Happy 7th Anniversary!

Seven years ago today I married the most wonderful, patient and loving man in the world. On that day I never thought I could love him any more than I did. Little did I know that my love for him would grow more and more every day! I absolutely cannot imagine my life without him. I know it sounds so cliche, but he truly is my BEST FRIEND!

Rob, thank you for loving me for me!

Thank you for loving me, supporting me, listening to me, backing me up, talking to me, being honest with me, and being the best friend and husband to me that I could ask for.

Thank you for a WONDERFUL 7 years! I can't wait to see what else the future holds for us!!!!!

Happy Anniversary!

Game Day - Knoxville Part 2

Saturday morning we got up bright and early to get ready for the game. *Thanks to some GREAT family we had a beautiful condo to stay in with this great view of Knoxville! The temperature was in the low 80's and it was overcast.

We headed to Neyland Stadium to be there when the Blazers unloaded the buses. We anxiously awaited their arrival!

The Blazers unloading

Our blazer, #85 Nolen Smith

After seeing the Blazers off of the bus, we headed to our gate to find our seats. When we turned the corner this is what we saw.....a sea of Orange....:)

We picked up a roster.....WR #85....true freshman!

Our amazing family that let us stay in their condo also gave us some amazing tickets. This is a new addition to Neyland Stadium, the Tennessee Terrace....GREAT seats with an amazing AIR-CONDITIONED concourse with LOTS of food options. haha! It really was nice with tons of TV's so you didn't miss any of the game action. (it would have been better painted a different color....I kid, I kid)

After looking at all of the choices we decided to split loaded potato chips for lunch...I know, healthy, right? These were homemade potato chips, with bbq, coleslaw, and sour cream. YUMMO!

The toss

#85

UAB really came to Knoxville ready to play! They spent quite a bit of their time in the Red Zone but just couldn't make anything happen. Not to mention, the FIVE missed field goals. The game went into double overtimes and Tennessee ended up winning 32-29...such a heartbreaking loss. I can honestly say that UT would be a HARD place to come into and not get a little overwhelmed. It is extremely LOUD in that stadium and of course you hear "Rocky Top" only about 25 times.

Being a Bama fan, you grow up not liking UT. However, I can honestly say that the fans were very hospitable and everyone that we ran into was friendly. Not sure it would be the same if we were in our Bama gear, but it was a very pleasant atmosphere!

After the game we waited around to see the Blazers.

Nolen and myself

Our "gang" and Nolen
I will say that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE having someone on the field playing. It brings a whole new aspect to the game. HOWEVER, it is so stressful! haha! I think I had about 5 mini-strokes during the game! But it was such a GREAT weekend and we had SO much fun!!! And a BIG thanks to our family for letting us use their condo and their tickets!

GO BLAZERS! GO BIG GREEN!

Weekend in Knoxville - Part 1

We spent the weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee for the Tennessee/UAB game. Rob and I went up Thursday night so we could do a little "sightseeing" around the UT campus on Friday.

Neyland Stadium

View of Neyland Stadium from across the Tennessee River

World's Fair Park

While out and about Rob and I ate lunch at Cilantro's Grill on the strip. We met the owner who was from Birmingham, and then the Budweiser delivery man came in and he was from Bessemer. Everyone we met while in Knoxville was originally from Birmingham. Just some irony!

The UT campus is a pretty campus and I love that the river runs right through that area. I also think it is so neat that people drive their boats into the city and "tailgate" on the river. There will be TONS of boats just lined up and down the river on gameday. I'm not sure why I didn't take any pics of that.

Friday afternoon, my parents came up and we ate dinner at Calhoun's, overlooking the river. So pretty! Again, don't know why I didn't take any pictures! :(

Relaxing at the Lake

We spent last weekend with friends at Wheeler Lake. The state park has some newer lakeside cottages that are so cute and cozy!

We saw lots of these when we were driving into the state park

We were in Cottage #6

Our view from our back deck. It was so quiet and peaceful. On Saturday the rest of the group went for a walk. I decided to get a book and sit here while they were gone. It was the most peaceful and serene few hours. I was in Heaven! (Life has been crazy hectic lately so just sitting in the quiet was amazing)

We relaxed...

...watched lots of football and stressed out during the Auburn game...well, the Auburn fans of the group did.....I was fine since Bama BEAT Duke! :)

...played lots of games. Matt introduced the guys to "Magic" or "geekfest" as the girls might like to call it.

... and enjoyed a fun game of Mad Gab (one of my FAVORITE games because it is always funny and it didn't disappoint this time either! :)

Tailgating in T-Town

A couple of weeks ago, Rob and I introduced our friends Matt and Stephanie to Bama tailgating! :) Stephanie is from Louisiana and is an LSU fan and Matt is from Arizona and he's a....well whatever Arizona University is. haha! Bama played Penn State so there were TONS of people on the Quad! It was SOOOOO hot!!!! Around the middle of the day a rain shower came through and did cool it off a bit but it was definitely NOT football weather. Even though Matt and Stephanie aren't Bama fans, they were great sports and we did have a good time!

It was really too hot to even think about taking any pics but these are the few I got with my blackberry.

I took this pic before we even got out of our garage. :)

After the rain shower, we headed over and watched the Million Dollar Band....LOVE cheering with Bama!

Who doesn't love Big Al?

I can't wait for us to go back when Fall officially gets here! I LOVE football season!!!!! Roll Tide!

We are officially UAB Blazer fans!

My cousin, Nolen just started his freshman season as a wide receiver (number 85) for the UAB Blazers. Thursday night UAB kicked off their season against Florida-Atlantic University and were favored to win. It was a tight game and the ending was not what the Blazers hoped for. However, it was a great night for our family because we became official Blazer fans and look forward to many more games. Now I'm on the hunt for some green and gold apparel! :)

Here are a couple of pics from Thursday night