Visiting New Orleans

Reposted from May 2012. We are celebrating a three year journey at seminary that is coming to an end this weekend. We are so thankful for God's grace throughout our time in New Orleans and at NOBTS. It has been infinitely better than we could have asked or imagined! 

As I alluded to in an earlier post, there was really nothing in me (or Andrew) to ever want to go back to New Orleans. Not for a visit. Not for a vacation. Not even for a football game. We had both been before on short visits and Andrew had spent an unsuccessful tenure at the seminary back in 2008. I say this to drive home the point that the fact that it even came up in conversation (and in a positive way) was an act of God.  

I distinctly remember how timid Andrew was even mentioning the idea to me. He even told me that he almost didn’t say anything about it at all for fear I might not react very well. Not me. I’m sure he didn’t know that his mention of going back to NOLA was the fringe of a conversation that would change everything. 

After we got it all out in the open we both realized that God had already brought a measure of healing to our hearts simply through talking. What’s more, we were both experiencing an unusual excitement for a city that the thought of at one time, made me nauseous. If that isn’t Jesus, I don’t know what is. 

We were left with a weird foggy vision of something God was starting in our lives and a big “what now?” We decided the next logical step was to plan a visit. Andrew wanted to go as soon as possible but we were at the start of a 6 week long whirlwind of busy weekends so we had to wait. I was glad for that because I think it gave us time to come out of the rush of excitement that comes with doing something extreme. It gave us some time to think, plan, reason, and break the news to our families… who mercifully gave us their approval. 

The weekend finally came. I could go into ardent detail of every moment. I could honestly devote an entire post to the food alone. But I won’t, for now. I’ll just sum the weekend up with a few words. 

Joyful. Intriguing. Exciting. Adventurous. Providential. Prayerful. Peaceful. Assured.

And with that, our decision was an easy one. 

What's Up With James?

I thought I'd do a catch up post on the little fella so I could remember what he is like at the sweet age of almost two. After all, this blog was intended to document our time in New Orleans and as it turns out, James Timothy Donaldson has become a pretty big part of life.

James has the longest eyelashes known to man. I would gladly trade with him any day and never have to wear mascara again.

James is a weird eater. He goes through phases of eating like a horse and then barely eating at all. He JUST started eating chicken in addition to bacon and those are the only meats he will touch. This proves he is an American male living in the South. Otherwise, he loves grapes, bananas, blueberries, strawberries, apples, milk, cheese, yogurt, mac n cheese, cheerios, shredded wheat, animal crackers, raisins, and french fries. And all sweets except ice cream. Weird.

We have really loved having a baby in New Orleans. There are so many things we enjoy doing with James around the city. Some of our favorites are the Audubon Zoo, City Park, LaFreniere Park, Story Time at the Norman Mayer Library, the LA Children's Museum, Palm Tree Playground, playing at the Disney Store and PB Kids, and like most other moms and tots - Chick-fil-a!

James loves to read (finally, this took a while) and his little attention span is getting longer and longer. Some of our favorites are Giggle, Goodnight Nola (which he calls nite nite gola), Chugga Chugga Choo Choo, Talking Train, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Little Blue Truck and a book just called Trucks. 

James is always happy when he is outside. This is one characteristic that has stayed exactly the same since he was born. So, we go for A LOT of walks and play on the playground almost every day. There are some major perks of living at the seminary. We have 3 playgrounds and a lot of green space to safely explore. James also can't get enough of watching the train go by right outside our apartment. Which leads me to his biggest obsession....

Planes, Trains and Automobiles! The kid loves machinery. He even got really enthralled when NASCAR came on TV the other day. I never thought a day would come when I would be watching NASCAR and saying things like "Sweetie, where's your backhoe loader?" 

James also adores playing "airplane" with his daddy. Andrew puts him on his back and runs around. Just watching them is exhausting so when James asks me to do it I tell him I can't because I'm too little. HA! (He will probably figure out pretty soon that this is the furthest thing from a good excuse!)

