Crock Pot Chicken

I made this crockpot chicken recipe last night.  I was pretty good.  I'm all about something I can throw in the crok pot.  I found the recipe on Pinterest.

Day 226   

Source: thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com via Maggie on Pinterest



Feels like Fall

The sky tonight was beautiful.  I caught it just in time.  The weather here has been nice today.  You can feel Fall in the air and I love it.  It was refreshing.  I love how the seasons are sort of a new begining.  I'm ready to say so long Summer.  Bring on the Fall.

Day 225

Boring

I'm at a loss for what to blog about.  I didn't want to show the bedroom curtains until I got the lamps done and the mini shams made but who know when that'll be so I decided to go ahead and show you what I've got so far. 

I know my life is pretty boring.  I wish I had more to blog about too!Day 224

Curled up with a good book

If you follow me on twitter you know I'm currently obsessed with this book.  I just can't read it fast enough.  I sat it down for about 5 minutes tonight and when I went to pick it back up this is what I found!

Day 223

Family Night

We had family night tonight since both John and Elizabeth were home.  Mom cooked a delicious meal and we enjoyed a grueling round or two of UNO.  Harper got her nails painted. Elizabeth entertained us with a performance of Amazing Grace on the recorder.  (If I can figure out how to load a video I will.)  It was a great night with some of my favorite people.

 Day 222

The Help

I so enjoyed dinner with my sister and Amy tonight but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't excited to be home curled up in bed with Ally and this book. I'm only on chapter 4 and I just want to read and read! I can't get enough!


Day 221

Getting Crafty

I've been working on some things for a little surprise party I'm working on.  I'm always looking for something to hold the utensils.  I'd seen where people were dressing up soup cans and I wanted something a little more sturdy so I went to Lowe's and got these cute little paint cans.

I painted them to match the party decor.
Added a little ribbon. I love the way they turned out.  They're a little deep so I put some napkins in the bottom to give the utensils some height.
I think my favorite is the blue one with the big orange bow.Day 220

3 years ago

Yesterday, (August 8th) marked the 3rd anniversary of welcoming sweet Ally into our home.  We got her on 8-8-08 it was also the opening ceremony of the summer Olympics.  I begged my sister to go with me to look at a dog.  I knew all along there was no way I was going to leave without her.  She has been the perfect fit for our family.  She's so good and has such a personality.  She does have some serious separation anxiety but we're working on it.  We have enjoyed her so much.  Even Patrick would agree that we can't imagine life without her.  (I know we're pathetic).Day 219 "All you need is love and a dog!" -not sure who said it.I saw it on Pinterest.

There's nothing like Gameday in T-Town

*I originally wrote this in 2009 as we were embarking on what would be a National Championship season.  It still sums up my feelings toward my team! I hope you enjoy!*

It's a crisp, fall Thursday morning as I walk to class I can't help but hear the coaches show playing over the loud speaker at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Granted this was 6 years ago and the coach was Mike Shula as he was embarking on his first season with the Tide. The season opener was Oklahoma, ESPN Gameday was set up on the quad, and my aunt, uncle and cousin took me to the original Dreamland for a slab of ribs. Life was good. This is how I will always remember my first UA gameday as an official student.

Alabama football has always been a Saturday tradition in our home. My brother's played little league football and my sister and I cheered. I can remember driving to and from the park listening to Eli Gold on the radio. I can remember him describing the ball flying through the air "end over end" and being able to actually picture it (as I had never been to an actual game before). We would rush home in the hope of catching the end on TV. My parents would jump up and down and scream and yell at the TV. I can remember thinking they had to be crazy. I remember my very first Alabama game. My cousin was in school and we went to his apartment that was right behind the stadium. It was so cold and it rained the entire time. We lost and it was miserable! I can remember my second game. I was a senior in high school and we were playing Georgia. This time it was miserably hot! We lost in the last seconds. Maybe you're noticing a trend! I didn't let that get me down!
I tailgated for 5 seasons as a student and there was nothing like it. Waking up (sometimes never actually going to sleep) on Saturday mornings just waiting for the early birds to arrive. They all filed in with their covered dish to correspond with this weeks theme. We would start the day with Gameday on ESPN of course...then watch all the football we could till it was time to head to the stadium. As the game ended and the crowd scattered, our crew always gathered round the bar to eat leftovers and rehash the events of the game. It's a routine that I'll never forget.

The most awesome tailgate house ever! This is where I tailgated (and lived) for 3 years!

Now that I'm an alumni I still go down and I see that same anticipation on my sister and brothers faces when we come thru the door. They are so excited to us and us them.

My brother, sister and cousin last season! They are roommates!

We have a group of about 25-30 people that tailgate with us every week. We have a theme every week and everyone brings a corresponding dish. The first week is usually a traditional tailgate with burgers, ribs, and hot dogs. My favorite is usually the cajun theme. We gather up our chairs outside and watch all the people . We love to inform each other on what all we've heard about the team and make our predictions. Sometimes we walk up to the strip to see what's happening, sometimes we don't! It is so much fun to see how excited everyone is!

