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ateezmakemeweep · 4 years

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you’re the one that i want (part 25)

word count: 5k

fluff

(part 24) (series masterlist)

almost every summer of your life, you spent at the beach.

and while you loved it each and every year, a place that served as a safe space you always so desperately needed, a part of you also knew it wasn’t a choice.

you came here because your parents sent you, because they didn’t want you with them and you didn’t have anywhere else to go.

you’d spent those years feeling completely unwanted and terrified of everyone and everything; thinking at any given moment, someone was gonna hurt you. that no one cared about your thoughts or feelings or even your existence.

and you’d grown used to that mentality for so long. you were sad and hurt and just living day to day with that knowledge because what else could you do?

but now, you don’t even get the chance to think like that. because you have so many people around you as a reminder that you’re not alone anymore.

you have your aunt who, from day one, you always knew was there for you.

you have yunho and san who served as the people who were patient and caring from the second they met you, made you feel at ease when you were so obviously uncomfortable in a new environment.

you have hongjoong and jongho who always make you smile and laugh despite whatever mood you’re in.

you have wooyoung, mingi and yeosang who, while you might’ve gotten off to a bumpy start, have proved time and time again how much they care about you. how they’ll ruin anyone who tries to mess with you now and have seen the error in their ways.

you have seonghwa who, despite everything he’s done, has always loved you. made you the happiest a person could be but also maybe the lowest; though even with that, you were able to get past it.

he showed you how to love but also how to be loved, a concept you truly never experienced until him. how much power that feeling has over a person and once you see that it’s something completely pure and real, it could help heal a person.

but that’s not to say it completely healed you because you know that’s just not how it works. you still have your doubts and anxieties and some long-lasting trauma that you’ll have to work through. but he makes it easier, everyone makes it a little easier because you know they’re there to listen.

you know seonghwa could take one look at you and just know you’re having a bad day, place a kiss on your forehead and comfort you in the form of your head on his chest and his hand rubbing your back.

but for the most part, these long summer days have been amazing. even seonghwa thinks so, despite the way his friends have been staying at his house, stealing his food and giving him a headache more often than not.

“can someone please go on the ferris wheel with me!”

the loud bustling of the summer carnival truly rivaled the youngest boy’s whines, sick and tired of them all standing around and attempting to win a giant teddy bear for the past thirty minutes.

“jongho, if you ask one more time i’m gonna-”

“can someone PLEASE go on the ferris wheel with me!”

you let out a small sigh as you look at the boy, his eyes focusing right on you when he sees he finally has your attention.

“please, y/n, we’ve just been standing here. they’re never gonna win.”

“yes we will!” mingi, wooyoung and hongjoong blurt out, causing you to snort and jongho to shake his head; it takes just one more look from him, one of pure and utter devastation, for you to give him a small smile and nod.

an excited yelp leaves his mouth and he grabs your hand, fully prepared to pull you away and lead you to every ride possible. but then you stop in his hold and his head snaps back to see seonghwa’s arm wrapped around your waist, his mouth in your ear asking where you think you’re going.

“she’s coming with me!” jongho says, “we wanna go on rides, not wait around for a stupid teddy bear.”

“it’s not stupid, you’re stupid,” hongjoong snaps, eyes narrowed as he aims a dart at a purple balloon.

“seonghwa, please,” jongho whines, tightening his hold on your hand and attempting to tug you away from him. but the dirty blonde only narrows his eyes at his friend, eyes moving to see you looking at him in amusement.

“come with us,” you say sweetly, despite the way you’re being pulled, almost painfully, in two different directions.

“you know i get dizzy, baby,” he whines, a giggle leaving your mouth as you cock your head to the side.

“ah, that’s right, forgot i was dating an old man,” you quip playfully, his eyes narrowing and his hold on you tightening. he tugs you closer and your hand gets pulled out of jongho’s, the boy behind you letting out a groan as he flails in a circle.

“y/n! apologize to him, god damn it, and let’s go! seonghwa, she didn’t mean it.”

“oh, i think i did though,” you tease, the smile pulling at seonghwa’s lips making you bite down on your lip.

“you’re pushing it, you know that don’t you?”

but you only roll your eyes as you turn in his hold, lifting on your toes to peck his lips sweetly. he meets the kiss and keeps it as chaste as possible, smiling against your lips before you pull back and look at him with one of your own.

“we’re gonna go now,” you say, “are you sureee you don’t wanna come old man?”

his eyes narrow at you, about to pull you into him again when jongho, now teamed up with san, pull at your hands and charge away.

“we’re going on rides! fuck you lover boy!”

seonghwa shakes his head as he hears your parting giggle, smacking wooyoung in the back of the head when he misses the balloon for the 40th time.

“you are terrible.”

“you are terrible!” you squeal to jongho, watching as he shakes the cart of the ferris wheel and sends san screaming.

the blonde had been hesitant to go on this ride in the first place, a fear of heights that has made him have mental breakdowns at amusement parks before.

but you promised that he’d be okay, and it took a little bit of begging on the line to really convince him, just for jongho to mess it all up within the first ten seconds of being secured in.

“i’m gonna scream for wooyoung to beat you up if you don’t stop,” the blonde whines, his hand clutching onto the edge of the ride desperately.

“i’m not scared of that short little man, i could easily take him.”

“i don’t know, it’s usually the small ones that are crazy,” you reason, overlooking the calm evening sky despite the vigorous shaking beneath you.

“stop!” san yelps.“please, you little shit!” and now you can really hear the anxiety and fear cracking in the blonde’s voice.

“no more!” you scold, pinching jongho’s arm and watching his face pull into a pout. “stop! or we’re not going on anything else.”

and even though your threat was empty, because you wanted to go on more, it did the trick. you three bounced around to every and any ride you could get on, even the ones that weren’t san approved; he just shut his eyes tightly and screamed directly into your ear.

but you and the youngest had your heads thrown back in laughter, your hair zipping through the wind with your arms up in a sight seonghwa watched with a smile.

he was leant against the side of a booth, blueberry slushy in hand drowning out the sound of the boys arguing over who gets custody of the giant teddy bear.

“i was the one who popped it!”

“but we all paid for it!”

“you only popped it because we loosened it.”

“you can’t loosen a balloon dickface.”

your happy squeal rips him away from the nonsense bickering, your eyes finding his as you immediately run to him.

“you should’ve came, it was so much fun!”

“yeah?” he says, offering you a sip from his slushie. you take the straw between your lips with a smile, sucking down the sugary blueberry before pulling back.

“that’s good.”

he smiles when he sees a blue speck on your lip, wiping it off with a delicate swipe of his thumb and soft look in his eyes. he knows you have your good days and bad days, the former more often than not during these past few weeks, but he can’t help but love the good days.

when he gets to see the smile he was robbed of for the first few weeks of knowing you and then again the first few months after reuniting. but now it’s like he makes it a personal mission everyday to see it; not even for his own enjoyment but to know you’re genuinely having a good, happy day.

“your hair’s a mess,” he chuckles out, voice deep and amused as he runs his fingers through your knotty hair. but you only narrow your eyes at him and take the slushie from his hand, pecking his cheek quickly before running over to see the $100 carnival prize you eventually get custody of.

you remember how uncomfortable you felt at the first bonfire you went to, when yunho’s bright smile or hongjoong’s charisma or jongho’s funny antics did little to calm you.

you remember being scared of seonghwa, the way he watched you with emotionless eyes and nearly threw a water bottle in your hand with demands for you to take it. you had usually felt out of place but it really stuck out that night to you, watching everyone talk and laugh and bond around a crackling fire.

you never would’ve thought that, just a year later, you’d be around one of your own. laughing and giggling and kissing your boyfriend around a fire with people you felt comfortable and safe with. with people you went to, what felt like, hell and back with but came out okay.

more than okay, really.

because you watch wooyoung and san shove each other lovingly, two people who also overcame struggles in a strained relationship. you watch all of the boys with the blonde, once tumultuous and non-existent friendships that were able to blossom again.

you watch from mingi’s shoulder seonghwa and yunho play cornhole, giggling when you see that after a year, yunho’s skills with the game still haven’t quite improved - and that’s obvious in the way the four boys charge down to the ocean.

“okay, honestly, he might’ve gone worse,” you mumble to mingi, the boy scoffing lightly and pushing you off his shoulder playfully.

“leave him alone,” he whines, a soft smile on your face that causes him to roll his eyes in embarrassment. you giggle and knock your arm into him, looking around the dark beach with a sense of tranquility.

you always loved the beach at this time, that solitary part of you itching to feel the cold sand between your toes and hear the gentle lull of the waves with no one’s presence but your own.

but you wait until the boys are occupied, until mingi eventually sneaks over to yunho and defends him against everyone’s harsh insults; you also saw san and wooyoung go down to the ocean a few minutes ago, the blonde not having learned in his lesson from back in febuary.

so it’s then that you quietly sneak away, catching your boyfriend’s eye and he already knows where you’re headed off to.

you make your way to the cliff you became well acquainted with during these types of events, watching your feet in the sand before you climb your way up and shimmy toward the end.

you watch the waves crash under the bright moonlight as your pelt with memories, good and bad. how this beach marks almost every journey you and seonghwa went on together from first meeting,

“you don’t talk a lot.”

his eyebrow raises at your comment, turning to look at you and the close eye-contact causes you to sharply inhale; he smells good, like the beach and cologne.

“neither do you,” he counters, “i don’t even know your name.”

your eyebrows furrow together, turning your neck to the side as you realize you haven’t told any of them your name yet. “i thought it was seonghwa,” he finds himself saying with a smirk, your confused gaze prompting him to speak again.

“you looked back when yunho said it yesterday.”

“oh,” you giggle awkwardly, remembering turning around in your flustered state and seeing him looking at you from your front yard. “no. my name isn’t seonghwa,” you tell him before telling him your real one.

he hums at the information, eyes roaming your face before his eyebrow quirks up again.

“so, why’d you come tonight, y/n?”

to your first kiss,

“...so i’ve never done this before.”

he hears the way nerves and embarrassment seep into your voice, looking at him wide-eyed with pink cheeks and now he’s really never wanted to kiss someone more in his life.

it’s why he takes your face in his hands, his palms cupping your cheeks and causing a breathy exhale to leave your mouth. “good,” he says, his thumbs stroking your face as he leans down and presses a feather light kiss to your lips.

it feels almost like nothing but still shocks you, not even having the time to close your eyes before you’re looking at him again; because that was one thing you knew, you knew you weren’t supposed to kiss someone with your eyes open.

“g-good?” you squeak after a few seconds, not even sound enough to feel embarrassed by the shake and waver in your voice.

“good,” he confirms and if the look on his face and smirk on his lips didn’t make you weak enough, his next words absolutely do.

“i wanna be your first.”

to your first confessions and vulnerable moments,

“i…don’t really know why you like me,” you say with a hiccup, “you could probably be with any girl ever who’s a lot prettier and more…experienced and-”

“don’t,” seonghwa growls lowly, his thumb running over your face sweetly. “no one’s prettier than you.”

your eyes widen and you want a laugh to bubble out of you but for some reason you can’t. you can only pout and look at him with your glossy eyes, your stupid little self feeling sad and insecure all of the sudden.

