gamecocks {smackdown in omaha}

we did it again. our gamecocks are the national champions of baseball. again. two years in a row. ruling omaha. again. back to back. you get the point?

deep down, i felt it. i knew this would happen. i knew they could do it. through all the extra innings. all of the loaded bases with no outs. i trusted them. and they pulled through.

there were long nights for the blackwell crew this week. but worth every missed minute of sleep.

roth. price. taylor. wingo. bradley. walker.
thank you boys.
and thank you ray tanner.

it's good be a gamecock.

gamecocks {we did it!}

last night, the gamecocks beat their rival - the clemson tigers. this makes two years in a row that we've successfully earned bragging rights. it's been 40+ years since we've beaten them in back-to-back years.

the win also means we wrapped up our regular season with a 9-3 record...something that's only happened three times in the school's history.

GO COCKS!!!

i'm so excited for next weekend!!!!!!!!!!!

one set of tigers down (clemson), one more to go (auburn)

apology {m-i-a}

so, today is the day that i finally acknowledge that i've been totally *m-i-a* here in the blogosphere (by the way...i hate that word). other than the late {music monday} post i did earlier today, i haven't posted since october 16th. that's 10 days. a week and a half. ugh! but please rest assured that i have been thinking about you and my dear (lonely) blog.

in attempt to catch up, without repeating things that will eventually be captured on my (late) {this week} posts, here is holly's recent world in a nutshell:

• after the big gamecock win over alabama, we lost to kentucky. it was utterly depressing. but we beat vanderbilt (though it shouldn't have been as hard as it was). we are now ranked #17.
• coleman turned 20 months old
• coleman and i spent a weekend down with my mom, sister and her crew (they had their annual pumpkin carving party).
• work has been insanely busy

• i bought coleman some more one-piece PJ sets. we put him in these as often as possible so he doesn't scratch his legs at night :( i was also able to go ahead and pick up christmas PJs for both boys while the selection was still good.
• i've continued planning the upcoming 60th anniversary party
• my husband started putting my camera in the kitchen cabinet. as a result, i've been taking less pictures. we need to have a little heart-to-heart on this topic :)
• spencer received his first middle school report card (three As, 1 B). pretty good...especially since he's been struggling with math a little. very proud!
• i have bought a few christmas gifts and i'm working to get my brain in that gear of gift shopping
• we found my dream comforter at target (though it's actually a coverlet). of course this happened after purchashing another comforter elsewhere. trying to debate whether to splurge and get it.

• i've continued doing HOA junk until we have our transitional board meeting next month. ugh.
• i am almost a month behind on my {this week} posts, and photo editing process.
• i'm putting together an order at Old Navy online and wonder if i'll actually hit the final "order" button. i'm always shopping online and never order!!!
• i think i may have figured out a "master plan" for our family photo shoot this year. yay!

ok, let's say that's it for now...i'm sure i could go on, but i'm doubting anyone out there is screaming "no, please don't stop rambling! my day will be so incomplete!"...

{gamecock wear}

on monday of this week, my boss made the comment that he was surprised i wasn't wearing gamecock colors. i think i had on teal. a few minutes later, i decided i would wear gamecock gear/colors the rest of the week. i had already worn it on saturday and sunday. so, when i got home on monday night, i changed into a steve spurrier ladies' clinic tee and jeans. for the rest of the work week, i pulled off some combination of garnet/black/white.

i'm not sure if it's scarier that it was so easy to do, or that i could probably keep going for a few more weeks and not run out of clothes! anyway...i didn't remember to snap a photo every day, but i did capture a few.

i wore this on friday...felt ok going a bit more casual. i've always been torn on how much i like or dislike this shirt. this is the first time i've worn it in a while. it's much busier than most things i wear.

i forgot to take a photo on thursday. i wore a gray shirt, which is technically not a carolina color. but i wore garnet & black jewelry.

this was wednesday. black top with a garnet tank underneath. gamecock necklace. see the pocketbook in the background? carried that all week.

 this was tuesday... black shirt with garnet/black scarf.

not very exciting, but kind of a fun challenge! it would've been super easy to do if i could wear casual clothes everyday, since that's what most of my gamecock stuff is.

gamecocks {history is made}

if you know me, or just read this blog, and own a television...you probably know what this post is about. and you are wondering why it took me so long to do it! i've pondered what to write, and sometimes there just aren't enough words to express something. in this case...to express the level of excitement.

in case you live in a (sad and lonely) bubble, let me fill you in: saturday night, the university of south carolina gamecocks (ranked #19), BEAT alabama, the number one team in the country (and defending national champions).

