The Freenys

I'm an Aunt!!!

2008-08-11T19:06:00.007-05:00

My sweet little nephew Mason Taylor Fuqua was born on April 9, 2008. I was able to be at the hospital for the birth. It was so exciting. Momma and Daddy (Kelly and Josh) are doing fine. Mason is adorable! He makes the cutest sounds and faces.

It was a rough day for little Mason.

Josh and his baby boy!

Nana Lana and her boys.

Kelly looked so great! She made it look so easy.

I can't wait to babysit Mason and spoil him rotten.

Finally...

2008-08-11T18:37:00.008-05:00

It's been exactly one year since we moved into our new home. There are still many things we want to do to it, but that's what makes it so great. I don't think I would enjoy it as much if everything was finished and perfect. Where's the fun in that?

A few folks at Kelly's baby shower in our living room.

Brad's family around our breakfast table at Thanksgiving.

Most of the pictures I have are of our Christmas decorations. This is our fireplace.

Our Christmas tree was so tall, it had to go between the 2 couches in our living room, but blocking the foyer.

Zippy enjoys climbing up on top of our kitchen cabinets.

Outside is all decorated for Christmas!

Close-up of the porch.

Looking through our front door at night. I love this picture because of all the white lights and the tree in the foyer! It's so pretty!

Hopefully we can take some normal pics of the house when it's not decorated and full of people. We'll see.

Across the Universe

2007-10-16T17:40:00.000-05:00

I know it's been 4 months since our last posting, and we haven't put up any finished pics of the house. Sorry! They will be coming soon. But I couldn't help sharing this movie trailer with everyone. Brad and I went to see ACROSS THE UNIVERSE this weekend, and it was awesome! It is the best movie I've seen in a long time. I can't stop thinking about it and can't wait to buy the soundtrack. For those who don't know, it's a musical drama set in the 60's, and it follows its main characters as they deal with the issues of that decade, such as the Vietnam War, anti-war protests, civil rights, etc. Much of the story is told through the music of the Beatles, as sung by the characters themselves, who actually do a really great job. I read somewhere that there's only about 30 minutes of actual dialogue, and the rest of the movie is Beatles's songs. It is an incredibly beautiful movie. You must see it! The only theatre it's playing at around here is the Grandview in Madison. Let me know what you think.

La Casa de Los Freeny Ocho

2007-06-19T18:08:00.001-05:00

The trim carpentry started about 2 weeks ago and finished up today! So far everything looks great! I think our kitchen cabinets turned out really nice, as well as our pantry. Going from the apartment kitchen to this, we will have plenty of room. We should be able to store all of our food in the pantry and everything else in the regular cabinets.

Fonzo, our trim carpenter, was able to install the double columns like our plans called for on the front porch.

We have a couple of columns on the back porch as well.

Fonzo did a beautiful job on the mantel over our fireplace.

This is a photo of Britney's embarrassingly large walk-in closet. It's about 3 times the size of Brad's. (sorry, Brad) This photo doesn't do it justice. It really is quite huge. It used to be a staircase in part, but we decided not to have a room over the garage and made it into a closet instead. Hopefully, all of my clothes and stuff will fit in this one. I hope I don't outgrow it anytime soon.

Cabinets in the master bath

Kitchen cabinets (and Brad in the background)

The top row of doors has been changed out since this picture. They installed square doors by mistake, but we had chosen arched doors for the top, so they switched them out.

On Monday, the painters arrived and started painting the walls and trim. Looks good so far. I think we are going to be happy with our wall color. The house is still kept locked, and we aren't allowed to have a key, so we don't get to go inside every day. If we are lucky, we may find a door unlocked or the garage open, so we can sneak in and look around! Consequently, we haven't been able to take as many pictures as we would like along the way. Look for pictures of the paint coming soon!

Also, our builder finally gave us a potential closing date. They said we would definitely be in our new home no later than July 27! Whoohoo!

La Casa de Los Freeny Siete

2007-06-05T22:12:00.000-05:00

The trim carpenter has finally started trimming our house. We had to wait almost 3 weeks on him while he was finishing the house next door. We met with him on Monday morning to discuss what we wanted as far as the cabinets, closets, etc. We both felt pretty good about it. So far, the work looks good. He has finished putting up and trimming the interior doors and some of the closets, as well as started on the kitchen and bath cabinets. I say he, but actually there is a crew of about 4 or 5 people helping.

Unfortunately, this stage means our house has been locked up with "work locks" which we aren't allowed a key to. If we want to go inside, we have to call and ask them to leave it open. This means we won't have as many pictures to post right now. But I will post them soon enough! We are hoping to close on the house by the end of July. We were hoping for the end of June, but since we are going to New York City the first week in July, that would have been pushing it to get moved out of the apartment and into the house. This should work out better. Also, we are excited to be going to Memphis this weekend (June 8-9) to see Norah Jones in concert at Mud Island! Look for pictures when we get back. Hope we get an autograph!

Prom 2007

2007-05-21T21:10:00.000-05:00

Every year Brad and I chaperon the Clinton High prom. Since we never went to the prom together in high school, it's fun to go now that we are married. We get our pictures taken and go out for a nice dinner (sponsored by CHS). I love to see what all the girls are wearing. This year, polka-dots seemed to be very popular. I saw black and white, brown and white, and various accent colors. It was very interesting.

Our first post was the coke table. Here's a pic of me and the other Spanish teacher, Jan, serving cokes.

Here's the check-in table, where each couple has to check in and out of the dance. This was our last post at 11pm, so we weren't very busy.

Here's a pic of fellow chaperones, Megan (math teacher) and her boyfriend, Wade.

A group pic of Brad (far left) and some of his Spanish students.

Clinton High Principal, J. Reeves. He's always a good sport.

La Casa de Los Freeny Seis

2007-05-21T20:47:00.000-05:00

These are the most up to date pics that we have.

Here, I'm taking a look up into the attic.

