It's been awhile since I've let you into my heart. Where do I begin?

Well, as some of you may know I am an avid ultimate frisbee player and have been playing the sport for six years. M is also a player, but not just any player. He is a gold medalist at the 2013 U-23 World Championships, a silver medalist at College Nationals, and a finalist for the college-level MVP award.

Beyond championships, wins and losses, ultimate frisbee is a community of friends across the country that are near and dear to our hearts. When M&I moved to San Antonio, finding the local ultimate community was our first priority and we succeeded. I jumped into a coaching role at a small college and even M helps me teach the girls how to play.

I love playing ultimate frisbee, but I have decided to hang up my cleats.

One of my 2016 goals was making the Texas Women's Team, Showdown. Showdown was awarded 4th best team in the WFDF World Championships last year and 6th best team in the United States at Club Nationals. Needless to say, these women are fierce and I have been training for six years to have the opportunity to be fierce with them.

Unfortunately, after three rigorous weekends of invite only try-outs, I did not make the team.

My friends, I am heartbroken. I am defeated. As a Christian, I admit that I was angry with God. I felt as though he had given me false hope. I felt that he dangled my dreams in front of me only to turn away just as I reached out to grab them.

But, God loves me. His plans are greater than my dreams.

Jeremiah 29:11 ESV      

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 

Friends, while I struggle to believe these words now, I encourage you to remember this verse when you feel defeated or heartbroken. He is there for each one of us and we are to trust in Him. I am afraid of moving on from a dream that I have been focusing on for many years. I've always had this to look forward to and now, I am not sure where to set my sights. God asks us to focus on His love and His plan for us. Will you do that with me?

As I wrote back in January, "Don't pick up the confetti, Eryn. The party isn't over. You've seen nothing yet!"

While this certainly wasn't last weekend, I still wanted to share some of my sport photography that I took during Men's Centex in Austin, Texas. Neither M nor I were coaching and were there to purely spectate. This left me plenty of time to catch up with friends and snap some photos with my big ol' lens.

The University of Central Florida Dogs of War placed 3rd among 16 of the best teams in the country.

SNAPSHOTS:
1. Coach Andrew Roca has been playing ultimate frisbee for over 10 years. After his graduation from UCF, he began coaching and he has earned 4 consecutive All-Region Coach of the Year awards and a All-American Award in 2012. In 2013, Roca led M's captain-led through their 2013 Cinderella run, reaching the National Championship game and earning a silver medal.
2. Andrew McKelvy is the fastest kid on the planet. He ran this throw down and tip toed the line for the score.
3. Brawley Sioux Adams made the biggest play of the weekend with a huge layout D on regional rival, University of Florida. The DOW were down 6-12, with only 3 points more to count for a loss. This play rallied the DOW and they came back to win 13-12! It was the biggest comeback anyone can remember in program history.
4. Kyle Reedy has been a prodigy in the DOW program since his freshman year. His older brother, Matt, used to captain the team and paved the way for Kyle to shine at UCF. He is an easy candidate for MVP in his future years. 

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
1. Help keep me accountable.
2. My past FOUR years.
3. When three generations conquered the Alamo.

GREAT FINDS:
1.  Sonnet James - these dresses are supposed to be for moms. However, they are totally cute and stylish. Can I have one in every color?!
2. The best soup I have ever made!
3. Amazing loft makeover.

My weekend was amazing and full of so many feels. Trinity University's Women's ultimate team, Altitude, participated in their very first Spring tournament in the program's history. With 11 girls and two coaches, the girls finished their weekend winning two games on Sunday and their first win ever on Saturday.

I am so honored to be a coach for the women that surrounded me this weekend. Their laid their hearts and bodies on the line each and every point.

SNAPSHOTS:
1. Annie making a "into space" throw to Marissa
2. Lupita closing out a goal to our baby giraffe, Sash.
3. Our comeback player of the month, Mikki going up for a catch.
4. Altitude's team captain, Sarah, throwing a long throw downfield.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
1. Coffee Cocktails?! Yes, it is a thing.
2. A personal look into my heart.
3. A Valentine's Gift Guide for her.

GREAT FINDS:
1. A super easy, restaurant style Chimichurri sauce on flank steak.
2. Red Velvet Brownies, because obviously.
3. How to look comfy and cute!

Tell me about your weekend! I am genuinely excited to hear about it.

Goood Morning, San Antonio!

 M has been in San Diego since Tuesday and will be in Orlando until Sunday. I have filled my evenings with home visits from friends in the area and scheduled plenty of dates with my Altitude girls.

Well, I am flip flopping between the ideas of doing Friday Favorites or Fitness Fridays. I figured Fitness Fridays will keep me accountable for working out and tell y'all about it. Even if nobody reads it, I will still feel responsible if I don't post. However, since you never want to work out the day before a tournament, Ill stick with Friday Favorites for this week.

