College Football and The Love Dare

Posts have been a bit sporadic and random lately, I know. This one is no exception. Two things I wanted to write about.

First ... College Football
I didn't really have the typical college experience. I went to UT Dallas for undergrad. Although UT Dallas is very strong academically, it has typically been known as a "commuter school" with little to offer to those wishing to have the typically social college experience.

The school is doing its best to shake that image off, though. There is a RIDICULOUS amount of construction going on right now, including new dorms, a dining hall, a new student center. And I think these things will help.

But I also think there is one HUGE thing that is missing. Something the school has indicated it has no intention of changing anytime soon.

A football team.

UT Dallas currently has no football team. As far as competitive undertakings go, its claim to fame is its nationally acclaimed chess team (I'm so not kidding). For homecoming, students attended a soccer game (again... not kidding).

And as a result, I don't have any memories of sitting in the stands at UT Dallas, rooting for my fellow classmates and indulging my competitive nature. No crazy nights of painting my face orange and green (yes, those are UT Dallas's colors) and yelling "Whoosh! Go Comets!!!!!!" (Again... I'm so serious. At freshman orientation they tried to convince us that everyone walked around yelling "Whoosh" and doing this very awkward hand motion, which was meant to simulate the path of a comet.)

That's probably why I generally have ZERO interest in watching college football. Or why I feel NO loyalty to any Texas team. If I'm forced to watch a college game, I might root for one team during the first half and then switch to the other team for the second half. Or I'll just get excited when there's a good play by either team. That's so dorky, I know. And SUCH a foreign concept to my friends from A&M or UT.

But oh well. I blame UT Dallas for my lack of enthusiasm. Maybe someday we'll get a college team, and I can retroactively become a college football fan.

Second ... The Love Dare
On a COMPLETELY unrelated note... Micah and I were browsing through Barnes and Noble yesterday (cute, right?). I wanted a new book to read, and Micah was just looking at all the random books they had on the most obscure and uninteresting topics. For example, they had one that was titled "How to Clean Your House." Ummm.... seriously??

But I found one book in the Christianity section called "The Love Dare." I picked it up to see what it was, and I discovered that it was meant to be a 40-day journey for married couples. I'm pretty sure it was in the movie "Fireproof" for those of you who saw it (we never did, although it's currently sitting in my Netflix queue).

According to the book's website, "[t]he Love Dare personally leads you through daily devotionals, records your thoughts and experiences, and ends each day daring you to perform a simple act of love for your spouse. This 40-Day journey equips you to melt hardened, separated hearts into an enduring love that can withstand the flames of fear, pride and temptation. The Love Dare book will help you reinforce and enrich your marriage, earn back a love you thought was lost, and hear more about the One who not only designed unconditional, sacrificial love—He illustrated it."

First, let me make this clear. Micah and I are doing WONDERFULLY! No big marriage issues or anything. And we're both completely happy.

But... we never did pre-marriage counseling with a pastor before we got married (something I really, really wanted to do). So I thought that maybe going through the book together could sort of be like a post-marriage, pre-marriage counseling session for us. :)

Anyway, just wanted to check and see if anyone knows anything about the book. We went ahead and bought it and will probably start reading it together tonight (after our bible study time). I'll let you know what we think. :)