Run Kami run!

After many, many months of training and I can't even begin to imagine how many miles run, Kami completed her first marathon on Sunday!!  This was originally supposed to happen back in December before the Icy Disaster swept through and cancelled the race, so here we are almost three months later with a baby road trip over to Fort Worth for the Cowtown Marathon on a beautiful spring-like day (a million times better than the ice and snow!).  The perfect day for a run!  You know, for you people who like to do that kind of thing...

Check out the awesome medal - it's a spur!  I love you, Fort Worth.

Go Kami!  Winnie the puppy dog was not cooperating on the picture-taking, but I promise she was very supportive.

I have absolutely no desire to ever run a marathon in my life (I probably wouldn't even wake up for it...), but I'm happy to support my friends who do.  It gives me an excuse to create inspirational craft projects that look as though they were inspired and executed by a seven year old (giant bubble/block letters!  pink glitter paint!).

So proud of you, Kami!  And just watching her run 26.2 miles made us hungry, so Carolyn, Eva, and I had frozen custard from Curly's and delicious brunch at Cafe Brazil in her honor.  You know, we had to walk a little bit from where we parked to the finish line...there was even a very small hill involved.  Definitely exercise.  And then I promptly went home and took a nap.

Demonstrates improvement in social skills, although expect decline in coming week

Harrison is somewhat notorious for being...well...less than welcoming to visitors in our home. Or even to those who live in said home, although he and Zach have come light years from that initial meeting and the infamous Death Yodel.  However, he actually didn't cause physical harm or mental trauma to anyone during the last two social occasions at our house - huzzah!!

Event #1 - our annual Super Bowl party, which I'm also referring to as Dipapalooza 2014.  We seriously could have just made a meal out of chips and dips, although the giant piles of delicious smoked meat would have been sad and lonely.

Quite the spread...and yes, there was a Manning jersey and Denver Broncos supporter in our house for the Super Bowl party.  I'm surprised Craig let him in the door.

Harry mostly stayed in hiding and didn't scream at anyone.  After he and Grace literally had a run-in at a prior Super Bowl party, this was pretty epic progress.  I was really proud of him for basically just staying out of the way.  Maybe he was feeding off of Craig's happy vibes about the slightly lopsided victory for his Sea Birds.

Event #2 - Momma Dale came to visit last weekend, and he didn't yell at her ONCE, even when he got shocked on the nose due to excessive amounts of static electricity rippling through our air.  Just some minor nighttime stalking, but there was no screaming or death yodeling attached, and they even shared a chair (although this was really just Harry more standing his ground than willingly sharing).

While Dale was here we also did fun things like eat our body weight in fried chicken at Babe's (now THAT is how you celebrate Valentine's Day with a pregnant lady - it was amazeballs) and get Dale her Texas steak fix at The Keg and do some cutesy shopping for Baby P (I'll let you guess which two out of three activities Craig participated in out of that list).  Since it all flew by too quickly, can't weekend time move at half the speed of weekday time?  Or even if weekend time stays the same, then weekday time speeds up? Something feels a little off about this whole split.

And look, we progressed to utilizing a lesser degree of caution when in close proximity to the cat!  They played Candy Crush together by the end of the weekend!

However, I think all of this "progress" (which probably isn't even actual progress, just strange coincidences or possibly Harrison's decreased lack of giving a shizz as he ages) may go to crap when Uncle Wes comes to stay this weekend.  No love lost between those two, so any ground gained may go right out the window. Literally, if Harry traps Wes in a corner and he has to escape through a window.  It's possible.

I realize this entire post is sad.  The social antics of my cat.  Craig has requested that we get him a Prozac prescription before the baby comes...it's probably a good idea.  Sigh.

You're breaking my heart, Raider boys...

Kinda fell off the blogging bandwagon for a week or so, didn't I?  Ok, so this version of NaBloPoMo didn't quite go according to plan, but here's to knocking out a few more posts over the next week.  I'll try to at least put up pie pictures.

Last weekend we turned stereotypical football adventures upside down when the girls went to the football game and the boys stayed at home.  What the what?!?  Don't worry, the guys had plenty of meat products and choice beverages to get them through the afternoon and evening, so I'm not too worried about them - unless there was some kind of secret spa outing that I know nothing about.  