“that’s a lie,” you tell him softly as you shake your head. “no one thinks that. no one ever really likes me, actually.” you wanna say that not even your own parents or classmates like you, that no one has ever looked your way and actively cared about you felt.

“i do,” seonghwa hums, his heart hurting because he hates that you feel this way. “i liked you the second i saw you.” you look up at him and feel your eyes water, the softness and sincerity in his words causing a lump to form in your throat.

to even the heavier stuff, when you really weren’t sure if you two were gonna make it this far.

“i don’t know what i want,” you admit quietly, confused because there’s the matter of trust at hand making this process incredibly daunting. but you also can’t escape the one fact you knew was true this whole time, no matter how much you didn’t want it to be because you were so sad and hurt.

“but i know that i’m still yours.”

he doesn’t think he’s ever felt the feeling that rips through his chest when you say that, an overwhelming, all consuming feeling that would’ve knocked him on his ass if he didn’t have some sort of hold on you.

he has to stop himself from completely breaking down in front of you, shaking his head and holding back a cry as he pulls you into his chest.

“you really shouldn’t be fucking saying that to me,” he mumbles against your head, his voice tight and throat constricting as he tries to keep his shit together. “i don’t deserve to hear that.”

you pull away and meet his gaze, his eyes wide and teary and full of such love you can see clear as day. you reach up with a small, sad smile and brush your hand through his hair, longer pieces of dirty blonde on the top such a contrast to the short, shaven ones he had during the summer.

“maybe not,” you say quietly, head cocking to the side as your wide eyes meet his. “but it’s how i feel.”

but you think that’s maybe why you’ve grown to love this beach town just a little bit more.

because it not only shows the story of you and him but also of you as a person. someone who came here sad and lonely and a shell of a girl but was able to blossom into someone who, for the most part, was genuinely happy and content with life.

and you never thought you’d be able to say you were happy with your life. that you felt like you belonged anywhere or with anyone because you were just always in the way.

but you see now that that’s not the case. you see that you were never the issue but your environment was. an environment your mind still drifts back to and makes your heart sink, wondering what went so wrong in your parents lives for them to act the way they do.

to never, not once, contact you or your aunt ever again to see if you were okay or adjusting well; but you try not to dwell on that. you try not to think about and dwell on things like that anymore.

because you’re in a better place and have more than enough people who care about you and-

“you have a death wish?”

your head snaps back to see seonghwa standing a few feet behind you, his tall frame looming above you as he cocks his head to the side teasingly. you can only smirk at him with pink on your cheeks, your arm reaching out for him to come over and sit next to you.

but he plops down behind you until you’re right between his legs, your back pressed against his chest and his lips mumbling into your exposed shoulder.

“you okay, baby? i saw you sneak away.”

“yeah,” you hum lowly, taking his hand in yours so you can play with his fingers absentmindedly. “i just like it up here.”

he smiles against your head, pressing a kiss to your hair lightly as he watches you intertwine your fingers together. it’s something so small but it makes him bite back a smile, remembering when you were too scared or shy to initiate things.

but he’s watched you become more confident, not only with him but in general. the way you can hold eye contact now and your voice doesn’t always have a tremor. how you’ll kiss him sweetly before running off, like the action was so natural and immediate you didn’t think anything of it.

he can only describe everything as easy; nothing is ever forced or feels fake. if you guys have problems now, you talk it out right away. you don’t throw his past mistakes in his face and he doesn’t ever push you to talk about something until you’re ready.

it’s at those moments you guys find yourselves here a lot, enjoying the usual quietness and tranquility of the dark beach. tonight, however, that’s not the case because even from this spot, you hear the distant screams and shouts coming from your crazy group of friends.

“they’re so loud,” you hum quietly, seonghwa laughing against you as he nods his head and mumbles a string of expletives.

you giggle softly and crane your neck backwards, looking at him upside down to see him already staring at you. you raise your eyebrows playfully and his deep chuckle sends your heart fluttering, his face meeting yours to place a soft peck on your nose.

you giggle and pick yourself up, turning around so you can crawl into his lap. his arms wrap around your waist as he holds you to him, tucking a stray piece of your windblown hair behind your ear.

“so...did you think about what your aunt said the other day?”

you bite down on your lip as you let out a sigh, knowing that you need to come to a decision but your heart hurting at both prospects.

because when she first mentioned you transferring to the school here, you knew it made the most sense. it was only a seven minute drive and you already would have a small group of friends, hongjoong and yunho in your class and jongho in the year below.

but then you’d have to sacrifice the school and environment you just got used to. you’d have to sacrifice your time with seonghwa and the other boys, your job at the cafe where you can’t imagine not ever working again.

because who would work with san? you can’t let the blonde work there alone again, after seeing the after-school crowds and knowing how much he loved having someone to talk to there.

but the hour commute back and forth is rather taxing, depending on the day and traffic sometimes making it longer. and you can’t help but feel bad for seonghwa and your aunt’s gas bill - both of who never allow you to pay them back.

your aunt also thought it’d be a good idea to get a fresh start - away from a town and school full of bad memories and reminders of how life used to be.

“i don’t know,” you say quietly, pulling back from seonghwa’s shoulder to meet his gaze. “i know it makes sense to and i wouldn’t mind it,” you tell him honestly, “but...i’d miss it. i’d miss working with san and seeing the other boys everyday.”

“i know, love, but you’d still see them,” he says sweetly, “they’d probably drive out every fucking weekend for you.”

you giggle softly as you shrug, wrapping your arms around his shoulders before you look at him with the smallest of pouts. “but i wouldn’t go to school with you, either. i’ll reallly miss seeing you every day.”

a low chuckle leaves his mouth before he places a firm kiss right on your lips, the way in which he does it so surely and easily still surprising you after all this time.

“like i’m not gonna stay here every night and make the drive,” he says lowly, amused that you think he’d actually go a week without seeing you.

“then i might as well keep going,” you whine, his look hardening because he’s truthfully with your aunt on this one - he thinks being away from that town littered with bad memories and trauma, some of which he himself contributed to, would be better for you.

but it’s your decision after all. it’s gonna be you going through the two years, not anyone else - not him or your aunt or your friends. all of them can only give gentle encouragement and be supportive of what ever decision you make.

“it won’t matter what you pick, we’ll be okay,” he says when you two stand up, his hand in yours as he runs a hand through your hair. “and if you’re scared about starting a new school, don’t. because you’ll have yunho and jongho and hongjoong and they’d be way too fucking excited to help you and show you around.”

“but what if i meet a mean, bad boy there?” you tease lightly, eyes glinted with amusement and a smirk pulling at your lips. “like right in homeroom or something, i don’t know.”

you watch his tongue poke into his cheek as he narrows his eyes at you, a giggle leaving your mouth as you wrap your arms around his waist.

“just kidding,” you squeal, his eyes rolling before he pulls him into you.

“not funny,” he says despite the humor laced in his voice and then his lips on yours. he slips his tongue in and you smile against him, only breaking away when you hear shouts and gags from directly below you.

“can you stop making out for five fucking seconds and play with us!”

everyone took the news of your decision to transfer schools...differently.

whereas jongho, hongjoong and yunho tackled you in a group hug and cheered in amusement, wooyoung, yeosang and mingi resembled children who just found out santa isn’t really.

seonghwa and san watched from the side, the two boys you consulted with most and eventually shared your decision with not all surprised by these reactions.

because despite how hard it was, despite how many factors you had to consider and people you couldn’t help but think about, you felt as if this was the right choice.

it was a fresh start and closer and just made more sense. even though you’d miss the familiarity of the other school and working with your best friend every day, you know it’ll be like you’re barely gone.

because seonghwa was correct in saying the boys would come every weekend to see you, the first idea coming from their mouths after their initial heartbreak and whines.

but it didn’t lessen the blow when the last day of summer did eventually come, when you sat around the pool with seonghwa and your friends and uttered dramatic goodbyes.

“it’s only an hour away,” seonghwa grumbled, watching san and wooyoung cling to you for the past fifteen minutes.

“you can say that because you’re-”

“just shut up,” seonghwa says, a sense of urgency and warning in his tone that goes unnoticed to your ears. because the whole time you say your goodbyes and hug the boys, you’re holding back tears.

tears that don’t surface until you’re back in your room with seonghwa, watching from the balcony as yeosang and mingi stick their heads out the window and wave goodbye until the car is completely out of sight.

you turn around and seonghwa’s eyes soften upon seeing your expression, wide teary eyes and lower lip threatening to wobble from holding back cries.

“baby, it’s okay,” he mumbles against your head, tightening his hold on you when you fully slump against him and let out a few quiet whimpers; because tomorrow, he’s gonna be gone too.

the feeling isn’t as gut wrenching and consuming as it was the last time you two separated like this but you still feel sad and a little scared. you still have to face a new school tomorrow, adjust to all the different teachers and classmates while also getting used to not having your familiar circle of people.

you’re not gonna see him everyday when you first wake up, fall asleep to him kissing your head or the sound of his heartbeat against your ear.

“maybe it’ll be good,” seonghwa mumbles against your head, the two of you now laying in your bed under the covers. “maybe you’ll like getting a break from me.”

“no,” you immediately whine against him, a small smile on his face as you push yourself up and straddle his waist. your fingers trail down naked his chest, making figure eights on his abs in a way that makes him groan lowly.

“why?” you ask, cocking your head to the side with a pout on your face. “will you like the break from me?”

“fuck no,” seonghwa growls out, grabbing your hips roughly so he can put you on your back. “i’ll be surprised if i make two weeks before transferring.”

you didn’t even have time to think about that being a possibility before his mouth is on yours and he’s sucking hickies into your neck. trails his lips down your stomach until he’s slipping off your shorts and you’re moaning into the crease of your elbow.

moans that turn to muffled cries into one another’s mouths, his cock steadily fucking into you until you both come in unison. your sweaty bodies and labored breathing fill the room, you on your back and seonghwa making his way into the bathroom to get a warm rag.

you hum at the feeling of it between your legs before you’re back in his arms, your head buried in his chest as you fall asleep to the sound of his deep “i love you.”

the same one that wakes you at five a.m., his hand softly running through your hair as your eyes fluttered open.

“i gotta go, baby,” is all he says. but it immediately makes you frown and bury yourself further into him, mumble words he can’t quite make out besides little whines of “no.”

but you do eventually pry yourself off of him, after he presses soft kisses on every bit of your face until your nose is scrunching and you’re pushing him away from you playfully.

“okay, okay,” you whine, morning grogginess still in your voice and on your face. “please call me when you get home.”

“of course, baby, how ‘bout i come back after school? to see how your first day went?”

“mm it’s okay,” you mumble tiredly, knowing you have an hour and a half left before you have to get up and get ready. “just stay till i fall back asleep, please.”

and that tiny, whiney request almost makes him wanna drop the act entirely. but he sees your heavy eyes already threatening to shut and shakes his head, waiting until your breaths even to peck your cheek and he sneaks out of your room.

you wake later to the sound of yunho’s voice, his head peeking in your room before a sigh leaves his mouth.

“y/n! we have to leave in twenty minutes!”

he watches, and is totally not helpful, as you rush around your room to get ready quickly, his head thrown back in laughter in a way that makes you smack his arm lightly.

but you all eventually get there with a few minutes to spare, the boys walking you through your schedule and introducing you to a few more people they’re friendly with.

