I've been tagged twice now.....I get the hint Julia!:)

1. Where did you meet? We met on a blind date, not sure I would recommend that to everyone though...I hated all I went on but this one. Neither of us actually planned on going on a blind date that day but got ringed into it at the last second and didn't know how to say no. Guess it shows when you have great friends who know you well enough you setting you up on the date...things can come from it!

2. How long did you date before you got married? We met January 2, 2006 and were married on August 10, 2006. So about 7 months?????

3. How long have you been married? About 2 1/2 years. Crazy to think that the time has gone by so fast!

4. What does he do that surprises you? He is always doing stuff to help me around the house and surprise me. He often gets me flowers or something when he knows I am having a rough day. But what I love most is when he surprises me by being in a really goofy and happy mood. It seems to often we get busy with life and don't laugh as much as we should...we are generally happy but I love when something all of a sudden makes him smile and laugh so hard that it surprises me and makes me try to remember the last time I have seen him so happy.

5. What is your favorite feature of his? I love when he is so happy that you can see his eyes smiling.

6. What is your favorite quality of his? He is EXTREMELY patient and hard working. A lot of things don't come easy for him but he is the hardest worker I know. The dedication he puts into his schooling is so much more than I ever did when I was in school. He is very patient as well. That is the number one quality I know I need to learn from him.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Mostly babe and on occasion Tus Nxtais Huab Tias (which is Princess in Hmong).

8. What is his favorite color? Red, he was the biggest Bulls & Michael Jordan fan there ever was a kid...therefore, red is by far his favorite!

9. What is his favorite food? Um, probably rice or mash potatoes. He loves rice from serving his mission with the Hmong people but I think more and more potatoes are starting to become a favorite as well.

10. What is his favorite sport? Basketball

11. When and where was your first kiss? It was in his car in front of my house. He had actually planned a whole night's events around it but when I became suspicious of what our date was about...I "accidentally" invited Randy & Julia to come with us on our date. I was freaked out by the idea of being kissed...I know lame, but I was. So I had kinda rained on his parade and he gave up and ended up just kissing me in the car.

12. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Probably watch movies together. We like to go out to eat and to movies on the weekends, but even more so we just enjoy watching something together at home on a regular basis. One of our favorite things is to watch a Home Improvement episode together on a really busy day so we can at least spend a little bit of time together.

13. Do you have any children? nope.

14. Does he have a hidden talent? Um, he can make really, really good grilled cheese sandwiches and eggs. I know that sounds funny but he always says he isn't that great of a cook but he definitely can make those two things really well. I don't know why I always burn grilled cheese or overcook eggs...I can decorate cakes but yet I can't cook a stupid grilled cheese sandwich...so I am really grateful for that hidden talent of his!

.15. How old is he? 25. One of the girl's at church the other day guessed he was 21 and I was 27....can you believe that?? They said it was because I act more mature than him but still! I am NOT THAT OLD! I am not 6 years older than my husband! Rather I am almost 4 younger....

16. Who said I love you first? He did. I said it right back to him afterwards. He says that I didn't answer him for ever but I swear my answer followed within a second or two.

17. What’s his favorite type of music? Probably the Goo Goo Dolls. He likes Phil Collins too but he doesn't listen to that nearly as much.

18. What do you admire most about him? Like I said before, that he is such a hard worker and so patient...I admire that even though a lot of things are harder for him to learn than for most that he doesn't give up, he just keeps on working as hard as he can until he succeeds and proves the whole world wrong.

I LOVE HALLOWEEN!

About the end of August I started getting really, really excited for Halloween and it was KILLING me because Halloween was still so far away. I told myself I needed to wait a little while to set up my decorations but by about the second week in September I couldn't handle it anymore! Dan was away on a TDY in New Jersey so I spent one of the night's he was gone digging through our storage for my decorations and setting it all up. I also couldn't help myself and bought a few more things to add to our collection as well....

Both of us have been REALLY excited for the holidays this year. I think it is mostly because our first holiday season being married we were dirt poor and hadn't made really any friends yet around here (and were quite homesick at that point) so we didn't do as good of a job celebrating. Then last year Dan was deployed and I was in Utah. I decorated my room in my parent's house and loved celebrating with them but that isn't quite the same as decorating your own place...so this year I have been so excited to say the least!

I took pictures after setting up my decorations but never posted about it and was quite jealous to see a lot of people have now beat me to posting their Halloween decorations! Anyways, here are the few pictures I took and there will be more to follow....I have added to my collection since then, thanks to my parents getting me the Halloween Smores I wanted for my birthday! I will post those as well as pictures from Halloween in a few days! Dan and I are going to the ward Trunk or Treat tomorrow night. A few people have kinda thought we are crazy for going (including ourselves since we don't have any kids!) but I want to celebrate the holiday in every way possible! We don't get any trick or treaters in our apartment complex so the only way I get to pass out candy and dress up is if we go! I am hoping to make a few fun Halloween desserts as well for the occasion...we will see how ambitious I get tonight though!

My favorite is my new Pumpkin Haunted House. The blocks on the bottom left I made this year. I got a vinyl cutting machine for my birthday and did Halloween blocks for my first project and sold them at work. (P.S. If you double click the picture it will appear larger).

Gross!

So yesterday one of my co-workers and I went out to lunch. We decided to go to this little cafe that is just down the street from our tower (which just happens to be called "Just a Little Cafe....lol). Keep in mind there are VERY few food choices in Downtown Shreveport. I had ordered a to-go meal the other day there and it was decent so we decided to go there and order in.

Our meals were fairly good, the place wasn't as cleanly as I would have liked, but I wasn't completely appalled until the end. There was a refillable ketchup bottle sitting on the table. I had looked at it several times during our lunch wondering what kind of sauce was in there. It looked like a sweet & sour sauce with seeds. There was little seed looking things all in the sauce and also all around the top and sides of the bottle...like they had stuck there each time someone had turned the bottle over to get the sauce out.

As we were finishing eating Mandi decided to squeeze the bottle out of pure curiosity and out flew a bazillion of fruit flies. They were everywhere!!! After that you could see that the thousands of seeds, were NOT seeds, rather fruit flies that had been sitting really, really still. We quickly got up from our seats and promised to NEVER EVER go back there again. All of a sudden my fairly good tasting food turned into awful food that made me sick to even think about....YUCK!

Mrs. Smurf and her heavy metal.....

During the past two weeks I took a Fondant and Gum paste class. The first class was last Tuesday and the final class was last night.

