Soccer Saturday

Saturday morning I went to watch my sweet niece and nephew play soccer.  They only have one week left to play so I was excited I got to watch them.  Drew's team was undefeated...until Saturday that is.  I felt bad for him.  Ava's team did great.  I think they won.  My favorite part was while Drew was playing Ava, Porter, and Harper were all cheering for him.  It was the sweetest thing ever!

Sweetest picture ever!

I was a great day! Saturday night I went to my parents house to watch the Auburn game and work on some stuff.  Porter and Harper were spending the night and the first time they showed the crowd at the game Porter said, "There's Lizabeth!".  Cause last week she was at the Bama game and we kept saying that.  Funny thing is she was sitting at the dining room table when he said it.  We told him she was here not there.  So then he started saying "There's Amy" cause she wasn't at the house this weekend.  It was so cute.  He feel asleep before I left but told me to spend the night.  He was upset this morning when he woke up and I was not there!

Hometown Rivalry

Since Bama is off this week I knew I needed to get my football fix some how.  Last night was the last regular season game for my high school.  They happened to be playing our biggest rival.  (I now live in the school zone of the rival team!) So my sister, Matt and I headed to the game.  It was so much fun!  They have done so much work to the stadium since I graduated and it looks so nice.  We had a blast!

Kristen was there because it was Senior Night and her cousin is a senior on colorguard.

Me and sister.

Matt, Me and Elizabeth.

Final score.

 Gardendale 27- Mortimer Jordan 6 

Go Rockets!

Gardendale will play next Friday in the first round of the State Playoffs.  They play Hoover at Hoover.  I'll be tough.  Hopefully they can pull off a win!

Vinyl Wall Graphics

I love what we've been doing with Signs of Sophie.  We've mostly been working on signs and banners for fall festivals around town.  I used some down time to make a little something for myself.  I was so excited with the way it turned out.  Patrick and I are not the best decorators.  Our bedroom had nothing on the walls and a few framed photos on the nightstands but that was it.  I wanted a big piece of art for over our bed but I couldn't decide (or afford) what I wanted!  I'd seen lots of cute vinyl wall monograms on Etsy but I didn't really want a monogram.  Maybe an "H" but I wanted it to be more than just letters.  So I put my creativity to work and this is what  I came up with and I love it.

(Please ignore the ugly bed and curtains.  This room is a work in progress and probably always will be.)

So, what do you think?

Wednesday Weigh-In

Down 0.6 from last month.  Still maintaining!  I'm so proud of my accomplishments.  I started the fifth round of bootcamp last night.  I was happy with my progress in the fitness tests that we did yesterday.  I don't remember all the numbers.  Hopefully I can get a copy of my numbers through each round so I can really see my progress.  I did get a new pain of jeans for fall.  I got a pair of skinny jeans to wear with boots.  I was very nervous about wearing them I just wasn't sure that they actually looked good.  I wore them to the last football game and my sis, dad and bff all said they looked good.  I was excited!  I'm going to try to lose a few more pounds before the holidays so I won't be stressed about gaining a few through the holidays.

Rocky Top

It was a great day of football for the state of Alabama.  Auburn beat LSU to claim their spot as #1 in the latest BCS poll.  Alabama rolled all over east rival Tennessee with a 31 point victory.  Our team finally played well again.  I hope that Tennessee isn't just that bad that we actually looked good.  We had a great little tailgate party at the house.  I made a huge pot of chili and soup and we ate all day long.  I really enjoyed getting to be host and not having an hour drive once the game was over.  I didn't take a lot of pictures.  they are mostly just of the kids.

Ally was guarding her toy box while I was cleaning. 

Dad and Porter watching the game. 

Me, Ava and Porter.  I love these kids so much.

Sweet Harper.  She's a bit of a camera hog! 

He was worn out.  Aren't his little work boots so stinking cute.

Roll Tide!

Alabama 41- Tennessee 10

Third Saturday in October

Which is actually the fourth Saturday in October but no one else seems to be bothered by that and continue to call it the third Saturday so I'm just gonna roll with it.

VS

The Tide is traveling to Knoxville to take on the Vols.  Tennessee has struggled this year.  They almost got beat by UAB, but then a last minute penalty cost them the LSU game.  They are dead last in the SEC East but that doesn't really matter to me.  All that matters is how each team plays today.  We're having a little tailgate party here at the  house.  Chili and Broccoli Cheese soup even though it's going to be 80 degrees outside.  I'm still excited about it.  I'm glad we have the week off next week.  We need it!  Patrick is off today so I'm excited we get to spend some time together...hopefully both of our teams will win! 

