Monday, November 26, 2012

Game 5 & 6: JMU vs Georgia State/ODU and Airplanes

I am obviously blowing it at blogging. I cannot explain how tired, exhausted and busy I've been. But then again, there is no excuse for leaving y'all, my dear readers, hanging in the balance, wondering what I've been doing with my life. Y'all have been wondering, right? Right?!

Well let's go back to the beginning when my busy-ness began. On Tuesday, October 23, I boarded my first real airplane (I had been on a small one sophomore year of college when my friends when skydiving) to Detroit and then boarded another plane to Louisville, Kentucky for a work conference. After a couple of days of being busy all day and little sleep, I headed back to Virginia, via two airplanes again on Friday, October 26.
I then worked in Richmond until 7:30 and drove all the way to Dinwiddie to see my niece for her first birthday! Then I finally got a little bit of sleep, woke up with a cold, and drove to JMU for Homecoming. 

I was completely sleep-deprived for the game and deathly ill (well I felt like death)...so I took very few photos. We did win the game so that was great.

Then I drove home that night in anticipation for Hurricane Sandy. Hurricane Sandy didn't devastate much here in Central Virginia. It did get me out of work early and allow us to go in late one day. I ended staying in Richmond one night with Patti's aunt and uncle to help make my commute a little shorter.

Game 6 vs. Old Dominion took place on November 17. Because my cousin, Travis, attended ODU, I decided to take him with me! The game was a good game; however, JMU came up short and Old Dominion took the win. The weekend was still fun since Patti, Ben, Travis and I got a hotel and stayed up late, eating and telling all of our crazy JMU stories. 

So basically I blame my lack of photos from the last two games on my deliriously tiredness, sickness, and cold! 

But I will be better! I promise! :)

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Game 4: JMU vs. W&M

Game 4 versus William & Mary took place on October 13, 2012. I, as usual, worked late on Friday afternoon, so I opted to drive up to Harrisonburg on Saturday morning. Since Patti would not be attending the game due to her boyfriend's ill-placed birthday weekend (How dare he have his birthday the Monday after a game day weekend?!), I would be making the trek to the 'Burg alone.

I started my Saturday at 8:30 a.m. and I was exhausted, having gone to dinner late with two girls from work. So my goal was to get ready, make it out of the house early and make a stop at the Green Valley Book Fair on the way to the game. Don't you worry, I accomplished all those goals! :)

The Outfit


Tank top, Old Navy, < $6
 Scarf, Old Navy, $10.99
Shirt, Gap Outlet, $10
Jeans, Levi's, Marshalls, $19.99
Boots, not pictured, Target $34.99

The Tailgate

After I finally made it to JMU, after going to the book fair and the Outpost (to get my game day button), I finally parked and headed to campus. Actually, more like rushed to campus. Until I found out that Patti's family was not at JMU yet. (Yes, I hang out with my best friend's family when she is not there because they love me.) So I headed to P-Lot for a good time with the P-Lot crew. 

Then when Patti's family got there, I headed to the other end of P-Lot. This weekend was extra special because Patti's cousin, Stephanie was attending the game. Stephanie goes to the enemy school Appalachian State so I don't see her nearly enough! I also finally got to her boyfriend, Ben. (Seriously must find me a Ben - both Patti and Steph have one.)

Steph&Tiff
Anyway, we were way into our tailgating so we actually missed the first quarter of the game. Good thing too, because it was the worst quarter of the game and the game only got better from there.

When I finally got to the game, I was greeted by my game watching company: Tyler, Steve, Matt and Tony! I hadn't seen Tony since Homecoming last year so of course pictures were in order. 
Me & Tony
The Game

So because of my prolonged tailgating, I missed Justin Thorpe's interception. At one point, we were down 14-0. But then began the most exciting game ever! With seconds left in the fourth quarter, the game was tied 17-17 and W&M had the opportunity to seize the game. Half of the student starts to leave and I am saying to Matt, "Where are they going? This is going into overtime!" 

