DMB x 2

It is no secret that Chase is a HUGE Dave Matthews fan. Anyone who knows him knows this little fact. So it should come as no surprise that we went to a show this year...we actually went to two. Friday night in Birmingham and Saturday in Atlanta. Why? Why not? It happen to be the weekend before our anniversary so that meant it was an easy anniversary present for him this year! Yay me! Friday night we sold 2 of the tickets we had to friends of ours, David and Kimberly. David is Chase's big brother in his fraternity and takes full credit for Chase and I meeting. He said "I convinced his parents to let him rush, which led him to meet you." Ha. Maybe in a round about way he is responsible. Anyway. We met them before the concert and tailgated for a few hours. To say it was hot is an understatement! Saturday we sold 2 of the 4 tickets to Jessica and Wes. They met at a Dave Matthews concert years ago.

Ready for Dave

Feelin' the love.

David lived down the hall from me my freshman year in college, so we've known each other for a while!

David and Kimberly

Found someone sober enough to take a picture of all four of us.

Representing UAB Greek life.

We were close...I'm not even a huge fan and it was pretty awesome!

Look who I found!! I haven't seen Melissa in 4 years (at least)!!

The first set was acoustic.

Told you we were close. The camera is obviously zoned in but we were on the 6th row!

The second set was their normal set up. Chase turned to me at the beginning of this set and said "the one making your heart beat is Stephan." That would be the guy on the big screen in the back.

Moving on to Saturday. Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast with my family and headed to Jacksonville to pass off the kiddos. It was a VERY quick turn around and we were back on the road headed to Atlanta.

Jess and I before the tailgate.

Inside the venue...which is huge! And it was PACKED!

Great friends and a great time.

I love this man more today than I did the day I married him 9 years ago, and on that day I didn't think that was possible!! Happy anniversary to us! Here's to many more!

Not as close at this concert.

I enjoyed both concerts. Out of all the songs he played there were only 4 repeats from the night before. I guess when you have as many songs as he has it's easy to not repeat! Now if you ask the Dave fanatic the Atlanta set was better. I don't know enough Dave to know the difference! Either way it was great to have some time to ourselves and with friends! Oh and he bought tickets to the show in Raleigh since we will be living there (well close to there) when he comes in July.

One more time...

So last week we went on our last date night with the Lees before moving to North Carolina. We picked a new place to try...Pinewood Social. The restaurant was great. Not a huge menu but what they did have was very tasty! So the appeal of this place is that it has dinner, coffee shop, and "after dinner games" all in one building. It's in an older part of Nashville that is "up and coming" (Nashville has a lot of those areas) and located over looking the Cumberland River.  We tried to sign up for bowling after we ate dinner but the wait list was WAY too long. We are old now and each have 3 kids so 10:30 is pushing it for bedtime these days! We opted to play Bocce Ball instead. Chase had played once before but for the rest of us it was the first time. The weather was perfect to be outside and enjoy!

Aren't we cute?!

Action shot

Chase was staging his action but it was actually Baxter's turn.

Baxter and Kate

Such a great friend!

What wonderful friends!

We have known the Lees for 6 years now and the above picture is the only one we have of all four of us! The picture of me and Kate is only the second or third...one of which was taken just a month ago when we went to see Wicked! The great thing about this couple is that I KNOW we will remain friends for MANY, MANY years. We have already planned a couple of trips in our heads that I know we won't let slip past us. I'm going to miss these two!

The End of an Era

For the past 30 years my dad has worked at UAB. However, his UAB career started when he started school there. May 30th will be his last day. It's hard to believe that UAB won't be an everyday part of his life. Essentially it's been a part of him since he first set foot on campus. He met my mother there at the BCM, all 3 children attended UAB and obtained degrees as well as our significant others! Between the 8 adults (Jody included) we have 14 degrees! We bleed green and gold, so to say UAB is a part of us is an understatement.

Last Tuesday I checked Emory out of school at 11 picked Gavin up on my way to met Chase, and headed to Birmingham. My dad's retirement party/reception was held at the alumni house (where all our names are on a door--I'm telling you, UAB is a part of us). It was a wonderful reception and it was great seeing people that I worked with when I was in school.

The president presenting Dad with his gift.

Dad giving his speech...this is where he spoke about the history of UAB in our lives. "I guess you could say that UAB is responsible for the exponential growth of my family."

Pep band and cheerleaders.

Riley was NOT a fan of the band.

Gavin and Eva were not fans of Blaze...they were seeking refuge with their daddies!

Picture time for Mom and Dad.

Gavin was a little intimidated by the cheerleaders.

Family photo op.

Nannie and Pop with Riley

Dad and Linda started out as students and both moved up in the ranks. Dad is retiring as the CIO and Linda is the current Provost.

Center piece...couldn't decide if I liked it!

Love this girl!

"You see Eva, my shoe came off!" The grandkids pretty much ran the place. There are 7 of them, well, 5 that are mobile.

Gran and Riley

While driving down and back in one night made for a LONG night and a rough morning, we wouldn't have missed it! I am so proud of my dad and all that he has accomplished. I don't think he will sit idle for long! One reason being his first task at home is going to be taking care of my mom after hip replacement surgery! He may want to go back to work after a week at home! Hehe!

Zoo Field Trip

I was a brave woman yesterday and volunteered to chaperone Emory's field trip to the zoo. I did it mainly because I wanted to make sure she was kept up with...call me paranoid but it's a big zoo and there were LOTS of kids there! I've never seen the place as busy as it was yesterday. I flet sorry for the people there without a school group. They probably thought no one would be there, it was cold and rainy (more like March or April weather), but alas, there were no fewer than 25 buses full of school age kids. Most of them were in kindergarten! It was nuts! And did I mention cold?! I couldn't feel my fingers by the time we left!

It didn't matter that it was cold and rainy though, the kids had a blast! I'm sure most of them slept VERY well last night, I know Emory did!

Being goofy...most of the class flocked towards the camera right after this picture!

Emory and Sara

Emory, Sara, and Adelynn

Love that toothless grin!!

Emory use to call these "flingos" Apparently she's too old for that now! :(

While we were there, every few minutes of so they would all extends their necks and "squawk" in unison for about 30 seconds then go back to eating...very strange.

They are doing it in this picture as well.

Baby girl was the warmest one out there!

Mommy/daughter selfie.

An attempt at a class picture! Ha!

Besides being COLD and wet, in May no less, we had a great time! I counted it as my exercise for the day! It's a big zoo!