Update

I have been asked by several people to update my blog. Confession #1: I have lost my camera...I am not sure if I, being the clumsy, out-of-it person lost it or if it was taken from me at work. Considering the kids I work with....I'm thinking it might be the latter of the two! ahha
My sister always tells me, "Virginia, don't post on your blog without pictures." Sorry to disappoint sis, but this post won't have any pics. I am praying Santa will bring me a new camera for Christmas!

Thanksgiving was great. I spent some much needed time at home with my parents and enjoyed some of my favorites...sweet potato pie, fruit salad, and Mill St. Deli chicken salad. Confession #2: I bought a Snuggie...and it's pink! It's amazing and I recommend it to everyone. Instead of doing the traditional Thanksgiving meal at home, we loaded up the car and headed down to the Loveliest Village on the Plains!! Confession #3: We ate Thanksgiving lunch at McDonald's in Childersburg!! No turkey, no dressing...just cheeseburgers and fries!! I would only forfeit that meal for my Tigers! AK was already in AU with her in-laws, so we hitched up with her and 61 (my sister from another mother) and her family.

Confession #4: This was my first trip to the Plains this football season! I'm embarrassed to even admit that. I am constantly amazed by the ever-changing campus at Auburn. My parents were sweet enough to let me take a trip down memory lane and took me on a few drive-bys....my old Ross St. House, Hollifield Hall, and Amsterdams (so sad they were closed). I forget sometimes how much I love Auburn...how when you turn off 280 onto College St. your heart starts to beat a little bit faster. Yes, I know I'm cheesy!! I spent 3 of the greatest years in AU and if I could snap my fingers and do it all over again, I'd be there in a heartbeat! Despite the loss, a wonderful time was had by all.

Friday night after the game, I convinced my family to drive back to B'ham instead of staying in AU at the hotel. On the drive back, the four of us discussed what we were thankful for and all the wonderful family memories we have had. I, like many others, take for granted all the wonderful things in life. We talked for a solid two hours about our favorite vacations, favorite Christmas', and other funny memories. If I didn't have my family I honestly don't know what I'd do. They are the most supportive, caring, and understanding people a girl could ask for.

The rest of the weekend was spent decorating my house for Christmas. The tree is up, (thank you Dad!) an amazing wreath has been swoozied up by my Mom and sister, and there is a beautiful shabby-chic Nativity scene on my buffet. Life is good!

I am hosting a little Christmas get-together at my house next week and I'm going to beg my parents for use of their camera!! haha Please Mom and Dad!!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

T-minus 11 days until "New Moon" comes out on November, 20th. Yours truly has already pre-ordered her ticket for the midnight showing on the 19th!! I swore I would never read the Twilight books because I don't really get into Sci-Fi stuff...but I gave in when everyone at work last year was reading them. I, like every other person in America, fell in love with the books. I am on Team Edward all the way! Boo Team Jacob!! haha A few weeks ago, I ordered a 6-foot cardboard cut-out of the hottest vampire!! He has been placed in our room at work and I have to admit, he is a bit distracting...I find myself randomly staring at him! Often times, I think to myself, "Can I find myself an Edward Cullen?" "Can I be Bella?"

I Heart Edward Cullen!!!

This weekend, I headed home to A'ville on Saturday to take our annual family Christmas picture. While at home, my sister and I started talking about high school and somehow got into a discussion about my old prom dresses. When I was a junior, I wore a blue 2-piece (yes, I know it sounds kind of scandalous, but it wasn't!!) dress that I was obsessed with. I wore it around my house every day for months leading up to prom. I need to add that when I was a junior, I was much smaller than I am now. I have always wanted to put the dress back on just to see if I could still pull it off. The dress definitely doesn't look the same on me as it did 8 years ago, but I somehow managed to squeeze into it. Wearing the dress around my house made my entire weekend...it was hilarious. Although, I have to admit that the top wouldn't completely zip! ahahah

I will never part with this dress!

