Sweet Home Aggieland

This past Saturday, my dad treated my family to an Aggie football game! We have been talking about attending a game as a family since the twin and I were freshmen, so almost 10 years! Since my middle sister is graduating with her masters in May and my littlest with her undergrad, this was the last football season to do it before every kid was a former student. It was well worth the wait!

The Aggies played UTSA, and I was glad we went to one of the games we were slated to win by a landslide. It's more fun to watch them win than lose. ;) As much as I love our team, they can be unpredictable, so a low-profile game was perfect. 

Just being back in Kyle Field is nostalgic in and of itself, and I found myself missing Parker something fierce. So much of our history as a couple happened in that stadium, and he would have been over the moon to be back. One day! My twin and nephew also stayed back since he's still so little, so we really missed them too!

We took a selfie before heading in. Everyone was pumped up to watch the Aggies play! Despite how sunny it was, it was actually quite cold at the beginning. It had warmed up by the end though! My little sisters and mom looked adorable in their Aggie game day getup, but I resorted to leggings and a sweatshirt. I used to love looking cute for game day, but at 6.5 months pregnant, that was as good as it was getting. 

 We had a great view of the yell leaders, which are our version of cheerleaders for those not familiar. We love the yell leaders!

One of my favorite parts of the game was watching the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band perform at halftime. Our band is very different from most college bands. I don't really know how to describe it, but it's just different and I love it. When the band is ready to perform, the whole stadium yells in unison "Now forming at the North end of Kyle Field, the nationally famous Fightin' Texas Aggie Band!". We love our band!

 We won the game, but it was hardly a shutout like it was maybe once predicted. We won 23-10, so thank you Aggies for pulling out the W while we were there! Thanks to my dad for making the experience possible! I loved getting to see the Ags play with some of my favorite humans. 

Group shot of everyone! It was a fun, Aggie-filled day that we will all remember forever. Love this family (the people pictured and those not) so much!

The Boy Behind The Blog: College Football Edition

It's been a couple of months since Parker graced this blog with his presence, so today, the boy behind the blog is back! We take college football pretty seriously around here, so I thought it would be fun to do a little college football-themed questionnaire. We are hoping the Aggies do well this year but are just excited for football parties and another fun season! So with that being said, here's a bit from the boy behind this blog...

Questions and Answers (my responses to his answers are in gray):

1. What is your favorite Aggie game day tradition?

Stepping off on the quad with the band marching by after eating a plate full of BBQ.
The quad is wear the Corps of Cadets live and march from to the field. The band is loud and amazing and leads the march, but not before we have all eaten some of the best BBQ I have ever had!

2. What is your favorite Aggie game day memory?

Being up there with Chelsea every game, sweating our butts off, freezing our butts off, standing our butts off, and yelling our butts off.
Yes to all of the above! The weather was typically scorching not counting the last couple of games of the season, and Aggie students stand for the entire game. Not kidding. The only time we sit is after our band has played at halftime. You typically get a good 8-10 minutes to sit per game, but the whole thing is just the best!

3. Is there a game that sticks out in your mind as the most memorable win?

When we beat Nebraska and everyone rushed the field at the end.
Easily the best game we ever experienced. Nebraska was ranked above us and favored to win. It was our last home game as students, and the Aggies pulled out the win in the last few seconds of the 4th quarter. Everyone rushed the field and was hugging, yelling, and just going nuts. Such an awesome moment!

4. Would you rather sit on the bench for a division I team or play quarterback for a division II team?

Quarterback for a division II team. However, if the division I team was Texas A&M, I would sit on the bench for the Aggies.
This is a fun little hypothetical that he has asked me before, so I thought I would dish it right back out.

5. What are you most looking forward to this football season?

A defense

Preach! We didn't so much have that last year.

The countdown is on and we are ready to cheer on our Ags all the way from Virginia! Who are you rooting for this year?

Favorite Place On Earth

I sat down the other day and tried to think of my favorite place on Earth. I had to get up for multiple snack breaks in the process before I finally decided on a place. We have been fortunate to get to live and vacation in some pretty cool locations, so narrowing it down to a clear favorite is easier said than done. I even called my twin sister to ask what she would say since we basically have the same brain, and her immediate response was Disney World. Some kids never grow up. Kidding, Disney World is obviously one of the greatest places on Earth, and I did try to convince Parker that we should honeymoon there. He didn't go for it. Weird. 

Anyway, there are so many places that are near and dear to my heart, but one place stands out. It's a place I get giddy about visiting anytime I am there. It's a place that hosts a flood of memories that I hope I will have forever. It's a place where I grew up and found myself. My favorite place on Earth is Aggieland.

source

Texas A&M University is our home. It's where Parker and I met. It's where we met friends that will be friends forever. It's where I went from a self-indulgent 18 year old to a semi-responsible, functioning member of society. I feel like I really became the person I am today in those 3.5 years in Aggieland. Here are a few throwbacks from that magical, wonderful place.