1. Hamburglar. Yes, from McDonalds.

C/O Pinterest

I am super excited for this weekend as I will be headed to Austin, TX for Celebraciõn. I am playing on a team that is dressing up as fast food, so naturally, I will be dressing up as the Hamburglar. :)

Since I am playing, I will not be wearing the chic dress or burger purse, but I am looking for the tie and gloves. Target had a (cute) black and white striped shirt on SALE!, I am striping up some shorts, and bought the floppy black hat last week. I will definitely take a picture in full gear!

2. Gossip Girl

The CW

Ok, I am NOT behind the times. I have already seen every single episode. However, working from home means lonely lunch hours which means binge watching TV shows on Netflix. #thankyouNetflix

The epic saga of the Upper East Side, Fake Celebs, Chuck and Blair, Nate and everyone else, GAH. Can't get enough. Yes, I am such a girly-girl.

Just finished: FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS :(

Next Up: Gilmore Girls? 

Casual Watch: Friends, The League, New Girl

3. Our New Pub Table

Not the greatest photos, but hey, I don't have a fancy camera (yet)!

This table was only $175 with four barstools! However, it was a bit of a trip. The post listed the location as $225 in South Austin for a table in excellent condition. So, M&I and our friend Luisa hop in her Honda CRV and begin our route to South Austin. We were thinking an hour, TOPS. However, we give her a call and she sends over her address. Turns out it is in WEST Austin and the map says an hour and forty five minutes away. It was already 8:00PM... We were committed and Luisa was amazing. She drove all the way there and all the way back in one night. 

The table is not in excellent condition, but the banged up wood definitely fits the theme of our house. The size is perfect and will definitely work for when M's parents visit for Thanksgiving. Stay tuned for the recipes to come. 

This wraps my Friday Favorites! 

M&I trekked out this past weekend to Frisco, Texas to spectate USA Ultimate's National Championships. For the second year in a row, the Club championships took place in the Lone Star state - which made it real easy for M&I to see a bunch of our friends and watch some pretty amazing Ultimate.

Friday evening, M&I and our friend Alan made the five-ish hour drive to North Dallas. About half way there, Alan made the BEST suggestion to stop at the Czech Stop. Czech Stop is an authentic Czech bakery packed with fruit and savory kolaches, chubbies, summer sausage, biscuits and more! They were even playing the chicken dance on loop and that was ok!

So, M, isn't a photographer.

This "stop" is off an exit and connected to a gas station. Sounds sketch, I know. Alan warned us that it would be packed, regardless of what time we got there. We got there at 10 PM and this was the line:

This was half. 

After catching some ZZZ's, we were able to wake up to a GORGEOUS day in Frisco. We saw so many friends that day. Needless to say, our hearts were so full going home.

Ivy & Young

Part of the U23 Mixed Team #ballerz

My Favorites <3

I'll be trying out for this team next year!

We saw some amazing games that day. The highlights of the day were most certainly the two men's semi-finals that BOTH ended on double game point (universe or over time for you n00bz). The first game was Boston Ironside vs North Carolina Ring. M&I had friends on both teams, so it was so hard to pull for one team or another. After the longest universe point in the Men's division that I have ever seen, Boston Ironside pulls out the win!

The second game was Colorado Bravo vs Canada's GOAT. I was definitely pulling for Bravo, as their team represented so much talent that deserved the title. Lo and behold, Jimmy Mickle & team were able to pull out the win!

Sunday was the championship games, but M&I headed home to watch them from the couch with a few friends. Since the first game started at 11:00AM, brunch and mimosas were OBVIOUSLY in order. So, I am no food blogger so my photos are not attractive. I also forgot to take photos as I made the food and remembered half way through eating. Oops!

Cinnamon Roll Casserole

Sarah's Sausage Balls

Fluffy Breakfast Casserole

YUM!

Also, I know many people are asking for more photos of the apt. Coming very soon!! We have been finishing up a few projects.

Love, y'all!

I am SO sorry I have been so MIA. October has been absolutely nuts. M&I have had something to do every single night, every single weekend. While I can't complain and feel incredibly blessed to have friends and family to see, I haven't been able to recap my time.

However, I got to visit a ton of friends this past weekend and many people told me they read my blog from time to time. I totally blushed!! It also motivated to me get to writing. So here I am, in NYC in the middle of the night, getting some posts in.

Two weekends ago, I got to attend Ultimate 101 with Trinity Ultimate as my first-time being a COACH! Eleanor, my co-coach, and I are having a blast bestowing our ultimate knowledge with these ladies.

You know that hat is awesome. Ok, so I am not a fashion blogger!