The first week I was still really sick but had paid for the class and it was non-refundable so I was determined to go...We were supposed to be learning how to make a flower bouquet out of gum paste to go on top of the cake. The teachers was incredible...it looked so real. Mine on the other hand....well I don't think I will be trying to make it again anytime soon. It was supposed to be a bouquet with wire stems (almost like a corsage) that you could pull off the cake and reuse. Well the teacher accidentally bought the wrong wire so it wasn't strong enough to hold the flowers up. So in the end we ended up cutting off the wires and just arranging the flowers on top of the cake (keep in mind the flowers still had wire inside of them...just no longer had a stem). Overall, I definitely wasn't too fond of the class...probably mostly becuase the cake wasn't my style and I couldn't seem to grasp the concept of making the dang flowers...

I brought my cake the next night to the youth activity and I stepped out of the room for a few minutes when everyone decided to dig into the cake...I had yet to tell everyone that they shouldn't eat the flowers....so when I got back I was informed that one girl found a staple in her cake....which made me laugh a little because it obviously was NOT a staple...rather a wire and everyone else in the room had probably eaten wire without even noticing! YUCK! I wouldn't even try eating the flowers in the first place....fondant and gum paste tastes yucky, let alone with wire in it! Guess that is a lesson learned not to get anxious and just dig into something before you are given permission...because ya never know what could be in it!

I wasn't too excited about yesterday's class after the previous class experience but I decided to go to the class anyways just to see what they were teaching. I am really glad I did. We made a present cake, much more my style....I learned a lot of useful fondant techniques that I know I will use again. I definitely like modern styles of cakes...so yesterday was much more up my alley.

We had to add color to our fondant. Using fondant is a lot like playing with play dough. The teacher put a huge glob of coloring in our ball of fondant and we had to squish it around until it was all mixed. Everyone ended up with bright red hands except the teacher...guess in 20 years of cake decorating you learn the tricks of the trade! Anyways, if my hands would have been blue, everyone would have been calling me a smurf today, no joke! I think next time I will probably just buy fondant that is already colored...I am way too messy of a cook to probably ever catch on to how to do that process in a "non messy" way!

Good news...well at least for now!

Sorry Mary, I know you asked several days ago what I found out from the ENT but I seem to have lost a lot of ambition to do things, such as posting, the past few weeks....hopefully now that I am starting to feel better I will get that ambition back real quick!

When I went to the ENT last week it was confirmed that I had tonsillitis. He informed me that all the prescriptions I had been given in the past were not strong enough to kill it. My mom said it's a wonder I didn't end up in the ER with pain since the meds weren't even working...I seriously considered it a few times late at night but then the pain would always start to dull itself about the time I thought I couldn't take much more. Anyways, so since I had never had any meds strong enough to kill what I had and he was unsure how many times I have actually had tonsillitis or if some of my other times of being sick were from something else...he wants to hold off on the surgery. I was told to come back in two months or if I get sick again before then to come back then. Wednesday night I was also able to get a blessing at church. It seems between the meds and the blessing I really have improved. I am tired and a little sluggish still but I am pretty much back to normal....

Last night my ears and throat started to hurt a little again, along with a sinus headache...but so far it hasn't got worse...so hopefully with all the medicines and vitamins I am taking I will be able to keep it from turning into anything! Dan told me last night that I am taking more pills in a day than he has probably taken in 2 years combined....which is probably true:) Granted, he never takes medicine, vitamins, or anything.....which he should at least take vitamins...but seriously, the two of us could not be more opposite when it comes to stuff like that! I swear sometimes that any immune system or metabolism that I might have ever had, must have been given to him because his is perfect! He rarely, if ever, gets sick or gains a pound after eating everything in our cupboards in one setting! And some days I wonder if mine even exists! Hee hee....

Anyways, thanks family for praying and worrying about me so much lately! My blessing was so very helpful and I am grateful for that. My parents care package they sent has been a big help too!

Now I just need to work on posting about everything else I have been thinking about lately....

Yuck!

Yuck, yuck, yuck, yuck yuck. That is all I can say.....I have been sick lots lately. Don't remember if I have really said that on the blog or not, but I have. This past weekend we went to Lafayette for my sister-in-law, Angel's, bridal shower. Sunday morning I woke up not feeling so good and by the time we left to head home Sunday night whole right side of my throat and right ear were just throbbing and haven't stopped since. I instantly had the impression that it was my tonsils, and sure enough it was. I went to urgent care yesterday and they told me I needed to have them removed. They gave me a steroid shot plus several prescriptions. I have had at least 6 episodes of being sick/sinus infections this year, 3 of which have been in the last month. So....tomorrow to the ENT I go! So I guess I will wait to see what he says. If I have surgery, hopefully it will be soon so I can get back to normal before Angel's wedding and our trip to Utah for Christmas.

Rolling with the punches.....

So yesterday Dan was FINALLY promoted to a Senior Airman (E-4) rank. He was supposed to get it about 6 months ago but due to some mixups when his supervisors changed a lot of his paperwork got misplaced and therefore he didn't get the raise. We had to wait 6 long months in order for him to re-apply and the day finally came!

I went to his promotion ceremony and it was really neat. I have never been to one before so I was completely unaware of some of the Air Force traditions. His Commander present him his award and rank advancement. I really like his Commander, he is a very nice man who is very family oriented and is easy to talk to. He said some really nice things about Dan and about both of us in general that we really appreciated. It was nice that his Commander recognized how unique of and individual Dan is. He said that Dan was one of the best assets to his squadron and that they are lucky to have him. He said that no matter what path Dan chooses in life he will always succeed because that is just who he is. He said that Dan is a great man and is always showing improvement each and every day in his job. He said that he was coming quite near to being a perfect human being...but not quite, and that he shouldn't get a big head over it! It was a funny moment...He also congratulated us on being one of the few and far in between couples to have a happy marriage. Anyways, he was a really neat guy. After the award was presented we were able to talk to him a little bit more and learned that he met his wife on a blind date just like us! He said that their meeting was definitely due to the hands of God. It was neat to hear his boss talk so much about God and religion and the importance of good and successful marriages.


After his Commander presented him the award they have a little tradition of how they put on their new stripes. Generally, the Commander will stand on one side and another Officer on the other. Well they had me stand on one side of him instead and I had no idea what was coming...We each had to put stripes on his sleeves and then punch him as hard as we could to make sure they would stay on. I was told to punch him as hard as I could! As everyone came around to congratulate him he was punched about another 20 times. After we left the ceremony he told me that his arms were too sore to do push-ups....I didn't realize anyone really punched him that hard but I guess a few did! Anyways, so now I have an excuse to punch him whenever I want when he is in uniform. I can just blame it on making sure that his stripes are sticking....

