Blogging From an IPhone

So I found the blogger app and decided to test it out. Maybe this will remind me to blog more!!

Rachel Visits!!

So, in case you didn't know, Rachel, is one of my many many cousins.  She lives in Utah so I never get to see her.  Well, she came down this past weekend and I got the pleasure of having her stay in my house and be the first person to use the guest bedroom!!  I must say, it was so awesome to share my house for a night.  The night started off great with me and Josh meeting up with Matt, Lynn, Rachel, and Steven at Saketini, my favorite sushi restaurant.  I was rather proud of my cousin, Steven, for trying sushi.  He got the Who Dat roll which consisted of lobster, cream cheese, and some other things I can't remember.  It was really good.  After we ate, they came back to my house and I gave the grand tour.  Then the others left and Rachel and I stayed up until four in the morning talking and catching up!  Yes, 4 AM.  I was tired as hell the next day, but it was so worth it.  I have missed her so much and was so grateful for the time I had with her.

I have also found a cure for my blahness.  My faith.  I must say I haven't been the best Catholic in the past decade.  Josh was starting to come around with his faith again, and I guess he either prayed hard enough, or it rubbed off on me.  I like to think it was a little of both.  We started going to the church in Broussard, Sacred Heart.  It's a little different for me because there are three priests and a deacon who rotate saying mass.  I grew up where it was the same priest every week, so I'm still trying to adjust!  But the priests there are awesome.  The pastor is Fr. Louie.  He reminds me of someone, I just can't point a finger on it.  I love the simple fact that they are always in the front of church every mass and they shake your hand and make you feel so welcomed.  I adore Fr. Edward.  There is just something about his sermons that just touched my heart and really sparked my faith again.  This one simple sentence from him pretty much did me in:  "Faith is not a given, it is a gift."  I can't explain it, but after that night, the gift of faith returned to me.  About two weeks later I made an appointment with him for confession.  I hate to admit this, but it had been ten years since I went to confession.  I was waiting for him to start scolding me, but instead he just smiled and said, "Praise God, you're here.  Welcome home!"  I will never forget that moment.  He was not judging me at all.  He was simply happy in the fact that I had returned.  It really touched me.  And while I know I'm not perfect, I feel more at peace about things in my life.  I'm happier and calmer and ready to face the world!  I look forward to going to mass each week; especially the ones I know Fr. Edward will be saying!  It feels good to have this fire in my heart again.  I hope it never leaves me again!

In Desperate Need of Inspiration...

No, I'm not going through a depressing stage...just kind of bummy.  I feel like my life could be better, I just don't want to wait for the better part to get here.  I want it now!  Haha.  I just kind of need the right words on inspiration and wisdom to hit me and get me motivated.  But until that happens, I can share a little with you about what's been happening.  Sidney is doing real well and we just love her to pieces!!  She was recently baptized and Josh is the godfather.  It was a beautiful ceremony.  Here are a few of the pics of her and me:

Notice the tiny bracelet courtesy aunt nee nee!!

 

Jennie.  She is the closest thing I have to a sister.  I adore her!!  She's my rock!!

Sidney and me at the Mall of Acadiana in Baton Rouge.

Also, recently, I attended the absolute greatest concert ever:  NKOTBSB!!!  It was New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys together!  NKOTB was my absolute fave growning up!!  They were like the Justin Beiber of my middle school years!!  One of my really great friends, Amy and her sister, Summer and I went.  We had the greatest time!!  We left with no voice and no hearing for a good while!!  We jumped!  We screamed!  We danced!  We sang!  We loved it!!  Here are a few of the pics I got.  We litereally wore ourselves out!  We had plans on going out after, but were so wiped out after, we just opted for waffle house and then home!!

I designed these shirts for us!!  They came out so great!!

I call this our "cheesey happy" picture.  We just had the best time!!

New Kids performing.

Hanging Tough.  The song Amy and I waited the whole night for!!  Of course they make this the very last song!!

Jonathan Knight.  He was my favorite!!  He's still shy and cute!!  My heart did a flip when he got this close!!

New Kids and Backstreet Boys introducing each other.

The end of the concert.  What a mess!!

Me and Amy!!  I adore her!!

Waffle House.  Tired as hell, but still beaming from the great night!!

This night almost surpassed the night the Braves won the wild card last year in Atlanta.  Almost.  It was that good!!





 She's just a doll!!  I love her to pieces!!

Introducing Ms. Sidney Elise Kidd!!

Here she is, America!! The beautiful Sidney Elise Kidd. Proud parents are my bestest friend in the whole world, Jennie and Joe! Jennie and I are practically like sisters, so I claim her and her older brother, Holden, as my niece and nephew. It was a crazy whirlwind afternoon and it seemed to happen so fast! We get the text saying not to rush, but that today is the day! So what do I do? Of course rush home after work and make a mad dash to the hospital! And she waited until after Josh and I got there to make her entrance!! Mom and baby are doing great and dad is beaming with pride!! I'm not exactly sure if big brother fully understands what being a big brother means yet, but he did an absolutely fantastic job tonite waiting it out with us!! She is 8 pounds, 6 ounces and 20 inches long! Here's some photos from this amazing night!!Proud Daddy, Joe!!

