Christmas and New Year's 2006

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!

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

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

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

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

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 . . .

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

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

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

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!