Hey Fighting Tigers

As I was before the 2007 season, I am super primed up for football season (and well all know what happened then). The following link explains why:

http://collegefootball.about.com/od/schools/tp/rankings-preseason.htm

That year, I argued that we were preseason #2, we had a tough schedule, and if we got through it, we were guaranteed a spot in the BCS game. We got through, barely, with two losses, but we won. This year, I've been arguing superstition about always playing in the BCS game when it's in New Orleans. I argue tough schedule like last time as well, only with a #4 ranking this time around. Let me explain.

Rankings:

1. Oregon

2. Oklahoma

3. Alabama

4.LSU

5. Stanford

6. Boise State

7. Oklahoma State

8. South Carolina

9. Texas A&M

10. Wisconsin

11. Notre Dame

12. Ohio State

13. Florida State

14. TCU

15. Michigan State

16. Penn State

17. Virginia Tech

18. Nebraska

19. Missouri

20. Mississippi State

21. Arkansas

22. Florida

23. Auburn

24. West Virginia

25. Miami

Now, that MIGHT be the most obscure top 10 of all time, but we start the season playing #1, we can make that work. Then, we have to play two more top ten teams over the course of the season. NOT TO MENTION the five, count 'em FIVE other top 25 teams we must beat. If we can knock out Oregon in that first game and set ourselves up for greatness, we are guaranteed a spot.

I'm not gonna lie, I really wish I was in grad school at LSU for this. I'd be at every game just like 2007. But I guess we all gotta grow up at some point. This...is...gonna...be....awesome.

Plus, a National Championship in New Orleans for the third time in a row. We own that place. Lets make it happen.

Geaux Tigers.

I got to be in that number

Because my church is awesome, someone anonymously donated money to fly me home to watch the Superbowl with my family and celebrate in my city. It was truly amazing. I got the chance to see a team carry a group of people to joy in a way I'm sure no team has ever done before.

I also got to see God's provision once again. I learned a lot from this experience.

1. It's okay that I don't live in New Orleans, because when it comes down to it, he'll provide a way for me to be there for the important things. So as much as I miss home and it's luxuries, and the people there, I still get to enjoy them often enough to maintain that appreciation.

2. The Lord provides in the most unexpected ways. I have no idea who paid for that trip, but it's cool that they did.

3. Jesus is a lot like the Saints players, but way bigger and more important. I'd lose no respect for any of those players if after the game and the parade, they had ducked off to their homes without ever talking to a fan. It's hard for them to live regular lives. BUT they didn't. All of them take time out to see the fans, talk to the fans, spend time with the fans, and be a part of the city. In the same way, Jesus has every right to live high and mighty and have no interaction with us whatsoever, but he DOESN'T, he wants to be a part of our lives, daily, and we should accept that offer.

4. If Heaven is anything like the city of New Orleans after that game, minus the alcohol, then boy are we in for a treat. I'm pretty excited about that celebration. I wanna be in THAT number!

In the meantime, I'm trying to figure out what it is he's got going for me here on Earth. I've REALLY been considering going back to school for journalism. It was my original major, it's what I love, and I think it'd be a job I'd be good at and enjoy. I have enough connections in the media industry that I could find good internships. The ultimate goal, of course, would be to get a job at either WWL or the Times Picayune, but that's after years of experience and exploring the world through other outlets. So prayer during this decision making time would be helpful.

I'm also in the process of designing business cards, which cost money, so I am praying I make the right decision and find a way to pay for them. They are cheap, but still, cost money. But, of course, God always seems to provide a way for me to get out of financial crunches, so lets hope he does so again.

when the SAINTS go marching in

I've never missed New Orleans more than I missed it Sunday night.

And I'd only been there five days before.

But here I was, in an apartment in Harlem, in a room full of black and gold, and jambalaya, with people I'd just met who all shared a common love: A City and a Team that for so long has lived as an underdog, and now, people care.

I've felt it all season. Almost every Tuesday afternoon these past few months, someone has walked up to me and said something like "Congratulations." or "We're so happy for you right now."

Why?

Because of a football team. A football team that for 43 years has seen many many downs, and not many ups.

