Autumn in Tallahassee

Another weekend of disappointment from the Seminoles!!! Well, let me back up for a sec... No, it wasn't entirely disappointing. The offense did an awesome job... We were finally able to witness what "X" is capable of doing! He played really well and after that game, I'd be surprised if they even put Weatherford back as the starting QB! Anyways, what gave it away this time is our defense... I mean with 10 or 11 starting players (which is pretty much the entire defense) injured, the young'uns had to hold the fort down for us. This may be a bad thing for now, but this will also benefit FSU in the next year or so as these "young'uns" will be much more experienced by then!

Well, I thought I would get the bad stuff out of the way... So, how was your weekend? Ours went great! We had gorgeous weather down here in Tally... except Friday night when it started pouring... Yes, it was a rainy night when we had Em's baby shower, but a fun one to say the least! It was great catching up with the other ladies I have not seen since our wedding, while munching on some quiches, salad and fresh fruits with sweetened Brie dip and Aunt Helen made the best Pumpkin cheesecake pie from scratch (Man, I need to get that recipe from her)!!! Everything was just perfect--something you would always expect when Aunt Helen is the hostess... She threw us our couple's shower with a luau theme and went all decked out with her decor... This time, she had a Fall theme, with her assortment of pumpkins, fall leaves, candles and lanterns exceptionally placed all over her house--from the front porch to the foyer to the back yard, where the shrubs around the pool are lit with hundreds of twinkling lights!!! Em had a ton of presents--from tiny little baby booties to the softest blankies you can find on the face of the Earth :-) Well, she still has Jake's baby stuff, so she didn't get your usual swing set and car seats this time... I had a really great time!!! At the end of it, everybody kept saying that the next baby shower will be mine... As much as I wanted to reply "in a few years", I couldn't... Just looking at my mother-in-law breaks my heart... Mom's hopeful, wishful eyes said it all!!! She had been dropping hints here and there (though not as verbal as my own parents...), but she knows that Rob and I are still enjoying being newlyweds--adjusting to our new life, getting use to living together and travelling alone together--none of which we have ever done before marriage!

Here's Em with mom (in white) opening presents at the shower :-)

Jake's so excited about his baby brother... he's helping his mom open presents
So, Saturday morning, Rob helped Dan--his co-worker--move to their new house, while I slept in... When he got home, we went to the mall that afternoon... Boy, did we pick a better weekend to go to the mall!!! It was FAMU homecoming and if you live or have lived in Tally, you definitely KNOW what I'm talking about! We thought, hey, we'll go to the Verizon store, buy our new phones, go to Bath and Body and then Victoria's Secret... and leave... which should only take us about an hour, right? Well... No, sir... We spent the WHOLE afternoon at the mall... I mean, to get from one store to another just took so much time! Anyways, we did get our new phones since our contract had been up for months now... So, we renewed the VW contract. I got a Razr and Rob got a Q--his new toy! I also started my Christmas shopping at Bath and Body and VS... I still have a long way to go in that department, but I'm not slacking off either :-)

Saturday night, we watched the FSU vs. UV game on ESPN2-HD at my parents' house. So, we had a mini football party with Pizza take-outs and some hot wings... And after the game, I made the boys home-made milk shakes to brighten up their mood... Needless to say, they loved it!!! Steak and Shake who??? hahaha!!!

On Sunday, mama and I went Persimmon picking with the Tanguiligs... It was such a lovely day--not a single cloud in the sky, perfect temps--for picking! Rob, on the other hand, went to FSU's Strozier library to study for his Microsoft Certification exam, which he'll be taking in a few months. I took several pictures... So, here they are:

Gorgeous day for persimmon-picking!!!

My mom :-)

Tita Edith with Rachel

Michael: "If you can't reach it, use a stick!!!"

We each had a bushel... Here's me with mine!
After the picking, we drove around Monticello. It's a quaint, little "Southern" town, 26 miles Northeast of Tallahassee. They have your typical Southern homes, with wide front porches and dainty little shops downtown, pretty similar to Thomasville. On the way there, we saw a huge plantation-style mansion which tita Edith loved! I mostly liked the farms and the farm-homes... but it seems like they're developing more land for housing because Tallahassee's getting more and more crowded each year! That night, I cooked some macaroni noodles with mushroom and meatball sauce. Kevin and Rob loved it! Hmmm... gotta think of another recipe to concoct sometime this week!

