Lost Camera

I am so bummed, I lost my camera! I can't find it anywhere. I looked through our entire house and couldn't find it, but then remembered the last place I had it was at my Mom and Dad's house. I was just sure it had to be there, but it wasn't. Hopefully it will show up soon!

Home Sweet Home!

Day 4 of our Baton Rouge/ New Orleand Trip- Monday February 16, 2009.

We got up Monday and went and had breakfast in the French Quarter. After that, we had to go back to Cafe Du Monde one last time! The beinets were even better this time! Since we were so close to Jackson Square, we went in and looked around some.

Steve wanted to show us the Harrah's in New Orleans, so we went over there for a while. It was a very nice casino. Nancy and I played video poker and Stephen played blackjack. He ended up winning $250!

When we left Harrah's, we drove around New Orleans a little more and drove past some cemetaries. They were so neat, I wish I would have taken a few pictures.

Then we started the long trip back home. It is always nice to get away, but it is still nice to get back home! Since Stephen and I do not get to spend much time together, we love getting away any time we can. Our time away is so special to us and helps us reconnect. This was a great trip for us to spend some time together and spend some time with family!

3 Years!

Today is our 3 year anniversary! I am so grateful and feel so blessed to have found a great partner to spend my life with!

Throw me something, Mister!

Day 3 of our Baton Rouge/ New Orleans Trip- Sunday February 15, 2009.

Stephen and I spent Sunday alone without his parents. While we love being with them, since this was our anniversary trip we wanted some time to ourselves. The past two years for our anniversary we have gone somewhere. The first year we went Downtown and stayed at the Four Seasons and last year we went to Galveston. I have been wanting to go to New Orleans for a while, so since we were already so close and our anniversary was just a week away, we decided this would be our anniversary trip this year.

When we woke up Stephen was not feeling so well from our night before, so it took him a while to get up and moving. We got in a cab and headed towards the French Quarter. We found a little Italian food restaurant and had a nice meal. We got calamari and shared a pizza and sat outside on the patio right across from the French Market.

After lunch, we started walking down the French Market. We went in a few stores and then went up to the Riverwalk and sat for a while. The weather was clearing up and it was becoming a beautiful afternoon. We then continued walking around the French Quarter and Jackson Square.

As we were walking around the French Quarter we saw these amazing street performers. They were all dressed up and would hold a pose, being completely still. The most amazing one was a guy on a ladder. I don't know how he balanced on this ladder, but he had a 2x4 balanced on his shoulder and he wasn't moving at all. It was amazing!

There were also some amazing art galleries and furniture/antique stores in the French Market. We saw this really neat scuplture of golf tees. If it wasn't $3000 I think we would have bought it.

We were making our way back to our hotel to rest a little when we came across this parade on Canal Street. It was a small Mardis Gras parade, but it was still fun to watch for a while.

After we had some time to rest, we went back out. We walked back to the French Market and had dinner at a little restuarant. Then we walked around the French Quarter some more and made our way up to Bourbon Street and went to Pat O'Brien's. We saw Steve and Nancy there and they were about to leave to go to dinner so they gave us their seats. We had a blast there again and did not drink so many Hurricane's this time. When we left there, we walked back down to the French Market to go to Cafe Du Monde. When we had been by there in the afternoon it was packed, but tonight it wasn't busy at all. We had the famous beinets! They were fabulous!

After Cafe Du Monde, we made our way back to our hotel. We had a great day, but were exhasuted!

And Two Shall Become One

Day 2 of Baton Rouge/ New Orleans Trip- Saturday February 14, 2009- Valentines Day!

Saturday morning we had breakfast at the hotel with Vicky. Her and Steve shared so many wonderful stories about when they were growing up. Her parents were very dear to Steve and it was wonderful to hear about them. We had a great time with Vicky and since we don't get to see her often it was great to sit and chat for a while.

Brent and Julie's wedding was at 1:00 on Saturday. It was at a gorgeous plantation in Baton Rouge called White Oak Plantation. The ceremony was in a small room with a balcony. It was a very sweet, intimate ceremony. The reception was then held in a ballroom on the plantation. We had fun at the reception watching every one dance.

Right after the wedding we headed to New Orleans. We checked into the hotel and changed out of our dress clothes. Then we started walking down Bourbon Street. Wow, what an experience! It actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting. Mardis Gras wasn't it full swing yet, so it wasn't as wild as I thought it would be. We stopped at a few shops and saw some neat street performers. We saw two guys covered in silver paint. They looked like tin men!

