Holiday Travels

Well, I wanted to do a quick post just to shed light on our holiday plans. In about 30 minutes (11 am CST) we shall be departing N'awlins and headed to Kershaw, SC. We will have family Christmas with my (Steph) mom's side of the family tomorrow. Then Sunday, we will head to Greer, SC for my dad's side of the family's Christmas. Sunday afternoon, we will drive to Pea Ridge, NC (isn't that a fun name?) for Travis' mom's family Christmas. On Christmas day, we we will go just down the street from his parent's house for his dad's family Christmas. So within the span of 3 days, we will have all 4 family Christmases (is that a word?) It is sure to be hectic but fun! We will hang out in Ellenboro mainly (hopefully, we will go to Dandridge during this period of time) until January 4th. On the 4th, we will travel to Wake Forest, NC for a job interview for Travis! :) I have wanted to share on the blog for quite some time but decided to hold off for a little while. Travis is interviewing with Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary for their Director of Institutional Effectiveness position as well as a teaching position in their Christian Education department. We are excited! If he were to be hired, we would be within 4 hours of ALL family (once my dad retires and they move back to SC in a couple of years!) That would be great!! We will spend a couple of days out there and drive around and look at the place. Then we will head back to N'awlins to get back to the daily grind of life. The next time I post, it will be 2007! WOW! This year has flown! It feels like yesterday, we were sitting in a concrete block room in Decatur, GA with 50 million other seminary offices in the same room with us. I think right about now, we would have been watching Jenny and Stacy have a "dance party." Ha! What fun that was!! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

Peeper and Nino

My first digital scrapbook page!

Updated Links section

Good afternoon! I just wanted to let our blog readers know that the "links" section of our blog has been updated. I have removed our old photo album. We no longer use it and never reference it anymore. Also, I removed the NOBTS link because it doesn't really ever get updated or changed. I have added 2 new links and am excited about them! The first one is "FLYlady" this is a home organization/cleaning site that is TOTALLY free (unless you choose to buy any of her products- which you don't "need" in order to do the things they tell you to do) and very easy to learn and motivational! I have looked at it periodically over the last several weeks and after first cracking up at the silliness of it, I have come to respect the "method" and am going to start trying it out. Since I LOVE having an organized home but hate cleaning in LARGE doses, I think this will work for me. The other link I have added is "Saving Dinner." This is a family menu organizer-helper program. It does have a fee but there are LOTS of free menus on the website that you can access and use. It you like it, then subscribe, but give it a shot first. You can choose different types of menus, such as low-carb, frugal, kosher (not that I know anyone who eats those-type meals,) vegetarian/vegan, etc. You get a week's worth of menus AND a page of shopping lists sorted by grocery sections. Anyway, I am going to give it all a try. I have really started enjoying eating and cooking at home so I think it will be a fun "challenge." Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Trick or Peep!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to wish everyone a Happy Halloween! I had fun on my 1st Halloween! Mommy and Daddy took me walking around campus and let me sniff the grass and rocks. THEN we got to go to my friend Nino's for a little bit. Now we are going to bed and I am glad- I am tired!

Sights and Sounds from Epcot

Orlando

Click on the picture above and you will go to our photo album from the Orlando trip. There are more pictures to come...just be patient.

While at Epcot, we were able to enjoy the Festival of Nations Food and Wine special. We didn't sample any wine, have no fear...I did eat some Thai Vegetable Curry and it was GOOD!! Below is a video of the Japanese guys playing on the drum. They played for a LONG time but I only recorded a small snipet.


Sunday night at Epcot, the Beach Boys had a free concert! My parents and I were excited! Travis was not too excited (he isn't really from "beach music land" so he is excused.) Anyway, my parents and I waited in line for about 30-45 minutes but were rewarded with FRONT ROW SEATS! It was AWESOME! Here is a small recording of my FAVORITE Beach Boy song.


Every night, Epcot closes with a $30,000 fireworks show called "Illuminations." It was awesome! You can't really tell in the video what the spinning thing is but, it was a large electronic globe that would show scenes from around the world while spinning. At the very end, it opened and shot some fireworks too. Hope ya like!

Disney World Here We Come!

Tomorrow morning, bright and EARLY, my mom, dad, Travis, and I are headed to Orlando. We are very excited (or at least I am.) On Sunday, we are going to Epcot Center and that night we are going to see the BEACH BOYS in concert!! Woo hoo!! I wonder if I am one of the few 27 year olds who has seen the Beach Boys twice in concert? Hmmm...I love 'em! On Monday, we are going to try to go to Cape Canaveral and tour NASA. We have tried to do that on several other trips but something always happens. Then we are returning back to the good ol' Gulf Coast on Tuesday. It will be a quick trip but a GREAT getaway from all the gloom and doom of destruction-ville. I will definitely post pictures when I get back. I think my digital camera is finally fixed so I will be taking oodles of pictures! YAY!!!

