To see Cali, Cali.
It's official. After being in Branson for a couple of months now, we've booked our first trip back to Thousand Oaks since we left. We get in on Thursday night, March 12th, and stay through the weekend to celebrate Brandon's big 3-0. If you are in town that weekend, let's make sure to meet up...we can't wait to see everyone!
So, our social calendar outside of Branson is starting to shape up. We hope through these trips we get to see most of you!
A week from tomorrow, we leave for San Diego and then Tahoe! Can't wait!!! We fly to San Diego on Friday, February 13th and stay through Monday morning. Then we fly up to Tahoe for a week of skiing and casinos.
A month later, California!
A month or so after that, Vegas baby! We'll be there the weekend of April 25-26th, celebrating another big birthday.
After that, it's nice and warm here in Branson and the lake will be calling, so it will be your turn to come out here.
On another note, if you haven't seen some of the first of many publications on our new Special Events division, here's some light reading material...
http://www.bransoncourier.com/issue-56/personal_special_event_Branson_Toruism_Center-1109.html
Enjoy!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wintery mix
Apparently, a 'wintery mix' is when it snows and rains and sleets and freezing rains all kind of at the same time, so it is very pretty to look at (from inside), but it's wet to walk in, slippery to drive in, and it freezes trees so that they fall down and knock out the power. We've been getting a 'wintery mix' since last night...there are about 5 people in the office today including ourselves, and we saw about 3 cars on the road on our way to work today. If we lived any further away, it would have been a snow day.
However, our personal training sessions were cancelled and the gym was closed last night due to weather, and will be again tonight, so there is at least some benefit to this weather! :)
Hope you all are nice and warm.
However, our personal training sessions were cancelled and the gym was closed last night due to weather, and will be again tonight, so there is at least some benefit to this weather! :)
Hope you all are nice and warm.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Our first visitor!
Well, we've had our first official visitor to Branson. My mom came to visit last weekend. She flew Allegiant Air out of Phoenix for $108 ROUND TRIP. If you find the right dates, you can find flights between Springfield (30 mins away) and Phoenix or Las Vegas for as low as $29 each way. They have some rigid schedules, but even if you don't time it right, tickets should be available for less than $200 round trip.
We found downtown Springfield, which is where the Missouri Univ. campus is...it was a breath of fresh air. One way streets, lofts, little cafes and stuff...it was like a real city. In Branson, we spent a lot of time at the Landing, which is where all of the new restaurants and shopping are. It's a pretty cool place with a lot of good options for dinner and drinks. Saturday night we went to Ernie Bigg's dueling piano bar, which was a lot of fun. Very loud, and a lot of foul language, which was also refreshing.
We found downtown Springfield, which is where the Missouri Univ. campus is...it was a breath of fresh air. One way streets, lofts, little cafes and stuff...it was like a real city. In Branson, we spent a lot of time at the Landing, which is where all of the new restaurants and shopping are. It's a pretty cool place with a lot of good options for dinner and drinks. Saturday night we went to Ernie Bigg's dueling piano bar, which was a lot of fun. Very loud, and a lot of foul language, which was also refreshing.
The weather was nice while she was here...it was in the high 40's - 50's during the days, which is not bad for January. Then it cooled down on Tuesday, and today it's back up in the 60's.
By our calculations, there are plenty of open weekends for trips to Branson, and if you are creative with Allegiant Air, you can get here pretty cheap.
We're also trying to look at some dates to head back west, either to California or Vegas or both...we'll keep you posted!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Too cold for comfort
Here's today's update...I think this about sums it up.
They say its the coldest weather in 5 years. It's supposed to be back up into the mid-high 50's by this weekend, but for now, it's colder than a witch's boobie. And Kyra doesn't seem to mind or care that I mind, because she wants to go outside about every hour on the hour. But, its nothing hot cocoa and Baileys can't fix.
While we're at it with pictures, here's one of the pub we went to last weekend and the band we saw...they were actually very good. This picture was taken during a little diddy called "Margaritaville."
They say its the coldest weather in 5 years. It's supposed to be back up into the mid-high 50's by this weekend, but for now, it's colder than a witch's boobie. And Kyra doesn't seem to mind or care that I mind, because she wants to go outside about every hour on the hour. But, its nothing hot cocoa and Baileys can't fix.
While we're at it with pictures, here's one of the pub we went to last weekend and the band we saw...they were actually very good. This picture was taken during a little diddy called "Margaritaville."
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Happy New Year!
Hello everyone. I know it's been a couple of weeks since we've added anything to our blog...an uneventful couple of weeks, but here's a quick update of what's going on in Branson.
