Weather from Lafayette...

January 18, 2008 - 1st Big Storm
This storm woke me up, I thought there was an ambulance outside our apt. complex because the lightning kept flashing like the lights on an ambulance, police car etc. It was AWESOME!!!




May 14, 2008 - Tornado Warning
We've had a couple Tornado "watches", but this was our fist warning. The tornado touched down in some areas near by, but it didn't visit our neighborhood, directly. As you can see the rain and a good gust of wind was what we got. The rain comes up fast, it's like ponds just drop out of the sky. The way this place floods blows my mind, I've never seen anything like the weather around here!!!

A few Things I've Missed Along the Way...

Well, because I went so long without a familiar computer, I've gotten out of the habbit of even getting on now that I have a new one...so I have a lot to catch up on and stuff that happened long ago but I'm going to do my best to post a few...a lot of pictures and comments on the last few months I've been here.

Mardi Gras 2008
It was February 1-5th I believe...it reminds me a little of any parade we'd have out west, but instead of throwing candy, they throw beads, cups, back-scratchers, and other fun toys and items...contrary to what many may believe about Mardi Gras and getting beads...you DON'T have to "flash" anyone in order to get them. There is a lot more to Mardi Gras than I had ever imagined!! It's a lot of fun and we will be comming out here long after we leave for the great celebrations. I too would like to hold Mardi Gras parties at my home, wherever we may be - so friends and family, start looking for some great masks and Mardi Gras festivity gear, so when the invitation arives for our parties, you'll be prepared!!! :-)

Mardi Gras Links:
Mardi Gras Outlett
Why Mardi Gras?
Mardi Gras 2009

My battery on my camera died at the beginning of the parade I went to...so I don't have any of the floats really, but a few shots before and after the parade. (I charged my battery during the parade...SAD) The Duhon (Due-yawn) family are wonderful friends of ours.

Chuck Duhon & Scott at the Parade, Tanya Duhon & Jennifer after the parade - once we took most of our beads off, they get hot. Kennedy Duhon & Maddie & Brendan Duhon & Maddie














Here's a kid who really knows how to sweep the beads & cute Maddie "enjoying" the bead...can't you tell she just LOVES'M..??










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CrawFish! CrawFish! CrawFish!

My first crawfish boil was over at the Duhons. They boil the crawfish, potatoes, garlic & corn on the cob with amazing cajun spices, once done to perfection, the water is drained and the delectable creation is poured onto the table - no forks, knives, spoons needed - break in! FYI - don't wear anything you don't want to get messy... A tantalizing dip is prepared by the individuals who are eating, made to fit your taste buds. The base of the sauce is ketchup and mayo, from there the individual will add tobasco, cajun seasoning etc. to taste. YUMMMMM!!!














We haven't learned the art of true crawfish boils, but fortunately when we're craving crawfish, Scott was blessed to find a fabulous little ma/pa cafe that you can get crawfish...DRIVE THRU style. This way we can bring it home and enjoy as desired by our taste buds.



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Magnolia Ridge Plantation/Gardens

Scott and I spent the afternoon doing a little sight-seeing and cruzing a couple of the near by towns. The pictures are of Magnolia Ridge Plantation in Washington, Louisiana. We actually missed when the garden is in full bloom. It's usually the end of March, but due to a longer, "colder" winter than usuall, it bloomed later, but it was still beautiful!!!


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MOVING OUT...

Our home in Utah was being rented by Scott's brother and his wife, but recently decided to move to Southern Utah. We then decided it would be best to CLEAN...GUT out the house, COMPLETELY, and rent it out. I have NO idea how we ended up with so much STUFF!? It was a long hard process of cleaning it out...mostley emotionally difficult, but I'm SO, SO, SO glad we did it. I don't have any pictures of it yet now that it's cleaned out, I'll get some when I go back in June, but here are a few of the messes... YIKES!!! (The "stuff" is a combination of ours, Scott's brothers, some things from my grandfather I was keeping, plus a few things from neighbors...yea, CRAZY)














The new renters will be moving in in mid-June. A cute family of 5. Scott and I built the house in 2002. Unfortunately it never enjoyed the writing on the walls, sprinkler hoses being drug through the hallways or the pitter-pat of our own children living there, so nows the time to really break it in!! I'm excited to see them move in. They are wonderful people!

