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 :)