Despite the suitcase staring at me in the corner I am finally settled back into my little apartment after a week long, much needed vacation to Mississippi. Friends...It's that time of year again...the time when you get to eat good food, drink good drinks, celebrate with good friends and family, and ring your COWBELL (respectfully that is)!! I L.O.V.E MSU football and I could hardly wait to be on the plane to Starkville to cheer on the Dawgs. I flew into the wonderful GTR on Friday the third to be greeted by my two wonderful friends Bailey and Audrey and of course we kept it classy by passing a bottle of Andre around the car to celebrate the roommate reunion...(Viv you were greatly missed). We spent the rest of the night catching up and my sweet parents joined us too!
My sweet chauffeurs
Nothing like celebrating a reunion with some terrible shots!
Game Day! I can't even explain how good it felt to wake up in the Cotton District Saturday morning. We sat on the front porch and watch the day come to life over a cup of coffee and good convo...then the coffee turned to mimosas and adorning ourselves in white. It really was the perfect day for tailgating and watching the bulldogs open up with a 42-7 win over Memphis!
My long lost friend!
I even got to visit the wonderful town of Livingston, Alabama! Sunday Dad and I went to the Waters camp house to shoot skeet and eat some of Mr. ML's amazing ribs! I am pretty sure just about every weekend of my senior year of college was spent in Starkville, Tuscaloosa, or the grand town of Livingston with the Alabama boys. I was loving being back...I miss the outdoors. I got to shoot skeet, drink beer with a "huggie" around it, and fish (even though Bo caught the only one) all in the good company of The Waters, The Trulsens, and Andrew and Bo.
The Kids
Scary I know, but I hit my first three!!
The MASSIVE and only fish Bo caught!
Monday I headed to Meridian to spend a few days. I got to watch some Lamar football and hang out with Cori Jane and the "Josh Luke family" some more. It was nice to be home but it was a rude awakening to the fact that I am a grown up now. I literally only have a few friends that reside in Meridian. It was kind of sad but it gave me a lot of time to hangout with those few friends and my family. While I was in Meridian I got to squeeze in the traditional Waters/Luke family dinner at Northwood, Mia gave me a tour of her treehouse (which has professional plans-JEALOUS), sweating profusely through a Lamar Junior High Football game, lunch at Deli on Fifth, morning workouts with my parents, scouring the town for a maroon dress for Cori, and lots of naps on the living room couch with my dog beside me!
Will rocking the family number 13!
After Cooper's Friday night game at Heritage. He actually quit texting and gave us a little smile!
No football game is complete without the cutest cheerleader ever with Coke bottles for poms-poms!!
Wednesday brought another trip back to Starkville to get ready for another game day for the Dawgs and share good times with the Reins! I have not seen Mr. Bill and Mrs. Melinda in years and she was so sweet to remember my favorite Lace cookies and Greek salad. We enjoyed a good meal at Restaurant Tyler that night and also discovered Dad and I should not enter any dart competitions anytime soon. The old folks left me at the bar to hang out with friends and the night ended after Taylor, Jac, and I talked for hours on their back patio. Thursday was another day of mimosas and adorning ourselves in Maroon. This game day was not quite as perfect as the last. I swear the humidity was atleast 150% and it was 200 degrees outside and I am not a fan of heat AT ALL! Even though it was hot as hell and we lost a close one it was still fun hanging out with the family! We even let Mr. Bill and Mrs. Melinda back in the house to sleep that night :)!
Maroon Family Pic
My parents and the Reins
Caleb Wade and I sweating in the Junction!
The rest of the weekend was perfect and relaxing. Mom, Caleb, Betsy and I went to The Grill for lunch on Friday to satisfy my need of cheese sticks. Friday night I went to watch the Raiders play Heritage and the whole Luke family plus some went to the one and only "Mexican Restaurant" in Columbus, MS. I am sure they were delighted when 20 people walked in the door at 10 o' clock on a Friday night for dinner! My last full day home couldn't have been better. After I said my good byes to the "Josh Luke family" ...I took a nice nap on my favorite couch with Dad's voice constantly mentioning the bike ride Mom and I were supposed to be joining him on so the nap was over soon and we were up and at it to the Refuge with three bikes in the back of the truck just in time for the thunderstorm! We kept thinking the rains may stop but they never did so we got on our metal bikes and took off into lightening and rain (real safe). We survived and it was so much fun. We rode down every overlook and stopped to soak in the beauty and watch the Egrids fly around. Of course being the competitive family we are no bike ride is complete without a race, so Dad and I raced the last little bit back to the truck! I almost died but I won! We have a re-matched schedule the next time I am home. Thanks to Pam and Jim my last meal at home was the perfect southern meal: Fried Fish, Hushpuppies, Cole Slaw and Bananas Fosters. We had a great evening with friends and family watching, YES, even more football and telling stories into the wee hours of the morning on the porch!
porch sittin'
A long, good vacation made for a long post. Congratulations and thank you if you made it to the bottom!!
