Clemson. You are so dumb. Fo Real.

        Auburn is like visiting Clemson in your dream.  It's like, you feel like you're in the place you know in love, but something's just a bit off.  We left Charlotte on Friday after work and made our way down to Clemson to meet Ansley and her friend Drew.  Overall, the trip took about 5 and 1/2 hours (I think?) and was filled with a car ride full of good music, great dance moves all around, and over-enthusiastic fight songs and cadence counts.  When we arrived in Auburn around 10pm (c) and after dropping Drew off, Ansley's boyfriend Wes gave us 11 minutes to get ready to go out.  Anyone would have been impressed with how quickly 3 girls were able to get dressed made up and ready to go with one mirror and one bedroom...I wondered why that was so easy, until I got to the bars and realized that I had not come prepared.  On our way to the first bar, I realized I had forgotten my ID, and so from that point on I had to sneak into everywhere I went downtown...as a college graduate.  C'est la vie.  We had a lot of fun in downtown Auburn (which puts downtown Clemson to shame as far as size) and saw a LOT of Clemson friends. 

Downtown Auburn with the Ansley's, after our 11 minute routine...Alabama heat really did a number on this girl's hair.

        We got home and promptly went to sleep on a futon in the hallway of Wes' apartment.  We woke up an hour later to one of Wes' friends, Mac (who we did not know at this point but got to know pretty quickly soon after) running up the stairs, knocking on another roommate's door and yelling "Corey! Your floor is raining into the kitchen!"  Corey did not seem immediately concerned about the flood starting on the first floor but eventually got out of his bed and went downstairs to deal with the situation.  Once I thought the issue was taken car of, I tried to fall back asleep, which almost happened.  Then I heard Corey and Mac's conversation (In the truest Alabama accent): "DUDE, make me an Eggo", "Shut your butt".  At this point Ansley (who had not uttered one word throughout this entire process, and whom I thought was fast asleep) and I burst out cackling in unison.  After that, there was no going back to sleep for Ansley Faria, Mac, or Me and we went downstairs to hang out with our new hilarious friend Mac for the rest of the night...I literally mean the entire night.  Bailey, Another one of Wes' roommates came down at 6:30 the next morning to go get the tailgate spot ready, and could not get over the 3 of us who were still up, at this point, sharing YouTube videos, and making fun of each other.  

        By 8:30 we were up and getting ready to head out for a day of tailgating.  We spent the entire day outside tailgating with Wes and his friends.  The location was perfect, because we ended up getting to see a lot of Clemson people...again.  The sad thing is that now that I think about it, I saw very few of my close friends that I know were there, but that I didn't come with.  Anyways, there was lots of good food, beer, football on a flat screen, and plenty of Orange to go around...a great tailgate scene if you ask me.  

This picture does not reflect how...hot we were the entire day.  Good ol' Alabama heat.

        When it was time for the game, we headed to the stadium to watch the eagle fly in.  I am SO disappointed that I didn't get a picture.  I figured that an Auburn site would give the best description, although I wish you could have seen Mac telling the story, dressed in his pajamas and his Auburn full brimmed hat.  Pretty hilarious, but it is a cool story.  This account came from auburnwareagle.com: 

"During the first ever Auburn-Georgia game back in 1892, there was an aging Civil War vet in the crowd. The old soldier brought with him, that day, his pet eagle- a bird he had found on the battlefield during the war. He had nursed this eagle back to health and eventually adopted it as his own. At some point during this game, the eagle leapt from the soldier’s arm and soared high above the field. While the eagle hovered overhead, Auburn took the lead with a dramatic touchdown drive and students began chanting “War Eagle!”

Auburn won the game however, when the game ended, the eagle took a nosedive onto the field and died. Still, he became an instant legend and gave birth to the “War Eagle” battle cry tradition.

During Auburn’s pre-game festivities, the eagle is released and gracefully circles the stadium until landing in the middle of Pat-Dye Field while Auburn fans yell “War Eagle, Hey!” The flight of the eagle became a game day tradition after Tiger’s first flight at the Wyoming game on August 31, 2000. This is the only University where the eagle flight takes place."

        

http://tinyurl.com/35w5rmw the result of a viral video sensation, and a phrase that had already been a theme for the weekend...how appropriate after our final kicking scheme that cost us the game.

        When we returned to the tailgate, I realized that, not only had my tigers taken a beating, my ankles had as well.  Y'all...over the course of the day I had developed CANKLES like you wouldn't believe.  That is one feature that I do not possess, but I think after an entire day of standing up all the blood had rushed down to my feet.  I refused to take a picture of them because I did not want to remember what they looked like, although the image is hard to shake.  I decided that I could not be in public with the tree trunks attaching my knees to my feet, so Ansley and I made our way to find a cab.  We had every intention in the world to come back to hangout, until what we thought might be a 20 minute ordeal to find a cab and take us 5 minutes down the road, turned into an hour long process.  By the time we got home to get changed and head back out, Ansley and Wes and friends were calling suggesting we just order a pizza and call it a night...a welcome suggestion. 
        On Sunday, we woke up to the sad realization that we were not heading back to Clemson to sit in harts cove in our pajamas and watch movies all night with each other, and instead we were each returning to our respective homes, to go to prepare for work on Monday.  Furthermore, what I realized is that, in a normal world, a Clemson football loss stinks on Saturday, and still stings on Sunday, but by Monday it's all over with.  In my world, it stinks on Saturday, still stings on Sunday, but gets even worse on Monday when your job centers around how ACC football teams perform for their conference.  And it doesn't help when your lack of voice serves as a constant reminder to all colleagues that you were a participant in the Clemson Football experience on the Saturday before.   
        Don't let me fool you, I am still LOVING my job, but I'm missing college friends and college life more than ever right now.  Ansley Zarra and I were talking on our way home from the game about missing college and I realized that I wish I had one more year in school, knowing all that I know now, to enjoy the college life.  If I had that one more year, I would use it to make Christ an even more central part of my college career, let go of petty disagreements more quickly, love my friends more actively.  Ah, oh well.  I am thankful for the 4 years I was given.  This one goes out to you, dear Clemson Friends-from every year- you know who you are!
        Also, I don't know how I forgot to mention this BUT on the way back from Alabama, I got a very unexpected call from the great Continent of AFRICA from Lindsay Hook.  Congratulations to the future Mrs. Goeghegan!!!  And good luck trying to perfect your new signature with a last name like that!