RoLL TiDE RoLL!

Hey Rebel Black Bears..

We didn't exactly beat the hell out of you, but we did win and at this point we'll take all the wins we can get.  It was a long day in Tuscaloosa to say the least.  We had a great time but I do not like a late kickoff.  I was exhausted before the game even started.  I got to see some old friends.  I missed a few but we'll hopefully get to meet up and another game.  I'm just going to let the photos do the talking this week.

Sisters

My best friend roommate for 3 years Kristen.

Roomies.  Kristen, me and Lorie.  Reunited in Tuscaloosa for the first time since we lived together.

Sister. 

Matthew's birthday celebration.

Three generations of Hand boys.

Elizabeth made Matthew a birthday cake.  He wanted a chocolate cake with Crimson icing.

Kristen doesn't really like football.  She only went to a handful of games while we were in school.  I was so excited that she went with me.  We had fun.

Dad was "Fan of the Game" he was on the jumbotron and got a $100 Texaco gift card.  He was so excited.  I missed him on the big screen and I was really upset about it.  Everyone said he got a lot of air time in the stadium.  I can't believe I missed it.

 Alabama 23- Ole Miss 10

Gameday Week 7

VS

Another week, another SEC game, another opponent with an off week before they play us.  I know I might be whining just a little but you have to be crazy if you think that off week didn't help South Carolina last week.  I'm not making excuses.  They did everything they had to do to win and we, well, we couldn't catch a break. (Can you tell I'm still not completely over that loss)

I'm so excited two of my friends from RHM are going to be tailgating on the quad.  One of them just had a sweet baby boy and one just got engaged.  I haven't seen them since I got married and I can't wait!  I feel so old and mature meeting old classmates on the quad.  Plus my old roommate Kristen is going down with us.  She isn't a football fan at all but she's going to tailgate and visit so I'm excited to spend the say with her too.

It's Homecoming at the Capstone... (I don't think I mentioned that!)  We thought about trying to make it down in time for the parade but it sucked so bad last year that I think we are going to leave a little later and miss it and hopefully the traffic.  Kick off isn't until 8:10pm.

It's also Matthew's 7th birthday.  We are having cake to celebrate.  He's so excited too!

Roll Tide Roll! 

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day

No, I'm not trying to be a downer today.  Leslie over at Lambert's Lately brought this day to my attention.  There are so many causes out there and not that they aren't great causes I've just never felt a personal connection to them.  This one sadly has a personal connection to my family and I think it'd be tough to find a family out there that hasn't been affected by it.
On December 31, 2003 my brother and his wife gave birth to a beautiful baby girl Ava.  Now if you've read my blog you know that Ava is a huge part of our live so you're probably wondering where I'm going...Well when Ava was about 2 months old we found out that she was going to be a big sister.  You can imagine our surprise.  We were shocked and excited all at the same time.  I think I was happy that we all wouldn't have to fight over holding this one baby...we would have two.  My SIL had a great pregnancy she had one problem about 4 months into the pregnancy with her thyroid.  They put her on medication and said everything should be fine.  And it was...for about 3 months.  In September she went to the doctor because she couldn't remember the last time she felt the baby move.  (She was a busy woman with a three year old and a 9 month old).  The doctor confirmed what we'd all been to scared to say.  The baby had died.  I was in school at Alabama at the time.  I remember getting the phone call from my mom as I walking out of class one night.  I was devastated.  It was one of the worst calls.  It was such a weird feeling.  I can't explain it.  I had such a strong feeling of sadness for a baby I'd never met or held.  They induced her and I think it was the next day she delivered a beautiful baby boy he weighed a little over 4 lbs.  They never determined what happened.  It wasn't his cord or anything visible.  It was one of the saddest times in our lives.  I felt guilty feeling sad for myself, after all it wasn't even my baby.  It made me hurt even worse for my brother and SIL because I was hurting so bad I couldn't imagine how they felt.  We all held sweet baby Ava just a little bit tighter those first few days.  Sweet baby Foster is buried under a big Oak tree with my SIL's family.  I am happy to say about 3 years later we welcomed a sweet baby boy into our family.  Porter was ray of sunshine to this family.  We were all on pins and needles until he arrived but his arrival was one of the happiest days I can remember.  We all stood in the room in tears as we passed him around.  Happy tears of course but it still hurt to know that there should have been another big brother to hold him.  They've since welcomed another baby girl Harper.  It doesn't take away the pain we feel each September but it reminds us that we will see Foster again someday. 

