WAR EAGLE!!

This past weekend Brian and I travelled out to Alabama to visit family and go to an Auburn game. I haven't been at an Auburn game in about four years, so I was really excited to be at a game. It brought back all kinds of memories of being in school, marching in pre-game, and trying to get back to our trailer after the game.

Saturday morning we all (Mom, Dad, Carrie, Grandmom, Brian and I- quite a group) piled into the Tahoe for the drive down to Auburn. Carrie & I entertained / annoyed everyone else with music from the marching band cd for the first 30 minutes of the trip. We just needed to set the mood! :) We met my friend and mentor (and former CAD teacher) Cindy for lunch, at a great local sandwich place called Momma Goldberg's. Cindy and I still talk about once a month. She encourages me and laughs at my crazy stories of life in the Architecture world.

After lunch, we walked around campus a bit. Things have certainly changed in the four years since I graduated. I was amazed at how pretty the campus looked. I regret now that I don't have pictures, but it didn't occur to me at the time. We braved the crazy, packed bookstores for t-shirts, decals and other game-day paraphenalia, and then finally, it was game time!!

I was very excited to be at a game. I lost count of the times I leaned over and told my Dad just that. ;) It was great to see the band's pre-game show and just soak in the atmosphere. But then the evening went rapidly down-hill. Any of you who watched the game on tv know that this game was not the best performance by an Auburn football team. Finally during the last half of the fourth quarter, the Auburn players came alive and pulled out a win. Then it was lots of fun - jumping up and down, yelling and cheering. There's just nothing quite like being there.

Winning the game meant that I got to introduce Brian to another Auburn tradition: rolling Toomer's Corner. Toomer's Corner is so named because of Toomer's Drugstore that has sat at the intersection of two main roads in downtown Auburn. After an Auburn win, fans go up to Toomer's and "roll" (yes, with rolls of toilet paper) the trees on the corner opposite the drugstore. As you can imagine, it makes quite a mess, but it's tradition! I have no idea how this one got started, but I'm sure someone in my family does. (If you're reading and you know, please feel free to comment) The effect is really neat - kind of like weird snow.

Anyway, it was a great weekend. Even though we didn't get back to Birmingham until 2:30 in the morning. We all definitely took naps Sunday afternoon after church. We got to visit the rest of the weekend with my family, which was really great. Living out here in Texas, I don't get to spend enough time with them.