Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Oh Orange Bowl...

Today as I am gearing myself up for the BIG GAME by putting on all my Hokie gear, making chili, and calling all of my friends and family to make sure they'll be watching, I can't help but reflect upon my trip to the Orange Bowl last year...

In early December instead of studying for exams my roommate Alisa, and one of my friends Maleka and I decided we should just see how much it would cost to go to the Orange Bowl. We were not really planning on going we were just procrastinating. So we discovered that we could fly down there for just less than $200 if we flew from Charlotte and right then and there on a whim we booked our flight, without tickets to the game and without a hotel room.

We soon found a resort that had a pool with waterfalls, a huge lobby, a nice jacuzzi and rooms that were suites. So we also booked that to the tune of approx. $90 per night.

And since we didn't have tickets I had to call my alumni uncle with all the connections to pull some strings, and we ended up with awesome seats, and we only had to pay $50 a ticket.

So the plans were set when we went home for Christmas break. Maleka would drive down to Roanoke on December 27th and from there we would drive down to Charlotte at 2AM to meet Alisa and catch our 6AM flight. Little did I know that on December 26th I would get engaged to Brad and WOULD NOT want to leave.

So reluctantly I left with Maleka to make the drive to Charlotte at 2 AM. We got there in plenty of time and got on the plane, unfortunately I couldn't find my motion sickness medicine, and needless to say the flight down to Miami wasn't pretty I don't think I left the airport bathroom more than twice during the flight, and airport bathrooms are kind of my worst nightmare...GROSS!!

Then, I thought my luck had changed when we ran into one of Brad's soccer teammates at VT and he offered to share a cab with us to our resort. So we grab a cab and he gets dropped off and we being making the drive to our resort...and the ticker keeps rising and rising...$100, $150, $175, $250...Two hundred and fifty dollars we paid to get a cab to our hotel because our driver kept getting "lost".

So we grab our bags and reluctantly hand over the cash, and into the resort we go. We attempt to check in the hotel and then were informed that we actually couldn't stay there even though we had already paid because no one in our party was 21. At this point I was tired and annoyed so I began to make a scene. Typical, I know I know. We were then escorted off the property...

From the curb Alisa calls the hotel back and explains to them that we are "good girls" who just need a place to stay until we can go off to the game and cheer on our beloved Hokies. She also informs them that we have spent all of our money on this hotel and none of us have enough money in our checking accounts to reserve another hotel room, so if they don't let us in we will be sleeping among the homeless in Miami. Finally after a lot of moaning and complaining they let us go to our room with a warning of "if we hear one noise from your room you're out of here".

Up to our room we go, and since we can't afford another cab we order pizza, and not just any pizza the worst pizza ever...papa john's yuck! And yes, we ate that every meal while we were there except for the one morning we took the free shuttle to some Jewish breakfast place. Oh, and did I mention I hate Papa John's?

Since we were going to Miami we all packed shorts and short sleeved shirts, the only jeans we had were the ones we wore down...so we froze because it was in the 40's and raining the whole time we were there...great weather right? Not to mention as you all know we lost to Kansas, and their fans were obnoxious. I also like to call this trip my worst financial decision ever since we lost more money on cab rides, just none quite as bad as the first. We estimate that this little 3 day trip cost each of us approximately GULP, $500!!!!!

Here are the pictures from last year:

So Virginia Tech make me proud this year, don't let me down... and I hope all you fans have a good time down there, but I'll be sitting in my warm house on my comfy couch eating my chili and watching the game!

Christmas is it really over?

Well I know I have been MIA for quite some time, but Brad and I have been busy busy busy! Our first Christmas was hectic but we had a blast being with family. Here's a little rundown of our Christmas festivities:

This year Christmas started for us on December 21st. Everyone on my dad's side of the family went down to dinner with my Nana (great grandmother) at the nursing home she is in. On a side note, this is probably the nicest place I've ever been in...hopefully I get to spend my older years in a place like this. Anyway here are a few pictures from that event:




Next on the agenda was Dad's birthday, December 23rd. I made him a mint chocolate chip ice cream cake. It turned out looking pretty and tasting good, I was very proud! Haha

For Christmas Eve we went over to my granny's house (Mom's Mom) and had lunch and exchanged gifts with them. It is so fun being in a small hot house with lots of relatives...haha. We actually all had a great time! Then from there Brad and I drove straight to Vinton Baptist to meet his family for Christmas Eve service. I love the candle light service there it is so pretty and it really helps put into perspective what Christmas is all about...the birth of our Lord and Savior! After the service we went back to Boo and Alan's for dinner and to exchange gifts with them. Unfortunately for Brad the video camera was unable to be hooked into the T.V., so the usual home video watching wasn't possible. I'm not going to lie this was fine with me because I'm pretty sure I've seen all the videos at least ten times each.

