Our kickin' travels.

We have a life, too!

2012-02-01T16:50:00.003-06:00

Monday, Ginny and I finally were able to eat a meal at the table. After 6 weeks of balancing eating dinner and Kaylor, it was a nice relief. We feel she wants to be included in the family dynamic and eat when we eat, sometimes. She seems very adult-like sometimes. We have asked her questions to which she replies with a resounding affirmative or negative with a shake of the head of an audible "Yeah" or "Uh-huh". We have yet to get an audible "no." It cracks us up. We realize she still doesn't comprehend much except. She can barely get her thumb in her mouth 2 out of 3 times. Although, she tends to understand when she is going to get her diaper changed because she is irate when she has a dirty diaper but the minute I start walking to the changing table and tell her I am going to change her diaper, she calms down and sits politely and quietly when we change her.

That reminds me. We have slowly been introducing cloth diapers to her. She seems to work well with them. We love them and it is definitely saving us some cash. Our washing machine seems to be running daily but what else is new. We probably washed two loads of her clothes every day for the first 4 weeks because she peed or pooped on a lot of blankets while we aired her out. Her bum rash seems to be holding strong. We put her in disposable diapers at night so Ginny doesn't have to rinse out the cloth diapers while balancing feeding her. We are still using warm wash cloths to wipe her. We will probably continue except for outings.

Another breakthrough, Kaylor slept through most of the night last night. Ginny fed her around 10 or 1030 and then she feel asleep and didn't wake up until 5. This was amazing for us both. Although the parent inside of us woke up several times to check on her. Mine was more due to my bladder but I still checked on her. It was a great night and hopefully many more to come.

Noni and Pa Paw

2012-01-28T21:10:00.003-06:00

My parents came by for a visit this weekend. It was short but definitely great. My mom has been under the weather and schedules haven't aligned for them to visit very much since Kaylor came. Here's a shot of the happy grandparents. My mom wants to be called Noni (Nah-nee) and my dad is Pa Paw.

And another one of the proud dad.

I felt inspired

2012-01-25T21:01:00.004-06:00

My cousin recently started her own blog about being more crafty and made reference to me lending her some tools to repair her ottoman. I have to say, I am a little crafty but not very handy. Yes, I have been known to hand some things here and there but never with ease free of frustration. This time, it was different. Ginny and I bought Kaylor a picture of Jesus Christ and wanted to hang it on her wall. I got my measuring tape, a level, hammer and some nails to get it just right. The frame is one of those with two flappy thing on opposite sides of the frame in the back to hang it (does that make sense?) Anyway, it has not been easy for me in the past to hang frames like this. I measured, centered and marked the spot it needed to be. I hammered the nails into place and hung the picture in one step. There was no hassle. I felt so accomplished. I know this may seem like a novice feat but I felt very proud of myself. Here are a few pictures of my triumph

We are finally one month old

2012-01-25T20:26:00.003-06:00

Actually, as of today, we are 5 1/2 weeks old. We have been still learning how to be parents; a full time job, most definitely. We have learned a little more about our little one and have really tried to make her as comfortable as possible. Here is a picture of Kaylor at 1 month. She is sitting next to a giraffe named Sofie. You should click on her name to find out more about this toy. A friend of ours gave it to Kaylor and she says Sofie has great children soothing powers.

Kaylor looks like this 90% of the time. I'm afraid she's practicing much to early to say, "I'm innocent."

We also have a video of Kaylor playing with her new toy. Of course, she's a little young for it but she does get it to make noise every once in a while.

Also, Kaylor has told us that she does not like Hello Kitty! If anyone purchases any Hello Kitty paraphernalia, it will be returned immediately. This is ridiculous.

I do need to be clear. I'm really the anti-Hello Kitty fanatic (oxymoron?) However, I never have liked anything Hello Kitty and certainly feel she his highly overrated. Nonetheless, all there is not place in our home for such a monstrosity.

Ginny wanted me to post this. We have both made a point of trying to sleep when she does. I'm glad the Garners all love to nap. Please note the uncovered cushion I rest upon. We were airing Kaylor out (on one of her bad bum bum days) and she got a little too free with her bodily fluids. So, we discovered that our cushions are completely machine washable.

ANOTHER VIDEO?!?! I'm feeling crazy, y'all. Although, please, even if you think I'm one of the crazy parents who plaster too many pictures of their child online, do not tell me!

There is some back story to this. A few years ago, I had an obsession with a scene from Dennis the Menace the movie. I tried to look for an old post I had which I thought told the story but I guess I never posted one. The scene is hilarious mainly because Gunther is an adorable cross-eyed adolescent and has great facial expressions. A mean man asks him "Whatcha' eatin' there sport?" to which Gunther replies, "A Apple." It's so funny. Youtube it, right now. Anyway, here is my own version from a loving father to his most adorable daughter.

Please don't shoot.

2012-01-20T16:48:00.005-06:00

I know I'm on the list of blog's most wanted because I have yet to post more pictures of Kaylor. Here are a few I thought you would like...and the only two I've taken since the last post.

Kaylor is incessant about holding her own plug (again, please replace the name you call it if you must. I grew up calling them nuni's but Ginny's family calls them plugs.) It's a wonder how much she loves it some days and then spits it out other days.

Our little girl loves to snuggle when she's tired. She also loves to bury her face into our chests. This is definitely the way she likes to sleep. She is most definitely going to be a stomach sleeper like her parents.

However untraditional it may be, we put her on her stomach once to take a nap and she slept so soundly. We made several trips to her crib to be sure she was still there. Don't worry, we won't do it overnight just yet. Although, she is very good at picking her head up when she's on our chest and she even moved her head when we placed her on her stomach. We are still figuring it out. Although all of the books say wait at least a year before we put her on her stomach, we feel she doesn't sleep the best on her back.

For those of you who know her bum has had a gnarly rash, things are so much better. We got some medication to help clear things up. We also started using plain washcloths instead of wipes. The wipes were the only consistent variable so we took it out. Our friends Mike and Adi were kind enough to let us use their wiper warmer. It has saved us so much time. We just wet the rags and place them in it to keep them warm. It works wonders. We have planned to wait about a week to be sure things are cleared up and then we will be able to phase in cloth diapers. I am very excited about this!

Our precious gift

2012-01-14T15:55:00.002-06:00

We have thoroughly enjoyed our little girl. She has been very alert from day one but has been focusing more with her eyes. She knows when she is going to get her diaper changed and if she is going to get fed and quits crying before each. She loves to sit up and act like a big girl. She holds her nuni/plug/paci/pacifier (whatever you call it) in with one or two hands. She can put herself to sleep if we leave her long enough. She does like car rides but doesn't like stopping in the car. She flatulates like a champ. We are very thrilled and happy with her.

1 year of blissful happiness

2012-01-10T16:24:00.005-06:00

With everything that we've been doing these past few weeks, we are very glad we were able to take a little time and celebrate such a great year. Ginny and I were sealed a year ago and have been growing closer to one another ever since. Our lives are intertwined in such a way that allows us to understand one another ever so perfectly. We are not perfect but have a distinct ability to sympathize with one another and try our hardest to be there for one another. We have been testing our skills with the birth of our little Kaylor. We have a pretty good pattern going so far and are sure it will change soon enough; especially when Ginny and I go back to work/school.

We are happy to report two close friends volunteered to watch Kaylor so we could get an evening with just the two of us. Of course, these two friends would have watched her anyway because they are kind of addicted to her. Ginny and I had a great dinner at Cate Street enjoying one of our favorite foods, sushi. I forgot to get a good shot of the food before we ate it all. This is the aftermath:

We had a roll called "300" with crawfish and yellowfin tuna; delicious. Ginny had her favorite, spicy tuna. And we also got another one with fresh tuna bbq eel. All of it was great and our evening was amazing.

We also reached into our freezer and pulled out the top layer of cake from our second reception. The icing still was great but the cake had received a touch of Jack Frost. We exchanged presents as well:

And trust me, there will be more pictures of Kaylor to come.

What!! NO CHERRY?!?!

2012-01-05T16:09:00.003-06:00

As I sit watching Burn Notice while one of my girls is sleeping on the couch next to me,

and my other girl sleeps in the big bed (no picture; you're welcome, Ginny!), I noticed my happy hour Sonic Cherry Ocean Water is empty so I went to throw it away. I happily dump the ice in the sink to get to the cherry...I was disappointed. Why?! Why can't you do just a simple little thing like drop a cherry or two in a drink? Other Sonic bartenders get it right and some don't. Be consistent! Does anyone else have this problem? It made me think of an old cartoon I saw when I was a kid. It was hilarious when I was younger but has since lost it's luster.

To give a little update on our little joy, she is doing well. She has a bit of a diaper rash. We were putting some yeast infection prescription on it but it didn't really clear it up. Our physician explained to change the diaper even more frequent. I'm pretty sure we've gone through 80 diapers in the past week. But we will do our best. We are also letting her air dry as often possible. We have also switched to Boudreaux's; it works wonders. She's up to 8 lbs. 15 oz. We think she's getting so big. She's still adorable. She is starting to smile a little more and laugh in her sleep. I haven't seen it, just Ginny. She's so lucky.

Our little animal

2011-12-28T20:40:00.002-06:00

I'm sure you are all just in stitches to hear about our Kaylor.

We got home with no problems Tuesday afternoon. Ginny took a few days to recover and is still a little sore but has approved much.

We went to two doctor's appointments already for Kaylor. The resident neonatologist encouraged us to see Kaylor's (PCP) primary care physician within 3 days of discharge. The neo and Kaylor's PCP agreed that she needs to see an opthamologist because a blocked tear duct in her left eye. We have an appointment in mid-January.

We have, of coursed, altered our sleeping habits. Ginny is learning quickly to sleep when the little one sleeps.

Our animal has made several humorous noises which resemble different animals: ducks, dogs, velocirapters, elephants and even the goat from the last fifteen minutes of Willow.

We are very grateful to everyone that has brought us meals and extended their services to us. My sister stayed a few days with us and my parents also came in town to lend a hand and spend Christmas with us. Ginny's mom arrived Sunday and will be here through 3 Jan.

We have bathed her a few times and found out quickly that she goes straight from the bath to a towel or you get this.

This girl pees like a race horse! She's peed on Ginny a few times and has pooped on us as well.

That leads us to the next question most of you are dying to ask...how are the cloth diapers?

We have been keeping her in regular diapers until we get a better handle on when she goes. We used one today and even used our sprayer to rinse it out in the toilet. Worked like a charm.

I'm sorry the only picture I have is her peeing on me but I will definitely post more later, I'm sure.

Of course, we had a great Christmas with everyone here. We were

Welcome to the world bubble!!!!

2011-12-19T15:46:00.009-06:00

This is Aunt Bea (aka Ouiser) reporting from the front line about the birth of our new little addition... Tim and Ginny are unable to update from their ipad, so I'm here to let you all know a little bit about how things went!!!

Saturday about 5am Ginny started having more consistent birthing waves and had a feeling the miracle of birth was starting so she woke Tim up to tell him it was time to go to the hospital, his response when she said "hey it's time" was "YAY!!!!" so they went to the hospital to check everything out, and she was still at 2cm and the birthing waves were coming about every 2-3 min lasting 60-90 seconds, and she was effaced about 65% so they did some tests and thought she may be dehydrated which would cause the birthing waves to come closer together, but they weren't terribly strong at this point, and not being more dilated or effaced and her water still in tact at this point they gave her some fluids and the waves lessened a little bit and they asked her about 10:30am if she wanted them to start her on pitocin to start inducing the labor along or let her go home to ride out the waves till the little blessing decided she was ready to come, and they decided to come home...

The birthing waves were consistent through out the day, and gradually got stronger and about 10:30pm it was getting to be a little more strong and they decided to come up to the hospital to get ready for her to come. Ginny was still only at 2cm and had gotten to 60% effaced so they checked her in and put her in the labor/delivery/recovery room and she was a real trooper, Leesa and I were in there for a little while, and she was doing her breathing techniques and taking on those birthing waves like a champ!!! At 1am she was 3cm and 80% effaced and still going strong... she slowly went up to about 5-6cm at 4:15am and at 4:50 her water broke!!! It was game on at that point!! Tim called the nurse in and when the nurse came in to check her and thought they probably still had a ways to go b/c it had been going slowly up till then, but when she saw the water and checked her she pushed the nurses station button and said "CALL HIM" (meaning the dr) he got there about 20 min later , and after 4 pushes little Kaylor Michelle Garner was welcomed into the world at 5:54am on December 18, 2011 weighing in at 8lbs 3oz 19 1/4 in long..

Kaylor Michelle Garner

Daddy and Kaylor

Mommy and Kaylor

She is a sweet, calm and amazing little baby girl, and our family is so lucky to have her join us... the only time she makes noise is when she is hungry, or someone is messing with her feet or taking her temperature... She has mom's eyes and daddy's nose and lips (in my personal professional opinion:) )

She loves her mom and dad and looks around for them when they are talking.

Aunt Bea and Auntie Leesa are her favorites, and are more than ready to spoil this little girl... And she can't wait to meet the rest of her family in California at Easter!!

Auntie Leesa and Kaylor

Aunt Bea and Kaylor

Family, isn't it about...time?

2011-12-17T17:56:00.003-06:00

For those of you Mormons out there, I hope you recognize the reference. If not, Google the title and watch some great videos from yesteryear.

