That’s it,
y’all. That’s the post.
After 41 brutal
years, our beloved Dawgs finally brought home the National Championship
title Monday night. We’ve been so close
so many times since then that it hurts, and there have been so many
heartbreaks in recent years. But we’ve
stuck it out as only true fans do, and our day has finally come. As a lifelong Dawgs fan who comes from a long
lineage of Georgia grads/fans, I think I speak for my entire extended family
when I say that our 2022 has officially been made!! At just 10 days in.
In addition to
that, we had snow on Sunday… it may not have stuck, but we sure did
enjoy watching it fall all day long.
This weekend
was just pure magic.
Here’s the
recap!
Monday, January 10
Monday was the National Championship game and Georgia was in it this
year, so our school let the kids have an out of uniform day to wear their
favorite college team apparel. Our
kiddos headed off wearing aaaallll the red and black, and so did their
momma! ;o)
After I dropped them at school, I swung by Walmart to return something,
and then I headed home to do laundry and work for the rest of the day. Mid-morning, my friend, Amanda stopped by our
house to drop off a print that we’d purchased from her, and I took it as a good
luck charm since the print was of UGA’s mascot, Uga.
I worked for the rest of the day (and drank my hot tea out of my Georgia mug!) and I started cleaning out Olivia’s room
Monday afternoon, and then I picked up the kids from school. We dropped Olivia at dance, and then Jacob
and I made a quick stop at the library to renew our library cards and pick up a
book. I dropped him and then headed back
to dance to wait for Olivia to get out.
This was her first dance class in over a month (she’d missed class due to
the flu and then they had Christmas break), so she was thrilled to be back at
it.
On the way home, she and I stopped by Bojangles to grab some dinner… we
had that big game to watch so momma wasn’t wasting time cooking! When we got home, B and I cracked open a
couple of beers and we had dinner while we watched ESPN College GameDay and the
pregame stuff. I was super nervous, so after dinner, I jumped on the stair stepper to burn some of that nervous energy.
How we all were feeling...
The game started a little after 8, and we decided to let the kids stay up
just in case we were all about to witness history.
Right before the game, I headed upstairs to put on my late grandfather’s
old Georgia t-shirt. He graduated from
UGA back in the 1940’s and he was a die-hard fan. He passed away in 2015 and never got to see
them win another championship after 1980.
My Mama Cass (his wife) has been cleaning out the house they lived in
together for the past 60+ years, and she saved one of his old Georgia t-shirts
for each of his grandchildren. My
parents wrapped it up and gave it to me on Christmas Eve and, of course, I
cried.
The second I opened that gift I knew we were going to make it to the
championship, and I was going to wear the shirt, and we were going to win.
The game wasn’t easy – it was actually quite rough for the first three
quarters – but then the fourth quarter was PURE. MAGIC. and we finally, finally
got our win. And I also must mention
here that Maui was not wearing her Georgia jersey for the first half of the
game. I quickly put it on her after
halftime, and within minutes, Georgia blocked Alabama’s field goal attempt for
a shift in momentum. The jersey is
magic. ;o)
The end of the game was insane and exciting and everything that a
National Championship game should be, and we ended up beating Bama (FINALLY!) 33-18. We had a pick six that sealed the deal, and
our entire family was screaming and jumping up and down! It’s a moment I’ll never ever forget, and I’m
so grateful that we let the kids stay up so they could experience it, too.
My phone was blowing up with family and friends and old coworkers and
everyone else all night. My aunt, uncle,
cousin, and other cousin’s girlfriend were all there at the game and my Aunt
Joy and my cousin Shelby were texting me all night giving me the scoop from
their vantage point since we couldn’t be there.
My cousin Wil works for the UGA football team, so my aunt, uncle, and
cousin (Wil’s sister) + Wil’s girlfriend get to go to all of the games. As a matter of fact, they actually had two
tickets for us to this game, but we turned them down. Sigh.
I just knew we were finally going to win it (I told B months ago that we
were going to lose to Bama in the SEC Championship game and then beat them in
the Natty), but there were too many factors complicating things for us to go –
flights getting canceled right and left, a major winter storm hitting in Indy
that weekend, Omicron (of course), and most importantly, nobody to watch our
kiddos since we’re currently keeping our distance from the grandparents for a
bit until this wave dies down.
I hate that we weren’t able to be there in person, but it was super
special to share the winning moment with the kids.
Now, I just need my cousin to come home with his Natty ring so I can try it
on and have a piece of the game since we couldn’t be there. ;o)
The game didn’t end until just before midnight, and by the time we got
the kids in the bed, it was nearly 12:30.
