JESUS is the reason for the season!!

To start things off, bama did it! We finally won a heisman. Mark Ingram was so deserving... he seems like such a nice guy! I'm so proud of him! Roll Tide!

My kids enjoyed their Holiday Party at school yesterday! We ate lots of food, decorated cookies, opened presents, and just hung out. They are so precious. While I am thankful for this break, I know that I will be ready to see them again in two weeks. :)

My kids were so sweet to give me presents too. I feel honored that they remembered me during this season. I also have enough sweets and candy to start my own candy shop! Below isn't even all of my gifts.

The other night Holly, Hannah, Julie, and I headed out to Grapevine and went to the Gaylord Hotel. It was beautiful! I've never been to the one in Nashville, but I want to now that I've seen the Texas one! It was so much fun! And the gingerbread house below was REAL. real gingerbread and candy! I stood in awe for quite a long time!

Julio is very excited about Christmas, although he will be spending it with his Aunt Sarah and not with us! He "opened" his Christmas presents tonight and is currently chewing on one of them. :) I am going to miss him so much! Here he is in one of his Christmas shirts...

Early tomorrow we head out to Alabama for the week. We are driving this time, and it is going to be a long drive. I am excited about seeing family and friends though. Merry Christmas to all of you! And as my sweet mother use to always say... "JESUS is the reason for the season!" :) Never forget that!

Perfect Saturday in December.

Talk about a perfect Saturday!!

I slept in til 9:00 this morning, and then layed in bed watching game day until 11. Then I took a shower and headed out with Holly to get some more Christmas shopping done. We got a lot done, and then it was time for the SEC Championship! So we grabbed a pizza and headed home for the most anticipated game of the season... #1 vs #2.

Alabama came out and was AMAZING. Ingram had an amazing game, McElroy had an amazing game, our D was intense... it was simply amazing. We won 32-12 and I couldn't have been more excited! ROLL TIDE!!

This man was amazing. He won himself the Heisman tonight in my opinion.

My plane ticket to Pasadena has been bought. 33 days and counting. I CAN'T BELIEVE WE ARE GOING TO THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!!!!!! ROLL TIDE ROLL!!! COME ON #13!!!

Nine Days in Dixie....

I just arrived back in Texas after spending nine days in Alabama. It was a much needed break, and it seemed to last forever. I feel like I just spent a month in Alabama, not just a week. By Thursday I was convinced that my life in Texas was all a dream and that really I never left Alabama... ha. I thoroughly enjoyed getting to see family, catch up with old friends, and of course see the Crimson tide play TWO games in person, but I am glad to be back home in Dallas.

We landed in B'ham Friday night, and left for Tuscaloosa early Saturday morning. We got to go to the game in beautiful Bryant-Denny stadium...

The picture is tiny, but it was so good to be back home there. I'm pretty sure that Bryant-Denny is in my top three favorite places in the world. Anyway, the Crimson Tide rolled all over UTChat, as expected. :)

Thanksgiving was great, as always. We went to my great-aunt Rosa's house and had lunch with my mom's family. I'm so thankful that we keep in touch with my mom's family. It is very special to me to get to see them and spend time with them during my mom's favorite time of the year. It makes it seem a little bit more like she is there.

Thursday night my family and I headed down to the Plains for the Iron Bowl. For all you non-Alabamians... the Iron Bowl is a huge thing. It's when Alabama plays Auburn, and in my opinion, it is the biggest rivalry in college football. It gets downright ugly. My siblings and I are pretty much split down the middle in this game. Holly, Chase, and I are huge bama fans. Kevin and Alicean are Auburn fans (but Alicean only cheers for the Tigers because her husband doesn't know any better! ;-) ) Anyway, we pretty much can't talk for the whole week of the game because all we do is argue. Alabama was expected to run all over Auburn, but the game didn't quite turn out that way. Auburn came out and surprised the Tide in the first quarter, and at the end of the first quarter it was 14-0. But after that quarter, the Tide outscored the Tigers 26-7. The Tide ended up pulling off the victory at the very end of the game for a score of 26-21!! RAMMER JAMMER! It was an exciting game to be at. The Tigers played a great game, but part of being a great team is finding a way to win, which is exactly what the Tide did! Roll Tide Roll!! We play Florida in the SEC Championship on Saturday. #1 vs #2... ah! I'm quite nervous about it. I hope we pull off the win because I really want to make the trip to Pasadena in January! No matter the outcome though, I'm proud of the Tide for pulling off two undefeated regular seasons and two victories in the Iron Bowl. Roll Tide Roll and Rammer Jammer... see you on Saturday Gators!!

