies for all the kid in her class which of course took longer than I thought it would! Elisabeth lost interest in decorating them so naturally I finished them for her. I love fall and all of the fun stuff you get to do, but I can't wait for my first Christmas with my new family!! We're going on our first family vacation to the smoky mountain in November, and taking my Mom with us which will be so much fun!

After 4 months of being a housewife...

I finally have a job!! Woo hoo!! I am the first pick substitute for an elementary school St. John's out here in Lake Charles, and the principal wants me to start after school tutoring for her very soon. I really love this elementary school, and the principal is AMAZING!!! I was offered a long term sub position, but that's not until January because a teacher is going on maternity leave. I finally feel like I am getting back to a normal life, and although it's not the full time teaching job I want, it's a start in the right direction. It's been so hard to find something out here because I don't know anyone, and you know what they say it's not always what you know it's who you know. I now have a place to be Monday thru Friday and I love it!! I really can see myself teaching there for years and years. Then Steven and I went driving through the neighborhoods around the school, and it just felt like home to me. Our lease is up in April so hopefully we'll be able to do move out there then.

The only down side to this is I'm not getting to see my hubby as much as I'm used to. Since he works nights I am asleep before he gets home, I leave before he wakes up, and I only get to see him for about 15-30 minutes in the time when I get home to the time he leaves :(. We are going to have to get used to this, but right now it's really not that much fun. So I haven't been writing in a while because I have been a little busy. Learning to adjust to my life, again. This time I feel like I have much more of a place out here, and I'm starting to make friends. I also joined Steven's parent's gym yesterday so I can get my butt back in shape. My butt has kind of gotten out of shape in these last few months so I'm ready to do something about it now!! It would have made so much sense for me to be working out this whole time instead of being a lazy bum, but it didn't happen that way. :( I hope everyone is doing well!!!

Makeup & Nails & Hair OH MY!!!

The girls with my poor dog they picked on

Their pizza they MADE me take a picture of

So I survived my first girl's sleepover Saturday night! Wow I feel like it was a HUGE accomplishment, and I think I did a great duty as a stepmom. Elisabeth had her friend Jade come over and spend the night Saturday night, and they had so much fun! Jade's a sweet kid, but Elisabeth is so bossy to her I'm not sure if the friendship will last much longer.

We went to the grocery store to get stuff so they could make their own pizzas from scratch, which they LOVED! They were very well behaved at the grocery store, I was surprised because you just never know what you're going to get from 9 year olds. Then they just played, and played, and played. They did each other's makeup, which was HILARIOUS!! Poor Elisabeth looked like a clown because Jade used HOT pink blush and put it all over her cheeks not just her cheekbones. Then they did each other's hair, and gave each other manicures. It was so fun and girly, I was glad we did all then whenever Steven was at work. I just don't know he could have standed it, but I understand a little better because I was a little girl once too. The funniest thing of the night was the little fight they had. Jade has her own cellphone, and Elisabeth is so jealous of her. I'm sorry I don't see a need for a 9 year old to have a cellphone, but if that's what you feel is right for your child I don't judge. I just personally don't think there's any need for it. Well Jade told Elisabeth that she might buy her one for her birthday. Elisabeth threw a fit telling Jade that, "I don't like liars, so we aren't best friends anymore!!" Then they wouldn't talk to each other for about 15 minutes. I know I shouldn't say this was hilarious, but I just forgot what it was like to be a 9 year old girl. All of this little sleepover reminded me of my childhood so much!

The next day Elisabeth was so exhausted, and she came into my room to tell me it was time for Jade to go home so she could get some rest. I thought that was funny because it's not a normal reaction for little girls, but I know Elisabeth isn't like most little girls. She's bossy and she likes things her own way.

The moral of this story is...I am officially a stepmom! We had Elisabeth from Wednesday until today. It was a long week, but well worth it. I just laughed at myself last night when I talked to Steven about it because I am completely turning into my Mom. I see a lot of what she did with me in the way I am with Elisabeth (which is not a bad thing I love my Mom to death). It does have it's challenges, but I wouldn't trade that little girl for the world. I don't know if I could love her more if she was my own. She's giving me good training for whenever I have kiddos of my own, and I see the father my husband is which makes me even happier.


I hope you all have a great week, and to give an update on my tv situation I talked about earlier we just got it back today! Woo hoo just in time for Monday night football :)

I decided after Friday night, NEVER AGAIN!!!

I don't even live in Houston or Galveston, and the night I had Friday night scared me to death! Never again will I not leave when a hurricane is coming, no matter what my husband's work makes him do! I have only lived through this once before, but that was Hurricane Alicia and I was 1 year old. The wind was WHALING through my front door, and I was sure all my little windows in my french doors were going to shatter everywhere. All through out the night we were under tornado warning after tornado warning, which really doesn't help one sleep through the storm. My husband and I slept in our guest room because it has no windows, and we thought it would be quieter. Maybe it was, but it sure wasn't quiet enough!!

