Geaux Bama

I only took a handful of photos at the Bama/LSU game, but what a great weekend. Lots of friends and family came down and we had several tailgates on the quad we made our way though, seeing old friends and giving lots of hugs. It was also nice to drop by the RUF tailgate and see Ryan and Ada Moore. My Aunt Cathy made the trip down and had a blast with all the pregame festivities on the quad, as you can see from the pics below. I have to thank my brother, Kyle, for sharing his extra ticket and getting me in the game. And what a game it was. This is one of my favorite rivalries, and I can't wait for our trip to Baton Rouge next year.



And, I have to plug my friend's new shop in Homewood, Icing on the Cookie, where I ordered these super cute and really tasty Bama cookies. They were delicious and such a huge hit at the tailgate. I forgot to take a picture of them on the platter, so I stole these from their website. They've got cookies for most the local sporting teams as well as for holidays, babies, etc. You can even send in your corporate logo and they will turn it into a cookie. My friend's husband is the master chef. He has worked at Bottega and other local restaurants, and this is their new adventure. They're so good!

Third Saturday in October

We had a great tailgate on the quad for the Bama/Tennessee game. I love the third Saturday in October. It's one of my favorite times of the year. David decided to dress his lab, Cooper, up for the game (in his roommates shirt!) and everyone on the quad (Bama and Tenneessee fans alike) were oohhing and aahhing over how cute he was.





Dad was so excited for Cody's block and the big win that he was picking up David and all his friends when they made it back to the tailgate after the game.

Bama Homecoming vs. South Carolina

I'm a little behind on my football posts this season. Here are some pics from our celebration during Bama's homecoming weekend. Robert's parents were able to come down for the game, and we had a great time at our pre-game party at the house with my family - complete with my cousin's sweet yorkies we were dog-sitting for the week. Yes, we broke out there Bama jersey's on game day. The game itself was freezing, but we mangaged to stay pretty warm and were happy for a Bama win.

U2 Concert

Back in June I bought tickets to the U2 concert in Atlanta on Oct. 2 for Robert's 27th birthday on August 3. Today, October 25, I'm finally posting them to the blog. I'm not the mostly timely...

We really had a great time in the Georgia Dome for this concert. It certainly didn't disappoint. I'm pretty sure this was my first concert since college, and we picked a great one to go to. Bono was very entertaining and they did a good job of playing both old and new songs. It's amazing how they appeal to such a broad audience. We were surrounded by people of all ages.

Their whole set was pretty incredible, especially when the lights were on and you could see what they bring, put together, and then pack up each night.

Bama/Kentucky in Lexington

We just got back to Birmingham after a super fun weekend in Lexington visiting with Liz and Mike, Robert's sister and brother-in-law. Kyle, David, and Shelby joined us for the trip up to Kentucky, and we were able to cross another SEC stadium off our "have visited" list. I'm down to Vandy, Arkansas, and Georgia left to see. I've been to Nashville, Fayetteville, and Athens but never to an SEC game there. I'm tempted to count 1996 when dad took us to the Olympic soccer game in Athens between the USA and some other country, but I don't think that will fly.

This was the first weekend it truly felt like fall. The weather was beautiful and Lexington is such a cute little college town. Mike and Liz have the cutest little duplex not far from campus, so we were able to walk down to meet up with some of their UK friends (Mike's in dental school there) to tailgate before the game. Everyone was so hospitable, and we eat like kings all weekend.

We played a little cornhole before heading to the stadium.



We were able to sit with Mike and Liz in the dental student section and had GREAT seats - 50 yard line.

I was able to meet up with Amy GB during half to give her a quick hug. She was there with the whole Gillis clan. I'm so grateful for the extra opportunities I get to see all my dear college friends during football season. We are spread out throughout the Southeast but all travel pretty well to the games, so it's great to be able to see each other at least once a month during the fall.

I wish I had taken some pics of Liz's cute house because she has it decorated so nicely. We all were so relaxed and just enjoyed hanging out with family and watching some good football all weekend...and sleeping.

Lexington was really picturesque. Beautiful horse farms with miles of white picket fences and this random castle which Shelby fell in love with, so I had to post a pic of "Shelby's castle."

Bama vs. Arkansas

The Bama/Arkansas gave last weekend was a swamp, literally, due to the crazy rain downpour we had right before kickoff. Luckily, the weather cleared up just in time to head into Bryant Denny. We had a blast tailgating with Shelby's family and lots of Clay-Chalkville folks. We didn't take too many pics (I think six totally between mom and me) because of all the rain, but I wanted to post a few of them here.

As you can see from the background of this pic, we had quite the feast. Shelby's mom was a great host and we had tons of yummy food and all managed to stay pretty dry between the tents and our ponchos. This game the tailgating crew stepped up the tailgating experience with the introduction of the tiki bar - built the night before on the quad! I didn't get a good pic to showcase the true craftmanship, but let's just say it's pretty nice.