My favorite part of Christmas this year was Christmas Eve at home with Brad. We turned off all the lights lit the candles in the living room, and Brad read the Christmas story from our family bible that I gave him on our wedding day. This was the first time we had gotten to use the bible since it is kind of only for special occasions. This was so special to me, and Brad knew that it was so he was very eager to participate. I'm so lucky to have a husband who loves the Lord more than he loves me!!

Christmas morning we woke up EARLY and did our stockings here at home, then we headed over to Mom and Dad's for breakfast and to check out all of the new things Haley and Riley got. It is so fun to see how excited the two of them get to get presents and to give presents. This year their preschool class went to the dollar store and they each got to pick out presents for 5 people in their family...I was lucky enough to be one of those 5 for each of them, and I ended up with a toy for Lucy from Riley, and a candleholder and candle from Haley.

From Mom and Dad's we rushed off to lunch with the other set of Mom and Dad at their house. We loved getting to spend time with Jacob (Brad's cousin Lauren's thanksgiving baby) he is so precious! We also did a gag gift game which was pretty hilarious. Here are a couple pictures of "Baby J" as Brad calls him:

We left Lucy at her grandparents house to play while we rushed to the lake to spend Christmas night with my Dad's side of the family at Grandbess and Grandbud's house. Unfortunatley my camera battery died so I have no pictures from the event, but the lake was beautiful! My favorite part of the dinner was Grandbess's custard it is so good!! Ben rode back to Roanoke with Brad and I and we were discussing how we know Jesus isn't actually born around Christmas time, but to us it really feels like he is born Christmas Eve and then Christmas Day is just a HUGE celebration of his birth.

So tonight will be the start of a New Year, 2009. Hopefully this year will be even better than 2008 and filled with just as many blessings, but for some reason I think this year will be pretty hard to top.

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Busy Times, Fun Times, and the Most Beautiful Bride I've Ever Seen

This past Saturday was Lindsey's wedding. She looked beautiful and Lincoln looked very handsome. We spent all day Friday decorating the church for the wedding and the reception, and by the time we were done it looked like a winter wonderland in there!! The wedding was so pretty, and I think everyone had a good time. And lets be serious...lots of tears were shed. You try looking at Pastor Ott talk go Lindsey and Lincoln about how much he loves the two of them without losing it! I took some pictures of decorating and getting ready, but that's about it.
I am so excited for Linz and Linc to begin their new life together. It is so evident that God has his hand in their marriage, and I know he will do great things through the two of them. And I'm REALLY excited that for now he's letting me keep Linz here for just a little longer!!


Cute Centerpieces...

Sanctuary...

Typical...


Me and Jen...


With the beautiful bride...

The Gorgeous Mrs. Lindsey Miller...


Today is also "Big Steve's" 46th Birthday!! I'm not really sure how he got that name, I think my friends from school gave him that and it just stuck. You can't tell in these pictures, but he is 6'5'' for goodness sakes!! I love Dad, and I know that Ben, Haley, Riley and I are very lucky to have such a wonderful Dad. He would do anything for any of us (especially Haley since she did take my place as the favorite child, but that that's a whole 'nother story...) Love you Dad, Happy Birthday!!!


Well, since Christmas is only 2 days away and I have nothing wrapped and my house is dirty...I better get busy!!

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Gingerbread houses + 2 Five years Olds =

HAHAHA! Brad and I were watching Haley and Riley tonight so Big Steve and Debs could go on a date. (They went to see Four Christmases which by the way is absolutely hilarious!) I thought it would be a good idea to build a gingerbread house, not sure why, but I did. Before Brad got involved the house fell down like 5 times, and he finally got it to stand up. He got lots of applause from the two little ones. Here are some cute pictures from the event!

