USF!

Well this weekend USF played against FSU and unfortunately didn't pull off the upset. Well having one sister who is an alumni from there and then another one there, i did pull against them, because of my best friend Matt Floyd. He is a red shirt sophomore there and this year won the #2 spot for back up Quarterback! I was so proud, he worked very hard to earn that position and then coming into this game he has one play that he got to go in on since B.J.s helmet came off and he had to sit out a down. Well Matt got a chance to go in against FSU when B.J. got a little shook up on a hit. It was a bad situation that he came into, not seeing the defense and not being warmed up and was hit on the back side and had a fumble. Many people will say stuff about him having his one shot get wasted, but were you on ESPN and did you get the chance to face the #4 team FSU? Well i am very proud of him and can't wait to actually go to a game and get to see him play! He is my best friend and like a brother I never had! Love you Matty

Ocoee,Tennessee

This past weekend I was in Ocoee,Tennessee for a retreat with the Campus Outreach program here at Troy. It was a fun filled weekend, spent with some wonderful people. Made some new friends and formed some stronger relationships with others. On Saturday we had to choice to go White Water Rafting down the Ocoee river and it was a great experience! I had a blast and here are some pictures from it!

No More Cowbells!

Well got to get back to reality tonight. This weekend was a great one starting around 5:00pm on Friday when Mom and Dad came to Troy for the weekend. So we got to drive around and then go out to dinner. Then on Saturday morning I got to start my morning off at a place that I have missed/love! The softball fields, the 12-u Power team and 10-u West Florida Elite teams war both playing in a one day tournament, and so I got to see a little bit of Milton for the weekend. Felt good to see familiar faces and watching softball once again! Then on Saturday the Fords finally around around an hour before kick-off(they were on Ford time for sure) along with the Shaffers!So we all managed to find decent parking and head on over to the stadium to watch Troy take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs! The game started off very well and then it looked like it was going to be a blow out. Then the boys dug down deep and gave it all they had, but came up short falling 24-30. Which Im sure that many people never would have guess that would be the score ever! Robert Downs did not, because i had to send a picture of the score board as proof! haha Today was relaxing just going out to lunch out in Dothan where i got to see a friend who is playing baseball at Wallace now. Then eventually made our way back to Troy and trying to get motivated to get back to reality and hit the books! Next weekend is the possibly Tennessee trip with Campus Outreach! So looking forward to the chance to build new relationships with many different people! "God sometimes takes us into deep waters not to drown us, but to cleanse us." Have a great week!

For those of you who don't know I am fortunate to have one great-grandparent alive still in my life. I call her Nanny and my great-grandfather passed away when I was in 7th grade. But he was my Creepy. I do miss him very much and hate that I never got to spend time with him like I do with Nanny now. But she LOVES to share stories from when they first met and when he would stationed all around the states and all. She will tell me that when I was little he would always say "Watch Mikey, she is going to do something big one day" And today I thought about that. For those of you who don't know I am planning on going into physical therapy when I graduate because you just can't get your degree in it. So it is at a doctorate degree in its own sense. With this begin said my major is Sports and Fitness Management with minors in Exercise Science and Leadership. Now this is a start to the goal that I hope to one day achieve and i know that the road is going to be bumpy and not crowded. I know that i will have to make sacrifices, to put in the extra time, and many other things that might make me go crazy. But i know that I have someone who is looking down on me saying You can do it. That in life it may not be easy, but it will be worth it for sure! I know that if life was easy there would not be any adventure, that anyone could do anything. For adventures and risks sometimes show us who we are and makes us who we are. We just have to figure out what we and then go after it and get it! i have been enjoying the nice weather and walking to campus and it has given me time to think about many things. That in Milton things were not easy but not challenging, I knew many many people i the community, I was involved with FBC and had a wonderful job. Those were all many things that I am grateful for and will never forget the memories, but i think that God has a bigger plan for me. He call us sometimes to step out of our comfort zones to go and do things for Him and this is something i think He has called me to do. I could have stayed in Milton and made things easy, but I am not about easy things. I like challenges and I am having to adjust to this new way of life, but it is something that will be worth it all in the end. "And those who were dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music!" "Life is not waiting for the storm to pass, its about learning to dance in the rain!" So what is stopping you from getting out in the rain and dancing?!?!?!

