The Great South Bend Adventure, Part Two: Touring Notre Dame

I quickly learned during my trip to South Bend that South Bend really has just one main attraction, and that is the University of Notre Dame. Thus, Colleen and I decided to take an official tour of the university during my trip. Now Colleen attended graduate school at Notre Dame and just graduated with her Master's of Divinity (or M-Div, if you want to use the proper theological lingo) last spring. So I'm sure the tour wasn't quite as exciting to her as it was to me, but she did admit that she learned a few things on the tour. Since I am a factoid person, I will share with you some of the interesting facts I learned about Notre Dame, in bullet form:

"Notre Dame" is French for "Our Lady", referring to the Virgin Mary (I suppose I could have figured this out on my own, but I never really put that much thought into it)

Notre Dame has about 8,000 undergrads and about 2,000 graduate students

80% of the students at Notre Dame are Catholic

Notre Dame has no fraternities or sororities, but dorm life is like Greek life in a way. All of the dorms are co-ed, and students usually live in the same dorm their entire college career. Each dorm hosts parties and dances, does fundraising activities, and supports different philanthropies.

The average ACT score of students at Notre Dame is 32-34. Whoa.

You have to be smart to go to Notre Dame, but you don't necessarily have to be good at football...

Notre Dame's "trademark" is the Golden Dome. Atop the Golden Dome is an 18-foot-tall statue of the Virgin Mary.

Another big landmark on campus is the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. It is the tallest building on campus. Here are some pictures I took from outside the Basilica:





And here are some pictures from inside the Basilica:





Another landmark is the grotto. I took a picture of it on our tour, but I was also able to get pictures of it at evening and then at night:







And, of course, who could forget the stadium and football field?











And then there is my personal favorite landmark, "Touchdown Jesus". "Touchdown Jesus" is a mural painted on the side of the library that overlooks the stadium. With the outstretched arms, you can see why it is nicknamed "Touchdown Jesus".





I was also quite impressed with all of the fall colors on Notre Dame's campus. We just don't see those fall colors down South. While most people on the tour were taking pictures of buildings, I was taking pictures of trees...









Overall, I was very impressed with my tour of Notre Dame!

The Great South Bend Adventure, Part One: Sitting on the "Rudy Bench"

Yesterday I returned from my trip to South Bend, Indiana to visit my friends, Colleen and Kevin. It was a great trip, and I am happy to report that I had a very uneventful flying experience this time around (when I visited Colleen in Hartford, Connecticut about three years ago, I got stuck in the Atlanta airport for 15 hours...). I've spent some time today going through all of the pictures I took during the trip and have realized that I was extremely camera-happy all during my trip. Apparently I took around 100 pictures. As a result, you can expect several blog posts chronicling my Great South Bend Adventure.

Here's a general overview of my South Bend adventure. On Thursday, I arrived in South Bend. In true Notre Dame fashion, Colleen and Kevin had a viewing of the movie "Rudy" at their house that day. In case you're not familiar with the 1993 movie, "Rudy" is based on a true story of a boy who never gives up on his dream to play football for Notre Dame. On Friday morning, Colleen and I went on an official tour of Notre Dame's campus. Friday afternoon was spent at an apple orchard in Michigan picking apples and enjoying warm apple cider. Saturday was all about Notre Dame football. It began with the Midnight Drumline Circle (a Notre Dame tradition) and continued through the end of game, which of course Notre Dame lost. On Sunday, we made a day trip to Chicago, which included a lot of sightseeing and a lot of good eating. And on Monday, I returned home to Birmingham.

One highlight of the trip was finding the "Rudy Bench" and taking a picture sitting on it. The "Rudy Bench" is the bench on Notre Dame's campus that Rudy is sitting on when he reads his acceptance letter to Notre Dame in the movie. It is definitely a pivotal moment in the movie. Here is a screenshot from that scene:



And here I am sitting on the "Rudy Bench", which has obviously been renovated since the movie was filmed:





Here are some more pictures I took as we walked around the lake in search of the "Rudy Bench":











Stay tuned for more blog posts about my South Bend adventure!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Colby!

