Where you can run to make it alright....

**Big Blue Weekend**
April 13, 2013 - April 14, 2013
Lexington, KY

When I tell people how much I absolutely love the city of Lexington, it never fails that I get a strange look from the Northerners that I am surrounded by on a daily basis.  I may have been born and raised in Northwest Indiana, but my heart truly does belong in Lexington, Kentucky.  Before you follow suit of those around me and start asking "why don't you just live there?", know that my husband has had to relocate us twice for work (once from Muncie, IN to New Albany, IN and once from New Albany to back up north where we were raised).  Both relocations ended in a layoff.  Now, he refuses to relocate ever again.  It truly does sadden my heart.  Northwest Indiana was a great place to grow up, but everyday I live here I am not entirely happy.  People begin to question why I travel so much and I hope that this gives you some insight into that query.  Whenever I can get away from this place, I take advantage of it - especially if my destination is my favorite city.

It is no secret how much I love University of Kentucky baseball (well, unless you are a new reader and just joining in all of my crazy adventures).  After seeing the team during Regionals in Gary in 2012, I knew I had to actually make it down to Lexington to see them play, it was just a matter of choosing which weekend to make the six hour trip.

Hudson Valley Renegades jersey that Michael Williams
wore during his first and only MiLB season

After contemplating the schedule, I saw that the Wildcats would be playing Tennessee at home.  I knew that former Wildcat, Michael Williams, had a brother that pitched for UT and that Michael had been attending a good amount of his brother's games.  If you recall, Michael is one of the WIldcats that I had traveled to New York to see play with his minor league team after he had been drafted.  Additionally, when the team auctioned off the game worn jerseys, I became the proud owner of the #35 Hudson Valley Renegades Away Jersey (I had seen them play in an away series because a friend of mine worked for the opposing team) - AKA, the jersey Michael had worn during the three games I had attended in New York.  I knew that if Michael happened to be going to the UK v. UT series, I could bring it with me and get it signed by him.  And even though he is no longer playing (that's a different story for a different day), the jersey would always bring back the memories of my trip to New York and my conversations with this former Bat Cat.  To some, it may seem silly to choose a series to attend based on the attendance of a person who could possibly not even be there.  However, I knew that if I was ever going to get that jersey autographed, that would be one of the sparse moments that it could happen.

After determining this particular series as the best weekend for me to attend, I made a great realization.  The 2013 Spring Football Game would be happening that very same weekend and it was going to be BIG with a lot of excitement for the football program drawn from the fact that UK has gotten new football coach, Mark Stoops.  This was just the annual Blue v. White scrimmage but the interest to see what Stoops was going to do with this team was high.  Ticket sales were through the roof compared to the previous year (more on that later).  This scrimmage meant that I would not only get to see one UK team play this particular weekend, but two!  You see, I am a true fan that bleeds blue for ALL Kentucky athletics, not just their ever so popular basketball team.

I began to make my plans for the weekend by buying my tickets and getting my hotel.  I would be meeting a friend, Beth, from Huntington, WV who is not only a Kentucky fan, but a Backstreet Boys fan as well!  I had invited Tammy, my usual Kentucky travel mate, to join me for the weekend, but she had been unable to make the trip.

When a workshop was offered to me the Friday I was supposed to head down to Lexington, I decided to take advantage of attending.  The workshop would allow me to rearrange my schedule to get off work earlier than if I worked a regular day AND it was about 45 minutes closer to Lexington.  Why wouldn't I take advantage of those two things?  The workshop itself was also good so there were no regrets going.

As usual when I head anywhere south, I stayed with a friend in the Louisville area on Friday night so that I could continue my trip to Lexington the next morning.  And as always - Indiana was as boring as ever to drive through.

Beth and I had made plans to grab lunch at Tolly Ho for some amazing burgers before heading to the ballpark so that we could catch batting and fielding practice....well, after a small detour to the Wildcat Wearhouse to browse their University of Kentucky gear.  We got to the ballpark shortly after the gates opened and Kentucky was taking their batting practice.  Unfortunately, my streak of sitting right behind the dugout was ended, as there is no seating in that area at Cliff Hagan Stadium and we had general admission tickets which is seating further up in the stands.  I realized I was going to have to deal with another stupid net in my photography (I had this same problem the previous weekend when I had gone to a minor league game to see a former Wildcat).  The camera likes to focus on the net in the foreground, rather than the subject in the background.  When it does work properly, there is a stupid net in all the photos!  Oh well, I guess there is nothing I can do about that.

Beth and me at the UK v. UT baseball game

While waiting for the game to start, we started a nice conversation with an older couple sitting behind us.  After telling them that I had come from Indiana and Beth had come from West Virginia and discussing our love for all UK teams, we were asked if Mitch Barnhart (the athletic director at Kentucky) knew we existed.  I agree with the guy that Mitch should totally give us jobs...I don't know what we would do but he wouldn't even have to pay me as long as lodging, food, and access to all games were provided.  I'm just saying, that would be awesome.

