Mardi Gras!

This his year I decided it would be fun to throw a Mardi Gras party. Ever since my first visit to New Orleans (which was on Fat Tuesday 5 years ago) I have loved the culture, food and traditions of the south. So I thought, what a better way to liven up February that with a Mardi Gras party? Also, I thought it would be a fun way to introduce a less known holiday to those of us this side of the Mississippi.

I enlisted Libby Dibb’s help in organizing everything, and she was crazy amazing! She baked 3 King Cakes, helped me decorate and helped me manage a needy toddler and party festivities.

We had a few games such as, Who am I? (a name game), Dance Central on the Kinect and even Mardi Gras Jeopardy.

I was thrilled that so many fun people were able to make it out and liven up a lesser known holiday! Thanks to everyone that came, brought awesome food and helped out in general!

Deep South Thanksgiving

Well, it has been a while since the last update, but I’m back on track, with lots of new adventures to share!

After a scary-fun Halloween, Ryan and I made the trek southward and met up with Jeff in his birthplace, Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Some people say that visiting the deep south is like visiting a foreign country, well I’m here to say, they’re right…just kidding! It was, as always, a blast! We were able to spend a week with Jeff’s paternal side of the family and indulge in some southern traditions.

We started off the week by visiting a local Mardi Gras costume museum. It has over 100 costumes on display that have been donated by different Crewes over the years. All of the costumes are elaborate, to say the least, and some of them look down-right painful. But I suppose being the King and Queen of Mardi Gras isn’t all fun and games.

We also had some time to hang out with Jeff’s cousins and get some fun pics on a chair worthy of our status ;)

Jeffs’ grandparents, AKA Maw maw and Paw Paw, live in the ‘heel of the boot’, of Louisiana. They are about 4 hours away from New Orleans, so we had to make the trip eastward to the Big Easy! Susan and Clay watched Ryan overnight while Jeff, Michelle, Tim, myself and our cousin Savannah stayed the day and night in the French Quarter.

We stayed in a great hotel, right off of Jackson Square called The Place D’ Armes. It was lovely inside and the location was ideal. We spent the day shopping at the French Market and walking through the quarter and finished the night with hot chocolate and beignets from Café Du Monde.

Little side note here -If you haven’t had the chance to spend some time in the French Quarter in NOLA I highly recommend making the trip! It is enchanting! The architecture dates back to the antebellum and victorian era. Most of the buildings are brick or stone and have balconies that overlook the street and are usually draped with foliage. In the morning, when most of the streets are clear and the partiers have retired, the quarter feels almost ethereal.

After our getaway to NOLA we went back to Lake Charles and enjoyed a “Pre-Thanksgiving shrimp fry”. To those of you who think that Deep south cooking involves an exorbitant amount of deep frying, you’d be right J. We had chicken, shrimp, fries, pickles and hush puppies, all fried, of course. We backed it up with some classic Cajun tunes, dancing and a bonfire.

Ryan loved all of the action and couldn’t get enough of the deep fried pickles with ranch.

Thanksgiving was a big affair with enough food (including a fried turkey :) to feed an army and the traditional hayride and Christmas carols.

Alas, as with all good things, it had to come to an end. We flew back to NC the day after Thanksgiving and closed on our new house a week later! It is so exciting to start putting things away and know that I won’t have to move them again in 6 months. We are really glad that we can start to put down roots and start getting adjusted to our new home!

Rise and Shout, a little cougar is out!

For Ryan's first Halloween I thought it would be appropriate to pay homage to his fathers Alma-mater. His Maw-Maw, Susan, made him an adorable costume and come October 31st our little puma was ready to rock! (With his cougar mom by his side, of course :)

We had the opportunity to attend my parent's ward "Trunk OR Treat" the Saturday before Halloween. My little man was a hit! We had a few people give him shout outs and throughout the night we learned to respond quickly to "Hey Cosmo!".

One of the members in my parent's ward went all out with a witch doctor costume. Most of the kids were absolutely terrified by him. Ryan just wanted to eat his staff :)

On Halloween, Ryan's Aunt Michelle and Uncle Tim came over to see the newly discovered breed of cougar. They were fortunate enough to interact with the little one and get some classic pics.