Ginny started having more birthing waves (contractions) last night. How fitting that she was working. Yes, she's 39.5 weeks and still working; relentless! The birthing waves were semi-strong and sporadic so we didn't think too much of it. They tapered off around 8 pm and started back about 10. She woke up about 500 and got me up about 530 saying, "Hey babe, I think it's time." They were about 60 seconds each and 2-4 minutes apart. I excitedly got out of bed and we left about 6 to head for the hospital. We checked in at 2 cm and 50 % effaced. They monitored her for an hour and the doctor suggested to get in some fluids. After the RN struck a vein, literally, and cleaned up a minor pool of blood that came from the vein (silly RN), Ginny received fluids for about an hour and her birthing waves lessened and spread apart. The RN checked her again and she was still 2 cm but about 65% effaced. She talked to the dr. and he gave us the option of going home or staying and getting some pitocin to promote induction but we declined. We came back and spent some time with Ouizer and Leesa then took a well-deserved nap.

We just went for a walk and the birthing waves are getting a bit stronger and again are 2-4 minutes apart. The water bag has yet to break.

To explain the birthing waves, we are using a birthing technique that involves self-hypnosis. The technique comes from Hypnobabies and Ginny has been very diligent researching this. We use different terminology like birthing waves instead of contractions and birthing time instead of labor because of the implications on the inner mind with those words. Contractions sounds like something is inhibiting rather than providing a progressive moment. Labor sounds intense and like work.

Hopefully our little girl will decide to come soon and stop playing around. You would think she would rather be outside where there is a ton more room, right?! So, until then, we will just watch Utah State beat Ohio in the Idaho Potato Bowl. Bubble, isn't it about...time?!?!?

Our bags are packed and we're ready to go...

2011-12-14T09:29:00.002-06:00

We are packed and ready to go to the hospital any day now. We are just waiting on our little girl to make her decision. Ginny is one day shy of 39 weeks. She is being a trooper. We keep telling the bubble that there is plenty of room out here instead of being trapped inside. She likes to push our on ginny's belly, a lot!

I thought I would sing the bubble a little song to help her make her final decent. You might recognize the tune.

The bubble will come out, tomorrow

bet your bottom diaper that tomorrow,

she will come.

When your stuck in a place, that's dark, wet and gloomy

just stick your head through and come out to sayyayayayayyayay,

ooooooooohhhhhhhhh

The bubble will come out tomorrow!

We both wish it was tomorrow, if not today! Maybe I should stop singing to the bubble and she'd want to come out. Haha. We are ready for her whenever she comes. We are super excited to meet her and cannot wait.

de' Bubble in de' belly

2011-12-08T16:17:00.007-06:00

First, here is a current picture of Ginny at 38 weeks:

Second, our friend Sierra took some pictures of our lil' family. She is an amateur photographer, but you really would think she is professional, as you will see below. Here are a few of our favorites. She took them at a local hotspot, no pun intended. This is the ruins of the old Hammond high school that burned down.

Per request

2011-12-05T18:49:00.004-06:00

We went to the doctor today. Ginny is about 1 cm and the doctor said we have another week at least. This is very good news for us because I am still in finals and my sister is going out of town this next weekend. So, after she gets back, the bubble can come anytime. My sister has texted the bubble to make sure she she understands this. The bubble can only text because she can't use her vocal chords under water, duh!

Here are some cute baby things we have. I may or may not have played around by putting a stuffed reindeer Donnie gave us in the stroller, but we left him out of the pictures.

Here is the crib Ginny's parents bought for us. Ginny's mom made the quilt, sheet and dust ruffle seen here. There are other sheets she made as well with other similar material.

Ginny is a bit obsessed with frogs so we have added to our collection:

The quilt:

A sheet and bed/dust ruffle:

Here is the changing table that goes with the crib:

Ginny's glider and the bubble's diaper bag:

Our high-tech stroller:

It's beginning to smell like Christmas!

2011-12-05T18:28:00.003-06:00

Ginny and I went and bought our first Christmas tree together. It's the 2nd real Christmas tree I remember having. Ginny thinks it is a Frasier Fir. It's about 5' which is perfect for us. Ginny's mom gave her all of her childhood ornaments. It is definitely very cute. Below are before and after shots of the tree decorated. I'm not going to label them because I'm pretty sure you can figure it out. I actually tried to put them side by side but have yet to become a professional at this.

Sidetracked

2011-11-26T09:54:00.002-06:00

This morning, I woke up to finish a paper that is due next week. My homepage is LDS.org and I saw there was a new video I haven't watched from Mormon Messages. Of course, I'd rather do anything than finish my paper but I also felt I needed to watch the video. I did. It helped. I hope it lifts your day as well!

Pumpkin addiction

2011-11-20T20:28:00.005-06:00

Ginny is slightly obsessed with pumpkin. Anything pumpkin. Cookies, shakes, custard, donuts, cakes and even stew.

Today, she conjured up a delicious pumpkin cheesecake. It was amazing. The bubble liked it too! Ginny's mom flew in last week for the shower and made pumpkin stew. It was awesome! Ginny baked the left-over pumpkin, pureed it and baked it into a cheesecake. Here's a slice.

Clothes, clothes and more clothes

2011-11-20T20:07:00.004-06:00

We recently had many great additions added to our wardrobe. Well, that's not completely true. The clothes added were all for the bubble. We spent three loads washing them all. Most of them have come from family and friends of which/whom we are truly grateful. We think we are set for the first 3 mos. for sure and have a good start on the first 6 mos. However, who is to be certain. I was informed Friday that the baby will not come with an instruction manual. REALLY?!?! Ha. I replied with, "It will. It's in the placenta, I'm sure. It'll probably be taped to it like a shipping label and I'll just have to look for it."

Here is a picture of the clothes we washed.

We also washed the bubbles' diapers. They have to air dry. Soon, a little cute baby bum will fill those. Can't wait.

Ginny and I are getting ready. She is feeling the last trimester and trying to be optimistic about it. There are some growing pains but she is working through them. So, physically and mentally, we are preparing as best we can.

As a selfish plug, we still have items on our Target and BabiesRUs registries which have yet to be sent to us. If you can't find something on there that is within your price range, we accept all forms of gift cards and even ca$h. Ok, sorry if that's tacky but I'll take the heat for it. Anything for our wonderful new bundle of joy. If you have sent us something, we are sincerely grateful! She should be here within the next 4 weeks. Hooray!

November 5

2011-11-13T19:50:00.002-06:00

Ginny planned a spectacular surprise birthday for me. Some (not all) of my closest friends were there. The day started with breakfast at a local place here with some close friends. Then Ginny and I went to lunch at Albasha and shopped for a bit. Then we went and saw In Time. It wasn't as exciting as I thought it would be. Then, we went to the house and I was surprised by my friends and family. We watched the LSU game and had a grand ole' time.

Maternity Pics by Sierra

2011-11-13T19:43:00.003-06:00

This past weekend we ventured to the old Hammond high school to shoot some great shots with the amazing and ever lovely Sierra Kennedy with some great props by Ouizer and Lee-Lee and Josh. Here are some shots. As a disclaimer from Sierra, they are not edited so all of the magic isn't there. These are just a few. I didn't want to spoil all of them.

They're here!!

2011-11-02T16:00:00.004-05:00

We decided a long time ago to save ourselves some cash and save the environment by diapering our child with cloth instead of disposable material. We ordered them Sunday night and got them today. So, here are few pictures and...for the first time ever...a video!!!

I decided I wanted to test out the diapers so I grabbed the closest thing to me and diapered our water bottle.

Our new freshly diapered water bottle; isn't she cute:
We used a website called Cotton Babies and picked the brand Bum Genius. We love them. There are 18 and each one is adjustable and comes with 2 different sized inserts. Check out the video to get a demonstration from yours truly.

Wow, such a difference

2011-11-01T19:52:00.004-05:00

So, I've been called to repentance about not updating the blog as much. I'm sure I have nothing else better to do. HAHA. Of course, we both wish we had more time to update but sometimes it's not the first priority. BUT. Here is a great post to make up for it.

So, I took the below pictures of Ginny only a week apart. See any improvement?

She is almost 33 weeks. I know the angles and distances are a bit different in the pictures but there is a noticeable difference, right?! I'm pretty sure my exact words were, "Ginny, Oh my gosh," when I compared the two pictures. Everything is going well with the mom and baby. Of course, there is some discomfort when sleeping and sitting and the fingers are naked of rings (not without protest from her). However, she is perfectly healthy and quite satisfied. We are both quite anxious for our new arrival. And, no name as of yet.

In other news, Ginny just finished some more revisions for her Thesis. We aren't sure it will ever end. I am still in school and slated to graduate at the end of Summer. We have been looking for grad schools for me but are undecided. Ginny and I both still have two jobs. Although, football season is coming to a close but the subbing jobs are picking up. I'm not sure either of us will ever know what it is to file taxes for just one employer.

I hope this is sufficient for today. I'm sure I will post more later but I've got to get back to the important things in life...like The Biggest Loser!

The air is hummin' and somethin' great is comin'.

2011-10-19T20:45:00.002-05:00

Sondheim definitely made it clear that somethin' is around the corner. We just had a cold front come through and I love it. Even though our landlord is a bit behind in insulating our house, I love the crisp, cool weather of fall. So excited!

Also, on a different note, Ginny just finished coaching volleyball. For this, I am truly grateful. The added payment will help with expenses but I'm ready to have my wife back. One of her 7th grade students emphatically told me, "You are my background." Apparently, she snapped a picture of me on her phone and I am her background. They all lovingly call me Baby Daddy because they don't know my name. It's quite humorous.

Lazy day!

2011-10-16T18:07:00.002-05:00

Today has been a lazy day. Ginny and I came home from church, laid and bed and haven't moved since we came home. It's 609 amd we've only left the bed to eat and do what happens after you eat. It's been a great day! Full of feeling the baby girl move, watching Oprah, watching soccer,and chilling. Awesome!!

29 weeks

2011-10-05T20:42:00.004-05:00

As of Thursday, 6 October, Ginny will be 29 weeks. She passed her glucose test this past Monday and also had a Rhogam (Google if you don't know what the shot does, exactly)shot. Ginny has a negative (-) blood type and mine is positive (+) so she needed the shot incase her blood starts building antibodies and delivering those to the bubble. And for those wondering, we have yet to pick out a name.

So, a little story from our day out. The day we went to get Ginny's blood work, we had some time to kill in between the blood work and getting her Rhogam shot. We decided to go to shop at two of our favorite stores, Kohls and Kirklands. As we drove up to the shopping center, we noticed a car parked on the sidewalk of Hobby Lobby.

Yes, a woman made her own parking spot. Insane! Then, as we were going to lunch, we found another guy who was making a u-turn at a intersection didn't quite make it. He ended up driving up on the curb of the opposite lane of traffic and blocked a whole lane. It was a day to remember, for sure.

Also, as a final thought, I've updated our blog look because I love the fall. I'm so happy it's here and hope this amazing weather is here to stay forever!

12 minutes for fast food?

2011-09-30T18:44:00.002-05:00

I'd like to blame today's craving for McDonald's on my pregnant wife's craving but I just can't. Anyway, I went through the drive-thru and asked for my usual, chicken nuggets and then they had something new, sweet potato pie, uhm, OK! So, after I got Bon Qui Qui on the intercom and ordered everything she had the kindness to say, "It's going to be 12 minutes for the sweet potato pie." Ugh, what?!?! Are you making it from scratch? Is it a real pie? Holy crap. Needles to say, I didn't wait for my sweet potato pie.

Bible Lit

2011-09-26T11:50:00.002-05:00

I'm in a Bible Literature class and it's very interesting. Today, we had a presentation on Songs of Solomon and the presenter tied in polygamy. Several comments were made to the presenter as suggestions including, "Why don't you research one religion that supports polygamy and compare it to Christianity." When the presenter said she wasn't sure which religion she could choose, someone, of course, shouted out, "MORMONS." Several people agreed. I just sat back, knowing I would have to intervene but quite unsure how to do it without sounding rude. My teacher, thankfully, spoke up and explained the mainstream Mormon church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, doesn't practice polygamy. It was a breath of fresh air. I was glad someone in there was educated on our practices. It amazes me how many people automatically jump to us when discussing polygamy, insisting we still practice it.

The Ah-mazing Ginny

2011-09-19T19:34:00.003-05:00

If you haven't figured out yet, I, Tim, am the one who updates the blog. It's an honor to have her as a wife. Let me just fill you in on her life right now. She is pregnant, of course. She coaches JV and Varsity volleyball at the SeLU Lab School, a head ache in itself. She also substitute teaches the poor children of our parish. She also works PRN for a local health system as her ATC. She also just qualified for her local Louisiana licensure (a very long, tedious process) and can now put LAT at the end of her name, as well. Then, she is still trying to finish her thesis; an on-going process due to lack of help from people who work with her. And to top it all off, I came home from school today to fresh baked croissant rolls, homemade and chicken salad, homemade. It was amazing! I am so blessed. Thank you, Ginny for being amazing!

Waste of paper

2011-09-14T20:53:00.003-05:00

Ginny received a letter from her student loan company. On one side was the message below (in picture). The back side was the privacy statement. That was all. No signature, no regards, no sincerely. It was quite hilarious.

I like pizza, Steve. I LIKE it.