I was on constant look out for Michael, as well as the mom of Kentucky player, Austin Cousino.  We had been talking since Regionals on Facebook when she contacted me to thank me for the photos I had taken.  I eventually spotted Michael talking to some of the players by the dugout so I wanted to wait until he was done catching up with everyone that he knew....and there were a lot of them as he made his way around the park talking to fans, family members of the players, and friends.  I eventually saw an opening to grab my jersey and go talk to him.  He signed my Renegades jersey and my photo with him from my New York trip.  We then had what I thought was a very nice discussion.  We talked about  Luke and the Hot Rods since I had just seen the team play the previous weekend (many of the Hot Rods were on the Renegades with Michael).  We also talked about some things that made me feel a little less bitter that he had been released from the Renegades.  However, knowing that I might not get to see Michael play baseball in the future still makes me a bit sad.  He was a great ball player.  After our nice conversation, we got another photo together.  It is always truly a pleasure seeing and talking to Michael and I am grateful that he is just a genuine good guy.

Former Wildcat, Michael Williams, and his autographed jersey and photo

After months of waiting to see these Wildcats play in person, the game finally began.  They had a nice crowd since the Spring Football game was later that day.  Many fans actually left early from the baseball game to head to the football game and boy did they miss out on the end of a great game, even though Kentucky lost.  With one out left in the bottom of the ninth, Kentucky was trailing by five runs and bases loaded for the second time in the inning.  A grand slam by AJ Reed brought us within one but we fell short in our 9th inning rally.

Not only did I get to see the grand slam by AJ Reed, who is a fellow Hoosier from Terre Haute, but Max Kuhn who is also from the state of Indiana, had a home run of his own.  As much as I hate living in the state of Indiana, it feels good when those raised in the same state are successful wherever they go.

After the baseball game, we still had plenty of time to do the short walk from Cliff Hagan Stadium to Commonwealth Stadium for the Spring Football game.  When we got there, the gates weren't even open yet so we did some exploring and found the UK Alumni Association tent.  Beth is an alumni association member, but for a mere $10 I received enterance and access to the food, music, and prizes (I won a UK waterbottle which I was quite excited about).

Beth and me at the 2013 UK Spring Football Game

I hadn't been to a football game in a couple of years so I was so excited to be back at Commonwealth Stadium to see the Wildcats play, even if they were just playing against themselves since it was a scrimmage.  There was a lot of excitement surrounding this Spring Game because of the new football coach, Mark Stoops, and the promise of a much better season than those the team has had recenetly because of hiring him.  This was my first Spring Game and I could not believe how many people were there!  I actually think there were more people at this Spring Game than at the last regular game I attended.  In fact, they completely blew 2012's attendance out of the water!

If the above photo isn't enough to convince you about how excited the Big Blue Nation was for this Mark Stoops era, let me give you another perspective on this attendance.  The estimated crowd for this game was about 7,600 more than the largest crowd at a regular season game in 2012.  So, there were more fans at a SCRIMMAGE than an actual GAME from the previous year.  The attendance at this game also completely annihilated the previous attendance record of 20,325, set in 1987.  Of the 14 teams in the SEC, UK beat out nine of them in attendance.  The previous year, Kentucky came in dead last in attendance for the spring game.  What is even more impressive was that of the 14 teams, Kentucky had the greatest increase in attendance from the previous year - by almost 6,000 people ahead of Auburn (who had the greatest attendance of all SEC schools).  Hopefully, I have now gotten my point across at just how electrified this stadium was.

It was nice to see what the season was going to have in store for us as we watched the two sides scrimmage.  Hearing the air raid sirens go off each time a team scored brought an excitement back to Commonwealth Stadium that had not been heard and felt in years.  It was an excitement that had been growing since the following commercial had aired earlier in the year...

As can be expected, there were some mistakes out on the field.  Overall, fans got great insight into what the upcoming football season will hold.  After going into the half tied at 10, the Blue team came out the victors 24-23 when the White team's two-point conversion pass attempt failed.

2013 UK Spring Football Game

Four members of the 2012-2013 UK Men's Basketball Team

Not only did I get UK Baseball AND UK football in one day, but some of the UK basketball team was seen cheering along the sideline, as well.

Plus, there was plenty of spirit in the stands.  As a matter of fact, one of my favorite moments was when The Wave graced Commonwealth Stadium and just kept going and going and going.  After a disappointing football season the previous year and an even more disappointing 2012-2013 basketball season, it was great to see the Big Blue Nation excited about something again!

After an amazing day of Kentucky athletics, Beth and I weren't quite ready to leave the campus that we both love so much.  We made our way over to the Wildcat Coal Lodge, which houses the men's basketball team and thought for a moment that we might get to see some Wildcats in the middle of a pickup game as we passed by a basketball court and saw that it was in use.  We were kind of disappointed when those players turned out to be nobody special.  After some pictures with the legendary Coach Joe B. Hall, we made our way over to the student center.

Statue of Coach Joe B. Hall outside of the Coal Lodge

Beth, Coach Hall, and me

 On the way to the student center, I showed some love for my Bat Cats...

...and represented my love for all the Wildcats at Kentucky by giving the new Wildcat statue on campus some love...

It was finally time to end our day of fun and get some much needed rest for the next day of fun at the ballpark, where we would both get to see our favorite Wildcat, Corey Littrell, pitch.  Beth made her way back to her friends as I took the short trip to my hotel and it's incredibly hard bed.

Beth and I met the next morning at Ramsay's, where I just couldn't quite bring myself to order a Kentucky Hot Brown that early in the morning.  However, their breakfast was HUGE and I knew I wasn't going to have to eat again until dinner time.  We decided that there was one more place we needed to go together...we needed to go visit a legend.

