Backyard Boil

Hey There!

Well, as promised, here is our documentation of our first backyard crawfish boil!  And let me tell you, it was a BLAST!  In fact, we are already trying to find a way to bring a crawfish boil back to Nebraska sometime for all our friends and family!!!  Only tricky thing is going to be getting the LIVE crawfish there....but have no fear, our crawfish experts are coming up with a good plan for us to hopefully make this happen sometime!

So, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!  Enjoy!

Here goes nothin!

This is how you "serve" up your crawfish.  It's all "boiled" with corn, onions, garlic, potatoes, seasonings....bascially whatever your heart desires.and then you scoop it out onto a dish like this.....basically it's a plastic pan.

Then.....it's all about technique in how you eat the little critters!

Grab from both ends....

 Twist (They aren't that difficult, I was being dramatic for the picture)

And then you get the meat from the tail end, gently put between your teeth and pull.  You can also suck the head for the juices...but I just couldn't bring myself to do it!

It was soooo very tasty, beer went down easy, and we had a lot of fun!  It's a lot of work for the little bit of food you get from the actual crawfish....and definitely an outside meal.  Met a lot of great people and got to get the scoop on just what it's like to be a "Baker" wife. 

After most everyone had left from the crawfish boil, Steve, Chad's project manager took us to his local hang out bar, the "Stagecoach".  It's a big country bar with lots of memorabilia, old saddles, live country bands and line dancing!!  I felt sooo at home and it reminded me of po-dunk Nebraska and going to the dance's after the bull rides and fairs!  Because Steve goes there fairly often and he's friends with the owner, we were like celebrities coming in there with him!  This was the first time we had ever been to a bar and got reserved seating!!!  Cracked me up!

 

 

Only one problem....they had issues spelling "reserved".  Made us chuckle :-) 

This is Steve and Chad.  Pretty much he's adopted us as his children from Nebraska!  He and his wife are A-MAZING people!!!  Because of them and a lot of other people we met that night, it really makes me feel good about our decision to move here....and that we are a part of a "Baker" family down here.  We are blessed.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND TO EVERYONE!

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Hey there family and friends!

My apologies on the delayed update....I didn't realize it's been almost 2 weeks or better since the last time I posted....SO SORRY!!  Hope all the mother's in our lives had an enjoyable and deserving day to celebrate all your amazing-ness on Mother's Day!

Not much has really been happening since the last post.  Mostly we are continuing settling into our new home, town, state, routine...etc.  We've gone out to a couple new restaurants that seem to be local or at least new to us....and nothing that has been earth shattering, deliciousness yet....so either I'm getting to be too good of a cook or we just don't know how to appreciate local cuisine yet! 

I've done a few little DIY projects.  One was a crayon melt on canvas that so many people seem to be "pinterest crazy" about.  I made this for my neice, Izzy's, birthday present!  She got it a little late...but I think she enjoyed it.  I got so involved in it that I forgot to take a picture when it was all said and done!  But if you really want to see what these are like, you can follow this link.
http://www.cmybacon.com/2011/07/melted-crayon-art/

I also sat and created a wreath to put on our door on the outside...it was pretty easy and I thought, added some "welcomeness" to our home! 

In other news, I'll be starting a job here in a couple of weeks at Ochsner North Shore Medical Clinic.  If you really want to check it out you can follow this link! 
http://www.ochsner.org/locations/north_shore/
I'm really excited about it....although the shift isn't that ideal (Thursday, Friday and Saturday), it was about the only full-time position available in the area--and I got it!  It will, however, be perfect in that I have 4 days off during the week, it's right down the street from us, and I'll be in a hospital setting again, which I'm really looking forward to!  It's a pretty well known health system in Lousisia, so I think I'm getting my foot through the right door for better future opportunities! 