Race for the Cure

This Sunday, Astasha and I will be walking in the Race for the Cure 5K. As some of you know, we are training to walk the Mardi Gras Half Marathon (13.2 miles) in February. We are wanting to do a check on our pace and thought this would be a good way to do it. We will help a worthy cause and find out if our pace we have established for ourselves will enable us to complete the half marathon in less than 4 hours. We will be sure to take pictures and I will post some on here post-event. We are hoping to be in the first 1,000 finishers (and we think we can be) because those people will be given a medallion.

Broccoli, Celery, Gotta Be...

VEGGIETALES! Great news! Veggietales has now been included in with Saturday morning cartoons on NBC! Tomorrow (9/8) will be the first time it will air. For people in Central time, it will come on at 10 am. Check your local TV listings to find out when it will be on in your area. This is a test market to see if it will be watched. If it proves to be in high demand, they will keep it on... if not, they will remove it. So everyone needs to watch it! That way I will be able to get a weekly dose of Bob, Larry, Jr., Laura, Ma & Pa Grape, Larry Boy, Jimmy, Jerry, Mr. Nezzer, and the list goes on...

Peeper's Surgery

Well, Travis and I have now experienced the "pains" of putting a child (err...pup) through a surgery. Peeper had his little boy surgery this morning. We took him to the doctor at 8am and left him and headed to work. I was told to call back at 1:30pm to check on him and see if he was ready to go home. I just called and was told "Peeper is doing fine and is ready to go home." This made me feel good. He is going to hang out at the vet a bit longer (we don't get off work until about 4pm today) and then we will pick him up. Travis has had a lot more issues with this surgery than I have. Maybe it has something to do with he is a guy and Peeper is a boy so they have a "bond." I have been excited because I am tired of worrying about his "marking" problem he has started having. However, once we left him at the doctor I felt sad and just prayed that God would take care of the little man.

**update on Wed. 9/6: Peeper is doing great! He is back to his little hyper, playful self. We are still trying to keep in calm (esp. when playing with Nino) just to prevent anything from happening with his 3 stitches. I (Stephanie) will take him Saturday back to the vet to have the stitches removed. Last Friday after we got home from the vet, Peeper kind of moped around and laid in his bed. Starting on Saturday though, there was remarkable change.

I am 9 months old today!

Yay! It is my 9 month birthday! I feel like such a big boy! My mommy and daddy sung Happy Birthday to me this afternoon! What have I learned lately? Well, I can walk for long distances on my back legs, I can sometimes jump onto mommy and daddy's bed, I can sit on command (but only on the couch- the floor is COLD!), I can hike (whatever that means...I just know there is a really small bush outside I sometimes do that on if I walk up JUST right), and I am sure there are lots more new things because I am such a smart boy. I thought I would show everyone just how much I have grown. I think I am done growing though. The ground has been the same distance away when I look down for over a month now! Anyway, in the top 2 pictures I am doing something I like to do...helping Daddy cook supper!

Here I am, 9 months old!

Here I am, 1.5 months old!

Here is how big I was the first time Mommy and Daddy got to hold me (I was 2 days away from being 1 month old!)

Travis' 50's Haircut!

Ok, sorry everyone (that knows) for taking so long to post the pictures. I took the liberty of editing the pictures a bit. I made them look "antiqued" since Travis looked like something straight out of Grease. Here is the story for these pics for those of you we haven't told...Travis REALLY needed a haircut at the beginning of the week. He went to the mall Monday night and got his hair cut by a guy with a HUGE John Travolta in Grease hairstyle. The guy, Steven, went on and on about how much he liked Travis' thick hair and then asked if he could just play with it and style it once he cut it. Travis agreed. After awhile (I had already walked around the mall 3 times, gone in 20 million stores, tried on 6 pairs of shoes, and checked out the puppies in the pet store during this "awhile") Travis emerged from the hair salon and this is what he looked like!

Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center

Click on the picture below to see our pictures from our day trip to the Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center! You will notice one animal that appeared frquently- the spider! There were spiders everywhere!! Hope ya like the pictures.

Bluebonnet Swamp

Aug 15, 2006 - 37 Photos

Time for an update...

Sorry for the long hiatus in blogging. Maybe once classes get started, Travis has to start writing papers, and people get busy doing school things, my life will calm down a bit and I will have more time to devote to blogging. We shall see...

Anyway, here is what is going on in our lives. I will start with the youngest member of the family- Peeper. He has learned to climb for those of you who weren't aware. He can't be kept in his room anymore because he knows how to climb the fence...literally. Watch this video to see what I am talking about:


Other than just being playful, being a little boy, and being a bit spastic, not much has changed in his life.