Coach Adolph Rupp is buried in the Lexington Cemetary

It was such a perfect day for a baseball game.  I might have gone a bit overboard at the merchandise stand, where I bought three more Kentucky baseball shirts to add to my already large Wildcat wardrobe.  While walking my merchandise back out to the car, I realized I had parked in the wrong parking lot.  It just so happened that I was able to move and park right next to some of the Wildcat parents that were tailgating before the game started.  I had, of course, already met some of them between the day before and during regionals last year in Gary, but it was cool to get to meet more of them.  They made me feel right at home among them as a fellow Wildcat baseball fan.

Unfortunately, this game wasn't nearly as exciting as the previous day due to the fact that Tennessee was able to shut out the Wildcats and win 5-0.  While the game had been scoreless in the first five innings, four Tennessee batters in a row reached base in the sixth - scoring three runs.

I had been looking forward to seeing Corey Littrell pitch again since I had decided to go to Lexington for this series.  He pitched 7.1 innings, allowing eight hits and five runs.  He walked two and struck out three.  So, it wasn't his greatest outing but I was still happy to see him play.  Having a pitcher as your favorite player can be difficult since they play so rarely.  You have to stand behind them 100% during that one day a week where they do play.

Every Sunday when the Bat Cats are playing an SEC team, they have an autograph session after the game.  I think this was the part that I was looking forward to the most.  Beth had gotten me a team poster during one of her many trips to see the basketball team play that season but it had gotten a little beat up in the transition from her to me.  Luckily, they had fresh new team posters there awaiting to be autographed.  When I had seen former Wildcat, Luke Maile play just a few short days before in South Bend, he had asked me to tell everyone that he said "hello."  So, as I went down the line, I informed all of those he had played with the previous year of his message.

My signed and framed 2013 UK Baseball Poster

Corey was all the way towards the end of the line and I had the photo we had taken together at Regionals for him to sign.  He didn't appear to be in the greatest mood because when I asked him how he was doing, he had replied with, "I'm hanging in there."  I'm sure he was probably disappointed with his pitching outing that day so I wasn't going to push anything any further.  When I was finished getting all of my autographs I decided that I was going to try to wait for Corey to possibly get another photo.  Many of the families of the players were waiting outside the ball park so I waited, as well.

We waited and waited and waited.  When all of the players appeared to be out of the ball park and the gates were being closed, we headed back to the car.  Corey had never appeared.  There had been another exit that he might have taken...oh well.  As we exited the parking lot, we got a nice little surprise.  Corey was walking down the side walk, crossing right in front of us, with his dad.  I waved out the window and got a wave back.  Beth rolled down her window and I shouted out a request for a photo.  When he agreed, I quickly put the car into park right there in the entry way of the parking lot (luckily there was no one around because everyone was already gone), hopped out, and had his dad take the photo (thanks again Jack).  I absolutely love the photo and think it might be one of my favorites with the two of us.  I thanked him again for everything and went on my way.

Corey Littrell and me

After dropping Beth at her car, I started the six hour drive back to Northwest Indiana.  It had been an amazing weekend in my favorite city, filled with some of my favorite things.  I made a very important decision on my drive back north....next year I wanted to earn myself a Cliff Dweller shirt.  I was certain that I did not go another season without travelling down to Lexington to see the Bat Cats play.

You can see my entire album of photos from this weekend HERE.

**Title Credit - "The One" - Backstreet Boys - Millennium **

Intimate scenes, fresh from my dreams...

**BSB Cruise 2011 - Day 3 - Day At Sea**

If you've missed my previous cruise reviews, check them out:

**2011 Pre-Cruise Wylee Party**

**2011 Hey Sailor Pre-Cruise Party VIP Package**

**BSB Cruise 2011 - Embarkation Day**

**BSB Cruise 2011 - Day 1 - Part 2**

**BSB Cruise 2011 - Day 2 - Beach Party**

**BSB Cruise 2011 - Day 2 - Group B Concert**

**BSB Cruise 2011 - Day 2 - The Perfect Fan Prom Night Deck Party**

I know this post is a very long time coming since it has been months (okay two months shy of a year) since we got off of the Carnival Imagination.  Sometimes life just happens.  This is the last of my BSB Cruise 2011 reviews so I hope you have enjoyed my reviews as much as I enjoyed being on the cruise.

Ashley and Cortney's
Winning Door

The last day of the cruise began with the phone ringing in our cabin.  All I could think about was the fact that it had been another late night the night before and I still had another 30 minutes until the alarm went off.  I had no idea who was calling and I thought maybe the clock on my iPod was off and we had overslept and were going to miss the photo.  I answered the phone and heard Ashley's excited voice on the other end.  She was calling to tell us that her sister and she had won the door decorating contest!  Their prize was front row seats to the group A concert that evening...the lucky ducks were going to get to see the concert again!  Their door was great and they totally deserved the win.  

After Ashley's phone call, all I wanted to do was crawl back into bed and sleep for days.  However, we had a full day of photo shoots, karaoke, enjoying the sea, and the pajama deck party.  I decided to drink down a 5 hour energy shot to see if that could get me going.  Between that and knowing I would be meeting BSB again in a few short hours, my energy was back and I hoped I could make it through another long day and night.  We got dressed for our photo and decided to explore some more door decorations.  There were some very creative doors and we loved seeing all of them.  There were not nearly as many as last year.  My guess is that it had something to do with the fact that no official door decorating contest was announced.  After we killed some time, we decided it was time to go get in line for our photo with the Backstreet Boys.  

