Remember the Alamo...Bowl!

After such an exciting football season there was no way I was going to miss Baylor's bowl game! There was a lot of hope that Baylor would get picked for a big bowl game, maybe the Cotton Bowl, and maybe even a BCS bowl. I, however, was just hoping Baylor would play in Texas! I was so excited when we were picked to play in the Alamo Bowl. San Antonio is a super fun city and it would allow many, many Baylor fans to make it to the game.

It worked out for me and the boys to take a little road trip and we had a great time. We arrived in San Antonio in time to check into the hotel and check out the riverwalk for a few minutes.



Then we hopped in a taxi and made our way to the game. The boys enjoyed some of the pre-game activities.


We went inside the Alamodome and found our seats.




I was kind of surprised that we were surrounded by Washington fans...including Joe Montana!



The game was super exciting. It was high-scoring and the lead went back and forth and back and forth! In the end, Baylor won! The balloons fell, fireworks popped, and confetti flew! It was really fun to watch the team celebrate afterwards. Since we were staying right on the riverwalk we decided to walk back to our hotel. It was so pretty all lit up for Christmas and so fun to hear random Sic'em Bears all along the way. We even stopped by the Alamo at about 1am!


The next day we got up and headed back to the Alamo, went to the mall, and finished up with a river taxi ride back to the hotel.






We really had a super fun time on the trip. It took us 7 hours to make it home but the boys did a great job and we all lived to tell about it!

A Season To Remember...

The 2011 Baylor Football season was definitely one to remember. For me, it started out on a very high note with some help from Facebook and Twitter. Because I have many great friends I won a contest for a pair of season tickets for Baylor football. I have never purchased season tickets before because I just didn't think I'd be able to commit to attending every home football game and found it easier to just buy tickets for the games I was actually gonna make it to. And let's be honest, in the past attending Baylor football games has led to much frustration and much disappointment. So, to get tickets to every home game for FREE was awesome and led to many great memories and lots of great football! Besides attending every home game, I also got the opportunity to attend 3 road games and the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. Here's a quick recap of all the fun...

Game 1: TCU vs. Baylor - Baylor Wins!!
It took an unusually long time and a little off-roading to get to Waco for this Friday night game but it was totally worth it. This was an epic game that went down to the final seconds and put Baylor in the national spotlight. The Robert Griffin for Heisman talk began and I finally got some bragging rights over all my TCU co-workers! My good friends Kristy, Shane, Reagan, and Wendell attended this game with me and it was a blast. Besides winning, the highlight was probably seeing the couple in front of us celebrate like they just won a billion dollars. Baylor fans knew this year was finally going to be different!



Game 2: Stephen F. Austin vs. Baylor - Baylor Wins!!
I got to go to this game with sister, Ashleigh (BU class of 2007), and my college roommate, Stacey (BU class of 2004). It was tons of fun spending time in Waco again with these two! This game actually only lasted 3 quarters because of lightning but we still had a great time and as long as Baylor wins it doesn't really matter how long the game lasts! This is our only picture from the night...Pat Neff Hall is lit up in green after every Baylor win.


Game 3: Rice vs. Baylor - Baylor Wins!!
I was so excited to go to this game with Kristy and the boys! It is always fun to go to the game with them and really helps with my recruiting of the Bagg boys! This game wasn't all that entertaining so we had a little football game of our own. Kristy gave a great recap of this night here.



Game 4: Baylor vs. Kansas State - Baylor loses by 1 stinkin' point!
This was Baylor's first road game and both teams were undefeated going into the game. I watched this game on TV and spent most of the game pacing, praying, and hoping Baylor would come out on top. Alas, it wasn't in the cards and we lost the game in the final seconds by 1 point.

Game 5: Iowa State vs. Baylor - Baylor Wins!!
A couple of my former 4th graders went with me to this game. Jacob and Joseph are two talented football players and it was fun to watch the game with them. And, of course, Baylor won so it was all good!

Game 6: Baylor vs. Texas A&M - This one was kind of ugly!
It is always fun to visit College Station! I have several close friends who are Aggies and so this game is always important. The Rothenbergers were kind enough to allow me to tag-along and enjoy this game with them. Kyle Field is a special place and because of all the SEC/Big 12 drama it was definitely a hyped up crowd. After starting out strong, Baylor kind of fizzled and lost in a big way! This will probably be the last time Baylor and A&M play football for a very long time and unfortunately the Aggies have bragging rights for what looks like forever! It was a super fun day though and I'm thankful I got to enjoy it with great friends!