The following are pics of the sheetrock and drywall being put on.

These are pics of the finished (for the most part) brick.

This is the outside of the fireplace being bricked up.

This is the finished interior fireplace in the great room. It's my favorite part of the house!

Right now, we are awaiting the trim carpentry to begin. The trim carpenter is finishing up with the house next door, and then he will start on ours! Once that begins, we should know an approximate closing date. We'll keep you posted!

La Casa de Los Freeny Cinco

2007-05-21T19:54:00.001-05:00

The house has really started to transform as they begin work on the inside. The rooms are becoming more defined, and we can begin to picture where we want to put furniture. Recently, we had to mark where we wanted our telephone and cable outlets, which was no trouble, since we have neither right now. Brad suggested we just not have them, but I pointed out that it might make the house harder to resale in the future.

The electricians have wired the house.

The following are some photos of the heating and air ducts in the ceiling.

This is the fireplace with the spot lights over it.

Someone left us a strange message on the wall. Not sure what it means. Maybe they are gang symbols? Hmmm. . .

Oops! A board got broken! Don't worry, it was replaced.

The roof is put on at last! The color is called Weathered Wood. It looks great with the brick.

Front view of the house with our new roof.

That's a big mess outside. Glad I don't have to clean it up.

The next 2 pics are of the insulation within the walls.

The sheetrocking begins. It is amazing how rough it is to begin with, but how smooth it turns out in the end.

This was a rough spot, but now, you can't even tell it was there.

The bricks are brought in and we're ready to start! The brick color is called Belhaven Mod, queen size.

This brick was done in about a day!

Our tubs and showers were brought in.
Stay tuned for more pics!

La Casa de Los Freeny Cuatro

2007-04-10T18:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, there have been a lot of changes in the house since the last post. As of today, they are basically done with the framing and will probably start roofing it soon. Since I am way behind on posting pictures, I will only post a few from each stage, starting with the foundation.

This picture was taken the day the foundation was poured. It was so exciting so see our house beginning to take shape.

Footprints in the concrete

This is the right side of the house, with the garage.

Another shot from the garage side.

The pipes for our plumbing

After the foundation was poured and dried, they removed the wooden frame around the concrete so the framing could begin.

These bright orange lines mark where the walls will go.

Lumber for the framing

And it finally begins! Brad is posing with the house. They did all of this before lunchtime!

I try to wear my tennis shoes to the build site so I won't get a nail in my foot. They are everywhere!

Entrance to the garage

View from Brad's closet

I am trying to maneuver my way through all the lumber and nails.

Framing of the roof begins

The roof in our great room

Peek-a-boo! I am standing by the window of our bedroom. I was sick this day, so I wasn't feeling so good.

I am admiring the work. I think they did all this in just 2 days.

Back view of the house

Our builder fixed the ceiling in our great room so it would be 12' without a vault, just like we wanted it.

They've begun putting the boards on top of the roof.

Another back view of the house

Our front door was delivered and installed!

The windows have been installed. This one is in the master bath.

Side view of the house

View of the back porch

The outside trim has been installed around the windows and roof line, as well as the siding. We are still deciding on what color these should be.

This is what the house looks like now. The siding and trim have been installed, as well as the little vent on the top gable. The areas with the shiny red writing will be bricked. We chose our brick color last week. Actually, the brick color we chose was also chosen by our next door neighbors, who are about 2 weeks ahead of us, so we had to choose new brick. We thought this would be impossible, since we had trouble agreeing on the old brick, but we were able to find a brick we like even better!

Back view of the house and porch

Our back porch. The big hole will eventually be a bricked fireplace, with a door to the left.

Wow, what a beautiful, clear blue sky! Our house is coming along. Soon they will be putting on the roof.

Finally, here is a photo of our dining room window.

We picked out our light fixtures and fans this weekend, which was so much fun! Also, I went this afternoon and picked out interior and exterior colors and flooring. Brad is going to check them out next week with the designer to give his seal of approval. Or pick out new stuff, if he doesn't like them. ; )

La Casa de Los Freeny Tres

2007-03-23T19:55:00.000-05:00

They have just about finished with the foundation. They've put down the long metal rods in the trenches and on top of the dirt. Looks like it is just about ready for the slab to be poured.

According to Brad's friend's wife, who lives across the street, the guys working on this took a siesta at lunch on top of the metal rods. I can't imagine it was comfortable, but I guess you take what you can get. I wish I could take a siesta at my job, too.

I think this is the side of the house with the garage entrance. That's all I have for now. Hopefully, by next week, we'll have some concrete!

La Casa de Los Freeny Dos

2007-03-23T19:47:00.000-05:00

They put up our building permit recently. So far the rough plumbing has been finished and inspected. Looks good to us. I've posted a few pictures of what they have done so far.

So far it just looks like a bunch of pipes sticking out of the ground. I hope they will pour the slab soon! The house next door to us has really been moving fast! As of today, they have gotten it framed and some of the siding done. This has all happened in about one week. I hope ours will move that fast.

Side view of the house.

Brad is inspecting the work. Looks good to me.

A close up view of the plumbing. Red and blue--Brad's favorite colors.

I think this is an older picture from before the rough plumbing was done. It is showing the dining room, I think.

La Casa de Los Freeny

2007-03-23T19:34:00.000-05:00

SOLD! They put up the sold sign shortly after we signed the contract. This was taken on the first day we saw it. It is so exciting! Below are a few pictures of the beginning of the foundation work. We have been going out to see the house every day to see what has been done. Every day is something new and exciting.

They dug these big trenches in the house pad. I'm not exactly sure what they are for, but they are pretty deep.

This is a view of the front of the house at an angle. It is fun trying to figure out where each room will be. Right now it seem kind of small, but after the slab is poured, I think it will seem bigger.

Still the front of the house. That shadow is me taking the picture.

A view of the front of the house at an angle from the garage side.

