Weekends to Remember

For the past few weekends our home has been filled with the sound of laughter and chatter of dear friends. We have had a lot of visitors lately, and we have enjoyed every minute of it (even the cleaning that ensued before, after, and between each one)!  Now our house sounds strangely quiet and empty, kind of sad.  While our venture to Louisiana six years ago led us into a new life, a life full of happiness and new beginnings, it also forced us to leave behind dear friends and family who mean the world to us.

Thankfully with friends like ours "leaving behind" doesn't mean losing them forever.  It just means giving all of us the opportunity to have new places to visit and gather.  Kyle and Krisha came this past weekend.  Low key was our goal for the weekend.  We succeeded and enjoyed every minute of the relaxation and conversations.  No matter how often we talk or how often we see each other, we are still able to relive moments in the past that brings everything back to life.

We had different visitors the weekend before...Danny, Mallory, and Baby Noah (who is no longer a baby) came to visit us.  It was strange having them here again because the last time they were here Mallory had just found out she was pregnant with Noah.  Man, how time flies!  We enjoyed trips to the zoo, eating out, and having a very fast paced weekend.  Then Kay Kay came on Thursday night.  Kay Kay usually makes frequent trips to see us, but we have all been so busy lately that she hasn't had a chance to come down since our WEDDING!  We (mainly meaning Josh) have done so much around the house since then that it was fun watching her see all of our improvements!

This weekend with Kyle and Krisha, we all piled up in our bed and watched old home movies from our high school days.  We watched video footage from our old parties, we laughed until we cried, and we reminisced about each person we saw come across the screen.  In typical wonderful weekend fashion, it passed us by much too quickly.  Kyle and Krisha had to head back home early Sunday morning; Kyle had to work that night.  We cussed the adult world, the responsibilities that we know in the end bring us so much joy.  We know that's how it works though.  For the four of us, the time we get to spend together never seems like quiet enough.  It never quiet compares to all the time and endless hours we were able to spend growing up together in high school.  We know it's going to happen every time, but it never makes it any easier.

After Kyle and Krisha left, Josh and I lounged....ALL DAY!  Recovery mode.  That's what we decided to call it.  We watched (well pretty much I watched and Josh napped) more old movies.  This time it was NCA football season 2004-2005...Senior Year.  I watched countless pep rallies, Josh was "Bad 2 The Bone" complete with ripping off his shirt, we were all so young.  The senior pep rally was a tough one to watch, all the tears, all the uncertinities and excitement in our eyes...it seems sad now just looking back.  A bunch of small town kids about to embark on the rest of their lives.  Lucky for us, we have been able to start that journey together and stay close through it all.  Most of us from our graduating class all keep together in some way or another.  We are closer to some friends than others of course, but we all still have each others backs.  We were a small class, a tight knit group.  Six of us who graduated together married each other...what are the odds of that?  Six out of 29 is saying a lot.

I guess that's a small town for you.  Small towns breed closeness, they breed strength, they breed bonds that are tough to break.  Which means every time our small town visitors come to town, our hearts get pangs of homesickness when they leave.  In the end, we know that we are where we are meant to be...at least for the time being.  We know that Thibodaux is home for us for now, and we are happy here making new memories and new friends to mix in with our old friends.

We can't wait on our next Mississippi trip or for our next Mississippi visitors to come here.  Plans are always underway for us to go visit someone or for someone to come here to visit us!  It leaves us all with an underlying sense of excitement and anticipation that we love carrying around with us day to day.  So until the next trip, we will just relish in the memories this past few weeks of visitors has brought us!

Belated Birthday-Take One

Dads.  What would we do without them?  I can't imagine my life without my daddy.

This past year I tried to start a new tradition with blogging.  Every time a person close to me would have a birthday, I attempted to make a tribute blog post in honor of them.  Apparently I let a few slip through the cracks (I realized this as I was going back and re-reading my blog).  Good excuses abound for the three to four I missed, but that is beside the point.  So let's take a trip back in time and pretend as if we are in the end of November...Thanksgiving time or better known as Dad's Birthday! (I am working to catch up on my other birthday honor blogs that got skipped as well...one at a time though!)
Just for the record this blog got missed because I killed my first deer the day after Dad's birthday and was still running off of adrenaline when I blogged that entry.  If you want to relive it with me just click here!

Back to Dad...What would I do without this man...

He has always been there for me, lead me down the right road, and attempted to guide my financial decisions (although I must say I didn't always listen to some of those conversations).  He bought me my first car, and then my second car when I blew that one up, and then my third car when Josh wrecked that one, and then my fourth car when I wrecked that one.  Ok ok I know that's a little extreme, but hey it happened...maybe it was my fault that I didn't change the oil in my first car and the engine blew up, but I learned a very valuable lesson that day.  The lesson probably came in a little more clearly when my car that followed the big blow up I caused was an extreme demotion from my first ride.  LESSON LEARNED, Dad!  I will check my oil and check it often!

The lover of crawfish and all things Cajun, my dad is always looking for an excuse to make the trip south to come pass a good time in the boot with us!  And likewise we are always looking for an excuse to make the trip north to him!  The man can COOK.  That and the fact that he and Josh are almost joined at the hip.  "Padnas" as they call each other.  I feel so blessed to have my daddy and my husband to be such good friends!

A trip down memory lane, and oh look how things have changed!

From soaking up the sun on the beach...

To a father of two celebrating a big day...

To now having three (plus a son-in-law making four) and celebrating every event that we can possibly think to celebrate...hey any excuse for cake you know...

Guidance, friendship, and sometimes just an ear to listen or a person to bounce ideas off of...whatever it is I don't know what I would do without my daddy there by my side.

"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him father"

Life these days

I resolved this new year to be a better blogger. One month in and I'm not succeeding. I promise to try harder from here on out!

The skinny on what's been keeping me away? This guy...

No really he's not to blame, and I don't have any excuses. Nope, no excuses. Other than the fact that I am happier than ever! I have been enjoying life so much and counting my blessings that I haven't had time to stop!

My new job has blessed me with a work schedule that is so wonderful it still seems unreal! Getting off at 3 o'clock every day still amazes me. It has turned me into a better wife and a happier person. I feel like I can get things accomplished every afternoon after work, and I get to see and spend time with my amazing husband. I feel blessed beyond words to have found this change of pace that my life needed. There are still some unknowns in the job realm, but I am doing my best to put it all in God's hands. He got me this far, I know I just have to trust Him to lead me the rest of the way!

I have been blessed, more importantly, with an absolutely amazing (and yes I know I have used that adjective to describe him already but sometimes there is just no other way to say it) husband. In the almost year we have been married we have grown closer together than I ever thought possible. I thought we would never be more in love than we were on our wedding day, but it's 11 months later and our bond has grown and strengthened in ways I never thought possible. Mushy and make you sick to your stomach I know because I hate to hear people talk like that, but really just to sit back and look at God's work almost brings me to tears.

We have been working hard around our house too! Pictures are coming soon, but someone in our subdivision's husband just built them a brand new cedar fence and I'm pretty sure it was mine!

Other exciting news around our household...dates have been set and come August I will have gained a new sister!  It will be an eventful year as Jef and Eighmey prepare for their nuptials.  I cannot wait to watch it all unfold!

So with that I guess it's off to bed.  The work day comes early, but we wouldn't have it any other way!