Bleeding Purple

PURPLE...GOLD....


Last Saturday was the beginning of the purple haze that consumes my life in the Fall. To be honest, when I was a student at ECU, I went to a few games, but by no means did I ever go to all home games except one. My obsession with the Pirates is new-found. I believe my obsession began when I found Chris (again). Another honest part of this - I'm still not obsessed with football - I'm obsessed with how excited and pumped up Chris is about football season. His excitement is contagious and I now find myself talking about the upcoming game on the Monday before and I find myself planning my purple and/or gold outfit that I'll be rocking at the next game. So if you don't want to become obsessed with the "pirate life," stay far away from Chris. I swear to you, he lives and breathes Pirate football. Looking up YouTube videos of "Purple Haze" and highlights of games is like porn to him. Thankfully, last weekend, we pulled through with a win against ASU, but boy was it close. Too close. Because you see, my dear sweet boyfriend get very upset if we lose. And by very upset, I mean he wants to leave the stadium immediately, not talk to a soul and go home and sulk. That does not make for a happy Emily. I'm the kind where I'm bummed we didn't win, but I still want to go out and have a good time....it's not like the world's over, right?

This weekend we go up against some more Mountain Men...except these are tougher. On Saturday we play WVU on their turf. I'm hoping my Pirates have been figuring out what went wrong last Saturday during the 2nd half because I really don't want to have a grumpy man on my hands....This weekend we'll be watching the game in Raleigh (that's the plan as of this posting) and I hope to see some more purple and gold out and about. Gooooooo Pirates!!!!

We are the Pirates of ECU, HEY!!!!!!

up for a challenge?

September is here!!! For all of you wondering, my birthday was wonderful. In fact, I was rather spoiled. The weekend in Hatteras didn't go as planned - but it turned out better than ever. We were supposed to fish in a tourny, but unfortunately, Danny ruined the chances of me catching a sail for my birthday...maybe that will be a belated birthday present. Friday morning Bobby, Chris and I went out on the boat for a little adventure, but adventure was short lived due to some rough water, dark clouds and the Coast Guard - so we decided to bring the boat out of the water. But hey, at least I got an hour on the water. That afternoon we enjoyed some simple sandwiches and then "practiced tailgating" outside in the sun. It was glorious. That was followed up by a scrumptious dinner at Dinky's - somewhere I had never been.
Bobby had decided that we were going to celebrate my birthday all weekend, so he made me brunch the next day - French toast. It was awesome. And the mimosa that was presented to me was even better. At this point, Chris insisted that I open my first (yes, there were MORE than one) present. YAY!!! New Jack Rogers!!!!! Just what a needed - Chris is good at catching hints. Our friend Staci had come Friday night after work, and all day Saturday we played Bocce ball and corn hole outside. I caught some rays and a nice buzz. That night - we had dinner at Breakwater. Now I'm torn between which I like better, Breakwater or Dinky's.

Anywho - my other presents were my own set of Tervis Tumblers (Chris claims EVERYONE needs their own set) and my last gift - was the start to our "New Years/Bowl Game" fund. Basically - we're going to start saving up so that come December/January we can do something really fun to celebrate Chris' birthday, New Years and (hopefully) a bowl game. My birthday celebration came to end Monday with some delicious kabobs Chris threw on the grill. Thanks to everyone who made my 26th birthday one to remember. I even got candles in half a watermelon.

Moving on...Now I can look forward to football season. It's officially game week and I'm sooooo excited for Saturday. Chris and I have our outfits picked out and it's going to be a purple-kind of Saturday!!!!! Gooooooo Pirates!!!!!

I have a challenge for myself (and for all of you who want to join): http://www.twohundredsitups.com/test.html
Tomorrow morning I'm going to do the test...and then hopefully my September 30th, I will be able to successfully complete 200 sit ups. You up for the challenge?!?!

Cheers to 26!

In one week I will cross the mid-twenties mark. In a week I will turn the big 2-6. I have a list that I've been working on for a while now of 40 things I want to do before I'm 40. I guess I don't dream big because I don't have 40 (yet). But there are a few things on that list that I want to cross off in the next year. I am blogging about it because this is my way of holding myself accountable. So before I turn 27 (eek) I want to...