James really has the sweetest little spirit and is truly a joy to everyone he meets. He gives lots of hugs and kisses. He loves his grandparents and always has the best time when he gets to visit with them. He is so blessed to have some pretty incredible cousins who adore him. And the feeling is definitely mutual! The hardest thing about having James in New Orleans is being so far from our families. We miss them all the time. 

James, you are the best thing that ever happened to your daddy and me. We love you more than anything and know you are going to grow up to be an amazing man of God. It is a joy to be your mama. I love you!!

34 Weeks and a Giveaway!

Well technically 34.5714.

Also known as 34 weeks and 4 days.

And believe me, every. day. counts. 

This has been a pretty fun week. Andrew is on spring break and even though we are both working this week, everything feels a little more relaxed.

Monday night we went to dinner at Dat Dog. It was delicious. What pregnant woman doesn't love an enormous Guiness dog with chilli, cheese, ketchup, mustard, and onion? Oh, with a side of cheddar, bacon, ranch fries please. 

We went with our friends Leah and Adrian who also have fun blogs. (Leah is hosting an awesome giveaway right now, scroll to the bottom to check it out!) They are practically professional runners but they still eat crazy hot dogs which I think is awesome. I somehow didn't get a pic of Adrian... sorry Adrian!

Tuesday I had my first New Orleans snowball with my OTHER friend named Leah. It was green apple flavored and it was heaven. I told Andrew he needed to work an extra $40 into the budget because I would be requiring a snowball every day until James comes. 

Also, we are house sitting for a family on campus who have a real live, stand-alone home, with central AC and a jacuzzi tub and a king sized bed. So basically I feel like we are on our honeymoon again except we have to go to work everyday and feed the dog. Miss Laura even left a tray for breakfast in bed! I love it and I don't want it to be over. 

Lastly, our friends Matt and Leigh Anna from Georgia are here with their beautiful baby girl. Matt is taking a workshop on campus so Leigh Anna and I are getting to spend time hanging out with James' future wife, Maddie Claire. 

Week 34 of pregnancy has been really good to me so far. I'm sleeping really well and loving peanut butter banana protein shakes among all other food known to man. Seems like that is all I can talk about these days.

See that real jacuzzi tub in the background? Pretty awesome! Have a great day before Friday!

Also...

The first Leah I mentioned, the running one, is hosting her first ever giveaway on her blog!! She is giving away an Endorphin Warrior bracelet. These are awesome bracelets that can be worn while working out and have motivating and inspirational phrases on them. I totally want the conquer one to get my mind set for getting back in shape after James comes!! 

Go enter to win HERE!!!

Friday Five

I haven't even blogged this week but I'm still here and life is still moving forward. I thought I would do a little Friday five recap of this week and since I am a little behind on updating, I'm going to start with last weekend.

{Mama coming to NOLA} Last weekend my mama and her best friend, Miss Ann, came for a long weekend in New Orleans. We had a great time going to the doctor, shopping, relaxing, and eating. We got all the baby stuff washed and ate an amazing brunch at Elizabeth's. We had praline bacon as an appetizer which was basically bacon covered in a butter/brown sugar glaze. I had the bananas foster french toast as my meal. It was scrumdidiliumptious. 

{Parenthood} Andrew and I have really been into the show Parenthood and have basically blown through all four seasons in about 3 or 4 weeks. I know it sounds silly but I think it has been a good conversation starter for us on parenting dilemmas we might never talk about. I'll pause the show and be like, "If that were James what would we do?" I know it's impossible to know but it's kind of good chatting about it. We will be wrapping up season 4 tonight. I haven't handled everything going on with Kristina this season very well, and I'm pretty glad we will finish it before I'm 39 million weeks pregnant and a basket case. That might be too much.

