picking the perfect tree {2012}

Christmas is our favorite time of the year. It has specials meanings to both of us and we just love spending this time with friends and family. My entire life my family has gotten our Christmas tree from the same place and since James did not grow up with a real tree, we decided to keep my family tradition so since we have lived together we have gotten our tree there as well. It is something I will always remember and can't wait to take my children there someday. So Saturday we headed out to get our tree but little did we know it would take a very long time to pick our tree this year. From the moment we walked into our house the first time we both said we wanted a huge tree and we wanted in front of the window in our living room. It was one of the things that actually sold me on the house. Like I said before Christmas is my favorite holiday and having a perfect spot for our tree is a must in any house we live in! We spent almost two hours looking at trees and not one of them was "the one". Finally I saw some trees in the back that had just been delivered so I went and found a worker (who looked important) and he started helping us. But still we had no luck! So he decided to get the owner!!! At this point I think my face was as red as a fire truck! I was so embarrassed that it was this difficult to find our tree. He went to the back and brought out one tree. He looked at me and said "This is going to be the one. It is your tree". So they unwrapped it and I sat there for another ten minutes looking at it and finally decided it was the one!! I think James was more relieved at that point than anything. He probably would have taken anything by then. So James went to get the stand and I went to pay and then it hit me... we didn't get a picture in front of our tree!!! I think I might have made a scene because I was running out of that little building saying "Wait, Wait"!! But it was too late they had already started trimming it and getting it ready to put in the back of the truck. So I didn't get the picture I wanted :(
But at least we finally got our tree and it is beautiful! It still isn't finished but I am hoping to finish it up this weekend!

Here it is!!! So big and pretty!!!

OHHHH and just thought you should know....I HAVE ONE LESSON PLAN LEFT!!! I am so excited to be finished with this semester and move onto student teaching. Most of all I am ready for my husband to come home from this stupid long distance job and to enjoy our favorite holiday together!!!!

family lunch

This past weekend was very eventful for us!!! Friday night I attended a bachelorette party (post coming later this week) and then Saturday we cooked lunch for James' family.

So when I got home at 2am Friday night/Saturday morning we  okay James (I might or might not have been highly intoxicated sshhh) put the meat cooking in the crock pot so that it could cook all night long and be ready for lunch. James' sister, brother-in-law and and sweet little nephew were coming from Zachary (about 1.5 hours away) and we expected them to be here around 11:30 so we woke up early and tried to make sure everything was cooking and clean for when they got here. When they got here we decided to hurry up and take a few pictures for our Christmas cards. You see my SIL just got a fancy new camera for an amazing deal (which I am totally jealous about) and we asked her to take a nice updated pic for the Christmas cards we WILL get out this year ;)

After that my in-laws arrived and we had such a good time visiting with everyone and loving on Judah!! He is growing way to freaking fast and I hate not living close together. I grew up with my family living 5 minutes away and never really understood what it was like to live in different cities. It has really hit James and I hard since Judah has been born because we are watching him grow up on a computer screen and not in person. But that is life and I we have learned to cherish the time we do have together. He is such a happy smiling baby!! While my mother-in-law was holding him I walked up and he held his arms out to me and my heart melted!!!! I was so happy he wanted me to hold him and didn't think I was a total stranger. I seriously wanted to cry. I can't even imagine what it will be like when I have one of my own.

The only picture I got. But seriously how hot does my hubby look with a baby ;)

Sadly their visit went by way too quick and Judah was ready for a nap so they headed home around 2. We had so much fun hosting our first family dinner lunch in OUR own house (I still can't believe we are homeowners) and are so glad they got to come over. They also brought a sweet house warming present that we used the next day to make a yummy dinner!!! I just love having people over so much and can't wait to have Christmas at our house too!!!

Our awesome housewarming present!!!!

Here are a few of the pictures we took that day!!! Once again a huge shout out to my sister-in-law for snapping them for us!!! They are great and will make a perfect Christmas card!!!!

how cute are these two!! She is a daddy's girl for sure!!! ;)

Our favorite!!!! 

weekend wrap-up

The last 7 days have been absolutely crazy for me!!! Between jewelry parties, doctors appointments, girl time with a few of my friends, bridal showers, family time and of course hubby time, I have barely had a second to think with everything going on but it has been nice to be busy and not just sit at home and miss James.
Instead of giving a blow by blow of everything I have been up to I thought I would just tell you about two of my favorites.

