Farewell, Baton Rouge

A lot has happened since my last post. A major change of events for Bryan and I. Bryan accepted a job in Tulsa with Magellan. He came home with this exciting news on Tuesday, May 17th. He held it in all day so he could tell me in person when he got home. I don't think I will ever forget that wonderful day. So we quickly packed as much as we could. Luckily I had already planned to fly home the weekend after while Bryan was in Galveston for Colton's bachelor party so it couldn't have worked out better. While seeing my family I also squeezed in a little apartment hunting. My parents had already planned to came back with me to Baton Rouge for a few days so they were also able to help us move. We picked Ben up from the airport so he could help drive a car back to Oklahoma before we toured New Orleans for the last time.

My wonderful parents who helped us move. Sorry, mom, for making you sit in a car all day for your Mother's Day.

Thanks for all your help, Ben!

My cute husband and I. Looks like I need to hang out by the pool. 

During our last weekend in Louisiana we did eat as much cajun food as possible. During those few days I had boudin, boiled crawfish, fried alligator, fried oysters, fried catfish, jambalaya, and my absolute favorite, crawfish etouffee. Sunday morning we packed up the Uhaul and headed for Oklahoma; arriving at 12:30 am. We spent all day Monday moving in to our wonderful new apartment in Broken Arrow. We have only been here a week and I have had Beuno 5 times and Mazzios twice. Well I think that will be an end to my blog. Now that we actually have friends and family close our schedules are becoming a little busier. Now, If you're ever in the Tulsa area please stop by! So long Louisiana. Thank you for the wonderful memories. Hope to visit again.

Weekend in Houston

Bryan and I enjoyed a long weekend in Houston thanks to Pinnacle. We had a smooth flight out of New Orleans Thursday evening and a horrible, sideways landing, flight back last night that received a round of applause from everyone on board. Just a side note, I hate flying. At least I have two more weeks to recoup until my solo flight to Tulsa. Well anyway, we were in Houston because his company had their annual "Pinnacle Picnic" at their corporate office on Saturday. On Friday Bryan had to work so I woke up late, had breakfast, and visited my old stomping grounds, aka the Baybrook Mall. That evening we had dinner with Elliot, Megan, Colton, and Doug and then later forced to sing karaoke to "Party in the USA". :)
Saturday was the picnic at their corporate office. I am so glad Kelley was there to hang out with and talk wedding, and Newlywed life. It was also nice to meet people that Bryan works with that I have heard so much about. That night we headed to the Astros game. I am not a fan of sports but I enjoy the atmosphere at baseball games and of course the food.

With the soon to be Mr. and Mrs. Shannon! One more month!

Finally, Megan and I got our cotton candy. A must at any baseball game!

The whole group! So much fun getting to hang out with wonderful friends!

Sunday we met Elliot and Megan for brunch around the Galleria area at a delicious place called Le Peep. I recommend the Strawberry Fields! Bryan and I then took a little detour to Pearland before heading to the airport. We drove past our first home as a married couple then walked around Pearland Town Center. I miss it oh so very much.

What a fun weekend. My last day of work at Postlethwaite and Netterville was Thursday except for a few hours this Wednesday. Now begins the packing for our next move to River Ridge, LA. However, I may delay that process for another week or two!

Easter weekend in LA

Bryan and I had such a fun Easter weekend. Bryan's mom and sister came down so we got to show them around our "home". I had to work Friday so Bryan took them to the capital and toured around LSU. That night we went to Chimes for dinner. I don't think I will ever get tired of going there. Then Saturday morning we headed out the door to New Orleans. 

Happy Easter! All day Thursday I was looking forward to making these! So fun! 

Getting ready for our swamp tour!

Garry's Daddy?

Little gator. We love swamp tours. That was my 5th one!

French Quarter

Our first Easter as Mr. and Mrs.

Thanks for visiting Kris and Becca! We enjoyed every minute!!!

My beach birthday

What a fun birthday weekend I had. Since I didn't get to spend it with my family or friends Bryan and I left for the white sands of Pensacola, Florida. I am glad we didn't stay in Baton Rouge. I think it would have just made me miss everyone even more. Friday we got to the beach about 8:30 that night. I have always found the beach kind of eerie at night. So we went back to our hotel and woke up Saturday morning to the sound of thunder and rain. We saw that it was supposed to clear up around 1 so we got dressed for the beach and left for breakfast to wait out the rain. By the time we were done with eating the rain slowed. By the time we stepped on the beach around 10 am the rain stopped and the sun came out! It was a perfect day on the beach! 

Bryan loved the huge waves!

I thought this was a cool picture of Bryan.

Opening my birthday present from my parents! Thanks Mom and Dad!