{City Park} Andrew surprised me on Tuesday afternoon by telling me to get in the car because we were going to walk around City Park. I was SO excited to spend a beautiful spring afternoon with him on a Tuesday, which happens to be my least favorite day. It was great even though I had to go to the bathroom 3 times in 30 minutes. 

{The Bachelor} All I gotta say is, I'm glad it's over. I'm part of the .0002% of the world who is not swooning over Sean. I kind of suspect he is not all he is cracked up to be. I know the only other person in this galaxy who agrees is my sister-in-law.. but we are cool with that. 

{Date night} This hasn't technically happened yet but it is happening come 4:30 this afternoon. Some of our sweetest friends gave us a gift card that is good for two awesome New Orleans restaurants. One is Juan's Flying Burrito... a fave of ours. The other is a really neat looking pizza place called Slice Pizzeria. Not sure what we will pick but I'm pretty sure it will go something like this: 

I'll want to try Slice because I have something in my DNA that makes me want to try new things even if the alternative is something that I know I love. 

Andrew will want to go to Juan's because he has something in his DNA that makes him want to always stick with what he knows he loves and not risk disappointment by trying new things. (And he is recently into spicy everything.) 

We will end up at one of the two and just enjoy the fact that we don't have to cook, clean, or pay. And since we went at 4:30 we beat the crowd and can be in bed by 7, finish Parenthood, and be asleep by 8:30. It will be a glorious Friday night and everyone will come out a winner. 

I realize 99% of this post was about percentages (weird), food, and T.V. but that's life right now! 

Have a GREAT weekend!

Linking up with these cool blogs:

Can we talk about King Cake?

Of course we can... this is my blog. 

Y'all.

If you don't know what King Cake is, let me start by telling you it is the most delicious thing you can imagine.

More delicious than the delicious thing you imagined when I said that. 

Its like a cinnamon roll and a coffee cake and a donut got married and had a baby with icing on top. And yes, that is entirely possible both biologically and legally when it comes to food. 

I had no less than 8 pieces last week. The first 5 came from two different King Cakes that were bestowed upon me and the last 3 were from the one I finally purchased for myself. 

And that last one, it was the best. It didn't even come from a high falutin, old New Orleans bakery. It came from a donut shop in "da hood" where I currently reside. I'm pretty sure it was deep fried. 

And I'm OK with that. 

And so was my family with whom I reluctantly shared it.

And that is why I don't have a picture to show you. 

But here's one from the internet in case you wanted an example.

via

And here is what Wikipedia has to say about King Cake in case you are clueless about why I rambled out an entire post on the subject. 

I encourage you to enlighten yourself beyond the Wikipedia offerings and get a piece into your mouth as soon as possible. 

Although that could be difficult for you if you don't live in or near New Orleans, in which case you will have to live vicariously through me. 

Don't fret. I'll eat enough for the both of us.

Recipe, Rain, Research

And the Pioneer Woman does it again. 

We've been eating these this week and they are delish.

I took about 9000 shortcuts on this recipe and it was still pretty majorly great. 

via

I did not grate my own cheese. I did not cut up my own pineapple. I did not put a skewer through my pineapple. I did not pre-toast my tortillias. I did not use fresh jalapenos. 

And they were still the bomb. Try em!

In other news, the weather in this part of the country has gotten downright depressing. I can fully embrace a few cold and rainy days. I like to snuggle up with hot chocolate and be sleepy just as much as the next guy but after about three of those days I have reached my limit and currently we are pushing two weeks. 

It took me exactly one hour to get to the grocery store Monday because apparently when it rains people get into their cars and lose their minds. There was no danger involved in my taking this picture because I was going exactly 0 miles per hour... for a very long time.

We attended our first prenatal class last night. It was technically the second class but we missed the first one and are making it up in March. I was by far the least pregnant person there and the one taking the most notes. Five pages. Zeal is one of my best qualities. It was information overload and I am glad I have all of my notes to go back and do some research of my own on all the options for delivery. I am an information junkie and I want to know everything about everything that MIGHT happen to my body and baby. 

