Reflection on My Summer Activities

Katie's Summer Bucket List

Watch Avengers: Age of Ultron

Spend a week at the beach

Paint room a bright happy color

Possibly start refinishing furniture in a not white color

Obtain recipe for and make green tea cookies

Experiment with adding things to green tea cookies

See Pitch Perfect 2 (out May 15)

Watch Tomorrowland (out May 22)

Watch Minions (out July 10) in IMAX if possible

Visit WWII Museum in NOLA

Visit Insectarium in NOLA

Catch up on Dr. Who
Cap. America/ Iron Man/ Thor/ Avengers movie marathon

Looking back on my bucket list, I have to laugh. I had all these plans to work hard and have fun on my off days, do a few projects, and maybe be a tourist in my own town. I wanted to get out of my house and DO while I was still able to rely on my mama for the important stuff.

Little did I know that fifteen days after composing my list, my boyfriend would propose on the beach and this would become a summer of planning, budgeting, and browsing online for deals on wedding dresses and suits, and agonizing over a guest list.

3 Things I Learned This Summer

1. Weddings are expensive

When my fiancé and I started this process, I had a dream of spending $2,000 total on the wedding, getting a tent for the backyard and pulling off some sort of cute barbecue reception. I was NOT going to be one of those brides that asked to be queen for a day. After deciding on a date and zeroing in on dancing as a major part of our vision for our day, my fiancé and I agreed that an indoor wedding would probably be best for midsummer. We then found out that our church does not currently host weddings. Our main goal became finding an acceptable place for both the wedding and the reception to happen in a seamless, inexpensive sort of way. Let me tell you right now, there's not much around here that will do it for cheap. Price quotes ranged anywhere from $5,000 to $10,100 just for a basic wedding and reception for 100 guests with a buffet and well bar package. In the end, we chose Annadele's Plantation Restaurant and B&B to help us make our "vintage burlap and lace" themed day a reality.

    2.  Guest lists are more about family than friends

When a couple is not hosting (read: paying for) their own wedding, they must take in the wishes of their parents/ monetary contributors. Upon composing the first draft of the guest list, my fiancé and I discovered that we knew a lot of people. Between his extensive family, my two sets of parents, and his fraternity, we knew this was going to end up being a massively expensive day ($45 dollars a head, hello). We had a THREE HOUR conversation one night about who we wanted to invite, who would get offended if they weren't invited, and then created a secondary list of people who would fit in Annadele's 100 provided ceremony chairs. This was the most stressful part of wedding planning so far and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. 

    3.  Wedding dress shopping is a tiring, but overall pleasing experience

Today, I took my personal matriarchs and my maid of honor and two bridesmaids to my local David's Bridal and tried on wedding dresses for an hour and a half. I had no idea what I was getting into. Did you know that wedding dresses require special undergarments that rival what women wore in early 20th century England? They cost more than a cheap prom dress from Penney's. Also, there is the fitting fee and the bustle fee, the garment bag fee, and the heirloom package; not to mention accessories should you choose to purchase them. 

The experience was fun though. Learning about what my body looks like in certain silhouettes and fabrics was fun and I legitimately appreciated the critiques I got from the ladies I brought with me. My Maid of Honor in particular was good at asking questions and voicing concerns about the pieces I tried on that I wouldn't have thought of otherwise, and my mom (who didn't think she'd have much of an opinion) was helpful in pointing out what dresses were good for summer and pumping my ego when I needed it. 

In the end, I got to say "yes" to a $400 dress and ring the wishing bell for new beginnings. I decided on a $50 bustle and only need to take a few inches off the bottom of the dress which the fitting lady said shouldn't cost much. I am so excited to try it on again!!!

I look forward to planning the rest of my wedding with my fiancé and our bridal party and families, but most of what I look forward to is spending the rest of my life with the man of my dreams. None of this would be happening if he wasn't around. I would forgo this whole experience to be his wife right now. 

Next up: DJs, photographers, finding a pastor, and clothing the bridal party.

Note: This bride is willing to accept pro-bono services as wedding gifts. I am not joking.

CW Poetry Class: Week 4 Poem

My mom had to raise me and my sisters nearly alone, and she is a great inspiration to me. Her favorite poem is “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost so I borrowed a few lines from it. This specific form of poem is called a pantoum in which the lines 2 and 4 from the first stanza become lines 1 and 3 in the next and on goes.

Mama’s Poem

She bore great burdens as child and mother,

and ended up both mother and father.

She braved the world, her and three girls.

Where did she get her strength from?

She was both our mother and father

and raised us on her own.

Where did she get the strength

and courage to take the road less travelled by?

She raised us on her own

and got her bachelor’s degree.

She showed us the road less travelled by,

and how to make a difference

CW Poetry Class: Week 3 Poem 2

This poem glorifies my maternal grandparents as I see their story in my head. The title means “glory to love” in German which I chose to highlight my grandfather’s heritage. It was supposed to be a Shakspearean sonnet, but I stink at iambic pentameter, so there it is.

Erhe sei Leibe

Many years ago a young air navigator went on a date

with a farm girl from Texas. I wonder if then they knew

that one day they’d marry and have a family so great

with three granddaughters that love them a slew.

Together they raised three girls and taught them that education

hard work, and experience in life paid off big time.

As long as they did well and practiced their chosen vocation

they would be happy and healthy and live just fine.

One daughter had three girls herself and raised them the same,

and those girls grew up through life’s highs and lows

knowing that if they messed up it was all part of the game.

The girls all looked for familiar qualities in their beaus:

The knowledge, determination and affection that goes the distance
worthy of comparison to 57 years of devoted and caring existence.

