It's been a while...

I haven't been able to update my blog in a while, and for that I do apologize! Things have been really busy for me lately, and I haven't quite figured out how to manage everything yet. I'll get there soon though, I promise.

I have one question, how do all of you with a full time job keep your house clean all the time? When I get home I'm exhausted because I'm usually running around all day at school. The thought of doing laundry, or vacuuming really just doesn't appeal to me at that point. My house isn't dirty by any means, I just don't have everything in it's perfect spot, and my laundry basket is quite full. Of course having a husband (who like most other husbands) that completely forgot how to do these things the second we said "I do" doesn't help at all!

I am really loving my new job! My 73 kids that I have (that's right I said 73) are wonderful, and they have really been putting their best face forward. We'll see how long that lasts! I am now working with k-3 instead of just k-2, which will be challenging I know. I'm trying to manage how to get my planning all done for the week, but I'm learning quickly!

Steven and I are looking for a new place to live because we are soooo tired of sharing walls with people. Our noisy neighbors that I may have mentioned in the past are moving out as I'm writing this, but we don't know what kind of people are moving in. We are just ready for more room! I didn't think it would be possible for us to fill up a 3 bedroom/2 bath condo but we definitely did! We're looking around our neighborhood for a place, and have a few possibilities that we are going to go check out tomorrow so we'll see how that goes. We just want to find a decent house to live in until we're ready to buy, but we're not ready to buy until we know for sure where we want to live for a while.

We were able to go to New Orleans for my birthday, which was amazing! I really love that city, and with our opposite schedules it was really nice to get some one on one time with my hubby! We had wonderful food, went shopping, and just walked around (freezing our butts off). I was very excited we got to pop in and visit my friend Lauren at work, I haven't seen her since our wedding so that was great. While we were spending time in New Orleans we realized that we could live there one day, so we'll have to see what the future holds.....

I hope you all had a wonderful week, and have an even more wonderful weekend!

I got sent to the principal's office!!

Well today was a great day!! I was subbing for a friend of mine Courtney (who's preggo and about to pop any minute) and I got a call from the office, "Mrs. Falgout, Mrs. Kingham wants you to meet her in her office in 20 minutes". All the kiddos started saying, "Ooooooohhhhhh Mrs. Falgout what did you do to be called into the principal's office?" also "Oh NO Mrs. Falgout you're in big trouble now!!!" Well my friend Lori (who's the inclusion teaching that stays in that room all day) says, "Oh my gosh Laura, I think you got a job!" I told her to stop saying stuff like that to me because I didn't want to get my hopes up.



Well fortunately for me, she was right! I FINALLY have a full time job!! I'm a reading coach for grades K-2, and am soooo excited!! It's not quite a teaching job, but I do have to have a teacher's certificate to do it (which makes me happy I can use my degree). I will have my own classroom, and my own kiddos. I am soooooo excited to be able to make my own plans, and have my own students. I start Monday, and couldn't be happier for my new job!! All of my friends that I sub for a lot are a little upset because the substitute list is slim, but they are all happy for me! One great thing about this job is that I will be in the prime spot for a job next year, one of the teachers Jaimie (who did this same job last year) told me that she was hired in April for the fall and had her pick of a grade level!! That would be amazing if I could get that :)



I hope you all are doing well, and since none of you live here I'll add a picture of my adorable school. It looks like an old timey school house, but it's only been opened 2 years.

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 :)