Excuse my French. Sorry, but that's how we currently feel about the good 'ole "Monroe Funroe." Really, it's our frustration coming out after so many months of living here and feeling like the area has little to nothing for a young professional couple such as ourselves.
As you all know, Alex and I moved to this area without any real connection to it. For him, it was a step up professionally, and at a good time personally. For me, it wasn't necessarily a choice, but one that had its promises. Promises to bring us together forever, and promises to put me closer to home without putting me too far from my "home away from home." For us, it was an answered prayer.
However, to grow as a couple and flourish as individuals, we really do need the city we live in to be more than just a place to lay our heads at night. We need to feel like this house, this neighborhood, and this city is "home," even if just for a season. There needs to be some sort of tie to the community and it's people. To put it simply, we need to have a life here.
For months, we have tried to make Monroe our home. When I say we have tried, I mean we.have.tried. We've made efforts to turn acquaintances into friends by asking them over to our home, trying to coordinate outings, and even eluding to interest in their existing plans with others. When we ran out of options with people we may have known previously, we looked to coworkers, and even tried to find outside groups to join in hopes of finding success there.
At this point, we feel like we've exhausted our options. Co-workers, neighbors, church, and community recreation (sports) leagues have not panned out like we hoped they would. We continue to rack our brains for new and creative ideas in trying to meet people, yet we keep coming up short. Just today, Alex told me he's ready to give up because people always seem to bail on us or our efforts fall short no matter what we do.
I'm worried that we'll "check out" eventually and then become more jaded about this area than we already are. Truthfully, we miss our friends and while it's nice to be in touch with those we love, it's not the same for them to be so far away when all we really want to do is have a (guys) poker night or (girls) sleepover. In fact, the other day, I inadvertantly found myself in touchy waters when trying to have a nice girl-talk conversation with someone whom I probably haven't earned that level of friendship-status. (Yeah, it wasn't pretty. Insert foot in mouth...)
So anyway, instead of a pitty party, I plead for help, blog-readers. Please offer your suggestions or tips for meeting and making friends in new places. It might be helpful to note that this city doesn't offer community recreation leagues (can you believe that?!), nor does our church have any sort of group for young adults. Like I said, we tried. ...So yeah, what's a girl (and guy) to do?
-Lauren
Saturday, August 17, 2013
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Back to Basics: The Day Without TV
A couple of experiences in my current life led to some ideas swirling around my head for a blog series titled "Back to Basics." This is the first entry in said series, though you shouldn't expect to see a second or third entry tomorrow, or the day after that, or...you get the idea. For now, sit back and enjoy!
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When I moved to Arkansas in May 2011 with wide eyes and a heart full of excitement about my first real job that had somehow evolved from just a dream into real life, I decided it was time to be a real adult and splurge on some things. Like cable television. All my life, I grew up with access to a little more than your standard cable television packages. We didn't have HBO or millions of movie/sport channels, but we did have your basics like Disney Channel, ABC Family, HGTV, etc. While at Nicholls for my undergrad, we did have access to most of those same channels in the dorms on-campus. However, once I left campus for an apartment, then later internships and eventually graduate school, my access to cable television ended there. Basically, I went three years without this "modern convenience" except for when I visited family and friends.
In some ways, lack of cable television was liberating. I didn't get caught up in following particular television shows, or spend hours sprawled out on the couch/bed watching a bunch of garbage (ahem, TLC, ahem). From time to time, living without cable was downright annoying. I mean, seriously, how else was I supposed to keep up with the ever-expanding Duggar family, or watch Disney Channel's original movie of the month?
Armed with my new big-girl job (on a high school kid's salary), the jump to cable was an exciting one. For the first time in my life, I embarked on a journey of living alone and boy was that access to cable television enticing. However, it was all just a joke, really. Despite picking the "family package," I still didn't have access to any of my favorite TV shows. I adapted by taking advantage of my new toy, the DVR, and became accustomed to watching all pre-recorded (usually from the middle of the night) shows.
Needless to say, the prospect of moving in with Alex after the wedding became extremely exciting because no American male, much less one whose job revolves around sports, wouldn't have rightful access to ESPN and other sports channel...which meant that I would in turn have full access to all my guilty pleasures once again!! Now, not only do I have 24/7 access to such channels, but I also get to use our fancy shmancy DVR to keep up with regular television programming! Wahoo.
Last week, during one of my daily thinking/planning/reflecting sessions in the car (I drive 30 minutes one-way to work/home each day), I really started to think about the routine that had become so comfortable lately. Wake up, get ready, make lunch/feed kittens, watch a few minutes of GMA while discussing an overview of my day with Alex, go to work, come home, shower, eat, watch hours of television, go to bed, and do it all over again the next day.
Over the summer, Alex and I had a great deal of time to spend together (when I wasn't away for work), and we really did fall into the pit of spending most of that time laying around watching television. Don't get me wrong, we still enjoyed being with each other just as we always have, but the quality of our interactions had faded. Our need for creativity, fun, and games had lessened in just a few short months of being together. Again, to the average viewer (even ourselves, really), nothing had changed - we were still happy-go-lucky newlyweds enjoying the process of building a life together. But, it had become too easy. We didn't have to work for things as much as we did while in our long distance relationship. To put it bluntly, we became lazy.
