"When you make a commitment, when you decide to do something, you stick with it."

I am so incredibly humbled today. 

I have an amazing life and family. I have choices-even though sometimes I don't always make the right one. I have freedom to say whatever I want- even though THAT gets me in more trouble than ever.
I have an amazing life. I love it. I wouldn't change a thing at all. I married into football- and I have 2 boys that will grow up to be football players (I think:)

I have an incredible coach, who is an amazing husband to me. He is also the best father that any kid could dream to have. He is hardworking and loyal and will do anything for his kids. Not just for Jace and Judson, but for all 200 of his kids. And fortunately, Jace and Judson do not mind sharing him.

I have these things in my life because of our Military who fights for out country for ME. They risk their lives for my and my family, so that I can have these things in my life and you can have the things in your life that you cherish the most.

I know that for the last year we have done a lot to recognize our military here at Rouse. We have ALWAYS had a ton of respect for our troops, but it wasn't until Jay Severe passed away that we really felt that it made a huge impact on us. And today I realized how many times something or some situation had been thrown in our faces that made us take a step back and really think about our Armed Forces and through FOOTBALL, we were able to recognize them.

1) First it was Jay Severe's death- and we hosted a game in honor of him.
2) Second it was Tyler Hawkin's Grandfather that was spending time in Iraq. He is/was a Chaplain in the Military.
3) Third, it was Deanna Roger's organizing the toy box for the Military troops to send over to Iraq, Our school donated so much stuff that they shipped a 300lb box over to IRAQ!
4) Fourth- because of that 300lb box, they wanted to honor us, by sending the American Flag that they flew over their base to Rouse. It was presented to us at the Pep Rally and it now resides in a flag box on the Athletic Office.
5) In June, my friend Lindsay and her husband moved back to NY because Michael re-enlisted in the Navy. That got me once again thinking and once again appreciating the life I have.
6) Thursday was Veteran's Day and honestly, I must be a bad parent because I forget to tell my kids about this stuff. Shame on me. But when Jace got home from school, he asked me to turn on the news and then he grabbed my newspaper- which truthfully, I only had because it featured an article that I happened to be interviewed in. He looked all through the paper looking at the military pictures. I went upstairs to take a shower and when I came out he told me all about what he saw on CNN, then he wanted to call my Grandpa because he knew he was a Marine and the man on the news was a Marine. He talked to my Grandpa for almost 30 minutes and told him ALL about Veterans Day and embarrassed as I am to admit this, he actually told ME stuff that I didn't know. I was so impressed and it taught me that I need to talk to my boys about these things and they aren't too young. Jace is interested in 2 things, Football and Army stuff. He actually will play with Army men. (now, he puts them with his football players- as he does the pre-football stuff with his plastic players, which was the original reason he wanted them:) ha
7) and now, a touching story, got me motivated to once again find away to recognize our military troops, only this will be much easier as it involved an Amazing football coach at Maritime College. His name is Clayton Kendrick Holmes

This is not a Veteran's Day post, this is much more near and dear to my heart.
Lindsay, sent me a text this morning about watching a special on ESPN. This coach is a personal friend on MY friends.  I didn't get to watch it, so I googled it- please view the following video and then click the ESPN link to view the ESPN video as well.
As you read in my last post, I am not a crier, don't cry. Well, I had tears running down my face while watching this.






The ESPN story

What an amazing impact this man gets to make. I know first hand the commitment and time it takes to be a coach. As a coach you are not just A coach, you are also a mentor, a teacher, in some cases a father figure. This man gets to make an impact on the athletes AND gets to fight for our country. What an amazing message he is sending these kids.

He had an impact on me today. He made me appreciate what I have. For some reason my brain functions in a way that things only affect me deeply if it involves football. I know how strange that MUST sound. But honestly football is SO dear to me. Its not because of Josh, it was that way for me LONG before I met him. If I was a boy,  I wouldn't be the best athlete, but I guarantee I would have MORE heart than anyone on the team. I truly don't think I could function without football in my life in some major way.

I have always had a huge respect for our Military, but I never really talked about it, nor did I think about it too much. However, once Jay passed away, it really put things into perspective for me and for the past year, one thing after another has been thrown into our lives that made us step back and think about it more and more. In 1 year, 7 things have happened and it just so happens that this last thing involved NOT ONLY the military, but football and not only football, but the man is a football coach.

