Sippi Lovin'

We departed from Hattiesburg, MS early Friday morning and traveled due south to Gulfport & Biloxi, MS where we basked in the sun along the Gulf of Mexico & toured the wreckage leftover from Hurricane Katrina. Michelle is pictured above sifting through treasures washed up along the beach.


From Gulfport, we took I-10 to New Orleans, stopping briefly in Slidell, LA for dinner at the Southside Cafe. The special that night was fresh catfish (breaded & fried to a golden brown), a leafy house salad, and New Orleans Creole-style "red" jambalaya...tasty! Hotels were difficult to come by due to the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina, but we happened across a Days Inn on the outskirts of New Orleans and spent the night there. Saturday morning, we got up, ate breakfast, & drove the rest of the way to the French Quarter. Once there, we walked the streets, shopped, and watched the barges come and go on the river. The photo above was taken along Royal Street in the French Quarter. Lunch was served at the Please U Cafe in downtown New Orleans and the gyros received high marks all around. Our last stop before embarking on the two-hour trip home was along Lake Pontchartrain, where the hurricane-protection levees (built to protect against only a Category 3 hurricane) failed to effectively gaurd against Katrina's wrath.

Florian & I snuck into the stadium & climbed to the top of the west bleachers yesterday afternoon for a glimpse of the best view in town.

Welcome to Quizno's, how may I help you?

While Jude was still nestled in bed (with sugar plums dancing in his head), the Blenker clan was hard at work prepping Quizno's for the day's work.

I think the picture speaks for itself...Michelle was a very good girl this year!

The Blenkers are flying into Jackson, MS this afternoon after a 2-stop, 7 hour epic journey from Rochester, MN. They will be spending 10 days with us over the holidays and we're thrilled to have them. The photograph above is of Barb & Florian clean the rain gutters in late August. Michelle and I were on our "honeymoon" at the time, otherwise I can assure you that it would have been the two of us out there. I volunteered to drive the Bobcat for Florian, but he politely declined my gesture, stating that he was enjoying life and in no hurry to go.

And this...this is the booty. The memorabilia shown above are a sampling of Florian's Minneapolis Moline collection. Barb informed us that he is bringing a photograph of a Minneapolis Moline tractor in order to educate the locals, as well as increase the likelihood of adding to his collection.

I have taken to walking & studying for exams over the years...here are a few photographs of my final exam route. The picture featured above was taken just prior to sunset one block north of our apartment. Unfortunately, this tree has since been cut down as the land is now under development. Michelle and I are unaware of what monstrosity will take its place, but it's difficult to imagine anything more picturesque than this landscape.

These tracks are also prominently featured along the aforementioned final exam route. Today, Hattiesburg is commonly referred to as the "Hub City" because it provides South Mississippi with ample business opportunities, educational and medical institutions, hospitals as well as clinics, and an army training base. The town got its start; however, as a railroad town located in the dense yellow-pine forests of South Mississippi. Tracks such as the ones pictured above brought the lumber companies, a booming economy, and jobs to those residing in the area.

Ooohhh...that looks good doesn't it! Michelle and I spent 4 hours last Tuesday evening baking cookies & other assorted Christmas treats for her employees. Fortunately, we had enough foresight to double each recipe and there are plenty of leftovers for late-night snacking.

This is a Henningsgaard tradition...snapping pictures of the Fam frosting or sprinkling Christmas cookies and because Michelle is now a Henningsgaard, I thought we would include this one.

Today I have time...time to post, time to surf, time to read, time to sleep, time to daydream, time to run, and time to eat. Final exam week drew to a close last Friday evening and since then, I have had to carefully divide my time between the bed and Christmas shopping. Unfortunately, this brief hiatus away from academia is about to come to a screeching halt as I must get back to my Thesis defense paper. I finished analyzing the data three weeks ago, but haven't had the time to begin writing until now. I would very much like to defend early next semester & move on.

In other news, I intend to post a picture or two each day until the next semester begins. Pictures are less ambitious than posts and we have quite a few that I think y'all might enjoy.