After work on Friday, I brought Alex a snowcone as a treat for being out in the exhausting heat at football practice all afternoon. We decided to be spontaneous by going out to dinner that evening, so I hung around doing some work while I waited for him to finish. At dinner, I threw out the idea of a "Day Without TV." Alex listened, thought for a moment, and then agreed without hesitation. We decided to designate the following day (Saturday) as a "Day Without TV."
Saturday morning, we slept in until 8:45 a.m., which is so unusual for us these days. Usually, Alex is trying to sneak out of bed by 7:30 a.m. (He's such a grandpa.) But not that day. We started the day off with a string of productivity, including walking the dog, mowing the grass (him), washing the car (me), and doing laundry. After lunch, we attended to some "homework" we'd been putting off - paying bills and picking out wedding photos/albums. Alex had to head to football practice at 4 p.m., but for the few hours we shared that afternoon, we took the time to assemble our engagement photo puzzle/wedding guestbook. It took a while, and some grumbling, but we finally did it! While Alex was working, of course I "couldn't" indulge in TV as I usually would, so I spent time uploading photos online and even talked to a friend on the phone (!!!) for nearly an hour. By the time Alex returned around 10 p.m. that evening, I decided it was okay for our 24-hour respite to end. We pressed that good ole red power button and enjoyed a little late night TV before turning in for the night.
I know I've written a lot about this today, but I thought the background information and evolution as to how or why we chose to do this was important. Ultimately, taking one day off from TV doesn't make a huge impact in our lives, but I will say that I did enjoy the peace and quiet that went along with it. It was fun to reconnect with each other and be creative with our time along the way. I see "The Day Without TV" resurrecting itself periodically, especially if there comes a season when there are children running around our house.
In future installments of this series, you can look forward to pieces such as "Two Weeks Without a Kitchen Sink" and "Dinner Without Gadgets." What about you? What other "Back to Basics" practices have you chosen (or "lucked into") to try? Let's hear 'em.
-Lauren
---
When I moved to Arkansas in May 2011 with wide eyes and a heart full of excitement about my first real job that had somehow evolved from just a dream into real life, I decided it was time to be a real adult and splurge on some things. Like cable television. All my life, I grew up with access to a little more than your standard cable television packages. We didn't have HBO or millions of movie/sport channels, but we did have your basics like Disney Channel, ABC Family, HGTV, etc. While at Nicholls for my undergrad, we did have access to most of those same channels in the dorms on-campus. However, once I left campus for an apartment, then later internships and eventually graduate school, my access to cable television ended there. Basically, I went three years without this "modern convenience" except for when I visited family and friends.
In some ways, lack of cable television was liberating. I didn't get caught up in following particular television shows, or spend hours sprawled out on the couch/bed watching a bunch of garbage (ahem, TLC, ahem). From time to time, living without cable was downright annoying. I mean, seriously, how else was I supposed to keep up with the ever-expanding Duggar family, or watch Disney Channel's original movie of the month?
Armed with my new big-girl job (on a high school kid's salary), the jump to cable was an exciting one. For the first time in my life, I embarked on a journey of living alone and boy was that access to cable television enticing. However, it was all just a joke, really. Despite picking the "family package," I still didn't have access to any of my favorite TV shows. I adapted by taking advantage of my new toy, the DVR, and became accustomed to watching all pre-recorded (usually from the middle of the night) shows.
Needless to say, the prospect of moving in with Alex after the wedding became extremely exciting because no American male, much less one whose job revolves around sports, wouldn't have rightful access to ESPN and other sports channel...which meant that I would in turn have full access to all my guilty pleasures once again!! Now, not only do I have 24/7 access to such channels, but I also get to use our fancy shmancy DVR to keep up with regular television programming! Wahoo.
Last week, during one of my daily thinking/planning/reflecting sessions in the car (I drive 30 minutes one-way to work/home each day), I really started to think about the routine that had become so comfortable lately. Wake up, get ready, make lunch/feed kittens, watch a few minutes of GMA while discussing an overview of my day with Alex, go to work, come home, shower, eat, watch hours of television, go to bed, and do it all over again the next day.
Over the summer, Alex and I had a great deal of time to spend together (when I wasn't away for work), and we really did fall into the pit of spending most of that time laying around watching television. Don't get me wrong, we still enjoyed being with each other just as we always have, but the quality of our interactions had faded. Our need for creativity, fun, and games had lessened in just a few short months of being together. Again, to the average viewer (even ourselves, really), nothing had changed - we were still happy-go-lucky newlyweds enjoying the process of building a life together. But, it had become too easy. We didn't have to work for things as much as we did while in our long distance relationship. To put it bluntly, we became lazy.
After work on Friday, I brought Alex a snowcone as a treat for being out in the exhausting heat at football practice all afternoon. We decided to be spontaneous by going out to dinner that evening, so I hung around doing some work while I waited for him to finish. At dinner, I threw out the idea of a "Day Without TV." Alex listened, thought for a moment, and then agreed without hesitation. We decided to designate the following day (Saturday) as a "Day Without TV."
Saturday morning, we slept in until 8:45 a.m., which is so unusual for us these days. Usually, Alex is trying to sneak out of bed by 7:30 a.m. (He's such a grandpa.) But not that day. We started the day off with a string of productivity, including walking the dog, mowing the grass (him), washing the car (me), and doing laundry. After lunch, we attended to some "homework" we'd been putting off - paying bills and picking out wedding photos/albums. Alex had to head to football practice at 4 p.m., but for the few hours we shared that afternoon, we took the time to assemble our engagement photo puzzle/wedding guestbook. It took a while, and some grumbling, but we finally did it! While Alex was working, of course I "couldn't" indulge in TV as I usually would, so I spent time uploading photos online and even talked to a friend on the phone (!!!) for nearly an hour. By the time Alex returned around 10 p.m. that evening, I decided it was okay for our 24-hour respite to end. We pressed that good ole red power button and enjoyed a little late night TV before turning in for the night.
