12 Days of Prudhomme Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, blog reader(s)! Jeff and I just got home from a 12-day vacation to Florida to visit his parents. They have a 43-ft power catamaran that they use to cruise all around the east coast, so we joined them for a little Christmas cruising. Almost nothing went according to plan...naturally...but we managed to have some fun times anyway. Here are the 12 Days of Prudhomme Christmas:

1. On the first day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a nose-picking neighbor on the flight to Florida. Seriously...two fingers, both nostrils...and he wasn't even a child. He was an old guy, who at one point asked me some odd questions in heavily accented English. Pretty sure he said "Do you work on the airplane?" and then "Are you in the United States Air Force?" Well, this creeped me the heck out, because I immediately started thinking...why is he asking me these things? Is he about to hijack this plane or stab me in the neck with a drinking straw?! Flying can be just miserable.


2. On the second day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: FOOD POISONING.


My hospital bracelet.


Seriously, Santa, what the hell?! If I've been bad, would a lump of coal not have been sufficient? On our first night in Florida, we went out to eat with Jeff's folks at a nice Spanish restaurant in St. Petersburg. We all ordered a big plate of paella to share. I suppose I got the lucky bite from our shared meal, because the next morning I found myself deathly ill. I have never felt this horrid in my entire life. After a few hours of being incredibly sick on the boat, we decided that the ER was the best place for me. So I spent the remainder of my day in the hospital, replenishing my fluids with an IV and getting doped up on anti-nausea meds. Merry Christmas to me!


3. On the third day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: the worst heartburn EVER, as a result of all the acidity in my stomach from the previous day. Lovely. On the bright side, we finally got to get out on the water in the boat, and we saw a ton of dolphins. One playfully swam up to the boat and got in between the catamaran's pontoons, then proceeded to swim there for a while and let us watch him playing in front of the boat. That was really cool...I could watch dolphins all day long!


4. On the fourth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a safety drill because the boat was taking on water from a leaky seal! Oh great...so if the food poisoning didn't kill me, going down with the ship off the Florida coast might finish me off! No, actually, it wasn't a close call or anything, but Jeff's dad did get out the life jackets and gave us instructions on what to do in case of emergency. As it turns out, the boat never took on enough water to do anything more than thoroughly annoy Jeff's dad, since they'd never had problems with any leaks prior to this trip. Jeff and I are such good luck charms!


5. On the fifth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a long drive across some of the Florida Keys on our way to Key West. Although long car rides are never the most fun things, at least we did have good scenery. The bridges connecting the Keys provide some great views - clear blue ocean on either side of the road, punctuated by small mangrove-lined islands, many with extravagant vacation homes we liked to drool over.


6. On the sixth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a Christmas Eve spa day at Prana Spa in Key West!



After feeling like crud for the past few days, a nice spa treatment was just what I needed. Jeff and my MIL, Nicole, got deep tissue massages while I got the Raj treatment - an exfoliating facial scrub, body scrub, full body massage, then a nourishing oil treatment for the hair and scalp along with a scalp/head massage. It was blissful.


7. On the seventh day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a Christmas night drag show with my mother-in-law. After hanging out by the pool for a couple hours on a very sunny Christmas, we decided to have a very non-traditional Christmas night and go to a drag show at the 801 Club on Duval in Key West. My MIL really wanted to do this since she'd never seen one before. We decided to un-invite the men because we were afraid they would not exactly love it. So Jeff and his dad went out for drinks while we attended the show. While it was funny, it was possibly one of the most awkward hours I've ever spent in my entire life. The main host(ess) was extremely vulgar, and the performers loved to torment the straight men in the audience by going over to them and gyrating madly or shoving their crotch into someone's face. Luckily we were never on the receiving end of any of that, and we were both SO GLAD that Jeff & Les didn't come. In all, it was fun, just a bit uncomfortable!


8. On the eighth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a bunch of alligators! On our drive back to Naples from Key West, we got to drive through a strip of highway known as Alligator Alley. It cuts through the Everglades, and along the banks off the roadside (separated from the traffic by a tall chain-link fence) are the alligators of the Everglades. We counted at least 40 on this particular trip - they are such interesting creatures! Not really a place I'd like my car to break down at night...yikes!