                                                                                 

Proud Mommy, Jennie!
 






















Proud Godfather, Josh!



















Proud Nannie, Tanya!!

Boring is better than Drama...

Yeah, Rach, I stole that from you!!  So, to add insult to injury...I'm attempting to go back to school to become a teacher, but life keeps telling me other wise.  I didn't pass the Praxis test so now I'm not so sure what to do.  I'm at a cross roads.  If by some miracle, I can take a test and pass before July, I may still have a shot of getting into school in the fall.  Please start praying now!!

Blogging for the Blahness...

So, I really want to try to be better at this blogging thing.  I know Rachel really enjoys hearing from me but she probably has less than hour to catch up on my life!!  Haha.  Not that my life is all that glamorous!  I pretty much get up, go to work, feel crappy because I feel like I can do better with my life, go home, sleep, do it all over again.  Nothing too exciting has been happening lately.  I'm patiently awaiting June 25th for the simple fact that my phone contract can be renewed and I'm in love with the Iphone 4 in white!!  My Iphone 3G is starting to crap out on me now. 

I'm watching the Bachelorette right now, and I must say I am totally creeped out by the guy who is wearing a mask.  I understand his point, but it's still creepy.  The passed out drunk guy, Tim, is snoring on the couch...that is hilarious!!  Yeah...he's going home!  I'm totally in love with the guy Ben from New Orleans!  One, he's totally hot, two he's from my state! and three those cue cards won my heart!!

Well, here's a post.  Not much going on.  I'll try to do something exciting and post about it!!  :-)

One Year Anniversary

Ever heard the saying, "Where did the year go?"  Yeah, I've been saying that a lot this week.  Why you ask?  Because tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of the very first night I slept in my new house!  Yes, it's been a year already!!  Only 29 more years until she's all mine!!!

I also wanted to update you guys and let you know that I am attempting to hopefully one day start my own business making jewelry.  Here's my website:  http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.330890669111.200267.675519111#!/pages/Out-of-the-Park-Jewelry-Designs/195136383846827.  Be sure to check it out and see what I have to offer!   Hit the Like button so you can stay updated with all the things I make and get your friends to like my page too!!  I hit my goal of 50 people, so now I'm aiming for 100!!  Hey--told you I'm just getting started!!  =)  My hottest item has been my rosaries!  People just drool over them and it makes me feel good that people love what I make!!  Here are some samples:

 

Christmas Pics

So, after ten years of being together, Josh and I finally took semi professional pictures.  We had a friend take the pics and then we downloaded them onto this cool website she told me about.  Now they look professional!  Haha.  Here's a sneak peek...

Our first family picture

other cute pics

and my personal fave

I must admit, it was pretty fun posing and goofying off.

Happy Holidays Everyone!!!

The Greatest Trip Ever

This isn't the greatest pic quality wise because it was taken from my Iphone, but it will forever be the greatest memory of mine.  In case you had no idea, I'm a HUGE Braves' fan.  I've been following the team since 1990.  David Justice was the first player I fell in love with when I was 12.  Chipper Jones was called up three years later, and seventeen years later he's looking like he'll play one more season before retiring.  Well, the guy who managed these two, Bobby Cox, decided that this year was going to be his last.  He's the guy being hoisted up in this picture.  Now, if I can dry my blurry eyes for a second, I can let you know about Josh and I's latest vacation trip to Atlanta.  It has by far been the greatest trip ever! 

So Bobby tells us at the beginning of the season this is his last one as the Braves' skipper.  That prompts Josh and I to go to the last two games of the season because we just knew they would do something special for Bobby.  Bobby was the manager back in 1978...the year I was born!!  He managed the Braves' until 1981 when Ted Turner fired him.  They made Bobby the General Manager in 1985 and in 1990 he decided he needed to be the manager again.  And manager of the Atlanta Braves has been his role for the past 21 seasons.

Just how hard is it to let go a man whom you've looked to like a grandfather-figure most of your life??  Yeah...that hard.  The Braves got me through the hardest part of my life--the teenage years!!  haha  We were very fortunate this year to go to the games we went to.  The Saturday game ended up being the tribute to Bobby Cox given before the game.  It was amazing!!

