Game Day: a tribute.

This is GAME DAY.

It's the rush that fills the stadium as the Gator football team runs out of the tunnel...

into Ben Hill Griffin Stadium...

...where only Gator{girl}s get out alive!

This is the SWAMP.

We bleed orange & blue. 

Its knowing the words to every chant & cheer... 

... and never missing a CHOMP... 

... no matter how small. {Baby Gator!}

This is... GATOR COUNTRY.

Home of the... F L O R I D A  G A T O R S!!

It's Mr. 2 Bits. It's Albert & Alberta.

We ARE {arm-in-arm} the girls of Old Florida.

It's a perfectly applied cheeker.

It's a High Five for a touchdown!

It's a tailgate.

"Oh my!" - Mick Hubert

It's a Blue Moon at Swamp...

...as the juke box plays on.

It's a flip cup victory in Death Valley.

It's a victory dance party in our living room.

Work em' silly, Gators!

The Gator Nation is everywhere!

In Baton Rouge... Geaux Gators!!

In Jacksonville... for Florida/Georgia!

It's a little bit of rivalry!

And a conversion of Canadians...

GATOR FOOTBALL SEASON IS finally HERE... and there's no greater time of year when
IT's GREAT FABULOUS TO BE A FLORIDA GATOR!! 

UT vs. UF

Last night, Creed, Kara + I went to the basketball game... A house divided, UT (Creed's alma mater!) played their biggest rival... UF (my beloved alma mater!)! The gators won (naturally!) in overtime which made for a really exciting game with such a close score the entire time... It was weird not seeing them play in the O'Dome with the dazzlers dancing and the band playing You Can Call Me Al but I was still so excited to get to see my boys play!! =)

Today, this article about our coach Billy Donovan kept popping up on blogs I frequent... so sad! In my profession, I deal with a lot of families who lose babies and my heart breaks for every one of them every time! =(

P.S. Can we talk about how much the SEC dominates football? 5 years in a row we have brought home a national championship!! Okay, end of conversation. That status update I saw on my news feed is really the extent that I am informed about it... but it's still pretty awesome!? =)

M.F.T. #4: The Florida Gators.

Today is an American Saturday which means I have spent the first half of the day shopping with Grams + the latter part of the day watching college football! And while the Gators did not make it to the SEC Championship this year, I have thought a lot about how the Florida Gators are M.F.T. #4 today. I am so proud of my alma mater! I don't know anything about football (truly, I don't!) but I can't help but get all giddy and excited when the Gators play! Or when I hear Tim Tebow's name! I don't even like the colors orange or bright blue but I have proudly worn them together on shirts, sweatpants, tank tops, tattoos, water bottles, you name it for the past 6 years! I just love the Gators and being a part of the Gator Nation! It's incredibly hard to get in to the University of Florida (if I do say so myself! =) but the quintessential college experience you get when you get there is incredible! College really was the best days of my life (thus far)... Not just because of the tremendous athletics we had in the 4 years I was there when Gainesville was appropriately renamed Title Town (2 basketball championships, 1 football championship and a Heisman Trophy Winner!) but also because of the fantastic education I received! I never realized how adequately prepared I was to leave the hypothetical nursing world that all our exam questions were based on and enter the reality of nursing where nothing ever goes as the textbook planned until I started a residency with college grads from around the country and people kept telling me how far ahead I was in my first few months out of university! Whenever anyone asks me where I went for undergrad, I proudly say the University of Florida! I might sound like I'm bragging and that's probably because I am! I am just so proud to be a Florida Gator!! 

coming home.

Last weekend was just what my heart needed - a great homecoming with my best friends recreating our favorite college memories! Friday, Jess + I made the 8 hour drive (from Tennessee) to Gainesville in which we sang at the top of our lungs the entire way just like our numerous road trips in college! We rendezvoused with Carly + Megan at the mall to stock up on gator gear + get my eyebrows threaded by Veena (just like old times)! 

After getting ready together (borrowing each other's clothes + make-up) we headed to the stadium for Gator Growl, the country's largest student run pep rally! Aziz Ansari + Kevin Hart performed! 

Then we headed out to Swamp, one of the best bars in Gvegas, + caught up over pitchers of Blue Moon! 

Saturday, we went to Satchel's, our favourite pizza place before heading to campus to tailgate until kick-off! While this is a "rebuilding" year for the Gators, we still had a lot of fun at the game cheering our hearts out for our boys!     

It was a tradition in college that we always made breakfast or went for brunch on Sundays so before we left Gainesville, we went to The Flying Biscuit for brunch!

Sunday night, Carly + I went to Daniel Tosh's stand-up in Tampa Bay before Jess + I drove to Nashville Monday night. I left my camera but we met up with some of Jess' new nursing friends from Vanderbilt + my first + favorite friend from college, Liz! She is the one of the most fabulous people I know + I am so glad we have kept in touch the last few years! Now back in Knoxville for my last week with Reese, I'm not sure how I am going to leave on Monday....

...I long to live a life again filled with laughter + sunshine!

sea of orange + blue.

tailGATORs.

Last Saturday, me + my roomies decided to have a tailgate before the game since kick-off wasn't until 7:00 pm. We spent about forty-five minutes finding our tailgate essentials ... not a tent, cornhole, satellite tv or a keg ... but a trunk, bud light lime, gator coozies + sugar cookies with orange & blue sprinkles! 

 A bit of amateurs at drinking being 2 years out of college + never drinking much while in college either, we couldn't consume our 24 case fast enough so we started shotgunning beers .... ironically, the lady we asked to take these pictures was a DUI attorney + was "happy to help us later!" Pretty hilarious that it wasn't until a reunion two years later that we all shotgun a beer together for the first time! Miss these girls so much already! Can't wait for our Roommate Reunion 2011 - tentatively set for MLK weekend in PHX! Love, love, love you girls! =)