My Little Redwood!

The owner of the San Fransisco Team, Paul Pelosi. You might recognize his last name...his wife is the current Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi.

No, it is not my pet name for Brian...it could be though. Ever since I found out his UFL team's name, I can't stop saying it! It rolls off the tongue quite nicely! Redwood. Redwood.

The UFL has announced San Fransisco's team name and uniform. My fiance will officially be a California Redwood! While there's not scare quality in the name, it could be much worse! There was a horrible rumor going around that the San Fran team were destined to be Rock Fish. San Fransisco Rock Fish is much worse! I can not imagine screaming ROCK FISH! YEAH! HERE WE GO ROCK FISH! That just sounds ridiculous.

I am so proud of Brian! He has worked so hard over the past year...he never misses a workout. I am impressed by his work ethic every single day! He is such a great example of a dedicated athlete. I am inspired by him. He will be a great father one day and will inspire our kids to work as hard as they can!

Great job babe...you Redwood!

Drafted to the UFL

Over the weekend we got a special call...Brian has been invited in to training camp for the inaugural season of the UFL. He has been selected to play for the San Fransisco team.

Background:

After we became engaged we discussed the possibility of being finished with football. We decided together that it was best for our family that we remain together in the same city (aka not go to Canada). Brian has accomplished so much and has so many achievements to be proud of. He achieved more that most people do in the NFL and it was now time to focus on us becoming a family. Well, fast forward one month...

Brian received a call from a recruiter in a new league called the United Football League (UFL). This league will be a type of feeder league for the NFL. It is focused on those players who were with an NFL team but were released or fell short of making the team roster. In other words, this is another opportunity to play. There will only be 4 teams in 4 cities: New York, Las Vegas, Orlando and San Fransisco. (I know, Orlando would have been too perfect)

After talking about it, Brian decided that he wanted to give football one last chance, agreeing to attend the east coast workout that just happened to be in Orlando! When he came home later that night (after the workout) we decided that we were going to keep it quiet so no one would get their hopes up in the event that it did not work out. We further decided to put it in God's hands and let Him guide us. If He wanted Brian to continue playing football, he would let us know.

A few weeks later, Brian was drafted to the San Fransisco team! We do not know all of the details yet. Only that he will be leaving for training camp in Casa Grande, AZ on September 1st. He is not guaranteed a roster spot. He must fight for that in camp as his contract would only be valid if he made the team roster just like in the NFL. (I am told they bring in about 60 guys and only keep 50 per team). If he makes the team roster he will be away for a total of 3 months.

Right now we are waiting to hear more details. After the contracts are finalized we will know more. I will miss him a lot while he is gone. Thank goodness I have a wedding to plan. That will keep me occupied and I imagine somewhat stressed at times! And not to mention...I have never been to San Fransisco!

I am so excited that he can continue following his dream! I am so proud of him!

I copied the picture above from the UFL website. There are more of Brian from his Orlando workout. Also, you can see the full list of the UFL draft and a video clip including my fiance!. Here are the links:

http://www.ufl-football.com/press/2009/06/19/_premiere_season_draft

http://www.ufl-football.com/media/2009/06/07/orlando_workouts


http://www.ufl-football.com/media/2009/06/12/head_coach_dennis_green_on_ufl_workouts

Soccer and Cat Scratches

Being a teacher is truly beautiful...working with God's littlest children, positive and encouraging environment, and 2 whole months off each year!! My summer break has been so relaxing and yes, very lazy! I love sleeping in...for those of you teachers out there sleeping in means past 8am. It feels so great. I wake up in the morning, speed time with my animals, clean the apartment and get ready for the daily drive to Tampa. Without school, the drive has been no problem. I am finally getting enough sleep.

This past weekend the Tampa Bay Hellenic had 2 away games in North Carolina. This was also the weekend that Mia, Timmy Joe and Julie went out of town leaving Brian to care for all of the animals. In case anyone was keeping count, that was a total of 5 animals for Brian to care for (Charlie was luckily staying with Grandma this weekend).