“everyone’s really nice,” hongjoong tells you, hoping to ease your obvious anxiety. “you’re gonna think it’s suspicious but they’re all genuinely pretty good.”

“okay that makes me feel better,” you say with a smile, the five minute warning bell making your eyes widen and stomach knot even more. “oh no.”

“it’s fine,” yunho smiles softly, wrapping his arm around your shoulder and pulling you into him. “i’ll walk you to homeroom, c’mon.”

he guides you through the halls until you’re standing in a doorway, the teacher in the front of the room greeting you with a small smile and saying hi to yunho.

“this is my friend, y/n. she’s new and a little nervous so please be extra nice to her.”

the teacher rolls her eyes as she waves yunho off, warning him that he’s gonna be late just as the bell rings; she doesn’t even say a word as she walks over and grabs him a late pass, shoving it in his hand before telling him to move his ass.

“so, y/n, was it?” she asks, looking over the paper in her hand with a curious gaze. “that’s funny, we were supposed to have two new students.”

your eyebrow raises at her statement and you think maybe you could befriend them. they’re probably just as scared as you, if not more because they don’t anyone at all.

you think that would be nice, having another friend to get to know and help feel as ease and-

“oh, are you the other new student?” you hear the teacher ask, hearing footsteps slowly come up from behind you.

there’s a few beats of silence before chatter erupts from students, quiet mumbles about how he looks familiar and they’ve all definitely seen him before.

“yeah,” you hear the boy say and you immediately whip around at the deep voice you know so well, the handsome face that woke you this morning looking at you with soft eyes full of amusement.

“i’m seonghwa.”

you can’t even hear the teacher welcome him or tell the other students to settle down, biting back a smile at the the way he so cockily and teasingly mouths ‘hi baby.”

complete

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#srry!! some of the flashbacks got messed up #and shes donee! :(#kind of sad but tysm to everyone who read!! <3 #seonghwa #seonghwa fluff #ateez #ateez fluff #seonghwa scenarios #ateez scenarios #seonghwa imagines #ateez imagines

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aharris00britney · 6 years

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ASKS 10

‘less weird hairs,’ pics of me, real life questions, seasons thoughts, kpop stuff, ‘are you a boy’ erhdfnv, tutorial questions, edits, ‘safe’ cc, and umm yeah never go camping in the actual woods ok

Anonymous said: Can you do Less weird hair? I Like how good Mesh You make but all styles look Really Weird I never Would use them. I just want Usual hair? Thanks you

Firstly, thank you for the meshing compliment, but tbh I think I make pretty simple hair styles? Like I don’t do many crazy things especially recently? Idk, I hope you like some of my hairs and can find something that fits in your liking :/

Anonymous said: Hi I really love you content and I was wondering if you’d ever do a “goddess locs” hairstyle?

Ok I am gonna be super straight forward about this, making hairstyles like this is really challenging for me. I have tried a ton of times and I just can’t get the meshes to work out the way I like. UV mapping is a pain in the ass, making the hairline match well, and making sure none of the mesh strands are broken is next to impossible for me. Most creators that make hairstyles like this do them from scratch or spend a long time working on them for them to look right. I’m not saying ‘no’ because I am going to try to play around with some seasons meshes (I have hair ideas) but no promises :(

Anonymous said: BLACKPINK COMEBACK

i know omg jennie snapped, I wasn’t planning on buying the physical album but I ended up caving in and getting the pink versions ;-; I hope I get Jennie or Lisa photocards

Anonymous said: i know your theme is by gukthemes, but what is it called?

PAPILLON by GUKTHEMES

Anonymous said: Are you ever gonna do a face reveal?

I have posted a pic of myself before in one of these ask posts, here are three more from the past few months :P

Anonymous said: Fav kpop group(s)???

1). LOONA (bias Kim Lip) 2). BLACKPINK (bias Jennie) 3). RED VELVET (bias Joy) 4). CLC (bias Yeeun) 5). DREAMCATCHER (idk their names but the rapper)

Anonymous said: You play pokemon go still?

Yes! I collected cards/figures growing up and watched the show before school every morning. I’m not a ‘game’ fan but the mobile app is fun. Actually I played the Wii U Pokemon tournament game but it was boring so :/

Anonymous said: are you going to buy seasons? do you think it is worth it?

I got it from CDkeys for $25 lmao, so yes :P I can’t run the live mode so I kind of am just getting it for the new CAS assets :/ but I think the pack looks really good. Everyone always says ‘it looks like the best EP so far’ every time something new comes out so I’m not gonna say that but we will see :D

Anonymous said: whats ur skin blend called?

Fruitpunch! You can get it here

Anonymous said: when are you going to be done camping?

I am back home now lmao I assume you sent this when I posted about not having service there :P but I was camping for 3 days? I know it was 2 nights at least refdbv also omg some camping stories:

► I didn’t have my voice for the entire trip bc I got sick with laryngitis, and now koby (the guy i shared a tent with) has it too erfdbvc

► It was blazing hot like omg I was dying, there werent showers, bathrooms, anything with AC. The tents were boiling hot, the ground fucking hurt, and it was just hell ok this isnt even a story I just need to complain.

► There was a racoon family outside the tents the first night, and we thought it was a bear bc we were literally in the middle of the woods, like it wasn’t a campsite with other people, it was the forest ;-; anyways we were legit so freaked out and up for 2 hours just listening to them walk around the tents and god it was so scary rfbdv

► As I said, I had no service so I missed the larvitar community day in pokemon go -_-

► I suck at cornhole so I was the cheer leader for a team UwU

► A deer jumped out right in front of the fucking car like RIGHT IN FRONT OF IT omg we were so close to hitting it like... it was fucking scary

► We went walking on a trail that was down a mountain and once we got down we discovered that the chairlift up was CLOSED so we had to walk back up and it was a nightmare bc we had all just drove like 30 minutes to shower in crappy no pressure no heat showers and we were all sweaty again by the time we got back to the top ;-;

dont go camping

Anonymous said: Your last edit creeps me out.

LMAO why? It isnt meant to be sexual or scary?

@achinghearts88 said: I really love Sims 4 cc but I constantly struggle with finding safe sites and have accidentally downloaded a virus trying to get cc before so I'm kinda frightened now. What advice do you have for getting safe cc? Thanks!

Hello! I use an adfly skipper + adblock, and if both of those don’t work then I just don’t download the cc. For some creators (nolan-sims, simduction, isjao, ivo-sims, and others) I will turn them off because I know these creators aren’t ones that use the sketchy adfly stuff, but for others that I don’t know well I leave it on. I use: U Block origin and adfly skipper (both on firefox)

Anonymous said: I couldn't find a "contact me" thing but your AHarris00Britney has a broken mesh I think.

??? idk what this means im sorry ;-; what hair are you referring to?

Anonymous said: an amazing creator and a loona fan???? i stan

My mind... your mind... our mind..

@chocooosims said: hey, I love your cc, you are such a good creator! :) I'm not sure if someone already ask you that, but have you ever considered making a tutorial where you show us how you create maxis match hair? I mean, I know that I can already find on Internet tutorials about frankenmeshing hair. But the thing is that you are one of the only creator who do more than simply merge 2 EA's hair together. So, I would really love to see a tutorial of how you are creating your cc! :) Thx for your time!!

I am making a BIG tutorial right now of me making a hair from start-finish and it is around 3 hours not speed up. My guardian angel is going to edit it for me tonight and then I will try to have it posted next week sometime

Anonymous said: what university are you going to?

Radford :D it is in Virginia

Anonymous said: Just wanted to let you know you're a king

thank you lmao I wish it were true, stan loona or be beheaded

Anonymous said: r u a guy or girl or non binary etc. also are you lgbtq+ at all? not to judge, just wondering :)

uuh, I’m a gay guy lmao idk about all the other terms like cis/bianary ;-; i like the anatomy exclusive to the male body

edit: rip so someone messaged me asking what I meant by “anatomy exclusive to the male body” and I was like ?? bc I meant i like d**k, and i explained that i didn't like using cuss words on my blog bc my account got shut down/deleted/reported last year and was completely gone for two days while I emailed my butt off to get it back. Also, I was trying to be funny by sounding proper and using big terms like anatomy/exclusive instead of just saying “i like penis” bc that just isnt as fun to say imo. My anatomy teacher never used words like v*gina/p*nis and would say stuff like that, and I always found it funny and I guess that was another reason I worded it that way. Anyways if you think I was being transphobic, I apologize. I hope you don’t think that I am transphobic bc of that? If you want to message me and talk to me about how I can word stuff better then I am around 24/7 mostly, but I’m not going to fight with anyone who is just looking to argue because that is childish. I am sorry to those that got offended but I got one message about this so if something like this happens, message me like this person and ask what I meant so that it isn’t blown out of proportion. Again, I did not think that it would be taken that way and I am sorry if you felt that I was making fun of a trans person. <3

Anonymous said: What do you see in the corner of your room when you get sleep paralysis (;

James Charles with breasts on the beach and im not sharing this photo anymore it is demonic OK

Anonymous said: hi! i installed your non-default eye recolors but i'm having a glitch with them. my female sims lose their face in cas and it's just like an empty spot where the face should be. i have the default eyes installed too so i know it's not an issue with a missing mesh but i'm not sure how to fix it.

Hello!! I don’t think this is my eyes because I’m not experiencing this glitch? Did you run a S4S batch fix over everything? I think that causes this glitch sometimes but I am unsure. Try repairing your game and if you have the “no EA eyelash” mod then redownload that and replace the old file.

@sephirajo said: I found your sims 4 mods and I love the hairs! They're so amazing and pretty.

thank you so much!

Anonymous said: In your collab with wildpixel, I F**KING love the Ivy hair; do you have any recolours of it or any of the other hairs in the collab?

all the hairs in that pack are recolored in the anathema and sacharinne palette :) and I reblog all recolors of my cc over on @aharris00britneyrecolors

#asks

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cornholeaddicts · 4 years

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Dude, how did we get here?

I am Sean Asp of the Big Asp Cornhole Podcast and I wanted to share our story of how we got started. This is my first attempt at writing, so be gentle and we hope you enjoy hearing the story behind the voices. Countless stories I have come across have all sounded similar. “I started playing in my back yard with a buddy…I was the best…Blah, Blah, Blah”. It was no different for me. Growing up, my brother (Dane) and I had played horseshoes and washers. If you have ever played washers before, you know it isn’t exactly a quiet game. The constant “ping” of the washer hitting the wooden board, echoing throughout the neighborhood, was enough to drive our neighbors crazy. We then transitioned to cornhole.

Ready to play in the big time, or so we thought.

We started out like most, playing with corn filled Duck canvas bags on “OK” boards. We would play others in the neighborhood and rarely lost…we thought we were cornhole kings. And then we played in our first “real” cornhole tournament.

