Hanging with the Lapsley's

Then there were 3...

2010-10-25T14:33:00.000-05:00

Wow, where has the time gone...
Well as most of you know, our little Ella was born. She is now 5 months old. She is amazing! At 3 months she was rolling over and at 4 months she began the first crawling movements. all of her teachers say she is very advanced and her doctors say she is very developmentally advanced. Of course we are taking all that with a grain of salt but we are so proud of our little munchkin!
She was a very serious baby for the first few months but now she is soooo happy. She just began smiling at stranger when we go out in public and it is so adorable!
If you have not met her yet, please stop by.
We hope to head to Baton Rouge and Oregon soon to see everyone!
We miss all of you!!
Please look us up on facebook for recent pics!

8 days and counting...

2010-05-08T20:30:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to post a little note. Ella's due date is quickly approaching and there are hundreds of emotions running through my veins.
The past week I have been so ready to begin labor and meet Ella, but as the date gets closer I find myself wanting to relish in this experience. Even though I am more uncomfortable than I have ever been, I know I will look back on this time and miss it.
Not sure if I will get to post again before she arrives but stick around becase pics of our little will be up real soon!!

Brief Update April

2010-04-07T16:43:00.000-05:00

Well just wanted to give a brief little update as to how things are going.
WE are just about ready for the date to get here, although I may be a little more ready than Dave, but its close!!
I have my next Dr. appointment on the 15th of April and from then on out we will be going in every Thursday!
I feel like am am getting bigger by the minute although sleeping is getting much better. I think I finally got my positions figured out. So other than the 6 trips to the bathroom every night, things are great! I've even mastered the bathroom trips while keeping the lights out!! It really helps me get back to sleep quicker.
My Nashville Shower went great! I got some really great outfits and decorations for the nursery.
Once its all finished, I'll post some pictures.

Here a rough pic of me at work, just wanted to show you the little one thats coming along!

Mom is coming to town on the 24th, so we will be purchasing the final items in preparation. Lots of bottles, sheets, and other necessities!
Till later!!

Fun, Food, Family, and Friends... not necessarily in that order...

2010-03-16T13:16:00.000-05:00

Fun:
Well first off, I cannot believe we will have our little Ella in about 60 days. Thats just crazy. We have finished the nursery for now. I have cut off my "buying of baby things" until the shower. By cut off, I mean that I will not purchase anything thats not on sale, mega sale...
My most recent mega sale purchase was at Baby Gap, and I have to say, this is a first for me. I usually am not into the Baby Gap style.

Now I am patiently waiting for the matching green Tu-Tu to go on sale.
I also scored some SUPER cute dresses at a consignment sale recently.
I have been feeling great. We purchased a rocker recliner and that is now my alternate bed. I am in love with that stinkin chair! I am definitely showing now. I'll get some new pics up soon!

Food:
Well if you know me at all, you know that I am an unofficial foodie.
My goal: to have tried every restaurant in Nashville.
So we recently tried a few new ones and I haven't been disappointed.
Especially Susy Wongs House of Yum. A must try if you are in town!

Family & Friends:
So my wonderful friends are throwing me a baby shower this weekend. I am so excited to A) see everyone, B) get a lot of cute things to fill Ella's nursery.
I have a little bit of family coming into town for the shower since I am only having one and its in Nashville. I am so thankful that they are willing to make the trek to Nashville. I have really missed having family close during this pregnancy.

More fun:
I have been aching to do some crafts lately, especially for Ella's room. I just can't figure out what to do. Especially because of the spending freeze (See Fun section 1).
Any ideas??
I want to make some bookends but I can't seem to find the right block letters (thick, heavy, not curvy) and whittling my own is just not an option...

More soon!

Preparations have begun

2010-01-14T13:28:00.004-06:00

Well the Holiday's flew by. We had a wonderful time in Louisiana with the family.
Oscar waiting for his gift

Christmas at the Buckle's

Its a Girl!!

Mom and Dad recieved the painting I made them.

We found out on Dec 23, that we are having a baby girl! We are very excited and have begun preparing the house for the miniature human to arrive!

We just finished painting the room a lovely shade of green and built all of the big furniture. As you can probably guess, the room has an Owl theme!

I have begun to really start showing and we have begun feeling little kicks now and then, mainly when I need to eat!

I have mostly been craving milk (I drink almost 1/2 gallen per day!!!), I haven't been very interested in sweets, and I have been wanting to eat Indian food more than usual... which is a lot.

We will keep you posted on new happenings!!

Baby!!!!

