MMM... Breakfast for Dinner!

Happy Monday. 8:00 AM came bright and early for yet another test!

I called Dave on my way home from school today after a day full of classes and my weekly Monday test. I was freaking out, just slightly, because it wasn't the easiest test I have taken and some people in my class had already looked at their grades and they were obviously NOT happy. So, my phone call (though a normal one) was more so to see if Dave would check my grade for me - maybe give me a little buffer before I got home and melted at the sight of something I didn't want to see. Good news followed and I jokingly said, "What's for dinner?" To my surprise, Dave responded with, "Breakfast!" So, when I got home this evening, Dave had made me breakfast for dinner! The bacon was 10x's what it was the first six months or so we dated. He had a tendency to cook it a little longer than it should have been cooked and on a little higher of a temp than it should have been cooked, giving way to extra crispy bacon. Three and a half years later, I think I've taught him a little something about cooking bacon! Now, we cook it slow AND with the door open :) and it's just wonderful! Good Job, kid!
MMM! Yummy dinner/breakfast in my tummy! What a perfect way to end a LONG Monday!
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you, Dave! That was very sweet of you!

Tennessee: Fourth Saturday in October

It's that time of year again...

It's the FOURTH SATURDAY in OCTOBER = Time to beat the Vols!

Our weekend started out with an exciting dinner with the Brown clan! We had a wonderful waiter that just made the evening remarkable and funny people to top it off! We, of course, made our usual stop by the Houndstooth to kick off the weekend with one of my favorite guys!Saturday morning we got started bright and early! Tailgating on the Quad proved to be an exciting pass-time while we awaited our 2:30 PM kick off. The grills were going, the people were bustling... but once again, we were waiting on the satellite. Dave's got it down pat, but we had some issues this weekend.

SO, while we waited, a photo-op presented itself! Here is Glenda and Steve! (Sorry you're looking away. Both of the pictures were like this!)

And here is a VERY happy Alabama fan waiting to attend her FIRST game at Bryant-Denny! What a game to make your first :) I'm so happy you experienced one of the greatest games ever!Even though being physically ill by the end was NOT what any of us bargained for! While taking our weekly walk around the Quad, I managed to snag a little girl playing football with the boys and asked her to take a picture of me, my mom and brother. I really wanted her to get Denny Chimes in the background. She did, but I had to play with it a little - EEK! All in all, I'm happy with the picture! It'll do Donkey. It'll do.

Lunch at the Delta Zeta house did not fail us! They even decided to put up tables in the library in order for the Brown family to sit, eat lunch AND watch football all at the same time! How nice of them :) Down the table shot... HA!

AND... from the opposite direction now!

I don't know why, but I've always LOVED taking a big family picture outside the house! For so long it has been my home away from home... I hope it always will be!

Seating in the student section at Bryant-Denny hasn't ever been the easiest situation. Granted, while Greek affiliated, we never really had a problem. Now that we're semi-big kids, though, we don't really know where to go! We found ourselves in the new part of the end zone in the "Athletic" section. The people were nice and there wasn't any drunk college kids flailing cigarettes everywhere - OH WAIT! There was ONE drunk girl, that we thought might buy a first class ticket to the ER for stitches, but she caught her second wind shortly after the game got under way and managed to find her footing! I was just happy there was no blood!

Getting excited waiting on the game!

Dave wanted to get a picture of the fly-over to send to Beau, but I don't know that either of us got a good one! (Hi Beau! Hope all is well! This was as good as we could get!)Here we go! Big Play... We need a BIG play!
Making our way down the field. Need a TD... Need a TD!
Four Field Goals later and TWO blocked field goal we squeak by... 12-10! We were PUMPED!
After about losing my lunch and having to beg Dave to stay for the last two minutes of the game (because he was mad and didn't care anymore), we pulled out another "W" and walked away elated! We're taking bets on another Daniel Moore print, so keep your eyes peeled! My daddy sent me a WONDERFUL picture today that I feel certain will be the new print!

Thank you again to my wonderfully sweet family for another amazing weekend!

ROLL TIDE! See everyone in two weeks!

Pumpkins, Charlie Brown!

Oh Boy! We got to carve pumpkins tonight!