I know I've written a lot about this today, but I thought the background information and evolution as to how or why we chose to do this was important. Ultimately, taking one day off from TV doesn't make a huge impact in our lives, but I will say that I did enjoy the peace and quiet that went along with it. It was fun to reconnect with each other and be creative with our time along the way. I see "The Day Without TV" resurrecting itself periodically, especially if there comes a season when there are children running around our house.
In future installments of this series, you can look forward to pieces such as "Two Weeks Without a Kitchen Sink" and "Dinner Without Gadgets." What about you? What other "Back to Basics" practices have you chosen (or "lucked into") to try? Let's hear 'em.
-Lauren
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Our Little Garden
With summer coming to a close here soon (no, I haven't forgotten the promise of stories from our NC trip), I figure it's about time I write about our backyard garden. Gardening isn't my "thing," just in case you were wondering...or thinking perhaps that it's some daunting task that I have a special knack at. In fact, aside from picking a few cucumbers and tomatoes during those few summers my daddy maintained a backyard garden, I have zero experience growing things. Zilch, people!
What I do have is a taste for homegrown vegetables, especially cucumbers and tomatoes. You know it's true - nothing, I mean nothing beats a home grown tomato! I also happen to be on the frugal *ahem, cheap, ahem* side. Bell peppers are also a weakness for me; I love them all - red, orange, yellow, even the traditional green - I'll eat them any way you have 'em, even fresh off the vine. I say it's the Cajun in me. However, those durn things cost an arm and a leg at the grocery store! I'm talking $1.79 for ONE pepper! What the heck is up with that?!
So take my love for vegetables and my loathe for high grocery bills, put them together, and voila - a backyard garden! To be fair, Alex built the plot for me - an 8 x 8 raised bed in a corner of our backyard. We also killed a second bird with that stone, if you will, when we hoped the garden would serve as a solution to our flooding problem. Fast forward to the earliest warm day after February 14th, and off we went with our garden venture!
Once the plot was ready, Alex took me to Lowe's and let me pick out anything I wanted. We ended up with an assortment of seeds and little plants of every vegetable I would consider eating or cooking with. The bounty included corn, carrots, green/orange/red/yellow bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, and green onions. If the list sounds excessive, believe me it was. A few weeks in, our plant babies looked like this:
Okay so...yeah, maybe we went a little overboard on this garden idea...let's go with over-ambitious.
As the weeks went by, our plant babies began to produce vegetable babies. It was the coolest, most exciting thing to observe. We couldn't wait to taste all the goodies!
Eventually, we did begin to enjoy our vegetables. First came the green onions, then the zucchini, and eventually our tomato crop exploded. Every now and again, the pepper plants produced, though I'm hoping those last into the winter. (I remember a friend of mine picked his last batch of peppers in December!)
Not everything produced, though. Our corn seemed overrun with some type of disease, insect, or just didn't make it due to tight quarters in the plot area. Neither did the cucumbers (though they looked promising at one point) or the squash. The green onions were eventually overpowered by neighboring tomato, squash, and zucchini plants, though I am still picking out rooted onions on occasion. As for the carrots, they looked pitiful for ages, but I'm starting to think they may turn out okay in due time. I think those are fall/winter plants and we began with those as seeds anyway, so I'm going to hold out hope on those.
Thankfully, the garden did help with our drainage issue, and I think expanding the area next year will do even more toward solving that problem. Yes, I did say next year. Next year, I'd like to double the area yet try the same plants over again. Hopefully that will give more space for the plants to grow and for me to care for them a little better. We'll also need to figure out a way to keep the dog out of the garden. Our decorative
(short) partitions didn't work as well as we thought they would, and CJ seems to have taken over, looking for cool areas to rest in this intense summer heat. Looking on the bright side, our soon-to-be-outdoor kittens may contribute to fertilizing the area for us throughout the "off" months. Hehe.
As this adventure goes, you win some and you lose some...or is it live and learn? I've definitely learned a bit, but my thumb is not quite green and we still have a ways to go with becoming successful gardeners. Working for the AgCenter means there are an unlimited number of resources at my disposal, if only I take the time to read or consult those around me...it's always that easy, isn't it? ;)
-Lauren
What I do have is a taste for homegrown vegetables, especially cucumbers and tomatoes. You know it's true - nothing, I mean nothing beats a home grown tomato! I also happen to be on the frugal *ahem, cheap, ahem* side. Bell peppers are also a weakness for me; I love them all - red, orange, yellow, even the traditional green - I'll eat them any way you have 'em, even fresh off the vine. I say it's the Cajun in me. However, those durn things cost an arm and a leg at the grocery store! I'm talking $1.79 for ONE pepper! What the heck is up with that?!
So take my love for vegetables and my loathe for high grocery bills, put them together, and voila - a backyard garden! To be fair, Alex built the plot for me - an 8 x 8 raised bed in a corner of our backyard. We also killed a second bird with that stone, if you will, when we hoped the garden would serve as a solution to our flooding problem. Fast forward to the earliest warm day after February 14th, and off we went with our garden venture!