While I'm admitting all these crazy things that I love, I can't leave out my obsession with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. Ever since the reality show aired on TV a few years ago, I haven't missed an episode. I LOOOVE the show!! I want to quit my job and move to Dallas to try out! I told my Mom the other day that I wish I would have post-poned college for a few years and moved to Texas to be a DCC!! hahaha In high school, I danced all the time. I even wore the white boots and did kick-lines! Last week, I ordered the new DCC work-out video that teaches you all of their dances!!!!! I haven't tried it yet, but if all goes as planned, I will know all of their dances in a few weeks!!

What a Weekend

What a weekend I have had! The fun began on Thursday...it was Orange Day at K's M.D.O. I did not realize until the day before that the day had arrived. I was crushed because I had not planned to take off of work. So Thursday morning, I went into work at my usual 6:00 am time. I did some work, ate my breakfast and then realized I had to leave. I got my stuff together and ran out of school! I knew I could not miss K's Orange Day parade...to me, it was a major milestone! I arrived at the Crowe house in just enough time to get her into her costume...she was a chick!! She was adorable and such a trooper even though she had on a puffy chick outfit! She didn't even shed any tears...and let me say, most of the little ones in the parade were melting down left and right!!!

Sister and me at the parade

She got preferential seating on the front row of the Bye-Bye Buggy!!

Friday afternoon after work, I headed home to Albertville to spend the weekend with my parents and K. Sister and Blake went to Chicago with his parents, so we got to babysit!! Friday night the Ferneau's (Connor, Aunt Jen, Uncle D) came over for a wonderful Birthday celebration. Saturday was the best day....and did I mention it was game day? At the Decker house, that means everyone is decked out, head-to-toe, in orange and blue. Who cares if we've lost three in a row? Our devotion to the Tigers never waivers! WDE!!!!!!

Katherine loves the Tigers!!

We spent Saturday hanging out at the house, shopping at the outlets, (gotta love a trip there!), and cooking. I made some awesome WW friendly desserts and Mom made her always amazing taco soup. The Sprouses stopped by to see K and we had a great time visiting with them. The whole weekend, K's favorite thing to do was to open the pantry and pull out ALL the Fiber One bars!! haha I constantly caught her like this....

"Gigi, you caught me!!"

K kept me laughing all weekend. She walks/runs everywhere, but is always falling down, and jumping right back up. Oh if I could have her energy! We learned that she LOVES pumpkin spice cake and cheese crackers!! Her new favorite word to say is, "WOW"! We had a great time playing with her and spoiling her rotten!

All decked out for church!

Fall is my favorite time of year and I LOVE to go home during the fall. My mom always has the house decked out in the fall theme...pumpkins, leaves, and mums!!!! I strive to be able to be like my mom...she always has the perfect touch with everything. I can't even arrange three pumpkins on my porch the right way!! haha

About a year ago, my parents bought an armoire at an antique store in ATL. Since that time, the beautiful piece of furniture has been sitting in our garage...much to my dad's dismay! When I bought my house, I thought, "That would look beautiful in my bedroom....but it would have to be repainted". My mom found a man in A'ville that could paint it white and give it the beautiful distressed/shabby chic look that I was going for. Below is a picture. It is still sitting in the garage...if anyone has any ideas/suggestions on how to get it to B'ham, let me know. I'm DYING to get this in my bedroom!!

Hotlanta

This weekend my BFF, Kinzi and I headed over to ATL for a weekend of shopping. Kinzi and I have been best friends since we were in elementary school, but we never have the chance to go on a trip. She and I have been wanting to plan a trip together for awhile so we decided ATL would be a fun place to go to shop and eat. So we began saving our money (wish we had a money tree!) and penciled in the date on our calendar. We left B'ham Saturday morning before the sun came up. Kinzi and I are major clothes-aholics and we were determined to find the cutest clothes that were out there!! (Black skinny jeans, leather jackets, anything bedazzled!!!) Our goal was to have the Sexy Lexy (a.k.a. my car) loaded down with purchases when we returned.