Dan & I with his Commander

Dan's new stripes and sore arm.

Dolores, this picture is just for you. I made him push his hat down lower. He claims that they are supposed to wear their hats where they are just sitting on top of their head but I swear I don't see anyone but him wearing it that way! I think that is just his excuse for not wanting to push it down on his head and make him sweat more:)

Corn Maze Pictures

Here are some of the pictures I took of the youth at the corn maze last night.

Top Row (Left to Right): Elisha, Kali, Jacob (he is really short, you might not really be able to see him, we should have had him in the front!), Jaclyn, her friend. Bottom Row: Madison, Cady, Emma, Heather D., and Josh (his family is the one that own's the corn maze).

Bishop Maranto, Jaclyn, and her friend rubber ducky racing.

Sarah and Jean

Cady and Madison eating cupcakes (Cady's favorite food...she begs for us to have cupcakes at every activity.)

Jacob & Elisha riding the cow train.

Another picture on the cow train.

Dan and Josh.

My dear sweet Jean:)

Last night we went to the corn maze for the youth activity for church. A family in our ward owns it. We helped them out a few months ago to prepare for the corn maze so in return they let us come for free. Everyone seemed to really enjoy the activity, especially Jean.

Jean is my cute little Downs Syndrome young woman. She is the smartest downs kid I have ever met. She comes from a family of 14 kids and is the youngest. I think with growing up with so many other kids and with her parents treating her like a normal person she has really learned how to be very independent. She can do more than most kids with the same problems she has. Her parents are definitely gifted in how they have raised her. She is the smartest kid in her Special Ed class and actually helps tutor the others in her class. She is also the happiest downs kid I have ever met as well.

She always runs up to me at church and gives me a giant bear hug and tells me she loves me (she does this to all the other leaders as well). If you are ever doubting your self worth, Jean is definitely the right person to be around. On Sunday she usually sits by me during Young Womens and loves to hang on me and hug me with dead weight and tell me she loves me about every 2 minutes. One of her favorite things to do is to just cling on someone else and let them hold her up....sometimes it gets a little claustrophobic but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

Lately Jean has been starting to really open up with us leaders. She used to be a lot more shy but lately she seems to just thrive off of our attention. Last night she was in the silliest mood I have seen her yet. Every time I would say anything she would say exactly the opposite just to see the reaction on my face. When we were driving to the corn maze a few of the girls and I commented on a really cool house we saw. She instantly said, "That house is not cool!" and was just giggling waiting for me to say, "ya huh" and then she would say "nu uh" and back and forth and back and forth. It was really funny.

Anyways, Dan and I were Jean's partners throughout the maze. She has a hard time walking so we took turns walking slower with her and holding her arm. I think she found her new crush last night. She wouldn't let go of Dan the rest of the night once he started talking to her. She was such a hoot on the car ride home as well. We turned on the movie Madagascar for them to watch. Her parents told me she has only seem the movie once or twice but yet she was quoting the entire movie. It was the funniest thing to watch...she was cracking all us leaders up. She definitely made our day.

I the picture of her at the top of this post while we were in the maze and just loved it! The picture captured every reason why I love Jean so much and how special she makes all of us feel! She is definitely one of the many blessings I thrive off of from serving the with the youth at church.

Wahoo!

For those that don't know...Dan and I have been struggling through him trying to pass his sciences classes in order to get his associates degree for almost a year now. When we met almost 3 years ago he had EVERYTHING done for his associates except for his sciences classes...he was a major procrastinator is all I can say! Science is definitely the hardest subject for him to comprehend and he often gets overwhelmed with the class before it has even started.

For the first year and a half of his Air Force career he was unable to go to school between being in Basic Training, then Tech School, and finally having to complete a ton of required Air Force classes. He had planned on getting back into school last fall but when he deployed we were afraid he would have to put it on hold once again. We decided to have him study and try to pass the Science CLEP test instead that would give him enough credits to graduate. He studied hard his entire deployment and so did I. He would email me with a long list of questions he had while studying several times a week. I then would spend several hours studying in order to be able to answer his questions. It was a lot of work for both of us but also drew us closer together because it was the one thing I could do to help him when he was so far away. Anyways, after 3 months of studying he took the test and didn't pass. We were both very disappointed because that meant he still had to take 3 science classes.

So I quickly signed him up for school for Spring Semester this year through Weber State's online program. We signed him up to take a Nutrition class. He missed almost the first month because he was coming home from a deployment so he had a ton of makeup work to do. That semester was very challenging because we were always trying to get him caught up with his work and we quickly learned he definitely prefers learning in an actual class setting.

This summer he took a biology class on base. The teacher didn't have a book, only lectured. Dan would bring a tape recorder to the class and record everything the teacher said. The man was like 90 years old and he always sounded like he had a frog in his throat. His voice would drive us both nuts as Dan studied at home! The class was a challenge once again because we were out of town a lot during the summer and biology was just a hard concept in general for him to grasp, let alone the teacher's teaching methods adding to that.

This semester he is taking his last class in order to get his associates degree and we are beyond thrilled to have this done and over with! Well at least until he starts on his bachelors (hopefully that will include absolutely NO SCIENCE CLASSES!!!!). It is a slow process to take only one class at a time but I guess you have to do what you have to do. He is taking an Astronomy class at a local college and is doing great! He has taken two tests in the class so far and has gotten the high in the class! Today he called me and told me his newest test score was posted on the Internet and he wanted me to look it up for him. He got a 97% on it!!!!! He was so excited and couldn't stop shouting "Wahoooo" in the phone....hee hee. If it weren't for the fact that he was driving at the time I know he would have been jumping up and down with excitement! He said that he can't remember ever getting a score that good on a test in his life, let alone on a science test!

Anyways, the point to this whole story is all all the torture from this past year feels like it is FINALLY paying off. This past Thursday was my birthday. Dan took me out to dinner and then we stayed home for the rest of the night so he could study for his test the next morning. I did my own thing for most of the night but then helped quiz him for about an hour before we went to bed. I was slightly disappointed with our evening plans but knew that is what needed to be done. He had been gone for 4 out of the 7 days of class that he was being tested on. He had been on temporary duty for the Air Force during those class days. So he was quite stressed for the test after having missed so much...so getting a 97% after just that alone was extremely exciting to both of us!!!! Then you add all of last year on to that....and that only intensified our excitement!

Dan asked me if we could go out and celebrate...I told him we could go to the corn maze tonight (we were already going anyways for our church youth activity tonight). I don't think he liked my joke too much...I will have to think of something fun to surprise him with for doing so good another day when we aren't so busy....

