V-O-L-S...Go Vols Go!

This weekend we went on our much anticipated trip to Tennessee! After driving back Friday after work (and actually driving through some *snow*), spending the night with Mom and Dad, we arrived in Knoxville Saturday afternoon.  We had a fun tailgate planned with family and friends.  In true Dean fashion Dad got us there a couple hours before everyone else, so we played a little Corn-Hole.  It was a heated match between Dean/Momma K and McKenzie/John.

They've got on their game faces

All smiles!

All the friends arrived and the Corn Hole games continued.  It was so good to see friends!

I LOVE my BFF!

...And then we dug into the food!  Britt started the line, only because she's "eating for two".

ready, set, GO!

After eating we celebrated the lone Gamecock's birthday.  We forgot to bring candles, so the iphone stood in.  Note the "light" on screen.

Happy Birthday Justin!

After eating, the dancing started (yep at a tailgate).  It wouldn't be a festive occasion without some Calhoun-Shuffle, Party in the USA, a new fan-favorite The Science Hill Fight Song.

We took a break from dancing to smile for a few...or twenty pictures!

The Chambers, the Millers, and John and Whitney!

All the ladies!

The Core Four

The Core Four plus John and Lemy (the other kids)

Chad, BK and my nephew *he's in there*

It was almost gametime so after lots of hugs from some of my favorite friends we all went into Neyland Stadium to cheer on the BIG ORANGE!

Welcome to Neyland Stadium...pretty close to heaven on earth!

Needless to say the Vols didn't pull of a win, but as Momma Kathy says "we never loose a half-time".

The Pride of the Southland Band and their famous "Circle Drill"  (my favorite!) 

Another exciting part of the game was the Flash Mob in the student section.  A tribute to Coach Dooley and his soon-to-be famous orange pants.  Vol Legend Coach Majors made a cameo.  It was great to have him back!  He's SOOOO stinkin cute! Check out the Youtube video below:

It was a GREAT weekend and I loved every minute of time with my precious family and wonderful friends!  Win or loose, it's ALWAYS great to be a Tennessee Volunteer!  

Go VOLS!

Happy Halloween!

Image from Pinterest

Image from Pinterest

Image from Pinterest

And post importantly,   Happy Halloween from Cole Lee (a.k.a. Uncle Sam):

Please excuse the no make up look...I had just finished running :)

I hope you have a wonderful day!

TGIF

Happy FRIDAY! I'm linking back up with Lauren for....

1.   When I was a kid I wanted to be      a news anchor   when I grew up.

2.   As an adult, my dream job would be   I LOVE what I'm doing!  I never thought I would be working for a Senator in Washington DC, so for now I'm concentrating on doing the VERY best I can and learn more about Banking policy. 

3.  W hen I was younger I wanted to be just like  a PRINCESS! I guess somethings never change...haha .

4. The childhood Halloween costume that I remember most was when I was    I think I could have been a Princess every year, but one that I have seen lots of pictures of was a Carebear "Love-a-Lot". It was an adorable full-body costume that my Mom worked for months on.  I don't think we realized how HOT it would still be on Halloween in Saudi Arabia (where we were living at the time), because my Mom said I was red-faced and warm all night!  It made for some really cute pictures though!

5.  My favorite childhood toy was    my "Lovie".  My blanket that went EVERYWHERE with me.  I would wake up if Lovie fell out of the bed. I couldn't go a night without it! 

6.  The time I got into the biggest amount of trouble when I was a kid was when I     I got in alot of trouble for "getting sassy".  That happened pretty frequently.   

7.  I get daily inspiration from    I have some WONDERFUL friends and family.  They inspire me daily to be a better daughter, sister, friend, girl-friend, Senate Staffer, and Christian. I am truly blessed!  

 Have a Wonderful weekend Friends!  I'm of to TN after work and CAN'T WAIT!

W.I.L.W.

Good Morning Friends!

I'm up this morning watching some early morning news shows for work (in my pjs and snuggled with Cole Lee- yay!).  I thought while I'm up I'm going to link up and do....

#1 - Today, I'm really loving my Keurig coffeemaker. "Santa" brought it to me last year for Christmas and it's "changed my life".  Well maybe, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but it was a GREAT gift. I'm more of a 1 cup coffee drinker most mornings (unlike John who could use a coffee I-V), so the Keurig is the PERFECT match for me.

from pinterest

#2 - Cole Lee.

one of the pictures taken on "Take Your Dog to Work Day" in my old office in 2009

I am always "loving" him, but he's been extra snuggly the past few days and especially this morning.  I'm excited to take him to TN this weekend and show everyone his adorable Halloween costume.  He's going to be SO CUTE!

#3 - I found this on Pinterest and I'm "loving it".

This reminds me of my sister!  When we were both living in our hometown we tried to make it a regular habit of going to what I called "Redneck Karaoke".  Journey is always a staple at a Karaoke bar.  :)

#5 - A few more "wise words" from Pinterest to start the day off right:

I hope you have a Wonderful Wednesday!

Lunchtime thoughts....I'm blessed!