Bottom Row:  Jen, Ashley
Middle Row:  Cory, Chrissy, Laura
Top Row:  Anne Marie, Cortney

Fans were supposed to be in groups of 8 for the photo (2 girls for each boy).  We had seven and hoped that there would not be an individual to be put into our group (although I would not be the one to be alone with the Backstreet Boy of my choice).  However, there was an individual person who needed a group and it just happened that she wanted AJ, who happened to be the Boy with only one person in our group.  This fan seemed nice enough and was very grateful we let her into our group.  We took some nice photos while waiting to meet the Boys and tried to get over the nervous feelings we were all feeling.  Yes, I have gotten several photos with the Boys but still get star struck every time I meet them.

We spent the biggest marjority of the time in line figuring out what kind of pose we wanted to do.  It was decided that we would each do "Huggie Pose" and have everyone hugging whichever Boy they were paired with.  We had it all planned out but as we got closer and closer, some girls decided to get a bit nervous, especially after the security guard told us "no hugs."  They didn't want to get in trouble if we did huggie pose.  The rest of us knew that it was going to be okay, it was more that we couldn't give them hugs before or after the photo.  As we got closer, we got into the order we needed to make the photo go smoother and faster...we didn't want to be scrambling when it was actually time for the photo.  Howie was up first and I told him how much I loved his album and he thanked me for the compliment.  Then I asked Nick if he would be coming to Chicago for his tour (he had released some of his tour dates but had announced that there would be more dates added).  He told me "probably."  That made me happy.  By that time we were all next to the person we were going to be standing next to in the photo so we all stayed where we were as we knew we could continue with the rest of the guys as we left the photo.  Brian squated down in the front of the group and Cortney and I kneeled down with him and then threw our arms around him.  As we did, he giggled and stated, "Oh their holding me."  It wasn't until I got the photo that i realized that he had his hand wrapped around mine.

So it appears that two of the girls chickened out on "huggie pose," I guess that is their loss!  After the photo we continues on with the rest of our greetings.  Brian shook my hand and said, "It's good to see you again Kentucky Girl."  I couldn't believe it!  He had remembered me three days later, in a different setting, and a different outfit.  I simply placed my hands over my heard and exclaimed, "Oh, you remembered?"  He smirked and nodded his head as I moved on to shake the hand of the final Backstreet Boy, AJ.  I also told AJ that I loved his album.  Even with all of the amazing things that happened on that cruise, I think this was my most memorable moment because it was a special personal moment.  It made me truly believe that Brian was actually starting to remember me.

After the photo session we knew we had time to kill before karaoke began.  We did what we always seemed to do when we had time to kill...we ate.  We also took the time to grab some photos around the ship.

As we waited on the Lido Deck for Karaoke to start, we noticed the skies getting darker.  Karaoke was a little different during this cruise than the previous.  Before the cruise, Rose Tours sent out an e-mail with a sign up for karaoke.  Those who could potentially sing, were picked and placed into the VIP area.  The guys then had the names of the people and songs in their pockets that they chose from so not everyone who was originally sent an e-mail was chosen.  But first, karaoke started with something very special.  A fan had tweeted the guys sometime before the cruise explaining that she would be going through chemotherapy and wanted them to shave her head for her.  So that is exactly what happened.  I thought it was a very cool thing for the guys to do and an experience for the fan to maybe associate something good when she was going through chemo.

BSB Hair Cut - Part I

BSB Hair Cut - Part II

I think that was the shining moment of karaoke on this cruise.  I have to say that, overall, I was not impressed with the event for a number of reasons.  First, the location of the event was not ideal.  The bars on the deck made it difficult to see at times.  Second, the guys weren't as into it on this cruise as they were the last.  Granted they would sing every now and then with the girls, they didn't do all of the dancing that they did the previous year.  They did bring back the "Baby Got Back" fan but if you were on the first cruise, it just wasn't as good because you knew it was coming.  It wasn't as spontaneous and surprising as on the first cruise.  Karaoke was also cut short when it started to rain.  I think that shaving the girls head took them a little longer than they had expected, which also cut into the actual singing.  While I think this was my least favorite of the events, it still had its funny and good moments.

My favorite featured none other than my favorite Backstreet Boy, Brian Littrell, singing a little country music....and divulging a little information about fellow group member, AJ, regarding a situation with an ex-girlfriend.  (I had to take my video of this song off of YouTube because of copyright issues but I'm trying to find a way to get it on here for all of you.)

The Backstreet Boys decided to do a song with just them.  Again, not as good as "Bust A Move" from the 2010 cruise, but its still the Backstreet Boys singing.  They could sing the alphabet and I'd love it.  Now, if only they truly understood how sexy they really were.  

BSB Sing "I'm Too Sexy"

After karaoke, my roommates and I decided we needed to grab a quick snack since we still had some time before dinner so we made our way to the sushi bar.  There we chatted away about anything and everything we could think of.  We also had a Lauren and Nick sighting in the casino as we sat there.  Finally, we made our way to dinner....where we totally took advantage of paying for the food with our cruise fees.  Several other of my dinner mates and I decided that we wanted two appetizers and two main courses....as well as dessert.  And it was all delicious.  Dinner just wasn't the same without Ashley and Cortney since they were at the concert because of their door decoration win.  Dinner was also very hard because we knew at that moment, the Backstreet Boys were performing a concert and we weren't there to see it.  I think we were also getting to the point that we knew the cruise would be ending soon...it was our last night together and with the Backstreet Boys.  After dinner, we all went back to our rooms to change for pajama night and attempt to pack so we wouldn't have to do it later, when all of a sudden we heard an announcement that the deck party location would be changed to the Atrium due to the weather.  Laura and I bolted out of the room and joined the hundreds of girls running towards the atrium to get a good spot.  Apparently, they had made this same announcement at the end of the concert because the atrium was already full of girls.  Despite the change, this ended up being the best night on the ship!  

