Ecclesiastes 3:4

2011 has been full of ups and downs ever since December 2010. Starting with December 11, 2010 the day my brother and sister-in-law got married. The wedding was absolutely beautiful, like a Christmas wonderland. 

They left for Mexico on their Honeymoon and the day they got back, December 18^th, was the day Bryan proposed!

What an unforgettable day that was for Bryan and I.

We then quickly had to make many decisions within our Christmas break. The date of the wedding, what job Bryan will accept, where we were going to live, and not to mention our honeymoon destination! We said our last goodbyes and finished off our last semester of college both graduating in May!!! It was quite a whirlwind with wedding plans, and senior projects consuming our lives.

Then the end of May we found out my brother was having heart problems. He had a couple of holes in his heart and the doctors said he would need open heart surgery. It shook us all up. He was going to have to go to Houston for surgery and would possibly miss my wedding. Thankfully they were able to wait and leave the day after! So Bryan and I flew off to Jamaica and had a wonderful week relaxing by the water enjoying our pina coladas trying to ignore what was happening back at home. The flight home was the most stressful flight. I knew I would soon be packing up and moving 9 hours from home and finding out the results of my brother’s heart not to mention crazy turbulence. The second we landed in Dallas, I had an e-mail from my mom. My brother would not have to have surgery it had healed on its own. What a wonderful way to end our trip. God had truly blessed our family.

After living in Pearland for three months Bryan was put on a project in Baton Rouge. I wasn’t completely thrilled considering I just started getting places without my gps! However, I knew it was only temporary so I was going to think of it as an adventure. We did think it was ironic that my parents moved to BR when they first got married and our apartment is about 5 minutes from where my dad used to work! We have definitely taken my parents advice and have tried to explore as much as we can and have enjoyed every bit of it.

My first big holiday as a married woman was absolutely wonderful. Spending time with Bryan’s family and also getting to spend time with mine. I could never be more thankful. My mom side of the family usually gets together about once a year but usually with busy schedules someone can’t make it. This Thanksgiving God blessed our family once more bringing all 19 of us together.

Yesterday God decided to take my Grandpa home with him. He went peacefully with my Grandma, parents, and Aunt and Uncle there. What an amazing man he was. He lived to be in his 90s, a World War 11 veteran, lived to see two great grandchildren and had been married to my Grandma for 65 years. It will be a difficult Christmas for our family but we know he is with the Lord.

Through this whole year one verse has constantly been in my head which has gotten me through this exciting, stressful, joyful, and mournful year.

“For I know the plans for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”- Jeremiah 29:11

However, Ecclesiastes 3:4 fits this year perfectly.

“A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.”

All these events that have happened to me and my family this year have only made me stronger and I can only thank God for that. Another new year has come and I cannot wait to see what God has planned for Bryan and I as well as our families. Bryan and I are headed for Tulsa in the morning and Sunday, December 11th we will be celebrating Our 6 month anniversary, Clifton and Hillary's one year anniversary, and the life of my Grandpa. 

Another experience

Nothing too exciting has happened the past few days except for Monday. This is one experience I will never forget. So I was asked to be a stand in again but they needed someone for a different movie. Well I wasn't thrilled because I knew it wasn't a chick flick. It was a HORROR movie. I hate saying the word horror because I feel like it is a cuss word. Well anyway, they gave me the address and said I needed to be there at 6:15. Well I show up and get on the shuttle van with a crew of scruffy men. They asked if I came prepared for the rain and mud. Well of course I wasn't! I was wearing flats and a lightweight sweater. The high was 75! I had no idea we were filming outside in the middle of the woods!! I thought I was going to cry. When we got to base camp I was the only one not in rain boots and rain gear. I overheard someone say "someone needs to get her some boots and a coat because she won't make it out there!" As I was trying to hold back my tears all I could think was thank goodness I didn't wear my pink skinny jeans. I was quickly handed an over sized men's coat and men's boots and hauled off on the back of a dirty John Deere gator to the middle of nowhere with the closest bathroom being 15 minutes away. That's right, they wanted us to use the bathroom in the middle of the woods. I was wondering when someone was going to wake me from this nightmare. There was another stand in with me. His name was Brandon who had long hair and did covers for romance novels. I didn't know those people really existed. Well I quickly found a place to sit and wait until they needed me.