One request I had during my birthday beach weekend was to go parasailing. I had gone when I was younger with my family and I knew Bryan would enjoy it! 

BYEEE!

800 feet high! I don't like heights but I love parasailing...weird I know.

I love this picture! 

And 15 minutes later we were safely back on the ground...or water.

After that fun excursion we were famished and and headed to lunch at Peg Leg Petes Oyster Bar. Neither one of us had every had oysters so we had to order a few. 

When I tried them my face did not look as happy as Bryan's. Gross.

 After that as we walked up and down the beach ice cream was calling my name...

Since I did not have a traditional birthday cake I got birthday cake ice cream! YUM!

That night after we felt we had got enough sun we had dinner at a restaurant called Crabs. Nope, seafood is still not my thing.

Sunday, our last day on the beach...

I collected about 100 small seashells for my next craft project!

My cute hubby. 

Goodbye, beach. I hope to visit again soon!
Thank you, Bryan, for giving me such a memorable 24th birthday!

Be our guest

Our week began with a couple wild events. Tuesday a tornado touched down between my office and Bryan's. Wednesday there was a chemical fire and explosion at the plant adjacent to Bryan's. It released chlorine gas into the atmosphere causing Bryan and everyone within the parish to take shelter. The Department of Homeland Security called his office and recommended they seal themselves in. They used duct tape to seal the doors and had respirators in case gas leaked into the building. After three hours they put out the fire and contained the gas leak but roads remained closed for the day. His car is now spotted with ash and acid which may lead to a new paint job...

Picture from the news.

Starting Thursday evening, we were able to hang out with Bryan's friend Justin who was in Baton Rouge for work. He was able to spend the weekend with us and tour some of New Orleans.

We stopped by Bryan's work to show Justin Gary the gator. Just a baby.

Justin and Bryan on the trolley

Thanks for taking this picture Justin! We had wanted a pic with the trolley.

Getting flowers at the "Spring Fiesta Parade"

Old fashion New Orleans brass band in front of Cafe Du Monde.

One of the many weddings we saw. I thought their fleur de lis umbrellas were so fun!

The many people crowded around the street entertainment in Jackson Square.

We ended the weekend today with a little shopping and a very exhausting bike ride around the lake at LSU. We are now counting down the days to our weekend trip to the beach this weekend!

Spring Pilgrimage

What wonderful weather we have had this weekend which made for another wonderful weekend outside. This weekend was the Spring Pilgrimage in St. Francisville, LA. It was $30 per person to tour plantation homes, churches, and gardens from the early 1800s. I had been wanting to go see plantation homes ever since we moved here but wanted to wait until the spring when all the beautiful flowers were in full bloom. Our first stop was the Rosedown Plantaion that was built in 1835 at the cost of about $13,000.

Rosedown was my favorite.

This was the Old Barn where visitor's carriages were kept.

Old carriage from Natchez, Mississippi.

Yes the lady has a goat on a leash.

This was the dining room. The thing above the table is called a shoe fly. A slave would be standing where I was taking the picture pulling on the rope creating a fan for them as well as shooing away the flies.

The view from the master. Yes please.

The prettiest room. The newborn and its parents would sleep here. 

I want this azalea bush.

The view from the second story porch.

Tons of tulips!

I thought I matched the flowers.

We then went to the Afton Villa Gardens. There once was a plantation home here but was burned in 1963. Many houses would burn due to fires in the kitchen. This is why they would build them separate from the homes.

This was a garden maze and little girls were playing in them. It was cute.

A statue from the old home.

The breeze made this live oak look really neat.

They told us that a lady who lived in the home planted all kinds of daffodils all over the property among the white azaleas. Amazing.

A sweet old lady felt sorry for all the solo pictures we were taking so she took one for us.

A little bridge surrounded by an abundance of flowers.

So serene

A panoramic picture of the pond. It think if you click on the picture to enlarge it you may be able to see it better.

So many daffodils and the white azaleas looked like cotton everywhere.

The following pictures are more plantation homes...

Highland. Like most plantations, including Highland, were built from  trees on the property and bricks carved from the clay soil and baked in the sun. A family lives in this house currently. 

Woodland

Oakley

Oakley framed under another live oak.

An old slave house about 1,000 feet from the Oakley plantation.

Inside the slave house

The other side of the slave house. They said this was a generous house for them.

I hate to end on a sad note so here is a picture of a beautiful azalea. I told Bryan I will plant them all over our house one day.

We really had a great day being outdoors, smelling the beautiful flowers (mostly from the honeysuckles), walking through the antique sales, while being surrounded by people in authentic dress of the 1820's. I felt as if I was in my heritage of dress class again. I hope you all have a wonderful week!