We kept very little, and what we kept is a few "heirloom peices and hunting/fishing/camping items (in a small, storage unit) that we'll be using when we come back to Utah to visit & play. We didn't take any furniture with us to Louisiana. We took the T.V. my sewing machine, cloths (not all), and a few "projects" for me to work on and that was pretty much it. Oh,and of course MADDIE! :-) If it didn't fit in my car, it didn't come. Talk about down-sizing! It was difficult at first, but the thought of moving into a larger place makes me a little nausious. I'm LOVING the luxury of a simple life!!! I need to get pictures of our apt. on the blog....


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Main Street River Ranch Apartment - Lafayette, Louisiana

The furniture was rented by the company, it isn't the best and I've felt as though I've been in a hotel-but the rental contract will be up at the end of May and I have been able to go pick out my own choice of furniture...I'm soooo excited!!! It will feel MUCH more like home once we get our new furniture here! YEA!!! For now - here is what I have - the furniture has been moved around NUMEROUS times, it's a small room and two walls are french doors-makes it a bit challenging, but fun!

I've been playing around with the video editing stuff on my computer so once I get the new furniture I'll do a video tour...that should be fun!!! Until then here's what I got for now - it's no longer arranged as you see in the picture...















Check out this site and the links to the right, under "Lafayette" to see where we live.
Main Street @ River Ranch

An Afternoon with Tami

Hey Ya'll!! Enjoy!!
(The video isn't so good, but I'm not going to take the time to edit it or it'll never get done. You'll hear the thunder after I ask Tami if she saw the lightning... no justice is done on my little digital camera...

Make a Smilebox photobook

Yesterday afternoon my friend Tami and I did a little photo shoot...now when she asked me if I wanted to go take pictures, in my mind I imagined, landscape, building, wildlife, NOPE! She had an entirely different idea! She's awesome!! Unfortunately she's only here for a couple more weeks and then her and her husband, Billy are going home to Houston, TX. They've been traveling the world with his job for the past few months and this is their last stop before heading home. We met a couple of months ago, but we were instant friends... Friends Forever... :-)

30 & Loving It!

~ ~ ~ My computer DIED on me, therefore I only have access to a computer when Scott gets home at night, but then I'm getting dinner ready, we go out to play, and/or he needs to use the computer for work...so I haven't had much of a chance to check in on many of my friends blogs or update my own. They have a business center here at the apt, but I can't login to my own blog, nor can I get to many of my friends blogs...??? not cool...anyway, we're looking into getting me another, but it will be awhile, I'll check in when I can. Love ya! ~ ~ ~



OK folks, WARNING, there will be much meandering in this post. I won't promise that it will make a lot of sense, you'll most likely shake your head in confusion and browse to the "Jelly of the Month Club"(see video) page, to find more thought provoking entertainment...You've been warned... :-)

Ok, so I've been 30 years old for almost a year...that would make me closer to 31 than 30 but, it's the last 1-2 years that has lead to me sharing what I'm going to share...

I personally didn't have a hard time with it. I was asked why I didn't mind being 30? The first thing that came out was, "I was young and dumb, now I'm young and wiser." But, I've been thinking a lot about my life lately, and pondering about that statement...

WARNING WARNING WARNING Jelly of the Month Club is sounding better every moment...

I'm not saying that I should go into "The Guinness Book of World Records" for being in the top 10 of most wise people or anything, I'm just comparing myself to myself.

I've thought a lot about when I really started to feel a change. I've been blessed with many amazing "ah-ha" moments, I can't share them all with you..well I could but it would take me months, if not years to write...for I'm long winded...ANYWAY... Comparing myself:

-1st day in the MTC vs. the 1st morning I woke up in 18 months and didn't put my name tag on
-1st time Scott Woolsey asked me to dance vs. 1st dance as Mr. & Mrs Scott Woolsey
-1st day on the job with Alpine School District vs. the 1st day in Louisiana as a homemaker
-1st day at an orphanage in Haiti vs. 1st reluctant step onto the plain to return to the U.S.A

This isn't even the beginning, but I hope it gives you, as the reader, a better idea of what I classify as to being "wiser".