The house viewed from the curb with our SOLD sign in front. I've got plenty more pictures of dirt and wood coming in future posts!

Our new adventure

2007-03-13T19:43:00.000-05:00

As many of you know, Brad and I have been looking for a house for the past few months. We originally planned to buy an existing home, but were unable to find one we liked in Clinton, which is where we want to live. We finally decided on building and searched for land to build on for weeks. Let me just say that land in Clinton is expensive! Eventually, we found an affordable lot in the Kirkwood subdivision. We have been in contact with the builder who owns the lot, and he has had our plans drawn up, as well as a contract. We signed the contract on Monday and in 90-120 days, we should have a new home. We are both really excited about this new adventure. We already know one of our neighbors. Just across the street from our lot, one of Brad's friends from MC (and former roommate) and his wife built a house. It will be fun to live near our friends.

We went to see the lot on Monday night, and we were surprised to see the house pad has been done. Hopefully, at the beginning of next week, they will begin on the foundation. I took a few pictures with my camera phone, so I can post them here and keep track of the progress. Right now it just looks like a bunch of dirt, but someday, it will look like a home. It was fun to stand in the middle of the pad and imagine that one day it would be our house. It's very exciting.

Examination: PASS

2007-03-01T21:24:00.000-06:00

Last Friday, I (Britney) finally took my masters level social work examination. This is the exam I have been dreading since I decided to become a social worker. I registered for the exam about a year ago, and I had to take it before March. I put it off as long as I possibly could. A grueling 3.5 hours and 170 multiple choice questions later, I finished the exam. Let me just say, it was hard! I really wasn't sure if I had passed or not. There were a lot of answers that I just wasn't sure about. I guess the title of this post kind of gives it away, but when I clicked on finish (after a short survey) the next thing I saw was "Examination: PASS". I frantically searched the screen for my score, just to be sure that I had indeed passed. Then I found it and was relieved. Yes, I had passed my licensure exam. Soon I will be a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW)! I'm just glad it is over, and I won't have to take it again. Thanks to all of you who were thinking of and praying for me. It really helped!

Christmas and New Year's 2006

2007-01-09T18:19:00.000-06:00

We didn't take very many pictures at Christmas this year. I think we were both too tired. Brad had to work right up until the weekend of Christmas this year, and for the first time in my life, I didn't have a Christmas break. I only had two days off for the holiday. So, with so little time, we had to make the most of it. Our Christmas began on Friday, December 22, when Brad's cousins from Memphis, Justin and Lyvie came down to visit. We met up at the Hodge's house to open gifts with Brad's parents, grandparents, sister, Nicole, and cousins, Justin and Lyvie, and Greg and Ashley, and their adorable son, Mason.

On Saturday, we went to the Taylor family Christmas at Britney's grandparents' house in Jackson. There was lots of food and nearly everyone came this year. It was so exciting to see everyone. That afternoon, we (the Freenys) finished up some last minute Christmas shopping and wrapped gifts that night and watched Love Actually.

The next day, on Christmas Eve, Brad and I, along with Brad's parents and grandparents, attended the Journey's Christmas Eve service. We met at the old Capri Theatre in Fondren and had hot chocolate, sang Christmas carols and read the Christmas story from Luke. It was a lot of fun. We even got to see a little dancing.

Afterward, we went to eat a Waffle House (a Freeny/Hodge tradition) and came back to Brad's grandparents' house to play games until midnight. The next morning, we opened the remaining Christmas presents and went to the Howell family Christmas dinner. This was also exciting, because everyone came there as well. I was able to visit with my cousins from Greenwood/Grenada, who I don't see that often anymore. We were given a great cookbook compiled by Mamaw Howell that has pictures of the family and us growing up along with the recipes. We also watched old videos of our plays and a fashion show, which made us all laugh.

Christmas night, Brad and I went home to our apartment and did our Christmas together. I gave Brad a Nintendo DS lite and Mario game that he had asked for, and he gave me several children's books that I love in hardback, as well as a behind the scenes book about Wicked, the musical, and Season 2 of Grey's Anatomy. I also got a really beautiful pottery lamp from Pier 1 that I had asked for. Below are some pictures from our Christmas together. Here we are opening the stockings for Bailey and the cats.

Bailey was so excited to see her stocking.

This "spoiled" stocking fits her just right.

Bailey got a new bone and some tennis balls. She also got a new winter coat.

The cats weren't so excited about their stocking, until they saw the puffy balls inside. Here is Zoe trying to catch one.

Bailey posing in her new overalls, a gift from one of Brad's students. So CUTE!!!

Brad is trying to entice the cats to pose with their stocking, to no avail.

NEW YEAR'S EVE 2006!

Brad and I went to his sister, Sonya's house for New Year's Eve. We played games, such as pictionary and bingo, until nearly midnight. Then the kids (Brad, Steven, and Seth) went outside to shoot fireworks. When those were gone, we came inside to watch the ball drop at midnight. This year, Brad wasn't too busy with fireworks to kiss me at midnight.

Mamaw Hodge, Brad's mom, Vicki, and Uncle Phil and Aunt Charlotte from Vicksburg. We stayed under the porch where it was safe.

Papaw Hodge, Mamaw Hodge, and Sonya.

Brad, probably trying to light 10 bottle rockets at once.

Sold It!

2007-01-09T18:07:00.000-06:00

Since buying our new (used) VW Jetta in September, we eventually decided we didn't need to be a 3 car family anymore and were tired of paying insurance on Britney's '95 Cavalier in addition to the Altima and Jetta, so we finally took out an ad in the paper to sell it. After numerous phone calls, but no serious inquiries, we found someone to buy it. She was a student at Hinds, and her parents were looking for something dependable for her to drive to school in. After one test drive, they were hooked. We sold it 2 weeks to the day after our ad was published. Not too bad, I'd say.