9. On the ninth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a trip to a real-deal Skyline Chili parlor.



Skyline Chili is a Cincinnati thing and also Jeff's favorite childhood meal. He has told me countless times about how much he loved going to the Skyline restaurants and loading up on the strangely thin, beanless, cinnamon-y chili. He hasn't eaten Skyline in a restaurant since he was a kid in Ohio. So he was pumped, to say the least, when we randomly drove by a Skyline parlor in Naples, Florida. After spending an afternoon exploring a cold and windy state park beach, we went to Skyline for lunch, and Jeff was in heaven. I think it was his favorite part of our entire trip! At first I didn't know what to think about the chili, which can also be purchased at Kroger in cans, but now I really enjoy it. It's traditionally served over spaghetti with finely shredded cheddar on top. Yum!

10. On the tenth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a sightseeing trip through the canals of Tween Waters in a tiny dingy.


Oh captain, my dingy captain!

We were trying to salvage any hope we'd had of doing outdoorsy stuff on this trip...between my food poisoning and the cold weather, we hadn't done much at all outside. So we pulled into a marina in a place called Tween Waters, where Jeff's parents often stop. (For the record, I hate the name Tween Waters...I know it's supposed to be an abbreviation of BEtween, since it's a strip of water between parts of the island...but it just sounds wrong)! It's off of Captiva Island, and the beaches there would have been beautiful had it not been so cold! Rather than walk along another chilly beach, we dropped the dingy off the back of Jeff's dad's boat and took it out on an exploration of the little waterways and canals through the mangrove islands. Even though the wind was chilling and we couldn't ever find a good place to take the boat ashore to explore the little islands, we still had fun on our little mini-adventure. We saw lots of beautiful birds, and I wished my expert bird-watcher Aunt Carol had been there to identify them all for me! Apparently the tiny wake from the dingy was stirring up fish, because some seagulls decided it would be fun to follow us around.


It was a little cold on the dingy!



A few of the seagulls that were stalking us!


11. On the eleventh day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: a visit to some of Jeff's family I've never met before. Jeff and his cousin, Brent, were always really close when they were kids, kind of like my cousin, Ashley, and I. Now that Brent and his wife, Denise, live in Florida, Jeff rarely ever sees him anymore. So after getting back to the marina in St. Petersburg on our last night in Florida, we drove out to their house to visit them and see their adorable baby girl, Riley Kate, who is 2 months old. It was great to finally meet them. I really wish we lived closer together, because I could really see us doing lots of things together.


12. On the twelfth day of Christmas, Santa gave to me: home sweet home. Our flight back to Dallas was uneventful - no nose-picking neighbor, and the kids sitting directly behind us were actually quiet and calm. We popped a Harry Potter movie in the portable DVD player and were home in no time. It's always a mix of feelings getting home after a long vacation like this one: I was glad to be back on my own turf, sleeping in my own bed, at my own house where I have my car and my freedom to do my own thing. But I was also dismayed at the incredible mess we'd left our house in and all the unpacking, laundry, and cleaning that needed (still needs) to get done. Ugh.

In all, we had a very fun, very non-traditional Christmas. We wish it would have been a bit warmer so we could have enjoyed a typical Florida winter, but oh well. Jeff's parents really did make everything so nice for us, and it was great to just get away and not have to worry about all the trivial little things that consume our daily lives back home. It was great!

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas, too, with just as many fun and interesting tales as we had (but, hopefully, featuring less vomiting and hospital visits)!

Here are some other random pics from our vacay:


Here we are getting a Cheeseburger in Paradise on Cabbage Key. I was still feeling quite under the weather at this point, and I think this was my first real meal since the "shellfish incident."



On Cabbage Key outside the restaurant that inspired the Buffett song "Cheeseburger in Paradise."



Our "Christmas Tree" in the condo on Key West...talk about a Charlie Brown tree!