"Home"

I have lived in Birmingham for about 4.5 years now. Ever since I moved up here, I've never been able to call Birmingham my "home". And it's not because Birmingham doesn't feel like home to me. I've built a nice life here in Birmingham. I have a job I enjoy, a house I love and feel safe in, a dog that fills my house with so much joy, and a lot of friends, many of whom have come to feel more like family to me. I really like living up here. But for some reason, I just can't bring myself to call Birmingham "home". I think it is mostly because I lived the first 22 years of my life in Mobile. To me, Mobile is my home. For some crazy reason, I feel like it would be a huge insult to my family in Mobile for me to call Birmingham "home". So even though everything about my life in Birmingham feels like home, I've just never been able to call Birmingham my "home".

I have this great friend from college named Michelle. Since everyone loves pictures, here is a picture of Michelle and I:

Michelle is awesome. She is one of those people who will listen to your troubles and just always knows the right thing to say to make you feel better. We called her "Mama Michelle" in college. Michelle is in a similar situation as me. She grew up in New Orleans, but came to college in Mobile. Since graduating from college, she started her career in Mobile and has built a life there. On many occasions, Michelle and I have talked about how we love the lives we have built in our current respective cities, but how we also miss the lives we led in our respective hometowns.

Recently, Michelle posted a status update on Facebook that really struck a chord with me. She had just returned to Mobile from a weekend trip home to New Orleans. She said:

"Back from New Orleans. I always love being there, but being there helps me see how much I love being here, too. I guess I am blessed to have two places that I can call home."

I never thought of it that way! First of all, it never crossed my mind that I am allowed to call two different places home. By calling Birmingham home, I'm not rejecting the fact that Mobile is also my home. I can have two homes! Second, having two homes is a good thing. I have a life here in Birmingham that I love and that feels like home to me, but I also have a home down in Mobile that I always feel welcome in with family that welcomes me with open arms. I truly am blessed. Thanks, Michelle!

It may seem crazy, but I am at so much peace now knowing that I can call these two places that I love "home".

There's my Mobile home, the house that I spent the first 22 years of my life in:

And then there's the house that my parents now live in (they sold the house I grew up in last year), and it is starting to feel more like home to me:



And there is my Birmingham home, the house that I have now lived in for exactly a year:



I really am blessed to have these two places full of wonderful people and wonderful memories, and I can call both of these places "home".

I'm a Godmother!

Here is my sweet goddaughter, Penelope:



Now you may remember my post from a while back when I had a bag packed in order to be ready to babysit Piper, Henry, and Rosemary whenever little Penelope decided to make her big entrance. Even though she threatened to come for weeks prior to her due date, Penelope was born a healthy full-term baby. She is now two months old, and she is a beautiful and healthy little girl.

Shortly after Penelope was born, Heather and Gary asked me to be her godmother. I was, and still am, so honored by this. I am excited that Penelope and I will always have this special bond. I feel like I already have a special connection with Piper, Henry, and Rosemary since I was their nurse for the weeks that they spent in the hospital after they were born. They are the reason that I came to know their family so well. Fortunately, I was never Penelope's nurse since she was born so healthy and just had a normal newborn hospital stay. But she is my goddaughter, and that is the special connection that Penelope and I will share. I hope that I always live my life as a good example to her.

On Sunday, October 10, we celebrated Penelope's Baptism. It was a special day, and I'm so happy that I got to be part of it. Here are some pictures from Penelope's Baptism Day:

I am so honored to be Penelope's godmother!

Rest In Peace, Tootsie

1993-2010

You were a good cat.

My House is Halloween-Ready

Today, for some reason, I got the urge to decorate my house for Halloween. Although this Halloween will be the second Halloween I've spent in my house, I moved into my house the week of Halloween last year. As you can imagine, I had other more important things to focus on than decorating my house for Halloween last year. Here are some pictures of my new Halloween decor, which may indeed border on the line of tackiness...



And now with the lights off. Ooooh.



And up-close.



My ghost candy dish, minus the candy.



And my personal favorite, "The Witch Is In" door hanger. Made especially for me by my Mimi.



I think my house is now Halloween-ready!