Anything but Cake!

Now that life should be getting back to normal (whatever that is....) I promise to post more things other than about cake!

Week 4

This past week was my last cake decorating class, well at least for the beginning course. Dan got home from his TDY a week ago Thursday and came home with a cold. Between sick co-workers and a sick husband somehow I seemed to catch it all! I came down with the flu, ear infections, a sinus infection, etc...I woke up feeling miserable on Sunday morning and stayed in bed for 3 straight days. I finally went back to work on Wednesday, not because I felt that good but because I was ready to get back to life before I got any more behind. The doctor had prescribed me 250 mg of Sudafed a day. If you look at a box of over the counter Sudafed, the max for the day is 120 mg. So to say the least, this drug that normally can make it hard to sleep basically kept me awake all week long. I finally quit taking it last night so I could get some rest and slept 12 hours straight! I have been on the slow road to recovery all week long but think I am finally on the last lap of the track.

On Tuesday, as you know, I have my cake decorating class. I really really wanted to go, which I knew wasn't very logical, but I went anyways. I made sure I left the classroom each time I started to have a coughing fit and used lots of hand sanitizer as I learned how to cut, shape, and decorate a fish cake. By the end of 1 1/2 hours of cake decorating I was exhausted! It was the most I had done in over 3 days! I am still glad I went though. It gave me a chance to get out of the house and I am sure someday I will have the need to make a fish cake again, well...maybe not but you never know!

Week 3

A few weeks ago I had week 3 of my cake decorating class. We were told to bring 30 cupcakes...annoying that one box of cake mix only makes 24 cupcakes. So in the end I made two boxes and had 48 cupcakes. When I got to class we only used about 15, so in the end I didn't even need to make the 30!! So when I got home that night I still had undecorated cupcakes coming out my ears...I stayed up late that night icing them all so that I could take them to Young Womens the next night.

The next day upon returning home from work I found them all covered in hundreds and hundreds of sugar ants...ughh! We get sugar ants like crazy here, they are definitely my least favorite thing about the south. By the way, did I tell you I HATE SUGAR ANTS?????? For those of you lucky enough to have never come across a sugar ant they are teeny tiny red ants that are attracted to anything and everything that might possibly be sweet in your house, such as toothpaste, food, crumbs, etc. I know of friends that have to keep all their groceries like cereal and everything in the fridge in order to keep the ants away. We get them a lot but haven't had to do that yet. But this time the ants were more frustrating than they have ever been. I had all the cupcakes in sealed rubbermaid containers and they still found their way in!!!

Anyways, we learned how to decorate lots of cute cupcakes in the class as well as how to make a cupcake cake. I really enjoyed it and it is probably one of the things I will do most often out of everything I learned in the class.

Campin' in New Jersey

So I've been single for a week now while Dan has been enjoying camping in New Jersey....he has spent his days kayaking, hiking, eating smores.......





He wishes! In reality Dan had to go on a TDY for work, which is similar to a business trip for those not into the Air Force lingo....They are doing what is called a "Bare Base" exercise, which is basically playing pretend all week long! They pretended the invaded a foreign country, set up a temporary camp site, and are living like they are in the desert for a week. They were told to bring lots and lots of baby wipes....


Dan got recruited to security...how a cook turns into a security guard I will never know...but that's what he has been up to. When the first arrived they had to work the first full 24 hours and then are on 12 hour shifts the remaining time of camp. He told me as he was leaving last week that they have pretend attackers that try to come into the camp. They were taught all the official things to do and say in order to keep the camp "safe". He said they would even have vests (similar to laser tag vests) that light up when you are shot in case they get shot by the enemy or have to shoot the enemy themselves. I asked Dan if he got "shot" if that means he doesn't have to work the rest of the week, he said no. Actually, in his training the addressed that subject, guess a lot of people have asked that before.


So anyways, in order to keep things official for the week cell phones have been banned. They stated that if you had invaded a foreign country and were setting up camp you wouldn't be able to contact family....well DUH! There wouldn't be a way to do that. But anyways, my point being I haven't talked to him at all since the exercise started. Everything I have written about is stuff he told me would take place during the week...This past week has been a long week for me, to say the least. There has been a lot that has happened both at work and home that I could have used him for, but I am sure his week has been just as interesting as mine!


Last year he did a similar exercise he had to wear a ton of war zone gear that was very hot and heavy. I know he had to bring all that with him this year as well, but at least New Jersey should be a little cooler than Louisiana was in the dead of summer last year! Last year he definitely was glad to have the exercise over with. They constantly did pretend raids...like as if the base had been bombed or something. They would have to put on their gas masks and stay put inside until the raid was over with. Last year he was heading to the bathroom as one took place. He had to hurry back inside and put on his mask and stay still for like 2 hours...he wasn't pleased to say the least!

Week 2

A week ago Tuesday was week 2 of my cake decorating class....the actually class went smoothly compared to the week before but preparing and getting there did not! I KNEW I had a jammed packed week ahead of me so I decided I better bake my cake Sunday night. So I quickly whipped together a cake mix while Dan was out home teaching and stuck it in the freezer after it cooled (this makes it easier to ice...). When Dan got home he realized the freezer wasn't closing well so he moved something and shoved it right into one of my cakes on accident. So about 9:30 at night I opened up the freezer and noticed that one of my cake layers had a huge indent in it. So I had to bake another cake that night since I needed two layers for the class.

Monday I didn't get home until after 9 pm. We ate dinner and then I set out to make my frosting and crumb coat and ice my cake (we are supposed to have 1 coating of icing on before we get to class so we have time to learn everything). Every week we have to have 3 lbs of icing so it's definitely a project! I finally finished it all a little before 11 and went to bed....

I was almost late to Tuesday's class because of a really bad day at work but when I FINALLY arrived I really enjoyed the class. Both Traci and I felt much more prepared now that we had a complete list of things to bring and our cakes were ready to go. We practiced the rose a little more and learned how to do a basket weave. My hand was definitely tired by the end of the night but I was glad to learn how to do it!

Rain, Rain (and Cajun food) go away...come again another day....

This past weekend we were supposed to go to the Temple in Dallas but cancelled our trip at the last minute. Hurricane Ike was on it's way to hitting Dallas and then was supposed to come over to us. Funny how everyone was SO worried about Hurricane Gustav and all it did was lightly rain for a few days. This time the hurricane weather was a little more extreme and no one was even really panicking about it at all...still we decided we shouldn't take our chances so we stayed home.