Chad is starting to get pretty involved in his job.  They haven't even really started any big pours of concrete yet.....so once June starts rolling in, I'll probably hardly see him!  He's already putting in about 12hr days, 5 days a week.....but he's working with a great group of people and learning a lot...which, in the end, will be a GREAT project to put on his resume for future opportunities.....maybe, oh, move back to Nebraska :)  (Don't get me wrong, I don't hate it here.....but I am really counting the days to when we can go spend time with family just because, instead of having some big event or holiday to try and plant to get there for)

This weekend we will be traveling to Chad's project manager's house for a crawfish boil.....I'm assuming this will be an experience....and this Nebraska girl will be learning just what the fuss is all about.....seems a crawfish boil is just as common around here as giong to a Nebraska tailgate during the fall!  It won't be steak and potatoes...but I'm open to the adventure....trust me...there will be pictures depicting this experience!  Plus, it involves beer, so I think I'll be able to find a way to be a little bitcontent :-)

Other than that....we can't complain.  We really are enjoying the fact that we get to see each other every day,being happy.....and be married!!  We hope everyone out there reading this has a similar happiness somewhere in their lives!

We'll be traveling back to Nebraska for a quick weekend trip home,  June 14-17.  We'd love to see anyone and everyone!!  love you all!

Just another Monday!

Well, not too much exciting on this post.  With the big flower bed project last weekend, we really spent a lot of our time this weekend organizing and cleaning up from all the fun! 

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes!  I had a pretty uneventful day...turning 26 really isn't anything to get too excited about!  We went out and tried a new little Italian place and then enjoyed a night of relaxation with the hubby! 

Not much new to report around here.  With May approaching, it's beginning to show what humidity Louisiana has to offer....and I'm beginning to hear that the worst is definitely not here yet!  Hurricane season begins in June....something I am very not familiar with...so will be an.....interesting......learning curve!

Here are some pictures of our garage organization!  (Before and After)

We also revamped a bench our landlord had left here that was falling a part...and is now part of the entry way decor! I was horrible about taking the "before and after" pictures of this process.....but I did have a "before" picture of the bench in one of our flower bed project picutres!

Happy end of April, everyone!  I can hardly believe a month has passed since we moved here to Slidell!!  One month down, about 23 or so more to go......haha :) 

Have an enjoyable week! 

Flower Bed Improvement

Happy Monday Blog Followers!

It's GORGEOUS here today!  60 degrees, slight breeze, blue skies....can't complain about that.

We spent the ENTIRE weekend working on the flower bed improvement around the house...and WHAT A PROJECT!  We hauled lots of dirt with lots of wheelbarrow trips (reminded me of my 4-H days), lots of shoveling/tilling and then some planting/mulching.  Overall, it was a pretty fun project and very rewarding.

Unfortunately, because we spent our time on this proejct, we missed the crawfish boil festival we wanted to go to....but only because on Saturday it ended up NOT raining, like they said it would, so we took advantage of it! Which, after all was said and done....we were SOOOOOO glad we split it up in two days! 

Here are some pictures of the project!


BEFORE:

IN BETWEEN:

Chad was pretty proud of our first "home improvement" purchase- the wheel barrow.  The wheel barrow and I were great friends over the course of this project.  And thanks to it, I got a great glute and core workout!  yay!

AFTER: (:-)

What we learned from this project:

     -we can't wait to OWN a home

     -we really enjoy these hands on projects

     -there were no big fights or spouses abused during this project :-)

     -it's times like these that we definitely really hate having everyone so far away....it would have been a  fun project to have people over and help with!

     -beer tastes way too good after hardwork outside all day!

    

Have a good week everybody!

Home Improvement and Other Fun!

Hey there!

Sorry for the lack of updates in the last couple of weeks....we have been some busy bees on getting some things done around the house!

So far, the Louisiana life isn't too bad!  It's been really rainy/muggy here the last couple of weeks.  When it rains it monsoons here.....I tried capturing a picture of it, but it just doesn't do it justice!  Although, I probably shouldn't be complaining when my Northeast Nebraskans just had HORRIBLE hail this last weekend.  I could not BELIEVE what we were seeing, looking at the pictures!  How crazy!