Travis starts his final year (hopefully) of PhD classes next Tuesday (Aug. 22). We are pretty excited about that. Once he is ABD (All But Dissertation- aka done with ALL classwork and writing the BIG paper) we shall see where we go...stay in NOLA, move to the Carolinas, move to Hawaii (haha), only God knows what we will do (literally.) He is still working for the Baptist College Partnership and is the Teaching Assistant for 2 professors. He has applied for the Director of Alumni Relations position on campus but we haven't heard anything about that yet. Maybe we will hear something once school gets started and things settle down a bit. He is also still the Minister of Education & Inreach at First Baptist Church, Marrero, LA. We love that church and its people. They are GREAT!

I am still working for the ProDoc program here on campus. I enjoy my job and work with great people who keep me entertained (always a good thing.) I have enrolled in a photography school. I am working on getting a diploma in Professional Photography from the New York Institute of Photography. One day, whenever we get around to having kids, I would like to be able to supplement our income by taking pictures of "stuff"- not quite sure what area I will specialize in. Therefore, I have been taking lots of pictures lately and trying to get to know my new Canon 35mm SLR camera. Hopefully, the pictures will improve as I learn more and become more acquainted with my camera. I am also still making baskets. In fact, I've had a woman from Oregon express interest in Just the Wright Basket but I haven't heard anything since I mailed her a brochure. I hope that isn't a bad sign... I have kind of started my own "ministry" (if that is what you want to call it) at our church. I manage our church blog and keep it up-to-date with things going on in the church and pictures of some of the events. Check it out by clicking here.

All in all, that is about it. Maybe something exciting will happen soon so I can blog about it (hopefully, not a hurricane...) Until then.....

My online apparel store!

I have an online, Just the Wright Basket apparel store! To visit, click on the title of this post or click here OR cut and paste the following website into your address bar in your Internet Explorer window: http://www.cafepress.com/thewrightbasket

If you check it and there is nothing there, be patient- before I can actually post merchandise, I have to upload my design and I will be doing that this afternoon or early this evening! WOO HOO!!! Get the word out- buy a t-shirt, or bumper sticker, or license plate frame, or hat, or... the possibilities are limitless! HA!

First Baptist Church, Marrero, LA Blog

I (Stephanie) am now in charge of maintaining a blog for our church. They talked about the need for some form of online communication for our church and Travis mentioned the option of a blog. He also told them that I love to blog and would probably be willing to manage one for the church. When he told me about this, I was very excited and got to work as soon as I got back to the computer (we were in the car when he told me about it.) Needless to say, I quickly got the blog up and going and I am pretty well-pleased with how it looks. It isn't anything fancy. I didn't want to make it too complicated in case there were some people who weren't too familiar with blogs and the Internet looking at it. Click on the title of the post or click on the link in my "Blogs we read" section to take a look at the blog. If you think I should add/delete anything, let me know. I am totally up for suggestions! Adios!

New Pictures!

I have posted some new pictures of Peeper on our "NEW Online Photo Album." Click on the link to the left to view them or click on "New Pictures!" (the title of this post!) Adios!

4th of July Pictures

Hey!
Ok, so it took longer than a few minutes for me to post pictures. However, they are now all online in my "NEW Online Photo Album" if you wish to click on that link to the left and go to the pictures that way. If not, you can click on the title of this post and go to the pictures OR (if those aren't good enough for you) click here. Let me know what you think of the pictures! There are a couple of a black & brown dog climbing a tree. He is a long-legged mountain feist (Peeper is a medium-legged mtn feist) and he is a bona fide squirrel hunting dog that can climb trees! It was very cool to watch- I hope you like the pictures! To leave comments, just click on the "comments" link at the bottom of this entry! Ciao!

Apartment Tour

Click on the title of this post "Apartment Tour" and you will be taken to the site where you can watch a tour of our apartment. Instead of waiting on Google to approve our video, I uploaded it to our "Old Online Photo Album." Therefore, I will still be keeping that link on our website so that you can check out new videos as I post them. Let me know what you think!

Also, I got a new camera this past weekend. It is a Canon 35mm SLR camera and I am EXCITED! I love taking pictures and now I can take "real" pictures and do cool stuff with them that digital cameras within our budget can't really do. I will scan some pics and post them soon! Possibly, in the next few minutes or so...I have to run check on Peeper first!

It's been a long time...

  

Well, not too much has been going on in our lives lately. I am going to post a tour of our apartment on this site just as soon as google determines that there isn't anything obscene in it. HaHa! That way everyone can kind of see our apartment without actually coming to visit. However, if anyone wants to visit, feel free! We love having company! We have a new online photo album. It is MUCH MORE user-friendly and it works great with the blog program (they are both google products.) I have kept the old one on our "Links" list just in case you want to still visit there. However, new photos will be posted to the new photo album. Feel free to look around. I have posted some other Katrina damage photos that we took of the 17th street canal levee breach and the Lower 9th Ward's levee breach. With a morbid sense of humor, I hope you enjoy.