I'm truly enjoying being a wife. Doing the little things is what makes it awesome... Rob and I call it "playing house"... Wasn't I just playing house with my sister yesterday, as we banged on our little pots and pans, serving our dolls ("our babies") tea? Everything's just so surreal... Rob and I... We own our house--a real house!!! With real furniture and real pots and pans... and we drink real tea!!! I can remember just wondering how it'd be like to sleep next to him and wake up lying in his arms every morning... And now it's actually happening. And it's even greater than I could have ever imagined!!! On our wedding night, I kept waking up in the middle of the night, with Rob peacefully sleeping right next to me... I would stare at his face until I drift off to sleep. I was making sure I was no longer dreaming and well, he does shift a lot during the night and I've always slept alone in my bed, so that was hard to get use to! I did that throughout our honeymoon. I still do it occasionally! Whenever Rob's driving, he'd catch me glancing at him every now and then, and he'd ask "What?"... and I usually say "nothing... I just can't believe you are my husband!"... And when I'm driving, he'd do the same, but I never ask him "what?", because I know he's thinking... "you are my wife!" with that silly smile of his :-)

Anyways, we were suppose to babysit the Maddoxes tonight, but Jenny told me that Michael (her husband) is sick so he's staying home with the kids instead! And Rob's working late tonight... we had a deep conversation about how much his new position requires of him. He's been working a lot of over time hours lately, but I truly understand that big changes come with big responsibilities... Well, I came home from work this afternoon and saw this in my kitchen...

The note read: Thank you so much for understanding... I love you so much. Love, Rob

*SIGH* Yup, THAT's my husband!!! He is sooooo romantic... How could you not love being his wife?!?!

Vote for JB!!!

Remember this??? Well, my brother's up against 5 other people for the "Neighborhoodie of the Week" contest... So, please vote for JB!!! You can cast your votes by clicking here !!! You can vote once a day... and it ends on Monday, Oct. 30th at 11 am!!! Spread the word, folks... Thanks a bunch!!!

Looking Forward To...

I missed my girls last night :-( I stayed home with my sweet husband instead of going to the girls' potluck... I wanted to go so bad, but I didn't want to jinx my health. Although I was feeling better, I didn't want it to get worse! Anyways, I'm back to my normal self now and I'm glad I stayed home with Rob last night! I'm looking forward to the next one... I'm definitely going then :-)

I'm also looking forward to...

* Meeting our videographer this afternoon at Borders... We're finally getting our wedding DVD!

* Dr. Emily Purvis-Montford's (Rob's cousin) baby shower tomorrow night. She's due next month! It'll be fun to chill with the ladies for a few hours :-) Hmm... maybe I'll win the best present again this time? (Note: When Emily had her first baby shower more than 3 years ago--with Jake--I won the best present at the shower. I gave her a custom-made FSU baby jersey with "Montford" on the back! )

* The Maddoxes' Halloween Party this Saturday afternoon... I so want to go, but I've yet to convince Rob to dress up!

* FSU vs. Univ. of Maryland football at 7 PM on ESPN2 HD this Saturday!!! High-Def--The next best thing to seeing away games in person!!!

* Dinner with my family Saturday night.

* A quiet Sunday afternoon and home-cooked dinner with the in-laws... Southern style!

* Baby-sitting the Maddoxes (Miller, Bentley and Levy) for 3 whole hours on Monday night :-)

* Taking the Tanguiligs (Michael, Rachel and Andie) trick-or-treating Tuesday night :-)

* Going to Kevin's last regular season game vs. Godby on Thursday!

* Downtown Get-Down next Friday night!

* FSU vs. Virginia here in Tallahassee next Saturday!

* Going to dinner and watching Borat with Rob and my siblings next Sunday!

... and the list goes on.

The temperature keeps on dropping...
the leaves are slowly falling...
the nights are getting longer...
Thanksgiving is around the corner!
Soon, Christmas will come and go...
Then 2006 would seem eons ago!

What a great year this has been so far!!! But for now, we still have a mere 2 months to enjoy what's left of it...

In sickness and in health...

Sorry for the delay... you'll find out later why... So, last Friday, the Lincoln Trojans won again, beating Chiles Timberwolves, making the Trojans the official District 4A champions!!! They only have 1 more game left of the regular season. They'll face Godby, who is undefeated in 3A, on Nov. 2nd for the Citywide championship game. Then, it's state championship playoffs...

Saturday's tailgate was great... We had our usual crowd, except this time JB, Kathryn and her friends joined us! The "black out" had a pretty good turn out... well, except the game was nerve-racking!!! Oh well... we're not giving up on our team, but it seems like the Seminole Boosters are fed up with the coaches already that they're seriously thinking of making some changes... ASAP! It'll be interesting to see what happens... stay tuned!

So, what do tired and upset Seminole fans do after an early game? Well... party more!!! So, we stayed and tailgated for another hour or so... and then we decided we would all go to Momo's! We miss that place so much!!! We used to hang out there a lot during our college days :-( But of course, Momo's was packed, so we decided to hang out at Barnabys instead. So, despite the loss, we had a lot of fun on Saturday!

