Brrr...

I don't know how you people up North do it. It's bone-chilling cold here this week, and I can barely stand it. Lows in the teens at night with highs in the 30s. Geez... I think my new Snuggie will get some good use this week.

We're used to short-sleeved Christmas Days around here, so a freeze warning all week is pretty unusual, especially when it's supposed to get THAT cold. The forecast shows snow on Thursday, but it's snowing today, which was not in the forecast.

It may be global warming... blah, blah, blah, but all I know is we picked a fantastic week to run out of firewood!

Welcoming the New Year

Happy 2010! We rang in the new decade with a lot of fun Thursday night. We started out at home with a visit from Baby Brady, our little Baby New Year. Then we headed to Sportsman's for a while. Poor Derek had a touch of a stomach bug, so I had to get my new year's kiss early so he could go home and go to bed.

After tucking him in, we headed back out to a party down the road at one of Claire's friends' houses where I made some new friends... :)

A few jello shots and glasses of champagne later, we came home just after midnight. On New Year's Day, I fried some chicken and made some mashed potatoes, black-eyed peas and cabbage to make the champagne headache go away. Ugh...

Saturday night we enjoyed our "second annual" Grey-Gor holiday dinner with Drew and Kristin at Ely's. We decided that we'd come back to the house after dinner and play Dance Dance Revolution. It was hilarious to say the least...

Then, of course, a Wii night wouldn't be complete without Rock Band, and this time we really broke in our new Beatles Rock Band. SO much fun!

You'd think we'd be worn out by then, but no, not the Greys... we decided to try out F. Jones Corner, the new late night bar downtown with Claire and Josh. We took a cab, and the place was PACKED. It's a really cool bar that feels like it's set back in time. There were people from all walks of life there, including some old local blues legends. It was pretty cool, and the music was incredible.

After a couple of hours, it was finally time to call it a night (which was a good idea since it was 4 a.m.), but the bar was still just as packed when we left. I'd love to go back there, but unfortunately the place isn't really even open until about midnight (WAY past my usual bedtime) so we'll reserve it for just every once in a while.

So, in summary... we thoroughly enjoyed welcoming the new decade with old friends, meeting new friends, and starting the year off in a great way overall. It's also a good thing there were a few extra days to the weekend to recover from all our fun. :)

Looking Ahead

I am ready and waiting for a fantastic 2010! Overall, 2009 wasn’t a bad year, but it was a sad year for obvious reasons. I have faith that 2010 will be a good one. Here are just a few things I have to look forward to in the coming year…

• Colorado Ski Trip – It’s been almost two years since we visited Matt and Jennifer in Denver, so this time around we’re hoping to go in the next couple of months and do some skiing in Breckenridge.
• My FOURTH wedding anniversary – My, how time flies!
• My 30th birthday – Yes, I’ll be turning the big 3-0 in September, so stay tuned for party plans. ;)
• Baby Ferrell’s birth – If you haven’t heard already, Derek and I will welcome another niece or nephew this summer! Congrats, Neil and Katie!
• Another summer at Eagle Lake – my favorite thing to do during the summer… there’s nowhere else like it.

There’s much, much more to look forward to as we welcome 2010, and I'm anxious to see what all lies ahead in the immediate future. Happy New Year!

Another Wonderful Christmas

We had another absolutely wonderful Christmas on both sides this year. We spent special time with family in Hattiesburg and Vicksburg and feel extraordinarily blessed.

The Christmas holiday started with a trip to Hattiesburg on Wednesday. We spent the night looking at Christmas lights with my parents and eating dinner downtown. Christmas Eve morning we opened presents at my parents' house before heading to Granny and Pap's for Christmas with them.