We took a few glamour shots with the jack-o-lanterns to round out the evening.

Sadly my little cougar didn't end up actually going trick or treating this year, due to a wardrobe malfunction (He didn't like his hat:). No worries though, I am already thinking of costumes for next year, which is sure to be a blast!

Home Sweet Home!

It's official, on December 2 Jeff and I will be homeowners! We made an offer on this house last week and they have accepted our terms. We are closing on December 2, and are so excited!

When we came across this house it was love at first sight. Initially we thought it was way out of our reach, but as we started to take timid steps towards buying it, everything just fell into place. It is a new construction in a great neighborhood and we think it will develop very nicely. From a decorating stand point it is a blank slate, and I am SO excited to get started! I would really appreciate any help or tips anyone has to offer :) Seriously! I have put a slide show of pics below, there are a few of Ryan in there too :) If you have difficulty viewing the video I posted a link to a site with just the pics.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=e6fb65c798c6f013&Bsrc=Photomail&Bpub=SDX.Photos&id=E6FB65C798C6F013%21143&sff=1

Take a look at those chompers!

It finally happened- Ryan got his first tooth! It took about 2 weeks of red swollen gums, but it is Finally here!

It is still pretty small and you can't see it very well in pictures, but it is his lower left incisor. (There is a white spot on the picture, I don't know what it is, but ignore it.)

He also started eating finger foods, which is very exciting for me because it keeps him occupied while I clean up his lunch or dinner. :)

In other news Jeff and I are doing well. I was recently called as the Relief Society Chorister and as a member of the "Formerly know as Enrichment" Committee. I am slowly becoming a better chorister, but every once in a while I stumble and just look like a retard waving my hand around. The committee keeps me pretty busy, but I enjoy it. As many of you know, I love planning parties, so I feel like I am in my element. I really love the ward I'm in and have made so many great friends in the short time we've been here. All of the friends I have met both here and Ohio inspire me to be a better person. I love to learn from them and bask in their awesomeness :)

Meanwhile on the home front, Jeff and I are still on the hunt for the perfect house. We have looked at so many houses they seem to run together! We just recently made an offer on one and hopefully we will be able to work something out.

Here's hoping the next blog will be about our new home!

Outer Banks Baby!

Last week Jeff’s sister, Michelle, came to visit! I was sooo happy to have her here with us! She is so much fun and is a huge help with Ryan. We did lots of fun things while she was in town, including road tripping it to the Outer Banks.

Since we’ve arrived in NC, people have told us we needed to visit the beaches at the outer banks. Basically it’s a series of Islands at the eastern most coast of NC. The area we stayed at is called Kill Devil Hills. Strange name, right? Well I found out that there are a few theories about how the place got its name, but the one I liked the best involved local brewers making rum so potent it could kill the devil. The name stuck and it became Kill Devil Hills. On the same Island are the cities: Nags Head, Kitty Hawk and Duck. I'm sure they too have stories behind their interesting names, but I didn't happen to find out what they were. I did however find out that "Duck's Donuts" -started in, where else, Duck- are delicious. They cook your donuts in front of you and let you choose your toppings. YUM!

History lesson aside we had a wonderful time! We spent the first day on the beach. The sand was very clean and soft, which for many NC beaches is a rarity. Ryan and I dipped our feet in the ocean but spent the majority of the time lounging under an umbrella. I am actually a little afraid of the ocean. Not only are there sharks out there, waiting to gobble me up, but there are jelly fish and who knows what else. What can I say? “Jaws” has ruined me. Jeff and Michelle were more adventurous and had fun swimming and jumping waves.

After the beach we got dinner at The Blue Moon Beach Grill. It is small and maybe not a 5 star establishment but the food was awesome! Shrimp and grits is a huge thing here and theirs was-according to Jeff and Michelle- very good. Having filled up on delicious food we headed out and played a rousing game of miniature golf at a course that was so elaborate it involved a mine cart train that took us to our first hole. The rest of the holes were a little bland but it was still really fun. Don’t worry Dad, I won.