Sunday was not too great... I started getting sick, but still managed to do our usual chores. My back started hurting and I thought I might've just pulled a muscle or something... Anyways, we had a good dinner at Smokey Bones that night with Kevin... Man, we love that place, don't we? So, Monday I felt worse but I went to work anyway, so I called my doctor up and scheduled an emergency appointment. He did some tests and found out that I had a bladder infection that spread to my liver... and that is why my back was hurting... He put me on some antibiotics and told me to rest, so I stayed home yesterday... It felt good to relax, but I was sooo bored watching TV in bed all day. I vowed not to get sick as much as possible. It sucks being stuck at home and feeling helpless!!! But once again, my husband came to the rescue... He was so sweet and caring... I felt bad because he missed his ball game on Monday night (but the Catfish won again despite his absence!)... He got me dinner that night and even brought me lunch yesterday; he came home from work just to check on me!

So, today... I went back to work! I feel so much better!!! I have another appointment next Tuesday with my doctor... Anyways, so much for the bad stuff... I've got some great news... I got my letter to take my Oath of Citizenship the other day... I am going to be a US citizen on Nov. 16th... finally!!!

Tonight, I'm suppose to have a girls' night out. We're going to have a potluck dinner at our friend Jessica Potts' new house. Her and Adam finished building their second home in Southwood a few weeks ago and now that they're all moved in, we're going to celebrate!!!

Hoodie of the Day :-)

Ok... so, my brother's a model now??? JB's featured on this website, where he designed his own hoodie... Haha! This is so funny! So, ummm... I guess if he gets tired of being a Physical Therapist someday, he'll have another profession as his default, eh?

Kevin's game is tonight... FSU's big "black out" game is tomorrow... The weather is going to be gorgeous!!! Well, except on Sunday; I think they said it might rain. So, it seems like it's going to be a great weekend for us... hope yours will be too!!!

Cruisin' Together

" Baby let's cruise, away from here

Don't be confused, the way is clear

.........

Let the music take your mind

Just release & you will find

You're gonna fly away

Glad you're going my way

I love it when we're cruisin' together

The music is played for love,

Cruisin' is made for love

I love it when we're cruisin' together "

-- Gwyneth Paltrow and Huey Lewis

So, last night, Rob and I were talking about our first wedding anniversary (May 6th, 2007). I know you're thinking... Already??? But really, it's only about 6 months away and we were throwing ideas on what to do... Well, we thought we would go to Europe, but then we also thought (hey, let's stick to the plan... Our plan is to start having kids after our European vacation, so that would be way too soon! Plus Rob said he doesn't want to take 2 or more weeks off at work)... My in-laws went on a cruise a year or so ago and they told us how awesome it was... so, we decided that we're going on a cruise!!!

We started looking around for itineraries and found the perfect cruise for us... Well, the thing is we have to schedule our trip around a wedding on May 12th, which I am helping Aunt Helen plan. (I work with the bride's aunt and she was at our wedding and absolutely loved it, so that's how it all got started!)... So, it's official, we're going on an 8-day cruise to the Bahamas and the Caribbean, either the last week of April/first week of May or the 3rd week of May... I'm really excited about this. We get to experience these amazing places...

First stop: Port Canaveral, FL


Second: Cozumel, Mexico


Cozumel Port Sunset


Third: Costa Maya, Mexico


Costa Maya


Fourth: Belize at Sunrise


The small country of Belize


Fifth: Nassau, Bahamas


The Bahamas

Unwritten...

I love to write. Writing is a form of therapy, a form of art... a way to release one's feelings--of anger, disappointment, frustration, excitement, fear, doubt, love... I cannot even imagine living without this gift.

The thing we don't realize is that we, ourselves, write out our own lives. Our lives are open books, no matter how privately guarded we are. We write the stories as they unfold, as we all set sail into this world of uncertainties. In every chapter, we set our very own backdrops and narratives which all lead up to its climax. We choose every role, every character, every line or word spoken. And for every component we choose, we build its theme. So, then, it is left up to us to determine how our lives would be written... And finally, we set the tone on how it would end.

Yesterday, I was driving home from work and one of my favorite songs came on the radio. I never really paid much attention to its lyrics, so when I got home, I carefully listened to it... really really listened! I was inspired... uplifted... refreshed. So, I thought I would share these words of encouragement...