here's the thing...i am a good fan. really, i am! i am not a fair-weather fan and i will support the gamecocks through their good times and their (numerous) bad times. i have suffered through the heartbreak losses and the quarterbacks that make you cringe and the plentiful bad, off-field publicity. but, i am also a realist. so here is my confession: i never, in a million years, thought we could win that game. i was just hoping we wouldn't be embarrassed. but, then there's this: while grocery shopping that morning, i picked up a bottle of champagne. i hid it in the back of our fridge and never mentioned it to a soul. later i found out matt saw it, knew why it was there and (like me) kept his mouth shut. apparently we are big believers of the *jinx* factor. when the clock hit zero on saturday night, i pulled out champagne glasses and told matt about the champagne (that he already knew was there). so...maybe, just maybe, i had a little faith in them?

the guy in the photo (#21) is devonte holliman - rock hill native!

as i sit here, typing this, thinking through the night again...i get chills. the first half was great but i kept saying (both to myself and outloud to our guests), "this is how auburn started. it's far from over". but there was something there that wasn't expected - hope. the slight possibility that we could pull this off. or that we were at least going to give them a run for their money. after halftime when garcia made a very (odd) safety, i thought "oh no. here we go." but it turned out ok (obviously). as the end got closer, it was unbelievable...we were really going to do it. and we did. wow. every gamecock fan in the country finally got the *moment* they've been waiting for...for so long. we have awesome fans. i wish i could have somehow captured the spirit of our home at that moment. spencer went absolutely ballistic. i had to sneak away at one point so my non-gamecock friends wouldn't realize that i was about to cry. it was truly awesome. i can not even imagine what it would've been like to be at williams-brice at that moment.

now, here are some important notes/highlights.

• alabama was undefeated for 19 games before we beat whooped them.
• this was the first time in school history that we beat a #1 ranked team in football.
• in 2010, carolina's baseball, basketball and football teams have beat the #1 team in the country (arizona state, kentucky and alabama, respectively). we're only the 2nd school to ever do that (the other was texas).
• a guy on espn said we played a nearly perfect game. seriously, people don't say that about us.
• we are now ranked #10 in the AP poll, #12 in the Coaches poll.
• if the BCS poll was out, we might be in the top 10. the computers didn't put us there, but some of the *experts* had us around 8th, 9th or 10th. lots of folks think we should not be ranked lower than alabama (which we are).
• marcus lattimore was 7 yards away from breaking a record
• spurrier won his 107th SEC victory, now in 2nd place to bear bryant.
• we sacked their quarterback SEVEN times
• we could actually win the SEC east. maybe, just maybe!
• we put up more points against alabama than any other team since 2007!
• mcelroy (alabama's qb) told garcia after the game that he'd see us again (implying that it will be us against them in the sec championship game!!)

i could go on, but that will have to do for now. the point is that we kicked some serious 'bama butt and i hope we get to do it again later this year. but first...we have to plow over kentucky, tennessee and vandy to clinch the sec east. we also need to bust down arkansas and get them out of the top 10!! we have a lot of work ahead of us. and for the first time in a LONG time...clemson is not what gamecock fans are looking forward to most.

domination {gamecocks}

it's a good day to be a gamecock. enough said.

{randomness}

this evening, i thought i'd just walk through some random, unrelated things that i want to share.

gamecocks: college football season started last night and carolina pulled off a fantastic win, beating southern mississippi 41-13. our quaterback, garcia, finally seems to have his act together and we are hoping it's a sign of a strong season. another highlight was lattimore - an impressive freshman tailback. go cocks!!!

baseball: spencer has chosen to resign from his travel baseball team (the "season" is year-long, going through november). he thoroughly enjoyed the spring, but unfortunately things turned sour with his coach recently. we allowed him to make the decision on his own and agreed to be supportive. as of wednesday, he chose to put this chapter behind him (and, for the record, all four of his parents are glad he made that decision). the good news is that he has started fall rec ball and absolutely loves it. he thinks his coach walks on water and it has renewed his passion for the sport - hallelujah!

photobook: picaboo had a free photobook offer for the month of august. i waited until the last minute to order mine because i couldn't decide what photos to use. i finally decided to do one highlighting spencer's time with his travel ball season, as a birthday gift for him. i chose to do this before we knew he was going to resign, but i'm still glad i did it. he did thoroughly enjoy most of his time with the team and i want him to remember the good times, and not just the sour ending. the photobook arrived very quickly! it has a retail value of $39.99 and i only paid $8.99 for shipping. it's hard cover, full-color. for the small amount i paid, i thought it was a good book. however, if i had paid almost $50 for it, i wouldn't have been pleased with the quality. i've ordered many photobooks from many companies and i feel like the page quality here wasn't fantastic.

rite aid: today i went to rite aid for some fantastic deals but was disappointed that the store was out of almost all of the freebie or cheapie items. very disappointing. i got some diapers at a good price, but not at my preferred price. phooey.

ok, lots of randomness there... excited to be kicking off a long, holiday weekend!