Once the plot was ready, Alex took me to Lowe's and let me pick out anything I wanted. We ended up with an assortment of seeds and little plants of every vegetable I would consider eating or cooking with. The bounty included corn, carrots, green/orange/red/yellow bell peppers, jalapeno peppers, banana peppers, squash, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, and green onions. If the list sounds excessive, believe me it was. A few weeks in, our plant babies looked like this:
Okay so...yeah, maybe we went a little overboard on this garden idea...let's go with over-ambitious.
As the weeks went by, our plant babies began to produce vegetable babies. It was the coolest, most exciting thing to observe. We couldn't wait to taste all the goodies!
Eventually, we did begin to enjoy our vegetables. First came the green onions, then the zucchini, and eventually our tomato crop exploded. Every now and again, the pepper plants produced, though I'm hoping those last into the winter. (I remember a friend of mine picked his last batch of peppers in December!)
Not everything produced, though. Our corn seemed overrun with some type of disease, insect, or just didn't make it due to tight quarters in the plot area. Neither did the cucumbers (though they looked promising at one point) or the squash. The green onions were eventually overpowered by neighboring tomato, squash, and zucchini plants, though I am still picking out rooted onions on occasion. As for the carrots, they looked pitiful for ages, but I'm starting to think they may turn out okay in due time. I think those are fall/winter plants and we began with those as seeds anyway, so I'm going to hold out hope on those.
Thankfully, the garden did help with our drainage issue, and I think expanding the area next year will do even more toward solving that problem. Yes, I did say next year. Next year, I'd like to double the area yet try the same plants over again. Hopefully that will give more space for the plants to grow and for me to care for them a little better. We'll also need to figure out a way to keep the dog out of the garden. Our decorative
(short) partitions didn't work as well as we thought they would, and CJ seems to have taken over, looking for cool areas to rest in this intense summer heat. Looking on the bright side, our soon-to-be-outdoor kittens may contribute to fertilizing the area for us throughout the "off" months. Hehe.
As this adventure goes, you win some and you lose some...or is it live and learn? I've definitely learned a bit, but my thumb is not quite green and we still have a ways to go with becoming successful gardeners. Working for the AgCenter means there are an unlimited number of resources at my disposal, if only I take the time to read or consult those around me...it's always that easy, isn't it? ;)
-Lauren
Monday, August 5, 2013
The Foliday
Fol-i-day. noun. Fake-holiday. A day on which one is supposed to be exempt from work; specifically : a day marked by the desire for a general suspension of work in commemoration of an event. July 5 is a state foliday in Louisiana.
Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, may have declared July 5th a state holiday, but apparently the state's flagship university did not. Since I had to work on Friday, Alex and I convinced my parents to visit us in Monroe for the holiday weekend instead. Side note: Really, I could have taken off, but I'd just taken off the week before for our weekend in Dallas, and plus, asking someone to care for our animals two weekends in a row was a bit much. Once Alex tossed out the idea of fishing with my father, it didn't take much convincing in our part anyway. ;-)
So yeah, my parents visited us for the July 4th weekend. Because they spent the first part of the week down at Grand Isle (basically the end of the earth as far as south Louisiana goes), they decided to drive up to Monroe on the morning of the 4th. Our morning was pretty chill, as Alex and I relaxed a bit, caught up on some DVR, and prepared the grill for their afternoon arrival. For dinner, my parents brought steaks from Hebert's Specialty Meats so we fired up the grill and enjoyed a finger-lickin-good meal that evening.
Friday, the boys made the trek out to Lake D'arbonne for a day of fishing. Thanks to a coworker, they were armed with excellent directions to a new locale for my daddy to test the waters. The fruits of their labor were few, but I think they enjoyed themselves nonetheless. While I worked, my mom slept in and later ran a few errands for us. For dinner, we tried out the new fish fry kit my mom got for us a while back. In true Cajun form, we once again stuffed ourselves with the fresh fish from the day's adventures.
My daddy enjoyed a piece of Heaven on Saturday when we took him to visit the motherland, aka Duck Commander. Wide eyes and a bright smile were permanent fixtures on his face that day. By now, Alex and I have been there a few times, so the magic has worn on us a bit, but it is always fun to visit with a newbie. I've included a few pictures for you below.
Alright ya'll, come visit us. We'll even take you to visit some of the many attractions, restaurants, or events voted "Best of the Delta 2013." Come on, you know you want to...
-Lauren
Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, may have declared July 5th a state holiday, but apparently the state's flagship university did not. Since I had to work on Friday, Alex and I convinced my parents to visit us in Monroe for the holiday weekend instead. Side note: Really, I could have taken off, but I'd just taken off the week before for our weekend in Dallas, and plus, asking someone to care for our animals two weekends in a row was a bit much. Once Alex tossed out the idea of fishing with my father, it didn't take much convincing in our part anyway. ;-)
So yeah, my parents visited us for the July 4th weekend. Because they spent the first part of the week down at Grand Isle (basically the end of the earth as far as south Louisiana goes), they decided to drive up to Monroe on the morning of the 4th. Our morning was pretty chill, as Alex and I relaxed a bit, caught up on some DVR, and prepared the grill for their afternoon arrival. For dinner, my parents brought steaks from Hebert's Specialty Meats so we fired up the grill and enjoyed a finger-lickin-good meal that evening.
