We Saw Fireworks

I know what you are thinking.

And yes, we really did see fireworks.

Judd and I joined some our FAB friends to ring in the new year.  At the beginning of the evening everyone gathered at our house to watch our Auburn tigers triumph over the UVA cavaliers at the Chick-fil-a Bowl.  After the game and after watching Dick Clark and Ryan Seacreast conduct the Eastern Time Zone countdown, we drove over to the childhood home of our fab friend Jamie to experience a real life Central Time Zone countdown.

I’ve mentioned before that we always go there on New Year’s Eve.  Her parents, the Rome’s, throw a fantastic annual party. They are originally from New Orleans, LA so it is no surprise that any gathering at their house is always a good time. Our group of friends has literally been going to their New Year’s Eve party together for over a decade.  Jamie’s dad always does an amazing job assembling a real, better than most municipalities, fireworks display.  Also, he meticulously decorates their home with lights.  No, this is not a scene from the National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation movie.

This year I shot a few short videos of the fireworks display.  I wasn’t quick enough to capture the actual ball drop.  Yes, the Rome’s have an actual countdown complete with ball drop each year.  We always have a blast.  There were so many spectators this year who walked up from all over the neighborhood to watch the show.  Our friend Chad commented that next year we should sell them all glow sticks and funnel cakes.  Hey, that’s probably not a bad idea.

 

 

This was supposed to be a picture not a video.  My phone was apparently still in video mode when it was taken.  It is tradition for us FAB girls to take two pictures in the same place each year—one on the stairs and one with the ball drop/year sign.  Jamie just had a precious baby boy so she wasn’t able to attend the party this year.  We wanted to include Jamie in spirit since she couldn’t be there in person.  After the fireworks her mom told us to go get Jamie for a picture.  She said, “She is right above the gumbo.”  I walked in to get her picture and when I was taking it off the wall one of our former high school teachers who also happened to be a guest at the party questioned my intentions and asked my name.  I think she thought I was getting wild and taking things.  I got so tickled.  I felt like she was about to give me detention. 

Here are the rest of our photos from the night.  The Rome’s hand out eye glasses with the new year on them at each party.  I particularly liked the ones this year.

I think this year was the smallest FAB turnout yet.  There were only three fab couples in attendance--The Bridwells, the Hellers (and future baby Heller), and the Langhams.

And Another One Down…

Well, as you might have guessed from my prolonged blogging hiatus, I’ve been busy with school and work and Auburn football this fall.  I can finally attempt to catch up now that the semester is over.  Expect a few more posts this week and next.

So far I’ve managed to keep a 4.0 grade point average over the three year duration of this degree.  I had one with my Master’s too.  I hope I can continue that record for one more semester.  This spring (2012) will be my last semester of coursework.  I know that your GPA at this level doesn’t matter at all; however, it matters to me.  This coming spring will be VERY busy.  I will be taking three classes, writing my dissertation proposal (the first three chapters of my dissertation), taking  my comprehensive exams, getting institutional review board (IRB) approval, getting admitted to candidacy, and working full-time.  Wish me luck.

Then, starting in the summer I will be ‘all but dissertation’ (ABD) and will become a dissertation writing machine.  I am beyond EXHAUSTED from school.  I have never been so tired of anything in my entire life.  I cannot wait for this phase of my life to be over.  Because of my Ph.D. everything else in our lives feels like it is on hold.  I’m sure Judd can’t wait for me to be finished as well.

Sorry to post about school so much.  I know that it is not that fun to read about.  I prefer my decorating and craft posts too.  School is such a big part of my life right now.  I have a hard time doing anything without it being on my mind at the same time.

We did squeeze in a little fun this semester.  We attended many Auburn University football games this year.  We tailgated as usual at my in-law’s house in Auburn, AL.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this on the blog but it is the same house that Judd and I rented when we first got married.  His parents bought it when we moved to Philadelphia, PA from Auburn after grad. school.

