Fantasy Football?

Does anyone still read/check this? And if you do, are we doing Fantasy Football this year?

Update on Kendal

If you haven't already heard, Kendal got a pretty shnazzy job last week. Instead of going to work with Haynes and Boone right away, she will be working as a judicial clerk for Judge Haynes on the United States 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. She will still get to live and work in Dallas, but will have to travel to New Orleans occassionally for panels. This is a BIG deal for her.
For those of you non-lawyer/law student people, I’ll put this in perspective…

- This is the best job to get out of law school and the second best judicial clerkship you can get(second only to a clerkship with a Supreme Court justice, which you can’t get unless you’ve been a clerk for a circuit court judge first).
- There are only about 350 law students in the entire country who get to work as circuit court clerks. And most of those jobs go to grads from schools like Harvard and Yale (or badasses like Chad Thompson).
- There hasn’t been an SMU Law graduate to clerk for a circuit court judge since 2004.
- There have only been 3 SMU Law graduates since 1985 to clerk for a circuit court judge.

The only downside to this job is that she has to start working in about two weeks and can't take the bar until February (she'll be taking it while working).

Send her some congrats!!

Long Overdue Update

Hello everyone, I hope this post finds everyone doing well and kickin' ass. I figured that since I can't remember the last time I posted anything on this blog, nor have I seen several of you in quite a few years, and I actually have a small bit of news, it was past time that I threw something up. So, without further blabbering, here we go.

As some of you know, my time on the East Coast, specifically Washington D.C., is rapidly coming to an end, as is my time with IBM. What's the reason you ask? The answer: earlier this month I was accepted to CU's Leeds School of Business in Boulder, CO. (Go ahead with the hippie comments, I know Grant, Nordin, and probably Simpson or Green have at least one or two stored up for just such an occasion.) As a result, I'm moving out of Georgetown at the end of June, plan to spend July at my beach house on the NC coast, and then move to Colorado in early August. I'd also, at this time, like to extend an invitation to ya'll to swing by for a visit in July if you find yourself within traveling distance of the Carolina coast. It's in Atlantic Beach, NC for those interested.

Secondly, for everyone here that lives in Dallas, which by now is practically everybody, I'm currently planning on coming down over the July 17th weekend. The reason is Sarah Watson's wedding in Fort Worth, but if possible, I'd come a day or two earlier to hang out, drink, shoot the shit, or do whatever it is ya'll do down there, aside from playing video games.

Other then that, I really don't have much else, just trying to make it day by day and with only six weeks left at work, it's entirely possible. I did, however, just get back from visiting my sister in Spain, specifically, Seville and if you haven't been, go. We also got to Ronda and Granada as well as Morocco which was amazing.

Like I said, not a whole lot, but if ya'll ever find yourself in Colorado, give me a ring. I'll probably be in the library, but hell, it's worth a shot. Oh, and the beer is delicious.

Cheers -

Woody

The Ultimate Time Waster

beware, it'll suck your life away........so enjoy

http://www.addictinggames.com/theimpossiblequiz.html

You're Awesome

Happy 2008 everybody. In the spirit of the New Year, I just wanted to send a long an inspirational message. Jim, this applies to you in particular....

I hope everybody's doin' well and had a great New Years.

Cheers!

Our first Christmas card

Merry Christmas from Gus, Cami, and Cami's pet raptor Frank!!

Commies Jump a Couple Spots in the Polls

The Commies jumped to No.'s 20 and 21 in the AP and USA Today polls respectively today. In each poll, Vandy (9-0) is one of 11 undefeated teams and the second lowest ranked. Saint Mary's (7-0) is the only team ranked lower then the Commies that is still undefeated.

Thoughts from Commordore Nation?

A little piece of poetry...

'Twas the month of December,
and all through the city,
Londoners trudged through
the rain, what a pity!

But the Morgans nestled in
For another English Christmas,
(The parents are here now,
in case anyone missed this!)

Her correspondence has been
sub-par of late,
but I hope you remember
your ol' pal Kate.

Continuing her stay,
for one more year
Helping manage a small business
and drinking good English beer :)

Along with a job,
She's back on the school grind;
A masters in Politics,
the American kind.

But none of this can replace
The friends on this blog;
Or Kendal and Cami's cats,
or Ry-Ry's sweet dog.

I miss you all
More than I can say,
But can't wait to rejoice with you
on Kiki and Ty-Ty's wedding day.

Until then, all the best
as you hang your tree lights;
Happy Christmas to all,
and to all a good night!

Finally, A Little Respect

This is going to be short, but it seems the Commie basketball team has garnered the attention of Fox Sports, finally earning a little respect. Maybe after a few victories over South Alabam, Georgia Tech, and Wake, the coaches and the AP will wake up.