About two years ago we entered a tournament at a local Irish festival, which was being run by Cleveland Cornhole. To say the least, we got our asses kicked…our pride was hurt, but the people we played against were awesome!! They told us about this “Cleveland Cornhole league” and to check out the website. I stored that information in the back of my head. Fast forward about a year, after the birth of my oldest child, Nora, I had given up coaching (I had coached a high school Rugby team for 7 seasons and would spend every weekend traveling around the country). I loved spending more time with family, but I wasn’t used to having this much free time on my hands. I saw cornhole on ESPN one weekend and I remembered our experience (as painful as it was) and checked out the Cleveland Cornhole website. Lucky for us, they were just about to start up another session! I called my brother, he was in…..the rest is history! Family and friends who know me well will tell you, I am either “all in or all out”. After the first week of this league, I was hooked. We got a set of “professional bags” and started practicing. Dave Weiser, who runs the Cleveland Cornhole league, does a fantastic job at placing you in a division based off skill level. It helped us to improve our game without demoralizing us. We practiced, we got better and moved up. We are now in that awkward phase…some games we could beat anyone, but more often we lose. I became obsessed with every aspect of the game. I couldn’t get enough. I would watch YouTube videos, read every blog on Cornholeaddicts.com and I would even read bag reviews for fun (don’t judge me). I wanted more….. Then one day, before heading out to work, where I have about an hour commute, I looked on Apple podcast. Surely there wasn’t a cornhole podcast…right? But there it was, in all of its glory, the Doghouse Cornhole Dogcast! At the time they had two episodes available…I blew through them both in the first day. I couldn’t believe there were guys out there who loved cornhole as much as me!!

Who's going to listen to our podcast?

Jump ahead again, about two months, it is now October, early November. I threw out the idea to Dane, who was also a Dogcast fan, “What if we try our hand in this?” We both loved podcasts, both loved cornhole. We already had chemistry and we thought we were incredibly funny! Perfect! So over the course of the next 2 month we researched how to set up a podcast, what equipment we would need and how the hell to get it uploaded so that people could (maybe?) listen. January 3rd, 2020 we recorded our first ever episode. We joked that maybe 10 people would listen in and our only fans would be “mom and dad”. We went nuts when we hit 50 downloads! Absolutely floored other people would listen in!! About 2 weeks later I am driving to work, listening to the newest episode of the Dogcast and I swear to God, I almost had to pull over. They started talking about our show!! Here we were, two brothers doing this cornhole podcast thing with ZERO expectations and two “cornhole celebrities” (I mean “The Voice” has his face on a t-shirt for God’s sake) were mentioning our show!! People like us, they really like us After that Dogcast episode….The Big Asp Cornhole Podcast EXPLODED!! Hundreds of downloads were pouring in! We could not believe it! I would reach out to Pro players to see if they would be interested in being interviewed, not expecting a response. Not only would they respond, but they would give us praise and told us THEY were fans of OUR show. Then, we established a relationship with Cornhole Addicts, who would become our first SPONSOR!! We were thrilled to be associated with a brand that represented everything we wanted our show to be about! We were now those guys with sponsors on the back of their jerseys!! Our minds were officially blown!! We have interacted with cornhole players around the world, became friends (more like much younger brothers) with the Dogcast guys (Brendan and Donnie), have interviewed some of the best players in the world and are about to participate in the “Battle of the Big Mouths (an online, live streamed tournament with some of the biggest names in the cornhole media world). The entire experience has been a whirlwind. The cornhole community is amazing. Hands down the best group of people I have ever had the pleasure of interacting with. The support we have had is overwhelming and we cannot thank each and every person enough. Although my wife might be annoyed by my new found addiction (I love you Valerie), we are having a blast! We will keep producing audio gold!! Keep throwing it straight and I hope it’s nothing but four baggers from here on out!! Read the full article

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element-effect-blog · 5 years

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When Work Anxiety & Stress Strikes, What Should We Do?

Nobody likes getting out of bed in the winter season.

A minimum of not in New England, where the air outside is so freezing, it harms to breathe. Why would anybody live someplace where it injures to breathe for two months out of the year? I don't understand.

Anyway, one especially cold Tuesday morning in February comes to mind. It was so early, it was still dark out. When I left the house, my hair froze in the perhaps 30-second dash to my cars and truck. And despite the fact that I had left the car running for 15 minutes to warm up, it was still no place near habitable. Obviously.

I was trying to enter the workplace early to crank some exercise for a client whose Google Advertising campaigns required additional TLC to get the outcomes they were searching for. I find I get a lot more done in those early a.m. hours when nobody else is in the office yet.

That may not sound like enjoyable for you, but I had been eagerly anticipating it. It feels incredible to get a half a day's worth of operate in prior to the day even starts.

Then Panic Struck Out of No place

As I was driving, my heart rate shot up, my palms started sweating, and I had a hard time to catch my breath. The anxiety of facing another demanding day with a demanding client had captured up with me.

I pulled over.

I had never ever had a problem with anxiety or high quantities of tension before.

There I sat on the side of the road, not able to stop freaking out about the insurmountable amount of work I had to get done that week. About difficult discussions I might have to have with clients. And on, and on.

I highly thought about simply turning around and saying, "Forget this. Not today. It doesn't matter. Who cares. Screw all of this. I'm going back to hibernate up until springtime lastly cuts through this miserable weather."

I had been flexing over backwards for months attempting to get my workload under control, to a point where I might breathe and in fact lean into the delight my job typically brings me. Rather, I was still crippled with stress and anxiety and asking myself:

"Why is it taking so long for me to figure it out this time around?"

"From now on, will difficult times always lead me to have a pre-dawn mental breakdown on the side of the road?"

"Why am I putting myself through this?"

"Why would anyone let it get to this point?"

"What Am I Doing with My Life?"

Have you ever asked yourself that concern? I thought I was the only one who fell under ruts of asking myself, "What am I doing? What's the point?" on an often everyday basis.

As it turns out, I'm not. All of us do.

What's even worse, however, is that-- on top of questioning whatever-- you then observe your peers around you, appearing like they understand what's going on and oh, so put together. There you are, spiraling, right? While they have everything under control. They understand precisely what's going to occur next.

They understand what their "strategy" is.

And after that there was me, who had actually never related more to Phoebe than in the last 6 months:

Sometimes this psychological spiral can feel never-ending.

Every minute of every day, you think to yourself:

"I'm not regular. I need to be doing something incorrect. Everybody else has it together, however I am various. I am defective."

When that would occur, I would breathe and tell myself, "This will pass. All of these sensations will pass."

And right away, I would feel ... relief.

Well, till I understood, "Wait, if this is all expected to pass, why the heck hasn't it in fact passed yet? Why does this anxiety keep returning?"

For me, it also appeared like it was a various sort of anxiety every day.

One day it was, "Why aren't things forming?"

The next, "Where are they in fact supposed to fall into?"

And lastly, "How do I get to the point where I feel like I suffice!.

?.!?"We've All Existed (Even If We Don't Admit It)

Certainly, you're not here to hear about a quarter-life crisis -- is that even a genuine thing?-- or listen to me panic about what's going on.

Like me, you're enthusiastic about digital sales and marketing, helping grow an organisation (either your own or somebody else's), and establishing your career. However even for those of us who really enjoy what we do and where we work, all of us come across these difficult times.

Sadly, those minutes are extremely isolating and lonely. We think nobody is feeling the way we do. So, we keep quiet, due to the fact that we don't wish to be perceived as weak or incapable by those we deal with and for.

What are we expected to do?

Maybe you're reading this wishing to hear somebody older and better state that this industry is difficult, however do not fret, you'll get through it somehow. Or, my personal favorite, "It will all pass."

Well, I'm sorry to state, I do not have an answer.

I'm quite sure that is the response-- no one understands exactly what's going to happen next. Nobody has a hint. And we should welcome that, as it's the one universal reality that links all of us.

You are not alone in this. The entire world has actually felt the precise very same method you carry out in those minutes-- lots of most likely do right now. The issue is that we do not talk about it with each other.

Things are constantly changing in our lives-- the industries we pick to work in, the technology we rely upon to do our jobs, the individuals we work with. However you can't lose sight of the fact that you have actually likewise achieved a lot. Romantically, academically, professionally, athletically, or whatever other qualifier you wish to pick.

And that's where you require to start.

Discover Something That Makes You Feel Excellent

For me, it's working with my hands.

The minute I have that "What am I finishing with my life?" sensation, I hit the garage and start putting something together. Revitalizing an old coffee table, fixing a broken chair, developing a cornhole set, or perhaps building a freaking LEGO set puts me straight.

I can inform myself, "Take a look at this. I did this. I did something efficient today."

I can look at whatever that thing is and be happy that it came from my head to my hands. I created something from nothing. Since of me, that thing exists. It's a prideful moment that helps me put things into viewpoint.

Or perhaps I'll talk with one of the kids I sponsor in the Dominican Republic.

They definitely like speaking with their buddies in America-- and that feeling of pride comes back again. I made a child's day today. It's a tip that, regardless of that periodic sensation of insignificance, I can be good and do good.

Of course, what helps me might be meaningless to you.

And what assists you may be worthless to others. It does not matter; it's significant to you, so who cares? Discover your thing. It's your life, so simply live it and don't spend it stressing over things beyond your control. Do what unwinds you and what you're passionate about, and enjoy that immense pressure dissipate.

Everybody goes through it, and frequently.

Whatever your "pick me up" is, it doesn't even require to be for you personally. I know I instantly feel better about life when I can bring something of value into another individual's life. You are important to not just yourself, however others around you.

Acknowledge the Pressure We All Feel & & Then Talk to Someone

It appears that a great deal of us put ourselves under a lots of pressure to be doing something considerable and impactful with everything we carry out in our professions -- which pressure of needing to do that all the time suffices to drive anybody crazy.

But once again, the most important thing to understand is that others are experiencing the very same fears, stress factors, and anxieties you are.

We get caught up in competition at work, to a point where we are afraid to be susceptible with each other. Colleagues stop to be good friends and people, and instead become competitors in a struggle to advance.

Speak to them.

Others that remain in your role are the finest individuals to open to. You'll be surprised at how similar your situations are. Odds are they are or have actually gone through the specific same thing.

After that bitter cold early morning in February, I lastly talked with somebody here at EFFECT-- a man who started around the very same time as I performed in a comparable role. Over a couple of beers after work, we talked about life and our professions and what was occurring-- and quickly we recognized we were both feeling a great deal of the exact same things.

And for the very first time, I felt a weight lift-- I wasn't actually alone. While that was exactly what I required, the genuine worth of that discussion came afterward. No longer feeling isolated, I felt empowered to seek out others at IMPACT who could help me discover and develop the options I needed.

As it ended up, "they" were right. It-- whatever "it" may be for you-- will in fact pass.

It's everything about how you manage those stressful times and feelings of crippling self-doubt. So, the next time it occurs to you, stop and bring yourself back to focus by doing something that fulfills you. Talk to someone.

You're not alone. You'll make it through it. And you'll be better off when you do.

This content was originally published here.

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willridgard · 6 years

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THE ‘A TO Z’ OF MY AMERICAN ADVENTURE IN WORDS AND PICTURES

Did I really live in America for 15 months?

Yes.

Yes I did.

But, after more than 18 months since moving back ‘home, from Richmond, Virginia, I frequently ask myself the above question.

More than 4,000 miles away from friends, family, and home comforts, I must have been mad when I think about it. But I did love it! Experiencing a different culture and way of life was superb and I’m really glad I was brave enough to do it.