Here is one of the few pictures I managed to take during the season.  Judd bought me a new camera for Christmas so hopefully the frequency of our picture taking and our picture quality will improve.

I think this was Iron Bowl weekend.  These are some of my FABulous friends and their spouses.

(From left to right: The Myers, The Nichols, and The Langhams)

The Fab Believes In Auburn And Loves it

Photo: The Fabulous Stephanie and Jamie

Well, most of the Fab loves Auburn.  Some of the fab fourteen went to that other school in a city that starts with a “T” and a few others went elsewhere. 

All but two Auburn Fab alum came to join us last weekend as we tailgated before and after the Georgia vs. Auburn game. We missed you Allison M. and Amy.  (If you don’t know about the Fab, you can read about our special friendship here).

Photo: (left to right) Stephanie, Allison, Jennifer, (me) Abby, Hartley, and Jamie

We started our morning with a yummy round of mimosa’s.  Then we played games, ate great food, visited, laughed, and just had an overall great weekend.

Oh, did I mention our husbands were also there with us?  We had a giant co-ed sleepover.  Everybody piled into Judd’s parent’s tailgate house.  It was just like our slumber parties in high school except this time we let the boys stay too.  :)

Everybody got a big laugh out of our neighbors game day bus.  They use it to transport people to and from their house and the stadium.

The girls and I split ways just before the game because some of us had tickets and others did not.  Judd and I went to the game.  It was so much fun!  Our tigers won. In fact, our tigers have won all of their games this season!!! 

After the game, Auburn’s quarterback , Cam Newton, came running all the way across the stadium to thank the fans (his Auburn family) who have supported him over these past few weeks.  A compilation of season highlights was played on the jumbotron (aka: AUHD).  Click the video below to watch the highlights.  While the video played, the seniors (who had just won their last victory ever at home) also ran around thanking the fans.  If you know me well, it is no surprise that I had full crocodile tears running down my face as the seniors and Cam celebrated and thanked their AU family.  They have given us such a great season.  We are so proud of them.  It’s great to be an Auburn tiger.  I truly believe in Auburn and LOVE it!!!        

I got legged

As you can probably tell from my lack of blog posts lately, I’ve been extremely busy with work, school, and life in general.  The blog has taken the backseat to my real world responsibilities.  Every part of my body has begun to ache from fatigue.  When I was just starting to feel ill and like I couldn’t muster up the strength to meet all of the challenges set before me, I was reminded that sometimes friends know just what you need without having to be told.

Hence, I was legged this week by a phantom fab friend.  Yes, you read that right…legged. 

What you are about to see is not nearly as inappropriate as it may first appear.  Ha.  It’s all in the spirit of clean fun.

I arrived home from class the other night at around ten pm.  I had been at work on campus since 8:00 am.  The days that I have class are always so ridiculously long.  I drug my tired body out of my car and slumped up our driveway with a load full of books on my back.  

As I approached the porch I gasped and jumped back a few steps.  I thought I saw someone hiding in the dark corner.  Upon further review, I realized, no, there was not a stalker lurking to attack me.  Instead, I had been legged.

Let me give you the back story on the legs.  The legs came into the picture when we (the fab) were undergraduate students.  I think it was around 2002 or 2003 when the legs came into our lives.  One of my fabulous friends, Amy, found the legs in her parent’s basement.  The legs began making appearances in dorm rooms across the country because we were scattered across multiple universities.  Each girl who received the legs signed her name on them.  We’ve had some big fun with that pair of legs over the years.  Here is my signature with my maiden name.  I signed the legs on the hill at Auburn University while aiding in a leg delivery.  Judd was with me.  We were dating then.  His signature is on the bottom of one of the feet.

The legs have been hidden in dorm showers, in beds, in front yards, on front porches, in cars, and several other places I can’t think of right now.  Delivering or receiving the legs is always fun. 

As we matured and grew into adulthood the legs made guest appearances in the honeymoon suites of the most recent bride.  Judd and I, being the first fab couple to wed, were the first wedding night recipients of the legs.  Don’t worry, no one interrupted our honeymoon.  They were strategically placed in our honeymoon suite before we ever arrived.  I’ll never forget when I first saw them that night.

