Happy Halloween!

Halloween is a holiday that all ages can enjoy. The little ones get dressed up really cute and go trick-or-treating with their parents, teenagers try out odd costumes, young adults get dressed up and go to parties or bars, and older people stay at home and pass out candy. I am not a big fan of Halloween for the dressing up part though I like decorating pumpkins and front porches for the holiday.

Halloween is one of Russ' favorite holidays. As a kid, he loved dressing up and coming up with creative costumes (scary ones) and of course CANDY! He grew up with his parents decorating their yard and house being one of most elaborate in the neighborhood. One year his house made it on the news and Jill was interviewed for her decorations.

This year was our first Halloween in our house. Russ and I bought our pumpkins last week at a pumpkin patch and decorated them this morning. Since UT is playing tonight, I thought it would only be appropriate to do a Power T on my pumpkin. Russ stuck with the generic face for his, but used creativity for different shapes and sizes for the eyes and mouth. After we decorated our pumpkins we went to Target to get candy (Russ' favorite). I said we would have only five trick-or-treaters since it was suppose to rain and we have a horrible hill to walk up and Russ thought we would have 30...so far only 4 :( Though we did not have many trick-or-treaters, I enjoyed laying on the couch watching the UT game and looking at our pumpkins all lit up.

Bonding Time

Every Fall and Spring we have to reseed our yard so the grass will be nice and green! Right now we are just trying to get grass :) Usually Dad will come over to help me and we will reseed the grass together and do some yard work. This year between all the trips out of town and my surgery, I just did not have the ability to do it. Dad came over a couple of weeks ago and Russ helped him reseed our yard. It was a good bonding experience and now Russ knows how to reseed our yard so we can do it in the Spring!

Dad and Russ working in the yard

Once they completed all the yard work and got the outside looking good, Russ hung up our shutters we ordered back in the Summer. I never realized the difference shutters can make for a house. We are slowly getting the outside of the house to our liking!!!

Shop 'Til You Drop

...literally!

I love shopping though when I was little I could not stand it. Mom used to be in retail and was a buyer for the men's department at Rich's (now known at Macy's) then Upton's so we had to visit the stores to see how the men's department was laid out, the product availability, and the customer dynamics. I dreaded it when we had to go to the mall, but little did I know that would change. Now I love to go shopping, mainly to buy things for my friends, family, and home. I get so excited for the day after Thanksgiving, when Mom, Aunt Jill, and I hit the malls for our Christmas shopping!

Well, I got to do a lot of shopping before Black Friday this year. Melinda came to Atlanta for the weekend to visit and one of the best things about Atlanta is all the shopping so why not spend an entire day shopping!!

Our entire day Saturday and the morning of Sunday consisted of us SHOPPING! Needless to say I need a couple of days to recover after that. I had surgery on October 15th to remove a cyst from my lower back/tailbone area so I was not 100% yet (still not).

It was such a fun weekend Girls's Weekend. We got things for our homes and clothes for ourselves and we did not even hit up any of the malls. Do not worry, we are already talking about her next visit so I can take her to Lenox Mall, Phips Plaza, Perimeter Mall, and the Forum (all within 10 miles from my house).

Melinda's Trunk After Saturday's Shopping (doesn't include some items)

Schedule of Events:

8:00 Wake-Up
10:00 Depart House
11:00 Dwasonville Outlets (Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, White House Black Market, Izod, The Loft, Kirklands, and Waterford)
3:00 Lunch
4:00 Stein Mart/Michael's
5:00 HomeGoods
6:00 Freshen Up
7:00 Visit Nikki
9:00 Dinner at Noche
11:00 Home

8:00 Wake-up
9:30 Depart House
10:00 IKEA
12:00 Check-out
12:30 Lunch

1:30 Depart AtlantaDid I mention we ended up getting the same jacket at Stein Mart?

Tennessee Traditions

I have been a UT fan as long as I can remember, though my first football game was not until my junior year in high school. Of course, Mom and Dad drove me around the campus showing me all of their favorite places and pastimes. When it came to applying to colleges, I only wanted to go to UT so I submitted my application as soon as I could. I did not apply to one Georgia school. I got my acceptance letter in December 2002 and could not wait to start classes there in the fall (August 2003).

One of the best parts of being a UT student are the football games. There is nothing like attending a UT game in Neyland Stadium and all the pregame events. It usually consisted of going to a fraternity house before the game and then going to the game. Once Russ and I started dating, I started becoming interested in all the band activities...Salute to the Hill, Vol Walk, Pregame show, Half-time show, and the Tennessee Waltz at the end. I would actually get to the game before it started and stayed for the very end. I never knew that the band had so many traditions for UT games. The all time favorite...The Power T!
I never missed a home game besides the Kentucky game when I was in school at Tennessee. Once we graduated we bought season tickets from Bill and Kat and we go to at least three games a season. We usually tailgate with college friends and spend the time catching up. Well the last home game it was just the four of us in town so we changed things up a bit.
The weekend of the Auburn game we got in that morning, had lunch and headed to campus. Bill, Haley, Russ, and I walked the entire campus! We started off in World's Fair Park and visited the Sun Sphere and actually went to the observation deck.We then walked to the river to see the Vol Navy and decided to have drinks at Calhoun's. That was the first time I have been to the Vol Navy. It was neat to see all the boats docked and tied together. Some of the boats had catered meals, others had private bartenders, and the rest just partying with friends and family. When we got to Calhoun's you could not find a UT fan anywhere, all the Auburn fans had taken over the outside patio. Once we finished drinks we headed back to campus.We walked to Circle Park then to Fraternity Row to visit with some friends (Brittany, Dipal, and Jayden). We stopped to see where they moved the rock to and tried to make it for the Vol Walk. We were a little late for that. We went to the UC, walked by the new College of Business Building (I'm jealous), moneywall, and tailgated with some of Bill's brother's friends. After walking all of campus but the Hill we finally made our way to the stadium.The game was not so great but like always we had great seats! After the game we completed our walk of campus and walked up to the Hill to get back to our car. It such a great weekend (besides the loss) and finally experienced some of the other traditions of UT that we have not done before.