Every day, a page turned down...

I have been cramming a summer worth of memories into the span of a week and a half. Let me tell you, they may not seem that interesting or exciting but I know when I start feeling homesick this summer I can revert to those times and move on with my day feeling okay. I will start off by saying that I have the greatest friends ever, hands down. I also have a pretty amazing family who has helped create several memories for me this week as well. I think the memory-making process began last Thursday. Me, Jess, and Jen (bad grammar, I know!) ate at Shane's and went to watch our church softball team play at Tinsely and then to Maggie Moos. Yum. Then we went swimming sort of. There were leaves in the pool that we thought were leeches, they weren't really, so we went to the hot tub. To our dismay, the jets weren't on and the water felt like lukewarm bath water so we got out. Luckily, there was a jucuzzi just calling our name and our trusty friend Josh was there to help us take the lid off and turn it on. It was H-O-T...and of course with our luck the jets didn't come on...still relaxing though. We called it a night at about 12:30 because working girl here had to wake up early. The next day, Friday, I went shopping with my mom and we grabbed Chick-Fil-A for us and dad. Then I met my friends for Mario Kart Wii...which I am not very good at but it is loads of fun. We played that for a couple of hours and we called it a night. Saturday, me, mom, and my sisters went to try on wedding dresses for my sister Danielle, me and Liz tried on lots of bridal dresses. This was a lot of fun! Then we all went and ate McAllister's which was delicious. Came home and went to Jenna's grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary where there was an Elvis impersonator. So cool. It was catered by Shaver's so luckily I got some Louisiana food: jumbalya, catfish, and hushpuppies. After that was done we decided to do some more shopping. I just bought some earrings and a bracelet. If you can't tell yet, I shop a heck of a lot...don't worry, I somehow manage to be a total bargain shopper! We rented a movie, Why Did I Get Married? from Tyler Perry and it was pretty good. Me and the two J's got to talk a whole lot about....well just about some pretty interesting stuff :) Sunday was church and while we were singing it hit me that this is my last time for church until August :( No worries, because I will continue to grow this summer without a doubt. I went to my sister Liz's apartment for a little while. Monday, I wanted to eat Cane's and drink their sweet tea before I left so me and mom went to the one by St. Vincent. It was wonderful! I finally was able to show my grandparents my San Diego pictures, half way through them the power went out. Thank goodness for laptops though. That was pretty fun getting to tell them some stories about my trip. Tuesday my nana took me and my sisters out to eat for lunch and that night, Keri and Jenna drove over from Ruston to meet me and Jess at Pepes. Oh so good. After that I wanted to show Keri the niceness of Shreveport so we went all throughout the Line Avenue area. We saw a movie being filmed and also got to take part in wishful thinking by looking at all the enormous houses. Then I took them all around downtown and got to see my favorite view in Shreveport. I had to say goodbye :( to my grandparents on this day because they are headed up to Kansas to see my aunt graduate from some school for the army (whatever position is after Major, I believe). I hate goodbyes. Well today is Wednesday and I met Dana at the new Monjunis and then we went to Target. So glad I got to catch up with her! Wow...so I ate out a shopped a TON. This is not that normal for me...just trying to create memories. Tomorrow is my work luncheon at Ralph and Kacoos, so that should be lots of fun! If you read all of that, thank you very much!

this pretty much sums us up!

Pepes night!

There is a movie going on there right now, I think it's Microwave Park...which has a different name now.

My favorite view in Shreveport: coming down Texas St. and seeing this beautiful church!

Good night!

It's been a while.