I sat right there on that log for 16 hours. Do you see the yellow caution tape? They were making "blood" and throwing it over branches to make it look like a murder scene. This movie is called Red Clover which is about a leprechaun killing people. The only actor I recognized was Billy Zane who played Kate Winslet's fiancee in Titanic. This is the last movie I would ever want to see. The leprechaun, who I sat next to at lunch, looked more like a little monkey monster. I told them I thought leprechauns were supposed to be bright green with a top hat. It looked nothing like that. Well, by the time lunch was over I thought I would be going home in a few hours I can make it. Well around 4 It started to down pour. I sat on my log which by this point was covered by an old tent with about 15 other men that were all smoking. Well thanks to the lovely rain it brought a million mosquitoes along with horrible humidity. Luckily I was covered except my hands and face so of course I now have about 10 mosquito bites just on my hands and face. At this point all I could do was laugh. Since Friday is their last day of filming they couldn't get behind and never even used me once. They continued to film until 10:30 that night. I had never been more excited to jump off my log and drive straight home. What an experience that was.

Christmas time is here!

Finally, I am all caught up in the things I needed to do/wanted to do! Last night Bryan surprised me with beautiful flowers that matched our comforter perfectly. He said he did that on purpose but I am a little skeptical. ;) We then went to one of our favorite places for dinner, Tsunami Sushi. Then he volunteered to go to the grocery store with me! I jumped on that idea considering it was an extra set of hands to help me haul them to the third floor. I am thankful I don't have to walk to the grocery store though ;). So today I was able to mark that trip off my list and was able to do all the laundry, iron, clean, put away fall decorations, and set up Christmas! Woo Hoo!

I had to add a makeshift mantel so I can hang our stockings (that are not made yet).

Of course it took awhile to warm Bryan up to the idea of buying a tree since we won't be here for Christmas but he finally caved. Also, we have a "countdown-'til-Christmas" calendar that you change the number each day but I have changed it to our "countdown-'til-Tulsa" calendar. 14 days and counting! Well I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and GO POKES!!!!

Mission accomplished!

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted but it has been surprisingly a busy week! Bryan and I got back from a wonderful Thanksgiving in Dallas with Bryan's family. I am so blessed to have two families to call my own. I was also so thankful to get to see my family, including my grandparents, aunt, uncle, and cousins (19 of us!) the day after Thanksgiving. In Bedford with Bryan's family I felt so at home and had a blast shopping, eating, and relaxing. I even got my first experience at Black Friday shopping! What fun memories we made that week. Being away from family for so long definitely makes those moments together more special. We left around 11 Sunday morning and didn't get back until 8 that night. I think it was just preparing us for our long drive to Tulsa for Christmas! We quickly unloaded my car and went to bed.

I then began my week early Monday morning working with the movie again. I got to "base camp" at about 6:15 to be a stand in for Brittany Snow. While I was waiting to get checked in, a short skinny guy came up to me and introduced himself and asked if I was from Baton Rouge. So thinking he was just another extra I told him the long version of how I got to Baton Rouge. Nice guy. Well later a guy came up to me (another stand in) and asked if I had any idea who I was talking to which I had no clue, Chris or something. Well he then told me that he was Mclovin from Superbad. 

Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Well I had never seen the movie so I had no idea who he was but I was still so embarrassed. Well anyway, the rest of the day I basically sat around the set and waited until they told me to go sit in Brittany Snows seat. All I do as a stand in is stand or sit in the same place they do so the camera men and lighting crew can measure from the camera to my head and then they would tell me to close my eyes while they point a red laser at them. Haha. Monday was the last day for extras so that night I got to be an "auditioner". I just sat in the audience with other people. That day I had to listen to Kelly Clarkson's "Since You've Been Gone" about 100 times! But it was very entertaining! I was asked to come back Tuesday and Wednesday to be a stand in again. Compared to an extra, stand ins get treated like royalty. We get breakfast, snacks whenever we wanted, and we are considered part of the crew. Anna Kendricks stand in was telling me about Esther Dean, one of the actors that plays a Bella, and how she has wrote songs for Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, Katy Perry, and many more. So I googled her and saw that she was from Oklahoma! Well, that night on the van going back to base camp I was sitting next to her and told her that I was being a creeper and saw that she was from Oklahoma! She was so nice and said she was born in Muskogee and raised in Tulsa!

