Sisters' Club

Oh, what a week! Last Sunday I gave a mini-talk in Sacrament (They just had me introduce myself and bear my testimony).

Monday we show our last movie for the summer at the library. We did "The Spiderwick Chronicles "(I had read the books, but I hadn't seen the movie, so that was fun). And my favorite kid actor (from August Rush) is in it!

Tuesday night was Sisters' Club. Someone in the Branch Relief Society started it and each month different people take turns hosting. Whoever is hosting gets to pick what they want to do. This month Julie took us all to the new Mexican restaurant in Broussard, called La Hacienda. It was fun! I only got a couple of pictures before my camera died!

Stephanie caught me trying a lemon with salt on it-It was actually really good!

I saw my first barge go down the Bayou on Wednesday.

Then, Thursday night Stephanie hosted a Jewelry Party with Ena. The theme for this one was Sandals and Salas. We had a blast! And, I got my Scentsy order in (a Celestial warmer and 3 wickless candles). I love walking into my apartment now-it smells so good!

Stephanie and Linda Stephanie and Ena

Debbi and I both doing the Jewelry Fashion Show

I'm slowly getting more furniture in my apartment. I got an old microwave from Barbara, a beautiful floor lamp from the Cottons, and the Harvey's are bringing me a couch tonight. People are so kind and generous to me!

Finally, I had a great relaxing weekend. Spent the weekend with the Davis family again (they've just adopted me!). We grilled out steaks and watched some movies.

I hope everyone is happy and healthy!

Have a great week!

Lonnie

Roadtrip!

I had an amazing weekend! On Saturday, I had been in Louisiana for one month and it was also the first time I used my own dishes. I know it's crazy, but it took me a month to fully unload my car, unpack, and get settled in…I have just been so busy with work, ect. Anyway, I can't believe I've already been here a month. The time has just flown by!

On Saturday I also got to go on a road trip with the Davis's. They picked me up and we drove to Houston. We left bright and early at 6:30 am. Heading north to Lafayette, to get to I-10, we had the full moon setting in the west and the sun rising in the east. The site took my breath away! It was such a nice drive-the weather was perfect, the scenery was beautiful, and I got to spend more time with my friend Stephanie and her husband, Jared, and their daughter, Rosie. Rosie was so excited because we saw a hot air balloon go over us! It was neat because I recognized all the parishes we drove through (from doing interlibrary loans with all of them in the state). While driving, we listen to a book-on-CD, Louis L'Amour's Treasure Mountain, which is set in New Orleans. And again, I recognized the places and things he talks about and I thought it was so cool!

It took four hours to get to Houston and we were on planning going to the Church Distribution Center to get supplies but it was closed! Come to find out that the temple was closed for maintenance and the distribution center is always closed at the same time. But, we stopped anyway, so I could take some pictures. I have never seen the Houston Temple before and it looks like a castle! It's in a gorgeous neighbor with some the most beautiful houses I have ever seen. We also stopped by Nauvoo Books and looked around (we don’t have an LDS bookstore by our temple in Baton Rouge) and I got a picture of Pres. Monson.

Jared and Stephanie try to get to Houston once a year and whenever they're there, they go eat at Red Lobster. That is Jared's favorite place and there isn't one where we live. Now, I'm not big on seafood…I'll eat fish, but that’s about it. However, Stephanie convinced me to try her food. I had a scallop (it was okay), lobster (didn't like it, too rubbery for me), and crab (which, surprisingly I really liked!) So, another new experience under my belt!

Finally, we went to IKEA. Now, there is an IKEA that opened in Utah last year and I had seen the commercials for it (which I love-they tell a continuing story), but I have never been to one. WOW! What an adventure! Any of you that have been to one knows what I’m talking about…The whole place is set up like rooms in your house and you just go around and try things out. Then, if you find something you want, you jot down the item and, when you get to the end of the store, there is a big warehouse room divided into sections and you find the item you want and pay for it. We spent hours in there. It's huge and they even have their own restaurant and playground for the kids. But, my very favorite thing wasn't even in the store. When, you come from the parking lot, there is a yellow IKEA love bug sitting on the sidewalk. It just made me smile and I wish I had had my camera!