Our Christmas Eve dinner at Louie's Backyard - absolutely delicious food!



Jeff's Christmas drink.



My very merry Christmas pina colada - on the warmest day of our trip. At least we got to spend Christmas day by the water!




Hemingway's favorite bar in Key West. More on that later.




I forced everyone to take the tour of the Hemingway House.




A pretty banana plant at Hemingway's house.




Hemingway's writing study.



The house from the outside.



Many of the Hemingway cats are polydactyls - having extra toes on their feet!



Jeff trying to befriend one of the Hemingway cats.



Close-up on a polydactyl's foot.



The Hemingway cat drinking fountain. The bottom part is actually a piece of a urinal from Hemingway's favorite Key West bar...when the bar closed down for a while, Hemingway took this urinal to proudly display in his yard (nobody said he was normal)!



Jeff and I on the Southernmost Point marker - touted as the southernmost point in the U.S.; but supposedly there is a point on a nearby military air station that is further south. Oh well...good enough!



A beautiful sunset at Mallory Square in Key West.



Another beautiful sunset, this time in Naples, FL.



I was a fan of this boat, docked at the marina we stayed at in Naples. (It says Mischief Managed). Nice Harry Potter reference!

9 Years.

It's hard to believe 9 years have passed since September 11, 2001. I was a 19-year old sophomore in college on that morning. I remember my phone ringing pretty early, and my dad's voice came over the phone: "Something bad is happening. Stay inside today and be careful." I don't remember what else he said, but I do remember the stress in his voice. I turned on the TV in my dorm room and tried to understand what was going on. The news channels were filled with chaotic reporting, the confused newscasters doing their best to relay what had happened. I think my roommate, Alli, and I sat there for hours, watching as the towers fell and reports came in of more hijacked planes. Strangely, I don't remember if I was scared or not. I think shocked is a more accurate description. I think our classes were all cancelled...I don't really remember much about that either. Later that afternoon, my (then ex) high school boyfriend called me. We talked about how horrible it was, and I think I cried as he told me that if the military needed volunteers, he would find a way to go fight. I don't remember when life on our campus went back to normal. I remember prayer vigils for the people who had lost their lives, and the amazing show of support for our country at the next Aggie home game, dubbed the "Red, White, and Blue Out" (rather than our usual Maroon Out). Here's a picture of our stands during that game:


So many selfless people risked (and also lost) their lives trying to save others and find survivors at Ground Zero. As others fled, they walked into the blinding dust, burning debris, and falling metal. We can never repay them for their bravery.

A great number of people were trapped in areas that were inaccessible by human rescuers. Something we rarely hear about are the 300 search and rescue dogs that helped locate the survivors and also the remains of those who perished. Here's a very touching video about these brave dogs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D91GQRX3YdY

We have a book in our house called One Nation: America Remembers September 11, 2001. The images in it are horrific, haunting, and heroic. It tells a minute-by-minute account of what happened that morning and also delves more deeply into the stories of some of the fallen, and still living, heros. I highly recommend this book. We all need something like this in our homes to ensure that we, and our future generations, never forget.

Easter Weekend

My parents came in to visit us for Easter weekend, and we got some quality family time. They are definitely not ones to sit idly around, so we got a TON of work done to the yard. Jeff and I have been wanting to do a long day of yard work for months, but we lacked the motivation to get it started by ourselves. So my parents came to the rescue, and all four of us worked hard for at least 7 hours yesterday. We cleaned out all the dead leaves from the flowerbeds, trimmed bushes, planted a few flowers, raked the dead thatched layer of grass from the yard, and filled in low spots with topsoil. It looks amazingly better - I'll post some pics soon when I finish planting the rest of the flowers.

Today we cooked a big Easter lunch before they headed home. I was able to log at least 4 new recipes that I'll add to my Six Degrees blog posts. We had ham, 3-cheese mac & cheese, fruit salad, homemade yeast rolls, asparagus, and a carrot cake with cream cheese icing for dessert.






YUM! But now I am too full and can't manage to get off the couch. But when and if I do get off the couch, I should go work out because I probably gained 5 lbs this weekend!