We finally made it to Pat O'Brien's. We had a blast there and stayed for quite some time and had a few too many Hurricanes! It was such a fun night and I am so glad we got to spend it with Steve and Nancy. Here are some pictures from Pat O'Brien's.

Practice Makes Perfect

Day 1 of our Baton Rouge/ New Orleans Trip- Friday February 13, 2009

Brent was getting married on Saturday, Valentines Day, so Friday morning we headed to Baton Rouge. We stopped in Lake Charles around lunchtime at La Berge du loc. Steve, Nancy and I played video poker and Stephen played Black Jack. Of course we all lost our money and Stephen won some! The hotel was so nice. It felt like a resort somewhere in Vegas or the Caribean! We then had lunch there and got back on the road. We hit some traffic as we got to Baton Rouge, so we had just enough time to get to the hotel, freshen up and go to the rehersal dinner.

The rehersal dinner was at a lovely restaurant, Jubans. We were all in a private room that was decorated beautifally by Jan and BJ. We sat with with Kim, Phillip, Vicky, Linda, Goodjion, and two of Brent's friends, Paul and Lawrence. We had fun catching up with everyone!

That night Steve and Stephen went to gamble some more and Nancy and I stayed back at the hotel. We had some girl time just talking which was a lot of fun! I am very blessed to have such great In-laws.

Here are some pictures from the night:

Stephen and I:

Nancy, Linda and Vicky:
Kim and Phillip:

Linda and Steve (aka Goodjion):
BJ giving his toast:

Busy Weekend

Wow, we had a busy weekend! It was full of family time, shopping, dinner and drinks with friends and just enjoying each other!

Friday night I went out to my parents house for family night. Stephen was working until 8 so he didn't come. Mom, Dad, Aaron and I went to the grill for Friday night dinner. We had such a great time eating and talking to each other. I really enjoyed our family time and miss my family of 4 spending time together. I love my husband dearly and love the addition he brings to our family, but it is also important for us each to spend time with our families without each other. So, back to family night. After dinner we went back to Mom and Dad's house and played two games, Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader? and Sequence. Aaron and I tied in Are you Smarter than a Fitfth Grader?, but I won the tie breaker question! YAY! Then we played Sequence with two teams, Mom and Aaron and Dad and me. Mom and Aaron won. It was such a great night and I can't wait for family night next month.

Saturday morning I met Mom and Roslyn at a model home furniture sale close to our house. I got there about 10:15 and Mom and Roslyn had already been shopping for an hour. After looking around a while, I decided on a dresser, two lamps and a few accessories. Then I realized I brought my car. So I went to the dealership and got Stephen's truck and headed back. When I got back I shopped some more and decided to get another dresser and a few pictures for the game room and master bathroom. I also got an amazing mirror. It is huge and I am so excited to hang it in our dining room. Rosyln got me a desk that matched a dresser while I was gone. I am going to refinish the dressers and desk and likely some of the accessories. Everything I got was only $400. I am so excited! It is all such great quality and will be great pieces in our home.

We loaded up Mom's expedition and my truck and made a load to our house. Roslyn bought a ton of stuff including a couch, two chairs, a full bed with mattress, headboard and foot board, two end tables and a bunch of accessories. Once Mom and I got back we loaded up the rest of the stuff and went to Roslyn's house. Dad met us there and we unloaded the cars. We then headed back to our house to load up the rest of the stuff. Once at our house we loaded everything up and Mom, Dad and Roslyn took everything to her house. I had to get ready for a night out with Stephen, Daniel and April so I hopped in the shower.

I met Stephen, Daniel and April at the dealership and we went to dinner. We decided on Gringos and had a great time together. Our service was horrible, but we had fun together. After dinner we headed over to Sam's Boat. We had a blast just sitting and talking over drinks. I have never spent much time with April so I didn't know her that well before tonight, but we had a blast together sharing stories and just hanging out. We left at 2 am and headed home. It was a great night.

Sunday morning we slept in and then woke up and hung around the house for a while. Stephen went and got a haircut and then we went and met my parents for Lunner (Lunch plus Dinner) at BJ's in Sugarland so we could get the truck back from them. We had a great Lunner with them. Stephen and I then went to the grocery store and back home. We watched the Grammy's and I worked some.

It was such a great weekend and the other than being very windy, the weather was great!