2009-12-01T12:53:00.003-06:00

Well as most of you now know, Dave and I will be having a little bambino in May! Due date is May 16, 2010. We are very excited! I realize now, more than ever, that our families are so far away. I would love to have them share in this amazing experience with us.
So, will will try to post more often so that you all can join us in this adventure.

Update:
I am currently 16 weeks along. We had our monthly appointment with Dr. Barrett today. It was a quickie. Listen to the heartbeat and answer any questions. The heartbeat was super strong. Dave said it sounded like a choo choo train. It is still sitting pretty low.
She gave me an ok to take Claritin D for my sinus headaches. Very thankful for that because the Benedryl knocks me out.
She also gave us my glucose drink. Due to the fact that mom had gestational diabetes during both of her pregnancies, I am more at risk. So when we come in for the next appointment, i have to drink the sugar water and get my blood taken.
But thats fine with me, because our next appointment is a special one. We will be getting our big ultrasound and will get to find out the gender!!! That appointment will be on Dec 23, just in time for the Holidays! We are heading to Baton Rouge right after the appointment to spend some time with the La family!

This is old but we get a new one soon!!!

A home for my paintings

2009-09-05T00:46:00.003-05:00

Its late so this will be short. As some of you know, I started painting this year. And as most of you also know.. I am a beginner!! I have made a blog to show off my now projects. I'm running out of space, so if you see something you like, let me know!! Also, ANY feedback is good feedback!

http://melissalapsley.wordpress.com/

Is anyone out there???

By the way, all of my Europe pics are on Facebook, its was just too much trouble to put that many pics on here.

And, I plan on posting much more in the near future so... Look out!!!!

I'm headed to Europe!!!

2009-06-12T22:31:00.002-05:00

So I will be leaving for Europe in 2 weeks! London, Paris, and Frankfurt. So excited and nervous. I will be going for work so I will be real busy. I wish David could come with me!!
I will do my best to post pics as I take them while I am there! I am so excited to have something REAL to blog about. So come back soon!!!!

Blackberry Curve 8330

2009-04-20T13:55:00.005-05:00

Got my new Blackberry Curve this weekend. I love it soooo much!

It took Dave and I, about 3 hours to fully program it. But, Now we are good to go! If you have a Blackberry, send me your BB Messenger address or pin!!!

Paintings revealed

2009-04-13T21:05:00.010-05:00

This past weekend I went home to Louisiana for Easter. We had a great time and actually ate crawfish 3 times (restaurant once and boiled twice). Dave also enjoyed his first Snowball. His favorite flavor is now Wedding Cake with Cream (2 layers).
We were actually able to spend time with old friends while we were home. We are usually strapped for time or without a vehicle.
Friday, we had lunch with mt old roommates Ashley & Natasha. They are both sooo pregnant and soooo cute. We had burritos at Izzo's! I would post a pic but I forgot to take one...grrrrrr.
I was able to give Ashley her painting. I was so excited and happy that she liked it! Check out pics at her blog!

Saturday, we went to Candice & Gary's and enjoyed some boiled crawfish and ring toss!

On Easter Sunday, we had a crawfish boil at my uncles house. We had a lot of fun "Bopping Eggs", an Easter Family Tradition.

I was able to give my cousin her painting/ wedding gift!

We had amazing trip home!!!

Painting #3

2009-04-06T19:29:00.007-05:00

So I read today that you are not really an artist until you have done at least 50 paintings... so 3 down and 47 to go. So if you have any ideas or objects to inspire me... please send them my way. If you inspire a painting and like it, I'll give it to you! If not, someone else may claim it or I'll just paint over it and try again!! Pretty simple! No hard feelings!!

So the 3rd painting was inspired by my cousin Marcie. She envisioned an ever growing oak tree. Well after attempting many oak trees... this is the end product. (Note: NOT an oak tree!)
The original had roots growing from the heart. As in saying that strong, beautiful, and wonderful things can grow from love.

But I didn't like the look of the roots so I took them out. This is the tentative end product.

The red is still a little wet so it will dry a little bit darker and a may add a few final touches.

Update: Received an email from Marcie & Chris Buckle:
Approved! ;
We like it!! Of course Chris says you must sign and date it!
I love that you took my conceptual idea and expressed it in your own way…now THAT’s an artist!
Love you much dear!
Marcie

So the "Growing Heart" is taken!
More to come!

Hanging with the Lapsley's: Painting #2

2009-04-02T17:26:00.000-05:00

Hanging with the Lapsley's: Painting #2

Painting #2

2009-04-02T17:11:00.005-05:00

Well painting Number 2 is complete. I was working on something else and was having a hard time wrapping my head around out so this came out instead. It is an African symbol: BIN NKA BI.
This one is for David!
This is the finished product but its hard to see the detail because the polyurethane makes it so shiny!

