A Tradition Begins

So as most of you know the 2008 Auburn Football season kicks off in less than 72 hours. It would be an understatement if I said we were excited and looking forward to this year! My precious husband reminds of a child on Christmas Eve. And to say that I did not feel the same would not be exactly honest. You see this season will mark the beginning of a very important tradition in our family. Since March 2008 my love for Auburn University has taken on a different role. What was once just a fun place to visit some of mine and Beau's very best friends... is now a place that goes much deeper into my heart. I know for those who do not know me very well I probably sound like a crazy person. But for those who know me best they understand. I will try to fill in others although I am very limited on what I can "actually" say. I will say this.... thanks to a very special person in my life.....in our lives..... our entire family is a part of the Auburn family in a much deeper way. OK. SO what does this mean? I am not exactly sure at this point. I do know what I have been told. I have been told that this family is FOREVER. Once you are part of it you are always part of it! I know that the last two Auburn events I have attended I have cried like a baby when the chant "Its great to be an AUBURN tiger" is mentioned with such fire in everyones voices. It is like nothing else I have ever experienced. This weekend will mark a family tradition that I am sure(a hope and pray) will continue for many generations of the Weldon family. We will all (our entire family) be down on the Plains on Saturday... cheering for our Tigers, celebrating the new season, enjoying the fellowship with friends of all ages, both new and old. There is nothing like a 6pm game too. We have ALL heard and seen when people say " You know God loves Auburn because the sky is orange and blue on the plains when the sun sets" And it is true!! Amazing and true. I am praying for clear skies and a beautiful sunset. As the next two days come to an end, I encourage everyone to say a few extra prayers for our team this year. Pray for the safety of our players, cheerleaders, dance team, band, and our favorite mascot AUBIE. I really feel like it is going to be a great year.... Looking forward to seeing you on the Plains. WAR EAGLE.

Newest Pictures

Just a quick note to say that after several failed attempts to post the updated house photos on my blog....I gave up. No really I just posted them to our facebook page. SO if you are interested and you have not already done so....check them out.

Whitney

Feels Like Home to Me

As most know, at least by now that is, Beau and I embarked on quite a journey pertaining to our first home. When Beau and I began dating five and half years ago we candidly spoke of what our vision was for "our" home. Those "One Day" conversations almost always encompassed what we would refer to as our little beachy cottage. I did not grow up in a tiny little home but it always felt so comfy! I remember always telling Beau that one day I wanted a little cozy home that had a quilt thrown over the back of the couch(more on that in a moment) to snuggle with even during the summer. Just a place where our friends and family could take their shoes off, fix themselves a glass of tea or lemonade, snack, spill stuff, just BE. I also remember thinking I did not want a brand new house. Nothing against new homes...believe me I realize there is certainly something to be said for a New home!!.... But that just wasn't me...it wasn't Beau, just not at this point in our lives at least. For those wondering little minds...a side note about the quilt thing: Throughout my entire life in our home if you were cold you covered up with a quilt. Not just any quilt though. Quilts that were handmade by my Nanny and Big Nanny(Great Grandmother) as well as other family members. SO with that being said, quilts as silly as this sounds, are a big part of my life. OK now with having that out... when Beau and I first started dating and we were in that snuggle on the couch and watch a movie stage(come to think of it... we are still there) pre-wear warm clothes or at least comfy clothes stage... we were at his parents in their living room and I was freezing! Beau went to the trunk and pulled out none other than a QUILT!! for me to cover up with. I jokingly tell folks that is when I knew I would marry him! (But in a way I am not joking) Ok enough about that. Now back to the cozy.comfy. house. Last summer when Beau and I got engaged we were trying to figure out where in the world we would live. One week prior to our engagement night I was hosting a lingerie shower at my cousins home in Columbiana (Shelby County for those who were wandering were that might be). So one of my other cousins knew I was in the home market and told me about a cute little house that was across the street from Alana's. She said it had been empty for about four or five months and that it was probably going into foreclosure. For those who do not know anything about the process... once a home is in the beginning of the process it can take several months to actually get to the point where the home is up on the market. So we waited and waited and waited. Then one day we realized it had been listed. The kicker is our house was a HUD foreclosure meaning the person who was foreclosed on had an FHA loan. SO this meant major hurdles for us! Little did we know at that point. HUD goes a little something like this, the house goes on the market for a listing price, you bid a "closed bid" meaning you don't know who you are bidding against...if anyone. Then eventually after I think 10 days they list the highest bidder....and boom you are now in a whirlwind of excitement and emotions as you have 48 hrs to fill out all paperwork (contracts etc) and have it turned back in. YEP 48 HRs. Talk about stressful!!! I will never forget those 48 hrs in my life. We wanted this little house from the moment we stepped foot inside. We saw past the nasty, the neglect, and the wear and tear. We knew this house had potential. So as you might have guessed....we were the highest bidder!! We closed on the house the end of Sept. 2007 and our work began. With the help of my very talented dad (McGuyver as Beau affectionately refers to him) and older brother Josh, mom, Taylor, Tyler, Sydney, Tyler W., Lindsay and a few others we started renovating our little house. It took approx. 7 months. So before I show the pictures of our house now I thought it would be fun to show those who care pictures of the raw...BEFORE. Do not worry my friends I did not sleep in this house until much much later. I don't think you will recognize it once I show the after the after pictures. Please enjoy. Go ahead you can laugh...we do...Often! We joke if we don't laugh and had we not laughed we would have cried. Well actually, we did cry. It was a long journey. But well worth it. I will post updated photos tonight. Feedback palease!







