2009 SEC Champions & early December snow

Have I seriously not posted about the SEC Championship game yet?? How in the world did that happen?! Apparently I had intentions to because I already had the pictures uploaded to flickr... I think the Christmas rush has made me lose my mind (even more than usual)! Well crap, I was about to start my Christmas posts, but oh well. I really would usually just skip posting about this since it's been so long, but I can't just "skip" posting about an SEC Championship or snow... So stick with me here.

If you recall from this post, there was snow forecast for the night before the big game. Simply having snow in the forecast here in the south rarely means we'll actually GET some... especially in early December! However, around 11pm that Friday night it actually started snowing (yes, that's actually snow and not rain - promise)!

And after about an hour it looked like this:

I was so excited and just had a feeling it was going to be a great weekend! Snow plus the potential for winning an SEC Championship was just so exciting. We actually didn't go to sleep until around 2am, and when we did it was still snowing a little! Usually snow melts pretty fast here if it even sticks, but when I woke up around 6am, there was still snow on the ground.

But by the time we were leaving (around 8am, I think) it was just starting to melt a little. You can see how beautiful it was on the trees and everything though. I really wish we would get more soon! I just love how everything looks covered with snow... especially when it sticks around past 10am.

We rode to Atlanta with my parents and hopped on the Marta to go into the city. We headed straight for the SEC Fanfare area which was packed with people! And it was a little over-hyped and over-priced in my opinion. But we still had fun!

We got into the dome a little early so we had time to walk around some, get some snacks... and get really nervous about the game. I really felt pretty nauseous the whole first 3 quarters from being so nervous.

If you remember this news story, the poster below will make sense. haha

After the game started I don't think I even took any pictures until the 4th quarter (except maybe during halftime).

It was crazy how the energy in the dome changed once the 3rd quarter ended and we were a lot more confident about going home with a win. I don't think I've ever seen so many people in the stands holding up the 4th quarter 4 fingers. Funny how it stops where the orange & blue shirts begin.

The players were getting into it too.

Although we knew we had the win "in the bag" towards the end, I really was not able to breathe a sigh of relief until I saw this in all its glory:


We did it!! SEC Champions for the 22nd time!! Not only that, but now we are headed to the NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!! "ROLL TIDE" hasn't felt this good in a long time.
(Don't you just love my hubby's stylin' championship belt?)


(Trying to get the scoreboard in the picture with Mom & Dad didn't work well for the lighting. :-/ )






We had fun staying to watch the trophy presentation and post-game celebration in the dome. What an awesome time and what great memories! It was definitely a much happier ride home than last year when Florida got away with the win.

And the next morning we met at my parents' house to help with their Christmas decorating. Mom had the breakfast drink of champions mixed up for us in honor of the team we beat.

Get it? Florida Gator(ade)?

In the meantime...

I hope everyone had a wonderful, peaceful, and happy Christmas! Ours was very wonderful and very happy, and somewhat peaceful. :-) It gets a little crazy when we have 5 different family gatherings in 3 days. I can only imagine what it'll be like when we have kids! We've been going non-stop since last Friday night...and I've loved every minute of it. I love being busy and enjoying my family and friends. But it certainly hasn't left much time for blogging or loading pictures...or cleaning the house! So I'm trying hard to get caught up on everything this week.

In the meantime, I wanted to share these pictures that I took of my adorable Godchildren who belong to one of my best friends, Brittany, and her husband, Travis. Brittany and I have been friends since sophomore year of high school and it feels like we have been through just about everything together. I had so much fun taking pictures of all of them. I truly love taking pictures...especially when the subjects are so sweet and adorable and fun! It really is a stress reliever for me.

Carson is way too grown up. Where has the time gone??

Precious Trent could melt you with those eyes...

And could sweet Bella be any more beautiful?

They obviously come from beautiful parents...

Thanks, guys, for letting me practice my picture-taking skills on you. I wish I had time to do this more often!

Wishing you and yours...

HOPE, LOVE, JOY, and PEACE this CHRISTmas!

WINNER! ...and some Christmas decorating

Congratulations to @ageorgiamomma (also known as Donna)!!! Your twitter entry was #3 on the list and random.org picked #3! So get in touch with Tambra (tlwolens@uab.edu or her fb page) asap so she can get you a scarf in the colors of your choosing.

The number 17 total includes everyone's tweets & facebook entries too, so that's why it doesn't match up with the # of comments.

Thanks to everyone who entered! I'll have to do this again sometime soon. It was fun! If anyone has anything that you make or sell or whatever that you would like to feature in a giveaway, let me know! :-)

To answer some questions that were asked in the comments:

• Tambra does sell the scarves - for $15 each. Pretty great deal! Her turn-around time is really quick and she will ship them to you or deliver them if you live in her area.
• Yes, she does make them in Auburn colors too (booo! jk)
• She makes them in ANY colors that you want, not just the ones that were shown in my post. So the possibilities are endless!
  

If you are still interested in getting one you can email Tambra at tlwolens@uab.edu or send her a message on Facebook (click here for her FB page)

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Picking up where I left off posting before, the day after the Iron Bowl (the Saturday after Thanksgiving), Cullen and I went to get our Christmas tree and get our decorations up. In case I've never mentioned it before (ha!), I looove Christmas!! And having the sweet smell of a Christmas tree in our house and all kinds of little Christmas "happies" around just makes me all warm inside. So we always do it as soon as we can after Thanksgiving.

I always do the lights... we're kinda light nazis. We like a lot and we don't mess around. We also like a nice-sized tree. Something about a big ole, well-lit tree just makes me happy! Guess because that's what I was used to growing up. I'm standing on a chair in this pic.

