summer spectacular...

Our weekend in New Roads was like a sun drenched dream. We spent more time on the water and dock than on land. Just the way I like it. :)

Thursday night pleasure cruise:

{Evangeline hated the life jacket her dad bought her- doesn't she look scared?! Bless her little heart}

{It was fun waking up with all the kiddos in one house! You gotta love a slumber party.}

Friday: Red, White, and Blue Day!

{Our gracious host, Captain Coco!}

{the three cousins with life vests on = adorable!}

{Every time we got on the boat, E would fall asleep instantly and stay knocked out until the boat stopped! So funny.}

{The sand pit idea was kind of a bust- they were either throwing it in the water or throwing it in each others faces, but don't they know how to turn it on for the camera?}

{Lots of special Daddy-Daughter time was had.}

On the 4th of July evening, Fr./Brother-in-Law Andrew cooked burgers and we watched from the dock fireworks all up and down False River. Hudson was having a ball- he kept jumping and screaming, "SPECTACULAR!!!" We have no idea where he got that from, but I was cracking up.

On Saturday morning, I woke up early to watch the sunrise. The morning was filled with a million different shades of pastels. I just love what God does with his paintbrush in the sky.

{Some more morning cousin play time before we got ready for some coasting on False River...}

{This is our attempt at a group photo - Hudson wasn't having it. Poor guy just got sunscreen in his eyes.}

{See! I told you- falls asleep every time!}

{Hudson had fun driving for a second, but Andrew - our little dare devil- took this job seriously! Trouble ;)}

A quick jump in the river-lake and we were back on the road to Shreveport. The thing I liked best about our little road trip was the lack of clocks and structure. Since Evangeline was born I have been on such a schedule that when I realized I could just go with the flow this weekend- I took full advantage. (Y'all- I even took a nap!!) It felt like a real vacation!

On Sunday we had lunch with Russell and the Raleys at Oyster Bar. Yum. Also- I love my friends.

Then we had dinner with DeeDee and Pops.

What a wonderful 4th of July holiday!

dancing into the weekend...

This dancing Nana has had me laughing for most of the week!

 I hope I am as spirited as she is at 88 years old!

(be sure to listen to the very end)

I could dance all f**ing day too, Nana. Happy Weekend!

live thoroughbred racing action...

We enjoyed an afternoon at the racetrack a few weekends ago. I have only been 2 other times so no need to call the gambling hotline, but we had such a good time bettin' on them ponies!

Even though there were WAY more serious bets going on around us (we put $3 on our guesses), it was still such a fun feeling when we won!

What a fun way to celebrate Russell's mom's birthday!

making a house a home...

Things are beginning to settle down around here- post wedding and honeymoon. I am excited to share all of the stories and photos with you detailing our beautiful wedding day and adventurous road trip! If you know me at all, you know that I took a gazillion pictures of the trip and I just haven't been able to organize them yet into a blog post. However, that day is coming soon. What I have been doing is organizing our little house and making it cozy with all the wonderfully generous items our friends and family gifted us with over the last year.

When we got back from our honeymoon and picked up all the boxes from my mom's house, I was so anxious to set the table with our new placemats, napkins, plates, and silverware that once I did, we scheduled two dinner parties! I have christened the bread maker and the pistachio green kitchenaid mixer with pizza and a strawberry cake. I am looking forward to making popcorn with our whirley pop gadget and experimenting with our new ice cream maker! Mr. T is in the process of growing some watermelons and I am kind of hoping to make homemade popsicles out of them. I feel so inspired by all of these new kitchen accessories! My grandmother was a home economics teacher and my mom is the queen of the kitchen, so surely there is some of that in my genes, right?

My new role as a wife is different than a girlfriend or fiance, there's a lot of weight in that title -but the day-to-day stuff is a lot of the same- in a good way! I continue to ask myself, "What can I do for Tison today? How can I show him I love him right now?" This next chapter in our lives has so much potential and is filled with an ocean of possibilities. Talking with my husband about our future goals- sharing our dreams and encouraging one another to reach them...these are the things that make life worth living. This creative, positive, loving energy that is alive in our conversations inspires me daily. Can you tell my love language is quality time??

(yes, I still have some work to do on my baking techniques...but it was tasty!)

*photos from this weekend

weekend happenings...

This weekend went by quickly as all weekends tend to do. I always find myself saying on Sunday nights, "Just one more daaaaayyyy!" - in a kind of whiny little girl voice. This is what my weekend looked like:
Friday-
I went to St. Johns to listen to the author of Left To Tell. I haven't read the book but I'm familiar with the devastating Rwandan Holocaust. Her experience moved me to tears. The power of forgiveness is absolutely unbelievable. I am looking forward to reading Immaculee Ilibagiza's book. She is such a beautiful person.
Saturday-
My mom, the Southern Trace coordinator, the florist, wedding coordinator and I met for four hours discussing the details of my upcoming nuptials. Can you believe it is in 82 days?? Me neither. After the meeting, I stopped at the new Wine Country Bottle Shop location for a much needed bottle of wine :) Steve and MC had us over for Crawfish Time and fireside chats. The night ended with a dance fest at Bears. I may or may not have been the only one dancing...

Sunday-
Lauren insisted I put on my spandex and wind shorts for a 90s style roller blade excursion in Spring Lake on Sunday afternoon. Let me tell you- blading up those hills is NOT easy- Neither was the little fall I had at Pierremont Oaks where two seriously concerned older gentlemen had to assist me up off my a$$ when I flipped feet up/butt down off a ramp... no- i wasn't mortified at allllllll..... as we rolled away from the club house I thought Lauren and I were going to pee in our pants from laughing so hard.

Last night was the Oscars. For some odd reason Comcast lost connection about 45 minutes into broadcasting the show - so Russell, Tiffany, Tison, and I opted to watch the James Bond action film Skyfall with a fresh bowl of popcorn. I approve.

all on a mardi gras day...

For those of you that know, celebrate, and love Mardi Gras, do you not agree that it has a similar joyfulness to that of the Christmas season? The parties, the food, the excitement? (Is that scandalous to say about a holiday based on pagan celebrations?! I don't care- i still love it.)

Last year we went down to New Orleans for the Bacchus Ball and had an amazing time, but this year we stayed on our home turf and went to Tison's favorite parade, The Krewe of Highland Parade! Kate and Brandon threw a little get together that lasted way after night fall (even though the parade ended around 5.) It could have been the homemade fried mushrooms or mozzarella sticks; it could have been that I played my first-ever game of Clue, while I watched the movie Clue (so meta), but I think it was because we didn't want Kate to win at Cards Against Humanity! Don't worry- she did anyway. That girl knows how to put together a funny sentence ;)

Happy Fat Tuesday, y'all!