Trying to make sure it doesn't fall....AGAIN

How cute are they? haha

Haley had enough of this after about 5 minutes, clearly.

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!!

On a side note, this activity is not for perfectionists...I had an extremely hard time with the mess, and lets be serious people this thing is hideous ha...oh well we had fun! Off to study...final tomorrow, yuck!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Why did I start this thing...

As I'm sitting here blog stalking I'm wondering why I started this thing. I have nothing to say because nothing happens in my life...we're pretty boring I guess. HAHA But I felt like I needed to say something since it has been quite a while, so here are a few random thoughts from this past week...
1. I'm sick of Tim Tebow. So what if he is good at football and does great things for the world, other people do too.

2. This rain has put me in a terrible mood...I'm ready for some sunshine!!

3. I like when Brad coaches basketball better simply because the outfits he wears to coach in are more handsome :)

4. I only have one semester left of college HOLY DUMP!

5. Even though I only have one semester left I have no idea what I'm going to do once I graduate.

6. I love to be loud at sporting games, but I can't yell during basketball games because i know NOTHING about basketball, so I don't like basketball very much...

7. I value warmth like a lot.

8. I love being married to Brad.

That's all for today...Brad just got home from coaching...Yes, I am a coaches' widow (i mean wife ;) )

Thursday, December 4, 2008

It's All In the Attitude

So I've been trying to have a positive attitude through this situation, I mean trying like really hard. No seriously really really hard, but once you read this you will understand why that is so difficult.

Monday I came home from school, went back to the office for some facebook/blog stalking as usual, and then decided I should probably be productive so I gathered up the dirty clothes and took them downstairs to do some laundry. It was then that I saw it...the door to our basement was open, and the lock was broken. I immediately ran up the stairs, grabbed Lucy and made a bee line for the car. I persistently called Brad's phone but I knew he couldn't answer because he was in basketball practice, so I called my parent's house. Luckily my Dad answered the phone, and Big Steve came right on over.

Dad checked over the house, and said no one was in there, and then when Brad got home they went in the basement and checked it out and all was clear there too. Then the police lady came who was HORRIBLE and did absolutely nothing except waste 3 hours of our life, because that's how long it took her to get to our house. She determined that since nothing was taken the person was scared off and never made it upstairs.

Then all was forgotten (sort of) until yesterday when Brad discovered that the person did take something from our house, and more specifically from our bedroom! They took some money out of a jar on his dresser. So we called the police again, and this time the police officer was much more helpful...thank goodness. They finger printed the jar and were able to pull some prints off of it, we should hear more on that soon, but the prints were more than likely Brad's.

In my efforts to have a good attitude I am trying to find the comical events in all of this, and I will assure you that I haven't lost my sense of humor... Here are some funny things from the event:
1. My dad and Brad bust into the basement with a tomahawk and a broom...apparently they were out for blood. Brad claims that was the fastest he's ever seen Dad move ever...you need to request an impression its hilarious!
2. The female police office asked us repeatedly "Do you know someone that would want to break into your home?" to which I repeatedly replied..."Everyone who knows us, know that we are poor!" DUH?!
3. Lucy is petrified of police officers like hide under the bed scared.

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Oh Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree...

I was so excited for Brad and I to get our very first Christmas tree, and even though Brad didn't want to admit it he was excited too. So we loaded up Fanny Focus all three of us (Lucy got to come), and drove approximately 1 minute down the road to cut down our first Christmas tree. Here are some pictures of cutting it down and decorating it.

After walking around the Christmas Tree Farm (I use that term generously..haha) We agreed on the perfect tree... Oh, and Brad was very impressive with a saw in his hand (my Marlboro Man)
Cute picture of Bradley and Lucy...


Decorating our first Christmas tree together...of course with football on TV...duh!
Family picture in front of the tree...ignore the fact that these pictures are horrible...the situation was blog worthy!!

Please note my Virginia Tech shirt...how bout them Hokies today???!!! We have beaten UVA every year of my college career. That's almost as much of an accomplishment as graduating :)
GO HOKIES!!!

Wednesday, November 26, 2008

My Favorite Holiday!!