The student section started chanting something that I could not understand and then JMU called a timeout to ice the kicker. It was after that timeout that I deciphered what the student section was chanting.



Billy Cundiff. Billy Cundiff. He missed that field goal and as I predicted, this game was going into overtime.

So in case you don't know the rules of college football overtime. Each team gets the ball on the 25 and gets a chance to score. We won the coin toss and elected to defer. Our defense worked hard and only allowed William & Mary to score three points. Then we got the ball on the same 25 yard line and we only could get a field goal. 

With the game tied again at 20-20, it was time for double overtime. We went down to the 25 on the side of the field. This time we had the ball first and we scored a touchdown! Then W&M got the ball and they also score, though a illegal touching penalty was called and we all thought hoped that their touchdown wouldn't count; however it did. 

Then they decided that they were going to go for a two point conversion to win the game...and they didn't get it. It took me a minute to realize that we won the game but after I did, there was lots of jumping and screaming!

Another game that kept my heart racing! JMU plays Richmond @ Richmond and I'm hoping for another win!

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Game 3: JMU vs Towson/Roomie Reunion

Game 3 took place on Saturday, October 6. Because the game was taking place two days after Patti's birthday, I headed up to Caroline after work on Friday. Patti and I then drove to Fredericksburg to meet Ben and his little brother, Jake as were taking Jake to his first Division 1 College Football. We met the boys at Target and then headed over to Cheeseburger in Paradise for lunch! 

Because it was Family Weekend, it was going to be an early game - 1 p.m. So we headed to bed not long after we got home from Fredericksburg because I had my alarm set 6:15 a.m.

The Outfit
Shirt, Forever 21, ~$8, Scarf, Old Navy, $10.99,
Jeggings, Target, on clearance for <$15,
Boots, Target, $34.99


                                            

My favorite outfit of the season so far. I don't think I will outdo this one easily!

The Tailgate

Since it was an early game, we had breakfast for our tailgate! Patti's family always makes the best food! We had pancakes, potatoes, bacon, and sausage!

Then for what I had been waiting for! This game was the first game that all 4 of the 13-I (my senior year apartment) girls would be attending since Fall 2009. We hadn't all been together since May 2010. Let me introduce you to my roomies!


Tyler, me, Natasha, & Patti
I could gush on and on about how much I love these ladies but I won't! I see Patti fairly often (if you're a reader you know this) and Tyler and her boyfriend have season tickets with me so I've seen them a lot recently. However, I had not seen Natasha since Homecoming last year so I definitely may have squealed when I saw her! 

The Game

Because the first two home games were on the boring side, this one just had to be exciting! It came down to the last two minutes but JMU walked away with the victory, 13-10! It was also Coach Mickey Matthews' 100th win!

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

STATE of aFAIRs

Before I get to the meat of this post (which you can probably guess the subject matter if you're smart enough), let me go off on a tangent for a second.

First we have the official unveiling of my 101 in 1001 days list. I first saw one of these lists on a girl that I went to college with's blog and I've been struggling to make my own - that's why some of the things on my list might be dumb. I finally completed making the list. Hopefully it will provide for some new adventures and some exciting blog posts! I've already done some of the things on the list so I need to cross this off.

Speaking of completing things on my list, that brings me to the subject of this post. Because of the 3-week break between the home games at JMU, my weekends have been kind of low key lately. 

So one day last week, I decided that I was going to do something this weekend with some of my friends because I miss hanging out with them. I called Patti up and we were brainstorming. I said, "Let's go to the State Fair," not really thinking she'd go for it. She went for it. Apparently neither she nor Ben had ever been to the state fair of Virginia. 


Not having been since I was in middle school, I took it upon myself to take them to the State Fair! Because Patti lives like ten minutes away from where the fair takes place, on Friday after work, I headed to the lake, stopping at Martin's on the way there to buy our discounted State Fair tickets! When I got to Patti's, we waited for Ben to get there and played with Lola, since Patti was also dogsitting this weekend!
Lola Loca loves me!