Today, I am humbled. I know the hours that a coach works and if it wasn't for the fact that i GO to the school to see Josh, I wouldn't see him. I can't imagine not having the option of seeing my husband. I can't imagine fearing for the life of my husband on a daily basis, and I do not ever want to. I am so blessed that I do not have to worry about these things, because this man, this coach, that is sacrificing for me and you.

I know there are a lot of service men and women out there that need our prayers and I ask that you pray for them and add Clayton and Johanna Kendrick-Holmes and their boys to it as well.

I don't know them personally, but my friend does and I am SO grateful to Lindsay for telling me about this story. Its been on my mind all day, and somehow, some way, I am going to worm my way into his wife's life! I want to talk to her. From one Coaches Wife to another:) Only she could probably impact ME more than I could her.

Their game will air tomorrow night on ESPNews at 3pm. We should get that channel (THANK YOU Direct TV:) and I will certainly be watching it. If you have a chance, you should watch it too and remember to send good Raider thoughts their way so that they can keep their season alive.

"When you make a commitment, when you decide to do something, you stick with it."

-- Clayton Kendrick Holmes of SUNY Maritime College

What its like to be married to a coach!

Here is a neat article that Tammy Williamson did for the Hill Country News. She interviewed several Coaches Wives in the area:)

Mrs. Coach: What its like to be married to a Coach

GOOD LUCK!!

 Rouse Raiders 

 wishes the following teams 

Good Luck in the 2010 Football Playoffs!!

Navarro vs. Liberty Hill (8-2), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Manor

West Mesquite (8-2) vs. Pflugerville Hendrickson (5-5), 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Waco ISD Stadium

 **Cedar Park (10-0) vs. Austin LBJ (5-5), 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Leander's Gupton Stadium

 

**Austin McCallum (6-4) vs. Lake Travis (8-2), 7 p.m. Thursday, Austin's House Park

**Cedar Park Vista Ridge (8-2) vs. Austin Travis (7-3), 7:30 p.m. Friday, Austin's Nelson Field

**Austin Crockett (4-6) vs. Marble Falls (5-5), 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Marble Falls

 Thank you to all of you who helped to make us a better team in the future. Looking forward to reversing the scores next season:)

Raiders lose their final game to Vista Ridge

Honestly, I am having a hard time today. I HATE losing, I hate it for SO many reasons, but this past loss was like a knife in my heart. I felt so bad for the coaches and the players and even our fans.


I honestly and truly believe that if we had played Vista earlier in the season that we would have played them a closer game. I think by our last game of the season, we were just defeated. You could see it in the kids by the way they came out from the locker room. Not having Logan hurt us too.

We started out the game WAY better than I expected, getting the 3 and out, and we drove the ball down the field the second drive, but by the third series, they were on the board and weren't stopping. With a 40-0 lead at halftime, things were looking bleak for the Raiders. I took that time to run to the bathroom and tear up by myself.

I never cry. It is VERY rare that you will see me crying and if  I am crying, its because
1) I am mad or 2) because something emotional happened in my favorite sport.

Anyhow, so I went and cried. I just felt so bad and I knew Josh would take another loss very hard and very personal.

After I finally calmed myself down, I left the bathroom and ran into Mrs. Rouse- whom I just love to death. She said some VERY encouraging words and just made me feel so much better. I appreciate everything she said and took it straight to heart.

The second half didn't get much better than the first half, and I was just ready for it to end. I was a bit miffed at the very fact that their starters didn't come out until 4th quarter. At the very least they could have taken #5 out a bit sooner. Seems to me that they wouldn't want to chance getting any of them hurt the week before playoffs, however, I just you could look at it from the flip side and maybe they wanted to give their guys some practice- who knows.

Hey! Where any of you impressed with our band at the end of the game? They looked like they were having a blast and I enjoyed every second of it! Our band is small, but they sure can play when they want to! That "performance" at the end of the game is exactly what I love to watch in a band. I also enjoy the drum-line at the beginning of every 3rd quarter- I just love that and think its so cool to watch. The band can make all the difference in the game sometimes, and its fun when you can see the band actually enjoying themselves as well!

Special Thank You to Bill Rogers who organized the Spirit Line at the end of the game. I thought that was exceptionally nice of him to set that up. I know Josh and the players appreciated it and it was so awesome to witness. Thank you Bill and thank you Mr. Graham for allowing us to go down on the field to do it.