Game 7: Baylor vs. Oklahoma State - This one was very ugly!
Parker and I took a little road trip to Stillwater, Oklahoma to enjoy this game. It was my first time in Stillwater and I loved it. The people were so friendly and they had a great game day atmosphere. This would have been a stunning upset for Baylor, but it turned into a stunning defeat! We played horrible and it was a long ride home!


Game 8: Missouri vs. Baylor - Back on track!
After losing two games in a row there was a lot riding on this game. A lot of people said that if we lost this game, we wouldn't even make a bowl game. I was nervous going in but Abbee and Emma kept me calm. It was super fun to go to the game with these two girls and I loved exposing them to Baylor. I think Emma even enjoyed the game...she had told her mom that she didn't even like football! In the end, Baylor got win #5!


Game 9: Baylor vs. Kansas - Way too close for comfort!
This game was in Lawrence, Kansas and I had to listen to it on the radio. Kansas was having a really rough season and this should have been an easy win for Baylor. I actually gave up listening because we were losing bad going into the fourth quarter and I just couldn't believe we were gonna lose to Kansas! I checked back in with a few minutes remaining and was able to listen to the tail-end of what turned out to be one of the greatest come-from-behind-wins in Baylor football history!

Game 10: Oklahoma vs. Baylor - Unbelievable!
This turned out to be one of my favorite football games ever! Kristy, Alex, Reagan, Luke, Landry, and I made the trek to Waco for this Saturday night game. I'd be lying if I said I thought there was any way that Baylor would be able to beat Oklahoma but that is exactly what they did! Check out the video in the last post to see just how exciting that game was. It was definitely the biggest win in my time as a Baylor fan!




Game 11: Texas Tech vs. Baylor - Another great win!
This was technically a home game but it was played at Cowboys Stadium. It was nice to be able to go to a game just down the road! Parker, Landry, Luke, and I attended this game and had a great time! By this time, Baylor fans believed the team could beat just about anybody!


Game 12: Texas vs. Baylor - Woohoo!
My Dad and I made the trek to Waco for this game on a rainy, rainy day! Texas had just beaten A&M and we really needed RG3 to have a great game to better his chances at the Heisman. It was a great game and Baylor won again! It was really exciting to witness another huge win despite having to sport a pancho the entire game! Since my brother went to UT my Dad is a fan of the Longhorns as well as Baylor so it was fun to come out on top in this one!

Game 13: Washington vs. Baylor - The Alamo Bowl - Win #10
I'll need to make a separate post about the Alamo Bowl experience but this was a crazy game that fortunately turned out in our favor! I had the best time with Alex, Reagan, Parker, Luke, and Landry on this little adventure!


It was definitely a season to remember and not only was all the winning fun, it was really great to be able to share all the fun with great friends and family! It's been a long time since being a Baylor fan meant you actually witnessed the team win but hopefully that's the way it's going to be for a long time!

Oh Baylor!

I'm going on 11 years as a pretty hardcore Baylor fan. We may not be the biggest, flashiest, or most impressive team around but we always play with heart. There is never a day that I'm not proud to be a Baylor Bear. The lows, and there are many, are usually pretty low. But, the highs, they are very high! Last night's win over Oklahoma definitely qualifies as a high!



Sic'em Bears!!

The Power's Out.

It’s Sunday night and I don’t have to go to school tomorrow. I’m pretty sure I’ve never been more thankful for Christopher Columbus and his discovering America! Although, he didn’t technically discover “America” but he’s totally worth a day off of school! Anyway, after my plans to attend the Ranger game got nixed I thought I’d spend this cool, cloudy evening curled up on the couch watching something on Netflix. Just as I was about to wrap up some “chores” and head for the couch the lights began to flicker and then the power went out. According to the electric company it’s going to be at least 2 hours before it comes back on. Let’s just say that I was very frustrated by the fact that I had nothing to do but sit in the dark. As I was straightening up some things on my dresser by the light of my iPhone (thank you Steve Jobs), I remembered Haiti. So instead of just sitting in the dark I’m going to attempt to blog about my trip to Haiti...we’ll see how long my laptop battery (thank you Steve Jobs) lasts.

I’ve been meaning to sit down and blog about my trip to Haiti for um, well, a really long time! I just haven’t gotten around to it for some reason. Probably mostly because I don’t want to admit how much that trip made me realize that my life is full of luxuries. And if I put it on the blog, then maybe I’ll have to do something about that. Unfortunately, the frustration I just experienced about not having any electricity is a sure sign of how quickly I can revert to my old ways even after being deeply impacted by the conditions and people of Haiti. So, I’ll tell you about Haiti and I hope that by doing so it will hold me accountable to living a little more thankful, a little more intentional, and little more aware of God’s incredible blessings.