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to take a quick break from my vacation with my family at my grandparents place to say that your collective friendship is something I am most thankful for. Happy thanksgiving to you all. I hope you all had a good day with turkey, sleep and football.

Sincerely,
Gus 'Tex' Gildner


p.s. my grandmother was sad that she was the only person we could not google last night(i know, we are awesome) so, i am rectifying that now, everyone say hi to Mary McCall Davis for me...that is all

1 Year Anniversary!

Dear Friends!

Greetings from Enterprise, AL; the most happenin' spot in the south! Haha! Yeah right... Anyways realized today that one year ago I left for basic training. I can't believe I've already been in the army a whole year. It seems like yesterday! Anyways, that recognition shocked me into remembering that I haven't posted a blog to let y'all know what I've been up to, nor have I shared any photo's of my goings on down here. Hopefully this will fix that!

Flight school is good! I'm definitely learning a lot and even though they told all of us in the beginning that if we already had prior experience doing this sort of thing it wasn't going to help us out at all. Well they were completely wrong. I have a big leg up over almost everyone else in my class due to my prior flight training so I'm very grateful that I took the time to get it down and my family was willing to pay for me to do it!

I finished "Primary" Flight Training about 3 weeks ago and passed my check ride with a 91 which was the second or third highest in my class. I learned a lot of really cool stuff and flying a helicopter has so far been everything i hoped it would be! Right now I'm in the "Instruments" portion of flight school which basically means we learn how to take off, fly, and land the helicopter using nothing but the instruments in the cockpit. It's going pretty well, but if i could change one thing i would give my IP more a personality. He could possibly be the most bland person I've ever met and I've almost fallen asleep in the simulators multiple times due to his monotone droning. I have about four and half more weeks of instruments before I take my instrument check ride and then move on to BWS.

BWS = Basic Warfighting Skills for helicopter pilots. That's where we'll get out first exposure to flying under night vision goggles, low level flight (20 feet above the trees), and all sorts of other cool stuff. I'm really looking forward to that. That part of flight school is only 4 weeks long and then after I finish that I'll be going into selection for my advanced aircraft. So by Christmas I'll know if I'm flying the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, the AH-64D Apache Longbow, The UH-60 Blackhawk, or the MH-47 Chinook. Honestly they're all cool and I'd be happy with either one.

Live is good although it's going by really fast. My work weeks are pretty intense and my weekends are a drunken blur. Enterprise isn't all that bad because I have cool people down here to hang out with, but there's not much to do. Oh well. Anyways, below are some pictures from down here to include helicopter pics, and party pics. Enjoy!















I hope everyone is doing well! Let me know what yall are up to and I'm going to do my best to get up to homecoming!

Cheers!
Grant

Update_Homecoming '07

Kendal and I booked tickets to Nashville for homecoming. I believe Tim, Gus, and Ashley are coming. Who else is coming? When? Where are you staying? And what are your plans for Friday night, Saturday afternoon, Saturday evening?

That's how we roll....

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20728210/

lawyers, feel free to comment with minimal bias

Why didn't I think of this?

Brilliant!!!
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB118834341517511527-lMyQjAxMDE3ODI4OTMyNDkzWj.html

also, Homecoming....discuss. Where are people staying? When are they getting in? Who's going?

Craziness & Voting for Mr.Commodore!

My life has been a little insane recently. For those of you that don't know, Katy Akin's fiance broke his neck this past weekend...and the wedding is this Saturday! Porter was diving off a pier into the ocean in Rockport, TX...and didn't quite realize just how shallow it was. He broke his neck and had some artery damage in the back of his neck, which can be pretty serious. Needless to say, life has been insane for Katy & Porter since Saturday. Yesterday Porter had an arteriogram (to see how blood and oxygen are getting to the brain) and surgery to fuse his vertebrae and now has a metal plate inserted to hold everything together, but is recovering well and should be able to walk down the aisle. The honeymoon is postponed, but the wedding and parties beforehand are still on. Cami, Kendal, & I are all bridesmaids in the wedding, and it's been crazy trying to figure out how Porter's doing and whether or not everything can happen. Thankfully my parents are good friends of the groom's parents too, so I've been updated pretty frequently. The lesson I've learned from all of this: WEDDING INSURANCE!

Of course, then I wake up this morning with a stiff neck and as I'm trying to move it around, my neck makes a loud pop. I now can't move my head much without moving my entire body - not good! Sympathy pain for the groom perhaps?

Otherwise my life has been pretty good. Jared & I went to see his family last weekend in Charleston, SC because his brother and girlfriend are leaving for London this weekend. His brother is going to London Business School, so that's 2 years of being across the pond! We're planning on going over to visit within a year, so hopefully we can see K-Mo (assuming you're still there)! Their friends threw them a going away party with a scavenger hunt, so Jared & I were driving them all over Charleston getting clues, and it ended with a 6 hour long party at the bar where they met (called The Brick).