Sorry about the lack of posting, but life has gotten in the way of simple things such as blogging. I had an amazing time in southern California and would go back in a heartbeat. WOW the craziest thing JUST happened, as in 2 minutes ago. A bug flew on my bed, not a big one but a bug nonetheless. I have a paralyzing fear of bugs, pretty pitiful I know. Well, I forcefully kick my leg in order to cause the bug to fall to the floor, then I run to the laundry room to grab the Hot Shot flying insect spray to end this horrible creatures life. I manage to find the bug who went into hiding because he apparently was aware of my potential harm. I shook the can with all my might and sprayed about half the can on the little thing....it was no bigger than 1/2 an inch. But hey, I needed to be sure. When his body stopped wiggling I put my foot into a rainboot and stomped rather hard on the bug. I killed my first bug EVER and will now get a peaceful nights sleep because of it! I just amazed myself...I would call this my "Neil Armstrong" moment in life. Is it sad that killing a bug is slightly comparable to stepping on the moon? Now I'm just praying New York is bug free! I will add some pictures soon...my battery is dying!!!
It is now Wednesday and I am updating on my lunch break. I can't believe the week is half way over and that I have only one more day in the great LA. As much as I tend to not enjoy Louisiana I really am going to miss it. I drove around Line Avenue in Shreveport (where I will live one day) and all around downtown. There is something so simplistic and beautiful about this place that I can't really describe. I don't always want to be here, but I do want to come back. I have been enjoying every second of this week and trying to create as many memories as possible to hold on to during the summer. So far, I have been very successful in this endeavor. OK, back to doing other things..but I will post later with all the fun things I have done this week.
Now for some Cali pics :)

group picture at Coronado Island, our 1st stop!

The extremely beautiful La Jolla Cove

He came that close to me, no zooming here. He was rather funny :)

You are looking at REAL surfers at Pacific Beach, which would be a lovely view but the sun was hiding at this moment. I am still bewildered at seeing surfers everywhere, so cool!

I LOVE California :)

Seriously, this place is beautiful. It's pretty chilly here, in the 60s, but it's still very nice. Yesterday we roamed downtown San Diego and Coronado Island and hung out at the beach there. I promise you there are gold flecks in the sand there, it was so pretty. We got some expensive, but very good, ice cream there on Coronado. Then, we took a ferry ride back out to the mainland and stumbled upon Fred's Mexican Restaurant, which was yummy. Today the group I was with went to the Zoo here, but I wasn't that interested nor did I want to spend that much to see animals (I hope that wasn't a dumb decision). Myself and another girl decided to pretend we were locals and bought a day pass for the city bus...you can meet the most interesting people on buses. We met these three extremely cool South African guys who were surfers visiting for a conference on our way to La Jolla beach or cove, whatever it's called. This place is just WOW, unlike anything I have seen before. There was a little section of the cove where some seals had beached themselves, we got to walk right up to them which in my opinion is better than a zoo :) We went to this sushi restaurant called Tadashi...first time with sushi, interesting. Seaweed has a strong taste but we also had chicken terriyaki, tempura and some fried pork dumplings...all for under $20. It was a lovely, inexpensive dinner. After that we went to Pacific beach, which was amazing. By far the biggest waves I have ever seen...and there were real surfers! I just got back from this cozy, yet upscale, little Italian restaurant. We once again used the bus and sat next to a Louisiana hater, or should I call it "Loserana". Funny...not! I had this really good linguine pasta with broiled chicken, mushrooms, tomatoes, broiled chicken tossed in a white wine cream sauce. It was really good, too bad I can't pronounce the name of it. Kinda expensive though. Tomorrow is the actual conference but after that we will be enjoying all the perks San Diego has to offer. Still hoping to go to a Padres game. Basically, I am enjoying sunny California and am enjoying being considered a "foreigner" here by my supposed accent. If you haven't come here; you should really consider visiting.

I heard the Yankees have won their past two games and that A-Rod recovered pretty well from his injury. That is so good to hear. Also read Joe G. got thrown out of a game tonight, and Cano had a walk-off homer...wow!

Hope everyone has a great Friday :)

Hello from Dallas!

I am sitting in a computer lab at the Holiday Inn Express right outside DFW airport...and thought why not make a new post.

I am so extremely excited that A-Rod is playing today, too bad I can't watch. Hope having him back sparks something in our team...surely. Did you hear about Lester's no-hitter last night? WOW...even if he is a Red Sox pitcher that still is great. And to know he bounced back from cancer makes it all the cooler. He is an inspiration to many who are fighting cancer I would assume. I will be away from Yankee baseball for the next week...so if anything exciting happens, let me know :)

Tomorrow I am flying to San Diego for a conference/lots of fun. We just booked a rental car to drive up to Los Angeles...so I am EXTREMELY excited. I just printed off the map for it and it looks easy and beautiful...all the way up the coast! -While in San Diego, I will be relaxing at a beach, going to the zoo, seeing the Padres (possibly) and of course trying out the local cuisine. Don't be too jealous...joking!
Hope everyone is having a great day, and don't forget...GO YANKEES!

