Loves in Texas...

Well, I took a little road trip last week to Dallas to see the fam!  I was THRILLED to go.  Had the car loaded to the hilt, King Cake for Mom to try,  gassed and Starbuck's upped and just me and the open road.

Unfortunately, Brad had to stay here in LA for work (apparently garbage people don't have a Mardi Gras break).  I love traveling with my husband, but there is something about an "ALONE" road trip that I love!  YOU control the radio, YOU control the stopping and NON-STOPPING (in my case), YOU control the speed, temperature, and etc...  It's very liberating!  I am not a stopper.....  I prefer to HAUL BOOTIE and get to my destination as fast as I can.  I do not use the restroom that often, or at all for that matter, but that's a whole other blog posting that I will refrain from doing to save the family name embarrassment....
  
Brad likes to take his time, frequently stopping for Sugar-Free Red Bulls and spending silly money on lottery tickets.... Sigh.  ("Heather, You can't win, if you don't play!.....")

But this trip was sans Red Bull, lottery tickets, and his IPOD.  

Here is what I was jamming to:

I do not get to listen to these 4 gems near enough, or at all when Brad is with me, so I took full advantage! 

My brother and sister-in-law were off to their much beloved country of Haiti to work with the New Hope Haiti Mission.  Cody is now one of their Board Members and they both frequently travel to Haiti many times throughout the year.  They have such a heart for this place.  So..... Mom flew in to keep Marlowe and the timing couldn't have been better.  (Dad, sadly, had to stay at home and man the house.)  I pretty much begged asked Lindz and Slade if they could come in and BRING THOSE BOYS....  It is so hard being so far away from my little loves...  Thank Goodness for Facetime!  SO pretty much, it was a weekend full of kids, slumber parties, pure glutton on Tex-Mex, and playing around.  

 Hello Long, Lost, Friend....  Brad and I ate here at least once a week while in Dallas.  

Some other Dallas things I truly miss:  the monthly "PaperCity" publication and Nothing Bundt Cakes!

Love this couple.... 

And this little girl.  Love that stomach!:)

Night before leaving this love bug.  Mommy and Daddy were both pretty sad to leave her.  But she was in GOOD hands:)

Mom and I took Marlowe into Dallas on Friday morning to do a litttle shopping and then went up to Lakewood to see pretty amazing people I worked with the last 6 years.  I miss those ladies so much!  

Mom aka "Bob" and MJ...  Matching.  Not planned Bob said...Sure!

Quick pic!

On Friday afternoon, the thndering herd came in!  I WAS SO EXCITED to see the other half of the gang....  Lindz and Slade stayed ALONE at a hotel Friday night to get caught up on some much needed sleep, and Mom and I kept all 3 kids.  SHEESH....  I was tired, but oh so fun.....  (Cody and Christy....  We did not have a Pharrell - "Happy Dance Party" on your bed, complete with little boys thrusting their bodies off all sides of the bed, mixed with some mild jumping/flailing/bootie-shaking moves.....  I promise!:)  OOPS!

 Obsessed and mildly jealous of Marlowe's play pen.  They both wanted in that contraption so BAD!  Well, Brigg's won out because that was his Friday night bed....  In the closet of course, complete with his own sound machine. 

 Starbuck's Selfie with my bedmate.  (Sans make-up).  

 The Fabulous Three....  K, B and MJ!

Uncle Slade and MJ

 Take 1 and Two 2-

Trying to get all sets of eyes on the camera at once is like herding cats.  I am glad the most important Emma, Carlos and Rescue made the picture. 

Take 3-

WINNER!

The looks on their faces completely crack me up.  Yes, they would be confusingly staring at "Bob", aka my mother, dancing behind me.  Wish I could have seen what moves she pulled out to master those looks of awkwardness.   

Love me some Lindz and Slade.  Like I said....  herding cats people!  Not sure what I am doing.  Kids were completely over the pics as you can tell.

Sunday morning came way too fast...  Tears, tears and more tears flowed as I pulled out of the driveway.  SO excited to get home to the hubs, but I miss my Hodges Gang like crazy.  

At least I had Lionel and Michael to serenade me on the way back to Louisiana...