I left for North Carolina on Saturday morning. This was very hard to do because it was the first time I was going to leave my fiance for more than a day and also Layla was having some eye issues (more on that later).

As soon as we flew into North Carolina, we all prepared for the game at 5pm. We played the Charlotte Lady Eagles who had tied us 2 to 2 at home the weekend before. Mom, Dad, Nana and the girls all came to the game! We came back from down a goal to tie the game 1 to 1.

Sunday's game was in Cary, North Carolina against the Lady Clarette's (whatever that is...). It was blazing hot but we came together to win the game 2 to 0. My entire family came for that game as well! It was so hard saying goodbye at the end of the game : (

After the game on Sunday! All that is missing is Brian!

We traveled back to Tampa Monday morning. Brian picked me up from the airport and when I walked in the door, I came home to this...


Layla was STILL having eye trouble as you can see! Before I left, we were flushing her eye out with warm water per the Vet's directions. Obviously this was more than allergies! Something was wrong. After much speculation as to what happened, we finally concluded that she must have gotten scratched by Julie's new kitten. In the light you can actually see the scratch. Poor baby! (Background: Julie, my roommate, adopted a cute little kitty from the shelter. Let's just say he likes to attack all of his toys, your hand when you try to pet him, your feet when you walk by, and apparently eyes of much larger animals. He really is sweet-just a lot of energy!)

The Culprit: Mr. Cat

We took Layla to the vet immediately that same day. The Vet confirmed our suspicion. An animal of some kind (orange kitty) scratched Layla's cornea. If I would have waited another few days, she would have been in really bad shape as the scratch was very serious. She is doing much better now! She still has one more day of antibiotic ointment left but is sure to make a speedy recovery. God love her!

Winning Memorial Weekend

Brian and I Memorial Weekend. He looks so great in this picture! Me...not so much its the humidity, my hair can not take it...still! Oh well, the sunset is amazing!!

This weekend we played Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads at home! It was very nice not to have to travel 7 hours to play (only 2 from Orlando). Saturday nights game was great, very fast pace even though the field was thick from all the rain we have been having out here. At one point I literally out ran the ball...embarrassing.

The score ended up to be 2 to 0, a great result considering the level physical nature of play. The second half (we were winning 1 to 0) was more like a death brawl than a soccer game. It got us very prepared for what was to come for Monday's game.

Monday was such a physical game. There were 7 seven yellow cards given and 1 red (the other team thinks they can open hand slap after the play...they can not). I was constantly on the ground but it was worth it to draw the foul and not let the Olympic sprinter they had up top past you! We ended up winning 3 to 0 and no one got hurt, so I considered it to be a pretty fun game, minus the 100 degree temperature of course :)

All in all, Memorial Weekend was a lot of fun. Brian and I watched all of the patriotic festivities on TV and stopped to reflect on the brave men and women who made it possible to live such a free life. I love America! Brian and I also went to the mall and spent a few dollars however, we opted to leave after a visit to the food court because I had shown such good self control up to that point. I did not want to ruin it by entering the second half of the mall! That half of the mall just happens to be the expensive side! The rest of the weekend was sadly dedicated to watching every moment of John and Kate Plus Eight. I surely have a great man! He was such a trooper through the TLC Marathon! Bless his heart!

Tampa Bay Hellenic (now with pictures!)

Warming up for the first game of the season against the Atlanta Silverbacks! It feels good to be Number 5 again!

Ready to Play!

Our first game has come and gone...it was awesome! I have been playing on the Hellenic W league team and our first game was against Atlanta this past weekend. Mom, Dad, and my fiance were there to watch me play. Chrissy even came too! It was such a great weekend. I am currently playing and starting at center back. It is a big change from outside back but I am getting used to it and am actually really enjoying it! It is only the first game of the season so I know I still need to keep training as hard as I can to start and play in the next upcoming games!

