Life as of Late

The last two months of 2012 we really super busy.  I guess that's to be expected, with the Holiday season and everything.  So here is what I've been up to as of late:
1.  Pinterest!  If you haven't heard of pinterest, you're probably gonna want to check it out.  It's an online pinboard that you can use to save pictures with embedded links to everything from recipes to home decor to style and everything in between.  If you're not careful, you can spend waste a lot of time on there but it can be really useful for new ideas, planning events, a good laugh, and organizing things you see on multiple websites in one place.  It can seem a little confusing at first but you'll get the hang of it and you'll probably get a lot of really cool ideas there!
2.  My birthday!  I LOVE birthdays.  Growing up, I loved having my friends over for birthday parties and recently I've been celebrating for an entire week if possible!  On my actual birthday, my amazing roommate woke me up at 6:30 in the morning with a homemade cake complete with lit candles...it was quite surprising and the best way to start the day!  I also went to see the Lion King which was so great (if it's ever in your area, it's definitely worth seeing...the costumes and talent are really something!), and, enjoyed a surprise birthday brunch with some of my favorite people at my favorite breakfast place.  My burrito came complete with lit candles, which was awesome.  And...to top it all off, TCBY (my absolute favorite fro yo place) opened right here in Fort Collins!
3.  Sweet Miss Sofia!  I'm happy to announce that I have another new niece and she is beautiful!  Her name is Sofia and she is a laid back sweet little peanut.  She lives pretty far away but I finally got to see her over Christmas break.  We hung out a lot (which consisted of her sleeping in my arms) and I loved every minute of it.  Can't wait to watch this little one grow!
4.  Christmas!  Oh Christmas break...it came so abruptly and went by in the blink of an eye it seems.  I made the trip home to South Carolina and was able to spend time with lots of family members that I don't see often, which was really great.  Thankful for sweet memories.
5.  The Orange Bowl.  So, it's been a while since I've talked about Clemson football but here's how it all went down.  We went 9-3 in the regular season, with two terrible losses at the end there, one to NC State and one to our biggest rivals South Carolina.  I hate losing to them but by then we knew regardless of the outcome that we would be going to the ACC Championship because we won our division so it made the loss a little less painful.  We went on to beat Virginia Tech (for the second time this season!) in the ACC Championship game which was a great accomplishment! With that win, we were guaranteed a spot in the Orange Bowl, which is one of 5 BCS bowls (and kind of a big deal!)  My mom decided if we made it to the Orange Bowl that we should make the trip to Miami, so when we beat VA Tech, we made our travel plans.  Sparing you the painful details of the game itself (we lost and it wasn't pretty), all in all it was a great experience and I'm so glad we made the trip! It's games like these that remind me of a quote one of my favorite high school teachers/coaches sometimes used. It goes like this, "You win some, you lose some, some get rained out!" So, as a Clemson football fan, we hold our heads high because we will always love Clemson regardless of how good or bad our football team performs, and we eagerly await the next football season where we hope that it will be better than the last!
So I think that pretty much sums it all up!  And now, for the pictures...

TCBY and it's self-serve...win and win!!

Kim and I rand the Turkey Trot 4 mile on Thanksgiving...the weather was beautiful in Denver!

Look at this peanut! She's so little and perfect!

Me and my nieces...I'm a lucky girl to get to hang with these two!

On our way to the airport on Christmas Eve...these two were superstars on the long flight!

My little Bear on Christmas. Oh how I love him!

ACC CHAMPS BABY!!! What what!

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!