AUBURN, pictures of family, prayer, and the PCA

Get ready for several rabbit trails that lead to a fun ending that only God could orchestra!


I love AUBURN.  I love the colors orange and blue, the people, the greeting War Eagle, the campus, the etc etc etc.

I love to pray.  If you are on my Christmas card list, you have been prayed for, if you are on my church directory, you have been prayed for, if you are in ministry that my church supports, you have been prayed for.

When Andrew was at AUBURN he was involved in the campus ministry-RUF that is a part of our denomination-PCA.  We have prayed for the PCA minister that is in charge of the RUF at AUBURN since 2000.  We have prayed for several ministers in the last 16 years.  Just recently Carl and I sent an encouraging message to the minister, Wes, who is the current PCA minister at AUBURN RUF.  Wes immediately wrote us a thank you.  I was very impressed!

For my birthday this year Andrew and Taylor gave me a photo shoot with them in AUBURN during the A day weekend.  Taylor had hired one of her sorority sisters, who is a photographer, to take our pictures.  We brought our clothes, coordinated our outfits and were looking forward to it.  A few days before our shoot, Taylor got a text from her sorority sister that she couldn't do the shoot but she offered Taylor another photography that she knew that was able to take our picture at the same time as the previous shoot was schedule.  Taylor checked out the new photographer's photos and was pleased and said yes.  Taylor told me the name of the new photographer, Nancy Simmons.  I typed her name on Facebook to look at her pictures and I was stunned to see that I have three friends in common, Laura Dowling, Abbie Bailey and Cristina Green.   All these are PCA friends of mine.  I was curious as to how did they know both of us.  Laura goes to church in AUBURN so I figured that Nancy must go to the PCA church in AUBURN.  Abbie and Cristina are married to PCA pastors.  Could it be that Nancy Simmons was married to Wes Simmons the RUF pastor at AUBURN??????  Indeed she is.  What in the world.  I couldn't wait to tell Nancy our connections.  She was stunned enjoyed them as much as I did!

Here is a picture for Abbie and Cristina and Laura.  This is my new friend Nancy.  I love AUBURN, pictures of family, praying for many folks and meeting some that I don't know and the PCA.  We serve a great God who loves to lavish us with His blessings!

War Eagle!

 A great article on Gus Malzahn 

I love the Olympics!

Just in case you were wondering!!!  This web site lists all the AUBURN folks in the Olympics .

Good Time, Party Time- headed to Savannah Time!

 Carl, Kaitlin and I got up early one Sunday and headed to Savannah to see Andrew and Taylor.  I can't make the 14 hour trip in one day so we try to pick a new spot to stay with every trip.

We got to go through AUBURN on this trip.  I love AUBURN.  I even have it on my retirement list for Carl and I to spend a month there.  Not sure if I want to spend a month there during football season or maybe basketball/baseball season.  I love planning!

 We got to see the new statues of the Heisman winners!

 We saw lots of folks trying to take down the statue of Cam.  It made us laugh.

I have this handy dandy feature on my camera that takes 3 shots in a row with the self timer.  Usually we take the first one 'normal'- well, normal for us, then we go for a little personality!  Carl didn't get the memo about what we do on shots two and three.  He was holding his phone loosely and after the first shot, well, the phone went flying with our enthusiasm. Here is Carl trying to locate the phone.  Phone is fine, just for the record! 

 Usually we wave at Uncle John when we get to Toomer's Corner.  They have a web cam here.  Since he was busy we took a picture for him.  We all waved as we took the picture, good thing not a lot of folks were around!

I believe in AUBURN and I love it.

Tomorrow Savannah...

AUBURN Football

Read about an ESPN special on AUBURN Football ! We hope to watch it.

I got that crystal football!

WAR EAGLEIt has already started. We have not even had the first football game and several fans from not the AUBURN TIGERS have already started in on me.