Having spent nearly 8 years driving the Cavalier, since buying it at 16, selling it was bittersweet. It was my very first car and first major purchase. We had been through a lot together, from floods of antifreeze to driving in a Mississippi July without any A/C. As I watched it drive away, holding a huge wad of cash in my hand, I thought back on all the memories, good and bad. And I was glad it went to a good home. I hope she will take care of it as well as I did. Then I went to the credit union as soon as possible to make a deposit.

Britney's Birthday or The Big 2-4

2007-01-09T17:49:00.000-06:00

On November 26, 2006, I (Britney) turned 24 years old. I am now in my mid-twenties, although according to Brad, 24 is still early twenties. However, as I see it, your twenties are divided into thirds: 21-23=early twenties, 24-26=mid-twenties, and 27-29=late twenties. By Brad's theory, you aren't in your mid-twenties until you hit 25. Anyway, my mom and dad had a birthday party for me at their house in Terry. Mom cooked a wonderful dinner, and I received a lot of nice presents. We only took a few pictures, so I am posting what we have.

I am opening up presents here. Oh, I feel like a kid again! Where are the Strawberry Shortcake napkins and Care Bear cups??

In the large chair: Kelly, Josh and Lana. In the background, Michael, Papaw Taylor, Moma (Kim), and Mamaw Howell.

Kelly and Josh again, with Michael, Mamaw Taylor, and Mamaw Howell, with just a glimpse of Aunt Sissy's head next to Josh.

Me and my sweetie!

Pumpkins 2006

2007-01-09T17:37:00.000-06:00

For the fall, Brad and I both carved pumpkins. Here is a picture of Brad's pumpkin this year:

Is anyone surprised?

It looked much cooler in the dark. I thought he did a pretty good job on it, for not having a stencil to work with. It looks perfect, and it matched our Halloween costumes, too.

Here is my pumpkin, which I carved with the help of my preschoolers at Region 8. His name is Jack. Not too bad for a first try. After seeing this, Brad even let me clean out his pumpkin before he carved it.

Halloween 2006

2007-01-08T19:56:00.000-06:00

As some of you know, Brad and I dress up for Halloween each year in crazy costumes. In the past, we've been Pooh and Piglet, a cat and dog, Superman and Lois Lane, Kip and Deb (from Napoleon Dynamite), and Mario and Princess Peach. Each costume was so much fun, but this year may just be the best one. Brad is a huge Superman fan, so this summer, he started to create a better Superman costume than the one he used a couple of years ago. It was complete with navy spandex tights and a flowing red cape, right down to the curl of hair on his forehead. Instead of Lois, this year I wanted a real costume. So I went as Supergirl. I had a flowing red cape as well. In years past, we have taken Brad's nephew, Seth, trick-or-treating. However, this year, Seth did not come to Clinton, so we went to a friend's Halloween party instead. Below are some pictures of us and our friends in our costumes.

Superman and Supergirl

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's. . .the Freenys!

Tim and Ashley as Kermit and Miss Piggy

Bruce and Rebecca as pilots. They wore Bruce's dad's old uniforms.

Supergirl and a soldier for the U.S. Army (our friend Marqus).

What a fun night!!! We are already planning costumes for next year!

Pics of Britney's Broken Foot

2007-01-08T19:32:00.000-06:00

Better late than never. . .Here's the pictures of Britney's broken foot in the cast and on crutches. The crutches were so painful!!!

Eventually I got a "roll-a-bout", which made my life much easier.

Britney's preschoolers "signed" the cast, as well as Brad's sister's son, Seth, which is the only readable signature. They really enjoyed writing on it.

Put some ice on it . . .

2006-10-18T17:33:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, I (Britney) broke my foot, or actually my left 5th metatarsal or something like that. Many people have asked me, "How did you break your foot?" I'm sorry to say it wasn't doing anything exciting like rollerblading while walking my dog and wearing a bikini, as a friend suggested. It was on a Sunday morning about 10:30 a.m., and I was coming down the stairs outside our apartment with Bailey on her leash. When I got to the bottom and stepped off the last stair, my foot slipped off the side of my flimsy flip flop and rolled over as I fell down. I examined my foot to see if it looked broken, but did not see any bones poking out. The top of my foot was scratched from the concrete, but I was not in pain. Then I started to feel lightheaded, so I laid down on the ground and passed out for a second. When I came to, I climbed back up the stairs with Bailey in tow. Upon reaching our door, I did not have the strength to stand anymore, so I sat down and kicked at the door with my foot. Brad, looking through the peep hole, asked who was there, because he could not see anyone, and I answered. When he opens the door, he sees me lying on the ground with Bailey by my side. By this time my foot had started to hurt and swell. I tell him that I think it may be broken, so we head for the Baptist ER, although he thinks it is "just a sprain" and I should "put some ice on it." Three hours and $800.00 later, it is confirmed by the nurse practitioner that it is indeed broken. I rejoiced for a moment in my correctness, until I realized what this would mean. NO SHOWERS, NO WALKING, NO SEX--acutally that last one isn't exactly true. The ortho tech who put my splint on wasn't so optimistic either. She informed us that we would have to cut my jeans off in order to get them off my body, because they wouldn't fit over the splint. At this point Brad completely freaks out and tells her how expensive they were. To avoid the cutting off of the jeans, I have to leave the ER in a hospital gown. So I got a pair of crutches and, after a 5 second orientation to them, we were on our way out the door. Two days later, I got a real cast, which I let my day treatment students "sign", even though it looks more like scribbles. Since the crutches hurt my arms and hands so badly, my mom rented a "roll-a-bout" for me, which is sort of like a combination of a wheelchair and scooter. I use it at work mostly, and my kids love it. I will be sure to include some pictures later on, because I look pretty silly on it. But it does make my life so much easier. I must say, I am the luckiest wife in the whole world. Brad has been doing everything around the house: cooking, cleaning, walking Bailey, feeding Bailey, bathing Bailey, watering my plants, and taking my scooter down to my car each morning. And he hasn't complained that much. He lets me sit on the couch with my foot up watching season 1 of LOST. I will go back to the doctor on Friday for more x-rays and a new cast, or hopefully a boot that I can walk in. I am learning to appreciate the little things in life, like washing my hair, shaving my legs, and going to Wal-mart, things I don't get to do much of now. I also have a new-found appreciation for handicap accessible facilities. In closing, I can't wait to get this stupid thing off my leg so that I can go camping, have a garage sale, and most of all, shave my lower left leg.

