Christmas 2009

We hope everyone had a wonderful and safe Christmas! This year we spent Christmas with my family in Carmel and Jep was introduced to many of the Cwik Family Christmas traditions. Here's the rundown of our trip...

On Christmas Eve we went to church and then headed to a nice dinner at Sullivan's Steakhouse.

While at Sullivan's, we were surprised to see Peyton Manning who was sitting at a small table with his wife!! I have to say that this had to be my first run in with a famous person! I have never been lucky enough to spot a celebrity in person. It was so exciting seeing him especially since we were going to be watching him play the Jets a few days later!

Christmas day with my family is always a relaxing one...we get up, open presents, stay in our pjs ALL DAY, eat ALL DAY, and watch movies and football ALL DAY! We also introduced Mom and Dad to Apples to Apples this year and they LOVED it! As far as presents go, I think we all made out really good!! One of the big presents this year was a new laptop for my Dad--so my parents are FINALLY making the move from dial up internet to high speed! I don't know who is more excited--them or me?!

On Saturday it snowed!!! Photo op in the backyard!

On Sunday, Jep and I headed down to Indianapolis to watch my COLTS play. One of the Christmas presents from my parents was a night at a hotel close by the stadium. We got a huge surprise when we when we got to our room which had been upgraded to a huge suite!! Thanks Mom & Dad!! Before we headed out to the game, Jep and I exchanged our gifts to each other. I have to brag for a second because Jep did so good this year!!! He surprised me with the pair of diamond earrings from my mom's store that I had worn on our wedding day as my "something borrowed." I love, love, love them and was so shocked!!

After exchanging gifts we headed out to game. The city looked gorgeous with all the snow falling down!

We had a great time at the Colts game despite the fact that Jim Caldwell made the terrible call to pull the starters with only a 5 point lead ruining their undefeated run!!! Ugh, it makes me so mad still thinking about it!!!

Early Christmas for Dread

Christmas came a little early for Dread this year. I made the mistake of putting a Nyla bone in Dread's stocking not knowing that the little guy could smell it without even knowing it was in there. I tried to fake him out by getting a Milkbone and pulling it out of the stocking and giving it to him-- he was too smart to fall for that one. So, we gave in and let him have his presents early.

Waiting under his stocking

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas in Elba with Jep's family and got a huge surprise--his mom surprised us all with a cruise to Cozumel!!! So, we'll be setting sail to Mexico in February!!!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

around the DuBose house!!

I was so excited to decorate the house for Christmas this year. Honestly, I was actually ready a couple weeks before Thanksgiving to start putting decorations up, but Jep put a stop to that. His rule--no Christmas decorations until AFTER Thanksgiving.

So, the Saturday we got back from Elba we went straight out to find our perfect tree. Once home, we got it all decorated with the few ornaments we own--the tree is lacking in the ornament department but I figured we have plenty of time to collect over the years--and the tree looked great!! After we completed the tree, we went outside to work on the outdoor lighting. Jep did a fantastic job with the outdoor decorations. He even got up on the industrial size ladder to hang icicles along the peaks of the house!!! It was nerve racking watching him up so high on the ladder so I really couldn't watch--but I did get a few pictures!!

Once, the decorating was done we got settled on the couch to watch TV and call it a night. And, the next thing I know, our 9 ft. Christmas tree has fallen over and crashed onto the hardwood floor--breaking the majority of my small ornament collection!! Looking back on it...it's funny now but at the time I was so upset! The ornaments that meant the most to me were completely broken to pieces. But, thanks to some Krazy glue...I was able to salvage what was salvagable. Now, each year when we get out the ornaments to hang on the tree, we can laugh at the broken ones and remember our first Christmas together in our first home. (Cheesy--I know!)

FINALLY...an Update!

I know I have been such a slacker and haven't updated our blog in a long time!! We are alive and well! :) Just, haven't had too much to blog about lately...

This past weekend Jep, Dread, and I traveled to Mentone, AL to meet up with the rest of Jep's family for a weekend in the mountains. His family plans a mountains trip every year, so it's a fun little family tradition that we look forward to each year.

We spent the weekend lounging around the cabin, checking out the sights and scenery, and of course playing board games! And, let me tell you...there were quite a few competitive games of Apples to Apples and Scattegories!

A few pictures from our trip...

Gorgeous waterfall at Little River Canyon

The kiddos

Beth with all her boys

Up next, Thanksgiving and the IRON BOWL!!!!! Go AUBURN!!! WAR EAGLE!!

Beach Getaway

This past weekend Jep and I went down to Santa Rosa Beach to spend a couple days with my parents who are vacationing down there for an entire week. I absolutely love going down there this time of year!! The weather was just perfect and there were no crowds! We ate at all our favorite restaurants and had some DELICIOUS seafood!! We also got a little bit of beach time in.

Jep on an early morning walk

Mom & Dad at Red Bar

Jep & I at Bud and Alley's

All of us at Fat Tuesdays in Baytowne Wharf

I won first place in a football pool this week all because of the Miami Dolphins! This was me and Dad doing our fins!

On a different note, I'm pretty sure everyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE the Fall (especially Halloween!!!) I couldn't wait to put up my Halloween decorations- Jep made me wait until Oct. 1st because I was especially excited to decorate our first house. Well, I got most of my fall decorations up and here is the front of the house. I still want to get a few more pumpkins! :)

And, last but not least is an adorable picture of Jep and our niece, Ollie!

It's GREAT To Be An AUBURN TIGER!

