So my new year's resolution was to start a blog....and 20 days into the new year I'm actually getting started. We'll see how this goes. Hopefully, I won't bore anyone to tears. I made the decision to blog while I was driving from Jacksonville, FL to Foley, AL. It was New Year's Day, and it was raining that night...and Matt was sleeping in the passenger's seat. That's the only reason I would drive...He makes me a nervous driver when he's awake in the passenger's seat. Anyway, I was thinking about how everyone's new year's resolution is always to some way, some how shed some weight....and usually those people don't need to anyway! Oh well, I wanted to think of something different when I remembered my good friend Rachel begging me to start a blog so we could be each other's blog followers. Plus, I thought the events from that day might make an interesting first post. So here I am....
Why were we driving out of town? It was mine and Matt's first mommy and daddy trip without Ben, our 5 1/2 month old, and we went to see Mississippi State beat Michigan in the Gator Bowl. We had an awesome time. We left on a Thursday afternoon & planned to come back home on Sunday....but instead of driving all the way from Jacksonville on Sunday, we decided it might be worth it to hit the Foley outlets...which would also put us about 6 hours closer to home. We left after we FINALLY got back to our car after the game. We were so excited about the game that we also hung around to watch the trophy presentation afterward. Then we found the nearest restrooms before we thought we were going to get back on the shuttle that had brought us to the stadium from a parking garage a few miles away. As we were walking out, I thought I saw Dan Mullen (MSU's head coach) signing autographs and taking pics with fans. It was in a gated area with a security guard standing by. Well, we asked if we could go in and he let us with no questions asked. Turns out, Dan Mullen has a brother that could almost be his twin. I asked the couple who had walked into the gated area just ahead of us if they knew what was going on. We were right behind the team buses. They said they were there with Dan's parents and pointed them out to us. Some of the other people standing around must have been the players' families. Matt and I couldn't decide what we wanted to do. Ultimately we decided to wait around and risk missing our shuttle to see the players come out. During this time, we noticed the security guard was no longer allowing anyone inside....which made us want to stay even more. After a few minutes of waiting, the players started coming out freshly showered and all carrying boxes of pizza. We were all congratulating them on their win before they loaded the buses. Matt was telling me who was who since he keeps up with all of them...he keeps track of their stats and stuff. He ended up getting a picture with his favorite player, and I got a picture with a player that my aunt taught in junior high. I knew she would be "tickled to death" if I got to meet him....she is so proud of her students.
After a while of that, Matt and I decided it was time to go. As we walked out of the stadium, although there were still plenty of people walking around, we realized that there were ZERO shuttles at our stop. What a crazy feeling....being stranded, sort of. We noticed some police cars hanging around, and I saw a female officer that I went up to and asked about the shuttles. She said they were done, and our best bet was a taxi. Matt then said he only had $4. She said she had a few we could borrow, so she got back in her car to get her purse. Well, we were surprised to see that she had a stuffed Bully on her dashboard and an MSU purse. Matt asked if she was a State fan, and of course she was. We thought that was so cool, and Matt said she kinda made him hate cops a little less. haha. She gave us $3, and she told us a cab driver might take us the few blocks we needed to get back to our car on $7...so then we ran to the nearest taxi that was apparently not going to be hanging around much longer. The lady driver told us she could take us, and then Matt tells me he had been confused. He really had $9. SO, we are in the cab listening to this crazy lady on her phone talking about her daughter who had been in labor for 5 days! (I'm sorry lady, but no doctor will allow this.) Then she ends her phone call and starts telling us all about her grand kids while I am only half listening and starting to think she is taking us around the world. (We rode the shuttle with friends who had friends in Jacksonville, and they said it was easiest to do traffic wise. It was the truth, but we of course missed it.) The big bridge was up because of a boat passing under, and the money ticker was steadily going up. I felt so helpless, and I just wanted to get to my car! Then crazy lady gets on the interstate and needs to get over, but she doesn't try very hard and misses the exit. UGH! So when we finally got to my car, I was very relieved. Guess how much it cost? $12! With the $9 Matt had and the $3 from the MSU officer, we had exactly enough! After all that, Matt and I both agree that we would have done it all over again though! Hopefully Ben will enjoy hearing this story one day. He was with my parents, and they were having a great time. We had his cowbell that was personalized and given to him by the mother of Matt's college roommate as a baby gift. We told Ben that we were going to initiate it for him.