2011-09-14T20:48:00.002-05:00

Ginny and I made our first pizza together. It had turkey pepperoni, pineapple and cherry tomatoes. It was super delicious. We even put string cheese in the crust to make it stuffed crust. We basted the sides in butter and italian seasoning. And by we, I mean Ginny. I did eat the pizza. Believe me, it was super-duper hard to eat. ;-)

Below are pictures of before and after:

We're on our way.

2011-09-05T16:25:00.003-05:00

We took a trip to NOLA today to the nearest Babies R Us to register. If you'd like to check it out and send us a lil summin' summin', we would be more than happy. It is a hopeless plea for help, of course! We will probably register for some stuff at Target as well. New parents, if you see anything that isn't on the registry that you couldn't live without, please let us know. Also, we are taking donations in the forms of cash, checks, money orders, cashier's checks, traveler's checks, and gift cards. Let me know if you need our address!

Also, we are thinking about trying out cloth diapers. Any suggestions? Now, before any of you get all negative, we have found a kind that is cloth on the outside and has a biodegradable, removable pad liner. They are newer and highly improved than when I was a kid. If any of you have heard anything about the newer kinds, please let us know. We would also buy disposable diapers for trips and such. I'm also saying this so we don't have an influx of disposable diapers because we may not use them all.

Practice for what is to come.

2011-09-05T16:19:00.003-05:00

This past week, Ginny watched a friend of our's little girl. We got some practice on changing diapers, feeding and helping each other. It was a great experience. She's pictured passed out. She only likes to be held upside down.

Here is a picture of Ginny at 24.5 weeks. What a gorgeous sight.

She is coming, the baby's coming.

2011-08-20T15:57:00.008-05:00

Well, our baby isn't green, hopefully! If you didn't know, the title of this post is from Wicked.

We finally found out that the developing bubble inside my wife's belly is going to be a young female. Yes, a girl is on the way. We aren't for certain about the name yet but we have thrown around some that we like. We really like Riann (pronounced like Ryan) Michelle (pronounced like Michelle). She is growing well. Our doctor said that we are still on schedule for mid-late December.

Our ultrasound tech is really good and showed us several angles of the young thing. We were able to see the four chambers of the heart, her fists hiding her face, her feet by her face and her little tush. Here are a few pictures of De Bubble.

Mom is doing well, also. Here is a pic of her at about 21 weeks. She is now 22 weeks.

Guilty Pleasures

2011-08-06T20:24:00.002-05:00

Today was a day of guilty pleasures. I didn't realize it until I was on my way home from running an errand. Ginny has been out of town for the week and I'm not really working a lot right now and school doesn't start for almost two weeks. I was trying to think of what I could do today to stay busy. We have a small mouse problem and our ottoman needs some felt coasters on the bottom so it doesn't scuff the floor when we slide it out of the way to clean. I decided to go to one of my favorite stores, Lowes!! I was going to go to Target but I didn't know if they would have exactly what I needed. I am quite addicted to all of the "Crashers" shows on DIY and was hoping to run into one of the hosts of any of those shows. I'm not really sure what I could have done since I don't own a house, but it would have made my day! Anyway, I went to Lowes and was determined to find the items I needed without asking anyone for help. I always feel like and idiot in there asking for help. If you aren't in there to buy a major appliance or purchase lumber, it's hard finding something in those stores. An older gentleman vocally agreed with my silent frustration, "You can always find someone at Home Depot". HAHA. Anyway, I smiled when I found the coasters for the ottoman and left with all items needed. I drove home and was already planning on going to Eddies Frozen Custard on the way home. It is nothing like Eskamoes in Monroe but it was definitely worth stopping. As I got in the car, "I'm your lady" by Celine came on. Ok, I should feel embarrassed for being 5 blocks from home and instead of going there, driving around campus just so I could sing the song, but I'm not; mostly because women are mostly the ones who read the blog anyway, right?! And to top it off, I came home and cleaned...a lot! I got the broom, the Dyson and the Steam and Sweep out to tackle the LR, DR and kitchen. Done, done and done. Those are my guilty pleasures for today.

Spring Travels Part 2

2011-07-05T14:56:00.006-05:00

After we left Chicago, we took a little trip down to Navuoo, IL. Navuoo is a small town associated with the history of our church. Ginny has never been and I've been a few times. The pictures obviously cannot convey the spirit felt there but it's such a great place. We stayed in some log cabins right outside of town that helped a bit to get in the mood of being back in the 1800's.

We loved our trip to the state of Illinois. It was a grande adventure of a lot of driving, being pulled over for following too close, real hot dogs, laundry detergent being sold on the side of the road among many others. We enjoyed our time and it helped us to grow closer.

Spring Travels Part 1

2011-07-05T14:16:00.009-05:00

Finally, what you've all been waiting for. Well, I'm sure some of you have forgotten, but I promised to post some pictures of our trip to Chicago and Nauvoo, IL. This was a special trip for us. Ginny served her mission in Chicago and has always wanted to go back. I loved being able to see places she went and meeting people whose lives she touched. Here are some pictures of places we went and enjoyed.

We first had to go grab some good food on our way to the infamous Wrigley Field for a cubs game.
We went to Lucky's Sandwich Co.. Those fries were not on the side of the sandwich. They come on the sandwich. It was amazing!
Loved it! We ate a lot that trip.

"Love and Marriage..." Look familiar? It's the same fountain as in the opening credits of Married with Children. It faces Lake Michigan and is a beautiful site!

We saw the Cubs play the Dodgers. What's ironic about that is Ginny hates the Dodgers.

The Bean::I had never heard of it but here it is. I'm not completely sure what it is, yet but I hope you enjoy...

Nauvoo is to come next.

Yeah we did!

2011-06-14T19:01:00.002-05:00

Obviously, I have been greatly busy and haven't kept my promise of posting another blog about our trip to Chicago. Hopefully, it will still come. But, I figured I shouldn't delay the great new information. We are pregnant! Ginny is almost 13 weeks. Of course, we don't know if it's a boy or girl, but we are throwing around some names if it's either. Right now, we are thinking Levi if it's a boy and Noah if it's a girl. And here is a picture of the lil' one.

2 down, one to go

2011-04-29T09:43:00.003-05:00

We have returned from our trip to Chicago and Nauvoo. We are a little tired and about ready to leave for our third destination. We came home for the night and are headed to Houston to see a friend at his reception and hopefully to sneak in the sealing. It's just an overnight trip.

Here are a few picture teasers from our trip.

This is Ginny's favorite Chicago hot dog stand. It's slightly in the ghetto but definitely worth it. Everyone has their favorite pizza place and favorite hot dog place.

And, of course, this is the glorious Nauvoo temple. It's stunning and breathtaking!

Of course, more to come!

Shi-cah-geaux

2011-04-20T16:12:00.003-05:00

Here we come! Tomorrow we leave for a week long vacay. I can't be more excited to get away from school work and work for a week! We have a lot planned.

Thursday we leave early in the AM and drive to Chicago. Ginny served her mission there a few years ago and we have a great opportunity to share in the experience of seeing some old friends and even some who Ginny taught. I love learning more about Ginny's history; it helps me become closer to her. She is super excited to see everyone. Plus, we are gonna have some great food, Portillos, Jimmy Johns, and, hopefully, some Culvers! Oh, did I mention we are leaving 80 degree weather for mid-50's. Oh, yeah!!! For those of you who don't me that well, I love the cold!

After about 5 days there we will head to Nauvoo, IL (a historical site for our church) for a few days. We are staying at a log cabin. We are a little worried about the cabin but super excited if it's what we think it is. Of course, we will hit Carthage on the way out. The only sad part about the trip is the Nauvoo temple will not be open while we are there. Sigh, I love that temple so much and this is the second time I've gone to this town and I couldn't do a session. The last time we went, I was asked to stand in for baptisms and we didn't have time to do an endowment session. Oh well, I guess that means I should have to go back.

Then we will head home for a brief night's sleep in our bed for a night and head to Houston for a couple of days. My good friend Ryan is getting sealed to his love and I'm super excited to see that.

Anyway, I've posted this so people will bug me to post pictures upon our return. Thanks!

Goodbye SELU! You will not be missed. Enjoy your time without us! We will not be looking back.

Still?

2011-04-08T14:57:00.002-05:00

Ginny is still hard at work on her thesis. We have had some ups and downs as far as when she was going to graduate. Originally she was going to graduate in May. Now, however, due to some unforeseen circumstances, she will be graduating in August. She is still going through the hooding ceremony with the rest of her graduating classmates but will not officially graduate until the end of the summer. It is bitter-sweet. She will now get to have more participants for her study and be more proud of her thesis. It will make for a much better publishing.

I have one job down (it was a contracted job and is done for the semester). I am still working part time for a psychologist. My slated graduation date is August '12. If everything goes as planned and SeLU keeps offering the classes I need, I can graduate and move on to grad school. We are still unsure if we are moving anywhere.

We both are going to be spending our summer with Varsity Cheer, a company that hosts cheer camps all over the country. I'm pretty excited about it. We worked for them last summer and I'm looking forward to it again.

"A new life...what I wouldn't give to have a new life."

2011-04-05T21:23:00.004-05:00

So a lot of new stuff happened today. First, I deleted my Facebook page. I was so entrapped in it. Ginny and I have done the optimal thing and combined our pages. Maybe I'll be posting on here more...ha!

Second, I tried soy cheese for the first time today. I recently noticed a problem of my body creating too much mucus. I am lactose intolerant which causes all kinds of digestive concerns. In addition, it also causes excess mucus in my throat when I ingest it. I put two and two together and I have a theory. Maybe my addiction to milk products is also causing mucus to build up in other parts of my body as well. If so, it makes a lot of sense, yeah?!?! So, I'm off of all milk products until the end of April. Hopefully I can notice a difference by then. I might actually have to create a study on myself and use May to ingest different types of milk products to see the effects, who knows. After tasting soy cheese, I might just go on a binge eating spree anyway. So, there you have it. I don't drink cow's milk anymore but now added to the list is ice cream, cheese (too many to list), Eddy's frozen custard, whipped cream (I guess I might have to actually use the tub now), cream cheese, sour cream, cream cheese frosting, cream cheese icing (yes, they are different), grilled cheese, Mexican food in it's entirety (ok, maybe not that far) and the list goes on and on. Could you give up all that for a month? UGH!

Two Fun Dishes, a delicious dessert and some extraordinary rolls.

2011-03-21T21:09:00.005-05:00

We made a great meal last night with bone-in pork chops. We took a granny smith apple, sliced it thinly and added some cinnamon and brown sugar and layered it in a pan. We added the pork chops and topped them off with more of the same mixture. We baked it in the oven for a few minutes and it turned out wonderfully. Ginny was hoping for more of a glaze but we didn't want to use a traditional apple pie filling. This was just the right amount of sweetness added. The pork chops were tender and juicy and we didn't have to add any seasonings. Sides were potato pearls and snap beans.

Tonight, we used some left overs from the wedding. We had some smoked meat my dad prepared for the reception. We froze the meat and defrosted it today. We heated the meat in a skillet, added some BBQ sauce and stuffed it inside some Hawaiian Rolls. We used some Gris Gris Greens from VooDoo BBQ (also from the reception) as our side. So good. If you have never tried Hawaiian Rolls or Gris Gris Greens---you need to.

The dessert was a mini crisp. We took some fresh strawberries and chopped them. In a previous attempt, we have used blueberries, raspberries and blackberries; they were still really good. We added some craisins, lime juice and some sugar. In a separate bowl, we combined some flour, rolled oats (we ran out of oats this time so used some Life Cereal), brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg then cut in some butter to create the topping. We put the berry mixture in a small ramekin and topped it with the crisp mixture. Put it in the oven at 350 for 40 minutes. A tip, fill the ramekin with the berry mixture to the top because the berries will cook down.

Sorry I don't have an pictures of the above but we do have a picture of the fantastic cinnamon rolls Ginny made. It was her first attempt at them and they may have risen a bit too long. We can give you the recipe if anyone wants it; they really are delicious.

We added cream cheese frosting (my favorite) after we divided the rolls. We figured out, rapid rise yeast doesn't need to sit on the hot oven for very long...oops! Learning as we go.

Our new home

2011-03-10T20:24:00.006-06:00

We have been working hard to make our house our home. We are renting a quaint older house right across the street from Southeastern and we love it. It's got it's little tricks and antics that make for an interesting stay. But with our few personal touches, we have made it ours.

We have been so fortunate to find some great steals like our ottoman.

We got the ottoman from our new favorite store, Kirklands for at least 80% off. We saw it a couple of weeks before the wedding but it was a little out of price range even though it was on sale. When we got back, we had a little extra cash so we decided to visit our old friend. We went over to check it out, not knowing if it was still on sale or not. It was but for the same amount. We asked the attendant if more could be discounted because it was in poor shape. The angel said that all discounted items would be an additional 15% off. WAHOO! It needed a few touch ups with a wood marker and still isn't in brand new condition but it looks incredible and fits our living room ever so elegantly.

We got this desk from a store I (Tim) has never been to before, Cost Plus World Market for a steal as well.

(Please excuse the ghetto placed mattress...we do not live in a crack house!)

We have been waiting for it for about a week and just got it today. It came mostly assembled and I put the legs on it and the hutch just sits on top. It will help out so much with organizing all of our paperwork.

With Ginny writing a thesis and trying to maintain a budget with our new relationship, we need all the help we can get.

I posted earlier about our chair covers for our dining room table. This little "hutch" is in our dining room and we assembled it. It came in two pieces from Target and we also got it for a steal. And for those of you who attended one of our receptions, that little white ball on top is recycled from our centerpieces.