Judd and I had just left the reception in our get-away 1939 Rolls Royce royal limousine (which was incredible by the way).  We arrived at the Tutwiler, a historic hotel in downtown Birmingham, AL.  As we approached our suite, Judd scooped me up in his arms, only the way a groom can do, to carry me across the threshold.  The room was dark as we entered.  I checked things out as best I could in that brief moment.  I spotted a human form in the bedroom.  While still in Judd’s arm I said, “Wait, Judd, there is someone in here.”  Of course, then we (I) felt silly because I realized we were legged on our wedding night.  Not punked, legged.  That’s the way the fab does it. 

The wedding night legging tradition has continued ever since.

Here’s what I saw when I walked up on our front porch the other night after class. Note: it was too dark to photograph them that night.  I carried them back out the next day to recreate this funny scene for you my fellow bloggers. 

  

 

I’m going to leave you with this one.  I truly didn’t mean for it to photograph the way that it did.  When I uploaded it I couldn’t help but laugh.  Hopefully, reading about friendship and something funny will help to lighten your load as it did for me.

Fab Takeover-Atlanta Style

My special friends, The Fab, recently spent a fun weekend together in Atlanta, GA.  A few of us have ended up there over the last few years.  Most recently, our dear and FABulous friend, Jamie, and her husband Michael moved to ATL. 

We tease about Fab takeovers because somehow several of us have moved to various regions of the country all at the same time.

Around 2007 Jamie and Michael moved to Boston at roughly the same time that we moved to Philadelphia.  Our friend, Terri, was already living in New York.  And at the time our friend, Susan, was in Washington D.C.  We teased then that we were having a Northeast Fab takeover.

Well, now we are having an Atlanta Fab Takeover.

I have already done a few posts about Jamie and Michael.  The posts were about when we visited them in Boston and when they visited us in Philly. 

Click the links below to read about those trips.

Philadelphia-Special Visitors-Jamie and Michael

Boston-A Great Visit with Jamie and Michael

They originally moved up north because Michael was starting medical school at a university “in Boston. Well, not in Boston, but nearby. No, not Tufts.”  (I just had to throw that in there.  A little 30 Rock reference.) 

We are so proud of him.  He just graduated.  He matched at Emory for his residency, which for those of you who don’t know, is in Atlanta. 

A FABulous couple, Stephanie and Chad, hosted all of us for the weekend at their house in Powder Springs, GA.  This is one of the first times we’ve had a Fab, plus significant others, sleepover.  It turned out to be so much fun!!! 

The reason we were all together was to have a “welcome back to the south” party for Jamie and Michael.  We cooked out, visited and caught up with each other, ate a pig cookie cake (click the link for an explanation on that one), and attended a Braves game at Turner Field.  I didn’t have my camera so I don’t have any real pictures to share.

Our FAB friend, Susan, did manage to commandeer Judd’s iphone during the game.  I didn’t know Judd’s phone took videos.  The clip below is funny to me because Susan caught me posing for what I thought was a picture…NOT A VIDEO. 

We had such a good time.  By the way, Susan is a pretty funny girl.  You might pick up on that at the end of the video.

Update: Jamie also did a post about the weekend.  You can read it here.

Prayer-Amy Goes to Haiti

This is my dear friend Amy.

She is one of the fab for those of you who have been around a while. She has a heart for missions and has traveled the globe serving the Lord. She is actually Dr. Amy. She graduated from Pharmacy School at Auburn a few years ago.

Amy sent the message below this morning. If you have a few moments this week please lift her up in prayer as she touches the lives of the people of Haiti.