Chase, me, Kevin, Alicean, and Holly tailgating before the game...

I will leave you with a quote from Auburn's own Shug Jordan... mainly because all these Auburn fans keep talking about how they beat us in the entire game but the last two minutes. Just thought they might want to take the advice from their former coach :)

"Its not how well you played. If your score is less than your opponent's score then you lost; got dog whipped and might as well admit it; YOU JUST GOT BEAT."-AUBURN's own Shug Jordan

All I want for Christmas is you...

So my dad called today and asked for my christmas wish list. I honestly had not thought about it at all, but I began searching the internet to find what I wanted. I came upon several things, but most are a little pricey so I doubt I get much of it. It's fun to hope though!

I really need a garment bag for the plane trips I now seem to take frequently, and being the Vera Bradley lover that I am, I would love to have this vera bradley garment bag in Caffe Latte Print!

Holly and I want another Alabama print to hang on a wall in our den and I think this one is so cute! It incorporates everything that is Alabama!

Of course, if all else fails, an Old navy gift card would be perfect! It would give my ON credit card a break, and I can always find comfy cute teacher clothes there!!

I really want to get my diploma framed because I have yet to do that, and I LOVE this frame. I'm REALLY hoping that this gift is under the tree!!

Again, we really want a frame to hang on a wall in our den that is empty, and if we don't get the other one, I'd love to have this one! Bryant-Denny is the thing I miss most about Tuscaloosa, and having this picture in the den would be like having a little bit of home in Texas! :)
Tickets to the BCS Championship! I know you're thinking "YOU'RE CRAZY!" but my dad currently has 4 tickets to the game. He and Chase will be taking two, and Holly, Kevin, Alicean, and I are currently bargaining for the other two. My arguement is that a)Texas has won a championship in the past few years, so why should Alicean get to see another one? b)Kevin isn't a fan of EITHER team. and c) you want more BAMA fans at the game, not more TEXAS fans. Therefore, dad should let Holly and I have those two tickets! (Sorry Ali, I love you, but I want to go to this game SO BADLY!) what would be even BETTER is if they were wrapped and under the tree and I didn't have to pay him back for them! :) (Of course, all of the above requires bama to defeat the gators, which i am confident will happen, but i'm trying not to get my hopes TOO high since the tide let me down last year....)
I currently have a $10 watch from wal-mart, and while i love it, I really want a nice one. I found this one and fell in love! Isn't it adorable? I really need a watch for work, so maybe this will end up under the tree :)
Totally random, but I have really wanted a nice ring for a long time. i've never had a nice ring! And I love blue topaz. I found the following two rings on different sites and I'm in LOVE! I HIGHLY doubt I will get either, but I would be so so so excited if I did!!!

Every Alum needs a tag for their car, so of course this was added to my list :)
And rollers... for those of you who know me, you're probably thinking WHY does HEATHER want ROLLERS?! because it is totally unlike me. But, I think if I had them, I would do more with my hair then just scrunch it. Plus, every girl deserves a good set of rollers!

Last, but not least, a northface jacket in blue tide. Isn't it cute? I need a good rain jacket. I really hope this is under the tree too!!!

I'm sure I seem spoiled, but please remember that my dad will probably only choose ONE of these gifts to give me. I just have high hopes! Ha. Oh well, a girl can dream... :)

November

Halloween weekend was spent in the beautiful state of Alabama. It was a quick weekend, but so nice to see my friends! Ann Marie's wedding was beautiful. She made a beautiful bride! I'm so happy for her and Nathan, and I know that they can't wait to be reunited in Guam. :) Below is a picture of Ann Marie and me after her bachelorette party at Wings (one of the wonderful restaurants that I miss in Alabama!)

Being home that weekend reminded me how beautiful Alabama is in the fall. Texas is a pretty state, but they just don't have the streets surrounded by trees that turn to beautiful colors in the fall, at least not anywhere around here...

