The Silver Black & Blue.....

So my girls finished up their first year as Cowboy All Star Cheerleaders back in the Spring. We all really enjoyed their first experience and have decided to do it all again this year. However this year we won't be Tumbleweeds anymore, we'll be cheering on the Buckaroos!!

These are some pictures from a few of the competitions we attended. Watch out b/c this year we are going to rock out 1st place trophies all over the place!

We are a Cheer family and proud of it!
Mommy and her girls at the BJCC


We love Coach Kaitlyn and Coach DJ!!!!

We even get to keep Coach Kaitlyn this year! Yay!! We miss DJ bunches and wish him lots of luck as he cheers for Shelton State this year!! You should see this boy tumble and flip! Amazing! And he can even do it in cowboy boots!

Another Competition day all dressed and ready to go!

Coach DJ and the team w/our trophy!!

All our sweet Tumbleweeds. We'll miss our time on this squad but on to the 2011/12 Competition year. Watch out b/c....... we're here to prove, we are the best, the silver, black and blue!!!

COWBOYS!

One Last Post from Arizona, I Promise You'll Like It...

So you see I think my problem is that I can't move on with my blog until I've shared everything I can about our once in a lifetime trip to Arizona. BUT I promise this one won't be filled with Orange and Blue (except for all our attire). Anyway, the day after the game we headed out to the Grand Canyon with 5 of our dear Auburn Alumni friends that happen to all go to church with us now also. I won't take the time to tell you all the details but we had SO much fun in that Electric Blue van that day!! We laughed so much and shared lots of stories and honestly became much better friends that day. It took us several hours to get there and back so needless to say we were exhausted when we got back but believe me when I say IT WAS WORTH IT!

I can not tell you how beautiful the scenery is in this part of our country. This is Sedona. Some of these beautiful Red Rocks are named Coffeepot, Cathedral and Thunder Mountain.

Here's the whole gang.

Aren't we cute?

Lots of celebrities live in Sedona and the Phoenix area. I've tried to find out who's house this one is but haven't been able to figure it out. What a view they have though.

All the gals outside the Chapel that is built into the mountainside.

Here's a shot of that Chapel. What a place to sit and pray or reflect!


And here are just a FEW of the Amazing shots of the Grand Canyon! I don't think you can take a bad picture here. There are simple NO WORDS for the magnificence and magnitude of this place.



I can not imagine how one could stand in such amazement and not believe that our God created such a beautiful wonder! I was humbled at my own insignificance and how small I truly am in the big picture of it all.

A quick shot of the "Ladies" as Nathan Click called us all day long!!

Here we all are with our friend the Eskimo. Oh that's really just Bethany but let me tell you she was WAY warmer than we were. It was COLD up there!And if I look a little scared it's because I was. I don't do well with heights like this! But I'd go again in a heartbeat. Everyone should experience this kind of beauty if ever given the chance.

And so goes the story of our trip to Arizona. Aren't you so glad I'm finally done 7 moths later? Oh well. As much fun as it was, it was nice to get home! And it was even better to get this nice message once back in our Birmingham airport. ;)

2 Thessalonians 3:16
Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you.

Happy 4th!

Blessed is the nation whose god is the Lord.-Psalm 33:12

Have a safe and Happy 4th of July! Take a moment to appreciate the freedom we should hold so dear!

and you thought I had forgotten about my blog......

OK so I Know You've Moved on but......

Yes, It's been like ,oh I don't know, like FIVE months since this event happened in my life and I'm still trying to finish telling you about it. AND in light of the tragedies (storms of 4/27/11) that have happened in our great state, I realize how small and insignificant football seems now. HOWEVER, I have seen through these trials and tribulations the two sides of our SEC infused state lay their pigskin battles aside to help one another in this time of need and it gives me an immense sense of pride to be from the GREAT STATE OF ALABAMA!!
So, I'm going to take a moment (or several) to attempt to finish my AUBURN NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP story for you. And I must admit I'm quite disappointed in myself b/c I'm sure there's so much I've forgotten that I wanted to document but I'm gonna at least give it the ole college try.

Here I am with my AU buddies, Donna, me, Bethany and Michelle at the Tailgate party (while my determined husband is out searching for tickets)


You may have to go back a post or two to remind yourself that we were in Arizona on the day of the championship holding out hope we would indeed get tickets to the game. Alex was to meet a dude in a parking lot to buy a pair. At the same time this is going on, our friends who are with me get a phone call from one of their parents. Michelle's mom called to tell us that that someone she knows (apparently pretty high up dude at ALFA) was stranded in Alabama due to an incredible snow/ice storm and would not be able to make it to the game. He wanted to transfer his tickets to us. I can not tell you how incredibly grateful I was to him and to Michelle and Nathan Click for all that hard work TRYING to get those tickets to us. All of our friends were so supportive in trying to help us find tickets that day and I'll never forget that, thanks guys. So anyway, Alex books it to the Auburn Will Call office. After many, many, many phone calls, it is determined that since the tickets are not actually in Arizona then we can't use them. We were very deflated at this point, HOWEVER, the Auburn ticket manager (I would insert his name here b/c we owe him dearly but alas I have forgotten it) took pity on my poor hubby after Alex explained our crazy story. The manager told Alex that if he hung around the ticket office that he would work something out for us. Alex and one other lady who also had a similar ticket nightmare hung out at that ticket office for over 4 hours!!!!!!!!! Alex had not eaten since breakfast and was exhausted and pitiful (see photo below). The closer it came to the game, the more people who began to hang around and the ticket manager began to get testy about everyone hanging out and getting in the way of others coming to get their tickets. Alex was ready to give up at one point and everyone around us would not let him because he had waited so long. As game time gets closer and closer our friends decide to go on in to find their seats. I'm left standing to the side of the mob of people so, I found time to take pictures of and with a few former players and even got invited to an "after" party. hahaaa.....Anyway, right before kick-off the tickets that were not claimed (mostly due to the poor stranded people in Alabama) were sold and we were about the second in line to get these tickets. We only paid FACE VALUE for these tickets!! Alex and I raced into the stadium to find our seats. We ended up with amazing seats close to lots of former players, the band, the cheerleaders and of coarse the field. It was all like a fast moving dream or action movie and it took almost half of the first quarter for it to sink in that we actually were there! Let me tell you the atmosphere was indescribable!! I'll NEVER forget that feeling. SO, Mr. ALFA man who wanted to give us your tickets; THANK YOU because if it were not for you we would never have made it to the Will Call office and we might not have made it in that night. Things do happen for a reason and I believe Alex and I were meant to be there that night in that stadium to see our Tigers win it all!

Thank you also to the husband who never gave up, who never lost determination, who faced some fears in his life to make it to that game. I love you honey and we couldn't have made to Arizona and into that stadium if you were not such an amazing and motivated man!

Here he is, at that Will Call Office waiting as patiently as Alex Hicks is capable of doing.

Michelle, me and Donna with David Irons, a former AU player. We're all buddies now, can't ya tell?

My other new pals - Dontario Thomas, Brandon Cox, Karibi Dede and David Irons - it's amazing who you meet while begging for game tickets!
The demand for tickets really was un-heard of. No one was prepared for how many people wanted these tickets. While trying to get this picture, I overheard Brandon Cox (a former quarterback for AU) had only gotten confirmation of his tickets the day before the game. AND since I had nothing else to do while Alex stood tirelessly at that darn window, I decided to chat it up with these guys while of coarse asking if they knew of any tickets. Let me stop here to say, this is WAY out of character for me to just up and start a conversation with a stranger, much less one that all AU fans and most people around there that night knew of!! I guess desperation brings out the out-going side of me!

Here's a shot of how close were were to the cheerleaders. I'm sure I had the zoom on but they were almost in our way at times because we were so close to the field. Again I can not begin to tell you how amazing it felt to be there that night. There are no words. The fans were amazing and it was pretty much a sea of orange and blue with a few yellows and greens thrown in. And aside from the two rude dudes a few rows in front of us the Oregon fans were pretty tame and respectful too. (oh and Brandon Jacobs-former AU and present NFL player shut them up pretty quickly at one point in the game as he was siting right in front of them. He's HUGEEEEE by the way)

Gotta catch a good shot of Aubie when ya can!!

This was right after one of our touchdowns. It was right in front of us. The guys were so pumped!


Kenny Irons (another former AU player) sat on the row behind us. I tried to get a picture with him but our darn camera died!! Really can you believe the luck for my camera's battery to die during the biggest game of my life?? Who does that?? Who forgets to charge their camera before one of the biggest events of their lives???? ME!!! That's who. I had to reserve the power for the last few shots I got that night.

Makes my heart proud to see this flag waving. Plus it means we scored some points!! This game was intense and I'll never forget it. It was a close game and in the end by a field goal, Auburn, my Alma mater, won the National Championship! It was a hard and long season but one that will never be forgotten! It will be discussed, argued over, cherished, and criticized for years to come, but for me it was a moment in time that only draws me deeper in love with what is the Auburn family and I am so grateful and blessed to have had the opportunity to witness it first hand. This is what memories made of.


And here it is, after a hard fought battle, the score board that warms my heart. haha... Seriously, this is something so many of us never imagined at the beginning of this football season would have ever happened. Who would have thought that this team would have been so blessed and that this would be the result?! And we are sooooo very glad it did happen!!

And here are they are. Those two crazy AU fans that risked it by coming all the way out to Arizona w/out tickets in hand only to see their beloved team finish off the season with a National Title. These are the smiles of victory in more ways than one!!

(taken by my cell phone b/c you remember my camera DIED!!)

Me and my good friend Donna after the game. We are #1!

And here's the other halves: Alex and Keith. Among all the gushing I've done about Auburn football, one of the best things about this trip was spending it with our dear friends who were on this trip with us and making memories none of us will forget! It's that AU family thing again.

After the game, Keith wanted a shirt so we walked down toward the sales tables and saw Cam Newton's mom. Donna and I didn't have a camera at that moment so I went and got hers and came back and got a picture with Mrs. Newton. She's such a nice and gracious lady. Her son and his team mates had just won the game and she was taking time to take pictures with dorks like me. Say what you want but I like this lady and her son!!!!

And since we were apparently AU celebrity hunting that day, we also ran into Will Herring after the game so Donna and I got a pic with him too. It looks as if I'm all up under his armpit and loving up on him but I really wasn't. Haha! Will currently plays for the Seattle Seahawks.


So, that is that. That is the majority of how we got to the game, got in the game, and watched our tigers WIN, WIN, WIN the game!! There's lots more to this trip. I didn't even post any pictures of the celebration after the game. Maybe that will come 6 months from now. ;) And there's the trip to the Grand Canyon too.... I've got lots left to get me caught up but at least I can rest now knowing I've documented THE game!

As I stated in the beginning of this post, I am fully aware that there are bigger things in this life than college football and you might be tired by now of reading about it. You might not think we deserved this title. You might think I'm obsessing (maybe so). You might want to compare your titles to ours. BUT you know what? It's ok. All that matters to me is that my Tigers came out on top and I was with my best friend when it happened and I made good friendships even better from this trip out west!!
It's a GOD THING!!!!

Now on to bed because in about 5 days I'm heading to the Happiest Place on Earth. Oh and by the way, I'm stopping by the Loveliest Village on the Plains on the way.........


Have a great day and continue to remember the ones who lost so much so recently in the tornadoes that ravaged our state. Keep those prayers going.

There Will Be a Day..

There will be a day with no more tears
No more pain, and no more fears
There will be a day when the burdens of this place
Will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face
But until that day, we'll hold on to you always

~Jeremy Camp

God Bless all the vicitms who are suffering from the horrible tornadoes that terrified our state and the southeast this past week. I am truly honored to be part of a state that has pulled up it's boot straps to help one another. It's through life's adversities that our human kindness shines through. And although it will be a hard and long road, it's refreshing to see all those who are jumping in to help. It's also a time to realize, as I have, how precious life is and how blessed we are to have each and every day to enjoy.

There is a terrific group that has been formed to help these victims. It is called Toomer's for Tuscaloosa but they are helping all over. Should you want to help there are numerous opportunities out there. Here is their facebook link:
https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Toomers-for-Tuscaloosa/127019264041188

So....the Rest of the Story (2 moths later)

Ok, so I know I really, really stink at keeping up with this blog now and I hate it but life has kinda taken a front seat to my blog. However, I'm determined to keep it up b/c I want these things documented. SO,,,,,,,,,I sincerely apologize for leaving you hanging on my incredible, once-in-a-lifetime trip to the National Championship. I know it's kinda old news now but still part of the Hicks Family History so, here it goes......

Here's a shot of University of Phoenix Stadium. It was pretty nice and unique. Once we got there on game day, we had to drive around for what seemed like hours b/c our parking lots weren't opened till like 12 noon. Clue #1 that they had NO idea who they were dealing with. Us SEC teams get started early on game days! Keith, Donna, and I dropped Alex off on his excursion to find tickets. Anxieties were high for us as we hoped and prayed that something would work out and we'd get some tickets.

Just had to post a picture of the Ole Electric Blue. This was the van Keith convinced the rental peeps to give us. It worked out pretty nicely too! Good job Keith! And it was a nice omen that they just happened to give us BLUE! There's a huge Cabella's store across from the stadium so we had to check it out. Turns out Donna just had to get her pic with the Big Al they had stuffed and ready for us when we got there. OK, I'm sorry but it was just too good to pass up. We ran into some of our dear friends while walking the streets that were covered in a sea of Orange and Blue, by the way. We went to AU with Mitzi and Bart. Bart actually was in our wedding. Great friends, great memories, great times. Sorry we didn't pick a better back drop than some kind of power station. I can't even begin to name all the people we ran into that we knew that day. It was so amazing but comforting that it was like home away from home in a way! It's that ole AU Family and Spirit we discussed earlier. (See the end of prior post for a reminder)

So we met back up with Alex for a while so he could enjoy a little time with us during the day. They had a great little pep rally of sorts and threw mementos from this Under Armor trailer. The atmosphere was just amazing and I really can't do it justice with words. It was kind of like the biggest party ever with friends you didn't even know you had. At this point we did not have tickets but had the promise of getting some from a guy Alex was to meet in a parking lot. I'll tell ya just exactly how we got those tickets next time. Like I said before, it truly was a lot of faith and determination but we'll get to that later.

I do promise to get to posting again soon. I am determined to get this story told and move on to what's happened since then.

ALSO, today is the 13th Anniversary of the day I married my very best friend and partner in crime!! Love you lots Mr. Hicks!!

Some Faith and Lot of Determination

Yes, that's what it took on our trip to Arizona: Some Faith and a TON of determination. I guess you could say that sums up the entire Auburn Football Family experience this past season but what I'm really talking about is our amazing story of how we got our game tickets. So, let me make my disclaimer now for those of you who may not like nor appreciate the next several posts from me. I will try to get my obnoxiousness out early so here goes: (and you may think it's been a month and we should be over it by now but----we're not!!!!)

WE WON! WE WON THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!! I GOT TO WITNESS MY TIGERS WIN THE NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!!!! ALL WE DO IS WIN, WIN, WIN - NO MATTER WHAT!!!! ALL IN BABY!! WAR CAM EAGLE!!!

I could go on but I'll digress back to the story at hand......


As many of you know, less than a week before we were to leave for Arizona our ticket broker came up empty. As in he had no tickets for us. He did however refund our money, which was an ordeal in itself but not worth the time so I'll move on. Who would have thought it would have ended up being the most sought after ticket ever?! That's some AU family loyalty right there!! Never for a second did I consider not going to Glendale. Whether we had tickets or not the trip was planned and paid for. Our plan was to try to find tickets once we got there and if worse came to worse watch it somewhere close by. SO, I'll start from the beginning of the trip......(there's lots to tell and I want this documented so hang on to your seats folks b/c it's gonna be a long ride)

So we got up EARLY on Sunday, January 9th to head to the airport to leave B'ham. We were headed to Minneapolis, MN in route to Phoenix, AZ. Crazy right?! Well I can't tell you all the crazy routes to AZ we've heard of. Anyway, that was where we headed out to. And let me say, Alex did great. He has an anxiety of flying that has progressed over the years and he made this "deal" of sorts with the BIG GUY that if Auburn went to the Nat'l Championship, he would get on a plane and the rest is history as they say....
So here we are right before take off in Birmingham. Alex was all set with his music and I had some books and such to keep us occupied. I had not flown in over 12 years so it was quite an experience. However we were surrounded by orange and blue and just that made it more relaxing. Our flight attendants were great too. Once we landed in MN she played "Win, Win, Win" over the PA system and you know we all loved it!!!


Just a beautiful shot above the clouds. Flying is truly amazing if you don't do it all the time! It will surely make you rethink your life and I can assure you I said a prayer or two making sure me and God were all good! ;)




Here is about all I got to see of Minneapolis, MN. The temp that day was -2 degrees. The airport itself was huge and looked like a mall on the inside.




Our flight from MN to AZ was breathtakingly beautiful once the clouds cleared up. This is just one of the pictures I got of the scenery below us. I'm going to assume this is part of the Rocky Mountains. Again it made me appreciate the beauty of our country and the handiwork of our God. But this is nothing compared to some shots I'll show you later from our adventures after the game.




And once we landed in Phoenix, we met up with our buddies, Keith and Donna Strickland. They took the B'ham-Atlanta-Phoenix route. We were all staying in a hotel together and sharing our rental van. This is a pic of Grandpa Alex and Grandpa Keith reading maps and trying to find our way to the hotel from the airport. We took several wrong turns on our trip but hey, we were in a strange land on strange roads. Over all we did pretty good getting around!!

And since we aren't frequent flyers, we were all quite impressed with seeing actual road signs that had Los Angeles on them. (I know we are easily amused but what can I say, the farthest west I had ever been was Louisiana)

This is not a very good picture but this was one of the first things we saw once off the interstate. This my friends is some local "culture" I'll call it. There really is a house somewhere behind all that "yard art." Plus notice there is no grass. You have to look high and low to find any grass out there in the desert lands.

Later that night we met up with several of our fellow tiger family to eat dinner. It was our "Pre-Game Party" I guess you could say. Let's just say the PF Chang's in Peoria, AZ had never seen such southern charm!! haha...

In attendance were the Wes Self and his brother, us, the Stricklands, and the Clicks.

Oh wait, you thought I was going to get to the ball game today.... hahaaa... well I wish I could have but gots things to do so be on the lookout b/c you don't want to miss installment two of the best trip of my life!!!!

BTW- you will notice me referring to my AU family frequently in these posts. I would apologize should it get on your nerves but truth is truth and the AU family is not one to be duplicated. There's honestly nothing like it. So, I will refer to my fellow tigers as my family b/c they are. Period...end of story!