On a school night. Eeks. B and I were both so pumped up that neither
of us felt tired, so we ended up staying up until after 1, and then I lay there
for another hour trying to fall asleep. Why
they always do the National Championship game on a weeknight is beyond me… I
mean, college football is played on Saturday so why not just play the championship
game on a Saturday, too?! #duh
I had taken a poll earlier in the day on Instagram stories and this is the final tally:
Tuesday, we had
to get up at 6 AM after only 4 hours of sleep, but we were all on such a high
that it didn’t even matter. TOTALLY
worth it.
I spent the
rest of the day working and cleaning out Olivia’s room, and I also video
chatted with one of my old coworkers who called me to congratulate us on our
win. He’s an Auburn fan, and if you
don’t follow college football, we’re big rivals, so I thought it was really
kind of him to do that.
My goal for
Tuesday was to finish cleaning out Olivia’s room, but I was so exhausted from
getting no sleep the night before that I opted to scroll through social media
waaaay more than I normally do in a day.
I mean, I just couldn’t stay away from the National Championship
coverage! It was too good and it made me
happy, so I let myself indulge.
Tuesday
afternoon, Olivia was in a mood from being up too late, but I tried my best to
give her grace as she’s almost always a ray of sunshine. It’s very unlike her to be grumpy, so it was
definitely a change, that’s for sure.
She had dance at 4:30, and then when we got home, I cooked dinner and
got the kids into bed just before 8.
After getting no sleep the night before, I knew they needed to get as
much as they could Tuesday night.
B had a tennis
match Tuesday evening, and when he got home, he and I watched a little bit of
TV before turning the lights out at 9:45… super early for us!
Wednesday, January 12
Wednesday, I
felt refreshed after eight hours of sleep, and I dropped the kids and started
checking things off of my list. First
up, Publix by the kids’ school to see if they had anything that my usual Publix
was out of… spoiler alert, they didn’t.
We haven’t been able to get cinnamon rolls or the kids’ favorite freezer
pancakes in forever because of all of the supply chain issues. It is bonkers. As a matter of fact, half of the store I went
to on Wednesday looked like the apocalypse because the shelves were so bare. It is strange times we’re living in right
now, y’all. Strange times.
The rest of the
day was spent working and finishing up cleaning out Olivia’s room, and then I
picked up the kids from school at 3.
When they got in the car, I surprised them with a trip to Target to
spend some of their Christmas money.
Jacob had gotten a Lego set that he already had, so I had returned that
for him, and he was ready to pick out something else.
Our Target trip
took foreverrrr because they wanted to browse every aisle, but Jacob eventually
settled on a Minecraft Lego set and Olivia settled on a little hair salon chair
set for her babies. So cute! While we were there, I picked up an underbed
storage box to put all of Olivia’s dress-up clothes in as well as a new lamp
for Jacob’s room, and then we headed home.
The kids had
snacks and did homework when we got home, and then Jacob got to work on his
Lego set while Olivia played with her new toy.
I headed upstairs to get Olivia’s dress-up clothes put away in the new
underbed box only to find that the box was too tall to fit under the bed. Womp womp.
By the time I
was done with that, it was time to start dinner, and then afterward, I got in a
cardio workout and put away aaaallll the laundry while the kids played some
more and then got ready for bed.
On Wednesday,
UGA announced that they were doing a National Championship parade and program
on Saturday in Athens and we qualified for tickets since we’re season ticket
holders. With Omicron everywhere
right now, we were apprehensive about going, but we ultimately decided that
we’d go, and that we’d be extra cautious.
The tickets were free, so we figured if we got there and we felt
uncomfortable that we could just leave.
So, we requested our tickets and booked a hotel!! YOLOOOO!
Haha.
Once the kids
were in bed, B and I watched This is Us and the rest of The Bachelor
and then we went to bed, too.
Thursday, January 13
Thursday morning, I swung by Walmart to find another underbed box to hold
Olivia’s dress-up clothes, this time with measurements in hand. Haha.
They didn’t have any large boxes that were short enough, so I had to
settle for two smaller boxes. Bummer.
The rest of the day was spent working, and then we all hung out at home
all evening after school. January is
always so laid-back because we don’t have baseball, so it’s always nice to have
the downtime in the evening.
I cooked dinner, the kids played basketball, we all sat down and drew
together after dinner per Olivia’s request, and then I got in a workout while
the kids got ready for bed.
B and I watched Ordinary Joe and Supermarket Sweep by the
fire, and then we went to bed, too.