The last couple weekends have been consumed by a lot of different things.  I got the guest bedroom all put together.  We tore up a big mound of dirt that was left in the middle of our yard (pictures will follow in the next week or so once that mess is all cleared up!).  We painted the master bedroom.  Decorated around the house and spruced up the front door and shutters (pictures will follow after this weekends project ;-) )

Here are a few pictures to commemorate our  last couple of weekends work/fun:

 GOLF OUTING!

The Guest bedroom.....ready for visitors at any given moment ;)

The Living Room

And the master bedroom:

I really liked how the master bedroom turned out.  We did the same pewter color as we did in the guest bedroom and then added a dark chocolate/molasses brown as an accent wall.  I'll be adding more touches to it as we go (i.e. window treatments).  Our next big purchase....(I hope).....would be matching nightstands ......we don't have those yet!....but will hold off for now.  My vision is to accent with lime green, whites/creams, and maybe throw in some oranges/grays.....I think it will turn our really neat!

Other than that....not much else is going on.  I have a job interview with a pretty well known health system down here tomorrow! (Thursday)....so keeping my fingers crossed for that one.  It would be right here in Slidell....so I wouldn't have to commute!  yay! The only thing that is not ideal is the hours....which would be Friday and Saturdays 7am to 11pm plus call on both of those nights...and then an additional 8hr day sometime during the week.  Right now, jobs are somewhat slim pickings as I'm coming to find out.  And, although I did not relocate down here to barely see my husband....it would be a job, my foot would be in the door, and we would still get to see each other EVERY DAY....unlike the every 3 weekends that we were doing, and would have continued with......so......beggers can't be choosers.  Plus, maybe this way having sunday-wednesday off....I could make some trips to Nebraska and see family! :)  So we'll see....will keep you posted!

Our project this weekend consists of tearing up the current flower beds (which really is more just a bed of weeds and grass and small tress have that have seeded there) and laying down mulch, and putting in a few shrubs/flowers!  So, that means my homework this week is designing the flower beds!! eeek!  I'm pretty pumped about this one!  Although neither of us have that much experience with flower beds, I feel the farmer in me should be able to figure this out....and Chad's a pretty handy guy...so I have faith it should be a pretty fun project!  Also....we hope to make it to the big Crawfish cook off and boil that is happening this Saturday in Slidell.  Now, neither of us have tried crawfish before...so this will be an adventure!  I will definitely be taking pictures to commemorate this one! It sounds like it should be a lot of fun! I'm all for anything that has good food, drinks and live music!

Hope this finds everyone doing well!  Don't be afraid to leave comments and keep in touch! 

Rainy Monday

Well, here it is the first part of April, and the showers part of it is proving true here in Slidell. 

We spent most of the weekend doing yard work, and doing some home improvement projects, from powerwashing the siding on the house (it gets very mossy/moldy here), working on the lawn mower our kind renter left us (hasn't been used in a year), and painting the guest bedroom (which, once you look at the pictures...keep in mind that he told me I could paint as long as it wasn't anything extravagant....and I'd have to say my painting is LIGHT YEARS of an improvement of what he left us....)  After a long Saturday and part of our Sunday...we finished with our projects!  And are finally getting this place to be a home for us!

Here's a picture of our little home! :)

Here are a few pictures of the siding before Chad worked on it!

And the after....

It's so pretty now!

And the guest bedroom before (the two worst walls)

And the after....(the color is a pewter gray...looks really nice with the white trim...will probably do some teal and yellow accents in here )

Overall....I was really impressed with what we got done....and I have to say, the new Price couple rock at DIY projects! Now we can really get serious and start decorating!!  (and spending more time on pinterest...haha)
Hope everyone had an enjoyable weekend!