Friday night we decided to go out to dinner amongst other errands we had to run. We were driving around trying to decide where to eat when we saw a cajun restaurant we have been meaning to try for a long time. We hastily decided to go there. When we got in and I started looking at the menu (and the prices) I quickly realized there was NOTHING that appealed to me on the menu. I should have known that before, I don't really like much cajun cuisine...actually, I like cajun flavors just not cajun seafood, which is about what the entire menu consisted of. The waitress brought our waters and Dan asked me what I was thinking of getting. I said (very hesitantly I might ad)..."um, well....I guess I could get the one chicken thing on the menu......". Dan instantly knew I wasn't thrilled with the restaurant and he didn't really care whether we ate there or not either. He asked me if I wanted to leave...and yes I did but felt WAY to stupid doing it. Well in the end, I left the restaurant a few minutes before him and he shortly followed after me. He told the hostess up front that we had something come up and had to leave and to apologize to our waiter. They then asked if he wanted to speak to the waiter..he quickly said no and that we didn't have time but would come back soon. I was literally hiding around the corner outside because I felt so dumb! I felt bad too for making Dan be the one to tell them we were leaving...but something really did come up! We realized we didn't want to spend that much $$$ for food I wasn't at all interested in and he was just okay with. Has anyone ever had that happen to them before??? It was DEFINITELY an awkward moment but we didn't know what else to do......hopefully we NEVER have to do that again. We ended up going to a mexican restaurant and I got fajitas...much better than yucky seafood:)

The rest of the weekend went quite smoothly, well for the most part. Saturday we went to some church classes they had at the stake center, it was called EFY (Especially for Adults, a playoff of Especially for Youth). We were able to go to a class about the church in Kuwait. It was by a couple whose whole family lived there for 3 years after 9/11. They were actually there when Spencer deployed there and the dad was the one that arranged for Elder Ballard to come and visit the base. They moved back to the states shortly before Dan deployed there. It was neat to here their experiences there and compare them to that of our family's. We also went to a marriage class that was very interesting. Last year when I went to EFA it was just two days after Dan deployed. I also took a marriage class then and I have to admit...I definitely enjoyed the class much more this year with him by my side.

After EFA we started to drive home as the weather worsened and the power started to go out all around us. By the time we got home the wind was really really strong and it was pouring. We were able to find one fast food restaurant that still had power and quickly grabbed something to eat because we were worried we wouldn't have power to cook with the rest of the night. Come to find out...we were like the ONLY ones around that had power. The light and gas station right by our apartment was out as well as the neighborhoods around us but not us! We definitely had no complaints about that! We enjoyed the luxuries of watching movies and just staying in all night while the storm made it's debue outside.

9/11

I have read several blogs about 9/11 and everyone's memory of it. My friend, Deb, encouraged everyone to write on their blog their memory of the event so here I go. To be honest, I understand much more about it now that I did that day. I was young and naive enough that I don't think I really understood how big of a deal it really was, so I wasn't as nervous as most people remember being. I was 14 years old, sitting in my 9th grade studio art class when our teacher told us the news. She turned on a TV for us to watch during class and had us write journal entries instead of painting that day. She said that it was a day not to forget and encouraged us to write down everything to have to look back on in the future. I will have to see if I can find that paper, I am curious to know what I said. I do know that I didn't even know what a terrorist was, I thought the news was saying tourist, BIG DIFFERENCE.

At 14 I never really thought September 11 would effect my life as much as it has. Yes, I was worried and scared, but never thought it would directly impact me. I was scared of war, I was scared some of my friends would possibly be drafted n the future, but had no idea what that day really meant. I was mostly confused. I remember feeling bad for my parents because it was their anniversary, but didn't realize that the memory of that day would effect every anniversary of theirs in the years to come.

Dan at Ali Al Salem AFB, Kuwait Sept 2007

Now looking back as a military wife that day is all too real. I never would have guessed at 14 years old that I would marry someone in the Air Force who would actually deploy because of the events that took place on that day. Heck, I would have never even guessed that the day before I met Dan. I am proud to live in a country who fights for freedom. A country that not only fights for our freedom but for other country's freedom as well. I am proud to have a husband serving in the military and proud of many other family members and friends who have served or are still currently serving in the military. Military life is hard to explain, I know sometimes I complain more than I should about certain things that come with military life, but all and all it has been a great experience. I am happy to say that I am a military wife. I am happy in Louisiana and grateful for the experience and trials it has brought. I now have 2 homes and will miss this one dearly when the time comes for us to move on.

Dan and a few of his Middle Eastern Friends

Dan and I have had many wonderful experiences because of the Air Force. We have been given opportunities to serve others that we never would have been able to do any other way. I have grown to love the people from the Mid East through my husband even though I have never even met them. As Dan and I face decisions in the future about whether we will remain active duty in the Air Force for a career or not, I do know that if we get out, I will miss it. I will miss the patriotism that comes with the life and all the people we get to meet. But no matter what decision we make I will always be grateful for the experiences we have had. We still are not sure what path we will choose but as long as it is where God wants us to be, that is where we will go...even if it's a hard decision to face.

Week 1

Last night was my first night of cake decorating class, well since high school. I took a class in high school but remember very little from the class. My friend, Traci, took the class with me. It was really fun to have someone to laugh with you through all the problems we had! The night started off with both of our cakes being stuck in the cake pans. We had left our cakes in the pans so they would be easier to carry...boy what a mistake that was!!! We were both laughing so hard because they wouldn't come out and we were the only ones with that problem. Everyone else was smart enough to take theirs out 15 minutes after they were done baking. Needless to say, we finally got them out and even in one piece!

The night before Traci and I had spent countless hours shopping for our cake decorating supplies. The teacher had given us a list of supplies to buy and many of them we couldn't find. So after going to three stores we finally gave up and just got what we could. We both got home about 9 pm and still had to bake our cakes and make over 3 lbs of icing. Luckily I had a KitchenAid stand mixer so my icing wasn't too bad to mix but Traci said she had icing all over her walls and ceilings by the time she was done! The recipe was very vague on what consistency it was supposed to be so when we got to class we quickly learned her icing was too thin and mine was WAY too thick. So all night she had problems with her icing drooping and her roses turning into blobs whereas mine was so think I couldn't even get it to spread on the cake! My roses stayed together better but they cracked because of the thick icing so they look a little more like carnations:)

By the end of the night we both were on a sugar high from licking our fingers so much and had frosting all over us. It was a fun night though! Looking back, we should have just mixed our icings together and they probably wouldn't have been the perfect consistency! Traci mentioned to me this morning though that if we had done that our cakes would have looked too good week 1 that it would be hard to beat by week 4! So now our week 4 cakes SHOULD look really good in comparison!

