Nashville | Part 2

I blogged about part 1 of our little Nashville adventure last week and am excited to wrap up with part 2 today! I'm going to preface this post just like I prefaced the last one. Nashville is the coolest city!

Part 2 of our trip was pretty much centered around the Aggies (ahhh, perfection). Here's what our last couple of days in the music city looked like...

After a quick lunch at Robert's Western World Friday and some R&R at the hotel that afternoon, we were rejuvenated and ready to conquer the night!

Friday evening, Parker's parents drove up to spend the remainder of the trip with us! We still had my twin and brother in law, and Parker's sister and her husband would be joining us Saturday. We got to see so much family in this 4 day stint...winning!

After another yummy dinner, this time at Tin Roof, we walked around Broadway before heading to midnight yell. Midnight yell is an Aggie tradition where Aggies gather at midnight the night before a football game. It's been too long since we all got to experience a midnight yell, so knowing the yell leaders were going to be in Nashville to lead a yell practice had us beyond excited.

We arrived at Wildhorse Saloon for midnight yell between 9-10 PM. We had some time to kill until midnight, but thank goodness we arrived early! The building reached capacity way before midnight yell started, and there were Aggies wrapped clear around the building that weren't able to get in. Gotta love Aggie dedication!

We found a few friends and line-danced the evening away until it was time for the yell leaders to make their grand entrance!

Saturday was game day! Since the game was in the evening, we had the day to spend with family before heading to the stadium. My mother-in-law (Leigh) put together a special Thanksgiving lunch for all of us, which was beyond amazing. Thanksgiving was still a week away, but Parker and I knew we weren't going to get to spend it with family, so to get a bonus Thanksgiving with our family was a gift!

I also got to meet my adorable fur niece, Marley! She couldn't be any cuter, and I cannot wait for her to meet Jenny. Jenny girl is going to love having another cousin!

Love my Phelps family! These people are pure gold- so lucky to have married into such a wonderful group!

It was a 6:30 PM game, so we had a little down time to let our food settle before it was time to head to the stadium. We had nice weather most of our trip in Nashville, but we knew this evening would be the coldest yet. Yall, cold doesn't even begin to describe it. We all bundled up with layers upon layers upon layers and headed to the stadium. Aggie game day had finally arrived!!

We sat with Danielle and Logan, and Parker's family sat in a different section. I have to give credit to Logan for the awesome seats. They really couldn't have been better! We were on the 48 yard line in row 6, but the cool thing about the Vanderbilt stadium is that it's pretty small compared to a lot of college football stadiums, so the seats felt so close to the field. When the Ags walked out onto the field, we were totally star struck!

So here is my claim to fame: since we were so close, the players could hear and see us if we yelled at them. I waved like an idiot when Kevin Sumlin, our head coach, looked in my direction, and we made eye contact for a solid 3 seconds. It might as well have been Taylor Swift- I thought this was too cool! And then, at the end of the game, I waved at Miles Garrett (defensive end), and he waved back. My little Aggie dreams have officially come true!

The night air was absolutely freezing, but we were just so happy to be at an Aggie football game. Even if our faces turned blue and we didn't have feeling in our fingers and toes, we were not leaving that game! Aggies really showed up too! Apparently Texas A&M fans outnumbered Vanderbilt fans 2:1 in their own stadium. With how many Aggies we saw walking up and down Broadway (the main street) the days prior and how much maroon we saw in the stands, I can totally believe it. We were all so bundled that you really couldn't tell which team we were rooting for, but we tried to yell loud enough for those Aggies to make up for it!

Texas A&M ended up winning 25-0, and singing the school song with hundreds of other Aggies at the end was one of my favorite moments of the trip. I love our school. I love our traditions. I love being a part of the Aggie family. It was the perfect ending to the perfect trip with the people I love!

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?

Aggie Football Season is Upon Us!

I've mentioned before that Parker and I aren't huge sports people. NFL, MLB, NBA... not what you will find us watching on a Friday night. However, there is one very large exception: Aggie football. We live for this stuff. Going to football games as students are some of our very favorite memories. We've seen our team be really good and really quite terrible, and the whole thing's just plain fun.