For as long as I can remember "When the Saints go to the Superbowl" has been used in place of a more cliche "When Hell freezes over." We never thought it would happen. We wanted to believe it, and we dug down, and we had faith. Faith people no where else understand. We were that team that the other teams rested their starters against. We were not a team you had to bring your A-game to.

And now, after all this time, our day has come.

We were criticized for spending 200 million dollars to rebuild a stadium when there were thousands of people still homeless.

Ask any of those homeless people in New Orleans four years ago, and each and every one of them would tell you they'd rather have that stadium up and running. We don't function well without our Saints.

And back they came, roaring, with a new team, a new coach, and a new agenda.

Carry the ball for the people.

I remember in 2006 the joy I experienced when we earned a first-round bye. I remember going home for a few weeks at Christmastime, and there was a different air in the city. It felt like a different place. New Orleans no longer felt like the city that care forgot. It felt like a city that had hope. They saw hope in those boys, and their eyes were focused on the road ahead.

I remember winning the divisional playoffs, and realizing in tears that we were, in fact, only one game away from the Superbowl. Letting that sink in was intense.

I remember the pain of losing that Championship game, and being just-shy of the glory that could have been. What I remember most is thinking that the Saints had done just what we always knew they did. Sweet victories wouldn't be as sweet if they were good all the time.

LSU has my heart, and I cannot imagine being more excited and proud on the fourth row at that BCS National Championship game. I screamed and shouted, I pinched myself a few times, but I felt nothing like this. And we all know, I love LSU a wee bit more than my Saints.

But LSU is good most of the time. Or at least decent.

The Saints are a different story altogether. When the Saints are good, it means something. And it gets under your skin. I love those boys. I love how they are a part of the city. I love how they care. I love how they know what it means to us.

I may not live in New Orleans anymore, but New Orleans lives in me. Cheezy as that may sound. I can almost promise you that I will end up back there. I can't seem to keep myself away. I know the Lord has me in New York right now for good reasons, and I am learning so much in turn, but boy do I miss that city. Especially now.

There was a video that nola.com posted of a bar in the quarter where people were watching the game. And watching that last moment, I felt everything I felt Sunday night on Madison Avenue. I felt the tears rush back, and I watched those people in that video scream and shout and cry and pour out into the streets and celebrate. The whole city celebrated, brass bands came out of nowhere and marched down the street like it was Mardi Gras day.

I wanted to be in that number.

Saints Video: Bourbon Street

Houseguests and Such

So, life has been super busy this past week or so.  It reminds me of why I love living in New York.

Last Tuesday, I worked a total of 14 hours between Barnes and Noble and working for Tricia, got home at midnight, went to work from 9 am to 5:30 pm the next day, then to Wednesday night stuff at church.  That night, I relaxed with a cup of cocoa, a warm blanket, and a John Krasenzki movie.  

I went on to work Thursday and Friday, and welcomed houseguests Friday night.  They've been here ever since, so I've spent a lot of time getting to enjoy New York, including a broadway show, and a room full of LSU fans watching the amazing Georgia.  We also went to the Brooklyn Bus Festival, and free admission to the transit museum (ummm, yes please!).  It's been great.  

Today was after-school, and of course, it made me smile :)  Those kids just warm my heart so much.  I wish I could just be with them every day.  Tuesday is the only day I dread my Barnes and Noble job, because it means I am missing the after-school program.  We talked about making sacrifices and turning away from ourselves today, which was really cool. Chris and I are trying to come up with ideas for our Sunday afternoon outings for the semester, and it is a lot harder than it seems, but I've been praying that we find some fun places to go and things to do where we can really spend time with the youth and pour love into them.  

The joy I have from knowing I am following my calling to be here at this phase of my life is overwhelming. I cannot express it in a way anyone can understand.  Taylor called me into his office today just to talk, and we talked about what it's been like and the emotions I've dealt with and just how hard it really is to step out on faith, but the rewards are so great and I am so thankful.  I really have the best and most supportive church family a girl could ask for.  I love them so much.  

New Year, New Job, Etc...

