These are a few of my favorite things...

Okay, so just by naming my blog post, I am now humming "raindrops on roses".  Dang that Sound of Music!  For anyone else now humming it, I apologize:)  To say I had a wonderful weekend is an understatement...I had an almost perfect weekend because it was full of a few of my favorite things.  Family, friends, football, and perfect fall weather.  On Friday, my brother, David, arranged to take my dad (a HUGE Alabama fan) to "Nick at noon".  To those of you reading who may not follow football, and more specifically Alabama football, Nick Saban is the head coach for the greatest team in the nation...The Alabama Crimson Tide.  In the South, our culture tends to focus around college football...especially in the fall.  In the great state of Alabama, we live for our respective teams (Alabama and Auburn).  From the time you are born, you are "marked" with an Alabama or Auburn cap, onesie, pacifier, etc....something to claim you for one side or the other.  I am an overly passionate Alabama fan and I come from a long line of Alabama fans...so it is definitely a family tradition.  My grandfather was Coach Bear Bryant's dentist, so my dad came to know Coach Bryant on a personal level through my grandfather.  My dad had never been to the Bear Bryant Museum in Tuscaloosa, so my brother and I planned a day of Alabama football fun for my dad, as an early Christmas present.  We began the day at the museum and what a joy it was to see my dad reminisce about old football games,  players, etc.  I watched my dad fight back tears a couple of times, as he retold the plays and how Alabama won some of their most memorable victories.  While I know my dad loves Alabama football, I think the tears were related more to what memories those games represented...memories of my grandfather, who is now deceased.  I realized that football is about a lot more than football.  It is an event that not only brings our state together, but also families and friends...and football is the center of a lot of precious memories.  We left the museum and went to Bryant-Denny Stadium for a private tour of the stadium.  For those who know me and understand how much I LOVE Alabama football, you know how excited this made me!:)  My bucket list includes, "run out with the team at an Alabama game"...so to be that close to the locker room may be as close as I ever get!  Ha!

 This is the press room where Coach Saban gives his post-game interviews...I couldn't resist getting my picture made:)

This is the sign outside of the visiting team's locker room.  Apparently Mr. James Fail donated enough money to name the locker room after himself...and how brilliant was that?!  I love that the visiting teams' locker room is named "The Fail Room"...and that is precisely what we hope that they do when they come to Bryant-Denny Stadium.  After the tour, my brother and my dad went on to "Nick at noon" where they heard Coach Saban speak and had lunch.  I did not make this trip because I had little Will and wasn't sure how he would do and worried Coach Saban would yell at him if he cried out of turn...

Friday afternoon, my amazing friend Jessica came to the house to take some pictures of Will and our little family!  She is learning photography and I love that she likes to practice on us!!!:)  She lives in Birmingham, so it was a wonderful way to end the day...getting to spend time with her.  Here is some of her work-

 LOVE these!

And that's our little nugget!  I found the sock monkey hat at "Christmas Village" in Birmingham and HAD to have it!  

Saturday my sweet husband and I took Will and we went to Trade Days at Tannehill State Park.  I had not been to this event since I was a child and Cullen had never been before, so neither of us knew what to expect.  As we drove into the park, I realized we have been missing out by not going out there more.  It is beautiful and so many beautiful photo opps!!!  We drove over the hill, after paying to park, and we saw tent after tent after tent.  Apparently while I was getting bigger, so was Trade Days-it was way bigger than I remembered as a child.  We shopped around and Cullen found great deals on tools and "guy things" and I found this frame!

The frame was only $20.  I didn't think that was bad at all!  My general rule of thumb is this.  Can I make it for less than that?  If the answer is no, then I buy it!:)  So, would we go back to Trade Days?  Most definitely!  

Saturday night we sat down to watch the Kansas State/Baylor game and also the Oregon/Stanford game.  Alabama had recently dropped in the BCS rankings after their loss to Texas A&M, the week prior. Alabama dropped from #1 in the polls to #4.  The teams in front of us (and yes, we say "us" in the South when referring our respective teams): Kansas State, Oregon and Notre Dame.  Alabama fans needed Baylor to beat K. State and Stanford to beat Oregon, to get Alabama back in the running for a National Championship (their 15th to be exact).  Cullen and I, along with every other Bama fan in the country, watched and cheered as both of these very things happened!!!  It was truly and incredible night for college football and especially for Alabama.  

On Sunday, my super awesome mom came into town for a friend's Christmas Party.  How fun it was to start my weekend early with a visit from my dad and brother and to end my weekend with a visit from my mom.  It was truly a great weekend to kickoff the week of Thanksgiving!  It is so important to consider ALL of the ways the Lord has blessed our lives...and to make time for all of those blessings.  I am thankful to have spent the weekend with so many of the people I love.  God is good...all the time.  All the time...God is good.