goodness, gracie!

What can happen in a year?

2011-06-06T20:05:00.003-05:00

Wow. It's so crazy to think that exactly one year ago, I was sitting in the airport in Washington D.C. on the phone with Mom freaking out because I was heading to Africa and my deposit hadn't gone through in my bank account. We were waiting for our connecting flight which would take us across the Atlantic Ocean to the London Heathrow airport. I was so terrified! And that was before most of the crazy stuff happened!
It's amazing how much I've changed and grown up in the past year. I feel like I was such a young, naive, ignorant girl back then. Maybe that's silly because I surely feel like I still have a lot of growing up to do before I actually feel like I'm an adult. The word woman still doesn't quite seem to suit me, even though I have the number 2 in front of my age. Twenty years old sounds like I should feel rather grown-up, but I don't know. Still, I know I've grown so much since I was 19.
I had the opportunity for so many incredible adventures that have happened in the last year. First Africa, then Grand Canyon and Glorieta, then New York, then Atlanta for Passion, back to New York, then finally home....and then back to New York again! Each one had a unique lesson and experience that grew me in a different way. But it's clear that God used each and every one to pull me closer to Him and to show me how faithful and trustworthy He is. From losing luggage and being put in scary far away places and situations in Africa, hiking over 30 miles in His beautiful creation out west and finding awful strange burns on my arm, leading a small group at Glorieta, feeling completely alone for months in NYC, being challenged with heart changing questions at Passion, to all the little in-between things, I always ended in the same place. Shaking my head at my stubborness and pulling out my journal and writing out all my thoughts in another "I surrender all" type of prayer. Because, what God tells us is true. We can just give it all to Him. He will carry us through it if we let Him take control of our lives. I don't know why it takes me so long to figure it out every time. But the verse that gets me absolutely every time is Phillipians 4:6-7: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." I just feel like that says everything.
I had some unusual and uncommon experiences all in 1 year. That just doesn't happen very often. I'm so thankful. And, yes, even for the really hard miserable times. "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5). Once again...it kind of speaks for itself.
There have also been some wonderful joyful times. So many of those! I could list them, but it would take such a long time, but I can't not list a few...the relationships that were formed in South Africa, the joy of the South Africans and the lovable children, the beauty of mountains and canyons and rivers, hours of Phase 10 at Glorieta and on the bus ride, laughing with Emma and Nichole in New York, the most incredible worship with 22,000 other believers, making friends at Graffiti in NY, getting my job at American Girl and making friends there, joyful reunions when I returned to Louisiana, meeting one of my best friend's baby girl, splashing in a fountain then running through Times Square soaking wet, and then the adventures still left to come! I can't help smiling a big goofy smile when I read through that paragraph and think of all the wonderful memories that are attached to each thing.
It's hard to say, but I think it has been the best year of my life. The people I've met and the ones that I've grown closer to. The places I've been and the things I've learned. The struggles and the laughs. And most of all the ways that God has made Himself real and personal to me.

Surprise!

2011-05-31T21:29:00.003-05:00

Well, reading my last blog update actually makes me laugh a bit. The things I said are so ironic now. I'll just get to the point. After much thought and prayers and consideration (and a lot of God just putting things right into place) I decided to return to New York until August! I know. It's so crazy!
I think I was home for only five days before I started deciding whether or not to come back. And by day 6, it was pretty much decided. Nony and Frank said it was fine for me to come stay with them again. Reese (my manager at American Girl) immediately said they would give me my position back. Mom approved the decision (which was quite a big deal). God gave me peace about it. Plus, I just really, really wanted to come back to New York. So, two weeks after I returned home to Opelousas, I got right back on a plane to head back up north.
It has been wonderful to be back here! I am loving NYC in the summertime! I decided not to tell most of my New York friends so I could surprise them. Well, apparently secrets don't get kept in the doll hair salon crowd because pretty much everybody knew...guess I should not have been too too surprised ;)
But, boy oh boy, I surprised everybody at church! Danielle nearly flipped and I think Warren was almost stunned to silence, but I said "almost". And some people just kind of did a double take like, "Wait...did you leave? Or are you about to leave?..." I was gone for such a short time that some people didn't even quite realize it.
I'm not entirely sure what this summer has in store for me. Probably some trips to Coney Island and the beaches (the ones that are by the real life ocean!!) of New York and New Jersey. And hopefully many more spontaneous evenings with my friends. I already ran through a fountain with Amy and skipped through Times Square afterwards still soaking wet! And I haven't even been here a week!!

Home?

2011-05-12T14:36:00.000-05:00

Well I'm back in Opelousas, Louisiana. It's so strange. I spent 8 months in New York City and nearly the entire time, all I wanted to do was come back to Louisiana. Now that I'm here, it's weird. I don't feel like this is "home" anymore. I'd finally (without quite realizing it) gotten used to being in NY. And actually really started liking it there! Now, I have a new adjustment to get re-used to. I still don't feel like this is really it. I feel like in a couple days or a couple of weeks, I'll head back up to that apartment on 8th Street and take the train into Manhattan and head to Graffiti or the American Girl Place.
A wise person that I know said, "I like to believe that 'home' is wherever the Lord has placed us at that time. If that is the case, then I am leaving one home and heading to another...and that's exactly what it feels like. I've loved my time here so much and have made lasting friendships..."
It took me a long, long time to start calling that apartment "home". In fact, I refused to refer to it that way. I would say that I was only there for an extended "visit". I didn't live there and it wasn't my home. I don't know why I was so stubborn about that.
The skyscrapers, the subways, the crosswalks, the busy people, the cold weather, Times Square, Broadway, Graffiti, American Girl, the Crocco family, April and Gabriel, Patty, Donnita, Sharlene, Lesley, Moe, Lauren, Brittany, Amy, Warren, Danielle, Frank, Nony, and Emma...all of those people, places, and things were my life. And all of it is left in New York. I hate change! And unlike when I left for New York (which was more of the "see you later" kind of goodbye), I won't be heading back up there very soon. I don't know when I'll see any of these wonderful people again. I just don't know what to do with myself now.
But, another wise friend that I look up to said this: "I have learned that our paths wind around in seemingly crazy ways, but be assured, none of it is crazy or haphazard as His will unfolds for us. In time your questions will be answered, even as new questions pop up. Patience is there. You prolly heard it from others but it bears repeating: God IS faithful. Keep on trustin', girl." I know it's true. I know that God brought me to New York for 8 months for a reason. Some incredible stuff happened while I was there. I grew so much and I met amazing people. The next season will have wonderful things too, and if I can just make it through the adjusting and the changing, I know everything will be great. God will carry me through it just like He did before. He's the only one that I can absolutely count on being constant. Everything else can change in a split second, but He'll always be with me and I can always count on Him.
I loved my life in New York (after I got used to it) and I miss everybody from that "home" terribly. But I'm ready! Ready for that next step and next season that God will take me through to make me more like Him. It'll be great! Here we go!

The End.

2011-04-23T21:17:00.002-05:00

I can't believe it. I only have 2 weeks and 2 days left here in New York. This spring passed by much quicker than I expected. Part of me is relieved. But, surprisingly (well at least I am surprised) there is a part of me that has gotten a bit attached to this place.
I can easily say that I hated it at first. In fact, I was down right miserable from October to December. And I dreaded coming back here after spending time in Louisiana around Christmas time. Now, it's April 23 and I only have a couple weeks left. Two weeks will fly by in no time. Again, part of me is very excited about that, but part of me isn't sure she's ready for this big adventure to be at its end.
I have grown to really love some people up here. There's April Kuzas and her baby boy Gabriel. She's my sister's best friend and so loving and funny. And Gabriel is, of course, just precious. And there's Amy Weaver from my church. She's hilarious and sweet and funny and she's from Tennessee and I just love her. Warren, also from church, is an actor and I've loved getting to know him. He's smart and funny and a great performer. Plus, it's just very evident that he loves God and that's always admirable in a person. Riz is another Graffiti (that's my church's name) member. He's always so giving of his time and energy and he's great to talk to. I'll really miss Brittany who works at American Girl. She loves to crack jokes about Louisiana, but I know she loves me and I think she's the sweetest and pretty funny too. And Lauren (also from AG Place) is funny and adorable and I love talking to her. Plus, she threw a huge fit out of excitement when I brought her a can of Tony Chachere's seasoning to work today! Moe, one of my managers, is also just plain wonderful. She taught me how to fix doll hair and also how to give the little girls a great time. And she's hilarious and lovable.
Of course I'm going to be super lonesome for my neice and my sister. Emma is the most adorable darling precious baby girl that I've ever seen. Well, since Evelyn, my other neice was a baby... hehe. And she's brought me so much joy. When I was the saddest, she can bring a smile to my face like nobody else. I've loved growing closer to Nichole, my big sister. Some of it was hard. We had to work through our differences and learn to love each other's difficult parts too. But I've loved our chances to laugh and go for walks and shop at the Newport Mall when it was too cold to do anything else. I've loved sitting at the kitchen table eating raw cookie dough by the spoonful. I love her.
Also, I'm going to miss pizzerias. I absolutely LOVE that you can find one on almost any corner, walk in, order one big slice of pizza, pay $1-$3 for it, and then be completely full. I'll miss the subways because it's SO quick and convenient and I honestly do not like driving. And I'll miss the dazzling lights of Times Square (although, I won't miss all the dumb people who don't know how to walk...).
God has done a lot in me since I've been here also. He taught me perseverance, joy, faithfulness, grace, confidence, wisdom, security, selfless love, how to seek Him, and more. I don't think I have more than a small grasp on those things, but I'm certain that He'll continue to teach me. It's wonderful to know that I've grown. And also, I know now that I don't need to constantly be surrounded by friends. I love 2 Corinthians 3:18, "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." He completely carried me through this New York journey and I'm so thankful that I had Him to lean on this whole time. He was there for me and filled me with love and peace and assurance every time I felt lonely or sad or worried.
One thing that I will not miss: the weather.
"It is never going to be warm in this stupid place!!!!" ;)

Great News!

2011-02-22T11:12:00.005-06:00

As some of you may or may not know, I grew up with a doll named Samantha as one of my closest friends:

Yes, I've always loved dolls, and I always will. And I already know I'm weird. But American Girl Dolls just really make me happy.

Anyway, when I moved to New York last fall, I thought it would be smart to get a little part time job to start saving up some money so I can move into my own apartment this fall when I go back to school in Louisiana. Then I remembered this cool little place in Manhattan: The American Girl Place. So, I decided to apply for a job over there. I went and filled out an application and resume (which Nony helped me write...see? sometimes it's very good to have a smarty pants English major as your big sister...hehe). The lady at the desk told me that they'd already done all of their hiring for the Christmas holidays, so there weren't any open positions at the moment, but that my resume looked great and they'd keep me in mind if anything opened up. I was slightly discouraged, but still very hopeful! And sure enough, a few weeks later, I received a call! They wanted to interview me and thought that I'd be perfect for the job! Unfortunately, they were hiring seasonal employees for the Christmas holiday season and I was leaving December 20th to go home for 3 weeks. This didn't exactly match up with the schedule that they would have liked for me to have. So, it didn't work out, but they told me to apply again when I returned home in January. So I did!

Once again, they told me that there weren't really any positions open at that time. But once again, I got a call after a couple of weeks. They wanted to interview me! The interview seemed to go pretty well, but they still had a bit more interviewing to do, so they would call me in a few days to let me know if I had the job or not. And, guess what!? I got it! I was hired for Avenue AG, a part of the store where I'd spend sometime working the register and a lot more time in the Doll Hair Salon!

It is SO much fun! I love the little girls and styling doll hair is very fun! I think I've got pretty much all of the hairstyles down! And I think I'm pretty good at it! There's only one doll that still intimidates me a little: See that doll in the middle of the picture? The one with the super curly brown hair? Yeah, when we get one of those, we have to RECURL her whole head of hair. It isn't hard, but it takes foreverrrrr. But it's beautiful when it's finished!

Just in case anybody is wondering, the best way to care for your American Girl Doll's hair is to make sure that you always wet it before brushing (be careful to avoid getting water in her eyes). Then, using an American Girl Doll brush (or any wire wig brush, although I reccomend the AG brush, it's easiest and others fall apart easier in my experience) start brushing small sections from the tips up to the top until all the tangles are out. And voila! Don't ever brush it without water, if you do, it will dry up and become frizzy and broken. Also, never ever put any product in her hair. ONLY water. Now, if you have a curly haired doll (such as some of the My AG/Look Alike/AG Today dolls, Lanie, Nicki, Kanani, Rebecca, or Ruthie) it is very easy to care for their hair. It is intimidating, but it isn't nearly as hard as it seems! All you need to do is follow the previous steps to brush all of the tangles out first. Then simply pull up all of her hair, but the bottom layer (You'll see little lines or tracks in her hair where the wig is sewn together. Follow those lines). Now, using a rat tail comb, pencil, chopstick, or anything long and skinny like that, take small sections of hair and wind it around it. Make sure it is damp. It'll take a rather long time if you have one of those My AG with the tiny curls, but the results are beautiful.

Catching Up - Fall 2010

2011-02-03T15:40:00.007-06:00

Since October, I have been staying with my older sister, Nichole in her apartment in New York City. Crazy, huh? Yeah, I told y'all I had alot of catching up to do!

Well, about a year ago, we found out that she was pregnant! A few months after we got this news, she invited me to come stay with her and Frank and the new baby in New York for several months. And, after much thought and prayer and consideration, I said...maybe. It depended on if my scholarship for school would dissapear. If that happened, then there was no way that I could take 2 semesters off school.

The good news is, the TOPS people said yes! They said there are certain exceptions that they'll make. Since I'm a theatre major and New York is basically the musical theatre capital, they viewed it as an experience that would enhance my education. And, it's enhanced my education in many more ways than theatre.

On July 9, 2010, Emma Lucia Crocco was born. She came 7 weeks early and had to stay in the NICU for about a month. She was very tiny and sometimes forgot how to breath. But, by the time I arrived here in October, she was perfectly healthy and getting a little chubby!

I had hesitations about coming here to New York, though. I knew that it would be lonely and difficult. And I knew that it would be cold for mostly the entire time of my stay here. (I hate cold.) But, I also knew that there were some really good reasons for being here.

I was so afraid of leaving home. It was very, very hard. The goodbyes (or as Shelli said, the "see you laters") were a bit heart wrenching. I didn't know how my friendships, that I care SO much about would last after 8 or 9 months of living in another state.

October 12th was a tearful Tuesday morning (of course, because Tuesdays never fail to be the day that I'll have a bad day, if I am to have one). Mom and Dad brought me to the Lafayette airport. They waved at me once I boarded the plane and kept waving until my plane was out of sight.

Flying again was very exciting! I used to be pretty afraid of flying, but when I went to Africa, we had 8 flights in all, there and back. So, I learned to enjoy it. And also learned that napping on airplanes is perfect. I had a 2 hour layover in the Fort Worth/Dallas airport. Then I had the longer flight up to New York. Y'all are never going to believe my good luck! I ended up on a row of 3 seats and nobody else on my row showed up!! So guess who stretched out and took a very, very relaxing nap? Me!

When I woke up, it was dark. When I looked out of the window, I could see city lights everywhere I looked. I knew I was close.

Sure enough, soon I landed. Nony met me at my baggage claim and helped me carry my things out to the car. And that's when I got my first glimpse of Emma Lucia. That precious baby girl was sleeping soundly in her carseat.

The first week in New York felt like 2 months. When I had only been there for 2 weeks, it felt so much longer. Time was just crawling by. I cried alot. Adjusting was very difficult. I just couldn't figure out how to be happy up here. That lasted 2 1/2 months. Until I went home for Christmas. Sometimes it was better, sometimes it was worse, but mostly I just couldn't find a way to be "ok". I was just sort of mopey alot of the time.

But there were some wonderful parts too! Of course, getting to know my sweet little niece has been so great. And watching her learn and grow so much! Spending extra time with my big sister Nichole is awesome too. Although, now we know exactly how our personalities can clash... And I'm getting to know Frank more and more. And his family! His parents moved to the US from Italy a few years before Frank was born. Being around the Italians is definitely fun (and different...and loud...and I never ever ever leave with an empty stomach!!!) I've gotten to spend time exploring Manhattan and our neighborhood in Jersey City (which is "technically" in New Jersey, but really, it's another section of NYC...everybody who live in JC works in Manhattan and there's a subway that goes right into the city and everything. It's basically the same as if you lived in Queens or one of the other 5 sections). Nony and I went to see Chicago in November! That was a very fun night out!! Frank treated us :)

And, of course, all this time I've been learning so much. God has been using it to teach me more than I could have imagined. Most of those first few months were just plain hard. I think I just had to be completely broken and discouraged for Him to get through to me...(why am I so stinkin stubborn?) But I'll have more on that later because I'm writing about the broken and discouraged portion of my NY adventure. I knew all that time that God was teaching me to just be OK without being surrounded by my friends. And being happy with being alone sometimes. And especially that I needed to be turning to Him and trusting Him and depending on Him for things that I was going to my relationships with people for. I knew all of that in my head, but I just couldn't figure out how to apply it to my life.

I started going to a church in the City called "Graffiti". Mandy Trammell (she works at the BCM at LSU and went to Africa with us) got me connected with a girl named Danielle who went to LSU, but is living in NY now. So, I decided to check out the church, cause Mandy is awesome and I trusted her to be referring me to a worthwhile place ;)

Turns out, I was very right! It has been a highlight to my week to go to church and fellowship with the people that go there. I've actually made a few friends! I usually only see them on Sundays, but it's very refreshing to have our young adult small group every week after the sermon. I love just sitting and talking about God and what He is doing in each of our lives for an hour.

Then, in December, Mandy brought a group of about 30 students from LSU for a mission trip in NYC!! She'd told me about it months before I even left to come here. And I definitely wanted to be a part of that mission and serve with them. They arrived December 11th in many different groups. Mandy was the first to arrive and I went to meet her to make airport runs and we got to be the welcome crew! I immediately started making new friends with these people. I'd met 2 of them before, but most of them I didn't know. It was so wonderful to be around Louisiana people!! Pretty much all of the serving that we did was through the Bowery Mission, which is a ministry for homeless people. Let me just say this, it is SUCH a blessing to get the extreme privelege to be used by God to be His hands and feet.

And a few days after that came the highly anticipated December 20th! Nony, Frank, Emma, and I boarded a plane headed for New Orleans, Louisiana! Mom, Lydia, and Claire picked us up from the airport. From there, we got muffulettas and beignets, then went to Jade and Jennifer's house for supper and finally, HOME!!! Home, sweet sweet SWEET home!!

I was busy almost every single day of the 3 weeks I spent in Louisiana. I got to spend time with my family, Natalie Sibille, Ashley, Wiley, Caitlin, theatre people (and witnessed Duncan's proposal to Angie!), Mom's side of the family for Christmas Eve, Kaelyn, Shelli and Sydney (who live all the way out in Pearl River...what's that? you never heard of it? yeah that's right, cause it's pretty much all the way in Mississippi....haha), then went to Passion 2011 (which is a whole nother paragraph, so just hold your horses) where I got to spend 10 hours on a bus going to Atlanta Georgia with Mandie, Chelsi, Dano, and a few new friends, then once we got there saw Sloan and Megan Rogers and Whitney and Jordy and Michelle and lots of Africa people: Mollie, Cameron, Polly, Claire, Brittany, Cassie, Rob, Lynn, Shaun, Morgan, Kyle, and Jesse! (wonderful reunion, by the way! I hadn't seen most of them since June!), then came back to Louisiana and got to see Mary and Melanie before I left!

Okay, Passion 2011. There are not words to describe what God did in me those 4 days. But He was definitely there in Atlanta doing alot of work on alot of hearts. About 22,000 hearts. It never failed to completely blow me away when I went into the Philips arena for worship and saw the place packed with people praising and worshiping my God! It was beautiful and amazing and nearly gives me chills to think about it. It must be just a teeny tiny taste of what Heaven will be like! Also, the things that God taught me through the different speakers made me change the way I see and feel about things. I finally understand how much of a selfish awful person I am without Him. And I understand what His amazing grace is!! It's so incredible that He can love me! SO incredible.

I'm back here in New York now and things are going so so SO much better. I decided that I was going to have a good attitude this time. It's allowed me to be so much more open to the things that God is teaching me. I think the mainest thing is selfless love. (okay, yes I know "mainest" is not a word. I just like it and it gets my point across, so hush, Nony...sorry, my big sister is a grammer nerd :-P) It's so amazing to see how God is changing my heart. I've been trying so hard and He's been helping me to do things that I never could have or would have done. It's definitely very small baby steps, but I'm growing and I can see that.

Oops...

2011-01-22T15:02:00.009-06:00

Well the other day I realized that I haven't blogged in a long, long while. I really wanted to post some detailed blogs about my trip to South Africa, but I didn't completely succeed.

I don't want to leave yall hanging (that is, if anybody even reads this...), but I can say this, to wrap up what I started. God used that trip in many different ways in my life. But I think that the biggest recurring theme of my trip was trust. God showed me how to trust Him over and over again. From before the beginning of the trip. Some of this, I've mentioned before, but I'll say it again because God used it to make an impact on my life.

Of course it started in the fall of 2009, when I refused to even consider going on the trip to South Africa in the first place. Then one day, something small inside me said "Go to Africa". Now I was actually thinking about it. I was miserable. I would go back and forth. I thought and prayed. And when I realized that I only had 1 little day to make this decision before the deadline to sign up for the trip, it was all even worse... At that point, I didn't even know how much money I'd need to raise, just that it was alot. Everything logical did not make sense. But, something in me didn't let go of it. And that something was God. Once I made the decision, complete peace washed over me.

Then I had $4000, immunizations, passport, and so many other preparations, but it was still alot of months away. The only one that really worried me was that big sum of money. And this is where God started telling me to just trust Him. He would provide it.

And He did. Every last bit.

Even after I got to Africa, the lessons about trust continued. Especially with the whole luggage issue.

Then in small ways, like when I had to sing at two different churches in Lehae and Kliptown and I had hardly any voice. I had to trust (yep, there's that word again). Maybe that seems small to most people, but I was pretty nervous and had to remember that God gave me my voice and I wasn't singing for myself, or the people in my crew, or even the South African people. Nope, I was singing for God. And any praises I sang to Him would be beautiful to Him. When I opened my mouth to sing, the notes just came out. I didn't feel like I had to strain anymore. Once again, God took care of me.

I also had to trust that He'd take care of the children that we'd grown to love so much: Amu, Naquanda, Lindewe, David...they all had become very special. I don't know how much they possibly could have understood about the gospel. They were so young. And they spoke different languages. But it wasn't MY job to make sure that they were saved. That was up to God. And I had the extreme privelege of getting to go there and proclaim His name to them for a short time. But that was only a small part of His plan for their lives and mine.

He taught me many other things while I was there and I had incredible experiences that I could go on and on about. But it's long past time to move on to the next thing that happened in my life. God's been growing me alot since last June and I have so much catching up to do.

But before I completely close out on the South Africa stuff, I have just a few of pictures:

Mission Trip To Johannesburg, South Africa Part 2: What God Taught Me The First Two Days.

