TravelingbeebryantRN & Flicks_withNick

Calling all sports fans! Sorry I fell off the face of the planet…I’ve been working a lot, and we’ve done a little bit of exploring! I wanted to talk about all the sports games we’ve attended before jumping into some nursing things next week, because everyone knows how much I love sports. First off, our fun facts for the week! 

I really enjoy giving people gifts. Nothing extravagant, but something thoughtful. I like to try something unique for a person that makes them feel special. My husband always tells me that I like to spoil my nieces and nephews… he’s not wrong. I like to spoil them with crafts and books during the holidays, or because it’s a good day. I love when they ask if we brought them a special craft or a project. My new hobby that I’ve taken up is making wrapping paper. I started getting frustrated with the amount of waste that we create with travel nursing. I would send books to my nieces and nephews, and wrap them with different wrapping papers. I recently started decorating books with plain wrapping paper, and stamping them! I think it’s important for everyone to have their own hobbies. 

My grandfather (we call him voo) is a die hard Boston fan. He loves his Patriots and Red Sox. He really was excited that I was marrying a sports enthusiast, but was a little surprised to hear the teams he was rooting for when, we first started dating. He always tells me, “ that my husband likes all the wrong teams”. Nick started his Lakers obsession with Kobe Bryant, and continues with Lebron James and Anthony Davis. Whenever he picks me up from work and I ask if he has a good day, he will say he didn’t have a good day because the Lakers lost. He’s a loyal fan and I do give him credit. Although, I think he does throw in the towel a little early when the team is playing poorly. 

We recently went to a few Lakers games. I got him Lakers tickets for our anniversary in Philadelphia, and we also attended the game in Portland, Oregon at MODA arena. They lost both games, and now he tries to tell me I’m the “bad luck charm”. The game against the Portland Trail Blazers was not the Lakers best game. It didn’t help that Lebron James was injured and blazers were lights out. At half time, Nick and I decided to go get a drink and the guy at the concession stand said, “good first half huh. It’s gonna be a good ending”. We knew how it’d end and the Lakers definitely had a rough night. In terms of MODA arena, I think your perspective changes depending on the price you are willing to pay, what you are seeing, and where you are sitting. Entry is easy and painless. You use mobile tickets on your phone. The security at the front door was efficient and took less than five minutes. The staircases up to the seats were clean, had railings, and had people readily available giving directions. The major negative thing about the MODA arena was the parking. Nick and I showed up 20 minutes early as the website indicated there was plenty of parking. When we got there, there was lots of traffic, as people were turning around as parking garages were full. There were parking lots where people were double parking and people being turned away. We ended up parking about a little over a half mile away at the convention center. Parking was a flat rate of $20.00 and it has plenty of parking.  If we would have known about how difficult it was to park, we would have pre booked parking, went directly to the convention center, or ubered. See the parking map for additional parking info, and the website for more info on pre booking before your next game or event at MODA!

In my personal opinion, all sports teams need a mascot. My husband will talk about our first sports game together. I got him Miami Dolphins tickets for his birthday when we first started dating. His grandparents live in cocoa beach for the majority of the year. We went down to Florida for a week to visit them, and attend the game in Miami. Let me just tell you, that was one of the hottest moments of my life. Also, I don’t think the man next to me… could have sweated anymore. At this Dolphins game, I made my husband get a picture with the mascot. We’ll… now it’s my all time goal every sports game we attend.

After moving to Eugene Oregon, we became Oregon Ducks fans. We recently attended a men’s ducks basketball fan. I was a little frustrated that I couldn’t find the duck to get a picture with! Matthew Knight Arena is a monument to all Oregon fans and their passion and love for Oregon, and the exciting energy that happens when all join together to cheer for the Ducks.That game they won, so I must be a good luck charm. I could not get over how cute the mascot was though! Let’s just talk about how seriously they take their ducks though…we took a flight out of Eugene, and the whole plane just clapped for the ducks! The Oregon Ducks played the California Bears on March 2nd. The tickets are extremely affordable for decent seats. Parking was much easier at Matthew Knight Arena. They had plenty of parking options available. They had limited free parking that was far away, limited off street parking, and then $20.00 lots available. For more additional information, see the goducks.com website. 

Well… until the next sports game. Hooray sports, do the sports, win the points!