I've been wanting to carve pumpkins for two weeks now and we've never been able to coordinate our schedules in order to be able to do this. So, this afternoon I made it a point to make the time for Dave and me to carve our pumpkins. Dave surprised me with the first pumpkin Sunday afternoon, but per usual, I had a test on Monday. He asked me today if we could carve them and I immediately decided I could make some time this afternoon :) He said he wanted to do his own pumpkin this year, so that meant we needed one more. Let the digging begin!This is Dave, doing the not so dirty work. Just wait, he'll push it towards me in a minute to let me dig the goop out :(This would be my reaction to the inside of Dave's pumpkin... The back of it was starting to rot and the insides were getting slimy! EEWWWWW! I did NOT enjoy scooping that nastiness out!Who am I kidding? I love scooping out the pumpkin! I get them so much cleaner than Dave does :)Um hum... Being goofy while I do the yucky work!Thinking about how to approach his design. Yay for Mickey Mouse! You did such a GREAT job! I am so very proud!Cleaning up the mess he made while carving. Concentrating on my pumpkin :) (**Momma, you would've been gasping! Saying, "Be careful. You're going to cut your hand open!")Happy Halloween! At this point the wind is starting to pick up and it's starting to sprinkle. I was trying to hurry!YAY for Mr. Moon!M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse!
Now, every one needs to go buy some pumpkins, sit down with a friend and carve a funny face! Even if you don't like Halloween, pumpkins will get you in the spirit!

South Carolina: Homecoming Weekend

HAPPY HOMECOMING!
Guess what? I wasn't sitting in a room pomping until my hands were red from dyed paper and I actually kinda missed it :( But, I did however have Friday off from class AND clinical and I spent it just the way I wanted to! Dave and I made our weekly Friday trip to Chic-Fil-A (this time for breakfast instead of lunch) and thought we might as well ride down Sorority Row to see if they had unveiled the Lawn Decorations yet. Per usual, we were too early! While driving we did have an epiphany though: people were ALREADY setting tents up and we did NOT want to miss out on getting our spot - AGAIN! So we headed to Luke's to pick up all of our gadgets and gizmo's and head home to pack up the wagon! On the way over Dave insisted on taking our overly packed wagon through the mud and over curbs... All of which turned out to be not such a good idea. He ended up having an accident in the road right before we got to that big parking lot on campus. Thankfully this guy saw it happen, came running down the sidewalk and helped Dave get everything out of the road! Oh, if only I had had my camera at that point!

We got everything set up, in the appropriate and predetermined space, and quickly decided we needed CHRISTMAS LIGHTS! On our way back, I asked very nicely if Dave would pull me back on the wagon :) What a way to get around! I'm definitely going to keep that mode of transportation in mind when and if I ever need it! Put a little back on that thing and you're good to go :)

Mom and Dad got into town soon after the bonfire was over (we didn't get pictures this year) and Daddy decided he wanted a tour of college life on a Friday during football season! Dave and I happily escorted them up the street for a little taste of the Houndstooth! Once inside Daddy had to have a picture and was soon ready for the next stop... The Piano Bar!

*Oh. While at the Houndstooth, we managed to be blessed with quite an interesting picture of a lady in HOT PINK spandex pants. I'll leave a little to the imagination now, but please believe me when I say, there wasn't much left to the imagination that night! Her friend definitely should've told her that was NOT ok to wear out in public. Lesson of the night: She needed better friends!

Dave and I told Mom and Dad that if they were to experience college life on a weekend, then the only way to be transported downtown was NOT by their lovely personal vehicle, but by calling the LIMO TAXI. On this particular night, however, we had to settle for a Crown Vic. Please do not let this keep you from thinking they missed out on the experience. THEY DID NOT! We met a nice lady named Beverly who picked us up from Houndstooth AND brought us back home... It was her first night.

We quickly realized, once downtown, that Friday night at The Piano Bar definitely equalled standing! This, however, also did not ruin the experience Mom and Dad were about to have, either! We again found an interesting lady, obviously so intoxicated she was determined to dance with anyone, which is not soo bad. The bad thing: Her hair was about the color of a traffic cone and she donned denim from head to toe. Boy oh boy could she move... If you call swaying her hips and two stepping the dance of the new millennium!