Vandy football season starts soon, and with 8 home games, we're hoping to win a few! Now if they would just put our season tickets in the mail! Let me know if any of you are planning to come for a game (Jess & Sioux, I can't wait to see y'all!). We've got a huge group of season tickets, so with enough advance warning, I should be able to find you one. Hotel Ashley is currently unbooked for Homecoming, so let me know if you'd like to make a reservation. No word on the next Chancellor yet, but I am confident Interim Chancellor Zeppos is doing a great job. Vandy students are starting to move in, as school starts up at the end of the month.

Anyways, I came across a link to vote for Mr.Commodore's new outfit. I figured y'all might like deciding what he should wear, since we all have such a passion for Vandy sports, for better or worse. I won't tell you how to vote...just do it! Voting ends Sunday, August 19th (in 4 days).

Fantasy Football

I know its been pretty quiet on the blog as of late, so I thought I would take a moment to ask the question that been on all of our minds, 'Why do we only have 7 teams signed up for fantasy football this year?' I know, you all are probably not wanting to go against last year's winnner "Le Tigre" who is now operating under the name "I Smell Defeet".

I'll be honest - I made your teams look silly last year. Most of you were probably left hurting in places you never thought would hurt (except for Gus, who pretty much takes it everywhere). But that is no reason to call it quits. I encourage you all to sign-up again this year.

I've copied the info you need to join below. See you at the draft. I've got dibs on Vick.

You have been invited to join nordinjd's Custom League in Yahoo! Sports Fantasy Football.

In order to join the league, follow the link above or go to game front page, click the "Sign Up Now" or "Get Another Team" button and follow the links to "Join a Custom League". When prompted, enter the League ID# and password below.

League ID#: 139181
Password: cashville

We will send you a confirmation with further details once you have completed the registration process.

Homecoming '07

What's up guys and gals?

I know I've been MIA for ohhhh, ever. Well, hopefully that will change. I was in the middle of planning a vacation around Millie's wedding in October when I noticed that Homecoming is the weekend of Oct 12-14th this year. I was going to fly back from AZ on Oct. 11th, however, since homecoming is that weekend, I may stay a day longer and just fly to Nashville instead, and then fly on.

Before I did this, I wanted to see if there was anyone going back for the weekend. So, is anyone planning a triumphant, or not so triumphant, return?

Mahalo.

X-Box Addiction??

Jim, Gus, and Cami...the AMA is going to finally recognize y'alls video-game problem as an addiction. Go get some help!

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flasands0621nbjun21,0,771832.story?coll=sfla-news-sfla

If You're Gonna Play in Texas...

Texans,

I am currently planning a trip to the Dallas/Fort Worth area for the weekend of July 6th. Gus will also be joining me that weekend as well. Apparently, Cami has stated that there is a Star Wars Exhibit at the history museum with replicas from the movies and other neat-o memorabilia (there is a life-size X-Wing on display!!!!!!). However, that will only take up part of the day and I would like to perhaps see some of the Dallas area and other things as well. My only prior experience with the region was a Dallas stop on the Greyhound where I witnessed homeless people passed out on the side-walks and in the middle of the street. Greyhound also lost my baggage at that stop. So as you can see, I hope that my trip can change my perception of Dallas/Fort Worth and I would like to see as many people as possible even if it's for at least a dinner or something (Weaver, if you love me you'll drive down - I'll buy Gus a storm trooper costume so we can all say to him "aren't you a little short for a storm trooper?"). That is all.

Congrats!

I just wanted to say congrats to some folks on their recent accomplishments/news:
Jon: kicking butt and taking names in Afghanistan
Ry: rockstar in boot camp, done with "Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape"
Jess & Sioux: law school graduates!
Gus & Cami: back on the love train
Kendal & Tyler: on the love boat...and getting married next Spring!
Freeman: getting married next month!
Fatty: already hitched!

I hope everyone else is doing great...I just wanted to give some shout-outs! Miss y'all!

Live Update, From the Facebook...

Gus and Cami have gone back to high school. Why? Because, and I quote, "Cami McCluer and Gus Gildner are now going out."

I don't know about you, but I haven't "gone out" with anyone in a long time. But, hey, congratulations nonetheless.

The Suck

Hello Everyone!

I just wanted to write a quick note to say goodbye. I'm leaving for SERE C training which stands for Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape. I'll be on lock-down for 3 weeks so I'll be back on the 20th of May. I'm actually looking forward to the training, but hopefully I'll never actually have to use what I learn here. If you want some info about what I'll be doing there's a decent website with general information here ---> SERE C


I'm sure I'll have some good stories when I get out of the course, but I probably won't be able to tell y'all everything... you know how it goes. Anyways, hope everyone has a good three weeks and have some beers for me!