As Scott and I have moved out to Louisiana and have been packing up our "stuff", it's amazing all the memories you find. Yesterday, I was going through all my mission stuff, letters, tapes, pictures, journals and a wonderful scrapbook/s my mother made for me. Many times I lost focus on my project, but it was worth it. I read through letters from my parents/family, and my friends...I even popped in a few cassette tapes to hear voices from the past. It was awesome. It's amazing how much I have forgotten. There were so many small little things that brought back big memories. Seeing the faces of the friends I made in the MTC, in Portugal and in Cabo Verde, (Africa) brought so much love into my heart.

I'm amazed at how much more love I have felt at 30 compared to 20. I've learned that the more I experience life, the more I love, the more I love, the more I feel love from those around me. When I say I feel the love from those around me, it's not necessarily they love they have for me, but the love they feel for what surrounds them; their family, friends, etc. It's awesome!

Anyway, I have much on my mind but I will have mercy upon all of you and sign off now, but I will close with...

- Be more concerned about what God thinks about you than what peple think about you.
- Faith makes things possible not easy.
- Love is a journey, not a destination.
- A positive attitude brings strength, energy and initiative.
- Two things are hard on the heart - running up stairs and running down people.
- You can make more friends with your ears than with your mouth.
- You never saw a fish on the wall with its mouth shut.
- Your success reflects the sacrifice you're willing to make.
- Look for the small miricles and you'll see them everywhere.
- Individual commitment to a group effort, that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.
- Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the wind longs to play with your hair.
- Smile, smile, smile...it increases face value.

"You can't define me by my look, but by my spirit, listen, hear it."

Visit to Kanab...

So, I've got a bunch of pictures to share...

The dolls:

Tiny:
So Bean & Kris are Disney fans; so to prepare their little ones Kris will mimic the favorite rides at Disney Land as he lifts the little ones up into the air in his arms. The favorite ones seem to be "Splash Mt." and "Tower of Terror". As creative as Kris is he went a step further the last couple days I was there. He hooked up this dolphin swing-thing to a zip line and ran it across the yard-needless to say she LOVES it!



One of her FAVORITE things to say is "HI" and adds a cute little wave, especially to her new little sister.



Tiny 2 - Oh, the amazing wonder and ahh the inocence of a new born can bring into a persons soul.



While in Kanab, I took advantage of the beautiful weather and some of the local hiking trails.

HOG CANYON:


BUNTING TRAIL: (and my hiking/running partner, I miss him too)


Scott came out to visit for a few days & while he was here we went to Zion to get into the mountains before heading back to the beautiful, flat, wetlands of Louisiana.






I can't get enough of Southern Utah, It's my most favorite place. So when the opportunity came up to go Rhino-Ride'n with Stephanie and her family; I was all up for it. Travel'n the back-hills of Kanab brought back a flood of memories for Steph and I. Needless to say we had a lot of fun. There's noth'n like growing up in a small town surrounded by so much beauty and adventure!






So for Easter we planned to go to the Grand Canyon, well it was closed...the Grand Canyon Closed? What do they put a tarp over it? :-) Anyway, it was a beautiful drive and we picniced anyway.



Signs, Signs, everywhere signs... I get a kick out of the little figures; I'm in no way rebeling against the importance of warning signs, they are indeed important. Non-the-less I find them amusing...even entertaining.



Since I was flying out of S.L.C, I headed north for a couple of days to take care of a few things, the most important: spend an afternoon with my Grandpa Beazer. He's one of the greatest men I've ever known. Now, when I was younger I would have thought this afternoon was the most boring, but in my "mature" years I found it to be very interesting and rewarding. He took me for a drive to see the homes and the areas in which my mother and her siblings grew up. I took some snap-shots of the areas and took some notes on his stories. I sure love that man!!



So, this was my trip to Utah...I've been blessed with many opportunities to travel and see some beautiful places; man made and natural. Yet, no matter where I go, Utah, Southern Utah is the most beautiful & unique of all areas. I know it may sound weird, but it has such an amazing divers beauty to it that it reminds me of Gods great power and His love for His children, you & I. I know God has created all the beauty in this world to remind us each and every day of His love for us, no matter where you may be. It's just that Southern Utah, the sands of Lake Powell the highest peaks of Zion and the deepest canyons of the Grand Canyon is where I feel it the most.

Beautiful Examples

It's been so long I don't even know where to start, nor do I have a lot of time this morning.

I do want to say that the past 3 weeks I've been in scenic Kanab, Utah. I was there spending time with my beautiful sister and her active 15 month old daughter and her precious new born. It was amazing to see the interaction of my sister and her family and what a wonderful mother she is!