Ouizer gave us this adorable ceramic jar and we decided to be a little creative and painted it with blackboard paint.

It took a few coats but it's a great addition to our kitchen to house our utensils.

I also took the idea outside as well. This sign hangs outside our home.

It was very faded and you could no longer see the numbers. I added a couple of coats and threw some chalk on there. Voila!

Lastly, we also just got this compost can. We are not completely green but we are definitely trying to do our part.

We are very happy with our new additions. I'm sure there will be more to come. If anyone has any questions about the deals we got let me know.

New addition

2011-03-08T09:59:00.002-06:00

I decided it was time to add my beautiful bride to my blog. Eventually, I might change the URL but I will post when I make that change. So, it's a new look with my new addition. Welcome, Ginny.

Also, as a side note, we went to Albertson's last night to pick up lb. of sausage for biscuits and gravy this morning. First off, we have turned into our parents because we came out with much more than a lb. of sausage. Anyway, I digress. We bought one of those cloth bags to carry out our groceries. We have a few bags already but decided that we were going to start using them at that time but forgot to bring one with us. On our receipt, I noticed that we received a $.05 refund because we used a cloth bag. I'm not sure if it is $.05 per bag but it was still an nice contribution and gesture. Has anyone else seen this with their cloth bag usage?

Circles and stripes, oh my!

2011-03-08T08:48:00.005-06:00

Ginny and I were very fortunate to find a used dining table and 4 chairs. The covers for the chairs were a little old so we decided to make them our own

We went to our local Hobby Lobby and found two great fabrics that match each other and our dishes. Our dishes are in the same color palette but different patterns. We are definitely taking a fashion liberty with the patterns but we really like them. It took us a lot of troubleshooting to finally finish recovering the chairs but we got it done.Two of the chairs have the striped pattern and the other two are covered in the circular pattern.

Special Note:: If you decide to take on this adventure for yourself, please take my advice and take the older material off first. We put the material over the old material and the corners were too thick when we tried to reinstall the cover to the chair. We had to detach the corners and do some surgery to get it down to the right level.

Pictures of our wonderful day!

2011-02-15T16:01:00.006-06:00

Here are some pictures, as requested, from our wedding day and reception.

These was the talk of the night, our centerpieces. I hate to give away the illusion but the ball is just a styrofoam ball covered in dyed coffee filters on top of a bulky candle stick. Yup, that's all. They were are so elegant looking.

Here was the second talk of the day...our shoes. Ginny loves Nike so we decided to special order a pair of shoes. There is a close up of them below.

"You make me smile" is from the Uncle Cracker song, "Smile." It is our song.

This table is what greeted our guests.

This is my beautiful sister. She did a lot for our reception in Louisiana, including making our the wedding and groom's cake. She also flew out to California for our sealing and reception. I was so grateful.

For those women out there, here is a picture of Ginny's beautiful dress. It is really that pretty. Obviously, she made it look better but it's still amazing.

We changed into shirts to leave the reception that we got for just that night's occasion. Ginny's young nine year old cousin was sad that we were leaving. She asked her mom where we were going. The mom replied, "They need to go exercise." The daughter asked, "Why?" The mom said, "They ate a lot of cake." It was great! It definitely shows that I needed to go exercise, yikes!

We had a reception in Louisiana as well and it was equally as fun! These are just some photos a friend took of us, not our professional ones.

Needs help

2011-02-14T15:03:00.002-06:00

I have pictures to put up of the receptions but posting pictures on my blog is annoying. Am I missing something? Is it supposed to be difficult to post them? I normally just go to the icon that say "Add Image" and then I add the picture. The annoyance comes in because the picture always appears at the top of the blog and then I have a hard time moving it. "Truvy, help!"

Mawiage. Mawiage is what bwings us togethah today.

2011-01-17T22:06:00.006-06:00

My lovely bride and I were sealed in the Redlands, California temple 8 January 2011 at 11 am.

The ceremony was great. One of the best things about it was my whole family was in the temple together for the first time since our family's sealing almost 20 years ago.

Our reception was absolutely beautiful. We had so many people who helped us and we are so grateful for them.

We drove to California for the sealing and spent Christmas with my bride's side of our new family. We decided to take our time getting back and take our honeymoon. We spend three days in Vegas including a gondola ride, shopping, a tour of the Bodies exhibit and the Titanic exhibit and a sinful tour of the "Freemont Experience." We went on to Albuquerque (I finally figured out how to spell Albuquerque; thanks Lissa!) and then attended the Dallas Texas temple and spent the night there. We also had lunch with an old mission friend of mine.

We are back in Hammond and virtually unpacked.

Today, I have to brag. We went to Kirklands to look for some wedding stuff and we checked on an ottoman we saw there a few weeks ago. It was on sale and we thought it would be on further sale. It wasn't on sale but we noticed it was kinda dirty and a little scratched so we asked the sales associate if we could get a discount. It was originally $499 and on discount for $179. The sales associate said we could get 25% off for some sale. So we basically stole it! It is awesome.

Offering Gratitude

2010-11-24T09:29:00.002-06:00

On the eve of our National holiday, I thought it appropriate to offer my thanks for, in no particular order:

My knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Book of Mormon
The Program
My health
My wonderful and supportive parents
My endearing fiance'
Our new-to-be landlord
Our new-to-be home
Our soon-to-be temple sealing
My awesome sister
My love of food
Exercise
A job or two
School
A cute little town to live in
The opportunity to walk/ride my bike to school

The list will continue...

Be free

2010-11-15T23:13:00.002-06:00

Just a funny lil story.

Ginny and I were riding down Airport Rd. in Hammond and saw a bus stopping ahead to allow some neighborhood children to exit and return home to their family. We stopped and waited. As the bus leaves, we both look over at the young kids to only see one of the kids about 10 feet from the road unzip his pants and relieve himself. Yes, he was tee teeing on the side of the road. I guess he couldn't wait until he got home. We lost it! It was hilarious!

Ima need you to get off the sidewalk!

2010-11-12T21:29:00.002-06:00

SeLU is not a bike friendly campus. How come people never learned bike etiquette? It is not okay to ride your bike on the sidewalk when there are pedestrians there. They have the right away. If you are coming up from behind a pedestrian, they still have the right away. You should probably announce yourself, "passing on left" far in advance so they know you will be coming around them (this goes the same for joggers approaching walkers). Even if you announce yourself, you should still try to go around the pedestrians because they have the right away; they have the right to be there.

Also, young lady on SeLU campus in the motorized mini 4-wheeler cart thing. I'm sorry that you have you to ride that on campus for some unapparent reason to the rest of the world. But, ou also do not have the right away on the sidewalk. As a courtesy, pedestrians will move out of the way for you to pass (more than likely because they think you are going to hit them if they don't). The least you could do is say, "thank you." I mean, we wouldn't want you to make an actual effort and say, "excuse me." This is not your campus and no one will ever really respect you unless you respect them.

Not the KS but mucus? Really!?!?

2010-11-09T15:24:00.002-06:00

So, I finally went back to the health center and explained my symptoms to the dr. He did another urine analysis and there was no blood in my urine and the pain I was describing wasn't consistent with kidney stones. Phew! Very good news! But he told me I have mucus on my prostate. Yeah, I know. I was a bit weirded out too. Something I've learned from working in the medical field is, don't be surprised. My fiance' works with injured athletes and they surprise her all the time. Also, I've learned that just because we think something is what it is (mucus only is for our respiratory system) does not mean it can't manifest itself somewhere else. Supposedly, I have some sort of infection in my prostate causing it to inflame so I am taking an antibiotic and a decongestant...for my prostate. Isn't medicine wonderful???

Kidnaaaay Stooooones.

2010-11-06T10:09:00.003-05:00

::Disclaimer:: This post is not for the faint of heart of unscientific minds.

For some reason, I have had some unfortunate birthdays. A few years ago, Ouizer, a friend of ours and I were involved in a semi-serious wreck the midnight of my birthday. This year, around the same time, I discovered I probably am passing a kidney stone.

About a week and a half ago, I thought I had a UTI. My mom gets them all the time so I assumed I could have a problem too. I even think I had one a long time ago. I went to the store and picked up some pain reliever. I got some relief that weekend but the pain didn't really subside so I went to the student health center on campus. The doctor told me that guys don't really get UTIs and thought I might have something wrong with my prostate. And yes, he checked my prostate in the traditional way. He gave me some pills and they started to work.

As I said before, around midnight I started developing a strong, tense and tingling/numbing feeling in my lower back, above my obliques. I was still experiencing the same symptoms from what I thought was the UTI and my doctor thought was an enflamed prostate. I'm about 98% sure what it might be. I've only had two "episodes" of the above mentioned pain but I will for sure keep you all up to date of my experiences.

My Birthday

2010-11-06T09:38:00.005-05:00

Yesterday, I was awoken to a disturbing chorus of some rendition of what, if I was drunk, would sound like the "Happy Birthday" song. Not only was I woke up early on my birthday but the sound was so atrocious. :-) HA!

My birthday was anything but traditional. Ginny brought me some wonderful pastries from a local, The Cocoa Bean; a giant cream puff, an eclair (my favorite) and a pumpkin muffin (Ginny is a bit addicted to pumpkin...everything!). They were all delicious. I also got plenty of texts and messages from friends and families!

On to presents...Ginny got me a shirt (soon to be seen in

our engagement photos) and the best remake of the best movie ever!!! If you watch Glee, the song, "Home" sung by Kristen Chenowith is from the Wiz. I'm so very excited to see it again. It has the incomparable Diana Ross and of course, the King of Pop, Michael Jackson (when he was, uhm, a little darker.)

I also got a great bike from Ginny's family. I'm way excited about it. I've wanted one for a while. My parents actually gave me some money for a bike a few months ago but some unforeseen expenses arose that quickly took that money. I've wanted to ride my bike to school since I'm so freaking close to campus and now I can!! YAY!

I was supposed to go to Baton Rouge to hang out with my parents to attend the best Mexican buffet ever...PANCHOS! But, I have had some, uh, medical problems. I won't be going there for that. My sister has also planned a dinner with some cake tomorrow. I hope I will be all better so I can go to that.

The Day That Ruined a Poor Innocent Little Girls Life....

2010-11-05T08:48:00.004-05:00

On a cold, dreary, and rainy Louisiana morning 29 years ago, I was soundly sleeping in my warm and cozy bed when all of the sudden I was woken up by my mother screaming loudly and in such pain and agony, I was scared for my life... My mom and dad were whisked away to the unknown for what seemed like hours... Cold, hungry, and all alone I waited for what seemed like an eternity until my parents brought home a strange package... The package screamed and screamed and projectile vomited all over them, and all over me and all over the house... They told me he was my brother... now at 3 years old I didn't know what a brother was, but I surely didn't like it... I told them to take it back, I didn't want any part of it... As this "brother" (as he was so often called) grew up he continued to be a pain in my side... teasing, tormenting, and getting me in trouble for beating the daylights out of him... Then he learned to talk... and to walk... and run all over the place making messes and breaking things and blaming them on poor innocent me... Now he is all grown up... I still wish they would take him back...
Well at least he is about to be married and from now on will be Ginny's problem..
Good Luck Ginny!!! You had your chance to run, now you're stuck with him...
Happy Birthday Brother!!!
ps. maybe you shouldn't have the same password for everything in your life :)

Wow...when did it get to be Saturday?

2010-10-30T09:41:00.003-05:00

This week has flown by. I was able accomplish a great deal of stuff but there is so much to do still. My next few weeks are strictly wedding duty. Oh, wait, I also go to school full time and have two jobs...hmmmm. Oh well. Everything will get done.

Thursday, Ginny and I got together with the amazing Sierra to take our engagement photos. I think they will turn out so good. Here is one that she sent us. I'm so excited to see the rest.

Some enchanted evening.

2010-10-22T22:36:00.005-05:00

Tonight, I enjoyed the Southeastern Louisiana University performance of South Pacific. I was blown away by the performance. I haven't seen a college performance of any show in a while and I really wanted to watch this one. The acting was very good and the singing was very good; the main characters and the chorus did so well. Also, the orchestra was phenomenal. I always cringe a bit before an amateur performance starts when they are using an orchestra. It was a pleasant evening.

Wonder of wonder miracle of miracles.

2010-10-17T22:08:00.002-05:00

It's finally happened! Ginny and I are engaged! I'm so excited. We've set a date for Jan 8th to be sealed in the Redlands temple in California. We will have a reception there and another in Louisiana about a month later. We will probably live in Louisiana for the rest of my undergrad-another year and a half and then not sure what's after that. We are way pumped.

YES!

2010-10-08T08:50:00.002-05:00

Ok, since I haven't posted in a few days, I have a double post.

First, I live in lovely Hammond, LA. It's a really great town. For those of you who know me from Canon City, it's roughly the same size. What I didn't know when I moved here, and it wouldn't have swayed my decision because I needed to move here anyway for school, was that Hammond is the town every train in the world has to go through. UGH! And these are not small trains. I'm talking about 50 cars on some of them. Ginny and I were driving to her house (from school to her house, we have to cross two sets of tracks) and we crossed over the last set of tracks and as the wheels of the vehicle passed the tracks we heard **Train Whistle**. We both emphatically said, "YES!" and then turned and high-fived each other. We, of course, laughed at each other; it's such a relief to know we did not need to sit and wait for that train.