Last we wrote, we were in Arizona for the holidays and headed back to Branson for New Year's. Well, we both got sick, and so we spent most of New Year's Eve sipping cold medicine in place of champagne and watching Ryan Seachrest and that other annoying blonde chick in Times Square. It technically counts as a New Year's Eve in a new city, which we try to do every year, but it was very low key. However, we did manage to re-engage the golden triangle of Newbury Park over web-cam to celebrate the Central Time countdown. If you don't have a web-cam, you should get one...it is very easy to connect over gmail or skype. If you do have one, look us up. You should see how long my mullet is getting! :)
It was a busy week when we got back. We had 5 working days before my dad and Lianne left for their month-long vacation to the Caribbean, and there was a lot to do before they left (hoping we can follow in their footsteps someday). Now that they are gone, it's just the two of us hanging out. There are a lot of younger people in our office...most (all) of them have kids, so we spend a lot of time with Kyra.
In other news, there is a college football bowl pool that we get involved with each year...some of you are in it this year. If you are, you already know that Stephanie is sitting in 1st place with one game left, and it is hilarious. She said she took a new strategy this year...each year the entry form lists 27 bowl games, the teams playing in each, and these little numbers next to them (spreads). Stephanie attributes her success this year to finally understanding what those numbers mean. And she has really gotten into it. I came home from work two nights ago to find her sitting on the couch with a beer watching a game. I asked how the game was going and her response was "it's all tied up but Ohio State is dominating at the line of scrimmage and really moving the chains." Tomorrow's game determines if she takes first place by herself or has to split the pot with a few people...we tried discussing hedging the bet today, but Stephanie doesn't like the idea of 'betting against herself' and potentially affecting the outcome of the game. So...GO OKLAHOMA! We need everyone's "votes" (as she calls them).
Other than that, work is still good. We are still settling in...I think that will be a fairly long process, but we're still having fun so far. It is still cold, although the weather changes a lot...last Saturday it was 73 degrees, and then on Sunday the high was 30. We are looking forward to an upcoming trip to San Diego and Tahoe with some of you in February. And after that, it should start warming up enough out here to have VISITORS. Getting here means flying into Springfield, which generally means American, United, or Delta, none of which have direct or cheap flights. But, here's a tip: From AZ or California, if you can cheaply/easily get to Vegas, check out direct non-stop flights from Vegas to Springfield on Allegiant Air. You can find round trip tickets for $150-200 (by the way, the fact that there are cheap, direct flights between here and Vegas also means that we're looking forward to meeting in the middle sometimes too).
That's pretty much what's going on with us. We miss you all very much...post a comment or send us a note letting us know how you are doing!
Last we wrote, we were in Arizona for the holidays and headed back to Branson for New Year's. Well, we both got sick, and so we spent most of New Year's Eve sipping cold medicine in place of champagne and watching Ryan Seachrest and that other annoying blonde chick in Times Square. It technically counts as a New Year's Eve in a new city, which we try to do every year, but it was very low key. However, we did manage to re-engage the golden triangle of Newbury Park over web-cam to celebrate the Central Time countdown. If you don't have a web-cam, you should get one...it is very easy to connect over gmail or skype. If you do have one, look us up. You should see how long my mullet is getting! :)
It was a busy week when we got back. We had 5 working days before my dad and Lianne left for their month-long vacation to the Caribbean, and there was a lot to do before they left (hoping we can follow in their footsteps someday). Now that they are gone, it's just the two of us hanging out. There are a lot of younger people in our office...most (all) of them have kids, so we spend a lot of time with Kyra.
In other news, there is a college football bowl pool that we get involved with each year...some of you are in it this year. If you are, you already know that Stephanie is sitting in 1st place with one game left, and it is hilarious. She said she took a new strategy this year...each year the entry form lists 27 bowl games, the teams playing in each, and these little numbers next to them (spreads). Stephanie attributes her success this year to finally understanding what those numbers mean. And she has really gotten into it. I came home from work two nights ago to find her sitting on the couch with a beer watching a game. I asked how the game was going and her response was "it's all tied up but Ohio State is dominating at the line of scrimmage and really moving the chains." Tomorrow's game determines if she takes first place by herself or has to split the pot with a few people...we tried discussing hedging the bet today, but Stephanie doesn't like the idea of 'betting against herself' and potentially affecting the outcome of the game. So...GO OKLAHOMA! We need everyone's "votes" (as she calls them).
Other than that, work is still good. We are still settling in...I think that will be a fairly long process, but we're still having fun so far. It is still cold, although the weather changes a lot...last Saturday it was 73 degrees, and then on Sunday the high was 30. We are looking forward to an upcoming trip to San Diego and Tahoe with some of you in February. And after that, it should start warming up enough out here to have VISITORS. Getting here means flying into Springfield, which generally means American, United, or Delta, none of which have direct or cheap flights. But, here's a tip: From AZ or California, if you can cheaply/easily get to Vegas, check out direct non-stop flights from Vegas to Springfield on Allegiant Air. You can find round trip tickets for $150-200 (by the way, the fact that there are cheap, direct flights between here and Vegas also means that we're looking forward to meeting in the middle sometimes too).
