Our Week in Pictures

Since I'm still behind on blogging, I thought I'd do a quick catch up by hitting the highlights of the past week in a picture blog. Sound good? Okay, great!

Let's start with last weekend. We fulfilled our annual Jackson Family Tradition by driving down to AU for the Auburn vs Arkansas football game. It started out well... we were back on The Plains (my most favorite place in the world) to see the Tigers play. Arkansas was expected to lose terribly, and I was going to get to see lots of my friends!

I'm not sure where things went wrong... but they did. Terribly wrong. Auburn didn't even bother to pretend to play football, and we lost miserably (to what we thought was the worst team in the SEC).

That scoreboard says 7 to 24 Arkansas. My husband was one happy man!

Next, we both got CRAZY sunburned (how could I forget to wear sunscreen to an 11am game?). Then I almost overheated (80+ degrees in October? Seriously?!?) and had to watch the 4th quarter from under the bleachers by the concession stand. And to top it all off, I ended up with blisters on the bottom of my feet! I didn't know that was even possible...but let me tell you, it is painful.

It was definitely one of my roughest gameday experiences to date. But, there's always a silver lining.... and visiting with my sweet friends helped make a crappy day much brighter!

Before the game started, we ran into my friend from high school Randy White, 

and his sweet wife Merritt! It's been YEARS since I've seen either of them!

We got to watch the 3rd quarter with our friends Jefforey and Annah Grace, 

as well as Baby Morgan (present in the cutest baby bump ever!) 

We can't wait to meet Baby M in March! 

 Next up we randomly ran into Brian Keeter - twice! It was great to catch up with him!

On the way out of the stadium we spotted these guys. 

I don't care who you are... that's some funny stuff right there!

Nothing will ease the pain of a loss better than being on Bo Jackson's arm!

He told me not to worry, and to remember that it's always Great To Be An Auburn Tiger!

... and I couldn't walk by Cam without stopping to hold his hand. That #2 is such a stud! ;)

 By this point, I was super sweaty, tired, and sunburned BUT I couldn't leave without visiting Kira & Oliver's tailgate! 

Kira's family throws quite the party, and she also happens to have two super cute kids! 

It was so good to catch up with her...

And to finally meet her precious little boy Charlie! 

Before we called it a day, we had to stop by the KNWA TV van to see Rusty's friend Aaron!

And then we were finally back at the Stoves' house where we stayed. It was nice to spend some time

catching up with Candice (after snuggling and playing trains with Davis and Clay of course!)

And Rusty was glad to have Randall (not pictured) to talk sports with!

-------------------------------------------------------

The next morning, we were off to Florida! We weren't able to go to the beach this summer, so we were very excited when my parents invited us down for a free trip on their Fall Break! My brothers and their wife & fiance were there Friday and Saturday (we were really sad we missed them!) and then we got to spend Sunday - Tuesday with my parents. We did nothing but sleep, read, lay on the beach, and eat seafood - which was wonderful! We are about to have a super busy few months of work, so it was nice to rest up and enjoy the gorgeous October weather!

 Me and my handsome man!

Me and my Daddy!

A family picture on our last night... if only Brent, Melissa, Jaron, and Michelle could've been there!

-------------------------------------------------------

And if all that wasn't enough excitement for you... we got home just in time to welcome our dear friends Kevin & Malerie home from Korea with their precious daughter Gia! I can't even begin to explain what an incredible, emotional sight it was to see them walk off that plane holding their daughter!  We are just so happy for them and so in love with their sweet little girl!

Welcome Home Huguleys!!! (Photo by Heather)

Gia's first picture with Uncle Rusty and Auntie Ericka! 

The whole Welcome Wagon at the B'ham Airport (Photo by Heather)

-------------------------------------------------------

*Whew! Talk about a crazy (but great) week! And I didn't even mention our awesome Community Group on Wednesday night or our fun dinner with new friends on Friday night! We spent today just resting from all the fun. Our hearts are full. Thank you God for all our blessings!

My FAVORITE SEASON is here!

You know it's close when people begin to hang their flags out in front of their house. Pretty soon after that the coozies come out, Game Day outfits are bought, and tailgating recipes are traded. All of it can mean only one thing... my FAVORITE SEASON has arrived! It's not Spring, Summer, Winter, or Fall - it's FOOTBALL!!!

 
Today we went out to run some errands, and naturally I wore my Auburn shirt and Tiger Paw earrings. It took less than an hour before an Alabama fan started trash talking me. Now, normally I would cringe, roll my eyes, and try to bite my tongue (to keep myself from making a nasty comment about how he didn't even go to Bama so I don't know why he's trash talking an Auburn ALUMNA... seriously people.... I need Jesus to hold my tongue a lot during football season ;) but today I found myself grinning.

Newton dives in and it's a TOUCHDOWN AUBURN!!!!

Auburn vs Arkansas 2010 - The last time I got to roll Toomer's Corner!

Today, I smiled and bantered back. Why so happy, you ask? Because for 2 FULL football seasons I lived in Michigan... far away from the SEC. It's true I didn't see any Bammers, and there was nothing crimson or white to assault my eyes (my mother was SO jealous of the distance, especially when Bama won the National Championship the first year I was gone), but I also didn't see any Tigers. And while I'm sure we'd all love a vacation from our arch rivals every now and then, it wasn't worth it to be that far away from the Auburn Family.

I couldn't buy Auburn clothes anywhere, and I never saw an orange and blue flag flying. I had no Auburn fans to watch games with - no one to mourn or celebrate with. And our 2nd year there, when AUBURN WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP - I watched it in the living room of a house while a bunch of yankees cheered for Oregon! (Thank God my precious husband wore an Auburn shirt that night and cheered with me! And to the other 2 of you who were on my side that night, I am eternally grateful ;) I was almost 1,000 miles away from the most INTENSE rivalry football has ever seen, and no one understood how much I missed it!

Rusty was an AUBURN fan for me in Michigan - that's true LOVE!

Our National Championship "tailgate" food - complete with the Auburn Creed!

Cory was sweet enough & smart enough to be a TIGER for the night!

Exactly one year ago today, we were packing up our home in Michigan. We missed the first game of the football season while we drove back to Sweet Home Alabama that Saturday. Our new house was chaotic the first month of the season (from renovations + unpacking), and the second month I was horribly sick. Then we left for India and Thailand for 6 weeks, and I missed the rest of the season AND the Iron Bowl for the FIRST time in 27 years!

You probably can't tell, but I wore my AUBURN shirt to move home!

So tonight, as I sit on the couch in my Auburn pajama pants,  I find myself giddy. I am SO happy to be back in the South for this football season... close enough to drive to Auburn football games any weekend I want to! I'm embracing the sea of Auburn shirts, the War Eagles I hear at the grocery store, Target, and even at church on Sunday mornings, and yes, I'm even grinning through the trash talk from Bammers. Because all of that can mean only one thing... I'm HOME again and my FAVORITE season is here!