Summertime in Carolina

Blog post number two in one day...that's right, I'm just gonna keep this up and make up for lost time!  Summer break rolled around and boy did I need it!  If you work in special education you know that Spring is busy busy with IEP Annual Reviews and lots of other paperwork type things that I won't bore you with.  Anyway, I was so excited to get to go back to South Carolina for over a week!  This trip was filled with time at the beach, hanging with sweet baby Sofia, and of course, walking around the best college campus EVER!

Tillman Hall  

Sweet little Sofia...can't believe she is 6 months old already...time slow down!  When I was there she had just learned how to clap her hands and it was adorable!

The beach at Litchfield; pulled pork BBQ (really is there any other kind of BBQ worth talkin bout?  This was SO good! From Jim and Nick's on King Street in Charleston; Pralines from Market Street Streets...this is another Charleston must!

Catching Up

Oh man, I'm slackin again!! Last time I posted, Clemson was 5-0 and I was excited! Well, it's three weeks later and believe it or not, Clemson is now 8-0. That's right y'all, we've won our first 8 games of the season and are ranked 6th in the AP polls and #5 in the BCS. WHAT?!!! This weekend we play GA Tech in Atlanta and I found out from a co-worker with a GA Tech connection that this weekend is their homecoming. How dreadful to have to play your homecoming game against one of the top 5 teams in the country. Bummer for the jackets. In other news, Sports Illustrated posted a great article about Clemson which you can read here...
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1191563/index.htm

Other things that have happened since I last posted...this little man had his 1st birthday!!!

I'll have to post a more recent pic later, but he is walking (everywhere, he never stops!), talking (he's been saying "ball" for a long time now but he also say "hi" to just about everybody he sees and he's starting to imitate other sounds and words so I'm getting pretty excited about that), and melting hearts all day errr day! 


Finally, I found out this morning (yes, it's only October 26th) that I would get my first snow day of the school year!!! I checked the websites early this morning and didn't see any indication of a cancellation so I got ready for the day and was bout to head out the door but decided to check facebook quick before I left...thank goodness I did because a co-worker's status filled me in on the news that school had been cancelled! Nobody could get a hold of the teacher in charge of starting the phone tree so I didn't get the memo until way late but I'm not complainin! Here is what it's lookin like on my balcony right about now...

I think I'll go make some hot chocolate!! 

5 and 0 Baby!!!

Y'all, I just can't stop talkin about Clemson football!! We went up to Blacksburg and absolutely kicked those Hokies' tails! I mean, the only points they scored on us came from a field goal...how embarrassing! Now, this weekend we're back at home for Homecoming 2011. Homecoming at Clemson has some really great traditions, one of my favorites being the "floats" that are built on Bowman Field. Floats are built by different campus organizations that work on them around the clock the entire week before homecoming. They are then enjoyed by thousands of Tiger fans, and judged based on different criteria, with awards announced at halftime of the football game. You can watch the build live via webcam here...
http://www.clemson.edu/webcams/sikes/
Now, I'm not superstitious but I do love this fun fact:  About 14 years ago my mom bout a Clemson University Barbie (these were special edition...no joke!) and several months ago she sent it out to Colorado, where it found a prominent place on my mantle! Not because I think it is quality decor, but more as a joke to see how long it took my roommate (not a Clemson fan) to notice it up there. Long story short, the Barbie is still on the mantle and Clemson hasn't lost a game yet! So I say, Clemson Barbie stays! (Sorry Kimmy :)

Special Edition Clemson University Barbie in all her orange and white glory!

It's a Great Day to be a Clemson Tiger!

We pulled it off y'all! Remember the other day when I was so stoked about our win over Auburn and kinda nervous about this week against Florida State? Well, I couldn't be happier about the fact that we beat those Noles 35-30 and sent them packin for a long bus ride back to Tallahassee! This week's rankings were released today and Clemson is now lucky #13!!! So what's a girl to do with her team 4-0 after two consecutive wins over nationally ranked teams?? Well, as excited as I am this week, the reality is that next week we're headin up to Blacksburg  to take on a tough Virginia Tech team so for now I celebrate, but also hope those boys are working hard in practice this week so we can keep this winning streak goin! Here are some pictures from the Clemson website from the game...

Go Tigers!

Well my friends, it has been far too long since I've written, but not because of a lack of exciting things to share! School started back up again and I have been beyond busy with work. No excuses though, just an attempt to get back on the blogging train. So I'll start with the fact that its football season and my team is 3-0! Oh yeah!! So get this...last week we beat Auburn, the defending National Champions and in doing so, snapped a 17 game winning streak!!! The only thing that would have made that win sweeter for me would have been to be in Death Valley to see the game in person. I know the whole Clemson family was stoked about the win, and nothing captures that excitement better than this video clip of our coach Dabo, right after the game...
Swinney Pumped Up Over Big Win 
Also just to fill y'all in on a little Clemson tradition...it appears after every home game that we are "rushing the field" however we are actually "meeting at the paw" (the paw being the big tiger paw in the middle of the field). This is a time when everyone surrounds the team and sings Clemson's Alma Mater...a great way to end a football game and show loyal devotion to the best school in the country!! So this week we take on Florida State in what is sure to be a difficult but exciting game, but win or lose I will still bleed orange! GO TIGERS!

Happy Signing Day!

Happy Signing Day y'all!! If you're a little confused because you thought today was Groundhog Day, let me fill you in. Signing Day is the first Wednesday in February, and it is the first day that high school seniors can sign National Letters of Intent to play college ball. Now this past football season was a bit rough for my Clemson Tigers but never fear because today we signed some awesome athletes and ended up with a top 10 recruiting class!! You can check out all the details at clemsontigers.com. So for now, it's time to cheer on our basketball and baseball teams but I sure am excited to see what the future holds for Clemson football!

College Football!

Holy buckets somebody please tell me, where did August go?! It's true y'all, fall is upon us and that means lots of things...cooler weather, pumpkin spice lattes, changing leaves, but most of all COLLEGE FOOTBALL SEASON!!! Can you tell I'm excited?! Because excited would be an understatement...I'm beyond excited. It's around this time every year that I wish someone would invent some sort of machine that would allow me to teleport from Colorado to South Carolina in a matter of seconds, so I didn't have to miss a single home football game Saturday at Death Valley. I understand that college football means different things to different people, but growing up in the South, college football was a way of life. On any given home game day, the town of Clemson would swell from a mere 10,000 residents to around 85,000 to watch our tigers play. Pre and post game tailgating was a requirement, as was appropriate attire which typically consisted of a dress for girls and khaki pants, a white button down and tie for guys. I think it's pretty safe to say that I love everything about college football. The pageantry, the tradition, and the comradery is not something that can be explained, only experienced. So the countdown begins...6 days until kickoff, and there's only one thing left to say...1-2-3-4 1-2-3-4 C-L-E-M-S-O-N. Fight tigers, fight tigers, fight fight fight!!

The College World Series

There wasn't much that I loved more on a spring day in Clemson than watching my favorite team play baseball at beautiful Doug Kingsmore Stadium. As spring semester would end and summer would arrive, we would continue to watch the tigers play in the post-season road to Omaha and hope that our team would make it to the College World Series. Only 8 teams make it to the CWS each year and I couldn't be happier that this year that list would include Clemson! With a win against Arizona State in game 1, we take on Oklahoma tonight at 8pm CST. Go Tigers!!