Tide Pride

Author's note: This post is done in jest; as with all things worth laughing at, there are elements of truth threaded throughout this "confession."

One day earlier this summer Robert got an email we had been waiting on...hoping for...yes, even praying would come... for years. Literally years. And then it finally came. And I seriously can't remember a day we've collectively been more excited. Maybe when we got married. Maybe.

The email was from the Tide Pride ticket office. The short of it was - You're in. After three and a half years on the waiting list - that's 1, 276 days (but who's counting, right) - we finally made the cut. And we were ecstatic.

We likely would have had Alabama football season tickets four years ago if we hadn't been naive and ever so slightly bitter new Bama graduates who survived Shula's years in college and decided not to purchase season tickets the minute we graduated.

Talk about a decision we regret. We can always get tickets, we said. No need to sign up now, we justified. We're just starting out; we can wait a few years and then get them, we thought.

And that would have been true. Until Saban was hired. And then the waiting list went something like 10 years deep nearly overnight. Luckily, Robert signed us up hours after the announcement. That slim jump start he had on the other thousands of clamoring Bama fans who also smelled roses and championships in the future air - plus the extra 20,000+ seat addition that resulted from the north and south endzone expansions - somehow translated to us getting the golden nod in 3.5 years.

We couldn't write our check fast enough. We felt fortunate, blessed, graciously smiled upon by God. For weeks we were on a high no drugs can come close to effect.

And then we waited for these beautiful babies to come in the mail.
The day they did will probably only be trumped in our lives by either 1) the birth of a child, or 2) winning the lottery. Probably. (Since we don't play the lottery, I'm betting on the kids.)

You see, that's because now we're in. And we never have to be out. And that is a comforting feeling. (Trust me when I make a big deal about being in. There's plenty of long deceased Alabama fans claiming their season tickets each year. Currently, there's something like 10,000 to 15,000 people still on the waiting list. Luckily we're not stuck in the middle of that pack.)

It's not that we suffered in the years we didn't hold tickets. We watched in person nearly all the games we wanted. Granted, we paid a little more than face value, but that's not really the point. It's those agonizing days and hours before the game wondering if we will find tickets. You see, we always go to the game, but we don't always shell out for the certainty of having tickets in hand before we go. To put it short. We're dedicated but on a budget. But that was in the past. In one word, what have have now is security. Budgeted security. And that's a nice feeling.

Still reading and don't think we're crazy intense... fanatical...partially insane? We'll, no need to fear because any readers on the fence on this point are about to jump right over as soon as they hear this true confession: If Robert and I were the kind of people who believed in divorce (for the record, we're not), I can guarantee you the one possession we would fight to the death over with the best Birmingham lawyers money can buy would be the Alabama football season tickets. What can I say, we share the same priorities.

So about this point, I'm hopeful you've decided to add mine and Robert's idolatry of Alabama football to your daily prayer list. And we need it. Because it's just a team and just a game. (Trust me, as full of truthful-ish jest as this blog post is, we do remind ourselves of that. Because we have to.)

But Alabama football is also something we both love. And I mean love. That shared passion that includes so many of our family and friends and has its on unique set of old memories and new ones and ones to be created. Believe it or not, Alabama football and all that goes with it is a deep tradition in both our families.

(I know, some of you just threw up a little in your months when I used the good ole "T" word. Feel free to go make a joke about the Bear being long dead if you need to to get through the rest of this post.)

But it's true. Alabama football is our thing. And I stress our. I'm not going along with this because it's something I get to do with my husband when I would rather be doing something else if I had my pick. I'd go if Robert didn't. Every time. But I probably wouldn't have married him if he pulled for another team. But that's a mute point.

One thing is for sure. Alabama football is our thing, and we're now season ticket holders. And that's exciting. So is legitimately having this car tag.

If nothing I've written up to this point has shocked you, you're probably either one of our true friends who knows us deep down, or you share our priorities. If not and you're considering rethinking our friendship, I humbly ask you to bear with us. (No pun intended.) Because we're Bama fans. And that's all we know how to be.

Roll Tide!

The Clampetts

Sometimes you feel like your life is straight out of a movie. This past Labor Day weekend we literally became the Beverly Hillbillies, minus a grandmother in a rocking chair in the back of the truck. My dad graciously let us borrow his truck to travel to South Carolina, where Robert's family graciously bestowed on us an inheritance of beautiful antiques from his paternal grandmother, Margaret Sharp Adams. In an effort to be efficient, we loaded everything we possibly could in the truck to bring back to Birmingham. We managed to fit the following: a gorgeous table, buffet, and six chairs originally purchased in Europe when his grandparents lived oversees (which will become our formal dining room set - when we have a house big enough to include a formal dining room); a settee (which we think transforms into a daybed and which I plan to have reupholstered); two additional chairs; a table with four folding chairs; a mirror; three large pieces of framed artwork including two tapestries; five smaller frames; and three boxes of silver, crystal, linens, dishware, and glassware. I'm probably forgetting something since I have yet to unpack it all. The only two items we left behind for his parents to bring down the following weekend were a large mirror and the croquet set. Believe it or not everything else fit. Barely. My husband and his grandfather proved to be quite the efficient packers.

We did have to pull over three times (in the first five miles out from his home) because the tarp wasn't cooperating. On the third time we just took it off. The policeman who stopped to check on us on the side of the interstate just said, "Well, it's not going to rain. It's too hot to rain." And it was. Seven hours later, we made it home safe and sound.

