Columbia Visit

Stephen and I decided it was time to head up to Columbia to see Ricky and Natalie's house.  They are doing so much work to it.  It will look great when they are all done.  We went out to eat at the mexican restaurant and I found out that their gold margarita is yummy.  Thanks for the recommendation Natalie:)

Ricky, Andrew, BJ, and Stephen

Ricky and Natalie

Stephen thought he would try out a scarf.

After dinner we went to the Parish Line, formerly known as the Lamplighter.  We had blast dancing and hanging out.

Andrew and Stephen

Stephen, BJ, Daylan, and Andrew

Me and Stephen

Mahaley, Andrew, and Natalie

A New Year's Christmas

Celebrating Christmas with children is always a bit more exciting than when everyone in the room is over the age of 25. They get as excited about unwrapping the present as discovering the goodies inside. Brianne, needless to say, is a child with infectious excitement and energy nearly every day of the year but especially on the day she gets to open presents and get attention from the entire family, most importantly Peanut. New years day we went over to Aunt Sandy’s House and had an evening of New Year’s champagne toasts, Christmas presents, and watching Brianne entertain us.

Brianne in a present

Brianne upside down

Brianne in Peanut's hat

Nana with her favorite present

Our "Beach" Christmas

For Christmas this year Stephen and I, along with my parents, Deni and Dave, and my grandmother, Nana, went to Neptune Beach, Florida (near Jacksinville) to spend the holiday with Scott, Carrie, Bella, Bryn, and Brody.  We had so much fun.  We went to a Christmas party, had sword fights,

Stephen beat some locals at ping pong at Pete's Bar, we were introduced to bumper pool, got pedicures,

got ready for our visit from Santa, went shopping for the things that Santa forgot, walked on the Jacksonville Pier, went for a morning run along the beach, saw Bella and Bryn's pink school,

discovered a washed up pelican (Bella is getting a certificate for that find), found a horseshoe crab shell, played football in our Drew Brees jerseys,

put together lots of christmas toys, ate blue chips (zapps potatoe chips covered in melted blue cheese), played hide and seek with the kids over and over, sat in the street drinking beer playing chinese jumprope,

rode the EzyRollers everywhere, and I am sure there is more that I am missing.  Oh yeah and we rode bikes to the bar.  Well Scott and Stephen rode bikes, Carrie and I rode on the handle bars and in the baby seat.

Bryn and Scott

Scott, Bella, Brody, and Dave

Stephen and Bryn

Christal, Nana, and Scott

Bella, Christal, and Bryn

We are planning to go back in the spring when it is a bit warmer.  We had a great Christmas, now we are ready to see what 2010 has in store for the Workmans.

Merry Christmas from the Workmans

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Mr. and Mrs. Clint Davis

Jacie and Clint got married this past weekend!  Friday, after my ARE schematic design exam, we drove up to Ruston for the wedding rehearsal and dinner. The rehearsal went great and the dinner was at the historic firehouse in downtown Ruston.

The Riggins catered and they had gumbo, etouffee, and (my personal favorite) peach cobbler.

Pete, David, and Stephen

After dinner a few of us set off to the good ole Dawg House and BJ joined us.  Then of course Rabbs was lined up to end our night.

Rebecca, me, Stephen, David, and Pete

Saturday Stephen had groomsmen duties, so I was off to get some Christmas shopping done. The highlight of my shopping was the Humphrey I had at Counter Culture. Yummy!

I had to be at the church early since I was designated to hand out programs. Jacie looked amazing in her wedding gown, the bridesmaids dresses were beautiful, and the men all looked so handsome in their tuxes.

The reception was held at the National Guard Armory and the decorations turned the room into a winter wonderland or lights. Stephen helped earlier in the week to put up the drapes along the walls and the lights.

Everything was perfect for Jacie and Clint, we are so glad that we were a part of their wedding weekend.

A Lock-In or a "Lock Out"

Stephen and I came home from a weekend in Ruston and went to Memaw and Papa Dave's to pick up Sydnee and Scout.  The two had been moved out to the shed since they thought it was nessasary to mark their territory all over the house numerous times.  Memaw and Papa Dave were out for the morning but they left us strict instructions to clean up after their grandpups.  Once we had our initial "yay, I am so excited to see you" kisses from Syd and Scout, we put them in the truck while we went back to the shed to clean up their "markings".  On our way back to the truck after the shed was free of droppings, we could see the dogs through teh windows looking so excited and happy that we were going home.  Stephen got to teh truck first and went to open the door.  Ummm....its locked and the keys are inside with the dogs.    

They were just so excited being in the truck that one of them jumped on the lock button on the door.  We each got on one side of teh ruck and called teh dogs back and forth trying to get them to jump on the unlock button.  We didnt get very far with that that idea, they just keep stepping back on the lock button, but they thought that game was really fun.  My cell phone on the middle console got a beating during the game though. 

Stephen apparently has had to get into his truck without keys before because he went to work with the truck antenna, two screw drivers, and a little help from me.  After some pulling and tugging we got the truck unlocked and the dogs were once again SO excited to see us.  Life is never dull with Jack Russells.

