So Proud Of My Brother

My 3rd trip to Alabama in 3 weeks was for my brother's college graduation. He graduated from the University of Alabama in the Computer Science College summa cum laude (however you spell it). I am so proud of you Jason!! You are awesome!
Not only did I get to see my brother accomplish all that, but I got to see my wonderful Tandi and Ashton! They came in from Louisiana and we all had a blast. I arrived in Birmingham at 12noon on Friday. I was sooo tired. My mom and I went to the house and napped. She had to go to work that night, and I just stayed at the house waiting for Tandi to arrive. The drive from Louisiana is supposed to only be 6 hours, but it took her 12 beacuse those Cajuns didn't know what to do when the snow started falling! When Tandi got there, we ended up going to Books-A-Million so she could e-mail some things and Ashton could play with the train. We met my mom at I-Hop for dinner around 10:30pm. Then it was bed time!
On Friday, we all slept in! Glorious...We all wanted to go out and see the new malls that we haven't been to before. Friday was a day of just hanging out. Friday night, I had dinner with one of my oldest friends, Morgan Isbell. Morgan and I have known each other since Kindergarten. We met at Logan's Steakhouse. We caught up on life and just had a really nice visit. I really miss her. I met my mom and Tandi at Starbucks for coffee. We hung out until late that night and then realized how early we had to get up the next morning.
Saturday, 5am came way to early. My brother's graduation began at 9am and it was 2 hours north of where my mom lives. We had breakfast at McDonalds on campus just before graduation began. 5 of my friends from high school actually ended up sitting right in front of us which was nice. We got to talk. I forgot how much I missed all those people. After graduation, we all met up with my brother to take pictures. Then we headed to eat lunch together.
I flew out on Sunday afternoon. I had a wonderful trip! I am actually posting this as I am washing clothes and packing for tomorrow's road trip with the Deaton's. I am riding with them to Alabama and spending 9 days there with my mom. Matt is driving up on Monday or Tuesday. We will be heading home on the 28th! Get ready for another blog after that!!

This is my buddy Ashton playing guitar hero...2 years old!

Matt and I Decorated For Christmas FINALLY

So we got home from Tampa on Sunday afternoon around 6:15ish. We went to Target to pick up something to cook for dinner, and also picked up a Christmas tree. It was time to decorate. When we got home, we went into cleaning mode!! After that the tree went up and all the other decorations too. We didn't do any decorating for Christmas last year because things were just to hectic, so I really had a good time with this. Even our kitties pitched in to help us!

Our little family: Gizmo, Matt, Toby, and I
Gizmo looks like he wants to eat the ornament, his tounge is hanging out!

Matt and his John Deere Ornament

Me and my Alabama Snowman Ornament

Kitchen counter decor

Ornaments from Corey and Cissie's wedding...Matt wanted one of each, thanks guys!

My Williams Sonoma snowman hot chocolate set

SEC Championship

My mom and I at Game Day
Peter and my mom bowing down to the "Bear"...greatest coach of ALL TIME

Yes, that is the Heisman Trophy...we touched it!!!

The SEC Championship match-up couldn't have been any better...Alabama vs. Florida. Talk about a house being divided. I am a devout Alabama fan and Matt, being from Florida, is a Gator fan. We knew this make for an interesting weekend. The talk in Florida was that the Crimson Tide shouldn't even show up for the game. We were a double-digit underdog, which ended up being true, but come on people, give the #1 ranked team a chance...after all, we beat Ole Miss and Florida didn't.
Matt and I flew up to Alabama on Friday night where my mom picked us up from the airport. We got to her house, talked, and called it an early night because we had to wake up so early the next morning. On Saturday morning, we woke up at 5am so we could leave the house by 6am. Another early Saturday morning for me. We got on the road, drove until Auburn, and then stopped at a McDonalds in Auburn...yes, we were all dressed (except Matt who sported orange and blue) in our BAMA gear. HaHa!!! We arrived in Atlanta around 10am and tried to figure out where to park. We found a parking lot by the stadium, paid $30 to park (they guaranteed police surveliance which we needed in Atlanta). After we all got our warm clothes on, we went into Fanfare. This had all kinds of games to play and interviews of famous football players from the SEC past and all kinds of other stuff. We walked around and then went outside to see GameDay with my favorite, Kirk Herbstreet. It was fun to see all the signs people made, some funny, and some were downright nasty.

