Sunday Funday in Pictures

This was our Sunday afternoon:

60 pounds of goodness

The stare down....

Kissin the baby goodbye.

Jack and Rose. "I'll never let go."

Gilbert and Church

A week or so ago, (I get so behind on blogging!) Chris and I and friends went to a FABULOUS country concert- Brantley Gilbert and Eric Church! It was such a good concert. We, of course, bought the tickets two days before the show. (We thought Chris would be out of town, but he wasn't!) I am SO glad we decided to buy the tickets because we both LOVE the artists and we would have SO regretted not going to see them! We had an absolute blast and I still think my voice is recovering from singing all the songs at the top of my lungs! 

Kendra and I on the way to the concert!

Chris and I waiting on the concert to start!

Brantley played first. (Well actually some band I have never heard of played first, so we skipped them.) Brantley was awesome and if I could change one thing, I wish he would have played more songs!! He was so good and I wish he would have played longer. 

Loved, loved, LOVED seeing Brantley!

Eric was next and he was just fantastic. He get SO into his music. The last time he played in Bossier, he broke his leg he was stomping the stage so hard!! Seriously! He didn't stop as much, but he just kicks his legs and you can just tell he loves what he is doing. It was awesome because we were having so much fun, but you could really tell HE was having so much fun too!! 

I guess since, guys don't have wardrobe changes, they settle for stage changes. Eric had numerous back drops while he played. 

Eric Church stage 1

Eric Church stage 2

Eric Church stage 3.

We had so much fun! There is just something special about throughly enjoying something together with your spouse, when you know they are having just as much fun as you are. :)

USS de Wert

So while on our trip to New Orleans, Mom and I took a tour of the USS de Wert. IT.WAS.SO.COOL. I have been on military ships before, but maybe I was too young to appreciate them? I'm not sure why, but I fully appreciated the ship, crew and their missions this time. we had a small little group tour the ship with us, so I got to ask lots of questions! Haha. Frank and Lupe were our guides and they were awesome. Both are active NAVY members on the USS de Wert. 

Here are just some of the pictures I took and a little explanation about each:

Crew members talking at the back of the boat. 

The is the bell for the ship. They use it when there is dense fog. If you are a crew member, you can have your baby baptized in the bell on the ship! The names and birthdates of all the babies are inscribed on the inside of the bell. COOL!

This is called Sea Whiz. They sometimes call it R2D2, one because it looks like R2D2, but also because it functions like R2D2. It can detect missiles and enemy objects from miles away. It can also fire up to 4,000 rounds per minute. It has a saltwater cooling system, so it is able to fire rapidly and cool itself off quickly. 

So this bad boy is the Mark 75 "light weight." No one was sure why it is called light weight, because clearly it is not. It can fire up to 80 rounds per minute and can shoot up to 9 miles away!!!! It is used for air and surface defense and also has the salt water cooling system. 

This is Lupe. She was fabulous. Here, we are in the the driver's seat, or the equivalent. All the steering and directing goes on here. Directly below it is the captain room. I can't remember the name of the other room below this, but I do know we had to turn off our phones and were not allowed to take pictures. It was basically the room that controlled SeaWhiz and the other weapons on board. It also had the doppler radars down there scanning the area. It was way cool.

Lupe compared this little wheel to those giant wooden wheels we see on Pirates of the Caribbean used to steer the ship. This little wheel is the exact same concept and is used to steer the ship. 

A .50 cal machine gun. How can you look at this and not think of Cuba Gooding, Jr. in Pearl Harbor? (You know when he jumps on this guns and defends the ship for the captain!?)

Looking up at Sea Whiz.

Other facts:

• There are about 200 crew members on the ship.
• There is always a watch crew on duty, whether at sea or port. When the ship is docked, they have rotating shifts. Those on "liberty" are free to leave the ship and visit the city. Then there are those that are required to stay and man the ship. 
• I asked Lupe about uniform selections. Ladies, you'll be happy to know there are plenty of uniform options! 
• Frank and Lupe told us the story of the Montecristo Italian ship that was hijacked by pirates. The USS de Wert rescued that ship! This happened in 2000 and you could tell they were so proud of their accomplishment. That was their contribution to a peaceful society. How awesome! Read the CNN story here. 
• Can travel 30-plus knots and the "plus" part is classified. 
• Can house 2 helicopters. 

Mom and I at the front of the ship.

'Nawlins

Mom and I went on a quick trip to New Orleans this weekend for a wedding. Of course, we waited until the last minute to decide, but it all worked out and we left early Saturday morning to head down.

McDonald's breakfast...YUM 

We made it down and ate a quick lunch (linner? lunch/dinner) at Gumbo Shop. We heard they had great sauteed shrimp po-boys. It was definitely good, but we were picturing something different in our heads. 

