What a wonderful time of the year!

Hello everyone, this is Coleman and I am finally posting a blog! I hear it is an addiction, but I'm not scared. The bowl schedule was just announced, and it's great to see that Fresno State and three of my former teams (Miami, Ole Miss, and Kentucky) have made it to the postseason (Harvard also won the Ivy League, but the hardcore academians do not have the opportunity to play in the postseason).

The Miami Hurricanes get to play in the Emerald Bowl against California. Too bad it is on the 27th, or I would probably try to make it since it is in San Francisco. Go Canes!

The mighty Ole Miss Rebels are heading to the Cotton Bowl after a great season. Why couldn't they play like that when I was in Oxford? They will be playing against Texas Tech, which could result in a big time shootout. Hotty Toddy!

Kentucky gets to play in the Liberty Bowl against East Carolina. Big Blue Nation will no doubt take over Beale Street. At 6-6, they do not need to lose to the mid-major Conference USA champions and finish with a losing record. Mary Beth and I could possibly make New Year's in Memphis, but after attending the last two UK bowl games, our streak will end this year. Go Big Blue!

One bowl game we will make, however, is the New Mexico Bowl on December 20. Yes, there is a bowl in New Mexico and Fresno State will be taking on Colorado State. Mary Beth and I are very excited to be traveling with the team and it should transition us into a wonderful holiday break. Hopefully the good guys will win and give us some momentum heading into next season. It would also make my job much easier! Go Dogs!

We will get back from the bowl game the night of the 20th and fly to New Orleans the next day. We do not fly back to Fresno until January 4, so it should be an incredible two weeks. Our goal is to see as many family and friends as possible between Mississippi and Kentucky. We do not get to get back to the South as much as we would like, so we will definitely make up for lost time.

Happy Holidays and we will see you soon!

Christmas Tree Lane

One Fresno neighborhood goes all out every year and decorates their entire street for Christmas and the holidays....I mean the entire street! Intricate house displays, lights streaming every tree and music throughout...It's on Van Ness, the historic area of Fresno with large, beautiful homes (the University's home where the President lives is also in Van Ness).


We walked the almost 2 mile stretch last night and had a wonderful time...you can drive down the street anytime to see the lights, but 2 nights in December they close the street so you can walk and see the displays...it was definitely a great holiday memory we will hold with us here in Fresno! The news last night even said they expect 100,000 people to visit Van Ness over the holiday season!


My camera's battery went dead half-way through but we plan to go back and do it again! The house at the end of the road was definitely Clark Griswald worthy!

here you can see people walking the street and the lights streaming the trees

starting the walk....

Coleman's parents visit

The week before Thanksgiving Coleman's parents came into town for their first visit to see us out in California. We spent the weekend in San Jose for the Friday night football game (we won) then headed to San Francisco for the rest of the weekend.


From San Jose we drove up to Palo Alto to see Stanford's campus, then headed up the coastline for the beautiful drive to San Francisco. We stayed in the Fisherman's Wharf area and got some great views of the bay...It was a great weekend. Sunday we headed back to Fresno. We showed them around our new home and the Fresno area. I hope they had a great time!

David and Cookie with the Golden Gate Bridge view

Christmas decor at the Wharf

Coleman and his parents with Alcatraz in the background

Victor E. Bulldog

During the last home game, our official mascot took some time to come up to the suites and visit with us..he was pretty tired after a long day, but he still was excited to see us and that Fresno State won the game!

after the petting begun, it was all over...

but he stood still long enough for Coleman to get a pic

checking everybody out

mom visiting and Madera Wine Trail

This weekend my mom was in town and we had a great time! This was her first visit to see us since we have moved to California and her first time in California too! Saturday we drove up to Madera, CA, about 20 minutes from Fresno, and toured some of the wineries. They had a special weekend open house at the wineries so we got to sample many of their wines and enjoy some local food, art, and music...It was a great weekend (besides the fact that Fresno State lost to Nevada Friday night). We were so glad to have my mom in town and look forward to having Ben and my dad visit soon too! Coleman's parents will be visiting in 2 weeks and we can't wait to show them around our new home too!