Friday, the boys made the trek out to Lake D'arbonne for a day of fishing. Thanks to a coworker, they were armed with excellent directions to a new locale for my daddy to test the waters. The fruits of their labor were few, but I think they enjoyed themselves nonetheless. While I worked, my mom slept in and later ran a few errands for us. For dinner, we tried out the new fish fry kit my mom got for us a while back. In true Cajun form, we once again stuffed ourselves with the fresh fish from the day's adventures.
My daddy enjoyed a piece of Heaven on Saturday when we took him to visit the motherland, aka Duck Commander. Wide eyes and a bright smile were permanent fixtures on his face that day. By now, Alex and I have been there a few times, so the magic has worn on us a bit, but it is always fun to visit with a newbie. I've included a few pictures for you below.
 |
| THE Camper, featured in several episodes. |
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| If you can believe it, this was the line to take a picture with the Duck Commander/Buck Commander sign. |
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| Mom and I came out of the gift shop to find the boys near the front of the line; pictures resulted. |
Alright ya'll, come visit us. We'll even take you to visit some of the many attractions, restaurants, or events voted "Best of the Delta 2013." Come on, you know you want to...
-Lauren
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Goin' Through the Big D
Ever heard that Mark Chestnut song..the one with the lyrics "I'm goin' through the Big D
and don't mean Dallas...?" This song instantly popped into my head as I sat here to begin writing about our weekend in Dallas. The song, however, is talking about divorce and that is definitely not where I'm going with this entry. Go ahead people, smile...SMILE! :)
Anyway, back to Dallas. Alex and I headed out on the evening of Thursday, June 27th, for a weekend in Texas. This was after a super traumatic visit to our new dentist here in Monroe and needless to say I was ready to peel outta there ASAP! We made it to our hotel in Arlington just after 10 p.m., which made for a bit of a late night trip but we knew it meant we could enjoy two full days in Dallas if we went ahead and drove there that night.
On Friday morning we went to a place called Top Golf. Ever heard of it? If you have, I bet you've heard only good things about it. If you haven't, look it up next time you're in the area. I seem to faintly remember there being locations in a few other states too, so just go ahead and check it out anyway. For those of you non-golfers out there (like myself), imagine an outdoor bowling alley with each group of friends or family playing in a designated lane, called a bay. Instead of rolling a ball, though, participants take turns hitting golf balls toward designated targets (or golf holes, whatever those are called). Never fear - no need to be a pro at actually making that ever-desirable hole-in-one because the closer your ball gets to the target, the more points you earn, even if it doesn't make it to the hole!
Alex and I had a great deal of fun at Top Golf. We beat our "top scores" over and over again, even though we only played for an hour. After our time was up, we headed down to the indoor café area for lunch (though food is available via servers at each of the bay areas and even in covered lounge chairs throughout the facility). Alex ordered a very tasty pulled pork barbecue sandwich and I had the "mushi" (think sushi-themed wrap). The meal was pretty reasonable in price, considering I expected it to be fairly expensive for the area and the setting. We were pleasantly surprised. After lunch, we went back outside to wander around and ended up finding a corn hole set, life-size connect four games, huge checkerboards, and a large-scale jenga game - all for free! There was also an area for putt-putt, but temperatures had started climbing (no one loves Texas heat) so after a few board games we decided to head back to the hotel with plans to take a dip in the pool and grab a cold one before our evening activities.
We spent the evening at a Texas Rangers game. Conveniently, Alex planned ahead for us to stay at a hotel that came with a free shuttle to nearby attractions - the ballpark included. It was SO nice to not have to deal with traffic, parking, or crowds. Well, traffic and parking, anyway. We did have to wait at least half an hour for a return shuttle after the game, but what's a little extra time whenever it's free and you've got no place else to be? I will say the first part of the game draaaaagged on. Alex's friend, Justin, made fun of/lectured me for being a bad wife in whining about how long the game was. Seriously, though...I like baseball...I just happen to be accustomed to the timing of college baseball games, not professional ones. The game ended with a fancy fireworks show in honor of the upcoming July 4th holiday. While Alex was in hog heaven all evening long, I'll admit I was pleased to finally see the fireworks show, knowing that soon we would be headed back to the hotel for the night.
Saturday we headed out to Forth Worth to check out the Stockyards. This fun little neighborhood near downtown Ft. Worth is filled with western-style shops, restaurants, museums, and other attractions. We moseyed down the streets checking out some of the souvenir shops and scoped out options for lunch. Mid-morning, everyone flocked to the streets to await the first of two daily cattle drives. I've been around livestock here and there, but these guys were huge - and beautiful - if cattle can be beautiful, that is. Then, we decided to try our hands at a maze; the guy who worked there told us most people average something like 12 minutes in the maze...um...it took us thirty. Oops?! Actually, Alex finished before I did, but it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes apart. We enjoyed the challenge and would probably go again if we were ever in a position to do so. For lunch, we stopped in at one of the locally-owned restaurants, taking a break to enjoy the air conditioning and rejuvenate before wandering the streets a little longer. As the temperatures began to jump again, we ended the afternoon with some home-made ice cream (and to Alex's delight - Cheerwine in a glass bottle) from a quaint little shop then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our date night out.