2010-08-30T18:50:00.005-05:00

The first afternoon there was pretty uneventful. We had alot of time to get settled and meet people and shower and stuff.
Mostly, I tried to get settled.
I didn't want to meet people while I was so mopey and upset about my luggage. I wasn't myself. And I wanted them to meet the happy Gracie. So I sat in my bedroom, wrote in my prayer journal, and cried.
I felt pretty sorry for myself.
And Mandie, who hadn't slept since who knows when sat there and endured all of my tears. Not only that, but she was sweet and loving and encouraging despite the condition that she was in. She even tried to help me call my mom with her phone, but it wasn't working right.
In other words, Mandie is awesome.
I was writing in my prayer journal and telling God just exactly how miserably upset I was. I was complaining about missing luggage, a headache, the cold weather, the fact that Mandie's phone wouldn't call Mom, and how I couldn't find my joy anywhere.
But as I was writing all this to God, I realized something. I realized how ridiculously selfish I was being. And how foolish. I was telling Him how I didn't want them to take me to get clothes and stuff that I needed. I said I wanted my own things. Stubborn, foolish, selfish, sinful Gracie. How pitiful is it that I am so very attached to my earthly belongings that I became this upset when I was without them!?
Finally, we got up to go meet people. There were a bunch of people standing outside the dining area. So, we went and started talking to people. I started to learn this stomp and clap dance thing, which was pretty fun and definitely harder than it looked! I still don't quite have it right...
Next, we had our first supper in Africa. I was kinda nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I had never had African food before. And I didn't know what they ate in Africa.
We ended up eating some noodles with meatballs and peppers. With a weird kind of sweet sauce. I didn't really eat too very much of it. I'm a rather picky eater. It's a shame, really. But, I'm doing much better than I was a few years ago. I tried everything even though it looked weird. Alot of other people liked it, though!
It was soooo cold in the dining room. And I was still wearing my dress that I'd traveled in the past few days with only my thin black cardigan. I was shivering and bouncing because I was trying to stay warm! It wasn't working, so Heath let me borrow his jacket. It was awfully thoughtful of him. Otherwise, I might have frozen.
We had our first worship service, heard a little more about what we'd be doing there, and watched a video about Nelson Mandella and things that happened with the Apartheid so we would know more about South Africa's history and culture. I feel awful, but the truth is, I don't remember that video at all. It's because I kinda fell asleep. I promise, I tried my very very hardest to stay awake, but it was impossible. And for the record, I wasn't the only one. I don't think there was a single person in there who didn't fall asleep! Remember, we'd been traveling since 6:00 Sunday morning! And it was Tuesday night. It was way past time for rest!
After the video, I finally got to take a shower!! Ahhh, it felt amazing. People gave me the things I needed. Mandie had shampoo and a towel. Chelsi had pajamas.
I was ok.
I was fine. I realized that I just needed to trust God. I had absolutely no reason not to. I had started this journey last fall. When I first decided to come. And God provided $4000. I can trust Him. He provided wonderful people to get to know before and on the way to Africa. I can trust Him. He got me and the other IWC team there safely. I can trust Him. He was providing for my needs, the things I didn't have. I can trust Him.
There was a reason for me losing my luggage. I needed to find joy in things that were not, well...things!
After I was all warm and clean I snuggled into my very own sleeping bag and my soft polka dot blanket (the only personal belongings that had made the flight!) and passed out. I slept so, so good.
When morning came, I woke up and thought, "Oh yeah, I'm here." It was a good "oh yeah" and a bad "oh yeah" at the same time. Because I also remembered that I didn't have anything here with me.
We packed sandwiches for lunch. But by the time I got to make mine, there was no meat left. It just wasn't my day.
But I tried to be positive, and I made a "Salad Sandwich"!
We went to the Apartheid museum that day. We learned alot about Nelson Mandella and everything that happened leading up to him. And also about the things he did to change what was wrong.
After the museum, we went back to Florida Baptist Church. A few of us played soccer together! It was very very fun! I was, for sure, one of the worst players, but I had a blast anyway.
It was the first time since I'd gotten there that I forgot everything else and was just happy! And having fun! It was great!
Then Scott came up to the game and called me over. He said, "You having fun?"
I smiled really big and said, "Yes!"
Then he said very quietly that he had just heard that they found my luggage!!!!
I was so, so excited! My smile grew and my eyes got big, "When will I get it!?"
He said that it was on its way and would arrive any minute now!
Now, I was really ready. Bring on those Soccer clinics in Dobsonville!!

Coming up next: Soccor Clinics and Loving on Kids: Dobsonville.

Mission Trip To Johannesburg, South Africa Part 1-Preparation and Traveling

2010-08-21T23:59:00.006-05:00

Okay. Here we go. I have no idea how to write about this without it being the longest blog entry ever. Actually, it probably will be anyway. Following God to South Africa was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It was very difficult before. When I decided to go last October or November (I don't even remember exactly when it was), it seemed so crazy and so far away. I couldn't believe that I was going to go on a mission trip. To Africa. That's totally a Nony thing. Not part of my plan for my life at all. But, isn't it funny how sometimes God's plan for our lives is completely different from ours?
I think the thing that I got to learn about the most on this whole trip was about trust. Trust in my Father, God. Over and over again, I had to trust and over and over again He proved Himself to be unswervingly faithful.
After months of preparing, I finally had all $4000, all my shots, my passport, a giant suitcase borrowed from the Sibille's, Ashley's camera that she let me borrow (oh, and by the way...I didn't mention, but in May, Ashley and Wiley got married!! :-D), my "deluxe money belt", and lots of other little details all ready.
The day before I left, Natalie and Natalie both came over for supper and helped me finish up my packing. I checked and re-checked my list SO many times. I was very very stressed out about forgetting something. After checking it so many times, I found this paper that said that it was wise to bring an extra change of clothes and a few pairs of underwear in your carry-on just in case. So I thought "whatever..it can't hurt..."
We arrived in the early morning of June 6th at the BCM to head out to the New Orleans airport. I couldn't believe it was actually June 6th. The day that had been in my head for months and months. It was here! We were actually going.
I. was. terrified.
Sure, I was excited. But this was the farthest and longest I'd ever been away from home! The group leaving from Lafayette that I had been meeting with and kind of getting to know were Mandie, Chelsi, Heath, Jeramy, Daniel, and Andrew. Plus, there were 2 people that I didn't know. Travis, from LSU Shreveport. And Megan and Josh who were coming from the LSU Eunice BCM. There were other teams that we'd meet up with. But not until later. I said my goodbyes to my mom and dad and hugged them very tight. Then we all climbed on the bus to head for New Orleans.
Travis, the guy that we didn't know ended up sitting right next to me. And I have never grown to love a person so quickly! We all did. He just fit right into our group. It was like we'd known him for all those months that we'd been meeting. Just on the way to New Orleans, he was completely made part of the group.
We got to the airport with plenty of time to get our boarding passes and go through security and everything (which I went through first! Brave Gracie!...actually I was not brave at all. I didn't want to go first, but it just kind of ended up that way, unfortunately.) We also met up with more people going on the trip with us. Some people from LSU. Mandy, Shelli, Preston, Lindsey, Jenny, Catherine, and Courtney.
That first flight was my only window seat out of 8 flights total (that's including coming home). We flew to Washington DC and it was not a smooth flight at all. It was very turbulence-y and we hit some thunder storms that made it kinda scary. Plus the landing was really rough. I could actually feel one wheel hit the runway and then the other. I was thankful to be back on solid ground when we got off that plane. But, I still had an awfully long way to go. That was the shortest flight of all. And only the first of many more to follow.
After a 5 hour layover (and after learning that my deposit didn't go through, so I couldn't use my debit card for a few days...ahhh!!), we boarded our DC-London flight. I was so, SO nervous about this flight. It was my first ever flight over the ocean, my first ever overnight flight, and my first ever time leaving my country! And, everything overwhelmed me because I knew that my seat was not next to anybody I knew. Soon, my emotions got the best of me and I was standing next to seat 23E hopelessly looking back at Mandie with tears in my eyes, hoping that the person that was supposed to sit beside her would trade with me. After awhile, nobody showed up next to her, so the flight attendant just let me sit there next to Mandie, Heath, and Megan.
The flight went very well. I slept pretty good. It was a little weird and awkward for awhile, but I finally kinda figured out how to be comfortable.
We arrived in the London Heathrow airport on the morning of June 7. And guess what? Our flight to Nairobi did not take off until late that night. Sooooo, we had an 11 hour layover in the city of London, England!! How exciting is that!? We decided to make good use of our time and explore the city!
So, we had to go through customs there. It made me sort of nervous. Scott had told us that we shouldn't mention to them that we were going to Johannesburg for a mission trip. If we did, there's a good chance that they would send us right home from London. All we needed to say was that we were going to Johannesburg, South Africa for the World Cup. Which was completely true. But the whole idea made me a good bit scared.
When it was my turn, I was the first from our group to go to this particular lady's desk. She asked me a million questions: Where was I from? Where was I going? What for? What would I do there? What did I want to do in London? Why? Who was I with? How did I know them?
Finally, she let me through. And lucky for everybody else, they all went through after Josh Johnson (the LSUE BCM director), so that desk knew what was going on and it was nice and easy for them!
By the time we got done freshening up from our long day/night of traveling, exchanging money, figuring out what to do with carry-ons, and everything else, we had lost some time. Then we had trouble getting tickets for the Underground.
But finally we made it to the Picadilly line to head to Green Park. Every time the doors opened, a recording would announce what stop we were at, then say, "Please mind the gap..." And it was all in a British accent!
We walked through Green Park and when we came out the other end, we stumbled across a little place called Buckingham Palace. Maybe you've heard of it? It was very pretty. And there really were guards standing there with their fuzzy hats! But, I totally saw one of them move his head to look around...oh well. Hahaha
We also saw Westminster Abbey and Big Ben! And the Thames River.
Then we met a guy who was kinda crazy and chasing Shelli all around. Apparently he was some sort of performer for a live horror show. Turns out, when he stopped being crazy, he was quite normal and very fun to talk to.
Then we went to ride the London Eye. The largest ferris wheel in the whole world! By the way, I am kind of a little scared of ferris wheels. Actually, the last time I was on one, I hid my face and held on very tight the whole time. Nevertheless, I climbed onto the huge thing. And, I was very very quiet (this is kind of a big deal, since I usually am sort of talkative...), especially as it started getting higher. But I will admit, it was an amazing view! We could see the whole city! And further! And the river below us. I am glad I went!
After running through the city seeing all the famous sights, we found a little fish and chips place to grab some food. It was pretty yummy and definitely a good way to close out the experience, but to be completely honest, I'd prefer my Dad's fried fish any day!
After about 6 hours of non-stop running around, we had to head back to the Picadilly line and 30 minutes later arrived back at the London Heathrow airport. After getting our boarding passes and getting a big scare about our flight time (we thought we might have missed it! But we ended up realizing that we had plenty of time...) we wen through security and everything again. Then found our gate. I saw two girls standing together and one of them had a shirt that looked very familiar. It was an IWC Love Like Crazy shirt. Identical to the ones that Scott Belmore had given to all of us for the trip! She was standing right in front of me when we were waiting in line to board the plane. I tapped her on the shoulder and said "Hey! I have a shirt just like that! Are you going to South Africa for the mission trip!?" And guess what!? She said yes! Her name was Polly and she was from Mississippi. The girl with her was named Brittany! Two new friends!!
We got on the plane and this time we were all seated close to each other. But we still ended up switching seats around a little within our groups. I sat on a row with Mandie and Chelsi. We ate supper and tried to play some Travel Scrabble, but I kept falling asleep when it wasn't my turn. Finally, I guess they just decided to quit waking me up for my turns and I slept as hard as a rock. No Benadryl. No ear plugs. I was out. One of my best nights of sleep ever. I didn't move for hours.
We got to Nairobi, Kenya the morning of June 8. There were 6 of us who had to recheck our luggage here, because it didn't go all the way through to Jo'burg. Of course, I was one of those 6.
After a huge ordeal, waiting forever, Heath and the Kenya Airways man found the luggage, took our old luggage tags and went down a long hallway to check the luggage. But it was done! We barely made it to our flight (I mean, with seconds to spare).
This flight went pretty smoothly I sat next to Shelli and Andrew. Well, until Shelli discovered that the plane was pretty empty and there were a bunch of rows of seats behind us that were completely empty, so she went and stretched out for a nap. Me and Andrew looked over our papers about the Soccor Clinics/Holiday Bible Club that we'd be doing with the children once we got there.
We landed in Johannesburg and headed to customs, then went on to grab our luggage. But the luggage just took forever to come. We just waited and waited. Finally one of my pieces came around. Then we waited and waited and waited some more. I started getting a really bad feeling in my stomach. What if my luggage didn't come? That had happened to Nony before. As the minutes passed by, the feeling grew. Eventually the conveyer belt thing stopped. That was it. By the way, the suitcase that did come only had my sleeping bag in it. Oh, and some chocolate chips and syrup and chex mix to give to the missionaries. And that was it. EVERYTHING else was in that other bigger bag.
As it turns out, after sorting through all the luggage tag receipt things (which had all been labeled with Andrew Bozeman's name on them), there weren't even any tags for my bag or Andrew's bag, which had also not come.
So, basically we went to the desk and had to just tell them what our bags looked like and hope that somebody could spot them. Remember those emotions that I talked about ovewhelming me back in DC? Well all those emotions were building up in my again. Only they were much, much more intense this time. The entire time we were filling out the papers about our luggage, I was holding in all my tears.
I was halfway across the world, I hadn't gotten a full night of sleep in days, I hadn't showered in days, I only had about $200 in cash with me since my card was currently not working, I only had one change of clothes that I had THANKFULLY packed in my carry-on, and it was cold!
Finally we went to join everybody else. I saw Dana Belmore and just hugged her and didn't say anything. She said "It's okay. Once you shower and get some rest, everything will be alot better. It's okay." Then I spotted Scott and I just went and hugged him and the tears were just coming and coming. I didn't want to be there at all. All I could think was that this was only the very first day! I still had 2 more weeks before I would get to leave!
A guy from Capetown, South Africa named Sam came and Scott told me to follow him. He would get me on a bus to ride to the church we were staying at, which was about an hour away. In a part of Johannesburg called Florida. Sam was so nice. He showed me where to go and helped me onto a huge blue bus thing. You had to climb up a ladder to get inside! And then on every single seat was a Vuvuzela. All of the people on the other bus/truck thing were blowing them and I really didn't have the patience for all that at that moment. Do you know what a vuvuzela is? It's this big loud horn that South Africans blow at their soccor games. I did not like them that day.
The bus (...or truck..whatever...) ride was very peaceful and relaxing. I met a few of the people that would be part of our team.
Finally, we made it to Florida Baptist Church. We found our bedrooms that were set up with mats on the floor. Let the South African Adventure begin!!
Coming up next: What God taught me the first 2 days I was there.

AMAZING SUMMER

2010-08-18T23:46:00.002-05:00

Well, this has been an incredible summer for me! I wish I had time right now to tell absolutely everything about it. But I don't. So, little by little, I'm going to have to update this blog about all the things that have happened. But between South Africa, "Into the Woods", the Grand Canyon, and Glorieta, I've been a pretty busy girl. Plus, God's been showing and teaching me alot! I can't wait to tell you all about it!

Almost There!

2010-04-27T13:28:00.002-05:00

It's early Tuesday afternoon during the very last week of classes. I am so ready to be finished and free for the summer. This week has been good so far, but I've been having to be patient alot. And the good news is that I think I'm really succeeding!! I sat through two very long and boring conversations yesterday, and I only got up and left them 1 time. (My excuse was that I wanted a drink of water, which I went and got.) I've been learning alot about patience lately. That's one of the many ways to show love for people. I also have learned that being patient doesn't just mean painfully enduring it. I mean, I know that in some versions of the Bible, in the fruit of the Spirit, patience is called "long suffering", but I think that even in pain and suffering we should be able to find joy. And, yes, even in long boring conversations. ;-) We're called to love. And that's one step closer towards loving peope, I think...I've really been working on that. In my relationships with friends and family. I've been trying to love. Those can be difficult, sometimes. But what's really really difficult is when you have to love people who don't love you back! Ahhh...it's exhausting! But God's teaching me alot through it. And I hope I'm growing...

Finally Decided to Update... :-P

2010-04-22T00:18:00.002-05:00

Once again, I did an awful job of keeping up my blog! I haven't posted anything since Christmas cookies!
Well, my second semester of college is about to end. Can you believe that?? I sure can't! It all feels completely normal to me. I feel like I've been in college for forever. But, at the same time, it still feels like I just started!
Some really big things are about to happen in my life, though! First of all, I am going on my first big mission trip! I've gone to New Orleans with my church and also done alot of the Hope For Opelousas ministry, but never a real big mission trip that's far away. And, let me tell you, this one is far. I am going with the BCM to South Africa!! I can't believe it! In less than 2 months I will leave. I'm going to be there for 2 weeks. I can't believe that God has me doing this! But, I'm just gonna have to trust Him. And that's all. I started raising money in November and I had a goal of $4000. That was a very big scary number. But yesterday, I got some incredible news! Out of the $4000, I still had about $1000 left, which was a little stressful, since I have to have all the money by May 1st. (And in case you didn't know, that is less than 2 weeks from now...) So, I was a little concerned, but at the same time I knew that if God truly wanted me there, then He would certainly provide the money. And yesterday, it happened! My church said that they would give me the rest of the money I needed to go!! So, it's official! As official as ever. I am going! I am going to South Africa to serve my Lord! Friday, I am going to get my Yellow Fever vaccination...
Another HUGE thing in my life is that 2 people that I'm very close to are about to have babies. My older sister Nichole, and my older brother Jade's wife, Jennifer! They're both due in August. Nichole/Nony is having a girl and Jade and Jennifer are having a boy...But here's the amazing news. I am going to go live with Nony in New York after the baby is born!!! For about 8-9 months! So, wow...
I am going to have an incredible summer though. I will be performing in "Beauty and the Beast" at the OLT, going to South Africa, and then in August, going to the Grand Canyon and Glorieta with the BCM! I'm ready!! I just have to get through the next week and a half of school first....tests and studying and stuff...bleh...

Christmas Cookies

2009-12-20T15:22:00.003-06:00

One our Christmas traditions is decorating Christmas cookies every year. Nony is in town this week and last night we decorated our cookies :-)
Mom headed the operation by baking the cookies. Lydia and sometimes me helped with the cookie cutters. Then me, Mom, Lydia, Nony, and Lydia's friend all did the decorating.

Hard at work ;-)

As the little sister, I have always thought that Nony's cookies were the prettiest. I still think that...

My masterpiece of the night: The Sugarplum Fairy

Some of my creations...

The finished project!

The only problem is, we can't eat them until Thursday at Aunt Diane's!! We did sneak a few last night though....

My First Semester Of College

2009-12-20T14:14:00.009-06:00

Wow! Okay, I haven't been very faithful in updating my blog, but I've got some time on my hands right now and so here I go! I'm done with my first semester of college, and I SURVIVED! I'm very thankful for Christmas break though!

The first few weeks of college were extremely overwhelming. I had work to do, and a deadline to finish it and I had to remember how to get from class to class and I didn't really know anybody too well. I mean, I made friends pretty quickly, but they weren't my friends. Just classmates and accquaintances. People who's faces I knew, but not names. But I am SO grateful to one particular person, who helped me out imensely during my first few weeks. Ashley Brown. She answered questions, encouraged me, explained where to go for class, and so many other little details that just made me feel better about this whole new experience called college. And I'll admit, at first, I hated it. No matter how much everybody assured me that it got better, I hated it. I made a couple friends at the BCM, but they all already had friendships and groups and I didn't quite feel like I was fitting in with them.

But alot of changes have happened since then. Now, I've really made some friends! There are some other Theatre majors that are fun and friendly that I like alot. But I haven't gotten too extremely close to any of them. However...I have made some incredible friends at the BCM. I finally started to connect with the people there when we went to Ignite a collegiate conference in Shreveport. Besides finally making friends, it was an amazing weekend that I spent praising and worshipping God and learning more about Him. One of the afternoons we went to the riverwalk and just had some free time until supper. I ended up walking around with 2 people that I did not know very well at all. Wiley Kersh, who works at the BCM and Ashley Hill.

Me and Ashley started talking while we were walking around and we just talked and talked and talked. When we went and met up with the rest of the BCM people to eat supper at Buffalo Wild Wings we sat next to each other and talked and talked some more! We got to know all kinds of things about each other and our families and we just had a connection right away. She's 22, which is 4 years older than me, but it didn't matter! I finally had a friend! I also made friends with Kaleb and Victoria and Matt and Kyle. We played "Extreme" Alphabet game anytime we were driving anywhere. I got to know Scott, who is the BCM director. It was a great weekend!

Soon after that I met 2 more girls. Just about every Tuesday and Wednesday and Thursday, they were at the BCM at lunch time. "T-Plus" and "T-Minus" is what I first heard them calling each other. Their names are actually Caitlin and Kaelyn. I got to know them better during our fall break though. A few of us spent a few nights at the BCM and painted a house for a lady in town for a service/outreach type of thing. Me and Ashley and Caitlin and Kaelyn all did that. And soon I became friends with both of them, too! Also, during that time we met Ershad and Jamal. They are 2 guys from Iran. Neither of them are Christians, but they were very interested and asked lots of questions. We were all excited to get to share our faith with them.

Since then, I've grown increasingly closer to all these people. Me, Ashley, Caitlin, and Kaelyn all have a bond that's so strong. They're all like older sisters to me. They are so supportive and loving and have taught me so much about my relationship with Christ. Plus, we have so much fun when we're all together!

As for my classes, they all went great. Math was very difficult, but a guy from church, Johnny Carriere helped me through the first few weeks over facebook and the phone. Then, as me and Caitlin got closer, she started helping me. If it weren't for those 2, I'm afraid that Math 105 would not have been so much of a success! I got a B in Math and English and A's in all my theatre classes. So, I had a very good first semester of college! Here are some pictures of some of the high points of the semester:

My first UL football Game:

That's me and Kaelyn (T-Minus) and Brittany waiting for the game to start.

Me, Kaelyn, and Jamal (one of the Iranian guys)

Wiley, Ershad (the other Iranian guy), Ashley, and me. It was very cold at this game, so me and Ashley were huddled up together in her blanket!

Apparently it's a tradition to go to Sonic after the game, so that's all of us at Sonic!

This is one night when I was supposed to be doing math homework...

Me and Ershad at the BCM one night.

A few of us got together to play cards and hang out. We also crunched Life Savers in the dark and when you chew it, it makes a spark! And we opened Band-Aids in the dark and they have a little glow...it was so fun...

Me and Kaelyn cleaning the kitchen because our team lost Cranium...

Me and Caitlin :-)

Natalie Sibille also came and hung out with us that night :-) That's me and her and Ashley

Caitlin, Natalie, Me, Jamal, Ashley, Kaelyn, Ershad, and Emad

I'm glad to be on break now, but honestly, I'm missing seeing everybody everyday!

College Day 1

2009-08-24T22:15:00.002-05:00

Well, today was a really long day. I woke up, took a shower, ate a biscuit, packed my lunch, had a small meltdown, talked and prayed with Mom, felt better, and then headed away to my first day of college. I made it to Cajun Field to park my car without any trouble. Then I got on the bus that brings me to the campus.

When I was sitting in the seat waiting, I saw somebody I knew! It was Aaron Olivier, who was in my Kindergarten-3rd grade classes at Westminster! He sat next to me and we figured out that we had the exact same first class, which was Honors English.

When we got to the UL campus, I got off the bus and found the BCM (Baptist Collegiate Ministry) which is an organization for Christian college students to hang out together. They have get togethers and Bible studies and you can hang out there in between classes. I went and met some people over there. It turns out, one of the people in charge, who's name is Scott was attending UL at the same time as my big sister! He knew Nony! So, I left my lunch in the fridge over there and went to find my English class.

I found it very, very easily and (guess what) all by myself!!! My English class is very small. It's about the size of my dining room and kitchen. And we just have a table that we all sit around and a couple of desks behind the table. The teacher was late. And he's kind of strange. His name is Dr. Smith. The thing that was kind of strange about him was that I could never ever tell whether or not he was joking or serious or if he was being sarcastic or trying to be funny....He was a very confusing man. But he seems nice. I hope he turns out to be a good teacher! I think we'll be reading some interesting things...he likes the old stuff alot....like the ANCIENT stuff!

Next was Honors Seminar. I have to go to one of these every week. And (surprise, surprise) a boy in my English class was also going to the seminar. So we walked there together. He is one of the hugest nerds I've ever met! He's very weird. He likes computers and stuff. But he makes me laugh. Honors seminar was interesting. Right now, I'm just learning about what it really is. I don't really know what I think of it yet.

After Honors, I had a little over an hour for lunch. I went to the BCM. Once again, I found my way there all by myself! I met some more people there including a girl named Brittany and a boy named Kyle who were both really nice. After lunch I found my way back to the Student Union where Ashley Brown, a friend from the OLT was. Our next class was together and it had been moved to a different place than what was on the schedule, so she was going to show me where the new place was. When I met up with her, she introduced me to some other Theatre majors. Then we walked to our class. A few other people showed up in the same room. We waited for quite some time. But the teacher just didn't come. Eventually, we came to the realization that we must be in the wrong classroom...

We found out from somebody important that we were indeed in the wrong classroom. So, all 6 or 7 of us walked to a completely different building and found our class, which was Movement for the Actor. I'm not sure exactly what'll be going on in this class besides learning some stretches and yoga type stuff...so we shall see....

After Movement, Ashley and I walked to the bus stop. We were waiting for the bus and talking, when I suddenly realized that I had forgotten my lunch box in the BCM fridge! So, I had to walk ALL THE WAY to the BCM and get it, then walk ALL THE WAY back to the bus stop. Then I rode the bus to the parking lot. And I had to walk so very far past so so so many cars to get to mine. But finally I made it. I took a huge breath and turned on some good music! I was ready to go home!

Natalie Sibille called me on my way home, which was very nice. When I got home, I just dropped all my stuff on the floor and flopped into Dad's recliner. My sweet puppy Lottie came and crawled up and fell asleep in my lap and we barely moved until Mom and Nathan got back from the dentist. Then Mom and I went swimming and I told her all about my day.

Lydia and I watched some TV (which I never do) then we ate supper....the rest of my evening has been very relaxed. I mapped out my classes for tomorrow. And I'll be ready...

For now....Goodnight!

Ready for College

2009-08-24T07:55:00.002-05:00

Today I am going to college. I'm going to UL in Lafayette. I have a new book sack, a new lunch box, all my school books, new notebooks, new pens and pencils, and even a whole bunch of new clothes. We made a map of how I'm supposed to get around the campus. So, I've done absolutely everything possible to make sure I'm ready for today. Only problem is that I am SO nervous! And I don't usually get nervous! I'll be leaving in just a couple minutes....I hope I don't get lost! And, Lord, PLEASE let me have some really nice teachers!

