Good Ol' Southern Cookin!

So sorry to bypass "My Life Monday" this week...I never claim to be perfect! Blame it on all of the traveling I guess. Anyways, being the California turned sort of Southern girl that I am (haha- I'll always be a California girl at heart!), I would like to share something that I have learned to all of you fellow west coast-ers out there. You now can't say that you have never seen a Crawfish Boil. These are pics of a good old down and dirty crawfish/crab/shrimp boil Louisiana style! Yes, that is newspaper on the table! It seems like quite a complicated process (and quite messy and smelly) to get the meat out of these little creatures. I personally don't happen to be the biggest fan of crawfish, but my hubby seems to think they are pretty tasty.















I hope you feel a little more educated about how cookin's done in the "dirty, dirty" (as my husband sometimes calls it). A little side note- those are soda bottles for all who were wondering! And the note is for my husband's brother who missed out on the feast because he was off to Ohio for his third wedding reception-type thing!















We know where the good stuff is at! Can never get enough of that chocolate cake! PS- Thanks Jenny for the pics! They were too good to not share with more people!

My Life Monday (Oh wait...It's not Monday Anymore!)

So I'm a little late, but I'm in Louisiana so it's lucky I'm even doing this at all. So I guess we are supposed to write about our names and why they are what they are. Well, first of all, I have a little advice to all parents/future parents: Name your kiddos what they will be called. Take it from me! No one wants to be the kid in the second grade on the first day of school saying, "No, its..."! Or the kid in seventh grade having to correct six teachers. Well, let's get to the point... My name is Allyson Joan (Perry- maiden name) Gruwell. My two grandmas' names are Alyce and Joan, so from that we get Allyson Joan. Simple enough. But, I guess when I was younger my mom really didn't like the nickname Ally because it reminded her of alley cat (sort of wierd I know... I really like the name Allie)! Also, my older sister couldn't really say Allyson very well so I think she would say something like "Asun" or "Asunnie" or something like that. So from all that business came the nickname Sunnie that has stuck forever and ever. Most official things say Allyson, but I really do go by Sunnie. Always have and always will (there was a time in second grade where I considered going back, but that obviously didn't stick). I really do like my name- too bad it's not my official name! But I still love my parents anyways!

Mommy Boot Camp

So I've officially decided something- It can't really be called a vacation if small children will be accompanying you. Let me explain... The wedding was great, we had a good time, no major problems. However, my youngest daughter decided to put me through what I would like to call "Mommy Boot Camp". The name of the game: How much sleep, food, rest deprivation, endless crying (and the never ending call of "I want Mama") can a mommy take before she cracks. I'm happy to say that we can amazingly put up with a lot! I think that Mya is sick or something because she was the biggest crab on this trip! And she's usually my easy going child! Let's just say that I did not get a lot of sleep (which is even worse when your little family is all crammed into one room- there really is no place to go with a crying child, so I resorted to watching Dora one night at all hours of the morning), I had to leave the wedding reception for a little while to drive around with cranky Mya, and I spent some of the night-before wedding dinner walking around University Mall with my 2 children while the rest of the family dined at Carraba's! All things aside, I survived boot camp (just barely), and hopefully my trip to Louisiana this week goes a little bit better!

My Reign As "Queen" Is Ending...

And by "queen" I mean my time as the only daughter-in-law in Jake's family. While I am excited to be getting a new sis-in-law (and definitely am excited about being able to go to Cafe Rio again after 2 years), I have to admit that I have some reservations. There goes the days of having the only grandchildren. There goes the days of being the favorite sister- and daughter- in-law merely by default. I now have competition!! Just kidding- anyways, we are off to Utah tomorrow for the Saturday wedding. I like to look at myself as the pioneer for all of the future in-laws. I was the trail-blazer. And while the road was not always smooth, hopefully we worked out some of the kinks so that all who follow will have an easier road than me (don't get me wrong- the last five years really haven't been that bad, and I love my in-laws...They are great!) But after about five years of being the "queen", it will be a little hard to let my title go!

My Life Monday- How I Met My Hot Hubby

So I'm joining the My Life Monday crew- I probably won't be able to keep up every Monday, but I'll do my best! Anyways, I think this week we are supposed to write about how we met our hubbies. So Jake and my story does not differ too much from your typical BYU love story. He lived in apartment 61, and I lived across from him in apartment 51 at the good old Riviera. His first memory of me was at church on one of our first Sundays. "Supposedly" I was checking him out when the Bishop gathered us all in the Relief Society room. Anyways, when he asked me out for the first time, I turned him down (but in a very nice way). My boyfriend was in town from California so a date with Jake that weekend probably wouldn't have gone over so well with the big b-friend. Eventually he asked me out again, but this time he cancelled out because him and some friends were going to Las Vegas. We didn't give up on each other, and I broke up with my old b-friend from California so Jake and I could try things out. We ended up kissing before our first official date. (Jake at times claims the hot tub at Glenwood was the spot of our first date, but really it was to PF Chang's and a haunted house). Anyways, we kissed on Friday of General Conference weekend in October, and got engaged (at Squaw Peak- it's not as bad as it sounds!) on the Friday of General Conference weekend in the spring. We were married in July of 2001, have lived in 5 states, and have 2 of the cutest girlies in the world!

Mom's The Word

Caretaker, Teacher, Taxi driver, Hair stylist, Storyteller, Housekeeper, Chef, Personal assistant (to demanding bosses), Gardener, TV show analyst, Party planner, Interior decorator, Painter, Personal shopper, Accountant, Gift buyer, Time manager, Restaurant analyst, Expert Pack-n-Play artist, Laundry specialist, Walking partner, Counselor, Disciplinarian, Personal tutor, etc. etc. etc... You get the picture. Happy Mom's Day to all of you! Thanks for all you do!
If we only got paid for what we do... but the government couldn't afford us anyways!

White Shirts and Fashionable Shoes

I'm slightly embarrassed to be me- I mean, I knew my shirt was sort of dirty after our airplane ride yesterday (word to the wise...Never wear white while traveling with children). But I thought the mess stopped with the little bit of blue on my shoulder from M&M's and the red Fruit-by-the-Foot spots. I should have known when my friend picking me up mentioned something. But I thought she was just talking about the mess I had seen. However, when I was doing laundry I noticed a very bright spot of blue on the back of the shirt that I hadn't seen before. So embarrassing that I walked around the airport wearing my mommy badge. So never wear white after Labor Day (or if you have small children).

Also, kids just don't understand that to look cute means that sometimes you are going to have to be a little uncomfortable. So the shoes bought from Target for my 3 year old had so much potential. But because they didn't have a strap that went around the front of the ankle, they kept slipping. And to a very dramatic 3 year old, this is a major catastrophe. So, the second time we wore them went better than the first. I thought, maybe we have something going here and the shoes will work after all. So time number 3 rolls around on Sunday, and mommy has the brilliant idea to cut off the back straps all together and have the shoes be slip-ons. Problem solved...I hope you're laughing because is it ever really solved with a 3 year old?! So now we have sort of still cute shoes with no back straps that my daughter will probably never wear. So my question is... Anyone looking for a cute pair of shoes??? (Maybe I could sell them on E-Bay with a disclaimer or something..."They may look cute, but just wait and see what they do to your daughter!")