Military Bowl Game

Today I went to the Military Bowl Game East Carolina vs. Maryland in Washington D.C. Just to start out yes we lost. Now Maryland fans and ECU haters get over it. I didn't decide to make a post to complain about my team or the refs or the Maryland team. I still support my team. If we don't support them what will be their motivation to play? what will be our motivation to go to the games if we don't support them? I love my pirates and yes i would have liked to win, but I still support them.

My seats for the game were amazing. We sat in the very first row. It may not have been ideal to see every single play of the entire game, but we got to see most plays, but more importantly we had AMAZING views of the players!! I got to shake hands with Bowman, Giavanni Ruffin, and Williams, got to fist pound with Dwayne Harris, and shook hands with Head Coach Ruffin McNeil along with cheering on many other players. Going into the half as we were shouting let's go pirates and enter name here you can do it! they were like yes we can let's go! It was so exciting to see them listen to us and appreciate their fan base regardless of the score of the game.

It was a great experience and I have ton's of AMAZING pictures :) I will post them on facebook so if your are my friend, enjoy!!

I hope everyone is having a good week :)

Song on the Radio

Hey Everyone!

So today after my family finished wrapping presents...all got ready for church (which w/ 3 girls took like 3 hours) went to church, dinner, then driving around the Cary Bubble, a song came on the radio which brought me to tears.

As many of you know my Aunt Paula is serving overseas in Afghanistan. This has been very difficult on her being away from her baby girl and for all of us being away from her. We miss her dearly and wish she could come home to us for Christmas. But as she can't as well as many other men and women we wish them a safe and Merry Christmas.

This song came on the radio as we were driving around and made me think of my aunt and all those serving our country so we can celebrate this glorious day in peace.

Lyrics:

Another Year has come and gone,
And I'm still here holdin' on,
To this rifle and a picture of my kids,
They're sayin' its a holiday,
Sure as hell don't feel that way,
I don't think Jesus meant for it to be like this.

A Paper Star on a plastic tree

Cotton snow in a manger scene

We do the best we can to make it feel like home.
Turkey dinner on paper plates
Sargent bows his head to pray
Boombox playin' Silent Night

Camouflage and Christmas Lights.

There probably up on the hill by now
Bundled up and sleddin' down
Catchin' snowflakes on the edge of their tongues
Standin' up at the top would be
The prettiest girl I've ever seen
Whispering a quiet prayer for all of us.

A paper star on a plastic tree
Cotton snow in a manger scene
We do the best we can to make it feel like home.
Turkey dinner on paper plates
Sargent bows his head to pray
Boombox playin' silent night
Camouflage and Christmas Lights.

Some say I'm a hero
But I'm just a Dad
Who's trying to protect
The most precious thing I have
Someday I'll be home again
And our world will be right
But for tonight

A paper star on a plastic tree
Cotton snow in a manger scene
We do the best we can to make it feel like home.
Turkey dinner on paper plates
Sargent bows his head to pray
Thank God it's a silent night
Camouflage and Christmas Lights.

Merry Christmas to everyone here in the United States, and all those overseas. We love you and truly appreciate what you do for each and every one of us!

first semester

I think my first semester of college went fairly well. I wasn't too sure what to expect going into college but I've gotten used to it. Classes were different and the professors looked for different things that I wasn't used to. I wasn't used to being away from home and the most difficult thing was not seeing my sister.

I am very proud of myself this semester as far as grades went. All A's was a great accomplishment for me.

I really enjoyed getting used to the university and meeting a ton of people.

One thing I started doing was going to help out at St. Peter's Life Teen Program. I have helped out at St. Michael's during my high school years and I wanted to continue in college. I have really enjoyed the experience and getting to know the kids and adults involved in the St. Peter's community.

Over break I am glad to relax and have nothing to do. I've been hanging out with friends and family. I am most excited for christmas and the bowl game :)

I hope everyone is enjoying their break and gets to relax a little.

Christmas Break Plans

I know this is optimistic and I still have 3 finals but I thought I would share my plans for break.

First I will celebrate my birthday with my sister and family. My Aunt Lynda is coming down and for a few days. Then we will do our typical Christmas traditions...Mass on Christmas Eve and dinner at Carrabba's hopefully Sean will be our waiter (like that syd and mom). Then we open one present before going to sleep, usually me and Syd open each others. She will LOVE her present from me this year :) I can't tell you what it is because she reads this haha. Then we wake up...usually early cause of my puppy :) after we open presents we have brunch with Uncle Ben and Kate. This year I will probably go to Danny's grandmothers house for dinner with them.

On December 29th Danny and I will be going to the ECU/Maryland Military Bowl Game in Washington D.C. I will get to see my Aunt Lynda AGAIN and get to see my ECU PIRATES play one last time this season. I found it funny when I read an article that the Maryland coach had to beg their fans to buy tickets and come to the bowl game...IN D.C. We pirates on the other hand have already sold out our hotel and sold 6,000 tickets in LESS than a WEEK. Football is HUGE here and we have the best fan base :D

We're the Purple and Gold, We are the PIRATES of ECU! Hey!

Jimmy V

I think everyone needs to watch this at some point in their life.

Being Jimmy V week I thought that I should post this.

Watch and be inspired.