These are posted a little crazy but this was the view from the hallway looking into the dining room. There were only 2 closets in the entire house. The right side of this picture is where the huge hole in the floor was where the washer set, and on the left was the dryer. Nice I know.


This is picture of the guest room which we refer to as the "blue" room. Mainly because it is blue. This is the room where I lived until Beau and I got married. Sometimes we still sleep in there because there is a tv. We haven't quite been brave enough to move the cable by ourselves.


This is our "master bedroom" Yep the walls were purple. And there were places were you could literally see to the crawl space through the holes in the floor. YIKES.
This is a view of the hallway from the guest room/blue room doorway. The floors were peel and stick fake parque. That was a fun night when B and I decided to demolish that crap. It took about 3 hours to pull up. Should have left it down. You could see the ground when we pulled it up.
Ok this is the infamous Green bathroom. TOO bad I don't have the picture of the wall that had the "my pond friends mural" on the wall. It was AWFUL!!
The front of the house.
Kitchen from the den. This is taken from the now island in between the kitchen and den. The only soure of light in the kitchen was that nasty ceiling fan.
This is a picture of the den from the kitchen. Please notice the "built-ins" Beau actually liked those! Yuck
This is taken from the doorway of the green bathroom. This is the backside of the den.Closest to the kitchen
This picture is taken from the doorway in the kitchen looking into the front of the house into the diningroom first and then the living room. These walls are tongue and groove wooden boards. The floor looks pretty but it was sooo thin because it was actually the subfloor. Therefore our insulation sucked. Also there was No trim, no crownmolding etc. You could barely tell where the floor ended and the walls began. Our house was built in the 1940's so you can imagine the character marks it has! Can't wait for you to see the updates. Can you??

