Feliz Navidad (I'm brushing up on my Spanish)

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas day full of family, friends, love and laughter...all of the things great memories are made of. L.A. and I spent a quiet day at home, enjoying our last Christmas in Virginia.

Our haul
The BTR Bridge Shirt. When we would drive into Baton Rouge, L.A. always said when he saw the bridge he knew he was home.

(I have to put in a plug for Storyville where we got all of these cool shirts http://www.wearyourstory.com/ They have some great La inspired shirts)

I have been wanting a Mignon Faget ring for YEARS and now I have one...and it's a fleur de lis (my favorite) One of our Christmas traditions is a pair of pajama pants for L.A.

When we were in Las Vegas I kept seeing these really cool Ed Hardy t-shirts but I never bought one...Santa must have been listening

Another Baton Rouge inspired Storyville shirt

I got a couple of Storyvilles too...Joie de Vivre

A light weight sweater that (I hope) will still be useful in Tampa (maybe at night)

I think Oreo was bored with the present opening... My second Storyville...

Here's the book...I was a good girl and waited. Isn't it purdy!?!?

This is the actual book.

A second pair of PJs...I couldn't believe they had New Orleans Hornets PJs so I had to get them

I have been saying for years that I want to learn how to weld so that I can make cool jewelry and crafts...well I guess Santa heard that too.

Santa even got me a helmet and books with instructions and ideas. I can't wait to get started!

He's smiling...I think he was excited!

Here's he's trying out the drums (I was better at drums...and I rocked the vocals!)

Trying his hand at guitar (I was NOT good at guitar!)

As you can tell we had a great Christmas. We wish everyone peace, love and happiness in 2009!

Miss and Love you all!

Good Bye 2008...Hello 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

2008 has been an exciting year for us. We started off the year watching our Tigers when the National Championship. We sent January off with a bang by taking a whale watching boat trip in Virginia Beach. Unfortunately we didn’t see any whales but we did get to see a lot of water…and by “see” I mean get soaked to the bone in below freezing weather and probably dipping into hypothermia. February came and went without much excitement but don’t fret March was coming in ROARING (like a Tiger).

On March 2 Natalie celebrated her big 3-0. L.A. made this extra special by planning a surprise trip to Williamsburg complete with bed & breakfast stay (at Liberty Rose http://www.libertyrose.com/ I highly recommend it) and a luxurious spa day (at Kingsmill Resort and Spa http://www.kingsmill.com/ …no I’m not getting paid they were just awesome). Natalie had to go to Alabama for a class and she took the opportunity to go home for a few days. While in Shreveport she got to meet and take pictures with Matt Flynn (for those who don’t know he was the quarterback that led the Tigers to the National Championship game mentioned in the previous paragraph). At the end of the month we took advantage of our great location and attended the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

In April we were extremely excited about attending the White House ceremony honoring the Tigers for winning the National Championship. This was both of our first times going to the White House and we got to meet and take pictures (Natalie) with LOTS of Tiger boys.

Taking advantage of the beautiful scenery in the area and the wonderful weather, we began May by taking a hike in Shenandoah on the Overall Run Trail. The hike was stunning…beautiful streams, challenging hills and most of all the Overall Run waterfall. Natalie didn’t make it to the top to see the falls but L.A. did and took some amazing pictures to share with her. We also got a little taste of home at the Louisiana State Society crawfish boil…and can I just say YUM.

We were able to visit crawfish land again in June at the LSU Alumni Association crawfish boil. The company was much better than the actual crawfish at this event but the weather was a turn off, driving us away with thunder, lightning and hail. Best of all, we reconnected with old friends at both! Natalie also took a trip to Maine to visit with her aunt. This was her first trip to Maine and she had a wonderful time in a BEAUTIFUL location.

We decided to take advantage of the long 4th of July weekend and drive up to Niagara Falls. This was the first time that either of us had been to Niagara Falls or Canada for that matter. We got to do all of the touristy things…and really had a good time.

August began with Natalie’s New York trip to attend the Breaking Dawn Concert Series with some girlfriends. This was a book signing/concert to kick off the latest book in one of her favorite series. August also brought the Olympics and Football season!!!

September was jam packed with football, football, football and more football. LSU was still looking good…well ok not exactly good but they were winning…and we got to go to a Saints game here in DC. I think that the day of the Saints game had to be the hottest day in recorded history and the Saints lost but we did have fun…I think. Natalie also had a great visit from her Colorado friends Pat and Pam. Natalie and L.A. even got to take Pam apple picking and wine tasting. We wound the month down with the annual end of year closeout at Natalie’s work. L.A. took this opportunity to try out a room at the Hyatt for the night. This worked out great because Natalie’s office is right across the street from said hotel so when she finally left work at 2 am she stumbled across the street and quickly fell asleep.