And everyone please keep Jon in your thoughts and prayers. I may be about to go through three weeks of suck but he's gonna be in the suck for 15 months. He's already a hero so lets all pray he comes home safe and sound. I'm in touch with his parents so I'll be sure to relay any information I here to everyone!

Cheers!

WO1 Grant

Thanks Jon !!!

Jon leaves for Iraq here pretty soon, so I wanted to give everyone a chance to tell him how much we appreciate what he's doing. I for one can't imagine a better man for the job! Godspeed my brother and know that you've already made us proud.

Bass back from Iraq

I just saw on Bass' facebook profile that he is back from Iraq. It might be nice for everyone to give him a shout. Also, you might want to look at his sweet pictures he took while in Iraq that he posted on facebook.

Where was shotgun Fred?

I'm pretty sure that if that shooting had happened on Vandy's campus, Grant and shotgun Fred would have taken that guy down.

Fatty Wedding Pictures!

Ok since i'm posting pictures that means I don't have to write about the entire wedding. You other people that were there can do that. If you each tell one funny story you can cover the entire weekend. Woody... you're up first. Who's ready to make some boom-boom?

Yes, these are YOUR friends... and all I have to say is WoW!

Every so often, I and three of our fellow VUCrew bloggers partake in a gaming event for the ages - World of Warcraft. For those of you that have lives and are fortunate enough to not know the details of how this phenomenon works, allow me to explain. Essentially, you and thousands of other gamers create a fantasy character and adventure in a virtual world. You can do whatever your nerdy little heart desires: go on quests, make armor and weapons, fight other players, hunt mystical beasts, and even save a princess or two. It is probably the single nerdiest thing that I have ever done in my life. The fact that I found three people that seem to enjoy it as much as I do is just flat out ridiculous. See if you can guess who plays which character.



This is Solidarius - a blood elf mage. We usually have to take a break every so often when Solidarius plays as he normally has a Guinness, New Castle, margarita, or whiskey drink that needs refilling when playing. If that wasn't enough of a tip for you, his original character was a dwarf.



This is Goldentoe - a troll hunter and in the background is her pet raptor, Frank the Tank. Goldentoe complained in the early going because she couldn't make a "cute" troll. Despite her troll's obvious lack of decent looks, she still manages to find some things "hot" about her. What's frightening is that this Texas blonde is actually really good at playing the game.



This Zulkari - a troll shaman. As Solidarius put it mockingly the other night, our "fearless leader" since he's always trying to coordinate our group battle plans.

The last player is Epedemeia - an undead warlock. Unfortunately, Epedemeia has a nasty habit of attracting the attention of lots of baddies and dies all the time so I haven't gotten around to getting a good picture of him yet.

And yes, we all have headphones with microphones so we can better coordinate as we are playing. Yep, these are your friends.

Back to the Future...

So today, my boss and I are talking about my future at the company and potential job opportunities in the insurance market (mind you, these are not job opportunities I really intend to take...insurance here is only cool because it comes with alcohol)...and we are discussing previous girls from the program. He mentions that their cheif complaint has always been how much weight they gain during their year here as a result of all the alcohol consumption. He then proceeds to tell me that he believes me to be curvy and curvy is a good thing....

I'm sorry, is this 1950? No, wait, it's the London Insurance Market...

Not the most thought-provoking post, I know, but definitely a show-stopper during my day to day.

Now, Fatty, pictures! What do you think you're doing, having a honeymoon or something? Climb off for one second and give us some wedding stories!

Vandy Sports - March Madness

Howdy folks.

First off, yes I'm still alive, still around, and unfortunately, still an IT Consultant. But I digress. I also apologize for not being around, however, the GMAT is a good damn excuse. (I took it yesterday...and will promptly be taking it again).

Anyhow, as you all know, we have a big basketball game today, in fact, it tips off in about fourty minutes, which just means I'll have to leave work a little earlier. Shucks.

If you have the opportunity to watch the game and are able to inbibe a drink or two, check out some rules that you should all abide by. They are posted on the Vandy Sports Line, the blog that Rob Williams and Josh Burgener started. Stan and I also contribute and we most of Vandy sports; baseball (#1 in the country), mens and womens basketball, football, tennis, golf...you get the idea. We try to have some fun with it so I encourage you to check it out: http://vandysports.blogspot.com/

I expect all of you to lose your voice sometime this afternoon during the game. This may be my last post for a while, considering those of us in Vandy Nation are convening at Porter's, a bar in DC in the heart of Foggy Bottom, about 5 blocks or so from GW.

For those of you heading down/up to Tulsa this weekend for on Fatty Adams wedding, see ya'll there.

GO DORES!

