Thoughts on High School

So, it realy wasn't that long ago that I was a high school student. Has that much changed? The answer of course is yes. So, Saturday was Winter Formal. As Student Government sponsor I took part in co-organizing it with the Senior advisor. I was very frustrated with the whole thing. At the high school where I teach, it is the senior class's job to throw the dance for the school. Last year, almost the whole senior class came, and so did lots of underclassmen. This year, hardly any seniors came. Why would you want to miss out on some of your last memories as a high school student? So, you wanna stay home and get drunk with your friends? Trust me, you have the rest of your life to do that. You only get a few opportunities in your life to go to high school dances (unless you become a teacher and get suckered into sponsoring Student Government). But, what I mean is, it's a right of passage. An experience to be had and remembered. Maybe not the most important one of your life, but worth the while.

So, the short version of the story is...about 130 students showed up (mostly 9th & 10th graders). Those students who did show up had a great time. We chaperones had fun as well. Our good time was of course caught on the cell phones and promptly texted to those who were not at the dance. But, you know...I had a great time. I danced with my students (nothing inappropriate okay) and was able to see a different side of them outside of the classroom. My friends chaperoned with me and we danced together too. Good times. Next up-Prom '09.

Wow, I suck at this blog stuff.

I don't know who really reads or keeps up with my oh, so exciting blog, but Taylor inspired me to update mine. Just realized that my last post was about 2007. So, now that 2008 is over maybe it's time to update things. Life's been great and busy, what can I say? Maybe that explains the lack of posts. I'll add some pictures or something soon, but check out my facebook or myspace for more pics if you'd like. Anyone who knows Taylor should check out his blog, it's much more interesting than mine. All I can say for now is that I go back to work tomorrow after the Christmas break and all I'm thinking is "God, it's not summer yet?"

2007 Update

So, I know I’ve really slacked off on the blog here. I guess now’s just as good a time as any to give an update. So, here goes…a nice recap of the latter half of 2007. A time to reflect before we move on in 2008. Well, our summer wrapped up nicely with a visit from each of my sisters and their families. I started my new job at my new school. I teach 9th grade Language Arts and am the Student Government Advisor. My new school is much different from my other school. I’m now teaching on the beach—you know, surfer kids, beach bums and such. SGA is fun but a lot of work. I planned homecoming week, which was very interesting because when I was in high school we didn’t even have a homecoming. Vance continued to work on getting his Landscape Architect’s license (a very long and involved process) while taking on more at work. He’s taken a few tests and still has one left to take. Vance also continues his obsession with our yard and it’s coming along nicely. We actually got two oranges off of our orange tree and lots of tomatoes, peppers, rosemary and basil out of our garden.

We’ve taken a few trips as well. We came in to Baton Rouge for the LSU vs. VA Tech game. That was a lot of fun because we got a chance to hang with Baton Rouge friends and we had friends from Florida who came with us too. We went to South Bend, Indiana for a Notre Dame game. We had a great time. We went with our friend Taylor, a Notre Dame grad, who showed us around. It’s a wonderful, beautiful place. We also accidentally went to Michigan…twice. We went to Biloxi, MS and spent a night at the Hard Rock Hotel. It’s a really cool place. I would recommend it for a quick little getaway.

Well, that’s the quick recap. I think 2008 will be wonderful. Our 4 year wedding anniversary is on January 10. Hard to believe it’s been 4 years, but then again in some ways I feel like I’ve known Vance forever. I wish everyone a great new year. Look for more frequent updates.

The Kathy Griffin Show in Atlanta

Okay, so I'm really behind on my blogs. So, I have a life okay. Anyway, in August Vance (the best husband ever) heard that Kathy Griffin was performing in Atlanta. He knows how much I absolutely love her so he suggested that I call the Atlanta crew and see if they wanted to go. Of course they did! Evidently, this was the gay event of the year in Atlanta and everybody who's anybody was going to be there. So, the Friday before I started school Vance and I drove up to Atlanta to hang out and go to the show. It was an absolute blast! Kathy Griffin was hilarious. She had some really juicy celebrity gossip. Love it! And, I love my Atlanta peeps. Jason, Nicole, Logan, Brian-you are all awesome. Can't wait to come up again soon. Some pics:

The kids

So, one of the highlights of our unexpected visit to BR last weekend was seeing the kids. Carson is getting so big it's unreal. He's talking up a storm and is just the cutest little booger. He still loves his Uncle Bubba (Vance) and Aunt Reesa. He likes to play pretend and get silly in Maranda and my high heels. A new thing he did though when it was time for us to leave was that he stood in front of the door and cried so that we couldn't get out. It made me sad. He told me that he wants to come to Reesa's house and go to the beach. We also got to see Layla, who is now 4 months old. She's beautiful. She's very alert and smiles a lot. Enjoy the pics.

A Midsummer Blog (yeah, I know it’s cheesy)

Well, summer is half over and what a summer it’s been so far. It was all kicked off with one heck of a Memorial Day weekend and we just kind of kept up the pace from there. We’ve had lots of house guests. I love being a hostess.

Thanks to everyone who has visited and enjoyed the beach with us—Maranda, Devaney, Leslie, Jason, Nicole, Brian, Logan, Laura, Barbara, Lisa, Carson, and Corey it was a blast. Special props to Devaney, who made her first solo road trip just to see me and Maranda and Leslie who made the 5 ½ hour drive after Maranda got off of work at Boutin’s and arrived at 3:30 in the morning ready for the beach. And, welcome in advance to everyone who has requested a complimentary reservation at Hotel Baldwin for other dates this summer.

I’ve been working my summer job at the day camp. I can’t complain about getting paid to take kids to the beach. Vance has taken up a new hobby of obsessing about our yard. In fact, I think we’re planting trees in the back yard this week.

Vance and I did manage to take a wonderful vacation to Orlando, San Francisco, and the Livermore Wine Valley. I’m in love with California. We had a great time visiting with Vance’s family in California. They were wonderful. They’ve been right down the road from us in Fort Walton on their vacation so we’ve had the chance of visiting them here too.

For the fourth we were invited to join the Palfreys in Sea Grove for a traditional family 4th of July. It was great. A perfect beach day, great food, great drinks, great friends, great fireworks.

I can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer holds for us.

Gordon Walls

March 5, 1954-July 12, 2007

Anyone who was at our wedding knows who my Uncle Gordon is. You couldn’t miss him. Next to Jason Triplett, he was the one making the biggest spectacle of himself. He looks a lot like my dad and was dancing with anyone who would let him (or by himself). He passed away after his battle with cancer ended on Thursday. Vance and I managed to get into town Thursday night (someone was watching over us and we managed to make it in 5 hours without speeding that much) and the services began on Friday afternoon, with the funeral on Saturday. I don’t want to glorify Uncle Gordon. He didn’t always make the best decisions in life. He died with practically nothing to his name. But, I will say this. He had a huge heart. He was always my favorite out of my dad’s brothers. He could always make me laugh and he would do anything for anyone. He's the one who taught me how to drive a car with a manual transmission after my dad lost his patience and gave up. This is also the man who was so worried about me living on campus when I went to SLU that he gave me his custom made bike so that I wouldn’t have to walk to North Campus. He was just like that. You know that saying “He’d give you the shirt off his back.” Well, he actually would. He has two beautiful and wonderful children (my cousins Jacob and Hope) and ten grandchildren (who are the sweetest kids I’ve ever met). Uncle Gordon may not have had much money or success in life in the traditional sense but he has a lot of people who love him and who will miss him. Please pray for my family during this difficult time. Especially for my Maw Maw and Paw Paw who have just lost a child.