Since that weekend, time has flown by. The past two weeks went by so fast! Bama beat LSU last weekend! Roll Tide! Now we are meeting Florida in ATL for the SEC championship. I'm hoping that it isn't a repeat of last year!! And the way things are looking... if we beat Florida, I may be on my way to Pasadena, California to watch the Tide roll over the Longhorns! We will see....

Holly and I put our Christmas tree up last weekend. I know it's super early, but what can we say? We are our mother's daughters and we love Christmas!

Speaking of my mom, tomorrow would have been her birthday. She would be 48 tomorrow. For those who don't know, my mom passed away my freshmen year of college after a battle with Leukemia and complications from a bone marrow transplant. I miss her every single day. She was such a beautiful woman, inside and out, and the best mom that a girl could ever ask for. Tomorrow I will try to remember the 18 years that I was blessed to spend with her. I love you and miss you Lala. <3

Friday night Holly and I will be flying BACK to Alabama for Thanksgiving break. We will be in town for 9 days. While there we will get to go to one (possibly two!) Alabama football games, which may just be the highlight of the whole week! ROLL TIDE! Tonight, Bama vs. Mississippi State. Let's keep this season going! Roll tide and Rammer Jammer!

Catch up!

I have been terrible at keeping up with this blog, and for that I apologize!

Kevin and Alicean came in town a few weekends ago for the OU/TX game. We hung out Friday night and met up with them at the fair after the game. State Fair Take Two was much better, mainly because no rain, but SO crowded. I will never go on game day again! BUT... fried snickers are amazing. You should all go try them! And if you are ever in Dallas during the state fair... be sure to go. It was so much fun! We even found the Alabama state flag at the fair, which just makes it all seem a little more like home :)

Friday night we went to Ashley and Patrick's and carved pumpkins! We also ate tamales and watched GHOSTBUSTERS! with some friends. Holly had her first pumpkin carving experience, and she hated gutting the pumpkin!! HA! It was a wonderful Friday evening! The tamales were yummy, the pumpkins turned out awesome, and the company was wonderful. :) It was definitely a fun October Friday night!

Saturday the #1 Crimson Tide played the Tennesse Volunteers! We had some friends over to watch the game- our first BAMA party in our own place! Holly Alman is a girl I went to college with and she now lives in Waco... she drove up for the game, and some friends from church came too. One being a tennessee fan :-/ For the most part... Alabama looked like POO! We obviously forgot how to score a touchdown. At the end of the game, I literally thought I was going to have a heart attack/and or throw up! It was a sickening feeling to feel like our season was OVER. But lucky for 'bama, Terrence Cody saved the day... again! He is a BEAST! It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. So we are still on the road to the championship! I want to play Texas in Cali SO bad... hopefully it will happen!! We have a bye week this week... thank GOODNESS. It couldn't have come at a better time!! We fell down to #2 in the AP poll, but that's fine with me! :)

Dear Terrence Cody: Thank you for being a hero and saving the game AND saving me from a heart attack. You are amazing!

PS. LOOK AT HOW HIGH JULIO IS JUMPING! I'm pretty sure he would have knocked down that ball if Terrence hadn't!!

And of course, Julio's Halloween costume. Did you really think he didn't have one? Julio is going to be Frankenstein!!

Isn't he a cutie? :) Unfortunately, we won't be celebrating Julio's first Halloween with him. We will be in Sweet Home Alabama for beautiful rere's wedding! But thankfully we have wonderful "kind of in laws" in Ashley and Patrick and they will be keeping him for the night. Maybe they will take a picture of him where he actually looks happy, because right now I'm convinced he hates his costume! HA!

Like I said, we are off to 'Bama for the weekend! It's going to be a super fast and super busy weekend, but I'm looking forward to catching up with some old pals. :) Sorry for the LONG blog, but just wanted to catch up on everything!! I'm going to end with a picture of my sweet puppy snuggling up for a nap... which is exactly what we might be doing now...

Nikki's visit to Dallas :)

Nikki has been here since Wednesday and leaves tomorrow. While I am super sad to see her go, I have loved having her visit. Her visit here included a night of hanging out with church friends, dinner and drinks with ashley, yummy tiff's treats brownie sundaes, a day of shopping, dinner at hard rock with tropical rocks, a visit to the aquarium, watching the game with the alumni, and a rainy trip to the state fair. I'm going to miss her so much when she leaves tomorrow, and I might even cry a little bit... But I'll get to see her again in three weeks, so I'll be ok. Thank you for coming Nikki! I hope you had as much fun as I did :) And thank you for distracting me from work for five days! haha...

