Weekend of Family Football

Last weekend, Matt and I went to visit Corey and Cissie in Ohio. We flew in on Thursday night at 10pm. Got to their apartment and stayed up for a while talking.
On Friday, Cissie showed Matt and I around the town while Corey practied. We went to the ProShop to get some Bengals gear for Sunday's game. We ate lunch at Panera Bread and then Cissie took us to a nice little park. I was so excited to see trees turing colors, rather than boring palm trees. We were embracing the cool weather. We all met up with Corey and headed to the pumpkin patch. Matt and Corey were bummed after they realized we were not going to actually be cutting the pumpkins from the ground. The pumpkin patch was actually a little Fall Festival, so there were all kinds of fun fall things to look at. We picked out our pumpkins and went on our merry little way. After that, we headed to the mall because Matt and I wanted to make Corey and Cissie our pumpkin bread from William's Sonoma. While at the mall, Cissie and I were on a hunt for jackets. I found my houndstooth jacket for the Alabama vs. Auburn game that I will be heading to in November. I was so happy. While at the mall, Corey and Cissie bought Dancing with the Stars for the Wii (best game ever...). We decided to get Chick Fil A and take it home so we could start carving our pumpkins and Dance with the Stars.
At first, Cissie and I were more excited to carve the pumpkins than the boys, but that changed after Corey brought out the power tools. That got them pumped up!! Of course, we had to clean all the junk out of the inside. We even cooked the pumpkin seeds, very yummy by the way. Then came the stencils, and I think Cissie and I were done at that point. We sat on the couch and watched while they carved their hearts out. Then came the funniest part of the night...Matt and Corey dancing on the Wii. Priceless!!!

Cissie and I in the ProShop!! Go Bengals!!! Matt and I in the Park...look at the pretty colors!Cissie and I with the scarecrows...before the staff made fun of us!Cissie and Matt making the pumpkin breadThis is Me and Matt's pumpkinMatt and Corey dancing to "Independent Women"
Saturday, Matt and I drove to Columbus to watch his brother Daniel play. The whole clan was there. The in-laws showed us around the campus which was absoutely beautiful! The game started and it was an exciting one. It was homecoming which made the atmosphere even more fun. Daniel was named the Player of the Week with 5 solo tackles, 9 assists, a forced and recovered fumble!! Way to go Danny!!! After the game, which was nice and cold, we all had dinner together. I got to see the end of the BAMA game (thanks for the update Cis) which made me very happy. After dinner, Matt and I drove back to Cincinatti. The family after Daniel's game!
Sunday morning, we woke up to get ready to go to Corey's game. Unfortunately, the Bengals lost again, but we had a great time. It was my first Pro game, so I was excited to be there. After the game, we all had dinner at Longhorn. Dinner with the Lynch crew is always fun. Then it was time to head back to the apartment where we got to watch Daniel, Jared, Donna, Kevin, and Nathaniel dance on the Wii. Once again, Priceless! Everyone said good night, and off to bed it was.Matt and I at the Bengal's GameMatt and I in the stadium after the game
Monday, Cissie took us around town again to show us parts we didn't get to see. Our plane didn't leave until 7pm, so we had the whole day to spend with her. We had lunch at an amazing little restaraunt and then walked around the cute little area of town with all kinds of little shops. We went to another park which was as pretty, if not prettier than the other one she took us to. After all that, we went to the stadium to meet up with Corey for the Couples Bible Study that they have on Monday afternoons. That was a blast. Nice little group they have there. A dream came true...I met Simeon Castille (Alabama Football Royalty for those of you who don't know...of course, I am a little obsessed with Bama, so maybe it was just me who got that excited) and his beautiful wife, Haley. After that, we headed to the airport and had to go home.

Me and Simeon Castille at Bible Study!
It was a great weekend to get away. It was also really good to spend some time with Corey and Cissie. Love you guys!!!

Sick, Sick, Sick

I am officially tired of having this cold...I think our worship team has been passing it around for about the past 2 months. I have gotten it twice already and this makes time number 3. I am sitting at work watching the clock slowly move...only 35 more minutes. It seems like a lifetime away. I have used a whole box of tissues and I am on the second box of the day. My eyes are so bloodshot that they hurt. The worst part about it is I have plans to go out tonight with some girls. I can't cancel because the whole reason we are going is to hang out with a buddy who has been gone to college for a couple of months. She is home until Sunday, but tonight is the only time I will get to spend any time with her. I am going to go home, take a nap, shower and hopefully feel good enough to go to Carabbas. Besides, who wants to miss out on a yummy dinner like that. Matt has a softball game tonight!! I will be there after my dinner...thank God it is Friday!!! Football tomorrow and PRAISE JESUS on Sunday! Gotta love it!

