College Football Dynasties

To be in an argument about being a dynasty team in college football your name would have to appear somewhere in the top ten of this list. I like the look of this report for my team.
Check it out! http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/12/25/gallery.dynasty/content.12.html

Half Marathon Run and Bama's SEC Championship Win

Last weekend was a great one when it came to wins! I was able to finish my first Half Marathon in a time of 2hrs and 20 min. I hope that I get a better time in the future but for my first one I will not complain. It was soooooooo cold the morning of the run. I could not feel my feet or fingers for the first 3 miles of the race! The atmosphere was great and the cause was awesome. St. Jude thanks for putting this together for the runners in and around Memphis. Awesome time. Big thanks to my brother-in-law to whom I'll give all the credit for keeping me going and helping me to finish my first half marathon! (Fred and I below) Thanks bro!

Secondly, the Tide Rolled!!!! Bama took on Florida in the SEC championship on Dec. 5th. The game was a great one if you were a Tide Fan. I loved every second of it. We had alot of our friends at our house for the game. Great food, awesome friends, and Bama rolling over the competition, it could not have been a better day! Needless to say after the game I crashed big time. This weekend was a great one!

I can not wait for my next race- and Jan. 7th when the Tide will meet up with Texas. Now for the first time since 92' the Tide will compete for the shot at their 13th national title. Come on Bama bring us a little peice of heaven back from Pasadena! Should be a great game! Ramma Jamma Yellow Hammer!

DEC 5 2009

I would add a little something about next Saturday, but I think that this vid created on YouTube sums up perfectly how I feel about Dec 5 2009

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving 2009 was a busy one! We had Sydney the weekend before Thanksgiving and it was jammed packed with fun! The better question to ask for this weekend would be, "What did you not do?" Someone asked me, "Zach, why do you fill so much into one weekend when Syd comes to town?" I laugh and told them, "You have to know her in order to understand it!" Things will slow down after the holidays. (we hope) Here are a few picks of some of the things we did this week.
We visited Priddy Farms in Bartlett Saturday morning and cut down our Christmas Tree!


We also got a chance to take our Christmas Pictures during the weekend.

Next...decorating the tree! If any of you know my wife, you would know that the ornament below represents!

We ask Syd to pick hers out this year and this is what she came up with,

We had such a great time listening to music and decorating the tree! Syd did such a great job, she didn't want to stop! Last we had a chance to go to Zoo Lights! So much fun!


Zoo Lights was awesome! We were able to do so many things together. Slide down the slides,And pet iguana's! (Syd was a trooper this night!)All of this equals one happy and tired little girl at the end of the night!

Sunday was a relaxing day at the Wiggs' house. I smoked my first Turkey and it was pretty good. We had some friends and family over and enjoyed a great Thanksgiving Dinner and relaxed. Great weekend! Hope for many many more!

Chick-Fil-A

I love me some Chick-Fil-A! I don't know what it is about a food stop that can make people patiently wait in line for food, but this food joint has figured it out. Last weekend during Thanksgiving (which I will post about later) showed me a hilarious song about Chick-fil-A.

My past weekend.

This weekend was a busy but good one. On Saturday I got to go and see my daughter and watch her play soccer. Syd had a soccer tournament that she played in and if she won on Saturday she would play in the championship on Sunday. Sydney and her team played great. They ended up finishing 2nd place on Sunday. It was great watching her and her team play. They really played great "team" football. Fun to watch 7 year olds do that.

After her game on Saturday night I was able to watch the TIDE ROLL over Miss. St. It was awesome to see how this team is playing. This is our year folks!

My least favorite part of the week was time away from my wife who was not able to make the trip b/c of work. I missed her so much, and spending one night away from her was too long. It was so funny sleeping without her. Even without her being there I still sleeped on my side of he bed!

After spending a little time with Sydney after her tournament was over on Sunday I was able to get back home and spend the rest of the time with Dan and Tami before they left the states. It was a bitter sweet time to be with them knowing that they were leaving and taking those sweet kids with them. It was so good hanging out with them over the past few weeks. WE already miss you and wish you a safe trip back!


After this fun filled week of travel I headed home and passed out! Looking forward to next week when Syd is here with us to kick off the holidays!

To shake a hand, or not to shake a hand? That is the question.

Over the last few months I have seen the simple hand shake become something that is viewed nasty to do, and I can't get my head around it. Why has this changed so much? Over the years hand shaking was your signature. It sealed deal and joined nations. The way you shook a strangers hand meant something. It almost told a story about what type of person you were. Why the change? Are people more sickly now than they were 25 yrs ago?