One Saturday morning in early August, seven of us left very early to spend a week in Haiti building a house for a family who’s former home was destroyed in the January 2010 earthquake. We arrived in Port-Au-Prince in the late afternoon and were immediately face-to-face with the 18 month-old destruction. Directly across the street from the airport was a "tent-city" where many people who lost their homes have lived for over a year and a half. They have literally lived under big blue and gray tarps for a year and a half.





After a very long and bumpy ride up the mountain we arrived at the Baptist Haiti Mission in Fermathe. It was already dark so we didn't get to see much of the mission that night. We ate dinner, checked out our accommodations for the week and pretty much called it a night. We stayed in a building that was one big room and two smaller "bedrooms" with bunk beds. There were windows on the building but they don't have glass so everything is pretty open. We went to sleep that night with the sound of all kinds of creatures doing what they do at night. Our bathroom was outside and about 20 feet down the sidewalk. I don't know how all of that sounds to you, but it was way better than I had anticipated!

The next morning we were awoken by the sounds of singing at the church...it was about 6:30 am. Talk about an early service! We got up and attended an English-speaking Bible study and then the "late" worship service at the church. The service was entirely in Creole and it was long. And we don't speak Creole so it felt even longer! Another side note, we were definitely underdressed! The Haitians take their Sunday best very seriously. We later learned that many of them walk miles to church barefoot so that their shoes will still look nice when they get there. We spent the rest of Sunday just kind of hanging out and resting up for the big week ahead. Here are pictures of some things around the mission...






Monday morning came and it was time to get to work. We did take a tour of the mission before we got started. I was amazed at the mission and all that it does to equip the people to help themselves have a better way of life. There is a hospital, a school, a church, a bakery, restaurant, and lots of other little ways for people to learn a trade. I think there should be places like the Baptist Haiti Mission all over the world...such a neat way to meet the needs of the whole person and still have the opportunity to share the gospel with them. After our tour, we loaded up on the back of a flat-bed truck and held on for dear life as we road up and down the worst roads I've ever seen. Once we arrived at the site we met the crew and then got started. We moved a ton of cinder blocks from there to here to there. The Haitians really did most of the "skilled" work so we just jumped every time we heard one of them yell "blok" or "mochi." Mochi was the concrete mixture used to cement the blocks into place. The walls went up pretty quickly and by the end of the day we were totally exhausted.

Tuesday through Friday was more of the same. Lots of block and mochi moving. We also put stucco on all the inside and outside walls. The roof, doors, and lock went on and that was pretty much it. This was basically a one-room house that eight people will live in. There's no electricity (hmmm), no plumbing, no gas. It's basically just a roof over this family's head. But this family was so proud of their new home.








We usually had a crowd of on-lookers watching us work. If you heard them say something about the blancs, you knew they were talking about us. I don't think they see many white people up in their part of the mountain and because of the misuse of billions of aid dollars that have gone to Haiti the people there are a little skeptical and resentful of Americans. Despite all that, the on-lookers inched closer and closer to us as the week went on. Getting to know the kids who were there kind of became my mission and when I tried my Creole out on them, they usually laughed. We still managed to communicate and by the end of the week the kids were all around us and even helping out with the house. We sang songs, took pictures and video of them (which they loved), and just tried to have fun with them. Here are the kiddos...






Interacting with the kids definitely was the highlight and most meaningful part of the trip for me. I just kept thinking...they have NOTHING and that's ok with them. I have SO MUCH and it's usually not enough! There's a big disconnect there for me! On one hand, visiting a place like Haiti made me realize how incredibly blessed I am. On the other hand, visiting a place like Haiti makes me think twice about how I spend my time, how I spend my money, and the things I worry about. I am overwhelmingly blessed and I want to do my best to honor God with all that He's given me. It's definitely good for me to remember Haiti...often.

Blessed

A couple days ago I returned home from spending a week in Haiti. I'm still kind of processing what I saw and experienced and how those experiences will change the way I see myself, the world, and the future. One thing I know for sure, I am so incredibly blessed. Blessed beyond measure and blessed far beyond what I deserve. I'm excited about documenting some of the details of the trip here but for now, I'll leave you with a picture of my little friend Dudley. He couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Creole, but high-fives, fist bumps, waves, and smiles are universal!