The Rivalry

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If you’ve been following my blog for the past few weeks, you’ve seen more posts about Duke than usual. Partially because I got excited about Duke Basketball this year, which I think made my husband overjoyed, and Justin was accepted to Duke’s Engineering Management Masters program.


So there is a lot of Duke love happening.

My sister-in-law, Kelly, however is not a Duke fan. She’s a Carolina fan. I don’t know how that happened, but it did.


Now if you aren’t from around these parts, you may not know about the Duke vs. Carolina rivalry. It’s pretty intense. I had no idea what I was moving into when I moved south. 

So you can imagine there was quite the rivalry in their household while they were growing up.

When Justin was applying to Duke, he and Kelly made a bet. If he got in, she would go to Duke’s campus, wear a Duke t-shirt, and take a picture in front of Kryscrunchskiville* sign. This sign represents the plot of land in front of Cameron Indoor Stadium where the students live in the spring(and I mean that literally. . .they live in tents for a few months in order to get tickets for the Duke vs. Carolina game at Duke. It’s a big deal).

I can’t remember the other side of the bet. . .maybe because I was so confident that Justin would get in. 😉

So last weekend, we made the trek out to Durham. Justin proudly led my sister, myself and Kelly on a beautiful tour around campus. 

Here they are in front of the chapel. I told Kelly to smile. But her real feelings are shown in the second photo.

Then we made her “kiss” the Blue Devil.

And then we made it over to Krsysodhfnfsville*.

Look at how happy she was.

And if this isn’t a sign. . .I don’t know what is.
Kelly was a great sport. And she looked great in a Duke shirt. 🙂


I posted about Justin’s acceptance into the school & his program, but he was still deciding whether or not to go. Well, he finally decided.

Here is his academic life in a nutshell:

He will graduate from NC State this May with an undergrad in Aerospace Engineering and begin working at an Engineering Corporation in June. The Masters of Engineering Management graduate program at Duke, which he confirmed that he is attending in the fall (yay!), will be a distance education program that he’ll do alongside his full time job.

So basically, we are busy people.

Oh, and he’s a genius. 

A rocket scientist you might say.

And I’m kind of really proud of him. 
________________________________________________________

*Okay, here is the explanation of the misspelling of Krzyzewskiville.

My sister, in her infinite humor and wit, told me a few months ago that Coach Krzyzewski just announced to the news that people have been pronouncing his name wrong for years.
People have been pronouncing it “Sha-Chef-Ski”, but it was actually supposed to be pronounced “Kre-Zoo-Ski”.
I said, “Oh my gosh, REALLY?” and totally believed her because she’s my sister and would never ever, EVER lie to me, right?

So for about 20 minutes I sat there, thinking to myself, “What kind of person wouldn’t correct the pronunciation of their own last name? Especially since he’s a public figure! C’mon Coach K! Get it together! Geez!”

She must have seen my glazed over look while I thought about this “breaking news”, and she said, “You know I’m kidding, right? It’s definitely supposed to be pronounced “sha-chef-ski” in real life.”

Nope. Sure didn’t. ::embarrassing::

From that moment on, I call him some version of kre-zew-sker or kre-scissor-ski or kri-crunch-skert.

And I feel better about myself.

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Julia Duhan says · 03.28.12

My boyfriend is HUGE Duke fan. it’s the only Ning we fight about 😉 The one thing we can agree on is that Carolina always gets the evil jazz hand! Go Green!

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jacks says · 03.28.12

Cute post! I’m married to an Aerospace Engineer as well. It’s fun to say I actually KNOW a rocket scientist! Ha!

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Jennifer Renee says · 03.28.12

I’m a Carolina fan. I’ve never lived in that area but I love their basketball. So you and I may never be able to be friends. Just kidding 😉

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Valerie says · 03.28.12

Congratulations to your husband! I have a degree in AE and immediately did an engineering management masters while working my first job, so I just thought it was a funny coincidence. I’m in law school now, so watch out. 🙂

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Jen (Pink) Williams says · 03.28.12

One of my best friends is a Duke fan, so I of course am a Duke fan by friendship. Go Duke! Also a Syracuse fan by marriage. Go Cuse! So sad they both didn’t make it to the final four. Next year!!!

