Lovely Louisiana

I woke up this morning, ready to face the day! I only woke up briefly at five before rolling out of bed half conscious at 7am. Anita greeted me with waffles and coffee in her nice china cups! Yesterday we decided that today would by my Baton Rouge day and tomorrow New Orleans baby!! After catching up on email and such I got myself ready and headed out toward LSU and Mike the Tiger. 


Talk about gorgeous country. Louisiana is what all Southern novels describe. It's as if you're  dropped right into the early 20th century, surrounded by gorgeous views, front porch talk, and thick southern drawls. All accompanied by nice homes and nicer outfits. I feel as though I'm meeting the old Southern gentry every corner I turn. I was surprised to find how segregated the neighborhoods are. I've been told this on several occasions but driving from one end of town to the other you can distinctly see where the white neighborhoods end and the black neighborhoods begin. 


This is the the first place I've been in the South where whole hoards of people try to look nice and somehow, in a college town, they all have the sweet drawls of dreams. This is the accent people mimic when they mimic that southern drawl. I know I seem captivated, and in every sense of the word - I am. 


Walking through the streets of the LSU campus I was captivated by how large it is. Just the parking lots combined would be the size of both of my colleges in Minnesota and Colorado. Needless to say I chose one place to go - Mike the Tigers habitat. 


I got there just as it began to storm and got to see Mike come alive with the water. The faster the rain drops fell, the more riled he became - frolicking across his lawn as if singing "Pour some sugar on meee!!" Just kidding :) As I watched Mike do his best Def Leppard impression I went on a mission to find Linnzie's brick in the ground. Right as the rain picked up I found her parents bricks but not hers. Eventually I sat under an awning waiting for the rain to pass, bummed I couldn't find her brick. After deciding the storm wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon, I headed back to the car and as I looked down I saw her brick!! Snapped a picture and happily went on my way! 


I stopped into the Chimes Restaurant on Chimes Street [original] just as Linnzie had instructed. I ordered red beans and rice, mac n cheese, and sweet potato waffle fries. I shouldn't have to say how utterly exciting sweet potato waffle fries are!! 


After lunch I headed down to see the old capital building and got a grand education on the history of Louisiana's governors, or more specifically Huey Long - whose extremely controversial run as governor ended with him being assassinated by a doctor. Needless to say - he reminded me of our current state of affairs.


As I was heading toward the Magnolia Plantation I found myself back in front of Robert and Anita's house - I took that as a cue to take a nap and crawled into bed. Two hours later [ I must like two hour naps ] I woke up with a wicked gut ache and have been down for the count ever since! Today ended up being a take it easy kind of day but I am looking forward to touring the old history of New Orleans tomorrow!! 

GPS Mishaps: Mississippi - Louisiana

Monday brought hurried packing and quick gulps of coffee through blurry vision. The day of my departure from Tennessee. I left at 6:45am in order to make it to Pigeon Forge to have breakfast with Sandy's parents.   On the way there every time I would turn my head the road would slowly follow after - it was getting apparent that I hadn't had enough sleep. Once I arrived at their place I sat down on the couch to talk, next thing I know i'm laying down and Grandad is telling me to take a nap. Next thing I know I have slept for TWO HOURS! I know that I needed it, but talk about postponing your plans ha! Once awake the grandparents and I dropped my car off for an oil change and went out to eat at IHOP, where I enjoyed a delicious quesadilla! 


After parting ways I set out for the great state of Mississippi!! To be honest I cannot remember the whole trip - I was too busy yapping away on the phone and mindlessly following the directions of my GPS. And by mindlessly I mean that when my GPS suddenly lost me and I called Sandy, I could not even tell her the street I was on let alone the city and state I was in! It turns out I was still in Tennessee when I had only two hours to go until I made it to where I was going. My GPS was taking me a way that I would bypass Alabama all together. Not only that but it had no idea where I was going and once it found me it was on a death con mission to send me down Natchez Trace Parkway - which just so happens to have zero street lights or towns along its winding roads. Scratch that. I got directions from Diddy and headed on my way. 

I was welcomed by purple hull peas [we MUST get these in Minnesota, seriously] and chicken salad. Delicious. Of course, dinner would not be complete without dessert, so I decided to indulge in the chocolate cake Grandma made - yummm!! 