Unwritten
by: Natasha Bedingfield

I am unwritten,
Can't read my mind
I'm undefined
I'm just beginning
The pen's in my hand
Ending unplanned

Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

I break tradition
Sometimes my tries
Are outside the lines
We've been conditioned
To not make mistakes
But I can't live that way
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window
Let the sun illuminate the words
That you could not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Release your inhibitions
Feel the rain on your skin
No one else can feel it for you
Only you can let it in
No one else, no one else
Can speak the words on your lips
Drench yourself in words unspoken
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins
The rest is still unwritten

********************************************

In other news, last night was great!!! We had dinner with my in-laws. Mom made some yummy chili with all the fixings--perfect for a cool Tallahassee night. Then afterwards, we met Kevin, who just came straight from football practice, at Tom Brown Park to watch Rob and his team, the Catfish. They won again last night... keeping their undefeated record!

Tonight, I'm making dinner from scratch!!! Haha... that's right... Lately, I've been trying out different recipes and adding in my own twist and so far, my taste-testers are buying it!!! I guess I'm getting a lot better at this cooking thing... So, tonight, I'm making Chicken Mushroom Alfredo with Wild Rice (yup, my very own recipe!!!) :-) Hope my testers will love it!

My Green Thumb

It's another Monday and as much as we all hate it, the weekend's over... again! *Sigh!* My weekend was pretty good... Friday, there were only about 4 of us at work, because school was out for the Statewide Teacher planning day, so my co-workers wanted to join their kids on a 3-day weekend! That was fine, except things got pretty slow at work that I decided to use some of my saved-up comp. time and left work early. So, off I went and spent the afternoon with my god-daughter Rachel and her sister Andie. My brother JB took their big brother Michael to a Cub Scouts field trip at the FSU Geological Survey, while my mom and I took the girls to the mall... We had fun walking around, browsing through sales and the girls were so psyched to shop at the Limited Too!!! My mom bought some stuff from Dillard's, Rachel got a new outfit from the Limited Too, Andie got some cute hair clips and I bought some black FSU shirts for Rob and I to wear at the BC game on Saturday. The kids left at around 6:30, so Rob, my dad, Kevin, and I played catch-football on my parents' cul-de-sac. It was so funny watching my dad throw the football because he couldn't do it right... Not that I did any better, but I could definitely throw it better than him... haha! Well, my dad was a basketball player in his prime, so that was his excuse, but he also has way bigger hands than I do... oh well! We had plans on going out to dinner that night, but for some reason, we ended up getting take-outs from Zaxby's and eating at my parents' house instead, while watching Deal Or No Deal and 1 vs. 100--our two new favorite shows.

I loved Saturday!!! Rob and I slept in until noon... we grabbed some breakfast and jumped right back in bed afterwards, underneath the sheets, just in time for the FSU-Duke game... it's getting much colder here in Tallahassee and we love waking up to the chill of the morning, while keeping each other toasty and warm :-) ... My in-laws were supposed to throw a football party, but then we found out that the game wasn't even on Pay Per View, so our only option was to listen to it on the radio. So, there we were listening to the game, snuggled up in our comfy bed! FSU won, of course... and we finally got out of bed at 4 PM, took warm showers, and went baby shopping... Yeah, you heard right... baby shopping!!! But not for us... Rob's cousin Emily is having her second child (a boy... again, so Jake's going to have a baby brother soon!!!) in November. Aunt Helen's throwing her a shower next Friday and since she doesn't have a baby registry set up, I had no clue what to get her... It was so much fun looking at baby stuff, but we're definitely sticking to THE PLAN! Rob couldn't get enough of the car seats and the baby rockers! And I ended up buying a new bedding set, with matching onesies :-) Hope Em likes it!

So, Saturday night, we watched the Gators get beat by Auburn... Man, what a big loss for the Gators!!! It was so hilarious... Kevin, aparently, made a $5 bet with one of his friends and he was going for the Gators... So, everytime UF scored, he would say "$5... $5!!!"... But of course, we all wanted the Gators to lose... so, he finally calmed down when the Gators lost.

Sunday, Rob woke up around 7 AM to play golf with dad... My father-in-law plays golf twice a week with his buddies... It's been a while since Rob last played golf... Actually, the last time he's been to their country club was at our Rehearsal Dinner, more than 5 months ago!!! So, before we went to bed on Saturday night, he was polishing his golf clubs and I was teasing him to save the cob webs for our Halloween decor... LOL...