New Year, Neglected Blog

Well, if one of my New Year's Resolutions was to post more regular blog updates, I am failing miserably! Actually, I didn't make any resoutions, but I do intend to be a better blogger. Starting now.

The year 2010 has actually been pretty eventful so far. Dallas got record snow fall during Valentine's weekend, and OF COURSE, we missed it. We were on a cruise to Cozumel with our friends Alli and John. Granted it would have sucked to endure the 2-day power outage, but I would have loved to play in the snow like a little kid! But the cruise wasn't too shabby either. We ate like absolute PIGS, enjoyed many relaxing hours reading on the ship's deck, and found a deserted beach in Cozumel where we racked up such a large bar tab that we almost got thrown in Mexican jail for inability to pay (not really, but the bar dude wouldn't take our credit card until he realized we truly did not have the cash to cover the bill)!

Work has absolutely SUCKED lately. Not that it was ever incredibly exciting, but now we are being micromanaged to the point of near insanity. We moved into a new office, which should have been a big positive since our last building was literally falling apart at the seams. I am still surprised that I never plummeted to my death in the faulty elevator shafts. Our new place is much nicer, but unfortunately there's a severe space issue. I am not sure what happened, but I suspect it has something to do with being too cheap to rent enough space for the number of employees. The result: two people at a 1-person desk. Sit me 4 inches (literally) from another person for 9 hours a day, and I tend to become a real bitch! I'm sorry, but I don't like ANYONE enough to sit on top of them all day long. Add that to being completely disrespected by most of the management and it makes for one heck of a work environment! But oh well, this job allows me some flexibility with my work hours (I can come in at 7:00 and leave by 3:00 or 4:00 if I want to have my afternoons free). Not to mention I make pretty decent money for doing an incredibly simple job where I can listen to audio books all day. I have become very well-read over the past 11 months!


This is what I feel like at work most days: "that's the last straw."

In other news, I have started volunteering with an animal rescue organization called Paws in the City. I work at adoptions on weekends, helping to find new homes for these poor abandoned dogs. It's pretty fun; I love meeting all the different dogs and seeing their personalities. Of course it breaks my heart to know that many of them may not find homes. Jeff and I have been throwing around the idea of finding a doggie companion to join our family. I grew up with dogs my ENTIRE life and really love the happiness they bring to a home. Jeff has never had a dog, so he is more skeptical. They ARE a lot of responsibility, but I figure if we are going to be having kids in the near future, we might as well get used to that! We just have to find a dog that works well with Bella. She is our first baby, so she calls the shots. We won't bring home a dog that will terrorize her! So, we have to be incredibly picky, which is something that everyone should do when adopting a pet in the first place! We actually brought home a temporary "foster dog" for a couple days a few weeks ago. It was kind of a test run to see how things would go. Plus, Paws in the City wanted to see how this dog behaved in a home since she had been picked up as a stray and little was known about her. We called her Kira, and she was a sweetie. However, her severe separation anxiety was a problem - it was clear to us that she needed a home where there was one stay-at-home person and/or other dogs to keep her company. Also, she was a little too curious about Bella for our liking! We couldn't feel comfortable leaving them alone together in the house.


Here's Kira, our temporary foster dog, checking out the kitchen.

I guess that's about it from the Prudhommes at the moment. Be watching (all 3 of you readers) for a new blog project coming soon. It's called Six Degrees of Supperation, and it is a cooking blog that I will be contributing to with a group of my girl friends. We all love cooking blogs, trying new recipes, and sharing them and our success (or failure) stories with each other. So very soon we will have an online forum to do that, and other people can read it too!

Decorating for Christmas

Last night we put up the tree in our big front window...isn't it lovely?



Our tree is 9 feet tall and VERY heavy! We got it two years ago at Target about a week before Christmas. It was the floor model, so we got it for only $60 since it had been used as a display and came without a box!! It has some minor issues, such as a few strings of its pre-wired lights that refuse to come on, but considering how cheap it was, we think it's pretty awesome! It took both Jeff and I to haul it into the house. We had to go down the driveway with it and through the front door so we didn't have to dodge furniture. Bella was very excited for the tree to come out; she likes to snuggle up under it and pretend she is in the wilderness. As soon as we took the tree out of its storage bag and before we could even put on the tree skirt, she crawled under it!