We also found out when we got to class that the college hadn't given us a complete list of supplies so there was several things none of us bought that the teacher expected us to have...so along with better icing this next week we will also be much better equipped with the supplies we need!

Traci's cake is the purple one and mine is the orange one (it was supposed to be coral but definitely came out more orange than anything!).

Cupcakes:)

Dan bought me this really cool cupcake idea book from Micheals recently. I have been memorizing all the ideas from it because I have looked at it so much since I got it. I have been impatiently waiting for the chance to Well this weekend we had a overnighter at my apartment for the young women at church. I took full advantage of the opportunity to make cupcakes and have others eat them instead of just Dan & I. They were my first attempt and a little challenging I must say but it was a fun project. I am taking a cake decorating class at a tech school just down the street from my house as well starting tomorrow....so I am sure I will have more pictures to follow in the next few weeks plus cake coming out my ears!

All safe and sound:)

I just wanted to quickly post and let everyone know we are all safe and sound. We appreciate all who have called, texted, etc. I apologize for not getting back to everyone. I have been sick this week so I haven't gotten much accomplished to say the least!

As you all probably know Gustav only hit as a category 2 hurricane when it had been predicted as a category 4, possibly 5 at one time. This was a great blessing because by the time it hit Lafayette, where our family lives, it was only a category 1. They lost power for a bit and one of their houses had a little water damage, but other than that, everything went very well! By the time the storm hit us it was only a tropical storm. We haven't seen the sun in days but there has been no flash flooding or tornadoes at all like predicted. The rain has been steady for the most part but honestly, we have probably seen worse storms than this one since we have been here. Many of our neighbors power has been off and on this week but ours has been fine. I almost think our friends in Little Rock, Arkansas have had it harder than us...they live more out in the country where I think the rains are a little harder to handle and more likely to cause damage. They have lost their power quite a bit and their kids were even in a car accident from the storm. We will be praying for them!

Hurricane Gustav

Like I said in the last post, we are about to experience our first hurricane in Louisiana. We moved here about a year after Hurricane Katrina and are currently waiting Hurricane Gustav's arrival. The hurricane has actually started to hit the coast of the state this morning. We leave in the very northwestern point of the state, which is about 5 hours from New Orleans. Dan's dad and step mom as well as much of her family live in Lafayette, which is less than 2 hours from the coast. They have spent the weekend boarding up windows and packing away anything that might fly with the high wind speed of the storm. Donna told me that when hurricane Katrina hit their neighbor had an orange tree and the oranges flew through the window of their cars because the wind was so strong.

With hurricanes comes lots of tornadoes and flooding as well. Since we live so far north everyone has been evacuating to here but that doesn't mean we will miss out on all the weather. We are expected to get up to 20 inches of rain and I am sure we will be on tornado watch. School has been closed up until at least Wednesday because all of the school buses have headed south to help with the evacuation process that is in place as well as because of the chances of bad weather and flooding here.

Donna was telling us that in Lafayette all the regular and premium pumps are out of gas. All you can buy is the supreme now. They went to several stores to buy batteries for flashlights but everywhere was sold out. Most everyone seems to be planning for the storm a little better this time. When we stayed in a hotel on Friday night in Shreveport we learned that all the hotels in Northern Louisiana are totally booked and that you have to head into Arkansas to find a vacancy now. The local University, LSUS, is housing thousands of evacuees as well as the gym on base has been opened up to evacuees as well.

We are told to experience a much higher evacuee count than for Katrina becuase this time the entire gulf coast is evacuating due to the enormous size of the storm. It is said the storm is the size of Texas. At church yesterday we were informed that we may be getting phone calls from the ward asking us to help home some of our fellow churchmembers from the south. More than likely we may end up housing family this week. It will be an interesting week, one I am sure we will not forget for a long, long time.

To be considered a friend.....

This past weekend has been amazing to say the least. I was able to help a friend in a way I wish I never would have had to but also was so grateful she was willing to come to me in such a hard moment in her life.

A few weeks ago we had planned on getting away for our anniversary. We had to cancel our plans at the last minute when Dan's squadron got assigned punishment shift due to the actions of a few of the workers. So we re-planned our anniversary trip for this weekend. The plan was to do our anniversary Friday night through Sunday morning and then head to Lafayette to stay with Dan's parents for the remainder of the weekend for Paul's birthday.

On Wednesday we learned about hurricane Gustav (which by the way is supposed to hit anytime now) and by Thursday night we had decided it was too unsafe for us to travel there and possibly get stuck and not be able to return home. As it is, our family there might have a good chance of needing to evacuate themselves and join us up here in Shreveport.

So anyways, back to my story. So come Friday morning when I got to work I was quite upset that we couldn't go to Lafayette. I knew we didn't have a choice and that it wasn't safe to go but all I wanted to do is kick my feet like a little kid and scream, "NO! This is not fair! I WANT TO GO TO LAFAYETTE." and inside, I basically did. Dan and I decided to at least still celebrate our anniversary and just stay in the local area. We stayed in a hotel about 20 minutes from here Friday night. Saturday morning we got a phone call from him supervisor that he had to work Sunday. We had originally planned on staying two nights and then returning home for church Sunday morning but then had to return home Saturday in order for Dan to work Sunday morning. We did our best to enjoy the day on Saturday (we went to a local waterpark and out to dinner) but both of us couldn't get the idea out of our heads of him having to work Sunday morning. Come Sunday morning I went to church by myself while Dan worked.

We had talked the night before and decided we weren't going to give up the fight. We were going to go camping Sunday night into Monday and STILL do something fun and different for our weekend. We invited some friends along as well. At church yesterday (as well as from watching the news) I learned how much this storm is really supposed to effect Shreveport and realized it wasn't wise to go camping. We knew the hurricane wasn't supposed to hit here quite yet but knew we better be safe that sorry. We have both been trying to work harder lately at being prepared for what Heavenly Father needs us to do. So it didn't make sense to go camping and take that chance.

No matter how bummed I was about all or weekend plans that kept on falling through I wish I never had been. I had been praying all weekend long for Heavenly Father to help me not to be bitter about it. I knew that it wasn't important that I understand why things were that way but rather I feel at peace about it all. Yesterday afternoon we laid down to watch a movie and take a nap. I woke up hearing my phone vibrate, something I normally would sleep through. I saw that a good friend of mine had tried calling and for some reason I felt the urgency to call her back rather than go back to sleep.