Today is the first Aggie football game against South Carolina, and we couldn't be more ready! Honestly, I have no idea if we will win or lose, but I can't wait to watch and find out. We are really interested to see how the Ags do without Johnny football. People either love or hate Johnny Manziel as a person, but most people can agree that the man can play football. He made our debut into the SEC a successful one, and we are going to miss seeing him successfully pull hail mary plays on the field every single game. I'm excited to see how we do in the post-Johnny era.

Since we are grown-ups now (so overrated), we can't attend every game at Kyle Field like we want to. Thanks to football parties, games are still just as fun. We started hosting football parties with our Aggie friends in Pensacola, and I think we can all say those were some of our favorite Saturdays. What's not to love about obnoxious amounts of food, pups playing, and the Aggies winning (sometimes)? Football parties are back, and I am so excited to hang out with friends tonight and watch the Aggies hopefully kick some South Carolina butt. 

In honor of Aggie football season, here are some throwbacks from attending footballs games as students. We typically took pictures either before the game started or after it ended. The stands were so packed that we all literally stood sideways on the bleachers the entire game, so picture-taking went out the window. Yes, we stand the entire game, but we do sit at halftime! Sweating in 100+ degree temps, being packed in the stands like sardines, making sure not to lock your knees so you don't pass out... ah the good old days. Take me back!

 

These next two pictures are from our all-time favorite game. We played #8 Nebraska our senior year and won 9-6. The only points scored were field goals, and it was so close and intense the entire time. After we kicked the final field goal and won, everybody rushed the field. That's the only time I had ever seen everyone rush the field, hugging, screaming, cheering. It was seriously the best moment. 

 

Fun fact: today is our engagementiversary! On this day 4 years ago, Parker asked me to be his wife. He asked in Aggieland of course, so let's call it loosely related to this post. I wrote all about our engagement here if you'd like to read about it!

It Was Almost Upset Weekend

It's no secret that Parker and I absolutely love Aggie football. Turn on any college football game for that matter, and we will watch. Saturday was a weird day for college football. By Saturday evening, people were calling it "upset weekend". Penn State upset Michigan in overtime, Missouri upset Georgia, marking the first time Missouri has beaten a top 10 team on the road in 32 years, and UT upset OU. None of these games were even supposed to be close! The Aggies were set to play Ole Miss at 7:30 Saturday night, and it was supposed to be a fairly easy win....supposed to be.

We had our first football party of the season and invited a few fellow Aggies over to watch the game, let the pups play, and eat copious amounts of food. Here are a few pictures from the game that almost gave us all a heart attack.

Thanks for the pretty smile, Parker

 

The game was close all evening, and finally in the last few minutes of the 4th quarter, it was a tied game. I think Aggies across America were freaking out, because at 38-38 with just seconds to go and the ball in our possession, it was either win with a field goal or go into overtime. We all literally held our breath as our new kicker lined up for the field goal. He made it though! Texas A&M won 41-38, and we were so relieved! The Aggies seriously gave me a cardio work-out Saturday night, but at least they pulled it off.

We are so glad it wasn't upset weekend across the board, but it seemed like there were definitely more upsets than normal on Saturday. Texas A&M takes on Auburn next week (who beat Ole Miss two weeks ago), so let's get it together please Aggies.

Did anyone else spend their Saturday almost exclusively watching football and eating goodies? No shame, no regrets :)

Sweet Home Aggieland

We have been so excited for this weekend. Yes it was another weekend of traveling, but it was also a chance to go "home". If you've read this blog long, you know that Parker and I are Aggies and absolutely love our alma mater. We were graciously given tickets to the game, so off we went to watch the Aggies BTHO (Beat The Hell Outta- it's an Aggie thing) Sam Houston State, catch up with family and friends, and eat our little hearts out. After all, it wouldn't be a proper weekend if we didn't start Monday out with a need to hit the treadmill.

Back in the land where these little rings of gold originated

Wet hair, don't care. It rained the majority of the first half, but it was still a blast!

We got to spend time with members of both families while in Aggieland, which was such a treat. 

Sister-in-law and future brother-in-law

7 person selfie? Why not. We were even missing two from this ever growing bunch!

College Station is so important to us because it's where we met. Our first date was at Kyle Field, so it's always nostalgic being back. Aggieland is home, and it's where our story began. I can't wait for our next trip down, and we are so excited to bring little ones to their first football game in a few years. Gotta start them early!

I hope you all had a good weekend too!