I slept like a rock through the night, waking only to my alarm at 7am. After pouring myself a cup of coffee and meandering my way out the door, I sat out on the porch with diddy until he put me to work picking cucumbers and bringing in peaches. We ate eggs, biscuits, and pork tenderloin for breakfast before I had to be on my way to Louisiana. 


On my way, my GPS once again got temporary amnesia and I pulled over to use my sweet atlas at least twice [tongue twister much?]. I shall thank William for that atlas because it got me all the way to Cleveland Mississippi where I had a delicious lunch with my friend Josh. It was fun stopping in to see someone from Minnesota - and I was the first person to go visit him while he's in school!!

Once I realized that Baton Rouge was 5 hours, not 3 hours, from where I was we wrapped our visit up fairly quickly and I continued my descent into the dirty south. Five hours later I was driving under the branches of live oaks giggling my way onto the street where Robert and Anita live. After two hours of chit chat we find our way inside and settled in for sleep! 




Songs of the Day [I'm like a blog DJ]


Glass- Thompson Square
I'm Yours - Jason Mraz
Forever and Always - Shania Twain
Free Fallin' - Tom Petty
American Pie - Don McLean
Holy is The Lord - Chris Tomlin

The Best Relationship Advice I Ever Received

Sunday service began with a memorial video for Andy Griffith – which I found comical, only because once the video was done nothing was mentioned about it. I couldn’t tell you much about what the sermon was about save for one bit of advice from pastor Will – always say I love you.  He told us about an 18 year old kid, the son of a preacher, who had sky dived on this 18^th birthday last week, and died the next day while cliff jumping. His advice was to always say I love you. Although this is fantastic advice, those who know me well, know that I am great at the L word ;) So, this is not the best advice I have ever received.

Earlier in the week I watched a sermon online from pastor Jon – the pastor from my church in Minnesota. That week’s message was titled “Failing Forward: Relationships.” His message was clear – just because we have failed in our relationships with our friends, family, parents, children, spouses, etc. – does not mean we have to continue failing. Through God we are cleansed and begin new each day. We ask for forgiveness and have the option to  continue on the same destructive path or to move forward in our relationships. He used the example of a homeless man he once knew. This man and he were casually talking over dinner from the soup line when Jon asked him about his family. Upon hearing the question the man’s face turned sour and he relayed the story of the end of his marriage. They had gotten into a fight and he had walked out on her – never to return – and twenty six years later remains homeless, stuck in that moment; stuck in his failed relationship.  Pastor Jon challenged us to take failures and turn them into successes – his message was not “to let past failures predict our future destinations.” I had missed this before, but I am someone stuck in failure. After my relationship with William I had begun to believe that I never wanted to get married – not because of my relationship with William, but because it had failed. Not only had it failed but I was not sure how or why exactly it failed. I could point out a list of pitfalls and snags but in the end those were just specifics when what I wanted were the broad reasons. The umbrella reasons for a failed relationship – so that I could move on and understand how to have a healthy, loving, friendship -which brings me to the best relationship advice I have ever received.

Sunday afternoon, while paying bills and scanning through the POF profiles [don’t ask] I came upon this pretty boy. After rolling my eyes at his modelesque picture and snickering at what I thought was going to be an all too full of himself dope – I read the first line of his profile “I live my life for Jesus” – of course, feeling sheepish, I read the rest of it only to find myself staring at a link and directions to watch this video.  Obviously after so harshly judging this book by it’s cover I decided to watch the video.

The video was a sermon titled “Love, Sex, and Dating” part 1 of 4. It was an hour long sermon done by a man named Andy, a pastor in Georgia. He had me hooked instantly with his charisma and straight forward message. His message contained many parts but three stuck out for me. 1 was the “right person myth” this idea that we will somehow become the best wife/husband if only we find the “right person” – that upon meeting this person, everything will just fall into place “naturally.” He then explains that although chemistry can bring people together, it cannot sustain a relationship. He then goes on to ask us to ask ourselves “am I the person that the person I am looking for, is looking for?” basically – if my dream person walked through the door, would I be their dream person? He used the example of a female from a singles group he leads. This woman grew up Christian but upon entering college decided she’d like to put that on the back burner and concentrate on having fun and casually dating around, which also meant sleeping with people. One day she was at a party and he dream guy happened to be there – amazing looks, career, and personality – and he was also devoted whole heartedly to God. When she got home she told her mom all about this man and her mom turned to her and said “Sweetie, a man like that doesn’t want a woman like you” and the girl, realizing her mother was right, began to cry. She decided at that point to become the kind of person she would be searching for – the kind of person the person she wanted, would want. If this wasn’t enough he then went into 1 Corinthians 13 – the love chapter – and went over each line step by step, helping us to understand how to instill this in our own lives. After all, God created relationships and in so doing, taught us how to be in these relationships. He then gave us the advice to practice each of the things in that verse in our everyday lives. On any first date we may go on, with any potential person – even if we know we will not marry them. Because maybe if we practice enough, when the “right person” comes along – we will have the relationship skills to build a truly miraculous relationship. There was so much more in that hour sermon, and the one from Jon, that I have included both links and really urge you to listen to them both!! I have yet to watch part 2-4 but  friend of mine did and said that all four parts combined should be watched. 