We left the menfolk at home to tend to the toddlers, and Diana, Jen, and I headed out to the behemoth known as Cowboys Stadium (or AT&T Stadium for those of you keeping track of the dollars) to cheer on our Red Raiders as they took on the Baylor Bears.  Remember when this game used to be a guaranteed victory?  And not just that, but a lopsided victory and a chance for the third string to get out there and play a little bit?  Well, those days are long gone and Baylor is actually good.  Yeeps.  So this time around we were really just hoping that our guys would make a game of it and maybe, just maybe turn it into a good thing.

Well, I should have taken a picture of our faces in the first quarter when we were up 14-0 and believed that the Raider boys might actually have a chance to pull this one off...because it was pretty much all downhill after that as we handed them touchdowns and didn't really play defense.  Sigh.  Even with the smackdown, still a good time with my football girls and fellow Red Raider faithful.  If they can't hack it this Thursday against the Longhorns, at least I'll be able to just give in to my Thanksgiving food coma and forget all about it.

Everything is SO. BIG.

The massive jumbotron (apparently "video board" is the correct terminology) in all of its ridiculous glory

This is how I know

This is how I know that Craig loves me.

He wore a Red Raider shirt completely of his own accord last week when we went to Vaughns to watch the incredibly frustrating Tech-Oklahoma State game.  I didn't ask him to, he just did it.  That's love.  For us, anyway.  Fortunately, Diana captured the moment for posterity.  And yes, we're bringing obscene amounts of food into that home; that's just the way we roll.  Or the way I roll.  As Craig likes to remind me, I tend to overdo it a bit when it comes to the food front.  Although he's the guy who prepares two pounds of meat per person, therefore enabling the handing out of meat bags at the end of the night.  We're both food overdoers.

For a reality check, I think this whole Red Raider fan situation went really well for me because Washington had a bye last week...

Wreck 'em!

Yesterday. Hot hot HOT and not feeling very autumnal at all, but the essence of fall was in the air. And by the essence of fall, I mean that we journeyed allllll the way to Ft. Worth and followed a path through a random backyard...

...seriously - a very random backyard!  Park on neighborhood streets in Colonial Hills, seek out the house with the red brick driveway, almost walk past said house, get a little assistance from friendly TCU fans, and just scoot on down the driveway and through the path in back, over a bridge, and find yourself...

...taking in the essence of fall, which on this particular day meant emerging through a small patch of trees at the back of a random backyard to the smell of grills going and...well, it was quite strong...beer.  Ahhh, that means tailgating!!  Football time!!  I headed to Ft. Worth with Diana, Blonde Jen, and Red Jenn (it's the easiest way to distinguish!) to cheer on our Red Raiders versus those crazy horned frogs (really, "fear the frog!" as your "rah rah, let's intimidate the opponent!" tagline? I'm not really feeling it...). Not so bad having a conference game where the road trip for us Dallas gals is around an hour - I think we might make a tradition of this! Especially as long as Diana has these excellent tailgating connections.

A few pre-game festivities, which mostly consisted of fajitas and beer as well as some smack talk from the rowdier members of the group - you know that's Diana's job!  Especially since she's going around tagging TCU fans with tiny Masked Riders on their jerseys...

The game, of course, being a Red Raider football game, was ridiculous and almost gave me a heart attack four times.  I was also hoping for a gorgeous fall day, but it was a little on the toasty side (don't worry, I slathered myself in SPF 70 to preserve my Casper-like glow), and the sun was right in our face up until...ummm...yeah, overtime!

It's easy to forget about the sweat and the heat and the frustration and the craziness, though, when your team finally comes out with a win in TRIPLE OVERTIME.  Get your guns up!!

Glad you could pull this one out, Raiders - we celebrated your victory at Rosa's for a little taste of West Texas.  Yay for college football!  Also, we're a pretty loud cheering section all on our own - I have awesome friends. 

Weekend update

- Hired a wedding coordinator/planner.  This did great, great things for my sanity.  Did you know planning a wedding takes a lot of work and time?  It's kinda remarkable.
- Met Molly and Robert in Ft. Worth for a great dinner at Los Vaqueros and an awesome, Texas-tastic concert at Billy Bob's - Wade Bowen!!  I love this man.  God bless Texas country music.

Not the greatest picture, but it's a man with a guitar...what more do you need to know?

- Made vanilla bean panna cotta with strawberries in red wine syrup as a dessert contribution for carb-loading dinner at Kami's for the race day girls.  So, SO great to spend some quality time with these good people.