Big Brothers Big Sisters Bowl For Kids' Sake 2007!

Hey y'all,

I know most of you have already gotten an email from me, but in case you missed it...

I hope that you will consider sponsoring me in the annual Big Brothers Bis Sisters Bowling event, which is a fundraiser to help maintain the services that BBBS provides to the Nashville community. BBBS is an organization that's very close to my heart, as I did a bunch of work with them while I was president of Vanderbuddies and throughout my Vanderbilt career. Since last year's bowling event, I've stayed matched with my 11-year old little sis, Kierra. She's become a big part of my life, and I love spending time with her and giving her opportunities she wouldn't otherwise have. Kierra and I have ice skated, painted pottery, attended numerous sporting events, and done many other things together. She particularly loves bowling!

The bowling event is Tuesday, April 3rd, so a sponsorship by then would be greatly appreciated. I am ambitiously trying to raise $2,000, and the sponsorship is a lump sum amount and not associated with by my bowling capabilities or lack thereof. This year, BBBS has a fabulous website that facilitates easier payments, even by credit card. My personal BBBS website is http://tnbowling.org/ashleyvu. If you want to pay by cash or check, click on the link for "print out a donation form," and just mail it to me or BBBS. Thank you for supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters Of Middle Tennessee. Your contribution is greatly appreciated!

Thanks to those of you that have already contributed - it means a lot to me. Let me know if you have any questions. I hope everyone is doing great...it's been forever since we've all been together. Miss you and love you all, Ashley

Hello!

Whats up everyone!

So after my extended absence, I am now back in the realm of regulary, 21st century communication. I am pleased to say that I am settling into my new place on

145 County Road 739
Enterprise, AL 36330

Yes... i live on a county road... no, it's not a dirt road.

It's actually a brand new house, not bad. Anyways, this is just a quick post to say whats up!

I'm actually on break right now, i got 10 days off to get my place all set up and moved in to. I don't flight school until around June and before that I have to attend Dunker/HEED, SERE C, JOPD, and BOLC IIIA. When i leave for these things i'll give yall an idea of what they're about. Until then I got a job with the S3 (operations officer) for 1/145th. A lot of my buddies are slackin off right now, but i'm actually learning something which will hopefully benefit me later on down the line. I work with the schedules and maintenance on Apaches and Kiowas and stuff so it's giving a good behind the scenes look about what goes on at the flight lines. I won't bore you with the details but it's actually pretty cool... at least compared to the crap i was doing.

I'm looking forward to seeing hopefully many of you at Fatty's wedding, and everyone else is doing great.

I still have the same cell phone number so if you find yourself with a couple free minutes. Give me a call!

Cheers!
Grant

Let The Speculation Begin

Since Jim will not give us any information, I think it's time we start making it up to try and smoke it out of him. I'll start.


Jim's silence is deafening, and I think I know why. Jim is Anna Nicole Smith's baby's daddy. He has undergone a paternity test, and is under a gag order from the court. Then, he learns his torrid love affair has come to an abrupt end after his lover stole his prescription pain pills that Jim has to take to get out of bed in the morning, due to the deterioration of the cartilage in his knee, and overdoses and dies. Now, Jim has the responsibility of raising a motherless child, has no pain pills left, and is grieving his loss. No wonder he doesn't feel like talking to us.

Dallas this weekend...

Dallas folks,

I will be in Dallas this weekend, starting tonight. Paige has to attend bridesmaid stuff all day on Friday so I will be all alone and prob not doing much. If anyone wants to grab for me lunch that would be awesome and I would love to hang.

615.429.5549

Fats

Ryan's Graduation!

If I have my dates right, Ryan just graduated from Officer Candidate Training! So Congrats, Ry! I hope everyone else is doing great!

Girlies: I'm looking forward to slootfest in Nashville! We still on for March 30-April 1? No boys allowed!

Happy Bday Jon!

Happy 25th old man! :)

BREAKING F-ING NEWS

Jim McHugh is no longer listed as single on The Facebook, and the blog needs to know why. Jim...you turn.

Sorry if this blog has turned into the coffee room of a law firm, but...

I had to put this up, because this story is just ridiculous. Prosecutors in this country are completely out of control. Between this ignorant guy and the ousted prosecutor from the Duke rape case (who might be disbarred for hiding DNA evidence from the defense and lying to the court about it), I don't know what to think anymore. Any thoughts?

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=wilson

Congrats Chad

I didn't know this until last night after I talked with Freddy, but Chad has gotten into a number of GREAT law schools! UChicago, Northwestern, NYU, Georgetown. Anyone who can play beer pong while studying for a differential equations test the night before the test and still make an A deserve to go to whatever law school they choose. Congrats Chad!

News from Vandyland...