Nieces, Nephews, and Performances

2009-07-13T21:36:00.004-05:00

Thursday morning, Jennifer dropped off all five of her kids. Claire, Ethan, Blythe, Owen, and Evelyn were staying with us for 5 days. That meant we'd have 8 kids at our house, and half of them would be 6 and under...that means we have a house full of chaos.

Thursday night, I had a show. It went well. Mrs. Heather and Catherine were there. I have to fall down onstage quite a few times in the play and I started noticing, that the bruises on my knees were growing bigger and darker each day....After a few months of rehearsal and a couple performances, my knees were really feeling the pain. Jay informed me, a little late, that for Shakespeare, he very cleverly wore knee pads all through the rehearsals, so he wasn't hurting himself again and again all throught those weeks. Pretty smart...but, to tell the truth, even if he would've told me before, I still probably wouldn't have used knee pads...I just don't like the way they look.

There's me and Natalie in our costumes. After the show, we end up taking lots of pictures. All these sweet, and usually timid little girls come up asking for our autographs and pictures with us. It's so cute!

Friday was a long boring day. We didn't do very much. We were pretty bored all day. Claire and I went with Natalie LaCombe to get her hair done. It was a waste of time and money. The lady didn't do the best job, and it costed alot. Natalie, who is going to cosmetology school was not satisfied...

Lydia and Natalie had a show that night. They are in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" at the Opelousas Little Theatre. That night Mr. Kent and Mrs. Tara Sibille worked at the door at the OLT for "Willy Wonka". On their way out of town, they picked me up to go spend the night over at the Sibille's house.

Natalie, Mikie, and I decided to watch "Rent". Michael is obsessed with "Rent". And I hate it. But I'd never actually watched it. So, I decided to give it a chance...

That was a mistake...

I didn't enjoy it at all. All I got out of it was people in bad clothes singing annoying songs...

So, before it was even half over, the disc started skipping alot. I was rather pleased. Mikie and Natalie were not.

We went to bed, but we talked for awhile in the dark, of course.

Saturday morning, we had a Theatre Workshop. Kids ages 8-12 came to the Eunice Players Theatre where we're performing "Dorothy Meets Alice". Most of the cast came. And we all dressed up in costume. Not our costumes from the play. Just any costume. We each had a character that we had to act like all morning. I dressed as a Southern Belle. Natalie was a flapper from the 1920's. Taylor was "Jacqueline" (Jack) Sparrow. Bradley was an 80's (I think) rockstar. Audrey was a hippie. Angie was a nerd. Holly was a belly dancer, I think. Chelsea was a cat. Duncan was a monk. And Mikie was Mark, a character from "Rent".

It was a very fun morning. I enjoyed playing the acting games and teaching the kids about the theatre. Saturday afternoon, we went back to Natalie's house for a little while. Then we went to the OLT to see our fellow thespians in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory".

We picked up Claire from my house on the way because she wanted to see the play too. As soon as we arrived, we went in the back to say hello. As soon as a got backstage, Mrs. Pitre came up to me. She said, "Gracie, can you do a huge, huge favor for me?"

I smiled big, and said, "Sure!" (even though I had no clue what she wanted)

She sent me across the street to Walgreens to get some glue sticks for a glue gun. They needed it to do something for the play. I needed a ride to get to Walgreens, so Natalie and I stopped Hannah Stewart (a friend from Showcase) as she was coming in the door. She drove us to Walgreens, but of course they didn't have any glue sticks.

We had approximately 30 minutes before the show started, so we decided we could risk going to Walmart. We headed down Creswell lane. Me, Hannah, Natalie, and Claire. It was crazy.

Hannah and Claire dropped off me and Natalie at the door. We ran through the store to the craft section. We grabbed the glue sticks and ran to a check out. We checked out and went back to the theatre. We made it! It was 6:51, I think. And the show was supposed to start at 7:00.

There were so many people there that I knew! I was so excited! Mr. Dirk and Mrs. Liz from church were there, to see their grandson, Connor perform. Kristi and Mrs. Diana Burleigh who are involved in "Dorothy Meets Alice" were there. Angie, Duncan, and Taylor were there. Jay and his son Jude were there. It was so fun! And there were other people there, too. Plus, all the people in the cast! It was a good night.

Willy Wonka was very cute. The singing wasn't the best. It was often off-key. But they had some very good actors and actresses! Their set was cute and clever. It was a very good night! After the show, I went with some of the cast to Casa Ole to hang out. That was fun, too.

Sunday morning, we had church. We had all the Stanford kids with us, so that was an adventure.

Sunday afternoon, I had a matinee performance. Mom and Dad were bringing all the grandkids to see it. Plus Grandma-Mona was coming. Oh and Jay was bringing his son to see it, too. So, I was excited. I love when I know people in the audience!

It was a wonderful performance. I think it was our best yet! We didn't have hardly any messups with our lines. Only a couple very insignificant ones. It was wonderful. I loved hearing my family and friends laughing at us. Especially Owen. He laughed with all his heart everytime anybody else laughed. Even when I know the jokes were over his head. He's so funny...

After the show and the chaos of seeing everybody was over and we went backstage again, I realized that my ankle was really hurting. Apparently on one of my falls throughout the play, I'd hurt it, and not really noticed during all the craziness. But, man, it was really hurting, then. It was swollen too! Everybody advised me to take it easy on my ankle until Wednesday, our next performance. I don't do very well with the whole "taking it easy" concept...

Today was another "stay at home" type of day. We just hung out around here. Lydia and Claire went to a Music day camp sort of thing that's going on all week. The rest of us stayed at home. Nathan and I had the responsibility of feeding all the kids their lunch. That wasn't as big of an operation as it could have been, which was nice. Then out of all the little kids that were there, it was Nathan who made a big mess by spilling my tea...

This afternoon was just hanging out around here. Me and Claire cooked some taco soup for supper. We went for a bike ride, even though I shouldn't have cause that's bad for my ankle...

Now, I'm sitting here while everybody else is going to bed. I talked to friends on facebook and watched some of "24" with my family...and had a nice dessert of Oreos and milk...I'm resting my ankle up on the top of the table (which feels very nice, it helps it not hurt as much) and I think that I'm kinda tired, so I'm gonna head to the bed....goodnight. :-)

Opening Night!!

2009-07-08T23:32:00.004-05:00

We had a wonderful opening night! An almost sold out audience that was full of energy, everybody very into their characters, friends that came to see it, little girls who wanted to meet Dorothy and Alice (and take pictures!), milkshakes afterwards, and we get to do it five more times! :-)

Ahhh...I love the theatre....

And my stage makeup is pretty fabulous! Hahaha. I'll put some backstage pictures as soon as I can!

Father's Day and Chocolate Cake

2009-06-22T15:25:00.005-05:00

Yesterday was a pretty good Father's Day, I think. We didn't do anything big. We just all stayed close to home. I baked a Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Chocolate Cake for my dad. I made it from scratch...it took forever! And it made a big mess. Also, two of the 3 layers cracked in half. So when I put it all together, there was a crack the size of the Grand Canyon down the middle...

But, hey, it was one of the most scrumptiously deliciously yummy cake I've ever eaten...I also made a few facebook friends quite jealous! :-D

Dorothy Meets Alice

2009-06-20T18:37:00.004-05:00

We've been rehearsing for a play called "Dorothy Meets Alice". It's a children's musical about the characters from "The Wizard Of Oz" and "Alice In Wonderland". We have a fun cast. Even though it's a children's musical and some of the jokes are really cheesy, we have a blast!

Our performances July 8, 9, 15, 16, and 17.

Our cast is:
Jessica- Taylor
Alice- Me
Dorothy- Natalie Sibille
Scarecrow- Bradley
Lion- Duncan
Tin Man- Michael
Wicked Witch- Angie
Doormouse- Kristi
Mad Hatter- Darrel
White Rabbit- Audrey
Red Queen- Holly

Busy, busy, busy

2009-06-18T13:38:00.008-05:00

The last two weeks of my life have be so busy!

On Monday, June 8 Rachel Vander Molen and I went to go house sit for the Hudson's that live in Lafayette. It was a very interesting experience. They had 3 dogs that we had to take care of.

On Monday, we got there, fed the dogs, and let them outside. Then we went to Sheridan Productions where we go to dancing. I'm not actually taking the summer session of dancing, but Mrs. Meghan (0ur teacher) had invited me to come participate in class one day. After dancing, Rachel and I went to the house and hung out all evening. We watched "Jekyll and Hyde The Musical".

Tuesday, we got up, took care of the doggies, then went out to Chili's for lunch! :-D We both ordered something very yummy, but neither of us could eat all of our food, so we brought it back with us to eat for supper that night. Then we went shopping at Charlotte Russe in the mall. Rachel and I both got a dress and I got a giant black flower for my hair. Then we happened to stop by The Icing and I found the most amazing hat! So, I bought that too!

That afternoon neither of us had anything going on, so she worked on some schoolwork and a dance that she's choreographing while I read "Pride and Prejudice" and practiced my lines for "Dorothy Meets Alice". That night we watched "Legally Blonde: The Musical" while we ate our leftover Chili's food for supper.

Wednesday, we woke up and did a little hanging around. Then we went to eat lunch at Chick Fil A. That was yummy :-) Then we came back to the Hudson's house and took a bunch of pictures.

Wednesday night, Rachel had church and I had rehearsal. So, she brought me to Southern Tire Mart, where my dad works, so he could bring me to rehearsal, then she went to church. Then Dad brought me to the Sibilles, so Mikie and I could drive to Eunice together. Natalie was in New Orleans at a school called NOCCA. She went for a 3 week program to learn about musical theatre. So, she's taking dancing, singing, and acting classes all day, everyday...I'm not jealous at all.

After rehearsal, Rachel picked me up and we decided that we were gonna watch "Step Up 2", a movie that she likes that's about dancing. We started watching it, but then we started having trouble with the movie, so we quit watching it. We just hung out for awhile having fun and being friends. Then we decided that our last day, which was the next day, Thursday, would have to be a memorable one. Rachel came up with the idea that we go into Albertsons (the nearest grocery store) dressed like secret agents, and act like secret agents the whole time....

So, we did. I was Agent A04111991, AKA Alice, AKA Ding-Dong, AKA Kitty, AKA Tall-y. And Rachel was Agent F02261992, AKA Adle, AKA Ding-Dong, AKA Giraffe, AKA Shorty. We had a lovely time :-) We also recorded the whole thing with Rachel's camera, so we've got some great memories from it!

Thursday and Friday were pretty normal. Friday, Natalie Sibille was returning for the weekend, so me and the rest of her family decided to surprise her by me going to their house to spend the night. Well, it turns out that Natalie wasn't surprised at all, but still very happy!

Saturday, we hung out, then we had rehearsal.

Sunday, we had church, then Mom and I cut out the pattern for my Alice In Wonderland costume and started working on it a little! After that, it was time for Nathan and I to go to the Hope House, which is the house across the street from our church where mission teams stay when they come on mission trips to Opelousas. Our youth group has a mission week every year and the past few years our mission trips have been right in our own city. So, we all stayed in the Hope House Sunday-Thursday.

Sunday night we all hung out and had a good time. The people there were Me, Megan, Jill, Chloe, Austin, Sam, Ben, Isaac, Nathan, Ryan, Wilder, Catherine, Chris, Mrs. Heather, and Mr. Greg. We had a fun group, although I was a smidge dissapointed that none of the girls that are my age in the youth group were there...

All of the days were spent hard at work. Every morning, we went to a place for battered women. They have a donation room with lots of clothes for them. That room was really disorganized, so we went in and did some serious reorganizing. By the end of the week, it looked really good! Monday afternoon, we went to Mrs. Nan Mitchel's house and cleaned her windows, swept her floors. Tuesday, I left after lunch to babysit Mrs. Carrie's baby boys, but everybody else went to Mrs. Betty Jo's house. Wednesday afternoon, we went to the Bihm's house and did some work outside. We had gone there last summer, which was before Mr. Bihm passed away. He died 8 weeks after we went. Mrs. Lily, his wife told Mrs. Heather that us going over there was his last really happy memory of his life. That made me feel like God had really used us!

Thursday, we just cleaned up the Hope House and left around lunch time.

Here are some pictures:

Me and Rachel fixed our hair crazy and took funny pictures

Upside down Rachel

:-O

Aaaa! :-D

Smile :-)

I love this picture!

Joyful....

I love my hat....so much!

The girls from the mission trip.

Me, Chloe, Jill, Megan, and Nicole

Me, Jill, and Chloe

Me and Catherine

Me and Jill.......and Chloe

Up on my bed

New York Trip Days 4 and 5

2009-06-01T21:17:00.003-05:00

Since I never posted anything about these days, I felt like my blog would be incomplete without them, so I am taking the responsibility to finish off my New York trip before I move on to further posts.

Sunday morning, I had a complete and total "Classic Dramatic Gracie Meltdown". I was having issues figuring out what to wear. I had 2 outfits and some missing accesessories. It was really stressful. And I ended up wearing my same dress that I wore for the wedding. Which is exactly what I wanted to do. So, after that crisis was over, we went to the Grand Chalet in Wayne, New Jersey.

It was lovely! We took pictures...and more and more and more and more pictures...And I was definetely freezing outside.

Finally we went inside and we, being the family of the bride got a special entrance. Then I sat at a table with all of Frank's brothers and their families. It was a very enjoyable event. The food was delicious! First there was breakfast on one side, then later, lunch on the other. There was a live band. They played some wonderful music! Including a Cajun song and "You Are My Sunshine" the Louisiana state song. It was such a beautiful day! And I don't mean the weather, because, if I remember correctly, it was overcast. But inside, it was georgeous.

I ate so much food, that I thought I wouldn't eat until the next week!! But of course, for supper that night, Mrs. Rosina and Mr. Giuseppe made some real Italian spaghetti....

Monday morning, we woke up, ate some delicious breakfast (of course there was plenty of it). Then we all squeezed in their car to go to the airport. It was time to go home.... :-(

Our trip home was very smooth. When we were on the plane we saw some amazing clouds. It looked like we were on Antarctica!! It was really pretty!

Then later, when we were about to land in Lafayette, I was listening to "Defying Gravity". It was almost at the climax, you know, "Tell them how I am defying gravity, I'm flying high deFYing gravity..." when they made the announcement that we were landing soon and all electronics needed to be turned off. Well, I decided that I just HAD to hear the end of the song! So, I kept listening, and they announced it again! So, I just listened to right past my favorite part, then I turned it off. Right after I turned it off, we hit some turbulence and the landing gear came out (and we were on the little Lafayette/Altlanta plane) and it made a big loud noise, and I thought, "Oh my gosh, I broke the plane!" But thankfully we landed safely.

When we got home, it was really good to be home. But I missed New York and all of it's Big City Beauty. Some people may think mountains are pretty, and other's might think crystal clear blue water is pretty, but for me, cement and sky scrapers and neon lights and best of all, theatres are simply georgeous!!

New York Trip Day 3

2009-05-04T18:37:00.003-05:00

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Today was our shopping day! :-D

We went right over to Fifth Avenue! First we went to H&M. That's a cool store. I got some ADORABLE white sandals from there. And they weren't even very expensive!

Next, we went to a store called Strawberry. That one wasn't really my favorite. I didn't really find anything that I liked. It looked like the type of store that you have to hit at the right time...but I didn't like it too much.

Then Dad and I went to Forever 21. I like that store alot!! That's where I got my dress that I am in love with! Here's a picture of it:

Only it's a tad too long for me....

Now we're at the Crocco's house. Frank's parent's Mrs. Rosina and Mr. Guiseppe are so nice! And so is the rest of Frank's family. I got to meet his brothers and parents when they came down for the wedding, but none of his other family. Italian families are very fun! And they make you eat alot...I mean it...alot.

I got to meet Frank's sister in law, Erika. She is an actress! We talked for a really long time! She hasn't actually done anything on Broadway, but she's done some professional acting! It was SO COOL to talk to her. She had so much good advice for me, that I won't forget!

Tomorrow is the wedding reception! Should be quite lovely!

New York Trip Day 2

2009-04-27T22:32:00.004-05:00

Friday, April 17, 2009

Today was our tour day. We went on a bus tour of the highlights of New York City. I was pretty excited about it. It was pretty interesting in some parts, but not nearly as interesting as I was expecting. We did see some interesting sights though!

My favorite parts were: riding on the Staten Island Ferry, seeing the Brooklyn Bridge (I mostly enjoyed that because I hadn't gotten to see it last time we came), seeing the hotel that the survivors of the Titanic stayed at, and seeing the New York Public Library. The rest was either something I'd seen on our last trip or something that I didn't find very interesting. My least favorite part of the tour was when they pointed out a statue of General Sherman...

We had lunch at the place where we saw the Brooklyn Bridge. They had a food court there. Mom and Grandma-Mona got some sort of Chinese food, Dad grabbed another slice, and I had a "Nathan's" hot dog. Oh and we saw something that was genuinely hilarious....a Cajun restaurant...except it wasn't really Cajun....

Here are a few pictures:

Here we are in front of the Brooklyn Bridge

Dad and I on the Staten Island Ferry passing in front of the Statue of Liberty

Here I am leaning on my favorite cuddle spot of Mom's: her left shoulder. I had a headache and had had enough of that tour...

Me in front of Saks Fifth Avenue

After the tour, we got ready to go to Nony and Franks apartment for supper. It was fun going over there again. Nony and Frank cooked some interesting food. I like the green noodly things. I'm not sure what it was, but it was yummy. The rest was all a little strange for me and included alot of mushy vegetables, which aren't really my favorite...

Dessert was amazing, though. We had some sort of incredible chocolate cheesecake! It was like heaven for my tastebuds.

After supper, we visited for awhile, Mom fixed a button on Nony's wedding dress that she'd get to wear again on Sunday, and then Frank brought us all back to the hotel. But before we went inside, we stopped to see the lights of New York City at night. We were right across the river, and according to Frank, had the perfect view. Well, Frank was right:

Tomorrow is shopping day. I'm packing up everything I don't need for tomorrow because tomorrow, we're going to stay at Frank's parents house in New Jersey.

New York Trip Day 1

2009-04-24T10:27:00.008-05:00

Last week, Mom, Dad, Grandma-Mona and I went on a fabulous trip to New York City and New Jersey! Here is a day by day account of all the fun!

Thursday, April 16 2009

We woke up this morning at 3:30 AM! But I wasn't one teeny bit tired! :-)

We finished all our little details with the packing, told Lydia and Nathan goodbye, jumped in the van (Me, Mom, and Dad were very excited!), and cranked the van and got ready to take off! Unfortunately, as soon as we cranked the van, it would start up just fine...then die. We tried again, and the same thing happened. So we tried again and again and again and when Dad pushed on the accelerator, it would go. So, we made it to Grandma-Mona's house, right down our street. Instead of driving to the airport in our handicapped van, we switched all the bags into Grandma-Mona's car. THEN, we left! We were on our way to NEW YORK!!

Well, we got about 10 minutes down the road before realizing that we had forgotten a very, very important suitcase! There was no other choice, we had to turn back. Thankfully it was VERY early in the morning and we had barely any traffic. So, we sped down the road at Cullen fast speeds to get back to our house and then to the Lafayette airport on time. I've never seen my mother drive the way she was driving this morning at 4:15 AM....

Thankfully, we made it to the airport in time...barely. We got our boarding passes, checked our luggage, and headed to security. That's where we met some troubles. I made it through without any problems. Mom and Grandma-Mona both had to get their bags searched. And Dad, well he got his hip replaced years ago and something in his artificial hip ALWAYS makes the security things go off. So, they had to search him all over. Meanwhile, I was on the other side of security while there were announcements like "Last call for flight 2008 to Atlanta" being said. I didn't know what to do! I was telling the lady at the counter, "They're right there! They're coming!!"

Well, it all worked out. We made it onto the airplane in the nick of time! Not long after, we took off! I'll admit, I do get a smidge nervous about flying. It was only my 3rd time ever being on an airplane. But, once we got going, I was just in awe of the beauty of everything. At first, it was still really dark outside, so all we could see were tiny lights in big groups where all the cities were. After a little while, though, we started to see the sunrise! It was so pretty! We were flying through the sunrise!

We had a very nice flight. I listened to "Into The Woods" while I read "A Little Bit Wicked" and looked out the window alot. I am simply amazed with the view of the ground from an airplane!

Eventually, we got to the Atlanta airport. I'll admit, I had a small freakout inside when the landing gear came out. It made a huge noise and I thought the airplane was broken. And I was ready for us to go plummeting down to the ground. That's me with my over active, dramatic imagination... We had about a 50 minute layover. The airport in Atlanta is ginormous! There was even a subway like thingy to get you to the correct terminal!

We had a little time to kill...so...

We waited....

Then we got on the other airplane. This time I got to sit next to Dad. We had a fun time eating peanuts, Biscoff cookies, drinking Coke, laughing, looking out the window, and listening to "Defying Gravity" while we were defying gravity!

Eventually, we arrived in Newark, New Jersey. Frank picked us up from the airport and drove us to the hotel. Our hotel was right next to the river that's in between New York and New Jersey. So, we weren't technically staying in New York, but according to Frank, New Jersey is pretty much just another section of New York City. So, we got ourselves settled. Me and Grandma-Mona in one room and Mom and Dad in the other. Luckily, we were RIGHT next door to each other.

We went across the street to a mall to eat lunch. We got some yummy Quiznos. Then we came back to the hotel to just hang out until it was time to head into "The City" (that's what Nony said they all call it when they go into New York City). I was completely exhausted. After getting back from the cast party last night and eating all the sugary yummy foods and with all the excitement of leaving this morning. I didn't fall alseep until almost 12:00, which doesn't sound too bad, until you remember that I got up at 3:30! So, I was very tired. I laid down on the bed in the hotel and it wasn't long at all before I was in a hard, hard sleep. And anyone who knows me well, knows that I'm a very light sleeper, so I was surprised at how well I slept with Grandma-Mona bustling around doing stuff.

When I woke up, it was time to get ready to go! Our plans were to go and show Grandma-Mona and Dad where Nony went to school, then "grab a slice" (another "New York thing" that Nony showed us) and then go to the Lunt-Fontane Theatre to see "The Little Mermaid On Broadway"!!

Soon, Nony got to the hotel, and we were off! We had to teach Grandma-Mona and Dad how to swipe their Metro Cards.

When we emerged from the Subway, we were right in the middle of the hustle and bustle and beauty of Times Square! And New York has a specific smell, that I immediately recognized. My first thought, as I walked up onto the sidewalk from underground was, "Ahhh...It's good to be back!"

We went to see the school and Nony pointed out some of her favorite stores to shop at. Then we went to a pizza place to "grab a slice"! Nony showed us the proper way to eat the giant slices of pizza. Since they're like 2 or 3 slices in one, you fold it in half and that's how you manage to hold it. It was fun. By the way, New York Pizza is very yummy!

After that, we were ready to go to the theatre!!!!!!! On the way, though, we made the terrible discovery that Grandma-Mona's shoes were cutting into her feet! They were even bleeding! When we got there, Mom and Grandma-Mona and Mom went to the bathroom to take care of Grandma-Mona's feet (thankfully we got there early!) and Dad and I went to the gift shop because I wanted to buy myself a shirt and Natalie Sibille wanted one and we were getting a "Dinglehopper Brush" for Lydia.

This is the shirt that Natalie and I got. I love the color of it!

And I thought the "Dinglehopper Hairbrush" was SO cute...and very creative...perfect for Lydia.

The very, very kind people at the Lunt-Fontane Theatre were gracious enough to give Grandma-Mona some band-aids for her feet.

We found our seats, which were actually VERY good seats, much to my excitement! Then we sat and waited for the show to start.

We didn't have to wait too very long before that magic of Theatre began. The lights dimmed, the orchestra began playing the Overture, and the curtain rose! The next hour or so was just amazing. The acting, singing, choreography, costumes, sets, and even the lighting brought us "Under the Sea" and into the world of mermaids and talking fish.

When Act 1 was over, Dad, was nearly speechless. This was his first time seeing a professional theatre performance. All he could say was, "That was awesome! That was....amazing!" I asked one of the ushers if I could take some extra Playbills for some friends and family, and she pointed to a stack of Playbills and said "Sure! Take as many as you want!" I will again mention how nice the people were at the Lunt-Fontane Theatre. I also asked them for an extra bag to put Natalie Sibille's t-shirt in, so she could have a bag of her own. Without a second thought, they just handed one to me! And I asked them where the stage door was, where all of the actors and actresses exited, so we could get autographs and hopefully pictures. They told us right where to go!

During Intermission, Mom took a picture of me in front of the stage!

Here's me, Dad, and Grandma-Mona during Intermission sitting in our awesome seats!!

The second act was just as great as the first. I was thoroughly enjoying myself! Well, actually, that's not quite true. One recurring thought was "I wish that were ME up there! One day....that just HAS to be me up there.....one day..."