This past weekend Jep, Dread, and I made a trip down to one of my FAVORITE places on earth-AUBURN!!!--for the AU/Ball State game. Jep, the planner, made all the arrangements and rented us an RV for the weekend. We got down to Auburn Thursday evening, roped off a prime tailgate spot, went to dinner and had a drink at one of our favorite bars-Bodega (which will be closing it's doors on Sept. 29- we were VERY sad to hear this!!)

It was so great to be back in Auburn. It had been over a year since we were last there and we couldn't believe how much has changed!!! We were definitely THOSE alumni that talked all night (well actually all weekend) about the "good 'ol days" and how it was when "we were here."

On Friday morning we got up early to head over to Fort Benning for Clint's graduation from Ranger School. This was another reason why we planned to go to the Auburn game this particular weekend so we could celebrate with Clint and his wife Laurie.

After the graduation, we headed back to Auburn and spent the afternoon walking around campus seeing all the new sights and spending way too much money at the bookstore on Auburn paraphernalia. We also had to make a stop at Momma G's for a beer and some people watching on the patio.

Finally, Saturday was GAMEDAY and there is nothing better than Gameday on the Plains!!! We had such a great time despite the HOT/RAINY weather. And, the night ended up in another win for the Tigers. After the game, we went and got Dread and took him to Toomer's Corner. ("Rolling" Toomer's Corner is an Auburn tradition where fans "roll" the trees with toilet paper on the corner of College St. after a victory) Dread was such a good boy and got A TON of attention and lots of head pats. :)

Needless to say, we had so much fun this weekend and I cannot wait to make another trip to Auburn soon. We'll probably be getting a hotel room the next time though. Renting the RV was an experience and I think I learned that I'm not as good as "roughing it" as I thought I was! :)

I took so many pictures this weekend and below are some of my favorites!

Congratulations on graduating Ranger School, Clint!

Our Tailgate Setup

Me in front of my sorority's new dorm

My boys

All of us at the game!

Jep proposed in front of the stadium in March 2008 and this was our re-enactment :)

Dread visits Toomer's Corner

A Family Photo

WAR EAGLE!

College football is FINALLY here!! To kick off the start of the season Jep and I had some friends over to celebrate. We turned our backyard into a tailgate similiar to how we used to do in Auburn- complete with the Auburn tent, beer pong, corn hole , and lots of yummy tailgate food! And to top it off, Auburn came out with a win against LA Tech! WAR EAGLE!! We had such a great time and can't wait for the rest of the season!!

War Eagle Puppy!
Me & Ellen

Nice shot Jep!

The girls

Poker Run

Last weekend we headed on down south to spend Friday night in Elba with Jep's family. Then, Saturday we were off to Gantt Lake for Ollie's Army Poker Run. My sister-in-law, Lynsey, did a great job with all the planning for the fundraising event and all her hard work definitely paid off! They raised over $10,000 for Cystic Fibrosis. We had so much fun and can't wait for next year!

Below are a few pics from the day.

Me & Amy

Jerry, Kyle, & Jep working the hotdogs

Trip to the Midwest

Whew! Jep and I recently got back from a whirlwind trip to the midwest. We started our trip out by flying into Chicago on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, it was raining so we didn't get to do as much sightseeing as we had originally hoped. We were really hoping to do the touristy thing- check out the Sears Tower, Hancock Building, and Navy Pier. Instead we just had lunch at a brewery and spent the majority of the afternoon shopping for warmer, dryer clothes. We had tickets to the Sox game that night and weren't expecting it to rain and be chilly. We didn't even think to pack our rain jackets and sweatshirts!

We had a great time at the game and our seats were great! We were about 4 rows behind left field and right next to the bullpen. It was pretty cool being so close to the players and being able to watch them warm up.

Jep and I after the Sox game

Mark Buehrle warming up

Saturday morning we jumped on the train and headed to Arlington Park for the Arlington Million. We had such a great time betting on the horses. My dad probably came out as the big winner of the day! Jep did pretty well and I don't think I won one race!! We had some surprise visitors show up! My Uncle Jimmy, Aunt Loretta, and Aunt Doreen all came out for the races and got to meet Jep for the first time. Thank you for making the trip out! It really meant a lot to us!! Below are a few photos from the day.

Me & Jep at the Arlington Million

Me & Dad

Me & Mom

Had to give a shout out to one of our avid blog readers...Aunt Doreen-she looks pretty serious about the next race!! Maybe she was talking to the person who texted her..."mad about you" which was a horse in the race--NOT a pick up line! LOL!

Saturday night we introduced Jep to Elmhurst...my hometown. We had to make a stop at Portillo's for hotdogs and Italian Beef sandwiches. YUM!! We then went to Riley's to visit some old friends. After Riley's we had to make a stop for some late night pizza from Mama Maria's. Again...YUM!! I sure do miss pizza like that!

Sunday we were supposed to head back to Carmel for our last few days. However, we couldn't resist passing up another day at Arlington. So, instead of driving back to Carmel that afternoon we went right back to the track and I did a litttle better with my picks that day. I think I was starting to get the hang of it.

Sunday at the Track

We were back in Carmel on Monday. Jep and I spent the day walking around downtown Indy and then the Indiana State Fair. It was pretty hot so we didn't stay too long. Besides, Jep was not really enjoying the fair. For someone being from small town Alabama- I was surprised that he hated the fair as much as he did! I, on the other hand, kept thinking how much I would have loved being a farmer and raising sheep-they were my favorite! :)

While in Carmel, we also had the opportunity to stop by and see Donnie at his band's practice session. They were really great and have their next "gig" on Sept. 9th at IUPUI. Good luck, Donnie and hope we can make it for another performance soon!'

All in all we had a GREAT time on our trip! Thanks Mom and Dad for everything!!! This last picture is of Dread so "Grandma Sheri" can see how much he likes his new toy! :)