This has been something that I think overall is silly. The fact that we won't shake a hand anymore, but will happily partake in some of the following baffles me.

open a heavily used door at the mall (with bare hands)
flush a toilet on a bathroom stall
drink after a friend
drink from a public water hole
allow a dog to lick you in the face when you know where his tongue has been and you don't care.

We have become way too over-protective in my view. Have you ever just spent a day watching a two year old and all that goes into him. I have had the privilege of being around my nephews and niece for a whole weekend and watching at the way that they play and how they enjoy their food. After watching them for a full weekend I have come to this conclusion: shaking hands is alright.

Thoughts?

Great weekend in Paris TN

This last weekend Liz and I got to spend some time with family in Paris TN. I can not begin to tell you how much of a good time we had in the woods at Paris Landing. Being in nature during this time of year, you just could not ask for anything more. The reason I wanted to make this post is to say how thankful I am for having some of the most kind-hearted in-laws a guy could ask for. Not having any immeadiate family here in Memphis, it is nice to have in-laws like mine that I feel right at home with.

There is not a day that goes by where I am not so thankful for the family that I married into. You guys have truley accetpted me, and everything that comes with me, with open arms. There is a greatness to that, that I will never be able to fully show. I love you all and I am so greatful for you. Thanks for this weekend again!

A lot going on and no post!

Gosh the last couple of weeks we have had alot going on! There has just not been alot of blogging time because I been so busy. Last Saturday I was able to attend the Ole Miss vs. Bama game. The weather was so so but the atmosphere was great!

I would have been okay with just the game that weekend, but I got to see my daughter as well on Sunday! Sydney was in town last weekend! We had a great time at the house playing house. For her birthday, my inlaws purchased Sydney a large cardboard house for her to build and color on. We spent most of her visit enjoying her new digs. Here are some pics of that.

Overall it was a great weekend. I

Sleeping on the wrong side of the bed.

Have you ever tried this before with you spouse? I never really realized how big of a deal it is to switch sides of the bed after you get comfortable with one side. At the start of last weekend Liz and I decided to change sides of the bed and see how it went. We switched sides, and it lasted all of two days! There we so many things I took for granted. Being closer to the bathroom, being furthest from the light switch (so I wouldn't have to turn it out of course) and over all being on my side of the bed! When I was younger I would always over hear married folk talking and making jokes about my side of the bed. Well, I guess I again have hit another notch in the marriage trail! What about you? Do you have a side? Have you ever considered changing? Wonder if you could do it!

Visit to see the little one.

Last Sunday Liz and I made the trip up to see Sydney. It's so fascinating to see how big she is each time I see her. On the way home Liz made the comment that calling her "little one" on my Facebook status update may no longer be fitting. I remember the first time I held this little one in my hands. I was so young, so immature, so fragile with her. There was one thing I was not and that is ungrateful. She has been a huge blessing in my life and even though she's only seven, has taught me more than some adults have. To me she will always be "my little one."

Here are a few shots from the weekend. This one is probably my favorite. Hmmmm, wonder why......

We visited a park that we had never been to before in Cape Girardeau. The park was set up around a lake with a paved walk that surrounded it. And all around there were several activities for kids to do so we did them.

We walked on the rocks....

We played hop scotch.....Liz and Syd were just plain silly!

We had such a great time.

At the end of this trip we got a chance to check out one of this kiddos soccer games where she scored 2 goals! Over all it was a great trip. Being around my "little one" and my wonderful wife makes me so happy. This past Sunday was all smiles. I love you guys!

I got a feelin'

Oprah had her 24th annual season of her show this week. The show was aired in downtown Chicago and she had the Black Eyed Peas in town to perform. Oprah was not aware that the crowd had a surprise for her. It was really cool check it out!

Football Season Is Here!

Aside from my grass growing at a slower pace, and the heat being somewhat bearable, football season is here! I love this time of year. The tailgates, the food, the games, college football is upon us! Liz and I were able to get together with Angie and Bryan Ross for the opening weekend of this season. Two families cheering for their college teams can be wild! We had a great night. Bryan took care of us when it comes to the food and grilled shrimp that was simply amazing! We love getting together with the Ross's. Their family is so much fun. Listen to Luke (their son) talk about his "man juice" (his fathers cologne) while hitting on my wife was so funny! We had a great time watching the Tide roll over Va. Tech and enjoying each other company. We are so blessed to have friends like them who we can learn from, and thankful that we have some Bama fans to cheer with each year! Thanks guys for a great time!

