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?

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!

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. 

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?

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!

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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?