Hello friends! Two quick stories from Vandyland:

First, the 'dores handed it to Bama (#10 in the nation) last night. It was the first time I have seen them look good all season. We have now beaten 3 ranked teams in a row; however, inbetween we have lost to Auburn and UGA. Typical Vandy!

Second, the fraternity/sorority bid days were last weekend. I guess EX got 27 good guys (saw Dutch, Butcher, Phud, etc at the game last night) and my sister said that 2 sororities did not make quota. One was DG, the other was TRI DELT!! Talk about a fall from grace. I guess they had to call girls who got cut from all houses and offer them snap bids on Sunday morning. Who would have ever thought that DG and DDD would be fighting over the same girls. I guess Kappa and Theta cleaned up, and Chi-O got a good one as well.

I hope all is well and that the New Year has been treating yall right so far!

Much Love,

Fats

Millie's Engaged!

Its official- Millie is engaged. Steve popped the question during a surprise trip to London! Tentative wedding date is around October of 2007.

Two engagements in a few weeks- how exciting!

The Ring

I've had several requests to see the ring, so here is a picture. I will post proposal pics soon.

Engagement Details!!!

Now for Engagement Details as promised!.....

Tyler and I got engaged on December 29th. My best friend had not been feeling well lately, so she asked me to come over and sit with her for the day. Of course I was more than happy to oblige, so I went over to her house, ran her errands, brought her food, etc. We actually had a few tornadoes hit the metroplex that day, so Bekah and I also hid in her laundry room for a bit. Little did I know that the weather put a big cramp in Tyler's plan to propose outside on my parents' boat dock, but he adapted his plan very well to the quarter mile twister that blew through. When there was a break in the storms, I decided to head home to my parents' house. I drove up, all the lights were out, and nobody's car was in the driveway, so I was a tid bit concerned. But as soon as I walked in the door, I saw everything and immediately burst into tears. Norah Jones 'Come Away With Me' was playing (our song), and there was a candlelit pathway winding its way all through the house. All along the path way were white balloons floating right above my head. They were attached to the ground with white ribbon. On each ribbon, there was an 8 by 10 picture, matted on cream paper, with two little green bows on the two top corners. The pictures were of both Tyler and me, starting at the beginning of the path way with our baby pictures, and by the end with pictures from our trip with my family this summer to Boca. The path way led out to the patio where there was a table covered in a white table cloth and a red rose runner. There were two dozen roses wrapped in a bouquet in the center of the table. I picked up the roses, turned around, and Tyler came around a corner (holding an umbrella because tornado warnings are still being issued in our county), and walked toward me. He put down the umbrella and grabbed my hands. He told me he loved me, that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. It was the most spectacular moment of my life, despite the fact that I hadn't showered in 48 hours and was covering my greasy hair with a Vandy hat.

He told me he couldn't put the ring on my hand because he was shaking too much, so he gave it to me to put on. He led me back through the pathway to make sure I had seen all the pictures and then told me to get showered and dressed because he had a nice dinner planned with my parents. While I was getting dressed, he brought upstairs chocolate covered strawberries and champagne that he had waiting for the occasion. When we met my parents and brother for dinner, he surprised me again with his family who had driven in from Oklahoma. We had a wonderful engagement dinner with both families, a very special meal that will never be forgotten.

The following evening, we went to dinner with Tim, Cami and Gus. Gus had come into town to visit Cami, and we were delighted to share our celebration with friends over a wonderful dinner at Del Friscos. For New Years, Tyler's friends from home came down to celebrate, and we had a wonderful time with them as well. On New Years Day, Tyler and I left for Breckenridge, Colorado for a skiing trip with his family, a perfect get away after a wonderful proposal.

My dad has all the engagement pictures on his camera, but I will post them on facebook as soon as I get a hold of them. Happy New Year everyone!

2006 Fantasy Football Champion

Yes, the rumors are true. 'Snakes on a Plane' emerged as the VU Crew's 2006 fantasy football champion after a comfortable victory over Woody's 'Don't Call It a Comeback'. Some may call it a stroke of luck, others fate. But really, it all goes back to skill. After all, fantasy football is 90% mental and 40% physical.

I also need to take a moment and thank the person that made this victory possible...Mr. James McHugh. If he hadn't traded me Drew Brees, I don't know if I would be where I am today. Special thanks also go out to Tyler for making approximately 2,568 player transactions - even after his team had no possible chance of getting into the playoffs.

Can't wait until next year!

Engaged!

Just to let everyone know...Kendal and I got engaged last night. She is going to post all about the proposal and how I did it when we have a little more time. But she is officially my fiance!

Villa Pizza...

