Today Kevin’s office had a “food day” in order to kick off the new football season. I wanted to make a Tennessee cake but I figured no one would eat it; so to be fair I did an all SEC cake that everyone would support.
The result:
Top of cake- West and East conference
Alabama, Auburn, TENNESSEE, Vandy
Florida, Georgia
South Carolina, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Mississippi State
Arkansas, LSU
There’ll be fans cheering loudly,
Team colors worn proudly,
With football players all in a row.
There’ll be ESPN stories,
And tales of the glories
Of victories long, long ago…
It’s the most wonderful time of the year!
We are officially less than one week away until the start of college football 2009. Excitement has been building in the Mulligan household as we’ve been watching Eric Berry replays on YouTube and blasting every different version of Rocky Top we can find. This week I am working on an SEC cake for Kevin’s office. Even Maggie is getting into the spirit with her new football toy. Hooray for Fall, and Go VOLS!!
Army 0 Navy 34
Alabama 20 Florida 31
Enough said.
Tickets to the UT/Bama Game: $30 (roughly after selling the other tickets)
Hotel room: $100
Fast food meals: $25
Sweatshirt, gloves, and two shakers: $30
Getting to spend a weekend with my husband doing something we love and attending our first real college game together: PRICELESS
Well the football game yesterday obviously didn’t have the outcome that we had hoped and prayed for. But we still had a fun time in Knoxville. And hey on the positive side we were only one of two teams to score against Alabama in the first quarter this whole year! The first half of the game was pretty great and we got to see Eric Berry do some serious whoopin’. The rest, well, you know. The only disappointing thing about getting to the game was the fact that they didn’t let me take my ESPN sign into the stadium. And then later we saw at least three people with them who I’m sure got on t.v.! Oh well I know better for next time. We did however hold up our sign during the Vol walk where all the players come into the stadium so I’m hoping either or Berry or Stephens saw it and had a good laugh. Kevin also looked up one of the local news station websites in Knoxville and they had pictures where you can see our sign in the background so I will show those in a moment. Plus we got to see Smokey! All in all it was still a fun time and I cheered louder than I ever have for anything. In a few years when we become good again I’ll be that obnoxious fan sitting next to you with her face painted and an orange wig wearing a Smokey hat 
Here are some of the highlights from our trip:
One side of the poster
The other side
Outside Neyland stadium
The view from our seats
Players on the field before the game started
Fulmer walking in, it’s really hard to see but our sign is the ESPN in the background
Nick Stephens, once again our sign is sort of at an angle to the left of his head
They honored the 1998 team who won the national championship
Band and cheerleaders
The big “T”
The little “T”
The fans
Well we have thoroughly been enjoying our labor day weekend- not doing a whole lot besides sleeping, housework, and watching football. Yesterday Kevin and I did venture out to pull weeds in the backyard. And let me just say the more I pull the more they seem to grow! We also got up this morning to keep updated on Hurricane Gustav. It will not be affecting our area with any rain. However, we are hosting about 70 evacuees from the NOLA area at our church. Hopefully everything will be okay and they can return home soon.
And now for the most exciting part of the weekend, football season has officially begun! If you have read my earlier posts you know this is really the first year I have actually gotten into it. I’m quite surprised it didn’t happen sooner considering that football is like a religion in the south. Anyways Tennessee plays their first game against UCLA tonight so we are geared up and ready to go~
My fun TN earrings~
Even Maggie is ready! Take a look at the white “T” on her chest. That’s why we chose her, it was fate
Here are some cute pictures from last night. Maggie and Kevin were snoozing on the couch. She was definitely snoring louder.
I have always loved Chick-fil-A but I am bringing this up now because we just got back from eating there. To kick off the season they were having a promotion today that if you showed up wearing any team logo you could get a free 3-pack of their new chicken strips. Combine that with our coupons for waffle fries with the purchase of a drink and we got our 2 big meals for about $3 total! The atmosphere in there was crazy and fun. Lots of teams were represented standing in line. Of course the major ones were Alabama and Auburn. A few people told us we were brave to come out in public wearing orange. But it was so funny hearing all the football conversations around us.
So, reasons why I love Chick-fil-A:
Reason #1. Well for starters they are a great Christian run company (hence why they are closed on Sundays). They do a lot of great things for the community. For example since Kevin went to Berry College, which has strong ties to the company, we found out about the WinShape retreat center. They have lots of camps and scholarship programs for students. They also host retreats like the one Kevin and I attended called “Prepare to Last”, a pre-marital counseling type weekend. Our dear friends Kevin and Anna paid for us to go there as our wedding gift. It was one of the best presents we got! Not only did we learn a lot and grow as a couple but we were pampered and surrounded by beautiful nature.
Reason #2. Unlike other fast food chains that give out useless plastic toys in their kids’ meals, Chick-fil-A gives out quality educational stuff. Now granted when I was little I did collect a lot of wind-up toys from McDonald’s happy meals and enjoyed them. But today instead of movie characters and such the toys are things like American Idol action figures and things not really suited for kids. Some time in the last month I got a kids’ meal from Chick-fil-A (yes I know I’m 23, but hey it was just the right amount of food and cheap!). It included a small book called Dooby Dooby Moo, written by Doreen Cronin. This name might mean nothing to you but she has written several best selling children’s books that are hilarious. My favorite is called Click Clack Moo, Cows that Type and I use it often in my teaching. So not only do you get a book with the meal which will last much longer than a toy, but it is also fun and educational.
Reason #3. The quality of service at Chick-fil-A is unbeatable. Once again this is in large part due to how the business is run. They hire quality people who understand customer service. I could give many examples of good experiences I’ve had there but I will only share one recent account. I was driving through to pick up lunch one day, and the location I was at happens to be one of the busiest in the country from what I’ve been told. Plus I was there at 12:00 noon on a Friday with the business crowd, so needless to say the line of cars was very long. Well they usually have a traffic person standing outside when it gets busy. This day as I pulled into the drive thru line, someone actually came up to my car window and when I rolled it down he asked for my order and took my card. Within less than 30 seconds, no joke, he was back with my food and receipt and I didn’t have to wait in line. And he did it all with a smile! Now tell me if you would ever experience that at McDonald’s, Burger King, etc. I think not!
Well hopefully if you weren’t already a fan of Chick-fil-A I may have convinced you to give it a try. It truly is a great company with great food. So if you haven’t been lately check it out!
For me now it’s back to housework and enjoying the rest of the day off.
Go Vols!