Cullen does the ornaments, and he does a really good job. It takes me way too long to do the ornaments because I get too picky about which ones are where. But they look just great the way my hubby does them, so I'm glad he is willing!

We don't have a fire place, so we make do with this. We gotta have our stockings up somewhere!

And this is the wreath I made out of extra greenery that came off of our tree. Did you know that if you ask for the extra branches that they cut off the bottom, they'll give them to you free?? You can't really tell in this dark picture, but there are little pieces of silver sparkly garland mixed in. Makes me kind of think of shimmering snowflakes and adds a little sparkle!

I just love this time of year. And I love the feeling of Christmas at our home.

GIVEAWAY in honor of last minute Christmas shoppers...

***UPDATE: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. I will post the winner Monday morning!!***

So have you gotten all of your Christmas shopping done yet?? If the answer to that is yes, then I'm jealous! If the answer is no, well then good, that makes me feel a little better. :-) I have done maybe 1/4 of all the shopping I need to do. If you still have some shopping to do and are looking for the perfect gift for your favorite sister, mom, aunt, friend, Godmother, grandmother (or any of the other girls in your life that deserve something really fun and perfect for Christmas) then this is your lucky day!

Unless we are friends on facebook, you most likely haven't seen this picture (post to come about the pic later):

But now you have, AND now you have seen my adorable new scarf!!

Wouldn't you love to have one yourself... or even better, mark that hard-to-buy-for girl off your list?? Well, a friend of ours who makes these cute scarves is so kindly going to help you do that. In true Christmas spirit, she is going to GIVE one of YOU, my wonderful readers, a scarf in any color combination you choose! (I'm personally partial to the Roll Tide colors...but there are endless color combination options beyond what is shown below.)

And for this great giveaway, you can enter thrice for THREE chances to win!

***For ONE entry, just leave a comment on this post (by clicking on the __ COMMENTS link at the bottom of the post).

***For a SECOND entry, you can tweet about the giveaway. Just copy and paste the text below (and then leave a comment on this post telling me that you tweeted so I'll know):

Need a last min Christmas gift?? Go to http://bit.ly/5Mk0uM for @katiepie7 's GIVEAWAY.


***For a THIRD entry, you can put a link in your facebook status. Something like the text below - then leave another comment telling me that you facebooked it (you must comment & tell me b/c there's no way for me to know who all facebooked!):

Need a last minute Christmas gift?? Go to http://www.katiebyington.blogspot.com for a fun & fashionable GIVEAWAY.

And the best part?? Tambra will get it made and have it to you in time for Christmas! So get to commenting, tweeting, and facebooking! The comments will close Sunday (12/20) night at 10pm and I will announce the winner (chosen randomly by random.org) first thing Monday morning. So be sure to check back then so that if you're the winner, you can hurry and get your last minute order in before Christmas gets here!

If you want to find out more info about these great scarves or order one you can contact Tambra at: tlwolens@uab.edu or click here to contact her on facebook.

***UPDATE: CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. I will post the winner Monday morning!!***

Terrific Twos

Happy Birthday to my adorable, sweet-voiced, smiley, spirited, always busy, singing, blonde haired, brown eyed, cheer-you-up, melt-your-heart nephew.

We love you Bennett!

PS - Stay tuned for a fun & fashionable giveaway post coming up next!!

Iron Bowl 2009

The day after Thanksgiving (yes, I know I'm way behind), we got up bright and early. No, we weren't heading out to shop with the rest of the Black Friday crowd. It was time for the big Iron Bowl game. If you're not from the South, and especially from Alabama, you may not have an idea of how HUGE this game really is. And you most likely do not realize the amount of emotional investment that goes into this football game. In Alabama, one of the first things you find out when you're getting to know someone is whether they are an Alabama fan or an Auburn fan. Regardless of how well one team or the other plays, the winner still gets bragging rights for 364 days. It doesn't matter if we were to lose 9 other games in a year, if we beat Auburn, it would be a successful season. That being said...

My dad, my cousin McShan, my sister, my brother-in-law (who happens to be an Auburn grad, gasp!), Cullen, and me were armed with hot coffee and warm (homemade by my sister) pumpkin bread as we headed down the road to Auburn.

When we got there, we stopped by (and were provided with a great parking spot by) Jay's uncle's tailgating spot. I think we were the only Alabama fans there! But they were nice to us anyway. :-)


Love that the AU on the tent behind us is upside down.


Favorite!


There were a TON of people there. And I think every single one was anxiously tentatively nervously cautiously excited (remember that whole emotional investment thing?). Regardless of how the teams are ranked during the year you NEVER know how this game is going to turn out. It's just one of those rivalries.


We had seats in the front row of the upper deck! It was a pretty great view. But man was it chilly up there!! For a few years there we didn't have too many really cold football games that required gloves, scarves, etc. But for this one we had earmuffs, coats, scarves, AND hand warmers (thanks Mom for sending those!).


Do you see someone that looks a little funny?


The final score in all its glory. And, like I said, regardless of how the teams are ranked, you just never know. We almost lost... and we were ranked #2 in the nation at the time and Auburn wasn't ranked. It was a nail-biter and everyone stayed til the very last second (notice the stands are still completely full).




Finally we get to enjoy leaving another Iron Bowl as victors! We lost for 6 straight years and finally won again last year. Might I just add that 4 of those 6 years were while I was in college at Alabama. :-( So I think we deserve to enjoy every minute of our win. Roll Tide!