Some pics from the wine trail...

Arts and Crafts....What?!?

I just had to share this...so I am not really known as a "crafty" person, but, I actually like going to stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby....I got one of those 40% off coupons that Michaels distributes each week and decided that I wanted a holiday wreath for the door. So, I went to Michaels and looked around, saw some that I kinda liked, and got an idea....Why don't I just make my own and it can look exactly like I want it too! LOL, but it I think it turned out great and I am proud of myself for being crafty! The good thing is that I can always change out the decor on the wreath to match the next holiday being crafty and economical at the same time....watch out Christmas!

Here is the masterpiece....Hey, It's a good start!

more pics from San Francisco

view of the Bay Bridge from the Ferry Building Pier

Farmer's Market at the Port of San Francisco

view of the Port of San Francisco from our hotel

San Francisco streets

weekend in San Francisco

Sorry it's been a while since my last post! A few weekends ago Coleman and I drove up to San Francisco. We explored the city and took advantage of some great food and amazing weather! We stayed in a different hotel Friday and Saturday night which was fun since they were in different parts of the city. The first night we were at the Hyatt Embarcadero in the Financial District of the city and near the Ferry Building. Saturday morning we walked across the street from our hotel to the Ferry Building where they were having an AMAZING farmers market....so much fresh produce, flowers, wine, seafood...Definitely worth a visit if you are in the city!

View of Lombard Street (the crooked street- kinda hard to see in the pic,

it's at the top of the hill)

View from our room at the Hyatt Embarcadero- Ferry Building and Ports

Saturday afternoon we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and caught some football in between, of course. It was a fall Saturday afterall :) There is so much to do in San Francisco....I think it is certainly becoming one of my favorite cities. Someone even said it's the NYC of the West Coast...I can see that..We rode the streetcar to get around when we didn't walk, a must-have experience in the city.

Saturday night we stayed at a boutique hotel in the Nob Hill area....it's not far from Chinatown or the Italian district. More of a residential area with older, historic hotels. San Francisco has so many cool neighborhoods....That night we had a wonderful dinner with our friends, Henry and Jane McCaslin visiting from Mississippi. We had a great time visiting with them and their friends and family.

View of the Bay Bridge

Overall, a great road trip that was only about 3 hours away from Fresno! I am hoping our next trip will be to Napa or Paso Robles, an up and coming wine region of CA...

On another note, I am excited to say that my mom is coming to visit in 2 weeks! We hope to plan a day trip to Yosemite! Can't wait for you to get here mom! And, Coleman's parents are visiting in November! We are happy that you all are coming!

fun pics from our wedding weekend

I wanted to share some pics that friends and family took the weekend of our wedding..I've had some time to look back at all of our pictures and remember such a great weekend! Coleman and I are so fortunuate to have the most amazing family and friends.

Ben caught the garter...

Mom must have been telling me something important...I look so focused! This was minutes before walking down the isle

The Oxford crew....miss you guys!

First Dance: Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" the girls and me at the rehearsal dinner
exiting the church and all the rice! bridal luncheon on Friday

high school best friends.. all bridesmaidsMaid and Matron of Honor
Coleman's sister, Brooke, caught the bouquet and is now engaged!
the happy couple

Homecoming and the Big Fresno Fair

We had a great time last weekend visiting family and friends in Kentucky. Coleman was in the wedding of Steve and Carly Clem in Bardstown. It was a beautiful and sweet wedding and we wish Steve and Carly best wishes on their new life together.

