Happy December!

December is flying by and what a crazy month it's been! I came back from Utah to a cold wet Louisiana. It rained for 14 days straight. We had a major flood (worse then when we had the hurricanes last year!) I woke up one morning and the road and field across from my apartment had disappeared and was replaced by a lake. Water got in my car, and it started smelling pretty bad (because I didn't have a sunny day to dry it out :-). Here's a picture of the Bayou. It had risen all the way up to the top of the fence.

For our book club, we read The Christmas Shoes and then went to Barbara's to watch the movie. I cried, of course! The next week was our Relief Society Christmas Party, as well as our Branch Christmas Party. Both were fun. I decorated a table for the RS Party and we did a skit called "The Littlest Elf" I was laughing so hard, my sides hurt! Included in the picture is Stephanie, who was a Babbling Brook, Mary, who was Mrs. Claus, and me, who was a Nodding Flower (yes, that's a flower on my head!)

Morgan, Mary and I.My friend Tina, had her baby on Wed, Dec. 9th. Makayla is a beautiful, healthy, 7 lb. girl...

I was babysitting the 3 Harvey girls when we had the Branch Party and they were excited to see Santa (though Becca refused to sit on his lap!). Here's a picture of Angelle and Emma Claire with Santa.

We had our Annual Staff Christmas Pig Out and I introduced my co-workers to jello salad (the green one with marshmallows). Some weren't impressed and others loved it. And Sarah made this divine stuff called Le Corn (kind of like a big hush puppy with corn, onions, and green chillies). Here's me posing with the chef herself!

One Sat. we had a Baptism in our Branch. Marcus' daughter Myracle, decided to be baptized. We were all so excited for her. Congratulations, Myracle!

My apartment complex also had a Christmas Party, but we ended up in the dark, because the power went out for 2 hours that night! (...I told you it's been a crazy month! :-)

Finally, we finished up Seminary for the year! Yeah, 2 weeks off...and, I'm off the Utah tomorrow.

Life is Wonderful!

I had such a good week last week. I got to spend time visiting with friends. On Wed. I met my friend, Morgan, for lunch at Pizza Hut. It was nice to just sit and visit (and we both love pizza!).

Then, Thurs. night, I got tickets for my friends and I to see the special showing of Twilight and then the midnight showing of New Moon. It was a blast! New Moon was my favorite book in the series and I've always loved Jacob, so I was in heaven. And I definitely like Taylor, the the guy that plays Jacob. He looks just like I imagined him.

Denise and Stephanie goofing off at the movies

Waiting for New Moon to Start!

Mary and Sarah waiting for Twilight to start

Everyone repeat after me: "I love Jacob."

On Sat. I spent the day in Baton Rouge with Barbara. We did a temple session and then we went to lunch at Jason's Deli. Has anyone eaten there? It was so yummy! Then, since neither of us had to rush home to work on lessons (Barbara's a school teacher and they have this whole week off and I don't have Seminary, since the kids don't have school) we stayed and went shopping. It was a nice, relaxing day.

Couple more days and I'm flying to Utah...I can't wait to see everyone!

Life...

Hello my friends, I hope life is treating you all well. It's been a couple of weeks since I posted...eventful weeks for me, my family, and my friends.

First, I found out Sarah, my roommate from Utah State, is having a baby! She found out this week she's having a boy, Yeah :-) Congrats, Sarah!

Second, Ticia, my roommate from BYU-Idaho, got engaged to Rob...Congratulations to both of you!

Other, not so great news...Nicole broke up with her fiancee, M broke up with his girlfriend, and I just found out this morning that my friend Mary's, boyfriend died yesterday. Grant's been battling leukemia, and hasn't been doing well the past month. He's only 20, so young...I'm sad and I'll miss him, but I take comfort in knowing that he's not suffering anymore.

Mary and Grant

Other events in my life:




Mary made this mummy cake for Halloween and unfortunately, by the time I saw it, all that was left was the head. But, she did an amazing job and hopes to start her own cake business.
On Halloween, I just stayed in and watched movies. It was a nice break.

I thought this past weekend was going to be relaxing too, but, when I got home from work Friday night, I had three messages on my phone, asking if I could pitch in and help out...First, our library had their annual Bayou Book sale at the Community Center in the park. I went and helped out for a couple of hours on Sat. (after "shopping" for 2 hours!) It was fun and we made over $9,000 dollars.


