Real women watch...ESPN.

I'll never understand how some women don't appreciate sports. How can anyone not get into it? Maybe it was just the environment I was raised in, but if you tell me you don't appreciate any sort of athletic activity, I'll just assume you grew up in an ice cave in the middle of Antarctica. Have you never seen the World Cup? Or the Kentucky Derby? 

Some weekends when I am home, I just have ESPN on all day while I'm doing homework or cleaning, and my mom jokes that whoever I marry better want to watch the game and cuddle rather than going to dinner and a movie. I don't think I could plan a better date than that. I think one of the requirements of my future husband will be a scale ranking from 1-10 on how much he enjoys playing at least SOMETHING. If it's a 5 or under, it's a no-go. We're shooting for an 8.5-15.


First, it's the only thing on television that isn't sex, drugs or war. 


Second, it's pure competition. Of course, I'd rather be in the game than watching it, but it's just as exciting to watch amazingly athletic humans in their element. Basketball, specifically. I think because I know the game inside and out it's a lot more interesting, and I can see where they can go, where they can shoot, plays to make--I even had a dream last night that I walked on to the basketball team and started. Great dream. Then I woke up.


Football is even better because there are SO many things to know and understand. (At least for me.) Whenever I go to a game with someone who knows it a lot better than I do, I find myself asking too many questions and probably annoying them. But I figure guys want to impress girls about their knowledge, right? It's a win-win situation.


Maybe that's it. Maybe girls just don't know enough about the logistics to really appreciate them. So men, if you want your girl to watch the game with you, just try explaining it to her. She'll want to figure it out, and then you will get her to watch it intently with you. Who knows, she'll probably become a bigger Broncos fan than you.


One of the first questions I asked some sisters in my mission was if there were already basketball/volleyball games going on. Yes? Yes. Phew. I can leave now.

Hometown glory.

Well that completes another great weekend. My sister Nicole came home from BYU-I-do to party with us...a.k.a. hang out with her high school friends...but it was really good to have another weekend in the house we grew up, as the Bob and Sharlene Hawkes family. It always hurts a little to drive out of the driveway to go back to Provo, but the thing that keeps me going is knowing that I have a fantastic family to come back to whenever I want, and they're only an hour away. Anyway, this weekend Sarah reminded us that she was growing up too fast by going out with another guy this weekend, and Jake (the quarterback) rocked his football game. I guess "rocked" isn't the best verb I could use because his team lost, but he played really well considering the fact that he had nails put in his wrist at the beginning of the season. It was cold. Go Vikings!

Isn't he handsome?

Shall I have another countdown to Christmas break? Two more full weeks of school. TWO. Then off to Thanksgiving break, then off to Virginia to shoot/produce a project with Rebecca, my mom and aunt for the Navy, then best friend gets home (!), then finals...and then...dun dun dun...christmas break. The official week count: 5 weeks. Then I can go skiing everyday if I want to. And speaking of friends getting home--it's been long enough I say! I'm proud of them, but I'm ready for them to be back in good 'ole Davis County. 

Aren't they handsome, too?

I better start pullin' out the ugly sweaters for the Christmas parties coming up. Any good white elephant ideas?

My halloween costume.

Well, I was a Utah fan for halloween. Good, eh? I still can't believe I was there. I almost don't even want to go into work tomorrow...I'll get some talking to. But for my defense, I did not wear any Utah gear. I'll say it was a good experience; an experience every BYU fan should have in order to fully appreciate our Cougs. So at least I can say I'm well cultured now, but I do admit I felt very welcomed.

Me and Lauren...oh I love this girl.

But no, I didn't legitimately dress up for the holiday. I'm excited to see the costumes on campus tomorrow--that will be interesting. I'm also so excited to go trick-or-treating with my niece Allie tomorrow. (She's dressing up as a crayon!) Oh, I just want to squish her little cheeks every time I see her. I can't believe she's almost 2 years old! They grow up too fast.

Mary--I stole this again. I just had to put up this picture of her.
Go Cougs :)

Overall, it has been a fantastic weekend. No homework, three weeks until Thanksgiving break, and hanging out with some great friends. Oh, and the leaves are changing at my house! I can't say enough how refreshing it was to pull into my driveway and see those bright red trees. Now, where is ski season? I went down to the basement yesterday to visit my skis and man, do they look lonely.

Three and a half things.

First thing: It's kinda fun to keep changing this blog header...I promise I'll stop soon. It took me a little longer to figure out than I thought it would, but thankfully I don't really have any homework this weekend. That's the beauty of being a broadcast journalism major: lots of labs. We do homework in class. AWESOME.


Second thing: so proud of my team last night. We looked great, and there was so much energy! It was entertainment at it's best. Clean, fun entertainment. That's how BYU is supposed to play, ESPN. I promised we'd give you a great show. (Kyle Van Noy's 93 yd. touchdown...ahem.) 


Third thing: John Legend? Guilty pleasure? Actually, that's not guilty. If any man sang this to me...wow.
(I'm not a huge fan of the violence in the video, I would just suggest putting the song on in the background--the lyrics are beautiful.)