First stop...Luna Boutique in Buckhead. This store gets the award of the weekend for the cutest jewelry. I even found an owl ring and necklace, but decided to withhold! I didn't buy anything, but KLC found some great stuff. Second stop...Phipps Plaza. Oh the beautiful things at Phipps...I could honestly spend all day just staring at the amazing handbags and clothes there....but with the amazing things come exorbitant price-tags!! haha We each made a purchase at Nordstrom. Little did I know that this would be my ONLY purchase of the day. Third stop...Lenox. We spent hours at the mall...we walked pretty much every square inch and saw every piece of clothing to be seen. We can tell you everything that's available and what the hottest trends are! Kinzi made a few purchases, but still none for me!!!!! I had a small meltdown because I was so disappointed so we decided we needed a change of scenery.

Fourth stop...H & M!! I have been DYING to go to this store since I heard it opened. I mean, you can't even online shop there, so I just knew I would hit the jackpot! Nope....we both walked away empty handed!! By this time, we were very cold and exhausted so we headed to the hotel to check in. Hello Westin Buckhead!! We arrived in just enough time to watch some college football, shower, and head to dinner at Craft. Luckily, the restaurant was right across the street from the hotel. We had the most AMAZING dinner I think either one of us have had in years. We had appetizers, entrees with side dishes and dessert. They even brought us out tons of extra food in-between courses! For anyone looking for a hip/trendy restaurant in ATL, definitely go to Craft! We give it up two thumbs up!

We started out with cocktails

Kinzi loved her "Craft Cocktail"

I loved the "Sunshine Surprise"...very sour, but delish!

Outside of Craft

They even gave us granola for our breakfast!

Kinzi had shopped 'til she dropped!

But for some reason, I wasn't tired!

We were sad to pack up and head back to the Ham.

Since we were not very successful with our shopping endeavors in ATL, we headed back early this morning to look around Birmingham. Who knew all the finds were in our hometown??!!! We hit the jackpot and made lots of purchases!!

I was so excited to have some bags in my hand!!

This is what we call our high school pic

We had a wonderful weekend! But now, exhaustion is setting in and Monday is drawing near. I'm not sure if the lack of purchases is because we're kind of in-between seasons or there's just not a lot of cute stuff out there. I suggest all you shoppers maybe wait a few weeks before hitting the stores!

Whoooooooo's Ready for a Party?

Last weekend, Katherine had her 1st Birthday party. If you're an owl fan, then you will love the party theme....pink and green owls!! After many prayers, God blessed us with some sunshine for just long enough to have the party outside. There were owls everywhere! Owl cupcakes, balloons, and smocked dresses! There were lots of great family and friends in attendance, and everyone had a wonderful time. Below are pics from the big par-tay!!

Aunt TT made her this adorable owl outfit...it matched the invitations to a T!

Whooooo sees some pretty flowers??!!

The cutest cupcakes in the history of the world!

The invitation

Gotta love some pom-pom balls!

Who knew you could find owl balloons??!!

The favor table. The cupcakes were placed in the boxes for favors!

The Crowe Family

The cake table

Katherine's BF Blair came all the way from ATL!!!

The food table

The cute stickers were for the kidos!

She didn't like the hat!

Since the party, I have had a few problems with my house. Two weeks ago, I noticed a leak. There was water dripping down my newly painted walls in my living room. I pulled my couch out and noticed that water had stained my brand new couch!!!!! OMG!!! I immediately got in touch with my window man and he came out to fix the leak...but what about the stains on my couch? Tide-To-Go pen to the rescue again! Little did I know that was the least of my worries. Later, I decided to push my couch back against the wall (since the leak had apparently been fixed) and one of the legs fell off my couch!!!! WHAT??!! I have not even had the couch a month, and the leg has completely folded under and fallen off. I spoke with the Pottery Barn Customer Service ppl for quite awhile and had a very interesting conversation with them. She said, "Ma'am, have you been jumping on the couch?" Me-"Um..no..I teach school, the last thing I want to do when I get home in the afternoon is jump on my couch." I mean, my goodness!! Like I would do that!! After sending in digital pics of the couch I was informed that I am getting a new couch! Wahoo!!! Of course it's going to take a few weeks, but I'm getting a new one. Thank goodness!!!! Below is a picture of the damage. Stay tuned for updates on the continuing leak...

