Signing Day Update

This post is primarily for my father-in-law who is out of the country on a missions trip and missed the bedlam we college football fans call signing day. It's almost as good as Christmas morning waiting to see which cap those overly talented adolescent boys throw on top of their heads...

For the second year in a row, Alabama earned Rivals.com's "recruiting national championship" with 27 signees, including four 5-star players and another fourteen 4-star recruits. Yes, we knew we were going to get giant D. J. Fluker, but there were a few wishy-washy star athletes out there who even gave ole Nick a surprise by making a last minute switch to play for the Crimson Tide. The full list of signees is impressive, but here's a look at some of the big dogs who joined the good team.

Trent Richardson

Escambia High School's (Pensacola) Richardson is believed by some to be the nation's top running back. Robert says he runs like Mark Ingram, only better, harder, and stronger. Funniest headline I read about this snag: "The Rich get Richardson."

Dre Kirkpatrick

The consensus No. 1 cornerback recruit in the country from Gadsden City High School, Dre comes to Bama with teammate and standout receiver Kendall Kelly. On Wednesday he said, "Y'all ready?" before discarding a Texas hat and declaring, "It's Bama."

Brandon Moore

My personal favorite (always been prone to the big offensive linemen) is offensive tackle Brandon Moore from Carver High School in Montgomery. The 6-foot-4, 310-pounder, is the No. 8 player on The Birmingham News' Super Seniors list and will make a great addition to our O-line.

"Roll Tide, ya know?" Moore said Wednesday after donning an Alabama cap. "I decided to go with my heart and commit to Alabama. I had a special relationship with their coaching staff from the beginning and that is where I felt the most comfortable."

Keiwon Malone

And finally, Keiwon Malone, the 2010 (yes he's only a junior in high school) commitment from Memphis no one, especially Lane Kiffin and Lance Thompson (see previous post), expected to hear from anytime soon has publicly declared his intent to play for the Crimson Tide. This talented receiver is going to be a good one, and shows there are no boundaries to Nick Saban's recruiting territory.

Trouble's Brewing in Knoxville...

Just a day after Signing Day, Tennessee's new coach is already getting himself into hot water, and making the Vols even more hated by bigger/better/stronger SEC rivals Alabama and Florida. It's definitely going to be cutthroat on the gridiron next fall.

Read what prompted The Birmingham News' Kevin Scarbinsky to say, "There's no age limit for SEC head football coaches. Maybe there should be."

Scarbinsky: UT's Kiffin needs to grow up, keep his mouth shut

New Haircut

So, I'm going to copy my super sweet friend Marty and post about my new haircut. With our lives consumed mostly by work and grad school and no kids yet haircuts definitely rank high on the blogability meter!

Here's the awkward "stretch out my hands as far as I can and take a photo of myself but try and make it look like I didn't actually take it myself" shot.

Actually, I really like the new do. Not drastic by any means but shorted up a bit with some new long layers and some fun bangs. I actually went to a new stylist, Christopher Northington, at Salon Bella on Broadway, and he's great! I had passed by the place countless times on the way to or from my house and always thought it looked like a great little salon. And I like to support Homewood merchants. Anyway, I was super pleased with the haircut and style, and it was reasonably priced.

So, take a good like at the pic because I probably won't be able to style it myself that way again! Oh, if only I had a stylist every morning like the Hollywood stars...

Really, Karen?

Did anyone watch the special hour-long episode of The Office after the Super Bowl on Sunday and see the preview for next week's show???? Oh my gosh!

If Karen is pregnant with Jim's baby it's just going to mess up everything.

I'm so mad at Jim - and I don't even know if he's guilty yet.

Thank goodness for DVR so I can find out the truth Thursday after my stats class.

Uggh...until then I remain thoroughly disgusted (but strangely captivated) at this twist in the plot. Things were going so well...

Punch Brothers

Saturday night Robert and I had an authentic date night (those are few and far between these days with all our grad classes) and saw Chris Thile (formerly of Nickel Creek) and his new band, The Punch Brothers, in concert at the Alys Stephens Center. This venue is so great and such as asset to Birmingham. It's also really convenient right in Southside on UAB's campus.

We both really enjoyed the night out and the sounds of this extremenly talented band. It's basically modern bluegrass (like Nickel Creek) but they also have some jazz and classical infusions in their very unique sound. You can check out some of their songs here.

It really was a great show, and topped off a very nice Saturday. We were actually able to visit with Robert's mom in Atlanta for several hours, and it was really great to see her and do some fun window shopping. Robert's dad is on a two-week medical/construction missions trip to Honduras, and we were able to see his mom after she dropped Dr. Adams off at the airport.

Acoustic Soup - Post Event Report

So, we had a great turnout at Acoustic Soup! I can't tell you how fantastic all of our volunteers were and, of course, the VSA staff was incredible as always.

It really was neat to see months of planning come together into one great night. I guess my biggest fear was that people (or soup) wouldn't show, but boy did they! We had 14 wonderful soups from Birmingham-area restaurants and lots of attendees. People were having so much fun we practically had to force the band to stop playing at 9:30 p.m.!

A super big THANK YOU to everyone for helping make this event such a great success. We don't have final numbers yet on attendance or funds raised, but I'm pretty sure we hosted about 300 folks!

Melissa and Lauren are both staff members at VSA. These ladies did such a fantastic job planning and organizing the event. Lauren especially was the mastermind behind evening!

Most of my family members were able to attend, and it was so great to have their support. In this picture dad momentarily took a break from rating his favorite soups. I think next year we'll add a component so guests can vote on their favorites. Dad's favorite: Clam Chowder from Lucy's.

Kyle and Ashley. Thanks so much for coming!

Big Mama also made it out that night. She was pretty excited about the four hand-painted bowls she purchased. They're super cute.

And finally, a photo of mom with the photography artwork she won during our silent auction. My friend, Ashley, who's a member of the Junior Patrons with me and was a tremendous help planning this event, had her very talented dad donate his work for our auction. You can check out his website here.

Taco Soup Recipe

Someone in our small group (think it was Sarah Sko) asked for my taco soup recipe, so I thought I would post it here. It's actually my mom's recipe, and she calls in Santa Fe Soup. (I double this for our small group, but one batch will make more than enough for a family. Leftovers freeze well too.)

Ingredients:

Soup
2 lbs ground beef
1 onion, chopped
1 package Ranch dressing mix
2 packages taco seasoning mix
1 can black beans
1 can kidney beans
1 can pinto beans
1 can diced Rotel tomatoes and chilies
1 can tomato wedges
2 cans white corn (or one white, one yellow)
2 cups water

Garnish
Sour cream
Shredded cheese
Chopped green onions
Hot sauce (if desired)
Serve over tortilla chips or corn chips (scoops)

Directions:
Brown beef in a large skillet; add onions to saute with beef; drain to remove excess fat; Add Ranch and taco seasoning; Add remaining canned ingredients WITH juices from all; Add water; simmer for 2 hours.

Garnish and serve over chips. Can also be served over rice. Chicken or pork can be substituted for beef.

ENJOY!