The Beach recap

Ok so vacation was restful. Probably the most rest I have had in years. I want to give a quick recap of our trip, for those who care or don't care but are addicted to reading blogs...like me.
So as long as I can remember my family has taken the annual "Weldon Family Beach Trip". And for those who know us you know that the trip never consisted of just the Weldon family. Because once you have five children....you never just have five... there have always been boyfriends/girlfriends, best friends, random friends who have happened along the way etc. But that is what makes our trips so memorable. I could tell you at least a hundred stories of beach memories..but I will save those for request only. SO back to this year. I remember clearly our trip in 2007. My dad had been on chemo for a year, he was finishing up the last of his treatment and he seriously felt like pure garbage. Beau and I had just become engaged after 4 years of dating, Josh and Lindsay were there and beginning to talk about marriage, it was just busy in life. We were all so tired from taking care of the business, my dad and all the other things that fall by the waste side when someone in your family is sick. I remember talking to my mom about " next year Beau and I will be married when we come to the beach with ya'll" In a way it seemed like forever away!
So the point of the recap is to say that it was so much fun being at the beach with my ENTIRE family! Especially my husband!! Beau and I have gone on many beach trips together but I will say I really felt like this trip was the BEST!! The beach was Empty!! I am talking about NO one being there!! It reminded me of the days back in the early 1990's when no one went to Orange Beach. It was awesome!! We had such a great time. The weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot, there was a nice breeze it was overcast several days, it rained none stop one day... but overall it was perfect. We got just enough sun, some got too much and stayed in the last day we were there. But Beau and I were in heaven. I took lots of pictures and I will post those very soon. It was just a blast having all ten of us under one roof. We played Baggo (or corn hole for some) like it was going out of style. Yep, I played it... I will admit it. AND for those who don't know.... I am NOT a game player type gal. My parents even played. It was really fun. We also played lots of Wii. Well I watched while others played. It is so funny to watch others play! Then each night we cooked, and all gathered in front of the tv to watch the US in Beijing. Michael Phelps ruled our week.... and Beau became SOOO inspired. He raced everyone in the family for most of the week. He loves a competition! And given that he has the height thing going for him, he is a pretty fast swimmer. He is so funny. Beau and the Tyler's (my brother and Syd's BF) entertained the family with their Olympic style entry into the poolside with goggles they found at the lost and found box, a beach ball and a hot pink tube that Beau squeezed into. It was hilarious!! Taylor had the Auburn Fight song on the i-pod and we played it for their entry... as we all sang along! It was great. Tyler had to leave on Friday which made us all pretty sad but we were so happy he got to come on the trip at all. Overall the week was full of rest, laughter, tears and the pure joy of our family being together and just relaxing after a couple of crazy years. It WAS definitely a beach trip that will not be forgotten. OH and also, to make the week even better... for my entire childhood/teenage years our family went to the beach with some our dearest friends the Dowe family. The Dowe family which consists of Edmond, Linda, Meagan, and Bricy are from Montgomery. They own Rebel Pest Control. Almost all of my beach memories include them. They are sooo special to us. As we got older we were not at the beach at the same time but we remained close to them... keeping up with the latest in their lives. Last August Mr. Edmond was diagnosed with Colon Cancer and went through a surgery very similar to the one my dad had five years ago. It broke our hearts. But unfortunately Mr. Edmond has had cancer appear in several other areas and has had one hell of a year dealing with all that goes along with cancer. So the point being... the Dowe girls were at the beach with some friends and went to dinner with our family on Thursday night. It was so wonderful seeing them!! It was like old times.... we just wish Edmond and Linda could have been there too! Please keep their family in your prayers as Edmond has just started taking some really strong medicine with some terrible side effects because several of the spots on his liver have grown a little. Ok so I will try to post pictures of our trip before the end of the week. God Bless you friends!

-Whitney

Slow Down

Well it is official. I pretty much stink at my blogging ability these days. I would give you a brief overview of why...but we all know I am never brief. That is why you read right!?!



This week has been soo busy for Beau and me. We have worked late, been in Birmingham late every night and even stayed unexpectedly one night because we just couldn't force ourselves to make the drive home. Busy is a good thing though...right? It is for us, I mean we like being busy. It makes the weekend come sooner...or so it feels. But do you ever feel like you are so busy that the time is going by soooo fast and you're spending your entire day chasing the daylight. (that is for you TIP) I didn't mean the pun but it slithered out of my fingertips and I know if anyone appreciates the total SH rip-off it is you right?



Today that is my life. Beau and I are going to the beach with my entire family on Sunday. We began our work days until the beach countdown at #10. I thought this day would never get here. But it has arrived and it is going to be over quicker than it appeared. How is that?? Is it because mentally I have been on vacation since day 10 or is it because I am so incredibly UNorganized and I feel quilty leaving my disaster behind. I think it is safe to say it is a little of both. But I am trying to just not think about it. I have way too much to do than to analyze why I have only an hour and a half left in my work day with about 3 hours of work left to do. Ugghhh.



I guess I will get to my point. I wanted to write a little about slowing down. I went to the most hated chain store EVER today, I had a very specific reason for going there. Tire shine....yep that is right. Tire shine and armoral (spelling) wipes. (I am showing my car this afternoon). But....while I am in there I end up purchasing three CDS. Does anyone besides me still buy CDS? It is such a waste. Especially for me. But today I bought some really random ones. One that takes me back to UAB- don't really want to go back but I do sometimes. BrushFire Fairytales by Jack Johnson. You know with the really good singalongs like inaudible melodies (think that is the name), and Bubblie Toes or something like that. Also Sugarland for the one song I know and then I picked up my dad the Doobies greatest hits. (Great find for 7 bones). So back to my point. I put in the JJ cd and the first song chorus is "Slow down everyone you're moving too fast... yadayadayada" and it hit me. OMG that is the truth. Everyone is moving so fast all the time........another story about this later when I am not panicking about time management. It is a funny grocery store story. ALL of this to say....this next week I am slowing down. I am planning to take FULL advantage of beach time. Maybe I will blog. Maybe not but the life will be beach living at its best. Care Free and Stress Free...except maybe the choices like...should I get a bloody mary or coffee this morning while I watch the boats come in from the gulf. One thing I do know is Beau and I are going to purchase our very own camera before we depart so that means beach pics for sure!!