Dinner and a movie is pretty cliché for a date, but I bet few of you have had dinner while at the movie. Say what? Movie theatre food is super expensive and resembles all that your nutritionist would nix on the spot, yes? Au contraire. The 21st century has arrived my friend! See, Studio Movie Grill combines the two-step date night out into one. Just purchase your assigned seats, get comfy, browse the menu, and buzz your waiter when ready to order. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the latest big screen flick without having to lift a finger in the kitchen or plan ahead to time dinner at the restaurant just right for a 7 p.m. showing. Really though. We enjoyed dinner at SMG in Arlington while watching Monsters University with a hundred of our closest friends - ha! The food was tasty (though a tad pricey, as one would expect at any other movie theatre) and we enjoyed the adventure of trying something new. I think the dine-in movie experience will be "coming to theatres near you" very soon, so be on the look-out and give it a chance if you ever come across one. And because date night wouldn't be complete without a little something sweet, we splurged and stopped by Steak'n'Shake on our way home to share a peanut butter fudge milkshake capping off our lovely evening.
As for Sunday, the only exciting item on our agenda was packing up and driving back to Monroe just in time to attend Mass and catch the newest episode of Big Brother. (Any #BB15 fans out there?!) Then of course, it was back to the grind on Monday for another short week due to the (July 4th) holiday. More to come on that...next time!
-Lauren
and don't mean Dallas...?" This song instantly popped into my head as I sat here to begin writing about our weekend in Dallas. The song, however, is talking about divorce and that is definitely not where I'm going with this entry. Go ahead people, smile...SMILE! :)
Anyway, back to Dallas. Alex and I headed out on the evening of Thursday, June 27th, for a weekend in Texas. This was after a super traumatic visit to our new dentist here in Monroe and needless to say I was ready to peel outta there ASAP! We made it to our hotel in Arlington just after 10 p.m., which made for a bit of a late night trip but we knew it meant we could enjoy two full days in Dallas if we went ahead and drove there that night.
On Friday morning we went to a place called Top Golf. Ever heard of it? If you have, I bet you've heard only good things about it. If you haven't, look it up next time you're in the area. I seem to faintly remember there being locations in a few other states too, so just go ahead and check it out anyway. For those of you non-golfers out there (like myself), imagine an outdoor bowling alley with each group of friends or family playing in a designated lane, called a bay. Instead of rolling a ball, though, participants take turns hitting golf balls toward designated targets (or golf holes, whatever those are called). Never fear - no need to be a pro at actually making that ever-desirable hole-in-one because the closer your ball gets to the target, the more points you earn, even if it doesn't make it to the hole!
Alex and I had a great deal of fun at Top Golf. We beat our "top scores" over and over again, even though we only played for an hour. After our time was up, we headed down to the indoor café area for lunch (though food is available via servers at each of the bay areas and even in covered lounge chairs throughout the facility). Alex ordered a very tasty pulled pork barbecue sandwich and I had the "mushi" (think sushi-themed wrap). The meal was pretty reasonable in price, considering I expected it to be fairly expensive for the area and the setting. We were pleasantly surprised. After lunch, we went back outside to wander around and ended up finding a corn hole set, life-size connect four games, huge checkerboards, and a large-scale jenga game - all for free! There was also an area for putt-putt, but temperatures had started climbing (no one loves Texas heat) so after a few board games we decided to head back to the hotel with plans to take a dip in the pool and grab a cold one before our evening activities.
We spent the evening at a Texas Rangers game. Conveniently, Alex planned ahead for us to stay at a hotel that came with a free shuttle to nearby attractions - the ballpark included. It was SO nice to not have to deal with traffic, parking, or crowds. Well, traffic and parking, anyway. We did have to wait at least half an hour for a return shuttle after the game, but what's a little extra time whenever it's free and you've got no place else to be? I will say the first part of the game draaaaagged on. Alex's friend, Justin, made fun of/lectured me for being a bad wife in whining about how long the game was. Seriously, though...I like baseball...I just happen to be accustomed to the timing of college baseball games, not professional ones. The game ended with a fancy fireworks show in honor of the upcoming July 4th holiday. While Alex was in hog heaven all evening long, I'll admit I was pleased to finally see the fireworks show, knowing that soon we would be headed back to the hotel for the night.
Saturday we headed out to Forth Worth to check out the Stockyards. This fun little neighborhood near downtown Ft. Worth is filled with western-style shops, restaurants, museums, and other attractions. We moseyed down the streets checking out some of the souvenir shops and scoped out options for lunch. Mid-morning, everyone flocked to the streets to await the first of two daily cattle drives. I've been around livestock here and there, but these guys were huge - and beautiful - if cattle can be beautiful, that is. Then, we decided to try our hands at a maze; the guy who worked there told us most people average something like 12 minutes in the maze...um...it took us thirty. Oops?! Actually, Alex finished before I did, but it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes apart. We enjoyed the challenge and would probably go again if we were ever in a position to do so. For lunch, we stopped in at one of the locally-owned restaurants, taking a break to enjoy the air conditioning and rejuvenate before wandering the streets a little longer. As the temperatures began to jump again, we ended the afternoon with some home-made ice cream (and to Alex's delight - Cheerwine in a glass bottle) from a quaint little shop then headed back to the hotel to get ready for our date night out.
Dinner and a movie is pretty cliché for a date, but I bet few of you have had dinner while at the movie. Say what? Movie theatre food is super expensive and resembles all that your nutritionist would nix on the spot, yes? Au contraire. The 21st century has arrived my friend! See, Studio Movie Grill combines the two-step date night out into one. Just purchase your assigned seats, get comfy, browse the menu, and buzz your waiter when ready to order. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the latest big screen flick without having to lift a finger in the kitchen or plan ahead to time dinner at the restaurant just right for a 7 p.m. showing. Really though. We enjoyed dinner at SMG in Arlington while watching Monsters University with a hundred of our closest friends - ha! The food was tasty (though a tad pricey, as one would expect at any other movie theatre) and we enjoyed the adventure of trying something new. I think the dine-in movie experience will be "coming to theatres near you" very soon, so be on the look-out and give it a chance if you ever come across one. And because date night wouldn't be complete without a little something sweet, we splurged and stopped by Steak'n'Shake on our way home to share a peanut butter fudge milkshake capping off our lovely evening.