Have a great week!

Love,

~H 

Our First Mardi Gras...

Well it is officially Ash Wednesday....  That means Mardi Gras has come and gone!:(  Not that I really understand what the whole Mardi Gras season is.....  But I.Love.It!!!!!!

AND....  We had a Krewe of Third Grade Parade at my elementary school last Thursday.  Oh.My.Word.....  INSANE!  That parade was definitely one of the highlights of my teaching career.  IT was a total BALL!  All the kids grouped up, designed and created their own unique floats (On their time- weeks prior)....And then it was TIME.  

Thursday at 2:00, all seven 3rd grade classes paraded around the outside of the school.  It was a two block circle full of the kindergartners - 2nd graders, teachers, parents, neighbors, community members, and etc... They all watched and duked it out for all our throws! 

They dressed up in crazy costumes, face paint, wigs... you name it!  They had millions of strands of beads to throw, along with stuffed animals, cups, candy, and my favorite.... Mini Moon Pies.  Why have I never tried one of these things?  OH MY!  Moon Pie addict here.

Some of Mrs. Wainscott's awesome floats!

 And we were off.... 

Yes, we get a week off of school, but it is more than that!  The bright colors, the spirit in the Louisiana air, the King Cakes, throws, etc... It is crazy down here.  Texans, you have no idea!

We only made it to two parades on the Northshore, so I feel like I really didn't get the "whole MG" experience, but there is always next year!  The suburb parades were great and all, but not New Orlean's worthy, from what I have heard.  

One parade, Brad's Northshore location had a tailgate for the parade!  I felt like I was back in my tailgating days at Texas Tech!  The best BBQ ribs and chicken, loud music, tons of people, and a Winnebago, strictly for the ladies' bathrooms needs.   (Not stepping foot in the "Johnny Pot" - (yes, that's Progressive's name for their port-a-potty's)...

Not Jambalya folks... Introducing Pastalaya!  Pretty delish....

 Brad helping out a friend in need of grabbing beads...

 Got a lucky horseshoe from one float!  Real gold??  Thanks Gus!

Brad and I headed down to the city yesterday for Fat Tuesday....  The weather was DREADFUL....  I mean I laid out Sunday afternoon for an hour, Monday was 65+ degrees and yesterday was 32 degrees and a constant 24+ hour drizzle.  STRANGE!

Not a good hair day or Fat Tuesday, but it was fun to be in the city for the three short hours we were there.  Thank God for the Progressive Waste Bus we got to sit in on Canal Street.  We also got to tool around through the streets on a mini-trash van...  Never did I think I would talk about trash so much in my life!

YUCKY weather = a cap and Brad's only excuse to pull out the LSU pullover! 

 Bourbon Street - pretty empty.

 Canal Street....  A ghost town!

 Thank the lord for this badboy!  I wouldn't have made it!

On the other hand, I was so glad we were able to lunch on Sunday with this sweet friend!  Steph come to Mardi Gras every year from Dallas!  She does the real deal.  Goes to the Endymion Ball every MG!  She had some great stories from that night.    And she spilled the beans that Carrie Underwood Wainscott performed.  If my hubs would have known that, we would have been at that ball with bells on. 

 "School's Out Dinner" with the Gerhardt's at Sal and Judy's!

What a great first Mardi Gras it was in Louisiana...  So much culture and fun here.  

We are definitely loving this new adventure...

But...  Off to Dallas tomorrow to see the family!  Definitely in need of some MOM time... Cannot wait~

Hope everyone is having a fabulous week - Off or not!

Love,

~H

V-Day, Flowers and An Antelope...

I think I am just now coming down off the annual sugar-high from Valentine's....  OH.MY.WORD....  Something about Valentine's Day gets children RILED UP like no other.  They get more excited about Valentine's Day than Christmas, their own birthday and just about any other holiday.   Last Friday, some teachers limited their student's candy intake to one or two pieces and sent the rest of it home to enjoy....

But not this teacher!  IT was pretty much a free-for-all the last 30 minutes of school.  Hey - They were going home to Mom and Dad!  Sorry parents.....