During my layover in ATL tonight I wanted to grab something to eat and, lo and behold, I see a Villa Pizza in Concourse E!! I actually laughed out loud when I saw it, thought back to eating that delicious pizza while at Vandy, and hopped in line. It was everything I remembered, and more!! The only thing missing was eating it naked with Chad, Ted, Christian, and Wiese in our Towers suite.

I hope everyone had a very merry Christmas.

Much Love,
Fats

Da Bomb

For those of you who are interested, Stan "there's a da bomb on da bus" Overby not only just got accepted to his first law school, but he got a scholarship!

I thought some of you might be interested in dropping him a line.

I believe this is a very well deserved early Christmas present for him.

Hope everyone is have an amazing Christmas holiday!

CG

For you Alpha Males out there......

Since I'm stuck on this oil rig full of men for x-mas, I thought I'd pass along this amazing gift idea for those who are interested.

PS Simpson, if you try this you may come up a little short.....if I know your girlfriend that is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dmVU08zVpA

I hope everyone has a very merry xmas. I wish I was a little more accessible so I could call everyone for the holidays, but know I'm thinking of you all.

Intently trying to lower gas prices,
CG

Lanyard's Wedding

Hello folks. Sorry you haven't heard any updates from me - but if I had anything even remotely interesting to report, you would have heard it by now. Anyways, here is a run-through of Lanny's Wedding.

This past weekend I got to visit another great state of our blessed Union, Mississippi, to partake in Lanny's wedding. I flew into Nashville to meet up with Fatty and Wedemeyer before we started our glorious ride down to Jackson.

Surprisingly, the weekend wasn't the drug-induced, binge-drinking, group-orgy that I was expecting. David, Fatty, Tud, "Up-all-night" Overdyke, Deuce, and I stayed at Lanny's place which used to belong to his Grandma. Of course, Fatty had to ask where Lanny's Grandma was to which Lanny could only reply, "She's dead." Lanny also had several of his friends from high school staying there too: Kevin, Johnny, Eric, and Eric. It was certainly a motley crew. You had the religious, conservative Vandy kids (plus Tud and me) and the liberal, secular high school friends. I can't remember who coined the phrase, but someone said it felt like we were at a "middle-school dance" with the two groups hanging apart. That didn't last long as alcohol tends to make people more social. Anyways, Lanny's high school friends all turned about to be really funny guys and we certainly enjoyed hanging out with them. That first night we went out to dinner at the Julep, where Lanny bought a Mint Julep (he certainly was made fun of) and then went on over to an Irish Pub that actually had people doing the real Irish dancing. Needless to say, I felt right at home. We returned home and spent the rest of the night (5AM in the morning for some people) drinking, talking, getting to know everyone, and sharing infamous naked Lanny stories (Sigs: Tud and Lanny toothbrush cleaning, High School friends: nude bocce ball).

On Friday, us boys decided to grill out with Wedemeyer making some delicious burgers and Overdyke making some burnt, Chernobyl hotdogs. From there it was on to the Church for rehearsal. I was charged with opening and closing the doors for the bride once I had finished my ushering duties. Stacie, Lanny's fiance, was the field general getting everything in order and thinking up every possible detail for her wedding. Upon hearing that I was the door guy, she came running over and asked hurriedly, "Do you know what to do?" to which all I could reply was, "Um, open and close the door?" All the bride's maids thought I was hilarious and was about the extent of all the female interaction I had the whole weekend. Afterwards we went to the rehearsal dinner where the Sigma Chis all made some good toasts to our dear friend Lanny. The only actual inappropriate comment that was made came from Wedemeyer who was relating a "Got Crabs?" story about meeting Lanny. Lanny bought the groomsmen several books and bought the ushers a tie for the wedding and the book "The Zombie Survival Guide" which goes into great detail how to survive a zombie attack or to restart civilization in a zombie-infested world. From there, it was back to Lanny's house for more beers and another late night/early morning mostly talking about the fact that Lanny would be fornicating in less than 24 hours.

The wedding went very well although Fatty screwed up the seating for Stacie's family which caused a chain reaction so that practically none of her family was sitting where it was supposed to. Everyone was making fun of us ushers beforehand because we were discussing, planning, going over, and strategizing how we were supposed to seat people (I think we literally spent at least two hours thinking about this) yet we managed to screw it up in the first five minutes. Lanny seemed very cool and collected, if he was anxious, he never showed it. Stacie looked beautiful of course. Apparently there was an awkward homily or something about people, like homosexuals, ruining marriage, but I had entered Catholic-Church mode and, hence, was daydreaming and wasn't paying much attention. The reception that followed was at an art museum which lasted only a couple of hours. Afterwards, we met up with some other Vandy people at Whataburger (YES! Officially my favorite fast food restaurant) and then headed down to a bar that Lanny had rented out for everyone. Around midnight, Lanny and his bride got in their car, which by the way was covered with inappropriate shoe polish drawings and sayings, and drove off to their honeymoon in Gatlinburg (spelling?).