We left there to walk back to the hotel, and were craving something sweet. We found a little coffee shop, and I honestly don't even remember the name. But it was local and they had some pastries and yummy coffee. Actually we had 2 chocolate cupcakes for $1.00! She was trying to sell them because she was going to have to throw them away. And we don't ever turn down a sale. :) They were really yummy and we have a praline latte that was to die for. SO good. It was cloudy and breezy outside, so hot coffee was perfect! 

at the coffee shop. Tried to get the streets in the background but it was too bright.

We got ready and headed to the wedding at the Windsor Court Hotel. We left to walk to the hotel about 45 minutes before it started. The wedding was 4 blocks away and we had on 4 inch heels; we weren't sure how long it would take us to walk. But we made excellent time and were seated with plenty of time to spare. 

As you can imagine, having a wedding in New Orleans, is extravagant. The wedding was lovely and officiated by the bride's uncle. The bride was so excited, we could here her giggle, laugh out loud and cry when she said her vows. It was special. 

The reception was on the 24th floor of the hotel and it was fabulous! When we got off the elevator, there was a tea and coffee bar by the cakes. Her cake was huuuuuge, but I think it had fake layers in it. It would have been ridiculous to have that much cake for the number of people there. 

Mom and I hit up the bar, for a strong water and then went to the photo booth. Mom had never done one and I think she loved it. We had to do it twice actually. The first time, there wasn't a single picture we posed correctly for. The pictures were terrible, so we had to do it again. Final results:

Then we went outside to see the view and take some pictures. We were pretty close to the river, so it was a pretty sight. 

The food was fabulous of course. There was crawfish risotto, sauteed shrimp, shrimp and grits, praline sweet potatoes, ham with biscuits and fried green tomatoes with sauce. Delish. And then, to top that off, there was a "cold bar," for lack of a better word. It was a huge ice sculpture with "Blood Mary Oyster Shooters," cheeses and fruits, and wait for it... a sushi bar! 

Oyster shooters and sushi

The guy was rollin' fish ALL night.

I was hesitant to try the sushi at first, but everyone was raving about it and EVERYone was having some. I went and got a few piece and it was SO GOOD! I made a second trip! I think my favorite part was the little packet of soy sauce!! 

Saturday, we of course got up and ate beignets at Cafe du Monde. 

You just can't beat that. 

YUM!

We walked around the French market and then saw some US Navy ships docked on the river. We walked over and were going to take some pictures, then decided to take a tour. We went on the USS de Wert. It was so awesome, that it gets an entirely separate post! Stay tuned! 

We grabbed a quick lunch at Daisy Dukes on Carondolet and then headed home! We had a great, quick-trip to New Orleans. How can you NOT have fun when you're in the Big Easy? 

Progress on House!

Haven't had much time to write about the progress of the house because it is going so fast! Here's some pictures.

Easter Weekend

Easter has come and gone but the purpose of Easter is year around! Thank you God for sending your son to die on the cross for me. And more importantly for raising Him on the third day! Hallelujah! 

I had a three-day weekend thank to Easter and Chris just so happened to be home, so it made the weekend even better! We had a very adult weekend. Adult life, right now- for us, is working hard all week and having a good weekend with friends and family. Does that sounds very adult of us?

Denice, me and Kendra at dinner Thursday night.

Friday- I got up and went to work out and then came home and jumped in the car with Dad and Chris to go fishing! It was a chilly morning, but the sun came out soon and I caught rays while they caught fish. It was a great day! Friday night, we snuggled up and watched a movie. Are we adults or just old people?

Saturday- We went fishing again and this time Mom came. Unfortunately, the trolling motor on the boat conked out at about noon. So we headed to the house, ate lunch and then went to Josh and Kendra's! they live where our new house will be. We laid out by the community pool and had a nice lil afternoon. We can't wait to be living out there! After the pool, we went to J&K's house and burgers, sat on the patio and played. We took a walk to check on our house and the boys hit golf balls in the back yard. Yes, it was a fantastic day. 

Standing in the foyer of the new house! 

Chris hitting golf balls.

Sunday was Easter! We went to the 8:30 service and it was PACKED! It was a great service. Then off to B-Group and lunch. We had a nontraditional Easter lunch- crawfish! We went to Shayne's so we could take Papaw fried shrimp after. The crawfish were delish! Then we took looong naps and then headed to Chris's parents house for dinner. There we had the traditional ham and deviled eggs- YUM! They were also bird sitting for Pepaw. 

Easter morning

Me and Buddy, PePaw's bird.

We had a great weekend and are so thankful God has blessed us with such great friends and family!!!

Also, rumor has it they were installing our shingles on Monday! Woo! Pictures to come! 

April Showers Bring...

Look what sprang up after all that rain.............!

Foundation AND Framing!!

Still lots of wood left to frame!

Home Sweet Home. Our front door.