We are back in the swing of things in Fresno....Homecoming is this weekend so it will be a busy week.....The Lakers are playing an exhibition game in Fresno Thursday night that we are probably going to...Also, I guess it's fair season everwhere....the BIG Fresno Fair has started....Randy Travis is playing at the fair Friday night and I think we are going...I always loved fairs and had good times at the fair in Jackson..the rides, games, food, you can't beat the fair!

pics from our weekend in LA

What a great weekend! We had a wonderful time in LA and for such a short trip, we did a lot! We drove up Friday and stayed in the Pasadena area that night. We went out in Old Town Pasadena and had a great time. The game was at 12:30 Saturday in the Rose Bowl...Fresno State fans travelled well and we came out with a big win...I think we are 21 in the polls this week. Coleman and I enjoyed our first experience in the Rose Bowl although it was so hot!!! People were passing out. But it was worth it as the Bulldogs came out with the win.

After the game, we drove to Hollywood and stayed in a great Hyatt hotel (thanks Priceline) near Beverly Hills and Century City. We were pretty tired that night so we drove out to Santa Monica where we had reservations at a great seafood place, the Lobster. After some much needed rest Sat. night, we tooled around the city Sunday afternoon...Mann's Chinese Theater, Bel Air, Rodeo Drive...we saw most of it....we decided to tour UCLA's campus in Westwood...they have a beautiful campus in a really nice area.

Oh, and we just want to say that we are REALLY enjoying the Garmin navigator Coleman got for his birthday! It came in so handy in LA and we got around so easily...it really saves time and we were able to get around and see things we were interested in so much easier....

Paul Newman's star on the walk

Fresno players waving the "W" for Win after the game


Harry Potter stars prints outside Mann's Theater


the Rose Bowl- about 73,000 fans in attendance

a close one...

Fresno State pulled out a win last night in double overtime! We were very excited and glad it went our way. The game was in Toledo, OH, and Coleman didn't make the trip....we had a nice enjoyable weekend at home...we were able to get some things done and made a new addition to our living room and rearranged a little....see below....

We are excited to head to L.A. this next weekend to play UCLA at the Rose Bowl...it will be my first trip to L.A. and the stadium...I'll definitely have to follow up after the weekend!

living room view from above

our new chair and a half and ottoman

living room and Coleman on the computer

more house pics

The backyard...large compared to some of the homes we looked at...our rent includes gardening so we don't have to worry about that which is nice. We have a sprinkler system that waters the lawn 3x a week at 5am and 10pm. It NEVER rains here (or at least it hasn't since we've been here....but we hear it does rain some in the winter months) We're working on some patio furniture...

TV and media area below stairs...the house came with a built in speaker system inside and out so we have enjoyed that...there are hardwood floors throughout the downstairs...a built in area rug (green carpet) covers part of the living room area..

entry way table at front door....the hanging frame is our wedding invitation....my mom gave it to us after the wedding...part of the matting is lace from her wedding dress.......what a cool idea...thanks mom!

house pictures

Thanks to a wonderful family, I had a great birthday! And thanks to everyone for your birthday wishes! On my birthday, Coleman brought home my favorite flowers, lillies, at lunch. He also gave me a card for my birthday. A sweet note was written on the inside along with a sheet of paper that was my gift....well, Coleman's gift to me was a new laptop computer! And it has a green cover....I was so excited! I got it in the mail yesterday and it is great! I am really enjoying it....ALSO, thanks to Coleman's parents and my parents and Ben I got a new camera (remember, my old one broke)...I have enjoyed using it as well and taking pictures of everything! I wanted to share a few with you now of our new house...we are still a work in progress, but I wanted to give you some ideas of our place...Enjoy!

buffet in dining room

dining room and kitchen

living room

outside and Coleman's new ride through Fresno State

Fresno State and Ole Miss Connection!

VS.

It was announced yesterday that Fresno State will travel to play Ole Miss twice and Ole Miss will make it to Fresno as well! That's pretty exciting news....the first game will be in Oxford in 2010.

Check out the Clarion Ledger article:
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080910/SPORTS030103/80910032