1. Learn to shag. This was a New Year's resolution this year. This is also supposed to be my reward from Chris since I stopped biting my nails (woot woot)...Hopefully with his crazy travel schedule we'll find time to take a professional lesson or two. And if not, I may have to rent a boyfriend for classes.

2. Go to a new winery. This stemmed off my desire to go to Sonoma Wine Country in CA, which won't be happening this year. Going to Duplin Winery was one of my favorite trips last year. It was one of the best Saturday's I've ever had and I'd like to have another one of those before I'm 27.

3. Go to Ocracoke. I've been blessed the last 2 summers to have the opportunity to go to Hatteras more than my fair-share of times. I've heard so many people talk about Ocracoke and how much fun you can have biking the island and enjoying the small-town atmosphere. We're going to Hatteras in October and I'm crossing my fingers I can convince Chris we need to go down one day early so that I can experience Ocracoke for myself.

4. Last but not least, I want to laugh every day. I want to learn to not take everything for granted and to enjoy the moment I'm in, not worry about the future. I am so incredibly blessed and I want to remember this every day.

So hold me to these things. I promise I'll keep you update. Cheers to 26!!!!

live.laugh.love.(and eat.)

The wedding of the summer is over...I only have 2 more weekends left before I start rockin' purple and gold most Saturdays...and hurricanes are all over the news. This means one thing, summer is coming to an end. That means, before long, I'll be packing away my sundresses and there won't be anymore watermelon to be savored. Sad day. But let me give you a recap of what you've missed this past month...
- Maggie and Brad's wedding was amazing!!! She was the most gorgeous bride and I had the best date e-v-e-r. That weekend is one that I will cherish forever. I love going back and looking at the pictures and I can't wait to see what the professional photographer captured on film.
- I love my brothers. I had the chance to spend the weekend at OIB recently with my brothers and their girlfriends (who are both ZTA's - random) and with Kat (I love your face, too) without Chris. It was a nice change of pace to do what I wanted, when I wanted, with whom I wanted. I secretly wish I could start going to USC for something so that I can see them weekly!!!! But something I'm uber excited about - Taylor and Courtney (Taylor's girlfriend who is amazing and I want her wardrobe) will be at the ECU vs UNC football game in Chapel Hill and I am THRILLED about this. Now I just have to force Taylor to rock some purple...that shouldn't be too hard.
- Last weekend was another wedding weekend for a fraternity brother of Chris, Goose (that's his last night). We went to Raleigh on Saturday morning and had so much fun from the time we parked the car all the way until we left Raleigh on Sunday afternoon. Sometimes I wish I lived in Raleigh....so much to do. I highly suggest a place called Nofo's for brunch/lunch if you're every near their location in Raleigh. It's in an old Piggly Wiggly at Fivepoints and it was delicious. Just make sure to go after 12pm on a Sunday so that you can sip on a mimosa. The compliment of the night (summer) was when one of Chris' buds told me that he had never seen Chris or me look better since he's known us. That made me smile....

So summer's coming to an end...

But it also means that another season is about to begin and there's more fun to be held...

The next two weekends have the potential to be beach weekends - I'm going to try my hardest to catch a sail fish. My birthday is in a week and a half (26!!!! YIKES). And Pirate football starts in less than a month...my life seems to just fly by as I live for the weekends but I'm enjoying every moment of it (at least Thursday, 6pm until Sunday). live.laugh.love.

Oh - I also have this new obsession with food blogs. I'm thinking of sort of working my way towards that. I'm (Chris and I) are always making delicious meals and I thought this may be a way to share some recipes....So look forward to that. Who knows, maybe I'll change this page name to live.laugh.love.(and eat.)

One Month and Counting...

She's getting married. It finally hit me this past weekend while we were in Ocean Isle for the bachelorette bash. My little baby sister is tying the knot. And you know what, I couldn't be happier for her. This weekend was just what I needed in a lot of ways. Not only do I not get to see Maggie as much as I wish I could, but usually there are boys around and we don't get to have good-ole girl time that I sometimes crave. Maggie is going to be a beautiful bride. She's already a beautiful person, inside and out. She's a beautiful sister, daughter, fiance and teacher. Maggie truly is one of the most wonderful people in the world. She has a heart of gold and wears it on her sleeve. But she can be one tough cookie. I don't tell her how amazing she is enough....but she is.