First of all, my group had shirts made for PDA Pajama Jam night that said, "I dream of BSB," as well as pants that had "BSB Cruise 2011" down the pant leg.  While I purchased these items, I went a different approach with my pajamas...the University of Kentucky approach.  This included a Kentucky t-shirt over a long sleeve shirt with UK repeated on the sleeves, UK pajama pants, my UK shoes, and my UK earrings.  I also ran into what appeared to be a fellow Wildcat fan (sometimes I don't know if fans wear it because they are truly a fan or because Brian is a fan).  The only problem with my ensemble was that it was HOT during the "deck" party and the shirt layers were not helping.  I know some of the girls actually went and changed from their pants into their shorts at one point because it was so hot.

As I mentioned earlier, this was, by far, the BEST night of the whole cruise.  I was truly grateful at this time that this cruise happened to be a full charter so that they could move the deck party into the atrium.  This avoided the disaster that was Black and Blue night on the first cruise.  I don't know if this particular night would have been the same if we had been out on the deck so I was perfectly happy with the way things happened to play out.  So why was this evening so good?  Three little words for you....TRUTH OR DARE.  Words cannot really explain this evening in its entirety so I'm just going to have to show you.

Brian crowd surfs and it wasn't even a Dare

Nick shares his marshmallows with some fans

Brian's Dare - The Worm

Howie's Dare - Love the Pillow

AJ's Dare - Tickle Nightmare

Nick's Dare - Massage by Fans

Fan Dare - Booty Dance with Nick and AJ

Fan Dare - Beg to be spanked by Brian and Howie

There....I hope those videos explained to you why exactly this was the best night of the cruise.  Because of the lighting, it was difficult to get good photos at times but here are some of my favorites from the evening.  I think the two photos with alcohol pretty much sum up that night on the cruise for Nick and Howie...

We left the party sometime after 4am but we weren't quite convinced to go back to the cabin to sleep just yet even though we were tired, our legs and feet hurt, we were starting to get some cold like symptoms, and we really just wanted to do this right where we were...

We thought we would grab one last bite to eat in the 24 hour pizzeria (most brilliant idea by the way) before we went back to our cabin to call it our last night.  As we ate, we kept hearing cheering coming from the balcony just behind the pizzeria.  We thought that it couldn't really have anything to do with the Backstreet Boys at this hour of the night.  We were pretty sure that all of them had gone to bed.  However, it piqued our interest.  As we stepped onto the balcony there was a large swarm of girls surrounding Nick and AJ.  They were having a nice intimate Q&A session...no photos, no videos allowed.  It was very hard to hear them at times because they were just talking and there were some very rude fans behind us who wouldn't stop talking and laughing.  Because of the nature of this event, I feel like it is my duty to keep what was said private.  There may be others that have discussed what was talked about but I don't feel like its right for me to divulge what was discussed.  The fact that this happened is one of my top cruise moments because of its intimacy and the fact that we have stumbled upon it by chance.

I honestly don't know what time we finally went to bed that night but I do know that we had to get up early the next morning to debark the ship.  It would be the final moments on the Carnival Imagination with the Backstreet Boys and my friends.

Filled with love, to last throughout the year...

**Top 11 of 2011**

It is New Year's Eve and 2011 is about to end.  Overall, it was a great year filled with concerts, new friends, my favorite University, and a cruise to top it all off.  It's going to be hard to count down my Top 11 Backstreet/University of Kentucky moments of 2011 but I'm going to try.

11.  My Very Kentucky Birthday - I am clearly a University of Kentucky fan.  For my birthday this year, I received an authentic UK basketball jersey and a pair of UK shoes.  I like to wear them proudly around Northwest Indiana where people give me questionable looks and often don't understand than UK stands for the University of Kentucky and NOT the United Kingdom.  I will ALWAYS be a Wildcat fan and wish more than anything that my husband and I would move to Lexington.

Me and Tammy - Wildcat Fans Forever

 10.  My First Kentucky Win - Going along with my University of Kentucky gifts was my chance to see my first UK win ever when I went to a UK football game with Tammy in November.  Up to this point, we had been 0-4 when we had gone to see either UK football or basketball games.  During this game against Ole Miss, the curse was broken!

All the Girls Minus Tammy and Susan - We missed you!

9.  New Backstreet Friends - This year would not have been the same without meeting some new Backstreet friends.  The daily e-mails were always enough to start my day out on the right foot and after one of us had just gotten done with a concert, the e-mails got even better with photos and videos.  The daily communication was a way to help one another deal with our Backstreet withdrawals...or to make it worse in some cases.  In some cases we were enablers to one another but we were always there for one another.  So, to Laura, Cory, Tammy, Susan, Ashley, and Anne Marie....thanks for filling up my e-mail.  To Cortney and Jen...may we have more time to become even better friends.

8.  The Great Ab Debate of 2011 - One of the many e-mail threads that were exchanged among me and some of my new BSB friends regarded a very important topic...who had better abs...Donnie Wahlburg or AJ McLean?  Yes, here was group of 20-30 something year olds arguing over which Boy Band Bad Boy had the best midsection.  Who needs to debate about politics or religion or education?  Not us, I guess.  This e-mail thread was composed of 51 e-mails between the group, with photos and videos attached to try to prove one's point.  There never was a clear winner but we all agreed that both men were just too sexy for their own good anyway.