Happy Birthday Jeanne

Happy Birthday to my boss, Jeanne. My co-worker, Jen, and I decided we wanted to plan a surprise party for our wonderful boss. Jeanne is always doing things for others, and we figured it was time that she had something done for her. The planning began about 3 weeks ago...by the way, Evite.com is the best website ever to keep things a secret, or to use invitations for anything at all. We invited all of the committees and board members of the Christian Chamber.
Today, she had a meeting scheduled at 11am and everyone was showing up around 12 to the meeting room downstairs in our office. We pulled her out of the meeting and told her we wanted to take her to lunch. We got her downstairs, and when the elevator opened, about 40 of her closest friends were standing there singing "Happy Birthday"!!! It was a perfect surprise. A special thanks to Lea McQuinn for making another fabulous cake!! Jeanne, you are wonderful! We love you and appreciate all that you do!!

THIS IS ALABAMA FOOTBALL

The Crimson Tide jumped to No. 2 in the Associated Press ranking on the strength of a dominating 41-30 victory over Georgia on national television on Saturday night. The No. 2 ranking represents the highest ranking for Alabama since 1993, when the Crimson Tide opened the season at No. 2 and stayed there for seven weeks before a 17-17 tie with Tennessee in Bir­mingham dropped the Tide to No. 4 (Montgomery Advertiser)
So this has been an awesome football for BAMA fans. Even though I am so far away from all of the excitement, I am a true Alabama fan and watch every single game that is on TV. I am so proud of our team. They have had such a hard time these past few years, and we are finally becoming the team we used to be known for. ROLL TIDE!!! These are my BAMA cupcakes for GAMEDAY!

Siesta Key

I am starting to blog all of my latest happenings...this will be the first of about 4 I think.

On September 12-13, Matt and I went to Siesta Key with his mom and dad, and our Gilliam friends from church. The surf was really good, so the boys wanted to go up. I just wanted to tan. We got there around 7pm on Friday and Matt went straight to surf! Afterwards, we all had dinner at a pizza place right across from our hotel.
On Saturday, we surfed all day long. I was having a really hard time getting up at first because the waves were coming one after the other. I was getting beat up. I decided I would take a break, and go hang by the pool. That is always relaxing.
At the end of the day, I decided to give surfing another chance. I got up on my knees several times. I was so happy about that, I didn't even care if I ever got on my feet. After slamming my head into the rocky bottom, sunburn, getting hit in the forehead by my surfboard, and having millions of no-see-um bites, I had a great time. Siesta Key is a favorite place for Matt and I. It is only about an hour away and right on the beach.

Matt & I Have Already Been Married for a YEAR!!!

On Monday, September 8th, Matt and I celbrated our 1 year wedding anniversary. I can't believe that the time has gone by so fast. We have made so many memories, made lots of mistakes, and learned so many new things together. Matt is such an amazing man and I fall more and more in love with him everyday.
I got off of work at 5 and was rushing to get home and take a shower because Matt told me we had to leave the house at 6:30. When I walked in the front door, the lights were low and he had music playing on his computer, our wedding cake's top surrounded by roses, 2 cards, and a long stem rose laying over our wedding album sitting on the kitchen table. There were 12 roses around the cake and they represented how many months we had been married. The long stemmed rose represented the next year to come. He gave me one really goofy card and then one really sweet card. I hurried to get in the shower. I was finally ready at 6:25 and he was anxious to give me my gift. He pulled a mahogany box out of his back pocket and I knew exactly where that box came from...Dunkin's Diamonds. When I opened it up, there was a diamond pendant inside it. The significance behind this is as follows. When I went home in October of 2007 to visit my mom, the diamond in my engagement ring fell out. We had only been married for a month. We couldn't find it, so I had to come back to Florida missing a diamond. My mom found it 2 weeks later and gave it back to me. Thank God our insurance covered my ring, so I already had the diamond replaced, so now I had 2 diamonds. I really wanted my original diamond. He had my 1st diamond put into a pendant to match my engagement ring. When I get a really good picture of it, I will post it.
Anyways, back to our anniversary. He took me to Tokyo Bay in Bonita Springs which is my favorite place EVER!!! It is a Japanese Steakhouse.
We had a table in a quiet corner all to ourselves. We ordered some edamames, which were the best I have ever had. I even ate a little bit of sushi...still not too big of a fan. Our meal was the BOMB!!!

I ordered the Steak and Shrimp combo from the grill and Matt ordered the
Steak and the
Chicken combo.






We were stuffed by the time we left. After dinner, we headed back home and cut our cake. It was still as good as it was on our wedding day!! Great Job Aunt Lea. After that...well, you know! Then we watched The Hills and called it a night. It was such a wonderful night. We are usually so busy that it is hard to find time to just be together. I love you Matty with all my heart. I can't wait for many more years with you baby!!!

Locks of Love

Sooo...I chopped my hair off. It is so stinkin hot in Florida and my hair was WAAAAY to long. I decided to go short for the first time in a long time. I went to a place called Studio RK (which I love by the way) where a girl named Rachel cut my hair. She asked how much I wanted cut, and I pointed to right at my shoulder. She asked if I would be interested in giving it to Locks of Love...I really didn't think I had that much hair to cut off. She pulled my hair back into a ponytail, and CUT THE WHOLE THING OFF. I was a little shocked at first, but then got really excited. She cut off 10.5 inches of hair. I love the new cut and it is way cooler. It will definitely be easier to fix.