During curtain call, Mom and I rushed near the door, so we could hurry out to the stage door. We wanted to be first in line to get autographs and (hopefully!) pictures.

Then we waited....and waited....Mom took a picture of me in front of the door that had a picture of the poster:

But...she kinda missed me because Sierra Boggess, the actress who was the STAR of the show had come out!! I asked her to sign my Playbill and if she could take a picture with me, and she did!! I got to meet the original Broadway Ariel!!

And then, Mom got that picture of me in front of the door... :-)

Next to come out was Tyler Maynard, who played Jetsam, one of Ursala's eels...

Then out came Brian D'Addario. He was the adorable little boy who played Flounder! He was so mature and professional when I talked to him...

Then, Lyndy Franklin, who played Adella, one of Ariel's many sisters came out.

I also got Joe Abraham's, who played Scuttle, autograph, but for some reason, I didn't take a picture with him. I don't know why...

I would've really loved to meet Rogelio Douglas Jr., who played Sebastian, and Faith Prince, who played Ursula, but we had to leave to get Grandma-Mona some shoes that weren't killing her feet. To say I was dissapointed, would be a pretty big understatement...and I was a little imature about it. And I wish I wouldn't have been because I just made the others aggravated with me, and myself more miserable.

Anyway, we got Grandma-Mona outfitted with some bright pink Crocs from the biggest Walgreens I've ever seen. People, the Walgreens had THREE floors!!

We got back to the hotel pretty late. It didn't take us long at all to jump in pajamas and fall fast asleep!

Well, this has been the first installment of a 5 part series of our "New York Trip".

To be continued....

Easter Break

2009-04-15T10:55:00.003-05:00

Well, my Easter break, so far has been quite enjoyable...and I very much expect it to keep going that way! Because tomorrow (at the crack of dawn), me, Mom, Dad, and Grandma-Mona are leaving to go to New York City!!!!! Well, actually we're really staying in Jersey City, but it's close enough. We'll be going into the city plenty enough. Before I talk about that, though, let me tell all about my lovely weekend, and the beginning of my week.

Saturday, we had a little different experience for Easter. Instead of going to the Ousse's (my Mom's sister's house) we had alot of people over at our house, which was extremely fun! It was a little strange at first. I kept getting confused and thinking it was Thanksgiving because that's the holiday that we usually have everyone at our house for. This was the first time we ever had Easter at our house in my entire life! But, it was fun!

We had Jade, Jennifer, Claire, Ethan, Blythe, Owen, Evelyn, Grandma-Mona, Paw-Paw, Nony, Frank, Uncle Steve, and Aunt Dianne.

We did the normal egg paquing. It was the first time Frank had ever paqued eggs. I think he enjoyed it!

Here are a few pictures from the day:

Frank and I paquing

Nony and I before we paqued :-)

Nony and I after we pacqed...

Frank accepts a challenge from Nathan and his egg: The Beast.

Now, what I haven't metioned was that Saturday was also my birthday! And Grandma-Mona's birthday was 2 days before mine. So Mom made us each a cake. Grandma-Mona's was a lemon cake with almond butterflies. It was very very pretty. Mine was a chocolate cheesecake!!! :-D

We also sat down right after lunch and watched some old home videos. They're from back when Jade and Nony were in high school and I was about 2. That was fun. There was one part in it, that showed Jade laying on the floor and me standing on his hands while he lifted me up in the air. He used to do that with me all the time. So, Jade and I decided to see if we could still do it. I ran to my room and grabbed some shorts to put under my dress, then came back, and here's what happened:

Yay! We can still do it!

Saturday night, we had the last performance of "The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare Abridged". I was sad that it was the last performance. But, I was looking forward to a little surprise that Natalie, Megan, and I had planned for after the show. We had been plotting and planning to perform the very last scene of the play. Which is the part where they perform "Hamlet" backwards...

We learned all the lines and practiced the lines and the blocking for about an hour Saturday afternoon. We did it again and again and again until we had it perfect. Natalie was doing Casey's part, Megan was doing Duncan's part (much to Natalie's dismay...Natalie wanted to do Duncan's part...), and I was doing Jay's part. That meant Natalie was Hamlet, Megan was Horatio/Polonius/Laertes, and I was Ghost/Ophelia/Gertrude/Claudius. We also planned to dress just like them. So, Natalie wore pink tights with black shorts and a black shirt, Megan wore purple tights with black shorts and a dark green shirt, and I wore green tights with black shorts and a white shirt (and I twisted my shorts the way Jay's always ended up near the end of the show).

When the show was over, sweet Mrs. Sonja gave us all some pretty roses. Then after the audience left, Casey announced that our cast party was gonna be Wednesday. We weren't gonna do anything big, just a little party at the theatre and we were all gonna bring something yummy.

After that, we told Casey, Duncan, and Jay not to move, we had something planned for them. Then I told Jay that I needed his shoes and Natalie told Casey she needed his shoes and Megan got Duncan's shoes. Then we ran backstage and got dressed.

When Natalie finally got Casey's shoes on, we went out on the stage and gave it our all. I had to wear the lovely blonde curly Ophelia wig that was on Jay's sweaty head every night, Natalie had to wear the Hamlet hat that was on Casey's sweaty head every night, and Megan had to wear the Polonius beard....you can't imagine the smells coming from those costumes after 10 performances. But we had fun! And I could hear Casey laughing his heart out and Jay and Duncan were laughing alot, too. It was fun to do that for them...I'm glad we did. :-)

Sunday was Easter. It was a pretty normal Easter Sunday. We woke up, read the Easter story from the Bible, and received the treats in our Easter baskets. Then we went to church.

Monday, Natalie Sibille had some sort of rehearsal in Opelousas, so she came to my house after her rehearsal and spent the night with me. Yesterday we were really bored and it was a beautiful day outside, so we put on some old fashioned looking dresses, packed up a picnic basket and a quilt. Then we went out in the backyard with our barefeet and had the most lovely, peaceful, and relaxing time. We sat in the shade of a tree and listened to soft pretty music. It was wonderful. And we took a bunch of pictures...here are some of my favorites:

Later, we walked to the snowball stand near my house...in our dresses! :-)

Then I went to Natalie's house to spend the night. We had a wonderful time, of course!

Today, we packed and packed and got ready for our New York trip all day long! Natalie S. had another rehearsal for something. So, she came to my house after her rehearsal. We had the cast party for "The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare Abridged". So we decided to fix our treats together. She did a crackers and cheese and ham and pepperoni platter thingy. And I made a Hershey's Perfectly Chocolate Cake! :-) If only it would have looked like the picture. Ya'll, that was an ugly cake. I'm not ashamed to admit it...it was really ugly. And I tried sticking a flower in it to make it prettier, but that didn't even help. It looked like a pile of mud with some plant growing out of it. I did not wanna walk into the theatre carrying that! Casey, Jay, and Duncan were definetely gonna make fun of me...I was sure of it. I could only hope that it would taste better than it looked...

So, I summoned up my courage and marched into the theatre with pride. Surprisingly neither Jay or Duncan said a word about my work of art. Well...Duncan did mention some little remark about a plant growing out of my cake, but they didn't mention anything about the frosting falling off the cake or that the cake was extremely lopsided...

Natalie and I went to the bathroom near the beginning of the party and she was taking forever (Natalie Catherine Sibille is the Head Queen of slowness) so I opened the door to go out, and she said, "Gracie, don't you dare leave!"

So, of course I left, but I had more motive than that. I stood right outside the door waiting for her to come out. When she did, I jumped out and scared her to death! :-D

Her reaction was, "AAAAA! I hate you!"

My reaction was a fit of giggles. Then we went into the main part of the theatre and Jay and Duncan looked a little confused. But, once they figured out what had happened, they were laughing their heads off too....it was great....a very priceless moment...

Casey finally arrived at the theatre. And he had gifts for us all. :-D

Ya'll, I would've never expected Casey to be a really good gift giver! But he is! He gives awesome presents! He just gave everybody the perfect gift. For Michael he had an autobiography of Anthony Rapp, Mikie's favorite actor. For Natalie, he had the "Into The Woods" original Broadway cast soundtrack. He gave Duncan some book about ninjas. He gave Jay "The Encyclopedia Of Imaturity" (which is actually a really cool book...hahaha). He gave Megan a book that she likes alot and I think it's called "Watchmen" but I don't know what it was about and I don't remember if that's the name or not. He gave Ashley Brown a book that the director of the "Twilight" movie wrote about making the movie. And he gave Angie a book by C.S. Lewis. I don't remember which one. For me, he had SUCH an awesome present! He gave me Kristin Chenoweth's autobiography: "A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith In Stages". He got such personal gifts for each of us. I thought that was so awesome. And he even wrote us a note on the inside of each of our books. He was a really good director.

Jay's sons were at the cast party, too. Their names are Jude and Gabriel, they're 6 and 3. And they are SO cute! We had a sword fight with them. Only it was very unfair. Mikie was on their side and Jude and Gabriel both had two long swords, but I only had two of those little short daggers that have the springs in the blade so that looks like you're stabbing somebody when you pretend to stab somebody. So, they all kept killing me... But it was fun. Those 2 little boys were some of the cutest little boys ever! And I thought it was cool that they were the exact same ages as my nephews, Ethan and Owen.

Eventually, it was time to go home...we said some sad goodbyes....This cast in particular seemed to have grown really close to each other. We usually do get pretty close during plays. I mean, we see each other almost everyday for a few months! But for some reason, I just LOVED this cast! And I will miss spending everyday with them... :-(

Left to right: Jay Mentel, Gracie Feucht, Casey Harmon, Natalie Sibille, Duncan McBride, and Mikie laying on the floor in front of us...

Casey as Titus Andronicus/Paula Dean and Jay as Lavinia. They performed Titus Andronicus as a cooking show.

The comedies all in one lump...

Duncan as Romeo and Jay as Juliet

Casey narrating "Romeo and Juliet", Duncan being dead, and Jay discovering that the dagger was the springy kind.

And by the way, nobody made fun of my cake after they tasted it! That was the best chocolate cake ever!! (Jay even took a big ole slice home with him!)

Tomorrow morning...off to New York!!!!!!!!!

Fun In the OLT Light Booth And Other Stories Of Gracie's Weekend

2009-03-30T12:09:00.003-05:00

Friday night, Natalie and Michael weren't gonna be at the theatre because of a thingy going on at their church. I was a terrified of being in the light booth all by myself because I didn't think I could do things right. And I thought I'd ruin the show and make everybody mad at me because I messed up. So, I got my friend Amanda to come help me up there. We had a good time. I think she really enjoyed the show. Soon, I came to realize that maybe...just maybe....I didn't really need help. Maybe I COULD do it all by myself. So, I told Amanda to just let me try. And what do you know? I did it! I really really did it!! Except for one time in Act 2 when, instead of a blue spot light to make it look like night-time, I accidentally put a green one... But I still wasn't nearly as nervous about messing up on Saturday night because Mikie and Natalie would be gone again.

Saturday, I woke up and did some chores...which weren't too fun. Then I went and ate lunch at Natalie LaCombe's house. I hadn't seen her in awhile. That poor girl is always either at work, or at Cosmetology School. I miss her! So, that was fun. Then she had to leave to go to work at the Dollar General...

So, I came home and I decided to write the story that I've had in my head for awhile. I spent the entire afternoon writing my story. It's been in my imagination for a few weeks and I like it alot and I didn't want to forget it. So, I'm writing it down.

Then Natalie Sibille's dad, Mr. Kent called. He and Mrs. Tara were gonna be at the theatre helping with concessions, even though their kids wouldn't be there. So, since Natalie and Mikie usually pick me up and give me a ride to the theatre, they offered to pick me up. I knew that Mom would greatly appreciate not having to get out to bring me there, so I said, "Sure!"

About 30 minutes later, Mr. Kent called again. This time he was asking if I wanted to go spend the night over there. Well, of course I did! I asked Mom, and she said that it was fine. Then I told Mr. Kent to keep it a secret and not tell Natalie or Mikie. They had both been gone all day at a very boring thing at their church. They had to go early in the morning and were gonna be until quite late at night. So, it would be a wonderful surprise for Natalie to see me, because she was miserable, listening to people talk to her all day. She needed fun!

So, finally it was time to go to the theatre. I went backstage to socialize with the backstage people and the actors until it was time for the show. Casey told us a hilarious story about some people scaring him with a ginormous water beetle thing inside a movie case..... Me and Jay were just laughing and laughing. We had a good time...

Then it was time for the show! I went up in the light booth, flashed the lights, and then dimmed them. The curtain opened, the lights came up, and Duncan started talking. The show was starting off flawlessly! I knew I could do this!

A little while later, I heard a strange scratching noise over to my right...I wasn't really sure what it was, but I happened to glance over to that corner and what did I see? A HUGE rat!!!!!!

No, I'm not afraid of rats, I just think they're germy and dirty and gross. So, I didn't really want him to come by me. Plus, I just really didn't know what to do if the rat started crawling all over the floor in the light booth....or chewing on wires or something.... So I went over by the ladder and told Mrs. Sonja. She said, "What, honey?"

I whispered, "There's a rat in the light booth!!"

A few minutes later, up comes Mr. Jeff with a broom. I'm not sure exactly what he planned to do with it, but nevertheless...he had a broom. Then, all during the show, me and Mr. Jeff are up there hunting for a rat. Finally we figured out that it must have gone in a hole in the wall, so we should plug up that hole and maybe the rat wouldn't come back for now.

So, we filled up the hole with paper bags and plastic Wal-Mart bags. And the show went on without any other strange events...

During intermission, I went backstage and said, "I had a friend up there in the light booth!"

Casey said, "Oh. Really?"

I said, "Yep! A rat! A big one!"

Casey and Jay started laughing at me! Then one of them...I don't remember whether it was Jay or Casey, but they said, "So, did you name him Templeton?"

I hadn't...but that was his name after that...

Act 2 went great. I did everything, without any problems! I even put a blue spot light for the night-time scene! Then near the end of the show, Mikie and Natalie got to the theatre! They got out of their church thing earlier than expected!!

So, after the show, me and Mrs. Tara started getting creative. Since Mrs. Tara's dad was there, Mrs. Tara had to leave pretty quick to get him home, so we told Natalie that my mom said she wanted me home as soon as the show was over, so I had to go with Mrs. Tara.

Natalie wasn't buying that.

She said, "Well why don't I just come with ya'll?"

So we told her that we didn't have enough time for her to get her stuff. So, I hugged her and told her to call me when she got home and we'd talk then. I knew that Natalie had had a long, boring day, and that this was just making it worse, but I also knew that she'd be so happy that I was at her house that she wouldn't even care about this.

So, when we got to the Sibille's house, me and Mrs. Tara talked for a little while. Then we heard them get home. So, I went in Natalie's room, shut the door, turned off the light, and stretched out on her bed.

When she opened the door, she had the most overwhelmed expression on her face.

Then she sort of collapsed on me, "I love you..." she muttered.

The rest of the night we had a fabulous time. We watched "Little Women: The Musical" and we talked and talked late into the night in her bed...It was wonderful.

In the morning, we went to church. Then we ate lunch at her grandparents house. They made some sort of enchilada something casserole, which sounded really yummy to me. But then when I tasted it, I didn't think it was so great...

When we arrived at the theatre. I discoverated Jay and Duncan up in the light booth crawling around doing something....I'm not very sure what. But I think maybe they were checking the rat traps that Mr. Jeff had set the night before, after we met Templeton.

Duncan turned around when he saw me. He said, "That was a big rat!" and he motioned with his hands how long it was, "and that's not even including the tail!"

And Jay said, "I respect you, now. That was a big rat. You were very brave." or something like that.

So, apparently, they had caught Templeton in one of the rat traps. Mrs. Angie was pretty impressed, too. She said that it was a good thing it was me up there and not her because she would have screamed!

We went backstage before the show, like we usually do. Jay let me play the funnest game ever on his phone! It's a maze with a ball and you actually tilt the phone and the ball rolls in the direction that you tilt it. It's quite frustrating. But, I enjoyed it and I plan to play it some more on Thursday when we go.

The show went great....Natalie LaCombe was there. I do believe she enjoyed it!

After the show, me, Natalie L., and Megan went to Sonic and got drinks, then for some reason, Natalie and Megan wanted to go to Stage. Since I never say "no" to shopping, we went! We had a pretty fun time. They had a couple of cute dresses.

Then we decided to to home. On the way, we passed in front of Quizno's, which is where Ashley Brown works. We saw her car in the parking lot, so we stopped there to say hello to Ashley. And I got this AMAZING double chocolate chip cookie! It was so so SO delicious!

And finally, we came home.

And that was my weekend! :-)

Getting Through The Weekdays....

2009-03-26T12:51:00.003-05:00

Tuesday ended up being a pretty normal day for me. I brought my American Girl Doll, Kirsten, with me to Zoe's. She was simply thrilled by that. She loves her very much. Now, Mrs. Lydia is thanking me for getting her daughter interested in those expensive dolls!

Tuesday afternoon was just normal. I didn't go to my voice lesson because the rest of my family was going to the Belfour's house for supper, so I wasn't gonna have a ride. I had another dress rehearsal for the play. This time it was my turn to do the lights and sound all by myself. I was nervous! I wasn't doing my normal thing! Fortunately, I had a script to tell me when to do stuff, so my plan was just to get ready way ahead of time for each thing. Unfortunately, Mikie, hadn't written hardly any of the cues in there!!! If he hadn't been up there, I would have missed alot of things! As it was, I was already barely making it in time for each of those cues...

So, my Act 2 in the light booth was almost as stressful as my Act 2 backstage!!

Wednesday morning, much to Zoe's happiness, I brought Kirsten again. We played with her and dressed her. And we had a pretty normal Wenesday. Wednesday afternoon, we went to tutor at the Hill House. I helped Tavian add and subtract fractions...fun!

Then, we had Youth Group. Rachel Vander Molen came again this week! (She came last week, too) That was fun. We played a game sort of like dodge ball, but a little different. When you get hit, you squat, instead of being out of the game. Then, if the person who hit you gets hit, you get to stand up. It was fun! Especially when it started raining! We all just stayed out there getting wet! It was wonderful!

This morning, I babysat the Boagni's. That was pretty enjoyable. Mary-Charlotte is two now and getting so big and she's talking so much! But she's adorable. This afternoon, Natalie Sibille's coming over for awhile and we're gonna watch "Little Women: The Musical". Then tonight, is opening night for "The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare Abridged". I hope it goes well!! We'll see....

Double Pirouettes and Dress Rehearsals

2009-03-24T08:35:00.008-05:00

I had a very adventurous Monday...

I woke up only be informed that Sophie, our cat, was having kittens. So, we all were in the living room where Mom had set up a little bed for her seeing the brand new baby kittens. There are 3 little kittens. One is white with a gray head, one is a little mini Sophie (a gray striped tabby cat), and the other one is black, I think. They're very teeny tiny! Sophie is being a good mommy. She's really tense and alert. At any little noise, she sits up, pricks up her ears and looks all around. Lottie, our puppy, would really like to meet them, but unless she wants to lose a nose or something, she better stay away. Lottie is like a scary monster to Sophie and her kittens and there's no way Sophie will tolerate Lottie for very long...

Grandma-Mona came over to meet the new additions, too. She stayed for a very long time too! Until almost lunch time! But, in that time, we all had some good conversations. AND we convinced her to come to New York City next month with us!! She and I are gonna be roomates! Woo hoo! She said she hopes I don't snore. I said she should be glad her and Lydia aren't gonna be roomates!

When Grandma-Mona left, we ate lunch. Then we got ready for dancing....then we went to dancing. It was a good day for me in ballet and jazz! Ballet, was just great because I felt like I was getting all the combinations right and really feeling pretty and graceful when I was doing them! In jazz, we were doing some combinations with pirouettes in them. Mrs. Shayna told us that if we were already good at pirouettes, that we could try a double pirouette and that it might fit in with the music better anyway. So, I decided to try. And guess what!?!? I did it!!! I was unbelievably excited!! I got it finally! I'd been trying to do a double pirouette for the longest time! Sometimes I could get around twice, but not well and usually it was just 1 1/2 or 1 3/4...but not yesterday!! Yesterday, I did it a bunch of times, and they felt good and right! I am still very proud of myself for that accomplishment!

From dancing, we headed to the theatre for our dress rehearsal. The way me and Mikie planned to do it was this: Mikie would do ALL the lights and sound for one dress rehearsal and I'd do ALL the lights and sound for the other one. Well, last night was Mikie's night...so I was pretty bored. Ashley Brown didn't make it to rehearsal...we don't know why, but anyway, she wasn't there. So, they were short one person backstage. Since, I wasn't doing the lights, last night, I offered to take Ashley's place backstage. Well, let me tell you, backstage is not easy in this show! Those guys are always running offstage grabbing props, costumes, and in Jay's case, wigs (he plays almost all of the girl characters). Ashley usually is Jay's costume and prop person, so I had my work cut out for me....and on top of all that, I had NO idea what I was doing! It was pretty overwhelming! But, it was funny. One, time Jay ended up with his skirt around his neck....They told me that I actually was helpful...a little...I had fun though!

After practice, I showed Natalie, Mikie, Megan, and Duncan my double pirouettes and they were adequately impressed. When I got home, I tried to show my mom my double pirouette, but it didn't work!! I was so thoroughly angry with myself....I tried and tried, finally I got it, but not as amazing as it felt earlier...

Well, okay...that's my Monday for you!!

Fun Weekend

2009-03-23T09:09:00.003-05:00

My weekend was pretty fun! Friday, Natalie S. and I both took a half day of school and she picked me up right before lunch. Then we went to her grandparents house and ate Quiznos (yum!). We had a nice afternoon, just hanging around, doing nothing very special. A little later Ashley Brown and Megan Christie came and met us because we were going to go to Books A Million since "Twilight" was coming out on DVD at midnight! They were having some sort of party thing. So, we all dressed up as our favorite characters. Natalie dressed as Bella, of course, and naturally, I was Alice. Megan was Victoria...(I'll say more about that in a minute...) and Ashley used Natalie's "Elle Woods" wig to be Rosalie. We all ended up looking alot like our characters. I don't have any pictures of us from that night, but I know that the other girls do, so I'll put some up when I can.

Anyway, now I gotta tell ya'll about Megan's costume! In the picture below, Victoria is the girl all the way to the right. You see that fuzzy white thing? Well, Megan actually wore something like that! It was pretty funny and awesome! But, she used a rug! Yes, a white fake fur rug from Wal-Mart. People definetely gave her some funny looks, but that's ok, cause she looked an awful lot like her character. We all laughed, though, even Megan!

Then, on Saturday, I was brought to Krotz Springs at 12:45 to meet up with Jennifer's dad. We were surprising her for her birthday! Actually, her birthday was in December, but so are most of her kids and husband and Christmas, and then New Years Day...so Jennifer never got to celebrate her birthday! So her sister planned a party for her. I was to be the babysitter for 10 kids, although 2 of the 10 kids were a help. So, me, Claire, and Laura Rose took care of Ethan, Blythe, Owen, Evelyn, Jesse, Macy, Drew, and Lily. It was a fun night! We had our own little party over there! The kids were all so sweet and cute and hardly gave us any trouble at all. They all went to sleep pretty well. I'm very proud of Ethan and Blythe. Neither of them had their blankies, but they both went to sleep! (after I sang to them....Owen was so cute while I was singing to him!) The only one that wouldn't go to sleep was Macy, but we didn't mind because she didn't bother us at all. She sat and ate a late night snack of mint-chocolate chip ice cream and laughed and talked with us!

The adults got back at around 11:30, I think....I'm actually not sure, but it was quite late! Apparently, the party was a huge success and lots of fun! Jennifer had been thoroughly surprised! I think she had a really special night!

Sunday was a pretty normal day. We went to church and then came home. I spent the afternoon watching "Titanic" (which is my favorite movie right now). Then me and Mom went to Wal-Mart and got wireless internet for my laptop, which I am taking advantage of right now! At the exact time that we returned from Wally World, Nony arrived at our house. We had barbecued chicken and sausage and potato salad and snap beans for supper! We hadn't had barbecue in awhile since Dad has been having some troubles with his back. It was SO good! And we all watched "Twilight" together. Mom hadn't seen it yet, but she has read all the books. I think she really liked it. I enjoyed watching it with Nony. She had seen it before, so we were whispering to each other the whole time about stuff going on! It was very fun!

This morning, we haven't done any school at all, yet. My mother is being a mid-wife for our cat. Sophie is having kittens right now, as I speak. And I am told that if I go and see kittens being born that I get to skip science for today.....I don't like science, so I believe that I'm gonna take advantage of this opportunity. Last I heard there was 2 white ones! :-)

Enjoying Simple Things

2009-03-20T15:45:00.006-05:00

We have had a good week in the Feucht household. Well actually, two good weeks in a row! The week before last, there were some mission teams in Opelousas from colleges in Iowa and Tennessee! It was really fun! They painted the Hill House where we go tutor on Wednesdays a bright sunshiney yellow! It's really awesome! You can see it from Main Street. Plus I made some new friends. I met Kelsey, Molly, Chelsea, Samantha, Maggie, Sarah, and Samantha just to name a few. And also, Mirae that had come last summer was here again too! Me and Natalie LaCombe spent a whole afternoon with them. We played games with some of the kids from the Hill. And when they went home, it wasn't quite time for Youth Group, yet, so we hung out at the Hope House (which is across the street from church) for about 45 minutes, just talking to some of the girls. It was really fun! And really cool to meet all these college people who are so obviously living for Christ!