Yesterday, I was a stand in for Anna Camp who plays Aubrey. They had me do all kinds of stuff so they could get cameras and lighting ready. I had to do spirit fingers and walk around in a circle and I had to run up and down bleachers. I was glad I had comfy shoes on. Well as I stood in place while the camera man Julio Macat marked my place and I asked him what other movies has he done. He said he did all the Home Alone movies, Wedding Crashers, and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective! I was in awe. I wanted a picture with him as much as I did with Brittany Snow. Well anyway, I took a couple of pictures on set but I got in trouble! Oops. So I probably won't be getting many more, but they give us the scripts to follow along with which I think is strange that they would let us keep them! Anyway, last night while we were watching rehearsal, Esther Dean got a phone call that said she was nominated for a Grammy! Everyone went crazy and started cheering! It was a very fun experience. They wrapped around 11pm and everyone headed for the vans to go back to base camp. A production assistant opened the van door for me and Brittany Snow was sitting inside. My heart was beating like crazy as I stared for a second and then got in and sat next to her. I was thinking ok this is my chance I must get a picture with her! So I asked and she said that's fine so I asked the other stand in sitting behind us if she could take it considering I didn't want to ask Anna Kendrick or Anna Camp who was sitting in front of us. The whole thing was just super awkward. I told her thank you and that my sister and I are big fans! Haha! She then asked what my name was and said "nice to meet you, I'm Brittany". 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Now my goal is to get a picture with Rebel Wilson who plays Fat Amy. She is probably the funniest person in the movie. I laughed out loud during one part and they had to cut. I'm pretty sure I wasn't the only one that was laughing loudly though! So that was a fun ending to my night. Now I am finishing up laundry and getting our Christmas decorations together. Tonight Bryan is taking me out to dinner and then we are decorating our new Christmas tree. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

More of New Orleans

It has been a while since I last posted but nothing too exciting has happened between then and the weekend. Again, I will say that I love my weekends with Bryan! It is a nice break from dishes, laundry, cleaning, watching TV, reading, cooking...basically all things I do by myself in our apartment. So as thoughtful as my husband is, he is always eager to get me out of the apartment. We always enjoy going to New Orleans. I have been told so many times that Louisiana has so much culture and I definitely believe that especially there. So Saturday we headed south. Bryan heard from a co-worker that there is a two-story target so I had to stop in. It was like two small targets stacked on top of each other. I had to take a picture of the escalator.

It takes your cart up! I thought this was so neat!

Well there was a two-story Bed Bath and Beyond next door but I knew Bryan would not want to go in so we continued to Tulane and went to the Audubon Zoo. I learned that Bryan loves the zoo just as much as me. I think we were the only couple there without kids but we enjoyed it just as much as them. I always heard that the Tulsa Zoo was good but this one you could get so close to the animals. Here are some pictures that we took...

They were so entertaining!

Can you tell what this bear is doing?  He is laying on his back, leg kicked over the log, and arm over his forehead! He looked exhausted! So funny.

Alphie!

This gorilla was just hanin' out on his rocks.

Cute right?!

Yes we got to feed the giraffes!! No he wasn't biting Bryan's hand off.

Not an attractive picture of me but I thought it was funny.

I think I fed them more than all those kids! 

After the zoo we hopped on the trolley to the French Quarter. We had walked all over the French Quarter a few times times before so I looked up what else there was to do there. We ended up taking the short Algiers Ferry that took us across the river from Canal street and back. We got on at the perfect time which we got to see the skyline at sunset.

Our fun, easy, and cheap mode of transportation to the French Quarter.

We were thinking that cruise ship looked like a much more fun boat than the ferry we were on!