I hear things like you know that "we" will beat you this year. ( I want to say "we"???? Did you suit up?? but that is another fight for another day) or they start in on Cam Newton or how AUBURN isn't going to win very many games this year at all.... Blah Blah Blah Blah

Andrew gave me my answer and it has worked quite well, so you may use it too, if you need too.

Let them do all their talking and then when they stop to take a breath, calmly tell them you can't understand them because you have a crystal football in your ear. So far it has worked every time. They usually smile and are speechless and we go onto another subject.

If those same folks, and I have no doubt they will, come back to me, if perhaps AUBURN doesn't beat their team, my second answer is that I will cry myself to sleep that night on my National Championship Sheets! If they are really rude then I'll tell them that I have 3 Heisman Trophy pillow cases!!

Kaitlin was at Panera the other morning and she saw a man in an UnderAmour AUBURN shirt. She stopped by his chair and gave him a cheery WAR EAGLE, He greeted her with his WAR EAGLE and then a lady in a booth that was close to them gave them both a WAR EAGLE. They both shared their stories about how the fans of a certain state have already started in with the smack talk. Kaitlin gave them the above answers to those smack talkers, they both laughed and thanked her profusely.

If you have any smack talkers that come your way, please use the above if you need to!

SEC Football!!! Are you Ready??

T’was a month before football, and all through the South
Rabid fans everywhere were running their mouth.
The recruits were all arriving to show off their wares,
In hopes that playing time soon would be theirs.

Here's the rest of this Wonderful Poem about SEC football.

WAR EAGLE!!

Savannah trip

Here is Andrew and Taylor's house. We had a great time but the cold that I had was really bronchitis and strep throat so I have been down for the count. Here are a few more pictures, when my head is not so fuzzy, I'll put up more.
Here are the trees at AUBURN that some rabid alabama fan poisoned on the day of the IRON BOWL. I wanted to see what they looked like. Here they are.

There were lots of folks there with us taking pictures. It was sad. I am looking forward to seeing what all good comes out of this because I am sure it will!

161 days!

Plan your vacations here is your AUBURN schedule

All we do is win!

All you AUBURN fans will enjoy this link that showcases My nephew Alan!

Speaking of AUBURN ... Did you know that we (AUBURN) have sent six astronauts into space, which are more astronauts sent to space than any other public and private college nationwide other than the Air Force and that the War Eagle fight song has been the only fight song sung in space?

War Eagle!

Way to go AUBURN fans!

Duck Soup

When we knew that AUBURN was going to play in the National Championship game I encouraged Carl to go. We discussed getting Robert a ticket too. The game was to be played on his birthday. Carl looked for tickets and got two. We gave Robert his ticket a few days before Christmas so he could savor and anticipate. Carl and Robert left here on Saturday, the 8th, early with a direct flight to Phoenix. They planned to pick Andrew up that night. When Andrew got to Dallas there were too many on his flight to Phoenix so he volunteered to fly out on Sunday. Carl and Robert picked him up and then went to church with our friends, Vicki and Kelley.

Here is Robert getting ready for his first flight ever. He said that he laughed with each landing and take-off. He said that it felt like a ride at an amusement park.
Beautiful sky in AZ. On Saturday Carl and Robert shopped and visited.
Andrew had a list of restaurants to eat at in the Phoenix area. This is Andrew's hot dog at Alice Cooperstown.
Here are my guys the morning of THE GAME.

Here are our friends, Vicki and Kelley. They opened up their home for my guys.
Balloons at the Pep Rally
My pictures are out of order, I just got too excited. Number 5 is Michael Dyer. He played in Little Rock last year. John went to most of his game in AUBURN clothes to encourage him to go to AUBURN. How cool that he was the MVP of the game!
AUBIE
Alan was working the game and stopped long enough for Uncle Carl to snap a picture of him with Robert.
Those socks look like reflectors.
The score!!!! I am doing the happy dance at the house when this picture is being taken. I was worn out. I felt like I was in on every play.
Three very happy fellows with about 50,000 of their closest AUBURN friends, maybe even more.
Several happy players
Here is Andrew watching SportsCenter after the game. He still is soaking in the win. He called me at midnight on their way back to the car from the game. He was so excited.Andrew sat by himself while Robert and Carl sat together. Andrew sat next to a father and son on one side and an Asian lady and her husband on the other. Andrew said that the Asian lady knew more about AUBURN football that he did. She knew Michael Dyer was from Little Rock and the names of some players that plan to be at AUBURN in the fall. Andrew was impressed.