We have also added a link to "mvelopes" in our "Links" category to the left. If you are interested in the Larry Burkett envelope budgeting system (or just want to try a very easy way of keeping up with your spending) then we HIGHLY recommend the online version- mvelopes. It is super easy to use and connects with your bank every morning at 4 a.m. and downloads your transactions so you just put them in the correct envelope. We love it! Also, if you have a Palm pilot, you can sync with it and it will show you how much is left in your envelopes if you are out somewhere and can't remember. GREAT SOFTWARE!

Peeper is doing great. He really likes our new apartment and the other dogs in the building. They like to chase and sniff each other and get SO TIRED in the process. It is great! He sleeps well those nights after he has played with Nino and Mikey. I will have to take some pictures and post them on here. Peeper is FAST though so he might show up as a blur in the pictures. He now weighs 10 pounds and has finally outgrown all of his baby clothes. He now has a blue hooded sweatshirt to keep him warm (he looks like a little gangster pup in it though, quite funny) and a fishin vest to feel "manly." HaHa! We think he is almost FULLY housetrained. He hasn't had any accidents in over 2 weeks! We live a pee pad in the floor at night and he goes to the bathroom on it. In the day time, he holds it until we come home and take him out or he will go on the pee pad if we forget to pick it up in the morning before we leave. He is a smart puppy.

Hey everybody!

Hey Everyone!
My mommy and daddy are at work right now and left me alone in the apartment. Therefore, I thought I would play on the computer for a little while and tell everyone what is going on in my life. I am now officially 6 months old. My birthday was on May 25th. Mommy and daddy gave me a new blue sweatshirt (with a hood & pocket!) for me to wear when I get cold. I have outgrown my other coat. I also got a little fishing vest to wear the next time I go to my grandparents' houses. I think I am very cute in my fishing vest! So since I am 6 months old, I am starting to go through this thing my parents keep calling "puberty." I think it is because one minute I just want to cuddle and sleep and the next minute I want to run around and play. I just can't seem to make up my mind anymore. I have also decided that I want to be a little guard dog and I try to make myself sound as mean as possible when I see people that aren't my friends. I bark at them and watch them real hard! If I figure out it is one of my two-legged friends though I will stop barking and run over and give them a lick!

I have a new 4 legged friend. His name is Nino and he is about 1 year older than me. We love to run around in the grass and chase each other. By the time we are finished playing, we are both so tired we just fall over and go to sleep once we get home. Mommy and Daddy seem to enjoy letting me play with Nino. I think it is because I sleep REAL GOOD at night afterwards.

Mommy and Daddy have FINALLY finished moving furniture around and unpacking. I enjoy my new apartment. I have lots of areas where I can run and play! It is real fun! Well, that is about all that is going on in my life right now so I think I am going to go back to my bed and take a nap. Bye!--Peeper

First Baptist Church, Marrero, LA

Travis was notified this afternoon that First Baptist Church, Marrero has called him to be the part-time Education Minister. He starts Wednesday night. In fact, he is jumping in with both feet because he has been assigned the Wednesday night devotional for this week also. We are excited about this new position and the fact that neither one of us have to quit our "day jobs!" Please pray for us as we start learning about a new church and new congregation and that we can learn names FAST! (especially Steph because she is HORRIBLE with names!) Adios!!!

Wow!

When I think of everything Travis and I have done over the past week and have to do this coming week, the only word that comes to mind is... WOW! We are still moving into our new apartment (YAY!)We started that last Saturday and hopefully will finish either this weekend or early next week. Travis interviewed with FBC Marrero, LA for a part-time education minister position and the church is going to try to vote on him this Sunday, Mother's Day. If they are able to, and the vote passes, then he could start there the next Sunday or the 1st Sunday in June. I think that is still up for debate. However, he will be able to keep his job on campus as well.

Yesterday, we went to supper with my old roommate, Kristie, and her husband, James. They were in for James' seminar and graduation this weekend. That was great! She was in our wedding, for those of you who read this who were at the wedding. So, when we got back from supper, we headed over to a friend's apartment for a surprise birthday party. It was fun. I was also surprised when I got there to discover KB Thomas in attendance. KB and I went to college together at the University of South Alabama. She is in town for the weekend because she is graduating tomorrow from NOBTS. After the party, we went home and Travis walked Peeper and I unpacked what we brought over yesterday afternoon before supper. Whew!

Today, there is to be more packing, moving, and unpacking. Tomorrow, maybe some moving in the morning (highly unlikely though) before graduation at 10 am. Travis and I are going to see some friends we haven't seen in forever and to see inside the Chapel after Katrina. At 2pm, my mom and her friend, Mrs. Kathy, are coming over and we are going to a Mother-Daughter-Sister-Friend Tea at the President's house. After that, we are going to Kiln, Mississippi (Brett Favre's hometown) for a Jake Boos' first birthday party! Once that is over, we will head back to our apartment and either move more stuff or unpack.