I haven’t written too much lately, but I’ve been inspired by my ‘American adventure’ and plan on providing my committed readers with A to Z ramblings and pictures on all things ‘Merica. So here goes…

Alcohol - They love it! Yep, it’s true, some Americans cannot drink, but then some Brits cannot either! There are some lovely local ales and ciders to choose from. Oh what I’d give for a Bold Rock Cider or a Vienna Lager right now; Virginia’s finest! Bud Light was like water over there and there was nothing better than a visit to the local alehouse or brewery on a Sunday afternoon filled full of sunshine, live music food trucks, and good drinks. ‘Tailgating’ was fun; you basically eat, drink and play games in/by your cars until you are ready to go into the event you are waiting for. It’s also almost impossible not to get ID’d in the States; you literally get ID’d every single time. In Walmart they have a ‘Challenge 40′ policy. Strict or what!? Pints come in the form of ‘fluid ounces’. You can pick from 16, 24 and 32 fl oz. 1 imperial pint = 17.5 fl oz. It’s fair to say that the 32 fl oz ‘growlers’ (which keep your beer cool & fresh) are the most popular…’Tipping’ is a must. A lot of employees make most of their money from tips; anything less than 10% is frowned upon, but not illegal. I recommend tipping at around 20%, and in cash…We partied pretty much every weekend (we even did an all-nighter in a Ipswich v Norwich themed party in respect of the 1-1 draw in September 2016) and I learned all the ins and outs of popular drinking games such as Chesticles, Flip Cup and Beer Pong. #BYOB

Baseball - ‘Take me out to the old ball game’ was a song that I had to get used to during my stay. I took a while to warm to the popular sport, but actually rather enjoyed it in the end. I found it quite relaxing and similar to cricket, but some fun interlude activities, after every inning, such as t-shirt shooting, mascot racing and a firework display made it worth the admission price. The Richmond Flying Squirrels were my local team (I even got a selfie with ‘Nutsie’), but I was fortunate enough to watch a Major League Baseball game between Washington Nationals and St. Louis Cardinals. In prime seats, it was fantastic to experience the pace, skill and professionalism that these major players display. Unfortunately, I never really gave hitting or pitching a go; Year 11 Rounders was where my talents ended! #ItsAHit

Cornhole - Cornhole is amazing! Basically, either on your own or with a partner, and against another individual/pair, you have to chuck bags of corn (effectively beanbags) onto a board from quite a distance. You score one point if your bag stays on the board and three if you manage to throw it into the hole towards the top of the board! However, if, say I was to throw my bag into the hole and then little Jimmy, on the other team, did as well, our scoring points would be cancelled. The team who scores 21 points first is the winner. Technique and mental strength is everything. Some people loop them. Some people fire them in. I was obsessed, but I wasn’t as good as your average American… I might make a couple of boards now and turn it into a UK craze…#NiceToss

Driving - God. Where do I start? Turning left at traffic lights is a nightmare. You can turn right on a red light, which actually makes things on the road a lot quicker…if you don’t crash into the back of someone (cough, Daryl). Turning left is slow and takes forever. Daryl and I also took two hours to get from work to our apartment (a 10-minute drive) on our first day…it was fun trying to work out where to go and on the wrong side of the road! Trying to buy a car, as a ‘foreigner’, was even more fun. After literally the longest day in the world, with lots of technical difficulties, I finally managed to get my hands on a Hyundai Elentra. Fortunately, obtaining a Virginia Driver’s Licence was far easier, although I did have to take practical and theory tests. Now, it’s no secret that I spent quite a bit of time and money getting a UK licence, but, ironically, I had no such problems getting a Virginian one. After smashing the theory test, adapting to all the different road signs, my practical test was literally a 15-minute drive around the block to make sure I could control the car! Oh how I laughed. American driving licences are handed out via states, only making them valid in that state, so it’s all very confusing when someone from Florida drives in Virginia for example…Automatic cars are also very popular out there. Nine out of 10 cars are automatic. I’m not a fan myself; you approach a junction and all you have to do is brake, but it felt like you should have more to do! I was more of a ‘stick’ fan. Stick to what you know. There were also lots of monster trucks, with wheels as big as elephants. Don’t mess with those. #MyRideOrDie

Experience - If you’re thinking about going to work/live abroad, even if it’s for a short/extended period of time, go for it. Different places bring different experiences and ways of life. If you don’t like it, you can always come home! #JustDoIt

Food - Oh my god. It was amazing. It’s easy to put on the pounds…and not so easy to lose them. Americans love their food. They especially enjoying ‘grilling out’ - the equivalent of a BBQ - with an unlimited array of meats, pastas, and salads. They literally ‘grill’ all day (often by the pool and with a ‘cooler’ packed full of beers) and everybody brings a dish until it’s all cooked and eaten! Fried food is massive. McDonalds is monstrous. Chicken wings (mostly devoured at Buffalo Wild Wings) are most popular and the portion sizes will blow your mind. I made history when I walked through a Chinese drivethrough (I had car issues) on July 4…They’d never experienced that. Chipotle was the best. I had countless amounts of it; I could eat it forever. Double chicken. White rice. Black beans. Medium sauce. Grated cheese. Sour Cream. Sweetcorn. Chips & dip. Unbelievable. Still, I did miss a good ole Sunday Roast. #BurritoBowl

Golf - There are some lovely courses, with some beautiful views. If only I was a bit better…However, I did make Oasis Sports Park history with a tee-off that skipped across the pond on three or four occasions before plonking right next to the pin for a birdie. Well, birdie opportunity…You know what they say ‘form is temporary, class is permanent’… Footgolf, at Windy Hill Sports Complex, was a lot of fun too and was the permanent fixture of the annual Wynn Lane competition. I did convincingly win it in 2016…#Fore

Hiking - There are some amazing views in Virginia. It took me a while to get used to that hike life, but I actually really enjoyed a good ole Sunday morning stroll up the mountains. Hiking is kinda scary you know, but fortunately I outfought several bears and managed to avoid any catastrophic slips off the top of the mountains. Better to be safe than sorry… #HypeToHike

Indoor soccer - So much fun. It’s fast, it’s feisty, and it’s really competitive. Indoor soccer is played professionally across the pond and I found myself working in a place that specialised in it. XL Sports World provides 24/7 soccer. Every night of the week, hundreds of players and teams, of all ages, sexes, and abilities compete against each other. From U6 up to the 40+ age range, every day was different. In the ‘Winter season’, when there is no ‘outdoor soccer’, the XLSW facility is absolutely heaving; it opens at 6:30am and often closes somewhere between 2 and 3 am, with both ‘fields’ fully occupied through the duration! Crazy. Indoor is played on a pitch with measurements of 180 by 75 feet. Solid walls all the way around lead to a plethora of rebounds and pinballs! Let me tell you that indoor is bloody exhausting and you need subs more than ever! In such a tight area, toepoke shots were so effective, yet so annoying to watch as a football traditionalist. I loudly disapproved at the start, but actually used them quite a lot in the end as goalkeepers didn’t expect them and nobody knew where the ball would end up! This is not just your casual game of five-aside by the way…there is a whole book of unique rules (including the controversial three-line rule among others), with match referees, who have to be certified. Games consist of two 25 minute halves and you can get blue, yellow and red cards! Blue card = two-minute time-out. Yellow = five minutes. Red = whole facility ban plus a trial with the disciplinary committee (basically FIFA). Working and playing there was challenging at times as you wanted to win, but you also didn’t really want to upset customers/referees that you have to build relationships with. It’s a fine balancing act, but I think I got it just about right and only received one blue card(hand of God) in hundreds of games played. Once the ‘regular season’ is over, the play-offs occur, with the lure of ‘half-price beer’ for the winners often inspiring the teams…XLSW is the biggest seller of beer in the whole of Richmond. Impressive! Indoor Soccer is fantastic and I’d love to play and be a part of it again. Partizan Richmond United were my outdoor team and we were decent (I think we finished as runners-up). Roachy = absolute Scottish legend. #Helen #GoalsBusiness

Jamaica - I loved living with a few Jamaican lads. We had such a laugh living and working together. FIFA was on repeat. The nights out were great and we all played footy together too. Their cooking was sublime. Hopefully King Rusty has got a bit better at sh*thead by now… #BobsleighTeam

Kickers - Richmond Kickers were my local professional soccer team. Kickers played in the third tier of professional soccer (The USL) and the standard was quite impressive. On my first visit to City Stadium, I saw them narrowly lose 2-1 to a West Brom side that saw one of my heroes in Gareth McAuley play! In the summer of 2016, Kickers went one better and shocked a strong Swansea side by deservedly beating them 2-0. Both games were delayed by major thunderstorms, which was certainly a new experience for me and the English sides (Tony Pulis did keep his hat on). After settling into my XL Sports World job, I broadened my journalistic horizons and the Kickers were fantastic for me. They took me on in a part-time intern basis, and as the 2016 season progressed, I often found myself in the Kickers’ headquarters, writing articles and becoming part of the team. I even helped out the retail team once and sorted out the club merchandise! It was great to see how a professional club operates and I was very thankful to be a small part of the journey. I was very impressed with their ticket promotions too; prices were cheap (often $10) and there were stacks of drinks deals for paying customers too. Kickers’ average gate was around 4,000 when I was there. Impressive. #RVAIsRed

Lifestyle - You can do what you want really. I had so much freedom and lived a very relaxed life. All I really did was drink beer, eat food, play football, and hang out with friends. Perfect. I hit the gym a bit, I dived in the pool a bit. Concerts were epic (Milky Chance being my favourite), but you had to be careful of the crazy rednecks which were also in abundance at other events I attended such as NASCAR and the Rodeo. The Rodeo was a strange one; it’s something I can say I’ve been to, but I’m not too keen on it. Being a sport fanatic, I also put a lot of effort in to see live American Football, Baseball, Hockey, and Basketball matches. All of which were fascinating and very different. I must say that the hype, the electric atmosphere and the interval entertainment significantly adds to the value for money of attending American sporting occasions. They make you feel involved and you cannot take your eyes off the spectacle. I often went line dancing (LOL. Hopefully there is no video footage of my amazing dance moves out there) at a local bar, and loved Rugged Maniac which consisted of a 3-mile run littered with challenging obstacles (fire, barbed wire, tunnels, etc) and mud up to your waist! Paddleboarding was bloody immense…once you could do it. I did fall over a few times initially, but it was brilliant thereafter. I shot a few guns (Walmart was full of them) and, like everybody else, got hooked on Pokemon Go. The English accent drew a fair bit of attention too for some reason…#ILoveYourAccent

Mates - I was very fortunate to have such a close group of friends during my stay; they were really friendly, fun and made my experience all the more enjoyable. There are too many people to individually mention, but I made a lot of good friends I still keep in touch with. Most of these friends came from working at XL Sports World. I think it’s fair to say that I received a lot of ‘banter’ for my British roots, but elephant fan ‘Harry lad’ (fellow Brit) and I certainly gave as good as we got! Drinking games and hanging out with the likes of Justice, Wankathon Ian, Cheeky Keeky, Jesstice, Creechy, King Rusty, Coach Katy, Tommy Tuch, Syd the kid, Carlos Mohammed, McGinn, Daryl and big man Otto et al were always good value and lots of memories were made. I left them all supporting Ipswich Town and becoming experts at Sh*thead and Drenthe…#AlrightMate