PS. Congrats to your hubbie (do you call him the Rocket Man? I would).

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Kate says · 03.28.12

I love that idea! I’ll start calling him that immediately.

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Glammy Bee says · 06.19.13

Oh, no! Be careful that his coworkers don’t start calling him Fruit Loops instead! (my hubby and I are both engineers (not AE, but ME and EE) and love Big Bang Theory…)

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Liz Brown says · 03.28.12

That K name … must be Polish. No other language has such terribly muddled names. 🙂

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Christy says · 03.28.12

Congratulations to your husband! I live in town where lot of “Rocket” major companies. Many AE are around here!

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Nikki says · 03.28.12

After stepping one foot on the Duke campus how could you not be a fan!!! We visited there in the Fall when we went to NC for a Blackhawks game. LOVED the campus!!!!

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cyndi says · 03.28.12

I grew up in California but moved to NC back in ’01 for work. I totally didn’t “get” the rivalry until I began dating a UNC alum. I used to tease him mercilessly re: how crazy this rivalry was…until I found myself getting just as in to it as he did – crazy! We’re now married and living in Ohio and I find that while I don’t “bleed blue” I can yell at the tv during basketball season with the best of them 🙂 I can only imagine how hard it was for her to put on that shirt and smile. It would take a total miracle for my husband to do that!

Huge congrats to your husband for getting into Duke. I’ve heard it’s an AMAZING school…I just can’t say that in public 🙂

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lori says · 03.28.12

My last name is Wojciechowski (Polish like Coach K) and I tell people to just say “where’s-your-house-key”. It’s just better for everyone. 🙂

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Rebecca says · 03.28.12

Lol this is great! I’m a huge Duke basketball fan 🙂 Congrats to your husband!

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{[Jessica]} says · 03.28.12

haha My fiance is a HUGE duke fan as he is from NC as well… and basketball was a BIG deal in our house & we live across the country in CA… but congrats on your hubby on his education!!

xoxo
Jessica

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Tabitha says · 03.28.12

Oh MY word how cute! My hubby loves Duke and it’s so funny when we were watching them in the tournament i couldn’t help thinking about you and your sister when they lost and how sad you must have been!!! Congrats to your hubby that’s a great accomplishment! much love
Tabitha

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Lauren @ From My Grey Desk says · 03.28.12

Hahaha I love this.

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Kate says · 03.28.12

You would, sister. 🙂

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Kristin says · 03.28.12

I’m a Duke fan a totally fell for the pronunciation thing!! I should have kept reading instead of thinking how his name had been butchered 🙂 Thanks for the laugh!!

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Sarah says · 03.28.12

Poor Kelly! As a 2007 Carolina grad, I feel for her! The rivalry is FIERCE, but Carolina and Duke (and NC State) are partners in many ways, and all are good schools. Congratulations to Justin and Go Heels!

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Shannon says · 03.28.12

You are hilarious! I am an NC girl too, but we are State fans. My youngest two have decided to defect and have become Carolina fans. Too cute!

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hkschulte says · 03.28.12

Congrats to your husband! I love that he is super excited, as he should be!

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Liz says · 03.28.12

Congrats to your husband! And I’m sorry, but GO PACK!! 😀 I’m a Carolina girl, born and bred and a die hard NC State fan! 🙂

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Melody Rich says · 03.28.12

hahahaha. Your sister is like my husband. He will tell me some pointless lie/joke and forget about for WEEKS until I bring it up again and he says, “You know I was kidding, right?”