Today we're going to put lights on the outside of our house for the first time. We'll have to borrow our neighbors' extension ladder because our Tudor-style roofline is pretty tall and steep. Hopefully we won't have any Chevy Chase-like moments...at least the roof isn't icy! It's actually so warm that we will probably be wearing short sleeves - some Christmas weather!

Our First Thanksgiving!

I realize that I am a horrible blogger and most people have given up on checking for new material on here...I've been so busy lately that I haven't even thought about it. No excuses! I will get better.

Anyway, this year Jeff and I did Thanksgiving at our house for the first time! It was just us and Jeff's parents, who came in from Austin. Jeff and I did all the cooking ourselves, so we were hoping that our first foray into Thanksgiving food turned out OK. And it was MORE than just OK...everything was delicious! Here's what was on the menu - I'll link to the recipes I found online:

Spiral Ham cooked on the grill
Cornbread Dressing (Jeff's family recipe)
Mac & Cheese - not a diet dish, but I can't explain to you how good this recipe is!
Green Bean Casserole - a healthier version, no canned goods!
Cranberry Salad - recipe courtesy of my friend Erin
Pecan Pie (Jeff's family recipe)
4-Layer Chocolate Surprise (my family recipe)

Needless to say, that was WAY too much food for four people...so we ate to the point of misery then complained about it. Then it was time for the A&M-UT game, and we gave them a great fight! I was alone in a room of UT fans, but Jeff switched sides for me since he has no alliance to Texas other than having lived in Austin a few years ago.

Today I'll set up the Christmas tree with Nicole (my mother-in-law) while Jeff and his dad go fishing. As much as I like shopping, there's just NO WAY I would go to any of the Black Friday sales. I don't like people nearly enough to deal with that...things could get ugly!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and took time to truly give thanks. I am so thankful for my amazing family who I missed very much this year (but will see at Christmas). I am also very thankful for Jeff's family who have become part of my family - I couldn't ask for better in-laws! I am SO thankful for my fabulous group of friends - near and far - who I am so lucky to have in my life. And of course I am indescribably thankful for my wonderful husband. We've been married over a year and a half now, and every day we become a better team. He's taught a headstrong, independent girl that it's OK to actually need someone else. He makes me laugh every day, and I am thankful that we share the same weird sense of humor!

Now let's get ready for Christmas!

Holiday Recap

OK, I know I have been terrible about keeping this updated! Here's a recap of our winter holidays. I know it's long, but there's some funny stuff in there - true to form, we had several minor crises. That's what the holidays are for, right?!

A couple months ago, our friend Mike asked us to go with him to Hawaii in December-January. His parents have a timeshare condo on the north shore of Kauai as well as a house on the island. So basically we were offered a great place to stay for next to nothing! Since Jeff's brother and sister-in-law now live on Oahu and just had their first baby, we figured we had more than enough excuses to go. So on the weekend before Christmas, we went to Tyler for Christmas with my family. It was a small affair with my parents, grandparents, aunt and cousin. We had a white elephant gift exchange and a yummy Mexican dinner. Jeff and I were excited to get Slankets from my mom! If you've never heard of the slanket, you are seriously missing out! It's a cuddly oversized fleece blanket with sleeves, yes SLEEVES! You can bundle up without losing the use of your arms. Now I can read a book or type on my laptop while staying warm - in fact, I am wearing my slanket right now! After our Tyler Christmas weekend, we said goodbye to my family and Bella (thankfully my parents are willing cat-sitters) and headed home to pack. If Bella had known what was in store for her when she got back to Dallas, she would have certainly chosen to stay with my parents. More on that later though in a special post about Bella.

