Clemson vs Georgia Tech

Yes this post is late and yes is had been over a week since this football game took place. But hey, at least I'm still blogging about it!

Because it was a bye weekend for Iowa football we decided to take a road trip. We're lucky to have so many college towns within driving distance here in Charlotte. Let me back up a bit. When we first moved to Charlotte we decided it would be fun to pick a local team to follow in sports. I can't remember how, but we sort of settled on Clemson. Of course they're in a completely different conference than Iowa so we wouldn't have to worry about a conflict of interest.

We enjoyed the two hour drive to Clemson, SC and even spotted a few decked out cars on their way to the game. It was obvious that the trend is to stick a tiger tail out the back of your car. We so wish we had one to join in on the fun. I didn't get a very good picture here and I missed some way cooler cars.

We planned on getting there early so we could park and walk around the campus. First things first we walked by the stadium and snapped some quick pictures. It was a beautiful day, although pretty warm.

We were both very impressed with the tailgate scene in Clemson. It was a sea of orange and purple tents. Plus each tent seemed to be set up with a plethora of food, TV with a satellite dish and liquor, lots of liquor.

We searched high and low for some food. Keep in mind it's after 1:00 and we had hardly eaten that day. Come to find out there were no food vendors outside the stadium. We were expecting to find something just like Melrose in Iowa City. But no, nothing. All we could do is wait until the stadium opened up at 2:00. In the meantime we sat on a hill and watched the players walk up to the stadium.

The stadium was very cool. Our seats were up high, very high. Although we were expecting that, we didn't expect the stairs to be so incredibly steep! So steep I didn't much care to walk up and down at all for a bathroom break.

They released balloons near the student section while the team ran on to the field.

We didn't end up staying for the entire game, but it ended up being a close one. Clemson pulled out the win as we listened to the radio on our drive back. I can't forget to add this picture too we snapped as we walked away from the stadium. Notice his shirt? We bought some before the game to fit in. No really, we planned on buying some Clemson orange for our new "local" team.

Oh and here is the same picture as above using the moreBeaute2 app. I love the affect!

Photo Friday #34

Right away I want to say that no one was hurt in this accident. There, now that I've made my Grandma feel better, I want to share our poor car that is in the hospital. Joe was driving and another car pulled right in front of him. The other driver was found to be 100% at fault and everything will be covered. In the meantime we've enjoyed driving around in a Jeep. See you soon Nissan!

Bambi and Thumper

Saturday morning I woke up and for some odd reason wanted to open the blinds to look out into our backyard. I say this was odd because I've never done this before first thing in the morning. It was meant to be because when I peaked out I saw a deer chomping away at some food in our swing set area. I yelled at Joe and we sprinted down the stairs to get a better view. Then we spotted another one, we presume was the mother of the other deer. We probably watched and took pictures for about 10 minutes. They just ate, walked around our backyard and perked their ears every once in a while listening to something. We have heard from a neighbor that deer have been in the neighborhood before, but this was our first sighting. It was so cool!

Can you see the little bunny to the right of the deer? It was the funniest thing how this bunny seemed to want to play with the deer! I called him Thumper and seriously I wish I had a video of this little guy. He was almost teasing or daring the deer to chase him. Neither of the deer seemed interested at all, but I got a huge kick out of it.

Sorry mom, I'm not good at keeping plants alive...

Three Hours In NYC

My brother's fiance's sister lives in NYC. Did you catch all that? Let's just call her my friend. Better yet, we'll call her Emily.

After multiple days of training while in Newark I spent the last night of my trip visiting the Big Apple. It was really just a have dinner and leave kind of thing, but it was fun! Emily and I met at a cute little restaurant a couple blocks from Times Square. We talked, discussed the upcoming wedding of our siblings, spoke about our bridesmaids dress, etc.

It was a blast and I hope to be able to do it again! Thanks for the great night Emily!

MIA

Yes, you might think I have been MIA when in reality, life is a reality.

I have actually been traveling for about a week and a half for work. First to Myrtle Beach (rough, I know). You'd think we were laying on the beach while pretending to listen to our leader, guess again. I didn't even get to visit the beach, rather just get a glimpse in the distance. It was a great team meeting though, I met a lot of people from the Raleigh and South Carolina teams.

Second I spent a whole week in Newark, NJ. That was some intense sales training with Marriott Sales Managers from other regions. I met a lot of people from Miami, Boston, Philadelphia and New York. There were even a few that have the same position as me (mine is a bit of a unique position and there is only one per hotel). I loved being able to speak with them and learn about their hotel, but also exchanging best practices and great ideas.

Now I'm back home and was able to enjoy a great weekend with Joe. More on that this week!

And because no post is complete without at least one picture... here is one from the city I miss dearly.