**I will be going back and adding names of those that took these pictures, just give me a few days to get this done:)


As this season comes to a close, I just want to say thank you to everyone. The players, the coaches, the cheerleaders, the Royals, The Band,  the fans, the coaches wives, the Booster Club, the administration, the teachers and the students for coming out and supporting our Raiders each and every week.

Raiders vs Vista Ridge Pep Rally

Here is a bunch of pictures and video from the pep rally this morning!

I was watching the dancers and looked over and saw that Judson was standing in his chair to see better. He didn't take his eye off of them! ha

For Whatever reason, Judson decided to dance robotic. I have NO clue where he gets his love for attention. Can't imagine neither Josh, nor I passing off THAT trait:) haha.. I also do not know where get got his moves. I am NOT that great of a dancer:)



Pep Rally #1



Pep Rally #2

Pep Rally #3

Pep Rally #4


Pep Rally #5
Pep Rally #6


Pep Rally #7


Pep Rally #8

I Believe in You

Always believe in YOU.
Listen to your heart.
Trust your instincts.
Know you CAN.
See your own strengths.
Dream it- Dare it.
DO what you are afraid of.
Keep the Faith
Follow your vision.
Remember ANYTHING is possible
if only you Believe.

I read this at our first playoff pep rally in High School. I found it today.

Raiders in a Heart Breaking loss to Vipers 31-29 final

Remember my post about my last High School football game my Senior year when we lost in the 3rd Round of the Playoffs and we were a 2-8 team that went 4-9. Remember how sad I said that i was?

Multiple that night's sadness and tears by 36 and you will maybe get a glimpse of how I felt when our game ended.
Never, ever have I been so heart broken. Even my Senior year, I was sad, but didn't cry (until I got in the car)

Last night I cried. On the Sidelines.
I don't cry in front of people- EVER. (unless I am mad)
and I am STILL at a loss for words. I really don't know how to begin to write this.

So I am just going to start and hope I do it justice. Also, PLEASE forgive any errors that you see. I do not have a memory like Josh does and I don't keep notes during the game, so if I am off, send me an email and I will correct it:)

The game started out rough for the Raiders as it was 14-7 by the end of the first quarter- Ed Butts with the 8 yard touchdown run. Fortunately we scored in the second quarter, but they returned a touchdown making the score 21-14 (Tai on that TD) Right before the half, we got a turnover. With only time to run 1 play, the clock ran out and we headed into the locker room. Hated that we didn't have have time to make another play, but I was thankful that we at least had a smidge of momentum going into the half.

Normally I am calm and collected until 4Th quarter, but being down a touchdown at half was not helping my nerves, so I was pacing back and forth quite a bit during halftime. I am not sure why, being down by a TD wasn't bad, but I just didn't think we were playing to our full potential. yes we scored 14, but we just didn't seem to be clicking. Thankfully my Grandparents and my brother came to the game because I didn't have to worry about my kids as I was swearing under my breath and fidgeting.

Was it me, or did halftime seem FOREVER??

Finally, finally 3rd quarter got there and I became even more tense as the Vipers took it in for another touchdown, making the score 28-14 and the entire third quarter belonged to them as they shut us out completely.

This was not good, not good at all.

So I am thinking this is it, we are done and then somehow the football Gods decided to give us a boost and we came out and Tai scored in the fourth. Being 28-21, now that isn't so bad. We still have some life and we were most definitely still IN the game. There was 7 minutes and 21 seconds left on the clock. All we needed was a touchdown and a field goal to tie it up. (now let me say, Overtime scared the living daylights out of me- we have never had to experience overtime)

With the clock dwindling, at 3 minutes, I was swearing more than a sailor (sorry, sorry), and I started packing up my stuff. Never before in a Raider game have I been so on edge that I couldn't sit in my seat. I threw my shaker bottle (which is very precious to me) on the ground and I just paced. Then I started packing up my stuff b/c Lord knows I bring a ton of stuff to the game.

Then it happened.

We got a break, with 1:53 minutes left in the game we got the ball back.