As for Sunday, the only exciting item on our agenda was packing up and driving back to Monroe just in time to attend Mass and catch the newest episode of Big Brother. (Any #BB15 fans out there?!) Then of course, it was back to the grind on Monday for another short week due to the (July 4th) holiday. More to come on that...next time!
-Lauren
Friday, July 5, 2013
June Bugs
Now that June has come and gone, I'm hoping to get back on board with posting a little more often again. Seriously though, June fleeeewww by! When you hear all that transpired, you'll understand.
Alex's mom flew in from North Carolina on (Wednesday) the 5th of June. She planned to stay for a week, but with me leaving on Monday (June 10th), I wasn't around a whole lot during her trip. I also worked on both Thursday (6/6) and Friday (6/7) of that week. We did finally get out and do a little exploring of the Monroe area while she was in town; Alex and I took her to the Chennault Aviation Museum located at the MLU airport, and we also checked out Kiroli Park in West Monroe. Alex tried to take her to a few other sites while I was at work, but she didn't like the idea of attractions with paid admission. In any case, Alex's mom came and went and we went on with the rest of the month...
A photo collage from the aviation museum.
'Betcha didn't know Delta Airlines got its start in Monroe, LA!
As mentioned above, I left for 4-H Camp on June 10th. This was the first time I'd ever been solely responsible for so many children at once - 22 kids, ages 9-12, and two teenagers, total. That's some precious cargo if I've ever seen any! The 25 of us headed down to Camp Grant Walker (CGW) in Pollock, which is "the" 4-H Camp in Louisiana. It's so old that generations of former 4-Hers all have their own stories of 4-H Camp. Thankfully they installed air conditioning systems since I attended as a child, but still it is a camp after all. During my time in Arkansas, I became spoiled with the state-of-the-art facilities at Camp Aldersgate and was not at all excited to spend a week at CGW. However, we all survived the week (I worked with the food & fitness track, archery, and the camp store) and returned in one piece on Friday morning.
The traditional rope burning ceremony at vespers on the final night of camp.
The following week (June 18-21), I took two teenage boys down to Baton Rouge for 4-H University, which is essentially, Louisiana's version of a state convention for 4-H. Delegates compete in over 40 contests, with state winners awarded all-expense paid trips to really awesome places. Some teens choose the non-competitive route and instead take part in 12-hour workshops over the course of two days. 4-H University is, by far, my favorite Louisiana 4-H event. Being from a parish that brings over 100 youth to the event each year, with generally 60% or more of those taking home Top 10 placings in their contests, 4-H U is kind of a big deal in my book. As a 4-H Agent, though, I work in a parish that is VASTLY different than the one back home, and so I was only able to recruit two members to attend. To make matters worse, I could only convince one of them to even compete in a contest! Sheesh, people.
On the bright side, I have some really amazing 4-H Agents back home who were willing to let me tag along with their larger group in hopes of exposing my boys to the greener side of the pasture, if you get my drift. It was also good for me to reacclimate myself to the event (it's been EIGHT years!!) and get some practice with coordinating a larger group. To trade off, the male agent from home agreed to supervise my boys in the dorms while I helped out with toting some of their kids around campus during the day. It was a win-win situation. I really enjoyed being back with my 4-H family, especially those from back home and even the ones in the state office and southwest region since I don't get to see them very much anymore. Events like 4-H U really help me to keep going whenever I feel isolated and like I'm beating a dead horse up here in no-man's-land..
I'm a real, live 4-H Agent, with a purple ribbon tag to show it!
June 24th and 25th was our district horse show event in West Monroe. This year, the district, state, and even southern regional shows will all be held at the same facility, which makes it super nice on those of us in the Northeast region. Going into the show, I was pretty excited about having such a large delegation - of eight, that is - competing in the event. Unfortunately, only four showed up, and the other kids didn't even bother to tell anyone they weren't coming. (This is the kind of people I'm working with, ya'll.) My assignment for the show was to help with the non-riding events, so I got to judge the demonstrations with a fellow new agent from a neighboring parish. All of my kids competed on the second day of the show, so I grabbed myself a seat at the official announcer's/timekeeper's/recorder's table and managed to learn a bit about the "speed events," as they call them. All four of my kids qualified for the state show in each of their events, several of them with strong placings. It will be fun to see how they do at the state show next week.
The boys with their ribbons.
That weekend, the final weekend in June (6/27-30), Alex and I went away to Dallas. Since this entry is so long already, I'll hold onto it for another day. Also as a reminder to myself (and the rest of you, if anyone out there wants to hold me accountable), I still do want to write about our garden and, by that point, my parents' 4th of July weekend visit, as well as our trip to North Carolina, followed by another visit from my parents. Sheezums, it looks like July will zoom by nearly as fast as June did!
Until we meet again,
Lauren
Lauren
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Memorial Day at Home
For a week now, I have been fighting with the Blogger app in trying to make another post here. For some reason, it's not saving the posts I create, nor will it publish them (if I try to do that instead of only saving it). I guess I'll have to check in with Jen to see if she has any tips or suggestions for me. In any case, I gave up and decided to e-mail myself the photos so I could upload them and write the entry as planned.