WILD....  BUT - it is so fun to watch their enthusiastic, sweet faces pass out there v-day cards, tattoos, suckers, and the one and only, the most BELOVED candy by the kids - The ever-so-popular FUN DIP. 

I mean who would think the trifecta of blue, red, and green granular powder served handily with a hard, sugary stick to lap up the "crazy crack" would bring such complete bliss and utter perfection to a 9 year old's life???

Kid Crack....

This week has been Teacher Appreciation Week at my elementary school.  What fun!

Full of breakfasts and lunches for us teachers, along with handmade cards, sweet treats and flowers from our students.  Today some kids brought individual flowers for me.  I put them all together!  They were so excited to help me arrange the loot into the vases, dump in the flower food, and add a penny... (Yes, I read on Pinterest recently that you should throw a penny into a vase full of flowers.....)  The theory: The copper can act as a natural antibacterial agent.  Ok - whatever that means, but worth a try!

Beautiful

Last but not least, by favorite thing about this week (other than a week off of grad. school) - My new, favorite book...

OH.MY - This book has completely consumed me.  I.Adore.It and cannot put it down!  Nearly done with it.  

It is both a touching and hilarious look at the ups & downs of being married to someone who is both your best friend and your polar opposite! Wise and hilarious comments on the joys, tears, and everything in between about marriage and life in general.  I love that she incorporates her faith into the book leaving no doubt that's the most important part of her marriage...  

Girls - Run now and go get this BOOK!  

Cannot believe it is Wednesday already.  

7 days left for us lucky Louisianans until Mardi Gras Break.  

Yep, my fellow Texans - Teachers in South Louisiana get BOTH a Mardi Gras week long break and Spring Break in April... 

Can I get an AMEN?!

Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Love,


~H

Some Randoms...

This past week and weekend were pretty much low key...  Which was nice!  Worked on grad school, went to a Rodan and Fields party, and enjoyed a late lunch on a patio Sunday!  Gorgeous weather in south LA.

So with that -  Let's chat some random things...

1.  I cannot get enough of Law and Order: SVU.  I could watch this show all day EVERY DAY.  There was a marathon on the USA network Sunday, and (we) might have watched 4 back-to-back episodes.  I like the new episodes on Wednesday nights, but my favorite are the old ones with Christopher Meloni aka Det. Stabler.  AND who doesn't want to be Det. Olivia Benson.  I DO!  LOVE Mariska Hargitay~ Gorgeous, smart and one tough chick!

2.  Yes, I'll admit I watch "Courtney Loves Dallas" on Bravo.  Silly, not so "real", and (rather stupid as my husband would say - but so is his Madden football video game - So we are EVEN:) but it's fun to watch and see some of our old stomping grounds (restaurants, bars, etc..) in our favorite city!  Her bff, Tory Gonzales, has a jewlery line, and I sure did buy a birthday gift: 

To Heather - From Heather.  I love it!  

Someone in our household thinks it is too big and obnoxious, and said I can only wear it when he is not around - kidding I am sure...but hey - everything is bigger in Texas, right?

Love it!  

http://www.allthewire.com/products/everything-s-bigger-in

3.  Where have I been?  I just discovered Netflix.  WHAT you might ask?!?!  Yes I guess we have been living under a rock. We love it.... Brad loves him some Breaking Bad (could not get into it - sorry), but I am OBSESSED with Parenthood, absolutely obsessed.  

Kelly, from Kelly's Korner, blogged about this the other day.  I just started Season Two.  What a great show!  And seriously, who would not want to be a Braverman?

4.  I love a product.  If you could see in my cabinet in my bathroom, it is quite embarrassing.  Every Bath and Body scented lotion/bubble bath/shower gel/spray, etc. you can imagine.  Definitely need to do some spring cleaning under there.  My mom gave me the best body citrus scrub for Christmas from a dermatologist in Amarillo!  It is great. So refreshing and light.  I will keep buying this when this one is empty...  I don't know Dr. Elaine personally, but her products are great.  So if you are ever in Amarillo, Texas or want to check them out online....

https://skintreatment.com/skin-care/body-skin-care-and-hair-care/body-skin-care-exfoliants

5.  I am loving Instagram these days.  It just the pictures that I mostly love about Facebook, not the daily invites to play Farmville and Candy Crush, political rants and all the other nonsense.  Ugh....  Instagram is great.  Very private, easy to use and just a way to see pictures of your friends (or celebrities that you may or may not secretly stalk!)

