Au revoir, Red Stick!



Louisiana State Capitol during Fest For All ~ May 2009

Or... so long, Baton Rouge! You've been pretty good to the Powers family -- provided us with amazing eats, educational experiences, a church family, steady jobs, a nice home, and lasting personal and professional relationships, just to name a few. And after over 10 years in your fair city, it's finally time for us to say goodbye to 1429 King Dean Drive.


In this room alone, Handy Andy scraped popcorn and painted the ceiling, painted out the fireplace, sanded and painted the built-in cabinets, painted the walls, installed new flooring, and replaced the ceiling fan and curtain hardware. Whew!

 Our moving day was nothing close to being picturesque; in fact, I'd probably list it as being one of the Top 5 worst days of my life. It was so charged with unbelievable stress and high emotions with very little time for reflection -- I had to finish up some projects at work while Andrew was left to complete all the packing and cleaning alone before our 3 pm closing.  Everything that could possibly go wrong that day did. Seriously. But we did get to take about 30 seconds (literally) right before we closed the door one last time to hug and thank God for all of the lovely memories we created there.

It was the first house we bought together, and it was in this home that we adopted our sweet Evie and eventually brought two perfect little girls home from the hospital. It was where we become a family. Andrew's devotion to us can be seen in every room since he almost single-handedly remodeled the entire space over the course of 4+ years. We became close to two sets of neighbors on our street, one of whom immediately began to treat us like family. They invited us over to watch football games, took care of our house and dog when we went out of town, cooked us food and provided support when the babies were born... The list could go on and on and on. After the girls came along, we realized just how difficult it is to work full-time and be so far away from family. I feel like the Favaloros were sent from heaven to take us under their wings. We were truly blessed to get to know them and watch their kids grow over the years.

Bailey Favaloro with Lucy ~ October 2008


So before moving on, I thought I'd compile this little list as a tribute to the Old War Skule town.

We will miss: our friends and neighbors, LSU football games and tailgate parties, fresh seafood and beer at the Chimes, day trips to NOLA, the zoo, Whole Foods, my co-workers, omelets and biscuits Louie's, our amazing daycare center, live music, crawfish at Sammy's, beignets and cafe au lait at Coffee Call, oak trees on campus, St. Patty's Day parade at the Craigs. Did I mention the FOOD?

We will not miss: your traffic (hiss, boo!!!) and crazy drivers, politicians and backwards politics, lack of interest in improving the public education system, humidity, interstate system, daycare/private school tuition. Did I mention the TRAFFIC?

I never thought I'd miss: daily afternoon thunderstorms (it's so hot in Shreveport it makes you wanna slap your momma), turning left on red lights, men who actually wear sleeves on their shirts, coonass/Cajun accents, kiddie swimming pool at the Y, my job, the feel of living in a "college town". Did I mention the RAIN?

Now that we have the computer up and running, I'll start filling you in on more of our summer activities and our move back to the Port City.  We'll miss you BR!!!