Christmas break!!!! Waahhhooooooo.......!!!!!!!!!!

What a great break.  Kristen and I had a wonderful time getting out of Del Rio.  It was so nice to see friends and family.

I believe our 11 days were supposed to be time away from work and relaxing.  Well..., at least it was time away from work. haha.  We stayed busy the ENTIRE TIME back home in New Orleans!!!  But..., it was well worth it.

This picture was included on purpose because Christmas was just a blur.

My last week of work was rough.  It was so hard to stay focused at the beginning of the week knowing that it was a short week.  I knew that the 23rd, Wednesday, was our last day of work....but I also knew that some people in my flight asked for off one day early to go home. So when I showed up to the flight room on Wednesday morning and there was only seven of us there of the 17 students...... my day starting sucking really fast!  Us seven were ready to go soooo bad!  There was nothing going on that day and to top it off....., fog....., there was some seriously thick fog all morning so no one was flying!  Geeez.  As soon as I got off of work, 3pm, I came straight home, washed my truck, and packed it up.  We planned to leave the next morning but you know how that goes.  So we left a few hours later for the long 12 hour drive to New Orleans.

We stopped at Taco Bell just outside of San Antonio.  We love us some Taco Bell which is really funny because we live where they have REAL Mexican food, but sometimes you like the fake kind ya know.  And since we don't have a Taco Bell around here we had to stop.  Dallas was good on the drive too.  We got to New Orleans around 3am.

The next day, the 24th, I woke up and drove straight to Krispy Kreme!  I gotta have them!  Then we got some Raising Canes fried chicken for lunch and went to the neighbors for presents and dinner.  I got a "Westbank 4 Life" hat to remind me where I came from I think.  It's a really funny hat and if you are not from the New Orleans area than you probably wouldn't get it.  The westbank is.......the bad side I guess. Haha.  Then we went back to Kristen's parent's house to open up presents there. We got a small refrigerator especially for my beer!  How freakin' sweet!  First Kristen let me keep my bicycles inside and now my own beer fridge..... haha.  I gotta be one of the luckiest husbands around.  Other husbands I'm sure are soooooooo jealous.

The next morning, the 25th, we had Christmas breakfast with my dad's side of the family.  It was so cool.  I love breakfast!  And to accommodate everyone in the family, mostly just me, we had Christmas first thing in the morning over there so that we could all be together and still have time to go to other houses later.  It worked out perfectly and it was so nice to see all of my family.  I missed everyone and I think they missed us too.

From there we went to Kristen's house to have Christmas with her family.  As always the food was awesome!  Her family is really laid back and chill so that was nice.

And finally from there we went to Pat O's in the French Quarter.  It was cold outside, but once you started drinking that cold Abita beer everything seemed to warm up.  There were so many people from high school I saw out there that night.  We met out some friends from out of town there.  It's funny, we both used to live there and now both of us moved away.  I guess that's how the cookie crumbles.

The next day, the 26th, we went to another Christmas with my mom's side of the family.  We had an "As Seen on TV" dirty Santa gift exchange there.  It was so funny.  Kristen got a clapper and I got some HD sun glasses. Haha.  My mom got us a water dispenser.  We definitely NEED that over here because the water is no bueno!

That night we went on our friend's party bus:  www.whodatpartybus.com .  It was our friend's birthday.  It was so  nice to have a designated driver for Kristen and I.  We spent the whole night in Jefferson Parish (which is weird), but had a great time!!!!  There are some compromising photos from that night which will never be seen!!

The next day, the 27th, after we finally woke up we ate breakfast/lunch at Taco Tico, another one of our favorite fake Mexican restaurants.  Then we visited the Oddo's.  They are so awesome.  Then for some stupid reason we went to the mall.  CRAZINESS!!!!

The next day, the 28th, we ate lunch with Crystal (one of Kristen's old co-workers) at Frostop (great burgers and root beer).  Then off to Kristen's moms work....they wanted us to stop by while we were in town.  That night we went out to eat with my mom, Bill and Kristen's parents at Cheesecake Bistro.  It was sadly....just OK.

The next day, the 29th, we picked up Kristen's grandma and drove her to the westbank for some Sicily's all you can eat Italian buffet.  It is so funny.  Kristen's grandma loves that place.  I eat lasagna, Kristen eats salad, and her grandma eats baked chicken.... no pizza.  Haha.

That night we met my uncle and cousin for some good ole Poncho's Mexican buffet. What can I say..., we just love fake Mexican food.

The next day, the 30th, we met Kristen's mom and friend for lunch at Kristen's favorite Chinese place, Canton.  I just ate rice.  Then we visited my granny and grandpa for a while.  That night we went to the Hornets game.  Kristen danced with a few of the Honeybee's on another dance team before so we really went to see them dance.  We are not big basketball fans but I do know that the Hornets won!.

The next day, the 31st, we went to visit my paw and his wife.  They fed us the usual......., homemade burgers and french fries.  It's always good.

That night was completely crazy.  We had four different places to go before the clock struck midnight.  First we went to the neighbors house and visited Kristen's godchild and ate some food.  From there we went to a friends business for another New Years Eve party going on, and ate.  From there we went to the Oddo's, and ate.  And from there we went to Kristen's aunt's house..........and..........ate.  New Years Eve was a lot of fun though.  It was a team building and time management exercise.  Haha.

The next morning , the 1st, I had to go to Dillard's at 10am (door busting) to buy a fake Christmas tree at 75% off.  That's my first time doing that....., and it's pretty serious!  People get violent and really serious about those good deals.  But..., I got what I went there for!

Later that day we met my best friend Woody and his wife Jen at Lager's for food, beer, and the LSU game (disappointing).  My sister also showed up which made it even more special.  Woody just put his two weeks in at his law firm and has decided to step out on his own.  I'm so proud of him.  I knew that he would make it big one day.  And he's not done yet........ be looking for him in the political arena in the future - I'll put money on it.

That night we went to Copeland's for dinner with the neighbors and Kristen's family.  Copeland's was sooooooooo good.  Definitely the best food of the trip.

The next morning, the 2nd, I decided to make a bed for Dallas.  Kristen's dad has all kinds of tools at my disposal so I had to take advantage and make something.  And Dallas loves to look out of our front window but she's not quite tall enough.  So I decided to make a place where she can sit or lay down and "guard" our house.  Kristen will paint and decorate it soon and it's going to look nice!

We went to Carretta's for lunch with Kristen's parents.  Yet another some what fake Mexican restaurant.  The margarita was great!  That night Kristen's dad cooked steaks.  They really enjoyed them.... I ate a pizza.

The next morning, the 3rd, we packed up and started the drive home.  We stopped at Popeye's in Lafayette because..... of course......we don't have one of those over here either.  Dallas was really good on the drive home.  She slept almost the whole 12 hours.  I'm sure she was tired from playing the past 11 days straight with the other two dogs.

Today, the 4th, we spent the day setting up and hanging Christmas presents.  Then I had to study for a little while.  Tomorrow is going to be back on the grind!  It's going to be a big Air Force slap in the face. Haha.

 Till next time folks.......