A Month in Baton Rouge

It's been one month since we moved here, and we are settled in quite well. I'm learning my way around, I'm meeting new people and making new friends, Jordan already knows his way around, and he took his first two tests this week. Claire is growing and growing, and we are happy!

We've also learned and noticed some things about Baton Rouge and South Louisiana:

• Groceries are much more expensive here than they are in Houston. The first time I went to Walmart, the cheapest milk I could find was $4.18. $4.18 for a gallon of milk????!!! You've got to be kidding me!! I LOVE milk! But $4.18? Since then, I have found it at Walmart for $3.98, and I have found it at Sam's for $2.89 (for skim). I'll be going to Sam's for milk from now on!!!
• There is a large selection of Cajun food at the grocery store. In fact, "Cajun food" is an aisle heading, similar to "baking" or "dairy." I don't think there's much of a Cajun section at all where I shopped in Houston. I bet I need to spend some time on that aisle just to learn what they have and eat here!
  
• Unfortunately, there is a not a large variety of tortillas to choose from at the grocery store. One time I went to Albertson's and needed to buy some tortillas. I saw some on the end of an aisle, but I decided to wait for the tortilla section on the bread aisle to make sure I was getting the best deal. There were no tortillas on the bread aisle!!! Later, Jordan went by the same Albertson's for a few things, including tortillas, and he texted me to ask me where they were. Also, we really miss the freshly made HEB tortillas. Those are so good. Any of you out there reading this, if you have access to HEB freshly made tortillas, please eat one for me.
• Advertising is different here. In Texas, you have Texas Edition trucks. In Louisiana, you have the Bayou Edition. (I'm definitely partial to Texas!) And I saw a billboard advertising Zatarain's Fish Fry that said, "Friends don't let friends use flour." It's just a bit different from what I'm used to.
  
• Baton Rouge is not nearly as big as Houston, but there sure is a lot of traffic still. My story the other day about it taking me 10 minutes to get on the freeway when it's only 2 minutes away from me. - And I went the back way! I guess traffic is always relative because even a one-traffic light town can have traffic at rush hour.
• People here LOVE LSU!!! At Albertson's, if you wear your LSU jersey on game day, you get 10% off your purchase. I saw a mom and 2 kids at Michael's today, and they were all decked out in LSU gear. (And the little girl asked if I was going with them to Disney World next week. She was super cute!) Our neighbor said Claire needs some purple and gold to wear on game days. And we have heard from everyone that we should NOT go out on days when LSU plays at home. We'll see how it is tomorrow - it's their first home game this season.
  
• People from around here say "bro" at the end of their sentences. Except it's not an "oh" sound, and it's not an "ah" sound, but it's somewhere in between. Jordan's friend came over this week, and I heard it! I had heard about it before then, but I actually heard it!
• A friend of mine in Houston who used to live here told me that I probably wouldn't be Mrs. Cooper here - I would probably be Miss Julia. Sure enough, I am. Our neighbor has a little girl, so in front of her daughter she calls us Miss Julia and Mister Jordan. Also, Jordan's friend who came over this week kept calling me Miss Julia.
• People here also LOVE the Saints. I went to a church activity for women last Thursday, and the Saints were playing that night. I saw at least 3 ladies wearing Saints shirts. Also, Jordan said the library was pretty empty that day because most people were watching the game and not studying. Jordan opted to watch the Cowboy's on Sunday instead.
  

So we are learning the culture here, and, as you can see, we are happy!!!