On Sunday, we are going to church with my parents, since it is Mother's Day. After that, we will return to NOLA to continue packing, moving, and unpacking. I hope this will be over with soon and I can decorate and start making baskets. By the way, any of my weaving friends who read this blog, here is a handy tip. If you have the wall space, hang a large piece of pegboard on the wall and hang your reed from those hooks! It is a neat decorating/conversation piece, plus everything is SUPER convenient! Thanks, Dad, for hanging that for us! I appreciate it! I will post pictures later. Don't have the capability of uploading pictures right now. Until next time...

Peeper, a tree, and 3 squirrels

Here is a video of Peeper playing with his tree and squirrels. I hope you enjoy!!

Peeper's First Lost Teeth!

Peeper has lost his first 2 teeth! He was playing with a new "puzzle" Stephanie got for him today and Travis noticed blood on it. While Steph was cleaning the blood off, Travis inspected Peeper's mouth and found that he had lost a canine tooth (the pointy one.) We searched the floor and actually found the tooth so it is now in a bag awaiting a clean jar. Then, about 10 minutes later, Travis stepped on a leaf (Peeper brings them in from outside bathroom trips) and felt something stick him. So he looks under the leaf and found a molar! He brought the leaf in today but we aren't sure when he lost the tooth. Needless to say, we added that to the canine tooth awaiting the jar. We are hoping to get a full set! We will keep you posted!

Funny Comic

Travis received this picture in an email from a professor at the seminary. Needless to say, we've gotten quite a few laughs about it. Speaking of rebuilding in New Orleans...we know what our mailing address is (at least until approximately August- but hopefully permanently.) Our address will be:
Travis, Stephanie, and Peeper
3939 Gentilly Blvd.
Box 595
New Orleans, LA 70126

We are moving again!

Today Travis and I got some really good news! We have been approved to move on campus into the "staff village." This is good for several reasons: we get to move on campus and walk to work, we gain a bedroom, bathroom, AND laundry room, we get to still keep Peeper, Travis can go to the library much more easily, Steph can walk on campus and not worry about getting run over by cars, if Travis goes to Jefferson Baptist our argument for not moving to BR is much stronger because he is a PhD student and needs the seminary's library, we will be near all of our friends, we gain a bedroom, bathroom, AND laundry room (oh wait, I've already said those- I am just excited about the additional rooms!)The apartments don't officially become available for people to move into until May 1 so we have time to do some packing! Woo hoo!! For those of you who will be living on campus, we will be apartment 1-A. It is a bottom floor apartment but we are totally fine with that. Peeper will even have his own room! He isn't too excited just yet about that, but he will no longer live in our kitchen! His mommy and daddy are VERY excited about that! Peep will move to the laundry room! YAY!!! To see a very similar floorplan of our soon to be home, click here.

Just the Wright Basket Update

I have finished with the initial set of basket photos. As I make more, I plan on another one this week, I will add those pictures. Like I have stated earlier, if you are interested in any of the baskets, just email me. There is a link on the left side of the "Just the Wright Basket" blog for you to send an email to me.

Global Wildlife Center

Travis and I visited the Global Wildlife Center in Folsom, LA this weekend. It is about 1 hour north of New Orleans. It is a 600 acre "safari" where people ride around on "wagons" pulled by tractors in order to view animals in their natural habitat. It is awesome! They have all sorts of animals, deer, rea's (spelling?), giraffes, llamas, bethlehem donkeys, kangaroos, bison, texas longhorns, beefalos (combo of a cow and a bison), zebras, and some other animals I can't remember the names of.

They also have food you can purchase for cheap to feed the animals (except the zebras) when they come up to your wagon. There are a couple of animals, the camel and llama, that you can feed out of your hand.
They also had a baby giraffe that was born in mid-January. He was 6 feet tall and adorable!
Travis enjoyed himself- he had never been. Stephanie has been once before but it was about 8 years ago. If anyone who reads this ever comes to visit, we will be glad to go again and take you with us! It is fun!! To view our photo album of pictures, click here.

Our genius pup!

Peeper is barely 4 months old and can already count to four! We have an Einstein pup! This video is proof!

French Quarter Sights

Last night, Travis and I ate at Red Fish Grill down in the French Quarter. We are helping escort the people who are on campus doing accreditation stuff so Dr. Searcy invited us. Travis and I went down a little bit early to take pictures and check things out since we haven't been down there since Katrina made landfall. To view all (10) photos we took, click on the title of this post, "French Quarter Sights" and you will go to our photo album. If you are familiar with the place (and even if you aren't) you can tell there isn't really too much structural damage in the quarter. However, if you ARE familiar with the area, you will notice the lack of people on Bourbon Street. That is the street the restaurant was on. I took a picture at about 6:00 p.m. and then another at 9:00 p.m. and there isn't too much change in the number of people out and about. I have also included a tongue-in-cheek funny picture...the re-elect Nagin billboard. They are everywhere! I don't know how someone who says New Orleans is supposed to be a "chocolate city" can expect to "reunite New Orleans." I guess we shall see...if he gets elected. Enjoy!

