Check out this article about how smokey our city has been. 
Yesterday after grocery shopping at Target (still living on wedding gift cards...AMAZING), we walked out and I nearly choked. I told Andrew that I have never experienced anything like this before, and he said he hadn't either. 
It is SO smokey. I haven't been out yet today, but I think it's better because I didn't wake up multiple times last night from the horrible smell. 
Pretty Crazy. 
Well friends, I have some exciting news. 
I have a job interview tomorrow afternoon at 1:30. 
The job is for what seems like an amazing assisted living home right outside New Orleans. I'm really excited about the opportunity and thanking the Lord for the answered prayer of an interview. 
We'll see where it leads. 


Thanks to those of you who have joined us in praying. We're grateful. 
Have a happy rest of the week! 


allye

Burnt black-eyed peas

Last week Andrew and I decided that we needed to get away for a couple of days, so we packed our bags and drove home to Texas. Even though we were only there for 3 days, it was such a great trip. We spent time with our family, and Andrew (the ever so patient husband) drove around the state with me to catch up with a few of my friends. It was so good, and although I was sad to leave, the trip brightened my spirit. 

I shamefully didn't take any pictures, but if you just picture mounds of Mexican food and lots of smiles then you'll get a great idea of what our time there looked like. 

This week we are back to business. The universities here have started class, which means Andrew has a few more things on his weekly to do list. The boys' football games have kicked off. I start a women's bible study this week. And I am still searching for a job. 

The job search is more discouraging than ever at this point. I was SURE that when I got my Louisiana license number in the mail I would start hearing back from jobs. That hasn't happened. It still feels stagnant, and it's annoying. I keep going back and forth on the idea of looking for work elsewhere because I did not go to school for 4 years and become thousands of dollars in debt to be a waitress or clean houses. I will do what I have to do, but doing it with a happy and grateful heart may be more difficult that I want it to be. 

On another less complainy note, last night around 4 am (technically this morning, but we were sleeping so I'm not going to count it as morning) Andrew and I both woke up to a strange smell. It smelled like a fire, but not a normal fire. Andrew got up and searched the house. Because our home has proven to not be electrically trustworthy, the smell of smoke makes us freak out a little. When he came back to our room (I was still in bed, working terribly hard analyzing the smell/still sleeping) he said he didn't know where it was coming from. At this point I had decided that it smelled like a huge batch of black-eyed peas had burnt in a crockpot next door. I can't remember if I told him this or not, but It wasn't concerning to me and I went back to sleep. 

Are you wondering why you just read that rant without a conclusion to the story? Don't worry, there is one. And, our neighbor's poor black-eyed peas cooking skills were not to blame. 

There was a marsh fire and the smoke has been spreading all over. It really does smell like burnt black-eyed peas. My non-sleeping self agrees. 

The nose knows. 

I want a job.
Alright, I got complaining I don't have a job yet out of the way for this post, now we can move onto happier, less annoying things. Like how in 2 days Andrew and I will celebrate 2 months of marriage. Crazy how fast it's gone by. Marriage is such a fun adventure. We're still figuring it all out, and I'm pretty sure I'll be able to say that for at least a few more years. 
Robyn visited us, and we had a wonderful time showing her the city, eating some good food, and introducing her to the kids that we love. We had quite the animal filled couple of days. We went to the aquarium AND the zoo. We met some cute little parakeets that hated the sound of the Natches steamboat blowing its horn. 

My slight fear of birds made me a little wary at first but once I was assured that they are pretty harmless I really enjoyed it. And by really enjoyed it, I mean, I couldn't stop smiling. 

We took some cute little ones to the zoo today. I think they had more fun sitting on the statues than seeing the real animals.

They are so fun. 

I really am loving that we get to hang out with these kids so much and invest in their lives. It's special for us, and hopefully them too. 

Well, tomorrow evening is the fantasy football draft...is anyone as excited as I am? Probably not! 