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Samantha says · 03.28.12

Such a great post! If you get a chance, check out my latest post about my giveaway! It’s a good one:)

http://www.lovecleansing.blogspot.com

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kristinwithani says · 03.29.12

Moved to NC when I was 12 and was asked at dinner one night which team I pulled for. What? Who cares? I grew up in Boston. Patriots. Celtics. Bruins.
So I did what any 12 year old girl would do and i asked what their colors were. I chose the “light blue”. From then on this girl in Durham was a Carolina fan.
Because it’s so much cheaper and I knew I wouldn’t be able to get in to Duke and I look awful in red, I headed to UNC for college.
Still a Carolina fan.
Don’t HATE Dook, I mean Duke, like most Tar Heels.
Don’t hate State and that’s why they hate us.
So, there it is in a nutshell.
When I meet you in a few weeks I’ll be sure to wear my colors… .kidding.

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SpiritMom says · 03.29.12

Ok, this is really personal, but from someone who did it backwards, make sure you wait to have kids until he is done with school!! We had 4 kiddos and my husband’s job REQUIRED that he get his masters…in one year. So he worked full time, school full time, and had us. I have never been so happy to be done with something!! Trust me, just wait.

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Madison says · 03.29.12

I’ve been reading your blog for a while now (which I love, by the way) and saw your post about your hubby getting into Duke a few weeks ago and meant to comment on it then – but this post reminded me! Congrats to him, Duke is so wonderful. I’m English and live in the UK so I guess it’s unusual that I’ve even heard of Duke, or know of Coach K, or know where Cameron Indoor Stadium is… but I went out with an American Dukie for 2.5 years (he was there for 10 years in total, undergrad then Med School…) so spent quite a bit of time in Durham and at Duke (particularly on the West Campus tennis courts) (oh, and in Chapel Hill – a friend of mine was at UNC, I loved CH). Some of my abiding memories of Duke were afternoon tea at the WaDuke, the garlic fries at the Federal, the beautiful Duke gardens, Only Burger burgers, the huge second hand book store downtown (closed now, sadly)… (hmm, I see most of my memories revolve around food). Anyway, I loved seeing your photos of your weekend at Duke. It makes me so nostalgic about all the time I spent in the US and I can’t wait to get back one day! Looking forward to more Duke updates!

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Anita Robinson says · 03.31.12

This comment has been removed by the author.

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Anita Robinson says · 03.31.12

I live outside of Burlington, NC and I’m the lone Duke fan in my family of Carolina fans(my husband and 2 boys)- or as I affectionately call them – the “Tarbabies” (I try not to use the other bad name for Tarheel fans). I’ve taken a little of heat from my boys, but unlike some Duke fans, I don’t hate Carolina. I pull for them unless they are playing Duke. 🙂 Unfortunately both teams are out of the NCAA tourney now and players are dropping out to enter the NBA draft. It will be interesting to see how next year plays out.

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Mile High Mom says · 04.02.12

I’m married to a real life rocket scientist too. (He even has a rocket launch today!) Congrats to your family on graduation, new job AND new school!

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ALI_nc says · 04.02.12

Haha. Just found your blog and had no clue you were a Carolina girl. Well, I guess you aren’t a real “Carolina girl” but…
Kelly is a great sport…but it’s been pretty easy to be one this year. Only lost by a last minute shot in our house, schooled Dook in their house, didn’t lose to Lehigh…etc.
Best of luck to him in his program! Not EVERYONE who goes to Dook is icky! 🙂

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ALI_nc says · 04.02.12

Oh…just checked out your “About” page….You go to Summit?? We LOVE JD and love to see him speak at conferences (we live in Eastern NC)!

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T for UK says · 04.06.12

Ohhhhh, I just found your blog tonight and I’ve spent the last 2 hours watching videos and reading. I LOVE this blog. Then, I see the Duke post. I’m a Kentucky girl…Go Big Blue! I’m going to skip this Duke post and pretend it never happened. My fellow UK fans would never forgive me! LOL

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Courtney says · 04.09.12

Two words: Go Gamecocks!

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coupleoftravels.com says · 04.24.12

Congrats to him!! I may be applying to grad school at Duke as well! 🙂

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Glammy Bee says · 06.19.13

Congrats to your hubby with his new pursuit! My undergrad was EE and I went onto get my MBA (at the time I went for my MBA, Engineering Management wasn’t a widely offered degree). I’ve used my MBA much more than my engineering degree!

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