I told Lanny that Grant and Nordin would say congratulations if they were available. Gus managed to call to talk to Lanny inbetween trying to get some ass up in Chicago and I passed on congrats from Cami and Susan to which he wanted me to thank all of you for.

Special thanks to Fatty for being a good sport and doing a lot of driving (both down to Jackson and doing some DD duties). I think I covered all the basics, although I did leave out the stories of men showering together (Sadly, I do have pictures), terrible Houston-based gangsta rap, the car crash, and the "Love Cannon." Perhaps another time.

Hope things are well and that life is better than the alternative (read: Cleveland). Word on the mean streets is that we should have 12 more inches of snow before Friday night. Yay.

U.S. ARMY = ....

Uncle
Sam

Ain't
Released
Me
Yet

HELLO!

I finally made it to a computer! From what I hear my sister has been pretty good about emailing yall and letting everyone know what I've been up to. Props for her. Thank you to everyone who wrote me letters and/or sent my sister emails to print out and send to me (Kendal, Tyler, Ashley, and KMO!)

Anyways, things here are going well. I graduated from basic at noon on the 1st of december and then an hour later I was on a bus southbound for Ft. Rucker, AL. It was a 12 hour trip and we arrived around 2am Saturday morning. Right from the beginning things were much different than basic training. A warrant officer came to pick me and one other guy up and he was nothing but helpful and informative as has been everyone else here. The attitude is much more about the team and not the individual like basic training was so that has been a huge relief. It is a pretty interesting mix though because you have some people like me who are attending this school straight out of Basic Training, and then you have people that have been in the military for 6 or 8 years however we all wear the same rank now and will all graduate with the same rank. The ones that have been in for longer understand that fact and don't try to boss us around, and us new guys realize that they have a lot of advice to give so there is already the beginnings of a good working environment.

My Warrant Officer Candidate School (WOCS) class starts official the day after tomorrow. We get locked down at noon tomorrow however which is the deadline for reporting for class. From what I hear this isn't really a tough school and you have to try really hard to get kicked out. The only reason people don't make it through is if they have a problem with their security clearance (I already have mine cleared so no worries there) or they can't pass the PT test (again, no worries). So barring anything else I should be commissioned as a Warrant Officer 1 on February 7th, 2007 and start flight school sometime after that. UCLA will be my home for the next two years or so. Oh yeah, UCLA = the Ugly Corner of Lower Alabama.

I have x-mas vacation too! I have from the 20th of December until the 2nd of January off. After browsing over the blog i haven't seen that many New Years ideas being thrown around but i would still like to see if there is a group getting together somewhere. Let me know! Unfortunately as you can see i have to be back at Ft. Rucker the day after new years so i probably won't be in my normal Rock Star status but that's ok.

Anyways, here's my new address that's good until Feb. 7th in case yall would like to write me:

WOC Ryan Grant
1st WOC
CMR 3 Box 15275
Ft. Rucker, AL 36362

I should have access to my cell phone through monday evening but after that I think they take them away from us until we earn the priviledge i guess. Oh well. But afterwards I should have limited nightly access to it to make phone calls and such.

I'm glad to hear that everyone is doing well and had good thanksgivings. I wish you all the best for the upcoming holiday season and i hope to be able to see as many of you as possible. I'm sorry this post is almost all business but rest assured that I have some pretty cool stories from Basic that i'll share with yall as soon as i get more time in front of the keyboard.

Cheers,
SGT Grant

p.s. yeah... i got promoted to sergeant already.

What are you thankful for?

In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, I thought it would be nice if we all gave each other a little insight into each one of our lives, particularly what we are most thankful for. I'll start! :)

First and foremost, I'm thankful to God for blessing me with such a wonderful life. I'm thankful for my parents who have provided me with anything and everything I have ever needed. I can only hope that one day I can give my children the love and care that they have given me. I'm thankful for my brother. He has a heart of gold and never allows himself to get caught up in materiality. He has a free spirit that I truly admire. I'm thankful for Tyler who has been the cornerstone of my life for the past 4 1/2 years. As much as we joke with another and pick at each other, he is the love of my life and I have no idea how I got so lucky. He supports me in all that I do and his undying faith in us moves me every day. I'm thankful for all of my friends who support me in every endeavor I take on, who are always there when I need a shoulder to cry on, and who include me in their lives and all the wonderful things that happen to them. I'm thankful for men like Ryan and Nordin who put their lives on the line so that I can live mine freely and fearlessly. I'm thankful for the opportunity to pursue a career that I love. I'm thankful for my health. All in all, I'm thankful for the life I have blessed enough to lead and pray that I can make the most of what has been given to me.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and I look forward to hearing about what you all are thankful for!