traci in the swamp

Here's hoping for next year...

Matt and I drove down to Melbourne (Florida, not Australia) to visit with his friend, Jace and Jace's wife Araceli this weekend.  Jace, Matt and I are all UCF grads and wanted to enjoy the game together.   Well, I can't say we totally enjoyed the game, since UCF lost, but we did enjoy our time together.  You can tell in the picture our happiness level, early in the game UCF was winning - then at the end of the game, well....Matt and I have finally recovered.   On an interesting note, the Gainesville Sun today discussed the lack of UCF excitement for their second bowl game, I wish the reporter had been at the Hooters watching us watch the entire game!

Here's hoping for USF today in the Sun Bowl and UF tomorrow in the Capital One Bowl.

Once again, 3 for 3!

I'm keeping my toes crossed as I write this, so I don't jinx myself or the team, but USF keeps moving up in the college football rankings - this time moving up from #23 - to #18.  This is such a great deal for USF and one of those important moments in their history.

The only thing that did annoy and offend me, is the fact that the St. Pete Times replaced the news about USF's win against UNC with the Gators' win over Ole Miss on the Times' website.  Now I know the Gators are the 2006 National Champions (I'm a fan too), but they are not the home team (last time I checked University of Florida is in Gainesville, I drive by it every single day - I should know!  And the University of South Florida is in Tampa- the same general place the Times' is located - geez!).  Anyway, I'm stepping off my high horse/soap box now - just had to vent about that.

UCF also beat Memphis Saturday - 56-20 (ouch!).  I must have missed this story, but apparently there were no water fountains built in the stadium, until just this week.  President Hitt was kind enough to help pass out water bottles to fans and new water fountains were installed before the Saturday's game.  This didn't keep fans away though, and 42,153 people came to see UCF win again! 

I continue to remain very proud of three Florida teams.

There is a first for everything: USF Ranked #23!

Well, the time has come and I couldn't be prouder to be a graduate of two excellent Florida schools.  USF is officially a ranked football team for the first time.  The AP Poll has USF ranked as #23 and the USA Today Poll has USF ranked as #24. Matt and I have been USF fans for a while and the picture to the left is evidence (taken when we saw USF play NC State in Charlotte, NC in the Meineke Car Care Bowl 2005).

 

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In the other part of the state, UCF played their first game in their new stadium.  The Knights played the Texas Longhorns and although UCF lost, Texas did not have an easy game by any means.  This article sums it up perfectly.

And in local news here, UF beat Tennessee and moved up to #3 in the rankings.  (Sorry Tonia!!)

Has it been four years...already?

Four years ago today, I drove my old beat up Toyota Corolla to Hyde Park - one of those trendy places in South Tampa, known for its nightlife and preppy crowd.  For the past couple of months, I'd exchanged dozens of emails and phone calls with a very smart and handsome 25 year old who lived in Altamonte Springs.

We "met" when I very serendipitously extended my search on Yahoo Personals to include 150 miles from my radius one night.  I wasn't desperate by any means.  I worked at a police department and could have probably dated a cop or two (yuck).  But, I was feeling adventurous - so imagine my luck when I came across investmwr, a SWM, looking for most of the things, I was confident I possessed.  So I initiated the conversation and one thing led to the other and brought me to Hyde Park for our first face to face meeting.  I knew he'd be "special" and fun, since our conversations and emails alluded to this fact, so I was excited.

And he was, cute, smart, funny, albeit not punctual, but all around a good catch.  We enjoyed a nice dinner at the Wine Exchange, a walk around "window shopping" and good conversation.  We hugged good night and I hoped, like most girls do, that he'd call.

Well, long story short, he did.  We dated, moved in together, got engaged, got married and will be celebrating our one year wedding anniversary in a few months.  So here's to that hot night, September 6, 2003, khaki pants, blue skirts, spaghetti, the Howard Frankland bridge (and all the water surrounding it), the Wine Exchange, directions, Yahoo Personals and I-4. 