Gameday

Well today was the first home game for the Trojans! To kick off the first home game against ULL! Well I wish that I could say that we had an amazing victory, but we didn't. Lost 37-24, but by the way we played we didn't deserve to win at all! Started the team spirit off with tailgating with the Campus Outreach Ministry at the local church that is right across from the stadium. We had a ping pong table set out in the grass along with two tvs to watch some of the games and then hotdogs and hamburgers to cook! So it was a fun time to just hang out till game time! At 3:45 the events start off with what they call the Trojan Walk, where everyone lines up the path to the fields and the path is so tight that the boys have to walk in a single file line to fit down the path! So it is a good way to kick the start off! Kick off was set for 6, and about 5:45 the clouds started to roll in and it started to sprinkle. I didn't have an umbrella or rain jacket, so i was prepared to just get soaked. But thank goodness the rain went away and it was very nice weather for the rest of the night! But it was a good time and then next weekend is a big sec game against Mississippi State and that is very exciting for many reasons: 1) its a big game(duh) 2) parents are visiting with the Fords 3) there is a softball tournament that some of my girls are playing in! So very exciting to spend the weekend with family, especially since this will be a stressful week with test and other things! Quote for the post: Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyways. -John Wayne

Rainy Days

Well my welcome home gift to Troy was a bad thunderstorm on Monday night and throughout the day on Tuesday! Well i guess that I would take that rain on those days since I had beautiful sunshine weather for the beach weekend! The good thing about rainy days here in Troy is what the dress code goes to! Usually all the girls have hats on, athletic shorts, then a Troy t-shirt with a rain jacket and to top it all off rain boots of course! This makes it super easy to get ready, especially when the weather is the perfect condition to sleep in! The rain did stop in enough time to for me to get to play our first flag football game! And i can say after game one, that there is no injuries! We won 32-0, which was pretty good considering that our game was at 4:30 and our first practice was at 3:50 that day! Chelsea came out and weathered the mosquitos and managed to put a hole in her rain boots as we were walking to the fields. Which wasn't a good thing because the fields were SUPER muddy from all the rain we had received over the past few days. So i think that all of us playing got stronger, because with all the water/mud in our shoes it was like we had weights on our ankles! Quote for the day: You can't have a testimony unless you have went through a test<3

Sunshine!

Well this past weekend was the annual trip out to Sunset Harbor for a fun filled weekend! And that is just what it was. Friday night was filled with pot roast, fishing, and then watching the red flag waves roll in far on the shore. Saturday breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast, grits, and pancakes to start it off. I knew i wasn't in college anymore! Then went out to the beach with the boys where it was still a red flag, and made sure that I wasn't responsible for them if something happened;) i wouldn't let that though! Well after getting talked into it i went into the water and tried out the boogie board and now i have some battle wounds! From the storm of Issac, it pushed many shells and rocks up and when the waves pushed me they kept pushing me and pushing me! Saturday afternoon and night was filled with football and then steak for dinner! Then of course end the night with fishing! I laid down out on the pier and looked up at the stars and then the full moon, this was when we had the "blue moon" and won't happen again till 2014! But was just a beautiful sight to see! After ending/starting a new day with that i went to get a few hours of sleep then to get up and walk along the beach to watch the sun rise and saw 2 schools of dolphins just swimming and JUMPING high out of the water. WOW is all i have to say, God is such a beautiful artist and I'm thankful for it. That is one thing that I am always fascinated with are sunsets and sunrises! Another beautiful day at the beach and hanging out with friends, then dinner was a huge shrimp boil and mullet caught from the previous day! Boo did a great job with the mullet! I could feel it all starting to hit me that night! Lack of sleep was something i was feeling, i have slept more here at college than this weekend! But i wouldn't trade anything for it. It was a great time to be back in Florida and to be sharing me time with such special family and friends. The memories made will never be forgotten!