- Speaking of race day girls, cheered on Kami and Belinda as they totally kicked butt in the Dallas Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon.  Way to go, ladies!!  I'm really proud of you for attacking this the way you did and finishing strong.  Also, thanks for a reason to go to Cafe Brazil and eat one my favorite things...chilaquiles!!

Oh, by the way, my roommate gets into town tomorrow.  My roommate/fiancé/"the boy" and his giant dog.  Harrison and I are both EXCITED and and a little freaked out.  Actually, Harrison has no idea what's really about to happen.  But I've tried to warn him.  And I can't wait for Craig to be here.

Holidayapalooza 2010, A-town style

...and now, landing in DFW the night of the 23rd.  And not going to A-town until the next morning.  Why is this, you ask?  Well, you try booking a flight from Norfolk to Amarillo within a day or two of Christmas and see what all you come up with.  That doesn't cost a bajillion dollars.  Hence a late arrival in the state of Texas, one night at the Hyatt Regency DFW (which was actually rather lovely and quite reasonably priced), and an early Christmas Eve flight into Amarillo...where I learned, in addition to the fact that baking adventures are generally always awesome, the following things...

Mexican food is, without a doubt, always delicious and guaranteed to produce a smile.  Love you, Abuelo's.

I love homemade Christmas ornaments, especially the bug-eyed gingerbread man.  He holds a special place in my heart.

I'm in need of some "keep calm" advice these days, for sure, as evidenced by the presence of this cute baby book in my stocking AND a "keep calm and carry on" coffee mug gift from my sister.  Deep, calming breaths...

Festive holiday socks are the BEST.  Thanks, Mom!

Nothing makes a man happier than beer, really.  Especially Shiner Holiday Cheer.  Doubly especially when it's cradled by a Seahawks koozie as gifted to my parents by Craig as semi-retaliation for their efforts encouraging him to become a Cowboys fan.  Oh dear.

A-town pictures here.  Enjoy.  Also, we spent a LOT of time playing with the Wii and generally chilling.  Also, I got to see some highly wonderful Sullivan gals who totally made my night.  Also, it's always, always nice to be home.  Really, really nice, actually.  Dallas time is coming...

Snuggie power!

I think the whole thing was intended for laughs.  But little did Dad know that he was actually planning one of the greatest Christmas presents ever...I mean, an impulse purchase at CVS doesn't usually yield this kind of enthusiastic result. 

I think I've even laughed at other people for declaring their Snuggie love.  I believe a certain Vaughn might have a pink one...but at any rate, I'm now a Snuggie believer.  See below for proof.

Thanks to my fellow Snuggie believer and model for demonstrating its awesomeness.  It's a BLANKET with SLEEVES.  Why didn't I think of this?!?

Double Snuggie-enjoyment by both sis and I (and yes, those are crazy-delightful Santa socks, courtesy of Mom) while I'm attempting to figure out how to actually focus shots with my WONDERFUL new camera lens that the parents gave me for Christmas.  Must learn to not depend on auto-focus...

Getting all geared up for the Tech bowl game the night before - and yeah, I realize I look really tired.  Woke up at 5:15 on New Year's Eve morning to fly back to the D of C, but also determined to make it past midnight.  I'm not THAT old yet.

Zach LOVES the Snuggie.  A LOT.

SOMEONE decided they were tired during the Tech-Northwestern bowl game and wanted to take a nap...which was just perfect for a sneak Snuggie attack.  Oh yeah, and Tech definitely won that game.
Goooooooooo Raiders!  Snuggie power!!

  

Fun in the forest

My sis was in town last weekend, but about a month ago we had another sister reunion...only in the forest!  Well, the forest of Durham, NC, which is was more foresty than many other places I know.  And it wasn't just for the sisters...we had our mom, too!  Amanda had fall break, so Mom flew out for a mini-vacation with her kiddos.  Well, one kiddo.  And then the other kiddo came.  And brought a boy with her.  It's nice to have someone else drive you to the forest.

I absolutely adore Chick-fil-A.  It makes every road trip better.

We had a wonderful dinner at Watts Grocery on Friday night.  And yes, I do things like take pictures of the dessert menu.  It was SO good.



Amanda made us a lovely brunch on Saturday morning!



And all we contributed was this tiny pumpkin...but doesn't it add a lovely fall touch?  Oh yeah, we also brought a bottle of champagne for mimosas - YUM.

Girl power AND Duke awesomeness!  Go Bryan girls!

