My favorite holiday and....PASADENA?!

IWell, first things first: ROLL TIDE!!! Being the lone Bama fan in a sea of Ole Miss grads has made for an interesting couple of football seasons. I have faithfully defended my team AND my quarterback every weekend. I must say, I love me some Greg McElroy. Ask Ben Mullins. I've been chanting McElroy's name since circa 2007 (I'm not so much a JP fan...). So Ole Miss got a little big for their britches at the beginning of the season (see previous post), but I've just been waiting...quietly. Well, we beat the Rebels. Then we beat everybody else. Still, everyone just knew Florida was going to kick our tails. Everyone said we couldn't do it. It'd be close, sure, but there's "no way y'all are beating Tebow." 32-13 says we did. So, I'll let you know what the weather's like in Pasadena. I smell roses!!

Now, a little back-track. In the midst of studying for finals (which I should be doing right now), I have not had a chance to write about my favorite time of the year!  Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. It's just about family and spending time together. You don't have to worry about giving presents, and it doesn't come with all the stress. I have a huge family, and I love hanging out with all of my cousins. There is nothing I look forward to more than my Mamaw's dressing and banana pudding without bananas (seriously). I slept straight through most of the parade, which I usually like to watch, but the sleep was much-needed. I somehow slept through the tv, the food processor, a small army of people talking in rather loud voices (y'all know my whole family is deaf). So I suppose I really needed the sleep. After I put myself on the brink of a food-induced coma at my Mamaw and Pap's house, I drove 45 minutes to see my dad's side of the family. The first thing my 5 year old cousin Drew said to me was "WHERE is your boyfriend? WHY isn't he HERE?" Good to see you, Drew. Somehow Matt has stolen the hearts of my cousins' children. He teaches them magic tricks and things like how to flip coins. It really is precious. After a few hours of visiting, stuffing more food into my body, and taking a cat nap on the loveseat in my Papaw's room, I headed back to Monticello, the land of one redlight, hometown of my mother, Mamaw and Pap's house. We always play games, usually skip-bo or some kind of card game. (I know what you're thinking.. how lame.. but it really is fun!) However, this Thanksgiving there was a new game on the table. It was homemade: hand-cut wood, painted, and it even had those little labels on it that you can make with a label-making kit. This wonderful game was called Fast Track. All I know is that it came from Arkansas (I don't know...), and Ryan and I won! (Ps, if you ever play a game with my grandmother, be warned that she is a VERY competitive woman.) We had a grand ol' time. My cousins keep me laughing. They are funny people. It was a much-needed, wonderful break from school. I have so much to be thankful for!

A few of my cousins, my sister (she says she's the pretty one), and my overly-competitive grandmother, Shirley. She's my favorite person ever.

Fast track!

Decorating the tree! 

We put this angel on top of our tree. It's pretty ugly. I don't know what made my mother pick that out to put on top of the tree, but it's been around for at least as long as I've been alive. Now it's just funny, and I would never want to replace it. I also like to be the one to put it up there.

Much to Oscar Bob's delight, it was a smooth 70 degrees on Sunday after Thanksgiving. Gotta love Mississippi.