At 1 PM, mom called me to ask if I wanted to go the Tallahassee Garden Club Tea Party for the new release of their cookbook Savory & Sage at 2 PM... I was kinda bummed out... I wanted to go, but she only gave me an hour notice and I had to get my chores done because we had plans that night... Anyways, mom had been in the Garden Club for years and Aunt Helen is one of the officers of the club! It's a pretty big organization, with over a hundred members (maybe even close to 200?) Well, there's always next time... I think it'll only be a matter of time before I get to join the club too! Problem is... my lack of a green thumb! Mom has this phenomenal green thumb... I'd have to take pictures in the Spring to show how awesome her garden is!!! Her lawn is immaculate! But the Garden Club is more than possessing gardening skills, there are a ton of different ways to be considered... For instance, they always have flower shows every season... Now, I can do that! I have a flair for flower arrangements (amateur compared to mom and Aunt Helen, but I'm getting there!)... They hold parties, classes, decorating tips, and they set up their floats for the Spring parade and the Winter Festival! So, green thumb or not, this'll be another great way to spend time with the ladies!

Rob got home around 1:30 and dad went straight to go pidgeon hunting. Dad loves hunting and fishing... He goes on at least 3 fishing trips with his friends and every year, they go to Alaska around July for a couple weeks to go Salmon and Halibut fishing. And it's pidgeon hunting season these days and so that keeps him busy.... After the tea party, around 3:30 or so, mom and Spencer came to our house... I mentioned earlier that my in-laws live about 4 blocks away, so every now and then, Spencer would drive his golf cart and mom rides with him. Mom said she just wanted to go for a ride since it was such a gorgeous day and well, she just wanted to come visit because she missed us!!! Awww... how sweet! So, she chilled with me for a while and we watched A Walk to Remember--one of her favorite movies :-)

Sunday night, Rob, Kevin, and I hung out and had dinner at Miller's Ale House. We were there for a while because the place was packed with die-hard Steelers fans... After dinner, we went to TCBY to grab some dessert and went back to our house to watch a couple episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm on DVD before going to bed. Rob has a game tonight, so hopefully the Catfish win again :-) Have a great Monday, everyone!

Movin' On Up

So... I've got some REALLY REALLY great news... I forgot to mention this earlier.. woops... my husband got a promotion this week!!! Yay!!! Rob used to work for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) doing computer tech support. He started working there right after graduating from FSU with a MIS degree and stayed at FDLE for a couple of years... He decided to move to a private firm last year (April 2005) and so he got the job at Syn-Tech Systems doing product tech support, which is a big privately-owned Engineering company. The co-owner of Syn-Tech is one of my father-in-law's best buds, Dave, and has known Rob since he was a baby... Well, a few months ago, they put Rob in charge of the servers and networks, and got some really great recommendations from his co-workers... So, after only working at Syn-Tech for a year and a half, my husband got a HUGE promotion this week!!! Way to go, honey... I'm SO PROUD of YOU!!! Hmmm... I can now quit my job when we have kids!!! Just kidding... I could not handle that... I would die of boredom!!! Haha... Anyways... Congrats on the new position!!! I love you!!!

U-N-D-E-F-E-A-T-E-D

Ok, Obviously I'm not talking about the 'Noles here... but my husband's team won again last night, putting them at 5-0!!! The Catfish has 3 more regular games for the season, plus 2 re-scheduled games... but hopefully, they'll go all the way! So, their next game's on Monday, 7:45 PM at Tom Brown.

Also... Kevin's team is leading in their district and they have not lost a district game yet. They beat Panama City's Mosley High last night 28-0 at Mosely's own turf!!! This is BIG news, because that means, the Trojans are in for the state championship play-offs and will be having most (or all) games here in Tallahassee!!! Next week, the Trojans will face Chiles High for the District Championship on Friday night, 7:00 PM at Gene Cox!

Man, my blog's starting to look like the ESPN blog... LOL... Sorry, folks, it's football season!!! Can't help it... Plus, I'm really passionate about this, so... deal with it... Ha! Just kidding...

Well, I guess sports will be a never-ending topic for us... See, after football and baseball seasons, (well, after the holidays), there's basketball in the winter... and more than likely, my husband will be playing again (and maybe my brothers too), and then after that, Spring football starts and Spring and Summer baseball/softball leagues... and then we're back to Fall... so it's just a year-round thing!!!

And speaking of football, Kevin just told us that Western Michigan University is interested in him... FSU plays WMU on Nov. 18th, so Kevin's got to go to that game and observe how their team plays... well, the WMU coach said he likes what he sees in Kevin... but it's way too early to tell because my brother's only a junior... He's got 1 more year of playing football and who knows what could happen next season!?!