We went to the Duke-Miami football game on Saturday - I think Amanda makes a lovely blue devil mascot.  Side note - a Duke football game is very similar to a Texas high school football game in terms of stadium and size and crowd.  Except that there are Texas high school football teams out there that could probably smack Duke.  But Duke has really smart cheerleaders.

"D" is for Duke!

Well, the game didn't go too well, but we had fun anyway.  More girl power!

We drowned our football sorrows at LocoPop.  I LOVE their popsicles.

Sunday we went to Southern Season, one of the most amazing kitchen/food stores ever, and the boy and I bought Amanda a bottle of wine to thank her for her hospitality...it was a kinda creepy bottle.  I hope it tastes good.

Here's a link to pictures from the weekend in the forest.  Wonderful weekend!!  Other than that darn D.C. traffic...blerg.

Football makes me...sad??

Something is wrong with the world.  Usually I greet Saturday mornings with some amount of glee, delighting in the antics of GameDay and really getting into this whole college football thing.  I wake up EARLY for this, people, although "early" is a pretty loose term in my Saturday morning repertoire.  But lately...I've been hit with a big dose of "oh, who cares, whatEVER" when it comes to football.

My beloved Texas Tech Red Raiders are a mere 4-4, with losses to the likes of Iowa State.  Heavens, people, BAYLOR is currently sitting on top of the Big XII South, and that is just...well...a change, that's for sure.  No offense to my Baylor peeps - props to you on getting a good season going!
Allow me to hit on one of the bright spots.  And I use the term "bright" loosely because we could have very easily lost this game.  But at least I had the pleasure of attending, live and in person, the Tech-Baylor game at the Cotton Bowl about a month ago.  Why haven't I brought this up before?  Please, refer to the fried food extravaganza.  I was too enamored with that Pop-Tart to go into detail about a mere football game. 

The concrete behemoth beckons!

Actually managed to find my favorite Keffers - yay!!

That's a LOT of Red Raider fans

Yes, Evan and I are getting our guns up at the car show.  State Fair + football?  What could be better??

And while I'm grateful for the bright spot that was a Tech victory on that gorgeous October afternoon...this football thing...it doesn't get any better on Sundays!!  Do you know what's happening with the Cowboys this season?  It's AWFUL.  After all the "ooohh, it could be a Super Bowl year!" hype, no less.  I'm also currently living in Redskins country, which only adds to the pain.  Blerg.  Maybe I should become a hockey fan...

Take me out to the ballgame

You know how I said I was going to get out and do more D.C. things?  Well, I'm going to say that a trip to a Nats game (granted, this was a couple of weeks ago - I'm still a little behind in the world o' blogging) qualifies as both a cherished, typical, all-American summer outing AND a D.C. adventure...little D.C. twists on baseball, if you will.

D.C.-ish bit #1: enjoying a half-smoke from Ben's instead of the typical hot dog fare.  Don't get me wrong - I LOVE those ballpark hot dogs.  Photographic evidence available here.  But I also love a 1/2 pork, 1/2 beef smoked sausage topped with mustard, onions, and a delightfully spicy chili sauce.  Messy?  Yes.  Delicious?  Yes.  A test on my iron stomach?  Probably yes, although I'm still doing ok in that department.  I do not look forward to the day when I have to worry about things like heartburn.  I'm afraid that day is coming sooner than I might expect.  Probably also not the best choice when it's so freakin' hot outside that I'm dripping sweat during the entire (night!) game.  Should have just had cup after cup of gelato.  Hmmm, that could also be dangerous...

D.C.-ish bit #2:  getting all excited about the shiny new kid in town...and then finding out he's not so perfect.  I mean, good grief, he's only human, not some robotic, constantly winning pitching machine.  Oh, for the backstory, this city has been nothing less than obsessed with Stephen Strasburg, a pitching phenom who's been dazzling us with his heroic displays of athletic ability.  Oh, until he went on to the land of the injured with this shoulder business, which cooled the enthusiasm the tiniest bit.  I mean, they're naming burgers after this guy.

So I caught his return from the land of the injured.  And he only played a few innings, gave up a few runs, and generally looked a little off.  Then again, I can't exactly launch a fastball at a triple-digit MPH mark, so I really have no room to talk.  Here's hoping you can help bring the Nationals out of the gutter, Strasburg - the Washingtonians would appreciate it.