Josh and Kelly's Wedding

2006-09-24T19:51:00.000-05:00

My cousin, Josh Fuqua, and his fiancee, Kelly Koen were married this past Saturday, September 23, 2006 at Madison United Methodist Church. Their wedding was so beautiful and Kelly was a beautiful bride! Now they are honeymooning in Jamaica. Below are some pictures I took at the wedding.

Second honeymoon

2006-06-11T21:47:00.000-05:00

On May 28, we celebrated our first wedding anniversary. That weekend, we went to New Orleans and stayed in a cute little bed and breakfast called Elysian Fields Inn. We had so much fun! It was great to get away from home and spend time together.

The front of our hotel. The couple who owns it was so nice! We were their only guests for the weekend, so they made a breakfast of French toast, strawberries and bacon just for us. They also had a sweet yellow lab named Zeke. If anyone is going to New Orleans, we definitely recommend staying at the Elysian Fields Inn. It was just a short walk from the French Quarter.

Britney standing at the bottom of the stairs in our bed and breakfast.

Brad waiting for me to get ready. Our room was so cute!

Brad sitting in front of the fish scale waterfall at the Aquarium of the Americas. It had reopened that Friday for the first time since the hurricane. After looking around the aquarium, we went to see an Imax film about the coral reef.

This is a sea dragon--it was Brad's favorite thing at the Aquarium.
These two beautiful birds didn't like us very much. They kept squawking at us.

But, these two birds were so sweet. One was nibbling on the others feathers, probably picking out the bugs. They were just precious.

Jackson Square--it looks just like a postcard!

Classic French Quarter architecture.

What trip to New Orleans would be complete without a stop at Cafe Du Monde? We stopped there for a brunch of beignets on Sunday before heading back to Clinton.
We enjoyed shopping in the French Market and bought some really unique items. Brad purchased some hand-painted wooden cats from a lady from Oaxaca, Mexico. Britney purchased a set of hand-made coasters and turtle shaped mirror from a lady who got them in Indonesia. We also stopped by Aunt Sally's for some pecan pralines. It was a lovely weekend! When we got back to our apartment after picking Bailey up from Britney's parents' house, we thawed out our wedding cake and ate a bite. It was...okay. Not horrible, but just the thought of eating year old cake was kind of yucky. It is hard to believe we have already been married for a year.

Long time coming

2006-06-11T21:10:00.000-05:00

Wow! It has been quite a while since we last posted something on here and a lot has happened!
We have had a very busy two months! Britney finished up graduate school at the end of April and graduated on May 19 from UT in Memphis with a Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW). A big group of us travelled up there that Friday night for the hooding ceremony. They included Britney's parents, Mamaw and Papaw Taylor, Lana, Josh and Kelly, Jeremy and Laura, and Brad.

Britney and Brad

Britney in her UT graduate hood. Unfortunately, they didn't let us keep it.

All smiles on graduation day!
In addition to my graduation, Josh and his fiancee, Kelly, graduated from MC Nursing School, and Paul graduated from Wesley College. On May 22, I (Britney) began the new job at Region 8 Mental Health Center (http://www.region8mhs.org). So far it has been going pretty well. I have a classroom of 11 children, ages 2-5. They are challenging to work with, but I am really enjoying the job and the creativity it allows. I have a program aide who works with me, and she is such a huge help. My main struggle right now is trying to gain control in the classroom. Once I accomplish that, I think things will go much more smoothly.
Brad finished up teaching for the year on May 26. He is currently teaching English II in summer school at CHS, as well as taking a graduate class at MC on the dramatic monologue. He's also studying for his commercial driver's license, so he can drive the school bus next year. He's having quite the busy summer!

Finally!

2006-05-08T13:52:00.000-05:00

Earlier this month, I was offered a job by Region 8. It's the behavioral specialist position, and I will start on May 22, the Monday after my UT graduation ceremony. I'm so excited!!! That's all for now.

Another Job Interview

2006-04-19T20:49:00.000-05:00

The job hunting is starting to pick up. I (Britney) finally got a call back from a guy at Region 8 Mental Health who wanted me to come in for an interview last Friday morning. I did, and it went well. Within about 2 hours, I got a call back from someone in the mental health center who wanted me to come in Tuesday afternoon for a 2nd interview. This time, I met with the clinical director and clinical coordinator of the day treatment program. I think this one went pretty well, too. They told me a little more detail about the job, and one gave me a tour and showed me the classroom that they are considering me for. The position is a behavioral specialist, which is a social worker that works with young children, ages 3-5, who haven't started preschool yet. They all have a mental health diagnosis, like ADHD or adjustment disorder, and I would be providing clinical services to help them transition into kindergarten. It' s kind of like teaching, in that I would have lesson plans, but I would be using clinical intervention, i.e. anger management, social skills building, reinforcment, etc. as well. Since I want to be a school social worker eventually, this would be excellent experience. I hope to hear something from them soon. My supervisor at URC has already received a call from them, since he is one of my references. I think they are pretty anxious to fill the position. Please keep me in your prayers as I continue my search for a job. By the way, I received word last week that I passed my comprehensive exams at UT! Graduation is only one month from today!