The final score ended up being 2 to 0 but we only got to play 55 minutes! A few days before the game the Silverbacks Stadium was robbed! I guess there is a huge payout for copper? (I am going somewhere with this story...don't worry) The lights were stripped of their copper lining which I guess is very important in the conducting of electricity (I'm totally just going with this, I really have no idea what I am talking about). Apparently a lot of stadiums have been burgled for the purpose of selling the copper. Anyways, to make a long story short, the lights kept going out! After half time, they would only stay on for about 5 minutes at a time. As you can imagine, this was very frustrating! Because we made it to half time, Atlanta ended up winning the game even though we did not play the full 90 min. Boo! I also got to spend a few moments getting caught up with Ronda Brooks and her mom!

Showing off my ring and fiance!

Mom and Dad celebrated their 28th Wedding Anniversary! They are such an inspiration!

Soon to be Stampers and Easons at Brunch Sunday morning!

Oh well, it was still so nice to see my parents and my fiance (still getting used to that word) in the stands cheering me on! After the game Mom, Dad, Brian, Chrissy her friend and I all went out to J. Alexander's for dinner. We had so much to celebrate and be thankful for! Mom and Dad were not only celebrating the engagement of their daughter but also their 28th wedding anniversary!


Up next...2 games this weekend against Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads. It is great to be playing again!

Engaged!!

Jenny, this picture is for you. For some reason when there is a camera out...I put on this shirt. It is just a fact of nature that no one in this world can explain! I promise I have other shirts...other airbrush shirts!

I am so excited right now, I can hardly type. Every time I try to spell a word my ring catches my attention and I can hardly keep focused on updating this blog of mine! Yesterday, May 13, 2009 I became engaged to Brian Robert Stamper! This is how it happened...


Background information: I have been training so hard for this W league team I am playing for in Tampa. I have been absolutely exhausted every single night for the past 3 weeks. My coach told me he appreciates all the traveling I have done but would rather me take today off and have my legs recover. I was so excited to have the night off!


Brian came to pick me up for my lunch break. Of course, I was taking my sweet time in meeting him outside, getting out of the car, and making my way up the driveway. Poor thing...his heart was probably jumping out of his chest! I opened up the door to my apartment and on the way up the stairs was 3 colorful notes, they said (1)Ashley (2)Marie (3)Eason. I was so confused. Of course, Brian was playing it off like he had no idea what was going on. When I got up stairs, I heard music playing. You guessed it, I was further confused. When I walked into my room there were 3 more notes on my bed that said (1)Will (2)You (3)Marry Me? When I turned around, Brian was on one knee and he had a box in his hand that I was very interested in ha ha! It took me a moment to realize he was actually proposing to me...this was actually happening.

He said the most amazing words to me. I felt like I was in a dream. He said something to the effect of him wanting to propose in the place where we would make our home and anywhere with me was the right place for him! It was so much sweeter than that and it really fit nicely in his choice of location but I was crying so many tears of happiness it is difficult to re-explain. After I said YES, he slipped my beautiful ring on my finger!

I went back to LHP where everyone had already known! I knew people were a little strange this morning! But Brian definitely accomplished the impossible...he completely surprised me!! This is the first step in a long life with him. I feel so lucky and honored to be his fiance. I can not wait to live out our future and best of all be with my best bud for the rest of my life! I'm loving this feeling!!

Grad School...3 more days until freedom

Graduate school is freakin' hard work! I turned in an 8 page professional plan and 3 video exercises Monday. Next...a 10 page paper on school readiness (MLA format of course!) due this Friday. It looks like I won't be doing anything exciting this week! As it stands, I have an A in my Teaching Strategies for Diverse Learners class. We will see if I can pull off my 10 page miracle on top of my full time job. 10 pages may not sound like a lot but my motivation sure is wearing thin.

Thank goodness Brian and I will be celebrating my Freedom Friday by heading to the beach! I can't wait to wake up to the crashing waves!!