This friend answered her phone in tears asking if she could come over because she felt like she had no place to go. She had been praying we would be home. As she came over and revealed an extreme trial in her life right now I felt SO SO SO privileged to be the friend she chose to lean on at such a hard time. She felt bad to put her burdens on me but I felt extremely blessed that she chose me and felt that I could possibly help and comfort her in some way. We talked for quite some time and eventually was able to have Dan give her a blessing and teach her the importance about how the Bishop of our ward is there to help ease her burdens. The spirit was so so strong during the blessing, I could feel Heavenly Father's love wrapping his arms around her and comforting all of us in the room.

As she left our home last night Dan and I couldn't help but ponder on Heavenly Father's great plan in our lives. We were DETERMINED to go out town this past weekend and we would have had Heavenly Father not intervened and kept us where we needed to be. As I had been praying this past weekend to feel comforted over the entire situation I had begun to feel at peace. I knew we were home for a reason and that reason was my dear, dear friend. I am so grateful that we listened to the spirit and knew we should stay home this weekend despite how hard the decision seemed. I am so grateful to have a loving husband that was worthy to help my friend as well last night by giving her a blessing.

Heavenly Father is slowly but surely answering my prayers as to why we are here in Louisiana at this time. Both Dan I have grown to love Louisiana very much. We do miss our families but we both know this is where we are supposed to be. We have been given many opportunities to serve those around us and share our testimonies. Others have seen something different about us and I am grateful that through Heavenly Father's hands we have been able to share with them exactly what that is.

The finished product!

The other day I picked up our pottery after work.

We have been waiting (impatiently I might add..)

all week for them to be fired so we were pretty

excited when we heard they were ready.

Let us know what you think!

Painting our Hearts Out

This past week Dan and I went to Arts on Fire, a "paint your own pottery" place. About a month and a half ago I saw an episode on one of my favorite shows "Jon & Kate plus 8 (a show about a family with twins and sextuplets) about them taking their kids to a place like Arts on Fire. After watching that episode I had a HUGE craving to go to one as well. So my friend Mallory and I went about a month ago. I painted a plate as a wedding gift for Andrew & Cami. Ever since then I have been wanting to go back with Dan. I was a little worried he wouldn't really enjoy it but we want to start doing more stuff with each other that entails teaching one another about a hobby of ours. So painting we did go!


We each picked out plates to decorate to use each Sunday for dinner. Dan painted a "Cajun Basketball" theme on his, which consisted of an alligator sitting on top of a basketball (basically his two favorite things....lol) with a landscape like background and a sun in the corner with a goofy grin and sunglasses on. I painted a "Frog Kingdom" (who would have ever guessed....:)on mine, which consisted of a frog prince and princess with a castle in the background. It had "And they lived "HOP"ily ever after" written around the border. Both plates definitely fit our personalities!

I was surprised at how much fun Dan had painting his plate and how good he was at it. I helped him out a little but I think he discovered a little bit of artistic talent he never knew he had....don't think he will probably pursue that talent much other than when I drag him into doing craft projects with me...which knowing myself, that might happen quite often. Overall, it was a nice day. We have been so busy lately that it was nice to take time out of our Saturday to just relax and enjoy one an other's company without having to worry about anything other than painting our plates!

2 Years...CrAzY!!!!!

As I mentioned in the previous post we have officially been married two years now. It really doesn't seem like it was that long ago. Probably a big part of it is because Dan was getting ready to deploy on our first anniversary. So when he got home from deployment we were already halfway to our second. For our anniversary we had planned on going out of town for the weekend but had to postpone it due to Dan getting called in to work. We still had a nice dinner at home on Sunday and exchanged gifts and such. I have to say, the gift from my parents (more so my dad), pictured on the left, definitely sums up our marriage!:) Hee hee...not really but we both definitely enjoy teasing each other on occasion!

I've Been Tagged!!!! Thanks to Amber:)

Okay, so I was tagged by Amber to post 6 random facts about myself. I decided to use this tag as a way of filling everyone in on our current life. I have been thinking about doing that for quite sometime since I have several friends who now read my blog that I haven't talked to since before I even met Dan.

1. Dan & I met on a blind date January 2, 2006. Both of us were NOT excited about going on a blind date...but are glad we did! We definitely don't give testimonials on the pros of blind dating but if it works for you, great! It worked randomly for us (Dan's first blind date and my second). I will say it makes the difference who sets you up. Dan was asked about the date by his brother's best friend and my best friend asked me about it.

2. We were engaged just shy of 6 weeks of dating (I know crazy....) on Valentines. Dan went off to basic training for the Air Force at the end of April and returned just a mere few days before the wedding.

3. We were sealed in the Bountiful Temple, August 10, 2006 and just celebrated our 2 year anniversary a few weeks ago. We took a short weekend honeymoon to Vegas and moved a week later to our first Air Force station, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.

4. We have been living in Louisiana now for two years and LOVE it! We do miss family at times but we definitely have a great life here and have made lots of forever friends. When we were waiting to find out where we would be stationed (much like waiting for a mission call) my mom and I kept on praying we would be near family (or near enough to have someone to run to in case of emergency). Our prayers were definitely answered, but not in the slightest way we expected. We thought we might end up near Utah or in Arizona by Dan's brother, but here we are in Louisiana only 3 HOURS AWAY from Dan's Dan and Stepmom (they moved here about 6 months after we did). Plus we also have the Deatons (my old neighbors from Utah) that we consider next to kin as well.

5. Dan works on base as a cook and goes to school part-time at night. He teasingly said he was given the job because he was a newlywed and the Air Force wanted him to learn how to cook for his wife. I think that is actually slightly true. Although he has had his challenges of downsizing a recipe for hundreds of people just for the two of us, he is a big help in the kitchen when I have down days. Oh yeah, that's another random tidbit from the past two years, I was diagnosed as a Diabetic about a year ago, therefore the down days. Dan enjoys his job but eventually would like to work at the gym helping plan races and other events on base. Is the Air Force a career for him? Who knows??? That is a big question lingering in our minds but we enjoy it for now and want to make the best of it! Dan has deployed once so far, last year he was in Kuwait from September until the end of January this year. It was hard having him gone (I spent a majority of the time in Utah with family) but we both grew a lot from the experience.

