ALL IN!

Can't express how pumped I am for the SEC Championship game this afternoon. In two short hours, the (#1)Auburn Tigers will compete against the (#19)South Carolina Gamecocks for the 2010 SEC Title. The result of a win for my alma mater would be a trip to the BCS National Championship Game in Arizona this year.

Unfortunately, I am working today and will be interviewing sorority members for officer positions next year. However, I have internet and you can be sure that I will be watching every play possible. My last few interviews (the ones after kickoff) are aware of my infatuation with Auburn, and one of the girls I will be interviewing is even an Auburn fan! Her mom is an alumnae of my chapter, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind watching a few plays before her interview if the game is getting intense (which I anticipate it will)!

WAR EAGLE!

It's GREAT to be an AUBURN TIGER!

Boda Getta

Boda Getta

Boda Getta Bah

Rah Rah Rah

Sis Boom Bah

Wegl Wegl

WAR DAMN EAGLE

Kick em in the

Butt Big Blue

HEY!

It truly is GREAT to be an Auburn Tiger! Yesterday I spent the day surrounded by thousands of football fans in an amazing atmosphere with best friends. Despite the freezing cold and wet weather, tailgating carried on as it does each week, but this time we were in Tuscaloosa for the greatest rivalry game (in my opinion), the IRON BOWL. If you don't live under a rock, then you are aware that yesterday my #2 ranked Auburn Tigers defeated a #11 ranked Crimson Tide Alabama team in the 75th match up of these teams. The game was what I would call intense and at times very disappointing (for both sides). Auburn managed to come back from a 24-0 deficit to beat the Tide 28-27. I can honestly say that I have never been stressed out over anything more than I was yesterday (and over a college football game). ha!

This rivalry, like most, has a long history and support of fans with a deep passion for each respective team. Not just the team, but the fans have a special dedication to the game and contribute to the atmosphere and love of the sport of football. Even people not from Alabama can respect the rivalry between these two teams, and I look forward to this week every year. At times it seems that the fans of these teams are more scared of the losing outcome than looking forward to the celebration of the win. Fans on both teams, like any good Southern team, display acts of common southern hospitality; however, both teams also have those obnoxious rude fans that don't know where to draw the line between common decency and their competitive nature. I like to think of rivalries as a friendly competitive encounter in which someone will be extremely happy at the end of the day, and the other will be extremely pissed off. My sister, Bridgett, went to the University of Alabama (and was a cheerleader). My mom, both of her parents, my dad, my youngest sis, and I all attended Auburn University. When it comes to football games involving Auburn or Alabama, we have always supported both teams, but this week everyone took their sides. There were a few fun text exchanges between Bridgett and I during the game:

Me (pre-game tailgating) - "War Eagle from a Crimson Tide tailgate."

Bridge - "ROOOOOOLLLLLL TIDE ROLL!!!"

Me (during 1st quarter) - "-10 yrds...that's a first!"

Bridge (before half time) - "You enjoying this game?"

Me - "Ummmmm" "No."

Bridge (AFTER the game) - "So I guess you liked the outcome of the game!"

Me - "Haha. yea, it was def better than the first quarter!"

And that's about how the day went. I rode to the game with my bestie, Jordan, and Lcook. We left with Ms. Cindy at 4am so that we could hit up a little Black Friday shopping before heading

to the tailgate. Luckily because we're so crazy, we missed ALL of the traffic. Between 5:30am and 7:30am we managed to make it to 4 stores before deciding it was time for some football. While shopping in ttown, we were all in our Auburn game day attire (including AU face tattoos). We encountered many "Roll Tide"s and the occasional comments. My favorite comment was from the dude at Best Buy who told us that it would only cost $200,000 to walk through the door. Funny. Once we arrived to the tailgate spot, we began setting up shop (since we arrived 30 minutes before all the bama fans). The Hackberry High Tiders welcomed us to their tailgate to hang out and watch the game, and the fun comments began immediately.

Auburn wasn't allowed to have our traditional Tiger Walk, so instead of letting that hold us back, we crowded the gates cheering for our team anyway. It was nice to see the fans who came out despite the weather. While waiting for the team, we ran into an older Auburn couple, and the gentleman was wearing an old "Beat Bama" button. I asked him how old it was, and he responded, "Old". He then informed us that this was his 52nd consecutive Iron Bowl to attend!!! THAT my friends is dedication! After cheering the team into the stadium, it was time to make our way back to the tailgate to catch the pre-game shows and find our chair for the game (ohhh and to get about 2 blankets each and bundle up because it was freezing...but I think I've mentioned that). =)