I haven't seen the stands more pumped and me, with my usual obsessive need to film. I couldn't. I was scared I would break my camera (or curse on film), so I didn't. At 1:22, Tai got to the 20 yard line and ran out of bounds. My issue: they didn't stop the clock for 3 seconds and never put the time back on. I couldn't get over that, but I forgot all about it when Tai found and open spot and ran the ball in for a Raider touchdown with 55 seconds left on the clock, making the score 28-27 still Vipers.
I can't begin to tell you about the stands. We were ALL screaming, hugging, jumping up and down and SO incredibly excited.

I know Josh and I knew what he would do, so I hurried myself and grabbed my camera because I knew I had to have the film from the next play.

I knew Josh would go for 2. That just made sense. Go for 2 and get it, you are ahead, Go for the FG and then you are tied and have to go into overtime. That's too much pressure for our kids. Plus Josh is just gutsy and that's why I love to watch him coach:)

I was so excited. Logan had a wide open space and he could have walked it in if he had wanted to.

This was the opportunity we needed and in that very moment, we won that game.

But I knew better than to get too excited, because I can not tell you how many games I have been to that a team was winning only to realize there was too much time on the clock, and unfortunately that is what happened to us. (it happened to us in the Boerne game last year when we beat them on the last 35 seconds of the game)

There was 53 seconds left.

Doesn't sound like too much time does it? 53 seconds is pretty quick, but in football time, it can last 5 minutes.

Looking at the clock after the conversion, I dropped everything, my shaker, my bag, my family and just ran. I did manage to yell for the boys, but I kept running hoping they would catch up. So with my grandparents, and brother left to fend for themselves with my propane tank, 2 backpacks, stadium chair and the boys helmets in the stands, the boys and I sweet talked the gate keeper into letting us on the sidelines.
I pretty much had already decided that the second the clock expired that we would be climbing the fence if we needed to, just to get to Josh, but thankfully the gatekeeper took mercy on me and let us through.
So fortunately and unfortunately I watched the last 40 seconds from the sidelines and captured every heartbreaking moment on video- yes, even the controversial last 3 seconds on the clock.

After our conversion, we kicked off to the Vipers, they took the ball to their 30 yard line and we held them for 3 downs. We kept them behind the 40 for 3 downs. Then on the 4Th down, they didn't have anything to lose because there was only 7 seconds on the clock, so they got ready for the long pass, the QB backs up, our guy gets ahold of him for the sack and he reverses and get out of our guys hand and throws the pass to a Viper receiver and they catch it on the 10 yard line with 3 seconds left on the clock. They line up and Vandegrift spikes the ball and the clock ran out. Done, the buzzer buzzes and we won the game.

Or so we thought

The officials came back and said that when he spiked the ball that there was 1 second left on the clock. Enough time for one more play. There was definitely some controversy over this call because the clock buzzed, but the officials made the right call and there was 1 second left.
Enough time for Vandergrift to line up and kick a field goal. All we could hope for was a FG block or a turnover. Unfortunately it just wasn't our night and they nailed the kick. Game over 31-29 Vipers.

I am sorry that you didn't get to see that kick. I was sick to my stomach- literally. I thought I was going to throw up, so I literally did not watch it. I crouched down and put my head between my legs because I was so nauseous. I just wanted this win so much for the coaches and the players.

We deserved to win that game. But so did the Vipers.

After the game, I went back into the stands to grab my stuff (and my family) and head back to the locker room to see Josh. Man, that was tough. Never before has it been that tough to face him after a game. I didn't know what to say, so I didn't. I just gave him a hug.

One thing I can say about this Raider team. We didn't give up. Not once. And NEVER once, that I know of, have we ever come from behind to win a game. We didn't win Friday night, but we sure came close and we sure played like we wanted to win. I am so proud of our guys.
I got a taste of something I have been missing for 3 years. I got to watch Josh coach. I know I have watched him coach for the last 3 years, but Friday night, he got to really coach. Because we were playing a team that was more equal to us than we have played all year and Josh got to coach a game. I love to watch him. I love that he went for 2 and didn't think about it- just did it. Some of you have said how gutsy it was for him to do that- honestly, you just got a glimpse of how he can really coach and how much fun he has doing it.

I am NOT ready for this season to end. Not at all. I know we haven't won a game, but I love Friday nights and I have missed it so much. I know its time and I know that this season has been tough on SO MANY levels, but we just have to keep working and keep believing because all these teams that have beat us, will get to face us again next year and I guarantee after another full season in the weight room, that next year WE will be the team to beat.