Moving on to a non-sports discussion, my sister Kathryn's graduating in December!!! She will then have her Bachelor of Science in Nursing. She started off at FSU's School of Nursing, then finished off at Tallahassee Community College's Nursing Department doing clinicals at TMH - Tallahassee Memorial Hospital! She, then needs to study for her NCLEX board exams to be a RN... I think she'll do really great because my sister's just sooo smart! Well, anyways, I was thinking of throwing her a party... It won't be a surprise one but I really wanna throw her a kick-ass party with all her friends and stuff... Ok, I gotta act quick because her graduation is right before Christmas and we attend so many parties around that time of the year, so I gotta reserve my date if I were to throw one for her so we won't have to miss somebody else's Christmas party! Also, my sister and her friends are vegetarians (and have been for almost 10 years now), so I've got to whip up some veggie cuisine and have the rest catered... It'll be fun!!! Well... I'll keep you all posted :-)

Black Beauty

Remember when FSU unveiled the all white jerseys at the Notre Dame game a couple of years ago??? Well, on Saturday, Oct. 21st, at the Boston College game here at Doak Campbell stadium, the Seminoles will wear all black!!!

Dubbed, The "BLACK OUT", all fans are encouraged to wear black at the said game in honor of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. So, we MUST all wear black at the BC game and show our Seminole pride!!! (Yes, including you, Rob!!!) And even those of you who will be watching at home... All Seminole alumni and fans... wherever you are... please wear your black FSU shirts!!!

Kickoff starts at 3:30 PM... We will be tailgating at the RV parking lot at the Mims' family RV, starting at 1 PM (I think!)... It's off of Jackson Bluff Rd, parking lot D, section D-2!!! Let us know if you'd like to party with us! This is one of our biggest home games this season... so, let's all get out there and show some love!!!

... And then she turns 7!

So, as promised, here are the pictures from Kevin's game against Leon High last Thursday...


The Lincoln Trojans getting in line to shake the Leon Lions' hands after the Trojans won Thursday night at Gene Cox Stadium.


Tradition --> The Trojans take their helmets off after the game, stopping in front of the marching band section and paying respect to Lincoln High as the band plays our Alma Mater song.


They, then, head to the end zone where one of the players leads the ending prayer and Coach Rice gives his final pep talk.


My mom and dad with Kevin.


My 6' 2", 285 lbs. brother, Kevin with Rob, JB, mama, and papa


Kevin with his #1 fan... GO Trojans!!!

My god-daughter Rachel had her 7th Birthday party last Saturday... Ok, I'm such a bad god-mother, because I thought she was turning 6... But seriously, though, she is growing so fast... way too fast!!! I can still remember her crawling everywhere in her diaper... and when she first met Rob (when she was about a year and a half old), she was so scared to even get close to him... and now, she and her sister cannot get enough of Rob!
I can't believe she's 7 already... and before you know it, we'll be planning her Sweet 16... haha! She was so exhausted by the end of the night that she ended up sleeping on Rob's lap :-)



The men in my life... Ok, they all look nasty and sweaty because they just got done playing football... Oh, and what the heck is my dad doing here??? Is he giving my under-aged brother a beer? Haha!

It was so good to see them again last weekend... and we did a lot of catching up! Mainly about tita Edith's new job... She now works for the state of Florida, just like me. She's a RN for the Florida Department of Health and she's in charge of several elementary schools in Leon County. I'm so glad she loves her job, because that's really important and we kept talking about how awesome the benefits are for State Employees! Because of her new job, my brothers and sister are taking turns watching the kids after school... which kinda made me sad (jealous actually) because I can't put my two cents in since their mom and I pretty much have the same work hours... I miss baby-sitting those kids! Well, maybe Rob and I can "borrow" them for the weekend or something... we'll see! But I know, one thing's for sure... we're taking them trick or treating on Halloween around their neighborhood like we do every year!

Yesterday, we did our usual chores and some grocery shopping... Last night, we had dinner at Panera and then watched The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. We were supposed to go with JB, but he backed out. Anyways, that movie was so scary! It was too much gore this time though... and regardless of what the critics say, I liked it! Rob kept saying that I was going to have nightmares, but I didn't, thank God... We also wanted to see the Departed with Leo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, but we'll have to wait until Friday night or Saturday night to watch it.

So, it looks like a pretty slow week for us, well outside of work, that is! I'm helping Michael with his fundraiser for Trinity Catholic School... They're selling pies, cookie doughs, and cinnamon rolls--to be delivered by Thanksgiving! So far, I have a couple of orders down :-) Rob's got a ball game on Thursday at 9 PM, and Kevin has a game against Mosley in Panama City on Thursday too. We're having a football party at my in-laws on Saturday -- FSU vs. Duke at 1 PM on Pay Per View! So, it's going to be a good week... not too hectic, yet not too boring!

The Lucky One!