I encourage you to pray for all the families that have experienced the loss of a child/ pregnancy and remember all those sweet babies in heaven.

Poodle in the Mud

Yesterday afternoon it was beautiful out so when Ally and I got home from work I decided we should take a blanket out to the back yard and enjoy the sunshine.  It took me forever to get the blanket spread out because Sam thought I was laying it out for him!  I finally got laid down and got my book out.  I got some cute pictures of the dogs!

I just love this little dog.

Sam and Ally

Sweet Gracie.  She getting so old.

My sweet little Ally decided to play in the mud.  She was covered!  I had to give her a bath before I could let her in the house.

Filthy...but still cute as ever!

A Day in History

Credit

Credit

These are just a couple of the images from the day. 

"As of now, the last miner slated to emerge is Luis Urzua, a 54-year-old shift foreman who's been credited with keeping the men sane in those first harrowing days after 700,000 tons of rock collapsed their copper mine on Aug. 5. They made 48 hours' worth of food rations last 17 long days, when they had no contact with the outside world and had no idea about efforts to reach them. Rescuers finally managed to bore a narrow hole down into their chamber, and funnel down more food and supplies.

For nearly two months that tube became the miners' lifeline, through which they received supplies and sent up love letters to their wives and girlfriends. A video link was even set up to allow them to watch live soccer matches.

The 33 Chilean miners are believed to have survived longer underground than anyone ever before."

http://www.aolnews.com/world/article/chile-miners-rescue/
 I wanted to have a record of world events in my blog book.  This had been an amazing day.  Just when you start to wonder if there's any good left in the world, you start to follow this story and it has been unbelievable to watch!

I've never had to blog a loss.  I'm not even sure where to start. 

We did have a wonderful trip (minus the loss).  We left Birmingham Friday around 4:30 headed east to South Carolina.  I was so excited! 

(Me, Amy, Matt (our fake brother), and Elizabeth right before we hit the road)

We made great time and stopped it Augusta to have dinner around 10:00.  We stopped at Arby's I was backing into a parking place so I could eat before we started driving again and I backed into a pole.  Luckily there was no real damage.  But I hit it hard and was scared to go check it out.  We arrive at our host home around 11:30 and almost everyone was asleep.  We stayed up late watching the Braves with Bullet.  I went to sleep when it went into extra innings.  One, because I was really tired and Two because I just don't really care that much about baseball. 

We got up early Saturday to get the party started.  We had a wonderful breakfast and started gathering everything for the tailgate.  We were on the road to the "Excellent Tailgate Spot" by 10:30.  The tailgate spot was excellent.  We had barbeque sandwiches, all kinds of dips and margaritas before the game. 

  

   Elizabeth, Bullet, Me, and Matthew before we left the house.

The Bama fans before we left the house.

Sisters at the tailgate spot.

Me and Amy tailgating.

Me and sister.

The great tailgate table set up by our wonderful hosts for the weekend. 

The "Excellent Tailgate Spot" is really neat.  It is basically a huge shed with about 100 parking spaces.  The have restrooms and power and cable setups.  They had probably 10 40-50 inch plasma TVs hanging all around showing all different games.  There were closets where you could store stuff so you didn't have to haul it all season.  They even had a shelf over the urinals in the men's restroom to hold your beer! (That's what the boys said anyways).

We left the tailgate a little early to stop by "The Loose Cockaboose" for a beer. They advertised the "Coldest beer in town". It wasn't cold at all! Then we headed to the game.

Outside the stadium.

Our seats were pretty awesome.  2nd row again.  It was a lot lower though so we couldn't really see over the players.

 I was still happy at this point.  It must have been early.

Not a happy camper. 

I'm pretty sure Dareus was looking right at me.

 Oysters after the game.

Right before we headed back to the house.

I am so sad that we lost but we had a great trip.   And Florida won a National Championship with one loss.  I had so much fun.  I have laughed so much it hurts.  I can't wait till our away games next year. I really want to go to Penn State and Florida.  We'll see!

Alabama 21- South Carolina 35