Beach? Yes, please!

Since the moment I met Nicky, he was very upfront about not being a huge fan of the beach. His idea of fun does not consist of sitting in sand and soaking up rays. He would rather do something...toss a football, play golf, go snorkling, etc. Now, since laying in the sand and soaking up rays is my idea of fun, we probably would not enjoy a beach vacation with just the two of us. But with friends? Definitely!

The parents of my friend Rikki own a beautiful beach home, and since there was an opening in the rentals a few weeks ago, we had the privilege of filling it! 

Beautiful day in the sun and sand!

Walking in the sand is quite exhausting...

Nicky had never been to Fudpuckers, so we made sure to get souvenir cups!

Our dear friends Rikki Leigh and Michael!

We even made new friends on the trip! This is Beth and her daughter Nora. (Rikki Leigh's sister-in-law and neice)

Documenting our Fudpuckers experience!

The GORGEOUS pool area! I could have spent all my time here and been perfectly happy!

We had a great time and look forward to another opening in the rental schedule! :)

Now, Nicky's only beach experiences up until this point were Gulf Shores, Hilton Head Island and (drum roll, please!) HOLLY BEACH! Needless to say, he was pretty taken aback by how beautiful the "Emerald Coast" is. I think I might be able to make a beach bum out of him after all...

The Lion King on Broadway

This past Saturday night, Nicky and I celebrated our two-year wedding anniversary. It's really not until April 10, but when I found out the Lion King on Broadway was coming to New Orleans, I knew that was how I wanted to celebrate!

We kicked off the evening with dinner at Crazy Johnnie's Steakhouse in Metairie. We both had heard great things about this restaurant, so we were anxious to try it out. For an appetizer, we ordered Crawfish Johnnie - this was a crawfish and mushroom sauce over croutons - AMAZING! Then, we both ordered an 8 oz. filet mignon. They were both cooked perfectly, but we felt that the steak needed a little more salt and pepper. Also, the steak appeared to have been pre-cooked because it was not very juicy. The steak was served with Crazy Potatoes, and those were off the chain! For dessert, we just had to try bread pudding - we get this pretty much everywhere we go...it's like a contest to see who does it best. Unfortunately, we were a little disappointed with this too. It had obviously been microwaved and was very dry. All in all, we're glad we tried it out, and we would definitely go back. However, we would order something besides steak.

And then it was SHOW TIME!!! This was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. The entire performance was out of this world. I had chills the whole time and tears in my eyes every time they performed "The Circle of Life". The animals were magnificent, and I was blown away every time they came on stage...my favorites were the giraffes and elephants. 

If you ever get a chance to go, GO! I cannot wait to go back to another play...Wicked will be there in May 2013...I'm so there!

Bayou Tranquille

A couple of weekends ago, Nicky and I were invited to our friend's camp on Bayou Tranquille (Lake Verret). Matt and Nicky have been the best of friends since freshman year of high school, and we love heading down to their camp for a relaxing weekend every once in a while...

The Webers have a new sign to hang up at their camp!

No task is ever as simple as it seems, but Nicky is always eager to help.

One of my favorite things to do out here is ride down the canal and look at the beautiful camps.

It doesn't get any better than this!

Safety First!

We finished off Saturday night with a crawfish boil...I just love living in South Louisiana!

Our Adventures in Colorado

Last month, Nicky and I took a trip to Colorado to visit our friends, Pac and Cori. We also met up with another couple from Houston, Joe and Katie. This trip would mark a lot of "firsts" for me. First time flying and first time skiing. As a matter of fact, this was Nicky's first time skiing, as well.

I have to admit, I was pretty terrified to embark on both of these new challenges...especially flying. I'm ashamed to admit that I nearly had an anxiety attack on the way to the airport. Nicky and I barely spoke a word as I focused on my breathing and had a few conversations with Jesus. Even though I've now officially flewn twice, the thought of it still makes me a little nervous. However, the views from the sky were absolutely stunning. And the best part about flying is that it took 2.5 hours to fly to Denver when it would have taken about 26 hours to drive...yuck!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the photos from our adventures in Colorado!

View from above the clouds!

Together, at last!

Leading the way as we embark on our hike of Devil's Backbone!

The awesome view from "The Keyhole"

Coming into the Rockies...wow!

1. We were pretty impressed with our packing skills.
2. This is me pretending to help Nicky, but I really wasn't...

This is what I saw when I opened the curtains to our bedroom!

The Gang: Joe, Katie, John (Pac), Cori, Nicky, Me

This is a little creek near one of the restaurants where we ate...I just thought it was too pretty not to capture on camera.

The Ladies Table: Cori, Me, Katie

The Guys Table: Nicky, John, Joe
The are very proud of the mustaches they each grew for the trip...

Eating at this restaurant was one of the highlights of the trip. It was called Mimi's Pies, and it was amazing!

This was the apple pie with vanilla ice cream...unbelievable!

A trip with these folks would not be complete without a little game time...Cranium Turbo, anyone?

This was Katie's re-enactment of Nicky's collision with a tree branch...I felt like I was there, Katie!

This was hands-down one of the best trips I've ever taken. New experiences in a new environment made for quite an amazing time. Although we enjoyed our time in the snow-covered mountains, I think we all decided that next year's vacation should be something a little more tropical...