I received this email yesterday...

...So I found 200 round trip tickets each to New Orleans leaving Saturday Feb 27th and coming back Tues March 2nd. Isn't that within the window for the free day off for your birthday?

Just sayin...

I love this man. He and I share the passion for travel, to see new places, and experience new ways of life. Travel makes us appreciate what we have and the lifestyle that we are lucky enough to live. It opens our eyes to new foods and new music and new people. It teaches us compassion and patience.

It seems that everytime we have a trip coming up, we tend to book another one. I guess we always like to have something to look forward to!

I'm very excited to see New Orleans for the first time. Tim has been twice before with the boys, so I'm sure he'll have a huge list of bars to visit and will be able to tell me who has the best happy hour specials! I've started to collect a list of restaurants and places to visit while we're there. I definitely want to check out some live music and I teased Tim that I'd love to visit a Voodoo Priestess. I am also intending to run into Will Clark along the way. :-)

March is a big month for us...not only will I be turning 33 (gulp) but Tim and I will be celebrating our first meeting, St Patty's Day, 2001 in Las Vegas.

Does anyone have anyone recs for a New Orleans first timer?

New Years Weekend

This weekend was wonderful. Not only because it was snowy and cold and perfect for staying in, but because Tim and I went to bed early, slept in, drank coffee and read, and best of all: attacked our to-do list. We were released early from work on the 31st, and we met up at home. I came in bearing my grocery store finds, the items for a new recipe for Baked Macaroni and Cheese. Tim braved Arlington Liquor and scored a bottle of Italian wine.

He and I caught up with each other over dinner and watched a movie before checking out the Times Square festivities on TV. We went to bed well before midnight.

Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, we hung out together, went to the gym, and worked in the house. Check out our weekend photos below...in no particular order!The last window frame that was waiting patiently for it's last coat of white. Check.

Tim showing off our newly hung white board in the kitchen. He got to use his drill on this one. Check.


My husband and the drill in action.

New Years Eve. Let the wine flow and the festivities begin.

This recipe was seriously delicious.

Tima and I were both wiped out from the last few weeks and this weekend at home together was just what we needed. We went back to work on Monday completely refreshed and looking forward to the new year.

Happy New Year!

The Christmas decorations are put away. There is a fresh coat of snow on the ground. What do we have to look forward to in 2010? What did we learn from 2009?

2009 was a year full of completely amazing experiences. One of my constant resolutions is to always try and live life in the fullest way possible. I don't want to look back and realize that I sold myself short or regret missing out on things. I want to continue to grow and love and eat up every experience that I possibly can. 2009 was epitome of growth. Tim and I traveled and saw other cultures, bought our first house, and spent as much time as possible with our family and friends. We discovered our love of home renovating. We gave our all to our jobs, working hard and trying to make ourselves indispensible during these tough economic times. We sat entranced with the rest of the country and cheered with them as we elected our first black president. It has been a year of possibility.

It has also been a year of great struggle for many as the economy failed. In my own world, our family lost a very close friend, someone who taught me to live fully, dance often, and to love much. She will be forever missed but I count myself lucky to have known her and to have been loved by her.

What will we tell our children about 2009? We will tell them about Obama's rise to the Presidency. We will tell them about the fears of the collapse of the financial system. We will force them to look at all of the pictures of our amazing trips, and I'm sure they'll make fun of our clothes! I want to thank my wonderful husband for sharing this year with me and for sharing the better part of the decade with me. It's been quite a ride so far and can't wait to see where it takes us next!

Our top 5 from 2009, in order!

SuperBowl weekend in the Dominican Republic. This will be an annual trip. We're leaving again in 5 weeks! This time we're bringing friends. Hopefully we'll bring the Patriots along too.

Our first wedding anniversary! We celebrated with a weekend in NYC.

Do we look like Homeowners? We just signed the papers and officially closed on our first house!

Dream trip to Italy. We ate and drank our way through Rome, Florence, and Venice for 12 blissful days with the Kibbe-Collins.

We celebrated Christmas with the Holmbergs December 14th and had my in-laws to NY for Christmas weekend. I cooked my first Christmas dinner and it came out better than I had hoped. Maybe next year, we'll have both families here!

So long 2009 and thanks for the memories!