FSU vs. Clemson

Perhaps the most important "investment" that Jared and I have made so far in our marriage is our FSU season tickets and Seminole Booster membership, seriously. College football is a religion in the South and I'm pretty sure that if Jared and I became homeless, he would insist that we set up our tent in Doak Campbell Stadium. This is our second year as season ticket holders and our first season as Seminole Boosters. Since we now get our own parking pass for gameday, we have graduated from the yard tailgate at the frat house to our own "grown-up" tailgate. Perfecting our grown-up tailgates is a work in progress this football season. They get better and better each week. I am honestly afraid of what kind of crazy ideas the boys are going to come up with for next football season...

This past weekend we made that oh so familiar drive to Tallahassee for the Clemson game. I was a little nervous about this game since we were coming off a loss from last week's game against UNC. I was also really excited for our first night game of the season and that we were going to have food brought in for the tailgate instead of cooking it ourselves. We left Jacksonville around lunch time on Saturday with Michael Boden and tailgating equipment in tow. The 3 hour drive to Tallahassee was painful as usual thanks to the lack of scenery on I-10 and the horrifying music selection by Jared and Boden. My only saving grace was our routine pit stop at the Krystal in Live Oak. Those little cheeseburgers never fail me :)

Once we arrived in Tallahassee, we headed straight to our tailgating spot on the top floor of the medical school parking garage. Everyone else was already there, beer and food awaiting our arrival. I really think I could get used to this catered tailgate idea. The best part about gameday is that for a few hours we get to pretend like we are back in college with all the people we shared so many good memories with.

After a few hours of fabulous tailgating, it was almost gametime. However, before going to the game we all had to change outfits thanks to our notorious fall Florida weather. Even after living in North Florida for my entire life I still have not figured out how it can be 80 degrees in the afternoon and 40 degrees as soon as the sun goes down. We managed to make it to the stadium before kickoff for the first time all season; usually we get a little too wrapped up in our tailgating festivities. I love being in the stadium right before kickoff, the Seminole spirit is amazing and I still get goosebumps everytime I watch Chief Osceola throw the flaming spear down into the middle of the field. It is traditions like those that make college football so special.

We made our way to our "alternate" seats up at the top of our section. The only bad thing about being a Booster is that your seats are in the Booster (aka: adult) section and we are still a little too rowdy for the Booster section. We still like to stand and yell for the entire game, so we just re-locate our seats away from everyone else so that we don't bother/offend anyone. Plus, some of our friends have seats in other sections and since we have more room at the top of the stadium they can come sit with us. The game was rather nerve-wracking and I was praying for a win. Not just because I want us to win (obviously), but because when we lose the boys are so miserable to be around and I don't want the rest of my weekend to be ruined. Although I love my Noles, they are notorious for keeping me on the edge of my seat. I've almost had a heart-attack at pretty much every game this season.

With 3 seconds left in the 4th quarter the game was tied 13-13. Here we go again, I remember thinking. It had once again come down to a field goal, which cost us the game against UNC last week. Thankfully, Dustin Hopkins decided that he didn't want another loss to be blamed on him so he got his act together. As soon as that kick made it through the uprights, I grabbed Christina for a huge hug. We were both so happy that our husbands were going to be in a good mood for the rest of the weekend. Boden jumped into Jared's arms with excitement, which made for a rather compromising photo...

 
The final score was 16-13 for another Seminole victory! We made our way back to our spot for some post-game tailgating and celebrating :) After the gameday traffic died down, it was time for some quality time at the bar. The ladies headed over to Ken's for some celebratory sake bombs. Of course there was an uncomfortable amout of people in Ken's so we bailed on that plan after a short while. Plus, Erika and I had gifts waiting for us at home...Chubby's chicken finger boxes, delicious :) It was the perfect way to end another successful gameday!

Sunday morning came too soon and it was time to grab some Cracker Barrell breakfast and head back to Jax. Of course prior to leaving Tallahassee we had to stop at 3 different gas stations so that Boden could stock up on boiled peanuts and a variety of other "very healthy" snacks for the car ride. The trip ended just as it began, at the Krystal in Live Oak. However, I'm not sure if the Krystal is still there after Boden threatened to blow it up because he asked for jalapenos on his Krystals and they put ketchup on them instead. Thankfully, Jared was driving because I'm pretty sure Boden would have turned the car around and gone back to throw his Krystals at the girl working the register.

Overall, it was another great weekend with great friends, good food and Seminole football. I can hardly wait to be back in Tallahassee for our final home game against Florida. Go Noles!