Homebody

It's no secret that I am outgoing. And I love going places that I've never been before. I was super excited when I received luggage for Christmas (and I got to mark something off my 101 in 1001 days list). 

My new luggage set

I spent the first two weekends of 2013 out of town. The first weekend, I headed up to Lake Caroline to spend some time with the best friend, Patti since I hadn't seen her since the last JMU game.

The second weekend of 2013 I headed down to Southport, NC to a wedding reception to celebrate the wedding of my birthday twin, which involved about 9 hours of driving alone in a two-period. 

So after two very busy weekends, I was perfectly content staying at home. In fact, most of the time I am a homebody. I usually prefer spending my Friday and Saturday nights wearing my yoga pants and watching Grey's Anatomy, which is what I did this weekend. Then I'm usually asleep by 11 p.m. and up the next day before 10 a.m. 

I'm getting kind of boring in my old age. Does anyone else feel this way about themselves?

Hello 2013!!

Hello all! Sorry for being MIA. I hope the holidays treated all of you well. At least this post is being written a lot earlier than it was last year by 4 days. 

I love the beginning of the year. I love new beginnings. It's like anything is possible. I know each day is always a new beginning and anything is possible all the time but they beginning of the year is just magical.

My favorite part about the New Year is tradition. Every year for as long as I can remember, we always eat "good luck" food on New Year's Day for dinner. Black eyed peas, stewed tomatoes, fat back, and cornbread muffins. It's a Southern thing, y'all!

So on to new year's resolutions...this year I decided to not make any. Basically everything I want to accomplish can be found in last year's New Year's post. Womp womp. Not that I didn't make any progress. I just want to keep making progress. 

What are your plans for 2013? Make any resolutions? I want to hear them!

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! :)

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!

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!

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?

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?