This is most of the tailgate crew at the end of the 2006 season. That was the last tailgate at that house

My husband on the other hand is a die hard Auburn fan. I know it's tragic! We are a very serious house divided. He used to come down every weekend to tailgate wearing his Jason Campbell Auburn jersey but it was only to see me! So hopefully I can begin to convert him without him really knowing it! (I"m thinking any attempts to convert this man now are a lost cause)  I mean he did marry into a family where 10 of the 12 grandchildren either graduated from or are currently attending the University of Alabama!

Just for a little reminder!

This is Ally Bama! She wanted to get her picture made on the quad!

 

Here's a list of some of my favortie tailgate posts. 

• Later Gators 2010
• Teaching the Bulldawgs to Behave 2010
• South Carolina
• National Championship Season 

More Curtains

I know what you're thinking.  Yes, this is last of the curtains for awhile.  These are for the master bedroom and I already love how it's looking.  Our house is finally looking like a home and I couldn't be more pleased.  We still have a few things then I plan on doing a whole home tour.  It'll be fun, I promise!Day 218

Decluttered office

I can't tell you how nice it was last night to leave this door open.  We've been keeping it closed because it was our "junk room".  We finally buckled down last night and went through every piece of paper and organized the closet.  We moved the old computer desk that had been there for over two years.  Finally hung my diploma on the wall.  There's still some things to do but I'm not ashamed to leave the door open anymore.

Day 217

Dog Days of Summer

Bet you thought this was going to be another picture of Ally.It's not.  It's my first sweet fur baby, Gracie.  She and Sam both are so over this heat.  This is what most of her day looks like.  She'll be 9 years old in October.  It's hard to believe I've had her that long.Day 216

Movie Night

Tonight I planned to take these cute kiddos to watch Toy Story 3 outside at the civic  center.  I went to pick them up and it started raining complete with thunder and lightening.  That meant no outdoor movie for us.  We decided to come back to our house and watch a movie on ppv.  The only choice was Rango.  I was not as excited about Rango as I was about Toy Story 3 but I went with it.  Porter and Harper were not into it at all. I was able to get some pretty cute pictures the four before we started.  (Can I just say that I hope my kids will pose for me like these four do.  I know it's not really likely but I girl can dream!)Day 215After the movie I took them to their grandparents house where I locked the keys in the car.  While it was running.  With Ally inside.  We had to call my brother to bring the spare keys and let us back in.  All in all it was a pretty fun night that went nothing like it was planned.  I only had the four of them for about 3 hours.  It felt like 12!  I'm not sure how Leslie does it.  Then I think about my momma and how she did it too.  She truly is my hero! 

She said Yes.

We've had some exciting things happening in the family this week. 

Monday night my sister had the audacity to interrupt the Bachelorette finale to call and tell me that she got engaged!

I know, I can't believe she would steal Ashley & JP's thunder like that either. 

Day 214

I would love to say that my first reaction was one of joy and excitement.  But it wasn't.  truth be told I haven't been in love with this relationship from the get go.  But I do love my sister more than words can say so for that reason I put on a brave face and told her Congratulations.  Then immediately broke out in tears. 

After a good night's sleep I woke up late got ready and went to work.  I decided that I wanted to go to Tuscaloosa and take Elizabeth to lunch.  So I left work early and headed to Tuscaloosa.  We had a nice lunch at Bento and headed back to the house.  I enjoyed hanging out with the college kids.  My sister and I got to talk alot and I really enjoyed it.  We both were so glad we got to spend that quality time together.  It meant so much to me and I feel like we got a lot off our chests and I left there feeling much better about the situation.

She is so happy and so excited and I'm so glad that I was able to share in this special time.  If Clay makes her half as happy as she seems then they will be okay.  And if he doesn't, well he's got a lot of people to answer to.

(I'm sorry Liz but this picture cracks me up.  He's so tall and you're so small)

He took her on a tour of the stadium and proposed in the press box on the 50 yard line.  She's over the moon and I really am happy for her.

Birthday Surprise

The gift Patrick ordered for my birthday finally arrived this week and I was so excited.  I've been wanting a nice camera bag that I can use as a purse also especially during football season.  I fell in love with the Kelly Moore bag line forever ago.  I love this one.  It has just enough room for my camera with a lense attached, another lense and other stuff.  Day 213

I'm an artist?

I'm so excited with how this turned out.  I love that the first words I ususally read when I step of my bedroom each morning is "BE HAPPY".  Those are the words that always catch my eye!

Day 212

Finale

Bachelorette Finale watch party.  I honestly didn't watch very closely.  I know she picked JP but I'd known that for months!

Day 211

50 Years

Today I was honored to get to photograph a surprise 50th anniversary party.  The couple have 3 boys and the boys wanted to do something special.  They enlisted the help of some of their mom's friends and they all pulled off an amazing surprise.

Day 210

I think my favorite part of the day was seeing how excited everyone was to surprise them.  It was a true testament to how special they really are to so many people.

Champ loves Corn

I think this shot of Champ (my sister's dog) eating corn is pretty funny.  He was holding the ends eating it off the cob.

Day 209

Welcome

I finally got a little table for my entry.  I had my heart set on one from Hobby Lobby but when I went back to get it, it was gone.  So I settled for this one. The other one was a lot prettier but this one gets the job done!Day 208