Then, we had another Baptism at the Branch and the Franklin Elders asked if I would give a talk on baptism. Finally, Sheri asked if I would do Sharing Time in Primary on Sunday, because she was out of town.

Me with the Primary Girls

Amazingly enough, I got everything accomplished and it all worked out okay :-)

Happy Fall Y'all!

For the first time this season, we are having cool weather! Yea! It feels so refreshing and nice...I hope it lasts.

This is a picture of mist rising off the Bayou in the morning, before work.

The kids at the library are suppose to create pumpkins out of Storybook Characters. This is Sarah's example (She did the Princess and the Pea). And here's one of my favorites, Charlie Brown, submitted by Dr. Jack Ferry:

Last Saturday, I went to Lake Charles, which is about 2 hours west of me, for a Genealogy Conference. I went with Linda, one of my co-workers. We had fun visiting on the way over, and getting lost in downtown! The conference was held in the beautiful Civic Center, on the shores of the lake.

Ms. Linda posing on the balcony over Lake Charles.


Below is the Lake Charles Alligator. He has everything Lake Charles is known for painted on his body. I just thought it was cool.

At work, Monday and Tues., we trained on Polaris, our new library system, which will replace Dynix. I'm excited-it's a Window based system and I think it will be much more user friendly for both our patrons and our staff.

I spent the rest of the week, trying to play catch-up and get all the ILL books processed and cleared off my desk that have been piling up.

I spent this whole last weekend at Church. Friday Night our Branch had a Halloween Carnival and I helped out at the Prize Booth. I have never seen so many kids in so many cute costumes. It was crazy chaos! Then the Relief Society had a Super Saturday Craft Day. We made items to give away for the holidays. Here's a picture of me with my friends, Nicole and Stephanie. We had lunch and then, we had a Baptism that afternoon. It was really nice. Finally, on Sunday, we had our Primary Program. I wish I was still in Primary, so I could have been up there, singing with the kids. They did an awesome job though!

And now, it's just another Manic Monday... :-) I hope everyone has a great week!

Happy Friday!

After 3 weeks of reading a page here, and reading a page there, I finally finished Dan Brown's new book The Lost Symbol :-) It has officially bumped The Host down from my # 1 spot of favorite books! What can I say...if you haven't read it, Read It! (But, make sure you've read Angels and Demons and Di Vinci Code first.)

Let's see, other good news...

I finished the book last Sat. On Monday I got a new Seminary Student-that brings my count up to 4! :-) Chasity has been coming to class with Tara and Marteena, but we made it official and got her on the roll. I admire her for getting up and coming every morning, when she's not even a member (yet!)

Coming out of church Tues. morning the sky was infused with colors-pink, orange, red, yellow. It took my breath away, I've never seen anything like it. Then, Tues. night while driving home from work, there were rainbows! God is an amazing Artist...The World is amazing.

Last night was Andrews Homecoming Game. And what a game! They played the New Orleans Saints. Zach, our Quarterback, scored a touchdown within the first 2 minutes of the game! :-) (Now, you have to know a little background about the Highland Bears to get why this is huge...this is the first year Highland has had a football team play in a league. I have been to every home game, but the first, and they have lost every one, most of the time never scoring). Andrew plays Middle Linebacker and boy he can tackle! It was fun to watch. We won 48-6 (New Orleans finally scored a touch down in the last 3 seconds of the game-talk about exciting...I was happy for them). Also, tonight was the first time we had an announcer and can I tell you what a difference that makes...I could actually follow the game! The Cheerleaders even did a little dance and they introduced the Homecoming Court. Our Quarterback's sister, Victoria Flemming was crowned Queen. The whole night was just plain fun.

And now, it Friday. Who can't love a Friday...it means we survived another week.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend.

Lonnie :-)

This Blog is Dedicated to Jill...

In response to Jill's concern about my well-being (You haven't written on your blog for months, are you okay? :-) I'm writing this blog just for her...

Yes, I am alive and kickin' Since school started in August, I have been teaching Early Morning Seminary. I get up at 4 am, get to the Church by 5:30 am to set up, and teach class from 6-7 am. Then, I run home, change clothes, and go to work. After working an 8-hour day, I go home, eat dinner, and stretch. Finally, I prepare my lesson for the next day and I try to be in bed by 9 pm...I feel like I'm on a mission, but I still have to squeeze in everyday things, too.

