Hurricane Season Is OVER!

HOW 'BOUT DEM HOKIES?!

This past weekend, I traveled to my beloved Blacksburg, Virginia to watch my Virginia Tech Hokies take on the Miami Hurricanes in football. I was so looking forward to this trip because it had been over a year since I had been back to the 'burg. My former roommates at VT and I had been planning this trip for several months. We chose a great game, booked a hotel, bought our tickets, and got excited for our return as alum's!

My best friend Jenny and her boyfriend Kirk offered to drive me down eaaaaarly Saturday morning. We left NoVa at 5:30am and arrived in rainy Blacksburg around 9am. Plenty of time for tailgating and fun... even in the rain! We met up with our other two roommates from VT, Amy and Julie and their boyfriends. Several of our close friends at VT also came by the tailgate to visit. It was so great to see old friends and catch up in what we all called home for several years. I miss Blacksburg a lot. I wish I had really taken advantage of the short time I had there. But it is so nice to have great friends to go back with and visit.

Needless to say, the weather was not the most ideal for a day of tailgating and football. But we popped up our tent and enjoyed ourselves regardless. It was POURING throughout the duration of the game, but I have a feeling the Miami Hurricane fans were A LOT more wet and cold than we were :) The rain actually gave our football team a HUGE advantage, and with the rowdy Hokie crowd in full effect in ponchos, we pulled off a MAJOR upset! My #11 Hokies absolutely destroyed the #9 Miami Hurricanes. LET'S GO HOKIES!

I can't explain how great it was to be back with my Hokie family in my Hokie home for the weekend. I'm hoping I get another chance to get down there this year... but until then...

LET'S GO........... HOKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Mikaela!

Just wanted to take a moment and wish one of my bestest friends a very happy 26th birthday! I have been lucky enough to know Mikaela since 7th grade. We met in middle school and became best friends throughout high school, college and the real-world. Mikaela is one of the sweetest girls I know, and she is ALWAYS down for a drink or two :) She is a fabbbbbulous special ed teacher in a local high school, loves her Boston College Eagles, and loves to have fun with her friends. Here's a few pictures of Mikaela and I throughout the years, including some shots from her birthday celebrations in downtown Washington D.C. Hope your 26th year is a great one Mik!

Virginia Tech vs Alabama ~ Chik-Fil-A Kickoff Classic

The college football season has officially made it's debut for the 2009 season. My best friend, and former freshman year of college roommate, Lindsay and I are die hard Hokie fans and are ALWAYS willing to travel the country to show our Hokie Pride. This year, Virginia Tech had the honor of playing Alabama in the official Chik-Fil-A Kickoff Classic in Atlanta, GA.

Lindsay and I flew out of Reagan National airport Friday night and arrived in Atlanta around 10:30pm. One of my best high school friends had a good family friend who lived in Atlanta and had offered to put us up for the weekend. Mary and her boyfriend picked us up from the airport and showed us to our home for the weekend. They were both so sweet to offer us a place to stay, a bed to sleep in, and a key to come and go as we please! We visited with them at their apartment and then headed to bed early to rest up for Saturday.

Saturday morning, we woke up early, showered and put on all the VT apparel we own. We headed out to find a Starbucks and some breakfast at the CNN building in downtown Atlanta. After breakfast, we headed to a bar called Ted's for some early tailgating. Here we are getting the day started.
After, we headed to find some fellow Hokie die hards at their tailgate. We spent most of the afternoon visiting with friends and anticipating the kickoff of our first game of the season! I was so glad that our friends were willing to make the trip right along with us to support our Hokies.
At about 5:30, we began to head towards the Georgia Dome to stop by and visit a few more friends before heading into the game. I was so excited to meet up with one of my former roommates from VT, Bethany. Bethany and her husband, Kawika, live in Florida so I rarely get the opportunity to see them. In fact, the last time I saw them was at their wedding last summer! It was so great to catch up and relive some college memories in Atlanta.
Finally, it was game time. We headed into the Georgia Dome to jump for Enter Sandman, lose our voices to support our defense, and cheer as loud as we could! It was a great game. Our Hokies gave it their all. Our defense left it all out on the field, shutting down Alabama's best receiver, getting the best of their QB, and forcing crucial turnovers. Our special teams returned a kick-off for a touchdown, and held their incredibly talented return man to very few yards. Unfortunately, as has been in the case in the past several years, our offense couldn't put together enough scoring drives and our Hokies came up short. Alabama won 34-24 :(

It was a great game by all. Alabama was the better team on this night and looks to have a great season ahead, so far living up to their #5 ranking in the country. Despite the loss, I am so proud to be Hokie and proud of the heart our boys played with on this night. No analysts, commentators, or other fans gave Virginia Tech any chance to win this game... but we fought hard and were in it every step of the game. It hurts to lose such an important game after such a great fight, but I am once again, SO proud to be a Hokie.

Here's to winning out the rest of the 2009 season in what I can only hope turns out to be a GREAT season for my Virginia Tech Hokies. Hoping to travel to a BIG BOWL GAME in January!

Kenny Chesney

One last hurrah for my cowboy boots! Last Saturday, August 29th, a fabulous group of friends and I traveled once again to Nissan Pavilion for our last country concert of the summer. It also happened to be my last outing before officially reporting back to school. We had a great time eating good food, having a few beverages, hanging out with good friends and listening to awesome music! I was so excited to see so many of my friends at this concert. I had friends from college come tailgate, friends from high school, and new friends from my new home in Centreville come hang out. It was a great blending of friends and a good time had by all. I am officially putting my cowboy boots away until next summer, but here's one last YEEEE HAW to wrap the summer up, Kenny-style...Andy and I

Julie, my college roommate, her boyfriend Steve, and Jeff

Highschool Friends- RJ & Paul

Singing along with Kenny Chesney!