4 Years

December 28th marked our four year wedding anniversary. I know we are so lucky and blessed to have each other and love each other ten times more (which I never even thought possible) than when we said our "I dos". I hope to look back and see that our love has grown even more on our 10 year anniversary. And 20. And 50...
 
For our anniversary we celebrated with dinner out to Bonefish Grill. We had never been there before but absolutely loved it. (If you go there, make sure to order the Bang Bang Shrimp. Yum!) Bonefish Grill has the fancy feel without the fancy price. Who could ask for more? :) 

Happy 4th Anniversary Mathew! It's been a wonderful four years, and here's to many, many more!

 

 <zombie love>

Nawlans Y'all!

<Part 2>

The next couple days in New Orleans were filled with walking around the city, tours, and eating, eating, eating. I felt like I was back in Europe because of the architecture and all the history which was awesome!

The first tour we took was a swamp tour which was initiated by me. I love that my family agreed to appease me and my strange love for alligators. The swamp tour was a lot of fun, but unfortunately the alligators were already hibernating. We saw a lot of birds, a family of nutra-rats, and thank goodness no snakes. I was super bummed as the tour continued and there were no signs of any gators. Luckily, our tour guide brought along his pet alligator Brian, AND he let us hold him! Brian will be returned to the swamp when he gets a little older and bigger. 

 <with my sissy before our tour>

 <our awesome tour guide who grew up in Louisiana and around the swamp>

Isn't he cute? No? OK, maybe it's just me, but I was in heaven. I was so nervous and excited to hold him and literally shook with excitement the rest of the tour. I want a pet alligator now. I wonder if Kansas allows pet alligators...

The next day we took a city tour which included the French Quarter, Garden District, a cemetery and some Katrina damage including the ninth ward. 

 <St. Louis Cathedral - sorry for the tour bus glare>

 <We went shopping here later>

 <The Manning's house where Peyton and Eli grew up>

<I call this the K-State house>

The tour was filled with information and amazing sights. It was also shocking to see all the Katrina damage with my own eyes.

Overall it was an amazing and fun family get away!

 <Trolley Ride>

 <Cafe Du Monde>

Nawlans Y'all!

<Part 1>

The week before Christmas we took a little road trip with my family down to, you guessed it Nawlans or New Orleans for all you Northerners (myself included). On the way there, we stopped in Memphis and toured Graceland.

Everyone enjoyed the tour and embraced the South as we encountered heavy Southern dialects, fried food, the abundance of trees and greenery, and most of all the weather that got warmer and warmer as we approached our destination. Mathew, my Southern boy, felt right at home. ;) As much as I joked and threw in some twang along the drive, I actually remembered how much I love the South. It actually made me want to move back. Just a little bit though.

As we encountered more and more swamp land, we got more and more excited. After having to go around the block and maneuver ourselves around a closed off Bourbon Street. ("Is this, like normal?!") and one way roads, we arrived at our our historical and beautiful hotel, The Inn on Bourbon Street.  

After settling into our rooms overlooking the pool and courtyard, we walked down the middle of Bourbon Street and around the corner to The Gumbo Shop for dinner. They had delicious fruit daiquiris and gumbo, several types of each. After that, we walked around a little bit, were yelled at by strippers (not even joking) and people trying to get us to come into bars. It was quite the experience. We finally decided to stop in a little bar that had a band playing and got a couple drinks to end the night.

<my dad and sister doing a little dancing>

We went to bed at a somewhat decent hour since we were exhausted from driving all day (how does that happen by the way?) and knew that the next few days would be busy doing touristy things like going on a swamp tour, holding an alligator, eating amazing Cajun food, and seeing more of this historical and exciting city.

Merry Christmas!

Love, 

The Owens Family

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Why hello blog world. It's definitely been awhile. The past few months have been filled with a new roomie (my bro-in-law), holidays, concerts, birthdays, weddings, work, and school, school, school. This week I will wrap up my final semester of grad school and will have a life again. Cue the Hallelujah chorus. Don't get me wrong - I'm very proud of this (almost) accomplishment. But it's been a lot of work and reading and paper filled weekends and evenings.

This weekend I decided to procrastinate take some time to prepare my home for the Christmas season. I still have another paper to write, so I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

 I had helpers...

Beagle ornament (Gertie has one too of course)

 our first ornament <3

 Giddy, Mat, Josh, me, Gertie

love this Braves nutcracker

 and can't forget the nativity set!

Happy decorating, Christmas shopping, and holiday baking. And in all the fuss and busyness and excitement, remember that Jesus is the reason for the season!