Dad and mom manned the grill and everyone had full stomaches before we watched the Tide roll over the hogs.

Sweet Victory for Dothan High

This past weekend we headed down to South Alabama with our good friends Rob and Anne to watch the Dothan Tigers take on #6 ranked Opelika High School. Robert's roommate and one of our good friends from College, Jake, is teaching at Dothan High and Offensive Coordinator for the football team. We wanted to make sure we could go to one of his home games this year, and it turned out that last weekend was about the only weekend we had available. Knowing they were playing a really really good team, we pretty much went down there expecting a loss. Boy were we surprised.

As the scoreboard shows, the home team beat one of the best teams in the state with a come from behind win. Dothan got an early jump but then fell behind. Late in the fourth quarter they turned things around, scoring 15 points in 2 minutes to take the lead - with Jake calling the offensive plays that secured the victory. It went something like this.

• Play a decent first quarter, with defense and special teams scoring early points
  
• Play not so great second, third, and early fourth quarters - narrowly avoiding something like 8 interceptions
  
• Drive for a touchdown late in the 4th
• Go for two and make it
• Recover a perfect on-sides kick
• Drive again, nearly throw an interception, score a 40-yard rushing touchdown on this beautiful screen pass you almost didn't get the chance to throw because the play before should have seriously been an interception.
• Relish in what everyone told us was "the best Dothan victory in 10 years!" (See pic #1)

Granted, Jake called some pretty good plays, but I personally think our all-out Dothan attire played a significant role in the victory. Jake left all his Dothan shirts out for us so we could represent. I think they were clean.

Here's some more pics from the game and some very blurry ones of Jake coaching on the sidelines which I took from far up in the bleachers. I thought about going down close to the field to get some good, close-up shots but decided our friendship might be compromised by my paparazzi methods.


And, as an added bonus, I got to see my sweet friend Leigh from college who I haven't seen in over a year. We were roommates together when we studied abroad in Italy the summer before our senior year and bonded over countless scoops of gelato eaten while window shopping along the streets Florence. Leigh now teaches at Dothan Middle School. It was so so good to see her and catch up!


Here's an article from the Dothan Eagle about the win:

Dothan High football win generates local, state attention

By David Mundee
September 15, 2009

For the first time in a long while, Dothan High football was the talk of the Wiregrass and the state last Friday night and Saturday morning.

The Tigers earned their biggest win in more than a decade, stunning sixth-ranked Opelika in a wild one at Rip Hewes Stadium, 45-41.

Dothan rallied with two touchdowns in the final 1:10 to claim the win.

The win was the first for Dothan over a ranked team in nine years since beating No. 2 Cairo (Ga.) 20-13 on Sept. 22, 2000. It was the first win over an Alabama-ranked team since the 1998 season opener over Class 5A No. 7 ranked Greenville, 24-6.

Dothan improved to 2-1, its best start after three games since beginning 2004 at 4-0.
The Tigers have already matched their win total of the last two years combined (2).

It was Dothan's first win over Opelika in 37 years, back to a 27-12 win in 1972. Opelika had won 11 straight in between.

The Tigers earned a region win over somebody other than Russell County for the first time since beating Smiths Station in 2005, breaking a streak of 22 losses to region teams other than the Warriors.

The 45 points were the most for the Tigers since scoring 48 against Jeff Davis in the 2004 season opener.

The 41 points allowed were the most ever in a Dothan victory, surpassing the previous high of 35 set by Fort Walton Beach in 2005 and also by Auburn in 2001.

The combined 86 points between Dothan and Opelika were the most in a game involving Dothan, surpassing the 83 points from the Tigers' 49-34 win over Bay (Fla.) in a 1997 game in Panama City.

The total points were also the most in the 45-year history of Rip Hewes Stadium, surpassing the 77 points in Dothan's 42-35 win over Auburn in 2001.

Le "grand" finish: Quarterback Jay LeGrand delivered a grand finish for Dothan, directing the last two drives with touchdown passes to help the Tigers rally from 11 down in the final 1:10.
The senior, who threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns in the game, was honored as one of the top performers in the Alabama High School Athletic Association Prep Spotlight.

LeGrand threw a 2-yard pass to Fontaine Stratton and a two-point conversion to Benard McGhee to cut the margin to 41-38.

Then after a successful onsides kick recovery by Dothan, LeGrand lofted a pass to Brandon Knight, who weaved his way downfield for a 48-yard TD pass to give Dothan the lead with 39 seconds left.

LeGrand wasn't the only Tiger in this week's AHSAA spotlight. Kicker Ryan Mullins was honored after hitting three field goals and four extra-points in the win over Opelika. Mullins hit field goals of 27, 35 and 32 yards.