We were lucky, and no damage happened to our property and for that I am grateful. We missed getting flooded by INCHES literally! We know how lucky we are, and I feel for my friends and family who weren't so lucky. I'm just saying that next time they report a hurricane hitting us or Galveston we are LEAVING!!!

I hope everyone is doing well in Houston, and I'm praying for you all to get your power back ASAP because I know it has to be miserable!!

Oh the joys of new technology!!

So my husband and I bought a new tv July 20. We bought an LG new LCD tv, that has become my husband's baby! He was sooo excited to get to watch his opening football games on his new baby, and had started to figure out which of our friends we were going to invite over yesterday. Then on Friday night, the picture went out on the TV. Well I was able to calm my husband down when I told him that I was sure we could take it back to Circuit City and have them look at it for warranty work (which was something I saw on Circuit City's website by the way) since we only have had it for 45ish days. I did call LG to see what we needed to do, and they did tell me that I should be able to take it to Circuit City with no problems.

So we wake up Saturday morning and take it in at 10:00. We walk over to the customer service to talk to them and the person calls over the manager to help us. The manager looks right over to us and tells us there is NOTHING they can do because we are out of the 30 day return window. I try to explain to him that we don't want to necessarily exchange the tv, just have someone work on it. He cuts me off in the middle of my sentence and states again that there is nothing he can do. Well my husband is probably the most mild mannered person you will ever meet, and he NEVER says any curse words!! Not this day, he looked at the manager and said, "Seriously you can't do anything for us after we spend over $1,100.00 on this tv here! You are a @(*#, !(@*#, @(#*$*&$!!" Then the manager smiles at us and tells us to have a nice day. Ugh the nerve!! I had to do everything I could to push my husband out the door quickly before he got more angry.

So next I called LG again. They told me I could call this one company and set up a time for someone to come out and repair the tv on Tuesday. While Tuesday didn't seem quick enough we took it. I called the place, and they told me they couldn't come out until Wed the 17th!! This of course made my husband very upset again, and I had to calm him down again! So I'm back on the phone with LG, and told them what the company told me. The guy at first was very understanding and told me to hold on so he could get the next company. When he comes back to give me another company I asked a very legitimate question, "If this person tells us the same thing as the last company what is our next step?" Well, you would have thought I asked him to send me a check for $25,000 or something. He was VERY rude to me telling me that we will just have to see what the company says next. UGH!!! Well, good thing is someone from that company is coming out this morning to look at it and hopefully they can fix it. It has just been quite aggrevating getting to this point! Moral of the story, don't buy a TV from Circuit City!! Especially out here in Lake Charles!!

What do you think should I write a complaint to circuit city, or just let it go? I'm trying to decide so opinions would help!

Our evacuation / Labor Day weekend

Showing off the blue nails

She's really 9 not 16, I promise!

Being goofy with Mimi Margie
My husband is so special! I'm so proud!!

Whew! We have never been so happy to be back at home!! I love my family, but this weekend was a little stressful. On Saturday we decided to leave and head to Houston, but we had to wait for Steven to get off of work. We ended up leaving at 10:00pm, which would have been fine if it took our normal 2 hours to get to Houston. Unfortunately we didn't make it to my Dad's house until 4:30am!! Yuck!! I just don't stay up that late anymore, and it took me a while to recover. We woke up at 9 the next day, and couldn't go back to sleep no matter how hard we tried!



Then on Sunday Steven went to play golf with my Dad and his friend Donny, and they had a blast. Elisabeth and I went with my Mom to have manicures and pedicures. She had so much fun, and she HAD to get blue nail/toe polish. I tried to make her just do it on her toes, but she said no because blue was her favorite color. I'm learning there are some battles that just aren't worth arguing about.



We had a party at my Dad's for my grandmother's 78th birthday. Everyone showed up except my brother (which was no surprise) and it was a really nice time. I hadn't seen everyone since the wedding so it was good to catch up with everyone. That night we left and went to dinner at the Aquarium where Elisabeth had the TIME of her life! I have never seen that child so excited, she just ran taking pictures of all of the fish in the tank. She had SOOOO much fun, which made it all worth it. I'm not so sure that the Aquarium is my favorite restaurant, but it's a great place for kiddos. The next day our evacuation was lifted and we decided to go straight home because we wanted to sleep in our own bed. We made the best of it, but I really hope not to have to evacuate again! It sure looks like a possibility so maybe the next time you hear from me we will have moved to Oregon or something :)

Oh the joys of living in Lousiana!!