It's weird to think that she'll have a new last name and she'll actually be living with her boyfriend, wait, make that husband. Eeeek. But it's her perfect life. Her and Brad are perfect together. After dating 8 years, they've figured out that no one else will make them happier than one another. Yes, it's weird that she's getting married...but it's not weird that she's marrying Brad. In fact, it'd be even weirder if they weren't getting married.

In one month, I'll be packing my bags and heading to Charlotte for a long weekend. I'm going to go ahead and admit that there will be tears but I can assure you that there will be far more laughs. I can't wait to see her walk down the aisle in a white (and might I add, GORGEOUS) dress. I can't wait to hear her say "I do" to her best friend. Lastly, I can't wait to stand next to her and support this next adventure in life.

Maggie, I love you.

deep blue sea.

I haven't posted in awhile (probably because I put my entire life on facebook) but that's me reeling in a dolphin. The thrill of being the one to bring a fish like that to the boat is something that wouldn't have interested me two years ago. Yet these days, my weekends consist of Hatteras, suntan lotion and sea sickness. That's right, that nauseous feeling that sucks. Last year I did not get sea sick once - and I went out in the double digits. This year, I've gone twice so far and so far I've gotten sea sick twice. So I'm on a new mission. I must find a cure for this. It is not okay. I will continue to go out 2o-plus miles but there's no way I can continue to feel sick and be forced to lay inside the boat for 6-plus hours. No way. Suggestions? Thoughts?

Also - if you've never seen a marlin in real life, it's unreal. They are one of the most amazing fish to me. Their eyes are HUGE and they are HUGE. I'm truly blessed to be able to go out into the deep blue sea and witness it first hand. I hope to never take it for granted. Also, if you ever get the chance to go - GO. Even if you're afraid of getting sea sick...GO.

So if you're wondering where I've been on the weekends for the past month and where I'll be the next couple months on the weekends, I'll be in Hatteras Heaven.

Spring has Sprung.

Oh, how I love Spring time! This year, we kicked it off just right - Pig Skin Spring Football weekend at ECU. It was a long weekend, but a great weekend. For some reason, I never went to a Spring football game until my 7th year at ECU and that was last year (Chris likes to take credit for me going). But I'm telling you what, this year was even more fun than last year. It was literally 2 non-stop days of fun. Chris decided this year he was going to go all out and enter in the BBQ cook off. So after months of talking about the BBQ recipe and making t-shirts, the Bowl Bound BBQers were ready to cook a pig. Friday morning, Chris and the rest of the cooking squad loaded up the bus to head to Greenville. I was told to "stand by" my phone just in case they needed me to bring a truck - they weren't real sure if the bus was going to be allowed. Oh but it was. And we got the best spot ever. I thought I was going to be having a nice quiet evening Friday night with a couple of girlfriends, but at 3pm, my plans changed and the drinking began. Needless to say, the next 10 hours were pure fun. Hanging out with the team next to us and enjoying the company of good friends. At 9pm, the Parade of Pigs started. And by Parade of Pigs, I mean they came by with a truck, you grabbed your pig and began the cook off. Watching Chris carry the pig on this back was one of the funniest things ever. And did I mention the fireworks, yes, fireworks. It really was a huge event and I'm sad I missed it for so many years. At 1am, everyone but the cookers were kicked out of the stadium and the gates were locked. I'm not complaining - I needed my sleep.

My alarm went off at 6:30am - not fun. But I had to pump myself up. Lee Ann and I headed out to the stadium at about 8am to see the judging. Champagne was popped at 8:30 and The Bowl Bowl BBQers got 21st out of 52. This may not seem like something brag about, but let me tell you - some of these cookers are professionals. Their sole purpose in life is to compete in competitions and this was our first one. Now onto GAME TIME. It was a perfect spring day - got to wear my new yellow sundress (thanks, Kennan) and cheer on the Pirates. The Pirates won (haha) so we were all happy. Then came Chico's patio. The most fun of the weekend, if I have to say so myself. We set up shop in the corner and literally stayed there all night. It was glorious. Margaritas have never tasted so good - maybe because they were top top shelf or maybe I was just thirsty. Chris' lack of sleeping at all on Friday led to going home a little earlier than the rest of the game but once again, I'm not complaining. All I know is spring has sprung so bring on the warm weather!!!

The one downfall, last weekend was such a tease...football season is still 5 months away....ARGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!