Sweet Caroline...
When Ben got there, Patti made us tacos for dinner and then I preceded to fall asleep on the couch while we were all watching tv because I work way too hard! 

On Saturday, we got up and went to the State Fair of Virginia! I went equipped with my camera but then realized that I had left my memory card in my lap top! Epic fail on my part.

The first thing we did when we got to the fair was visit one of the petting zoos. I enjoyed petting the goats who were super excited to be fed; one even tried to eat my raincoat!


After the first petting zoo we headed into the main section of the fair. The first show we saw was a tiger show, that featured 5 real live tigers! Tigers are one of my favorite animals - I think the whites ones are just so pretty. 

Look how tall the tiger is. Ignore lady and child that showed
 up in every one of my photos. Why am I so short?!
After that the rest of the fair was a whirlwind of events. Ben watched a freak show. Patti and I shopped in the little booths. We walked by rides that were way to expensive to ride and too scary. Ben attempted to win us prizes. He failed. Patti and I attempted to win ourselves prizes. We failed.
Note to self: Skee Ball is NOT my game!
We partook in the eating of fair food! By the way, funnel cake is my absolute favorite part of fairs, amusement parks, football games, etc.
Once we got through the main part of the fair, we headed over to the agricultural side, where we saw tractors, large pumpkins and another petting zoo. This is where I felt at home! We saw two baby cows that had been born at 5 a.m. that morning!
This pumpkins weighs 452 pounds. No big deal.
After walking around for a few hours, we decided to end our day at the fair.
Yes, we took this on our way out. We're a little backwards.
All in all, it was a fun trip! I think Ben and Patti enjoyed their first State Fair of Virginia experience. And it's something I can cross off my list!

Have you ever been to the State Fair, or any fair? What is your favorite part of fairs?

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Happy Autumnal Equinox!

Happy Autumnal Equinox, everyone! Saturday was officially the first day of Autumn. Now everyone knows that I am totally a Spring and Summer girl but even I am excited about Autumn this year. Why, might you ask? Let me list the reasons! :)



Football - NFL Football, College Football. What else are fall Thursdays, Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays for?
Source

Fantasy Football - As you know, a couple of weekends ago I drafted this fantasy football team. Also, I Patti drafted a fantasy football team for my office. I look forward to defending my title and for making a name for myself in my office league.

Fall Fashions - I spent the last two days shopping. There will be a whole blog post on the fashions of fall that I am excited about! Don't you worry!

Road trips - I didn't do that much traveling this summer due to my getting adjusted to my new job. But don't you worry, I am all set to make up for it this fall. With my season tickets to JMU football, I am set for at least 4 more trips to Harrisonburg. Also I have a couple more trips up my sleeve. Stay posted!

Thanksgiving - I love food! I love my family! Enough said.



Cooler temperatures - So remember how I do not have AC in my car? With the onset of cooler temperatures, I don't have to worry about nearly dying during my 40 minute afternoon commute home from work!

What are you looking forward to this fall?

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Game 2: JMU vs Alcorn State

The weekend of the second home JMU football game was definitely more of a whirlwind for me than the first weekend. I worked wayyyy later than I supposed to the Friday before the game; therefore, I did not drive up until Saturday morning. As I was driving up, I heard on the radio that there was a threat of inclement weather. But I wasn't going to let that stop my fun.

The Outfit
Yes this was taken in the bathroom
Outfit: Yellow T-shirt (JCPenney < $10), Purple mini skirt (Rave, forever ago, don't remember the price)
Not pictured:   Shoes (Converse, Journey ~$44), Shoelaces (Journey, I can't remember the price. <less $10.) 
Earrings (a gift from my sister, maybe from Rue21)
The Tailgate
Since Patti and her family were not attending the game, I met up with Steve, Tyler, and Danielle as soon as they got to Harrisonburg. They picked me up on campus and we headed downtown to grab lunch at Capital Ale House, which I had never eaten at before. Here, admire this photo of the burger I ate.
BTW, that pickle on top was not a regular pickle. It was like a relish pickle. Ew.