Alex and I went home to my parents in south Louisiana for Memorial Day weekend. The air conditioning sytem in my office broke early in the week so by Thursday I was able to peel out much sooner than planned. We even made it home to Abbeville before dark; it was a beautiful thing.
We spent most of Friday running around town doing errands - added Alex to my bank accounts in Abbeville, got my new phone(!), picked up some things needed at Walmart for latter-weekened activities, and dropped in at the 4-H Office to say hello and hash out plans for an upcoming event. Once everyone got off of work, we gathered the crew (Stu-Daddy, Mom, Austin, and Nanna) and headed to dinner at Cheddar's in Lafayette. Side note: Again, we confirmed the Cheddar's in Monroe is just NOT up to par.
Saturday, the boys went out in the marsh to fish and run the crab cages. Victoria and I scheduled a girl's "coffee date" (though neither of us had coffee...) for her front porch that morning. It was nice to finally get some girl time after next to zero girlfriend time over the last six months. We caught up on each other's lives and made plans to meet up again later for dinner, pending a fruitful harvest when the boys returned.
Thankfully, the harvest was bountiful and the boys did indeed bring home enough crabs to boil and have guests for dinner. Victoria, Seth, and Carter joined us, along with Nanna, my mom's cousin Laurie, her husband, Daniel, and their three-year-old triplets, Emma, Sophie, and Drew. The crabs were delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to hang out with the kids, seeing as how I hadn't visited with them since the wedding and well...let's be honest...that was all a blur anyway. After the kids soaked themselves by splashing their feet in the pool, I decided to don my swimsuit and jump in with them. Of course, since I was the only one over two-feet tall--barely, ha-- the kids had to take turns splashing in the water with me. While the kids are the most well-behaved children I've yet to meet, they are still silly and occasionally tried to trick me into skipping one of their siblings in exchange for their turn instead. Tsk tsk.
On Sunday, Nanna cooked for the whole gang, and my aunt/uncle and cousins joined us for lunch. Baseball and NASCAR kept us entertained amidst the occasional snooze. I kept Noah busy with a puzzle...well, actually...he watched me make the puzzle, but I don't suppose that really matters. :) All in all it It was a pretty lazy afternoon.
Monday, my parents barbecued some sausage for po-boys and Dawn stopped in for a quick visit before she headed over for a pooltime afternoon with Victoria's family. Alex and I loaded up after lunch and were back in Monroe just in time for dinner. Needless to say, the weekend away from northeast Louisiana was much needed and greatly enjoyed.
Looking ahead, I hoped to get this entry out earlier so I could write about our budding garden before my 2-week hiatus out of town for work. Seeing as how I am heading out to camp tomorrow, it looks like you'll all just have to wait a little longer. It will definitely be a few weeks before I anticipate time to write another entry. Ya'll stay cool, safe, and have a lovely June!
-Lauren
Alex and I went home to my parents in south Louisiana for Memorial Day weekend. The air conditioning sytem in my office broke early in the week so by Thursday I was able to peel out much sooner than planned. We even made it home to Abbeville before dark; it was a beautiful thing.
We spent most of Friday running around town doing errands - added Alex to my bank accounts in Abbeville, got my new phone(!), picked up some things needed at Walmart for latter-weekened activities, and dropped in at the 4-H Office to say hello and hash out plans for an upcoming event. Once everyone got off of work, we gathered the crew (Stu-Daddy, Mom, Austin, and Nanna) and headed to dinner at Cheddar's in Lafayette. Side note: Again, we confirmed the Cheddar's in Monroe is just NOT up to par.
Saturday, the boys went out in the marsh to fish and run the crab cages. Victoria and I scheduled a girl's "coffee date" (though neither of us had coffee...) for her front porch that morning. It was nice to finally get some girl time after next to zero girlfriend time over the last six months. We caught up on each other's lives and made plans to meet up again later for dinner, pending a fruitful harvest when the boys returned.
Emma, Drew, and Sophie - They took their three-year-old photos at the fair in Lafayette. Don't tell me they're not the most adorable thing you've ever seen!
Thankfully, the harvest was bountiful and the boys did indeed bring home enough crabs to boil and have guests for dinner. Victoria, Seth, and Carter joined us, along with Nanna, my mom's cousin Laurie, her husband, Daniel, and their three-year-old triplets, Emma, Sophie, and Drew. The crabs were delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed getting to hang out with the kids, seeing as how I hadn't visited with them since the wedding and well...let's be honest...that was all a blur anyway. After the kids soaked themselves by splashing their feet in the pool, I decided to don my swimsuit and jump in with them. Of course, since I was the only one over two-feet tall--barely, ha-- the kids had to take turns splashing in the water with me. While the kids are the most well-behaved children I've yet to meet, they are still silly and occasionally tried to trick me into skipping one of their siblings in exchange for their turn instead. Tsk tsk.
A day filled with swimming, boiled crabs, and entertaining children.
Looking ahead, I hoped to get this entry out earlier so I could write about our budding garden before my 2-week hiatus out of town for work. Seeing as how I am heading out to camp tomorrow, it looks like you'll all just have to wait a little longer. It will definitely be a few weeks before I anticipate time to write another entry. Ya'll stay cool, safe, and have a lovely June!
-Lauren
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