Also, Ginny and I are taking a social dance class. I needed 2 extra fine art credits so I could minor in it so I figured it would be fun and fairly simple. I dragged Ginny into it, too. The class is composed of 4 guys and about 15 girls, depending on the day. It's a little difficult to partner up with everyone so we have to go through the dance a few times; the guys usually have to dance with about 5 girls per dance step to ensure everyone gets a turn. For testing, it's a whole other ball game. I had dance training back in the day when I attended Ricks and some in high school. I know how to lead and have done most of the moves we learn at one time or another. So, I pick up the dance steps quickly and lead the girl; a great benefit if she forgets her part. We have tested twice, foxtrot and swing. Both times, I had a line of girls waiting for me. I think waiting is the wrong word. They were fighting over me. Of course, ego booster! I say this only to laugh about it because I don't think I'm that good but I am definitely flattered that everyone wants to dance with me. Halfway through the test, the other guys can leave and I am left with 4 other dance partners. I'm glad to help and it's a lot of fun. Plus, Ginny is having fun with it as well! Maybe one day we will be on SYTYCD!

and I'm a Mormon

2010-10-02T21:40:00.004-05:00

So, I just got done with a full day of spirit filled goodness. General Conference was amazing! There were so many great talks. I wish my memory worked a little better but it sufficient to say I enjoyed a great deal of them.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a Mormon. I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and I know this is the church that our Father in Heaven has restored the gospel of Jesus Christ through. If you would like to learn more about it, click the "Little Stream" button or you could just ask me; I did spend 2 years teaching the gospel to people!

Enjoy~

Doh!

2010-09-21T22:52:00.003-05:00

So, I forgot to post this last week when it happened; probably from the loss of consciousness I received from it. JK. But, Ginny and I walk every Tuesday and Thursday around SLU and I usually wear a hat because it keeps the sweat out of my eyes. So, we are walking around, rounding a corner and I see a box that looks like a McDonald's box on the ground. For some reason, my eye was fixed on it. I don't know if it's because I haven't eaten McDonald's in almost a month or because it was half eaten. No clue. As I turned the corner, though, BAM! I head-butted the stop sign. Luckily, I was wearing a hat; even though that's what impeded my vision in the first place. It didn't even really hurt. And I know what you're thinkin', "He has a hard head." hahaha, not really. My head is way sensitive to stuff like that. But, no harm, no foul.

Compulsory school

2010-09-15T17:25:00.003-05:00

I figured I would throw down a positive blog while things are still positive with school. I really enjoy my classes. My professors all seem fairly legit and I enjoy the material we learn. For certain, there is a lot of reading but at least it's about things that interest me; social work, psychology, social problems, anthropology, etc.

I just started searching for a job. I thought I would take the first few weeks in school to really get a grasp on things. I am at a point, now, where I feel I can spend some time working very light part time hours. I have the possibility of working in a psychologist's office working with some insurance companies. I'm kinda excited about it and really feel that it would work out for me in a lot of ways.

I've also been working out lately. I don't want to jenks myself and definitely do not want the awkwardness of someone telling me, "Have you been gaining weight?" when I've been working out for the last month. So, please, if you see me, tell me that I've lost so much weight and you're so excited for me. That would be awesome.

Go Green! Go Gold!

2010-09-12T09:25:00.003-05:00

I'm not quite sure where my lack of desire to watch sporting events started. My dad is an avid fan of most sporting events. He played high school football and, from what I understand, he was actually pretty good. I even played t-ball and soccer when I was younger. Oh the Green Machine! Up until a few years ago, I'd moan or even leave the room if someone else turned on a football game or especially a basketball game. Yuck!

When I moved to Louisiana, though, football is a season. We are told there are three seasons here. The year starts out with Crawfish season, then moves into Hurricane season and then Football season. Of course, LSU football is an event; or at least watching it is. People will start tailgating at LSU the day before. LSU campus becomes a busy maze of tents and purple shirts with smells of every kind of southern food you could desire. Even if you don't tailgate, the city of Baton Rouge buzzes on game day with excitement and anticipation. It's almost laughable but you get roped in, or at least I did. I found myself watching football for the first time...and enjoying it. The camaraderie is amazing. These people know the players individually as if they were professional. It's astounding. This isn't just LSU football, though. However, it is the largest and grossest example but definitely not the only school.

And this is where you find me today. I've just started at Southeastern Louisiana University and I attended my first football game as a student. It was a great game. We played UT-Martin and SLU held up against the Hawks. It was way fun and I really enjoyed it. We sat in the student section (not nearly as crazy as the LSU student section) right next to the band, who deserve a honorable and genuine recognition-they were very good!

Change gears with me. I became very emotional yesterday when I woke up and flipped on the TV and saw the replay of the news coverage for the attacks from 9/11/01. I remember vividly driving home that morning from a church meeting and listening to some random babble about building being crashed into and not understanding what happened. I walked inside the house and my dad was watching the news coverage and I just stood in the doorway and couldn't move. It was surreal. Yesterday was great, though. A time to remember. The SLU band played a tribute to all armed forces at halftime and I was extremely touched. Thanks to all who daily sacrifice time and energy for my safety!

A hot mess

2010-09-10T19:51:00.005-05:00

Summer was full of fun, adventure and a lot of change. I moved and I'm all settled in. Shortly after I moved, Ginny and I took a trip to California; where she is from. We vacay'd for a few days then worked for a company which administrates cheer and dance camps. In 2.5 weeks, we worked at 4 different camps; UCLA, UC-San Diego, UC-Santa Barbara and a smaller camp in an even smaller town. It was a ton of fun. I learned a lot, got a great tan and enjoyed the beauty of SoCal! The weather was absolutely stunning-especially in Santa Barbara; what a great little town.

After we returned, we both started school. Ginny is starting her second year in her master's program and I'm finishing up my sophomore year for my undergrad in general studies. I'm in a ton of classes that I love; Social Work, Social Problems, Psychology, American History, Adolescent Development and Ginny and I are taking a Social Dance class together; we just had our first test today. It was interesting.

After our first week of classes, we flew to Michigan for a family reunion of Ginny's Dad and his 3 brothers. THAT was great. We all enjoyed a great weekend and I had some incredible corn and played Aggravation; we need to play it again. The game is a lot like Sorry but the board was handmade by Ginny's uncle. On the way up to Michigan, I had a *clearing of throat* touch of anxiety. I refused to re-board the airplane for the return home. Reluctantly, Ginny agreed to ride back with my by train. Looking back, part of my wishes I would have just got on the plane because it was a 2 hour flight as opposed to a 22 hour train ride. But I really loved the train ride. We rented a sleeping closet, I mean cabin and it was quite doable. It was more expensive than a plane fare yet still enjoyable. The food was good and the scenery was gorgeous! Trains hold such a great history. I have a few pictures posted on Facebook under the Michigan album.

Getting back to our dance test. There are 16 girls and 4 boys in our class. Every boy has to dance with multiple girls. We were able to chose our partners. Of course, Ginny and I chose each other. But she was not the only one who wanted to dance with me. I danced with at least 7 other girls. It was insane. I was quite flattered! I do have some dance training with ballroom so I'm much more use to this style of dancing (foxtrot).

Now, I'm just going through life and indeed enjoying school. I just started exercising and realized that I am a sweaty hot mess but I feel so much better. I've also given up all carbonation to help lose weight. Oh, and I got new glasses!! They rock! Life is good.

Moving Day!

2010-07-21T19:53:00.002-05:00

I just finished packing. I'm still doing some last minute laundry but it all has a place and as soon as it's done, I'll be ready to move. I'm way excited to move to Hammond. I feel like I've been in limbo for the past few months. I hate limbo. I hate not knowing what is around the next corner. Now, I will be in school full time (17 credits...eek) and not have to worry about work too much. I will finally be able to put the nose to the grindstone and get some serious school done. I will also be closer to Ginny which will be immensely wonderful and so much easier for our relationship. She's a good support and has sacrificed a lot to come to Baton Rouge each weekend; mooching off of friends and relatives so we can be together at least two days a week. Ok, not really mooching but definitely living out of a suitcase for the weekend, barely getting unpacked, and come back the next weekend. Thanks family and Ginny!

My new roommate seems fairly decent. He has a mature attitude and it seems we will get along just fine. I'm moving into a house which will be wonderful. I'll have my own room again, my own bathroom (for a while) and I can't wait!

I'll officially be in Hammond as of Friday night. Hopefully, I can get it all in one trip.

A month?

2010-07-15T23:15:00.002-05:00

Purely an update of what's happened, what's happening and what is planned to happen.

This summer has been pretty busy. I took off time from school so I could stop spending as much money and bumming off my parents. I'm quitting my job at the clinic and taking a break from the medical field, again. I'm moving to Hammond, LA (about 30 minutes East of where I live now) to attend Southeastern Louisiana University. I'm way excited to be going to a big boy college. Everything has been falling into place, which is comforting. I found a house to rent a room in for the right price. I have a job for the next month that will help make some money and I'll be closer to my girlfriend.

This is kinda boring, yeah? I'll hopefully have some more interesting posts later. Hmmm...

Wal-mart unattended

2010-06-06T10:40:00.003-05:00

Last night so friends and I went to Wal-mart. I'm not an overly big fan of the place because of the lack of organization and check-out clerks. But it does stay open late and we needed a few things. I was a little more impressed with this Wal-mart. I know WM has been attempting to clean and organize the stores better and I applaud their efforts. The lines were still a bit long but not too bad. The lady behind us, though, needed some help that WM could not give her. It was obvious she was a grandmother watching her 3 or 4 year old grandson. She was buying him a bouncy ball. When I was kid, this was a treat. This child deserved no such treat. He did not listen to his maw-maw and definitely needed a good whippin'. And I will always remember this child's name because the lady said it about 20 times, attempting to get his attention. His ball bounced all around the check out line and even landed between a woman's legs. He became preoccupied with a few things and wondered off from his caregiver. She was getting her change back and he took off through the double doors into the lobby. I was not about to let this kid get run over. I followed him into the lobby and kept an eye on him until this woman made her way to him, a few minutes later. Seriously? And then, did she thank me or even reprimand the child? No. Simply, "C'mon (name),let's go home with your bouncy ball." If was that child, I would have been spanked, the ball would not have been purchased and the stranger would have been thanked for their service. She gets the award for the least inattentive woman of the evening!

Vegas, King, RC, SD and airplanes.

2010-06-01T21:41:00.006-05:00

This past week Ginny and I took a trip to Las Vegas! No, we didn't get married. We met her parents and brother (Donnie, in case you were wondering) there. We had so much fun. Our original intent for the trip was just to go to California, where she is from. But we decided that a stop in Vegas to see Lion King would be a great way to kick off the trip.

We landed at the airport Tuesday night and her parents picked us up. The first thing we noticed was the dry, cool climate. It was wonderful! We left 95 degrees and 80% humidity and went to 70 degrees and about 0% humidity; so nice! I experienced In-N-Out for the first time.

It was pretty delicious. I was hungry, as I always am. It was about 1 am our time when we finally ate so it was a little weird eating that late. I really enjoyed the fries (animal style, of course) and the hamburger was way good too!

We stayed at the Southpoint hotel. It's fairly nice. It's at the south end of the strip and everyone kept saying it was a great location for the strip. The town didn't seem very busy to me so I wasn't too worried about where we stayed, in regards to the strip, but it was easy to where we got for the next part of our trip...Lion King.

I've always wanted to see this show, every since it came out! The show was showcased at the Mandalay Bay theatre. We all went and really enjoyed it. The costumes are awesome and most of the actors were really good. I didn't enjoy the older Simba as much as I'd hoped. He was the understudy but I still was hoping for more, even from an understudy. He just didn't capture it for me. Timon and Puba were awesome but I think my favorite character was Rafiki.

After the show, we walked the strip. I was kinda disappointed because we didn't get to see a ton of stuff because it was so late. We did get to see New York, New York and the Bellagio. NY, NY, has a dueling piano bar where two guys play piano and sing requests. That was way fun! Then we went to the Bellagio to try and catch the water show but they must have already stopped doing it by the time we got there. Sad. But they have a garden inside the hotel! It's got real flowers shaped into different creatures. VERY gorgeous! Then we walked back. We went through the Luxor which is an awesome looking hotel! I LOVE hotels. I would love to go on a vacation where I just go stay in different great hotels. I could stay in Las Vegas for a couple weeks, I'm sure!

The next day we left and headed for Rancho Cucamonga. We stayed with Ginny's aunt and uncle. RC is in a valley surrounded by grande mountains! I miss the mountains so much. And the weather was very pleasant as well. While in RC, we ate spaghetti at Vince's, got free hot dogs at the largest tent sale at Tai Pan, had a family bbq and got burned by one of Ginny's cousin. OH and I realized I do not like toddlers close to pools; I'm a nervous wreck! I did wake up in the morning one time, though, and had to go read outside at the pool. The lighting is a little bad in the picture, but you get the idea.

We also went to San Diego to visit the temple there and meet with a friend of mine for dinner. The temple is beautiful inside, of course. Sadly, the outside is under construction so I didn't really get to enjoy the grande splendor of the facade. It is still an amazing temple, though! Our dinner with Chase and Paula was fun. I haven't seen him in a few years and never met his wife until that night. They are adorable. We also went to the Mormon Battalion center. Ginny said it had been remodeled and looked a ton better. I thought the church did a superb job with the presentation. I also ran into a friend of a friend that is serving there. The church is so small! We drove back that night and I realized why California is known for their driving. HAHA!