Some highlights of Hattiesburg Christmas were bongo drums for my mom, some new Wii games for us, pearls from my Granny, a Snuggie (yes, yes, I know you're jealous!), gift cards, tupperware, new sheets and pillows, soap galore and an anniversary trip for my parents, just to name a few. We headed home Christmas Eve night and found that Santa had already made his visit and filled up the stockings for Izzy and Bentley. :)

Christmas Day we woke up early and opened up our presents from each other. I felt very spoiled from my sweet husband but very grateful. Among the presents Derek gave me were his mother's diamond earrings, which are absolutely beautiful. I cried, and as Derek's mom used to say, "It's not Christmas unless somebody cries!" So, Candee, it was a very special Christmas moment, to say the least.

After our presents, we walked across the street to have coffee with Ben and Tina and Baby Brady. We couldn't miss Brady's first Christmas, and he even ate baby food for the first time. He is too precious!

We hit the road to Vicksburg around noon and spent the afternoon playing Scattergories and Trivial Pursuit with Derek's dad and sister before everyone came over to open gifts and eat our Italian-themed Christmas dinner. It was a marathon present-opening evening with Ryan Hadley helping everyone open every present. She didn't want to miss anything. She's big into Disney and princesses this year, so one of the gifts we gave her was a Cinderella wig, pictured below. It's entirely too much fun to shop for an almost 3-year-old. :)

We were spoiled once again with all the wonderful gifts from the Greys, including an apron and oven mits for me, a new gas blower and weedeater for Derek, a gorgeous picture frame, an Eagle Lake cookbook, socks, boxer shorts and much much more.

Saturday we spent playing with our new toys just like kids and staying warm by the fire. It has been an absolutely wonderful holiday, and we feel so very loved and incredibly blessed. And a very special Happy 81st to my Christmas Day Birthday Girl, Granny!

Party Time!

Saturday night we hosted our second annual Christmas party, only this time we made the theme Dirty Santa AND Tacky Christmas. We hosted with five other people and had entirely too much fun (this said after I drank entirely too much eggnog). Here are some pics from the night…

Derek organizing Dirty Santa...

A favorite of the night...

Happy Birthday, John and Claire!

Drew with his mullet and a creepy look on his face... :)

Towards the end of the eggnog...

A fun time was had by all, and we look forward to the THIRD annual party next year!

Because I've procrastinated...

Here is our Christmas card.

Well, this clearly seems to be the year of the photo card... and that being said, you will not be getting a card in the mail from the Greys this year because we did not make a photo card. I don't want to send you a card that you will not put on your mantle or on your fridge. I know what you're thinking... "Of course I would put it on the fridge or the mantle!" Maybe so, but you would be a little disappointed when you opened it and it was not a photo card. Admit it. And besides, it's a week before Christmas, and now I've waited too long. My apologies...

We have said for years that we wouldn't make photo cards until we had kids, but this year clearly we have been outnumbered. So consider this our photo Christmas card. Maybe next year we'll surprise you, who knows...

Until then,

From our house to yours,

Merry Christmas and New Year!!

With Love,

Derek and Lizzie

Christmastime in Cajun Country

Road trip #2 of the holiday season... Natchitoches, La., for the Christmas Festival of Lights. We hit the road around noon on Friday and toured the backroads and swamplands of Louisiana for nearly five hours before arriving at our final destination. This was my third trip to this neat little Louisiana river town (once for work in the newspaper days and once for a long weekend with Drew and Kristin) but my first visit at Christmas.

"Steel Magnolias" was filmed here (the Steel Magnolias B&B is pictured above), and it's like a city set back in time. The Christmas lights stay strung over the brick streets year-round but when they actually turn the lights on, it's truly breathtaking. No camera will do it justice, but we tried to get a few good shots anyways.



It was ugly weather all weekend long, but Friday night we had dinner downtown and then spent all day Saturday shopping and sight-seeing. We rented some wheelchairs from a local pharmacy to make it easier for Granny and Pap to get around, and I think they really enjoyed the "free ride." :) We ate some famous Natchitoches meat pies at Lasyone's and then walked around at the carnival down by the river, which is where the picture with the baby gator was taken above.

It was a trip Granny had wanted to take for years now, and I'm so glad we got to experience it as a family. It was worth the long drive and the cold, ugly weather. It really puts you in the Christmas spirit. :)