Abbie’s First Visit to Virginia Tech

From the moment Abbie was born (and let’s face it, even before I was pregnant with her), I’ve thought about taking her to one of my favorite places in the world – my alma mater, Virginia Tech.

I always thought her first trip to campus would be for a home football game, but it hasn’t worked out that way. I’ve been three times since Abbie was born (my sister will be a sophomore next year), but she hasn’t. Instead, when we started planning a trip to visit Chris’ brother and his family in Charlotte, I realized it was the perfect opportunity for a stop in Blacksburg.

If you’re not familiar, I have a fierce love of all things Virginia Tech and Blacksburg, and most VT alums will tell you the same. For me, it holds all the best memories, a feeling of home, and a place where I met some of my best friends. There’s truly no place like it. I know a lot of people know Virginia Tech only because of the events of April 16, 2007. It’s a hard thing to reconcile for me and many others – that so many people know my school because of an unimaginable tragedy. At the same time, our response to that makes me incredibly proud to be a Hokie and so thankful to be part of Virginia Tech.

Anyway, to say I was excited to bring Abbie to campus is a huge understatement. She’s far too young to understand what it all means to me, but to see her running around campus… you guys, I just can’t explain how happy it makes me. Then again, it may just be the pregnancy hormones.

Anyway, our stop in Blacksburg was just the perfect start to our trip to Charlotte. It’s a little over halfway there, so we were able to go to one of my favorite places for brunch and let Abbie run around the drillfield, play, and get some energy out. Of course, I took so many photos, paid tribute to our 32, and stopped in the bookstore because I can never resist more Hokie gear.

While we were only there a few short hours, it was the absolute perfect way to break up our drive, and I’m so proud I was finally able to take my girl to Blacksburg. Fingers crossed we’ll make it to a game in 2017, with both girls in tow.