Friday, January 14
Friday morning,
I dropped the kids and got gas, and then I hit the ground running at home. I had to finish up a few things for the blog,
and then I had to pack for our Athens trip.
B got off of
work at 2, and then he and I packed the car and headed out to pick up the kids
from school. We headed straight from
school onward to Athens so we could get there by dinnertime.
The drive was a
little longer than usual due to the Atlanta traffic, but it wasn’t too bad, and
we did end up making it to Athens for dinner.
We had snagged a room in a hotel downtown, so once we got checked in
there, we were able to be at a restaurant in less than five minutes. We decided to do pickup from The Office and
take it back to our hotel room because we weren’t sure what to expect with crowding
from everyone coming to the city for the celebration.
Our hotel room
had a full kitchen, a small table, and a tiny living area, so we were able to
eat in the room comfortably. After dinner
was done, the kids got showered and then we watched a Fresh Prince before
getting them in their sleeping bags for bed.
They have always preferred to sleep in those on the floor instead of
sharing a bed. That’s always nice for
us, because B and I always end up getting a king bed instead of a queen. Win-win!
;o)
After they were
all tucked in, B and I headed to our room to go to bed, too. Unfortunately, we had some very obnoxious
people in the room above us, and they kept me up for hours with all of their
stomping and yelling and laughing. I finally
fell asleep sometime after 2 AM, so it wasn’t the best night of sleep to say
the least. I was straight-up
peeved. Lol.
Saturday morning,
we were up early, and we rolled out of bed and walked to Zombie Donuts in
downtown Athens for breakfast… appropriate, since I felt like a zombie after
getting no sleep. ;o) You get to design your own donuts there, so
you pick your base, your glaze flavor, and your toppings. The kids, naturally, picked the most crazy,
sugary options, and theirs ended up looking more like desserts than breakfast. I opted for a simple vanilla donut with the
cinnamon sugar topping and it was yummy.
At the donut
place, we saw some of our friends from church and school. We knew they were going to be in Athens, too,
but it was just funny that we all showed up at the same place at the same time
for breakfast. We chatted with them for
a bit, and then headed out to go get ready.
On our walk
back to the hotel, we took some pictures with one of the Ugas on the sidewalk,
and then when we got back to our room, we got showered and ready and then packed
up all of our stuff. We weren’t able to
leave our car in the hotel parking lot for the day, so we knew we needed to get
out early so we could get a parking spot downtown somewhere before they were
all taken.
We found a
parking spot with ease, and then we had some time to kill before we had to eat lunch, so we walked around campus and let the kids run around. We considered taking a picture at the arch (a
major landmark in the city of Athens) and we also considered ringing the chapel
(victory) bell (another big landmark), but the lines to do both were suuuuper long
as you can probably imagine. Instead, the
kids found a humongous magnolia tree to play in, and B and I hung out and
watched them play.
It was freeeezing
all day in Athens Saturday, so we had to bundle up all day, but it didn’t seem
to bother the kids at all. Thankfully,
we’d packed lots of warm gear… something we’re just not used to doing down here
in the south.
Around 11 AM,
we walked to the Chick-Fil-A downtown to pick up a super early lunch, and B
stood in line while the kids and I grabbed a table outside. The city of Athens has permanently closed that
street to traffic since Covid started, and they have tons of outdoor tables in
the street, so it was nice to be able to stay outside even though it was so
cold.
After lunch, we
made the long walk to the stadium, and then we kept on going just past it to
find a good spot for the parade. We ended
up finding a perfect spot that wasn’t too crowded, and we settled in for a 30-minute
wait until the parade started. Jacob got
pretty antsy and didn’t love the waiting part, but he told us after the parade
that it was worth the wait.
The parade started
at 12:30, and we were at the very end of the parade route, so it made it down
our way around 12:45. We were able to
see Kirby Smart (our head coach) as well as all of the other coaches and their
families, and all of the players up close and personal. We were also able to see my cousin, Wil (the
one who works for the team), drive through the parade in a charter bus. He managed to find us in the crowd, too, and
he waved. The kids were so excited.
The atmosphere
was just electric before and during the parade.
There were three or four helicopters and a couple of drones flying overhead,
there were news crews coming through, people were chanting our Georgia fight
songs, and it was just awesome.
Just as the
last couple of groups in the parade were going by, my other cousin, Shelby (Wil’s
sister), and Wil’s girlfriend, Cat, just happened to walk right by us, so we
were able to meet up with them and chat for a bit, too.
The next part
of the celebration continued with the Dawg Walk (a tradition that our team does
before every home game), but people had been gathering and waiting in the Dawg
Walk area (just outside the stadium) for hours and hours to get a good spot, so
there was no way that we could make it over there. Instead, we made our way to the stadium so we
could go ahead and get in our seats before the program started.