October....

I have officially finished my first six weeks of teaching! Grades are entered and report cards go out next week. I have also finished three parent conferences... 15 more to go!

The first six weeks were absolutely crazy. I feel like it all went by in such a whirlwind! I was busier than I ever thought I would be. But overall, I love my job! I love my co-workers and I love my students. I can't imagine teaching anywhere else. I'm just praying and hoping that the next 6 weeks is a little more calm!! :)

I can't believe that it is already October. Where has the time gone? It seems like just yesterday when we were bringing in the New Year... and now we are 3/4 done with it! It's been such a great year though. One of the bests! And now it's almost the holiday season. I can't wait to start buying Christmas presents... that's my favorite part of the entire year!!!

October is going to be a great month, I just know it! The great month starts on Wednesday at 2:40! That is when Nikki's plane finally lands in Dallas, Texas!!! I am so excited. Nikki is my very best friend. She is the only person, besides Holly, that I talk to every single day. She knows everything that is going on in my life and I have missed her TERRIBLY since I moved out here. Freshmen year of college, Nikki basically lived in my dorm room. Sophomore year we lived together, and junior and senior year we lived next door to each other. So it was a complete change to move NINE hours away from her and I have missed her so much! But she will be here Wednesday-Monday and I could not be more excited about it!!!!!! It's going to be so much fun :)

The following weekend, Alicean and Kevin will be in Dallas. I am so excited about them coming too! They haven't been here since the weekend that we moved in, so they have yet to see the apartment put together. I'm really excited about getting to spend a weekend with them and not having to drive three hours to do it... this time they get to drive here!

The next weekend, Julie was suppose to come to Dallas, but I don't think it is going to work out. :( Which is sad, because I miss Jules so bad!! Really, I miss all of the six. Jules, Tiff, Erin, and Bets!! It's so crazy to think that a few months ago we lived 5 minutes from each other, and now we are all over the country. I don't know when we will be reunited, but it better be soon! I miss our Thursday night dinners and crazy weekends... and of course the quality time at BG's!!!

And last, but certainly not least, October will go out with a bang- a weekend in ALABAMA for Ann Marie's wedding. Surprisingly, I haven't been homesick. I haven't had a huge desire to go back to Alabama for any reason. But, I am getting excited about the 30 hours I will be spending there in a few weeks. It will be the fastest weekend of my life and I'm not sure that I will sleep at all, but it will be fun! Ann Marie will be a beautiful bride.. :)

So, there's my update on life in Texas. It's grand and I wouldn't trade it for anything... except maybe a game in Bryant-Denny!! :) I do miss the tide! 4-0 #3 in the nation... rammer jammer!

Julioooooooo

Just thought I would post a few more pictures of my adorable puppy, Julio!

Julie in his Alabama #8 shirt! Watching the Alabama vs Arkansas game and chewing on his favorite toy :)

Such a sweet face :)

His "Roll Tide Roll" shirt that I made :)

Julio's Julio shirt! :)

I love this sweet puppy :)

He is just so sweet :)

My favorite pic of Julio!

<3 Julio

My puppy is absolutely hilarious.

He LOVES treats. He likes to eat them, but what he likes to do even better is hide them in the couch. He seems to think that hiding it in the couch is the same as burying it outside. It is so funny to watch him. He will stuff it between the cushions and then kick his legs as if he is covering it up with dirt. It is SO funny...

When he gets sick in the car, he throws up into a towel. He then covers it with his nose as if again, burying it in the dirt. I know it's sad that he throws up, but it is absolutely hilarious to watch him try to "bury" it.

He use to love cheese. He would do all kinds of tricks for cheese. Now suddenly, he runs from cheese. It cracks me up!

One day I randomly picked up a toy bone from the dollar tree. It literally cost me a dollar. It squeaks, kind of, sometimes. It is suddenly his best friend. He goes NO where without it. If he leaves it somewhere, he will whine and whine until you take him to go get it. It is so funny! He hasn't liked any other toys, but this one he loves with and it just makes me giggle.