After lunch we headed to campus. After making a couple of stops, we made it down to P-Lot to hang out with that crew, which was fun. I got to hang out with some people that I'd only seen briefly the week before and we got to introduce Danielle to our friends. 

Thomas and I
I didn't take as many pictures as I did Week 1 because I was having too much fun and running my mouth (Imagine that).

The Game
So remember when I said that there was a threat of inclement weather. Well it poured while we were at lunch and they ended up postponing the game until 7 p.m. That just meant we had more time to tailgate. 


The opposing team had the same colors as us, which was very confusing, and had driven all the way up from Mississippi (make sure you say that with a Southern accent). I hope the drive was worth the loss they suffered, 42-3. Again this game got boring so we all ended up leaving early again. I then headed to Jeremy's to celebrate his birthday with him and some close friends!

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Game 1: JMU vs. St Francis

The Outfit
This year I decided to go hard or go home, spirit-wise. First off, remember when I talked about the cheerleader bows that the VCU cheerleaders wore in their hair during that basketball game I went to?

Well a friend bet me that I wouldn't wear a big JMU-colored bow to the first home football game. Does he even know me?

I bought some JMU-colored ribbon and my coworker who is a former college cheerleader made me an awesome bow to wear to the football game! 

Here's my first football game outfit!



Outfit: Shorts (Mossimo, Target $15). Tank (Forever 21, $3.80), Shirt (Rue21, ~$12), Shoes (Converse, Journey ~$44), Shoelaces (Journey, I can't remember the price. <less $10.)

The Tailgate
After fantasy football draft, Patti, Ben and I met her family in P-Lot for some tailgating. I love tailgating with Patti's family because they love me and because they always have awesome food! They come prepared! Patti and I helped assemble chicken and shrimp kabobs in between taking tons of pictures!



I also headed down P-Lot to tailgate with some of my favorites.


The Game
I purchased season tickets with my old roommate, Tyler and her boyfriend Steve. Our tickets are on the student side. At first, we were a little disappointed but then we considered how much excitement there would be sitting near the students.

At least that's what we thought. Our seats were in the middle of a bunch of people that don't stand up. Seriously. JMU scored their first touchdown and Tyler and I jumped up on our feet to sing the fight song loudly. No one else stood up. I was sure that people behind me had to be on their feel. I turned around. No one else was standing up. 

Thank goodness, Matt and Danielle came and rescued us and took us to the student section with them! Which was awesome to be where people actually stood up and to be in the midst of purple and yellow streamers flying. It was the first time I'd been in the student section since 2009 (gosh, I'm so old).

Anyway, according to Tyler, this team, St. Francis, had not won an away game in 37 years. I thought she was exaggerating but after watching them play I think she may have been right. At halftime, it was like 41-0. We all ended leaving early (which broke my heart a little) because the game got really boring. The final score was 55-7.

All in all, it was an amazing opening weekend to JMU Football. I can't wait to see how the rest of the season pans out. 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Fantasy Football Draft 2012

I can be super competitive. Know that. That's why the Saturday before last I partook (is that even a word) in one of my favorite end-of-summer activities: the annual Harrisonburg Fantasy Football League draft. 

I've been participating in this league for 4 years. The league has been around for 6 years. I am currently the reigning fantasy football champion.


On September 1, at noon, we gathered at our favorite fantasy football drafting location, the Buffalo Wild Wings in Harrisonburg. This year our league was made up of 8 teams, all of whom were present for our live draft, with the exception of one, which led to us having a celebrity drafter. That celebrity drafter happened to be:

My birthday twin!
With the help of your awesome sticker girl, Jessica, we all successfully drafted our fantasy teams. I had the 8th draft pick while Jeremy had the number 1 draft pack. Patti drafted 7th, which often caused problems when we tried to share her boyfriend consultant, Ben.

