On The Road... August 2014

And so, the summer continued...

Damion left for work out of town the last Monday of July. He was headed for a project in New York City, but along the way, he stopped off to work in Atlanta and Baltimore (a day or two for each one), then landed in the city. I say 'landed,' but they drove, of course. He and his co-worker, John, were able to break up the trip with these other job stops, so that was a good thing. Being in the car for 1,500+ miles is a daunting task, huh? Keep reading...

Along the way, the guys detoured over to Washington DC since Damion had never seen it:

 And then... on to NYC.

After he was settled in to the apartment and into a normal schedule for work, I loaded up my car, and headed off to join him! My Mother-In-Law and Grandmother-In-Law joined me for the car ride up! I am SO thankful for that! It is a LONG way from deep Southwest Louisiana to New York City. We made a few stops along the way, but only for brief rest and food. We did sleep one night in Conyers, Georgia at a little hotel, but we made the trip in two days. We arrived in the city around 10 p.m. on a Friday night. Thankfully, since I was going to be staying with Damion at his apartment, we were able to find a hotel room at a decent price just a couple of blocks away for the ladies to stay in. He met me there when we arrived and helped get them settled in, then rode with me back around the block to his apartment. If you've ever traveled to NYC, I'm sure it's crossed your mind that you would never think to own a car or drive there. You're not completely unreasonable in thinking that... but, thankfully, I didn't have any major trouble. In fact, in a very short few minutes, we were able to find a little 1/2 block one-way street about two blocks from his apartment (right in the center of Little Italy!) that had no parking restrictions! And there was an open spot! So, we snuggled right in against the curb and left my car there. :o) We walked back to his place and pretty much immediately crashed for the night. He had to go to work early the next day, and I was exhausted from driving. 

His mom and grandmother were able to stay a few days in the city before heading back to Louisiana by train. You'll have to ask them about their fun adventure! I'm pretty jealous that they got to take a journey like that! :o) How fun!

I was able to stay a couple of extra days there with him, and then I headed down to North Carolina. My family had planned a beach vacation for the week in mid-August. So, back to the pavement I went. I took this shot as I was driving down the mountain into North Carolina. So pretty! (I know I shouldn't have taken a photo while driving, but since it was a pretty steep road, most vehicles were taking it easy on the speed. I did this as quickly as I could! Where we live in La is flat! I have often joked here that if you're on a hill, it's probably just a bridge. ;o))

It's always good to see my family. Here's my dad making sure that the new beach hat my mom picked up before the trip was going to work out. :op

And off to the North Myrtle Beach, SC we went! It's only about 4 hours from my parents house; that seemed like a piece of cake after driving from LA to NY, then to NC! :o)

What a view! We were on the top floor of the condos we stayed in. It was pretty windy up there, and a little bit scary to look over the edge.. ha... but so beautiful to see the expanse like that!

My Mama in her fabulous hat alongside my Granny.

Another activity they enjoy, other than the sun and water, are puzzles. As long as I can remember, my granny and her daughters have worked on them at the dining room table. They're so methodical!

                        

We also really enjoy yummy seafood when we go to the beach! (most of us, anyway! :o))

I always enjoy getting to see my nieces and nephew, too.. 

even if one of them is becoming an embarrassed pre-teen. :op

And the almost finished product.  What a bummer, huh? 

Where did those two pieces go?!

I don't know why I forget to take more photos of things like this, but after our beach trip was over, I headed east to Raleigh to visit a few friends for a day or two, then back on the road I went to go back to NYC to be with Damion again. I spent a LOT of time in the car in August, that's for sure... but I wouldn't give up any of the great family, friends, and sweet new babies I got to spend time with for anything!

Sweet baby Luca! His mommy, Alicia, writes here.

Freedom and Fort Worth - Our July!

The months are zooming by! Travels will do that to you, I hear... and now I can vouch for that!

After a few days of work in Houston, Damion was home for July 4th. So, we spent the evening with family. There was yummy food, of course, and the guys all had a good time in the yard shooting fireworks. I'm definitely the jumpy one in our relationship.. and in the entire family, it seems. But I do enjoy the lights! :o)

Damion and Elaina playing with sparklers  -- and his sweet attempt at drawing a heart for me. :o)

Some of the sparkles in the sky!

Next up for us was a trip to Dallas.  Since Damion's brother, Dustin, was joining forces for this job site, I got to tag along and share the hotel room. We stated in an Extended Stay America location, so we had a kitchen to cook in which was a nice addition to traveling/living in a hotel! Eating out is so expensive!