After watching that sermon, coupled with all I had learned that week – I realized where I had gone wrong in so many aspects of my life, especially my relationships. So while I may have rebelled against the idea of joining POF – I believe now I know why I was drawn to join that site, and it may just have saved my future self! God bless and good luck!! 

http://vimeo.com/42134877 - Pastor John: Failing Forward

http://www.northpoint.org/messages/the-new-rules-for-love-sex-and-dating - Pastor Andy: Love, Sex, and Dating 

Frolf, Kayaking and Snipe Hunting :)

Friday night was characterized by a surprise game of frolf with Forrest. Of course here, and most places, it is not called frolf [frisbee golf] but rather disk golf because frisbees are not used, disks are haha. Either way - I got to play one one of the countries hardest courses and it was only my second time playing. I finsihed 10 holes with a total score of 9857934867456 but thats okay. I had a great time learning the proper disk hurling technique from Forrest, only to watch my disk go careening through the air in some acid trip direction, unaware of it's hoped for destination. At one point I redeemed myself by jumping across a stream and falling on my knees to save Forrests disk from the treacherous two foot wide stream. What a thrill!! 






Saturday came with a brand new adventure for me! Another first on this road trip of first time experiences - kayaking!! As predicted I started the day nervous about the looming brush with death. I even called my dad to tell him I love him just in case I never came back ha! Once on the rive, however, I got the hang of it pretty quick and within the first hour I began taking the off shoots from the river where the rapids would be higher. I made it my mission to pick up garbage floating in the river and embarrassed Forrest and friends by riding halfway down with a beach ball on my head - fun suckers! I had an awesome time and have decided that once I have the proper funds, I will definitely be purchasing a kayak!! I hope I can find a place just as fun to kayak in Minnesota. Although I am sure I will love lake kayaking too :) 


After kayaking we went to a famous barbecue spot situated in the side of a mountain and right off the highway. The place was packed and it took an hour for the five of us to be seated. Never the less we spent dinner talking [and trying to get me to shutup] while enjoying beans, barbecue [southern for pulled pork], fries, and of course - sweet tea. 




Once our little escapade had ended and I was fully showered - Forrest called to ask me to go snipe hunting. I said no at first but he convinced me that I needed to add another first to my list - so I reluctantly agreed. I went upstairs and asked Jason if he wanted me to make snipe for dinner the next night if I caught one and after asking me how I was going to catch the snipe he stared at me like I was the dumbest box of rocks he'd ever seen - and I hadn't even begun to tell him how!! Well it turns out the although snipe is a real bird, they only live in the southern coastal states and are extremely hard to catch [ thats where we get the word sniper ] and of course, you need a gun.
 No flashlight and bag in the middle of the night will work! So, armed with some serious steam I got onto the four wheeler with Forrest [ who was decked out in camo!! ] and rode to the edge of the forest, after numerous horribly embellished lies and fifteen minutes had passed I burst out that I new there was no such thing and Forrest's face was priceless!! 
It turns out he had planned to give me a flashlight with nearly dead batteries and leave me in the forest!! Well not really, but I would have thought I was alone!! Jerk. Needless to say - I had a great time "snipe" hunting. I can only picture the movie Up - where they didn't want that little boy around so they sent him Snipe hunting lol!! What a great adventure!!

Bathroom Remodel: Smurf Kingdom

Ahh the downstairs bathroom. I had just gotten back from Nashville and I asked Sandy if we were going to do Jason's bathroom. She expressed that Jason didn't think I could get it done in a week. I retorted with "Well, aren't you going to do it regardless if i'm here" - I guess the answer was no. So I, never one to like having things left on my honey do list - got to work. 