Decisions and men in dresses

What a strange weekend it was. 
After much deliberation and painful decision making (painful only because I really dislike big decisions) I, with the help of Andrew, decided that the job I interviewed for last week wasn't right for me. For many many reasons. The main one being that the place was extremely shady and I was nervous about getting locked in there. 
I'm back on the job hunt, but feeling very encouraged and at peace with it. I'm excited to see what God has planned, and I know it will be good! 
I finally got everything taken care of with the Louisiana Board of Nursing and was issued a LA license on Friday. Now I just have to wait for it to come in the mail and I'll be golden. So happy that phase of this transition is coming to a close. We also got news that our marriage certificate is in the mail from Hawaii, which is good considering I wasn't sure if we were actually legally married. It has taken so long. So hopefully sometime next week I can legally call myself Allye Crosby. Exciting times at the social security office and DMV are sure to be had. 
Robyn is coming to visit on Wednesday and I couldn't be more excited to see my soul friend! I can't wait to show her this wacky city and get some quality talk time. 
Speaking of wacky, this weekend was the red dress run  here. Andrew and I ventured out on Saturday morning for some garage sailing, and happened to get some free entertainment on our drive. We were laughing so hard the entire time. 

There is just something about an old man in a red dress and chiquita banana hat. You can't help but smile. 

Have a great week! 

Allye

Scared at the swamp

We took the boys to the swamp last week when Allie was in town. They were all pretty excited and were convinced the second we got out of New Orleans (pretty much the only place they know) that we were in Mississippi. After telling them about 10 times that we were still in Louisiana, I gave up, and let them think that we had taken them to a different state.

They were very out of their element to say the least. Every little thing scared them. When the boat sped up and the front rose out of the water a little I had four of them screaming at me "THE BOAT IS COMING UP!!!!!!". After about 30 minutes on the water they all started to calm down a little, but the first gator we saw about did them in...

Love it. 

Interview day

Today I had my first "grown up" job interview. It was for a job that I applied for just yesterday morning. I got a call that afternoon asking me to come in today. It was surreal, considering I have spent months applying for jobs with just one lousy rejection email to prove it, and then out of nowhere I get a call for an interview the SAME DAY I apply for a job?! Unreal. 

Anyway, it went alright I suppose. Definitely not how I expected it to go, which seems to be the theme of life right now. I prepared by getting my profession portfolio all dolled up and ready and didn't even have an opportunity to show it off, and Andrew (so sweetly, and patiently) gave me multitudes of practice interview questions and I only got asked ONE. 

I'll hopefully hear something tomorrow! 

In other news, football season has begun which means I get to laugh at the boys fumbling around in their huge pads and helmets. It's pretty stinking adorable. I can tell that they feel so tough and macho in them, even though they look like strange tiny humans with huge torsos and heads. Again, adorable. 

 I have lost my voice thanks to the cold I mentioned in the previous post. The boys last night acted like it was headline news that I sounded funny, and kept accusing Andrew of getting me sick. They also stole my cough drops. Rude. 

I find myself in this very familiar place, rambling random things on our blog. 

I'm off to eat some grapes and watch Andrew play football on his playstation...jealous?

Allye

Random Ramblings

Allie visited this week, which means we had tons of fun and ate really really well (definitely exceeded our eating out budget for the month). I've been feeling a tad under the weather all week, and yesterday the real sickness hit me hard. The most movement I've done in the past 24 hours has been from the bed to the couch. Andrew is always such a sweet husband, but his sweet and caring nature has come out even more while I've been sick. I'm a lucky gal. 


I'm hoping this week to finalize everything with the Louisiana board of nursing and hopefully get my endorsement so I can GET A JOB. Andrew is excited about this because it means he gets to go to Baton  Rouge with me and there is a Whataburger in Baton Rouge. I've told myself that if I don't have a nursing job by the end of the month I'm going to start looking outside of the nursing profession for work, something that I never thought would be necessary. We'll see what the Lord has in store in that area. 


I was looking through the pictures from our honeymoon in Hawaii today and it made me want to go back SO BAD. Someday. 

How did my tan disappear so quickly?


Time to put an end to my random ranting. 
Are you wondering why you just read that? Yeah, I don't blame you...

Allye