(This is a picture from one of Amy's other mission trips. This was in Ghana)

Her message is below:

"Hi friends,

Please keep me in your prayers this week! I left yesterday to work with a medical clinic in Haiti for the week. I'm with a team of 7 nurses/doctors from Nashville working about 2 hrs outside the capital in a town called Petit Guave. It's one of the farthest points of the earthquake damage, near the epicenter of the second shock. The Nashville church I'm working with (Brentwood Baptist) has partnered with a local Haitian church to rebuild houses all summer (4 teams) and do a single week of ambulatory care clinic (our team). The conditions in Haiti are some of the most destitute I have ever seen, but it is not from lack of aid or western resources. It is from years of slavery and colonialism followed by poor infrastructure and western dependence. The extreme damage is more a result of poorly built homes (plastic or cement with no rebar) than the severity of the earthquake.

So how can I help? What difference can one week really make, especially with no way to ensure follow up or provide the next month's supply of medications? The only thing of lasting value will be sharing Christ's love, His hope, His ability to provide comfort and peace to broken people.

Pray that I will love boldly and speak words of truth and encouragement. The Haitian church has claimed Psalm 46 through this time: 'God is our refuge and strength, always a ready help in times of trouble. So we will not fear when the earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea...'

Love you all!

Amy"

She is a special friend who is doing something so great. Please take a few minutes to support her in prayer.

Saved By The Bell Oil Spill

 

The gulf coast oil spill, or should I say gushing leak, is no laughing matter.

 

My friends, however, are a laughing matter.

They are funny.  I mean, every single time I am with them or correspond with them they make me laugh, funny.  It's good to have friends like that!

 

Below is a conversation that just took place between us via email within a matter of minutes.

Apparently the oil spill episode of Saved By The Bell was so traumatic for everyone in my age bracket that it will be forever imbedded into our brains and hearts.

The following took place between 11:39am and 12:07pm:

Amy P.- Did anyone see the saved by the bell where they struck oil on the football field? 

Jamie S.-Of course! Remember the duck that died?

 

Susan T.-Stop the drilling.  Stop the oil!!! Get it, Jessi!

 

Terri W.-I did not. Remember I'm the weird one who did not watch SBTB.

 

Allison M.-Terri, you should be kicked out of the compound for that. (Blog readers, we have an inside joke that I just made an outside one by sharing this. We tease that we, as a collective FAB unit, are all going to develop a compound and live there together so as to never be separated by jobs, school, husbands, etc. ever again) Bonus points for anyone who can tell me the ducks name...

 

Abby L.-I think her name was Becky.

 

Allison M.-VERY GOOD ABBY! I am impressed :) I figured Sus. would be the only one with that level of knowledge.

 

Jamie S.-Ur so good! I was thinking Mrs. Belding!

 

Abby L.-What can I say? I am a wealth of useless knowledge. Sus, you should bring your SBTB board game to ATL. Ha.

 

Susan T.-I totally would have answered.  I missed the question!! An oil-encrusted Becky will always live in my heart.

 

Leslie S.-Ha, I thought everyone would remember that poor little duck's name! RIP Becky. You would think after all the SBTB gang went through they would be the ones leading the oil clean up effort!

 

Susan T.-Ser. Jessi is asleep at the wheel on this one. nice.

Fab's Gone Global

(Picture from my bachelorette party in December of 2004)

My sweet future sister-in-law included my besties in her latest blog post. You can read it by clicking the link to her blog below.


Brenna's Blog - A New Start For the Fab


I'm convinced we're taking over the World Wide Web. Ha.


You can also read more about my besties - aka: The FAB - by clicking here.

The Adventures of Arm

Warning: this post has no real relevance to anything except maybe the fact that I love my friends.
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Friends are good.


It's important to have them.


They are the ones you can count on to make you laugh.


I find these two friends hysterical and think you might too. It has been so cold and dreary this week. I thought we could all use a good laugh to pull us out of this freezing funk.
asdg

Behold, The Adventures of Arm.


Introducing Arm

Mmmmm....

Freshly cooked tomatoes

Clean Arm

Hit or stay?

Flirtatious

Tickling the ivories

Doing taxes

What else are little brothers for?

Now take Arm's advice and grab some tea and a snuggy.