This week started off with me and Hannah Sonbuchner attending little Mary-Charlotte Boagni's birthday party. It was pretty adorable. It was her second birthday and the decorations were all pink and green and flowers and bunnies! So sweet!

Monday, I had dancing, which was marvelous as usual. I particularly enjoyed ballet this week. I usually have one class that stands out each week as being better than the other one. This week, it was ballet. I was just getting all the combinations right, and I felt pretty dancing! :-) After dancing, we had practice for "The Complete Works Of William Shakespeare Abridged". I am the "Light Fairy" (or some boring people like to say that I am doing the lights for the show...oh and the sounds some nights). It's a hilarious play. Casey Harmon, Duncan McBride, and Jay Mantell (I definetely don't know if that's how you spell Jay's name, but I hope it's right!). They are so funny. I haven't gotten tired of the show yet at all! Usually just watching the show, I get tired of it, but they just always make me laugh!

Tuesday, something wonderful happened! Nony came down from New York for a visit!!!! When she got home, I showed her a chocolate cheesecake recipe that I found in the Kraft Food and Family magazine. Then we decided to walk to Super 1 Foods and get the ingredients that were neccessary to make this delicious dessert. So we did!

And that is what it looks like! (Only we definetely left the blueberries off!) It was quite yummy, I will have you know! Tuesday, I had play practice again. Oh! And it was St. Patrick's Day. I totally didn't wear green and I only got pinched 3 little times: Mom, Lydia, and Natalie Sibille!

Wednesday, was probably my favorite day this week. Alot of marvelacious things happened. We got to see Nony again, which is always a good thing, cause we love her! Then, we went to tutor at the Hill House. When we came back from the Hill House, Mom and Dad had a "surprise" for me. Honestly, I knew all about it. Well first of all I'll tell you what the surprise was, then I can explain much easier. So, here it is, in all it's glory: my new LAPTOP!!!

It's yellow!! Okay, so here's the story: I decided awhile back that I wanted to get a laptop. I thought it would come in quite handy for college and everything next year. I also thought that it would be extremely convenient for me... :-) So, I started searching for a good deal. When I finally found one, I was totally ready to buy it. So, mom said I could. I have plenty of money in savings. So we ordered it!! I was surprised at how readily Mom agreed to buying something so expensive, that's when I got suspicious. Then when Mom wouldn't let me open the laptop when it arrived, I KNEW something was up. Later on in the afternoon Mom and Dad gave it to me! It was wonderful! I really like it!

Yesterday (Thursday) was a nice day, too. It was pretty boring at first, but then Natalie LaCombe got home and we decided that we should get ready together. We were going to see Natalie Sibille and Mikie in their school play, "Big River". It's the story of Huck Finn. They both did a fabulous job! They play was pretty cute, too. Then afterwards we went to eat at Casa Ole'. It was really fun!

This week, Lydia also got a pet bunny. She named him Jo-Jo. He’s cute and soft and fuzzy! I think she’s really liking him!

Today was a good day also. Me and Natalie S. both took a half day of school. Now, we're at her house just hanging out, being friends....talking about silly things...very silly...just enjoying our lives! :-)

Life is good...

2009-03-17T22:06:00.004-05:00

My life has been quite enjoyable. Mostly normal things going on. I've got dancing on Mondays, babysitting Zoe and Voice lessons on Tuesdays, babysitting Zoe, tutoring at the Hill House, and Youth Group on Wednesdays, play practice Monday-Wednesday nights, and lots of time in between spent with my dear friend, Natalie Sibille! So, like I said, life has been very nice lately! We had some beautiful weather today! I went and did my schoolwork up on the roof. The temperature was perfect and there was a nice gentle breeze occasionally! Ahhhhh... :-)

Here are some pictures of Gracie's life recently:

"Try on you glasses?"

"Now, you wear dem, Gwacie"
Lottie, our new puppy!

We were princesses!

I'm obsessed with this outfit! Me and my friend, Amanda, went shopping and I had to try on that full length dress! I love it!! I want it!! Now, I just have to convince my mom that I really need it.....

Oh dear...

2009-03-07T23:48:00.003-06:00

Well...it seems that I've done a super super awful job with my blog lately. I bet anybody who ever read it has given up on me by now...Well...I'm back people! So, here's what's been going on lately!

Well, in February, we celebrated Dad, Lydia, Natalie LaCombe, and Uncle Stonnie's birthdays. Natalie's came first, so I'll tell all about that one first. Natalie's birthday is actually January 8 and she'd been planning to have a party, but she works so much that she just wasn't getting a chance to plan it. One night Natalie Sibille and I were talking on the phone (like we do nearly every night...), but we weren't really having anything interesting to talk about. Natalie S. said that it was because we didn't have anything in the near future to look forward to or talk about or plan. So, I said, "Let's plan a surprise party for Natalie!"

We decided to just invite everybody that Natalie LaCombe knew (well maybe not everybody, but alot of people) to meet at some restaurant and have a party for her. We didn't know when the next time Natalie would have a Friday or Saturday that she wasn't working, so we could have the party. We waited only one week to find out that Natalie would have Friday, February 13 off! Well, the restaurant ended up being Chili's. We invited people from the theatre, church, family, friends, her cosmetology school, and OHS (her highschool). Of course, not everybody that was invited came, but we still had a pretty big group! We told her that just me, Natalie S. and her were going to go out to eat, just the 3 of us. And we did tell her that it was for her birthday. She didn't suspect a single thing!!

When we got to Chili's Natalie L. told me to get down and see if there were any tables. (We told her that since it was the day before Valentine's Day there might be a long wait). It was so perfect that she told me to do that because I could go in and see if the other people waiting for us had been seated yet. Well....they hadn't. So I went out and told Natalie and Natalie that there weren't enought tables for us, so we had to wait 15 or 20 minutes before going in. A little while later, I went in again. Mom said to wait about a minute or two, and then come in. So I went back out to the car and we waited a minute or two, then went in. On the way in, though, I could see all our people through the window, so I was pointing to the sky in the opposite, I was saying things like, "Wow...those clouds look really pretty. Look at that star....Oh, there is no way that's a star. It's way to big. It must be a planet. I wonder if it's Venus because if it was Mars it would look redish...."

When we went in, right as we went around the corner where the table was, I covered Natalie's eyes. When I uncovered them, I think she was kinda shocked and had a little minute of taking it all in! Then she turned around and looked at me and Natalie S. (of course we were both bursting with smiles of pride that we actually pulled off the surprise). She said, very bluntly, "I'm gonna beat ya'll."

It was a very fun night. We had a really awesome cake that Natalie Sibille made for her. That was another surprise! Then after we ate, we had another surprise for her. We found out that there was one theatre in Lafayette that was still playing the movie "Twilight". (Actually Natalie LaCombe was the one that informed me of this). So, since Natalie L. was the only one that could drive us there, we told her that she couldn't know where we were going, but we were just gonna tell her where to turn and stuff. Well, it turns out that we got in Lafayette way early, so we stopped at a Starbucks for a little while. I got a chocolatey chocolate frappuchino, which, needless to say, was amazing. Then when we got to the theatre, we blindfolded her. But, when we walked up to the theatre, the fire alarm was going off, so I decided that it would be considerate to unblindfold her. We had to wait awhile and the entire theatre had to be evacuated. Finally they discoverated that some teenagers or somebody had pulled the fire alarm and there was really no need for panic. Then, we finally got to go in and watch the movie. Of course, Natalie LaCombe started falling asleep...it was pretty funny. I kept "accidentally" bumping her arm to wake her up. Then we went to spend the night at the Sibille's house. It was alot of fun!

For Lydia's birthday, she had an American Girl Mystery Party. It was pretty cute. She and her friends had a good time. We all wore costumes. Natalie Sibille came and helped with the party, too. For Dad's birthday we had a cake and I wrapped all the presents in coordinating paper (they looked fabulous, if I do say so myself, the even matched his German Chocolate cake!)

We also celebrated Uncle Stonnie's birthday. It was at my cousin's camp. We went over there and spent the night. It was alot of fun! We spent time with all of my Dad's family because Uncle Stonnie is his brother. We had a great time!

Here are some pictures of the February Birthday Parties:

Natalie's special Twilight cake. It was a white cake, but Natalie Sibille used red food coloring on the inside. Natalie LaCombe LOVED it!

Everybody!

Natalie at the theatre blindfolded and pretending to drink my Chocolatey Chocolate Frappuchino...

Lydia blowing out her 11 candles!

Dad's cake and presents!
Uncle Stonnie (Dad's little brother), Aunt Theresa (Dad's older sister), and Dad.
Nathan fishing out on the docks at our cousin's camp. I thought he looked so adorable with his bare feet and jeans rolled up! Ha ha...

Okay...well that's it for my February. I mean, obviously that's not everything that happened to me, but that's the highlights.

Coming Soon:

March 20- Older sister Nichole/Nony coming home for a visit.

March 26- "Complete Works Of William Shakespeare Abridged" Opens. I'm doing lights and sometimes sound.

April 10- Off school for Easter Break! Nony and Frank come for a visit!!

April 11- My Birthday!

April 17- !!!!!!!!!!!!!LEAVE FOR NEW YORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Visit To My Big Brother's House

2009-02-16T12:19:00.005-06:00

Yesterday, we went to Jade and Jennifer's house for the day. In the morning, we went to church with them. That was nice. I liked their youth group alot. Me and Claire went to the Youth Sunday School. I liked it. Then we went over to Jade and Jennifer's house.

But, I was kinda bored because Claire had gone to eat lunch with one of their friends and the adults were talking about budgets and financial things and most of the kids were playing with Nathan's dirt-bike, which I've ridden on a bunch of times and I didn't care to get my clothes muddy, and Evelyn was asleep....so, I was quite alone...

So, I got on the computer for awhile, then went back and talked to Mom and Jennifer for awhile (who were no longer conversing about budgets). And FINALLY, Claire got home! We did some normal fun stuff, then we went outside and tried to play on the zip-line but we couldn't reach it. So, we took turns picking each other up to try to hang on it. Claire is taller, but apparently, I'm stronger, so we were most successful when I picked her up....haha. In the end though, we just gave up and went for a walk far behind their yard next to the canal.

We soon discoverated a tree that had fallen down during Hurricane Gustav. I decided that it would be super fun to climb across it, since it had fallen down right across the water and made a perfect bridge. Claire wasn't so sure....I had to do quite alot of convincing to get her out on that tree ha ha. But, eventually, I did and we had alot of fun climbing on it. Then, we decided to head back to her house to see if supper was ready yet. And YAY! it was. Delicious Taco Soup! (compliments of Jennifer!) We got nice and full of yummy soup and then invtited Nathan and Lydia to come climb on the tree with us before it got too dark. So, we all headed back there to the tree. We had lots of fun climbing across the tree. We decided that we wanted to actually climb down on the other side and walk over to where there was a bridge, though, since it was getting darker. So, once we had all safely landed on the other side we heard a little voice calling "Lydia!! Claire!! Nathan!! Gracie!!"....It was Blythe. And she wanted to come play with us. So, me and Nathan went back across the tree, to the other side of the very wide canal, to get Blythe and help her across. Blythie climbed on my back and we got on the tree and started heading across the tree. Nathan took off real fast, though, and left me and Blythe behind. So, Lydia came to help me with the task of getting this five year old (who really doesn't have the best balance) to the other side of the canal. I realized just getting her past a certain big branch was a feat in and of itself! But we finally reached solid land again. Getting OFF the tree was probably the hardest part it's a pretty big drop to a steep hill, so Nathan and Claire grabbed a long branch and I also grabbed, then put Blythe on my back and Nathan and Claire sorta pulled us to help me land on my feet and successfully get up the steep hill. Then, as soon as me and Blythe we safely on dry land, we realized that it had gotten dark, so we decided that there was no way that we wanted to climb back over that tree with Blythie in the dark. But, thankfully, we knew of a few bridges nearby that we could cross without too much effort. So, we started walking towards the one to the left. We realized that it was much further than we thought, so we turned back towards the tree to walk to the other bridge that looked WAY closer. Except Nathan...he was determined to go to the other bridge. So, me, Claire, Blyth, and Lydia ventured off on our own. Eventually, we passed by the tree again. We kept walking....the bridge couldn't be too much further! Then, we heard a voice behind us: "Wait! Wait for me! I'm gonna come with ya'll!" It was Nathan. He changed his mind and very wisely decided to stick with the group.

We walked a little ways and then we heard a very strange noise. I had never really heard a noise quite like it before. So I asked Claire, "Was that you?" It wasn't. Nathan said "I KNOW WHAT THAT IS!! GUYS, THAT'S A BOBCAT!! I KNOW! I'VE HEARD THEM BEFORE WHEN I WAS HUNTING!!"

Well, it took us absolutely no time to turn around, get Blythe on my back, and head in the opposite direction, back to our beloved tree. We were all freaked out completely and just frantic with panic. Lydia and Nathan climbed on the tree first. Then, we had the task of getting Blythe back up on the tree. Poor Claire was just behind us waiting! Blythe was saying, "Guys! I'm scared! I don't don't even know what a bobcat is! I wanna go home!"

Finally we got on the tree. We all went across: Lydia, then Nathan, then me with Blythe choking me to death, and last Claire. Lydia took off and didn't wait for any of us. Thankfully Nathan stayed behind and helped me with Blythe. Claire passed me up and took off on land. When I got off the tree (which was no easy accomplishment), I just ran! Blythe is heavy and she was holding on very tightly around my neck and very successfully choking me. Eventually, it just became too much. I couldn't run any further with her on my back. I was actually having trouble breathing! I had run a really far distance with that little (I shouldn't say "little"...she's so tall...) girl on my back. And it's a very big field that's behind Jade and Jennifer's house! I took her off and gave her to Claire and Claire helped Blythe the rest of the way to the house.

We burst through the door and Jade said..."Why are ya'll all out of breath?"

Monday night, I broke out in a really bad rash on my neck and the back of my leg. Mom said that it must be an allergic reaction to something. The only thing unusual that I'd eaten were cashews in Rachel's trail mix on Monday afternoon. So, we figured that I must be allergic to cashews.

So, Wednesday we took a visit to the allergy doctor. I was hoping that the itching and swelling would go away really fast! My neck was swollen to the point of me looking like I had a double chin. I really wanted my neck to go back to it nice normal size! As soon as the allergy doctor saw me, he said, “Oh, that’s Poison Ivy.” Which, I, for some reason, always expected. But, Mom was so sure that it wasn’t because it came out SO badly, SO fast. It usually takes poison ivy a few days to come out, but mine started the very next day! We finally figured out that it must have been Blythe that got into poison ivy. Then, when she was holding on around my neck while we were out running the bob-cat, she rubbed it into my skin real good…and that would explain why it was so bad so fast! Anyway, they gave me a shot and the spots on my neck are healing pretty fast, but the spots on my hands and legs are just getting worse…This is by far the worst case I ever had!

I hope it just gets better soon! :-) For now, I’m itching…and trying not to scratch!

Zoe Sophia Uhl.....

2009-01-28T21:33:00.004-06:00

Okey dokey...I think it's about time I put a post up that's all about a little darlin named Zoe. I babysit and "teach" her every Tuesday and Wednesday mornings. She is a character....She's the youngest in the family and also the only girl out of 4 kids...so she's sort of a little princess. She's about 2 1/2 years old, but I tell you, she thinks she runs the Uhl houshold...

She can really be a sweetie, though. Sometimes she'll just be standing next to me and all of a sudden look up at me and say, "Hold you?" So, I'll pick her up and she'll say, "I wus you!" (I love you, in Zoe Language). So adorable....

And Zoe loves her Gracie. Well I love her too!

Just about every morning that I go over there, we go for a walk. No matter what the weather is. (Unless is SUPER cold...or pouring down rain...) But, most mornings we go for a walk in the park and around their neighborhood. And while we walk, I usually sing to her. Mostly broadway songs...ha ha. My most popular songs to sing to her are: "Off To Massachusetts" from Little Women: The Musical, "Some Things Are Meant To Be" from Little Women: The Musical, "Once Upon A December" from Disney's Anastasia, "Reflection" from Disney's Mulan, and others. But, those are her favorites. Yesterday, she asked me to sing the "ride a kite" song (which is "Some Things Are Meant To Be" the first line is: "Let's pretend we're riding on a kite..." Then she wanted me to sing "Matchachusetts"...so cute!

She can be pretty canaille (that's pronounced cuh-NIE for all you illiterate Cajuns!)*** too. She was sitting in a white rocking chair and banging it against the wall, which wasn't gonna be too good for the paint. So, I told her to stop and she did. But, of course, as soon as I turned away from her to talk to John Vincent (her brother), she started again. I turned back to look at her and I just looked at her real seriously and didn't say anything. At first, she had a really ashamed and guilty expression on her face, but after a second, she smiled real big (and I was still frowning at her) and said "I wus you too!!!"

Also, the other day, when she got a spanking for ripping some paint off her wall, she got up after her dad was finished spanking her and said "That hurt my butt!"....Zoe, Zoe, Zoe. She make me laugh.

She has a kitchen that has a bunch of fake food and she always gives me some in a bowl. As soon as her back is turned, I hide the food behind a pillow or in my pocket or something. When she comes back, I say "Ooo! That was good! Thank you!" And I give her the empty bowl. The expression on her face is simply priceless! She is so confused! She looks in my hands, then back to the bowl. Then she opens my mouth and says, "You eat it?" Later, when I show her where the food was hidden she just says, "Thank you".

There is alot more that I could say about Zoe, but I think I'll stop here for now. I know that there'll be more funny stories in the future though! So, I'll just be going now!

***Spelling and pronounciation sentence from the Future Dr. Nichole Crocco

Pictures from Showcase

2009-01-27T19:01:00.008-06:00

Here are some pictures from Showcase!!

Me and Natalie Sibille. I'm Millie Dillmount for "Gimme, Gimme", the song from Thoroughly Modern Millie. The musical takes place in the 1920's. Natalie is Lucy Harris from Jekyll and Hyde and she sang "Someone Like You". That musical takes place in the late 1800's (I think....tell me if I'm wrong, Natalie). So, we had fun wearing our old-fashioned costumes for curtain call!

That's my mother dear all decked out for the "witch skit". That skit has a wonderful story behind it that just wouldn't be the same written down, so if anybody ever wants to know, you gotta ask me in person!

That would me me with "Mr." Duncan. No, actually I don't call him "Mr." anymore, but I did for the longest time. It drove him crazy and made everybody else laugh at and tease me. But I call him just Duncan now :-)

Gracie Danae and Tessa Danae posing together backstage! Yes, we have the same middle name! Isn't that crazy!? Two Danaes...

Me and Hannah Stewart. She was in Showcase last year and again this year. She sings country songs. Hannah's a really fun person....she always makes me laugh.

Me and Taylor Reed. I love Taylor. She was with me in the very first play that I was in at the Opelousas Little Theatre. We got really close during that. Then she moved to Los Angelos for awhile and so we kinda lost touch, but I'm really happy to be back in touch with her again, now!

Alex Whittington is one of the coolest and most mature 12 year old boys I've ever met. He's really nice and a GREAT actor. He impresses me and he's just so professional with his acting, and he only just started doing any acting this summer! Alex is awesome.
Okay, this is a really awkward "getting ready" picture of Ethan, Natalie S. and Megan. They're in the make up room doing hair and make up stuff.

Me and Natalie LaCombe, all ready for the show to start!

"Little" Natalie, Rose, and Casey playing around before showtime....Casey is SO funny. He cracks me up, no matter what he's saying, he finds a way to make it hilarious...

Me and Natalie Sibille in our costumes for "That Wicky Wacky Hula Hula Honka Wonka Honolulu Hawaiian Honey Of Mine", our first number.

The entire cast of "Omigod You Guys" from Legally Blonde: The Musical. Left to right we are: Tara Sibille (Store Manager), Taylor Reed (Delta Nu #3/Serena US/Pilar US), Natalie LaCombe (Serena), Tessa Vander Molen (Kate), Ashley Nicole (Pilar), Gracie Feucht (Margot), Rachel Vander Molen (Delta Nu #2), Becca Vander Molen (Delta Nu #1), Natalie Sibille (Elle Woods), and Paula Feucht (Courtney=Snobby Saleslady)...fun fun fun!

Mrs. Tara, Natalie Sibille, and Mom!The Delta Nu's: Rachel/Delta Nu #2, Taylor/Delta Nu #3, Tessa/Kate, Becca/Delta Nu #1, Natalie L./Serena, Gracie/Margot, Ashley/Pilar, Natalie S./Elle.

Daughter of Delta Nu, soon to be fiance.

Now that a man chose you, your life begins today...

Me as Margot! "Mad Props!"

Showcase Opening Night!

2009-01-23T11:40:00.002-06:00

Last night was WONDERFUL!! We had a wonderful audience for Opening Night! It feels really good to be onstage again. I hadn't been in any shows since July when we were in "Broadway On 2nd Street". That's a long time! I'm in a few skits a few songs and I love it! My two favorite things that I'm in are "Gimme, Gimme" (not to be confused with "Gimme Gimme Gimme A Mand After Midnight" by ABBA) my solo. It's a song from the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie". It's the first time I've done a song that's not really "cute". It's really dramatic. And, it was a pretty challenging song to sing. There are two notes that are just belted out and they aren't really the easiest notes to belt, but according to the people in the cast, I do them really well. I can't quite believe that I can sing that song...and sing it well, so it was really, really exciting, last night, when I finished my song and the audience just went crazy! It made my spirits soar and my heart feel really happy! I couldn't stop smiling! And everybody backstage just made it better. Mom, Natalie Sibille, Ashley Brown, and Hannah Stewart all made me feel really, really good when I came off the stage! It was a really wonderful experience!

My other favorite part of the show is the "Doctor Skit". I was talking about that one is one of my other posts. But the audience last night was laughing SO SO SO loudly during that skit. It was crazy! I had such a hard time not laughing! I know I came really close to laughing a couple times. But tonight, that will not happen. Not even close. I'm just not going to let that happen. Nope, nope, nope! I'm determined!

Well, that's all for now! I hope tonight's performance is just as wonderful as last night...well better cause I don't wanna even almost laugh during the Doctor Skit!

I was tagged

2009-01-23T11:17:00.004-06:00

Jennifer tagged me to put 10 things about myself:

(First the rules)

Honest Scrap Award Rules: When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!

So...10 things about Gracie:

1. I HATE bananas and blueberries. They are really the only 2 "normal" foods that I completely refuse to eat under any circumstances. (Obviously I wouldn't eat raw octopus or something weird food...)

2. I'm a really light sleeper. Anything wakes me up. So, don't ever try to slumber me. It won't work.

3. Raw chicken really grosses me out and Mom is determined to teach me how to touch it....

4. I can't hold a grudge against anybody, no matter how hard I try, I always forgive people...after about 2 minutes, I'm over it.

5. I have 8 neices and nephews.

6. I would MUCH rather wear a dress or skirt than pants or shorts.

7. I plan to live in New York City one day.

8. I love being on stage! (I know that one is super obvious, but I really couldn't put 10 things about myself without including that...it was hurting me not to mention it...)

9. I recently started trying to figure out how to play the violin...I'm not sure how it's going, but Mom's impressed and violins have always fascinated me. So far I can't play "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" and "Ode To Joy".

10. I think I'm gonna be the shortest of all my siblings....Nathan is only about and inch shorter than me and Lydia's not too much shorter than that and she's only 10!

Okey dokey, so now I must tag some people:

http://ashleynicolebrown.blogspot.com/ is Ashley Brown.

http://rclairebear12.blogspot.com/ is Claire Stanford.

Okay, you two! You've been tagged!

Showcase 2009 Rehearsals

2009-01-07T21:21:00.002-06:00

Showcase is being really fun this year! So far I'm in a few songs and a few skits and they're all very entertaining.

Last night we practiced only songs and dances. Only, none of the dancers were there, so we ended up only practicing songs. Me, Natalie, Natalie, Ashley Brown, Becca, Tessa, and Rachel are doing the opening song from Legally Blonde: The Musical. Me, Mikey, and Natalie are doing a song that we discoverated on the internet called "That Wicky Wacky Hula Hula Honka Wonka Honalulu Hawaiian Honey Of Mine". It's a pretty hilarious song. Then, I think I'm probly gonna sing a song from Thoroughly Modern Millie called "Gimme, Gimme", but I'm not sure about that one yet.

