Livin' for the Weekends! 11/11/09

This past weekend was absolutely no less than GREAT!

We started out with a nice quiet evening at home Friday night. Jim and I watched a movie after Jake was settled in to bed. The movie wasn't so great, but the time we got to spend together totally made up for it.

On Saturday, Jim had to spend his day on campus (as he normally does when Alabama is playing football on their home turf) taking responsibility for tailgating activities with the cadets and walking them into the stadium for them to present the colors before kickoff. So Jake and I were left here with no plans at all. We quickly decided to get in the car and go to Grandma's...why not, right? The weather was perfect, and the Mistletoe Market in Prattville was calling my name. We got ready as speedy as we could and took off on our hour and a half drive. We got to my parent's house around 10am, and, first things first, we made our way to a set of railroad tracks five minutes from their house and had a quick photo session. I had been wanting to do these types of pictures of him for quite a while, and Saturday was the perfect day. Grandma came along with us, and even she had fun. Here's how a few of them turned out...








After we took pictures, Grandma, Jake and I loaded ourselves into the car, and headed into Prattville. We first had lunch at a pizza buffet (yummy), then went to the book store to let Jake play while we shopped. While we were there, we met up with my sister and niece which helped me finish up the last of my Christmas shopping (yes, I am completely done other than putting together a photo book for my mom of our Mother's Day beach trip that we took this past May). I only had one last thing I needed to get for my niece, and my sister helped me make just the right choice.

Once we left the book store, we made one more stop at Target, and then we finally arrived at the Mistletoe Market. I never even really buy that much at those things, but I LOVE to look at all the different booths and see such a huge variety of things under one roof. I usually end up buying something I ordinarily wouldn't (like the new Vera Bradley change purse I got) which, for whatever reason, makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

After we had finished doing our shopping there, we walked across the street to a local park and spent about half an hour letting Jake and Emily play and feed the ducks. It was definitely the perfect end to a great outing with my family.

Jake and I then took Grandma home, and we made our way back to Tuscaloosa. We wanted to make it home before daylight, but most of all, we wanted to make it home while the football game was still being played to avoid huge amounts of traffic. After all, Highway 82 is called the "Highway to Heaven" by some, so it is very well traveled, especially during football season. And we did make it home...just in time to see the last quarter of a very great ballgame.

On Sunday, we spent lots and lots of time outdoors. Jim cut grass for what should be the last time this year. We also did lots of other small project outside while we had the opportunity. That afternoon, I had a photo shoot with one of my coworkers, Kelly, and her husband, Terry. I enjoyed seeing her outside of work and also meeting her husband who I did not know until Sunday. We all had a great time together, and their pictures turned out great.

All in all, it was a great weekend. Our spur of the moment trip to Jake's Grandma's, shopping with my favorite shopping buddies, a win for the Crimson Tide, and a successful photo shoot was just perfect! Yep, it was one of the best weekends by far!