The Earliest Cousin

The following is a letter from my Great Uncle Bernard received by my father. My family history has always been fascinating to me, but i have never known as much about my paternal heritage as I do now. I feel that this newfound lineage is something to be quite proud of, and really kind of want to explore the family buildings that are still standing today.

This is from Uncle Bernard:

I started researching our family history about 15 years ago - and it took several years to put the biggest pieces of the puzzle together. Our earliest "Cousin" ancestor came from France. His name was Pierre (1710-1745). Pierre was the son of Antoine Cousin and Marie Dufret. Antoine was born in 1686; Marie was born in 1688. They were married at St. Catherine's church in Lille, Flanders (at the time part of France but now part of Belgium). St. Catherine's church is still standing and is very active. Antoine was a "barister" (lawyer). He apparently died before his son Pierre was born - according to records that I asked someone to dig up for me. That someone, by the way, was Michel Cousin of Lille. We met on the internet. He was happy to help me with the research.

Pierre must have joined the French Navy, then was stationed in N.O. during the early years of French occupation. I found reference to him as being an officer in the French Navy, then later a carpenter. He married Marie Francoise Renard in 1740. They also had a second child named Rene, but that child apparently died at birth. After Pierre died Marie remarried a Swiss Soldier named Joly. When her son Jean Francois reached adulthood she gave him his inheritence, which was about 300 Pesos (Spain owned LA at the time).

At some point the King of Spain started handing out land grants, and Jean Francois stood in line for his. He wound up with over 4400 "arpents" - around 4000 acres - of land on the northshore. His northshore holdings were in three parcels: One along Bayou Liberty/Bonfouca/Paquet (today Western Slidell), another on Bayou Lacombe which stretched westward to Bayou Cane, and a third further to the northeast of land that was owned by Mandeville Marigny. I sent you a picture of the map that outlines his holdings. For what its worth, he also owned land in the French quarter - a block between Royal and Bourbon on Conti - and a warehouse on what is now the corner of Orleans and North Robertson. I have a copy of his will and a copy of the inventory of his property that was taken after his death. He had over 1100 head of cattle, close to 100 slaves and houses in Lacombe, Slidell (still standing and known as Cousin-Lowry), and New Orleans in the French Quarter.

Jean Francois Cousin was the single largest landholder in Louisiana. He owned brick and lumber operations on the northshore. A major fire in N.O. around 1800 prompted a law that required all future buildings in the French Quarter to be made of brick. Jean Francois became very rich as a result, selling his bricks for 1c each.

Jean Francois married twice. The first was to Catherine Peuche Carriere - widow of Jaques Carriere. Their first child was Francois Cousin (I will call him Junior), born in 1786. Their second was Louise Cousin. (Louise married Dominique Rouquette and had 7 children, one of whom was Father Adrien Rouquette (Chahta Ima)). Louise and her husband built their first home at 417 Royal Street (now occupied by Brennan's). If you visit Brennan's you can see the initials "DR" in the wrought iron surrounding the balcony). There was a third child named Celeste.

After Catherine died Jean Francois married Cesaire Ducre. They had 5 children (Terrance, Anatole, Cesaire Adolphe, Eliza and Myrthee. I found Cesaire Ducre's obituary in the archives of the N.O. Public Library, written in French. She died in 1840. Jean Francois died in 1819. I previously sent you a picture of a plaque that is hanging in the back of St. Louis Cathedral that commemorates the early parishoners of that church. Among the names are Cousin, Ducre, and Carriere.

Francois Cousin (Junior) lived like a wilderness man in Lacombe. His house is still standing - just across the street from Sacred Heart church. Its in shambles but it is there. Francois Cousin Junior never married. But he had 11 children, as follows:

a. With Rosaime Yaque half breed daughter of a choctaw and a white man - 5 children: John, Joseph, Delphine, Francois, Louis.

Nemours Cousin behind an unknown man with a shovel

b. With Eugenie Judice, one-fourth choctaw and 2/3rds white - 6 children: Peter, Felix, Octave, Anatole, Marie Rosa and Bazelied.

Louis (paragraph a above) married Mathilde Chastide Bruet and had two sons: Joinville and Nemours. Joinville was Peter Cousin's grandfather. Nemours was your great-grandfather. Peter's choctaw ancestry stems from having Rosaime Yaque as a great great grandmother.

Anatole (paragraph b above) married Margaret Ducre. They had 10 children: Lorante, Camille,

Eugenie Cousin

Amadar, Eugenie, Athenaise, Basilete, Seymour, Blair, Francis and James.



Nemours Cousin, son of Louis Cousin, and Eugenie Cousin, daughter of Anatole Cousin, were married in 1882.



For what its worth, marriages among relatives were quite common and quite acceptable at that time (and still are today in many parts of the world). Our family has a long and rich history in Louisiana - there is so much more to tell. There is a lot to be proud of. There is also a "dark" side from which I think my father and his parents tried to separate...

Many of my closer friends know that I have a great great great(?) grandmother who was black (It's my fiancé's favorite party trick). This is the dark complexioned side to which my uncle was referring. The "dark"side comes from Nemours marriage to Eugenie. Nemours looks more black/Indian than white. Eugenie's brother Peter's son is black. The "s" was added to Cousin (coo-zan) to make it Cousins by my great-grandfather to distance himself from the black side. Uncle Benard told my dad that my great-grandmother requested that he do it so her children who were white would stop getting black put on their birth certificates. 

To think, I never would have found out that I am part Choctaw had my uncle never done this research! I am quite a mix of peoples! I am quite proud of all of the lives listed here, and look forward to making plans to explore the lands outlined here.