This morning I babysat Zoe. She was quite adorable, as usual. When I got there, she was absolutely naked...so I got her dressed...we had fun. She got a little tiny kitchen for Christmas and she was "baking" me food. I would pretend to eat it and then, when her back was turned, I'd stick it in my coat pocket. Then, I'd show her the empty plate and she was completely baffled! She knew the food was fake and it totally confusified her, cause she knew I couldn't really eat it. So, she would pull my mouth open and then, with a very confused expression say, "You eat all of it?" It was cracking me up...

Then, I came home and did school. Me and Mom finished reading "Romeo and Juliet". It was so good! I actually loved it! I can't wait to see the movie, because Mom said that now that we're done reading it, we can rent the movie! I always knew that it was a good story because it's such a classic. But, I would forget that I was even doing schoolwork when we were doing it. We would get so into the story and taking turns reading (we would play different people...I was always Juliet) that we would forget to answer the questions in the lesson and we'd have to answer a bunch. I don't think I've enjoyed a schoolbook as much as that one in a while!

This afternoon we had tutoring at the Hope on the Hill house. I helped Amber and Trevon with science study guides and division problems...well actually mostly helped Amber. Trevon was fine on his own. Then I helped Tavian and another guy, who's name I don't really know...I like working with Tavian the best. He's really funny and makes it easier to help him cause he's so entertaining, but we're both so talkative and easily distracted, that sometimes we don't get too much done. I had to help those two with multiplication tables. When "What's-his-name" couldn't figure out the answer (Tavian knew all of them), we would "make a beat" and "What's-his-name" would rap "Seven times nine equals sixty-three" etc. It was really fun...until we got hushed by the people in the next room because we were disrupting them. Then I taught the little drama class that I do for them over there. It was fun, as usual. But today all the kids were really, really hyper and full of energy, so it was hard to keep them focused and having creative ideas...

Tonight, we practiced the skits at showcase practice. I'm in some awesome skits. My favorite is the one where we're doing some sort of scene. I play a person playing a mom whose son is shot and dying and calls a doctor...you get the idea. Anyway, the first time we go through it, we are all completely emotionless and the director asks us to repeat it with a little more emotion. So, the second time we go through it really over-emotional. Then, she asks us to do it with less emotion, but a little bit faster. So we do it super fast. Then, she tells us to slow down, so we do it in slow motion. Then she just gets mad and quits...Everybody who was watching was laughing so much. I can't wait to do it again when more people are there!

Well, tomorrow, I don't have too much going on. We're doing school, of course, and then I've got rehearsal again. Rehearsal should be fun, though!

New Year!

2009-01-02T20:03:00.003-06:00

Happy Happy New Year!

I had a wonderful New Years and New Years Eve! Natalie LaCombe and I went to Natalie Sibille's house on New Years Eve. Ashley Brown went too. We had lots of very scrumptious food. My favorites were the cheeseball that Natalie S. made, the mexican cornbread that Natalie S. made, and the cookie bars that Mrs. Tara (Natalie Sibille's momsie) made! We practiced one of our songs for showcase that me, Ashley, and the Natalies are gonna be in. We even practiced it in our costumes! Then we went outside in our costums and popped some fireworks. We were freezing! But we didn't exactly care...There were some really pretty ones! One of them didn't go up in the air and it popped right there in the yard and it was very huge, but thankfully nobody was harmed. And now that we know that everybody was safe, I can say that it actually looked really cool for that gigantic firework to pop right in their yard!

Ashley couldn't spend the night and she had to leave before we were ready for her to! We stayed up very late...well me, Natalie Sibille, and Mikey did. Natalie LaCombe went to bed early...as usual. But, me and Natalie S. did each other's makeup and then she curled my hair. We expected it to come out looking very funny, but it ended up looking very cute! It looked like a hairstyle from the 40's. So, we put on sunglasses and scarves (mine was around my neck and Natalie had hers around her head like a bonnet thing). We looked like old Hollywood movie stars! Then we pulled out some old clothes that were from Natalie's grandmother and they were SO cute! We put them on and made a bunch of really cute 40's style outfits and then got Mikey to take pictures of us. The pictures came out very cute, hopefully I can post some of them soon, but right now they're all on Natalie's camera, so I shall have to get them later.

Then yesterday we slept really late. When we woke up it was lunch time and Mrs. Tara had, of course, fixed cabbage (in the form of coleslaw) and black eyed peas along with some other very delicious food! Then I invited Natalie S. to spend the night at my house. And (hooray!) she could come, so we got all our stuff together and left to come back to my house. We had a very wonderful time. We watched a recording of the Broadway show "Thoroughly Modern Millie". It was a very good show....very entertaining. During the show, we got a phone call....It was a girl named Kristen....calling for Nathan. Hee hee hee.... He wasn't home. He was spending the night at Pete and Joey's house (our cousins). But, apparently this girl lives across the street from one of Nathan's friends and seems to be interested in Nathan and gave him her number...Next time she calls, I'm tempted to say "Sorry, he's not here. He's at the movies with Sarah..." Mom doesn't quite know what to do about this situation yet...

Today, Natalie slept really late, so I took a shower while she was sleeping. Then when she FINALLY woke up we ate lunch and then we went to Wal-Mart to get some t-shirts. We're making shirts that say a cute little phrase on it. Then Natalie had to leave. So, now me, Mom, Dad, and Lydia are just having a quiet uneventful evening at home. Of course...usually when it seems quiet and uneventful, something usually comes along and changes that...ha ha. Well that's all for now!

Christmas Break

2008-12-29T23:34:00.003-06:00

Well, Christmas is all over...but it was great while it was going on! Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt Dianne and Uncle Steve's house (that's my mom's brother and his wife). It was a very enjoyable evening! I wore my new dress (I had a matching sweater, too, but I didn't exactly get to wear that since it was so hot...) Jade, Jennifer, and family came, Nony and Frank came, Grandma Mona and Paw-Paw came, Uncle Jim, Aunt Lisa, Pete, and Joey came! It was very fun! We had some good food, good music, and even some dancing too! And of course, me, Nathan, Pete, Joey, and Claire did our yearly Christmas Eve tradition of going out in the field next to Aunt Dianne and Uncle Steve's house and scaring ourselves with the old abandoned cars. I don't know why, but those cars freak us out. One year, (a few years ago) me, Nathan, and Pete were positive that we saw a guy in there moving around. I'm sure it was our overactive imaginations, but we often let those imaginations of ours get the best of us...

Christmas morning, I woke up to mom and Nony singing "We won't go until we get some, we won't go until we get some, we won't go until we get some, so bring some right now!" They made sure I was awake and a few seconds later, I could hear them serenading from Nathan's room: "We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!" It was wonderful to hear them doing that. It reminds me of a Christmas years and years ago. It must have been right after Jade first moved out of the house because there was no Nathan and me and Nony each had our own rooms. But I was sleeping in Jade's old bed and Mom and Nony came in with a cup of hot chocolate for me and singing Christmas songs. I can even remember the mug that they had my hot chocolate in. We still have it...it was white.

But anyway, we went in the living room and did our tradition of starting off Christmas with Jesus and reading the REAL Christmas story, before getting all wrapped up in our presents (hee hee...wrapped up....). As far as presents, I didn't get anything too very memorable this year. I am really looking forward to Jade and Jennifer's present, though. I got a gift card to use at Forever 21 when it opens at the Mall of Louisiana! We're gonna be doing some shopping there for Claire's birthday party and Jennifer and I are supposed to be picking out a real cute outfit for me! My mom and dad gave me the American GIrl Samantha and Nellie mini dolls, since they're supposed to be retiring and I won't be able to get them anymore. So, I was glad to get those cause, yes, I still love my American Girl Dolls. And Grandma Mona and Paw Paw gave me some real pearl earrings and that was very special!

Friday, the day after Christmas, I went and spent the night with Krista (even though I had invited Natalie S. to come over....we had a very huge ordeal with her being unable to come and being quite upset about it. There are alot more details, but I'm not gonna go there...to say the least it was frustrating). But, I ended up having a wonderful time at the Hamontree's house. Well, except for the first hour and a half when Krista wasn't there yet...

Saturday, I stayed at Krista's house until around 3:30 and then I went over to Natalie LaCombe's house. Her dad wanted to treat us to a movie and supper. So, guess what movie we decided to go see? Twilight! Of course! But, when we arrived at the Grand Theatre, both shows were already SOLD OUT! So, we drove to the other theatre in Lafayette to see if they were gonna have some showings of Twilight and (oh joy!) they did! But, it wasn't until 9:20. So, we went to Cici's Pizza and ate supper first...then we had like an hour to kill. So we went in the arcade and played some games, then we went and sang songs in the really echoey bathroom. Then we went to see Natalie's sister Brooks at the restaurant that she works at. And finally, it was time to go to the movie theatre! When we got there, it was pouring down rain, so we had a little fiasco with the one umbrella...and a little miscommunication (Mr. Russel ended up wet...). But we made it and enjoyed the movie as much as always! Mr. Russel was hilarious while watching it. He would respond out loud to things going on in the movie and it was just cracking us up. I was a little worried that he was disturbing the people sitting right next to us, but they were highly entertained by him...

Sunday was church in the morning of course. Hannah and I sat together at church, which was something we hadn't done in a while (we used to do it all the time when we were little). Then Hannah came over to my house after church. It was so wonderful to spend an afternoon with her. I hadn't gotten to in so long. Hannah always has homework or studying or something to do with school that prevents us from getting together. But finally we did! Me, Hannah, and Natalie LaCombe sewed Natalie's "Serena" costume for Showcase. Then we all went and spent the night at the LaCombe's house. We got Pringles, Corn chips, chili, cheese, and coke and watched "Mamma Mia". Natalie fell asleep...of course, but Hannah enjoyed it!

Hannah had to leave in the morning cause she wasn't feeling so great, but I'm glad that she felt good Sunday night. We had a great time!

Understudy...

2008-12-20T22:25:00.002-06:00

Well, looks like it's pretty definite that I won't be playing the lead role of "Miriam" in our church Christmas play...I still have no voice at all. So, Natalie LaCombe, who was originally playing "Mary" and having only one line is taking my place. So, she is vigorously highlighting lines behind me at the table and trying to learn them before tomorrow at 6:00 PM. And I will be playing "Mary" and Nick, who's playing "Joseph" will say Mary's one line instead of me. I'll just stand there...

We'll see how it goes....

Oh! I'm not asking for much! Only.......your voice!

2008-12-20T18:28:00.003-06:00

I am officially off for Christmas Break!!! YAY!!! I'm very excited! I was getting tired of school-work.

Yesterday, we had Ponytail Pals. Only Natalie and Natalie came. We made truffles! They came out AMAZING! And they're quite pretty, too. They taste like chocolate on the outside and then the filling tastes like a very very scrumptious cheesecake! Oh my goodness! YUM!! After Ponytail Pals, we didn't do too much...

This morning we had dress rehearsal for "Off Limits Shepherds", the church Christmas play. I got the lead role and I have a big ol' monologue right smack on the first page. But, don't worry, I've got it all learned! Anyway, so we ran into a little small problem. Starting a little bit last night, I was slowly losing my voice. And by this morning it was gone completely. I can mostly only talk in a whisper...It's very frustrating! I just don't know what to do with myself. I feel like Ariel in the Little Mermaid...no voice. This helps a little to be typing on my blog, but not too very much. I was expecting it to help a little more than it is, but I just wanna hear my voice come out of my mouth! Everybody knows how much I like to talk!! And SING!! Can ya'll believe that I haven't sung at all today (ok, to tell the truth, I have tried, but yeah...it didn't work, so technically I haven't sung ALL DAY LONG!!!!!) I want my voice back. And it hasn't gotten any better since this morning...I feel absolutely perfect. My throat doesn't hurt or anything! I just have no voice at all....Laryngitis stinks....I just hope it's better by tomorrow night. Cause if it's not, I don't know what we're gonna do for the Church Christmas play...it doesn't look too very likely that my voice'll be good enough by then.

Well...for a person who's hardly talked all day and really wants to talk I can't really think of anything else to add to this besides: I miss my voice and want it back really really badly! I feel so lonely cause I can't talk to anybody and stupid cause if I do I have to whisper to everybody....so, I'm gonna go make some baked potatoes for supper.....but I don't really like cooking and usually to help the time go by and make it seem a little fun, I sing while I cook, but I can't...:-( oh well...I'll most likely cheer up some other way...but I don't know because when I'm unhappy, I usually call Natalie Sibille and talk to her on the phone and that makes me happier, but I can't talk. So, I don't know what to do...If anybody knows any ideas of something fun to do that doesn't require vocal chords, please let me know.....

Wedding Pictures!!!

2008-12-18T11:07:00.019-06:00

We finally got all of the other wedding pictures!!! So I'm gonna post some of my favorites! (which will be alot....)

Bride's Bouquet

Bridesmaid Bouquet
The GEORGEOUS cake

This picture is priceless...I love it

Let me explain this picture: My toenails needed to be dry very quickly and that long skinny thing is a fan, so I was drying my toenails on the fan. Ha ha

Jenn doing my make-up

Me, putting the red cord in my hair

I think that this picture is soooooo sweet

I was peeking out the window saying "Oooo! Frank is here!!!" And Nony's reaction was....

Gleeful happy joyfulness!!

Where did Nony go?

There she is!

I really like this picture too...it's one of my favorites

And I don't even know what the heck I was doing in this picture....just being silly I'm sure, but it did make a cute picture, I think.

Me and Frank

Frank and Blythe

Me...I don't know when or where or what I was doing when this picture was taken...

Damon and Jerry, the ushers. This picture makes me laugh every time! It looks like one of them said something really funny right before the picture was taken...

Frank and Pastor John

My darling Grandma Mona and Paw-Paw

My Mom and big brother, Jade

Sergio, Frank's younger brother, and Anne, Nony's friend

Angelo, Frank's older brother and me, Nony's little sister

Dennis, Frank's friend, and Morgan, Nony's friend

Sal, Franks big brother, and Jenn, Nony's maid of honor

Ian, Frank's best man, and Christy, Nony's matron of honor

Ethan and Blythe, Nony's neice and nephew
Nony and Dad
Nony and Papa

All of us up by the gazebo

This picture is just too adorable!
All the bridesmaids with their eyes closed and heads bowed....but not Blythie...hee hee...
THE kiss!!
Another sweet picture!
Here's all the family...including Nathan already undressed from his nice wedding clothes....
Nony and her bridesmaids

Our feet!

Frank and his groomsmen (Doesn't this picture look like they're about to break out in a dance?)

The groomsmen and their pocket watches

The wedding party all around the cake right before the toast.

Jenn and Nony...cute picture
BIG bite of cake...ha ha ha
The first dance of the night!
Awww!! So sweeeeeet!

Nony and her Papa!
Nony and Dad!
Frank and his momma!

Me telling Jade that I would like it very much if he came to dance with me!
And he did!!

We had so much fun!!
Okay, is it just me? Or do Mom and Dad look like they're scheming and plotting something mischievous in this picture?
Mom and Frank
Lydia and Frank

Me and Frank (we all had to have out turn!)
I love Paw-Paw alot, but this dance was reeeeally long....he doesn't move around too fast and he tries to talk to you, but he can't hear what you say back....but I'm still very glad I danced with him
Look at that adorable fat baby!! She knows she's cute!

Owen getting into the dancing!
Me, Mom, Aunt Dianne, and Anne doing the Cupid Shuffle
Me and Evelyn Kate
Nony and Ethan

Nony and Jade. I like this picture alot!

Me and Nony!

And last, but not least, I have a picture that is just for Jennifer. Here's Blythe Elaine:

That, Ladies and Gentlemen, is four saltine crackers all at the same time...

My Monday...

2008-12-15T21:50:00.002-06:00

Wow...today was a very long day. But, it was pretty good. Mostly just normal, but a good normal. One thing that I quite enjoyed today was cleaning out an old purse of mine. I hadn't used that purse in years, people, but when I cleaned out, much to my surprise and delight, I discoverated twenty-five dollars in it! As you might imagine, I was very very excited! I love it when God gives us nice little pleasures like that. Don't you?

Then, this afternoon, Natalie Sibille came over for a couple of minutes. Then I went back with her and Mikey to their house so they could get a DVD of "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" (the show that the three of us were in in April) to give to Ashley Brown (who was the director of "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown"). And, much to my un-surprise, we couldn't find the Act 2 disc. So, we searched high and low for it and we could not find that little disc ANYWHERE. Mikey came up with the plan of giving her Disc 1 and then just taking a blank disc and writing "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown Act 2" on it. Then when she discoverated that it didn't work and called us, then we would just say "Oh...whoops...sorry..." Isn't that terrible!?!?! But it was a little tempting....I will be honest. I don't think I could ever actually do something like that though. That would just totally crush Ashley's spririts. She's leaving to go to Washington (the state, not the city...) tomorrow and she wants to show it to her dad. Finally, Natalie found the disc in (of all places) the kitchen...

We had a nice relatively quiet evening at the Feucht home tonight. Our supper was yummy. We had roast and mashed potatoes and cabbage. The potatoes were especially scrumptious tonight!

Well...I guess that's all for now. Tomorrow, I have absolutely zero things planned. So, I'll probly be studying my lines for the Church Christmas Play that I'm in.....

Christmas Parties!

2008-12-15T11:46:00.002-06:00

Well, Natalie and I had a wonderful time at our party and so did everybody who came! But, first I have to tell all about everything that happened before the party!

We went to my cousin-in-law's baby shower. It was cute, but we didn't really know anybody, so it was a little boring. But we did play a funny game. They had melted chocolate candy bars in diapers and you had to smell the candy to figure out what kind it was. It was very funny! And I got them all right!! But I didn't win the prize because another person got them all right, too, so they put our names in a bag and pulled and my name didn't get pulled...but it was still very fun cause I know that I know my chocolates!

After the shower, I went and met Natalie at her Aunt Audrey's house. She was getting some decorations from her aunt for our party. We stayed there for a couple minutes, then we left and went to the grocery store to get a few things that we needed. After that, we went to my house and did some getting ready for the party. She was freaking out because it was almost time for the party and we weren't quite ready. So, I tried to calm her down and it didn't work...so, I gave up instead of getting mad. Because I wanted to stay happy and cheerful. Then, she went to her house to clean up some stuff and put up the decorations. I stayed behind to get dressed and soon Natalie S. showed up, so we got dressed together. When it was time, we went over to Natalie L.'s house. And before we knew it people were getting there.

The party was wonderful! I promise to put pictures very soon, but at this very moment I don't have access to them because they are all on Natalie Sibille's camera...

Yesterday (Sunday), I had church. Then, Sunday afternoon, we went to "Rhythms on the River". It was a Christmas thingy in River Ranch in Lafayette. There was singing and gumbo and hot chocolate. And there was a trolley ride. The trolley ride was probably my favorite part! It was very fun! Me and Lydia stood all the way in the back and waved and yelled "Merry Christmas" when we saw people. Yeah...it doesn't take too very much to entertain us...

After the thing in River Ranch, I was going to a Christmas party hosted by my friend Anna-Maria and two other girls. It was a Renaissance Christmas party. I wore the dress that I had made for Natalie Sibille when we went to the Renaissance Festival. So, since I wasn't gonna go prancing around River Ranch in a Renaissance costume, we had to find somewhere for me to change before getting to the party. So, we stopped at a Raising Canes...and they said that we could use their bathroom to get dressed...it was pretty humorous. The best part was when two old ladies came into the bathroom and started ooooing and aaaahing about my dress. Thankfully, there weren't too many people eating at Raising Canes at that time. So, I didn't have to model my costume in front of a full restaurant. The party was very enjoyable. We visited alot. And there was a girl named Sofia who could play the harp and so she played the harp alot. Oh my goodness! It was BEAUTIFUL! I could have listened to her play all night! And it looked so perfect seeing her sitting there in the long dress with big sleeves playing!

Supper was pretty interesting. We had pumpkin soup, bread, roasted potatoes, parsnips, green peas, apples (that were all cinnamony and tasted like the inside of an apple pie...YUM!), some ham, and alot of other food that I don't quite remember. I wish very much that I had pictures from the party, but I just don't. I may be able to get some from Anna-Maria, but I don't know. So...we'll see....

Today, all I've done so far is go and babysit Zoe and then eat lunch. So, I'm gonna blog some more when something else interesting happens in my life!

Saturday Morning :-)

2008-12-13T11:07:00.003-06:00

Yay!! I Christmasfied my blog! I love Christmas time! Everybody seems happier at Christmas time. When you go in the stores people that you don't even know talk to you and tell you Merry Christmas. It's wonderful...

Last night we had a Youth Group Christmas Party and it was very fun. We had a "Secret Santa" gift exchange. I picked Natalie LaCombe's name...so I had to get her two Christmas presents this year. Ha ha. Cause the presents had to be less than $5 and the present that I already got her was more than that....So, I put the picture of the two of us in the snow in front of my house in a frame and gave it to her! She was SO surprised! Especially because the whole time she thought that I had Chloe for the gift exchange! (hee hee) It almost got completely ruined twice. Once, when Lydia asked if it was Natalie's present...but I covered that one up pretty easily. But, then when we were at the party Natalie discoverated that Abby had Chloe and so we just played it off like "Maybe they accidentally put Chloe's name in there twice. Oooh! I hope that there isn't one person who won't get a present since we both picked Chloe..." It was great.

We played Bingo-Santa version. I won the "blackout" round. It was pretty funny because me and Catherine both had two squares left and they just happened to be the exact same letters and the exact same letters! So, whoever was the quickest to say "Blackout!!" was the winner. I was paying very close attention to Mrs. Heather when she picked up a certain piece of paper, and she was holding it backwards, so I kinda accidentally saw it, so the very second she got the number out of her mouth I said "Blackout". Before Catherine! I did share with them that I saw the number before she said it....cause my conscience would have bothered me waaaay too much if I hadn't. Anyway, I still got a prize...we called it a tie. It's not entirely my fault that I saw the card, you know.

Later on we all went outside and had a snowball fight with the leftover snow....which was more like ice. It hurt my hands to pick up because it was so cold. But it was awesome hitting all the boys with it. None of the other girls wanted to have fun with us...so it was just me and the boys. Which also meant that I was the main target for all the boys. Thankfully, I'm quick and they didn't hit me too much...ha ha. It was a fun night.

Tonight me and Natalie LaCombe are hosting a Christmas party! That should be fun too!

Oh My Goodness!! Snow!? In SOUTH LOUISIANA!!!

2008-12-11T20:55:00.010-06:00

Well, this morning I was woken up at 5:35 AM and I was not ready to get up at all. All I could think was "Why on earth are they waking me up!? This better be good!" As I became more concious and less asleep I realized that Mom and Dad were freaking out about the snow falling outside. So, ya know, I thought that it was just gonna be those regular little "half snow/half rain" flurries that we get every few years. So, when I got to the window, I was like "Okay that's beautiful, but where am I? Cause this is so not Louisiana! And that's not my yard! It's white!" There were big snowflakes falling everywhere! And the yard was already covered in wonderful snowy whiteness that was 4 or 5 inches thick!! And the trees were georgeous! My neighborhood looked more like a Christmas card than South Louisiana!And this was before it was even bright enough see the prettiness! We got dressed (I had a cami, 2 long sleeve shirts, leggings, blue jeans, fuzzy socks, tennis shoes (which anybody who knows me would know that I never where tennis shoes, unless it's unavoidable, and those where unavoidable if I wanted to have un-frost-bitten toes), my white coat, my pink scarf (which has pom-poms and ribbons) and my pink hat). I was quite bundled up! We went outside finally and it had started to brighten up and look a tiny bit more like daytime, instead of the middle of the night! (but, it still mostly looked like night....)

Lydia experimented with making a snow angel on the deck...since none of us had ever done that before:

Look at that snow that's piled on the table next to her!!! And that was before it was even done snowing!!!! Isn't that crazy!?

Here's Nathan trying out snowball making...he picked up on that skill pretty fast. Oh, and he has good aim too. But I'm getting ahead of myself I gotta save that for later...but here's his first attempt at a snowball:

Can't you tell that he's just trying to figure out which one of us he wants to attack first?

Ok, here's the three of us posing. Look at our "winter wonderland" yard! It's so very pretty!

Next, we decided to do something that I have ALWAYS wanted to do. Build a snowman!!!! So, Lydia and I went around to the side of the house next to Dad's boat (by the way, it simply cracked me up to see Dad's boat covered in snow....it just looked like one of the "what's wrong with this picture" things...) So, it appears that there are no pictures of the boat :-(. I would love to share that with ya'll...

Anyhoo...Lydia and I started piling snow into a circular shape and patting it together for awhile. Then, Mom gave us the tip of rolling it in the snow which was supposed to be much quicker and alot more effective. Well, that's how they had always described it in the books, but I had no experience with this, so we tried it and (surprise!) it worked!

Okay, now, you see me and Lydia patting that big huge ball of snow. Well did you know that snow is wet? I guess I did...but it's alot wetter than I expected. And the wet coldness goes right through you gloves and freezes your fingers! So, here in this picture I was enjoying myself immensly, when I forgot to notice my cold fingers...