If you look right beyond my right arm, you can sort of see her sitting in a chair down below us on the main floor! BLESS HER HEART! (**That was for you, Jana**)

Saturday Morning was VERY busy! We took some pictures before leaving for the Quad just in case the day was going to be as busy as I thought it might end up being. We made it out to the tent all bundled up and ready for the day. I had to quickly undress for mine and Dave's weekly picture and then bundle up again! I'm happy to know that even if he doesn't like taking pictures at that exact point in time, he appreciates them later :) They moved the parade back until eleven o'clock due to the game being so late. This, was both good and bad. Good because Sandye and Mike got to make it. Bad because there were so many more people there.

Game time quickly approached as well as the cold weather! Triple "shirt-ed", triple "tight-ed", two jackets and some gloves, I was all ready to go. Mom had insisted I take a blanket and boy oh boy was I glad I did! Dave had also dress accordingly but I don't think either of us were prepared for the winter feeling we felt by the end of the game. Mr. Gladden was gracious enough to let us sit with him for the evening and how excited I was! The view of the game was wonderful. The people were just as nice as they could be and he even had an extra blanket for me by the start of the second half!

Another "W" in the books and another fun filled weekend with the ones we LOVE! Although I'm not too excited about frigid cold weather, I'm pretty pumped about what it bring with it! Special time with family, college football and wonderful holidays!

Thanks to everyone who made Homecoming so special! Thank you to our wonderful families for spending this special weekend with us! Neither of us could have asked for a better weekend :)

ROLL TIDE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOMMA!

YAY for Momma' s birthday :)

I'm a little late getting some posts up, but better than never, right?

Two weekends ago on OCTOBER 10, was my mom birthday - and it just so happened that it was my Fall Break as well!

The weekend started off with me surprising Momma Wednesday morning. I was supposed to have had my mental health clinical rotation that day at The Harper Center, but it got canceled :) I had ordered Mom this cool birthday present online and had to wait for the UPS man to stop by Dave's office before I could depart for a weekend of fun though! Let me tell you what: I'm not a very patient person when there's a surprise involved and I'm supposed to be headed HOME! Nevertheless, I waited and Dave called the minute the guy found it! I got home, surprised my Mom and we immediately went to our most FAVORITE place: the THRIFT STORE! Mom and I can spend hours in this place and come out with the cutest, most fabulous things you would have NEVER thought about looking for :) Mom made a wonderful dinner that night (Cube Steak with Biscuit and Gravy) and made mention about taking a day trip to Atlanta on Friday. Of course I was game! I didn't sleep much on Thursday night just anticipating our wonderful adventure - because that's exactly what we have when the two of us make such escapades... ADVENTURE, and they're always so much fun :)

Atlanta traffic is definitely NOT something either of us are used to dealing with! Of course, with it being a Friday, we hadn't quite mentally prepared enough for what we were getting into. Once we had made it through IKEA, looked the five mile radius over for a fabric store Mom had heard about, we decided it would probably just suit us best to find another one of our favorite stores: TJMaxx! As we set out to continue our journey, I came to a funny realization. In Atlanta traffic, Mom likes to hold on tight to the steering wheel while I grasp the handle on the door and laugh hysterically. Of the times we've road-tripped to Atlanta by ourselves, this seems to be the natural course of action - and I LOVE IT! This time, I just happened to capture the moment!

In the midst of our grasping and laughing, we saw this lady.... OH MY! She was holding on tighter than we were, talking to her herself. She'd speed up a little then slow down. She'd get over in the middle lane (when someone was obviously coming up behind her) just to have someone else in the lane she was moving over into honk at her. I sure hope she got to where she needed to go that day! We just wanted to get out of her way!