Bid day with my twin sister... the day we found out we would be Delta Gammas!

 4 years of football games with this handsome date. There is nothing more exciting that football season in Aggieland!

So glad Delta Gamma gave me these girls. So much love. 

Navy/Marine Corps Ball every October with the same old date ;)

We were engaged under the century tree at Texas A&M. Tradition says if two people walk under the tree together, they will be there forever. From the day I got to Texas A&M, I hoped that was the way I would get engaged. It was perfect.

The ending of an era and the beginning of the next. Parker commissioned in Aggieland, and we moved to Pensacola to start our military journey days later.

I asked my sponsors what their favorite place on Earth is, and I loved reading their responses. Check it out below!

Blog / Bloglovin / Facebook / Pinterest / Instagram

Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter / Instagram / Facebook / Pinterest

Blog / Bloglovin / Twitter / Instagram / Pinterest

What is your favorite place on Earth?

So Long Aggieland, See You...?

I want to thank you all for all of the sweet comments, texts, Facebook messages, and prayers we received after Friday's post. I feel very blessed by this community and am humbled to know so many people are praying for my family. So thank you :)

Onto the weekend...

Apparently Parker and I just can't get enough of the car. After our third travel weekend in a row, the car is feeling like a second home. That said, it was another great weekend that I wouldn't take back! Saturday was Final Review in Aggieland, so Parker and I ventured back to our alma mater so he could see the guys that were his freshmen when he was a senior take their final pass as seniors in the Corps of Cadets. To sum it up, Parker is old and he now doesn't know anyone in the Corps. Cue a sad, sad husband.

Parker with his freshman circa 2011 (Parker is on the far left)

He also got to reunite with some of his buddies that he hasn't seen in over a year, so that part was awesome! While Parker relived the glory days, I hung out with my sisters who so graciously took a break out of their finals studying to babysit their older sister. Can't beat it! We also got to spend the evenings with my parents and do a little double date night. Dinner and a movie with your parents may be lame when your 15, but it's the cat's pajamas when you're an adult!

Being back at Texas A&M is just a cool feeling. I've found that the older I get (I realize I sound a tad ridiculous since I am only 25, but let's roll with it), the more nostalgic I am about the past. Closing a chapter to start a new one is bittersweet. Nothing brings a more overwhelming sense of nostalgia for Parker and me than being back at A&M. Parker and I loooove being Aggies, and Texas A&M will always be so special to us. After all, it is where we met and fell in love. When all is said and done, it will always be the place where our story began. This was our last visit to our school for the foreseeable future. We won't be able to just drive up for a football game from Virginia, and that's okay. We will be back someday, and I sure hope it's sooner than later.

So long, Aggieland. Not sure when we will see you next, but we will be counting down the days! On the flip side, if we don't take another picture like the one below for the next few weeks, it will be alright by us. Jenny's face says it all.

We Bleed Maroon

This past weekend, we went home to Aggieland. We had tickets to the football game and were excited for a weekend with my sisters. It's a rarity that we are all together these days! Family and Texas A&M are about as good as it gets in our books.

 Can you tell which one is my twin? We all look pretty darn alike in my opinion! (Littlest sister Faith, me, twin sister Danielle, little sister Natalie)

The football game was against UT El Paso, and the Ags won 57-7. It wasn't much of a nail biter, but it was still a blast to get to see the Aggies play. There are a lot of opinions about Johnny Manziel from the world, but I have to say, seeing him in action is really fun. He is one talented quarterback and I am glad he has represented Texas A&M for the past two years. It was an evening game, and we did our best not to freeze to death. It only got down to 50 degrees, but we are from Texas! We don't do cold. This game also happened to be the military appreciation game, so I was super psyched about that! It was neat to see how many veterans and active duty were present when they asked them to stand up.

Parker and I always get nostalgic going back to Texas A&M. So much of us is on that campus. It's where we met, it's where we fell in love, and it's where we got engaged. It's where our story began. Something about this trip was different though. We were still nostalgic and commented on every different landmark and its associated memory, but we really took it all in this time. This was our last football game for the next few years. This time next year, we won't be in Texas, and the luxury of getting to drive up to our alma mater will disappear. Our football stadium is getting a makeover for the 2014 season, so this was our last time in the old stadium. Our first date was in that stadium, and we can't wait to bring future little ones to the new stadium. 

Life is moving quickly, too quickly sometimes. We are growing up. Our lives are changing, and Parker and I are moving onto bigger things. One thing I can confidently say through all the uncertainties is that Texas A&M will always be our home. Aggieland will always hold a special place in our hearts. We will always bleed maroon.