I began tearing down the wall paper, only to find that the wall paper likes just where it was placed and has no intention of ever, EVER coming down. So - after Jason explained that he doesn't see why I even took any of it down, I began power sanding the walls. I only power sanded the parts where I had torn off wall paper and then I spackled over the edges so as not to have crazy lines. 

After spackling and waiting several hours I returned to my new project and block sanded the spackle down to a smooth [mostly] finish. Now, seeing as i've never done this before and I was flying solo in my renovation some parts didn't work out to well and probably look worse than before I unleashed my wicked awesome reno skills ;)


Nevertheless, I began priming over the Fields of Scotland meets Duck Hunter wall paper. First coat of primer = the biggest joke of a job i've ever witnessed. As you could have probably thought we were making some sort of design statement rather than covering anything up. Second coat of primer, we're getting there - slooowly but surely. Third.Coat.Of.Primer and you finally can no longer see the wall paper, or your sanity. By this point I am exhausted and ready to be done painting. I head in to bed, only to receive a text inviting me to a bon fire and smores - who can turn that down? So out I go, after a whole day of reno, at 1am.



The next day, the Fourth of July, I begin with the smurf blue paint. Okay, so it's supposedly "sky" blue but whats the difference!! The paint has been sitting long enough that the first two walls are painted with a water like substance that hardly can call itself a first coat of paint, but by the last wall we have some real progress. We head out for our Independence Day festivities and when we return I schlop on the second coat of blue paint. At this point I should mention that they have a blue toilet, and a blue vanity top - just sayin. So, as I finish up the second coat of paint Jason tells me that we'll probably need a third. I take a break and get invited once again for smores and a fire - hello, its fourth of July!! I write a note and head out, once again - at 1am. 


The next day we realize that 5 coats of paint were plenty - but just incase, I add another coat to a couple walls and touch up various other places. Screw back in all the light switch coverings and such - and viola!! A new Smurfville is born!! :) Tomorrow, it is on to the T.V room - Sensuous Pear :P  

Bathroom Remodel: Chocolate Soiree

So I wake up last week - drowning in sickness, head pounding and I feel like I could go back to sleep at any moment. Beginning of my sinus infection. I stroll into the dining room and Sandy plops something down in front of me - a honey do list. And by honey I mean me. On that list is to power wash decks, power wash house, de-wallpaper, sand, and paint three bathrooms and a couple other things. I think - okay, I have two weeks to do this. And then she walks into the bathroom and begins tearing down wall paper. I look in there, choke back tears of sickness and begin tearing it down as well. Begin the bathroom renovations. 


Halfway through tearing down this wall paper - and some various medication later - I begin to get into the groove of things. The wall paper is coming off the wall in sheets, making this job fun rather than arduous. All it takes is some water and spackle spatulas and we've got completely bare walls. At this point we've enlisted the help of our friend Eric and the bathroom is coming along swimmingly.


Finally, we are finished prepping and have begun the task of deciding how to proceed. She decides she would like a pink bathroom and I add that dark distressed cabinets would be lovely in a pink bathroom. She bites - and we're all giddy with bathroom remodel fever. Sandy finds a chair and a wicker basket for her tone inspiration and it's off to Lowes to spend money and make bad decisions!! 


Once there we realize that pink, as with any color, has sooo many many hues. We go on and on between the hues and finally settle on Soiree - which I tell Sandy means a fancy party haha! Next its the cabinet debacle. She thinks she'd like to do a crackle finish on the cabinets, so we receive a little crash course on crackle grab our Chocolate Fudge and Almond Fudge colors and head out the door. 


Back home Eric's eyes widen as we open the pink paint and begin slathering it on the walls. At this point he asks what Jason thinks of our dive into the feminine pool of pink and chocolate, Sandy replies - Well its my bathroom, he has his own! Well said Sandy, couldn't agree more :) After a few more swishes of the paint brush, all of our eyes begin to widen as we take in the pink walls swirling around us. Stroke after stroke the walls slowly grow pinker until the pink has taken over and then it is done - the walls are pink and it is time for bed. We're all a little unsure of how we feel at this point but we keep reassuring the other it looks "GREAT!!!"