My trip back to LA (Louisiana, not Los Angeles) was bitter-sweet. I was definitely glad to come back home but sad to leave Ginny, California AND not happy I had to ride 2 airplanes home. Ugh, recently I've developed a little flying phobia. I'm not sure why I have it. As a kid, I flew a lot! But now, I really do not like the ascent at all. And turbulence? Really? I honestly contemplating Dramamine. But I forged through it and enjoyed it as much as I could.

The trip was fun. I was able to meet a lot of Ginny's friends and family and we all had fun. There was a lot more that we did but I'll not bore everyone with details. I enjoyed California and would hope to go back one day.

That is not what she said

2010-05-15T23:58:00.003-05:00

Today turned out to be a great success.

My parents were hosting a crawfish boil today for some of our family and friends. At 730 AM my mom called me and cancelled it due to the weather. For those of you not familiar with our traditions, it's not just because we didn't want to get rained out. But the crawfishermen catch and sack the crawfish in the morning and then sell that at market. Well, if it's lightning, the fishermen (Boudreaux and Thibodeaux) in the metal boats do not go out on the water. So, I called my friends and told them the sad news.

Most of them were awake and one was already on his way over to my house to cook breakfast anyway. I invited the others over and we all ate breakfast and talked. It was a good morning. Then, some of us left to go in search of a park to go swinging. I've never been the swinger type; unless it involves 40's music and a dance partner. But we went, crashed a family reunion, almost stole a kid's really nice soccer ball and then left in search of a sno cone. What do you say, sno cone or sno ball, that was a debate today. Also, I say "cabinets" when referring to the space that appliance sit on. For instance, "Go wipe of the cabinets." I was corrected on more than one account today. I'd like to know if anyone else calls them that.

We arrived at our first sno cone shack which didn't open for 1.5 hours. Not cool. So, we decided to go to one closer to our friend's house. When we go there, it wasn't going to be open for another 2 hours!! WTH? Isn't it almost summer. Ima need them to do betta. So, we forewent the sno cone idea and went in search of another park to swing and play in. On our way there, the rain came. Ugh. So, we were a little a hungry and decided to go find a place to eat. Rotolo's has become a new favorite of mine. They have good pizza and let you keep their cups!!!! What?! Amazing, I know?!! We indulged in their blackened chicken Alfredo pizza while sitting outside in a covered patio listening to the X-generation radio station. All was amazing. We then left and bought a movie at Wal-mart (my friend just moved into his new apt and has no DVDs). We get to his apt and get all comfortable on his brand new sofa in front of his brand new flat screen TV just to find out his DVD player isn't working. Fail! We end up watching Deja Vu on TV-still a great movie!

Afterwards Ouizer cooked beef stew and rolls so we went there, ate dinner and watched Hancock; another great movie!

Then the Wii came out. Mario Brother's for the Wii was played by a room of people in their mid to late twenties. There will be a video posted on YouTube of the action and I'll try to post it on here as link. Oh, so amazing! It hasn't loaded yet but the link might still work, once it does load. We had a blast and played for about 4 hours. There were 6 of us playing, 3 at a time, and trading remotes. So much fun!

This day was so much fun. It was a great day of relaxing and talking and friendship. I enjoyed it so much!

Exhausted.

2010-04-26T23:36:00.002-05:00

Such an exhausting weekend. Ya' know how emotional issues can tire you out almost as much as physical labor? Ugh. It's been one of those weekends and it's even spilled into the week a bit. I'm not really wantin' to discuss what happened because there are parties involved that wouldn't appreciate spilling their business online. I will say this, though, business and friendship is a hard thing to mix. I know some people can do it but it needs to be all business from the beginning or all friendship. I don't think people should be able to mix and match when it suits their best interest. I do believe that people need to look out for themselves and stand up for what's right but at least keep your ethics.

K, I'm done with that.

This next month is super busy for me. I've got a lot of little get togethers, finishing up school, finals, and a major trip planned for the end of the month. I'm pretty pumped about the trip. The girl and I are going to Vegas to see Lion King with her parents. Yes, I'm meeting the parents for the first time. I'm a little nervous. We'll all drive back to Cali to meet the rest of the fam. I'm way excited about going see the San Diego temple! I've seen pictures and want to see it so bad. Hopefully I'll get a session in. We're gonna watch a baseball game too. Ginny's way into baseball and I'm excited to learn more about it. I'm learning and getting better. :-)

Anyway, this month will be fun. I'm very excited to get out of April and into May. Don't forget about Mother's Day!!!

991

2010-04-12T20:17:00.002-05:00

So, I had a little interesting afternoon.

First off, let me preface by saying I work for a neurology clinic and we are required to wear scrubs. I dislike wearing scrubs because people automatically think you are medical personnel. I know more than the average person about the medical field, but mostly behind the scenes stuff, i.e. billing, insurance and other paperwork.

So, as I arrived home to my apartment complex, I get out of my vehicle and a lady from another apartment calls down to me, "I just had a seizure." Now, it is a coincidence that I've work with seizure patients and have seen fake seizures and real seizures and I know some signs of what to look for after a seizure occurs. I was on the phone when she called down, so I hung up and went upstairs. By the time I arrived, she was already laying on the ground and very confused. I asked if she would like me to call 911. I was going to anyway but just wanted her to know I was there. She really didn't say much but I got my phone and began to dial...9-9-1. Yes. Cliche, I know. I was a little frazzled and obviously not thinking straight. I dialed it incorrectly. It reminds me of a quote from Madea Goes to Jail, "My daughter tried that, I hit her so hard she dialed 9-19. " Ha, I luckily realized it before it even had a chance to ring (if it was going to ring). All in all, the ambulance came, the woman was taken away and appears to be fine. Ha. I'm the idiot.

No one mourns the wicked...GOOD NEWS!

2010-04-09T18:04:00.009-05:00

I probably should be doing the 6 hours of homework ahead of me but I'm gonna post this while it's still fresh in my brain.

Last night, Ginny and I went to see Wicked in New Orleans! It was fantastic. I've seen a few musicals and I would have to say I enjoyed this one the most out of all of them. It may be because I'm more mature now and I appreciate the hard work these performers go through to put on a show like this. Regardless, it was amazing! Ugh, I'd go see it again right now. Our seats were great, the show was spectacular and the company I was with was awesome as well!

After we took the picture above, we were told by one of the ushers that we would have to delete all of the pictures I already took (3). She said there was a copyright issue. WTF? Really? Luckily, she was nice and didn't watch me delete them and told me it was only her job to tell me to delete them. There were some other choice witches that were not so kind to others.

After the show, we met up with a friend of mine, Erin, and went to Port of Call on Esplanade. It's kind of a dive bar but had a great hamburger!

On our way back, I thought I should go to the bathroom (such a shocker). We walked through the quarter for a bit and found this bar on the corner that was a last resort. I kinda joked about it being a gay bar when I first went in. I asked the bartender where the restroom was and he pointed down the hall. I went down there and the first door I came to said, "Steve". I thought, "is this someone's office?" I went to the door right next to it and it said, "Adam." It clicked. I chose door #2 and then we left. We laughed about it on the way back-so funny!!!

Easter

2010-04-04T23:23:00.004-05:00

This weekend started off a little rocky, but it turned out to be pretty stellar (yes, if I say stellar, it will come back in style.)

My car has been misbehaving for quite some time. I've talked to it, changed it's poopy parts and even given it the best food I could find. But, it was still not cooperating. I was oh so ready to exchange the beast for a new one. I went to a few different car lots and found one or two that I thought I could afford. My parents were very determined to get me to just fix my current car as opposed to buying a new one. Fortunately, no one would finance me with an affordable not for a car that I wanted AND my dad and uncle are pros at fixing cars. Just as a side note, we've replaced the fuel pump (yeah, the one inside the gas tank) 3 X in the last year and it still was not working right. SO, I went to the Ford dealership to have them run a diagnostic test on the SOB. They did and gave me what was wrong with it. I brought the info to my dad and we determined that the parts that needed to be fixed were affordable and my parents helped me out with the finance part and my dad replaced one part and my uncle cleaned another part. It runs so much smoother now. Phew! I'm kinda excited I didn't have to buy a new car. I really like mine AND I'm almost done paying it off.

Ginny was able to meet my parents and a few other family members this weekend. My parents boiled some crawfish and we had a great time! We played cards Friday night and a little Saturday. I got to eat some delicious crawfish and enjoyed the whole time! I really can't wait until my parents move to Baton Rouge so I can see them more often! I also can't wait until Ginny moves to BR too-45 minute drive is a long time to drive to see each other.

All-in-all, my car's fixed, I spent all weekend with the girl AND I had crawfish. GREAT weekend!

Roommates

2010-03-27T20:50:00.002-05:00

Top 10 Reasons You Know You Live With 3 Other Guys

You clean out the sink one night and then next night there are more dishes in there.
One of those dishes was a large cup (not a bowl) used to eat cereal out of.
The bathroom always stinks; not because of bowel movements but because the towel on the rack hasn't been cleaned in over a month.
The same above goes for sheets on the bed except (for those with a weak stomach) for an undisclosed amount of time.
Each room has their own distinct odor with a valid attempt to cover up with Axe body spray.
NO ONE knows where the broom is.
A conversation is frequent, First roommate:"Hey, are you downloading anything?" Second roommate: "Yeah, why?" First roommate: "Can you hurry up, the internet is too slow to support 'Counter Strike'". The same conversation is had with the other two roommates with answers similar.
The freezer is full of ice cream and frozen pizzas.
No decorations are on the walls.
The Lord of the Rings trilogy, Boston Legal, and or The Dark Knight can be found.

A fun trip for "business"

2010-03-15T23:06:00.002-05:00

From an earlier post, I am now at liberty to say what I was hinting to. I am dating again. She attends my ward and is a great individual. She's an athletic trainer going to school to get her master's in kinesiology. We've been together a little over a month and I'm enjoying life with her! She lives about 30 minutes away from me but we make it work.

This weekend, we went to College Station, TX to see some of her old friends. She use to be the athletic trainer for Utah State's softball team and they were invited by Texas A&M to play in a tournament. We drove through Houston and had lunch with the GF's mission president and then went on to College Station to catch the last few innings of the second game. We watch two more games on Sat. and one on Sunday. We had a blast.

One of the funny moments from the trip was during sacrament meeting when the organist stopped playing the opening hymn after the before the 4th verse. Ironically, we were just talking about that very same thing the day before. Also, there were a ton of young married couples there and the bishopric was eying us when we sat down and all through sacrament..."fresh meat." Too bad we were just visiting.

A cool factor is I met the wife of my "grandpa" from the mission. My trainer's trainer is married to a sister of one of the softball players. Small world indeed!

Support of the Who Dat Nation

2010-02-07T11:32:00.002-06:00

I have heard the phrase "Who Dat?" so much this past week. For those who follow and don't know what "Who Dat?" is...feel yourself lucky. HA! I'm kidding. The phrase has been adopted by New Orlean's Saints fans. It has been yelled, whispered and holla'd at work and every other place you can imagine since they won two weeks ago. Today is their ultimate game. It's the first time they've ever been to the Superbowl.

I'm not one for tagging on the band wagons and the last minute. Nor am I one to even really follow football. However, I feel a certain pride for my state and it's national football team. I'm sporting the black pinstripe suit with my gold tie to church in honor of our team. I'm proud to cheer them on this evening and hope for the best.

And in true Louisiana style, a part will ensue Monday regardless of the victory in New Orleans. Mardi Gras started early this year and it will be crazy!

In this crazy life and through these crazy times...

2010-02-01T23:06:00.002-06:00

School has become apart of my life once again. I'm taking 12 credit hours at BRCC. It's not completely overwhelming yet. I know I have to stay on top of all this jazz, though.

Work is still going well. It's so comforting to be in a job and be able to pay for school at the same time. I have a goal of not getting into debt until the very last possible moment. Hopefully when I get in an undergrad program I'll be able to use my dad's VA benefits to help with school costs. If not, loans it is. I cannot afford to stretch out school any longer than needful. As it is, I should be taking at least 15 credits this semester to be sure to graduate on time. I also just recently heard that SELU has a great Marriage and Family counseling program. I'm way pumped to check it out! I was already decided that I was going to go there for my undergrad and master program. After hearing this, I'm even more positive!!!

I have also had some new developments in other parts of my life. I'm not completely at liberty to say at the moment. After a discussion or two, I'll definitely update with some new information-hopefully good information.

So I was told the other day that I have to be married before I can become a Marriage and Family Counselor. Hopefully I will be since that's at least another 5 years away. It just hit me kinda weird. I know it would definitely help to be married but I don't think it's a necessity. I've seen several relationships and have been in many different types. I'll learn as I go and schooling will help a lot. It's something I never really thought about though. Do we all need to have real life applications before we start a career?

I'm small, I know...

2010-01-18T23:48:00.002-06:00

I've had a lot of emotions/feelings pass through the past month or so. There's been love, lust, enmity, disgust, a lot of irritation/frustration, bliss-filled butterflies, and heartache.

I have realized that emotions are grande. I've been trying to feel them and understand where they come from. I love getting to know myself and growing. Progression is such an amazing thing, even though there are still growing pains involved.

If I'm at all at liberty to offer advice, it would be to always look for ways to progress. Don't try to become perfect all at once because it will not happen, trust me! Discover ways that works best for you. Make things happen. If you want it, don't stress about it. We do need boundaries, but not limitations; does even make sense? We need to follow guidelines but not be so weighed down by things that inhibit us from have the agency we so need and desire.