As the game was about to begin, one lady told us that as long as Bama was winning we could stay and watch the game, but when they were losing we would have to go. I jokingly commented, "Oh. Should we just leave now then?" Everyone laughed, and the Auburn fans loved it; however, maybe I shouldn't have opened my mouth so soon (especially now knowing how the first half played out). Of course, since Auburn did trail for the majority of the game, that meant that we were welcome at the tailgate, according to the opening remarks stated before the game. After the game was over, my friends and I were extremely happy. We may or may not have ran down the street jumping up and down high fiving other Auburn fans (tactfully of course). The people at our tailgate were less than thrilled at the outcome of the match-up, and were furiously packing their dishes and chairs into their cars (as I'm positive I would be doing had things ended differently). So we decided it was probably time for us to do the same, and get on the road to beat the traffic. While loading our coolers and chairs, a kind gentleman wearing crimson and white approached us and simply said, "Congratulations on the win. Your team definitely wanted it more tonight, and I will gladly support your team in the SEC Championship and hopefully the National Championship as well." We all thanked him for his kind words and all agreed that he was a true example of a fan with class, unlike the people throwing chairs at our tailgate.

The thing about rivalries and football is that every team is going to have those fans who don't show that class (Auburn and Alabama both), but it's so great when you run into the fans that do. Hopefully more people will learn to be the later of the two, and learn how to enjoy the game while also having that competitive team spirit. I hope that had we lost the game, my friends and I could have shown the same class of that gentleman to the Alabama fans around us. I am so proud of the guys for getting focused and fighting hard for that win, and I wish them all kinds of luck next week in the SEC Championship game! It really is GREAT to be an Auburn Tiger, and I believe in Auburn and LOVE IT!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Bowl

On the Rolling Plains of Dixie......

Last weekend was officially the best weekend ever! After you leave a place like Auburn, you always miss it, but you never truly realize how much you miss it until you go back to visit. Last weekend was my homecoming, not because that was the weekend set aside by the university, but because every football weekend is homecoming in Auburn. The energy in the atmosphere is contagious and inspiring. The people are welcoming and know how to have a great time. The fans truly BELIEVE in Auburn, and LOVE it!

My journey home was an interesting one (I expect nothing less for my life). I was preparing to leave the University of Illinois around 3:30pm to catch my flight at the Champaign Airport departing at 5pm! Getting to the airport was my first challenge, because none of the girls at the house had a car. Around 3:45pm I was lucky enough to get a ride and head on my way! As I was checking in my bag, I was told that it was 5lbs overweight (shocker) and that the flight had been overbooked. They were asking for volunteers to ride a cab to Bloomington, IN to catch a flight from there to Chicago, where I would then be able to catch my connecting flight to Atlanta. Seeing as how this wouldn't delay my arrival to Atlanta, and I would be receiving a $300 travel voucher, I figured I might as well volunteer. The flight was leaving in about 45 minutes, so I had to go through security and wait at the gate to see if everyone showed up for the flight. Turns out everyone wanted to make their flight that day, so I received my travel voucher and a voucher for the cab, and then I headed off to meet my yellow mini-van chariot.

The cab ride to Bloomington was a slightly awkward experience. Good thing this job sort of prepares you for awkward. My cab driver was Chatty Charlie, and felt the need to share his life story with me. I guess I did prompt him by asking why he chose to drive a cab for a living, but I was not expecting the response I got. He even said, "Well, since we have an hour I can give you the full story!" Luckyyyyyy me! Here's my condensed version of his life.....He's from Boston, went to a small college, fell in love, moved to another school for her, got his heart broken, moved to Illinois with one of his buddies, drove cabs, likes to go on trips, works half the year to make money, spends it on trips the rest of the year....Winner! But he's happy and enjoys his life so more power to him; however, after this story he came across as a little creepy and I began to fear for my life. This is where my over dramatic nature kicked into gear and I began to envision Charlie driving off into an Indiana cornfield to murder me. I could not force these thoughts out of my mind, no matter how hard I tried. While my heart raced as I feared for my life, I texted my friends and told them that I love them, and that no matter what may happen to me that they should keep on partying. Where these thoughts of being murdered in a cornfield came from, I will never know. Maybe it was the result of too many scary movies, and the fact that I was sleep deprived at the moment which made it easier to fabricate a false sense of danger in my mind. Whatever the cause, when the cab drive glared in the rear view mirror and said, "Almost there! If I can remember this shortcut correctly," the panic became too much for me to handle. I quickly took a survey of my surroundings and google mapped my exact location. Turns out that we were in fact close to the airport, so I had convinced myself that in the event that Charlie took off into an unexpected field I was fully capable of running away (despite the heels I was wearing). My luggage would unfortunately have to remain behind, but since my phone charger was in my purse I felt it would be smart to at least bring that along with me. In the end, the hyped up sense of danger was unnecessary. I arrived with plenty of time to the airport, and managed to catch my flight to Chicago! I eventually made it to Atlanta at 11:30pm, and headed off to AUBURN!!!!!