Also, I have to say that we were certainly not making a snowman we were making a snowgirl. Nathan was making a "Frosty", so when Mom asked me what our snowgirl's name was, I replied without thinking. And our snowgirl ended up with the very creative name of "Frostina"...I know....really original...
So, here's the beginning of Frosty. Nathan was planning on making a huge snowman and I must say that the bottom ball of snow was quite massive oh and I forgot...dirty. Nathan rolled his around to collect snow on it and make it bigger, but he also picked up a bunch of grass and leaves, but he didn't cover his up or pull it off, like me and Lydia did. But I suppose that it's a little appropriate, since Nathan was the one making it...

Well, Lydia and I needed a break, so we walked over to Natalie LaCombe's house. It was so crazy to see all of our neighborhood WHITE! But it was so georgeous (I'm having trouble coming up with enough synonyms for the word "beautiful"...so please forgive me if I use the same words too many times). Oh my gosh! Natalie's yard was SO SO SO pretty! She has a very big yard and it looked so beautiful all smooth and perfect and white. Her trees were lovely too!

Later on in the day, we went for a walk around the neighborhood and got some really great pictures:

Our house! I think it looked so pretty with the snow on the steps and on all the Christmas decorations!
Me and Natalie in front of the house...I love this picture. Oh, and i do believe that that small white speck to the left of Natalie's head is a snowball in motion that Lydia threw, that hit Natalie, soon after this picture was taken...
Here's a pretty yard full of snow!
We took a picture of Grandma-Mona and Pa-Paw's house, since Grandma-Mona and Aunt Lisa are off on a cruise and missed the whole thing!
Honeysuckle Drive...all white and snowy!
And this is the Lumina all covered up with a blanket of snow...
Here's me and the completed "Frostina". Isn't she just darling! I think it's the most adorable snowgirl I ever saw!
And here's Frosty all done, as you can see behind him, the yard was looking a little greener, cause the snow was starting to melt....:-( And, If you notice in the lower right hand corner, that's my pink scarf that Frostina had been wearing, but she actually melted....so she's not there anymore :-(

So, we had a very eventful day, and I think that it's only fair that I explain the snowball situation with Nathan. Above, I mentioned that he had good aim. Well, he was no match for ME!! Well, maybe he was. We might have been pretty evenly matched. We had quite a few fun snowball fights throughout the day. It was enjoyable, I liked running around and throwing stuff at my brother. I got him right in the middle of his face a few times...hee hee. And Natalie, Lydia, and I made some snow angels. It was delightful. Especially, the part when Natalie and Lydia got "attacked" (not really hurt or anything) by Josie, our dog. They were both just screaming their heads off. Ha ha. I was just watching them and laughing cause Josie doesn't mess with me!

As much as I enjoyed the snow, I am glad that I don't live somewhere where it snows like this all the time. It's wet and dirty and yeah, it's alot of fun for a little while, but I like that it only comes every once in a while (a long while...the last time that it snowed like this was before I was born! When Nony and Jade were younger!). I probably wouldn't mind it a little more often than that, but I am sick of it already. It's all melted into muddy mushy slushy stuff that wets you shoes and freezes your toes. So, thank you, Lord for the early Christmas present of snow, but also, thank you that it's only every now and then that this happens!

Catching up....

2008-12-08T12:15:00.003-06:00

Oops...it's been awhile since I actually posted anything.

So, first I need to just mention that Twilight was awesomely wonderful (of course, not as good as the book, but still quite enjoyable). We went to the midnight premier of it at the Grand Theatre in Lafayette. It was really fun. Natalie S. dressed as Bella and I dressed as Alice! We even put some temporary hair color (I put "color" instead of "dye" cause Natalie L., who is attending cosmetology school would fuss at me if I didn't) in my hair to make it darker. (Everybody said that it would stain my blonde hair, but my hair doesn't work like average hair and I knew all along that it would be just fine...I don't really know how I knew, but I did and guess what? Now it's all back to normal....) So, anyway, like I said the movie was fantastic and worth waiting in line at the movie theatre from 10:00-12:00...(that part was a little stressful, though because the theatre was so unorganized...our ticket said that we were gonna be in Room 13, but they told us to go to Room 3....or something like that...very confusifying). But it was fun watching the giant clock on the wall. Everytime a minute would pass, the minute hand moved an entire foot!! We got very good seats, when we finally got to go in and sit. Finally the movie started and was great great great! (And I've seen it two more times since then!)

Now, moving on...We had a good Thanksgiving Break. Although, I did have to do school a couple of days because Thursday and Friday, I didn't get to much done. (Thursday, I went to Natalie Sibille's until it was time for the movie and then I just spent the night over there). And Tuesday was a pretty awful day...I'm not entirely sure why, but it was just simply terrible. I had to do school and help Mr. Terry (Rachel, Becca, and Tessa's dad) outside. He was getting rid of the stump leftover from our tree falling during Hurricane Gustav. And his machine was blowing peices of stump at me and that was very unpleasant. Plus, all day long, Lydia was annoying me with dumb questions and little comments. So, by the end of the day, I was miserable and everybody in the house knew it. And I kept on crying and I didn't know exactly why. So, I went over to Natalie LaCombe's house and just spent some time with her, having fun. That made me feel waaaaay better!

Wednesday morning, I went to babysit for Mrs. Carrie Huguet who just had twin baby boys. It was very fun to take care of them. Oh, and of course, Hattie too. She's a year old and simply adorable! Then Wednesday afternoon, Grandma-Mona and I went shopping together. Not for anything special, just a little grocery shopping (I really needed to get out and about). I didn't plan on it, but I ended up getting a REALLY cute pair of shoes! They're black patent leather with a strap right around the ankle. They are really simple, but oh so cute. Oh and you can take the ankle strap off and wear it with nothing, or you can add a ribbon or something in there if you want!

Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving. My Dad fried some yummy turkey, and french fries. Grandma-Mona and Pa-Paw brought Pecan Pie and Salad. Aunt Diane and Uncle Steve brought Cornbread Dressing. Aunt Lisa and Uncle Jim brought Rice Dressing. Jennifer made Cheesy Onions, Snap-Bean Casserole, and Fudge. Mom made Cheesy Brocolli, Peasant Bread, Pumpkin Cheescake, and Apple Pie. If you put all of that together, what do you get? A really really really delicious Thanksgiving Dinner! (and lots of leftovers...we're still working on that cornbread dressing and pumpkin cheesecake).

Friday, I went shopping for a little while with Natalie L. and her Aunt Audrey. That was pretty enjoyable. Then, Natalie Sibille came over and we started putting up the Christmas decorations! I LOVE putting up the Christmas decorations! It's SO much fun. I love Christmas time and the first step is to put up the decorations!

Saturday, we were planning on going shopping in Lafayette and going to see Twilight again. But I woke up at 4 AM throwing up all of the red beans and rice that we had for supper...Lydia had been sick and I suppose I got her virus. So, shopping was pretty much cancelled. Natalie and Natalie went to Wal-Mart and then the three of us went to Payless Shoe store cause I really wanted a pair shoes that I had seen there. I was feeling okay enough to do that. And we were just gonna go to the theatre in Opelousas to see Twilight, so I'd be close to home, if I started feeling bad again. Well, I made it through about 3/4 of the movie and then I started feeling real bad and I fell asleep on Natalie L's shoulder. Then they brought me home and none of my family was there, so I just layed down on the couch and fell asleep. When everybody got home, I went in my bed and I slept all night (I mean, I woke up a few times, but I'm telling you, I got like 15 hours of sleep!!!) I woke up Sunday morning feeling all better!

This past week was pretty ordinary. We have auditions for Showcase 2009 coming up, so we've been doing some preparation for that. I'm doing "Omigod You Guys" from Legally Blonde with Natalie, Natalie, Hannah Stewart (who was in Showcase last year), Becca, Tessa, Rachel, and Ashley Brown. So, we practiced that on Tuesday afternoon. Then Thursday, Ashley Brown and I started choreographing a dance that we're gonna do. I hope it comes out good. Mom says that it's looking really pretty.

Wednesday night we had Youth Group. We played a really fun game. One person is "it" and stands behind a chair facing everybody else. Everybody else is divided in half. Half of the people sit in chairs and the other half stands right behind them. When the person who's it winks at one of the people sitting in a chair, then that person has to try to go and sit in the chair right in front of the person who's it. If you're standing behind the person who was winked at, then you gotta hold on to them, so they can't get away. Well, I ended up standing behind Jakie. Let me just explain a little something to ya'll. In my Youth Group, I'm definetely one of the smallest in size....and Jakie is one of the biggest...so everybody was expecting him to easily get away from me. So, when Jakie got winked at, everybody was really surprised when I reached forward and just pulled him back and he couldn't get anywhere. Then they were double surprised when it happened a second time! And then the third time, they were just blown away...and I was starting to feel a little bit sorry for Jakie, cause he was getting beat by me....poor guy. I do have to say though, that I'm alot stronger than I look and all the boys in my Youth Group underestimate me...alot. Anyway, the fourth time we got winked at, Jakie took of running so fast that I only grabbed his sweatshirt instead of his whole shoulder and he was running so fast that I flew out straight behind him and we knocked over the chair he was sitting in and I landed right on top of him...It was pretty hilarious and I think everybody was highly entertained. He did make it to the chair that time. And I'm kinda glad he did.

Friday we had Ponytail Pals and we taught the Legally Blonde song to Ashley and the Vander Molens. Then Natalie Sibille and I picked up her mom from her Papo's house and we went to her house. Saturday, we went shopping at the mall and I got a new necklace from New York and Company that is really pretty, then we went to Hallmark and got ornaments. I got one with Sally Brown and Linus van Pelt on it. Then we went to Roly Poly which is a place where they sell really yummy wraps. I got chicken, chedder cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and honey mustard on it. It was really delicious. Then we went back to the Sibille's house and hung aroud for awhile, then we ate supper. After that, we went back to Opelousas cause Natalie and Mikey were helping Mrs. Dana with her theatre troupe play. I sat up with Natalie in the light booth. The theatre troupe kids were performing plays that they had written themselves, and I must admit that they were quite.......special....It was entertaining...and not neccessarily in a good way. But, hopefully they're learning alot.....

Sunday (yesterday) we went to church. We had practice for our Christmas Play. Then me and Natalie L. worked in the nursery. And it was First Sunday Luncheon (which is our monthly church potluck dinner), so we stayed and ate lunch at church. After church, Natalie L. and I went shopping. I found my Christmas outfit! It's so pretty! It's a burgundy and black dress. I like it alot! Last night, Mom, Lydia, and I went to a thingy at Jade and Jennifer's church that was all about proving Genisis and the story of Creation right. It was really cool.

Now today is just a normal Monday. I have schoolwork waiting for me and Mom telling me to get back to that, so I better go now! So, that's all for now!

Renaissance Festival!

2008-11-18T11:04:00.005-06:00

Alrighty! I can finally put the pictures up!! Yay! I've tried so many times and every time something has stopped me. The first time I got all ready to put them up and then I went to get the camera and I couldn't find it. Much to my dismay, Natalie LaCombe, who had been taking pictures of us accidentally forgot to give the camera back to us and brought it all the way to school with her in her purse...The next time I tried (after I got it back from Natalie) the battery on the camera was dead. So I had to charge it and yesterday I was too busy to do it. So now finally I can do it today!

Me, Claire, and Natalie Sibille in the van on the way there!

Me onstage with Garbanzo the juggler/fire-eater. I got picked to be a voluteer for his show. See? I manage to get myself onstage no matter where I am!Lady Rosemary, Lady Lydia, Garbanzo, Lady Serena, Lady Mary Alice, and Lady Isabella! (We all had special "renaissancey" names for the day...well except Lydia, her name was already renaissancey sounding)

Lady Lydia and Annut the court jester.

Natalie Sibille, Claire, Lydia, Natalie LaCombe, and I meeting Queen Elizabeth!
Natalie and Natalie in the carriage when we went for a ride in a horse drawn carriage!

And ME in the front of the carriage! I got to drive a little while too!
Natalie Sibille and I after we got home. This is on the white bridge close to my house.
On the bridge again switching my tiara for her hat...ha ha.

I love this picture of Natalie running down the hill!

It was a really great day! My favorite parts were probably being onstage for Garbanzo's show and riding in the carriage. I got to throw a torch that was lit to Garbanzo while he was already juggling two other ones! It was fun! Riding in the carriage was fun, too. Only, the lady driving the carriage talked my head off about horses and riding them and so on. She just kept going on and on and on. I was very polite and I think she confused my politeness with interest. So, she just kept talking on and on about it...but other than that, it was great!

Now, there's just one more little story I have to tell before I go. On the way there we passed "Bass Pro Shop" and Nathan and his friend Nick both freaked out! They were about to seriously jump out of the van. They were begging Mom to stop there on the way home. So, when were heading home, Mom whispered to me to cover Nathan and Nick's eyes when we were passing it. She was only joking, and I was the only one who even heard it. So, I decided that I would just go ahead and give it a shot and try not to let them notice that we were passing it. I went through this whole charade of that I had a surprise for them and made them not look and made all kinda noise like I was looking for their "surprise". I was so excited, we were passing it and I had been successful, then Claire says "Hey. Look. We just passed Bass Pro Shops." Well, of course Claire had no idea that we had been trying to distract them...she thought that I really had a surprise for them. It was pretty funny. Of course the boys started having hysterics again, trying to get Mom to stop....

Well that's all for now!

My Weekend

2008-11-11T21:28:00.004-06:00

Okey Dokey, I really have quite alot to write about, but I'm gonna just start with my weekend and write all about today tomorrow because I would really like to post some pictures and they aren't on the computer yet, so it'll have to wait.
Thursday (yeah, I know I said "the weekend" and Thursday isn't the weekend, but I gotta include it because important stuff happened that day). So, Thursday afternoon, me, Natalie, and Natalie headed to Wally World to get some material to make a dress for Natalie LaCombe to wear to the Renaissance Festival (which, by the way was today). We bought some very beautiful material. I just envisioned a dress in my head for Natalie the other day to make her for the Renaissance Festival...So I was gonna work on that over the weekend. Then Thursday night was Opening Night for "Of Mice And Men" at the Opelousas Little Theatre. Me, Natalie Sibille, and Mikey are doing Lights and Sound. So, we went to the theatre and they had a wonderful performance and a very good audience.
Friday we had Ponytail Pals. Rachel, Becca, Tessa, Natalie, Natalie, Hannah, and Amanda (another friend of mine that I don't get too see often enough) were the ones who came. It was a great meeting. We took time during the meeting to go around the table and just tell each person all their most wonderful qualities. So, if it was Tessa's turn, then we all just showered her with compliments about her qualities, whether they were appearance, personality, experience, or gifts....whatever came to mind! It was so wonderful...Amanda cried when it was her turn...really special time! Friday night, Natalie Sibille and I went to the theatre again. Believe it, or not, this performance was even better! The audience was even more responsive and it was just a great show. After the show a few people went to La Hacienda. La Hacienda is a Mexican Restaurant that has karaoke ever Friday night. So we went and did some singing! Me and Mikey sang "Anything You Can Do", I sang "Part Of Your World" and Natalie S. sang "On My Own". Other people from our group sang and that was quite enjoyable, but there were some other people there that we didn't know that were really annoying. They were probably in their young twenties and it was 2 girls and 2 boys. They were so aggravating! These people had obviously had way too much to drink and when it was their turn to sing these poor people could not carry a tune at all...they just screamed and gave everybody a head ache. But...other than that, it was very very fun! After that, me and Natalie S. came to my house and she spent the night over here. We spent about 30 or 45 minutes making the skirt for Natalie L.'s Renaissance dress.
Saturday morning, we left to go to her house to meet her mom who was taking us to Lafayette to go shopping for a costume for her to wear to the Rennaissance Festival. So, we headed to downtown Lafayette to the Fun Shop. Well, they had some pretty hideodeous costumes and they were real expensive. So, we decided that we were gonna go to Hancock Fabrics and get some material and sew her a dress too. So, that's what we did. We picked out some really pretty fabric. Then we went to a place called Roly Poly where they had some tortilla wrap thingys. You can get absolutely ANYTHING you want inside those things! It was so yummy. I had grilled chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, cheddar cheese, and honey mustard sauce. It was so delicious. We headed to Natalie's house and transformed her living room into a seamstress place and got to work. We sewed until it was time to go and we were very successful in getting it almost completed! It came out exactly like the vision of it that I had in my head when we were purchasing the material! I was so excited! We went over to the theatre and did our lights and sound and played cards up there in the light booth when we didn't have to be doing anything. I built a card castle....until Natalie blew it down :-(. When I got home, I worked on Natalie L.'s dress late into the night. I made some serious progress and it was really starting to come together.
Sunday, we went to church. After church, we went to Jade and Jennifer's house. A miracle happened on the way there! I was able to read in the truck without even feeling a teeny smigde of car sickness. I ALWAYS have car sickness when I read. And I love to read, so it would really be a fatastic way for me to pass the time on long car rides, but I don't usually have that option. But Sunday, I got to YAY! (and by the way only a couple days ago I had tried reading in the car and got very car sick....so I was REALLY surprised). We had a really fabulacious time at the Stanfords. I went with Jade when he went to sing at a Nursing Home. I enjoyed that immensly. Then we came back and took Claire with us cause she was spending 2 nights with us cause she was coming to the Renaissance Festival with us! Yay! On the was home in the highly crowded truck (I don't know why my parents decided to go in the truck instead of the van....) I chatted with my dear friend Natalie S. all the way home (I didn't get to experiment with reading again...it was too dark...Plus, I wouldn't have probly been able to concentrate...there was alot of noise in the truck. On the way there, Mom was sleeping, so noise was not exactly allowed.)
Okay, well that's all for now people. I'll finish up tomorrow!

Blog Award!

2008-11-04T17:38:00.004-06:00

Yay! I got a blog award from Jennifer! That makes me so very happy inside! So she said the rules are that I have to list 5 things I love, pass on the award to other blogs I love, and put a link to Jennifer's blog since she is the one who gave me the award! So, here goes!

My five favorite things: Broadway, Pink, Cute Clothes, Laughing, and Chocolate! When all of that's together is amazing, I promise! Ha ha!

So now, I must give the blog award to other people! I don't really read that many blogs, but the few that I do read, I read them cause I love to!

First is http://jenniferstanford.typepad.com/ (Life With The Stanfords). Jennifer is my big brother Jade's wife (as I have mentioned before) and she is so awesome! I love talking to her! We can always have something to talk about and she's very encouraging! Her blog is almost as good as having a conversation with her!

Next, would be http://reallyrosemary.blogspot.com/ (Really Rosemary). That's Claire's blog. She's Jennifer's daughter, my neice. Her blog is fun to read because she talks about her family from her point of view and it's fun to see her brothers and sisters and parents from her perspective. Plus, she's usually funny...

Then, I would put Hannah Robinson http://livingforhim-hannah.blogspot.com/. She's the babysitter for Jennifer's kids. I met her the day that Evelyn was born and we just got along right away. Sometimes we email each other, but I like to read her blog cause it keeps me up to date with what she's doing.

And the last step was to put Jennifer's link to her blog, but I already did that, so I'm done! Thanks, Jennifer, for the blog award! I just love little small things like that, they just make me feel so happy!

"A Comedy Of Errors" (Performance at Parc International)

2008-10-30T22:51:00.003-05:00

Today, me, Mom, Lydia, Natalie Sibille, Krista, and Krista's little sister, Elaine went to go see a play that was performed outside at a park in downtown Lafayette. It was called "A Comedy Of Errors" and it was written by Shakespeare. It was wonderful! The acting was great and I learned things from watching them. Actually, they were the same actors that were in the play that me and Natalie Sibille saw yesterday (Wednesday). After the show yesterday, we got to talk to them and they were SO nice and answered a bunch of questions that we had about where to go to school and where they went to school for acting. So, that was really awesome, but anyways, back to tonight! My favorite part of the play was a part that wasn't even in the script. Since, it was an outside performance, there were lots of outside noises. Well, one of those noises happened to be a train! The train horn was so loud that the two actors onstage couldn't be heard over it. One of them (between train whistles) said "Is that the Gravy Train?" since they were having a conversation about getting supper. It was so funny and entertaining to watch them improv onstage like that! That's one of the things that I LOVE about live theatre...just that you always have that risk of something going wrong and just having to keep going and ad lib if you have to. It was so great! I loved the show!

Plus, before the show, they had a costume contest. Me, Natalie, and Lydia wore our "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown" costumes. (I was Sally Brown, Natalie was Lucy van Pelt, and Lydia was Woodstock). During intermission, they announced the winners. We won 2nd Place!! We won some tickets to a show called "100 Years of Broadway"...which ironically enough is a show that me and Natalie auditioned for just yesterday! (we're gonna find out the results of the audition on Monday! I can't wait, but I'll tell more about that in a later post).

Okay, well it's 11:00 and I better go get ready for bed....Goodnight Everybody!

Tuesday night....no wait actually it's Wednesday morning!

2008-10-29T00:02:00.005-05:00

Well I haven't put anything up for awhile, but that's just because I haven't been quite so busy. Tomorrow is gonna be very fun though! Tonight I'm spending the night at Natalie Sibille's house (on a Tuesday! How awesome is that!?) and tomorrow we're going on a field trip to see a play. And then after the play we are going SHOPPING!!! YAY! Right now Natalie is taking a shower. So, I am trying to occupy myself. Cause Michael is sitting next to me driving me completely insane!!! (and yes he knows that I am writing this cause he's reading the whole thing back to me like some guy named Christopher Walken...) Well, I better go before I just bore everybody to death trying to entertain myself...I'll put more up later.

By the way, the other reason that I decided to post something is because if I didn't I would be afraid that the "Blog Police" (better known as Jennifer Stanford) would fuss at me.....ha ha :-)

Monday, Monday, Monday...

2008-10-20T16:52:00.003-05:00

Well, I don't usually like Mondays, but today was actually pretty great for a Monday!

This morning I went to go babysit Zoe. That was pretty fun. She was in a good mood today and I enjoyed teaching her and babysitting her.

Then, I came home and did a little bit of school and ate lunch.

After lunch, I went for a bike ride and talked to Natalie Sibille while I was riding cause she's didn't go to school today (she was kinda sick). Then, I stopped at Grandma-Mona and Pawpaw's house to show Grandma-Mona my new haircut. We got into a big long conversation sitting out on her patio. It was wonderful! I got her talking about all sorts of things. She told me the story of when her and Pawpaw met. It was a really sweet story. A "love at first sight" kinda story! She also told me about one time when they were supposed to be going to stay somewhere together for a week with some people they knew. This was before they were married and Pawpaw came to pick up Grandma-Mona from her house, but they had stayed out very late together the night before (till like 2:00 or 3:00 AM! I can't imagine my grandparents staying up till 10 or 11, much less 2 or 3!!) so, Grandma-Mona wasn't ready in the morning when he came to get her. So, he got very angry and just left her and went without her.

Well, Grandma-Mona wasn't getting left behind. She was very angry and called up the bus station and found out that she could ride a bus to the place that they were supposed to be going. So, she gathered all her things (which, by the way, had been packed much ahead of time, she'd really been looking forward to this trip) and put on her cute little hat (cause cute little hats were very much in style in the year 1949!). She rode out there on the bus and met Pawpaw. He was so surprised that he couldn't even be angry anymore! She said they had the most romantic time out there together! Soon, he proposed to her and they were engaged!

I stayed with Grandma-Mona MUCH longer than I'd planned, so I didn't get too much schoolwork done before it was time for dancing. So, we went to dancing and had a very nice class, then came home and I ate a little snack and now here I am! I don't have anymore plans for today, except maybe I might watch "Dancing With The Stars" tonight...

Sad Day On Broadway

2008-10-19T13:26:00.003-05:00

Today is a very sad day in the Broadway World...Legally Blonde: The Musical's last performance is happening right now! Legally Blonde is one of my very favorite musicals, so I'm really upset. Especially since I'd dreamed of playing "Margot", one of "Elle Wood's" best friends one day on broadway. Now I can't....:-(.

Here are a couple of pictures from the show:

Laura Bell Bundy as "Elle Woods":

Laura Bell Bundy as "Elle", Annaleigh Ashford as "Margot", DeQuina Moore as "Pilar", Leslie Kritzer as "Serena", and Ensemble as "Delta Nu's".

Laura Bell Bundy, Annaleigh Ashford, Dequina Moore, Leslie Kritzer, and Ensemble in "What You Want":

Elle and Bruiser!

Elle, Margot, Serena, Pilar, and Greek Chorus in "Positive":
The Cast in "Legally Blonde Remix":
Elle, Professor Callahan, Vivienne, and Warner in the Courtroom Scene:

I'm really gonna miss "Legally Blonde". In Showcase 2009, me, Natalie, and Natalie and a few other people are gonna perform "Omigod You Guys" from "Legally Blonde! That'll be very fun! If you wanna ever watch "Legally Blonde" here's the link:

Act 1:

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=3KPEQFXA

Act 2:

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=EJ7H3WXQ

Well, this has been my tribute to "Legally Blonde the Musical"!