Wedding Video

2006-04-09T20:08:00.000-05:00

Not too much has been happening lately in the Freeny household. Bailey had her 1st birthday on March 25, and I'm still promising to take her to PetSmart to celebrate. We bought some flowers for our porch this weekend, so here's hoping we can keep them alive. We've put out some birdseed again (and we don't care what Ms. Polly thinks), and we are enjoying watching the birds (and squirrels) eat it. Today, a squirrel actually climbed onto the feeder to eat, but it wouldn't hold still under his weight, and he nearly fell off, spilling all the birdseed out in the process! It was really funny to watch him try and figure out how he was going to get from the feeder back onto the porch. Once he made it, he proceeded to eat the sunflower seeds from the porch, which may have been his intention all along.

I (Britney) haven't heard anything yet on the job interview, but I'm sending my resume out to everyone I think I might want to work for. No more interviews yet, but there's still time. Graduation is May 19, and I'm counting down the days! Only 3 more classes left! On a different note, Brad and I got our wedding video back from our videographer this week, and it is wonderful. We are so pleased and cannot imagine not having done it. The day was such a blur for us, so this video allowed us to really see what it looked like and what was said. We didn't remember anything that happened during the ceremony, and we didn't even realize that we forgot to blow out the unity candles until someone told us later. Stan, our videographer did such a great job with the video. He made a "movie" out of it, set to beautiful music. He was even able to use the theme from "Somewhere in Time" for the ceremony. And Stan put the raw footage from the reception on a c.d., so we were able to see how beautiful the courtyard looked. I was so happy to see people dancing--including Brad's dad trying to salsa dance! I could go on and on about the movie, but I won't bore you. If anyone wants to watch it, just let us know. Brad's only rule is that you have to watch it at our apartment. That seems to be the only way we can get people to visit. (Justin and Lyvie are the exception, since they live in Memphis.) We are so excited about it and want to share it with everyone!

Job Hunting

2006-03-20T21:37:00.000-06:00

Well, my (Britney's) compreshensive exams are over, and there are only 5 more weeks left for me in grad. school. There is some exciting news on the job front for me as of this weekend. I got a call last Friday from a guy at Youth Villages who had seen my resumé and wanted to interview me. The job is a family counselor for their home-based counseling program. I'm interviewing on Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. The job sounds pretty interesting--I would have a caseload of 5 families that I would travel to and provide services to them in their home, hence the name home-based. From what he told me, the children in these homes are in DHS custody, so these are their foster families. They are children with emotional and behavioral problems. It sounds right up my alley. I want to learn more about it though. So everyone, please be praying for me as I interview on Wednesday! I've put my resumé out there at several different agencies, so I hope I will get more interviews in the near future. I think Brad's pretty tired of me mooching off of him. He'll be glad when I finally get a real job.

Life at the Freenys

2006-03-14T17:42:00.000-06:00

It's been quite awhile since we've posted a real message, so I thought I'd take a minute to give everyone an update on life at the Freenys:

Brad has been working hard all year, teaching Spanish at the high school during the week, as well as teaching a continuing education class in basic conversational Spanish for Mississippi College. In addition, he has been rehearsing for the school play, The Crucible, in which he plays Willard, the jail keeper. He has really enjoyed exploring his dramatic side, and he thinks he may have missed his calling in life. Look out, Tom Welling! Right now, Brad is off for Spring Break and has been busy cleaning the house and his car.

Britney has been busy with her school work and internship at the University Rehabilitation Center. She is just weeks away from finishing her Master's degree in Social Work. She is off right now for Spring Break, but has been studying all week for her comprehensive exams at UT this Friday, the 17th. After that, she will be taking her licensure exam for the LMSW in April. She'll finish up with her classwork on April 28, and graduation is on May 19 in Memphis! Currently, she is job-hunting and hoping to find something in the school system.

The animals, Bailey, Zoe, and Zippy are doing great! Zippy keeps going into heat every few weeks and keeps us up at night with her unusual meowing. Since the weather has been nice out, we've kept our windows open much of the day. All 3 of them love this, because they can feel the cool breeze and hear the birds chirping. They will crowd around the window for hours, just watching the world go by.

Zoe loves her spot in the kitchen window.

Bailey likes to watch the children play outside. She would love to go out and play with them, if we would let her.

Zippy likes to watch for the birds and the bees.

Our new website

2006-03-14T17:23:00.000-06:00

In case anyone is wondering what happened to our blog, we have moved it to this new website. We both liked it much better, and it allows us to display pictures easier. We have copied all of our old blogs onto this site, and the original dates are in parentheses next to the titles. We hope you enjoy it!

Valentine's Day (2/18/06)

2006-03-11T15:01:00.000-06:00

Recently, Brad and I celebrated our first Valentine's Day as husband and wife. It was also the 2 year anniversary of our engagement. To celebrate this special day, we recreated the night we were engaged, so to speak. We both dressed up nicely and went to eat at Olive Garden (my favorite!). Just as we were walking up to the hostess, a nice man behind us asked if we wanted his spot. Apparantly, he was tired of waiting for a table (the wait was almost 2 hours), so he decided to leave. We felt a little guilty accepting his beeper, but decided to anyway. We told the hostess, who put our names in his place, and we were seated in about 10 minutes. The salad, breadsticks, and appetizer were awesome, and the main dishes were delicious! As we were leaving, some people dressed up as Uncle Sam and the Statue of Liberty, from Liberty Tax Service, gave us a balloon and a red carnation. It was crazy! We felt like people just kept giving us stuff! After this, we went back to the bench on the Quad at MC where he proposed. We sat there for a while and talked. It was much warmer and dryer than the last time we were there. We also took a few pictures, which I've posted below. Finally, we came back to our apartment and watched a movie called 84 Charing Cross Road. It was really sweet. This was the 2nd best Valentine's Day ever!