French Quarter Sounds

The two mp3 files below are recordings (not that great) of musical sounds from the French Quarter. The top one was cajun music playing in a store I was in and the bottom on was a jazz band playing in a restaurant. The sound quality isn't all that great but I just wanted to share some sounds from the French Quarter. The two places were across the street from each other and I think that is why there is a bit of interference in the 2 recordings. The next time I go, I will video and post that because I think that might sound and look better. I will post pictures later tomorrow.

An ATM that doesn't dispense money

Ok, so who has ever heard of an ATM that doesn't dispense money?! Travis and I haven't either until this afternoon. We did a mystery shop and had to pay with cash. We didn't have enough on us so we just did what any normal red-blooded American would do- we went to the ATM. As you can see from the picture, the ATM wouldn't give us any money! Maybe it is one of those "new-New Orleans" quirks, I don't know but it was kind of strange and I thought I would share it with our blog-reading friends.

Lamberts

Thursday afternoon, I received a call from a friend of ours, Ginny and Kaleb, from Knoxville telling me that she and her husband were going to be in Gulf Shores, AL this weekend. I got excited, needless to say, and we made plans to meet at Lambert's Cafe in Foley, AL. Lambert's is probably one of the few restaurants Travis and I would be willing to drive 3.5-4 hours to eat at, so you know it has to be G-O-O-D! Not only is the food delicious (good ol' country home cookin') but the atmosphere can't be beat. There is a guy "the roll thrower" who walks around throwing HOT rolls at whoever wants one. It is great! The guy can throw rolls really hard when he has to (i.e. throw one across the room to a pair of outstretched hands.) but our guy mainly went around tossing them at the people at the table when he walked by. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the roll he just threw in the upper right corner. Kaleb, Ginny, Travis, and I all caught our rolls (from across the dining room I will let you know!)Kaleb ordered the largest salad I have ever seen! It came in a bread bowl (that Kaleb pointed out could double as a hat after you ate the salad) and was piled HIGH with everything you could possibly think of putting in a salad. It was a great time to hang out with old friends we haven't seen in several months and a great chance to get back to a great restaurant. They are coming again in July for a family reunion, does that mean a reunion for us again at Lambert's? We shall see...

What an Anniversary!

Today is our anniversary. However, due to orchestra practice tonight, Travis and I decided to do our "anniversary dinner" last night. Travis decided to surprise me and take me to the "warehouse district" of New Orleans. Neither one of us had ever been there before. Talk about fancy! There were NICE restaurants just stuck in old abandoned warehouses (hence the name) which was weird but typical "New Orleanish." He had made reservations for us at Emeril's restaurant. To go to the website for that restaurant click here. To start the evening off, we had complimentary valet parking! Neither of us has ever done the valet parking thing before so that was nice. After we sit down, they brought us a complimentary hors' devours (I KNOW I misspelled that- sorry!)which was a toasted piece of bread topped with a piece of bacon, sun-dried tomatoe, and a sunny side up quail egg (they called the egg something other than "sunny side up" but that is what it was.) The whole thing was about the width of a silver dollar. It was good. I ate the white of my egg and left the yolk- not too big on the runny yolk taste.

That was followed by an appetizer- roasted tomato and garlic bisque soup. This also had a piece of strange bread in it which Travis liked. Then we got our meals- I had Mississippi raised quail with mashed potatoes and fried okra. Travis had rack of Colorado lamb and mashed potatoes. They were both delicious! It took forever for me to determine what I wanted to eat because the menu had lots of French words in it that I didn't know what they meant! I finally decided that I knew what quail was and I like quail so I ordered that. I just didn't know what else it came with. I was quite impressed (as was Travis!) After that, we split a bananas foster cheesecake(New Orleans dessert.) It was rum cheesecake (I think) with caramel sauce and then sauteed or fried (not sure which) bananas. It was heavenly! Our waitress (the one who came most often to our table- we were assisted by about 7 people during the meal) brought it out with a candle that she lit and wished us a Happy Anniversary! Aww...how sweet!

That was our anniversary dinner! It was a totally new experience for both of us and one we enjoyed tremendously! I hope you enjoyed us sharing it with you. I wish I had taken pictures but it was kind of dark inside and I am not sure how they would have felt with me taking pictures like a tourist. HAHAHA!

Seattle, WA Skyline

Most everyone who reads our blog are aware that Trey, Travis' brother, is in underwater welding school in Seattle. We have been pestering him for over a month to send us pictures. Well, he finally did! We also have bought a disposable camera that we are going to mail to him so he can take pictures and mail them back to us for us to develop. Once I get those pictures back, I will probably upload some of those to our blog as well. Anyway, I am posting the 2 pictures that he has sent us. One of his buddies has a digital camera and took these pictures. They are both taken from roughly the same spot but at 2 different times of the day. Hope ya like!!