We left Houston around 5 pm and pulled into New Iberia at 9 o’clock. Home sweet home (and it really is starting to feel that way!) It was such a fun day. Thanks to the Davis's for inviting me along!

Suprise Visit

Oh, what a week! Monday was Movie Day at the library and I spent the whole day helping Sarah, the Children's Librarian, setup and take down a big blow-up screen, chairs, etc. It was fun! We have an old-fashion carnival popcorn machine and we had popcorn, candy and drinks. We showed the new Nancy Drew movie. They try to do one or two movies a month. Last month they showed High School Musical and Enchanted.

Tuesday, I was at work and I got a call from Ginny, my Director from the Hyrum Library in Utah. She and Mike were in Baton Rouge and they wanted to come take me to dinner! I was so touched that they would go out of their way to come visit me. I wondered what in the world they were doing down south and it turns out that they had been in Arkansas at a Family Reunion. They met me after work and I gave them a tour of the Iberia Parish Library and then we went to dinner at the Little River Inn. It was my first experience with Louisiana Seafood and Cajun food. We had fried oysters, crab fingers, ect. Mike ate Catfish and Ginny and I played it safe-She had steak and shrimp and I had a Cajun Chicken Pasta. It was so fun to talk about Arkansas and places we had both been!

I'm an official Louisianan. I got my car licensed and registered and I got my Louisiana Driver's License on Thursday. Louisiana's Nickname is the Pelican State, and so my License plate has a pelican on it.

I spent the weekend hanging out with Stephanie, my new best friend, who also happens to be the Relief Society President in our LDS Branch. We have just connected over the past couple of weeks and we have so much fun together. Friday night we went to a Jewelry Party and Saturday we went to the movies and saw Will Smith’s new movie Hancock.

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Lonnie

Happy 4th of July!

What a week! Work was busy, but good. I was grateful to have a day off though. I had a fun-filled 4th of July. Gail, a lady from the library invited me to her house for a Bar-BQ.

So, I took a beautiful drive out to Jeanette, a town 20 minutes east of New Iberia. Known as the Sugar City (and you know why once you pass all the sugar cane fields!), Jeanerette sits along the southern bank of the Bayou Teche. I pulled up to their house and the view took my breath away! The Bayou runs right in front of their house and you can sit on the porch and watch the water flow by. The yard is full of big oak trees and along the Bayou are Cypress trees.






Gail and her husband live in an old house that was built around 1910, with hardwood floors and big, tall ceilings, it is beautiful! Each room is painted a different color. Gail’s side of the family is Italian, and in her kitchen, above the window’s she has a saying, which means “Friends are the Spice of Life.”




They have a pool and a pool house. We had lunch in the pool house. It was so much fun. All of Gail’s family was there, along with Donovan’s brother and his family. I felt like I was at one of my Family Reunions! We ate and talked for hours.

Finally, I went back to New Iberia to the Bouligny Plaza on Main St. There I watched the Louisiana Kids perform.

Then, I watched the Parade on Main St.

Mayor Curry

Finally, they had a Patriotic Ceremony at the Gazebo, where the Mayor spoke and they did a reenactment of a Civic War drill.

They were having fireworks over the Bayou Teche, but I didn't stay long enough to see them.
I hope you all had a wonderful, relaxing 4th of July!
Lonnie

My New Job

Hello to Everyone! Another week has come and gone and I wanted to tell you a little about my new job and share some pictures, of course!

I LOVE my job! I am the Reference/ILL Librarian for the Iberia Parish Library. FYI: a Parish is a County in Louisiana.

I work at the Main Library on Main Street.

The Bayou Teche (pronounced By-u Tesh, Teche meaning "Snake") runs right behind the Library.

Then, there are 61/2 other branches. St. Peter's and Parkview are also in New Iberia, and they are the newest, nicest libraries we have. (Picture is of St Peter's) Then, there is a branch in Jeanerrette, which is about 10 miles east of NI. There is also a branch in Delcambre (pronounced Del-come), which is about 10 miles west of NI. Finally, there are the Lydia, Coteau (pronounced c-oh-toe) and Loreauville branches.