N'Awlins...I learned that's how you say it!

Culture. Pralines. Gumbo. Beignets. Jazz. Lots and lots of jazz.

Oh, and lots of boobies on the street.

New Orleans.

French Quarter.

Café Du Monde.

When I booked our honeymoon one of the things I was most excited about was the fact that we were porting out of New Orleans and we were flying in early to spend some time there! You see, I’d never been to New Orleans and I just couldn’t wait!

Our arrival started off a little rough. Our cab driver drove like a maniac while shouting on his cell phone in a foreign language to someone. I was convinced we might die in a fatal taxi crash before we ever got to our hotel. This is my “smile-I-might-die” look.

After we arrived safely at the hotel, we checked in and rode the tiniest little elevator up to the top floor for our room. I had to pee like a race horse because you know, I can’t use public restrooms, and while I was in the restroom Doug entertained himself with the self-timer on the camera and took the following pictures.

We then quickly set out to explore and experience the French Quarter. I am in love with the old houses all mushed together and the tiny little alley ways. They are the cutest thing ever! I also couldn’t get enough of all the people dressed up in the street and the human statues and the stations with tarot card readings and all the food! We ate at The Gumbo Shop, which was pretty good. I had gumbo, of course, but let me tell you this: I don’t know what all the hype is about. It was just a rice stew. Don’t tell the hubs I said that though, he will go crazy. He thought it was the most delicious thing ever. I was more interested in the hot French bread!

I got some Mardi Gras beads but don’t worry, we paid for them in dollars instead of boobs. 

I didn’t get any pictures (because that would have been gross) but we accidentally stumbled into what Doug called the red light district. They were strip clubs and nude shows and other naughty things lining the street. I was sort of in a daze from the lights and the balconies but I came to when I looked across the street and a woman in lingerie and high heels was popping her boobies up and down.  Aside from being totally shocked (I mean does Wyoming even have a strip club? I was out of my element!) I was also in total awe. That woman must have been doing some serious bench pressing to get her pecs to move like that! Doug told me to stop staring and we quickly made our way out of the red light district!

We really did have a great time in New Orleans. The food was phenomenal and the culture was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I loved how small the streets were and that everywhere you turned you could hear jazz music coming from somewhere. If you followed the sound eventually you’d find someone or a band tucked away in a little corner playing the classics. Also because it was Christmas time we heard a lot of jazzed up Christmas songs.

 The Louis Armstrong Park had preserved buildings where they claim jazz was invented.  We went through the park and looked at the statues and buildings but ran out of time to really spend too much time there. However, I did love looking at the old apartment building and imagining a young trumpet player experimenting with his musical talent to create a musical style that would sensationalize and take the world by storm.

I imagine if I was a partier I would have been more engaged in the night life of New Orleans, but since I am not I just enjoyed the food and culture during daylight hours. As darkness fell I was ready to go back to my hotel room and wait safely inside for the sun to rise again! New Orleans: Crossed off the Bucket List.

From all of our Adventures: The Most Important Milestone

It's the emotional things that are always the hardest to write about: love, loss, death, happiness...you know the things you want to keep closest to your heart or the things you know words will never do justice to.  Today I'm blogging about one of those such things: My Husband.


At a time where I was lost in this world and sure I didn't deserve the things I desired the most, this incredible man walked into my life. He was patient and hilarious and kind and while I was terrified he quickly showed me that in him, there was nothing to be afraid of. So in the best decision I've ever made in my life, I married him.

Our first year of marriage has not been for the faint of heart as we have tackled broken down vehicles, busted pipes, sick family members, frustrating work schedules and difficult class loads. Through every second of my life he is the rock I need to rest upon.  I don't know what I would do without him by my side.


We spent our technical anniversary on the cruise ship (which I promise I WILL blog about) but tonight when he was on his dinner break from work, I surprised him with this anniversary dinner. We cut our cake and remembered all the promises we made for each other and prayed for many, many more years here and the eternity beyond. I love you, Douglas.

