New Pictures

Here are some updated pics of my favorite little ones...

It won't be long before my other sister-in-law has baby Sofia and these three have another cousin!  In other news, it's true...Clemson lost a game.  But, God is still God, were still 8-1 and I still love my tigers!!  We'll get em next week boys!

Catching Up

Oh man, I'm slackin again!! Last time I posted, Clemson was 5-0 and I was excited! Well, it's three weeks later and believe it or not, Clemson is now 8-0. That's right y'all, we've won our first 8 games of the season and are ranked 6th in the AP polls and #5 in the BCS. WHAT?!!! This weekend we play GA Tech in Atlanta and I found out from a co-worker with a GA Tech connection that this weekend is their homecoming. How dreadful to have to play your homecoming game against one of the top 5 teams in the country. Bummer for the jackets. In other news, Sports Illustrated posted a great article about Clemson which you can read here...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1191563/index.htm

Other things that have happened since I last posted...this little man had his 1st birthday!!!

I'll have to post a more recent pic later, but he is walking (everywhere, he never stops!), talking (he's been saying "ball" for a long time now but he also say "hi" to just about everybody he sees and he's starting to imitate other sounds and words so I'm getting pretty excited about that), and melting hearts all day errr day! 


Finally, I found out this morning (yes, it's only October 26th) that I would get my first snow day of the school year!!! I checked the websites early this morning and didn't see any indication of a cancellation so I got ready for the day and was bout to head out the door but decided to check facebook quick before I left...thank goodness I did because a co-worker's status filled me in on the news that school had been cancelled! Nobody could get a hold of the teacher in charge of starting the phone tree so I didn't get the memo until way late but I'm not complainin! Here is what it's lookin like on my balcony right about now...

I think I'll go make some hot chocolate!! 

5 and 0 Baby!!!

Y'all, I just can't stop talkin about Clemson football!! We went up to Blacksburg and absolutely kicked those Hokies' tails! I mean, the only points they scored on us came from a field goal...how embarrassing! Now, this weekend we're back at home for Homecoming 2011. Homecoming at Clemson has some really great traditions, one of my favorites being the "floats" that are built on Bowman Field. Floats are built by different campus organizations that work on them around the clock the entire week before homecoming. They are then enjoyed by thousands of Tiger fans, and judged based on different criteria, with awards announced at halftime of the football game. You can watch the build live via webcam here...
http://www.clemson.edu/webcams/sikes/
Now, I'm not superstitious but I do love this fun fact:  About 14 years ago my mom bout a Clemson University Barbie (these were special edition...no joke!) and several months ago she sent it out to Colorado, where it found a prominent place on my mantle! Not because I think it is quality decor, but more as a joke to see how long it took my roommate (not a Clemson fan) to notice it up there. Long story short, the Barbie is still on the mantle and Clemson hasn't lost a game yet! So I say, Clemson Barbie stays! (Sorry Kimmy :)

Special Edition Clemson University Barbie in all her orange and white glory!

It's a Great Day to be a Clemson Tiger!

We pulled it off y'all! Remember the other day when I was so stoked about our win over Auburn and kinda nervous about this week against Florida State? Well, I couldn't be happier about the fact that we beat those Noles 35-30 and sent them packin for a long bus ride back to Tallahassee! This week's rankings were released today and Clemson is now lucky #13!!! So what's a girl to do with her team 4-0 after two consecutive wins over nationally ranked teams?? Well, as excited as I am this week, the reality is that next week we're headin up to Blacksburg  to take on a tough Virginia Tech team so for now I celebrate, but also hope those boys are working hard in practice this week so we can keep this winning streak goin! Here are some pictures from the Clemson website from the game...

This past weekend I got to be a part of a super cool family tradition. My roommate's family makes their own spaghetti sauce once a year and here is the story in her own words (I take no credit for errors on her behalf!):  "My great grandparents were 1st generation Italian Americans who had grown up making the spaghetti sauce recipe in Gangi, Sicily. When my grandpa married my grandma they carried on the tradition of making the sauce once a year, which was passed on to my dad.  A fun little story, when my grandparents flew back to Gangi to visit they hadnt been in contact with any of the Sicilian familiy members, however they were able to track them down and when they found them, were invited over for Sunday dinner only to discover the family was still making the same sauce!" Enjoy pictures of the process which began around 7:00 am and was mostly complete by 5:00 pm, yielding 75 pints of sauce from 4 bushels of tomatoes.

Go Tigers!