By this point we were exhausted from walking around all day so we headed home. We got home around 8 and started a movie which I quickly fell asleep to on the couch. Just a side note, we signed up for Blockbusters version of Netflicks and we absolutely love it. We get two movies in the mail at a time which we can exchange in store unlimited times. We found that Red Box is not as popular here which is fine with me because it is rare they have a movie I want to see. So anyway we have enjoyed seeing all kinds of movies.
On Sunday we bout a tripod and went to LSU's campus and took Christmas card pictures. I am still not used to this 85 degree weather in mid November. I drove up to our apartment today and there was a group of kids leaving the pool in their swimsuits. Well, I never thought I would say this but I wish is was colder because it just doesn't feel like Thanksgiving/Chirstmas weather! Tomorrow afternoon we will be headed to Dallas and I can't wait!!! It will be so wonderful to spend time with Bryan's family. I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for.

I love to craft

I just love to do crafts and ever since we first lived in Houston and Megan Howard introduced me to Pinterest, my craft days have never been the same. So on Sunday I begged Bryan to go with me to Hancocks to buy fabric. Of course he said only if we go right after church because he was not going to want to get back out once we get home. So a got my fabric to make that fun, ruffled, Christmas tree skirt from Pinterest. That night I was in a sad mood after talking to my mom (who is in Hawaii, super jealous of them) I started crying and telling Bryan how much more fun this would be if I could craft with my mom and sister or even with a friend. It would be just so much easier if my mom was here when I had a sewing question or something. So, my sweet husband gets on the floor with me and helps cut my felt into a tree skirt. Don't tell him I said that because he may get embarrassed. So I spent alllll day Monday hot gluing muslin onto felt...

It is complete after many many hours! Thank you Pinterest!

Now we have to go buy a tree so I can dress it up in its new skirt! While we were at Hancocks I also picked up a couple yards of fabric to make placemats. My mom gave me the idea to sew different fabrics together to make double sided ones which I thought was a brilliant idea considering you only see one side at a time! So, inspired by the fun placemats at one of my new favorite stores, World Market, I made my own for much cheaper. I just used the pattern from another placemat I had.

Less than a yard of each fabric makes 4 placemats.

Here is a completed one! I fell in love with the floral print and thought it would be pretty for spring and the bottom I picked for Christmas!

I love pears! Looks like I am ready for sping already! Haha.

So, that is what I have been doing with my time the past two days! Oh, and thanks to Meghan Leibold I found a hair salon on Yelp and will finally be getting my hair cut on Friday! YAY! 

Avery Island and the Jungle Gardens

Yesterday Bryan and I went to Avery Island to go on the Tabasco factory tour which is just south of Lafayette. I definitely recommend it if you are ever driving through to definitely stop. Besides being the home of Tabasco sauce, it has some pretty interesting history. This tiny island in the bayous is really a little hill that was created by an upwelling of ancient salt deposits and at its highest point I think they said its only about 150 feet above sea level. Tabasco sauce has been made on this island since the 1860s by the McIlhenny family. Here are some pictures we took with Bryan's phone...

They mash the peppers with a little Avery Island salt and they put it in these barrels. Then they pour more of the salt on top of the barrels to act as a natural barrier to protect the contents for three years which gives time for the salt to turn into like concrete.

   

This was the beginning of our drive through Jungle Gardens which is also on Avery Island. We were like a few feet from the gators!

These pretty little egrets were everywhere!

Pretty bridge over the marsh.

We put a penny in for good luck!

This temple housed the Buddha statue that was given to the McIlhennys  in the 1836.

Senior pic! I just loved this bridge.

This was the end of our tour. I am still anticipating going on tours of some of the plantation homes. I think we will wait to go in the spring when all the flowers are in bloom. I hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Surprise date

Did I mention that I love Fridays? Well I do. Yesterday was a another great Friday. I did laundry and cleaned the apartment because I always know I won't want to during the weekend. I also went to Hobby Lobby which is only about a 15 minute drive except this trip. I was planning on just a quick trip to buy fabric to make a Christmas tree skirt and a vest. There are not many, or any, craft places in Baton Rouge or surrounding towns so the one I go to is always PACKED. It takes me forever to find a parking spot and when I go It is usually during the week between 10 and 2 so it blows my mind that it is so busy. I have realized Baton Rouge has a lot of construction going on right now along with Louisiana being ranked number 1 with the country's worst drivers. It is so true it's scary. The traffic gets so bad that people will just run red lights. I was in the left turning lane at a stop light and there was a green light not a green arrow and cars in front of me just kept turning and the cars across from us looked confused as if the lights were messed up so of course I stopped to let the people with the green light go straight and the car behind me honked at me! How rude! Anyway, enough about that. I saw some pretty funny things at Hobby Lobby that you wouldn't see anywhere else except in LA. 