Every Jimmy V week they show this at some point. My family watches this together and we all usually end up with tears in our eyes having lost many people in our family to cancer, and because of the fact that as he is accepting this award and dying from cancer, he is still positive and inspirational to everyone. It is important to support the Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuoVM9nm42E

God Bless.

end of the semester

The end of my first semester of college is coming quickly. With less than a week of classes left and a week of exams, I almost can't believe how fast time has gone. I have 4 papers in my way before the semester ends, then 3 exams. Although I am nervous about finals, and obviously going to be stressed, I am just trying to take it day by day. After my last final December 15th, I will have a month off with nothing to worry about.

Looking back on my first semester I am pretty proud of myself and how I transitioned from high school to college. Getting used to a roommate, being away from my family especially my sister, and dealing with a different workload took a lot of getting used to. I worked hard and have good grades in my classes. Even though I worked hard in class I also had fun outside of class as well. I am not a huge partier or drinker and have not gone downtown to date. Yet I still have fun with my friends. I enjoy movie nights, and even just sitting around talking. I have met so many new people and made friends.

Football games have probably been my favorite part of college thus far. Coming from a high school that lost all its football games, this season was pretty successful in my eyes. I love the school spirit shown by students, athletes, and even the coaches. The best thing I have seen from Ruffin McNeill is not how much he changed our team rather the fact that he walks across the field to hurt players. You don't see that much from head coaches anymore.

I ask for your prayers and support for these last few days of class and finals. I look forward to seeing all my friends and family over the holiday break.

Thanksgiving (2)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope everyone has a great day with friends and family.

I saw on the news that the military who are not able to join their families whether they are overseas or here in the states, they are having a feast of their own. The upper ranking people are serving thanksgiving dinner to the men and women who are serving our country. I like this idea. My aunt, being in the military and in Afghanistan, seems to have enjoyed the experience. Although she, probably more than all of us, wants to be home with family, is making the best of the situation.

I, myself am about to head out to Uncle Ben and Aunt Kate's for dinner. We will hang out and cook the rest of the food, have dinner and dessert then see a movie as we do every year.

This year, I am most thankful for my family. Being away from my sister especially has been very difficult and I am glad to be home with her for a few days, knowing that in 2 and a half weeks we will all be together again for christmas break. I am also thankful for Danny being in my life along with his family. He and his family have been great to me over the past year and half :)

I am thankful that Aunt Paula is safe although in Afghanistan.

Everyone, be grateful for what you have and don't take anything for granted.

Happy Thanksgiving and I hope everyone has a great day and eat a lot of food!

twelve hours

In twelve hours my neighborhood will begin it's annual fry-day. Every Wednesday before Thanksgiving, for the last several years my neighborhood (well street...well a few families) has gotten together to fry turkeys for Thanksgiving. There are precise mathematical calculations on how long to cook each turkey to it's full tastiness. After everyone's turkeys are fried, we then raid our cabinets and pantries and freezers to fry obscure and classic foods. The classics of course being french fries twinkies onions and candy bars...some of the more obscure have been butter, ice cream bars, pickles, among many others. This years addition: cookie dough and buttermilk pie. Buttermilk Pie is one of my favorite desserts for Thanksgiving...We always have to make it because it is often the only pie I will eat. This year for our fry-day experiment we made the pie (the recipe for the pie calls for no pie crust. we usually make it with one although for this we followed the exact directions). Tomorrow we will wrap it in pie crust dough and fry it. Stay tuned for how this turns out.

As weird as it seems this is probably my favorite tradition of the year. Especially now being in college it gives me a chance to see my neighbors who I don't see very often as well as getting to enjoy being around my family.

This is Danny's second fry-day and he will probably think we are all crazy but hey he's gotta realize it sometime.

While frying turkeys and other foods are good, it is important to note that the people who mess with the oil do so very carefully and don't mess around. They follow instructions on how to fry these foods so they do not cause damage to anyone or anything. If you plan on frying your turkey or anything make sure to use caution.

Stay tuned to see how our tasty foods turn out.

I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving and to all my fellow college friends have a great time at home with your friends and family and ENJOY the break from school. If you have school work do it but make sure you have a chance to relax and hang out with your family.

Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and eat LOTS of food :)

Thanksgiving

This week is Thanksgiving. As a college student I would say that this Thanksgiving I am most thankful for not failing out of college, ALMOST surviving my first semester, and having this lovely holiday where I have a chance to finally relax for a few days. I know most people say their family, their house, or their possessions...but after the last few weeks of crazy group projects, papers, and other assignments I think most college students would agree we are thankful for the break we get before exams and a break from the craziness of the semester.

Only two days (2 classes) left before I can go home to see my sister who i haven't seen in forever, my Aunt and Uncle, and the rest of my family :)

I hope that everyone has a great holiday with their family and friends.

to write love on her arms

Today is "To Write Love On Her Arms Day"

It is a day to show someone you care about them in a simple and silent way. You never know who needs your support and is suffering. Today might be the day they need to see that someone cares about them. Pray for all those who are struggling, and those who are struggling, be strong.

If you care to support these people, write love on your arm today and tomorrow.

update

Hey,

I started this blog a few years ago but really had no reason for it.

Now that I'm away from college I decided to restart this because I am away from home and I don't get to give updates as often as I can.

College is going well and I really need a break. Thanksgiving break can not come fast enough.

first off to everyone who doesn't know I go to East Carolina University and am a Pirate :)

I love the college experience and am making a lot of friends.

I am trying to still get used to the whole blog thing.

Hope to keep you all updated.