My all time favorite thing about this dog is bedtime. he cuddles up next to me in bed and falls asleep. He turns into a ragdoll and you can pick him up and move him and it doesn't affect him.

He is the cutest puppy in the world. And I love him! =)

Top 30 things Texas is lacking....

Holly and I love the state of Texas, and we have decided that if they can get these thirty things in them, then it will be the best state in the world. Too bad all of these things will never be here.

1. All of my family (Exceptions: Kevin, Alicean, and Heather who live in Texas too!)
2. My awesome Alabama friends!! :)
3. Nick Saban, Julio Jones, Mark Ingram, and the rest of the Crimson Tide.
4. Southern Accents
5. Milo's Hamburgers
5. GOOD sweet tea
6. Vulcan
7. Mamma Goldberg's (Someone should seriously buy that place and make it a restaurant chain)
8. James Spann (best weatherman EVER!)
9. The GREATEST rivalry in college football.
10. Christmas on the Rocks in good ole' Noccalula Falls,,,if you haven't been you are missing out!
11. Larry Langford (If you are ever bored, you could always just catch up on the latest list of all of his indictments)
12. Tornado Season (see #8...there is just something exciting about watching him in action!
13. Alabama fans that are my age.
14. The only city with a grave for a fictional character (Nikki, Kahla, and Stephanie)
15. Bass Cemetary
16. Bryant-Denny Stadium
17. City Cafe
18. The HOUNDSTOOTH!!
19. White cheese dip at Mexican Restaurants (AND salsa,,,NOT hot sauce!)
20. Jim N Nick's Cheese biscuits

21. OCharley's Caramel Pie
22. OCharley's ROLLS!!
23. El Rincon Margaritas
24. The PALACE
25. Nikki Williams, The Six, and our High school gals.
26. GOOD high school halftime shows with a dance line that DOESNT look like sparkly cowgirls!!!!!!!
27. TAILGATING!!!!!
28. Guthrie's chicken... what was that word chase made up to describe it?!?! i dont remember...
29. JAMES SPANN! (I know we already put that, but you can ALWAYS post him twice.)
30. Numerous Sister Hazel concerts... seriously, ONE the entire semester? That is just pathetic.

December 12th!!!!

My favorite band in the world is Sister Hazel. I'm literally obsessed! Tonight I randomly googled their tour to find out if they were actually coming to Dallas anytime soon. Most of the time they only tour around the Southeast. I found out that they are coming to the House of Blues in Dallas on December 12! Dec. 12 is a SATURDAY, which means I can go without being worried about being too tired the next day teaching! The tickets coincidentally go on sale TOMORROW morning at 10:00 am. I am currently convinced that this is fate! Therefore I am buying a ticket. I am SO excited, I literally ran into Holly's room screaming! They have recently come out with a new CD (which is great- Release- go check it out!) and I am very excited about hearing it in concert! Therefore, Sister Hazel concert #9.... I'll see you on December 12th!!!!!

Ken- Sister Hazel's lead singer- at my 8th concert at the Jupiter in Tuscaloosa!!

ROLL TIDE!!!

It's here! It's finally here!!! FOOTBALL SEASON 2009!!!!

I'm so excited! I love Alabama football!!!!

My heart is longing to be in Tuscaloosa on a Saturday, walking around the quad with all of the other Crimson Tide! It's amazing how much I took it for granted and how BAD I want it now!!!

I WILL be going to a game soon! I just can't stay away!

Today: 7:00: ABC: Alabama Crimson Tide vs. Virginia Tech Hokies!!!

RAMMER JAMMER YELLOW HAMMER GIVE 'EM HELL ALABAMA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

CANT WAIT!!!!!

Week Two!

I almost have two weeks down of being a REAL teacher! For the most part, I love it. There are afternoons when I am SO stressed out and there are mornings when I am so tired that I don't want to get out of bed, but I honestly wouldn't trade anything for my life in Texas!!! It's so great!!!

Alabama football starts back Saturday and I am SO ready! My students already know all about Alabama football. They probably think I'm crazy, but I'll admit it, I am crazy for Alabama football! I absolutely can't wait to watch the Tide play! I wish I could be at the game, but I guess my new big screen TV will have to do! ha!

