I know this great little tamale place...

Saturday night we took a little road trip with Paul and Katherine down to Hazlehurst, about 45 minutes south. Why, you ask? To check out this fabulous little tamale restaurant and bar called Firebelly's Hot Tamales Bar and Grill.

Our friend David opened this place in November, and let me tell you, the food is DELISH. From hot tamales to chili cheeseburgers, nachos, hot dogs and even deep-fried pretzels with chocolate and cinnamon on top, the food is great! Here are a few pics just to make your mouth water.



Every weekend they've had live music, and Saturday's band, The Colonels from Brookhaven, was so much fun! The place is huge, and there are plenty of places to sit and two pool tables and a Foosball table to entertain you. There are even some old-school arcade games, too. Here's a pic of Paul playing pool with a crowd/bar shot in the background.

And here's the owner himself. Ladies, he's SINGLE and SUCCESSFUL! What a catch!

So next time you're down in the 'Hurst, check out Firebelly's. Or just make a little road trip if you want a great bite to eat and the coldest beer in Copiah County.

NOTE: This is not a paid endorsement... just trying to give my friend David a little free advertising. AND I really liked the place, so that doesn't hurt either. :)

Book Worm

So, now that I finished my BIG book, I'm taking a break from the "classics" and have returned to my girly, Lifetime-esque favorites. Right now I'm reading Lauren Conrad's third book, Sugar and Spice. Don't judge. It's fun reading. And you can't lie and say you're not curious about the behind-the-scenes of reality shows.

Santa brought me a stack of books for Christmas, and I can't wait to read them all! Next up after LC's book will probably be the new Jennifer Weiner book, Fly Away Home. I LOVE her books, and I'm all about some political scandals, so this will be a must-read for me.

And then last but not least, I told Derek a long time ago that I was interested in reading about the Kennedy family. They just intrigue me. Kind of like the Kardashians... So here is what was under the tree for me this Christmas. I'll be an expert by the time I finish, so if you're ever on "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and you need to phone a friend about a Kennedy question, I'm your girl.

I'm trying to take my time so that I'll have a couple of books to entertain me during the nearly 30 hours of flying to and from Japan in a few months. Speaking of, I forgot to mention there was one practical book also under the tree for us this Christmas...

I think I'm set. :)

Weekend Wrap-Up

My main weekend activity the past few days has been to transport myself back to the Old South... I finished reading Gone With the Wind on Saturday, so how did I spend my entire Sunday afternoon? Watching the whole movie for the first time, of course. I loved it!

I'd have to say the book is much better than the movie, and at times, completely different. So if you have a few weeks (or months in my case) to read 1100 pages of itty bitty type in your spare time, I highly, highly recommend it. I feel like a true Southerner now. :)

We did a few fun things when I wasn't hunkered down on the couch dreaming about Tara. Friday night we met up our friends Jennifer and Matt, who were in town from Colorado for Matt's mom's ordination as a Deacon in the Episcopal church. We haven't seen them in a few years, and it was SO MUCH FUN to catch up. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. We visited them in Denver three years ago, and we're really been wanting to go back for a long weekend to ski. As of late Friday night, we talked it into a reality, so we'll see if it actually happens now. Ha!

Saturday night we had dinner at Claire's house and watched the Miss America pageant. I was in heaven because I love that kind of stuff. Derek, however, was not thrilled with our Saturday night activity. Poor thing... Oh, well. I would have had it on at home, too, if we had been there. I like to judge from the comfort of the couch.

On Sunday we got for stop #2 on the Tour of Churches. It actually worked out really well because the church we wanted to visit was where Matt's mom was ordained, so they came too and sat with us. We really liked it! We have a few more that we'd like to visit before we pick "the one," but so far, so good...

Now today I'm off for another glorious state holiday, so I'm enjoying a little housework in my pajamas. Fun times. No more three-day weekends for a whole month. What in the world am I going to do? I've gotten kind of used to this.

Jumping head first into 2011...

We've had a pretty busy beginning of the new year, starting with me hosting my bunco group at my house on Thursday. The theme was white trash. Go ahead and laugh. We make trashy look good, I know. :)


No, seriously, we look pretty scary, but it was a lot of fun. I LOVE my bunco group!

Derek worked the Blues Marathon expo a few nights last week for work and then again on Saturday morning. It goes through our neighborhood every year, so he just has to stand at the corner of our street and cheer on the runners as they pass and make sure they know which way to go.

After the marathon we hit the road to Vicksburg. I had a baby shower to attend for our friend Maggie and then an engagement party for our friend Leslie. We had a few hours to kill in between, so we visited with Katie, Neil and baby Frances, then drove back home late last night after stopping in Clinton to see Katherine and Paul's house. BUSY, LOOONG day!