Speaking of missions, I've been sitting in on the missionary discussions with my friend, Sarah. It is such a neat experience!

I do make time for other things, too. One of my students, Andrew, plays football, and every other Thur. I got to his home games. I love it. I'd forgotten how fun high school football games are :-)

I accomplish a lot on my lunch breaks (run errands, visit with friends, do emails, blogs :-) and my weekends are packed...

For example, I really enjoyed Conference the first weekend of this month. Elder Holland's testimony of the Book of Mormon really touched me (that's what we're studying in Seminary right now.)

I spent this past weekend in Baton Rouge. I went to a Seminary Training Meeting and then I stayed and did a Temple Session. It was really nice.

Happy News: My friend Tara is getting married on Nov. 28th and I'm flying to Utah for the wedding. Which means, I'll be home for Thanksgiving! I can't wait to see everyone.

I've got to get back to work...
Love, Lonnie

New York, New York!

New York, New York...how I love it! I had a great time with Elyse this past weekend. It was great to see where she lives and work.

I flew in Thur. evening and Elyse met me on the bus going into Manhattan. She took me to her old apartment on the East Side, so I could meet her friend Candice. They have a balcony that I could spend all day on.

Then, Elyse treated me to dinner at Sala Thai, one of her favorite Thai Restaurants. I ordered Drunkin' Noddles. It was yummy and spicy!

Finally, we caught the bus to the Upper West Side. Elyse's new apt. is on the corner on Columbus and W 90 st. Way nice...on the 15th floor and a corner apt. so windows with views! The whole side of one wall is a window and looks west to the Hudson River. I can see Jersey!

And Central Park is a only a block away, down a beautiful street filled with brownstone houses. We spent a lot of time in Central park. Friday morning we got up and went to the Good Morning America Concert. Third Eye Blind was performing. It was fun!

We went back that night for the NY Philharmonic Symphony Concert on the Great Lawn. You just take a blanket and some dinner and sit listening to beautiful music with a view of the city behind you. They were suppose to do fireworks, too, but it started raining.

Friday afternoon we went to the Hayden Planetarium and watched "Journey to the Stars" narrated by Whoopi Goldberg (whom we later saw while walking down Central Park West!) We went back after lunch and took a tour of the American Museum of Natural History. It was neat!

On Sat., Elyse had a Bridal Shower at a place on Park Ave., so I went to the Park and walked around the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir. I came out on 5th Ave. at the Museum Mile and just sat and people watched.

Where the double towers are is Elyse's street on the Upper West Side.

That evening, Elyse and I caught a cab and went down to Time Square to try to get lottery tickets to see "West Side Story"...We didn't get tickets, so we went wandering down Restaurant Row (46th St.) where they were filming a movie (Elyse had my camera and she only got a picture of the old taxi cab, but I saw the actors, which was exciting!).

We went over to the Hudson River and then went up to the High Line. There are some old train tracks that run up between all the warehouses and someone came in and built a park. If you look, you'll see the tracks in between the flowers. Elyse treated me to Gelato, an Italian variant of ice cream. Finally, we went home and order Margarita Pizza :-)

Me on the Hudson River (Behind me, New York is on the left and New Jersey is on the right).

View of the Chrysler Building and the Empire State Building from the High Line

We went to church Sunday afternoon. Elyse's new ward meets in the same building as the Temple which is straight down Columbus, across from the Lincoln Center. Way cool! After Church, Elyse took Armineh and I to her work. She works on the East Side, off of York St.

To get to the airport, you catch the M60 on 125th Street, right across from the famed Apollo Theater!

Harry Potter

I went to the midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" last night, with Cheryl, Anna, and Mary. It was good (way better than the last one!)

Between the music and watching Draco, I was in heaven...When Tom Felton stepped onto the screen, I literally gasped. I've never really cared for Felton but, he's grown in the last two years (Everyone is so tall-Daniel Radcliffe is now officially the shortest one) and he looked sleek and sharp all dressed in black. He did an amazing job portraying Draco Malfroy as a tortured soul in this movie.