Players from Bobby's past all gathered together to honor the greatest manager baseball has ever seen.  It was the ultimate privilege to be a part of this!  My favorites like, Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, Javy Lopez, Fred McGriff, Mark Lemke, and Marquis Grissom were a part of the tribute.  They also had historical players whom I had heard of, but never saw play:  Sid Bream, Phil Neikro, Dale Murphy, Clarence Jones, and Hank Aaron just to name a few.  It was just spectacular, jaw dropping, and just breath taking.  The hardest part was getting through Chipper's speech.  I could relate to everything Chipper said about Bobby and the things he accomplished as a manager.  I totally lost it when Chip started to choke up.  How could I not??  The greatest thing about my childhood was coming to an end.  And to think:  I have to do this all over again when Chipper retires--which is probably next season!

                            The utmost special moment for me: 

                                     David Justice breaks apart from the crowd to walk over to the dugout and hug Chipper.  My two favorite ball players ever.  I remember Chipper's start to his career.  David took him under his wing and helped him to be the greatest third base switch hitter baseball has ever seen.  Well, in my eyes anyway.  This was such a tender moment for me to capture.  To watch my two favorites reunite and to still show the love and respect for each other.  Yep, I cried buckets.

So, what better way to end this beautiful memory for me??  We go to Sunday's game.  The Braves were fighting for a chance to make it to the playoffs this season.  We won Sunday's game which meant that we needed the San Diego Padres to lose in order to clinch the Wild Card spot.  This was absolutely the greatest day ever in Atlanta!!  Ok, maybe second greatest considering what I just blogged about!  But after our win, we stayed at Turner Field for an REO Speedwagon concert.  To me and Josh they were not all that entertaining, but Atlanta sure seems to love them!  So after what seemed like forever, we went down by the dugout with about 1000 other fans who stuck around to watch the last three innings of the Padres/San Fransico Giants game.  The Giants came through for us and beat the Padres, which meant the Braves were in the post season for the first time since 2005!!  We watched on the jumbotron the guys celebrate in the clubhouse underneath us.  Then after what seemed like forever, they ran out on the field and celebrated with us!  David Ross, our back up catcher, sprayed us with beer!!  It was the best!!  We were chanting, "Bobby!  Bobby!" and the team lifted Bobby on their shoulders!!  It was like a dream come true!  To be in Atlanta...on Turner Field...celebrating a playoff spot with my boys!!  It was truely a moment I will never forget!  Here's a few of the shots of the celebration!!  Even though we got knocked out of the playoffs by the Giants in round one, this really was my favorite season ever!!

Brian McCann and Rick Ankiel

                Our Skipper hugging Jason Heyward (RF)

The guys running onto the field from the clubhouse underneath us.  Brian and I made eye contact when he first came out and started screaming at each other!  It was priceless!!

               Our crowning moment!!

Booyah!!! Shake It Off!!!

So, I thought of a funny story to share.  My best friend, who is like a sister to me, has a two year old that I basically consider my nephew.  I adore Holden to pieces!!  He is so smart for his age he amazes us all!!  Well, for the first game for the Saints this season, we were at their house watching the game.  Holden was on a massive sugar high playing with his trains.  This boy is obsessed with Thomas the Train!!  On a good play, I said the word, "Booyah!"  Didn't scream it...just said it.  Holden goes nuts yelling, "Booyah!!" and throwing his toys around.  He would yell, "Booyah!"  throw a toy in the air and then yell, "Shake it off."  Now, shake it off is something i technically taught him.  One time he stubbed his toe and looked at me like he wasn't sure if he should cry or not.  Kids usually mimic you, so I told him, "Aw, you're ok.  Shake it off."  to which we both laughed.  Then a few weeks later while we were in New Orleans, he threw a train in the air and it hit Josh.  When Josh said, "OW, that hurt," Holden told him, "Shake it off, Josh."  The car exploded in laughter.  So now, back to the Saints game.  His "Booyah!  Shake it off!"  was making us laugh like crazy and Jennie told me that if the daycare called tomorrow to tell her that he got time out because he hit someone, then told them to shake it off, she was coming after me.  A few days later, Jennie called to tell me that Joe (her husband) was so mad at me.  I asked why and she said that Holden had hit him in the nose about 10:30 at nite and yelled, "Booyah!"  Joe tried to fuss at him and said, "Why did you hit daddy?"  To which Holden replied, "Shake it off!"  I was mighty proud of my boy when Jennie told me the story!!  So now, everyone flinches when he yells "Booyah!"  You never know who he's going to swing at!!

So, Josh and I are preparing for our anual trip to Atlanta again!!  I'm so pumped!  The manager, Bobby Cox, is retiring this year after 25 wonderful years with the Braves.  I am so excited that we will be at the game where they are honoring Bobby for all his accomplishments.  I'm hoping to see quite a few of the older players from when I was younger.  I am particularly hoping to see David Justice.  He's the reason I'm a Braves' fan.  I'll fill you guys in when I get back on Tuesday!!

Tomorrow I am playing hookie from work (not really...I got permission...but it's fun to say that!) to go to Westgate where Jennie works and observe some teachers.  It's part of the class I am taking.  So I basically get to live the life of a teacher for a day!!  I'm so excited!!  Wish me luck!!