RW

2010-01-07T23:34:00.002-06:00

So remember when I have "Party in the USA" stuck in my head. It's a catchy song, yeah?

You'll never know how much I love you!

2010-01-01T22:24:00.002-06:00

The title is a little deceiving. I'm just making a list of things that people probably don't know about me.

I have false teeth
I hate shaving
The toilet paper only goes one way on the roll. Yes, it does!
I love cleaning other people's homes.
After my sophomore year of high school, I wanted to be a veterinarian assistant. I didn't want to be a veterinarian b/c it took too long in school.
After I my senior year in high school, I was going to go to school to be a musical conductor of sorts. But my real desire then, and probably always will be, a musical performer.
When I was a kid, I always wanted braces and contacts and thought I never was going to get either and I had to end up getting both.
I like road trips but I don't love them.
I love an song that I can "belt" to. (If you don't know what "belting" is, please look it up and I'm sure you have done the same thing in your own car. )
I love analog clocks. Any and all will usually works.
I love picture frames.
I could have my feet massaged and/or my head scratched for hours and enjoy it.
I love collecting different versions of songs that I like; especially Over the Rainbow.
Have way too many pet peeves to mention in one post.
I love recording songs of me singing but really do not like listening to myself.
I love four part male harmony.
I have moved on average at least once a year since I was born.
The year I came home from my mission, I moved 3 times plus helped my parents move.
I am three years, three months, and three days younger than my only sibling.
I'm addicted to my laptop.
I'd rather have room temperature water most of the time.
When I feel like I'm going to throw up, I crave hot Diet Coke.
When I was a kid and I was running around a lot, I'd also crave Diet Coke.
I don't like anything with artificial sugar.
I've been lactose intolerant since birth.
I secretly wish for a full head of hair.
I LOVE Celine Dion's voice.
My closet is organized by types of clothes. i.e. pants, sweaters, polo shirts.
I have so many t-shirts that I rotate them in my drawers when I do laundry.
I HATE wearing shoes.
I can't wear socks to bed and keep them on all night. Undoubtedly they will be kicked off before morning light; consciously or subconsciously.
If I could, I would sleep in the nude on most nights.
I'd prefer to deck out in pants and a sweater to go to bed just to have the window open and a fan on. I love it to be cold when I go to sleep.
I miss so much about Colorado.
My mother and sister can make me cry when they sing.
Seeing a woman in a white dress is breathtakingly emotional.
I think more people need to be less dependent on their cell phones.
I've said the F word when someone cut me off the other day. This has never happened ever before!
I can drink a gallon of water and still be thirsty.
I wanted to go a mission ever since I was baptized.
I love the turrets scene from Deuce Bigalow.
I love the movie Friday. "You ain't got ta lie Craig."
I love soul food.
I love women with red hair and green eyes.
I have several VHS tapes from my high school of Musicals I was in.
I LOVE big dogs.
I want a lot of kids.
I have a Bass Pro pillow I got from a family while I was on my mission. I sleep with it every night.
I can't stand central heating but I love space heaters in the bathroom during winter.
I am OCD and HAD to end this at 50. K, maybe you knew about the OCD.

B'in

2009-12-29T20:36:00.002-06:00

I need to vent.

Life has become very difficult. I have two relatives in my life who chose not to communicate. The assume by texting/emailing, they are communicating. This is not good. Whatever happened to the milk man, the paper, the evening TV and people who said their peace and moved on with life? Is it that hard to look at someone and say, "I'm not happy about that." The other person say, "I'm sorry you feel that way." and then both of them move on with life? Did I just gain this obscene sense of that is how life is supposed to work? Did I miss the part in heaven where we all fought with each other and said, "I'll love you and get along with you as long as ______________" No. We are family. We love each other. I've been through a lot as a human being. I have had a lot of trials and am able to still pick my ass up and keep moving. Why can't people just get along. What happened to the words "I forgive you" and "I understand"? I'm sure I'm not really making sense and who cares.

Also, why do we compare ourselves to others so frequently. I'm my own person. Even my companion from my mission called me "One of a Kind." We are all individuals with a single purpose. We need to be striving to return to our Father. He wants us with Him so desperately. I feel that need He has for us; or at least the need I have for Him. But it's a sad day when we all say, "But that family is so much better." Or "their relationship is so much better than ours." Or "Why can't it be like it use to be." I wish for those things to sometimes, but it's not that simple. We have to look forward and move on. Nothing is definite. Progression is the key to salvation!

I die without you.

2009-12-18T23:17:00.002-06:00

My sickness is coming to a close, but it's definitely taking its sweet precious time to leave. I really feel I have a virus that never actually died. Do they die? It could die. I'd be ok with it. I might even send it flowers and perhaps sing if it'd like. I keep picturing the virus from that move with Bill Murray. I know it's not the most ideal roommate, but I'd have a proper farewell for it...if it'd just leave!!!

Today was fairly productive for me. I was able to finish my Christmas shopping and wrap all the presents. There is something about wrapping presents that makes me feel a bit grown up. Plus, when I know that I'm buying presents for my parents with my own money and able to give back to them after they've given me so much, I feel so much better. Although, my mom had a really great idea. We had coin banks growing up; an armadillo and one of Texas. We'd fill them up all year long, the whole family would, and then at Christmas time, we used that money for Christmas presents from me and Ouiser.

I am sick AND tired.

2009-12-11T22:28:00.004-06:00

I've been sick now for 6 days. Ugh. I actually feel fine today but I have lot of phlegm in my chest. I use to only get sick for a couple of days a year; normally just one time a year. This year, however, I've been sick 3 times in the same season! I'm actually writing this to let y'all know the amount of medication I've been taking and see what I'm doing wrong. What's weird, is I'm normally the one telling everyone what to take.

I've gone through a bottle of Zicam melt-away cold remedy, box of tissues and a roll of toilet paper (for blowing my nose). I've taken Mucinex DM, Nyquil, Tussinex, Melatonin, EmergenC, Echinecea, and rested a lot. I've sprayed everything I can find with Lysol so no returning sickness and used Burts Bees Wax for my lips when the get dry from breathing through my mouth so much, and for the chapped skin under and around my nose from blowing so much-I think I just rubbed dead skin of my top lip.

I think I finally know the phrase I am sick AND tired.

A new day, bright enough to help me find my way!

2009-12-01T22:43:00.002-06:00

I started to write a completely different blog today but it was a little depressing, so I changed it in fear of losing the few readers I already have attracted to my blog. And I thought of some things that make me happy.

Today I'm riding in the car with my cousin, a year younger than I am. She's a little under the weather and we are looking for a place to get some yummy hot chocolate and she says, "I need a Diet Dr. Pepper, a bottle of water and a hot chocolate." Cracked me up!! She's quite funny.

Also, just a little incite on me...I hate forward messages. They annoy me. I think I've been using e-mail for so long that they are mostly the same. Every once in a while, you get a good message. But they are nonetheless distressing. Having said such, I have a great website which sends out a message of the day. It's a way of thinking that says, "live for today. Don't stress about tomorrow and learn from your past." Sounds familiar? Anyway, please go here and sign up for the e-mail. Try them out and read them. They are quite inspiring.

I really had a great weekend with my parents for Thanksgiving. It, of course, was not ideal-never is. I wish our whole family could have been there. I also wish there wasn't a fight over the deviled eggs. BUT, it was fun to relax and have a nice weekend with them. It hasn't happened in a long time and this was nice.

I recently grew a goatee. Actually, I grew a whole beard, like a do every week, and then carved a goatee. I'm not sure if I'll keep it up.

Ok, thanks for listening to my rambling. It's so refreshing to release.

Tell me that I'm so incredible

2009-11-24T21:18:00.002-06:00

If you can't tell, I'm on a Buble kick. Eh, what ya' gonna do (shrugs shoulders)

On a completely different note, I'd like to jot down some things I'm grateful for. I've been wanting to post for a while about this and figured Thanksgiving eve eve is the perfect time.

In no particular order, I'm thankful for

my new lap top
education and the ability to be able to pursue it
everything my parents have done to make the above two things possible
my religion
my testimony
living close to my family
Michael Buble', Kelly Clarkson and good music in general
iGarage
Shoes for Crews
the temple
warranties
my imagination
others' imaginations
Believe
my one and only, completely beautiful sister
blue contacts
roommate pink tie day
the Practice
hugs, hugs and more hugs
the strength to endure ridicule and criticism
swing dancing
fried turkey
Colorado and all the memories and people that are/were there
organizational skills
monetary stability
musicals and those who love them as much as I do
confidence, honesty, integrity; basically the Young Women Values
three days of work and two days of paid vacation
the Atonement
cool breeze/Fall weather

The more I want you.

2009-11-23T22:02:00.003-06:00

As I sat, sifted through miscellaneous papers and swayed to the soothing sounds of Michael Buble', I found a letter I started to write to my future wife. It was for a work shop at a YSA conference a few years ago hosted by a great couple, Rock-dawg and Donna. I never finished the letter but put it on a list of things I really need to do. It made me think. This past weekend, I went to another YSA conference in Florida. It was a blast! I wish my lazy cousin would post some pictures of me so I could post them on here. Anyway, I was called out in a workshop for being single; especially since I've been home so long from my mission. It really didn't bother me because I know why I'm not married...I'm not dating anyone. I've thought a lot about this recently and I really want to date. It is a little intimidating but I will be dating. So, this letter just made more sense to me. Maybe I need to finish it in order to move on. I know it's a little silly. But, my mom always said to put it on paper and it'll happen a lot easier. So, I'll be writing to the future Sister Garner. Oh, how I love that name. So, here's a toast to you Sister Garner. You'll be across the alter from me soon enough, wherever you are.

The smell of wine and cheap perfume

2009-11-19T23:16:00.003-06:00

My day consisted mostly of listening to people tell us how sucky our facility is and then realizing how sucky it really can be to be on the other side of the desk.

I spent the rest of the day going visit some friends who were in need of some spiritual enlightenment in their home. Then, I came home, watched an episode of Glee (guilty), packed for Pensacola, then made an iPod play list for the trip. I tried to keep others in mind just in case they were interested in listening and threw a couple of my personal favorites. FYI...love the new Michael Buble' CD. Thanks Laura.

So, this trip. I really haven't thought much about it. I guess I've been worrying about others getting there that I didn't really think about going myself. I know I'll have fun. I'm rooming with some good kids and I'll enjoy being on the beach in the fall. I'm way pumped about the road trip. I need a break from everything and I really am going to relinquish control. Don't believe me? I am!

Can I get deep?

2009-11-18T00:16:00.003-06:00

I know it's late because my thoughts are turning deep. It's a fault my family has. We all tend to over analyze things and especially later in the evening.

I've been thinking about my life recently. There's a lot that I have going for me. However, I wish I had more. I'm in kind of a rut when it comes to relationships. And I don't just mean girlfriend stuff. I mean just friends in general. I don't really view anyone as my "best good friend." I know I have people I can rely on and call up to go lunch-even though some of them bail on me at the last minute. But no one who I talk to on a daily basis that I feel connected to. I'm in no way depressed about this, but it's weird. I'm use to having a close friend. It's weird for me to not have one.

(Squirrel)So, I'm starting school again for the Spring semester. I'll be taking 2 online courses and 2 in class courses through BRCC. Might I say, BRCC is so typically Baton Rouge. It's a laid back kind of place and has a lot of quirks that need to be worked out. Case in point, the website is always going through some kind of change which makes a link or two inoperable. But, it's a great school to attend when it comes to learning criteria, class participation and student awareness. I definitely recommend it!

Ok, I guess I wasn't as deep as I thought I would be.

I've gotta new way to move and I got my own voice!

2009-11-10T23:14:00.002-06:00

I went to the dreaded Wal-mart today to get my tires fixed. I was dragging my feet the whole way because I really do not like the Wal-mart. It's gotten worse over the years and I'd much prefer to go anywhere else. I had a nail in one tire and a slow leak in another tire; both purchased at Wal-mart and both with a warranty. I was just going to go to a small tire place to get it fixed but then my mom reminded me of this warranty. I bit my tongue, picked up my tail and drove in.

I arrived to a line full of people. There were two individuals with a basket full each of groceries. I was highly irritated. To add to this, the clerk that was checking these customers was by herself. I was disheartened and looked at this with grim eyes and a realization that I was going to be spending the rest of the afternoon and possibly evening with the cheerful hearts of Wal-mart.

The clerk that checked me in was surprisingly helpful. She checked me in with in a matter of minutes and I went on to do some planned shopping. I arrived back at the tire center and sat to wait to be called. As I witnessed the clerk check out customers, she was pleasant. It made me feel good to know that customer service is still alive. I love seeing her interact with her customers. She called me up and checked me out and was overly helpful.

I will probably not shop at Wal-mart on a regular basis. It's still not my favorite place to be. But I had a good experience and wanted to share it.

Feliz Compleanos

2009-11-05T23:29:00.007-06:00

On Novemeber 4, 1981 around 1230, my mom woke up with the urge to go to the bathroom. She went to the bathroom and her water broke. About 6 hours later, I was born. I'm so grateful for me life. Upon retrospect, I'm very fortunate and I love the path I'm headed towards.

Today, I had plenty of birthday wishes from the faithful facebook friends. My mom, a few friends, my sister and a few cousins all called me. Two old friends ev

en called; one of which didn't even know it was my birthday, he was just calling to inform me of his engagement.

