Rivalry Weekend: A House Divided

                    Grandpa's little Hokie



          Well this is a huge weekend in college football. It's rivalry weekend. I've been excitedly and anxiously awaiting this day for a few weeks now. Clemson is guaranteed a spot at the ACC Championship game next weekend in Charlotte. We're going to the game. However, ... we didn't know who our opponent would be until about 7:15 this evening. We will be playing Virginia Tech. Again. It'll be a family reunion/rivalry part II of this football season. And. I. Can't. Wait. Clemson has already beaten Virginia Tech once this season, at Lane Stadium nontheless. It felt great. Now, if we can just put it off again.

          Virginia Tech is on a high because they just annihilated their long time rival and archenemies, UVA. Clemson is currently playing their rival, South Carolina, and they are struggling to perform. I'm hopeful for a good game, but skeptical of the outcome. Clemson is also coming off a loss against NC State; a game Clemson should have won. I guess what I'm trying to say is... I'm uber excited about the match-up against VATech again, but I'm leary of Clemson's performance and stamina.



          To start this day, Tillman and I were decked out in our Hokie gear in support of my dad.  However, as soon as the game ended, I rushed to the closet and changed into my Clemson attire for the remainder of the evening.

the infamous orange bag - I can't wait to see some purple on this bag!

The "orange Christmas bag" story has become a Franks tradition. One year, 2006 maybe, VATech won the ACC Championship game. I thought it would be a cute idea to decorate an orange bag and use the ACC Champions theme for Dad's Christmas gift that year. It was a huge hit, and Dad kept the bag displayed throughout the year. Well, what do you know, but Tech goes and wins the ACC Championship again the next year. Well you know what this means, I made Dad another orange VATech themed Christmas bag that year. Since then I think Tech has won another two titles, of which Dad always gets a bag. Last year's bag was especially special (I think) because I put a picture of Tillman on it and she was decked out in some Hokie gear. Notice how I keep saying how I made a bag and gave it to Dad; this means Clemson has yet to win an ACC Championship since this tradition was started. So, the joke every year is, "Who is going to get the orange Christmas bag?"

Can you find the bag?



It is quite apparent that someone in our family will be getting an orange Christmas bag this year since Clemson will be playing Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship game next weekend in Charlotte. (And we're all going!!!) The question is: Who?  So if you come across any bantering or friendly trash-talking between any members of our family, now you know the whole story behind it. It's all about that orange bag.

So the countdown now officially begins until Saturday, December 3rd @ 8:00pm.   Bring. It. On. 
GO TIGERS!!!  :) :) :)

 Hey, Dad, remember this??      :)



Happy Thanksgiving!

Whew, we just finished round two of our Thanksgiving meal and I thought I should go ahead and create this blog before I fell into a food coma and didn't have the energy to write. This year Josh and I decided to stay in Easley for Thanksgiving.  This is our first year ever not going home to Summerville for Thanksgiving, but both sets of our parents were just in town last weekend for Tillman's birthday party and we've been very busy. We thought it would be a nice idea to just stay here and relax this weekend. We also got one less day off from work than we usually do.

We had our friend and upstate family member, Heather, come and hangout with us, watch the parades on tv, and cook/bake the day away. We had a really nice time together and truly enjoyed the day. Here is a glimpse of it:

the menu: ham, rolls, corn casserole, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, veggies and dip, pumpkin pie, and chocolate creme pie

the cooks of the day: Heather and me

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

getting ready for her big meal

watching the Packer game (they won!)

going for a post-meal walk/ride - She carried acorns in her hand the entire time

playing with her new birthday toys from Aunt Leigh-Anne and Alex

vroom!

Love this little girl so much!!

She fell and had an accident - busted lip, but she's a trooper and had a great day

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!



Look whooooo's one!!

So I'm running a little behind on this one, but Tillman is officially one! She turned one last Friday, November 11th (11-11-11) but we had her party this weekend. It was a huge success and we had a blast! We are so blessed with wonderful, loving, and supportive friends and family. I'll post a few pictures from the party, but as every host/hostess knows, I was so busy and invovled with the day that I didn't get as many as I normally try to take. Happy birthday, Tillman!! We honestly love you more and more each day. And yes, time does fly by!

and this is how Josh lets Tillman ride in the buggy

A Must See!!!

http://kimberlycabephotography.wordpress.com/2011/11/08/tillman-in-one/

A friend of ours took some pictures of Tillman for her first birthday and some of the three of us for some family photos. The link above is just a starter sneak peek of what was taken, and we are so excited to see the rest of the gallery! The photographer, Kim, has a wonderful gift and talent that we are so blessed and fortunate she has shared with us. Rest assured, I will share more pictures with you as they come.

Less than a week!

Well, the time is here. We are less than one week away from Tillman's first birthday. We are very excited and so in love with who Tillman has become in such a short amount of time. Josh and I plan to do a special  celebration with her on Friday, and then we will celebrate with friends and family the following weekend with a party at our house.

Here are a few more Halloween pictures and some of Tillman with her Valentine's present from her Grandma and Grandpa.  Josh put it together tonight in hopes that we will be able to use it at the party and from here on out, now that Tillman is big/old enough to use  it.
Have a great week!

This is her new favorite place to sit.

What a silly girl.

Halloween outfit and my candy bucket from when I was a kid.

blurry, but the shirt says, "Too cute to spook."

After she pulled out her bow.

This is her favorite book to read. She loves pop-up books.

Watching Daddy as he puts together her wagon

Getting a head start on testing it out.

Whee! I think she's going to like it.  :)



Happy Halloween!

Last night we celebrated Tillman's first Halloween.  Neither Josh nor I are huge Halloween fans, but we didn't want to be completely anti-holiday, so we dressed her up and went downtown Easley for trick-or-treating.  We used tiger ears and a tail that Tillman's Uncle Tiger (Tony) have her before she was ever born.  We walked around downtown Easley where there was a little festival with fun activites for kids, and all the local businesses were passing out candy as famililies trick-or-treated around the block.  We went for the social experience, but had a really good time checking out all the other costumes.  We also got several comments on what a cute tiger we had.  One man walked up and said, "Now is that a Clemson tiger?"  My reply was, "Of course.  What else would you expect?"  Josh and I also came up with a formula for Halloween and trick-or-treaters:  1/4 of the costumes are cute.  1/4 of the costumes are scary.  1/4 of the costumes are slutty.  1/4 of the costumes are not costumes at all, but just lazy/too cool kids walking around asking for candy.  Anyways, here is our cute little tiger on her first Halloween: