Connor's First Tailgate Party

Disclaimer: I did not attend LSU - I am a graduate of HBU. But, I did marry LSU. For more details, please visit www.fordfamilytailgating.com. Enough said.

Many weekends in the fall, J and I can be found in the armpit of Louisiana - Baton Rouge. We are third generation season ticket holders to LSU football games. We are huge Tiger fans in our family, and couldn't wait to introduce Connor to the fun traditions of Ford Family Tailgating.

FFT began in the 90's as a true tailgate. One cooler, some food, and around 12 people tailgating out of a van while the kids tossed a football in the parking lot. That simple idea has since morphed into a 60+ person party complete with games, TV, a sound system, trailer, signage, a full four-course menu, t-shirts, a cookbook, a twitter account (follow us @fordfamtailgate), a strong presence on Facebook, and a website. It's quite the production, put on by J's parents, family and friends. But, I can't stand to imagine Connor growing up without tailgating. I guess it's because that's how I "grew up" into the Ford family.


This past weekend we took Connor to his first tailgate party before the Auburn game. J was so excited to get our little munchkin out there he could hardly stand it. It was really sweet, actually. I love watching how proud J is to show off Connor.

Connor's laugh is my most favorite sound! J was dipping him down in front of the fan and back up again - Connor thought that was the greatest!

And this is what he spent most of the day doing...crawling all over the porch, and attempting to crawl down the steps! His knees were some kind of dirty!

This is Connor's gameday face....he will do it on command. It's absolutely hysterical!

He loved pulling up on Pops' toolbox and pulling the handle up and down. 

This is Andrew. He's the son of Jeremy's lifelong friend (literally, they've been friends since birth). Andrew is seven and he LOVES Connor and hardly let him out of his sight at the tailgate party! They're making the gameface...but really Connor is making the "I didn't take a long enough nap and I'm cranky face."

Our friends brought their puppy dog to the party, and it loved giving Connor kisses. Connor tried following the puppy all over the place! Excuse me, I just need a moment to bask in all of Connor's adorable-ness in this picture. GAH! I canNOT get enough of him!

Sweet boys! How cute is Connor's lil tailgate chair?

Well this is embarrassing...how did my adorable front porch decoration end up in here?

Geaux Tigers!
B

OK, okay, I'm back...

After weeks, no months of virtually disappearing, I'm going to give blogging another whirl. So many of you, okay, ONE of you, demanded my comeback. So, here we go!

Since I've been gone, here is what I've been up to:

1. Attending as many LSU games as possible! Geaux Tigers! #1 team in the nation!

2. Obsessing over Pinterest. But, who isn't?

3. Spending every Friday night for the past 11 weeks with the SBS Varsity cheerleaders. Love my girls!

4. Baking, baking and more baking.

5. Reading. Most recent favorite book - The Prodigal God by Timothy Keller. LOVED!

6. Starting a diet, stopping a diet, starting a diet.

7. Jazzercising. Don't judge. It's four minutes from my house.

8. I don't miss an episode of Modern Family!

9. Celebrating with friends in the joy of their new babies! Sara, Brooke, Misty, Amy!

10. Celebrating 30th birthdays with my sweet friends - Joy in October and Kim in November.

11. Shopping, but not nearly enough!

12. J and I took a Birkman Couples Workshop at church and leaned so much about ourselves and each other. It was incredible. If you ever have the chance to take this test, do it. Totally worth the money!

13. Not blogging (obviously). Sorry...

14. Still spoiling Charley rotten! Of course!

15. Work, work, work! Blessed to work at such a great place!

I know this was short, and contained no pictures, but hey - gotta start somewhere!

Have a great week,
B

Me from A to Z

Thanks, Sara for this fun blog idea! I'm trying to save my brainpower for heading back to work this week, so this random post is perfect!

A. Age: 26
B. Bed size: king (and loving it!)
C. Chore you dislike: cleaning the leftover queso out of the dish - makes me want to gag!
D. Dogs: Charley, the cutest cocker mix ever!
E. Essential start to your day: breakfast - usually brown sugar cinnamon pop tarts (low-fat)
F. Favorite color: PINK!
G. Gold or silver: silver
H. Height: 5'4"
I. Instruments you play(ed): piano
J. Job title: Communications Coordinator & Varsity Cheer Coach at SBS
K. Kids: someday...
L. Live: in Houston, Texas
M. Mom’s name: Lynnette
N. Nicknames: Britt, BFord
O. Overnight hospital stays: 3 nights for appendix in 1997
P. Pet peeves: when people spell my name wrong
Q. Quote from a movie: "Sometimes, I guess there just aren't enough rocks"
R. Righty or lefty: Right
S. Siblings: 3 older brothers
T. Time you wake up: as late as possible
U. Underwear: mostly all from Gap Body
V. Vegetables you don’t like: spinach, asparagus, beets
W.What makes you run late: see "T" - sleeping
X. X-rays you’ve had: teeth, back, wrist, stomach, ankle, foot....probably more.....
Y. Yummy food you make: cookies!
Z. Zoo animal favorites: monkey? cannot tell you the last time I went to the zoo!

I'll post about my Spring Break trip soon!
B

Does everything have a "Day"?

Happy Pancake Day!
(seriously...there's a day for this? let's just have consecutive "margarita" days)

To celebrate at the Ford house, we'll be having.....chicken parmesan? Yea, hubs didn't get the "pancake day" memo. Nevermind pancakes are one of my favorite foods....shouldn't he know this about me? Probably not - I love almost all breakfast foods. Poor thing, I probably confuse the heck out of him.

Until next time...
B

End of an Era

Well, I grew up a little tonight. I got rid of something that I've had almost 10 years. Deep breath - I no longer have a belly button ring. Exhale.

The ring, after I removed it

You're probably thinking - I didn't even know she had one. Exactly. Why did I still have one? I'm so rarely in a bathing suit that no one sees it, anyway. I doubt the hubs even realized I had one. I think my cheerleaders are some of the only people in on this secret, only because I have a bad habit of rolling up the bottom of my shirt when I'm thinking out loud (read: fidgeting). So, why did I have my belly button pierced? Read on.

April, 2002
Tried out for HBU cheerleader and made the squad (the only freshman among the scary upperclassmen!)! Had a deal with Mom that if I made it, we'd go get my belly button pierced. I was pretty against a piercing, it was more of a joke between me and mom. Almost all of the cheerleaders on my high school squad had theirs pierced, and I wasn't about to follow suit. Plus, I'm petrified of needles. But, it just sort of happened. After I made it, we were on our way home and mom said, "I guess we are going to get your belly button pierced, then." Cool mom, huh? Several hours later (but several hours before the intoxicated folks frequent the piercing parlor) me, mom, my high school boyfriend, best friend and my Aunt Dana (and Uncle Rick, too, I think) piled into mom's car, cameras and all, and went to the piercing parlor, Sacred Heart. Yes, they thought we were crazy! Getting my belly button pierced actually hurt less than when I got my ears done! I got a blue and orange belly button ring (had to show my HBU spirit, after all). Here I am with Aunt Dana showing off our rings (she already had hers done....my inspiration)! Side note: Aunt Dana is not my actual aunt, she's mom's BFF that I've known since I was 8 years old and therefore gets the loving title of "Aunt".

Wardrobe sponsored by Abercrombie & Fitch

Early, 2006
Took the belly button ring out, felt like I'd gotten to chubby for it. How's that for transparency?

June, 2008
BFF takes me to Vegas before I get married, and I am a sucker for famous sayings, such as "When in Vegas..." so I got my belly button re-piereced. Again, it didn't hurt. It was a fun thing to do while in Vegas! No regrets!

TODAY
Took belly button ring out. I'm 26 years old after all. Probably don't need any jewelry shoved through my body unnaturally any more. And, besides, I'll have to take it out when I get preggo one day. And, no, that day is not today.

So, there you go. Way more than you ever wanted to know about my belly button. I'll kindly spare you the picture of it, sans ring. You're welcome!

B

How about a resolution?

I always feel compelled to make a few resolutions, you know, get into the New Year's Spirit. Heck, I even kept a few of the ones I made last year, and broke a few as well. There's a lot to be said for ambition, right?

This year, I hope to run a half marathon (which I'll cross off on January 30), have more date nights with J, and take more time for myself. And, ok, I'll throw in the "lose 10 pounds" one, too.

Happy New Year, everyone!

B

My Life in (iPhone) Photos

I got this post idea from my friend Rachel! So, here is my life through the camera lens of my iPhone. Out of my 220 photos on my Camera Roll, seriously over 100 are of Charley (our sweet dog). But, I'll spare you all of those adorable moments and try to show you that I've got a diverse collection of photos! Here we go!

My niece Alex before her cheerleading practice (my 'lil legacy) - isn't she the cutest thing you've ever seen? Thought so!

I do this alot - take pics of myself in an outfit. I try it on and send it to Mom - she approved of the romper, but fashion consultant Shari did not. For $19.99 from Target, I bought it anyway. It's a comfy, around the house outfit!

Here are some of my rah-rah's at an SBS volleyball game! We were trying to twit-pic this photo - not sure it worked though!

I made this festive dessert for Memorial Day!

Well, hello there....this is Les Miles (LSU football coach, yes, I'm obsessed) posing with my boy Kenny Chesney (also obsessed) before his concert in Tiger Stadium! I got this off Twitter, I actually wasn't that close to my idols, because you know you would've already heard about that!


Pre-game before we got spanked by Florida. Good picture on my iPhone, right?


Naptime for my boys!

My new lamps for my guest room! Aren't they pretty?!?

I took a cake decorating class last summer. I'm your girl if you need a clown cake. Hey - you never know...

I made Pioneer Woman's Homemade Cinnamon Rolls one Saturday afternoon (...they took a long time to make) - but they were incredible!

Charley laid on my blanket, so I wrapped him up like a kolache! Hehe...sucker!

Our new Apple computers at work. Is the screen big enough for ya? Oh yea, that's how we do it at SBS! I'm officially a Mac snob!

This was a fun post to do! Have a great weekend everyone - we'll be busy packing! We move in SEVEN DAYS!

Dreaming of a New House...

The #1 thing on my mind these days is my new, neverbeforeseenbyme, house! I constantly think about what the rooms will look like, the colors we'll paint the walls, what the yard will look like and countless other details. That being said, I scour the internet and magazines now for ideas! I'm obsessed!

Look what I found yesterday from Insipired Rooms. Isn't this a neat way to hang and place the mirrors in a fitness room? I think on the adjacent wall, I'd hang a flat screen TV so I could do my Jillian Michael's Shred Workout and have plenty of room. It's fun to think about these new things!

Have a great Friday!
Brittney

Blogging from the Big Game...

Well, not technically blogging from the game...more from my comfy couch in my J.Crew jogging pants cuddled underneath my snuggie. But, the game is on! I'll admit that we are cheering for Alabama over here because they are in the SEC (with LSU). Gotta cheer for your conference to keep winning! If they win, it'll be the 4th year in a row the SEC has won!

I do like Texas though because my sweet cheerleader Callie cheers there and was the only freshman picked to cheer at the big game tonight! She's awesome!! And I feel sorry for Colt McCoy, how sad to get hurt on the first drive....I'm sad for him. Anyway, enjoying the last college football game of the season!

That's about it! The second half is starting. Yay college football!

Have a great weekend everyone!
Brittney

A Few More...

As I thought more about the recent post of my 2010 goals, I've decided I overlooked a few important things. So, here is the remainder of the list....

11. Purchase my very first pair of Tory Burch flats
12. Spend more quality time with Jeremy (date nights, etc.)
13. Cook dinner at least once a week
14. Not hit any cars, or any object, actually....
15. Read more, twitter less...
16. Spend time with my favorite friends
17. Take Charley on more long walks - he really likes them
18. Have a more positive attitude in certain situations I'm in....(sorry for the vagueness, going to leave it at that!)
19. Stay in touch with relatives that I don't see very often
20. Did I mention buy a house?

That's a wrap!
B

Happy 2010

Here are ten goals (okay, we can call them resolutions) for 2010:

1. Get a new house!
2. Do a good job decorating my new house
3. Host parties at the house
4. Lose weight and maintain it :)
5. Get into a good workout routine again
6. Begin and complete a Bible study
7. Get up to date on my scrapbook
8. Regularly tithe to our church
9. Find a new creative hobby
10. Excel in my professional life

Happy New Year!

2009: A Year In Review

I got this blog idea from my friend Sara - enjoy!

January: Got my first new car, which 4 days later I managed to ding up by hitting the air conditioning unit outside our garage. It's getting fixed this week!

February: Had a romantic Valentine's Day seeing Legally Blonde! Went to Dallas with junior and senior cheerleaders for playoff game and had fun! Took Dog Training 101 with Charley and he graduated with honors!

March: Traveled to NYC - had a blast with our cousins Brian and Erin, shopped, drooled over a Coach bag I thought I needed (but alas did not get, and that's okay), saw Wicked, went on fun movie and TV tour of NYC. Didn't see any celebrities, but maybe next time! My beloved blind Pomeranian I got in college, Bruiser, passed away unexpectedly. First devestating animal loss for me.

April: Went to Boston for the first time for a marketing conference with fabulous co-worker Shari and we had a blast! Loved the city!! Started scrapbooking again! Joined Twitter!

May: Turned 25! Went to Sedona with our friends Sara and Cliff and had a wonderful time! Such a beautiful part of the country! Went to see my boy Kenny Chesney in concert! Joined a Sunday School class at our church and started making new couple friends!

June: Went to float the Frio River with a group of friends and had a great time and minimal sunburns. Our nephew and godson Brayden was born a month early! Just before Father's Day!

July: Had our first anniversary! Celebrated Jeremy's birthday on vacation in Boston! Went to Red Sox game, Cape Cod, Plymouth, Duck Tour of Boston and much more. Had a great time! Went to Scrapbook Village with my BFF Jenna and was blown away by all of her new scrapbooking tools. She became my scrapbooking hero! Took my first cake decorating class!

August: The girls dominated cheer camp once again, started my 3rd year of working at SBS, went to George Strait concert with my BFF, my Mom.

September: Started traveling for LSU football; had fun tailgating and winning games again! Brayden was baptized and I attended my first Catholic baptism ceremony.

October: Fell more madly in love with my husband! Struggled with decision to go back to school (specifically Law School), realized that's not where God wants me now, so I'm sitting patiently and obeying his plans! Dressed Charley up for Halloween as a bumble bee - I loved it, Jeremy rolled his eyes, the dog was indifferent, he just liked the excessive attention! Hired a fabulous assistant cheerleading coach!

November: Experienced my first cheerleading drama - and hope to never go through any again! Glad I survived! Thanksgiving in Houston, then headed to BR with my parents in tow to watch LSU beat Arkansas :) Finally!

December: Took cheerleaders to first competition and they won 1st and 2nd place! Enjoyed a busy Christmas with our families, had a nice break off of work (which I'm still enjoying), stepsister Heidi got married, Charley ate his first chocolate candy and got a Cherry Eye in the same week, and got to play in the snow in Houston!

Had a blessed 2009 and I am looking forward to a great new year!

Blah, Blah, Blah...

Sadly, I really have nothing exciting to post about. Life is pretty much same ole, same ole. Which is fine, I guess.

We are going on our first LSU football road trip next weekend and its a full weekend with the nephew's baptism, baptism dinner and then tailgating the next day. I'm sure it'll be a whirlwind.

My cheerleaders are doing great - of course! The football team hasn't been winning, but my girls always out cheer the opponents cheerleaders. And, that's really what's important, right? :)

I had a really fun Labor Day swimming with my nieces and nephew. I'm pretty much obsessed with them. It was fun to have handstand contests in the pool again. I haven't done that in forever! Sadly, I never want to ruin my makeup or get my hair wet. Its days like this I'll always remember, not the ones where I didn't just dive in and play...something to think about I guess.

Maybe my next post will be more exciting, or at least include pictures :)

Love,
B

Back in the Swing...

Here we go, people. August is upon us. For me, that means: SBS football and volleyball season, LSU football season, 8 hours a weekend in a car for home LSU games, a TON of events at work (Homecoming, New Parent Events, DSL, PA Events, Booster Club dinners, etc, etc, etc), lots of cheerleading (including camp next week!!) and so much more!!! Ahhh - I feel like I cannot catch my breath till Thanksgiving!

But, its also pretty exciting to be back in my routine again. I love seeing my cheerleaders every day, and my co-workers are just the greatest! And, not to mention that all my TV shows are coming back on! Woo Hoo!!!

Do you guys like a routine? Or would you rather have endless amounts of time off without a routine?

Have a happy week!

25 Random Things

Right now on Facebook, everyone is making a list of "25 Random Things About Me." So, I thought I'd make my list for my blog, instead. Enjoy!

1. My 10 year anniversary of my baptism was over this past summer. So often, I reflect back on that sweet time in my life where I was discovering who Jesus is and what it meant to have a relationship with Him. I love to think about that special day when I gave my life to Jesus and the journey we've been on ever since.

2. I wish I could sing! I would audition for American Idol and make it to the finale where I'd sing some cheesy song I'm forced to sing while my mom cries from the front row because she's so proud of me!

3. Coaching cheerleading is my favorite thing I get to do during the day. The relationships I've made with my girls are incredible! I adore each of them - what a blessing that I get to build relationships with them while doing something so fun! After cheering from 4th grade through my senior year in college, I have a strong urge to cheer, tumble, stunt or dance most days when we are at practice- and I doubt that will ever go away!

4. Speaking of cheerleading, I wish I would've tried harder my last two years of college. I could have excelled more in tumbling, and wish I wouldn't have taken those years for granted.

5. I love cinnamon! Cinnamon toast, ice cream, rolls, pop tarts, bread, butter, candy, anything! I love it!!

6. I'm still not over the Brad Pitt-Jennifer Aniston breakup. I can't stand Brangelina!

7. Chuck Bass is my boyfriend.

8. My other boyfriends include: Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), McSteamy (Eric Dane), Chace Crawford and Kenny Chesney.

9. But my husband is Jeremy and I love him so much!

10. I'm addicted to Soft Lips chap stick! Vanilla is my favorite.

11. In my dream world I would own a scrapbooking store and write a book in my spare time! Scrapbooking and reading books are some of my favorite things!

12. Someday I will own a pair of Christian Louboutin shoes.

13. I love LSU football, and I still can't handle the disappointment when they lose.

14. I'm ridiculously afraid of heights.

15. I wish I was closer to my older brothers - they are SO cool!

16. I love the color pink - I want everyone to wear pink to my funeral.

17. I'm almost always cold, so I love really soft, big blankets. I could never have enough of them!

18. I'm sadly obsessed with playing Tetris on my iPhone right now. But, I'm really good at it!

19. I'm looking forward to one day being a Mom, but I'm terrified that I'll never lose that "baby/pregnancy weight" that comes along with it.

20. I love to read great quotes - I always walk slower through the sections at stores that have pictures with sayings or quotes on them

21. I don't like the sound of my voice - I think I sound manly!

22. When I turned 16, I spent the next year hitting 6 parked cars....the seventh car I hit was at least moving...

23. When I was in college, I wanted to get a teeny tiny nose ring, but my mom said she'd stop paying for college if I got one. I got over it pretty fast.

24. I love being 24! And I'm NOT sassy! :)

25. I wasn't a dog person until I got Bruiser - and the rest is history...