Two days before Christmas, we flew out to Oahu. Jeff's brother Mike picked us up at the airport and took us back to their cute bayside condo. Jeff's parents were also on the island to visit Mike and Amy, so we stayed at a hotel on the Marine base to avoid overcrowding the condo. We got to meet our new nephew, John Robert Prudhomme, and he is adorable! I even held him SEVERAL times, which is a huge accomplishment for me since I am terrified of infants and their fragility. We had a great time on Oahu for the most part (notice I say "for the most part" - this is crucial later in the blog). We even got to work out with Barack and Michelle Obama. No lie! They were vacationing nearby, and the Marine base gym was where the presidential family went to work out. Since we were staying on base, it is also where WE went to work out! On Christmas Eve morning, we were greeted by the Secret Service at the gym entrance. They ran their wands over us to make sure we weren't toting any weapons. Once inside, we saw Barack on the cardio machines. Michelle stuck to weights. We didn't approach them because we figured they would probably prefer to work out in peace. That sentiment wasn't shared by the majority of the gym-goers though; the poor man had to spend his entire time on the stationary cycle shaking hands and meeting people! Anyway, it is kinda cool to say that I've worked out with two presidents (Old George used to come to the A&M campus gym all the time).

Here's Jeff and I on Christmas Day at the beach on base.

On Christmas Eve, Mike (brother-in-law) and Les (father-in-law) cooked an amazing traditional Hawaiian pupu platter. We liked it so much we decided we might have to keep the tradition of the Hawaiian Pupu Christmas alive even after Mike and Amy leave Oahu! Unfortunately, we rounded out our trip to Oahu on a dismal note. The day before our departure, we decided to drive around the island to check out the scenery and give Amy some peace at home with the baby. Too bad it was raining, so we didn't get to wander around on any of the beaches we planned to see. Instead we pretty much drove by all our landmarks, looking out the window and saying "man the weather sucks, let's stay in the car." By the end of the day we were all a bit on the nutty side - probably because we squeezed 5 people into an OLD Pathfinder! It was comical only because it sucked so much! But at least we all laughed about how miserable we were. Then our day got even more ridiculous, as if that was even possible. On our way out of the cluster of madness known as Honolulu and Waikiki, all the lights went out in the city. I am talking instant, complete blackness. Great, a power outage. We soon found out it was an island-wide outage. It lasted about 15 hours. Which was lovely since we were supposed to be flying out the next morning to Kauai. Naturally, we had washed a load of laundry before leaving the condo that morning. So the power outage left us with a full load of soaking wet laundry to somehow dry before a mid-morning flight. Classic! Luckily the power came back on around 5:30 a.m. We called the airline to make sure the flight was still a go, and they said it was only delayed 45 minutes. NICE! But of course it was not to be. After arriving in plenty of time for our 11:45 flight, we were told by the airline worker that the flight was already closed despite an even larger delay than we were informed of on the phone. Apparently they did "the count" way early even though the flight was now delayed until 1:15. It is still a mystery to us as to why they could not simply add 2 to their ever-important count when the flight was a good 2 hours from take-off. Oh well...needless to say, we didn't make that flight. We were booked on the next one, set to takeoff around 2:00. We camped ourselves in the cocktail lounge, ordered some hot dogs and drinks, and whipped out the laptop to watch There Will Be Blood. A 2-hour delay turned into 3, then 4....we ended up sitting in the airport for about 5 hours! Such fun! But, we did eventually get to Kauai, where we were greeted cheerfully by a barefoot Mike exuding the relaxed island vibe.

A beautiful Kauai sunset - we ate our shave ices and watched it sink into the ocean!

