Update Part #1 (Long Post)

So it's finally here, the update you've been waiting 3 months for! For those of you we weren't able to visit with over the holidays, here are some long awaited pictures of the new house.

This is the view driving up to the neighborhood. Gotta hate that right:)

Mi Casa

The kitchen

Great room - You can't see it in this picture, but there is a built in entertainment center with a 6 foot opening for the TV that we will be modifying very soon. The people we bought the house from actually had a rear projector screen tv stuffed in that opening. Weird...

The dining room before and after pictures. It is now blue, after painting it 4 times (it's a long story). This is also the DR table Jeff is building. I told him if he built the table I didn't wait to wait 6 months for it to be finished. I think we're going on month 3 ~ BTW - the people before us had very 90's taste. Maroon and hunter green.

The Man Cave aka Office

If you ever come and visit, this is where we'll put you up. Our main guest bedroom complete with its own private bath.

Backyard and patio

Master Bath - and yes the wallpaper is coming down.

So those are the highlights. The best part of the house is that directly under our obnoxiously high roof is 1500 of prime real estate waiting to be built out. We won't need the space for some time, but it's nice to know it's available nonetheless.

We had a wonderful but busy christmas split between MS and LA. We had christmas eve dinner at our house, dessert at Lana's house and Christmas morning brunch at mom's house. It was kind of odd not staying the night at my parent's house christmas eve like we have every other year, but we're just so glad to be here it didn't really matter.

Jeff and I exchanged gifts christmas eve. I gave him some tools he wanted, and he gave me the best and possibly my favorite christmas gift EVER. Drumroll please.......the complete collectors edition of the XFiles. All 9 seasons (170+ episodes) plus the first (and only one worth watching) movie. So guess what we've been doing every night since christmas:) For those of you who don't already know, I was a HUGE XFiles fan in high school...and am discovering my passion for the series really hasn't waned much (unlike some people's ahem Michael). Thank you wonderful husband for a wonderful christmas gift I will be enjoying for months to come.

Early Saturday morning we made our way over to DeRidder for Christmas with the Smiths. Some highlights of the visit were:

1. Visiting with our 5 nieces and nephews and learning another is on the way.
2. Earning myself the "Favorite Niece" title from my Uncle-in-Law Matt. To celebrate I cooked him a Chess pie - now known as Cuss Pie after a slight miscommunication.
3. Watched in shock and awe as my husband charged a charging mother cow. Ladies - there is not much sexier than seeing your husband in carharts charging a cow - especially when the cow turns around and hightails away. Little did I know that if a cow charges you (unless it's a bull), you're not supposed to run away. Good thing I was on the other side of the fence.

Here are some pictures...

My sexy cowboy

One of the 2 calves that was born while we were in. Both of them had to be "taught" how to suckle. Guess that doesn't happen very often, but it was neat watching my father-in-law working with the calves - until mama cow freaked out because she didn't like the way we smelled.

Cowgirl wannabe Courtney trying to coax the calf to return to her mama just around the corner. And no I did not intend to be playing with the cows when I dressed that morning, hence the fru fru vest (Jeff's description).

We spent a lot of time this visit playing games. Our new favorite is Quiddler - a mix between rummy and scrabble. Very fun for any gamers out there.

My beautiful nephew - look at those eyes

Jeff and his older (and taller) brother Eric, and me, my sister-in law, Ben and one of the twins.

Waiting for us when we drove back from LA on Wednesday were our good friends Brian and Gina in to ring in the New Year with us. What a treat having them in town was, and they were officially our first overnight guests in our new house.

New Year's night we went down to Vicksburg for an amazing meal at Rusty's on the river. We strolled around town while waiting for a table, and nearly froze our tails off.

Gina really liked these nightgowns. It took quite some effort on my part to convince her it wasn't worth driving back before they left (when the store was open) to purchase one when I was sure one of my grandmothers could hook her up:)

We hit the casinos for a little while before heading home for the evening, and were sorely disappointed with the lack of festivities for the new year. Jeff did win $18 in a slot machine, then promptly lost it all.

New Year's Day we took the McVicker's to one of my families farms to play on the heavy equipment. Dad was nice enough to crank up the backhoe and our little red tractor. I think Brian really enjoyed himself...

Me and dad. He eventually wants to build a house at the farm in the spot directly behind us in the picture. What a view!

My parents and adorable niece Paige.

Me and my cowboy.

Before Gina and Brian headed back to town, we stopped for lunch at the Cock-of the Walk for the best fried catfish in town. Here were are freezing (again) and taking pictures on the dock. We'd been hiking earlier that morning - thus the casual attire.

Happy 2009 to all of our friends and family! I'll post more pictures later of our recent visit to Atlanta.