Birthday weekend

Last weekend we celebrated the birthday's of my mother and my daughter. These two ladies really mean alot to me. I think that it is very fitting that their birthdays fall right after each other on the calender. (Moms-August 30th and Syd's August 31st) Although I did not get to spend any time with my mom (far right in picture with Liz and my sister Shandy on the left) on her birthday, we made up for it with all the fun we had with Syd.

I am so thankful for both of these ladies being in my life. For my mother, I was the first of four kids she raised as a single parent. Having Sydney I can only imagine how hard this would be. She stuck in there and made things the best she could for us and I really appreciate her for that.

And what can I say about my little munchkin! She turned 7 years old this weekend and I am so proud of the young girl she is becoming. Liz and I enjoy her company so much the weekends she's with us. It something that I cherish so much. Her birthday party this weekend can be seen on my wife's page. Watching her grow up these last 7 years has been so much fun. All the laughs, talks, and the hugs, will never be forgotten. I miss her so much when she is not here, love on her so when she is. We are so proud of you Sydney Carlene. Your unselfishness and your unique ability to warm the hearts of others is truely a gift from God.

In short these ladies are great to have around! I love you both. Happy Birthday!

If you could only eat three things everyday what would they be?

Last Wednesday night a few friends went to Memphis Pizza Cafe and Zach Cordell posed a question that I think is worth blogging about. If you could only eat three things everyday for the rest of your existence what would those foods be? What I want to know here is the main course.
After a week of thinking about this, I have come up with my favorite things!


Waffles or pancakes: I could eat waffles everyday. If I can throw in Toaster Strudel under the waffle group, then I am all in and would be totally satisfied with this pick. Warm butter, sweet syrup, and any topping would keep me going for years and years!



Hamburgers: I love em'! I could easily eat a hamburger everyday no problem. There are so many different tastes. Chilli's yum, Huey's awesome, and Backyard burger.....hmmm! Not to mention burgers on the grill. Burgers have a special place in my heart. I can remember a 6 mo period in High School where I ate a double cheese burger from BK everyday! Nice I know.

Lastly would be steak/chicken: I know that I am cheating a bit here, but there could be a toss up with both. I love steak- grilled perfectly (you know, the red stripe right down the middle) Mmmmmm Mmmmmm Mmmmm! Chicken is also great! I mean you can do so much with it. If I had to go with one or the other I would have to side with the chicken. Too much can be done with it. Its hard to get bored with chicken. One of my fav recipes: "Drunken Chicken"

Your turn. I am interested to hear it! Something to think about if you are ever forced into the situation!

Jack-n-the box

While Syd and I were shopping for some bday ideas for her upcoming birthday we came across a Jack in the Box toy. Sydney asked, "Daddy what is a Jack-n-the Box?" I smiled and said, "turn the wheel and try not to jump!" Here were the results. Let me know what you think. Did she or didn't she?

Got tha shoes!

Did a little shopping on Sunday after church. As I said in the earlier post a few days ago I needed some running shoes. I took care of that today. I took the advice of friends and went to Fleet Feet, they are simply awesome! They specialize in helping you pick a shoe that is not just cool looking, but one that actually allows you to be a better runner. They send you through a simulation where they place you on a treadmill and video tape you while running. During this run the tape allows you to see how your feet hit the ground. This is how your feet are fitted for the right shoes. Great experience. Check out the pick of the ones that I came out with.

Lastly I had to pick up some music. I am a huge fan of the slow stuff. Liz gave me a Father's Day gift to Border's Book store. I already had a ton of books that I haven't cracked yet so I decided to head back to the CD department. Glad I did. I picked up 2 great CD's. Miles Davis Greatest Hits, and Maxwell's Black Summers' Night.

Great soul music here. Miles is great to play when you are spending a weekday or weekend reading a book. Maxwell's Black Summer Nights is great for a weekend or weekday when you are with the wife. (get a baby sitter before you put this one in!) Just a disclaimer. You have been warned. I am just saying!

"Running Man Wiggs"

It is official. I am about to start training for the St. Jude Marathon on December 5th! I will be training for the half marathon and I think that it would be fitting to note that I am not a good runner at all. I actually tried to quit playing basketball in high school because my high school coach made me train with long distance running. Saying that, I am going to truely give this a go. My two brother-in-law's Lee Smitherman and Fred Shackelford are running in the race as well. Both are great long distance runners already so I won't see them too much during the race I am sure. (*unless it's the back of them!) I know how good cardio is for you and it is something that I need to get better at doing. I just don't like it. It is just hard. I am going to need some help and motivation along the way. First, I need to know what kinda shoes I need to get since I have none for running. Secondly, how much do I need to start running in order to not burn out? Lastly, what is the best time to run and what should my diet be before and after running. I start training next Monday so help!