It's Okay Friday

It's Okay.......

*That I am so excited I have nothing to say. Seriously! BON VOYAGE!

To Get My Christmas Spirit Back

I’m writing in red today because it is a delightfully wonderful Christmas color. You see, I lost my Christmas spirit.  I woke up one day and there was a pile of unexpected bills and a vacation we bought 6 months ago looming in the air. If I sold the vacation I could pay the unexpected bills, but there were a few problems with that…first off the whole passport had to match the name on the vacation thing was an issue and second off my husband told me come hell or high water we were going on this Honeymoon – that is why we purchased it clear back in July, it was cheap and it is most likely now or never. Once the pitter patter of little feet can be heard in our life, we likely won’t be able to afford even the cheap vacations!

So, fine, we would go on our belated honeymoon. So we’d be gone for 9 days in the month of December, what could be the use of decorating for Christmas, right? If the weather cooperates we won’t be at home for Christmas Day so why go through the effort of the lights? The stress level at our house was bursting beyond the red zone with final papers and upcoming final exams, why put up a tree? The savings account dropped dramatically with the root canal; what, then, would be the purpose of getting out the poinsettia table cloth? I baked almost every Christmas gift I gave this year because money is tight, so what reasoning would deem wrapping paper necessary? That’s right, my Christmas spirit was gone.  Buried somewhere under a pile of bills or maybe stuck in the suitcase full of luggage or perhaps it was just exhausted and poured into all those batters and the dough I baked. Regardless of where it went, it was missing – and I was okay with it.

Then, on December 1^st, something happened. Something that looked like this:

Here is the sedation

This is an attempted smile

That’s right, a root canal. That same day I was at the doctor for a slew of my own troubles and was emotionally and physically exhausted when I arrived to pick The Hubs up, pay the bill, and drive my high husband home. What I didn’t expect was for the stoned version of Hubs to be so unbelievably hysterical.  Somehow he punctured through my Debbie Downer attitude and by the time we hit Grand Avenue I was laughing so hard it hurt.  His adamant demand for a hamburger and constant assurance if I would just get him one he was sure he wouldn’t bite through his own cheek or tongue was the highlight of my day.

When we arrived home I went to the back of the house to fold some laundry, wallow in some self-pity over the pharmacy bill and get a few good tears out so I could take a deep breath and move forward. When I came back to the living room The Hubs had brought the Christmas decorations in from the shed.  He was still high as a kite and feeling no pain so he was speaking in fast rapid sentences with no breaths between words. He said something like, “I-feel-so-great-lets-decorate-for-Christmas-right-now-I-can-do-it.” When I told him I had said I wasn’t decorating this year he said, “Yousoundsostupidrightnowletsdoit!” I wish I could explain in text how funny he was. His humor melted the icy concerns of all the worldly things from my heart. So, we did this:

A few days later a dear friend of mine wrote this blog post.  It was just what I needed for the remainder of the icicles to turn into water and open my heart to all the real reasons I love this time of year.

Jesus IS, in fact, the reason for the season.  I wake up each day and strive to be more like my Savior.  I try to show, through my actions that love one another means ALL mankind. It means kindness, it means charity, and it means random acts of selfless behavior.  It doesn’t mean select the cool kids to love or the popular people to service. It means find the ones in need the most. It means remembering He healed lepers, He forgave and made clean prostitutes and thieves and liars, He preferred the outcast and downtrodden and through it all He loved every single person, no matter what their situation was.

I learned a valuable lesson this Christmas season. A lesson that these worldly things I had let get in my way were taking away from the real purpose of this time of year – a lesson that taught me that these worldly things are of little consequence in the grand scheme of things.

This time of year is beautiful.  The lights and colors add to the feeling of magic in the air. The music brings happies to my soul and I can just feel love in the air molecules surrounding me.  Don’t let the stresses of the world take that away from you this Christmas. I almost did but now that I am on the other side of it, I have to say I am so grateful for the root canal that cost an arm and a leg. For ultimately, it gave me my Christmas spirit back.