What is going on?

I know we have done this bad/worse in past years, but this is getting really old quickly. I am 100% positive the Yankees are going to rebound, I just hate this whole waiting patiently thing. I also don't like turning on the TV and seeing more Mets fans at Yankees Stadium than our own. I wouldn't have left...you never know what could possibly happen. I hate to see Wang get roughed up...and then to see Ohlendorf not deliver effectively. On a brighter side, A-Rod seems to be recovering nicely and Posada got some practice catching in...so maybe we can start seeing some light at the end of this tunnel. Not that those two are going make the team win necessarily, but they certainly will be great to have back.



I just got done playing 9-innings of some pretty intense wiffle ball. I am not the most athletic girl in town, but this baseball-ish game is right up my alley. I was observing all of us play, and thought the Yankees could watch us for a few pointers. We had fun, laughed a lot, and encouraged each other. And boy oh boy were we all bringing in some runs. There was even a 4 year old and 2 year old playing and I think they looked better than some of the guys right now....that was a joke, but pretty close :) The score ended at like 24-19 or something like that and my team lost. I am pretty sure I drove in a couple of runs but also allowed some by several errors at my first base position. It was so much fun though!



I got to eat my favorite food ever this weekend, crawfish! It was soooo good. Also got to hang out with my family and just relax finally now that school is done with. Tuesday I am driving to Dallas and flying to San Diego for a week! So ready. I'm thinking about going to a Padres game...I think they'll be playing the Reds. Hope everyone has a great Monday!


Doesn't it look good? I was at the bottom of my tray. I decided not to show you pictures of the already eaten ones. You are looking at some good ole Louisiana crawfish...now go try some :)

Good Bye Junior Year....

This has been a great year for me. Made better grades, solidified some new friendships, and got to go to several fun places. Can't believe I only have ONE year left of college, panic mode is slowly starting to set in as far as future plans are concerned. I had 2.5 hours of sleep last night, and of course it did not pay off. There is nothing worse (well I'm sure there is) than walking off campus, done with tests and feeling more stressed than I was before I took the tests. Oh well. it's over with until fall. I made the drive back home and went with my grandparents to pick my aunt up from the airport. Then we met my parents at this amazing little greek/lebanese restaurant called Jerusalem. Oh so good...I had a gyro plate which is a combination of lamb and beef. I am so glad I have grandparents and parents who have encouraged me to absolutely love food from all cultures. Tomorrow is my sister's graduation from high school. Way to make me feel old Liz :) I finally get to start watching Yankee games again...maybe they'll start winning a lot. Tomorrow, weather permitting, the Yanks are taking down Santana so all the annoying trade arguments can cease. We're only like, what, 5 games back...it could be a lot worse. Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend!!!














This was seriously one of the best meals I have had in a long time...go get some Greek food ASAP!














Big ole party for the sis tomorrow...cake and junk food and then lots and lots of CRAWFISH! It sure is good to be home at last!

All-nighters bite.

So here I am...1:30 am and I still haven't accomplished all I need to for tomorrow (or I guess today). I am sitting in a local coffee shop that stays open 24 hours for finals and am surrounded by people who are all hyped up on caffeine. They help me fight the urge to fall asleep, doesn't help that it's -100 degrees in this place. Still haven't watched a Yankees game in like 2 weeks...sad story there. I haven't been missing much though. Mariano allowed his first run tonight...he's still a remarkable pitcher no matter what. The most frustrating thing is the lack of runs. I just read others blogs for info when I find time and that seems to be the main thing that is holding this team back. A-Rod will be back soon, hopefully, but the team doesn't need to wait for him to win ball games. There is a ton of talent on the roster...why aren't we seeing it? Things will come around, they have to eventually. Patience, patience, patience on our end...we won't give up on them this easily. Ok, back to studying. So much fun (not).

This is what I have been looking at and will continue to look at until Friday at noon....computers, study guides, notecards, and LOTS of medium roast coffee!