My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving, and it always has been. Most people like Christmas or even the fourth of July, but I'm partial to Thanksgiving. You might assume its because I LOVE food and eating, but that's not it. The Firebaugh family has great traditions for Thanksgiving and I LOVE IT!!! It all starts on Thanksgiving morning with the Macy's Day parade, I can remember going over to Mom's Grandparents house (Gigi and Papa) and sitting in the kitchen with Gigi while she carved the turkey, or sliced the ham while Mom and Dad were busy brining in the extra table and chairs from outside, Ben and Papa would sit in Papa's special chair and usually take an early morning nap. After we would eat lunch with Mom's side of the family we would load up the family into the van and head over to Dad's aunts house (C.B's). There we would all crowd around and watch the Dallas game (GO COWBOYS!!) and Dad and I would talk trash to the rest of the family (they're all Redskins fans). Then C.B. would gather us all into one room and she would read Granny Jean's recipe for a happy home:
4 cups of love
2 cups of loyalty
3 cups of forgiveness
1 cup of friendship
5 tablespoons of hope
2 tablespoons of tenderness
4 quarts of faith
1 barrel of laughter
*Take love and loyalty, mix it thoroughly with faith. Blend it with tenderness, kindness, and understanding. Add friendship and hope, sprinkle abundantly with laughter, bake it with s sunshine, and serve it daily with generous helpings.
Then would come my favorite tradition of all...the corn. Everyone in the family takes 3 kernels of corn and those kernels represent three things that you are thankful for, and we share those three things with the whole family. Then Grandbud would say the blessing, and we would get to eat and the chaos would ensue. Then, the day after Thanksgiving would consist of early morning shopping and afternoon/evening putting up Christmas decorations.

Things have changed a lot since those days of watching the parade with Gigi, Haley and Riley are here, Brad and I are married, and family members have passed away, but the traditions still hold. I still watch the parade, and we still do the kernels of corn, Grandbud still prays, and the food is ALWAYS good :)

This year will be even more different, but some how it will still be the same, full of family, thankfulness, and memories.

Three things I am thankful for this year are: an amazing husband, rich family traditions, and a family (that is even bigger this year) that loves me and that I love very very much!

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Fall Fun

Here are some cute pictures that I took of Haley and Riley (my twin sisters). Now I'm no Emily Dowdy, but I thought they were pretty cute considering the subjects weren't very cooperative :)










They love to play in the leaves at our house, and believe me there are plenty of them to play in!! On a side note...Brad and I are getting ready to go out of town tomorrow for a Stars' soccer tournament, and I'm getting a little anxious about leaving Lucy at home... haha. Try not to make fun, she's my company while Brad's coaching all the time.

And about not sweating the small stuff I'm doing great so far this week. How about you?

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Overcoming without being Overcome

Yes I stole that title from none other than our pastor John Ott...LOVE HIM! For the past ten weeks in church we have been doing a series on overcoming and learning about how Paul overcame and went on to be one of the greatest evangelists to ever walk the face of the earth. I've sat through all these sermons thinking this is really good stuff, but I don't really feel like there's anything in my life for me to overcome right now...until today. At the end of the service today he was talking about how so many people let such small things take away their peace, how they allow their joy to be stolen, and their happiness to be robbed. As he was talking I was realizing that I am one of those people. So, its my goal this week to "not sweat the small stuff", and to overcome these little things without being overcome. After all if our joy is found in our Lord and Savior it can't be taken away!!

Oh, and on a side note I loved the man in church this morning who kept saying "halleluiah" "c'mon, c'mon" "that's right". Going to church is so refreshing and puts my week off to a great start! Well, its off to a soccer game, oh how I love adult league! Go Black :)

Friday, November 14, 2008

Here We Go...

So because I apparently need another mode of procrastination I'm starting a blog. Maybe it was peer pressure, or maybe its stupidity but here goes nothing... I thought this would be a good way to keep everyone up to date with Brad and I, and maybe it'll even be a little fun.

Here are some pictures from our life together so far...starting with a couple from the wedding/honeymoon, and our new house :) (p.s. I LOVE my house!!!)









The living room...of course ESPN is on T.V.

LUCY LU!!!

I promise to do a "real" post soon!