Jessica and I


Anyway here are the members of my nameless team!

Matthew Stafford, QB Detroit Lions
Steven Jackson, RB St. Louis Rams
Stevan Ridley, RB New England Patriots
Marshawn Lynch, RB Seattle Seahawks
Victor Cruz, WR New York Giants
Antonio Brown, WR Pittsburgh Steelers
Jermichael Finley, TE Green Bay Packers
Ravens D/ST
David Akers, K San Francisco 49ers
Dwayne Bowe, WR Kansas City Chiefs
Kevin Smith, RB Detroit Lions
Philip Rivers, QB San Diego Chargers
Robert Meachem, WR San Diego Chargers
Denarius Moore, WR Oakland Raiders
Kenny Britt, WR Tennessee Titans
Michael Bush, RB Chicago Bears

This league is one of two fantasy football I am participating in this year. Here's to hoping I can have a good season with both!

Do you participate in fantasy football? Who are your favorite players to draft?

Monday, September 3, 2012

Ways You Can Tell I Am Obsessed With My Alma Mater...

First, I hope everyone had a good weekend!

Before I get down to the nitty-gritty of this post, I want to mention something. Did anyone else remember that Thursday (August 23rd) was the one year anniversary of the Virginia earthquake?! Now onward to the subject of this post!


***

It is no secret that I love all things JMU. Seriously it was the best four years of my life and I cannot imagine (nor do I want to) where I would be without all of the people I met there, the experience I had, and the life lessons I learned. 

There are a couple of sure signs that let you know that I am obsessed with JMU. Use these to judge others that you think are obsessed with JMU too!


-My toenails will be painted JMU colors the entirety of JMU football season.
-Also, I will wear purple, gold/yellow, or JMU attire every Saturday that JMU has a football game.
-I have started to only buy purple and yellow clothing items.
-I own more purple nail polishes than any girl should.
-I have purple Converse All Stars, that are super sweet.
 
-I get super excited when I see anything JMU flavored colored and when I see JMU items.
-I can find JMU things anywhere!
Patti and the JMU license plate we found in PORTLAND, MAINE.
-Everyone who knows me knows I attended JMU and that I love love love it.
-I have a cat named James. He had a sister; her name was Madison. 
-I own a JMU class ring and I've worn it every day since I got it back in October 2008.
-I have the JMU Sports app on my iPhone. I also have The Breeze (our school newspaper) mobile app. 
-I once had the JMU fight song as a ringtone on my phone.
-I love my school's marching band! 
-I once had a JMU theme on my BlackBerry.
-I went to a "Would you be my friend if..." party dressed as the Over Spirited JMU fan and I consider wearing that outfit again sometimes.
-I will argue that JMU is the best university in Virginia and not accept no for an answer.
-I have a strong need to be friends with people when I find out they went to JMU.
-I have JMU season football tickets and I am so excited!

How do you show love for your alma mater?

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Summer Savings

I hope your week as started out wonderfully!

This past weekend I had my first couponing success. I've never actually watched that Extreme Couponing show that comes on TLC (...I think that's the right channel) but I fully support the idea. I like saving money and I am excellent at hoarding things. And best of all,   I love cutting out coupons. I find it relaxing; it's the best part of getting the Sunday newspaper (I am being an awful journalism major right now).

Back to the shopping trip. I have been coveting this customizable planner from Staples for several months now, hoping it would go on sale. (I hate paying full price for things, call me cheap if you'd like and prepare to be amazed). I also recently became a Staples Rewards member.

Did you know that if you turn in your old ink cartridges to Staples you get $2 back for each of them (not on the spot)?  You can turn in up to 10 a month. So one day after work last month, I turned in 6 ink cartridges. I've been patiently awaiting my $12 back in rewards that finally arrived last week.

I also get emails from Staples and they went me a 20% of any one item coupon. With both of these awesome discounts I decided that it was time.