Our time in Kauai was so much fun (again, for the most part). Sadly, it was the rainiest of rainy seasons, so we got soaked pretty much every day. We did get about 3-4 nice sunny beach days though. We didn't let the rain slow us down too much. We still hiked, snorkeled, body surfed and kayaked - all the activities we were hoping to squeeze in anyway. Since it was rainy season, the surf was a lot stronger than usual. So, the visibility for snorkeling wasn't great, but we still saw some super cool fishies and it was fine. Our hikes were significantly affected by the stormy weather, though. We still hiked several great trails, or what would have been great trails if they weren't inundated with slippery boulders and ankle-deep mud. It was an experience to say the least! Mike is an adventurer, so he naturally picked the hikes with higher difficulty ratings. We slipped and slithered in and around bamboo jungles, rushing whitewater rivers, tall mossy volcanic rock, and staining red mud. Fortunately Jeff and I both love trekking through hard terrain, so we made it through with relatively few injuries. My left knee/shin took a hit when my legs weren't quite long enough to bridge the gap between a couple of steep rocks, but it there was only minimal blood and bruising! We were rewarded with some beautiful waterfalls at the end of a couple of our hikes. My favorite was the 300-foot waterfall at the 4-mile marker on the Kalalau trail. We walked right up to it and were surrounded by the sound of crashing water. Of course we decided we needed to swim to the middle to take a picture under the falls. So Jeff and I, along with Mike and his friend Assad took the plunge. Assad's girlfriend Erin wisely decided to stay on shore and take our photo. It was the coldest water I have EVER felt and hopefully will ever feel. I have to imagine it is what the Polar Bear Club experiences on their Arctic swims. It literally knocked the breath out of me the instant I hit the water. I had to gasp to try to breathe, and Jeff asked me if I was going to drown! It was so much fun though, and now we can say we swam under a 300-foot waterfall.

Here we are after our 4-mile hike to the waterfall - muddy and tired!

Half our time in Kauai was spent in the timeshare condo, and the other half we spent in Mike's parents' beautiful home. The Moraths were very hospitable, and we felt like we got 5-star resort service (including chocolates left on our pillows by the lovely Toni)! Jeff and I also found out that we rock at Pictionary! No matter what kind of crappy drawing one of us comes up with, the other can always guess what it is fasther than anyone else! I guess it is some kind of freakis husband-wife brain waves. At the condo, we watched whales swim by right past the cliff outside our window! We spent New Year's Eve cooking out on the cliffside BBQ grill and letting the boys recover from their deep sea fishing nightmare. Let's just say the fishing trip did not produce the desired result. Jeff says it was the worst day of his life!! Essentially he paid $125 to puke for 4 hours. Their trip was unfortunately on the morning after a hellacious storm that produced 15-foot swells, repeatedly swamping the 24-foot boat. Jeff likened it to the movie The Perfect Storm, the only difference being that they didn't die (though wished they had)!


So there you have it - our 2008/09 holiday recap. We had tons of fun (and only a little misery), so all in all we deem it a success!

The breathtaking Waimea Canyon, the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific"

Belated Halloween Post

Hey all - I know I promised to post some pictures of the Halloween party and have not yet done so! I have been stealing all the pics our friends took at the party since I can't be trusted to document ANYTHING! Seriously, I am the worst with taking pictures. Every single time we have a party or get-together, I ready the camera and set it out in an obvious location so I will remember to take pics. But, I NEVER remember, and so I have to rely on friends' pics.

So, this year Jeff and I decided to go as Mario and Princess Peach (Nintendo characters, in case you didn't know). As always, we (I) decided to make our costumes; we just hate the flimsy store-bought ones, and it is always more original to create a costume! For all you DIY fans, here is what I went through to create our fab costumes: Jeff's was easy - Mario wears blue overalls, a red shirt, and a conductor's cap. I ordered the overalls from Wal-Mart, got a bright red shirt at American Apparel, and found a website that sells every color of caps and hats imaginable. Then I just added the details, like the M on the cap and the yellow oversized buttons, and his costume was complete! Of course I HAD to get him the funny cartoon hand gloves - they really topped it all off! My Princess Peach costume was NOT so simple. I studied a picture of her and compiled a list of the things I'd need: light pink dress with dark pink ruffle and accents, turqouise brooch, miniature jeweled crown, white gloves, and a blonde wig. YIKES! Luckily, I found the PERFECT pink dress on a dancewear website - it was a lyrical performance leotard/dance dress. I bought some dark pink satin and attached the ruffle with double-sided sewing tape because I can't sew to save my life. I also used the satin to fashion a sash like the one the princess wears. The same yellow foam from Mario's buttons worked perfectly as a crown, adorned with jewels from Joann Fabric. As luck would have it, I came across a bracelet made of chunky blue and turqouise ovals - after cutting the elastic, removing one oval, and backing it with the yellow foam and a safety pin, the brooch was complete! I slipped on a petticoat under the dress to get the flouncy skirt look. My get-up was complete with a trashy blonde wig and nylon elbow gloves from a costume shop. I must say that we pulled off the costumes quite nicely, and had a great time as our characters! I came to the conclusion that I am NOT meant to be a blonde in any form or fashion, however! Just look at the pic to see how unnatural it looks. Jeff thought so too...his exact words were: "eeww, I am glad you are a brunette!" ME TOO!!