Eleanor wrote a great write up of the weekend, so I am going to share her post from www.SAUltimate.org:

As many of us know, Ultimate is one of the fastest growing sports in the United States. New high school, club, and college teams are popping up constantly, and the number of pickup games across the country grows every day. I’m proud to say that Trinity University’s women’s team, Altitude, is one of the nation’s newest teams! Eryn Ivey and I (Eleanor) are so PROUD to be coaching together during this inaugural season.

This past weekend, we all piled in cars are headed north for our first official tournament, Ultimate 101 hosted by the University of Texas at Dallas. After some organizational conundrum-solving and a rather speedy warm-up, Altitude commenced with this first ever game against Texas. While the weather conditions weren’t exactly favorable (55 degrees has never felt so cold!), we worked our tails off! Our handlers had some great throws, our cutters were constantly getting open, and our sideline spirit was out of control! Although we weren’t able to pull out a win, I know everyone would agree that we discovered our strengths and our weaknesses and that the first game was an incredible learning experience. Our second game on Saturday was against the reigning D-3 National Champions, Rice. Eryn and I were incredibly excited for this game for two reasons: first, we were excited for our new players to see an experienced squad and participate in a game of Ultimate with constant movement. Second, we wanted to see how our girls stacked up against such an incredibly talented team. Well…we did GREAT! Altitude scored their first point as a team and got a boost of confidence. The last two games of Saturday pool play were against the University of Dallas and Hendrix University. We still weren’t able to get any checks in the win column, but we played hard and kept the games competitive! After the games, Altitude had a LONG stretching session to ward off any first-day soreness (surprise, it still appeared) and then met for a nutritious team dinner (kidding---we got burgers, fries, and milkshakes)!

The forecast for Sunday hinted at a beautiful day for some Ultimate and we were all overjoyed that the weathermen got it right! Altitude had a wonderful second half against in-city rival UTSA, but weren’t able to overcome a slow start. Now we know that we’re definitely not a first-game team. After working through some scheduling issues, Altitude got on the field against a very experience, but under-manned UDU team. Again, a win wasn’t in the books, but it was the closest game of the weekend!

-Eleanor

I am totally excited to see these girls grow this year. D3 Natties - here we come!

Howdy, y'all!

Last weekend M&I attended USA Ultimate's SE Regionals for the Open and Mixed division in Atlanta, GA. Sad to say, that was likely the last time M&I will ever play for a Florida team.

M&I had very exciting and very up and down weekends. M's team, Florida United, came in seeded at 3rd place under two powerhouse teams, Atlanta Chain Lighting and Raleigh Ring of Fire. Both of these are notorious for making nationals each year. That being said, with only two bids to USA Ultimate Club Nationals, FLU had an uphill battle.

Yeah, he's springy. I know.

After a hard fought Saturday, FLU ended their day at 3-1, losing only to Raleigh's Ring of Fire (15-10). However, Orlando's other men's team, OMEN, upset Chain of Lighting (15-7!!!) to throw a wrench into the championship bracket on Sunday. While M & FLU had a great shot at Nationals, they were defeated at double game point (14-13 OT) against Chain Lightning on Sunday, ending their season.

We're cute.

Swing State. Oh Swing State, how I have loved each of you this season. You have made my last season in Florida one of the absolute best. This team was so much fun to play with all season. Del - this kid has one of the biggest hearts for frisbee that I have ever seen. Krum - well connected and passionate about the game. Slip - HOLY CRAP! This kid plays like he is 6 ft tall. Shannon - #dancingMVP. Palo - wait, you're not on this team. Aubrey - You're bids and skys are like none other. Jamie - It has been absolutely awesome getting to know you this season. It will be great to have you as my runner up in our Fantasy Football league ;) Dawson & Erica - It has been awesome to see both of your grow so much this season, especially as players. It was great to finally play WITH you than against you. Rachel - you get better and better every year. Lead next year. Adele - For having knee surgery just a year ago, you are one of the strongest and better defenders I have seen grow so quickly!! Keep it up, lady! Shawna - Seriously, MVP of this season for girls. You got so many layout Ds, so many scores, and it's because you KNEW what you were doing! So proud of you. Eric Lee - I love you and your smile and spirit. Kid - <3 you like a brother.

and Haley and Dlove - I miss y'all so much. It has been amazing to have two of my best friends as leaders by my side this season. I can't wait to see where y'all tear it up next year.

Although our season didn't end where we wanted it to, I am still proud of this team! Represent next year. #SSLove

Looking forward into next year - I have chosen to co-coach the Trinity University Women's Team, Altitude. It is a first year team for the college and we will be competing in the Developmental division, DIII. I am SUPER stoked to see what these ladies can accomplish this year! #RiseUp

M has also elected to co-coach the Trinity DIII Men's Team, Turbulence! Time to start sharing ultimate with others.

Wish us luck!