Decorating

Scott surprised me when I got home from work yesterday with a Christmas tree set up and lit up in our living room!  Today I've been trying to decorate it, along with some of the rest of the house.  I have a feeling this may be a long season for the ornaments if it continues this way....

From now on Lucy doesn't get unsupervised time in front of the tree I guess.  She's just like having a toddler around!

Give Thanks

Due to our work schedules this year, Scott and I had to stay in town for the holiday, and celebrated away from family.  We didn't have much time to mope around about that though because our buddies, the Crouches, flew in from Oklahoma for the weekend to see us!   

Esther, Anna, & Mark

They flew in on Wednesday afternoon, just in time for our big Thanksgiving Dinner that we hosted.  Several of our other resident friends and significant others also had to stay in town due to work, so we decided to have a big Friend Thanksgiving.

Scott got a 20lb turkey and we soaked it overnight on Tuesday in a homemade Bourbon Maple Syrup brine.  Then we dried it and rubbed it down with a salt/spice mix we made and stuck an opened 40oz beer with onions and garlic up it's booty, before smoking it for the afternoon before our big dinner.  

Scott getting the turkey ready for the smoker

Rubbed down and ready to smoke!

Our delicious turkey waiting patiently to be carved up by the boys

Everyone else brought sides and deserts and we feasted the evening away.  It was AMAZING.  

Our feast - which included, but was not limited to Baked Brie, Turkey, Green Bean casserole, mashed smoked sweet potatoes, homemade biscuits, toasted cheesey bread, Southern Cabbage, Beets, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies, Apple Pie and Chocolate Turtle Cake.

The Thanksgiving Crew

All in all it was a fabulous evening and we're so thankful to have such good friends here to share our holiday with.  I worked on Thanksgiving afternoon/evening and Scott had to go into work this afternoon.  In between those work hours though, we've spent lots of time wandering the city with the Crouches, eating tons of good food, listening to live music and exploring plenty of fun little shops together.  We've also had some good relaxation time (having a toddler around makes you take time for afternoon naps - which is great!) and we're sad to see our mini stay-cation coming to an end as the Crouches fly home to Tulsa tonight.

I am finally starting to get excited for the holidays.  All it took was purchasing a three pack of various 'Holiday Candles' yesterday and I'm there.  We have Peppermint Something-or-other burning right now, filling our noses with little tastes of heaven.  It makes me so happy!!  I am amazed at how just a scent can take me to a completely different place and change my entire mood.  It's made me realize how quickly everything is sneaking up on me.  Thanksgiving is next week already!  Only 11 days away to be exact.  Christmas is right around the corner.  We have big meals to prepare for, company to get excited about, and lots of gifts to start buying.  Guess I'll be making a giant To-Do list, and burning lots of candles in an attempt to not get crabby while working on it.

Foodie Day

I once heard that New Orleans has more Festival days than they do days of the year.  I believe it.  This weekend was the Po-Boy Festival.  It was fabulous!!!  For those who don't know, a Po-Boy (Poor boy) is the local sandwich of choice here in Louisiana.  They're the best, most original Subway sandwiches you'll ever eat.  And today we saw more varieties of them than I've ever seen before. We went this afternoon with a few friends and ate to our hearts delight.  About a mile of Oak Street was lined with tents from various restaurants and shops around town selling their signature versions of the sandwich.  There were plenty of delicious Po-Boys with every type of meat from deep fried oysters, deep fried or BBQ shrimp and hot sausage, to Root Beer glazed ham, slow roasted duck, prime beef debris, and tempura soft shell crab.  I LOVE the food in this city and it's days like today that make me want to live here forever and ever and ever and ever.

Dog days of...Fall?

Today, while all my lovies up north are reveling in their first winter storm warnings and accumulating ten inches of snow, we are LOVING fall.  This is one of the best times of year here in New Orleans.  All the windows and doors are open and we're soaking up as much warmth as we can before it gets cold.  The dogs love this especially, because we just leave the back door open and they run in and out all day.  Lucy decided it was warm enough that she needed her pool filled and sat in it staring at me until I finally went and got the hose for her.  Here is what has ensued since:

She's been out there for the last hour now, running in and out of her pool, digging at the sidewalls, creating splashes to bite at, and is probably getting quite pruney.
Meanwhile, Ariyah has been steering clear of any possible splashes, happy with just enjoying the sunshine and her sticks with a little tastey dirt.

New Title!

I am quite proud of my new name badge - all my dreams are coming to fruition.  Slowly, but surely. 

 *Happy Sigh*

Frontier Bound

I am in Hyden, KY and having a great time so far!  It is so amazing to be with so many other women who have the same passion and have worked so hard to get to this place - a new beginning for the rest of our lives.  My cup is full, and I couldn't feel more blessed to have things work out so perfectly.  God's timing and plan is always perfect.  Now, onto a packed week of orientation...

Three shy of 100

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!!!

This year my Grandma Koehler turns 97!!!  You seriously would never know how old she is by watching her.  I am so proud to have her as my Grandma and I pray if I am still alive at that age, I am still doing my own laundry, trying to sneak off and drive to the grocery store alone, and taking care of myself the way she does.  Her spunk and attitude keep me laughing on a regular basis, and she has left a wonderful legacy to this family with her strong faith.  So, here's to another great year Grams, we love you!

Nothing New

And we're perfectly ok with that!  Scott had an Ultrasound of his neck and CT Scan of his chest and neck this last week.  Both came back negative.  The nodules in his lungs have not changed size, and they couldn't find anything new!  It seems that his Calcitonin is still elevated like it was in July, but it has not increased any more since then so we are happy about that!  Whatever little bit of cancer went through a growth spurt to cause the elevated level has decided to lay low for now.

I will be flying to Kentucky on Monday morning for my school orientation.  I'll be there for the week and I'm getting pretty excited.  As you may remember, I was accepted this summer for the fall class, but decided to defer due to us thinking Scott needed surgery.  They graciously pushed me back to the winter class and now I start on January 10th.  This next week I'll be meeting the faculty and staff at the school, as well as the rest of my classmates, who I will be communicating with online during school.  I'll also be meeting my advisor and registering for classes.

And, for the last little bit of good (depending on how you look at it) news - I am planning on giving up my full time position at work at the end of December!  We were thinking I would need to stay at least part time to keep my benefits because the health insurance has covered Scott's cancer testing/treatment/surgeries so well this last year.  Benefits re-enrollment was last week and we were shocked to find that if I went to part time and kept benefits I would be paying OVER $800/month for Scott and I's health insurance.  I would almost be working solely to pay health insurance!  SO, we are going to be changing to insurance through Scott's job, and I no longer have to work even part time, if it seems too stressful once school starts! This has been a little black cloud hanging over my head since getting accepted to school and I feel so relieved to have the option to not be forced to work 20+ hours on top of my 40 hours of school each week.  We'll see how everything goes once classes start and go from there, as far as figuring my schedule out, but for now it's nice to have options.

It's official!

Kinzie is now a Mackey!

We couldn't be happier and we love you lots sweetheart!

Adoption Day!

Today Scott's older brother, Kurt and our sister-in-law, Adrienne, finally have their family court hearing to adopt Kinzie!  She's been a part of this family for over two years, since she was just a few weeks old, as a foster child.  After today we hope to really, really be able to officially call her ours!  Please pray things go smoothly and quickly!

Happy Halloween!!

Antoine Dodson & me!

Members of the Tea Party - we even made tea bags and wore them on our backs

Roller Derby girls!

My friend Marissa & Kaytlin came from WI for the weekend

We are now off to enjoy NOLA in the sunshine for the day.  Hope you all had a great weekend!