The two hour ride from the airport to Auburn seemed to last for DAYYYYS! But soon enough I arrived just in time to greet the BOTE boys (and Robbie, Cory, Ryan, Megan, and Kelly) and walk over to OBaG! I sure have missed all of those people and the fun times we always had together. On Friday, I got up and went to see the old office and eat lunch with Gwen and Elizabeth. I've only been gone a short 4 months, and it feels like I've missed so much. I spent the rest of the day running errands and preparing myself for the great game the following day. Friday night we had dinner at Mikata (because it means FUN) and a girls night out to celebrate Katie and Matt's engagement. We surprised her with a candlelight (orchestrated by the fabulous Jordan Jones) and then headed downtown to cause some trouble.

Saturday morning came very quickly, but it was gameday, so we woke up ready to go as if we were kids ready to open our presents on Christmas morning (or at least that's how I felt)! At first when I was getting ready I was a little stressed out that my face tattoo was in my purse in Jordan's car, but she came to the rescue by dragging my purse to the tailgate for me. As soon as I arrived, my first order of business was to put on the face tattoo and grab a cold snack. I never realized how much exercise you really get on a game day, until I was walking around in my boots attempting to meet up with everyone I needed to see while in town. I feel terrible because I didn't get a chance to see everyone I wanted to, but there's always next time!

For anyone who didn't get a chance to see the Auburn/LSU game, it was AMAZING! The Auburn Tigers totally DOMINATED, and Toomer's corner definitely got rolled! I don't think I could have picked a more perfect game to attend! As sad as I was to leave on Monday morning, I know that soon I will get to go back and see all of my favorites! But for now things couldn't be better. I have great friends, an amazing family, a wonderful job, and the rest of this year is going to pass so quickly.

This weekend I will be in Chapel Hill with Allison, the next weekend I get to head down to Baton Rouge for a weekend with my sissys, then I spend two weeks in Iowa before heading back to Auburn for the weekend before Thanksgiving! After a week break for Thanksgiving (and of course a little Iron Bowl action) I will be traveling back to my girlies at East Carolina to finish out work for the year. Closing out 2010 will consist of my 25th birthday in Indy (BRipple here we come) and two weeks at home with the fam for Christmas. The new year plans are still up in the air, but I'm sure it will be a time to remember! I can't believe that 2010 is almost over, but I can't wait to see what 2011 has in store for me!

Auburn Bound!

I can't believe this day is finally here! In a few short hours, I will be picked up from the Atlanta Airport by my sissy, and taken to Auburn for a much awaited vacation. This summer when I was debating how to use my vacation days, the first resource I checked was the Auburn football schedule. Homecoming was an option, but when it comes down to only having 7 vacation days this semester(and weekends count as vaca days) I knew I wanted to spend my time with good friends and watching a great game! LSU weekend was the obvious choice, because no matter what I know I will have a great time (friends with me last year in Baton Rouge remember those all you can eat hot dogs and pulled pork sandwiches? BecauseI do!). I have waited for this day to come since the last week of June and that seems like FOREVER ago!

I woke up this morning to 3 texts from friends telling me how excited they are that I'm coming back in town. Then I talked to more people online about it between my meetings today, and since then have received another 8 messages from people telling me I had better come see them. THAT is why I miss Auburn. The people I met during my short time (6 years haha) there are some of the best friends I could have ever made. Growing up is such a strange and exciting experience. Most of my conversations these days involve, so where are you now? And that isn't always them asking me. Most of my friends from Auburn are slowly graduating and starting their lives. I'm glad that we are able to keep in touch, and hope that this communication last past this year. The wonderful thing about a place like Auburn is that everyone loves to go back to visit! Everyone who attends school there considers Auburn to be their "home away from home", and although some of the buildings and the students change every year, the town and the spirit and the people never change! I'm proud to be an Auburn Tiger because Auburn has given me so much in life, and it's the kind of place you want to give back to!

This is why I can't wait to get back to Auburn in the next 10 hours! I believe in Auburn, AND LOVE IT!

WARRRR EAGLE! HEY!

Well, I've made it to the end of September! I'm sitting here in the living room of the Alpha Xi Delta house at The Ohio State University working on reports and following up with emails. I got here early Saturday morning just in time to see the Ohio State football game. The game wasn't that great, but the stadium and atmosphere of college football was amazing!



Being on this campus makes me really miss Auburn! All day Saturday I was receiving texts from friends in AU about the game and how I should be there. I miss the tailgates, Jordan-Hare, Body-getta, and toomer's corner! The house here doesn't have cable, so I was receiving text updates about the game from my sissy Steph, and I must say that it completely stressed me out in a good kind of way! WAR EAGLE!

I'm still looking forward to my visit to Auburn which is coming up in 23 days, 11 hours, and 48 minutes (but who's counting). I miss the atmosphere and people in Auburn. It is such a special place to be, and I think that everyone should witness at least one game weekend in Auburn at some point in their life. Here's a link to an article written by a South Carolina Gamecock, and it makes me very proud to be an Auburn Tiger! Check it out, and you will want to be there, too!

http://www.dailygamecock.com/mobile/viewpoints/auburn-hospitality-sets-standards-1.1648337