welcome {fall}

* it's september *

* the pumpkin spice latte is back at starbucks *

* we had lunch with this guy last week *

* today, i wore these colors *

* and tonight, this happens *

*finally, it's football season*

it might still be hot, but it's fall in the south.

welcome.

i got chill bumps writing this post.

national champions {gamecock baseball}

i can't believe it's taken me several days to get this posted, but i was travelling for work so that interferred in my ability to share this exciting news. throughout the college world series, i contemplated posting here about it, but i was afraid to jinx our winning streak (yes, this is bizarre...but baseball tends to be a very superstitious sport).

so, if you care anything about baseball, you already know that the University of South Carolina Gamecocks won the College World Series and are now the National Champions!!!!

GO COCKS!!!!!

Here are some nifty tidbits about the College World Series:

-- USC won the last CWS to be played in Rosenblatt Stadium
-- USC broke a CWS record by winning six straight games (to come back from the loss in the first game).
-- We had to beat our rival, Clemson, TWICE to move on to the finals.
-- There were over 13,000 fans welcoming the team back on Wednesday (more than our baseball stadium even holds).

On a personal note:
-- The week was full of many late nights. I only bailed early to bed once (we were up 6-0 over Clemson in the 7th).
-- We wore a LOT of Gamecock clothing (except Spencer - see below)
-- Spencer wasn't wearing a Gamecock outfit when they started winning, so he refused to wear anything different. He wore the same outfit for six games. (Yes, I washed it).

{bragging rights}

this post is a week overdue, but i couldn't let it go unacknowledged here in my blog world :) we did it ... finally ... after a long streak of rivalry losses. go cocks!!!!!!!! i would've loved to have been at this game. you could tell the crowd was crazy energetic the entire game.

{donate life duel}

If you are a South Carolina resident and interested in donating your organs upon your death (morbid, I know), please consider participating in the "Donate Life" Duel. Between now and November 23rd, fans of Carolina and Clemson are dueling against each other to see how many organ donors will sign up. Even if you've already signed up through the site, you can still have your willingness to donate count. Just click on the graphic below. GO COCKS!

And of course, there is a facebook page too.

free-for-all friday {10.2}

I haven't been very good about posting much lately. So, I thought I would do a quick "catch up" post today with some random stuff from the last week or so...


This morning I went to Starbucks and did the "taste test" with their new instant coffee (which is supposed to taste as good as their brewed coffee). For participating, you get two coupons - one for a free large brewed coffee on your next visit and one for $1.00 of the instant coffee. I went ahead and picked up a pack of the instant coffee. The smaller ones are only $2.95 for 3 single packs, but I used my coupon, of course!

Tuesday night I taught a scrapbooking class for the first time in YEARS. I only had four students, but it was still fun. I'm teaching at Oh Scrap! in Charlotte. I am going to try and do about one class a month, and I'm also doing sample projects to display in the store (as time allows). Above are what we created in the Halloween class this week.

I know I'm about a week late, but I HAVE to acknowledge that we beat a Top 5 team last week. GO COCKS!!!! Tomorrow night, we face SC State. It should be an easy win for us, but sometimes these "easy" games end up being more of a struggle for us than they should be. Oh, and it's ridiculous that we didn't get into the Top 25 after beating Ole Miss!

 

I don't have a photo for this last tidbit, but I have to address it. For those of you that know me personally, you know that my company has been in the process of splitting for the last couple of years. Things were finally finalized and bit-by-bit our one company is becoming two. I work in a small office (only 5 of us). One of those is now part of this new company - Jim. I've been with my company for almost 5 years now and we have experienced some personnel changes, but Jim and one other guy (my current boss) have been the constants. Now, Jim is gone. Granted he only moved to the building next door, but it's not the same. It simply sucks. He will be very missed. It's weird to stare at an empty desk (he sits, I mean *sat*, where I basically stare at him all day).

gamecocks v nc state {results}

it wasn't pretty, but we did it. we have our work cut out for us against georgia next week...

how'd the rock hill boys do???

- spencer lanning: bad, very bad. really bad.

- stephon gilmore...can you say KICK A$$ TRUE FRESHMAN SAVES THE GAME?

- devonte holloman: not too shabby for a true freshman...heck, he was on the field, that's a pretty darn good start!