Happy Birthday Katherine

Happy 1st Birthday to my niece, Katherine!!!! (a.k.a. Doodle-Bug) I cannot believe it has been a year since she came into our life. She has truly been a blessing and I honestly don't remember life before her. I LOOOVE being an aunt....it is more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. This time last year I was hanging out at St. Vincent's with K and Sister...seems like just yesterday! Today was absolute torture for me because I had to work all day. I of course had to head over to the Crowe house immediately after work to see my Doodle-Bug. She is walking, jabbering up a storm, and really beginning to act like a big girl!! Today she was decked out in her Birthday finest....pink and green owls!! I also was able to give K her birthday present. I purchased the "whisper buggy" back in July, and we have all been dying for her to take her first drive in it. Word on the street is that it is the coolest gift for a 1-year old!! haha I think she really likes it!! She immediately grabbed the wheel and eventually figured out how to honk the horn! Below are some pics of the Birthday girl. Next post will be all about her party, which is on Sunday!!

Our first picture: September 16, 2008

1 year later: September 16, 2009

"Hey Gigi, look at my cool Birthday hat Dee Dee gave me!!"

"This whisper buggy is the coolest gift ever!!!"

Back to the Real World

I apologize for not posting as much as I used to. I do not have the same amount of free time now that I did in the summer. Below is a picture of my life now...



School right now is chaotic to say the least...The school year has definitely started off with a bang. I had really been missing my kids, but I had NOT been missing all the paperwork, planning, and meetings. My saving grace throughout the school day is knowing that I get to come home to my new house!!

I am quickly finding out that along with being a homeowner comes dealing with unexpected events. Two Sundays ago I walked out on my front porch to take my garbage out, and looked down at the ground and saw a HUGE snake!! Did I mention that I have a massive fear of snakes? I started screaming, threw the garbage bag up in the air, ran inside, got into the fetal position and immediately called my Dad in tears. He thought it was all hilarious! I was not laughing at all. This was not a black garden snake...I'm talking about a fat/wide dark snake with white spots on it. My dad told me to kill it! I of course don't have a weapon! No shovel, no hoe, no gun...so I was helpless. It took me twenty minutes to take my garbage down to the curb because I had to keep my Dad on the phone with me while I moved all the bags. The snake had apparently slithered away somewhere...I have not seen him again. (Knock on Wood!!) My grandmother told me to put out moth balls, so I did. My front porch/flower bed now smell like a closet! haha Needless to say, I will be buying a weapon very soon!!

Since being back at work, I have been having major withdrawals from my family. They get to play and hang out during the day while I'm at work...can you tell how jealous I am? I went over this afternoon to see my niece. She is turning 1 this month and is ALMOST walking by herself..she is so close, she just can't seem to put it all together. I woke her up from her nap and this is the new trick she showed me. (I bought these owl pajamas for her!!)

"Look at me Gigi! No hands!!"

Also this week, Katherine started going to Mother's Day Out for two mornings a week. For some reason, I have been very emotional about this...might be the teacher in me coming out. I was disappointed I couldn't go with AK to drop her off on the first day...but don't worry, I've already planned to take off of work for her Halloween parade at school! I'm such a proud aunt. For her first day of school, she was decked out in her finest. Gotta love a girl in a pink and green smocked outfit with a hot pink owl back-pack in tow!!

"I"m so excited about going to school!"

The only thing left to talk about is the arrival of football season!! I am soooo excited for some fall weather and some Auburn football! I already hear the faint sound of a "Boddegedda" cheer!! I am sadly not going to the game this weekend, but I will be there in spirit. WAR EAGLE!!!!