The next day we visited the Wrights Memorial Museum which was very fun and educational. There were so many little things that I never knew about the Wrights brothers. For example, did you know that their first successful flight actually took place in Kill Devil Hills, not Kitty Hawk. Ha! Take that 5^th grade history teacher!!

All in all the trip was a blast and we will definitely be going back. Perhaps if more people come out to visit me you can tag along J

Our Story Begins...

Well, I'm finally writing a blog- per the request of some persistent people :) I suppose the best way to start is at the beginning. At least the beginning of the interesting stuff, so here goes. You'll have to forgive me if my words get away from me, I'm new at this :) My husband, Jeff, and I, met in Utah in 2006 on a blind date. His uncle Greg was in my ward and he set us up. We were both smitten :) and we got married in the Salt Lake Temple on May 10, 2007.

Three months later we picked up and moved to Columbus, Ohio where Jeff would complete his medical schooling at THE Ohio State University. So many things happened during our stay there and it was one of the best experiences we've had individually and as a couple.

We welcomed a sweet kitty into our little family within the first few months of being there. She was a cute fluffball and we named her Sophie. She brought lots of happiness and laughter into our lives and really was a cuddlebug when we first got her (You wouldn't know that know, however, as age has made her kind of a brat :).

While Jeff attended school I had the pleasure of working at Creature Comforts Animal Clinic. Every member of the staff I worked with brought knowledge and joy into my life. I could honestly go on and on about them and how wonderful they are, and perhaps sometime I will, but not now. While I did love working in the veterinary field I felt the pull of something new and decided to go back to school and become an aesthetician / nail technician. It was a great experience for me and I am so glad that I did it.

Well, the rains came and went and in June 2010 I found out that I was expecting another addition to our family. We were ecstatic! Even though I was nauseous during most of my pregnancy I really enjoyed it. I was able to spend a lot of time during my pregnancy with family in Utah and Arizona which was a great blessing. Our baby boy was due February 3, 2011, but as it so often the case, things didn't go according to plan. I went to the hospital for a routine test on January 15, 2011 and while there the baby's heart rate dropped and I was taken for an emergency c-section. Ryan Edward Aucoin was 5lb 5oz and 19 in long when he came into the world. While it wasn't planned and we weren't even close to prepared, I was overjoyed to hold my son in my arms. *Little side note here, we DID NOT name him after Edward Cullen of Twilight fame. Edward is a family name on Jeff's side.*

We brought our little boy home and with some help from our moms and dads, we took on our new roles as parents. I love my little guy with all of my heart but for the first few months I fought a battle with post pardum depression. Some may think it odd or in poor taste to talk about this but I feel it is vitally important that other moms know that they are not alone. Eventually I found the right doctor and medication and am feeling like my old chipper self again.

Ryan is a wonder. He is so full of life and happiness. He keeps me on my toes and reminds me to appreciate the little things, like how soft certain fabrics are, and how comforting just a touch can be. Seeing his smile and hearing his giggle makes my day instantly better. I love spending time with him and joy in rediscovering the world through his eyes.

Well, back to our story. In March of 2011 we found out that Jeff had been accepted to the University of North Carolina's neurosurgery residency program. It is a great place and a good program, but I must admit initially it was quite a shock and disappointment. We had heard many good things from the University of Utah (which was Jeff's first choice- based on the location as both of our families live there) and really expected to end up there, which was probably why UNC was such a shock. Anywho, we regrouped and moved to "the south" in July, which has been great so far! We are in a wonderful ward and while the weather is a bit too warm and humid for my taste it is really beautiful and I am so excited to immerse myself in the southern culture. I may even pick up an accent ;)

So, that brings us just about up to date. Jeff works at the hospital during the day and Ryan and I watch movies, go for walks, have play dates and generally have fun together until Daddy gets home. I'm going to try to be consistent about updating this blog with new adventures and, of course, lots of pictures, because lets be honest, that's all any of us care about anyway :)