I've watched the game again....twice on ESPNU.

There are no pictures of us watching because I was pacing too much. Our friend, Jennifer, was snowed in with us and watching the game too. She is not a college football fan but she joined in the cheering for AUBURN on Monday night.

Carl recorded it and we are watching that copy tonight. I like watching it much better now that I now the outcome.

We are all planning to order National Champion shirts. I plan to get one for Jennifer, she earned it with all her cheering on Monday.

War Eagle. I don't know how many days til college football starts again because I am savoring this season. It was a great one!

Duck Duck Lose

This is how we are feeling today at my house! Kind of jumpy and full of AUBURN spirit.


We got lots of snow
And Aubie is out in it but still showing his AUBURN spirit.I told Kaitlin and Jennifer that they can have the remote control til about 4pm then I plan to watch all the coverage of THE game. I heard that 50,000 folks were at the AUBURN pep rally yesterday in Glendale. How about that?!? Andrew said that I will know by 9 pm if AUBURN is going to win or not. I may get some cleaning done this evening if I get nervous.

I hope I don't get lots of cleaning done.

War Eagle!

What do the experts know?

I am cleaning off my desk.

It will/has taken days.

It is like a treasure hunt!

My favorite find to date is The College Football Preview dated August 27, 2010. Here are some highlights

AP preseason top 25- alabama, ohio state, boise state, florida, texas, tcu, ok, nebraska, iowa, va tech are the top 10. The SEC schools in the rest of the top 25 are arkansas at 17, lsu at 21, AUBURN at 22 and georgia at 23.

The odds for AUBURN to won the BCS title game were/are 125:1 ohio state were 6:1 and oregon were/are 50:1

Top players in the SEC were Mark Ingram and Dont'a Hightower both for alabama.

The team proposed to win the East was florida and the West-alabama. The game between to two of them was a 'game you shouldn't miss' on October 2nd. The teams that won were south carolina in the East and AUBURN in the West.

Top Heisman prospects were Mark Ingram, Noel Devine, AJ Green, LaMichael James and Case Keenum. No where is Cam Newton's name.

It is interesting how things played out in the season. I love college football and am sad that the season is drawing to a close. We are getting ready to do our bowl pick 'ems. It is just for bragging rights. Reading the old newspaper and seeing what the 'experts' picked let's me know that I know about as much as they do, I knew AUBURN could go this far!

Stay tuned to see who wins.

War Cam Eagle!

IT IS GREAT TO BE AN AUBURN TIGER!

I was worn slap out after yesterday's game. I was in the room when the game started and on Twitter. I knew that the alabama fans threw play money at Cam Newton when he entered the stadium, pleazeeee. alabama came to play and AUBURN couldn't buy a break. When the flag was thrown on Nick Fairly after he sacked the alabama qb, I was out of here and got a lawn chair to enjoy the beauty of my yard.

I came back in just before the half. AUBURN was showing just a little bit of life. I stayed to watch. I think I'll need to watch the game again so I can really enjoy the win. I talked to my brother, John, after the game. He turned the game off about the same time I walked out. He heard about a minute before I called that AUBURN won. He recorded the game and now knew he could watch and enjoy it.

Twitter is lots of fun especially during a sporting event. From twitter I knew that alabama played 'Take the Money and Run' when AUBURN took the field. When Cam Newton flew over the top of the defenders to get a first down when it was fourth and inches, twitter lit up with tweets. My favorite was Roll CAM Roll!

Here are some of my favorite tweets from the evening-

Do you know what Greg McElroy and I have in common? Neither of us is a Rhodes Scholar.