To pick up where I left off... My trip to Pensacola was rather disappointing and definitely not well worth it! Well, add to the fact that I was on the road for almost 8 hours (round trip) on Wednesday, we did not get great applicants from University of West Florida! Their Career Fair was a JOKE... There were only about 25 companies (while FSU's Career Fair last week had about 400), so you would think we would get more students because there really was no competition, but it seems like the Career Fair coordinators sent out a mass e-mail to the public! We literally had people (not even UWF alumni nor students) and some with no degrees, who were just there for the freebies that companies were giving out! The students, on the other hand, stopped by (as if on a whim) in their T-shirts, caps and flip-flops, with no resumes in hand!!! Anyways, it seems like we're DEFINITELY going to be hiring a Seminole for the IT position, because we only got 3 resumes from UWF and none of them look stellar! They do have a nice campus though...

Well, we went to Kevin's game last night against Leon High... Man, those Lions really did come prepared! They were tough last night... but just as ALWAYS, the Trojans beat the poor Lions AGAIN! I took several pictures this time (I finally remembered to bring my camera!)... So, I will post those next time... As far as FSU goes... well, the offense did A LOT better, but Weatherford made a critical mistake in the 4th quarter that made me soooo mad! So... we lost, by 4! Oh well... nobody really wants to talk about it... so, I'm just looking forward to this weekend!

Anyways, I was so exhausted when I got home from Pensacola on Wednesday night that I came down with a slight fever... Rob was such a sweetheart! I just wanted to share some things with you and hope that you get inspired... Rob IS so caring!!! He got me dinner, made sure I took my medicine, gave me a full-body massage for about an hour, then tucked me in for bedtime! I am so blessed to have such an awesome husband!!! And just to see him after a long day's work melts all the stress away!!! I cannot put into words how amazing my husband is!!! We love each other so much... I adore him and he adores me... and just seeing him care about those I love is truly priceless! Rob would do anything for my family, especially my siblings! He looks up to my dad and is finding out that they have a lot more in common! They say, you end up marrying a man who is just like your dad... and I used to find that hard to believe, but it turns out... I did!!!... And equally so, Rob admires my mom... We have a weird way (Rob, my brothers and sister, and I) of showing "mama" how much we love her... We simply tease her... A LOT, but that's the only reason why!!! Rob loves hanging out with my brothers, especially when they get to play basketball or video games... perhaps because he couldn't do that with his own brother, Spencer, due to his condition (he has a learning disability and so he cannot be independent)... but Spencer is something else... Rob's not just Spencer's brother, he IS his second dad! Rob and I have talked about it and when the time comes, Spencer WILL live with us! We both LOVE our families so much and are grateful to be living so close to them!

I have the best co-workers... that no matter how stressful it gets, they never fail to stop by my office and ask how I'm doing or whether I need help and what not! Rob and I have great friends whom we can hang out with whenever we have those much needed "girls' night out" or "boys' time"... and we also have great family friends, whom we have known through the years and who are even MORE like relatives, than those you are actually related to... They say, you can never choose your family because you're born into it... But a lot of people seem to disagree, because the word "family" has a different meaning to different people... and yes, you can choose certain people to be a part of this "family"... and in our case, we have found them in the Tanguiligs (in my side of the family)... We have known them for almost 10 years now and since then, we've shared every Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays, weddings, funerals, summer picnics, graduations, etc... etc... When I introduce their kids, I say "MY cousins, Michael and Andie"... except for Rachel, because she's "MY god-daughter"... I also say "aunt" and "uncle" to their parents--Tita Edith and Uncle Tito... We always look forward to seeing them, like tomorrow when we celebrate Rachel's birthday!

I also have the best in-laws in the world! We live about 4 blocks from mom, dad and Spencer, and so, we see them at least twice a week and we make sure to have dinners with them every week! I CANNOT stress enough how much my mother-in-law means to me! She is everything a woman could ever EVER hope for... She came over to Rob's house and set up his living room with tons of candles and roses right before he proposed to me!!! When we were planning for the wedding, she stood as my mother, because my own mom worked a lot, while she had been retired since 2004. She was NEVER pushy, always made sure I got what I wanted, and was always there for a hug when things got too stressful... She was there on all of my showers... and at my bridal shower, she gave me a stack of presents--of little trinkets and books which she envisioned the future would look like for Rob and I--and on top... underneath the bows, a note was tucked... and it read: "To the BEST daughter I could have ever hoped for... love always, Mom"... I cried... I treasure that note SO much... It is hidden away in my night stand!

And so, no matter how crazy it gets... I always remind myself of these people who make up the fibers of my life... That they're here and no matter what happens, they will ALWAYS be in my heart... and there's no way better of saying it... but I am... TRULY... The Lucky One!

A Busy Week!

Hey all! I know it's been more than a week since I've last updated. My apologies. I've been extremely busy, both with work and fun stuff... Anyways, where to start???