GA Aquarium Videos

Here are the 2 videos I uploaded from our recent trip to the Georgia Aquarium. To give you a bit of perspective with regards to how big the whale shark is in the 2nd video- he is a baby and is only 14 or 16 feet long right now. When he is full-grown he will be 40 feet long and be the size of a school bus! That is huge!

We're Going Back!!

Ok, so we just found out about 20 minutes ago that we are going back to NEW ORLEANS!! WOO HOO!! We are excited and a bit overwhelmed. We are overwhelmed because I (Stephanie) have to be at work at 8am Monday morning in New Orleans! Today is technically our last full work day here in Decatur. We are going to NC tonight (probably will arrive fairly late) and then come back here late Wednesday or early Thursday to pack up the office and then drive down Friday. Yay! If you want to mail us anything here is our address:

529 Papworth Avenue
Apt. B
Metairie, LA 70005

We will still have the same cell phone numbers for right now and our home number is: 504-834-6608. Yay! We will post pics as soon as we get Internet access to our apartment. Until then...

Pupillary Distance

Ok, so I (Stephanie) have a scratch on one of my lenses. I have had scratches before on my glasses and they haven't caused problems. However, this is a clump of scratches in one spot- right where my right eye looks out through the lens! Therefore, everything is clear for my left eye, cloudy for my right eye, and thus I end up with a headache. Not too much fun! Well, I ordered a "backup" pair of glasses today from this website and it asked me for my pupillary distance. That is the distance from the middle of one pupil to the middle of the other one. When the person who is fitting you for glasses puts that thing up to your face and tells you to look straight ahead that is what she is measuring. So anyway, I got Travis to measure that distance for me. My pupillary measure is 58 mm. I fall in the "97% of all people will be between 54 and 74" category. The average is 62 mm. Ok, so then I decide to measure Travis' pupillary distance- 75! That makes sense to me because as you will notice in the picture with this post, his head is much larger than my little bitty head. I think it is kinda funny! To measure pupillary distance, you have someone hold a ruler (with millimeter markings) directly under your eyes and you stare at a spot straight ahead (but not at the person measuring!) and they count the number of millimeters from 1 pupil center to the other. That is your pupillary distance. I want to have a contest (aka science experiment) to see which of my friends & family has the largest pupillary distance. Therefore, I leave everyone with this question...what is your pupillary distance? To leave your measurement just click on "comment" below this post. THANKS!

Notification from Just the Wright Basket

Woo hoo! I have finally done it! I have started posting pictures of my various baskets on the "Just the Wright Basket" blog site. Please look at them. I am not done posting pictures (hopefully, I will finish that either Monday or Tuesday night) and if you have any questions or would like one of your own there is a link on the left side of the page where you can email me!

Filet o' fish anyone?

Well, this weekend we had some friends (Anthony, Alyson, Lorren, and Jordan) come down from Dandridge to visit for a little while. They homeschool their children so they "used us" for a field trip. We went to the Georgia Aquarium. It was awesome! I could live inside that building and never have to come out- there are fun fish everywhere! It is the largest aquarium in the world and also boasts 2 of the largest fish in the world. That fish is the whale shark. They have two baby boy whale sharks right now. They are small...haha...they are each about 14-16 feet long! When they are full grown they will be 40 feet long! How insane is that? They will be the size of a school bus! We had lots of fun at the aquarium- there were exhibits where you could pet different animals (rays are slimy by the way) and an underwater tunnel that takes you through the "heart of the ocean." Needless to say, I loved it a ton and want to go back! To see pictures from the aquarium you can either go to our online photo album (link is on the left side of this page) and click on "Georgia Aquarium" or you can just click the lighthouse beside the title for this post.

After the aquarium, we ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. It was quite interesting to say the least. Our waiter was VERY INTERESTING and that is all I will say about that. Travis and I had to get hurricane glasses for his mom and cousin. They both collect them and neither has one from the HRC in Atlanta- even though they have New Orleans, Myrtle Beach, Gatlinburg, Atlantic City, Houston, Nashville, Memphis, Branson, Orlando, Nassau, and other cities that are farther away than Atlanta. Here is a picture of the Hard Rock here in Atlanta:

We had a great weekend and hope they will visit again once we move back to New Orleans (by the way, that might be in the next couple of weeks!)

Mardi Gras Weekend

This past Friday, Travis and I went to New Orleans/ Mississippi for a long weekend. We returned to Smyrna yesterday (Tuesday.) We had some fun, did some manual labor in my parents' house, met with a pastor of a church who needs a Minister of Education & Administration, hung out with some First Baptist Dandridge who were also working on my parents' house, took Peeper to the beach, drove around on NOBTS' main campus, and got to sleep in our apartment! It was quite a busy weekend! I have pictures from the weekend and as I tell about a few things I will include links to click on an see accompanying pictures.