The movie was 2 and 1/2 hours long and I didn't get out until 3 am, but again it seemed too short. I was, however happy to see Ron in so many scenes.

Now begins the waiting for 7...

FYI: I'm off to the Big Apple tomorrow to visit Elyse (yeah!) and I'll try to take lots of pictures to post.

Lonnie :-)

One long sentence...

This past week was crazy! Here's a summary in one long run on sentence... :-)

First, my car wouldn't start (I had to get a new battery), my toilet exploded (the valve in the tank broke), I got carded when trying to buy a ticket to see the midnight showing of "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince" (apparently all movies after 9:15 pm are considered "R" and the guy at the ticket booth thought I was 17 instead of 27... I should be flattered that he thought I was 10 years younger!), I bought a plane ticket to New York to visit Elyse, and finally, I got up at 4 in the morning on Sat. to drive to Baton Rouge and do a Temple Session (it was awesome!).

Adios!

Quick Note

I just had a few minutes and thought I'd post something. Elyse spent the week in Greece and Turkey and flew back to the States the same time my parents were flying off to Alaska! I want to travel...oh, wait, in order to do that I would have to have money and time off, which I have neither!:-)

I taught Temple Prep classes every evening last week, except Tues. (and that's only because I went Visiting Teaching:-) Saturday, I had a birthday party, a graduation party, and a Temple Prep class to go to. In between all that I somehow managed to go shopping for presents, get my laundry done and my apartment cleaned! By the way it was 100 degrees all week and to demonstrate how hot that is, I had a ball in my car for a half and hour and it got so hot it popped!


On Sunday, I was released as the Primary Secretary, however, I ended up filling in in Nursery, so I didn't get a chance to go to Sunday School or RS...maybe next week :-) After church I went with Chelsie and we visited the kids that are suppose to be in my Seminary Class. There are 18 kids on the roll and I wanted to introduce myself and invite them to Seminary in the Fall.

My break's over, so I should run, but I hope everyone is doing well!
Lonnie

1 Year Anniversary at Iberia Parish Library!

I can't believe it's been a year, since I started working down here...what an amazing year!

June Bug

June is rushing by! The crape myrtles are in bloom and the heat wave has begun!

With the 1st of June came the start of Huricane Season and the Start of our Summer Workshops. We had our 2009 Summer Kickoff at the library. This year's theme is "Once Upon a Time" and kids were encouraged to come dressed up as their favorite fairy tale character. We had craft and game stations set up around the library (pin the tail on the dragon, make crowns and wands, ring toss on the gingerbread men, etc.) and they could come and sign up for the Summer Reading Program. It was so fun! Sarah transformed the Children's Room into a Gingerbread House and the picture is of me standing by the bean stalk (you can see the gaint's foot above me). We also had the Bookmark Awards Cermony. My favorite was created by a 6th grader. It has a knight and a dragon and the knight says, "Thou Dragon, I have come to slay thee!" and the dragon replies, "Can it wait until I finish this book?" and he's reading a book entitled How to Breathe Fire For Dummies. Isn't that ingenius!

There are different workshops every day and musical and comedy acts visiting (Roger Day, whom the kids love, Healing Force, etc.).

So, that's work...Church has been just as busy...

A couple of weeks ago, we had a "Soup"er Sister Party at Church and I made homemade chili. I thought it turned out pretty well. We also had our first LDS Book Club. We read and discussed Suzanne Collin's The Hunger Games. I'm hosting June's, and picked one of Dee Henderson's stand alone books, Before I Wake (not my favorite, but it's what I could get).

The first Saturday of the month, I went to a Seminary Training Meeting (They have one every month). It was at the Baton Rouge Institute on the LSU Campus. I was hoping to be able to go to the temple while over there, but the training was from 9 to 3 pm and the last session ends at 3pm. I got another calling in the Branch- I was called to be the Temp Prep Teacher. We have a couple going through the temple next month and it's exciting.

Last Saturday, I went back to Baton Rouge and went to the Temple. It is so beautiful. I stayed and went to the Adult Session of Stake Conference and then me and 2 other ladies in the Branch got a hotel room for the night. Sunday morning I woke up to them sing Happy Birthday to me and presented me with a chocolate cupcake and a candle. It was fun! We went to the General Session of Stake Conference and they reorganized the Stake Presidency.