In case you were wondering, all the folks from Lee County that weren't at the game are at Toomer's Corner.

Think about it this way alabama fans, you only have to hear about this for 364 more days -

Andrew went to AUBURN to greet the players as they arrived back home after the win. He called me on his way there because he was so excited and wanted to share that with me! I can't wait to hear all about that today.

Today I plan to watch the razorbacks play lsu. It will be a great game because I don't have a vested interest in the game so I can just enjoy it. I need a day of calm football watching. My heart needs a rest.

War Eagle!

I have all manner of AUBURN clothes on today, bring it on!!

Call me before 1:30

I love college football. I love the traditions and the rivalries. I think the SEC is the best conference.

I generally don't trash talk but folks love to trash talk me. Carl says that I bring it on myself ;) I have had folks call and snort like a hog on my answering machine, not wait on me in stores because I was wearing an AUBURN tee shirt and one of my all time favorites- a lady (?) stuck her tongue out at me because my team beat her team. Oh, well.

Today the game of the season for AUBURN is at 1:30. You can text me but don't call during the game, I'll be a nervous wreck. I doubt I'll be watching the game more like skirting around the edges of the rooms where the game is on.

I'll probably be texting Andrew during the game, asking if I should be still be nervous or if at some time I can relax. I'll probably talk to my brother, John, after the game. He'll talk over the game with me.

For those who don't love AUBURN like I do, the pictures below are of Cam Newton and Nick Fairly. One plays offense and the other defense. One is the quarterback for AUBURN and the other makes the opposing teams quarterbacks very nervous.
I have my AUBURN crocs on and an ORANGE and BLUE scarf. I think I am ready for the game.

WAR EAGLE!

I love college football.

Twentytwo words is one of my favorite blogs. It is written by Abraham Piper. Low and behold this is what I saw today.

Enjoy

War Eagle

Aunt Marian's and Miss Rita's are both wonderful

I love to tailgate. Here are the top 10 places to tailgate.

War Eagle

What were you doing 10 years ago?

10 years!

10 years ago this month I turned my calendar to August and this is what I saw. It was like a sign. In August 2000, we were getting ready to take Andrew to college. I knew in my heart, that when a mama does her job, her children can stand on their own. I knew that Andrew going to AUBURN was a wonderful thing but it didn't make it any easier.

I had to keep going 'ever forward, but slowly'.

One thing my mama always did when I left her for an extended period of time and we were going to be in a public place for the final good, she told me goodbye at our home. I knew that I needed to do that with Andrew. I remember the morning we left for AUBURN like it was yesterday. We had our family prayer time, put the last suitcase in the van and then came the goodbye. Andrew was ready to go and I wanted to hug him for just a little bit longer. Where had the time gone? I wanted to stop time just for a little while, but no, it was marching forward. I kissed him with our special kiss that I had been kissing him since he was little and then we were off.

The ride to Birmingham was a little quieter than usual but when we met with Aunt Marian, Uncle Sherrell, and Alan the party began. In AUBURN, Uncle John, Aunt Elaine, Uncle Charles and Aunt Frances joined us. As did Meredith, who had moved in a few weeks earlier for band camp. We got Andrew moved into his dorm, went to Walmart about 7 times, visited lots of bookstores, ate at some fun restaurants and had some wonderful family time. Before I knew it, it was time to leave him. We ate breakfast with him on our last morning together and then we dropped him off at his dorm. It was quick goodbye because we had already had our real one at home.

The van was really quiet as we drove down the road toward home.

Andrew is the only 1st born in our family. He is the mover and the shaker. With him gone, we had to find out what 'new normal' was for our family. It took awhile.

Andrew is now married, several other children have come and gone in our home, and 'new normal' changes all the time now. I sometimes harken back to when my children were all at home but I so enjoy what all they are teaching me as we all grow up.

Go Georgia Southern!

I can't decide it I would want Georgia Southern to beat alabama or rough them up and then AUBURN beat the tar out of them the next week. War Eagle