Southland in the spring time

Work has been crazy banana pants lately and the weather (outside of my windowless office) has been beautiful, which means that I've been experiencing a bit of the ol' cabin fever lately. So I recently convinced the mister to gather up the troops and take a little Saturday road trip down to New Orleans to spend some quality time wandering around outside. We got a late start, but had enough time to take in an afternoon at City Park. It was perfect -- inexpensive, covered by the shade of fabulous old oak trees, and full of local characters.  :)

We started off by meeting up with some old friends and exploring the playground in Storybook Village,

Noah Rogers = CUTIE PIE

the Three Little Pigs



Hannah in Wonderland

 

"And the cow (and Lucy) jumped over the moon..."

then headed over to check out some of the Carousel Park amusement rides, 

Andrew & Lucy cruising down the giant "Fun Slide"

 

Satisfied customers



The last antique wooden carousel in Louisiana ~ gorgeous!

  

The princess practicing her royal wave  



Late afternoon sunlight filtering through Spanish moss

We went home tired, full, and happy, which is what New Orleans is all about right?

Please won't you be my neighbor?

Some pictures from our post-Christmas trip to the New Orleans Children's Museum.  Lucy napped on the way down, played her little heart out (the toddler area and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood were some favorites), and then crashed on the way home... which led to a very relaxing and enjoyable day for all three of us! 

We were able to catch up with our friends Jeff and Rebecca for a visit and some pizza before we drove back. They're expecting their first baby next month, and Lucy did a great job of showing them all the places in their house they still need to baby-proof.  :)  We ♥ our NOLA day trips!

It's like rain on your wedding day

Jill, my long-time friend/former roommate and partner in crime, finally got the chance to marry her knight in shining armor (aka Jeff) on Saturday, December 12, in New Orleans.  And let's just say it's a very good thing that these two are crazy in love and were so committed to joining their lives together, because the wedding day quickly turned into a case of Murphy's law so severe that it resembled the screwball ending of a bad romantic comedy!

For those of you who don't live in Louisiana, we experienced day after day after day of wet, soggy, cold dreariness that eventually resulted in record rainfall levels for December.  The morning of the wedding was drizzly and overcast (normal) while we went to get our hair and make-up done, but  by the time the photographer arrived at the hotel suite to take pictures that afternoon there were severe flash flood warnings on the radio.  Long story short, the entire town of New Orleans (especially the downtown area where we were located) had become almost completely submerged with water within just a few short hours...

The interstate exits were all full of water, so the limos were stuck and were almost two hours late picking us up.  We passed the time by taking pictures in the hotel lobby, and bringing Jill some desperately needed wine and champagne.

Once the limos got there, everyone had to take off their shoes and hike up their dresses to get in.  We had a police escort down St. Charles Avenue to get to the church since cars were stalled out all along the sides of the road. You could hear the water rushing underneath the car on the way there. Not fun.

The church ladies were furious about our tardiness, the flower girl didn't make it down the aisle, the ceremony started about an hour and a half late, many of the guests couldn't make it to the church due to the storm, and Jill almost passed out during her vows.  (Note: Methodist women are not used to having to kneel all the way through a Catholic mass!).  But in the end, it was beautiful and sweet and romantic -- everything a wedding should be.  :)  Jill handled the whole scene with a composure and grace I undoubtedly would not have possessed if the roles were reversed. 

And... at the end of that crazy day, we finally had a bride and a groom!  Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Waltz!!! We wish you a lifetime of love, friendship, and happiness!

P.S.  The lobby of the newly-renovated Roosevelt Hotel was just stunning! Can't wait to bring Lucy back there next year to see the gorgeous Christmas decorations and to have "Holiday Tea with Santa."

P.P.S.  Apologies to my husband who drove all the way down to NOLA only to have to turn around and drive back home because the car wouldn't make it through the flood waters. I appreciate the effort and can only imagine how handsome you looked in your suit!