Who has better abs? AJ McLean from the Backstreet Boys or Donnie Whalburg from New Kids on the Block?

AJ McLean Donnie Whalburg

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7.  The Summer of NKOTBSB - So this isn't really one event per-say.  2011 was the year where NKOTBSB dominated the thoughts of many, many, many girls across the United States.  I was a New Kids fan as a first grader, but I have now been a Backstreet fan for almost half of my life.  What started as hesitation for this tour at first, turned into never wanting it to end.  So, by the end of the summer of 2011, I had attended 6 NKOTBSB concerts (Grand Rapids, 2 Chicago, Nashville, Louisville, Indianapolis) and had wanted to go to so many more.   I went with a different "group" to each concert and realized that the Backstreet Boys do truly bring people together.  I traveled a total of approximately 2,331 miles to see those nine men perform and who knows how much money was spent on concert tickets, VIPs, merchandise, gas, and food.  But every mile, every dollar, every minute of my time was worth the happiness that filled me when I went to those concerts.  The withdrawals afterwards were not so much fun.  Maybe if I ever do go back to grad school for psychology I can do an experiment on how the Backstreet Boys affect their fans similarly to how drugs affect drug addicts.

Wildcat until the day I die....

6.  My Louisville Acknowledgements - During my Louisville NKOTBSB show, Brian ackowledged me, not once, but twice from the stage.  I had to wear my University of Kentucky gear to represent my Wildcats while we were in the nest of the enemy (University of Louisville Cardinals).  Being second row, I also knew it would catch Brian's eye.  He acknowledged me first at the very beginning of the show and then again when the Boys were choosing people for "I'll Never Break Your Heart."  The people next to me said he would have picked me for sure if it wouldn't have been Leighanne's birthday.  I was happy he had laughed at my sign and do believe deep down in my heart that I might have had the chance to be picked.  One day I hope to have that moment.

5.  Crazy for Wylee - I had been to two of Leighanne's Wylee parties during the NKOTBSB concerts, both of which Brian had made very brief appearances.  My third finally paid off when I was able to have a pretty long conversation with Brian and get a photo.  I also talked to his dad and bodyguard that day.  It made me feel like I was a part of something special and I must have been nuts to leave the party before Brian left but I had been on a mission to find him a UK jersey to wear for the final number of the concert.  I returned to the soundcheck with no luck but Brian happily remembered me and thanked me for trying.

Well worth every penny of the upgrade...

4.  My First Platinum VIP - Obviously the Louisville NKOTBSB show was by far my favorite.  Not only had I interacted with Brian during the Wylee party and been acknowledged by him onstage, but this was my first concert with a Platinum VIP.  I had originally won a silver but had upgraded when I thought that Brian might switch with AJ for the backstage tour because he was in his home state.  That was a bust but I had some interaction with Nick and AJ, they sang "Siberia" (one of my faves), I got my first ever solo photo with the group (in front of the barriers), and I got a backstage tour and photo with AJ.  This particular VIP had been well worth it (not everyone has great VIP reviews).

This is what dreams are made of...

3.  BSB Cruise 2011 - I have absolutely no regrets about this year's BSB Cruise.  I set out to do everything that I wanted to do...stay up late, be brave, spend time with friends, relax on a beach in the Bahamas, and have a good time.  I did all of those and had a great time doing it.  After having last year's cruise to compare to, I wasn't sure how this one was going to stack up so I decided that I needed to go in there with low expectations again.  Once again, this cruise blew the little expectations I had out of the water.  I had fun, my friends had fun, the Backstreet Boys had fun...what more could you ask for?  For the girl who told me that she didn't think the cruise was worth the money....I'd say she needs to get over the "I deserve more" complex that some fans (NOT ALL!), I am sorry to say, have.

2.  Say Cheese! - I have been lucky enough this year to get 9 photos with the Backstreet Boys, either as a group or individually.  These include:  NKOTBSB Grand Rapids Silver VIP with group, Louisville Wylee Party with Brian, NKOTBSB Louisville Platinum VIP with group and AJ, Miami Wylee Party with Brian, Pre-Cruise Party at Cameo with group,  80s Night Deck Party with Howie, Prom Night Deck Party with Kevin, and BSB Cruise Group Photo.  Every single one of these moments was special and I am so glad that I have these photos to remember these times when I was in the presence of the men that have meant so much to me in the past 13 years. 

Laura wonders if I love UK or BSB more...