Newspaper - After getting involved with the Richmond Kickers, I proceeded to write several match reports for the local newspaper: The Richmond Times-Dispatch. Being referred to as a special correspondent (!!), I covered games against teams such as Charlotte Independence, Bethlehem Steel and Louisville City, with my RTD front page on a thumping 4-0 Kickers win remaining my biggest achievement in journalism. I loved the challenge of writing for an American audience, using phrases such as cleats (boots), on frame (on target) and offsides (offside) with a hint of disapproval in my face… #SportSells

Opportunity - I am so very grateful for the whole opportunity. Ultimately, I grabbed this opportunity after working for the same company in England. My first involvement with XLSW was during a university placement that saw me lead American groups on sports tours around the UK…We visited places like Wembley and Wimbledon to mention a few, and my job was to show Americans the sights and take them from A to B. Sounds pretty cool, right? Well it’s a bit harder when you do it with a broken ankle..! Hard work and determination got me through that tour (I did get a first in that placement) and future opportunities rose from it as I was invited out to Virginia. XLSW now have bases in Florida, Maine, North Carolina, Georgia, and Pennsylvania. They, alongside soccer, are growing all of the time. #GoForIt

Patriotism - You wouldn’t believe how proud I felt to be British out there. I think I got the patriotic bug as Americans are so proud of their country and to ‘be American’. They love celebrating their country and indeed others’ as they go absolutely mental for St Patrick’s Day which is something we barely even celebrate in England! Thanksgiving and July 4 (Independence Day) are also massive and are just excuses to drink loads of beer and eat loads of food to be honest. England should have more days like that. ‘The Star Spangled Banner’ national anthem was absolutely everywhere! It seemed like it was sang at any excuse. From sporting occasions to the rodeo and NASCAR racing, every single American would standup, remove their hat, and belt out ‘the land of the free and the home of the brave’ very seriously! If you didn’t sing, or at least stand up, it was very frowned upon! Fortunately, Richmond possessed quite a large English and Scottish contigency out there, so that helped me keep sane! #StandUpIfYouLoveTheAmericans

Queen - Our Queen is a legend. Americans love her. We love her. What a woman. #GodSaveOurQueen

Richmond - Richmond is a cool place. Very artsy. Very cultural. It has a bit of everything. There are loads of great bars and places to eat. Richmond is definitely not shy of an event either, with half marathons, mud runs, live bands and gin festivals on every street corner. Soccer is growing all the time out there. You can watch more live football there than you can in England. It’s crazy and is probably why I loved my time there so much. #VirginiaIsForLovers

Skunks - Ahhhh, our Social Coed team consisting of all the lads and ladies in our friend group. What a team we were; I think we won the trophy four times! I’ll never forget my Skunks debut when I scored a ‘girl-goal’ (there is alternate scoring in Social Coed). Quite a few people laughed at that. We played good football, had a good team spirit, and drank loads of beer afterwards. Our girls, alongside a lot of other females that played at XL, were very decent by the way. I can see why the US are so dominant in the women’s game; they love it more than the blokes! I believe the Skunks have sadly dispersed now, but am also led to believe that my number 32 shirt has been retired in honour of my motoring arms and legs. #Champs.

As well as Social Coed, I played for several teams in the Men’s Open, which was a different ball game. I think I lost two or three ‘A’ finals with ‘Leicesterlona’, which was gutting as we had a great team who moved the ball well and rotated well. Conor Sammon’s (ex-Ipswich) best friend played for us as well! I never thought America would link me to the former Kilmarnock striker; football’s a funny old game! Underdogs Ian FC, captained by the inspirational Ian Robinson, also lost a final, in the ‘B’ division, after scoring three goals in the last two minutes of the semi-finals to spark absolutely wild scenes! I will never forget Marc Gohlke flopping around on the floor like a fish while trying to save a shot. Good times. I also need to mention that I scored five goals in an ‘A’ game once. #WillRigsOnFire.

https://www.facebook.com/will.ridgard/videos/vb.710673231/10153940691018232/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/will.ridgard/videos/vb.710673231/10153907826768232/?type=3

https://www.facebook.com/will.ridgard/videos/vb.710673231/10153890752158232/?type=3

Travel - USA is one of the biggest countries in the world, so it would have been rude not to have done a bit of exploring. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to visit all 52 states, but I did manage to tick off Florida, Washington DC, and both the Carolinas. DC was amazing. I loved it. I saw all the sights, where the history of the US presidency is well-celebrated. Florida was hot. So hot. Lots of lovely beaches there, with the white sand squeaking with every footstep. I wouldn’t recommend getting stuck in Boston airport and sleeping on the floor though. That’s not so fun. #Explore

Uber - Uber is extremely popular out there and is pretty much used to and fro all parties. However, the Jamaican lads and I did get stung one night when an Uber cost us $300 for a 25-minute drive. We didn’t know whether to laugh or cry in the morning. I think that was my last Uber tbf. #AToB

Vote - I was in America the night of November 8, 2016 when Donald Trump was elected as the president of the United States of America! I was deported a day later. Lol. JK. I returned home a month later. It’s cool to say that I witnessed this significant piece of American history though. I sat up until the early hours with a six pack of Bold Rock and watched it all unfold. Virginia was 50-50 for the record…#DonaldTrumped

Weather - It was extreme. The humidity was relentless. The sun continuously baked.The rain was torrential. The thunderstorms were enthralling. The snow was extraordinary. I’d say Virginian summers saw temperatures average around 32 degrees celsius (90 fahrenheit). Florida was something else, I think it got up to 43 (110) at one point. Outrageous. The snow locked me inside my apartment for a whole week. My Elentra had to be rescued by a snow plough. Sadly, I never got to drive one. I absolutely loved the extreme thunderstorms. They were petrifying, but awesome to watch (especially with a beer on the balcony). #StormChasing

XL Sports World - XLSW was where I spent the majority of my time. My role was very varied and I enjoyed all of the challenging elements that went with it (mostly). I did a bit of coaching, which I really enjoyed. I did some marketing and PR work, and was especially prolific when co-promoting and setting-up our Open House project, pushing and driving our Youth programmes through. I wrote weekly newsletters which differed in content and I drove the social media to new levels. I managed the facility most evenings, checking teams in and co-deploying an effective payment system that was well-respected by teams, referees and players (eventually). I established excellent relationships with current and new customers - consistently attracting a host of new team$$, while maintaining current customers’ business. I scheduled league games (which is harder and more time-consuming than it sounds). I introduced cricket to XLSW. I ordered food. I pulled pints. I cooked food. I cleaned toilets. My role certainly varied and it was brilliant to do for just over a year. Social media is massive, but word of mouth is still the most effective news source there is and I think I did a lot for XLSW and their customers. It wasn’t all fun and games though. People moaned. Referees were abused. Fights occured. I had to call the police once. When it boils over, it boils over. It was uncomfortable at times. #PlayTheXLWay

Youngsters - My American adventure all started through the Summer Camps. For three months, alongside Daryl, I coached ‘soccer’ to hundreds of kids. It had its challenges and was extremely tiring, but I had a cracking time! There were some excellent players and some amazing kids. Some weren’t so good or nice, but, collectively, we all had a great summer coaching them. The Summer Camps certainly prompted me to work with children as you can have such a positive influence in their lives. #JustPlay

Zoo - Z is such an awkard letter, but Richmond has a zoo. I didn’t visit it, but I did think about it. It’s quite good apparently. Maybe next time. #ZooLander

So there you go. There is my A to Z analysis of my time in America. I do miss parts of it. I had a cracking time and it played a big part of my life and led me to where I am today.

Did I really live there though? I’m still no clearer…

#america #americanadventure #atoz #britsabroad #travel #explore #lifestyle #richmond #va #virginia #footballislife #summercamp #godsavethequeen #submission

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stillchasingghosts · 7 years

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I’ve always heard the saying “if you ever want to see what people are afraid of losing, look at what they photograph” and I’ve always understood what it meant but the burning flames in my soul could never ignite high enough to feel that deeply for someone. You’re awful with directions. You’re kinda crazy. You secretly like coke. You dip when your stressed and you smoke when you drink. I can tell that fake laugh a thousand miles away, but you never use it towards me. You suck at cornhole. And you can’t handle martinis for shit. But when you get us lost, I soak in (literally) every second of the detour. When you say you’re crazy, I nod my head in disapproval because you’re just as sane as you could be. I always know to buy you those lame Mexican cokes even when you say “no…. it’s okay”. Dip looks like asphalt in a can!! I know you’re just being polite when you use your fake voice. Okay but that cornhole felt like it was NEVER going to end. Even when you were sick in a bathtub, I never thought less of you. I just kinda laughed a little and gave you water to drink. You’re this outrageous, obnoxious, wild, intelligent, sincere, calming, humorous, kind hearted young soul. You’re my best friend. I don’t even feel like this is a relationship anymore and I’m not scared of losing anything. This is a bond between two losers who just so happened to need each other at the same time. I’m not afraid of losing you, because I don’t think I ever will. My flames have fully ignited and ill always take secret pictures of you. Because that's the best way to capture the stars right? And if you stumble upon this you can call me lame all you’d like. I don’t hate you and you’re not total garbage. Only partial.

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tyleroakley-obsessed · 7 years