Well my friends, it has been far too long since I've written, but not because of a lack of exciting things to share! School started back up again and I have been beyond busy with work. No excuses though, just an attempt to get back on the blogging train. So I'll start with the fact that its football season and my team is 3-0! Oh yeah!! So get this...last week we beat Auburn, the defending National Champions and in doing so, snapped a 17 game winning streak!!! The only thing that would have made that win sweeter for me would have been to be in Death Valley to see the game in person. I know the whole Clemson family was stoked about the win, and nothing captures that excitement better than this video clip of our coach Dabo, right after the game...
Swinney Pumped Up Over Big Win 
Also just to fill y'all in on a little Clemson tradition...it appears after every home game that we are "rushing the field" however we are actually "meeting at the paw" (the paw being the big tiger paw in the middle of the field). This is a time when everyone surrounds the team and sings Clemson's Alma Mater...a great way to end a football game and show loyal devotion to the best school in the country!! So this week we take on Florida State in what is sure to be a difficult but exciting game, but win or lose I will still bleed orange! GO TIGERS!

P.O.T.D. Round 3

Summer is quickly coming to an end, and inevitably, we have become super slack about taking pictures of the day. At any rate, this is what I've been up to lately...there are even a couple videos for your viewing enjoyment...watch out!! 

I think we have made brownies oh, at least once a week this summer. The only way to go is Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Brownie Mix hot out of the oven topped with Bryers Natural Vanilla Ice Cream and Paula Deen's Hot Fudge...ummm, delish!! P.S. Did you know you can cut warm brownies with a plastic knife and it won't stick? It's like magic! Try it, you'll be amazed!! 

Trip to Breckenridge with Kim's family, just to keep the consistency of hitting up awesome mountain towns. Here we went on the Alpine Slide and played a lot of ladder ball. All in all it was awesome!! 

Fourth of July down in Littleton with Kim's family. This is what happens when you tie three bottle rockets together and shoot them out of a PVC pipe. Hilarious!

Putting the good old chalk board to use displaying the menu we served when we hosted Zac and Jered for a little goodbye dinner before they both moved to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. 

Can y'all come back here so we can share this meal with you again?!

Such a fun night! Miss y'all so much...please remember us when y'all are famous rock stars!

So a sudden hail storm came through and in order to not lose the whole crop again, Kim risked life and limb to save the tomato plants and a couple others. Also, she worked for an entire day on a messenger bag and it turned out great! 

Rockpile at the Rockies Game. I'll tell you what, sitting in that location is distracting! There is a lot of people watching to be done. Anyway, Rockies lost that night to the Braves but a good time was had by all, despite the loss!

I'm not sure if Kim is going to appreciate me posting this video but her singing "take me out to the ball game" is just too hilarious not to share!

Joey rocked it out at LDAC, and so we set up him some of his favorite things to enjoy upon his return, complete with Army men and captions explaining another "mission".  Joey, we're still waitin on those situational reports!

Road trip: Aspen!

There are a handful of towns in Colorado that I've always wanted to see so what better time than the summer when I don't have to work?! I'm super lucky to have a roommate that loves road trips so we mapped out a plan and made some hotel reservations. Here is a good piece of advice when booking a hotel...always always always book online! Otherwise you will spend waaaay too long on the phone and you won't end up with a better deal. Also, you might get talked in to a cheaper hotel, only to find out later that it isn't such a great hotel. Now if you read about my hotel adventure at El Rancho in Jackson Hole last summer, you will understand why I'm a bit skeptical. Just know, El Rancho was quite the experience! So the plan was to head to Aspen on day 1, stay the night in Snowmass, head to Vail for day 2, and leave the next day. Aspen was absolutely beautiful...if you have the opportunity to go, do it!! I was hoping to see a celeb or two (which is partly why I wore my Ralph Lauren polo dress...he has a ranch there) but unfortunately, we we're so lucky. It didn't really matter though because the scenery was amazing and we had so much fun walking around town and checking out the cool houses. Here are some pictures from the trip!

This is what $12 will get you at Starbucks in Aspen...not much!

Hangin out and people watchin

It seems like mountain towns have an obsession with oversized chairs...this one is in Snowmass 

Our hotel in Snowmass had robes so of course we lounged around in them! 

So we brought our own toaster to make breakfast in the morning, and after sneaking it into the room, Kim burned her toast and almost set off the smoke alarm...

Here is the proof!

The little village in Snowmass 

We decided to detour off of I-70 to hike Hanging Lake 

It was beautiful up there! 

If you're ever in the Vail Valley and looking for a good place to eat, check out the Saloon in Minturn...it is so good! 

My good friend from home, Beth, used to live in Vail but moved back to Charleston last year and I miss her dearly. She was out here visiting and it was such a treat to see her. 

Sorority pic pose after breakfast in front of Westside Cafe in Vail. Such a fun little breakfast place and a great time catching up!

This is where we almost stayed in Vail (via our over-the-phone reservation fiasco) until Beth warned us that it was no bueno. At that point I had visions again of last summer at El Rancho in Jackson, and took her word for it. We drove by and took a pic outside for good measure!

Miss you Beth!!