1.  Brian's "Kentucky Girl" - So what can be better than getting 9 photos with the Backstreet Boys in one year?  How about getting a nickname from your idol?  Brian first called me "Kentucky Girl" after a brief talk about UK basketball during the Miami Wylee party.  Yes, I know I do not live in Kentucky, nor have I ever (although I was really close).  However, two of my top ten moments revolve around the University of Kentucky, three of my nine BSB photos (this year) include me in a UK shirt, and my dream city of residence is Lexington, KY....so tell me that I am not a Kentucky Girl at heart and don't deserve that nickname.  I figured that I would just take the name and enjoy it for the night because there was no way I was ever going to be called that again....until he did it again at the Pre-Cruise Party at Cameo later that night.  So he remembered me just hours after seeing me?  It didn't matter....he still remembered me...I had made some kind of impression in the minute or so we had talked at that table at the Wylee Party!  I spent the next two days watching him and the rest of the group entertain us with a Sail Away Party, a game show, a Beach Party, a concert, and two deck parties.  There was no way when I went to go take that group photo on the third day that he was going to remember me after two days of busy work and seeing hundreds of fans.  When the words "Kentucky Girl" came out of his mouth again during that photo and I wasn't wearing anything UK to have triggered that memory, I could have fainted.  He actually remembered me...the girl who people seem to forget about in their lives, the girl who actually only had her first picture taken with him just last October, the girl who doesn't have the money to buy multiple VIPs (one Silver was won this year and the other was an upgrade from a won Silver).  To this day, I am not sure if the Louisville show had anything to do with his memory of me since we had talked UK there as well and I was faithfully wearing my blue and white.  Nor am I sure if my attendance at his 2010 HHC VIP Weekend influenced his memory since we had also talked UK there and I was wearing a UK shirt.  All of those events could have triggered his memory this time, but this Cruise vacation was the first time he had called me "Kentucky Girl."  Will he ever call me that again?  Only he knows.  I would think that if I wearing Kentucky or we started talking UK, then he would.  Would I do that just so he would remember me?  You bet I would.  Until it happens again, I am going to keep it locked tight in my heart that for a brief few days I was Brian's "Kentucky Girl."

I hope that 2012 brings all of this same happiness for me and other Backstreet friends!

Time has come for us to reunite...

**2011 Pre-Cruise Wylee Party**

I am back from BSB Cruise 2011 and I don't even know where to start!  I have to get photos onto Facebook, videos onto YouTube, and review the best four days ever.  I am so glad that I took today off because I needed the break!  Most of my travel mates had to go back to work today and I truly feel for them.  After four straight nights of 2-4 hours of sleep and standing on our feet for hours, I know I had reached the point beyond exhaustion.  And even with 14 hours of sleep last night, I will be doing all of my computer work right from my comfy bed today....which is not swaying nearly as much as last year.  

So many amazing things happened on this trip and I don't want to forget any of it.  I know there will be so many reviews out there and mine will be yet another.  I'm not going to review every little detail...just the big stuff and the most memorable for me.

I flew into Ft. Lauderdale and had to wait about and hour and a half for Cory's flight to land.  I couldn't believe I had made it to Florida and that I was going to spend four days with the Backstreet Boys.  With the cruise being one day shorter this year i was going to make every moment count.  Cory landed and we caught our shuttle to Miami.  Laura, Anne Marie, and Jen were going to be driving down to Miami from Florida, where they had just spent the last five days at Disney.  Cory and I walked down the street to McDonald's and had a quick lunch and then explored the shopping area and the art exhibit by our hotel.  The girls finally arrived and it was time to finally start getting ready for the night of festivities.  We would start by attending the Wylee Party, grab a quick bite, and then go to the BSB Pre-Cruise Party so we knew we had to dress in our best clubbing clothes before we left.

Waiting to Meet Brian Littrell at the Wylee Party

I had lost about 8 pounds for the Cruise and don't normally get super dressed up but I decided to go all out for this.  We got to the Eden Lounge a few minutes later than we wanted to but still had to wait for the Wylee Party to officially open.  We saw Brian through the glass and couldn't wait to get in.  There were a few Hold It bags that I wanted to buy for the cruise and I couldn't wait to see Brian.  There were not as many girls there as I expected but I doubted he was going to be able to mingle much even though the security guard said they would be around to.  Brian, Leighanne, and Jodi were frantically selling the Wylee merchandise in the dark and the "line" was moving so slow due to the fact that girls would buy their merchndise and then stay at the front to talk to Brian and get photos.  I hoped I would be able to buy my merch.  I eventually got up to the table and new exactly what I wanted.  Leighanne was the one to help me.  I was able to purchased my Leigh Leigh Hold It but the Danny Hold It had been sold out.  So, I decided to buy the Vintage B shirt instead, which I had been debating buying since it came out.  I had my wallet out so that I could pay and realized that I needed to show Brian because it was University of Kentucky.  He slightly walked over to me and complimented me...but it wasn't on my Uk wallet....he complimented me on my necklace (thanks to the girl at Body Central who helped me with that one)!  He said he also like my wallet.  I told him how upset I was going to be because I was going to be missing the UK v. UNC game on Saturday (those were the teams ranked #1 and #2 in case you didn't know).  He said that he was also going to miss the Georgia championship game.  I have to remember that he lives in Georgia now but he will always be a Wildcat in my eyes!  While I was paying Jodi for my purchase, I heard the security guard tell them they would have to shut down in 30 minutes and then they would do photos.  As soon as I paid I let the girls that we could not leave until this happened.

Eventually the shut sales down so that Brian would be able to get photos with everyone there!  I had never been a Wylee Party where there were that many girls there and he was going to take photos.  I was in heaven.  We were towards the back of the line and I prayed that they wouldn't cut the line off before we got to him.  He looked good that night and I was dressed to impress.  He had already complimented me and it looked like he was giving hugs to every single person that he was doing a photo with.  I was totally going to ask for Huggie Pose because I wanted to be extra close.  As I walked up to him he said "Hey Kentucky Girl."  That totally made my day even though I had just talked to him only thirty minutes or so earlier.  The fact that I had made that impression on him made me so happy.  I asked for Huggie Pose and he gladly obliged.

I love being in this man's arms...

