A ROYAL BABY!!!!

Congratulations to William & Kate on the birth of their son, Prince of Chambridge!

Back in May 2011, just 2 weeks after the Royal Wedding, I went to London for an internship.  It was the best experience of my life, to date.  I keep telling myself I'm going to blog about it and first got the idea to start a blog while there.  I wanted a place to document my experience and adventures but stuck to an old fashioned journal which I still love to read every once in a while.  

To say I fell in love with London/England is an understatement.  I fell in love with everything about it.. the country, the city, the culture, The Royal Family, the shopping, the pubs...everything.  I learned more than I could have imagined and was especially fascinated with The Royal Family!!  Their whole family and line to the throne was something I found so intriguing since we don't have anything like that in America!

Ever wonder why there's currently no king?! It's because Queen Elizabeth's husband, Phillip, is Royal by marriage. He can't be of higher power than Elizabeth!  He is referred to as Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh.  But Kate can some day be Queen when William is King! Some may think that's common sense but this is the sort of thing that fascinated me in London!  Who knew?

Changing of the Guards at Buckingham Palace

The Royals were a big topic of conversation while I was there.  I'm not sure if it's because I kept asking questions or because everyone was still on a high from the Royal Wedding (like I said, I was there 2 weeks later- London was still decorated head-to-toe in William and Kate and I'm still upset I missed it)!

Westminster Abbey- where Wills & Kate got married!!

There was also a lot of talk about William & Kate's future children.  Lots of people said she'd be pregnant within a year because now her main (possibly only) duty was to produce an heir and a spare.  With that there were a lot of questions/concerns.  At this time the rules of royal recession stated that the first born male will become the heir to the throne- meaning that if William and Kate's first born was a girl and then they had a son, the son would supersede the girl as heir to the throne. Poor girl. This hasn't been an issue for generations though. When King George VI became king in 1936 after his father died and older brother abdicated/resigned his duties, he only had daughters (Elizabeth and Margaret) to be the heirs to the throne. If King George had had a younger brother, he would have remained the heir to the throne and Queen Elizabeth would have never been queen! Fascinating. It's all mind boggling, yet so interesting!!!

Then Queen Elizabeth had a first born son (Charles) and then Charles' first born was also a son (William).  So though times were different then (aka women's rights weren't as president as they are today-well you know what I mean) it was never an issue that a younger son would become heir to the throne over an older daughter.

Today, it is an issue.  So before it could become controversial and in an attempt to modernize the monarchy, The United Kingdom changed the rules of royal recession in October 2011.  The rules now state that the first born, regardless of gender will be the heir to the throne.  So before this little prince was even born, we knew it would be the heir to the throne no matter what gender it was or the gender of future siblings.

This is Kensington Palace.  The palace is located near Hyde Park about 2.5 miles away from Buckingham Palace.  This will be the official residence of William, Kate & the Baby Prince!

Kensington Palace!!

UPDATE:  I loveeed watching the announcement of the Royal Baby's birth be placed on the easel outside of Buckingham Palace and then watching William & Kate present the Royal Baby to the world as they left the hospital all via livestream (thanks to E!)  It's all so fascinating to me!

Such a beautiful Royal Family!!!! :)

 Writing this post made me miss everything about London even more.  I can't even describe in words the amazing time I had in that city and how much love I have for it!  Sometimes I even think about naming a future child to reflect the city, what it means to me and everything I learned while there.  Names like London and Kensington would be my top choices!  And though it's only been a few hours, we still don't know the name of this little prince and future King, but I hope it doesn't take a week for them to announce like it did when William was born .  They had 9 months to prepare.

Welcome to the World precious little Prince!! I can't wait to first hear your name, see a picture of you and then watch you grow, totally not in a creepy way!!

UPDATE: And now, only 2 days later, we know that the precious little prince's name is  
George Alexander Louis 
and will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.
I personally think Prince Alex would have been a cuter, more modern name for the little prince, but to each his own.  The name George is a wonderful fit and beautiful tribute to his ancestors and past kings!

CHEERS!!!!

My Love for the SEC

I honestly think I was raised in the wrong region of the country.  Having two major cities at my disposal can be very exciting, but it's sometimes over the top how much I love Southern culture.

Aside from everything else the culture has to offer, their love and passion for college football is second to none.  When I was starting to think about college at 16/17 years old, I wanted to go to The University of Tennessee.  I wanted big time college football so of course an SEC school would not disappoint in that department.  I didn't want to go to Penn State at all, even though it had that football program I was looking for and then it some how ended up in my top 2 choices by senior year.  I wanted SEC.  I've always wanted to be south of the mason dixon.  (I'll get there one day, hopefully soon!)

My mom didn't like that at all.  She said Tennessee was too far away, so forget about Georgia or Alabama.  Knoxville was probably the closest SEC school, which is about a 10 hour drive from the Philadelphia area and The University of South Carolina is about the same distance.  Her concern was that it wasn't a day trip to come home- meaning it wouldn't be logical to come home for the weekend unless I flew.  Some other circumstances also had persuasion in my decision come senior year.  Since then I've bought a Tennessee sweatshirt, drove by it in the middle of the night on a road trip to Nashville and that's the closest I ever got!

Don't get me wrong, I have never once regretted my decision to attend Rutgers University.  It was the perfect fit for me and I loved every minute of it.  I had been to 99% of Rutgers homes games since 6th grade and had also traveled to Miami, Annapolis, West Point, Syracuse, and Houston (for the Texas Bowl in 2006) to cheer on the Scarlet Knights.  How could I not go to the school who's team I had become a die-hard fan off- being there through the good and the bad.  It became a no brainer!

That being said, sometimes I still wonder what it would have been like to attend an SEC school.  To be part of an entire culture that has the same passion that I do.  To have those burning rivals, and depending on which school you're a fan of, the same determination to beat that one team as the rest of the conference does.  To consistently be viewed as one of the best.  I wonder what that's like.

Rutgers is my favorite team.  There's no doubt I'm a die-hard fan of the Scarlet Knights and I always will be.  But the SEC is my favorite conference.  They're all winners in my book and it's hard for me to pick one team to root for.  Maybe one day I'll work for or attend grad school at one of those schools and be able to religiously root for one team, but for now, I love them all!

via

What's your favorite College Football team?  What's your favorite conference?

College Football, According to Karra

Let's face it, Fall is quickly creeping up on us.  And Fall to me means FOOTBALL, specifically College Football.  College Football is one of my favorite things and Fall is my favorite time of year because of it.  I love it and everything that comes with it- games, rivalries, traditions, tailgates, family & friends, the list goes on.... 

In attempt to gain experience and exposure with my writing, since this is a path I would like to see my career take, I will be sharing articles I write pertaining to sports.  I plan to post once a week leading up to the season as well as throughout.  

Some topics I plan to post about in the coming weeks:

 The Best Game of Opening Weekend (Game to Watch: Week 1)

Heisman Trophy Prospects

National Championship Prospects

Who to Look Out For

If there's a topic you would like me to write about, please let me know.  

As always, feedback is welcome and in fact, encouraged! 

Country Music Summer Anthems

As promised, I bring to you, my favorite Country Music Summer Anthems!!!

Perfect for a day on the boat, at the beach, tailgating a concert or driving around with the windows down! :)

I know there are tons of other songs that qualify to be on this playlist (like pretty much every Kenny Chesney song), this is just my list of favorites!

What are your favorite summer anthems?

Happy 4th of July!!!