Thanks in advance.

HIP HOP NAMES

Check this out and play it with your friends. My wife called this morning and told me that we should pick our child's name from this site. I think that we should!

My name was: MC Baby Thug Z

Here you go. Enjoy!
http://www.ideazoo.com/things/hiphop.cfm

What tha Davenport Happened Here!

It has been a long time since my last post and I promise that I will get better with my posting. I guess the first place that we can start is my birthday! I turned 29 years old on June 28th. Sydney was down for the weekend, along with family and friends from all over Memphis who came to celebrate. We ate burgers and hotdogs and hit the pool at the Shack's home. We had a great time. I got tons of really cool gifts for my 29th. My favorite was the the guitar my wife reluctantly purchased for me. I say reluctant b/c she has kindly labeled me as "One Track". This means that I have a great ability to get really focused on something and then in a months time or shorter that same focus will fizzle out til my next big thing. My goal now is to learn how to play the guitar and learn within the next year's time. I wanted this gift because I love music. And since its one of my passions I would like to learn how to play something. Liz doesn't really see it that way, so we will have to prove her wrong huh?

The weekend after my birthday we connected with a group of friends and traveled to Davenport, Iowa. If you are like me you are probably asking yourself why does anyone travel to Davenport? Well it was for a friend. Our pal JR Rozko was married 4th of July weekend to Amy Garrington. We left on our eight hour journey Friday morning and returned Sunday around 3 in the morning. It was a great being able to see a friend get married, but the drive was just brutal. Corn fields, corn fields ......a few cows......and more corn fields. The trip did come with a few laughs. The Iowa Machine Shed Restaurant was the scene of the story.

Looking at the resturant above it would be easy for one to assume that they probably served great iced tea right? Well they do, it's just not the great stuff that in the south we like to call, "SWEET TEA." After we were seated, drink orders were about to be taken. One of the girls in our group looked up to the waitress with a look of excitement in her eyes and said, "I bet ya'll have some good sweet tea here huh?" Being in Iowa of course they did not. The waitress quickly responded with, "No, but we do have Iced Tea." With a disheartend look on her face Allison paused and said, "Oh the barn threw me off." Hilarious! A week has gone by and we are all still laughing about that. In her favor though, it did have that feel. The look of the south, the feel of the south, and no sweet tea. Great memory and good time with friends.

Legends of Super Man

Fellas did you ever feel like you are him sometimes? Guys all of you have at one point or another ran around the house in your fruit of the looms, with a red sheet tied to your neck, flying around the house like "The Man of Steel." You could jump large buildings in one leap or stop a train with one bound. Over the last few weeks I have come to the sad conclusion that I am not him......Superman that is. A few weeks ago I burned my hand on lawn mower, then I damaged my knee playing basketball, and finally I skinned up my arm pretty bad sliding backwards down a swimming pool slide! Ten to twelve years ago I was totally convinced that I had super powers. There was nothing I couldn't do. Somewhere in between now and then I have ran into my kryptonite! Maybe its the great food that I have grown to love. Maybe its all the scraps an bruises over the years. Maybe its my old age! Its a sad statement, but my superman days are coming to an end! Tonight as I was picking shrubs out of my yard and felt the back tighten up a little as I bent down. My first thought was "Gosh I should have stretched before this." That comment was the last straw! I am here now. I have crossed to the other side. This comment is to my poor beat up body..........I have officially crossed.

Living Legacy

Over the past four weeks I have had and amazing opportunity to hang out with a group of ladies through a non profit organization called Living Legacy. Right now we are going through an eight week course teaching financial literacy. Through this class we learn about the importance of financial planning, saving, and spending habits and the effect these decisions have on our lives each day. Living Legacy is a non-profit organization that looks to bridge the gap between the homeless and people like you and I in our society. In this two year program the ladies come to the non profit totally broken....homeless. They sign on to this program with an agreement to get clean and change the course of their lives.

(Def. for HOMELESS: Having no home or haven. Think on that for a moment. Then picture this life with a child. You have the women of Living Legacy.)

Living Legacy takes it from there with programs such as AA treatments, financial literacy, job placement, housing, and many other sessions that help reshape the lives of these women and their children. This program is not an easy one for these ladies. Being reshaped and made new comes at a price and it takes a toll on the women that you would not believe.