Walls and walls of purple, green, and gold decorations...

And a whole wall of just Mardi Gras beads!

Well, I felt like I was missing out on something. Am I supposed to decorate for Mardi Gras or something?? Anyway, after I made it safely home Bryan told me he was taking me out somewhere fun. He wouldn't tell me where until we got there. We went downtown to a restaurant called Tsunami Sushi in the Shaw Center on the 6th floor. The restaurant was long and narrow with a balcony you can eat on as well that overlooked the Mississippi with the pretty bridge all lit up! Here are a couple pictures I tried to take...

  

These pictures don't do it justice so I guess you will just have to come and see for yourself! :) Despite the cold front and extremely windy conditions it was a great night!! Today was a wonderful day as well. We went to Avery Island (just south of Lafayette) and toured the Tabasco factory as well as the Jungle Gardens. It was beautiful in that Louisiana swampy kind of way! I will be posting about that tomorrow! Love and miss you all.

1980's Barden Bella

So, yesterday may have been the longest day on set. I was starting to feel sorry for the actors. For me though it was pretty fun. From 8am we sat inside the River Center auditorium watching each a capella group perform. Of course we were supposed to clap when told but honestly it came natural because it was so entertaining. We got to see the opening performance of the movie and the final competition. The two main singing groups are the Treble Makers and Barden Bellas (the college is Barden University). I learned so much about the movie in just one day because the Jason Moore, the director, would explain to us about each group and what happens. We were prohibited to take any pictures because it would ruin the whole movie. It was fun watching Brittany Snow, Anna Kendrick, and Rebel Wilson perform and I did get to sit on the front row! haha. I think I could just put Anna in my pocket she is just so little! Well they had to perform over and over and over just so they could use different cameras and angles. It wasn't what I expected though. I thought they would shoot a little segment at a time but they actually did a whole performance before they would cut. They did lip sing, however, the music is them singing. Anyway, for the ending competition I was told to move somewhere else so as I was walking around the wardrobe director pulled me aside and asked if I could be an 80s Bella! I was so excited. I asked if it was okay that I was a 90s Bella the day before but of course it didn't matter, they can do anything with hair and makeup. So I got my hair and makeup done again along with a can of hairspray. They told us that these group pictures they take of us are going to be placed in the Bella's dressing room like a Hall of Fame of Bella's in each decade. So, here is a picture of the final look, I looked like a tall skinny man.

Don't worry they didn't cut my hair. They just flipped it over my head so really that's just  the end of my hair made into ugly bangs. And I thought my 90s look was bad!!

Here is a picture of some of the girls together...

So, can you tell the same lady did my hair and the girl on the far left? We got the ugly do.

Anyway, the makeup lady took a close up of my hair and makeup with my phone so I could send it to Bryan and he put it as my profile picture on facebook. Let's just say I wasn't thrilled about that considering I told him how gross it was! Haha. I just hope I removed it quick enough. Well we finally were wrapped at 9:45. So, yes I cancelled today because they call time was 9 and wouldn't wrap until midnight or later. No thank you!

So today I plan on doing some laundry and tonight I am cooking one of my favorite childhood dinners: Salmon croquettes, with macaroni and cheese, and green beans.

"Photo double"

Yesterday evening I applied to be a photo double when I saw on facebook that the casting agency, Caballero Casting, said they needed someone with similar size and height as me so I sent an e-mail and I got heard back 5 minutes later! I was so excited wondering who I would be "doubling". They lady called me and said I needed to be there at 8am and didn't need to worry about anything. So, when I got there I took the shuttle to the holding room. It felt nice to not be in the middle of all the other extras who were being herded around like cattle. There was one other girl that was signed up to be a photo double as well. By the way, The casting company is like the middle man between the film company and the extras so we don't know anything until the second we are thrown on set. Anyway, after I had been sitting for a couple of hours, they took me to hair and makeup....

The oh so glamorous trailer!