Well it's official, I am a coon ass!! I am living in a state that gets overrun by hurricanes. I knew whenever my husband and I decided it would be easier if I moved here with him that this would be an issue. So I had to go and fill up my car with gas today, and was probably one of the last people in our lil city to get regular gas! I am about to go to the grocery store to buy water and batteries, all of that stuff. I'm a little hesistant because I think it might be a waste of my time though.

I think back to living in Houston and everyone in an ABSOLUTE PANIC in Houston over Rita, and it turned out to be nothing. The only problem with that was that it wasn't nothing for people who lived here in Lake Charles. So now I am planning an evacuation for the first time that I have ever really been concerned with this type of thing. The first day my husband saw the news about Gustov he said to me, "Oh baby we might get our first evacuation together!" I just thought to myself, one could only hope!! So here I am planning out where to go, and making sure we go early enough to beat the evacuation traffic. I keep thinking to myself, "What things do I bring with me?" Since we did just get married, and we got some really terrific gifts I don't want to leave anything behind. I know it's just stuff, but it's stuff I will look back on later in life and remember that we got it at our wedding. So here I am rambling on and on, but I'm really getting anxious and feeling quite apprehensive. Prayers for us here, and anyone who might be affected in this!!!

Stay safe everyone!!

Learning to adjust

Well I have decided now to take this blogging thing a little more seriously. Being a housewife at the moment I really get bored! I'm learning to adjust to the changes in my life that have taken place. I'll recap what has gone on recently. I have moved to Louisiana, become a wife, become a stepmom, become a housewife, and become a therapist to my parents. Whew!! I love my new life, and I wouldn't have it any other way!

My poor husband doesn't understand that sometimes I get a little down. This morning I woke up and felt a little sad. I think it's all me adjusting to everything. I took a shower and just started crying, and NO I'm not pregnant!! My hubby heard me and came into the bathroom with a really worried look on his face. He started asking me if I am unhappy with my new life because he didn't see any reason why I could be crying. I tried to explain to him that NO I love my new life, just while I'm adjusting to all of the changes I might have a breakdown or two. It was really sweet that he was so concerned, but he just doesn't understand that I am a woman therefore I am a little more emotional than he is. The hardest adjustment for me has been becoming a stepmom. I absolutely love my stepdaughter, but I never had a stepparent so this whole relationship is new to me. Where are my boundaries? What can I say, and what things can I correct? How do I make sure not to become and EVIL STEPMOTHER, but make sure she understands that she has to respect me? It's really tough at times because she is getting close to being a teenager so she does have her little teenager attitudes at times. There are things that she does that my children will never do, and it gets quite frustrating. I'm learning though!! Anyone have some good advice on how to handle all of these changes?? If you do I'm all ears!

I will start posting more frequently now, thanks to Jenny!

My new life

I have been married now for three weeks, and couldn't ask for a better husband! My life is in a wonderful place right now, and I have never been happier. We had the wedding of our (my) dreams and I will remember the wonderful night always! Afterward we went on an amazing honeymoon and were able to relax together for the first time since we talked about getting married. You see the proposal wasn't exactly a surprise. Steven and I talked pretty much since the first day we told each other we loved each other about getting married. It was crazy, I NEVER thought I would be the person to get married as fast as I did. I used to think when people said "they just knew" they were full of it! I had always thought I would date the guy at least for a year before I would become engaged, but ended up dating my husband for a whole 2 months! Now I am one of those people who says I just knew.

Now that I'm happily married I have moved to Louisiana. It's been great living with my husband, but I don't have a job at the moment and I have no friends out here. Whenever my husband is at work I am by myself with our dog. It's a huge adjustment, and I get so bored when he's not here! Sometimes I do have my stepdaughter, Elisabeth. Whenever she's with us I'm just fine because a 9 year old girl will definitely keep you on your toes! As I am trying to adjust to all of this my parents decide to call me one night to tell me they are seperating after 32 years. I don't know how I feel about all of this. It wasn't a shock to me because I have seen the downfall of my parent's marriage, but I still had hoped they would wait a little longer before they decided to seperate. I feel terrible because my brother had no clue any of this was going to happen, and it all came out of left field for him. He's so mad, and I feel guilty for not giving him a head's up. The time was never right, and I guess I just thought my parents would work it out like they had always done.

So here I am starting a new marriage, and having to deal with my parent's divorce. I just don't know how to feel or what to think at the moment about the whole situation. I do have to say that my husband has been so supportive! He keeps reminding me that we are nothing like my parents, and our marriage is FOREVER! I know that, and he doesn't have to remind me but I still love hearing him say it. So here's my first blog post, and I feel like I have treated it more like a therapy session. Hopefully the next on won't be quite a therapy session!