- In January I took a job that had me travel away from home every week. I was stuck in this little town in Southeast Louisiana called Amite. Amite is right between Kentwood (Britney Spears' hometown) and Hammond and is about an hour away from New Orleans. It has a few eateries, a Wal-Mart, and 2 hotels and that is about it. I worked with some fun and interesting people that became like family and made my home away from home more bearable, but I also worked with some people that made it not bearable. If you ever have to stay in the area, I highly recommend the Holiday Inn Express there. I practically lived there for 9 months and the ladies that work there are some of the nicest people you will meet.
- I attended Mardi Gras in Houma with some of my family.
- Matt and I enjoyed a trip to Savannah and Charleston (and lots of places between the two) with his parents. We visited Parris Island, Paula Deen's The Lady & Sons, Tybee Island, Uncle Bubba's, The Charleston Tea Plantation, The Firefly Distillery, Angel Oak, Myrtle Beach, and we even went to a minor league baseball game. We did relax a little while on our trip too.
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| The Lady & Sons |
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| The park where the Forest Gump bench scene was filmed |
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| Tybee Island Lighthouse with a storm rolling in |
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| Angel Oak is the oldest tree on the East Coast. You have to see this in person to realize the magnitude of this tree. |
- I still help advise Alpha Chi Omega at Louisiana Tech, so I got to go to St. Louis for their National Convention. I got to enjoy the company of two of my pledge sisters (as well as two of our collegiate members) on this trip, and we had a blast. We went a little early so that we could explore the city. We traveled to the top of the Arch, attended an outdoor musical production of Aladdin, toured the Budweiser facilities, and attended all of our convention seminars. We even got to hear our fellow Alpha Chi sister and Food Network star Melissa d'Arabian speak.
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| Touring the Budweiser Brewery with some of my sorority sisters |
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| Budweiser Clydesdale |
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| The Gateway Arch |
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| Melissa d'Arabian |
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| Alpha Chi active and alumnae members from Louisiana Tech |
- On August 30th (the same day hurricane Isaac came through LA) Matt and I purchased a new home. Since then we have been busy working on remodeling the house. We will be moving to Bossier City in the next few weeks. I will post about all our work on the house soon. This will help with Matt's very early commute to work.
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| The new White House |
- I got to throw a bachelorette party for one of my best friends in New Orleans. We had fun and were a very chill group. We had a nice dinner at Commander's Palace (bread pudding souffle is to die for) and then did a little dancing on Bourbon street. My family will never believe this, but I ate turtle soup and LOVED it! My little brother scored an extra ticket to the Saints game that weekend, so I got to attend with him and his girlfriend. It just so happened that little sis was at that game too and was sitting a section and a few rows over and up from us. Too bad the Saints didn't do so great that game, but that was a great way to kick off my last week of work in Amite. Matt and I decided that I would no longer travel for work starting in October, so I came home to help get our house remodel finished and start pursuing other opportunities.
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| The bachelorette The hat was her mom's when she got married in the 80s. |
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| Just hanging out with Drew Brees |
- We got to enjoy a great season of Louisiana Tech football. We enjoyed getting to see all of our friends and family at the games, and it's even better when your team is winning. We won't talk about the end of the season...
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| Bailey |
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| Buddy |
- Matt and I celebrated 3 years of marriage in 2012.
- Buddy and Bailey (yes our dogs) hosted their 3rd annual Elf Workshop this year. Since we were in between houses, and I was not really sure where we would be when it came time for it I loaded up some of my nephews, niece, and 2 sisters and we headed to Santa Land in Tyler, TX instead of doing crafts and watching movies this year. We enjoyed all of the lights and each other's company.
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| Santa Land |
- During the week of Thanksgiving, I got to visit with some of my family that I have not seen in years. My cousin Angie, her husband, and 3 kids came in for a few days. Her brother Matt also came in, but we have seen him a few times in recent years. It was great to catch up and meet her kiddos.
- I had the privilege of returning the favor and standing beside one of my best friends as she married her prince charming. I was honored to be her matron of honor. She had a beautiful wedding in New Orleans a week and a half before Christmas. We stayed at the Roosevelt Hotel and it was decorated beautifully for Christmas. Matt and I snuck in lunch at one of our favorite restaurants Emeril's NOLA before we headed home to prepare for Christmas.
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| The bride and I relaxing the night before her wedding. |
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| Sorority sisters and I having fun the night before the wedding. |
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| Right before second lining down the streets of New Orleans. |
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| The Roosevelt decorated for Christmas |
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| Matt and I at the Roosevelt |
- We got to spend Christmas with both of our families. We attended my uncle's Carter Dysfunctional Family Dinner as we try to do every year. We celebrated Christmas with my family on the eve of Christmas Eve because my brother and his girlfriend were in from South LA then, and as usual we spent Christmas Eve with Matt's family. We did not have big plans for Christmas day. Matt had to work that morning, and I spent a good bit of the day visiting with Maw Maw. The weekend after Christmas my dad's sisters came in from South LA, so we celebrated once more.
- Other than all these things this year, Matt is still going strong with his MBA program and is still working in the hospital lab. Buddy and Bailey are still the best of buds and are still as spoiled as ever.