2009 is upon us, and I can't seem to grasp the concept that this truly is going to be a NEW year for me.  I am starting a new phase and I have decisions to make and major changes to deal with.

In four days I will start my new job, and I am not so sure I am ready.  Readiness aside though, I am excited.  I needed change, badly, and this is going to be a big one.  

Getting a real paycheck is not so bad either.  

The last few days I've been in Atlanta enjoying my last LSU football experience as a "student." The circumstances of this trip have lead us to having a rough time.  Nonetheless, my Tigers won (finally), and by A LOT.  The good times have been quite good.  But we had some major kinks getting here and it's kinda thrown off the whole atmosphere. 

About thirty miles west of Atlanta, we got into a bit of an accident.  Okay, a big accident.  Cole rear ended Sarah's car on the interstate because all of the cars on said interstate decided to come to a complete stop at the bottom of a hill where three lanes merged to two. 

It was not a pretty sight. 

We are now in two different cars than we came to Atlanta in, and praying we make it home without any trouble.  Talk about going out with a bang!  I've been on about 15 football trips, and NEVER have we had any accidents.  Flat tires, yes, but major accidents, no.  Thankfully no one was really injured, though Kayleigh and I both have nice bruises :)  

Now What?

Five years and a couple of months after the LSU-Georgia game of 2003, I walked across a stage in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and received a degree, or at least a diploma cover (they give you the actually diploma after the ceremony).

I kept thinking of that football game, and how, when I made that decision, right there on the 40 yard line, to become a Tiger, I never imagined how fast it would go by.  I don't think I ever actually pictured the end ever getting here.  

I had a good bit of fun, and now, that part of my life is over.  It still hasn't completely sunken in yet.  It's strange to think that next time I go to Baton Rouge, it will be to pick up my things and leave forever.  I still feel like as soon as the Christmas season is over, and upon return from the Atlanta trip, I will be going back to the normal routine I have grown accustomed to.

But I won't. 

In two weeks, I will have a classroom of my own, and responsibilities I cannot yet imagine.  

Okay, I'll be honest, I'm not really sure I want to imagine them. 

It's also strange that right now, I don't really have any responsibility. I woke up this morning, finished It Never Rains in Tiger Stadium, a book in which John Ed Bradley talks of emotions and uncertainties I am all too familiar with right now (except the whole football thing).  I then watched a little television, and finally left the house to fight Westbank traffic and run an errand for my mom.  I ended up at Starbucks.  After all, where else does one go when one has no responsibility.  I am finished Christmas shopping, and truly cannot afford to do any other shopping since I have no more income until that first pay check comes through next month. So I sit, and wait, and read.  Lots of reading.  I've got lots of catching up to do.  Out of fear of spending this money I do not have, I have banned myself from visiting the Sports, Biography, History, Children's, and Local sections of Barnes and Noble.  

This basically leaves self-help and fiction, which are not worth fighting crowds to explore.  This is not to say there aren't other sections at the BN, but those are the only other two I might possibly buy from, and frankly, I just don't feel like getting out to look through them.  

Call me a hermit.  

I will have no life this semester, which is probably a good thing, considering I have three different preps (meaning, I have to write and prepare lessons for three different classes). January 5th seems eerily closer than I would like for it to be.  I once was very excited about teaching, but I'm not so sure anymore.  

I want to write, I've always wanted to write, and eventually I will.  Now that I'm about to begin my career, I am more and more certain that I want to write, eventually to the point where I don't have to have a teaching career anymore.  

How certain am I though?  That's the scary part...  

So for now, I'm going with the career which fits my degree, and I will later go back and get more degrees, because lets face it, I love school and learning.   Once I have gotten into the swing of things, I fully intend to do part time school and keep this whole education thing going. 

Until then, I guess I will have to see if I fall back in love with teaching once I have a classroom of my own.  

So yeah, I've graduated, and I am fully in quarter-life crisis mode. 

It's been a while

Having not posted anything since the beginning of football season, I have opted to begin writing again in preparation for a possible summer in another city: Providence, Rhode Island.

Considering I haven't put anything up in a while, I'm not expecting that anyone will be reading this, but just out of pure love of writing, I am going to start again.