- burger (friend of my nephew, oh yeah!): he kept the bench toasty warm (but with the way lanning performed, he might not be there too long)

this cool photo of garcia handing off the ball to maddox showed up in my inbox today:

{are you ready for some football?}

Today is a good day. Any day that starts with a Pumpkin Spice Latte and ends with a Gamecock win...well, that's just *good stuff*. I'm super pumped about the start of football season tonight.

kick off at nc state is at 7:03 p.m. GO COCKS!!!

this morning...the blackwell boys are ready to go!

i stole a couple of photos from the SPURS UP blog.

these are some stadium improvements recently made - recognizing record holders


and this is the new banner on the equipment truck...pretty cool.

photos {gamecock fan appreciation}

last weekend, we took spencer to *gamecock fan appreciation day* down in columbia.

here he is outside of the coliseum waiting for the doors to open matt and spencer with spurrier - spencer's first time meeting him

spencer with stephon gilmore

the two spencers - both from rock hill

digi layout {football}

in my extreme laziness today, i've sat in matt's recliner, watched dvr'd shows and goofed around with some digital templates. here is a layout i just created with very old photos - football game from 2005.

photos {usc v ky}

Last weekend, we had a couple of people over to watch the game with us (we won, by the way ... four in a row!!!).

Spencer playing football with Sydney

I thought this was a good picture of Spencer.

Halftime entertainment: Scott gives Spencer some baseball pointers

{usc v. wofford}

We rented the Wofford game on Saturday night, and yes, we won (23-13). But it wasn't a pretty sight (we were even losing at one point). We should've stomped Wofford and we didn't - not even close. It's amazing how we can almost beat Georgia and barely pull off a win to Wofford.

Some highlights:

• Smelley still isn't a very good quarterback (his long passes just are not accurate, plus he had 2 interceptions and a fumble) but he ran a few times for some decent yardage - first time we've really seen him do that. Unfortunately, we never saw a glimpse of Garcia (except on the sidelines).


• Succup performed better than earlier in the season so I may have my confidence back in him now (Spencer Lanning wasn't around this game - not sure why).


• Kenny McKinley was still out due to injury.


• We saw some nice plays out of Maddox (scored our first touchdown).


• A freshman kid named Baker came in for Mike Davis on occasion and is really good. Davis (pictured) can't play against UAB next week (and is a senior) so it's nice to know we have a strong tailback to fill that gap.

{college football - north v. south}

I've read this several times but just saw it again and thought I'd share it here since I've been posting about football the last couple of weeks. Enjoy - it's all very true, but good for a chuckle.

In case you weren't aware, there are just a few differences between football in the South and the North.

Women's Accessories:
NORTH:
ChapStick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH:
Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara, and a fifth of bourbon. Money is not necessary... that's what dates are for.

Stadium Size:
NORTH:
College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH:
High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

Fathers:
NORTH:
Expect their daughters to understand Sylvia Plath.
SOUTH:
Expect their daughters to understand pass interference.

Campus Decor:
NORTH:
Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH:
Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

Homecoming Queen:
NORTH:
Also a physics major.
SOUTH:
Also Miss America.

Heroes:
NORTH:
Rudy Guliani
SOUTH:
Archie & Peyton Manning

Getting Tickets:
NORTH:
5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus and purchase tickets.
SOUTH:
5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on Campus and put name on waiting list for tickets.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH:
Students and teachers not sure they're going to the game, because they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH:
Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don't want to see the few hung-over students that might actually make it to class.

Parking:
NORTH:
An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH:
RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:
NORTH:
A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH:
Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting "Game Day Live" to get on camera and wave to the idiots up North who wonder why "Game Day Live" is never broadcast from their campus.

Tailgating:
NORTH:
Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH:
30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn. Cooking accompanied by live performance by "Dave Matthews' Band," who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH:
You ask "Where's the stadium?" When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH:
When you're near it, you'll hear it. On game day it becomes the state's third largest city.

Concessions:
NORTH:
Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH:
Drinks served in a plastic cup, with the home team's mascot on it, filled less than half way with soda, to ensure enough room for bourbon.

When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH:
Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH:
100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

The Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH:
Nothing changes.
SOUTH:
Fireworks, with a touch of bourbon.

Commentary (Male):
NORTH:
"Nice play."
SOUTH:
"Dammit, you slow sumbitch -tackle him and break his legs."

Commentary (Female):
NORTH:
"My, this certainly is a violent sport."
SOUTH:
"Dammit, you slow sumbitch - tackle him and break his legs."

Announcers:
NORTH:
Neutral and paid.
SOUTH:
Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the Game:
NORTH:
The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
SOUTH:
Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker. While somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon, planning begins for next week's game.

gamecock update {vanderbilt}

I'm late posting my update, but it took a few days to recover. We played Vandy on their territory on Thursday night. The first half went well, but it didn't last long. In the end, we lost 24-17 to a team we should've beat. Smelley played the whole game and did fairly well but did throw 2 interceptions. We had several penalties that really hurt us, as well as some screw-ups by special teams. It was a sad day.
The worst part was that it was a late game (started at 8:30) and it took all my willpower to stay awake for this thing. I made myself do it, all just to watch them lose.

This is Kenny McKinley catching a touchdown pass before he got hurt

and had to sit out the rest of the game.