Worth the Wait

Well, I'm back from my first duck hunt, and boy was it successful!  The Auburn Tigers are the 2010 BCS National Champions!!!  I'm still in shock I think...and honestly, I'm just now getting my vision back after being blinded by the Ducks atrocious neon 'highlighter' looking shoes! ha  This trip was the first time I didn't travel with a purse and the first time I didn't check my luggage.  I was afraid they would lose my game day outfit! haha

It was a miracle the Deckers were even there to take it all in.  We were one of the last flights out of B'ham on Sunday afternoon.  Our dear friends, the Henigs, were stuck there and never made it...we're still torn up about it.  What are the odds that AU would play for the National Championship at the same time we have a winter storm in the state of AL? 

I'm not sure I really know how to describe the atmosphere in Glendale...I don't think there's a single word that would do it justice. I'd say the percentage of AU ppl to Oregon ppl was about 70/30.....it was literally orange everywhere...couldn't have been any prettier.  We did AU cheers on all the flights and restaurants, and every airport we went to (and boy did we go to a lot of them) was covered with AU fans.  We loved getting our 'lanyards' for our tickets that we were oh so worried about getting before we got out there.   

It was crazy to us how many people we saw that we knew.  Albertville represented big-time out there and we saw lots of our college friends...so neat!  I have lots of battle wounds...my voice is slowly coming back, the blisters on my hand from my shakers are still killing me, and my legs are beginning to gain back feeling.  My mom said she has abrasions on her face from where I hit her so many times with my shaker, but I think she's fibbing!  :)  

Of all things to happen, my phone died before I even made it into the stadium.  Sister's didn't have much battery left either, so we couldn't do any FB status updates nor could we text anyone.  We compiled a list of all the updates we would have written, if our phones would not have been out of commission:

• Shut the Duck Up
• A guy from Oregon just said, "You people have inspired me to wear collared shirts on game days".
• All I Do is Win, Win, Win!!!!!
• An Oregon woman said, "Why do you guys all have on boots?"  The AU woman's response, "Um..because they're cute and trendy!"
• ALL IN
• Sister said "If you see someone fall over the railing of the stadium, tell them I went down in a blaze of glory!"  (I'm still laughing at this one)

This is by far, my longest blog post to date.  I took so many pictures and wanted to share all of them with you...especially for the ppl who weren't able to make the journey to the desert.

The Birmingham airport showed their support for the Tigers!!

Sister was ready to head west on her duck hunt!

We loved running into the Henigs!  Meghan, wish y'all could have made it...stupid airplanes and their 'de-icers'!!  Next time we go to the Nat'l Championship, we're all leaving a week ahead of time!

Right before take off from B'ham to Chicago

Our Super Shuttle picked us up in Phoenix and we headed off to our hotel in Goodyear

We LOVED seeing this sign in our hotel lobby!

It's GAMEDAY!  War Eagle!

Dad and I posed with our van that took us to Glendale..and yes, I brought my car flag!

We wanted everyone to know that we were traveling with the Tigers!

Our "golden" tickets!  



We LOVED our lanyards!

Best billboard ever!  Under Armour did a great job showing AU support!

61 joined us at 'YardHouse' for some tailgating!

The best coozies ever!!  Thanks, 61!!

So excited to see the Sloans!

This might be our best Decker family picture ever....we were ALL IN!

AK and Claire

AU endzone...our seats ended up being great!  My camera makes it look like we had terrible seats, but we didn't...we had the perfect view!

Right before I took this picture, I think I had a small aneurysm....I screamed so loud when the team ran out, I thought my head was going to explode.  They played our tunnel video with "All I Do Is Win" and the stadium went BANANAS!!

We loved the 'claws'!

We won, we won, we won!!!  Everyone around us was crying...it was one of the greatest experiences I've had in my life thus far. 

We laid our heads down around 1:45 in the morning after the game..what time did our car pick us up to head to the airport? 5:15!  You sure didn't hear us complain though!   We left Phoenix, stopped in Vegas, St. Louis, and then B'ham.  Look what we saw in St. Louis...lots of snow and ice!

If I would have been on TV at the game, this is what I would have done....#1!!!!!

I started crying when I saw this as we arrived in Birmingham

I'm still on cloud nine right now from our big "W".  If all my orange clothes weren't dirty, I would have worn all orange and blue to work today!  It truly was the trip of a lifetime.  I'll never be able to express to my parents how much it meant to me to be there.  The Auburn Tigers are the Crystal.  Clear.  Champions!!!!!!



Since Birth...

I have been an Auburn Tiger.  My parents raised us in orange and blue. We grew up tailgating in our motor home outside Beard Eaves Coliseum and throwing a football while wearing our cheerleading outfits.  Sister and I only applied to one college...the only one that exists in our opinion.  So naturally, the Deckers are heading to Glendale...I have to admit it took a little convincing on my part, but in the end the parentals decided to let Sister and me come along for the trip of a lifetime. 

Have I ever mentioned my mom's ability to surprise us with thoughtful gifts?  I checked my mail today and saw an orange envelope addressed to me from my parents.  Below is what I found inside...

Yes, that's us...the Decker family back in the 80s.  Back before we had given my dad his grey hair, when it was trendy to wear appliqued sweatsuits, and when I went by the name "Ginny Decker".  I cried as soon as I saw it...my mom knows just how to hit you with something out of nowhere...and boy is she good at it!  I am so thankful to be going to see my Auburn family with my Decker family...We are ALL IN and I wouldn't have it any other way.  Thanks, Mom and Dad, for all the wonderful Auburn memories we have made together and here's to making many more!  WDE!!!