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Regular contributors Check out these regular contributors to the I Love Memphis Blog and their work. Daniel Bastardo Blanco Daniel Bastardo is a Venezuelan scientist at St. Jude with a genuine love for Memphis. He is a runner and social media enthusiast who is passionate about all things local. Find him on all social media outlets as @dbastardo27. Daniel’s posts: – St. Jude Changes The World Through Promesa y Esperanza – A Taste of Science Comes To Memphis – Fiesta at the Park! Latino Memphis Festival 2017 – Try The New Lyfe Kitchen Downtown Michael Butler, Jr. Michael Butler, Jr. is a native Memphian, blogger, photographer, and United States Navy veteran. He loves the food, people, and scenery of Memphis and wants to showcase all the city’s great things. Michael loves to spend free time with his daughter, hanging with friends on local patios, or playing a game of cornhole. He’s an urban explorer who believes that life is for living. Follow him on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or his blog. Michael’s posts: – Behold, the BBQ Rib Taco – Throwback Thursday: Zombies Attack! – Try A Crazy New Hot Wing Flavor At The Wing Guru Cat Evans Cat Evans was born in California, raised in Memphis, and now lives in midtown. She’s a photographer, writer, organizer for DreamFest Weekend, founder of CLE Events, and a Reiki Master. Find her work at Focus Magazine, I Love Memphis, her online portfolio, and Instagram. Cat’s posts: – Artistik Lounge’s 5th Anniversary – Listen Up! July 2017 Stacey Greenberg Stacey is a freelance writer who lives in Cooper Young with her two teenaged sons. She’s a contributor to Thrillist.com, Edible Memphis, I Love Memphis, and Memphis Travel. She’s also the author of the award winning blog, Dining with Monkeys (diningwithmonkeys.com). A lifelong Memphian, she loves the fact that she’s never met a stranger here. Stacey’s posts: – Memphis’s New Ramen Masters: Lucky Cat Ramen – Meet Dave The Bagel Guy – Eat This: Le Delights Banh Mi and Pho (aka The Return of Saigon Le’s Veggie Spring Rolls) – Six Memphis Bartenders You Need To Know – Ride Your Bike To Pancho’s In East Memphis – 8 Memphis Summer Treats Baylee Less A born and raised Memphian, Baylee Less recently returned to her roots after her four-year hiatus at the University of Maryland. A new contributor to ILoveMemphis and Memphis Travel, she is excited to share the reasons she’s always loved Memphis. She enjoys live music, Asian food, and being outdoors.Follow @bayleeless on Twitter for updates about being vegan in the land of barbecue. Baylee’s Posts: – Sun Records TV Show Premieres Tonight! – Listen Up March 2017 – Listen Up April 2017 – Listen Up May 2017 – Memphis Music Feature: A Beer With The Band Camino – Go Vegan For A Day At Two Vegan Sistas – Listen Up June 2017 – Listen Up July 2017 Blake Marcum Blake was born and raised in the 901 and now lives in Midtown, helping people vicariously live out their dreams on social media, if those dreams involve beer and barbecue. He’s a contributor to I Love Memphis,Memphis Travel, and MemphisCraftBeer.com. A Grand Champion of BBQ Fest (2013) and BBQ judge, he really knows BBQ. Pairing that with his love of craft beer, he’s a great representative of the fun side of the Bluff City. Blake loves the investment going into Memphis and believes the best is yet to come. Follow him on Twitter at@blakeandbrew. Blake’s posts: – Blast Off! Memphis Beers Have Gone High Gravity – Diamonds in the Pork: 4 Memphis BBQ Spots You Need To Try – Six Summertime Memphis Beers To Cool You Down – Places To Sing Karaoke In Memphis Aisling Maki Aisling Maki is a freelance writer, editor, and public and media relations specialist with awards from The Associated Press, Society of Professional Journalists and Public Relations Society of America, as well as several awards for fiction writing. Her work has appeared in publications in more than 20 countries. You can usually find her cheering on the Grizzlies, doing outdoorsy things, or traveling with her daughter, Brídín. They live in Cooper-Young with a dog, a guinea pig and a pair of pet mice. Aisling’s posts: – Havin’ the Craic: Memphians Take Up Irish Sports – 2017 Memphis Farmers Market Guide – Memphis Summer Events Guide – Say Cheese: 10 More Locations For Memphis Photos Wesley Paraham Wesley Morgan Paraham loves the 901 so much that his cat is named Belvedere. If playing RPGs were a full time job, he’d be a rich man. He’s currently seeking a degree in public relations at the University of Memphis, and does freelance writing for I Love Memphis and graphic design in the meantime. Wesley’s posts: – Memphis Music Feature: Southern Avenue – Memphis Music Feature: Magnolia and Memphis’ Electronic Music Scene Veena Rangaswami Veena grew up on the banks of the Mississippi River, and after many years of splitting her time between Memphis and India, she has finally returned full-time to the 901. By day she is a program specialist for the Bridge Builders program at BRIDGES, and by night she can be found reading and writing, eating her way around Memphis, cheering on her favorite sports teams, plotting her next out-of-town adventure, and pretending to be a runner. All she wants is a lifetime supply of Dr. Pepper and to see the Grizz bring home an NBA Championship. Read about her adventures, and follow along for yourself on Instagram and Twitter. Veena’s posts: – Six New Downtown Memphis Murals: The Artery Alley Project Other Contributors Folks who write occasional articles or have written for the blog in the past. Click on their names for posts and biographical information. – Kirstin Cheers – Christoph Ludwig – Katie Schnack – Bret Weaver Are you a home owner in Memphis, with a broken garage door? Call ASAP garage door today at 901-461-0385 or checkout http://ift.tt/1B5z3Pc

http://ilovememphisblog.com/2017/07/meet-your-i-love-memphis-contributors/

#I Love Memphis

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adambstingus · 8 years

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Why Is The Midwest Crazy For This Backyard Game?

Source: Flickr

Anyone who has ever traveled to the midwest over the summer has surely noticed an obsession over a simple backyard game. The game goes by the name of cornhole, corntoss, and people in the Chicago area refer to it as bean bags or bags. Whatever the name is, the result is the same and that’s that the midwest is a hot bed of cornhole game activity and that doesn’t appear to be slowing. Each year, larger and larger tournaments are announced and there are some organizations that claim that cornhole will eventually broadcast on ESPN!

For those unfamiliar with the game, it involves two platforms or boards and 8 sets of bags. The goal is to pair up in teams of two and take turns tossing each of the teams four bags onto the opposing team’s board. Some might remember this game or a variation of this game from their youth. The question is, how did the game go from being a sleepy kids game to a staple in every college town in America. Well, for one its a game that everyone can play. No longer do you have to worry about matching up skill levels in order to get a fair game. Another reason is that it’s a relaxing game where you can socialize with people in and out of the game while still focusing on your play. And finally, college kids have found that it’s one of the few games that allows them to hold a can of beer while thowing!

So, where will it end for this game? Is it just a fad that will soon die off? It doesn’t appear that it is anytime soon. The game is a staple at any BBQ or summer party that happens in Chicago, Ohio, or Kentucky. Many manufacturers of cornhole products are reporting that they are seeing increased orders from the coasts and other areas of the country that were never exposed to the game. So, who knows? Before you know it, you might see some players competing on late night ESPN!

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/03/11/why-is-the-midwest-crazy-for-this-backyard-game/ from All of Beer http://allofbeercom.tumblr.com/post/158262273412

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samanthasroberts · 8 years

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Why Is The Midwest Crazy For This Backyard Game?

Source: Flickr

Source: http://allofbeer.com/2017/03/11/why-is-the-midwest-crazy-for-this-backyard-game/

from All of Beer https://allofbeer.wordpress.com/2017/03/11/why-is-the-midwest-crazy-for-this-backyard-game/

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jimdsmith34 · 8 years

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Why Is The Midwest Crazy For This Backyard Game?

Source: Flickr

source http://allofbeer.com/2017/03/11/why-is-the-midwest-crazy-for-this-backyard-game/ from All of Beer http://allofbeer.blogspot.com/2017/03/why-is-midwest-crazy-for-this-backyard.html

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allofbeercom · 8 years

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Why Is The Midwest Crazy For This Backyard Game?

Source: Flickr

from All Of Beer http://allofbeer.com/2017/03/11/why-is-the-midwest-crazy-for-this-backyard-game/

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cornholeaddicts · 5 years

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Playing Against Some of Cornhole's Elite Players

My Experiences Against Elite Players

What is it like playing against players that made it on an ESPN broadcast? Trey Burchfield, Brandon Corwin, Christine Papke, Ken Shaef, Curt Vogel and Brandon Bobilya, what do all these players have in common? They all made it to an ESPN broadcast and on along the way, had to face me on the boards. With Trey and Brandon just winning the Pro Invitational, I figured I would write about my experience and what it is like playing some of the best cornhole players in the game. So, what is it like? Well, First, it is just freaking cool. Imagine sitting on your couch and drinking a beer and on ESPN there is two players that you played a month ago, winning it all! I cant think of too many other sports where that happens. And Second, all the ACL Pros I have met have just been some of the nicest people and they are all committed to growing the sport. 4 baggers, airmails, blocks, push shots, airmail drags, yeah those are all in my repertoire of shots. But so is shooting an airmail and missing the board by two feet (Which is always caused by the wind, even inside by the way, LOL). The level of consistency that these elite level players throw at is truly amazing. I use to watch cornhole on ESPN and think "Hey I can do that." Then I realized that these players do that game after game, day after day, and that 8 point round was an oddity not the norm for them. Curt Vogel and Brandon Bobilya

Curt was the first player that I played against that had made it to an ESPN broadcast. I am not going to lie, it was a little imitating playing against him at first. I mean the guy just took second on ESPN and here I am throwing against him in my first regional. Curt and Brandon are two of the most constant "down the middle of the board" throwers that I have played against. I don't see a lot of flashy shots from them. But don't get me wrong, they both have strong airmails. They just don't have to use them often when everything is right down the middle and in the hole. Christine Papke and Ken Shaef

During my match against Christine Papke and Ken Shaef, I opened the game up with a 4 bagger and Christine threw a 10. BAM, I got 2 points and thought to myself. I got this! Playing Christine and Ken is like a death by a thousand cuts. They will wait till you make a mistake and capitalize. Christine is like a shark who smells blood in the water. A bag off the back, give her some points, missed push shot, give her some points. Ken tends to slow the game, he analyzes his shot, counts the points, and spends some time before he throws to make sure he throws the perfect shot. For a rhythmic thrower who just wants to land four bags on the board, playing a player like Ken, can really mess with your game. Trey Burchfield and Brandon Corwin

ACL Pros Brandon and Trey celebrating their win Trey is like a cornholing robot. He stands there, doesn't say much, and makes bag after bag in the hole. Brandon, on the other hand, is the complete opposite. He is up there laughing, joking and giving my partners tips, all while scoring points. The game against Trey and Brandon was the most frustrating game I have ever played because they weren't playing their best, yet, I still couldn't score more than 6 points on them. It was at 10 am at a regional the day after conferences, a long weekend of cornhole. I don't know anything more frustrating, than having just to put a bag on the board for a point and throwing the next one short for a wash. Experiences like these is what makes the game of cornhole so much fun for me. It's crazy how we get these opportunities to play against elite level players one minute and then we see and root for them on national television a few weeks later. Knowing that, if I continue to improve and throw my best bags possible, who knows, maybe you guys will see me on TV someday. Anyone can play, Anyone can win! Read the full article

#aclpros #BrandonBobilya #BrandonCorwin #ChristinePapcke #CurtVogel #eliteplayers #ESPNBroadcast #KenShaef #TreyBurchfield

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rocknevents · 8 years

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OH BABY | 7 Rockin' Baby Shower Games!

Here Comes Baby! Now it’s time to bring your closest fans together and celebrate with a baby shower. You aren’t giving birth to a basic baby, so why have a basic baby shower?! Games are a staple to any shower, but leave the baby bingo behind, let people say the word baby, and dear lord, don’t make anyone eat chocolate out of a diaper! Rock N’ Events is here to show you 7 baby shower games that will rock your little ones’ baby shower!

1. Measure the Baby Bump

This game is fun because you don’t see it very often, and it is a really quick and easy game! The first step is to get everyone together. Have someone go around with ribbon and let your guests guess how long of the string to cut. Once everyone has their measurements, have mommy to be measure her belly! Whoever’s string was closest wins! #Winning Try using cute ribbon or yarn instead of something ugly and simple. Bring in some greenery with a floral garland for the mom’s bump measurement #FlowersForBaby!

2. Baby Bottle Chug

It’s chugging time! The baby bottle chug is great for a crowd that likes to party #It’sLitBaby Get baby bottles and fill them with your beverage of choice. I say juice for mom and beer for the rest. Get everyone lined up, and on the count of three everybody chug! Make sure no one cheats by unscrewing the top. Whoever finished first is the champion. This game is sure to bring great photos, and no one will forget the time they chugged out of a baby bottle!