Bailey's Surgery (1/9/06)

2006-03-11T14:54:00.000-06:00

Last Wednesday, Bailey's life was forever changed. She had what is described in medical terms as a uterohysterectomy. Basically, she got fixed. Spayed. She is no longer eligible to have children (puppies). She seems to be okay with the whole thing. Her incision is only about an inch long. She enjoys licking the hot pink stitches, even though she isn't supposed to. We threaten her repeatedly with the head cone if she doesn't stop, but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Her tummy was shaved for the surgery, and I think it is so cute! She is now on day 5 of her antibiotics, the final day, and she gets the stitches removed on January 16. Until then, I will continue carrying her up and down the stairs outside our apartment, since she's supposed to get minimal exercise. I think that is supposed to include not chasing the cats around the apartment, but she does it anyway, despite my protests. Recently, Bailey has enjoyed the upgrade from cage to kitchen as her living quarters. We bought a baby gate, which we use to enclose her in our kitchen area when we aren't home or are sleeping. We even got her a fluffy bed and new toys. She loves to drag all of her toys out of the bed and spread them around the living room, just so I can put them back up. Anyway, I have really enjoyed spending time with Bailey while on vacation from school. I'm going to miss her when I go back to my internship on Wednesday, January 11. It was also really nice having 2 whole weeks off with my wonderful husband! I was so sad to see him go back to work. Keep your fingers crossed that I get a job as a school social worker, so Brad and I can have the same vacations every year. If not, I will be one jealous person every summer, Christmas, and third week in March.

Bailey, showing off her stitches the day after the surgery. She slept for most of the day on the couch.

A close up view of the incision. Shouldn't leave too much of a scar! Let's hope her hair grows back soon.

Bailey wasn't feeling too good when she got home from the vet. She was still drowsy from the anesthesia and was in a little pain. One baby aspirin did the trick.

Our First Christmas cont. (1/6/06)

2006-03-11T14:27:00.000-06:00

After all of this, Brad and I went out to my parents' house in Terry to have our Christmas with them.

Brad and I in front of their tree holding sweet little Maggie.

My family: Moma, Daddy, Maggie and me.

Finally, to wrap up Christmas day, Brad and I went back to our apartment in Clinton to have our little Christmas together and with the animals. Unfortunately, we forgot to take any of us together, but we did get some of the pets opening their stockings. Bailey was so excited over her new toys; she couldn't decide what to play with first. The cats were more low-key about the whole thing.

But our Christmas wasn't over yet. The next day, we went back to the Hodge family's Christmas dinner. It was moved this year to the day after Christmas, because Brad's family in Meridian couldn't make it on the 25th. We had a good time, eating lots of food and playing lots of games.

Brad's dad, Reid hanging out on the couch.

Lyvie and her dad, Uncle Maxie.

Lyvie and her mom, Aunt Lucy.

Justin and I were learning to knit.

Brad's Aunt Lucy, Mom and grandmother playing Scrabble at the kitchen table.

And finally, a picture of us on our first Christmas together as a married couple. Wish we could do it all over again!

Our First Christmas (1/6/06)

2006-03-11T13:10:00.000-06:00

Our first Christmas together has come and gone. It was so wonderful! We are both lucky that our families all live near us, so we didn't have to travel and were able to see nearly everyone. Our Christmas celebrations spanned 3 days. Beginning on Christmas Eve, we had a dinner with my mother's family, the Taylors, around 1 o'clock in the afternoon. Everyone was there, 4 generations of Taylors. Here are a few pictures from that day.

This is the cute little snowball I made for the party. It found its way around to at least 4 different Christmas dinners that weekend. I was hoping someone would finish him off, but we had at least half of him left in the end.

Here's a family photo of Mamaw and Papaw and their 4 children: Mike, Billy, Lana, and Kim. I wish it were a little closer up. I may try to edit it later on.

The Taylor grandkids: Jeremy, Josh, Paul, me (Britney), Mellissa, and Michael. Shane isn't in the picture because he had already left.

Lana and her boys, Josh and Jeremy. They're bigger than she is now!

Josh and his new fiancee, Kelly. Aren't they cute together? I think the wedding is set for September 2006.

Jeremy and his girlfriend of 4 years, Laura. So cute!

Next, we went to the Hodges (Brad's mother's family) in Clinton for Christmas Eve. Following tradition, we all went to eat at Waffle House that night. Brad and I spent the night at their house, sleeping on the floor. We tried to go to Midnight Mass at the local Catholic church, but they weren't having it. The next morning, we got up and went to my dad's family's Christmas dinner in Brandon. Everyone was there, except for my 3 cousins from Grenada, who were at their other grandparents' house.

The Howell men. Not sure what they're doing in the kitchen. Probably waiting for the food to get done cooking. From the left, Johnny, Sammie (my dad), Papaw, and Mark.

My little cousins. Matt, who is Mark's son, and his wife, Melinda's 3 children, my newest cousins. They were all so well-behaved. Nothing like me and my other 3 cousins were at that age.

Mom and Dad in front of the tree. I thought I'd never get Daddy to smile for the camera.

Brad and I in front of Mamaw and Sissy's beautiful tree. And best of all, it still had our old ornaments on it from when we were little. You know, the one's with our names on them. So cute!

Blogger won't allow me to add anymore pics to this blog, so I will continue Christmas with the next one.

Photo Albums (12/31/05)

2006-03-11T13:08:00.000-06:00

Brad just found out that we can share our Facebook photo albums with others. All we have to do is copy & paste the link. So here are a few of the albums on Britney's Facebook page. Enjoy!

Our First Christmas:
http://mc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002368&l=1b786&id=61702151

The Newlyweds: Brad & Britney:
http://mc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002210&l=8ab7f&id=61702151

The Freeny Family Pets:
http://mc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2002209&l=1d565&id=61702151

Merry Christmas! (12/24/05)

2006-03-11T13:03:00.000-06:00

Christmas is almost here, and the Freeny house is buzzing with excitement! Our holiday plans have been made, and we have braved the crowd to purchase the traditional gifts. Our apartment is decorated to the hilt, and we're even cooking something for Christmas dinner. With all the hustle and bustle, it's easy to forget why we are celebrating this season. It's not about Santa Claus or giving the perfect gift. It's really about the miracle of the birth of our Savior, Jesus. The ultimate gift from God. So, as we are celebrating this time with our families, let us not forget to give thanks for this wonderful gift we've been given.