The first thing is the interview at a church. The church is in Baton Rouge (1 hour west of New Orleans) and is within commuting distance. The pastor, Tommy French, is a trustee at NOBTS and was very adamant that Travis continue PhD study no matter what. We really appreciated that. They have an orchestra and handbell choir which I really appreciated. They average around 500 or so in worship and 375 or so in Sunday School. To visit the church's website click here.

First Baptist Dandridge sent a disaster relief team to my parents house for this week. They are hanging insulation and drywall. We took some pictures while they were working Monday and you can see those pictures here. Travis and I helped out while also keeping up with Peeper. We mainly carried the sheetrock from the tent out in the front yard to the back of the house where they were working. Hopefully, I will get more pictures later of all the work they finish and I will add those, but for now these are the pictures from Monday. Monday was also Earl McCosh's birthday and we had a small birthday party for him at the church that night. His birthday cake was a King Cake which is a New Orleans' traditional Mardi Gras cake.

Tuesday after we left my parents house to head back to Georgia we drove down the street and took Peeper to the beach. He has never been to the beach and so we thought it would be fun. He was kind of scared of the beach and didn't like the water. You can tell that by looking at some of the pictures. We also included a cute shot of him riding in his car seat. Anyway, hopefully, he will get used to the beach. Once we move back down there (hopefully soon) we will be able to take him more often and he will get used to the water. But for now, you can view pictures of his first beach trip here.

This coming weekend, we have some friends from Dandridge coming in and we will be going to the Georgia Aquarium this Saturday. I am excited! I will definitely post some pictures of that in our online album and might put a few on here in a post. Until then...

Impounded and feeling a bit pinky!

This weekend, we went to North Carolina to see Travis' parents and take Peeper to the vet. Well, it was about as far from a normal weekend over there as could be! For starters, we arrive to a house void of Trey. He is now in Seattle at underwater welding school. He left the first part of February and should finish this program September 16. Needless to say, things were a bit quieter than normal in the Wright hosue. The first thing that we learn is that the stolen trailer has been recovered. To catch everyone up, here is what has happened. These two guys broke into the pasture last Friday and stole Mr. Earl's trailer he uses to carry the bulldozer around on. It is a HUGE trailer! Anyway, they stole the trailer and didn't bother to close the gate to the pasture. Therefore, 2 cows escaped as well. Their new neighbor was nice enough to chase the cows back into the pasture and close the gate though. Well, on Saturday, it was reported that some North Carolina DOT construction equipment (a Caterpillar) was stolen in Marion, NC (about 40 minutes away_in addition to some John Deere gators and other heavy machinary. The police found the items sometime last week (the Caterpillar was equipped with a GPS tracking system so the police easily found it), along with the trailer. However, since the suspects haven't been caught and taken to trial yet, the trailer has been impounded! Mr. Earl can't get his trailer back until further notice! We took a picture of the sad, lonely trailer just sitting in the impound lot Saturday and have included it in this post.

Peeper update...We also went to NC to take Peeper to get his 12 week shots and first heartworm treatment. He didn't get either. About 2 weeks ago Peeper started to slowly lose his hair on his front legs and then his belly and now it is on his back legs. We were kind of concerned but thought that he had allergies or he was shedding his puppy hair or something of a fairly non-serious nature. We take Peeper to the vet Saturday and the vet (who is awesome by the way) does a skin test and comes back and tells us our puppy has mange!!!!!!!! We were distraught! I (Stephanie) almost started crying. He then proceeded to inform us that there are 2 main types of mange. One type is curable and is contagious to humans. Another type,(demodectic mange),is not curable and is not contagious to humans. Peeper has the latter. Apparently, our little pup has a genetic immunodeficiency that makes him unable to fight off mites that are normally found on animals and humans (hence why it's not contagious- they live in your eyelashes!) Therefore, the mites are able to burrow next to the hair root and the hair fall out. He gives us two options: option 1, do nothing and let all of his hair fall out and he look horrible or option 2, give him ivermectin (not sure of spelling), a highly toxic medicine, daily for 6 weeks that will kill the mange mites for him and thus regrow his hair. Of course, we went with option two. The vet assured us that this mange wouldn't cause any harm and he is in otherwise healthy condition. However, this problem will probably arise again when enough mites grow back- we just don't know when. The other picture is of our precious pup's pink belly. We are hoping to go back to NC in 3 weeks to get his shots and heartworm treatment and we hope he will have lots of hair at that time, so we shall see!

On a random note, Trey's dog, Heidi, who is part lab and part chow and FULLY black has a new hobby. She enjoys picking up cow patties (in her mouth) and dropping them in random places throughout the front yard. Travis and I thought more cows had escaped until Mrs. Gail informed us that it was Heidi who was doing that. Gross!!