We really wanted to see the pics for the day. Lee Corso put on the Elephant head and of course we all went nuts. It didn't help us in the end though. After GameDay, we went back into FanFare so we could watch the Alabama pep rally and see some interviews. We met Jay Barker (awesome Alabama quarterback from the past) and his wife Sara Evans (country singer), saw Tyrone Prothro (the catch), Chris Leak (Florida quarterback from the past), and other Alabama legends. It was then time to head into the stadium.
The Georgia Dome is absolutely beautiful! We found our seats and waited for kick off. While waiting, we noticed some commotion going on behind us towards where Matt and Pete were sitting. Come to find out, a man had died waiting for kick off. He had a heart attack and they couldn't get his heart to start back. Talk about putting a damper on the game. I am very proud of the way Alabama played. Our defense held Tim Tebow from getting a rushing touchdown which is very rare and we gave them a run for their money. In the 4th quarter, the boys just gave up. I hated how it ended, but had a blast. I am such a bad sport and it showed when we were walking back to the car. We will just say that I yelled at a guy and got him to shut up!! We all met back up at the car and headed home. Peter obviously had some anger in him because we were almost hit by a taxi and he rolled down his window and yelled at the guy. I think the bac driver was a little scared. On our way home, Peter got some bad news. Pastor John Powers, a very close friend of our pastor, died that afternoon. The mood in the car was very quiet! On Sunday, Matt and I woke up to go see my dad and sign some will and testament papers. No, dad is not dying, just wants to have things in order. After that, we went back to my mom's house, packed and had to get on the road to go to the airport. I was nervous that we were going to miss our flight because we got a late start, but because my mom sped up to make sure we got there, we were right on time! Thanks mom!
Another great weekend in Alabama. Thanks mom again for the plane tickets and the football tickets!! Best Christmas gift ever!!!

The End to a 6 Year Streak

This is Bryant Denny Stadium

My Thanksgiving weekend couldn't have gone any better, well except for the Orlando airport, but I will talk about that at the end.
My mom had tickets to the 2008 Iron Bowl (for those of you who don't know what that is, it is the Alabama vs. Auburn game). She didn't have anyone to go with her and since we were supposed to be in Florida for Thanksgiving this year, I wasn't sure I could go. I finally made a decision and she bought me a plane ticket to fly in on Black Friday. My flight left Fort Myers at 6:50am. Yes, it was a very early morning for me. I arrived in Birmingham at 11:40am to see my mom, Aunt Lisa, and cousin Caitlin waiting for me. I was so happy to be home! We stopped at a gas station to pick up a snack and then headed to my granny's house. My granny had her famous dressing ready for us to eat along with ham, green bean casserole, rolls, mac n cheese, and yummy dessert. She saved stuff for me from Thanksgiving so I could still celebrate with them. We hung out there all day, watched football, and chatted. After that, we went to my mom's house where my best friend Cristina came over to visit. It was cut short because we all had to get to bed so we could wake up early to drive up to Tuscaloosa for the game.
Saturday morning, we woke up at 5am..another early morning. We got on the road at about 6:15 and headed north for the game. When we got there, it was foggy and was misting. Kinda annoying, so my mom and I went to the Ferguson Center on Campus for breakfast and to watch ESPN Gameday to see who the picks were for the day. Around 11, we went over to the stadium so we could see "The Walk of Champions". This is where the coaches and players walk into the staduim. This is all I really wanted to see because I have never seen it before. I felt like a little kid all over again. My favorite part of that walk was seeing John Parker Wilson. He is Alabama's Quarterback and he is awesome. After the walk, we went to the Quad to get a quick lunch and then headed into the staduim. The atmosphere was awesome. Amazing game. My throat hurt so bad from all the screaming, but we got to celebrate it at the end. Alabama 36 Auburn 0. SHUTOUT!!!

John Parker Wilson, #14
Inside the stadium before kickoff
Me and My mom celebrating the win over Auburn
My mom, brother, and I after the game

On Sunday, my flight left Birmingham at 12:30. It was delayed about half an hour. I had a connecting flight in Orlando that was supposed to take off at 6:40. I got to the aiport to find out that it had been delayed until 7:15. I was not a happy camper, but I got some lunch and relaxed. I ended up not leaving the Orlando airport until 8:45pm. I was there for 5 and a half hours.
I had an awesome trip. This weekend, I am going to ATL for the SEC Championship. You can expect a nice blog from that. ROLL TIDE!!