I have some very dear friends in Fort Worth, so I was definitely excited to squeeze in a couple of trips out to see them! Dan and Casey were friends of mine in college at Southeastern Seminary many years ago. They're life-ers, for sure!  One thing that I have missed so much since we've moved is all my friends' children!  Casey was happy to share with me! So glad I got to spend a little time with their great kiddos!

Delicious hand-dipped ice cream at Melt!

She even blessed me with a super great hair cut! :o)

When the guys got a day off, we headed back out to Fort Worth to check out the Fort Worth Stockyards. Pretty cool place to check out! Twice each day, they do a cattle drive right down the street, and we got there right before the afternoon event! 

And a quick breeze past the Cowboys Stadium on our way back to Dallas...

I have family in the area as well - my cousins Clay and Cody, and Clay's wife Jennifer, and their son Spencer. But, our plans to see them fell through when the job ended quicker than we expected. :o( Next time, I hope!  However, an unexpected blessing was giving my mom a call to tell her we were headed out only to find out that they were just driving into town! Yay! So, we picked them up at their truck and grabbed a quick dinner at Cracker Barrel before driving back to Louisiana. It made for a really late night of riding in the car, but worth the extra time if you ask me. :o) We are really blessed to have such great families!

Highs and Lows of June

On to June! June is a celebratory month for the Conley Family... and not just for Damion and me! His birthday is the 2nd, mine is the 13th, but we also have Aunt Michelle's Birthday on the 4th and Damion's Mawmaw's birthday on the 14th. That's a lot of cake, huh? :o)  We all gathered together in the middle of all that for a big family birthday in Breaux Bridge at Pop and Mawmaw's house.  Pop had just come home from a nursing home care center a couple of weeks before that, so it was nice for everyone to be all together and have him there with us.  We ate lots of yummy home cooking and had cake, ice cream, and presents! Some of the kids even had fun in the little pool outside!

There's always time for a little Barbie play, too. :o)

I saw that a friend of mine from back home had learned a quick and easy recipe for homemade bread, so I thought I would try my hand at it, too.  Here's the original recipe if you want to try it! It's delicious, very easy (quick, but you do have to wait for it to rise), and we love it! We've made less as the summer weeks have come and gone because we've been traveling so much, but I plan to start it back once we get home again!