Last night Holly and I started going to a bible study with the church that we have been going to in Dallas. Side note: the church we go to in Dallas has a partnership with the SAME church that we did our mission trip with a few months ago! How crazy is that?! AND the sunday school teacher for single 20's knows Greg Jackson (my middle/high school youth pastor) AND Ben Pilgreen (my college minister). Can we talk about a small world?!? It's crazy all the connections I've made with new friends and people in Alabama. ANYWAY, the church here we go to (park cities baptist church) has a partnership with cornerstone! they help them with different events. I thought that was crazy!! Anyway, the bible study was great and I think that Holly and I will be able to connect with a lot of the girls there. I'm super excited about that!!!

All right, time to grade papers. Oh the joys of having 60 students!! I'm going to leave you with another picture of Julio. We spent this past Saturday hanging out in Dallas with Ashley and Patrick, therefore Julio had a day long playdate with Bentley, their dog! Bentley has a history of hating yorkies so we were afraid they wouldn't like each other, but they LOVED each other!!! Julio was like depressed for 24 hours after leaving! So, here is a picture of them! Julio is on the left and Bentley is on the right!! How cute are they?!?! (i cant figure out how to rotate this dumb picture! sorry!)

SO glad for the three day weekend! Just have to get through tomorrow. I need the rest!! Yay!

The life of a 5th grade teacher...

I have not posted in a long time, and I apologize for that! Life in Texas has been SO busy. Kevin got married, and the wedding was beautiful! Below is a picture of me with my "new" set of siblings. (basically meaning Alicean is included!)

The wedding was beautiful, Alicean was beautiful. I really think it was the most perfect wedding I have every been to. I am so happy to call Alicean my sister and I am so happy for Kev and Ali. Now I'm just waiting on kiddies... I can't wait to be an aunt!! Unfortunately, they say I have a while. :(

After the wedding, we had a week of new teacher workshops. It basically consisted of three long days of sitting through lectures. I made a lot of new friends though, so it was worth it in that aspect!

The next week was inservice at the school. We had a day of PDAS training, which is how the principals will evaluate us. Then we had two days of inservice and a workday.

Yesterday was the first day of school! I have three classes without about 18-20 students in each. They are all so sweet, or at least they seem like it! The school that I interned at was completely different- the kids didn't listen, they had no idea how to walk down a hall quietly, and they had no desire to learn. These students listen, walk quietly, and do exactly what you ask! Hopefully it will stay this way. Victor (he is on my team and teaches math) says that this is the "honeymoon" stage. Hopefully it lasts awhile! I'm so tired, but I love having my own class. It's completely better than practicum and internship and so worth all of the hard work. I love it! Hopefully I will still be saying that in a few months... haha!

Holly and I will officially be coming home on Halloween, but if you wish to see us, you better squeeze us in because we will only be home for about 30 hours! We fly in and land at 9:30 Saturday morning, and we fly out of Birmingham at 6:30 Sunday night. We are coming in town for Ann Marie's wedding, so even then we will be super busy! But I am very excited about seeing some friends in 'Bama!!

We will also be home for the entire week of Thanksgiving. We land at 10:30 on Saturday morning before Thanksgiving and will be going straight to TUSCALOOSA for the alabama/UTchatt game! It's not a big game, but I'm super excited about going to Bryant-Denny again. :) I am also excited about being home for a week and just hanging out with friends! So we will be home then, squeeze us in!

We will ALSO be home for a little over two weeks for Christmas and I will be home again at the end of April for Kahla's wedding. I've officially decided that by the time all of my friends get married, I will be like Katherine Heigl in 27 dresses. HA!

ALSO... last big news for the blog. JULIO! Our new puppy. It's a long story how we came upon getting a dog, but he is cute and enjoyable and miraclously has only chewn a towel. He is also catching on to potty-training and has just been a joy to have. I am not a big dog person, but I love this one! Below is a picture of Julio. He is a yorkie. :)

That's all for now! Vague entry, but I have so many other things to do! Time to go look over lessons for tomorrow... =)

Miss Kimbootie

This entry is specifically for my friend KIMBERLY PAIGE ODOM. Mainly because she is mad that I didn't put her in the pictures on the top. I'm sorry Kimmay! But I love you very, very much and I am so glad that we are friends. You are the best and I miss you lots! Thanks for everything you've done for me since second grade :)