And here is Mom's first painting during our visit last weekend!!!!!!

I'm an Artist... well on my way at least

2009-04-01T00:25:00.009-05:00

AS most of you know, I am a hobby trier. I have started many hobbies through the beginner phase.
Lets see, There was working at the Humane Society. Then there was Bike Riding. Then there was jogging. Then there was Wii & Wii Fit. Then there was cake decorating (although I still do and enjoy that). I enjoy cooking. Recently I have wanted to buy a sewing machine to begin sewing (or learning how to sew). There are most likely more that I am forgetting...
Well the Hobby of the week is Painting. Acrylic on Canvas.

It all started when my oldest and bested friend, Ashley found out she was going to be having a baby. I remembered something she used to say when were were, like 4 years old.
And I knew that I wanted to get her something with that on it. Well It was easy enough to find bits and pieces of the saying but not all the aspects that I wanted.
So that led to the idea "Hey, I'll just paint it myself"
So I went to the local artist supply store and stacked up all kind of stuff that I had not idea how to use..
Then I just did it! So far, I have loved the process of painting.
Today, my lovely husband help me set up a little studio space so that I dont have paint laying around the entire house.
Here is a pic of my studio:

And here is a pic of my starting my first paint project "Hayden's Moon"

I will allow Ashley to post the final pic once she has recieved it, so no sneak peaks. I hope it is perfect for Hayben, but if not at least I had a blast doing it. On to Project #2!!!
Love
Mel

My new favorite dairy free milk!!

2009-03-17T01:03:00.009-05:00

Well as most of you know, David and I are pescetarians (Vegetarians that eat fish). Although we currently still use eggs and milk and other animal products, just not meat.
I took my first trip to

It was not all that I have heard it was but it was pretty cool. There are lots of things that you can't find very often at very reasonable prices. Especially for us vegetarians.
Anyway, I have discovered my new favorite milk beverage. I have been wanting to stop drinking milk for a while but I HATE Soy Milk. Something about it just doesn't do it for me. I decided to try Almond milk. Tonight I tried

and it was wonderful.
So for all of you vegetarians or lactose intolerant folks (Ashley). Give it a shot. You will not regret it. Oh, and while we are talking about almonds and Blue Diamond products...you gotta try these also.

Jalapeno Smokehouse Almonds

2009-03-10T12:23:00.003-05:00

Just wanted to post a pic from my cousin's wedding last month! Marcie and Chris Buckle are offically married! Yay! It was a great wedding and it was great to spend time with the family in Baton Rouge!
Aren't we pretty!!!???!!!

Facebook!

2009-03-08T13:36:00.002-05:00

My homies Zach & Collie rockin out with Ashley Arrison!
Check em out! Word

Oregon

2009-02-05T15:42:00.006-06:00

Well, we are back from our vacation to Oregon. Wow, What a trip! The Lapsley family is a hoot!
Itinerary:
Dave was in LA, so Sat we both flew to Vegas. Hopped on a plane and headed for Portland. From there we picked up our rental car (I won't go into that story..ugh) and headed on our 4 hour trip to Redmond!
This is what the road looked like on the way to Redmond...

Once safely in Redmond... we hung out for a few days. We were snowed in on Monday, so we spend the day playing games and catching up.

On Tuesday, we went skiing at Hoodoo. It was a great day. Snowed the entire day which kept fresh powder on the ground.
You can go to www.youtube.com/thelapsleys to check out some video footage!

The rest of the week, we just hung out with family and played Wii!

More, More, More... Books!

2008-11-27T00:56:00.003-06:00

Well as most of you may know, I finished the Twilight Series and went to see the movies with Ashley & Danielle. The movie was.. pretty bad. But it was still great! I love this story so much, I would have went to see it if the movie budget was $100. I hear they will be making the Sequels. Yay!

So once I finished Twilight, I was finding that I had a lot of free time...and wanted to fill that void with a new book.
I have read a few books since Twilight.. most were purchased because of a suggestion *See What we Are Reading section<--). There hasn't been anything that has hooked me like Twilight..
So I started looking for Vampire books thinking, "Maybe I really just like vampires". So I found a new Vampire book called House of Night...AND it's a series.
I think its not the vampires.. (Although I do like reading about vampires because they don't scare me anymore!). Its the fact that once I rush through the book (cuz if its good, I WILL rush), there is more to the story in the next book. I think a series allows the author and reader to get more details about the story, plot, and characters.