I love you, honey!

Opening weekend of football - 3 for 3!

Well, everyone knows the scores by now, but I'm happy to report that all three teams I was hoping to win this weekend - actually did! 

Matt and I went to the Florida game today.  We had fantastic seats on the 20 yard line.  We were two of the 90,086 people there today as the Gators beat the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers 49-3.   I will always be surprised and impressed by how much noise can be generated by all the screaming fans.  I will also always respect the loud sound of the "gator chomp" - even though when you are the other team - it is a bit frightening.

I'm also happy to see that my two alma maters, also won their games this weekend.

University of South Florida played Elon and won (thankfully!).  Although, according to Coach Leavitt - it wasn't very pretty.

And University of Central Florida beat North Carolina State 25 - 23. 

And now, with all that good news - I am finally heading to bed.

Hurricane, hurricane - go away - don't come back another day!

Matt is from New Orleans, well Metairie (a suburb of New Orleans) to be exact.  When I (or Matt) tell people this, it is always followed with a gasp and an inquiry into the status of the loved ones who live there and Hurricane Katrina.  Thankfully, no one in Matt's family was injured, but family members suffered a lot of loss - their valuables and even their homes and now their way of life.  Even now, we know that New Orleans and the other areas on the Gulf Coast hit by hurricanes over the years (and anyone living anywhere that have been storm victims) haven't gotten back to normal.  Even when Matt and I drove down to Miami a few months ago, we saw FEMA trailers in Port Charlotte where Hurricane Charley hit in 2004.

When Matt and I got engaged Christmas 2005, the first wedding planning rule from our families, focused on dates and making sure we scheduled the wedding after hurricane season.  This made perfect sense to everyone involved, especially considering that for the better part of hurricane season 2004, Matt and I both played musical homes.  At that time, Matt lived in Orlando and I lived in St. Pete Beach.  Every weekend it seemed a hurricane was heading one of our ways, so we would evacuate to the other home.  One time, we didn't plan so well, and wound up in Orlando when the outer bands were coming through and lived without power for the weekend.  This is only a minor inconvenience in the scheme of things, I know, and it could have been a lot worse.  We managed to plan our wedding for November 2006 (with fingers crossed, since this was taking a gamble) and prayed the entire time.

We were blessed last year, with no hurricanes and no real scares.  We felt like we could recover a bit, from the previous year.  And now, Tropical Storm Dean is looming in the Atlantic.  As much as I've said and posted before that l like thunder and rainstorms, I don't like the stress that the words Tropical Depression, Tropical Storm, and Hurricane can bring.  I can only hope the storm fades away and isn't a threat to anyone.  But regardless, as the newspapers and television will undoubtedly remind us, this is part of living where we are and we always have to prepared.  But it will never be easy.

There's No Place Like Home

Matt and I went to Orlando this weekend because his parents, brother and his girlfriend came down for a visit from New Orleans.  Matt lived in the Orlando area (he's a double UCF grad) for almost ten years, but lived in Altatmonte  Springs - which is clear on the other side of the famous attractions such as Sea World, Universal, and (of course) Disney World. 

We had a great weekend and did several things in just a day.  We enjoyed dinner at the House of Blues in Downtown Disney.  We visited Sea World and watched the Dolphin and Whale Show.  We also fed the sea lions and watched their show also featuring sea otters, and a walwrus.  We also had a wonderful lunch at the Shark's Underwater Grill and had a great view of the sharks swimming around.

Something very intersting dawned on us while we were Orlando.  Even though Matt and I have only lived in Gainesville for about two months, we missed it while we were in Orlando.  Gainesville has everything we need.  Shopping, entertainment, culture, nature, good restaurants, and great sporting events.   Without the unnecessary hustle and bustle, such as excessive traffic or too many people  (granted we were at an amusement park).  But still we realized this weekend that we have a wonderful new home here and although it is nice to visit Orlando, there is no place like home.