October, the condensed version (aka "the world's longest blog post")

It's been over a month since my last blog post, and I have to admit that it's been pretty easy to backslide with the frenzy of activity around here. The last few weeks have been such a blur between all of our professional and personal obligations, and I literally can't remember the last time we had a free weekend at home to do simple things like clean the house or get pictures off the digital camera. I've been traveling like a maniac for work, Andrew's been busy with football band, we've had lots of company, etc. So... here is our October in review, the (kind of) condensed version.

LCSS Conference

It all started out with my commitment to chair the Louisiana Council for the Social Studies (LCSS) Annual Conference -- I won't go into specifics, but let's just say that it was an inordinate amount of work to be carried out in a relatively short time period and it almost drove me into an early grave. Other than losing a lot of sleep and having to recover the proposals and registration forms lost when my work bag got stolen from the car (augh!!!), I think the overall event went really well.

Here I am with the LCSS president and LA Secretary of State Jay Dardenne (right) -- he delivered an excellent keynote address on his top 10 recommended Louisiana books, introducing each book by pairing it with a song by a Louisiana musician.

Audubon Aquarium

Honey came to town to help out with Lucy during my conference weekend, and after it was over we all headed down to New Orleans for a little sightseeing. We had a shrimp po-boys and gumbo (Lucy loved mine and ate half of it) for lunch at Landry's and then spent the afternoon on the Riverwalk and in the aquarium. In hindsight, we should have saved some money and just taken Lucy to the park to run around all afternoon because all she wants to do right now is escape (see photo #2 below), but we still had a good time.

First Tigers tailgate -- LSU v. Auburn

Lucy donned her super cute LSU cheerleader uniform and we hiked (literally walked for miles) to campus for her first tailgating experience. She seemed to like all the booty music blaring from various speakers and tents and danced in her stroller, but was a little unsure about the crowds. We did manage to meet up with the Chaney clan for a bit at Jack's family tailgate spot and enjoyed the beginning of the cool fall weather, but... we quickly learned that toddlers + tailgating = trouble. :) We'll definitely try again next year.

Halloween

After a quick trip down to New Orleans to pick up my bridesmaid dress, we headed over to the James household for some trick-or-treat fun on Halloween night. They have the perfect neighborhood for it -- filled to the brim with young families. We loaded our little ballerina into the John Deere wagon with our sweet friend Cooper (the little golfer) and cruised the neighborhood at sunset. They seemed much more interested in the Goldfish crackers handed out at one house than the candy, which was fine with the rest of us! Lucy loved her tutu and has since played "dress up" with it several times.

P.S. I also made a trip to Shreveport during this time to present a 3-day workshop in the Caddo parish schools system. More on that adventure to come in the next post... Whew!

Some people claim that there's a woman to blame

Long before Andrew and I became engaged and married, I lived with someone else entirely different. Someone much more style-conscious, booty-shaking, cat-loving, and Halloween costume-wearing than my current roommate could ever dream of being. That someone was the fabulous Jill Hrivnak. Jill and I met the very first day of my ill-fated law school career, and we were attached at the hip very soon thereafter. We lived together about 4+ years and got to know pretty much every thing about each other in that time, simultaneously crying and laughing our asses off in the process!

Jill was a bridesmaid in our wedding several years ago and come this December 12th, it will be my turn to repay the favor. :) I met up with Jill for lunch almost two years to tell her that I was pregnant, and she had some important news for me, too. She'd met someone -- Jeff was sweet, smart, hilarious, etc. and oh, did she mention he was shorter than her (one of her long-standing relationship deal breakers)? Without missing a beat, I informed Jill that I had never heard her speak about a boy that way before and that I absolutely knew she was going to marry this man. And here we are...

We made our way down to New Orleans in the sweltering August heat to celebrate the happy couple with a fun shower at Margaritaville in the French Quarter. Jeff is a super fun guy to be around and he worships the ground Jill walks on -- always a bonus! I'm completely honored to be a part of such a happy time in their lives.

The future Mr. & Mrs. Jeffrey Waltz

Interpretation of the invitation's request for "tropical chic" attire by the Rezniks

Searching for my lost shaker of salt (You can't really tell in the picture, but I did have my hair straightened for the occasion)

Amy & Jessi test out the whole "Life is just a tire swing" Buffett philosophy