My sister made me dinner of delectable fried chicken, Paula Dean's macaroni and cheese and smothered cabbage. She also baked a delicious pumpkin spice

and praline cake.

We posed for an Olan Mills photo.

And then, of course, there is the infamous birthday tradition of the Brandie Kiss.

Then, I came home to my roommates singing me in English and Spanish, Happy Birthday.

But I can't forget, what I did for love

2009-10-30T22:32:00.002-05:00

For at least a year, I've wanted a computer manufactured by Apple. I was unsure what kind I wanted or even what kind they offered. A few of my friends had such a computer and I began to slowly study and ask questions to find out if I really wanted...needed one. I have a laptop that was given to my by my parents 6 years ago. It's lasted me through thick and thin. But it came time for me to start thinking about purchasing a new computer. I debated and researched and tried several times to get one. I guess luck would have it that I have crappy credit because I've attempted to get a Dell, HP and a few others by financing but to no avail.

The time came when I realized that I really and truly wanted an Apple product. I tried by my own means but was unsuccessful. I knew I needed a computer for school. It wasn't horrible last year but it would be so much more convenient to have one with me wherever I go. My laptop did not have a long battery life. I can only use it for abo

ut 15 minutes w/o it shutting down. Also, it overheats quite often. So, it was decided. I need a knew computer. And as I've always done, I want the best. This usually means the most expensive. And in this case, it was the same.

I researched the Apple website. I implored the expertise of my friends. I tried the Apple store, the website and my friends and finally figured out I wanted the Macbook Pro!

My amazing parents agreed to finance the cost of this amazing machine. The loan was approved yesterday and today, I couldn't wait any longer. Now, I have my computer. My dream has arrived and I'm thrilled. Thanks to my parents and the amazing Apple company!

Dear Journal

2009-10-26T18:01:00.002-05:00

I'm really not sure what's going on in my life right now. I work two jobs and am about to start school again in January. I live with three guys; about to be four. I'm just here. I really would love to be about 5 years in the future. But I'll take my time as it comes and hope for the best.

Today, when I left work, I thought "I wanna hit something, I wanna hit it hard."

Good night.

Tim

Party like it's 1999

2009-10-17T23:24:00.004-05:00

Of course, this is a monumental post for a few reasons. First, I've never posted twice in one day, ever! Next, I have a declaration from a very kind couple about my skills as a server. And finally, I'm kinda amazing!

I work at Don's Seafood Hut on two nights a week as a server. I've always loved serving. I did it for two years at a different location for the same company but now I am in Gonzales. It's a great place to work and I really love doing what I do. Well, tonight, my first real table was a couple who seemed like any other table. They were inquisitive of the menu and I was happy to help them. Although, I didn't arrive at work in a good mood, they left me something that was super nice and something I've never received in the 4 years I've been serving. I've received compliments, tips of large proportions (no blank checks) and regulars who have asked for me. But never have I received this:
I was so moved. It completely turned my day around.

Of course, I love hearing compliments and I shared it with everyone. But the real reason for this post is to show everyone two things. First, a compliment is so important. We all need them and it feels so good to get them and to give them. Second, servers are highly trained individuals and should be recognized. We work out butts off, truly for our money. My full time job, there are days that I can work hardly at all, but I will still get paid. If servers don't work a lot, they don't get paid a lot.

As a plea, do not tip your server less than 15%. If you feel you need to, please inform the management as to the reason. Or, if you feel you can't afford it, do take out or fast food. Do not waste a server's time and then leave then any thing less than they deserve. And please acknowledge them if they do a good job! We all need compliments.

I am on my way!

2009-10-17T10:54:00.002-05:00

I just woke up this Saturday morning at 1036. It was glorious. I probably could have gone to pee and then jump back in bed, but I decided I needed to get up. I ate a bowl of cereal while I checked my Facebook and make small chit chat with my roommate and then listen to our toilet constantly running. I've already opened the door for a guest in our house and felt the cool breeze of Fall. This is definitely the best time and my most favorite season of the year. Yes, my birthday falls in this great Autumn season but it just seems so peaceful. So eloquent. As our Father paints the trees with reds, yellows and oranges. As the wind blows almost every day. As Jupiter's moons are easily visible...all in a straight row. It's a great time of year. (side note: another roommate just started whistling, "It's the most wonderful time of the year." Now, I know Christmastimme claims that carol, but it was fitting for my point.

My iPod broke a few months ago. I was on my Colorado trip and I noticed that it wasn't holding a charge. It made me very sad. She's old and it was probably her time. Plus, it was a refirbished one and I got it for pennies. I feel I got the most out of it. So, as all of you may or may not know, I've been obsessing over a MacBook Pro. I probably caruse the Apple website more than a few times a week. Ok, so like everyday, don't hate! I was looking at some of the other iPods available. I really wanted an iPod touch. However, I couldn't see spending $200 on it when it holds the same amount of songs as a Nano. I also couldn't see spending any money on something new unless I knew that my iPod Classic was kaput. I brought it to the Apple store, turned it in for what I thought might be an in patient surgery and left my baby there. I got a phone call with in a few hours...the jury's back already? There was nothing they could do to save my innocent friend but they could offer me a replacement one for the $129. OR I could get an brand new iPod Nano for $149 and then take 10% off with the recylce program. So, that's indeed what I did. The new Nano has a lot of neat features. I can't wait for my MacBook Pro so I can fully appreciate the Apple nation. But, I am on my way, I can go the distance!

Not a BLANK thing

2009-10-07T22:29:00.000-05:00

I just had a conversation with my roommate. I really want a family. I was actually looking at a blog of some friends with an adorable child and I yelled, "I want kids." He asked what I was doing about the situation. I replied, "Not a damn thing." He told me that there are many ways I can do this. It made me laugh. The first two were adoption and then kidnap a child. Then he said I probably can't adopt any children...obviously. He also thinks that Wikepedia has all the answers.

I was also told that I haven't entered a blog recently. My life has been less than thrilling. Although, my new desire is to obtain a MacBook Pro. I think I've always had expensive tastes. For instance, when shopping for school clothes earlier in my life, I'd normally come to my mom with articles of clothing to which my mom would exclaim, "did you have to pick the most expensive..." Also, I just had to have a Dyson, which I now love! And now, I need a new computer and I really only want the best. And the best is a MacBook Pro. I know it's expensive, but it's the best, and don't I deserve the best? So, hopefully, within a month or so (before school starts) I'll have one.

Speaking of school, I spoke to a counselor yesterday at BRCC. I'll be starting classes again in the fall. Not sure how I'll afford paying for a computer and classes and still finding time to acutally do the classes. But I'm doing it.

A fun day at work

2009-09-14T21:31:00.002-05:00

Today, I had an interesting day while at work. All I really want to say about it is stand up for what you believe in. Don't allow anyone to tell you differently than what you feel is right! Sometimes, it may be hard, but always think down the road. If you don't speak out today, the next time something happens you may need to use the last offense in this defense.

Funny you should ask...

2009-09-01T17:48:00.002-05:00

To recap my last few months...
I've been steadily working away at the NMC.
I went to Colorado for my 99 Class reunion. Suprisingly, I really enjoyed myself at the reunion. I knew I'd love seeing my old friends and hanging out in the gorgeous mountains that make up the Rocky range. But to actually go the reunion, I was a little skeptical. I really enjoyed seeing people that I haven't seen in a while. I shook hands with people who I didn't think knew me in high school, but knew my name and were actually excited to see me. We toured our high school and saw a lot of great new additions and changes to it's structure! I really wish I could have seen a few of the teachers, but it was still so much fun. I loved hanging out with some of my close friends while traveling through the great state of Colorado! It sincerely was such a great trip.
Before my trip, my new roommate Michael and I found a great place to live. I was the only one to scope it out before the actual agreement was made; I was a little concerned with all that pressure. But it turns out to be a great place indeed! My old roommate/landlord wanted me out by the end of July, but I was in CO during that time. He and my new roommate were kind enough to move all of my stuff to the new apartment for me! It was such a relief to come home and find everything already moved!
I settled in for a few days and then another great friend of mine came down for a week. I took off another week and we did things that frightened fish! We went to Avery Island; the Laura, Shadows on the Teche and San Francisco plantation homes; and then toured New Orleans. It was great to catch up with Stephanie; we haven't seen each other since before my mission, about 8 years ago...eek! We both have changed but for the better, we decided. We've matured and it was really neat to see someone who knew me when I was a "kid" and to now see me as more of an adult and notice the difference.
Right before Stephanie got here, I developed a crappy cough. I took some meds/herbals/vitamins and I still have an annoyance version of it, but nothing too serious. It's so much better, except for when I "honk" in the middle of sacrament meeting.

"Hey, whatcha' doin?" "Runnin!"

2009-07-07T23:16:00.002-05:00

A movie quote as the title of my blog, from one of my favorites. Can anyone guess it?

So, my 10 year class reunion is coming up soon; 2.5 weeks. I definitely look different than I did when I went to school. I never really thought, though, that I'd do much about it when it came down to it. I'm sure I'm at least 40 lbs heavier than when I graduated and I know I won't lose it in time. However, I looked in the mirror a couple of days ago and seriously frowned. So, I started running. It'll at least help me feel better by the time I go. PLUS, I'll have better lung capacity for when I travel to a place 3,000 feet higher than here. I actually like running. I like the way it helps my body feel better and definitely eases tension. It also helps me to keep myself limber. I'm so afraid I won't be able to play with my kids, whenever I have them. Honestly, I need to find a dance partner to go dancing with.

Ok, enough random thoughts for tonight.

Visually impaired

2009-07-01T23:09:00.002-05:00

I'm still fairly new to the whole contact scene. I know Ouizer has been a pro at contacts for years but my eyesight has been good for my whole life; until about 2 years ago. I've had contacts, now, for about 3 mos. I can put them in without getting frustrated with myself or dropping the contact in the sink or down my shirt or shouting at myself in the mirror "You can do this, now c'mon." Well, I've been trying to build up a tolerance for using the contacts longer than they are prescribed for. Everyone else says they wear theirs longer than they are told to.

This week was somewhere in the 3-4 weeks range for this certain pair of contacts. I was at work-in front of a computer and I had this headache and I knew it was from the contacts. So I went to the bathroom to take them out. I took the left one out like normal and then reached over to take the right one out with my left hand. After doing so, I noticed that my left eye contact was gone and I must have dropped it. I looked around but couldn't find it. I threw my right contact away, shrugged my shoulders and went back to work.

The rest of the day, though, things were weird with my vision. Everything was so blurry out of my left eye. My right eye was a little blurry too but not too much out of the ordinary. The next morning, I woke up and the problem was still there. I got really worried. I went all that day and afternoon wondering what was wrong with my left eye. As I was sitting that evening, in my institute class, I was rubbing my right eye because it was sore. Wouldn't ya' know it, my contact popped out. As I played my internal tape back, my left contact must have slid into my right eye when I extracted the right one. EUREKA! I even slept with it in and didn't even notice. INSANE! I was so happy. Ok, so, I'm simple and cute, but this was amazing and I'm happy that I'm not going blind as quickly as I thought.

The Last Task

2009-04-13T21:28:00.002-05:00

I attend a class on Tuesday nights called Institute. It's a scripture based study program for young adults. This semester we are studying the parables of Christ from the New Testament. One of our assignments this semester was to write a parable. I've written mine and posted it below. Enjoy!

The Last Task

by Timothy Garner

After the end of a long day, an aged woman came to her final task. The new job she acquired left one room to be cleaned in this home of extravagant size. With her grayed hair matted and plastered to her head with sweat and grime, she wiped her brow and rolled her stained sleeves past her elbows. As her wise eyes surveyed the room, she thought this would be the quickest of all the rooms she’s cleaned thus far and her day would end shortly.

She filled her trusty metal bucket with warm water mixed with cleaning solution. She placed her moistened rag to the mirror and wiped the stained, spotted glass. As she scrubbed, the room began to appear brighter as the light from above reflected. A pair of lips creased into a smile and met the gaze of its owner. She spoke a sigh of completion. She next moved to the counter, the sink, under the soap dish, around the stainless steel faucet. As her rag became dirtier with every wipe she realized this dirt had been here for a while and it took a little more effort to release it from its resting place. She moved to the tub.

She drew back the curtain and realized her quick thought job would be much longer. She knelt down; scrubbed, polished and made things shine like before; clean. Her task was almost complete. She swept the floor and then removed the rug from its place. As she did, she realized that the floor use to be pristine white but now was an off color. Her shoulders dropped. She was tired. Sweat poured into her eyes but she pressed on. As she ran down the bristles of her brush upon the tiled floor, she knew it would never be as white as it originally was. She was so worried that it wouldn’t be clean. Her long job was not yet complete and how could she call her work complete. On a stroke forward, her brush slipped through the suds on the floor and her body collapsed on the wet soapy floor. She began to pick herself up when she heard footsteps in the hall. The owner of the house was returned.

Before she could think, he entered the bathroom. He bent down and grabbed her elbow and helped the woman to her sore feet. By now, she was crying. He wiped the tears from her worn eyes and asked, “Why are you crying?” She looked at him and did not know where to start. But without thought, she said, “ This floor will not be any cleaner than it is now and I’m very worried that you would not have me in your house any longer. I have done all I can.” His smile made her heart stop and then he replied, “Please, leave this floor for me. I will replace every tile. The floor will be white again and made new.” Her worn eyes sparkled as he guided her out of her last task.