Saturday, October 18, 2008, 4:04 PM

2008-10-18T16:02:00.000-05:00

Well, last night, I spent the night at Natalie Sibille's house. Actually, I'm still here at the Sibille's house. Natalie is taking a shower, so I figured it would be a good time to blog...

We had a very lovely time. Yesterday after Ponytail Pals, me, Natalie, and Natalie went to Wal-Mart. We told Natalie LaCombe that we were going because we wanted to see if they had cute dresses and to show Natalie Sibille some fabric that we were considering buying. But that wasn't the real reason! The real reason we wanted to go was because we wanted to play a little trick on Natalie LaCombe...hee hee hee

Here's what we did: We all went to the back, to the fabric section and started looking at fabric. Then, I told them that I needed to go use the bathroom, so I left them and went to the front of the store, but I didn't really go to the bathroom...Before I go on, I just need to explain something: me, Natalie, and Natalie are all very interested in the Twilight books (as I have mentioned before) and Natalie and Natalie have a small obsession with one of the main characters whose name is Edward Cullen. So, I went to one of the counters and asked the lady if she could call "Edward Cullen" over the loud speaker cause we couldn't find my "brother". (Natalie and Natalie claim to be the main character "Bella" (Edward's girlfriend) and I claim to be "Alice" (Edward's sister).) It was very funny, but we didn't quite get the reaction that we expected from Natalie....it was a small bit dissapointing...It was still very fun to be mischievous, though! And she still doesn't know that me and Natalie are the ones who got his name called over the loud speaker!!!

After that, me and Natalie Sibille came back to her house and ate some yummy supper. Then we just hung out at her house, just being happy to be together! We were also planning our outfits for a future field trip that we're going on together...

Today, we slept in till 10:20 AM, then we at grits and bacon for breakfast...very scrumptious! And we watched "Gone With The Wind". I've never seen the whole thing (Actually, I still haven't...we only got about halfway through...that is a LONG movie!). So far it is a very good movie and I cannot wait to finish watching it!

Later on tonight, we're going to the Cemetery Tours. We were in them last year, but this year, there weren't really any parts for us. Most of the characters were men from different wars. Plus, we were totally busy with wedding stuff, so we didn't have the time anyway. But we're going to go see them tonight and that should be quite enjoyable!!

Haircut!!

2008-10-16T22:12:00.000-05:00

Well, this afternoon, me, Natalie Sibille, Mom, and Lydia went and I got my haircut!! It took a few tries to get it to be short enough, but finally I was happy with it and so here it is! I LOVE it so ver much! It's so short and light and fun and different and I LOVE IT! YAY! Oh and I also have a picture of Lydia with her big huge cast on...

Anyways...today was a pretty good day. Mom let us sleep late, which was very, very nice of her. We did a little bit of school this afternoon, but not too much. Then tonight we went to the Commandos football game. The Commandos are a football team that is totally homeschoolers. It's very awesome. Krista, Becca, and Tessa are all cheerleaders for the homeschool football team. The game was fun, but they didn't win...it was still fun to be there, though. I think it might have been their last game...

Tomorrow morning we're going on a field trip to hear the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra, which should be fun. After that we're gonna go eat lunch somewhere and then go to Barnes & Noble.

Tomorrow afternoon we have Proverbs 31 Ponytail Pals which is a Bible Study sort of thing that my Mom does with me a bunch of my friends. Then after that, I'm gonna go spend the night at Natalie Sibille's house and that will be SO much fun!

So bye for now!

My Friends!

2008-10-16T15:25:00.001-05:00

God has blessed me with many great friends, so I am devoting the blog entry to them.

First, the Vander Molens. They are three sisters: Rachel who's 16, Tessa who's 15, and Becca who's 14. They are so fun and I love being around them cause we're so comfortable with each other and laugh at anything. I met them at Mrs. Meghan's where we all take dancing. They're homeschooled, actually, we're in a homeschool group called Faith Fellowship with them. Here are a few pictures of us!

This is all of us (plus Lydia) when we did a skit for a talent show we were in with our homeschool group. Rachel and Tessa have on the sunglasses (Rachel's on the left and Tessa's on the right), Me and Becca are in the middle, and Lydia's in the front.This is me and Rachel at my red carpet birthday party!

And me and Rachel again!

The next friend I shall talk about is Anna-Maria. I have known her for a really long time...I don't actually ever remember meeting her, but my mom says that we used to play together on the bleachers at our big brothers basketball games....she's about to be 17 and is homeschooled!

This is Natalie LaCombe, Rachel, me, Hannah, and Anna-Maria at Blue Bayou this summer!

Another friend that I've been close to for years and years is Hannah. She's the second from the right in the picture above. We've known each other since we were babies. Our moms are very close friends. I love her mom very much too! She's almost 17 and goes to school at WCA, which she doesn't like very much cause she gets so much homework...I don't like it either cause it means I get less time with her....

Next, I will tell all about Krista! I met Krista a couple of years ago and we became friends quite fast! We're just meant for each other! We're alot alike in many ways, but we can be different too! I always have a good time with Krista and we laugh at just about everything too...Krista's 15 and she's homeschooled, like me!

Here's me and Krista laying on the hammock at her house. We were just laughing our heads off....like we always do!

And that's me and Krista doing our "signature pose" at my birthday party...ha ha

I love this picture of me and Krista! We're standing in the field by her house...so pretty. It was the PERFECT day for taking pictures! And the picture below is another picture from that same day...

Next up is Natalie Marie LaCombe....or Natalie Nerd TM...She's a very special friend...she's different from anybody else I've ever met...Sometimes she can annoy me to no end and other times she just makes me laugh....We're as close as sisters. Actually, my mom calls her her adopted daughter and Natalie sometimes calls my mom "Mom". We're neighbors and I've known her for as long as I can remember...Actually I've known her since before I can remember cause I've known her all my life. She's 18 and just graduated last year. She's going to Cosmetology School and enjoying it quite alot!

Me and my nerd playing in the rain...ha ha

Me and Natalie at Krista's house during our black and white photo shoot!

"Alice" (me) and "Bella" (Natalie) at Bella's birthday party that I threw for Natalie and Natalie/Bella and Bella.

Next is Natalie Sibille. Wow...I don't even know where to start! We've only known each other for a little over a year, but we are SO close! I love her so much and we are perfect friends for each other. We can't go an entire day without talking to each other at least on the phone and we absolutely HATE it if we have to go more than a few days without seeing each other. We met through the Opelousas Little Theatre where we both act and sing in plays! The first thing I ever noticed about Natalie is her BEAUTIFUL voice! That girl can sing! We love to sing together! It's one of our very favorite things to do. Also, we LOVE the Edward books....also known as the Twilight Saga. Natalie LaCombe loves them too and we just got Krista hooked on them. Tomorrow night I'm going to spend the night at her house, so that should be very fun! Well here are some pictures of us!

This is a picture of Katie Ringrose (Natalie) and Alice Augusta Dietlien Boagni (me). This was for the Cemetery Tours, last October. That's when we decided we would be BFFN (best friends for now), but lately we've changed our minds and decided to be BFF (best friends forever and ever and ever!)

Here we are as Sally Brown (me) and Lucy van Pelt (Natalie) when we were performing in "You're A Good Man Charlie Brown" a few months ago. This was one of the most special plays we were ever in together cause we wanted these parts SO badly and we got them!!!

That's us spinning around at my red carpet birthday party!

And this is a picture from "Broadway On 2nd Street" when we performed "What Is This Feeling?" from Wicked. I was Galinda and she was Elphaba...but I didn't make her be green. I wanted her to, but she didn't, so I didn't make her...

Next are a few pictures of us from her birthday party. We all dressed in Southern Belle dresses and wore hoopskirts and everything!! It was so fun!:

And here's the REAL Bella and Alice during Bella's birthday party!

The only close friend of mine that I haven't mentioned is Annelise. She's my far-away friend. She used to live here in Louisiana, but when I was 7 she moved to Ohio...I still miss her like crazy, but we keep in touch through email and hopefully, I'll see her again someday! Her family came down for a visit a few years ago, and that was so AWESOME! I hope they come again soon!

This is me and all of my friends at my Red Carpet Birthday party. (From left to right) Hannah, Natalie Sibille, Natalie LaCombe, Ashley (Krista's sister), Claire (my neice), ME!, Krista, Becca, Rachel, Lydia, Tessa, Amanda (a friend I used to go to school with, and Abby (Hannah's sister).

Well, I am SO thankful for the friends I have and I hope I can stay close to all of them!

Lydia's Arm

2008-10-15T20:38:00.000-05:00

Well, here's the deal. Lydia broke her arm all the way through and she had to have an operation this afternoon to fix it. Before the operation, she was drilling the doctors and asking them all kinds of questions about the anesthesia and IV and what they were gonna do to her bones. She was so nervous! But, she did just fine. Now, she's got a big ol' cast on it and a sling and I think she's feeling much better!

Here are a couple pictures of us at the hospital and in the waiting room...

You can't even tell that her arm was hurtin her like crazy! She was so tough!
Big smile!!

Almost time for the operation...You can't tell, but she was very nervous...
Here she is all ready to go!

And here's Mrs. Donna, Natalie LaCombe's mom who works at the hospital and took care of Lydia!

Well, it's been a long day...hopefully tomorrow will be a little better! And hopefully Mom and Lydia can get some sleep tonight. Last night, Lydia couldn't get comfy to go to sleep and Mom was sleeping with her and so Mom couldn't get to sleep either....

Tomorrow, I might be going to get my hair cut and I'm real excited!!! It should be very cute! I can't wait!

My Family

2008-10-15T13:02:00.000-05:00

Well, I decided that I should maybe introduce my family on my blog! So here goes!

First, there's my Dearest Darlingest Momsie and Popsicle! I love them oh so very much! They are the best! They've been married for 22 years now and they love each other ALOT! My mom hardly ever says no to anything we ask her, even if it means that she'll be a little stressed out! So sweet! And Dad just never says no...at least not to me... (By the way, this picture was taken on the day of their last anniversary, which was before Hurricane Gustav, so, as you can see, the tree and the fence behind them are all still in tact...)

This is my big brother, David. Actually this picture is very old, but it is the only picture of them that I could find of my brother. The other people in the picture are Torrie, Emma, and Madison. Torrie is his wife and Emma and Madison are his twin daughters (who are four years old now...like I said this picture is old.) Anyway they also have one other daughter named Hailey, she's 7, I think. I always get confusified about her age. They live in Forest Hill.

Next is my brother Matt...and, sadly, I can't find any pictures of him at all...He lives in Georgia, so we don't get to see him very often.

Next is Jade! He is hilarious and I love him very much and look up to him alot! He's married to a WONDERFUL woman named Jennifer (I love her alot, too! And I've always been so grateful to Jade for bringing her into our family!) They have 5 kids. Claire is the oldest. She's 11. We get along very well and we're pretty close! Then there's Ethan, he's 5. He's such a sweetie and can give very nice compliments to you! Next is Blythe who's 4. Me and Blythe have always been close. We just have a special connection and we've always been very dear to each other! Next is Owen...he's 3...he just cracks me up. He's so funny. I always laugh at him. Little Evelyn is the baby of their family. She's 9 months old and she is one of the chubbiest babies I've ever seen...and one of the cutest! She's so cuddle-able and she's got a really sweet disposition! I love Jade and all of his family! They're great!

Then, there's Nichole or "Nony". That's the name I gave her when I was a baby. She just got married to Frank Crocco! They are living in New York/New Jersey. Nony was living in New York City, but now they are living in Frank's apartment in New Jersey. Nony is getting her Phd in English and Frank just got his Phd, so he is officially Dr. Frank!

After Nony is ME!

Then, Nathan...he's 13...he would be horrified, if he knew that I chose this picture of him to put on my blog....He was dressed like Abraham Lincoln because he recited the Gettysburg Address for a talent show that we were in. He actually did a wonderful job, but Nathan really hates dressing up...He's really outdoorsy. He likes hunting and fishing and skateboarding and he's really good at all three. I especially appreciate the fishing cause I LOVE fried fish!

And the youngest is Lydia. She's 10. We share a room and we do alot together. Our personalities are pretty different, but I do know that she looks up to me. She's also almost big enough for us to share clothes! We can share a couple of shoes and some shirts, which is awesome! I think she's gonna be taller than me...

Well, that's everybody! I love my family alot and I love spending time with them! They're great! And even though all our personalities are pretty different, we all fit together perfectly...most of the time...

Broken Arm....

2008-10-14T20:56:00.000-05:00

Well, our calm, normal, Tuesday sure has taken a turn...Lydia was playing on Mom and Dad's bed and she thought that she could jump over the tall post on their bed. Well, she might have actually made it, but she was wearing a long night-gown and it got caught on the post and she fell...she landed on her left arm and broke it. It's pretty obviously broken and Mom said that it's broken all the way through, so she probably needs to see an Orthapedic doctor who specializes in bones. So, since they wouldn't be calling one out this late at night and the doctors in the ER probably wouldn't do anything but put a splint on her, she's just gonna wait until the morning to bring her to the hospital. But, in the meantime, Mom put a little splint on her arm, so it'll have some support until morning...

Just a Tuesday....

2008-10-14T20:12:00.000-05:00

Today was a very nice day! Last night we had the newlywed Crocco's over for supper and Mrs. Nancy Scrugham, who is my little sister Lydia's godmother and an old friend of the family. She had come down from Nashville, Tennessee for Nony's wedding. Nony and Frank aren't going on their honeymoon, yet. They'll be going to Italy next summer, I think. Italy is where Frank's parents are from. They speak Italian and everything! And they have accents! It's so cool!

Nony and Frank left pretty early...around 9:00 PM, but Mrs. Nancy stayed very late. We played cards (Spoons and Shang Hai) for a very long time. And we all ate dessert. I think we each had something different cause we have any kind of dessert you could possibly want in our house right now...We have stuff left from the shower, the Rehearsal Dinner, and plenty of cake left from the wedding. Oh and by the way, the cakes that Natalie made for the wedding were simply divine! The red velvet bride's cake was pretty yummy, but it had a little more frosting than I usually like, but the groom's cake (which was an Italian flag...) was AMAZING!!! It was so scrumptious!! So that's what I ate last night. Mom had pumpkin cheesecake and I'm not really sure what everybody else had, but if you want it, then we've probly got it...

So, we stayed up quite late last night with Mrs. Nancy, but my lovely mother let us sleep in this morning, which made me very, very happy! When I woke up (at 9:30 AM), I stayed in bed for awhile, and then got up finally and took a shower. I still had my hair up from the wedding and when I took it down I had a truck load of bobby pins and a gallon of hairspray holding it up (which is probly why it lasted 3 days and still looked kinda good). So when I took all those bobby pins out my hair just kinda stayed up! So, I went and washed it...now it's back to normal...ha ha.

We did a tiny bit of school today. I'm homeschooled and usually my mom likes to stay on schedule, but the last week and a half, she's been very leniant with school since we've been doing so much stuff for the wedding. So, we didn't do too much school today.

Around 2:30 PM, me and Mom left to go get Nony and Frank to bring them to the airport. They had a plane back to New York to catch...

We had a very sweet little while over there at the airport. We only had about 15 or 20 minutes together, but they were some very special minutes. Frank even called me "sis"! That was so sweet! When I was telling Nony bye, we just stood there hugging and talking for awhile. When I realized that she was going back up to New York and wouldn't be home until after Christmas, I almost lost it and started crying....I was really close. But, I pulled myself together and gave them hugs and we left... :-(

Later, we went to visit Mrs. Carrie Huguet who just had twin baby boys. Their names are Jackson and Samuel. Those little baby boys are ADORABLE! It was my first time getting to meet them and they were very, very cute! Mrs. Carrie also has a 1-year-old daughter named Hattie who is a cutie too! I babysit for her sometimes.

Well, tomorrow is Wednesday and I love Wednesdays. I have Hope For Opelousas tutoring that me and Mom help out with (I'll tell more about that tomorrow) and Youth Group at church, which is always very fun, so tomorrow should be a very nice day too!

That's all for now!

The REST of The Wedding

2008-10-14T17:05:00.000-05:00

Okey dokey...now I can finish telling all about the wedding! Now...where was I?

Oh yes! The reception!

It was so cool seeing family, friends (from church and other friends), and all of Frank's family all at the same place at the same time. It was also a little weird...I didn't quite know who to talk to. So, I just walked around and talked to everybody! Of course, everytime I'd start talking to somebody, then another bridesmaid or Nony or Mom would come and tap me on the shoulder and say "They need the bridal party! It's time for the toast!" or "You have to go dance with the person you walked with!" or something like that. It was so fun and chaotic! And like I said, I LOVE chaos! (Even though my mom sometimes gets a little tired of it!)

So, anyways, for the toast I got my very first taste of champagne! I was quite nervous! I didn't wanna make an awful face up there in front of everybody if I didn't like it, so Morgan and Anne were both telling me all about it, so I wouldn't get surprised!

My favorite part of the reception was probably the dancing! Because I danced with such fun people. The first dance was with Angelo, Frank's brother that I walked down the aisle with. That was the bridal party dance. After that, I danced with anybody who would dance with me. Then I danced with my big brother, Jade! He's is my very favorite person to dance with! I just have so much fun with him! We don't do the traditional normal dances...we make up our own stuff and we have the most fun that way!! I danced with Ethan next. He was a great dance partner. Alot more fun than my brother, Nathan, who won't dance at all. I danced with Owen, Blythe, Frank, Paw-Paw, Mom, Morgan, Jenn, Nony....the list just keeps on going! The one person that I didn't dance with that I'm dissapointed about is Dad. We were certainly supposed to dance together, but it just didn't happen :-(...Ethan and Owen kept coming back and tugging on my dress and asking me to dance with them again. It was very sweet!

We danced and danced until the music stopped and we did the charivery (now I know I spelled that wrong, but I cannot remember how that's spelled). Charivery is a Cajun tradition of banging on pots and pans after the couple is married. It was fun! We didn't have real pots and pans, but we had little mini tin pan thingys that we all banged together and made a bunch of noise with! It was a really spectacular way to end the night!

We headed outside cause we were told that the new couple wanted to use the hot tub, so they kicked us all out...When we were saying our goodbyes we all expected it to be about 11:30 PM, but it was only 8:45 PM!!!

So, me, Lydia, Mom and Mrs. Nancy came home and looked at some of the pictures that Mrs. Nancy took at the wedding and talked until about 11:30 PM. And after that, we finally went to bed. It was a loooooooooong day, but also one of the best days! I hope it was really special for Nony and Frank!! They just seemed to be exploding with happiness all afternoon, so it seems like it was!

Nony's Wedding

2008-10-14T12:42:00.000-05:00

Well I had an AMAZING weekend!!! My older sister Nichole (who I call Nony) got married this weekend! It was such a wonderful weekend!

Friday night we had a surprise bachelorette party for her! Only I don't really know if it was a total surprise...I think she figured out that there was something going on...It was really fun, except that Nony wasn't feeling especially good. She had a tummy ache or something. And Frank (her fiancee' at the time, but now her husband!) and his family's plane had been delayed when they were leaving from New York, so they missed their next connecting flight in Houston. So Nony was a little upset about that...cause they were supposed to arrive Friday night, but they wouldn't be getting there till Saturday morning...But she still enjoyed herself, I think! She was surprised that her friend Jenn was there cause she wasn't supposed to come in until Saturday. So that was fun seeing her be so excited about that...I was a bridesmaid and it was really great meeting all the other bridesmaids. I already knew one of them, but I had only heard about the others or met them briefly. So it was so cool to get to know them better. I had so much fun with Morgan who is one of Nony's friends. We got along really well. And then her friend Jenn was really nice too! And I liked Anne alot too! I really like my sister's friends! Christy was the one that I already knew and it was good to see her again cause I hadn't seen her in a long time! The bachelorette party was at Zeus and I got some very yummy chicken schwarma!

Saturday was the Rehearsal Dinner. I LOVED meeting all of Frank's family. They are Italian and they are so much fun to be around. I sat at a table with all of his brothers and his two friends and Morgan. So, when we served our gumbo, me and Morgan were the only ones that knew what we were doing. So, we helped all the other people serve their bowls. It was pretty funny cause I never have heard anybody give the directions of how to serve gumbo....

My big brother, Jade, and his whole family spent the night at our house Saturday night. That means we had 7 extra people! I loved it! I really love it when our house is full of people and chaos! Jade and his wife Jennifer have 5 kids: Claire-11, Ethan-5, Blythe-4, Owen-3, and Evelyn-9 months. So with Mom, Dad, me, Nathan, and Lydia...we had 12 people in our house!! So fun!

Sunday morning, we didn't go to church cause we had ALOT of getting ready to do. First, I ate breakfast. Then I did my nails. I really wanted to have them be perfect for the wedding. Usually my nails come out quite nicely, but I was being really picky. Plus, I was using dark red nail polish so it showed up every little teeny mistake. It was a small bit frustrating, but finally I achieved almost perfect...Then I moved on to my hair. First I had to curl it and I wanted it to be really curly for the hairdo that I was gonna have. So that took a really long while to do. Thankfully, I had Claire with me to entertain me while I did. She kept doing things that made me laugh (like putting a really messed up Hannah Montana wig on....). After that, Mom fixed it. I must say that I was really nervous about my hair, but I shouldn't have been because Mom did and excelently wonderful job with it! It was exactly what I wanted! Then I got dressed. Oh my goodness! I LOVE LOVE LOVE my bridesmaid dress! It's long and red and the front just looks like a long red waterfall! I just feel so beautiful when I wear it. Then I put on the jewelry that Nony gave all of us bridesmaids. By the way, the jewelry was really georgeous too! Nony has such wonderful taste!

When we were all ready to go, just me and Mom left. We left all the chaos behind at home....Mom had me drive the van there, so she could give herself a pedicure. While we were driving, she requested that I tell her everytime we were about to hit a bump in the road. Since the part of the interstate that we were driving on had alot of bumps, I was just saying, "Bump.....bump................bump.
....bump, bump..................bump.....etc." So Mom said, "Just let me know when we get to a smooth spot..."

Finally, we got there! We went inside and soon, Nony got there too! So, we started getting ready. It was really exciting! All the other bridesmaids were there getting ready too. We were helping each other with hair and makeup. Jenn did my makeup. She told me that I had beautiful lips and eyelashes, which made me feel very happy inside! After we'd been there for awhile, people started arriving. My friend Natalie Sibille, who made the cake, got there with the cake. When they first got there, the cake was a little messed up in one part, but they fixed it up so well, that you couldn't even tell that it was ever messed up. It was quite beautiful! Then more people started getting there! When Frank and the rest of the Crocco's got to Sunny Meade, I happened to be peeking out of the window. When I told Nony that Frank was there, she got all excited and jittery and wanted to peek out and see him! It was really cute! (It's kinda weird to call my big sister cute cause she usually calls me cute...but she really was adorable getting all excited like that)

The time passed pretty fast and before we knew it, it was time to go stand in line and get ready to walk down the aisle! I was so excited and Angelo, Frank's brother who I was walking with, was a little nervous, I think. Morgan and Frank's friend, Dennis were right behind us and they were making me laugh. It was a really great couple of minutes that we stood there. We were all just so very happy! And right now while I'm writing about it, it just makes me feel so happy again!

When we walked out and stood up on the gazebo, everything was just so beautiful! And when Dad and Nony walked out my happiness was in my whole body just bubbling and making me excited and full of energy and I certainly couldn't have stopped smiling if I would have tried! The ceremony seemed perfect! Frank even called Nony "sha" (and just so you know, I know that's not how you spell "sha"....but when you spell it like "cher" it just looks funny), which was really cute and sweet.

After the ceremony, we took pictures. My dear little brother Nathan, who's 13 and knows much better, changed out of his nice wedding clothes into a t-shirt and jeans...That was the one time during all of the wedding and wedding preparation and everything that I saw Nony really get upset. When he walked out wearing that t-shirt and jeans, she said, "NATHAN FEUCHT!" I really couldn't believe my eyes! Mom, Nony, and Jennifer had told him that he better not dare take off his wedding clothes without permission. So, we did our very best to hide his shirt from being in the pictures....I don't know if it worked....I hope so. After we were done taking those pictures, Mom told him to go back and put on his dressy clothes. Nathan playfully asked, "Mom? Are you serious?" And Mom, very seriously said "I am DEAD serious!" I was thinking, "You tell him, Mom!"

The reception was very awesome! We incorporated a few Italian traditions into it and lots of our normal ones. I don't know which of our traditions are Cajun and which ones are just normal at all weddings across the country. But all of the wedding party's names were announced and we went out and stood in the middle of the dance floor and then Nony and Frank were announced and "The Eye Of The Tiger" started playing and they ran out and high-fived us. It was really fun!

Well I suppose I shall have to finish this later cause we're going to pick up Nony and Frank to drop them off at the airport to head back to New York and if I don't post this soon, then I don't know what Jennifer's gonna do, so I'll finish up later!