January Recap

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Wow, I have missed you bloglets so much!!! I have been itching to do a post for so long now. A lot has taken place for us since Christmas. My apologies for the blogging hiatus.

Let me summarize how January has been for us so far. We attended our favorite annual New Year’s Eve party. We worked like crazy people to get ahead so that we could take a week off for vacation. We flew to Phoenix, Arizona to attend the BCS National Championship game (in case you haven’t heard our alma mater, Auburn University, played in the game and WON). And, we both caught the flu and are still recovering nearly two weeks later. I think at least one of us had a fever every single day were there. We didn’t let it ruin our trip though. Nothing could have ruined that trip.

Yes, there were some major ups and downs so far for us in January. I hope that it is not a sign of a roller coaster type of year. :)

The rest of this post is a recap in mostly pictures of our trip to Arizona. You can view our full album by clicking here.

Day One: In Old Town Scottsdale we ate some amazing Mexican food at Frank and Lupe’s

And we checked out “The Fiesta” that was set up as a party spot for football fans in Scottsdale.

Day Two: Judd and I took a beautiful 2 hour drive to Sedona.

As the elevation in Sedona increased, we went from red rocks to snowy mountains.

While in Sedona we ate cactus fries. They were really good.

We drove up to Airport Road in Sedona to catch a glimpse of the view.

This was yet another breathtaking view in Sedona.

While in Sedona and on the way back to Phoenix we saw so many varieties of cacti. I liked these pink ones.

We pulled over at this lovely establishment to get a few pictures with the saguaro cacti behind the building.

I’m 5’10’’ so imagine the scale of this cactus. Enormous.

Then we drove off into the sunset and back to our hotel.

Day Three: We took a 4.5 hour drive to the Grand Canyon with some special AU friends.

Have you ever seen a mesa?

The Colorado River running through the Grand Canyon.

El Tovar Lodge at the Grand Canyon.

On our way back to Phoenix we stopped in Bedrock City to visit with the Flintstone’s.

We drove through some major snow on our way back while passing through Flagstaff.

Day Four: We saw Auburn quarterback, Cameron Newton’s, Heisman trophy on display in Scottsdale.

We also saw so many Oregon duck fans dressed in really crazy outfits. There certainly was a difference in what the southern Auburn fans and the northwestern duck fans consider game attire.

We also attended the Auburn “All In” party that night and ran into a FABulous friend.

The food at the party wasn’t so great. We decided to make a trip to In-N-Out Burger instead.

Day Five: We tailgated in Glendale at Westgate and then attended the best game of our lives.

Judd caught my favorite souvenir of the whole trip at the Under Armour trailer. ROAR.

The flags in Phoenix were at half mast for the victims of the Tucson shooting that occurred while we were in Arizona. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to the victims and their families too.

We fought our way through the crowd to get into the stadium. To say there were lots of Auburn fans would be an understatement.

When we made it inside, I got a little emotional about actually being there. I was so proud of Auburn for even making it this far. It was an amazing feeling to be in that stadium.

The game was a real nail biter.

But then, Auburn’s kicker, Wes Byrum, kicked a game winning field goal. The tigers won!!!! Judd and I shed some tears of joy over what the win means for our beloved school.

We’re number one. It’s great to be an Auburn Tiger!!!

Judd and I feel so blessed to have been able to take such a fabulous trip and share in such a special time for our university.

Holiday Dumpster Divers

Yes, it’s true. We are those people.  When walking our dog last night we took home something out of one of our neighbor’s trash piles.  On the first pass, we saw the said item, commented on it, and kept going.  On second thought, Judd, stealthily swept back and retrieved it.

What is the said item, you ask.  Well, um, it was a long strand of live garland.  I have no idea why our neighbor would throw it out.  It was clean, still smelled fresh, was only a little bit dry (but still manageable), and it was very well wired together.  It was a wasteful move on our neighbor’s part if I do say so myself.  But, hey her trash is our treasure.  :)  Maybe we can get her to throw away a slip covered linen sofa or some custom bedding next.  I won’t hold my breath.  ha.

Being so close to Christmas, I was kind of over the decorating.  All I managed to do this year was to get our tree up.  I thought that would be enough since we weren’t expecting company this year.  However, when we saw the garland, the idea of a beautiful mantel was too much to keep us from it.  Judd deemed it worthy of using.  Now, I am glad we have it.