(Instead of honey, I add 2/3 cup sugar, and then add 1/3 oil

when I add the salt & flour. We did honey for one run, and

it's great, too, just stickier to knead.)

~~~

Sadly, around mid-June, Damion's grandpa, Pop Norris, was diagnosed with a rare brain disease called PSP. We lost him about two weeks later. It was very quick, though the more we learned about this disease, there were evidences of it for the last two years. Pop served 25 years in the U.S. Army and retired as a Chief Warrant Officer 3. 

Rest In Peace, Pop...
July 19, 1943 - June 27, 2014

May Came and Went!

Time flies when you're... newlyweds! And yes, we're having fun!

After our move, Damion and I both started looking for jobs, pretty much anywhere.  There were some frustrations along the way - no call backs, spammy links and email offers, and even some "no thank you's" from potential employers. Bummer, huh? But, we tried to keep our heads on straight and our hearts and minds focused!

We started visiting a church right down the road from our house. We have enjoyed getting to know some folks there, and are so grateful for those that have reached out to us to get to know us more personally. Making new friends in a new place can be intimidating, for sure! It's been nice to be back around Damion's family, as well.  Since he came to Raleigh last February, except for a couple of trips back to LA to visit (during the summer for our birthdays and at Christmas), we haven't been able to be around much.

One opportunity that Damion had was to help out during the Lake Charles Contraband Days. It's a pirate festival! Wouldn't it be fun if I told you that he dressed like a pirate, walking around waving his hooked hand in peoples' faces for a couple of weeks? :o) No such luck! He did, however, get to hang out with some really cool people!  Ron and Trish are a sweet couple who love Jesus and run a food truck called Crackerbillies!  Check them out on Facebook!  They're on their way to a county fair in Ohio right now, so if you're in the area, stop by for some fried gator! Yes, gator! It's pretty delish!

Don't worry, he doesn't bite.. anymore ;o)

Gator tastes pretty mild. The texture is a lot like pork chops, but it's more like chicken in flavor.

They use a really great fry coating! I had mine with french fries, and some ketchup and BBQ sauce.

My cousin, Roslyn, lives pretty close! Yay!

She was able to come spend the day with me one day 

while he worked, so she went with 

me to have some festival food. 

She went for the chicken tenders, 

but I got to taste her side of fried cauliflower.

Super yummy!

Shortly after the festival was over, Damion was hired on with a glass installation company. He's been working with them ever since, but not just here at home. They have several job sites all over the country, so he's been hopping around to different cities for different projects. Sometimes, I get to come along! More on that later! 

After his first night of work, we hurried over to the Civic Center for South Beauregard High School's 2014 graduation festivities! Damion's brother, Dustin, and cousin, Dylan, both graduated. 

Congrats Grads!

And just like that, we were heading into June!

Some Of The Details

To finish off the wedding photo posts, I added some of the detail photographs to Facebook.
Head on over to see!

Thank you to Meghan and Micaela (twin sisters!) from True Foundation Photography for spending the weekend with us, capturing everything about our day! You can also follow them on Instagram or Twitter!

So Much Love!

This post is officially dedicated to our friends and family who worked so hard and loved us so well! I will forever be grateful for the things all of you did to make this day so special for Damion and me! <3
Here are some photos of our wedding party and our family!

This is my precious friend, Carmine. She and I met at work, and

once we got to be close friends, we couldn't believe that we had missed

out on one another our whole lives! I have laughed with this girl

(more times than you could believe) until we thought we would pass out.

She is a good listening, a faithful lover of Jesus, and I am blessed

beyond measure to know her! 

Oh, my Hallie... This girl is a picture of grace and faithful friendship.

We met through a mutual friend lots of years ago, and got to be roommates

once we finally got her to move to Raleigh. I miss her tons! She's such a 

servant, loves to share, listens, inquires, remembers what you tell her, 

and seeks to serve and love you on an individual basis! 

My friend, Amanda Jo! She has loved me so well!

She is a picture of home. She loves her family, shares her kitchen,

is creative, full of ideas, and such an adventurous one!

She's taught me many things about loving my husband,

serving the church, and I long to be as much like the 

Proverbs 31 like she is!

It has been MORE than an honor to know this lady for the past 12 years.

We met while working together at a child care program in Raleigh,

have been on many adventures together, traveled to the Caribbean,

shared lots of yummy treats, and I was incredibly blessed to

share her home with her and her family for a year. They consistently

loved me well, served me, and she taught me tons of things about

caring for my own home, loving my future children, and giving the last

thing I own to make sure that someone else around me has what they need.

What an honor to have her stand by me as my Matron of Honor.

This is my cousin, Roslyn. She came to do my makeup!

She and her hubby live in Louisiana, too! Yay! We've gotten to

see them a couple of times down here already, so that's nice. 

Hoping to see them again soon! <3 love you!

This is my longtime friend, Kasey. We asked her to read

from Ephesians 5 in our wedding. I'm so thankful to have had her by me!

She was a lifesaver during the wedding party photos before

the wedding, too. I was getting so irritable and hot and just

plain old mean. But, she was patient, attentive, and helped 

me calm down (and cool off!). :) Love you!

Damion and Jacob, his long time childhood friend.

I have heard TONS of stories and adventures about their years

growing up.. though something tells me, its only the tip of the

iceberg for what's really gone on. :o) 

Dustin is Damion's little brother.  He graduated high school a month or so

after our wedding. He loves the outdoors and is seeking to serve our nation

by becoming a US Marine, following in the footsteps of their Pawpaw Conley.

If there's one thing that Damion has always told me, its that he would

do anything for his little brother. He loves him a ton, 

and I'm so glad he's my brother now, too!

Uncle Jamie. :o) This man is hilarious to me.

Damion (and his mom) have told me lots of stories about how

he wrestled around with Damion as a little boy. He toughed him up. ;o)

He loves his kids and his wife, works hard to provide, and

cares for his nephew (and me!) really well!

This is Damion with his dad, Ted. He's a hard worker and

loves us so much. He's helped us in so many ways, and

we are so thankful that he's around. It's such a blessing to

watch him care for Damion's mom, too. His family has been

so sweet to me, too! I look forward to many more years to get

to know them!

Damion and his family.

Us with my mama and daddy.

Us with his mama and daddy.

Us with both our mamas and daddies.. daddys.. anyway.. ;o)

Elaina, the flower girl.

Me with my maternal grandparents, Johnny and Ellen.

Damion and his Mawmaw Dianna.

My brother, sister, me, and our parents.

My whole family. We were so bummed that somehow Damion

got left out of this shot! Would have been great for the mantle! 

(and apparently, my family has a thing for transition lenses. haha)