Friday night I had a much needed girls night with my friend Lacey. She has three kids and not a lot of free time so it was so nice for the two of us to get away. We went to Zea for dinner and it was amazingly good. On top of the good food they had 1/2 margaritas!!!! We got there at around 8 pm and we ended up not leaving until after 11 pm!! Since they were on a wait we decided to grab a little table in the bar area and it was perfect (especially because we were like two little middle school girls giggling  and taking lots of pictures). After we left there we decided to go to the bar next door, Corner Bar. It is a chill little bar that doesn't have a lot of people and we could just relax and talk some more. We ended up playing pool with some people we met until 2am. Lets just say I was exhausted by the end of the night! I am a grand-maw, 11pm is late for me! I was so glad we had the opportunity to get together and just let loose. She is a stay at home mom to three kids, runs a money saving website and is a very busy lady. She is such a sweetheart and I had a blast!!

Saturday my long lost little sister came visit!!!! Back in my sorority days I got the best little sissy ever. She is super funny and creative. She only stayed here for one year and then sadly moved home (2 hours away). In the year she was here I grew to love her so much and she was one of the amazing ladies by my side the day I married my soulmate. So Saturday she drove up and spent the entire day with me. She also brought with her my new little (puppy) nephew, Murphy!!!! We spent most of our day talking and catching up on our lives. We got lunch at her fav laffy spot (Izzo's Illegal Burrito). The dogs had such a good time playing with Murphy and I was in doggy heaven. Murphy is the only beagle to have a place in my heart!!

How cute is he?!?!

Hope you had just as good of a weekend as I did but I am definitely look forward to a more relaxed weekend to come. I just have to get through this crazy week ahead!

our first LSU game

This weekend we were able to attend our first LSU game!!! Neither one of us had ever been to a game and both have been talking about it for years. A few weeks ago one of my friends had extra tickets and offered them to us. I was so shocked, I mean these things aren't cheap and she was giving them to me! But anyways we of course said HECK YES!! The game was a late game so we were able to leave around lunch time and head to Baton Rouge. It was my friend, Lauren's, fiancé's work tailgate so we weren't sure what to expect but let me just tell you! I have never been to tailgating like this before. It was in the "faculty center" on campus and it was amazing. This was open bar, catered, air conditioned
kind of tailgating. But look I wasn't complaining. I always love the tent outside, beer bong, big pot of jambalaya kind of tailgating but this was so nice!!! We got there and decided to go walk around for a little while. I have never really walked around the campus before, so I was having so much fun seeing how big and beautiful it is. I got to see the Phi Mu house (always my favorite thing to do on a new campus). After walking around for a while we headed to the faculty center and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon in air conditioning!! The game was at 7pm but of course we got a little side tracked and left too late to see kick off but walking into that stadium was a memory i will never forget. It was breathtaking to see so many people and hear the noise. We sadly did not get to stay the whole game(Lauren is 8.5 months pregnant and was feeling really bad so we decided we should head back to Lafayette). I am so happy LSU won though (definitely a close one). The game was so much fun and I am so happy we got the chance to go!!

tickets to our first game!!!!

Lauren, Mike, and baby Addison!!

As soon as I saw someone else with one of these I died!!! Thankfully the hubs went and found the stand selling it!! Yummmyy

happy fall y'all

Here is our pretty outside decorations for fall. We had way too much fun at the pumpkin patch and I think we have more pumpkins in our yard than our whole neighborhood combined!! I love it and can't wait to finish the inside! 

weekend wrap-up

Good morning!!!

As I speak my husband is making "big breakfast" as we like to call it. It is one of our favorite things. He makes pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, grits, and coffee of course. And it is all yummy!!!! Over the years we have turned into early birds and 7:00 am is the normal get up time for a Saturday and Sunday morning in the Gautreaux household. I used to get really upset but now it is so nice to get up and get more things done. It also makes 8:00 am class a lot easier during the week compared to my freshman year when I missed quite a few of those morning classes!! 

So anyways while I lay in bed sipping my coffee I thought I would tell y'all about our weekend! I was supposed to work on Friday (For the first time in three weeks) but lucky for me my aunt called me to babysit my precious little nine month old cousin and I  could not resist. I quickly gave my shift up! I mean who would rather spend their night waiting on hungry and sometimes grouchy people when you can spend your evening with a happy, sweet, and cuddling baby?!?!? Sadly Olivia has been going through a phase and was far from a happy bubbly baby but we made it through! They think she is possibly teething and she pretty much cried the whole entire time!!!! It wasn't the night I expected but still way better than working at the restaurant! 

