The WHAT Shop?!

There are plenty of things I love about Bethany, and a biggie is how sweet she is with her little sisters (who most times drive her absolutely crazy). Last Tuesday morning it was storming, I had at least a hundred shirts to get done and in the mail before we left town the next day for Thanksgiving, and I was desperate. B came to my rescue and planned a fun morning to spend with the girls. One of the things all three of them love about going to Grandmommy and Pop's is taking a bath in the sink. Of course B is too big for that now, but I think she secretly wishes that wasn't the case! :) Back to Tuesday morning. She decided to turn the kitchen sink into a beauty shop. She's so creative and resourceful like that.

Cate asked to go first, and I'm glad I had my camera near by. The way she says some words makes me laugh hysterically. The beauty shop was the "booty shop" and I can't even translate her attempt at "beauty salon". See for yourself and please excuse the laughter...


Towns was super excited to have her turn...
And even more excited to have such a fantabulous big sister!

15

For months we've been counting down the days to a certain monumental occasion. What might that be, you ask? It just so happens to have something to do with this sweet thing...

And these two numbers put together...

That's right, folks! Bethany's FIFTEENTH birthday!!

Actually, her birthday is Saturday but something this huge deserves a celebration that lasts more than just one day. Especially when you're as fabulously fabulous as Bebs!

When I say we've been counting down, I mean we've been counting down. I remember when we were still in the 70's and talking about how her big day was just a couple of months away. Since this is major excitement, I couldn't let the last ten days of the countdown get away without taking it up a notch.
And thus you have the 10 Days of Birthday:

On day 10 she got 10 banana Laffy Taffy's...

9 Dove milk chocolates...

8 Reese's peanut butter Christmas trees...
**Day 7 was the day she was too hungry for her 7 peppermint bark squares to wait until a picture could be taken...just picture her pretty face here**
6 airheads (no hidden meaning - ha!)...
When she looked back at these pics she asked me to crop out her t-shirt in that picture because she'd already worn it on day 9. I promised her I'd explain that she just really, really loves my old Halloween date party shirt. :)
5 Starbucks dollars...
4 boxes of Hot Tamales...
3 fun pens that we fight over so I got her some of her very own...
2 owl clips that she can totally rock...
1 pair of owl pajama pants...
Yesterday when she got home from school we had a little something waiting for her...
A surprise party!
These two worked so hard getting everything ready...
It only took approximately 3 hours to get it to this point because of their serious work ethic... They were so picky about every little detail!
While we were waiting for her to get home, Towns found a great spot to hide so she could be waiting to jump out when B came in...
While Cate kept an eye on the cupcakes (and usually a few fingers in them as well)...
She kept watch of those things for at least half an hour without moving. And every two seconds she'd remind me of how "nummy to her tummy" they were going to be when she finally got to dig in. And if she asked me to "just let me mell dem" once, she asked me to let her smell them fifty times!
The (almost) birthday girl ready for her party, complete with a Birthday Princess sash and a crown to match...
Time to light the candles and sing!
Please notice the monkeys in the background that have choreographed a dance...
Make a wish, Bebs!
Finally, it's time to get our hands on those cupcakes...
Bebs must have been hungry. I know that because she opted for cupcakes before presents. Shocking! But it wasn't long before she was ready to rip into them...
The background on this one is funny...
She was opening an autographed copy of Lauren Conrad Style. The day I ordered it for her was also the day she bought a copy for herself at Target. I tried to get her to return it without spilling the beans, but it didn't work. I ended up having to tell her and she insisted that she wanted both copies (being that she couldn't hold off on reading it until her birthday)... The next round of gifts are pretty fun to talk about...
When we're driving anywhere that requires being in the car for a while, B asks me to tell her stories from when I was at Auburn. She's done it as long as I've known her. That eventually turned into me teaching her Chi O songs and what not. With her being in high school now and college inevitably around the corner, she's gotten very much into anything and everything Chi O. Do you even know how excited this makes me?! One of the first songs I ever taught her was the one that goes a little something like this...