Now that football season is over, and we have clinched the title, I have much more free time. My fall was spent roaming about the Southeast watching battle after battle, with the emotional ups and downs that go with it. I blame my grey hair on Fall 2007.

This being my last semester before student teaching, I am in the most interesting classes I've gotten around to taking since college began. It makes me very thankful that I picked up the double major. My political science classes keep me intrigued, and my American Folklore class is sparking ideas for amazing things I can use in my lessons later in life. All of this has helped me realize that I am not in fact as lazy as I make yself out to be, and that I want to go as far as possible with my education so that I can gain the knowledge and connections necessary to fulfill my goals in pushing education reform. Right now I don't really know what that entails, but I see myself learning more about it each day, and I get excited!

Help me stay driven... This feeling tends to fade as the semester goes on.

Appalachian is HOT HOT HOT

After many months of waiting, the time has finally arrived and college football is back into full gear.

All of our housing issues were worked out and we ended up at Caitlin's grandma's house in Meridian after what was probably one of the funnest football games I'd ever been to Thursday night.

I expected fun, after all, it's Tiger Football, but Mississippi State does not always make for an exciting game (the final score as 45-0 in favor of LSU), but being on the front row, right next to the band, with a good many of my closest friends standing beside me, meetin the chancellor and Van Chancellor, not to mention the RAIN, made for a pretty memorable night. Despite the sounds of obnoxious maroon cowbells, our student section cheered away. To counteract MSU's ONE obnoxious cheer (here, see if you can do it: Go State, Go State, GO STATE!), LSU gave 'em a taste of what real cheering is, and by request of both a Louisiana and a Mississippi state trooper, the token "Go the hell Ole Miss," just to be nice and cheer as friends. We figured since both LSU and MSU love that one, and we were beating them about 39-0 at this point, we'd allow for one friendly gesture.

The next day, a broadcast e-mail was sent out announcing that the new tiger would be released into his habitat a week ahead of schedule. Apparently, this cub, the two-year-old product of an unwanted pregnancy between a Siberian and Bengal tiger in Indianappolis, was way more ready for the crowd than expected. I remember coming up to Baton Rouge to see Mike V when he was a baby, and the tears I shed in May when I got the e-mail saying he had died, so I was determined to be there to get the first glimpse of the soon-to-be Mike VI. I hopped on the bike, rode under the towering East Upper Deck of the stadium, locked the bike up to the PMAC, and awaited his release. Without ceremony or announcement, suddenly the tiger door opened, and our beautiful new mascot was frolicing about his 2.2 million dollar home. The crowd gasped, little kids pushed their way to the front, and big kids like me cried (as I am doing now just thinking about it). What a wonderful moment to witness. They say they're not sure if he'll be ready to go to the game next week, but he looked so happy and hyper and he LOVED the crowd, I can't imagine them not allowing him to be there to intimidate Virginia Tech. I'm getting chills just thinking about it.

Tod Graves, the Raisin' Cane's guy, was there with his dog, so I can now say that I have gotten to pet Cane the dog, and she was SOOOO sweet. Plus I've alwasy wanted to meet this Graves fellow, cuz I hear he's a nice guy for being a multi-millionare, and he was. One Love. I began craving Canes and had it for lunch. I spent the rest of the day on the couch watching college football, doing a little bit of reading for school, and wondering how in the world Appalachain State beat the number five team in the country in the largest stadium in America. Crazy!

Did I mention how glad I am it's football season?

Starkvegas here I come!

Some have mentioned that I might change the name to my blog now that I am no longer in New York. My opposition to this is that a.)Baton Rouge is a city too... and b.) God made me for the city, and my heart will always be in the city, whatever that city may be.

Tommorrow is my first LSU football game of the year, and the first big away game road trip. I'm skipping four classes, and I don't have a place to stay, at least not in Starkville that is (I'll be driving into Jackson if necessary). I'm pretty excited about going, despite the complications and the fact that I had to get my lab permenantly moved after much begging.

School's gonna be crazy this semester, so don't expect a whole lot of updates. I will, when procrastinating, be updating as much as possible.