There was enough garland to put on our mantel and to use on our table as a centerpiece.  I added white lights, silver balls, and pine cones to the mantel garland.   Judd picked some fresh magnolia from our yard to tuck in it also.  Oh, I also added a cute little wooden reindeer that a colleague gave me for Christmas (Thanks Teresa).

I used the same treatment for a small piece of the garland on our table.  I positioned it on top of a split barrel that I already had.

For a last minute, on a whim, decoration I think it all came nicely together.  I snapped a few photos with Judd’s iphone.  Per our usual lately, my apologies for the poor photo quality.  We’ve got to get a new camera.

          

In case I don’t get another post up over this busy holiday time, we wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas.

Flattered

We are so flattered to be featured on Shanna’s lovely blog, Revamped French Maison.  You can check out her post on holiday highlights by clicking here.

Thanks Shanna for including us in your post!  We are glad to have made a new friend on the blogosphere.

How To: Make Garland From A Grocery Bag

Last week, I ran in Publix (a local grocery chain) to pick up a birthday cake for Judd.  Did I mention that my amazing husband turned the big 3-0 last week??? 

[His birthday usually falls on a day when one of us is frantically working on or studying for fall semester final exams.  Lucky for Judd, those days are behind him.  Now, the stress of finals is all my own.  BUMMER.  Last week his birthday fell on the same day that my statistics final was due!  Eeek.  Hence the reason I was running to Publix to purchase a ready-made birthday cake.]   

Long story short, at check out the cashier unfolded a paper grocery bag and placed Judd’s cake inside of it.  We usually place our groceries in reusable grocery bags or we just get plastic when we are in a hurry.  (I know, I know, just go ahead and report me to Al Gore).  So, I haven’t looked at a brown paper grocery bag in a while.  When I got home, I noticed that printed on the front of the crisp brown sack was a pretty blue and green bird.

 

On the side of the bag, in large blue font, was the word “celebrate.”  I left the bag on the counter for a day or two trying to decide what to do with it.  As soon as I saw that little bird, I knew there was a craft project just waiting to be made with it.

On my next weekly visit to Publix I asked the bagger to please place our groceries in only paper sacks.  When I got home and unloaded my groceries I had a total of 5 bags all with the same holiday bird motif.

My craft project wheels started to turn.  Last night, I decided to make a garland out the lovely paper birds.  I am not sure exactly where to use it just yet.   This year will be the first time Judd’s parent’s cabin can be used for Christmas.  Maybe the garland would be pretty used as a rustic decoration at their farm.  We’ll see.

To make the garland, I slid a legal notepad (cardboard side up) inside the bag to use as a cutting board.  I used an X-Acto knife to cut around each bird.  This was a quick way to trim out the birds without having to bend them or deal with cutting around the bulky bag. 

Next, I used a whole punch to make one whole at the top of each bird.  I took a long piece of jute twine and double tied each bird to the twine by poking the jute through the punched whole.

Here is the finished product.  Keep in mind, I did not make these for my house.  Also keep in mind that I have been frantically working on my final exams and have not yet decorated our mantel.  Pretend you see what you saw last year.  Ha.  I quickly threw some pinecones on the mantel to add a rustic feel for these pictures.

 

Now, I just have to figure out what to make with the “celebrate” side of the bags. 

What do you think about this budget friendly project?  Is it something you would create for your own home or rustic space?  Do you have any ideas for the “celebrate” part of the bag or for other uses for the birds???

Can you guess where we went last weekend???

We went to the SEC Championship game in Atlanta.   Our Auburn tigers had a most successful victory over the South Carolina gamecocks.

Judd and I stayed with a FABulous friend.  We also tailgated, caught up with old friends, cheered our hearts out, and spent a night out on the town in what we now affectionately refer to as FABlanta.

Here we are outside of the Georgia Dome.

This one is of all of us inside the World Congress Center (adjacent to the Georgia Dome).  WAR EAGLE!!!

We are hoping to go to Arizona to cheer on Auburn at the National Championship Game.  We are looking for tickets.  Please let us know if you have some extra tickets or if you come across a good deal.