James had his friend Ryan over and they played Xbox late into the night (something I will never understand). From what I hear they played some new scary game and took turns getting the begeebers scared out of them and screaming like girls! (Can I please be a fly on the wall?)

On Saturday we woke up and went on an early morning grocery shopping trip. We are now on a once a month shopping trip so we knew it would be a long and pricy trip and wanted to get there early to be the crowds. Luckily Starbucks is right in front of Walmart and we picked up coffee before heading inside. We were in and out in ohhh 2 hours... not too bad right?!? ;)  It really isn't too bad, we have always liked going together to go shopping so it is actually something we look forward to!

This is only a portion of the list ;) 

After we got home I had to get ready for a baby shower. One of my friends, Lauren, is pregnant with her second baby(first one was a boy and now she is having a girl!) and some of her friends decided to throw her a shower for baby Addison. I had a lot of fun and she got lots of goodies. There were so many dresses and bows I think she is going to be the most fashionable little miss around!! 

When I got home we hurried up and changed again (Yes I know, it was a crazy day) and we headed to the pumpkin patch! We love fall around here and get so excited to go to the pumpkin patch. I think I might have gone a little crazy with the pumpkins but who cares I could not resist. We have made it a family tradition to go together every year with our dogs and can't wait until we will be able to bring our own children there. I love seeing all of the little families there taking pictures and buying pumpkins.

Hubby was a good sport and never complained as I was adding more and more pumpkins!

Daisy was bored and yawning while I was trying to take pictures

My little family

Crazy right?!? 

After leaving the pumpkin patch my Maw-Maw called and said she was cooking the first gumbo of the season an to come pick some up! My response: HECK YEAH! Will be there ASAP!!! We love gumbo around here and Maw-Maw makes the best gumbo!!! We went over there and all the puppies got to play together and we got to visit with Maw-Maw and Poppy for a little while. 

This is Teddy's favorite spot: Poppy's chair!!

 Today we are going to decorate the inside and outside for Fall and I am so excited. I have been burning "fall" candles for two weeks now so it will be nice to have everything out (pictures coming soon)! I am also trying out a Pinterest recipe I found and hopefully it will turn out super yummy!!!! James is sadly leaving tonight to go back but I have a huge test on Tuesday so as soon as he leaves I will be studying nonstop until Tuesday at 9:00 am.

Hope your weekend was just as amazing as ours!!! 

weekend adventures: a wedding, a football game, and homework in between

This weekend was a pretty busy one for us, we had a wedding, a football shindig, and lots of homework!!!
James got home Thursday night to a newly red-headed wife waiting for him. He loves my red hair and from the day I decided to change it, he has been saying he wanted the red hair back. I finally gave in last week and went Thursday for the big change. I have to say he is right I love the color and love how it makes me more unique. (Note to self: listen to hubby when it comes to hair color) After my hair appointment it was time for James to come home!!! They decided to come home on Thursday this week and this wifey was super happy!!!
On Friday I had school and a student teaching meeting (AKA one step closer to graduation) and James went do manly things like going to Home Depot and buying stuff for another project (pictures to come... when the project is done). After I got home from school we spent a couple hours cuddling and watching tv then it was homework time for me =(
Saturday James and I attended an absolutely beautiful wedding. We are good friends with both the bride and groom and were so happy to be there on their special day.
The groom is the person I consider my big brother, he is the closest thing I have to one and I am so happy to see him so happy. He is such an amazing guy and has been such a great influence on my life. He has taught me some of the most important things in life... to drive... to drink... and to never give up on love. He means so much to me. The bride used to work with both of us at Texas Roadhouse and is such a sweetie. Together they are perfect. The ceremony was so beautiful (yes, I cried my eyes out). You could just feel the love throughout the church for two amazing people on their special day. The reception was just as awesome. Yummy food, good music, and great friends. We ended up running into two of James' good friends that we didn't know knew the bride and groom. It nice to catch up with them and see how life has been treating them!
Today, I did more homework all day and then this afternoon we had some friends over for the game. Unfortunately our beloved Saints lost but we had a great time. I attempted pulled pork for the first time... it  wasn't the best pulled pork I have ever had but it was pretty good (definitely getting a different kind of pork next time). We had such a busy weekend but spending it with my amazing husband made it all worth it. Now i am off to finish my last homework assignment of the night and then cuddling the hubs until it is time for him to leave again (5am)!

Here are a few pictures I snapped from the wedding!