Thanksgiving Break

We have done so much since I last blogged.  Let's see where to start...last wednesday Sandy, Stephen's cousin, and her two children, Ava and Cason came to stay the night with us.  The special occasion for the sleep over was because Stephen's other cousin, Brandon from New York, was flying into Alexandria late that night.  We had a pow-wow of the cousins, haha.  Ava and Cason throughly enjoyed playing with Sydnee and Scout.  The kids got tons of kisses and the dogs got more belly scratches and food than normal.  

Cason got a kick out of Stephen's ski goggles.

Ava helped me make the spinach salad for Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, Stephen made her into a burrito with the dog bed.

After staying up till way after my bed time catching up with the lastest in Sandy and Brandon's lives, we woke up to Thanksgiving and Stephen's 27th Birthday!

He had some help this year opening his present:) 

Now off to Jena for Thanksgiving lunch.  The weather was awesome, we ate outside and Renee' took some family pictures. 

Brandon and I posed for a snapshot.

I had to get a picture of Cason and Brandon together, they had the same hairdo.

Then we headed back home for Thanksgiving dinner at the Beach household.  Brianne is such a fun little girl and she absolutely loves her Peanut:)

The weekend was all about Christmas decorations!  We picked out a perfect tree and started with icicle lights on the house and our wreath for the front door.

Our Christmas tree looks great!

ONSTAGE 2009

The City Park Players ONSTAGE 2009 Awards Gala was held at Coughlin Saunders Performing Arts Center last night.  Stephen and I had a fun evening catching up with the BlackJack cast and crew and others in the CPP "family".

 For all four of the major productions that CPP put on this season, Driving Miss Daisy, Social Security, Flying West, and Black Jack: A Thief of Possession, there were hors d'oeuvres and a speciality drink to represent each.  It was great tasting the variety of foods and drinks.

Theresa Louviere, won "Best Performance by a Female in a Leading Role" for her role as Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy.  Jim Weinzettle, my boss, won "Best Performance by a Male Newcomer" and "Best Performance by a Male in a Leading Role" for his role as David in Social Security.  Hold your breath... yes... wait... here it is... haha.  I won "Best Performance by a Female Newcomer" for my role as Luisa in BlackJack: A Thief of Possession.  Also from BlackJack, Susan Hathorn was awarded "Best Preformance by a Supporting Actress".  Way to go BlackJack! 

I had a blast with City Park Players and hope to come back next year.

Productive Weekend

This past weekend, with Stephen at work, I was very productive.  I painted our dining room table black (it was white with a light wood top), finished hanging the kisatchie pictures, new mirrors, and plates in the dining room, and put together lamps for our living room!  Stephen came home and was really surprised and loved it all.

Stephen's "BOOM, BOOM"

When our house was under construction they wired everything up for our television receiver, surround sound, and outdoor speakers and this Wednesday Stephen had everything installed and setup. I was more concerned about making sure the speakers lined up with the recessed lighting (I mean they were cutting holes in the ceiling anyone would be concerned) and Stephen was just concerned about which DVD he was going to have playing for me when I got home from work. He was so excited to get what he called the "Boom, Boom" in the house. I made sure Stephen sent me pictures every time they cut a hole in the ceiling and I was impressed at their precision in making sure everything was in line. After they left Stephen went to work on hooking up our DVD player, cable, and wii. But come to find out our DVD player did not have an HDMI input. Stephen took that to mean that we needed an upgrade, haha. He bought himself a blue-ray player for his birthday. Yes, it is a birthday present. When I got home he had everything all setup, the pictures were even put back on the mantle, and anywhere there was an electronic something it was dusted. He did not quite get all the furniture but I was pleased with what he did dust. The first thing he played for me to show off our new "Boom, Boom" was his treasured Eagles: Hell Freezes Over. It sounded great but then came to the tough part, explaining to me which remote did what, which button to touch, and which buttons not to even look at. I had it all together and felt like I had a good grasp on the new "Boom, Boom". Stephen left for work yesterday so last night I was able to watch my shows that I have DVR'd during the day. I did exactly what Stephen had told me to do on how to TURN ON the TV. It didn't work! I heard the TV sound coming through the ceiling and all around me but the TV just sat there in it's happy little slumber mode, laughing at me because it knew that I didn't know how to turn it on. So being the proud wife that I am I could not call Stephen and ask, "How do I turn the TV on?" I had to figure this one out on my own. I resorted to using the TV remote that Stephen told me not to use. It worked and I got to finally watch Days of our Lives. Shortly after turning the TV on, Stephen called. I was not about to tell him about my tough times trying to turn on the TV, then he said, "Did you have to use the TV remote to turn on the TV?" I thought it might be a trick question so I stumbled over my answer and tried to explain before I gave my simple answer of yes. Stephen said, "Yeah, I have to work on that I could not figure it out." What? The whole time I was thinking I messed something up and wasn't following the directions, tit for tat, when the directions I was given were not even correct. Haha, oh well. I managed to survive that one without messing up Stephen's new advanced technology. As the night progressed I moved on to my new favorite drama, Vampire Dairies. I have to admit with the "Boom, Boom" creepy scenes are even creepier when the sound comes from all around you. B.J. would not last one minute in our house watching a scary movie. Not that he would even watch a scary movie with us (he is not a fan of scary, this is the movie that did him in), but if he did, whoa, he would freak out. Needless to say the "Boom, Boom" is fun so far.