Having those things that belonged in your family for years is one of those things I especially love about being Southern. All things heirloom are just special, and I'm excited about incorporating these items into our home.

We also had a blast hanging with this crazy guy (here he is helping us sort through grandmother's Halloween and Christmas decorations) and the rest of Robert's sweet family. Can't wait to see them again over Thanksgiving.

Summer Recap

I wanted to post a few pics from some fun events we attended over the Summer. In August we had a great ArtPartners fundraiser supporting VSA Alabama. I didn't get to take a lot of pics because we we're working the event with the other Junior Patrons, but there was some fantastic art in the silent auction and we raised $75K for VSA!

My sweet friends Ellen and Jennifer helped work the event.

A good friend from college got married this summer also, so we headed up to Huntsville for Andrew and Mary's big day. The wedding and reception were at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. We had a great time with Collin and Michelle, Spencer, and Anne and Rob.

Babies Galore

This post is long overdue and part of a series I will call "Better Late Than Never: The Summer Recap."

Back in July we hosted a baby shower for my sweet friend, Anne, who is expecting her first baby in late November. We cannot wait to meet Baby Maggie and had the best girls time celebrating her soon-to-be arrival. A special thanks to J-Go's mom for letting us host the shower at her home and providing the hostess wisdom and all the Paula Deen strawberry cake and decorations that go with it to us hostess newbies.

We were pretty green considering this was my first (in what appears to be a long line) of baby showers to host. (Anne, hanks for being the guinea pig!) Ask me to host a lingerie shower or bachelorette party and I can do it in my sleep. Baby showers are a different story. But since then I've helped host two others with another scheduled in October. I think I'm getting the hang of things with the decorations, games, etc. I will have to attempt a diaper cake creation in a few weeks, so that may be a blog post of its own!

I added it up and I had/have nine baby showers to attend in a period of three months, and I am helping host about half. Keep in mind, these aren't for random friends. All are either for friends at church in our Sunday School class or for close college friends (think roommates and bridesmaids). It appears the baby bug has bit. We are so excited to meet all these new additions.

Now, for some pics from the shower....

Mom and daughter

With the grandmothers

All the guests. (Note five of the ten are preggers.)

Anne got so many cute, frilly, pink, ruffled things for Maggie. Baby girl shopping is just too much fun.

Roommate pic! These girls go way back. Long before husbands and babies.

Just call us the hostesses with the mostest!

And, I have to plug the amazing Icing on the Cookie iced cookies I got for the shower. Delicious!

Memphis

This past August we made a fun weekend trip to Memphis to visit our good friends, Alex and Sam. We don't get to see these sweet friends from college often enough, but I'm so glad they were willing to host us and show us around town during - of all things - Elvis week in Memphis. Only we would plan a trip to Memphis and have no idea it happened to be on the weekend the whole town celebrates Elvis' birthday in full style. Let's just say downtown was quite the scene on Saturday evening with all the Elvis impersonators and the many tourists decked out in Elvis apparel. Love for The King was live and well.


I do have to say that Alex and Sam know how to feed their friends. We had great food at Gus's Fried Chicken and later at Rendezvous. The latter is a Memphis legend for vinegar-based BBQ, and it was my first time to visit. The full rack of ribs did not disappoint. Neither did our hook up with a table since Alex knew the manager. No line. No waiting.

We also did some shopping on the town square in Colliersville, a suburb of Memphis. I scored a nice leather handbag and mirror for our guest room at an antique shop before we stopped by a coffee shop for some gelato. Had to take a pic of Alex with the Christmas Story leg lamp in the shop. It was hot, but luckily we had some pool time earlier that morning. We also learned to play Settlers of Catan.


After dinner at Rendezvous we headed to the top of the Peabody Hotel to catch the fireworks from the Memphis Redbirds game. The Redbirds had a dramatic, 9th inning, come from behind win that was really entertaining, even from the top of the hotel. And, we actually got to watch a live marriage proposal while we were up there, and of course saw the famous Peabody ducks.



Thanks, Alex and Sam, for a wonderful weekend! Can't wait to see you guys again soon!

When stadiums expansions make you feel old

So this is the brand new South Endzone expansion of Bryant-Denny Stadium (photo courtesy of Hoar Construction). It is beautiful and majestic and pristine, and I can't wait to see it up close and personal on game day. As an Alabama fan, this psyches you out of your mind because it's bigger and better and puts us among the largest sports facilities in the world. This taste of expansion makes you salivate for even more space for football glory - almost enough to pay a law student to look though pages and pages of state laws, codes, and regulations to figure out a legal way to move that dang cemetery to make way for a plaza....but I digress.

As new as it is, the South Endzone makes me feel crazy old. Why? Because these pictures are suddenly old....outdated...antiquated...relics...antiques...from times past.




They were taken only four years ago when we had our engagement photos shot in Tuscaloosa. Now, none of this exists, replaced by something new and better.

All of the sudden, we've joined the ranks of the "remember whens..."

I can here us now, telling our future kids, "When I went to school, that was just a sidewalk..." or "When I went to school, we walked to class cause we didn't have those fancy Crimson buses to ride in... or "When I went to school, that dorm was just a field of grass..."

Funny thing is we could actually say all those things now (sans the children we don't have to say them to) and many more.

The campus and community have changed so much since we graduated - all in better ways. More dorms, more shopping, more restaurants, more national championships. I'm not complaining. I'm just saying, makes a girl feel a little old.

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