That's pretty much what's going on with us. We miss you all very much...post a comment or send us a note letting us know how you are doing!
Friday, December 26, 2008
Home for the Holidays
After only 2 1/2 weeks in Branson, we managed to escape to Phoenix for the holidays and avoid sub-zero temperatures while we were gone. It is back up to 65 degrees in Branson now, and Phoenix has dipped to 50 today, so we're ready to return tomorrow. We must be telling everyone how cold it is there, because almost all of our Christmas gifts were warm-themed. We got sweatshirts and jackets, an electric blanket, and Stephanie got almost an entire outfit that you can microwave to keep warm for 30 minutes. Along with RockBand 2, that should carry us through the winter.
We'll be getting back to Branson just in time for New Years. We try to spend New Years in a different city each year, and this year will be another first. We haven't yet decided which New Year's Eve show we're going to attend, but Paul Revere & the Raiders is a strong contender (which would mark our first Branson show experience since we became locals). No matter what we do, we'll surely end up with some blog-worthy stories to share.
We hope you all had a very happy [enter holiday affiliation here] and we wish everyone a very happy new year. We hope that 2009 brings everyone happiness, peace, and trips to Branson!!!
We'll be getting back to Branson just in time for New Years. We try to spend New Years in a different city each year, and this year will be another first. We haven't yet decided which New Year's Eve show we're going to attend, but Paul Revere & the Raiders is a strong contender (which would mark our first Branson show experience since we became locals). No matter what we do, we'll surely end up with some blog-worthy stories to share.
We hope you all had a very happy [enter holiday affiliation here] and we wish everyone a very happy new year. We hope that 2009 brings everyone happiness, peace, and trips to Branson!!!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Star sightings
It's only been about a week and we've already had our fair share of star sightings here in Branson. Stephanie met Bill Medley (you know...the Righteous Brothers..."you've lost that lovin' feelin'"...the most played song in the history of American radio...he's the tall one). FYI, Bill will be performing at the Thousand Oaks Civic Center in January, but if you want to see him, you should see him in Branson (we can get way cheaper tickets).
I got to hang out with Tony Orlando, the author of "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree" and spokesperson for NutriSystem. He's a really, really nice guy.
There have been a few others coming into the office as well. Still no Andy Williams, but it's only been a week. We'll keep you posted.
I got to hang out with Tony Orlando, the author of "Tie A Yellow Ribbon 'Round The Ole Oak Tree" and spokesperson for NutriSystem. He's a really, really nice guy.
There have been a few others coming into the office as well. Still no Andy Williams, but it's only been a week. We'll keep you posted.
Monday, December 8, 2008
One week down
Well, we've rounded out week one here in Branson. We got in about this time last Monday...not sure exactly what the temperature was, but it was well below freezing cold.
We went straight to work on Tuesday morning and spent the first couple of days meeting people and getting situated. Dinners out the first couple of nights were pretty 'normal' experiences...the scene, food, and margaritas at Chili's are pretty much the same as the one in Newbury Park, so that was nice. However, we also had our first lunch at a Wal-Mart (and not just any Wal-Mart...until a few weeks ago, this was the largest Wal-Mart on Earth!). Did some grocery shopping there too, but still haven't found the tofu taco meat section.
Our stuff finally showed up on Saturday morning, so we spent the entire weekend unpacking and arranging...nice to have our stuff, though. Between working, happy hours, unpacking, and must see TV, we haven't had too much time to explore or do much else yet.
We have a lot to do both at the house and at work over the next couple of weeks before we head back to Arizona for Christmas. We're thinking about all of you every day and hope you are all doing well.
Love, Brian and Stephanie
We went straight to work on Tuesday morning and spent the first couple of days meeting people and getting situated. Dinners out the first couple of nights were pretty 'normal' experiences...the scene, food, and margaritas at Chili's are pretty much the same as the one in Newbury Park, so that was nice. However, we also had our first lunch at a Wal-Mart (and not just any Wal-Mart...until a few weeks ago, this was the largest Wal-Mart on Earth!). Did some grocery shopping there too, but still haven't found the tofu taco meat section.
Our stuff finally showed up on Saturday morning, so we spent the entire weekend unpacking and arranging...nice to have our stuff, though. Between working, happy hours, unpacking, and must see TV, we haven't had too much time to explore or do much else yet.
We have a lot to do both at the house and at work over the next couple of weeks before we head back to Arizona for Christmas. We're thinking about all of you every day and hope you are all doing well.
Love, Brian and Stephanie
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