#SILintheSouth A trip to the Farmer's Markets and our last days in Louisiana!

Hey sweet peas! We're back in Australia safe and sound and I'm currently battling some serious vertigo like symptoms after spending way too long on planes. We got back yesterday morning at 8am and I've been riding my own personal roller coaster ever since. 

But let's forget about that - I want to tell you about our last couple of days in Louisiana so let's get to it!

#SILintheSouth: Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Veggie Patches, Arrows and Retail Therapy

Long time no speak, sugars! Things have been kind of crazy here - last night we didn't get back until 9pm as we went to Baton Rouge to spend some time with my sister in law Gina!

And if we weren't getting in late, we were trying to control Hurricane Nieces Pieces - entertaining our four nieces and keeping them out of trouble trying to stop them from destroying everything. Or hiding from said hurricane in our room. 

Case in point? I'm currently typing next to a pink teddy bear with a handful of "tickets" for Aubree's roller coaster ride (which means she rocks the chair back and forth and back and forth whilst I type).

It's a wholeeeeeeeeeeeeee lot of crazy and by the time I flop into bed at the end of the night the lights are out and no one's home in 0.00000001 second so blogging is definitely not an option.

But let me tell you what we've been up to since we last spoke! 

#SILintheSouth An Adventurous Day in Louisiana

Well hey, loves! We've had quite an adventurous day today and I drove a car for the first time ever - and then drove twice more! Needless to say, I've got lots to share with you today!

We woke up this morning with no real plans. I woke up, ate breakfast and showered whilst I waited to Jesse to wake up and then snuggled with my nieces whilst watching TV on the couch so Jesse could get ready. 

Josh was still asleep so we decided to head to the lake so I could take some pictures - first we went to Valentine Lake which was about 1/2 an hour away from Jesse's Mom's house.

Today was the perfect day to head to the lake - it wasn't too hot or humid and the sky was blue! Valentine Lake isn't exactly a swimming lake so it wasn't busy - there was only one couple on the other side of the lake soaking up the sunshine on some camping chairs.

I was happy as a clam outside in the sunshine untilllllllllll Jesse said "oh by the way, there are heaps of snakes and alligators here". Not the right thing to say to this scaredy cat. I then told Jesse I wanted to go back to the car and I watched every footstep I took and jumped at every little noise. 

But I didn't get out of it so easy. Jesse has been desperate to teach me how to drive as I've never gotten behind the wheel - so he told me I needed to try it out whilst we were in the middle of nowhere - first I drove around a big ol' tree and back to where we started and then I drove on the actual road for a couple of miles (and had a few trucks pass me!). 

It was actually way easier then I thought - and then this afternoon I drove around Jesse's Mom's house so I could try out turning sharp corners. I did way better than I expected and than Jesse expected but I'm still not too keen on driving ;P I do need to drive though so I guess this needs to be my start!

This evening I used my favourite mode of transport - my feet. I went walking with my eldest niece around Jesse's Mom's house and she's already asking if we can walk when we wake up tomorrow morning. It's nice being outside with them and being active instead of being stuck inside watching tv - kids need to move!

When we got back, we discovered a new house guest... well, luckily this guy was outside! Inside the bin that had been emptied that morning was a little baby possum. Jesse's Mom took him out to the forest and let him go as he was stuck inside the bin and looked really scared. The possums here are much different to the ones we have at home so it was cool to see one up close!

American readers, I know you've found our favourite US food finds interesting as you're able to go out and buy them yourselves!

At the moment I'm currently OBSEEEEEEEESSSEEEEDDD with Love Grown Food's Hot Oats. They're perfect for traveling and absoluteeeeeeely ridiculously delicious. I need a lifetime supply because they're so so good!! They can't make a single bad thing, I swear!

Also, in other exciting news - we've been nominated for Easy Weddings Wedding of the Year 2014! We're so excited to even be considered for wedding of the year!

All you have to do to vote for us is click vote on this nomination page - you don't have to sign up or anything! It's just a single click.

If you want to help us out even more, you can also share the page by using one of the share buttons below the vote button - if we win, not only would our beautiful wedding photographer Lucie Zeka get her work featured, we could win a trip to Fiji!

But tell me, when did you learn how to drive a car?