So as I sat there getting my makeup done I had to ask the lady what famous people she has done hair for! Well she said a few people I didn't know however, she did do Sandra Bullocks hair for the movie Premonition! My heart kinda skipped a few beats! Well, while listening to all the crew talking I overheard them saying I was talking a girls place in one of the singing groups. I though well that's cool. I then returned to the holding room to wait another hour or so. They later said my hair was all wrong and sent me back for another look. Later they said the same thing and I went back for more makeup and another hairdo. By that time it was 2:00 and time for lunch.  We had a wonderful lunch, as usual, in the holding room. I think it is quite comical the way they set up the room for everyone so I took a picture...

Not the greatest picture but to the right is nice angled tables with a beautiful food display down the middle. To the left of the yellow tape is for the extras. We had to go all the way around the caution tape to get to the food! Seriously, they needed to separate us from the cast like that?!  Haha.

So after lunch the other girl and I sat for a few more hours by ourselves in that room until they called us to wardrobe at around 4:30 which we then were told we were doing a photo shoot so they can have pictures of each a capella singing group for the "Hall of Fame" which will then be scanned for about 3 second by the camera. Well, I didn't care at that point considering I was basically getting paid to sit around and play dress up. Here is a picture of the wardrobe trailer...

It felt like a very large yet very tight closet. 

Anyway, me and 6 other girls were dressed up like Pan Am stewardess'. We were the Bella's a capella group from the 90s. It may be a small picture that they show for a split second but I will be in the same picture twice! Haha. Kind of hard to explain but the picture will then in turn be a group of 12 girls. Anyway here is the trailer that we changed in....

Each room was about as big as a bathroom stall. 

And here is a picture of me before the shoot...

I seriously had the tightest bun with about a can of hairspray after changing my hair 3 times!

Once the mini photo shoot began it was about 5:45 and ended at 6. Yes, I was there from 8-6 and only "worked" for 45 minutes. I will definitely not forget my book tomorrow! Have a lovely night!

Mondays

Monday’s for me are always the worst even if I am not at work or have school. It is the day Bryan has to go back to work. It is kind of sad when the highlight of my day is going to the grocery store. It wasn’t totally necessary for me to go but I enjoy experimenting in the kitchen so I made a list and headed to Wal-Mart. Before I left I put a few chicken breasts in the crock pot with a cup of chicken broth and a can of cream of mushroom soup and turned it on low. I cut some carrots to later add to the chicken and noodles. I have found myself constantly making soups and warm things since it is fall, however, it is 82 degrees today and a couple of weeks ago there was a group of people hanging out in the pool. So, yes, we are still wearing shorts and I have found it much more fun to wear orange and anything OSU now because I live in Baton Rouge (the home of LSU, also the #1 ranked football team) and I like to spread a little orange power through all the purple here. Anyway, when I got back from the grocery store my little friend was waiting for me peeking out his window. Every time I pull up he just pops up like he knows I just got home. I just love it. Bryan thinks I am crazy but I know he thinks it’s pretty cute too.

Isn't he cute? They keep the blinds open like that all the time, except one night when I was staring at the dog through our window from our third floor apartment (they live across from us) a man walked up and shut the blinds! I was insulted but also felt like a HUGE creeper.

Anyway, after being a creep and taking another picture of our neighbor’s dog, I tried baking apples and bananas. I cut up the apples and bananas into slices placed them on a baking sheet, sprinkled lemon juice on top and added a little brown sugar to the apples. I baked them for 15 minutes and they were delicious and made the apartment smell like fall! I also have a candle lit which makes it smell like Silver Dollar City up in here! :)

Today I have also tried calling EyeMasters to order my contacts in hope to not need a doctor’s appointment. I have gone in 3 times total and had my prescription faxed from Tulsa. The lady said she would call me once she contacts our insurance company but never did. So I called and they said my prescription has expired! So I will have to go through this process again.  Bryan and I have found that people in Louisiana are super nice, like the employees at McDonalds really know how to make you smile but not at EyeMasters!!  I may just give up and wear my glasses every day. That is one of the pains about moving. That and finding a hair salon!

Today, I also got my confirmation call for working Pitch Perfect Wednesday-Friday. I can’t wait!!! Well I have now found myself sitting on the couch again watching Ellen, the funniest show ever.