I managed to keep a little surprise from Momma ALL DAY about her birthday dinner at The Montana. Daddy had made plans for some of their good friends to meet and surprise her at dinner. Jack is one of Mom and Dad's very best friends and just happens to celebrate his birthday the day before Mom's! Birthday Buddies they will forever be :)

All of our crew was there as well along with Mom and Dad's other set of good friends: Ray, Paris and sweet Abby Rae! Miss Abby is my birthday buddy! She was born three years ago on my birthday just minutes after I was born! Special... I know! I get pretty excited about it :)

Saturday Morning (Momma's actual birthday) we got up, made her a birthday breakfast and made her eat breakfast in bed with her birthday hat! (I'm trying to stay out of trouble by not posting those pictures - although I think they're just wonderful!)

All in all, I think Mom's birthday weekend was a success! I told Mom that she should be excited about her birthday! She said to her it was just another day, but to me, I know I'm happy to have my mom another year and if she doesn't want to celebrate, I ALWAYS will! I'll celebrate another birthday for as along as I can :)

LOVE YOU MOM!...

To the moon and the stars and BACK!

Kentucky: Away Game Weekend

FRIDAY NIGHT
I kicked the weekend off by attending my LAST 3-11 clinical shift of the semester :)


You folks don't know just how happy I am! I have been counting down the days since the semester started. Yes, I blogged about how awful I thought this whole set-up was going to be, but turns out, I adapted to the changes in routine and found that I ended up getting a LOT more done during the day before going to the hospital than I ever thought I could! I managed my time as well as I could, keeping my schedule as normal and regular as possible. Sure... I could've slept until one o'clock Tuesday through Friday, but instead, I got up every day by eight and started my day with studying - of course! I didn't always like it, but it proved to be a good learning lesson. My mom had told me in the beginning that this wasn't something to be upset about, and like ALWAYS, she was right. Thanks Momma!


Here is a picture of my clinical group and our instructor, Ms. Randolph. I've had a BLAST with these girls the last six weeks and can't wait to see what happens over the next six! We got out of clinical Friday afternoon around four o'clock and I was SOO very excited. Dave and I haven't actually been on a Friday night date since school started because of my lovely schedule, so we decided to head out to enjoy one of our favorite pass times - the MOVIES! "LOVE HAPPENS" was the feature presentation of the night (per my choice) and turns out, I probably didn't pick the best one to watch - EEK! But, like always, Dave said it was good. (I wouldn't recommend paying the extra $ to see it in theaters. You can definitely wait until it comes out on video if you're dying to see it like I was!)


Per usual (as well), we got there early enough to watch the previews - PLUS an extra ten minutes to waste! So, we decided to take our usual picture in the car :) Doesn't Dave's haircut look nice?

After the "OK" movie we headed Downtown towards the Piano Bar. People have been RAVING about how awesome this place is. It is in a Restaurant/Bar that's been around for a while, but now they have these two guys on dueling pianos playing whatever it is you want to hear. We ended up staying about two hours and I kept thinking to myself, "Our parents would ABSOLUTELY love this!"

So, PARENTS... You must come down and hang out with us at the Piano Bar one night!

Below is a picture of Dave trying to request a song while Beth, a girl that we've gotten to know over the years of going to eat at Phil's, is yelling at him to do/write something for her. It was kinda funny. Guess you needed to be there.

SATURDAY - GAME DAY!
For the game, we decided to watch the first half at Dave's... Kinda get a feel for how we were going to play, and then go sit outside somewhere for the second half.


We watched the second half outside at the Houndstooth in the wonderful fall weather we've been having, grabbed some lunch at Baumhower's Wings, rode to Meg an TC's for a minute or two, came home and grabbed a nap (or I did at least!) and settled in for the big Auburn game! Looking back, I should have better documented our day, but the only picture I have is one from us watching the Auburn game tonight (POST cute outfit and nap of course - SORRY!).

SPECIAL NEWS:

*Now that we're almost half way through the season - AND SCHOOL - birthdays in BOTH of our families are going to start!

*A special Happy Birthday shout out to Sandye! Her birthday was on Monday :) Hope the kids at school were well behaved for you!

*Coming up next Saturday... My mom's birthday! Can't wait to celebrate, Momma! See you soon!

*OH... Dave's chair is starting to make funny noises and every time he hears a new one he goes, (in a sad voice) "I think my chair's about to break". Keep your fingers crossed that this chair does NOT break. I think we will have MAJOR issues if this crisis transpires! The kid doesn't sit anywhere else!