She's got hair of gold and her eyes are blue, and her cheeks are rosy too
(clap, clap)
And on her chest she wears the crest of the X and the gold horseshoe

I'll spare you the rest, but it ends with "she's the cutest girl in the whole wide world, she's a Chi Omega girl". Maybe it's a little premature, but it's definitely fitting for sweet B. A couple of months ago she was looking at the Chi O website and saw a shirt for sale that had the words to that song on it. She had a fit for it. So of course she got it...
And she got this, too...Those two things were at the top of her wish list, and you better believe I couldn't say no to that!
She also asked for brown boots, and if you saw this you'll know that she'd fit in with the Chi O's on this front, too...
She might not be a Chi Omega yet, but she's definitely the cutest girl in the whole wide world in my book...
After the surprise party, the girls all went to gymnastics and we rounded out the celebration with a late night trip to B's favorite place to eat...Ruby Tuesday!
The birthday girl and her daddy...
This one makes me laugh because you can tell the younger ones were ready to call it a night and they look like they've been through the ringer...
They were up way past their bedtime, but I can't think of a better reason to keep 'em up late. B's a pretty fun person to celebrate!
Happy birthday to the sweetest, smartest, funniest, most beautiful girl in the world.

Happy 15th, Peach!!
We love, love, love, love, love you!

And if you're in the Decatur area, watch out...she'll be behind the wheel.
Kidding, B! You take curbs way better than I ever could!!

Orange, Blue, an X and a Gold Horseshoe

3:05. That's what time my eyes opened Saturday morning because I simply couldn't stand it any longer. For weeks, I'd been looking forward to November 13th because it meant a Chi O reunion on the Plains for the '98 pledge class. And finally, the day had come. Just three hours into it and I couldn't sleep another wink! Some of the girls I see on a fairly regular basis, some I don't; but one thing never changes...I love them all dearly. And thanks to those pledge tests we had to take every Sunday night during our first semester (or quarter rather), I can probably still tell you their full names, birthdays, and hometowns.

After filing a flight plan to get to Auburn as soon as possible, I met two hotties that I'd been dying to see...
Not long after that, the Deckers came strolling down the sidewalk which was was icing on the cake...
They're as good as gold, and took such good care of us while we were there. They're like family! I can't think of too many people who would let their 16 year old take their brand new Expedition to Auburn to drive her sister and friends around town for a certain birthday celebration. Some things never change...they treated us to a fun lunch and great conversation before we rushed off to the Chi O tailgate.

I couldn't help but pull my camera out of my purse as we made our way through campus...
The clock on Samford Hall was about to strike noon, and one of my favorite things about being at Auburn was hearing the fight song coming from Samford at that same time every day.

We ran into an old friend and had to stop for a photo op...
But we had even better old friends to get to, so we kept on moving.
This is the group I'm talking about...
It's not quite half of our pledge class, but I think we had a fabulous turn out!
I can't tell you how much fun it was to see those gals again. We picked up right where we left off and it was like no time had passed at all. Especially not eight years! We laughed, we ate, we talked about old times, good times, and everything in between.
The two Taras...
Erika took a break from practicing her splits to pose for a picture, God love her...Sarah, Anna Kate, Ashley, me, Darby, Tara and Erika...
Ginny and Miss Sixty...Not sure how Darby and I pulled ourselves away from translating voice mails into texts long enough for this one, but I'm glad we did...Roommate and me...
We're probably reading each others minds and laughing about what we're both thinking. Like pacifier teeth or something. Or maybe we're laughing over the picture taken of the inside of her purse. Who has that picture...Erika??

Let's be honest. Being 30 and going back to your alma mater is a little intimidating thanks to all the cute college girls in game day dresses. I mean, I was a little worried I'd stick out like a sore thumb. But after seeing the sea of boots and skinny jeans at the Chi O tailgate...
...I think I blended in well enough. For an alumni, that is. Believe it or not, we didn't send out a dress code memo, but it was definitely boots or bust! Should I tell you that my feet were killing me after walking all over campus in those boots? And I feel certain I shouldn't admit that my back still hurts from being in the car for so long on Saturday. But driving 8 hours in one day just to spend 4 hours with great friends was oh...so...worth...it!!
I'm just not as young as I thought I was, and I can certainly live with that.

Towns had a cheer competition early Sunday, so there was no football game in the cards for me. I had to get on home. When our goodbyes were said and everyone else headed to Jordan Hare, I made my way to The Hill right by myself for one long look at Molly Hollifield Hall...
The old Chi O dorm still looked just as I remembered it.
Ahhh, memories!
And a trip to Auburn wouldn't be complete without seeing the McKee house...
I'll forever believe that Auburn is the best place on earth. There really is no other place like it. But it's not just the town or the campus that makes it so special. It's just as much, if not more, the friends and the memories...
I think David Housel best summed it up when he said this about Auburn...

It is a spirit. It is an attitude. It is a way of looking at life and at one another. It is, almost, a way of living. Unless you have experienced it, you will never know what it is; you will never understand it. Once you have experienced it, you will never be the same. A part of you will, forevermore, be an Auburn man or an Auburn woman.

War Eagle, my friends!