Third and a half thing: I'm off to the BYU Athletic Hall of Fame tonight. Congrats to Carl McGown along with others who are being inducted tonight. Coach McGown led the Cougs to 2 national championships in volleyball, along with coaching the USA team. He's a legend himself.

Still a fan.

Well...it happens. It's not the end of the world.

Or is it?

No, It's not. Although, I must admit that last weekend made me go from "I root for BYU and whoever plays Utah," to "I root for Utah whenever they're not playing BYU." It was tough to stay the whole game, but I did it--I'm still a Cougar. I'll never let my Cougs down. But, Utah's a great school, with a great football team. I respect them. I think I was more sad that instead of having a healthy rivalry, the whole game it was just like, "oh...I'm so sorry." I still love my football boys, regardless of the number on the scoreboard.

 This is before the game, where Spencer was convinced we

were going to kill them, but still had some hope in his Utes.

...and this is when he realized they were going to kill us.

Of all the games to bring a Utah fan to, this was the one? 

Jimmer is (was) on our team, though. I'll never let you forget it.

Y Tight End weekend.

Okay, I SWEAR after this, I'm done talking about the game tonight. 

BUT I AM SO EXCITED. I get to work the Cougar Room before the game, hear the athletic directors from both schools speak, and then go take my seats right behind the team. I can't wait to be under the lights watching my boys and to be with all of my friends! 

This week has been super busy at work. Last night we had a former BYU Tight End's dinner at the Marriott Center, so we had to get all ready for that this week, plus the pre-game tonight. It's been awesome. I'm just glad it's finally here! I'm super excited we get to play Utah tonight...GO COUGS!

This is my "I can't believe I'm holding this" face. Dennis Pitta #88.

Cam Newton--2010 Heisman winner

Peyton Manning

Overall, way fun night. I'm so lucky to be a part of BYU athletics! 

Upperclassman.

Yes, I love to tell everyone that I'm now officially an upperclassman.


And yes, I am procrastinating doing SO MUCH HOMEWORK right now. Why do professors do that? The first day of class they think they can give you "just one chapter" when in reality it's one chapter per textbook. Oh and that one chapter happens to be 30 pages long, size 8 font. And that paper I have to write. And those quizzes I still have to take. All by tomorrow. So...I'll be up late tonight. Hopefully this weekend in Montana I'll actually get to ride horses and shoot some guns with Nicole, and not have my head in a textbook all weekend. Did someone ever tell them that Labor day really doesn't mean "work harder" day?


Anyway, I do love my Junior year so far. Walking up the dreaded RB stairs twice a day only to reward yourself with the sight of the Y on the mountain and the satisfaction that you're burning at least 300 calories a climb is something I've missed a lot. (Obviously.) Okay no really, the thing I've missed the most is being productive and having everyone on campus again. On top of that, the most entertaining thing though has to be the overheard conversations between the over-cologned freshman on campus.


"Dude, you know that girl we flirted with at church? She sits right next to me in Physical Science! Crap."


And the classic...


"Man, I can't believe how many girls are married here. It's like you see a cute one, and BAM she's got a rock on her finger."


Along with eavesdropping, I love walking around with a sign written on my forehead that says "please ask me questions, my middle name is Brigham Young University." Really, I've had lots of freshman come up to me to ask me which building is where, when devotionals are, where the CougarEat is...etc. Maybe they recognize me from the admissions video I did for BYU this summer, I don't know. I have been told once that I have BYU written all over my face. I probably do. But to be honest, I don't mind them asking. I feel kind of flattered, actually. They're so cute. But then I remember I was in their place two years ago. My, how time flies.


Great to be back on campus, BYU. I can't wait until LaVell Edwards Stadium meets me again come September 17th. 

http://deepshadesofblue.com/the-bright-side-of-utahs-exit/

Dream job.

Have I ever mentioned I love my job? I don't think I have enough times. I LOVE MY JOB. Seriously...all day, every day, is sports. 


Being able to work right next to Tom Holmoe, Chad Lewis and Robbie Bosco, plus many other awesome people make work so much fun. Today, Chad and Janalee took us into the big conference room to have a Brick Oven pizza party for raising $4 million already this year. (Our goal is $10 million.) We watched BYU basketball/football highlights, not to mention football practice going on right outside the window. 


Our department is great--not only do they let me stand behind the basket at basketball games that will eventually go down in history, but we get some pretty amazing seats at the stadium smack dab on the 50 yard line, first row...right behind our team. I CAN'T WAIT FOR FOOTBALL SEASON!!

Now this was just because ESPN happened to come our freshman year, and we "happened" to get backstage passes to the live show. I think we were in Heaven...actually...I know it was Heaven. It was wonderful to have my mom introduce me to the GameDay guys, but even cooler when I got to introduce them to Lige and Dan. I am pretty sure Lige was skipping while we were walking to the set. Now THAT makes it all worth it when other people get just as excited about it (or more) as me. 

GO COUGS!!