January Recipe Club

Meghan hosted Recipe Club this month and all the recipes she chose were from Barefoot Contessa...one of my faves.  I watch her show all the time and want to go live in her wonderful Hamptons home! The recipes were all around the best dishes we've had thus far.  Every single recipe that was prepared was devoured...I think we all went back for seconds and a few thirds!  Everyone go check our blog and cook some of these recipes!  I promise none of them will disappoint you...especially my potatoes!

I chose 'Fennel Gratin Potatoes' and it required a large fennel bulb..so I headed to Publix to see if I could find one...did y'all know it was this big?  It stuck completely out of the produce bag and for some reason it made me laugh! 

I added the satueed fennel and onion to this potato and cheese mixture

Voile!  'Fennel Gratin Potatoes'...everyone LOVED these.  If you're looking for an easy, yet tasty potato dish...this one will knock your socks off!

Caron's 'Green Green Spring Vegetables'

Sister's 'Lemon Chicken Breast'

Meghan's 'Kabobs'

Lauren's 'Couscous with Toasted Pine Nuts'

Liz's 'Rugelach '

Ashley's 'Pecan Shortbread'

Bon Appetit y'all!

Sunday Confessions

In an effort to actually cross off some resolutions on my 2011 list, I will hopefully be posting weekly Sunday confessions.  The confessions will be all over the place...just like me!  Today, I am here to confess my life-long (well, probably since I was about 10) infatuation with Mr. Colin Firth, a.k.a. 'Mr. Darcy'. 

My Aunt Jennifer introduced Sister and me to Mr. Wonderful one summer while watching 'Pride and Prejudice'.  Now, this movie was long...at the time it was a 6 tape VHS box set.  We would watch it for hours...I've probably seen it 20 times and know most of the words.  I daydream of being Miss Elizabeth Bennett and being swept away by the ever-so dashing, Mr. Darcy.  Or as the women in my family pronounce, "Mr. Daaaaarcy".  I mean, who doesn't love a man with a British accent?! 

When I heard there was a movie coming out with Colin Firth and it was all about speech therapy...I thought God was talking directly to me!  The King's Speech is a FABULOUS movie....I urge everyone to put down their DVR remotes, walk out the door, and head to your local theater.  It is definitely worth the insanely crazy ticket price of $9.25. 

The movie is based on the true story of King George VI and his difficulties with stuttering.  It tugs at your heart strings and for those of you unfamiliar with stuttering, it will give you an understanding of the great difficulties some people have....and make you appreciate the role of an SLP.  You will leave the theater screaming "Colin Firth for the Academy Award!".  In addition to the wonderful acting, Colin Firth is in a tux in multiple scenes....I.  About.  Died.  Soooooo dapper.  Right now, I am resisting going to Google and looking up his marital status.

Get out of your house and go see this movie!!

This was the man that stole my heart at the age of 10...oh Mr. Darcy, how I love you!

The Best of 2K10

Did 2010 fly by as quickly for y'all as it did for me?  For me, it has gone by in the blink of an eye.  My mom used to always tell me that the years fly by as you get older, but I thought she was exaggerating...she wasn't.  Maybe one of these days I'll learn to listen to her...(note to self: add to list of Resolutions!)

2010 was a fantastic year.  Below is my list of high-lights from the past year!

• These shows topped my DVR queue for the majority of the year...I was either watching one of these shows or reading about them in US magazine.

• I met Bill from TLC's "The Little Couple" while celebrating Britt's Bachelorette weekend in NOLA

• Brittany got married!!!!

• Allison got married!!!

• My Auburn Tigers had a perfect football season and are headed to the BCS National Championship...and yes, yours truly will be there cheering them on!

• I joined a Recipe Club
• I went from being in my mid 20s to being in my late 20s
• I got my ultimate dream job
• My DB/Hot Muffin turned two years old
• Stepped WAAYYYYout of my comfort zone and went on a few blind dates (btw, I'm still single, so if you know of any available bachelors, let me know!)
• Took a photography class...wish I had time to take another
• The Sexy Lexy was involved in her first car accident
• Became addicted to all things Jersey...Jerseylicious, Jersey Couture, RHONJ...if anyone is going to visit that area, can I tag along?  I'm dying to get a Jersey makeover!

2011 looks to be an equally fabulous year.  I'm starting things off with a trip to Glendale, followed quickly by a mountain trip with my Focker friends, and I'm running in my second 5K in February.  This will be the first year since I graduated college many moons ago that one of my friends isn't getting married....so my summer looks to be wide open!  If you would like to bring me along on your summer vacay, email/text/call me..I operate on all forms of communication.

My dad has encouraged me to sit down and write out my goals for 2011...personal/financial/etc. My Aunt Vicki gave me a cute owl journal (shocker!) so I thought I would start a new tradition and actually write down what I hope to achieve in 2011. Here are a few of the things I hope to achieve this year: (And I'm sharing these with y'all to hold myself accountable...and in hopes to be a more honest blogger)

• Become a more frequent blogger
• Find some amazing buffalo check curtains that are remotely affordable...and find some curtain rods for my beautiful, yet hard to figure out what to do with, bay windows
• Perfect my nighttime pictures
• Eat dinner at Highland's
• Become less addicted to all forms of chap stick (Carmex/Vaseline/Chap Stick)
• Read more books
• Splurge on some form of pampering for myself...facial/massage/manicure
• Join a church
• Save more and spend less

One of my best friend's motto is: "Whatever makes a girl happy!" and I intend to apply that to 2011.  So, bring on 2011 and all the drama and shenanigans that comes along with it...I'm ready! (or I think I am)
Happy New Year everyone!