D.C.-ish bit #3:  Metro to the game.  Always an adventure.  Crowds, crowds, crowds.  But there's really something to be said for not dealing with parking.  And if you're not up for the Metro crowds before or after the game, you can always take a cab there.  Or home.  Which I did.  It was awesome.

D.C.-ish bit #4:  the Racing Presidents are far superior to the dot game the Rangers have going.  Wouldn't you rather watch George, Tom, Abe, and Teddy actually race around the field for a little between-innings hijinks?  I thought so.  I just wonder if poor Teddy will ever actually win. 

Also, a small baseball public service announcement - please remember to watch out for wayward balls.  It would stink to get bonked in the head.

Ready to run...well...not quite

A few months ago, by virtue of a lucky lottery pick, I somehow managed to sign myself up for a physical endeavor - the Cherry Blossom Ten Mile Run on April 11.  April 11, you say?  Why, wasn't that last Sunday?  Why haven't we been hearing about all of this training and running and excitement about ten whole miles?

Well, I started out strong.  I invested in some new Brooks running shoes and signed up for the online beginner training program.  I bought new workout clothes (you look forward to working out more when you have a cute outfit, right?) and loaded up the iPod with motivational tunes.  Groundwork laid.  Let Operation Erin Might Actually Do This Running Thing commence.

I even dropped my workout schedule into Google Calendars and shared it with my friend Darcy so we could hold each other accountable for actually getting off our bums and doing something.  She's doing crazy things like P90X and serious classes that really make your muscles scream, so I was sure hoping I could keep up with my gradually-increasing-in-intensity walking/jogging/running routine.

And I did, I really did!  For a while, anyway...and then I was "too tired" and "too busy" and every other excuse in the book, and before I knew it I'd run out of time to really prepare myself.  And yes, I would have done the ten miles anyway, just to punish myself if for no other reason...save for this:

All runners must complete the course in less than 2 hours and 20 minutes. Runners not maintaining a 14-minute-per-mile pace at 5 miles will have to leave the course. If you fall behind 14-minute-per-mile pace during the second half of the race you will be required to board our sweep vehicle.

Board the sweep vehicle, known in my mind as the Van of Shame?  No thank you!  I mean, I'd like to think I could manage 14 minute miles, but why chance the Van of Shame?  For sanity's sake...drop down to the 5k.  Fill out the form, the switch is made, no problem.  I can certainly manage a 5k.

Saturday I made my way over to the National Building Museum and was pleasantly surprised at the ease of check-in and bib pick-up.  I was expecting crazy lines, but everything actually ran very efficiently.  Props to the volunteers.  I pulled together my clothes for Sunday, called it an early night on Saturday, and set my alarm for the semi-unpleasant hour of 6:00 AM.

Pulling together everything the night before doesn't do you much good when you stumble out of bed and hit "dismiss" rather than "snooze" on the alarm and crawl back into bed for ten more precious minutes of sleep.  Ten minutes turned into three and a half hours, and I slept through the race.  Epic fitness fail.  And that's as far as bib #18285 made it.

Now what do I do at night?

Oh, Olympics, how I love you.  You captivate me with your impressive showings of athleticism, emotional and tear-inducing life stories, NBC's truly ridiculous amount of coverage, CURLING, and general awesomeness.  I'm a total Olympics junkie and have spent a slightly obscene number of hours taking in the Vancouver games.

Take that, Trinity.  Ok, the opening ceremony is not the most fascinating thing, but you know how awesome it is with DVR?  Skip the boring parts.  It's life-changing, it really is...the DVR, not the opening ceremony.

Now I give you...random Olympic musings.Pride for your country.  Waiting four years for your next opportunity.  Eeekk!!  It gets me all worked up for these people.

Oh, and I liked how the Vancouver bouquets weren't too girly.  Nice and green, suitable for the feminine and masculine of all disciplines.  Then the boys didn't have to feel too silly holding their flowers.


Female figure skating: yes, there's a part of me that would like every skater from South Korea and Japan to totally bust it on their triple jumps so America can make it on the podium.  But they're also carrying the weight of a nation on their shoulders.  Anything less than gold and these gals are shunned.  Dang.

I love all the stories.  The sheer joy of those first time medal winners.  How everyone comes together.  Mushy mushy!