6. As for me, I work in Downtown Shreveport at a law firm. There are 12 attorneys here so there is plenty of work to keep me busy! I work as their billing clerk and occasionally fill in with help on the accounting side as well. It is a good job for now, I have made some great friends and enjoy what I do (well for the most part....). I have definitely learned a lot here and they have been extremely good to me. Heck, they let me take off 3 whole months while Dan was deployed! Not sure if I will stay working at law firms in general forever, possibly thinking about becoming a dietitian or something along those lines, but for now the law firm is the place I am supposed to be! As far as schooling goes, I finished up my associates degree this past year and put school on hold while Dan was deployed. I have signed up for a few continuing education classes at the local college this fall and will hopefully be starting shortly again on another degree of some sort.

Bonus Random Fact #7. Dan & I are both currently serving with the youth at church and we both love it! I am sure I have mentioned that before in some of the posts but wanted to mention it again because it is such a big part of our daily lives. Our callings have definitely been the number one thing that has helped us make friends and start a support group in Louisiana, a home a way from home, I guess you could call it.

Okay, now it's someone else's turn. I tag Lora, Mary, & Desirae!!!!! Tell me 6 things about yourself!

Pictures from Utah:)

Dan was excited about his new outfit
we bought for him to wear in Utah.
He was extremely surprised I thought
the idea of buying plaid shorts was
acceptable, and even more surprised
I liked them! FYI Dan, wearing plaid shorts
is NOT the same as wearing your
Hawaiian swimsuit on dates.

Dan, Jordan, & Rueb after a water war.

Andrew & Cami and Paul & Donna at the reception.

Dolores, Abby, & Aidan.

Donna, Angel, and I in our pretty little dresses.

My bro & I at the reception.

Bowling with Rueb.

Bowling again.

and again:)

Best part about bowling was our scores. I accidentally

bowledfor my dad (F=fadduh) so he bowled

mine (S=Sierra). So I definitely ended up with a

better score that way! Heck I almost won the game!

Our Utah Trip

I am finally posting about Utah....I know I said I would do it a few weekends ago but life seems to be passing too quickly and I keep on getting more and more behind. Our home computer wasn't working for a few weeks and I was finally able to fix it this past weekend. So between having no home computer and being too busy to do it at work during my lunch, I just haven't posted for awhile:) So anyways, I figured I would at least try to do a few postings this morning. (minus pictures because I accidentally left my purse at home this morning, which has the camera in it...annoying to say the least!!!!!!!!!!)

Okay, so we went to Utah a few weeks ago for Andrew's, Dan's brother, wedding. We got there on a Saturday and became wedding plan/prep assistant's (for the most part....) for the weekend up until the wedding on Tuesday. It was a tiring weekend but we were glad to help and enjoyed being near family. The wedding was great, we enjoyed the day and were excited to be able to be a part of the wedding celebration. Donna, my mother-in-law, Angel and Kristen (two of my sister-in-laws), and I all enjoyed being able to dress up and FINALLY wear the dresses we all stressed over finding:) I enjoyed being all fancy and look forward to wearing my outfit again (yes again...I spent too much on it just to wear it once) at Angel's wedding in November. Overall, the wedding was a great day, tiring to say the least, but I always enjoy participating in weddings now just as much as I did as a little girl when I looked forward to and schemed about my own wedding someday.

After the wedding was over we made a hasty decision and changed Dan's flight plan to stay a few extra days. He originally was supposed to leave the morning after the wedding to head back home for work and school. But since we hadn't really had a chance to relax with family yet he decided to stay a few extra days. Wednesday we spent the morning with the Crandall family eating free breakfast at the Holiday Inn and that evening with the Jasmers playing killer bunnies...my new obsession! Kristen has been trying to convince me to learn the game for quite some time now and I have always cringed at the idea. Well this time when I was asked I finally gave in and joined the game and ended up falling in love with it. I bought the game shortly thereafter but haven't had a chance to play it since we got home...it is constantly on my mind though!

Thursday I was able to spend some one-on-one time with my mom and Dan spent the morning with his two younger brothers, while everyone else was at work. That night we spent time with my family. My mom and I put together a full Chinese dinner, chopsticks included. It was fun to just be able to spend time with my family, visiting, relaxing, laughing, etc...something I miss.

Dan left first thing Friday morning in order to make it back to Louisiana in time for class that night. His flight ended up being delayed enough that he missed the beginning of his class but it wasn't a big issue. I stayed a few extra days, enjoying time with both families. After going to church with my family and a quick dinner on Sunday I was scheduled to fly home...but my flight got cancelled. I really wasn't all that annoyed because I was sad to say goodbye and had a good excuse to visit longer. So my dad took work off on Monday and we schedule a daddy-daughter date. It was a great morning and I wouldn't have missed it for the world! We went up to Park City and he took me to lunch and we did a little shopping. That has always been a favorite place of mine to go because of all the memories as a child I have there.

As my dad and I arrived at the airport for my departure we waited in a long, long line for a long, long time for me to be checked in. When I got to the front I found out that my flight had been cancelled yet again...so I went home for another night with my family. My mom and brother were very surprised, to say the least, when I walked in the door that night!

By this point I was getting a little annoyed just because I knew I was missing work yet another day but I still won't complain, I enjoyed the extra time with family once again:) My brother was teasing me all night about me being just like the guy on the movie "Groundhog Day", where he keeps on living the same day over and over again. He kept on quoting lines from the movie and asking me if my life felt just like that....and actually it kinda did! But living the "Groundhog" life quickly ended the next morning when I FINALLY flew home to Shreveport after trying for 3 days with no avail. I was sad to say "see you soon" to my family once again but I think my husband was glad to have me home after my little adventure!

We spent the remainder of the week trying to catch up with our lives here in Louisiana and are back to being Cajun Crandalls again (for now at least....until Utah calls our name again this December for Mike's (Dan's brother) Homecoming).

Back to reality......:)

Well for those that didn't know...we went to Utah for a week for Dan's brother's wedding (explanation for the lack of blogging...). It was great to spend time with family and friends for the week. It will probably take me several posts to catch everyone up on our life...so be patient with me! As for now I just wanted to let everyone know we didn't fall off the planet, just feels like it! Dan came home on Friday morning because he had to be back from school. I was supposed to return Sunday night but after SEVERAL cancelled flights I finally made it home Tuesday night (it was fun to be able to spend extra time with family but felt like I was on the movie "Groundhog Day"...kept on repeating the same day over and over again. Rueben kept on teasing me and saying lines from the movie all night Monday night after yet another cancelled flight). Yesterday at work was a really LONG day to say the least after being gone. From there we went straight to YM/YW. We took all the youth bowling on base. It was really fun. Now I am back to work again and the exhaustion seems to finally be hitting me....afraid if I even close my eyes for a second I might fall asleep:)

More posts to follow....hopefully I will be caught up with it all by the end of the weekend!