Very pointless blog entry I know...

Have a great Valentine's Week Everyone!  

KIDS love this week for some reason.  Give them a cheap Valentine's card and a Dum Dum sucker, and you think they would have won a million bucks!  It's that easy people...

Have a great week!

Love~

H

29th Birthday...

What a fabulous birthday weekend it was!  The fact that it was a 2-day work week made it all THAT MUCH BETTER...  I could do two day weeks every week.

Back to the birthday!  What great co-workers, students, friends and husband I have.  Totally blessed.

Beautiful flowers from the hubs.  

I do have a strange love affair with skunks.  Yes, I am weird, but I love the way they smell.  I do. (No, I have never been sprayed by one.  I might have a change of heart if that were to happen).  My students know about my crazy love affair due to the fact I have quite an extensive skunk stuffed animal collection in my classroom from students throughout the years.  

 But this card takes the cake....

   

 My co-workers brought me TWO king cakes for my birthday.  So the teachers ate devoured one and my kids scarfed down the other one.  Yep, we got the babies!

So the past two years teaching in Dallas, my co-workers gave me the same, yes the EXACT same birthday card two years a row...  It was funny last year at my birthday lunch when I opened the card and about DIED.  Stephanie, Margaret and Rita had picked out the exact same card for my birthday again.

Well this year was no different.  My co-worker Cali picked the card out and FOLKS - it was the EXACT same birthday card as the previous two.  I about fell out of my chair at school!  I told them the story that now it had been three years in a row that I had received the exact same card.  We all laughed about it and wondered what the odds were of THAT!

Well then, I got a card in my box at school Friday afternoon from my Mom.  (Yes -it came to school?:)....  I opened it up, and LOW AND BEHOLD....  It was the SAME CARD.......  Now this was just INSANE!!!!!  Three different groups of people/Mom and the same card.

Well, here are the cards!  The other two identical cards are stuffed in a box in storage somewhere....  

Hmm?  Are they trying to tell me something? 

Saturday, Brad and I headed into the city for a fun night away to celebrate.  Obviously, since we are rather new Louisianans, we love going into the city and exploring. 

Our favorite place to stay on St. Charles... Hotel Indigo.

It was our first time really exploring Magazine Street!  Such cool clothing and home interior shops.    

 

Because a one-legged horse/man wearing gold-sequined daisy dukes with a crime scene taped scarf is normal.  Love it!

Surprises from the husband...

Fun pre-dinner drinks!  This place is FABULOUS.  Wine Institute of New Orleans.  120+ bottles of wine, taste what you would like, all by using a fun pink card you stick in the machine as you go.  You pay by the ounce...  From $1.00 an ounce all the way to $22.00 an ounce!  

Unfortunately, you hand them your debit/credit card BEFORE sampling.  Dangerous place!

 Yummy dinner at Emeril's!  (Any restaurant that gives you THREE different types of bread; a sourdough roll, a piece of foccacia, and a corn bread muffin before dinner, is my kind of place!)  It was amazing... Service, food, atmosphere, etc.

Marathoners the next morning heading down St. Charles!  Our friend Tim was in town running the marathon, but we must have missed him.  He was too fast!  I guess we caught the tail end.  These were the walkers.

 Yummy brunch at Coquette before heading back to reality. 

What a fun, fun weekend away celebrating my first birthday as a married girl.  Thank you babe!:)

After all the INDULGING this weekend, Brad started low-carb today.  (And I always seem to get roped into doing it.)  He is the TOTAL carb-natzi....  I once got an eye-roll for reaching for a after-dinner peppermint.  He is hard core.  Brutal...

As I sit here eating cherry tomatoes, I can tell they obviously have "carbs",  because I am getting the "look" from the Natzi....  

IT'S not like I am shoving a Krispy Kreme down my throat.

Oh this is going to be fun.  Can already tell.  Hope there are still two Wainscott's alive by Friday...

Have a great week everyone-

Love,

~H