Bama Bama Bama Woooooo

this past weekend jordan and i made a pretty extensive road trip down to a place neither of us had ever been before; auburn, alabama. the reason for the trip was to visit our sweet friend abby that jordan and i worked with this summer while at Timber Wolf Lake. my friend mollie who I did summerstaff with last year, lives next door to abby so I got to see her as well!

abby was a great host. we arrived a little after the normal hours of dinner and were welcomed with hugs and a delicious dinner! friday night was very chill, we met what seemed to be all of auburn younglife (well not really), hung out, listened to luke play the guitar and went to bed fairly early. The next day marked one of the most exhausting saturdays i have had in a while. so you see, auburn does not mess around with tailgating and football. we had so much fun at one of abby's roommates' mom's tailgate with all of our new friends. it is common to go into the game 2 hours early in addition to tailgating for three hours beforehand. after all was said and done, we had been outside for about 9 solid hours. that goes to show "go big or go home", but we loved every minute of it. oh and did i mention they sold boiled peanuts at the game. whaaaaaa? (disclaimer: boiled peanuts are my kryptonite)

the next day we went to church at cornerstone. the great message was about being gracious and giving beyond our abilities. afterward, jordan and i ate lunch and headed off to watch abby and kristyn play in their club soccer match. i took lots of pictures because i don't quite understand soccer so it gave me something to do. after the game, abby, jordan and i headed to atlanta to see another intern friend (sushi) and my great-grandparents. oh and i can't forget to mention we stopped and ate at the varsity. duh. overall it was a stellar weekend with some really great people.

here are a few pictures to document the trip:

sweet friends

can't wait to be reunited with kristyn and abby halloween weekend!

new friends!

precious mollie

auburn football

abby and her defenders

kristyn playing some offense (or so i think)

intern friends sushi, jordan and abby

Weekend Maddness

This weekend was full of back to back events and things going on... that's kind of what I like best.  It was a great weekend though, and everyone in McMansion seemed to enjoy it.  Friday, Anna, Sydney, Rachael (Syd's sister), and I went to the Tyler Hilton and Gloriana concert.  It was at the Fair Grounds and it was so great.  I love Tyler Hilton from One Tree Hill and Gloriana is just fantastic and reminds me of the first time I saw Taylor Swift in concert (one of the best days of my life).  We also go to met Grace from the Secret Life, because she is dating Tyler Hilton.  Sydney and Anna took pictures with her.  Saturday morning, Anna, Jen, Sydney, Sarah and I worked at BMW Performance at the charity event for the Lineberger Cancer Society.  Tyler Hansbrough was there signing autographs and taking pictures.  Anna was the professional photographer and I was the person making sure everyone followed all the rules.  It was so great to say that I hung out with Tyler Hansbrough all morning and we raised over $1,500!!!  Pictures with famous people is turning into the norm.  Saturday, was also the football game against UVA... Carolina won!!!!!  Then that night, most of the girls in the house had our first bonfire at the house, and I had friends from East come over and watch My Best Friend's Wedding.  I adore that movie and those girls.  As if that wasn't enough for the jam packed weekend, Sunday night, Sydney and I went and saw Drew and Ellie in concert.... They absolutely killed it!!! So amazing. We may go to too many concerts seeing as we saw Hillsong earlier this semester and are seeing Taylor Swift in November.  I'll put a few of Anna's pictures to highlight the weekend!! 

Jen's Experience with Syd's Cooking

Now I'm sure many of you are reading this charming little story and thinking "Aw, poor Squidney, didn't get to enjoy her salty snack before bed." Boo hoo. After her disappointing attempt at popping corn, Squids returned to her bedroom on the third floor. I retired to my room at approximately 12:07, only to notice the smell of burning had wafted into my room. Being a generally easy going girl, I closed my eyes hoping my nose would become accustomed to the unpleasant smell. Forty minutes later and no less smoky (burnt popcorn just wont quit), I had an ingenious idea: air freshener!!! Of course, I could not turn on my light- I'm kind of a princess when it comes to my sleeping conditions and I didn't want to trick my brain. But I was able to find my Febreeze, all without leaving the comforts of my bed. Just a few spritz and I would be sound asleep, dreaming of lavender fields. But alas, I failed to consider the powerful effects of my oscillating fan. AIR FRESHENER IN THE EYES!!! BLINDING!!!! No choice but to cry it out.

On the plus side, I discovered my first line of defense should any creeper dare to intrude.

Cooking fail.

sooo as you all know, there was a little fire in the kitchen last night. well here is story number 1... i was frying bacon for our brinner and when it was time to take them out of the frying pan i covered a plate with paper towel (to soak up the grease) then i sat it next to the pan. i failed to remember we have a gas stove top that actually has a flame. if you are wondering, yes our house is ancient. well, before i knew it, the paper towel was on FIRE. all i could do was say "ummm ummm" instead of the normal "help." then i proceeded to run over to the sink and pour water on top of our plate of bacon.

and now on to story number 2... tonight i was hungry and wanted to make popcorn on the stove top. my friend jillian taught me how to go about doing this this summer. i successfully made it last week so i was confident in trying it again tonight. i suppose i put too many kernels in the pot which resulted in the popcorn not being able to rise to the top of the pot. this all resulted in burnt popcorn, an atrocious smell in the downstairs kitchen and my housemates telling me i have lost my cooking privileges. :(

i have now had both cooking fails since living in the mcmansion..well not to mention elaine's brownies. accomplishment? yes.

Brinner

Brinner: noun - a meal eaten at a normal dinner time consisting of breakfast foods.

Tonight we had our weekly family dinner at the McMansion, and we decided to have breakfast for dinner. It was quite the adventure. Syd caught something on fire, which was a first (but I'm sure not the last) at the McMansion.

We made 100x more grits than we needed. I guess we'll be eating them for a while. We're open for suggestions as to meals including grits - so far we have shrimp and grits and breakfast... So, please help!

I decided to honor 9/11 I should make a grooveshark playlist with all 9/11, war, or patriotic songs. Good decision? Maybe... But, if anyone ever needs a playlist that will make you cry, let this girl know. We shed a few at dinner...

Beat Rutgers!

It's game day in Chapel Hill, which means dresses, tailgating and some good ole football!

Pancakes at McMansion

So as a house, we have decided to host a monthly pancake night at the McMansion.  We decided that we had to get started right away, otherwise it would never actually happen.  So Thursday was our first pancake night at our house.  It was so much fun and we had almost 50 people over!  We put bets on how many people would come, and Syd won.  For some reason, I imagined that there would be far less and guessed 33.  But needless to say, it was really great and we loved having that many people over.  Once everyone left, our kitchen looked like a tornado had come through and poured pancake batter everywhere, but that's okay, we got it all cleaned up and the kitchen looked like new.  We also had a special guest at pancake night, Cameron's bunny, he would have made 51.  I can't wait for the next one and having so many people over again, but mostly I can't wait because I get to wear my apron!!!  Lastly, the number one rule to pancake night = dance parties in the kitchen.... at all times.