At the moment I feel like things tend to get a little over-medicated but I'm not ready to make any bold statements about that here on the blog. On the flip side, I am extremely grateful to be living in an age where we can know exactly what is going on with babies in delivery and have so many options for their health and safety. Amen? 

2012 In Review

What a year! I don't think I have ever had a year I remember more vividly than 2012. Usually when I reflect on my previous year it seems like a long drawn out blur. I think it's because I am not typically one of those people who keeps up with things, but 2012 was different. I feel like every single month was distinct and the whole thing flew by in about 5 minutes. It's probably been the best year of my life. Not the easiest, but the best. Isn't it funny how sometimes the best is not the easiest or not even what you would have wanted had you been asked?

In January 2012 I would have predicted that my year might involve continuing to work at my job in mental health, Andrew continuing seminary at the nearest NOBTS extension center and working, maybe a new ministry job and possibly buying our first home and finally putting down some roots. 

January 2013 finds us in new jobs in a new city with a new member of the family on his way. 

It has been wild and unexpected in every way but I wouldn't change a thing!

Here are some of the highlights: 

January

Ringing in 2012 with Katie and Kyle and really hitting the YMCA hard to reach my fitness goals. I've never told  you this on the blog but I lost 56lbs between 2010-2012. 

February

Getting more active in helping with the FBC Valdosta youth group. Helping teach Sunday school to middle school girls and attending LOTS of fun festivities for my BFF Katie's engagement!

March

Best bachelorette weekend ever to Mexico Beach. Disney World world with the Donaldson clan and Katie's gorgeous wedding. Talks about buying the cute little green house AND the first discussion of moving to New Orleans...

April

Whirlwind of trips to Port St. Lucie, FL for Easter, and an amazing 4 day weekend in New Orleans. God confirmed the plans; goodbye Valdosta, hello NOLA!

May

Started the blog. Started packing up the little Valdosta house and preparing for our new adventure in the even smaller New Orleans dwelling. Gave my notice at my job. And joined a running club so I would be able to exercise in NOLA without my beloved YMCA!

June

Surprise birthday party, turned 25, family vacation to Panama City Beach, colonoscopy (it's not all fun and games), weekend trip to visit friends, more packing.

July

Family BBQ at my dad's, squeezing in LOTS of friend and family time, packing like crazy, yard sale, saying good bye to our jobs and finally moving to New Orleans!

August

Setting up the new apartment. Getting my new job in the Psychology and Counseling Department on campus, meeting new friends, and... finding out we are having a baby! 

*Congratulations on making it three weeks in New Orleans! First prize is a baby!*

Oh yea, getting evacuated for hurricane Isaac and having new twin nephews!

September

Completely failed at Andrew's birthday due to morning sickness. So far I owe him cakes for the past 2 years. Went to visit my dad in Tifton. And I pretty much threw up a lot. But the teeny tiny baby did well!

October

Continued to battle the morning sickness. Basically fell out of life altogether. Had a really hard time processing all the changes in my body and surroundings. Kind of hated New Orleans. Went and saw The Birds in the sculpture garden at the art museum. Decorated a little to feel more like home.

November

Finally started to feel a little better. Had a fun weekend with my sister in law in New Orleans as well as my friend Autumn. Did the color run with Leah and Stasia. Great Thanksgiving with the Donaldson's. Started coming back around to New Orleans.

December

Felt nearly 100% better. Found out we are having a BOY, Baby James! Finally got back in the kitchen and did things I love like having people over and decorating. Celebrated our 3 year anniversary and didn't take a single picture. Spent an amazing 12 day Christmas with all of our families in Bainbridge, Tifton, and Auburn. Got lots of fun baby things!!

WHEW!

And the crazy part is that 2013 is going to top it. Is that even possible?! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!