So the House of Night series has published 4 out of the 9 books that will be in the series. I've read 2 so far (and 2 more or in the mail heading from Barnes & Nobles). I have heard they may be making this one into a movie as well?!?!
The next series that I will be reading is another Vampire series which the HBO/Showtime show True Blood was taken from. I've heard the show is great, so I'll have to buy the Season later.

And if you haven't signed up for a Barnes & Nobles membership, you should. Members get GREAT online discounts and free shipping. (There was my pitch for the day)

PS. I baked some Turkey Day cupcakes, so pictures coming soon!

ALL ABOUT MY HUBBY....

2008-11-15T21:52:00.003-06:00

This is a quiz about your hubby! Let's see how much you know, and then pass it on to learn more about your friend's Hubbys!!!!

Here we go...

1. He's sitting in front of the TV; what is on the screen? THE HISTORY CHANNEL OR FOOTBALL

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? RANCH

3. What's one food he doesn't like? HMMM... CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS

4. You go to a bar. What does he order? WHISKEY & COKE

5. Where did he go to high school? REDMOND HS

6. What size shoe does he wear? 11-11.5

7. If he was to collect anything what would it be? GUITARS

8. What is his favorite kind of sandwich? PORTOBELLO & SWISS

9. What would this person eat every day if he could? SUSHI

10. What is his favorite cereal? HONEY BUNCHES OF OATS

11. What would he never wear? HE WOULD TRY ANYTHING..MAYBE NOT A HALLOWEEN COSTUME

12. What is his favorite sports team? A NUMBER OF PRO TEAMS & LSU BY MARRIAGE

13. Who is his best friend? LYNN, RYAN, JIM, TOM

14. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? GET HEADACHES

15. How many states has he lived in? OREGON, NEW YORK, LAS VEGAS, NASHVILLE

16. What is his heritage? LAPLANDER

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? ANYTHING BECAUSE HE WONT EACH MUCH OF IT

18. Did he play sports in high school? RODEO

19. What could he spend hours doing? PLAYING MUSIC, YOU TUBING

20. What's his worst habit? CAN ONLY FOCUS ON ONE THING AT A TIME

Now it's your turn...

ASHLEE @ CHATTING WITH THE BANKS

Relief Stricken

2008-11-04T22:52:00.000-06:00

Yay for Obama!
Change starts now!
That is all!!

DeerHoof

2008-10-31T11:02:00.005-05:00

Ok, So I am not usually a huge fan of Indi Rock. Especially the really loud kind. Well we went to Mercy Lounge last night because some friends from L.A. were in town. We paid $12 to see a band I have never heard of.
Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about that. On top of the fact that I felt like I stepped into a time machine. WHAT has happened to fashion...I am sooo out of the loop I guess! Maybe I'm just getting old.

ANYWAY... after sitting through some very;...how can I put this nicely... very interesting openers.. was that nice enough?; DeerHoof came on stage. From that moment on, I was in utter euphoria. Now of course being the wuss that I am, I did have to cover my ears a few times.
But they were so entertaining. I couldn't exactly tell what they were singing about, but I couldn't take my eyes off of them. They were laughing, and climbing on gear and dancing.
The drummer, OMG..thats all I can say! He is AMAZING!
So in conclusion, great band to watch. Here a video of them so you can get a small dose of how silly they are.

Come See The Duck!

The Twilight Series

2008-10-03T13:21:00.004-05:00

Ok. So if you have not started reading the Twilight Series by Stephanie Meyer...then Ladies...go, run, now, to the bookstore.

My bestest friend, Ashley Arrison turned me onto it. The thought of another "series" intrigued me. I have not been addicted to a book since last year when I finished all of the Harry Potter books (You should read those too).
I had no idea what the books were about, but I loved the idea of another series. One book is sometimes just not enough!

I went to buy the first book and while standing at the checkout counter, I realized what the story was about...Really?!?
I had to call Ashley to make sure I was buying the right book.
Oh man, I wish I could tell you the amazing details about this book!
I have just finished book#2. I am absolutely head over heels in love with the characters. I have been staying up till 4am to finish each book. I just can not put them down.

For those of you that have not read it yet, I won't spoil any of the amazing details.
But, hurry now. The 1st book is coming out in theaters on 12.12.08, so make sure you read it by then!

If you start reading the Twilight Series, let me know so we can chat and gush together!!!