This was already turning out to be a great night.  I knew I had at least a photo with the Backstreet Boys coming up at the Pre-Cruise Party but I didn't know what else to expect at the party.  Whatever it was, I was going to enjoy it and make the most of it.  We had left the patio portion and then realized that we didn't get photos with Leighanne.  We tried to go back in but were stopped by security.  It was worth the try.  The University of Kentucky game against St. John's was on so I watched part of that as some of the girls said their goodbye's to others.  Brian and a game in on night....i'll take it!

If you would like to see more photos from this then you can become my friend on Facebook.  Please be sure to put that you read my blog in the comments or I may not add you.

Next - **2011 Hey Sailor BSB Pre-Cruise Party VIP Package**

And I've had many years of grace...

**Happy Birthday to Me!**

This week was my birthday week and I had plenty of Backstreet related things going on...plus some not so Backstreet related things that were still fun.  My birthday was actually on Thursday, September 15 but I had a whole week of birthday fun.

I actually got my birthday gift the week before my birthday.  The first part of my gift was a University of Kentucky basketball jersey.  I have been wanting one for several years but I just never had the money and I didn't know what number I should get.  Here is what I ended up getting.

At this time, the number 3 jersey belongs to Terrance Jones, a sophomore forward from Portland, Oregon.  Is Jones my favorite UK player, not really.  But, if you read my blog this jersey may look a little familiar to you...

Yes, this is the jersey that Brian wore during the NKOTBSB show in Louisville that I attended.  Like I said, I have been wanting to get a UK b-ball jersey for years so Brian just helped me to determine which one to get.

My next gift, however, is probably my favorite.  Now, I do not consider myself a shoe person but when I saw these, I just had to have them...

I love, love, love, love these shoes.  I have gotten several compliments on them as well.  I usually only wear them when I am wearing my UK gear.  Don't want to wear them out too quickly.

On Tuesday, I booked my flight for the Backstreet Boys Cruise 2011.  My plan right now is to fly into Ft. Lauderdale the morning before the cruise.  I will then take some type of transportation from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami.  It was cheaper to fly into Ft. Lauderdale and I am taking Southwest, which does not charge baggage fees and does not fly into Miami.  So even though I have the expense of the transportation from Ft. Lauderdale to Miami, it is still cheaper in the end.  Once I find out any information about the event they are supposed to be having the day before, I may decide to change my flight plans and fly in a day earlier.  We'll just have to wait and see though I guess.

On Wednesday, my husband and I went to the Portage Moose Lodge for dinner and cake.  A lot of people bought me drinks and I had to get tickets so that I could get the drinks at a later time because I was driving that night and couldn't drink that much.  I did play "Don't Turn Out the Lights" on the Jukebox though.

My actual birthday was on Thursday.  That day I got to sleep in because I did not have to do my morning shift at school.  I went for a run that day to my BSB Long Run mix.  Later that evening, my husband took me to Red Lobster for All You Can Eat Shrimp.  The last time I was at Red Lobster for this event was after Brian's HHC Event in Alpharetta, GA last year.  That was actually the first time I had ever been to Red Lobster.  So the only thing that would have made that birthday dinner better was if I would have been with Tammy, in Alpharetta, and after spending a whole weekend with Brian Littrell.

Friday night, my husband took me to see The Lion King in 3D.  The Lion King is my favorite movie and I saw it back in theaters when it originally came out.  My husband absolutely hates animated Disney movies so for him to sit through that for me, shows me what a wonderful husband I do have.  However, it would be nicer to have a husband who shared that interest.  You know who does love Disney movies???  Brian Littrell.

Saturday was a busy day and it wasn't necessarily related to my birthday.  The Portage Moose Lodge had a multi-family yard sale as a fundraiser.  Most of the stuff we had is stuff we found in the house we are flipping.  My uncle's table was right next to ours and I noticed that there was a BSB Millennium CD on their table (probably from my cousin who did like them and Nick way back when I used to baby sit her).  If I didn't already have two copies of it, I might have bought it because I hate seeing BSB stuff for sale by someone.  It makes me want to buy it and give it a good home.  Especially, with Millennium being my favorite album.

Later that evening, my dad was having a pork chop dinner as a fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association and several Moose Lodge charities.  I was asked to waitress.  I was able to make over $30 in tips in the 2.5 hours that the dinner took place.  This money is going straight into my Backstreet Fund obviously.  That alone should buy my University of Kentucky football ticket if I go to a game this season.

Speaking of UK, the day would have gone much better if I would have been able to watch or listen to the UK v. University of Louisville game.  And it would have gone even better if UK actually would have won.  Whenever, UK and Louisville play, they are playing for the Governor's Cup.  For the past four years, the Governor's Cup has been in Lexington.  This year we lost it.  However, UK still wins the series (14-10).

After the dinner, was some karaoke.  I started the night off by singing "I Want It That Way" and "Everybody."  One of the people there told me that she actually likes the songs I sang and that she should have gone to the NKOTBSB shows this summer.  I told her how awesome they were.  I also sang some NKOTB.  I also drank A LOT!  I had a great time and not feeling too hot today.  But I have definitely had worse the day after.

So that is pretty much all for my birthday celebrations.  However, me and my roommates did make a decision on our door decoration for this year's cruise finally.  I am super excited about the idea and it should be much simpler to do than last years door decoration but it will still be cool.  Not going to give any secrets away right now.

So all in all, it was a great week filled with plenty of Backstreet related events!  Oh and I got about $200 from family that will also go into my Backstreet fund.  That is almost enough for a deposit for BSB Cruise 2012 (or 2013 if the rumors are correct).