Merry Christmas from the Freenys!

The Freeny Family Pets (12/22/05)

2006-03-11T12:37:00.000-06:00

Since getting married in May, Brad and I have aquired quite a few animals. Brad is a "cat-person" and I am a "dog-person", so naturally we have to have one of each. Recently, however, my cousin, Jeremy moved into a petless apartment and needed new home for his cat, Zipper. Being the big-hearted animal lovers that we are, Brad and I said we would take her. So now there are 3 animals living in our apartment; 4 if you count Brad (just kidding.) Since we don't plan on having children for a while (at least 5 years), these pets will have to suffice.
Here's a picture of our darling, Bailey, whom I wrote of in the last entry and Britney holding her.

Also, here is a photo of Zoe. Isn't she pretty?

And finally, this is Zippy, our latest addition:

We hope you've enjoyed seeing our lovely pets. They sure bring a lot of joy and laughs into our lives. Look for more photos in the future!

Out for the Holidays (12/7/05)

2006-03-09T19:00:00.000-06:00

Classes at UT finished up for me on Tuesday, at least for this semester. I have a nice long break for the holidays; I'll start back on January 11. I'm excited to be out, because there's so much that I've been wanting to do. Paint houses for my Christmas village, organize the closets at our apartment, read books, make a scrapbook, just be crafty, and a little shopping, too. Also, I'm happy not to be studying and writing papers for a while. (Although I do have to start studying for my MSW license and comps. at UT.) I won't miss the long drive up to Memphis, but I will miss seeing Lyvie & Justin every week. Pretty soon, Bailey will have to have her "surgery". Luckily, I will be home to take care of her. She's such a sweetie! She's a really affectionate dog and isn't afraid to meet new people. She sheds like crazy, though. I told Brad just today that Bailey acts like she's got ADHD. She has the attention span of . . .well she doesn't really have one. When I take her "out", she can't stay focused on the task at hand. She is easily distracted by every single little noise, so it takes us forever to get the job done. I didn't mind so much before, but now that it's about 20 degrees outside, I want to spend as little time there as possible. That's okay, though, because I wouldn't trade her for anything. And I'm sure Brad would agree!

Spanish Club Christmas Party (12/5/05)

2006-03-09T18:59:00.000-06:00

Friday night was the Spanish Club's Christmas party. Brad is the sponsor, being their Spanish teacher and all, so he was the host. I tagged along for moral support. About 25-30 kids showed up at El Sombrero restaurante mexicano for dinner. This is always fun because Brad's students are hilarious. Some of them do crazy stuff, like chug an entire bottle of salsa or call him on his cell phone from the other end of the table to say hi. After dinner, 6 of them came back to our apartment to watch a movie (Elf) -- luckily our apartment was already decorated for Christmas. Brad, of course, makes them watch it in Spanish audio with English subtitles. But while he was in the kitchen making hot chocolate, someone changed it to English audio, and we watched it like that for the remainder of the movie. I had never seen Elf before, but I really liked it. So we all watched the movie, drank Abuelita (mexican cocoa) and watched the animals (Bailey, Zoe, and Zippy) chase each other around. It was a fun night.

Decorating for Christmas (12/1/05)

2006-03-09T18:54:00.001-06:00

This past weekend, Brad and I decorated our apartment for Christmas. This included going to the Christmas tree (and pumpkin) farm to cut down a tree. Brad chopped it down and loaded it in the truck all by himself (so manly!). My parents brought us all of our Christmas decorations from their house, and we spent all day Saturday making the place festive. I even made a little wreath for our door and a centerpiece for our table, ala' Martha Stewart. (I just love her!) Luckily, the animals weren't too concerned with the tree and decor. We have cute little stocking for them hanging next to ours, which we will fill with lots of goodies! We will post some photos of the tree and decorations later on. It's hard to believe Christmas is already here! Our first Christmas together. . .it's going to be so much fun!

Our first Thanksgiving was a lot of fun. We managed to make it to 3 different dinners with our families. First we went to the Freeny's for lunch, then to the Howell's for dessert, and finally to the Hodge's for dinner. We were stuffed by the end of the day! But it was so good to see everyone! We didn't mind all the running around one bit.
Friday, we got up at 3 am and went shopping! Yes, we were among the crazy people in line at Circuit City at 4 am. When the doors finally opened at 5:15, I thought I was going to break something. There were people pushing against me from all sides, anxious to get in and spend some money. After this, we spent over an hour in line at Toys-R-Us waiting to purchase a DVD. I'm not sure what we were thinking. But by noon, we were done with our shopping and headed home. We were so tired, that we didn't even have the energy to eat at Olive Garden! Instead we got Chinese take-out. What a day!--and it wasn't over yet!

After a 3 hour nap, we cleaned up the apartment because my birthday was that weekend as well, and my mom had a party for me at our apartment. We had pizza and strawberry cake, which was delicious. I received a lot of nice presents and really enjoyed having everyone over to see our place. Afterward, we went over to a friend's house to watch Nightmare on Elm Street-Part 6. We made it to bed at around 1 am--almost a 24 hour day!

Our 6 month Anniversary (11/28/05)

2006-03-09T18:16:00.000-06:00

Today Brad and I have been married for 6 months. That's half-way through our first year of marriage. I can hardly believe it. It's going by so fast, and I want to remember every moment. If I had the time, I would make a scrapbook (which I plan to do someday), but school & work keep me too busy. Instead, I want to start this blog thing, so I can keep up with all that we do and post pictures of us and our pets. A friend from college has a website where she and her husband post messages about their activities, and she has kind of inspired me to do the same. So I will try to be faithful in posting little notes about our life for all to read, even though I'll probably be the only one who cares to look at it. All the personal info in the profile is actually about me, not Brad, because he has his own myspace site, and it gets really confusing trying to do it for two people. So until next time, adios!