I will have to say that both of my sisters, Jeana and Joni are like Marry Poppins, "Practically perfect in every way". I'm so grateful to have wonderful examples to look up to. Being the oldest it's been a blessing to be able to watch them grow from cute little snots into beautiful mothers! :-) Thanks to both of you for making a positive difference in the world.

SLY

A Sunset in the Swamp

Scott and I went out yesterday afternoon to learn a bit more about where we live.. Scott and I visited the museum that my parents and I visited when they were here and the lake.

One of our stops was a small pond close to town. There are a few little gators in this pond so they put a cement plank in the middle of the pond for them to climb onto, well, these cute little turtles have also found it a place of refuge...SO CUTE! (Sorry Joni, but every time I see turtles...I think of you! SLY)



I'm not sure what kind of bird this is. The wildlife out here is SOO much different than what we see out west...duh..I know, but I didn't realize how different it would be... :-)



We watched the sunset fall beneath the waters of Martin Lake. It was so beautiful! Again, I'm used to watching the sun set sink behind a large rocky mt. For the first time we saw the beauty of the sunset behind shallow waters full of amazing trees full of spanish moss draping from branch to branch.

Maddie

I found this picture of Maddie sport'n one of mom's wonderful beenies and just wanted to share it...it made me smile.

Have a beautiful day, I love ya'll!!

Love from Louisiana

I went out and co-taught for the first time for the
Red Cross yesterday, it was a lot of fun. The class
was "CPR/First Aid for the workplace" The chapter here
is hurting soo badly for volunteers and $$$. After
Katrina and Rida, the majority of volunteers and even
staffed (paid) workers left; emotionally it was just too
much. Plus, so many people donated a lot of $$$ and
material right after the storms, that they aren't
donating any more. There is still a huge relief
program in place for so many of the victims. I'd
really like to get down to some of the areas to
witness with my own heart what is going on.

I've also started my training to be certified as part
of the disaster relief program. This includes
anything from meeting the needs of those involved in
single home house fires to natural disaster
victims. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm
actually going to get one-on-one training because
there is nobody else showing interest at this time,
and they really need help. Our Chapter oversees 9 parishes (a
parish is what we call a county in the west) and there are only 2
of them on the disaster team. I've started
working/training side-by-side with the director of the
disaster dept. Again, I'm VERY excited!

I know I talked about the weather a post or two ago, but man...we just don't see this stuff out in Utah, I suppose just like they don't see the snow...but the rain storms are amazing. Joni-it's a bit like the rain we would see in Haiti, but it will last for hours, with thunder and lightning. ;-) There was one night I thought there was an ambulance just outside our window in the parking lot with the lights flashing; NOPE...LIGHTNING! I have video of it, (I've got to take the time to learn how to get it on my blog) but the lightning was continually flashing. It was awesome!!

Scott and I will be getting or first real taste for Cajun Dancing tonight. There is a ward activity, Pot Luck and Cajun Dancing! We're excited! From what we've seen, it's a lot like the swing, so we should have a good start.

We're also going to start taking tennis lessons, yup, us, taking actual tennis lessons. W-E-I-R-D! Here at River Ranch they have quite the tennis program. We've talked about playing before, but now we've decided to learn the right way of playing instead of just guessing... :-) This is a good place to learn, I think our trainer/coach is from Brazil-if so, it will be fun to talk to him with the very little Portuguese that I know. Maybe learn a few new words. Tennis @ River Ranch

Bollywood

I've had a "thing" for India and those regions for years.  For the past couple of years  I've been listening and watching Bollywood entertainment.  I find it just awesome!  I love how evne though they join the Hollywood world, they keep so much of their own traditional ways of singing and dancing!

Here are just a few of my favorite clips. I get a good laugh as I watch them, I think you will too...  There are A LOT more.  If you have a minute, you shuld just cruz around on youtube and check some out.  :-)

Even if you don't enjoy this stuff the way I do, I hope you find some entertainment itn it.  

PS 

I actually LOVE world entertainment.  I'm always finding/looking for new ways to be culturally enlightened.  If anyone has anything they'd like to share with me, please do so!  

Links to videos:

Bollywood welcomes the 80's

Bollywood goes Western Cowboy

Bollywood Today

TUNKA TUNKA