The planner in the center is the one that I have been conveting. It was $14.99. However, there was a buy any customizable notebook and getting a polycover customizable notebook (valued at $7.99) free, which is how I ended up with the green notebook! I needed a water because I have no AC in my car and I was super dehydrated; it was $1.69.

Blue leather notebook                    14.99
Green polycover notebook               7.99
Buy one, get one deal                     -7.99
Subtotal                                        14.99 
20% off                                          -3.00  
Subtotal                                        11.99
Water                                            1.69
Subtotal                                        13.68
Staples Rewards                            -12.00
Subtotal                                          1.68
Tax                                                 0.07
Grand Total                                               1.75 

Yeah, I totally paid $1.75 for all three of those items. Essentially that's as if I bought the water by itself and got a .01 cent discount on it.

Needless to say, I felt pretty accomplished. So I celebrated my spending way too much money at Target. Ugh, maybe I don't understand this saving money thing after all!

What are your thoughts on couponing? Have you ever attempted it? What's your greatest couponing success?

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Winding Down and Gearing Up

Another weekend has come and gone. Every Sunday I spend some time winding down from my busy weekend and gearing up for the work week ahead. 

This Sunday I had a lot to wind down from. This weekend included attending a baby shower for one of my best friends from high school, eating dinner with my family, and hanging out in Richmond with one of my newest friends!

One of my first Sunday activities was one that I normally do every Sunday - paint my toe nails! I always wear closed toe shoes to work, but I can't stand not having my toes painted. So I opted to partake in this activity while finishing watching "21 Jump Street," featuring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum.


Today I also took the time to straighten my hair while watching some HIMYM (That's "How I Met Your Mother" for you all not familiar with the acronym) on Netflix. That took a couple of episodes. :)

More relaxing despues the hair straightening
After I made myself presentable, I headed out to do some shopping for some staples I am going to need for the week -- mostly food! I did need to pick up some school supplies for the fill-a-backpack-for-a-needy-kid thing we are doing for work. 

Shopping purchases
Going to the grocery store hungry is never good and I was craving all sorts of crazy things! For instance, I really wanted some salad! With little tomatoes!



Now I really should be asleep but I can't stop watching the Closing Ceremony of the Olympics. I plan to watch this for a little and then paint my nails quickly before bed!

What do you do to wind down from your weekend and gear up for the work week?

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Weekend in the Outer Banks

The weekend before last I spent some time down in the Outer Banks with my family. They has been there all week; however, due to my big girl job I had to settle for a shorter stay.

I've been going to the Outer Banks since I was one year old and have vacationed down there on nine separate occasions, if my counting is correct.

Though I've been there so frequently, this past weekend I had some new Outer Banks experiences. My family rented a place in Corolla, which is on the north end of the OBX. I'm used to staying much further south around Kitty Hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Heas, etc.

Our house was a mile from the Currituck Lighthouse which was one of the lighthouses in the OBX that I'd never had the opportunity to visit. So they saved their visit to the lighthouse until Saturday so I could go too! In my reading about the tourist attraction , I learned we could climb the lighthouse for $7 each.

Guess who convinced her whole family that this was a good idea. Hint: It was the same girl who is afraid of heights, gets dizzy easily, and has a slight fear of stairs. Note to self, if you go 214 stairs up, you have to go down 214 stairs. It was an amazing, heart-racing experience.


Corolla is also home to a long stretch of beaches only accessible by 4x4 vehicles. Also, I found out that just over 100 wild horses live on these beaches.

Anyway, on our way down to where you can actually sit on the beach, guess what we saw on the beach! A DEAD SHARK! Terrifying, right?

On another note we did see some of the wild horses. It was amazing! You have to stay at least 50 feet from them but I got some nice photos!


On Sunday we did some souvenir shopping. JMU was well represented at the Outer Banks and I bought it all up! I also got my annual Brew Thru T-shirt which is a must-have every time I go to the Outer Banks!



All in all, it was an awesome weekend and a good break from my big girl life.

What's your favorite beach to go to? What are your favorite things to do at the beach?