Eric spent the night in the guest room and wakes to help us continue painting in the morning. As we walk into the bathroom we all seem to relax - it really isn't that bad - it's actually GREAT. Now I don't know if Eric felt this way but we sure did love it! We unscrew the cabinet doors and I get to work priming and painting them. After I have primed them and painted them all two coats of Almond Fudge, Sandy decides she'd rather not do the crackle and instead maybe distress them lightly afterward. So on to the Chocolate Fudge. A deep brown color  that matches most of Sandy's bathroom stuff. 



Three coats of brown later, I screw the cabinet doors back on and we clean the bathroom - and go to bed. Another day over and the bathroom is looking amazing!!! The next day we attempt to lightly distress the cabinets and realize we painted the coats to close together and when we begin to sand, the dark brown melts away to reveal the white primer rather than the almond fudge. Well - that didn't work! So its on to the clear coat. 


After another whole day of clear coating, waiting, clear coating, waiting, and clear coating - we add the pictures and the curtains. Now - Sandy has the perfect bathroom. The fanciest of chocolate parties. Her Chocolate Soiree!!

Day 53-54 : Country Music, Forever

So despite being stricken with a sinus infection for the past week, I decided to head to Nashville last night! After going to Jonesborough Days with Forrest and nearly passing out from a mixture of benedryl and 104 degree weather, I found it a wise decision to make a five hour trek to Nashville to spend the night out on the town!


Weeks ago I had emailed a friend of a friend, explaining to her who I knew [name dropper!] and asked her if she would so graciously allow me into her home. She accepted!!! [this must be what its like to pop the question]. So after weeks of zero contact we realized this was the only weekend left for a little Music City fun! So I loaded up my little suitcase, put my hair in pin curls and headed to Nashville - medicine and tissues in tow. 


Upon arriving I found myself driving on a sidewalk to park in front of their friends house - apparently this is how they do in Nashville because everyone else was also parked on the sidewalk! In true Southern fashion we ate a whole feast of a barbecue before becoming enamored in Final Destination 5. For those of you who know me, you can just picture me pacing between the living room, the kitchen, and the bathroom in sheer dread. After scarfing down food and eluding suspenseful death scenes we piled into my car [ another fantastic reason I do not drink ] and went downtown!! 



The whole road was lined with people from everywhere imaginable - yet Holly still ran into at least five friends from high school! I was in awe at the number of musicians and homeless people there were laying about. Not only that but I was sourly disappointed at the number of people not dressed in cowboy boots and hats. The one "cowboy" I saw had to be close to fifty and made a habit of engulfing himself around the twenty something girl he was with. We hopped from joint to joint dancing and laughing. 
To my dismay I found out two things 1. that Nashville bars stay open until 3 and 2. you can smoke inside some places. Thank God we found our way out of lung loss lane and into a nice bar with lots of space to move, sadly without any country music. However, at about 2:15 I found myself still dancing the night away, hardly tired. Regardless of my perceived energy I rounded up the now very drunken troops and told them I wanted to hit the road before half of Nashville got into their whips, impaired. 


Sleep finally came at around 4:30am after I downed two tylenol PMs and two benedryls. I did not wake up once until 1030 and then fell back asleep until noon. I feel so - wonderfully irresponsible!! Coming from the nonsmoking, non-drinking, sick chick - whatever! 


I said farewell to Holly and Tim and drove off into the sunrise - just kidding. I went back downtown for more baby! Really I just went out for brunch at a cute little restaurant/grocery story/live band bar. After eating I found myself wandering in the Country Music Hall of Fame learning about the history of Country music and all those that have contributed to its awesomeness! It really opens your eyes, being in Nashville, the number of those who made it compared to the number of those who did not. Overall it was a great experience! 

Although I didn't make it to church today I'd like to finish by saying that it was still a good day for God. I usually take note of songs i'd like to add to my blog and today almost every Christian song that played stirred my heart and I wrote half of them down! I found myself singing my little heart out with the worst voice possible - and loving every minute of it! So, even when we cant get to Church, it comes to us :) 




Songs of the day - 
That's Why I Pray - Big and Rich
I Can Only Imagine - Mercy Me
10,000 Reasons - Matt Redman
Busted Heart - For King and Country
Fields of Gold - Sting [lmao!]
In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel
Free Bird - Lynyrd Skynyrd [faaaavorite]