it's official!

there is a god!

or, at least a FIFA god (or gods). as they have finally answered my prayers. for almost a year now i have been applying for tickets to the world cup this june in south africa. there are 5 phases of ticket sales, and they are broken down into either a lottery system or a first-come-first-serve situation. and i applied every time, and each time was rejected. nearly despondent, i had just about given up hope on this my 6 year long dream.

for those of you who don't know, i have a life goal list. not a bucket list. a goal list. and i've had said list since i was about 9 years old. among the first things i ever put on that list - at the ripe age of 9 - was that i wanted to study abroad in london, i wanted to walk on the great wall of china like big bird did in "big bird in china", and i wanted to meet oprah. i can proudly say that i've checked off two of those three original items. and now that oprah is leaving her talk show, i need to get on that third one!

granted, many things have been added since that time. the ability to check things off makes me feel like i'm doing something productive with my life and that i'm truly living my life the way i want to live it. yes, there have been bumps along the way, and at times i still struggle with my fears and hesitations. but something keeps me going. and when FIFA announced 6 years ago that the 2010 world cup was going to be held in south africa, i decided then that i was going to be in attendance. going to a world cup has long been on my "to do" list, as has going to south africa. so why not kill two birds with one stone? my love of soccer (or the real football) and my love of nelson mandela (such a remarkable man) and history combined in one trip? amazing opportunity i couldn't pass up. i might also add that i had grandiose ideas of also trying to knock out my "climb kilimanjaro" off the list, but in reality, it's going to have to wait until later.

that said, i applied. and applied. and applied for tickets. and got rejected. and rejected. and rejected. i really did almost give up. if it's not meant to be, it's not meant to be (something i also still struggle with, especially when dealing with heartbreakingly awful endings of relationships). but something inside told me to apply one more time. i also decided to change my strategy. instead of applying to follow team USA for all 3 of their guaranteed first matches at the lowest price level, i decided to apply for only 1 game - team USA vs team ENG - at the highest price level. AND IT WORKED!!!

so, my friends, on 12 june i will be sitting in rustenburg south africa, watching as my 2 teams battle each other on the field. i won't really care who wins - since i follow both. and i'm still trying to figure out what to wear. half USA/half ENG jersey? USA jersey and ENG scarf? time will tell. just don't want to get beat up by either team =)