Would you rather be indoor or outdoors?

And what are some of your current food obsessions?

I'm definitely an outdoor girl - I hate being stuck inside!

#SILintheSouth; Walks, Worship and Walmart

Hey sweet peas! I missed posting yesterday as Jesse had the computer but we just got back from a walk so I've got lots to share with you from the last two days!

#SILintheSouth Grillin' Out on the 4th of July

Today was the 4th of July and we celebrated by having a barbeque with Jesse's family! Jesse and I got all of the food yesterday and we spent all morning preparing things and running to the store to buy bits and pieces that Jesse's Mom didn't have (like a salad bowl, serving trays and barbeque lighting stuff). I'm currently sitting with our littlest niece, Aubree who is asking me to show her all of the photos over and over and explain every single firework Jesse bought to her but I have lots to share with you so I shall type whilst she talks and asks me if I have blood or bones in every part of my body ;P 

Here's what we got up to today!

#SILintheSouth The Quinessential Southern Experience?

You guyyyyyyyyyyyssssssssss, I feel like now I can say I've had a truly Southern day ;P 

Our day started at Walmart (well.... not really, we didn't sleep there but the actual doing things part of the day started there) where we were looking for some arrows for Josh's (Jesse's brother) bow, however, there were none to be found! That was okay though because I found myself a Minnie Mouse t-shirt (there are some benefits to only fitting into clothes in the Junior section) and then we headed off to quite possibly the most entertaining place I've ever been in Louisiana...

#SILintheSouth A Lazy Second Day in Louisiana

Today has been somewhat of a lazy day for our second full day in Louisiana. We've definitely caught up on sleep now as we slept in until 8am today - a hugeeeeee achievement for this 6am waker!

We're kind of lucky in a way that our flight came in so late as we've really settled into the time zone and as always we're jetlag free!  The key to traveling in different time zones is to forget all about what's going on back home and settle into the time zone you're in!

The first thing I did when we woke up was grab some breakfast! I've been having un-overnight oats, just stirring gluten free oats (we bought the new Chex Gluten Free Original Oatmeal), adding some blueberries or chopped banana and mixing everything up before adding a big dollop of peanut butter.

I've also been loving on watermelon once again and blueberries that don't cost me a million and one dollars! We bought a massive tub for $1 something - heaaaaaaaaven. 

Udi's Gluten Free Cinnamon Raisin bread is also the bomb dot com and perfect for making peanut butter sandwiches. Jesse's thinks I'm weird for using raisin bread like regular bread for sandwiches but it only makes them 10000000000000000000000x better. If you haven't made a peanut butter sandwich on raisin bread before, do it ASAP!

Today we headed out to Jesse's Pawpaw's house to see him and Jesse's Dad. We spent a couple of hours there talking and spending time with them before heading to the store to get some things for dinner.

And whilst we were out the store, we saw a boat that was coveeeeeeeeeeered in camo print - the seats, the steering wheel cover, the outside, the handles and even their truck was decked out in camo print. 

This is the place to find camo. Everywhere you look there's camo clothes, accessories, bed spreads - you name it!

I've just made spaghetti for everyone and ate some dinner myself and now I'm going to go and grab myself something for dessert and watch some tv with our nieces pieces as they feel like they haven't spent enough time with me today as we were out ;P 

But tell me, what are some of your family's favourite meals?

And what's some of your favourite quick and easy meals when traveling?

I have a bag full of packaged snacks (like almonds and dried fruit) and bars that make traveling a breeze - but when I have access to a fridge overnight oats and sandwiches are always a winner.

#SILintheSouth the Traveling Nightmare

What. A. Nightmare. That's kind of how we can sum up the last couple of days.... but let me tell you about it

#SILintheSouth: Our Louisiana Summer Bucket List

As you may already know, Jesse and I are heading back to Louisiana to see his family at the end of this month. Our flights are booked and we're compiling our Louisiana Summer Bucket List! 

I'm a planner whilst Jesse is the opposite and I've learnt that we need to come up with these to do list for each trip we gone on or we end up doing nothing at all ;P 

So lets take a look at what we're planning on getting up to during our #SILintheSouth trip - and be sure to let us know your own suggestions in the comments! >>