During our last few weeks they have really opened up to me and often share fears they have with me. They fear what it will be like in the "real world". They question if they will fail and go back to being homeless? They wonder if they'll go back to an addiction? Living Legacy feels that their niche is to help restore confidence and overall trust in the Lord, so that when those temptations creep into their lives they will be strong enough to withstand them.

I have learned so much from this organization and these women. I've learned that Memphis has a ton of Living Legacies all over our city. Shinning glimpses of God's work being done. I've learned that brokenness does not have to define you. I've learned that if you ask for ways to help-you will get answers.

I am excited and thankful. Thankful that I work for a company that allows me this opportunity to seek out organizations and partner with them. Excited that I get to watch a group of ladies claim their victory over what ever bondage brought them there. I am blessed. If you have time visit the site.

Thanks,

Just in case you forgot

I know with all the Kobe-LeBron hoopla that has started over the last few weeks I just had to send out a reminder.

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This pic is a description of my wife's day.....

Liz and I were joking about this earlier today about how her day normally goes. This morning we woke up and saw 3 glasses staged exactly like this. I think that this sums her up completely. They usually start out with a cup of coffee, followed by water or green tea to stay hydrated, and some sort of Merlot to finish off the day! Gotta love it. It keeps her going thats for sure. Love you hun.

Cool Football Commercial

Some of you all may have seen this before. I hadn't and my friend showed it to me the other day. Enjoy

What a last few weeks!

Where do I began......? The last time I blogged I was talking about my little girls visit ti town. It was fabulous! I picked her up Friday at 4pm sharp at her home in Mizzou and I got her back home Sunday at 6. We had a ton of fun and so much of it was covered on Liz's blog that I am sure most of you have seen. She loved her room and thought that our house was cool! It was great to hold my girl in my arms for the first time in my home and let her know that she was safe with me as well.

Great feeling. See more here.

I have really been on cloud nine since. Liz's new venture has been going great. She just started her own site Elizabeth Wiggs Photography and it is awesome. Overall life is good. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers over the past few months with everything. It has been very helpful.

Thanks!!!!

Syd's First Weekend in Memphis

This weekend has so many different meanings for me. It would almost be too hard for me to explain. My little girl gets to come down to visit me and I am so happy about this. Ever since I held this girl in my arms, for the first time, when she was born, she has had a special place in my heart. Over the last six years of her precious life, that feeling has done nothing but grow. We are just so so so......excited about Sydney Carlene coming to Memphis and seeing a side of her dad that she has not really ever been able to fully see or maybe even understand. This will be her first visit here and I hope that we can make it a great one. Thanks to everyone who has had to listen to me talk about this little one but has never gotten to meet her. You will soon. She is a special person and we are excited about her getting to form relationships with the people who are special to us.

This is going to be a great weekend. I am excited about this. It will be just another weekend with daddy to Syd, and that is alright with me!

Weekend with Sydney

We had a really great time with Sydney over the last weekend. Besides the pool, the fondue, and the hid-n-seek that went on this weekend, there was a ton of junk food eating and silliness that made this weekend great. Sydney is a wonderful little kid with a great personality. It has been a honor watching her grow. She is only 6 now and sometimes I wish I could just hit pause here for a while, but the show much go on. You can see lots more pictures on my wife's blog. The last one I will post is a pic of Syd scoring two goals in her soccer game. Her first of the year and we were there to see them!!!! That was a blessing.....

We love you Syd!!!!

Man vs. Food

Have you ever heard of the T.V. show Man vs. Food? Well I hadn't until last night. My best friend from back home A.B. called me and told me to turn the tube to the Travel Channel. The show last night was based on a guy named Adam who travels to all the large US cities and grubs out at the most famous resturants in town. Last week he was in Memphis and hit up the hot spots which included Rendevous, Big Foot, and Gus's.

Here are a few clips from his Memphis Trip and some of his toughts of our City. Check him out on the Travel Channel weekdays Wednesdays at 8pm.

Go to his AdamVClips on the right hand side of the home page above titled "VIDEO." Scroll down to the Memphis clip called, "The Sasquatch Hamburger challenge!" IT is so funny!

Enjoy!

So far on our Istanbul Trip......

So far this trip has been great. The first three days of out trip have been covered on Liz's page. We spent pretty much all of yesterday out on the town visiting a ton of really cool places. Today I think that we are going to do the same. This is the first time that I have been on a vacation where it has not had to take place on a beach for it to be a true vacaton. Getting to see family and traveling across the world to do it has been awesome! Just wanted to also post some pics on my page of some of the sights we saw on this trip so far.