October may have been the most exciting month of all…I said may have been. Natalie and L.A. went to…a New Kids on the Block concert! YEA! It was so much fun. It transported Natalie back to 1990 and L.A. was even caught jamming to a few songs. Natalie was offered a new job in sunny south Florida. And of course the big excitement was our 5th anniversary celebrated by a trip to Las Vegas. What better way to spend our anniversary/Halloween in Vegas with family?!? For those of you who missed out, we are planning to go back next year so start planning now.

L.A. had surgery at the beginning of November. Right after which we got a surprise visit from Natalie’s brother C.J. He was only supposed to stay one night on a layover for an overseas trip. Luckily (for us) he was delayed by a few days and we made a great visit out of it. November 20 brought the big 3-0 to L.A. Natalie surprised L.A. with a party jam packed with great friends. As part of L.A.’s birthday celebration weekend, we visited the newly opened American History Museum. It has been closed since before we moved to DC so we were really excited that we were able to visit before we moved. Our favorite exhibit was THE Star Spangled Banner. It was a very surreal site and we recommend anyone who is in the area check it out. Between being off of work because of his surgery and Thanksgiving (and all of the excitement in between) November passed in a blur. We did have a great Thanksgiving spent with some good friends (Janelle and Tommy) and good food (fried turkey of course).

Now December is here. This month holds not only the typical Holiday festivities but also we started our moving plans by looking for a house and packing up the house we’re in now. And our first baby (aka nephew) Austin will be getting married on Dec 27.

We are looking forward to the New Year with a new adventure. We will be moving to Tampa during the first week of the year. We just hope that 2009 is as fun and exciting as 2008.

Love to you all,
L.A. and Natalie

Wizards' Game

L.A.'s birthday gift from his wonderful mother-in-law (yes I'm biased but he wouldn't disagree) was tickets to the Washington Wizards' game on Dec 15. It included a party with free drinks and food, t-shirts and two meal coupons. Even though the Wizards lost (predictably) we had a great time. This was our first time at an NBA game. (L.A. is actually at his second game right now with our friend Bill.)
Trying to get a shot of us with the court in the background.

It was so cute...they had these two blimps that flew around the arena dropping coupons before the game.

The Wizards running out

Shots from the game. We had really good seats!

The Wizards apparently need three mascots. Here's number one...that I liked to call "the fuzzy one" The little boy in the picture was adorable. I think he knew more about the game than L.A. and I put together.

Number two...his name was G-Wiz (I know this because it was written on his jersey)

And number three...who I called "the fat guy in spandex". I couldn't get a picture that captures the obsceneness of this one.

As you can see the seats where pretty empty but the game was almost over (only a quarter to go).

Tell Me When To Stop...

These are some pictures that I found of the house listing. These were apparently taken awhile back...
As you can see from this picture they must have just put in the little pond in the front. I'm glad that they did...it's so cute!

A close up of the front.

You can see that they painted the entry way. Funny thing is...we'll probably paint the rooms back a very similar color. I love the big cranes!

Aren't the colors nice and cheery...different furniture too.

Living Room

Notice the color under the counter. They painted that too...wonder why...

Up close of the red counter

Dining area (In combo with the kitchen and family room...the living room can be seen through the pass through)

A guest room (with furniture)

Master Bedroom again

A nice shot of the kitchen counter

Oh and just because we are posting a lot of pictures doesn't mean that we don't expect you to come and visit us and see the house for yourselves...

Drum Roll Please

I know you have been hanging on pins and needles to find out what we decided to do about the house. We chose house number two...the larger house with the longer commute. As much as we both loved the yellow house, we realized that it was just too impractical. We are very excited about our decision and the Martin B&B (we're trying to come up with a cool name...any suggestions) is taking reservations.

Here are a few more pictures:
A shot of the front doors (master bedroom to left and kitchen to right)
The front door and the dining area (which I think we are going to make a library).
Another shot of the living area (from the kitchen). You can see one of the guest bedrooms down the hall.
This is the guest bath room. The only complaint we had was the bathroom counters are cheaped up.

The Master Bath (again...cheap fixture)

This is one of the built ins in the washroom.

Another built in and sink in the washroom.

More backyard
Even more backyard.