The walk there
was crazy – there were thousands upon thousands of people everywhere – but we
were able to find big gaps, so we weren’t packed in with a bunch of
people. Hardly anyone wore masks since
everything was outside, but our family of four wore ours all day with the
exception of taking them off for pictures, so I’m praying that we did enough to
protect ourselves from getting The Rona.
Inside the
stadium, B grabbed some Skittles from the snack bar for the kids while the kids
and I made our way to our seats. We’re
season ticket holders, so we were able to sit in our regular seats, and we were
able to see the older couple who sits next to us at all of the games. They’ve had the season tickets right next to
ours for years, and we always look forward to seeing them, and we hadn’t been
able to see them in two whole years… since before Covid started. It was so nice catching up with them – they are
seriously the sweetest – and I’m hoping this coming football season we’ll be
able to spend more time with them.
The program
started at 2, and they started the whole thing with all of our usual game day traditions
– the UGA Battle Hymn that ends with Larry Munson’s famous quote, a hype video
on the jumbotron, the song “Saturday Night’s Alright” by Elton John, the song “Teenage
Wasteland” by The Who, and a few other special things that we do. Those first few minutes leading up to the
start of the game are always so special, and they always bring tears to my
eyes, but this time things hit a little different.
From the first
note of the Battle Hymn on, I cried like a baby. Through the whole thing. It was such a special moment, and one that I’ll
never ever forget.
The rest of the
program continued after that and it lasted about an hour. DJ Shockley (one of our well-known quarterbacks)
hosted, and we heard speeches from Kirby Smart (our head coach), Jordan Davis (our
current defensive tackle), a couple of the other players, and the SEC commissioner,
etc. At the end of the program, they did
the trophy presentation and then they raised the new National Championship flag,
and it happens to be right behind our seats so we had a great close-up view.
Once things
wrapped up, we made the long walk back to the car, I snapped a picture of the Georgia Theatre, and then we headed straight
home. There was a massive winter storm
heading our way, and we wanted to make it home before it started to hit. We did end up running into some cold rain on
the way home, but that was about it, and the whole drive was smooth and fast.
On the way
home, I ordered pizza and told them to deliver it right as we were arriving
home, and sure enough, it arrived about five minutes after we walked in the
door. Perfect timing.
B and I made
some Moscow Mules and we ate our pizza, and then afterward, we watched an
episode of The Fresh Prince before sending the kids to bed. B and I spent the rest of the evening
watching a couple of episodes of Emily in Paris and the newest episode of
Bobafett.
Sunday, January 16
Sunday morning,
I made waffles with red and black sprinkles in honor of our Dawgs, and then we
had a lazy morning. B and the kids
played games and I snuggled on the couch with Maui, drinking my cinnamon
tea. B kept a fire in the fireplace all
day long Sunday because it was so cold.
Mid-morning,
the kids turned on some cartoons and I got in a half-hearted cardio
workout. I was too tired to go
full-throttle. I also got everything
unpacked from our trip and got all of the laundry done as well.
There was a
winter storm hitting the southeast Sunday, but we weren’t expected to get any
snow at home – it was supposed to stop just north of us – but around 10 AM, we
started seeing snowflakes outside, and it ended up snowing on and off all day
long!!!! The snow didn’t stick, probably
because it was too wet from the rain, but the kids were able to get out and run
around in the snowfall for a long time. We were soooo excited, y'all! Even for the flurries. Somebody posted these two memes on Facebook on Sunday and I was cracking up. But seriously, all of the Bama fans have been so nice. I had several reach out to me after our win and they were so kind and genuinely happy for us.
I made grilled
cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch because it’s the perfect cold
weather food, and we stayed cozy in the house all day with the exception of
getting out to enjoy the snowflakes.
Sunday afternoon,
the kids got in some video game time and I started sorting through the hundreds
of pictures I’d taken in Athens, and then Sunday evening, B went out and picked
up Mexican takeout for dinner.
Since the kids
were out of school Monday, we treated Sunday as a Saturday. After dinner, we rented the movie Sing 2,
and then the kiddos went to bed while B and I stayed up and watched a Saturday
Night Live and a Shark Tank we had recorded.
This weekend
was absolutely magnificent, and it’ll go down as one of the most special ones
ever. (And I don’t think I’ve ever used
the term magnificent before so that goes to show y’all just how special it actually
was. Haha.)
Monday, our
bonus day off, will be in next week’s recap!
Happy Tuesday,
y’all!
