Month: July 2016

Monroe/West Monroe Louisiana: Haskell’s Donuts, Louisiana Zoo, Bubbles

So here’s a little fact… Around these parts, for us anyway, Wednesday = Donut Day. It is something we’ve been doing for at least a year now and I have no idea how it got started. All I can tell you is it did. For a long time Abug would even remind us… and while, no she didn’t know it was Wednesday per say, things clued her in that she should be having donuts.

While we were down there, I mentioned in passing to my mom this little fact. So Wednesday morning we went out on the hunt for donuts. The day before one of the ladies gave us a “tour” guide book and we had a second one, so one read through one while the other read through the other. Funny how that works, huh?

Mom picked out a donut shop there in Monroe, we went and they were closed. As in, closed, for sale, etc. So I got out the book, found us one over in West Monroe that was only 2.7 miles away (where as another one in Monroe was 4.7 miles away. See very closely connected!), we plugged Haskell’s Donuts (413 Thomas Road, West Monroe, Louisiana) into the GPS and away we went.

When we got there, we decided to order Abug half a dozen glazed donut holes. I thought the ones with chocolate icing looked good so I ordered half a dozen of them.

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Monroe/West Monroe, Louisiana: Farmer’s Market, Duck Commander, Duck & Dressing, NE LA Children’s Museum

Wow, our first full day in Louisiana was Tuesday. Now I mentioned that Monroe and West Monroe are just separated by the Ouachita River so we were back and forth over the river.

Our first stop was the West Monroe Farmer’s Market. (1700 N. 7th St. West Monroe, Louisiana). We decided we needed to hit up the Farmer’s Market first thing in the morning so all the good stuff wasn’t taken :).

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June 2, 2016

Heaven gained another angel on Saturday.

Sunday morning my dad sent me a text that said to call him when I had a chance. I knew something was up. I called him when I got out of church and he told me that my Great Aunt Ellen passed away on Saturday around noon.

Even though I knew that the last 4-6 years or so she’d been battling Breast Cancer and I knew she was no longer suffering, I had to be a little selfish and wish she was still with us. She was my grandma’s sister and her partner in crime. Very seldom did you get one without the other. Auntie Ellen was 10 years older than Grandma to the year, but you’d never know that.

By reading her obituary I realized that Uncle Leonard had proceeded her in death 21 years earlier, 1995. August 30, 1995 to be exact. All I could remember was that was the first funeral I attended and I was in Junior High. Then my great grandfather passed away November 13, 1998. That was a Friday the 13th.

The story about Great Grandpa F. was in October of that year he asked my Great Grandma if November of that year was a Friday the 13th. She told him no, she thought it was Saturday the 13th. Then the week before he asked her again, is next Friday the 13th? She said, yes, I believe it is. He said, That’s a good day.

He passed away on Friday, November 13, 1998. My great grandpa died in the house he was born in. He was 10 days shy of his 108th birthday. When he and great grandma got to old and needed some assistance, Uncle Leonard had already passed away and Auntie Ellen moved in with them. This was about the time that I really started spending a lot of time with my Auntie Ellen because my grandma retired about this time and went out Monday-Friday about 8-5 and I spent a lot of time with all of them.

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Monroe/West Monroe, Louisiana: Willie’s Duck Diner

When we got to town, we decided to go exploring. We wound up at Duck Commander but it was pouring and no one wanted to get out. In the parking lot was a sign that said Willie’s Duck Diner was down by Academy so we decided to go on a hunt. Again, it was pouring and only 4:30, so way to early for dinner anyway so we went around a few other places and back to the hotel before winding back up at Willie’s Duck Diner for dinner. And it was only like 7 miles away. Not bad at all!

Every so often I am mean and send pictures to people of different things. In this case, I shot this picture to Hubby and Jared. I didn’t get the response I wanted. Oh well! Later I tried to send photos of our food, hubby didn’t get them, I’m not sure if Jared did or not because no response.

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Monroe/West Monroe, LA: TownePlace Suites by Marriott

Abug and I got an opportunity to head to Monroe/West Monroe, Louisiana last Monday, and we took the opportunity. This is driving down I-49 through Arkansas just south of Fayetteville.

She is the best traveler. She just naps. When she’s not napping, she’s usually happy as a lark. I think out of the 14+ hours in a car (total both ways) we had one melt down.

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Happy 4th of July {And a Family Celebration!}

Happy Birthday USA.

It’s been a few years since hubby and I have hosted the family 4th of July Party. There was no way I was going to in 2014 and last year we thought we were selling our house so we didn’t open the pool. This year we didn’t open the pool until 2 weeks before the 4th, but decided to open it.

That morning dad brought over the hay trailer and they loaded up the hay bales to get them off the field so that the fireworks didn’t catch them on fire.

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Monticello, Arkansas: La Terraza Mexican Restaurant

Oh hai, did you know I went on a semi-impromptu trip? haha… no? Well, I did :). I headed to Monroe/West Monroe, Louisiana. Did you know that Monroe and West Monroe are two different towns that are only separated by a river? The Ouachita River to be exact.

Anyway we left Monday. Basically it was like a straight drive down through Arkansas. In fact, most of the 7 hour trip was through Arkansas… 30 minutes from Missouri to Arkansas and then like an hour and a half or so into Louisiana. The rest of the time was spent in Arkansas. But the drive wasn’t bad! Anyway around 1:30 we decided to stop for lunch in the town of Monticello, Arkansas. We decided to eat Mexican so La Terraza it was. (more…)

Birthday Party Take 2, But 1

Is that title confusing to anyone else? Okay, I’ll explain. If there is one thing I can tell you about my baby girl it is that she is loved. She is loved by a lot of people. We got involved with our diving group in 2013 when we got certified and they are a second family! Or really, they are family. That’s the best way to describe it. And baby girl got herself one heck of a family! So her birthday was on Sunday, but that Saturday we were at the lake for the Safari Hunt. That evening, we had a small birthday party for her at the lake for those who couldn’t make her birthday party on Sunday. So this kid had 2 birthday parties, this was the first and her actual birthday date was the second. Therefore, Birthday party 1, but post 2. Did you follow all of that? If not, just know my baby girl has one heck of an awesome family both blood and personally added!

We’re a lively bunch, I tell ya! Watch out for us!

So during the Safari Hunt, she played hard. Eventually she took a nap. We got her back up to Deb and Grady’s camper without waking her up and I got her on their couch so she took about a 2 hour nap. When she woke up, I’m not sure she was ready, so she cried and cried. The only person who could console her was daddy!

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