3. My Water Broke

What do you get when you mix little baby figurines, and ice… A super easy game that requires no effort! This game is so fun, and hilarious. Everyone gets an ice cube with a little baby inside the ice cube, and the first person to get to their baby and yell “my water broke” wins!

4. Playdoh Babies

Get handsy with this activity! Build a baby out of playdoh and let the mommy to be choose her favorite. Whoever makes the best baby wins! #MakinBabies Shake things up and divide into categories like ugliest baby, cutest baby, most creative baby, and so on. As long as you get people involved you are sure to have a Rockin’ time.

5. What Will Baby Look Like?

This is one of my favorite unique baby shower games. It’s like those old flip books where you get to choose each specific trait for the face of the newborn from mom and dad! Cut strips of the parents’ faces and let the guests come up with all crazy kinds of combinations. No one baby will be the same! #GuessWho

6. Cornhole

Now I know you’re thinking to yourself, Elise- this is just a regular game, but what would you say if I told you to change the bean bags you toss. Gone are the days of basic bean bags, Turn those tossers into cute little spermies and watch them fly! #CanYouImagine?! I’m dying over here just thinking about it! This one had to come in as an honorable mention because of how funny this would be. Just be careful to remember who will be attending your shower, and don’t let the little kiddos try talking you into the “where do babies come from” conversation #Yikes!

7. Blindfolded Diaper Change

Last but not least test your diaper changing skills with this fun shower game. Using dolls, have your guests put on blindfolds and change the diapers! Get in on this tournament style #BabyMadness. Let mom and dad square off and see who can do it the fastest! It’s games like these that get people on their feet and laughing for days.

Baby shower games don’t have to be dull and a pain in the ass! Treat your guests to killer prizes and fun games, I promise your fans will remember this experience forever. And if you have no clue how to put any of this together, let Rock N’ Events come in and show you how it’s done! Now get out there and make some babies so we can get a start on the baby shower fun!

#OHBABY #rocknbabyshower #BabyMadness #guesswho #MakinBabies #ItsLitBaby #babybump #babyfever #winning #twinning?

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cornholeaddicts · 5 years

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Footwork is Essential to Achieving Consistency

This past weekend, Dickey and I attended a fundraiser tournament for a local fire department. Actually, Dickey was running the thing. It was held in an empty warehouse, a huge space that was capable of having 50 or more sets of boards. One problem though, it was 95 degrees outside which equates to about 115 degrees inside. With very little ventilation and zero air flow (aside from the 2 fans at the scorers table). To say the conditions were brutal is an understatement. We’ve played in rain, 40 mph winds and blazing sun, but I dare say these conditions were the worst I’ve ever played in. We decided to try out the new Gladiator Cornhole Gear gloves. They definitely work in keeping the sweat off your hand, but that’s a review for another time.

To Step or Not To Step?

I had several conversations with some people who were participating in the tournament. They all seemed to have the same question, “what’s the proper footing for throwing bags and achieving consistency”? Do I take a step or Do I not take a step? Great question, so let’s dive right into it! Having come from a bowling background, it was natural for me when I started to play cornhole, to take a step. Just felt normal. I have a basic 5 step approach when I bowl, so 1 step and throw the bag. Makes sense. For the first year or two I always took a step. I was decent. Not great by any stretch of the imagination. Then I started to see guys and gals not stepping. Huh.. that’s interesting. So during practice in the backyard, I started to mess around with the “No step” thing. For me, it made a big difference. My accuracy seemed to improve. (It wasn’t that good before, so don’t read too much into that) But, do I put my right foot forward? Maybe my left foot? Or do I keep both feet even? So many footing options to throw a beanbag at a piece of wood. I started to take notice of the “legit” players in my area. Not their game per say, but their feet. Strange as that sounds. Why isn’t there a common stance for cornhole players? Everyone seems to have their own distinct style. Some of the best players in the country take a step. Then again, Some of the best players in the country don’t take a step. So, who’s right? Well, the answer is both. Use the style that improves your consistency It’s really not a question of which style is right or wrong. It’s more of a question of which style will improve your consistency and is right or wrong for you. Matt Guy (arguably the best thrower in the country) takes a step. Jamie Graham (The 2019 King of Cornhole) does not step. It’s about finding what’s comfortable for you. For me personally, I found that taking that step was just a way for more to go wrong. I like to keep the game as simple as possible. If I didn't step straight forward, I tended to “pull” or “push” the throw. Whether if it was because of the ground being uneven or whatever. So consistency was a big issue. Having the no step approach now, it takes that aspect out of my game. I just need to focus on 1 thing, keeping my arm straight. Which I still struggle with even though I’ve tried all the different foot positions over the years.

Consistency in getting the bags on the board begins with your footwork The second option is to take a step forward with either foot (whichever is most comfortable) so you can gain some momentum while throwing with your dominant arm. Much like in bowling, you would ideally keep one leg slightly bent behind the other but you really need to see which of these stances would work best for you and make adjustments depending on what you feel is most comfortable. Stepping tends to require less force to throw the bag. This could potentially be an advantage further in the tournament. When you are in a slump or just not throwing well, the first reaction is to make an adjustment. Just like in bowling, you tend to adjust your footwork. Move a couple boards left, right, up, back. Same thing here. At least for me, it’s the easiest adjustment, the position of your feet. This crazy sport is all about consistency. It is what separates the good players from the “pro” players. My advise? Practice all the different footwork. Step, no step, right foot forward, left foot forward and feet even. See what feels the most comfortable for you and your game. In my opinion, There’s no right or wrong. There’s only what works for you. Also, keep in mind that practice is key here. The more you practice, the more consistent your throw will become. And therefore the better your consistency of landing bags on the board, hitting those airmails and being able to place them exactly where you want. Read the full article

#bowling #consistency #footwork #JamieGraham #KingofCornhole #MattGuy #practice #proplayers #properstance #stepornostep #throwingstance

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cornholeaddicts · 5 years

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The Life of A Cornhole Tournament Director

Am I Up Yet?

So you played in a cornhole tournament this past weekend. How’d it go? Were you “that person”? Most people don’t understand what it takes to run a cornhole tournament until you actually run one. Cornhole tournaments are “very profitable” and you should do one to add to your retirement fund, but before you consider doing it, look at the cost involved. While running a cornhole tournament is can be very rewarding, it is also very stressful at the same time. The reward most times is not financial, but sometimes you get lucky. Let’s start with equipment required.

Cornhole Tournament Equipment

BOARDS Finding good boards at a reasonable cost. That sentence does not make sense to any board builder, but as a tournament director you are offering to promote said board builder. A good set of boards is a ¾ inch deck with 3 support braces down the middle. That good set of boards should have a cross brace on the legs for additional support. I learned this from my dear friend Kang Cutes. The cross brace on the legs keeps airmails in most of the time, but also adds a layer of stability to the boards. They aren’t cheap. Material wise they are but add in the labor costs and tooling required and at best with you offering more sales to the builder you are looking at $100 minimum per set. And before you ask, I will never build you a set of boards for $100. BAGS Tournament directors supplying bags is almost a must. Yes, most events are Bring Your Own Bags across the country, but what happens when your neighbor shows up to your event and has no bags? Almost every bag manufacturer will discount their bags in bulk Contact them and ask for a price. Cornhole has it’s down months and most bag makers are looking to make payroll. If you need help with discounted bags in bulk please contact me, lol. SCORE SYSTEMS Score towers out of PVC with numbers on corrugated plastic are common where I’m at. Build a stand out of PVC and screw the corrugated plastic on them and you are good to go. Keep a bunch of clips in a bag and roll with it. A great pointer is to go the $1 store and buy a bunch, they break. *Pro tip – get a lot more then you need, you can use them at home to keeps your potato chips fresh. You can search locally or on the internet for the custom corrugated score tops, but be prepared to spend some money. Best deal I heard is $150 for 50 of them, but what are you going to do with 50 of them as a beginner tournament director. There are advance scoring systems out there, like Digitowerz and Scoreholio, but I have no experience with them. I could do a review if they like, hint hint. SOFTWARE I primarily use Brakelope. Brackelope is available for Apple products only, but it’s the best $10 you will ever spend for the full version. Brackelope has a Live feature, you share the link and everyone can see the bracket and upcoming matches. But you need internet service to use the live function. Most people have unlimited data so learn how to link your phone to the iPad. Sorry I have nothing else, I use Brackelope and personally love it. You Apple ID gets you all you devices for the $10. I have like 6 devices with the “pro version” for my $10, best $10 I’ve ever spent. Respecting your Cornhole Tournament Director So back to the original topic at hand. Running a cornhole tournament isn’t just, here’s the date and lets go. There are weeks of planning and dealing ultimately with the person paying you to provide services. Each phone call is the same story, I want $X to run the event. Here is what I’ll provide and why you need me. Or, if you are lucky enough to have your own venues and take 30% of the pot that is good for you, but everyone needs to understand that comes at an expense. Showing Up - You show up to a cornhole tournament early. It’s 11 am registration and 12 pm bags fly. To your surprise everything is set up and ready to go. Yea that’s right, a good director is their hours before registration setting up! Now I’ve been told I will be late to my own funeral so you get the point. Before I started running my own events I supplied boards to local TD’s (tournament directors). I was asked to be there 2 hours before registration and I thought that was crazy, but doing my own events I understand you need to be prepared and be early. Being early allows for most issues, calling people to bring another score tower, running to get tape as you ran out, realizing you forgot something, etc.

Tournament is Starting - Now the event is getting started. You can’t find teams, someone is drunk already, everyone is asking the same questions, why haven’t I played, I don’t like these bags, when am I up, I didn’t hear your announcement, does a one hop count, how do you score this, why do I have to play a good team this game, is it 2 out of 3, when am I up, my partner left what can we do, I won that game and you entered it as a loss, when am I up again? You are going to hear those questions constantly. It’s like having a 4 year old, trust me I know. My Advice - Don’t ever be scared to be a “bully’. Now when I say that I mean you need these people to support you, you told the person paying you that X amount of teams should show. Be respectful, but the Alpha in the room. Call matches with authority and repeat them. When someone comes and asks where am I playing, be a smart ass. Don’t belittle players but make snark remarks to remind them to pay attention to announcements. Lastly, players need to understand that Tournament Directors have spent their own money on the equipment and are spending time away from their family to run this event. 30% cut sounds like a lot, but most TD's don’t do this alone. I don’t think there is anyone who can successfully run a 40 team event solo. Granted you will get help setting up from your friends, but that will end. A well run event of 40 teams takes at a minimum of two people and about 10 hours of their labor and their time away from their family and for what, $300? Most of you wouldn’t work a Saturday for 12 hours for $300. Wrapping Up - So, next time you feel it’s funny to ask the person running an event dumb questions, think about what they gave up for you to spend a couple hours playing. First to arrive, last to leave. What is your time worth? And don’t be surprised when you ask me a dumb question and I tell you $4,000 for it all and run your own event and I will show. Cause quite frankly I will ask a bunch of dumb questions too. Stay tuned for my future blogs and I will give an a more in-depth look at what it really costs to become a tournament director. Read the full article

#cornholebags #cornholeequipment #cornholetournament #howtorunatournament #tournamentdirector

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