Wednesday, May 2, 2012

"When it rains, it pours."

I have a feeling that saying came from the south. :)

This morning started with a bang! :) We opened the door to our room, (which opens to the outside) and noted that the sky was partly cloudy. Sure enough, the bang we heard meant a storm was on it's way. I actually don't mind the rain. In fact, I kind of like it.

I may not like it as much as my little sister Hayley, who immediately upon seeing that it's raining will throw on a light rain jacket and running shoes and head for the nearest biking/running trail. :)

But I do like it and I do enjoy playing in it as if I were still a little girl. :) I was so excited for the rain to come and was hoping that it wouldn't pass us by. :) Garrett had always told me that it doesn't usually rain in the south without pouring. But I guess I just had to see it for myself to know that it was true. :)

After my handsome and hard working hubby left this morning, I busied myself by tidying up the room, (which consisted of little more than cleaning a few dishes and making the beds) and then made myself a bagel with cream cheese and honey... Mmmm! After that I went down to the car to pick out a book to read since there were no errands to run. It still hadn't begun to rain, but I could sense that the air was more humid than it has been since coming here. :) This made me very happy because I really wanted to see and feel the southern rain. :) I picked "The Hiding Place" from the box and replaced "The QBQ" which I read yesterday. It was a good book, and a quick read. :)

Anyway, I grabbed my book and came back inside. After rearranging a few more things I settled down and began to read. I didn't get too far into the book before I heard a loud boom! And then I heard the down-pouring of rain. :) I quickly put on my shoes and went outside. Wow! It looks so cool! I went back inside and grabbed my camera and started taking pictures to try and capture it as best I could for you. I think it looks so pretty falling against the backdrop of those green trees! I noticed that I wasn't the only one who had stepped out to observe. Many of the other guests had also emerged and were watching the sheets of water fall onto the roof and into the pool of the hotel.

I walked under an opening of the roof and felt that the rain was surprisingly cool. The air was dense and warm with humidity so I guess I just assumed the rain would be warm as well. But it felt soft, cool, and refreshing, :) I tried to snap some good pictures. None of them really capture it, but at least you'll be able to see sort of what it looks like. :)


I tried not to get any of the other guests in my photo so that they wouldn't feel awkward ... but now I wish I would have. It's kind of fun that we were all out there enjoying the rain. :)


This looked so cool! I wish I could have gotten a better picture of it.


Isn't it so pretty?!


After I decided I had taken enough pictures, I came back inside and started reading again. Another loud BOOM came crashing in and it was so loud that I actually jumped! haha I laughed at myself, snuggled deeper into my blankets, and finished the chapter.

Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Loosiana :)

Okay, I'm all caught up now. :) I can finally tell you what's going on at the present. :)

Garrett works as a Manager for a company called "Living Scriptures." They make those animated Bible and Book of Mormon movies that you see sometimes at the mall. (At least that's where I remember seeing them.)  They are awesome! They also do documentaries on DVD of each of the Prophets and some dramatized cd's of the history of America and Some of the Scriptures. They're even the ones that made the movie "The Swan Princess." :) I love that one! :) Anyway, they make those and lots of other great things. Each summer Garrett manages a team to go out and sell all of these awesome products. :) Garrett served his mission in Alabama. He LOVES the south. So it's no surprise that he chooses to sell in a southern state each year.

This year he chose Louisiana. :) So on Thursday morning, we packed up the cars and later that afternoon we hit the road. It took us until Saturday night to finally get here, but it was really fun. :) I got to drive through Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. :) Texas seemed to go on forever!!! But we finally pulled through and reached the sign welcoming us into Louisiana. Oh my goodness is it BEAUTIFUL!!!! It sooo green and there are soo many trees! And they are so full and dark! And there are little streams and lakes and ponds and it all looks amazing! :) I love it! :) I also saw a dead armadillo on the side of the road. :) It was my first time seeing an armadillo. Too bad it was a dead one.. but I was still excited! :)






The people here are sweet too. We went to our first day of church on Sunday and everyone in the ward was so sweet and welcoming. :) I LOVE the accents! :) I always love them when people use them in movies, but in real life it's even BETTER! :) Maybe I'll pick up a thing or two while I'm here. :)

These are pictures of our church building and the Baton Rouge Temple which is right next to the church. :) What a surprise when we pulled into the church parking lot on Sunday and saw a Temple there! :)




Hopefully soon, Garrett is going to take me to Alabama to meet all of the people there from his mission that he loves and talks about so much. :) I can't wait to meet them all! :)

We're staying at an extended stay hotel. Right now we're in a room that doesn't have an oven or a stove. They brought in a fridge and microwave for us yesterday which has been great. I was able to go shopping yesterday for the first time in Louisiana. :) I'm not quite used to the roads yet, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it as I get more familiar with where things are. :)


...I thought it was funny... :)

Honeymoon


**I just realized that when you click on the slideshow to make it play, it opens a new window and redirects you to picasa, where all of my photos are kept.. Sorry! I don't know how to fix it. The slide show starts playing once you click on it. So just X out of the Picasa window when it pops up and you can watch the slideshow. :)**


For our Honeymoon we went to Disneyland and a week long cruise to the Mexican Riviera. It was sooo much fun! :) While we were on our cruise we went on this awesome excursion called the "Extreme Canopy Adventure." :) It was so awesome! We did some super long and high zip-lines, went repelling down waterfalls, rode mules up the mountainside, and hiked through the Mexican jungle. :) We also got to ride in this HUGE yellow jeep around the streets of mexico on the way to the adventure. It was fun! :) This is a slideshow of some of the pictures they took of us during our adventure. :)