A Blog to Blog

2008-09-22T16:20:00.008-05:00

Well today I was proven wrong! I assumed no one read my blogs, so I have been updating at my leisure. It doesn't help that we do not have internet at home right now. I was recently prompted by one of my 2 subscribers, that I needed to update! So thanks Ash!
I don't know if anyone has heard about the chaos that has been going on in Nashville, TN.
WE RAN OUT OF GAS!!! LITERALLY!
They "say" that a rumored sparked a Citywide Scare! People thought that we were running out of gas because of a line shortage caused by Hurricane Ike. That scare prompted practically everyone in Nashville to rush to the gas station and fill up every vehicle they own, including boats and lawn mowers.
By Friday of last week, over 85% of the gas stations in Nashville city limits, was out of gas. This caused even more people to panic.
So all weekend there were 2-3 hour LINES to get gas at the remaining gas stations, who of course started price gauging.
As of Sunday, officials have stated that in the past week, Nashville used 4 TIMES the amount of gas it usually uses.
Which means that if everyone would have took a deep breath and kpt using gas NORMALLY... we would not have ran out of gas.
Well as you can imagine, this sparked major controversy, conspiracy theories, and some very funny blogs.
I have included my favorite.
*** Please be aware that there is &#$% in the subtitles in this video footage. RATED R!***
Love ya'll. Hope you can have a laugh at our expense!

This video make take a minute to load.

If it does not load, you may view it HERE!

So long Gustav...

2008-09-02T12:23:00.003-05:00

Storm Update:
Well the storm has almost passed. I hope everyone is doing ok. I have spoke with my mom briefly. The town of Baton Rouge is in shambles right now. Hardly anyone has electricity right now. They were starving so Mom is currently trying to get Chinese food from one of they only restaurants open in town. But I'm pretty sure everyone else had the same idea!
Gustav is headed to TX. Jesse is in Plano so he will be getting some of the rain. I sure do wish that storm would hit some low pressure and head towards Nashville. We are in desperate need of some rain right now!!
Ok.. everyone in TX, start blowing and faces all your fans towards the East. Lets get Gustav to Nashville!! haha!
See ya
Mel

Gustav

2008-09-01T13:29:00.007-05:00

Well this hurricane is freakin me out. Not very many of our hurricanes make a bee line for my hometown of Baton Rouge, La. This one is. I am glued to the computer and checking in on the family to give them updates.

So far, just wind damage. My parents have big limbs down and the neighbors' wooden fence has collapsed in to the yard.

So as of now, everyone is doing ok. The are in the thick of it now, with the eye moving closer and closer to them. Keeping my fingers crossed that Gustav looses his mojo soon!

Stay safe,

Melissa

And it begins...

2008-08-29T17:34:00.006-05:00

Well first off... this is not my first blog. But Google decided that they would just up and terminate my email address.... still not sure why. But its not like anyone was reading it anyway. So here I am, starting a new blog.
I feel as though life is always like a roller coaster.. you are either on the uphill climb, taking a breather at the top, feeling weightless and you begin to drop into the downhill ride, or moving downhill while screaming at the top of your lungs; only to find out that you've got to do it all over again. All the while, the safety bar is digging into your hips.
I guess right now we are at the bottom working our way upward.

We went to my 10 year High School Reunion for Woodlawn HS. We ended up going last minute and I am really glad we did. As I expected, everyone still looked pretty much the same, or even better. And there were still of a few of us that are still kid less.
I was sooo happy to see my friend's Julie and Amanda. I really do love those girls, even though we haven't seen or talked to each other in...10 years. I think that how you know that you are truly some one's friend. You don't need to talk all the time or even hang out, but you know if you needed something or just had a little time on your hands, you could call them. And it would be like you just spoke last week..

Dave is doing well. He has been focusing more of his energy on his music. I am sooo glad because that makes him truly happy.
His is playing with one of his dearest friends, Ashley Arrison. She, my friends, is amazing. And I don't just say that because I like her, but she has so much talent and so much compassion for other people and her art. And I will do whatever is in my power to help her get to where she wants to be. Her and her fantabulous man, Aben Eubanks, will hopefully be moving to Nashville soon. I am very excited about having them here more often.

Time is flying by. David has now been living in Nashville for almost 12 yrs. Myself for 5 1/2 yrs. We have been married for 2 1/2 yrs and have owned our home for 3 yrs. I am beginning to feel my itch for change.
I have also recently fell in love with New York City, so hopefully I will be doing some more updating on my travels to NYC. What a great place!

Well David has a lot of shows coming up and we will keep you posted on our travels and adventures and ups and downs.

If you are in the path of Gustav, you are more than welcome to visit us for a while!

See ya when we see ya!

Melissa