Today we haven't even left the house and have watched it sleet all day long. We've had a fire burning since noon, made a big pot of chili for dinner and are now watching the sleet start to stick on the power lines. Yikes... we'll keep our fingers crossed that we don't lose power, and we'll wait to see what tomorrow brings as far as the aftermath of the "Arctic Blast of 2011." Oh, the drama... seems like we started last year out the EXACT same way with the "GREAT Arctic Blast of 2010", quickly followed by the "Big Snow" and then the "Big Freeze" sometime after that. I see a pattern forming...

And last but not least, Happy FOURTH Birthday to our niece Ryan Hadley! She's such a big girl now! We sadly missed her birthday party Friday night but hope to catch up with her next weekend and give her her birthday present. Happy Birthday, sweet girl! :)

New Year's Weekend

We had a fabulously low-key New Year's weekend, starting with New Year's Eve on Friday. The storms around us were really bad, and while we didn't quite make it all the way into the hallway for the nearby tornadoes, we watched Barbie Bassett pretty intensely and had both animals on stand-by in case we needed to make a quick dash for a closet or something.

After the weather cleared Ben and Tina walked over and we grilled some delicious steaks and ate a late dinner before BARELY staying awake to ring in 2011. WE. ARE. SO. OLD. We did manage to sing Happy Birthday to the new year as well as (a couple of days belated) Neighbor Ben.

On New Year's Day we took it easy and I fried some pork chops, made some greens, black eyed peas and cornbread and we pigged out. That was about it.

On Sunday we started on our New Year's resolution to find a church we could call home. We plan on trying several, and we liked the first one. I think we'll try a few, then narrow it down from there until we find "the one." After church, we had brunch including some mimosas (thanks to leftover champagne from NYE) at home with some friends and watched the Saints game.


Yesterday was yet another glorious state holiday for me, so I took advantage of being off work when everybody else was working and ran 1,002 errands. I was a busy little bee, but I was so happy to meet up with my friend Ashley for lunch. She and her husband live in Jacksonville now and were home for a few days to visit family. It was SO GREAT to catch up and meet her precious little boy. I finished the day with a trip to the dentist and then three loads of laundry. Who's worn out? This girl.

It was great to have a few days at home though! Now I'm ready for a busy January!

Prayer Request

The mother of one of my best friends passed away on Sunday, the day after Christmas. She beat breast cancer twice, but this summer the cancer came back pretty aggressively. She was a sweet, sweet woman who was very close to her two beautiful daughters. She will be missed greatly by all who knew her.

I went with a few friends to Oxford yesterday for the visitation and funeral, and my heart just broke for Brooke and her family. This is the third time in not even two full years that we have said goodbye to a parent of someone our age. That seems unreal to me. It's soooo not fair in many ways, and it's not like it gets any easier.

If you have a prayer to spare, please remember my friend Brooke and her family. Please pray that they deal with this tragedy as best as possible and remember all the good times they shared. Please say a prayer that they don't always associate Christmastime with sadness. And please give your mom and dad a big hug when you can. You never know when they won't be there one day.

Here Comes Santa Claus

We must have been VERY good this year because we had a wonderfully fantastic Christmas in all three places. Here's a recap...

We headed to Hattiesburg Thursday afternoon for our Christmas with my family. We drove out to see the Lewis Lights, then ate dinner with my parents and grandparents at 206 Front downtown. It was so nice!

We got up Christmas Eve morning and opened presents with my mom and dad, then when it was time to eat our lovely breakfast casserole, this happened...

The casserole dish literally exploded. It was crazy! Good thing it was on top of the stove and not in someone's arms when it happened. Anyways, except for the Christmas Casserole Dish Disaster, it was a great morning.

The celebration continued at my Granny and Pap's house Christmas Eve afternoon...

Then we wished Granny a Happy Early Birthday since she's a Christmas Day baby...

And we hit the road and finally made it back home with just enough time to relax by the fire for a little while before Santa's visit...

On Christmas Day morning, Derek and I exchanged gifts then walked across the street for Christnas coffee with the neighbors. "Baby" Brady's too cute!

Santa brought him his little Saints jersey. Is that not adorable?

Christmas Day afternoon we hit the road again for Christmas with Derek's family. Ryan Hadley couldn't wait to show us the four-story dollhouse that Santa brought her, along with all the Disney princesses...

Here are the two precious little cousins. Poor Frances was sick all weekend, but she tried to be a good sport.

Uncle Derek and Aunt Lizzie got Ryan Hadley the Woody doll from Toy Story 3 along with the DVD. She was so excited she couldn't wait to crawl up in her big girl bed and watch it. Uncle Derek even watched some of it with her.

Katie read RH a book about fireflies...

Then some of us went out to the Biscuit Company Saturday night to hear Seth Libbey, Reid Stone and Carey Hudson play. It was fun!

On Sunday morning, we went over to Mamaw's to eat lunch and play Dirty Santa, then we headed back to Jackson.

Did you feel the Christmas whirlwind? Wow.. busy few days. We had a GREAT Christmas, but I think all the traveling and going and going and going just wears you out after a while. I woke up with a little cold/sinus junk yesterday, so it was a good thing we were both off work today. We really needed the recovery time.

Until next time, I hope everyone had a good holiday. Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! :)