My wonderful sister (McKenzie) attends Crosspoint Church in Nashville.  Although, I haven't been able to visit with her (I haven't been there during a weekend). I follow her pastor on Twitter and check out his blog.  Today while eating lunch I was reading his post in which he has given his church something called the "Better Day's Challenge".  (check it out if you have some time...it's really good).  Which is an opportunity to each day this week consider 3 things that you're thankful for. This message couldn't have come at a better time!  While waiting for my lunch to heat up I was thinking in my head all the things that I have "going wrong" today.  (an allergic reaction to some detergent that is about to drive me crazy, my lunch "boiled over" in the microwave, the sandwich I ordered to accompany my lunch was made wrong, I was tired from taking Benadryl....).  When I rethink through this, these really aren't PROBLEMS at all. They're inconveniences.  Each of them I can turn around to blessings. 

Allergic reaction to detergent - I am blessed to have a washer and dryer in my new apartment and no longer have to share with an entire building. 

Lunch "boiled over" - I have food, others don't...this isn't a reason to complain.

Sandwich - I was able to give it to someone else and they really enjoyed it.

Tired - drink a little more Diet Coke and keep on truckin', or as my Momma would say "put on your big girl panties and deal with it."

Needless to say I HAVE NOTHING TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!!!  I am blessed!  I have a wonderful job, family, friends, boyfriend, dog and life. 

So, Pastor Pete has blessed me all the way in Washington, DC today and I'm participating in the #betterdayschallenge. Here are my three (in addition to all the others I've mentioned previously).

#1 - today is Mamaw's birthday!  I am so thankful that at almost 30 years old (yikes!). I am still able to say that I have wonderful and healthy grandparents. 

#2 - I get to go to Tennessee this weekend and finally see my mountains!

#3 - running.  I love that God has given me the ability to run.  Running not only keeps my body healthy, but it allows me to have time to just "be still". It's my "me time".

I hope you are having a wonderful day and can take the time to consider all the things that you're blessed by in your daily life. (Feel free to share your three if you would like. I really was touched by the list of comments on his blog and I know others will too.)



Rocky Top, you'll always be home sweet home to me!

I'm so excited about getting back to Tennessee this weekend.  I have SO many wonderful memories from many years of football games, tailgates and parties with some of my favorite Vol fans.  Here are a few pictures I came across:

TN girls - best in the world

The Core 4

Larry Boy - he taught me everything I know about football

Bffs - Care and Whit...I can't wait to see her and Ryan at the tailgate on Saturday!

Section L's #1 fans!

You can always find a few sisters tailgating

There's nowhere like Neyland Stadium!

There's nothing like celebrating a big orange holiday in big orange country.

There will be so much fun to look forward to this weekend! Only 4 more days!  

Have a great week friends!

Fall-time Fill in the Blank Friday

I had alot of fun liking up with Lauren doing Fill in the Blank Friday last week, so here we go again:

1.   Nothing says fall like      the leaves changing.  I really really really miss my mountains! (but I get to see them next weekend!)

2.   My favorite autumnal tradition is   Going to UT football games with my family and friends.  Win or loose, "it's great to be a Tennessee Volunteer!"

3.  My favorite fall treat is   ANYTHING pumpkin spice or cinnamon apple! yum!

4. Fall makes me think of   sweaters     because   the cool weather... I LOVE IT!

5.  Autumn free form word association, go!    cool, crisp air, trees, bright colors, rosy cheeks, pumpkin, thankful, family, football...I could go on and on!

6.  My go-to outfit in the fall is    a sweater and jeans...I love "sweater weather"!

7.  My favorite fall holiday is (Halloween or Thanksgiving)    Thanksgiving! For sure!  It's my favorite day of the year! As I mentioned the other day, John and I will be in Chattanooga this year for Thanksgiving. I look forward to making some fun memories and seeing the traditions that John's family does!

Have a wonderful fall weekend!

Words of Wisdom

from Pinterest

 Have a great day friends! 



W.I.L.W.

I really enjoyed doing last week's post and "met" alot of great blogger friends while linking up. 

So again, here's... What I'm loving right now.

#1 - As I mentioned in my previous post, the super fun weekend I had with my best friend Carey. 

#2 - While at the White House John and I got a great picture, which I think I'm going to use in the Christmas Card.  I'm planning to use another picture on the card of Cole Lee in his Halloween costume. It's going to be a very patriotic card, but perfect for Whitney of Washington! Just thinking about Christmas Cards makes me SO excited for the upcoming holidays.  It's so hard to believe in a little over a month we'll be celebrating my favorite day of the year.  This year will be different because I will be celebrating Thanksgiving with John's family in Chattanooga.  I'm really looking forward to going to his cousin Susan's house but I know a part of my heart will be at Cates' Corner.  This will be our first time "splitting holidays" (we're going to my family for Christmas).  It makes me so happy to know I will be able to be with John, since we've gone our separate ways for the actual holiday for the past year and a half.

#3 - I get to be wearing my Orange, while listening to this....

in Knoxville just 9 days with my family and friends!  Go Vols!

#4 - My CHI straightener died (yes, it was a sad sad moment when it hit floor and shattered into a bunch of pieces).  The new one arrived yesterday and I couldn't be happier.  Such a little thing makes such a HUGE difference in my day-to-day routine. I know Micah understands!  ;)

#5 - Just a reason to smile..."It's so fluffy I could die"

Image from pinterest