Well, Kevin had their Homecoming game against Rutherford High (Panama City) at Gene Cox last Thursday... Lincoln won 49-7, so they beat them pretty good! My mom and dad joined Rob and I to watch the game. (By the way, this was their first home game ever!!!) It wasn't as exciting as the Valdosta game though, they actually had to run the clock down because they felt bad for Rutherford, but nontheless, we had a great time. Their next game is on Thursday against our rival school Leon High.

Oh, and Rob's team the Catfish, won again, so now they're 4-0!!! And we finally have a solution to our "dilemma" on Thursday night... So, our plan is to record the FSU vs. NC State game on TiVo, go to Kevin's game with my parents and Rob will leave at half time to go to his ball game, which is less than 10 minutes from the stadium... Then, we're going to watch the FSU game on TiVo as soon as we get home (minus the ads!!!)... so, problem solved!!!

On Friday, I spent all day at FSU recruiting graduating students at the Semi-Annual Seminoles Futures Expo. We had accumulated hundreds of resumes for Auditor positions, while I had about 25-30 resumes for the IT position... and I'm not even done recruiting yet... I have to drive to Pensacola tomorrow for the UWF Career Fair... and unfortunately, out of all the resumes, we can only hire one lucky applicant :-(

Friday night, Rob, Kevin and I went to Stevi B's... We were kinda missing Cici's Pizza, so Rob told us about the new place by FSU and we drove across town to have dinner there. I must say, they are a lot better than Cici's, so I'm glad we went there!

Rob worked all day Saturday... I was so bummed out because he had to work, but that's the price you pay for having such an important job!!! I am so proud of my husband! I mean, he has way more responsibilities now... really big ones actually!!! He is in charge of the whole Syn-Tech Systems' mutltitude of servers, networks and computers!!! So, if the server's down, hundreds of employees cannot do their work, and since the company has a multi-million dollar contract with the US Air Force, Army, and Navy, that may put them in jeopardy, but no worries because my husband can handle all that and more!!! So, last Saturday, he and Steve spent all day reloading the servers (since everybody's off on weekends, this is the best time to do it)... and now he's diligently studying for his Microsoft Certification, which he'll have to take in a few months.

Saturday night, Kevin came over to our house to get ready for the dance! So, yeah, I was finally able to get him his whole outfit last week! It took me a few days of driving back and forth to the mall to get it all together since the boy is so darn picky... and I had to help him put his tie on!

I was trying to get him to take his hat off, but he wouldn't! Anyways, he had fun at the dance, and he has to wait until Spring for the next one (if he goes to the Prom that is)!

So, after Kevin left, Rob and I went to my parents' house to pick my other brother JB up (since he didn't feel like driving). Then we went to Tallahassee Mall and watched JackAss 2... It's been out for a week, but the 9:00 time slot (which is where we were) was still sold out!!! Well, this one was way better than the first one! I couldn't stop laughing... it was so hilarious but I just couldn't believe all the stunts they've pulled this time!!!

I got the laundry done on Saturday while Rob was at work and while I was watching the GA Tech vs. VA Tech game, which GA Tech won (Whoohooo!!!!)... Rob missed a lot of good games last Saturday, like UF vs. 'Bama, which I could care less about the Gators, but I must say... they have one of the best QB's (Tim Tebow, who is only a Freshman from Jacksonville, FL)!!!

So, Sunday was spent lounging around.
And since it was such a gorgeous day, Rob and I went for a ride on his motorcycle! We haven't done that in a while (actually, this is the first time we've ridden together as a married couple!!!)... We used to ride all the time, especially in the Spring. I even have my very own cool helmet, which matches his silver Honda CBR. He asked me once if I'd want a motorcycle and I said I would never drive one... I'm just really scared, but it's different when you're riding with a very experienced driver... I trust Rob; he's been riding for years and he even has a certificate for riding motorcycles which he got upon completing the mandatory class!

Sunday night, we had dinner with mom, dad and Spencer. We also visited Uncle Pete (Rob's uncle, who lives next door to my in-laws). He had just bought a new BMW 745i, so we were really excited to play with it (especially Rob)! Well, since Uncle Pete didn't know all the gadgets that came with his Bimmer, Rob showed him all the cool features and installed his GPS system... Such an awesome car! Now Rob wants one, but he said he'll wait for a few more years!

This is what it looks like, except it doesn't have those plates on it! It's tinted nicely and it's black on black, just like Rob's!

Well, tonight, we're going to celebrate Kathryn's 23rd Birthday! It's actually tomorrow, but I have to go to Pensacola, so I begged her to celebrate tonight. So, then she can go out and party with her friends tomorrow night! Hope everybody has a nice week ahead! 'Till next time... Au revoir!