In all, it was a great Halloween - most of our close friends were able to make it to the party, and there were tons of awesome costumes! Sarah and Derek came up with HILARIOUS Homer/Marge Simpson outfits; Sarah was crafty and made them herself as well (check out that hair - amazing!!) As always, John Adolph created a great home-made costume - this year, he was the child from Where the Wild Things Are. Classic!! Even though Rach and Jesse got many boos from UT fans because of their Tech t-shirts, they did look quite Olympic in their swimming gear! Our friends are definitely characters, and much fun was had by all. We had Mattito's catering, spooky punch, fierce flip-cup competitions, and general silliness. Another success (added bonus: no vomit on our walls or elsewhere)!

Derek visited Krispy Kreme a LOT that week to really get into character!







Stu and Adolph did NOT cheer for these swimmers!

A very naughty duo - PB and Paige!

Mark Antony and Cleopatra - very convincing, right?!

Veterans' Day Tribute

Hey all, it's Veterans' Day, so I hope everyone took the time to reflect on the thanks we owe our veterans. I wanted to take this opportunity to write a short tribute to two very important veterans in my life: my grandfathers.

Casey Jones (aka Pa) was my paternal grandfather; he passed away almost a year ago. He served our country during World War II, and he was awarded several medals for his bravery. One thing that I never knew about him until his funeral was that he was willing to sacrifice himself for his fellow soldiers and almost did. There was a minefield that the men had to cross, but they were trapped and did not have the proper communication equipment to find a safe way across. My grandpa volunteered to walk across alone, leading the mule carrying their gear. He made it, and I can't even begin to fathom the courage it took to do what he did. He was a generous and loving person who spent his free time volunteering at Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth.

Gerald Reeves (aka Grandaddy) is my maternal grandfather. He lives in Tyler, Texas and still loves to go out on his pontoon boat to fish! He served our country in World War II, helping to operate submarine missions. His ship pulled out of Pearl Harbor mere days before the tragedy that killed so many people. If he had not been on one of the ships that left the harbor, I probably would never have been born. Another time, his ship was fired upon and damaged badly; he and many of the men onboard had to swim to safety. He is one of the kindest, funniest people around; hopefully some of you got the chance to see him at my wedding!

Thanks to all our veterans! You are appreciated!

Kauai here we come!

This weekend Jeff and I booked a Christmas vacation to Kauai! Our good friend Mike Morath has access to some excellent condos in Princeville, and his parents have an amazing home on the island as well. He was nice enough to invite us to stay for a while, and of course we can't wait to check out the beautiful island - hiking, kayaking, beaches...all the stuff we love! It should be awesome, and we are so excited!

Since this is our first year of holidays as a married couple, it takes some planning to coordinate visits to both families. Luckily, Tyler is only a 2 hour drive, so the Jones family is never too far away! So we will probably spend Thanksgiving out there and then do a Christmas visit in Tyler as well the weekend before actual Christmas. Our planning is also working out perfectly so that we get to have a Prudhomme family Christmas in Hawaii - Jeff's parents will be on Oahu visiting Mike and Amy (brother and sister-in-law) and their NEW BABY at that time. So, we'll be flying into Honolulu first to visit the Prudhommes and then later to Kauai to visit Mike Morath.

Now the mission is to get into great shape again before then...wish us luck!