I get all warm and fuzzy cheering for my fellow Americans...or for the single athlete from countries like Turkey and Hong Kong who want nothing more than just the chance to compete at the Olympics. What guts it must take to make it all the way to the Olympics and go it alone, knowing that you don't have a real shot at a medal, but you can sure as hell take to the Olympic ice and make the most of it.  I knew I would never be a stellar athlete and realized early on that my brain power would lead me down a more successful path than any other muscle in my body...but maybe I'll take up curling or archery so I can go to the Olympics.  Ok, not happening.  But I am slightly intrigued by this "shuffleboard on ice" business. 


The Olympics are waaaaaay better on DVR.  Love you, Olympics, but sometimes I do need to skip a little bit of you along the way.


I will never, never get tired of listening to our national anthem while one of our proud athletes stands atop the podium.  I'm also somewhat inspired to actually learn the words to "Oh Canada" past the dramatic opening "Oh Ca-na-da".  It could be fun - give a little shout-out to our neighbors to the north.


I'm totally a gasper.  Most of my Olympics viewing is done from the privacy of my couch, and Harrison really doesn't care about my reactions at all, but when I was home in A-town with the family for a few days, they were exposed to my...enthusiastic...level of viewing.  My poor sister.  Between my dad and I gasping and exclaiming, she didn't even really need to watch the television - we told the story through our sharply dramatic intakes of air and bold exclamations.  All while chanting "U-S-A, U-S-A," or perhaps rooting on Canada in a sport that our great nation particularly sucks at (ah-hem, curling...again with the curling!  Maybe I do have a shot at the team...).


Oh, and thank goodness this time zone lends itself to decent watching times.  Some live viewing is much better than recorded everything.  Although as I take in the closing ceremonies and NBC's take on the games, I realize I could have many hours of my life back had I just waited for this highlight reel of the last two weeks.  Oh well.  Then I wouldn't know as much as I do about curling.

The bowling tradition continues

In my first month of blogging and chronicling life adventures (awww, a year ago!), the Cotton Bowl adventures of Diana and Erin made an appearance.  I'm happy to report that the Red Raiders were indeed bowling again this year, and since it was in the state of Texas (thank goodness!!) and I would actually be in the state of Texas around this time (super yippee!!), Diana and I decided to road trip down to San Antonio to support our team and have a generally awesome time.

To preface the entire event, I'm sad to report that head pirate coach Mike Leach was not gracing the sidelines due to some unfortunate events involving a shed.  Or something like that.  I would just like to get the whole story on that one, which I doubt will ever happen, but a girl can always dream.  At any rate, the Raider Nation was extremely fired up for the game, and let me just say that the t-shirt production between the time of Leach's firing and kick-off of the bowl game was somewhat remarkable.  Lots of witty signs, too.  Certainly added another aspect to the game that we weren't expecting.

Road trip!!  Let's just say that after the New Year's festivities that went down at the Vaughn home (to be shared later, of course - I've just decided to go against my nature and post things on the blog out of chronological order, which is a big step for an accountant), waking up on New Year's Day came a little earlier than I would have liked.  However, it didn't stop us from throwing my approximately eleventy billion pounds of crap in the car and zooming to Whataburger in time to make the 11:00 breakfast cutoff.  Taquitos are really the perfect way to start the day, and we definitely wanted to drive down the day before the game to make the most of our trip.

We took a break from our journey with a stop in Austin to visit a dear friend (hi Kristin!), who kindly directed our slightly hungover and hungry tummies to Torchy's Tacos of the South Austin Trailer Park and Eatery.  One Trashy Trailer Park, one Democrat, and two Diet Cokes later, I was a new person.  So good to see you, Kristin, and also so, so good to spend a little time with Torchy.  I really do love Austin, even if it is the land of burnt orange.

The journey to San Antonio continued, fortunately with zero traffic disasters.  You just never know what you might hit when you throw downtown Austin into the mix on a Friday afternoon.  After checking in at our hotel, we met up with Diana's aunt, uncle, and cousins for some dinner and then headed out for a night on the Riverwalk.  Nothing quite like bars blasting the Tech fight song in San Antonio - love it.  Oh, and did we run into any college friends?  No...but did we encounter some of Diana's Midland Lee crowd?  Yes, yes we did!  High school, it's always there!  Oh, and if you'd like to get a picture outside the Alamo without any other people around, might I recommend the wee hours of the morning after the bars close down?  It's really the best time.

After staying up entirely too late, we woke up on game day in time for...well, a late lunch.  Which consisted of chili cheeseburgers and some Shiner (the official beer of the Alamo Bowl, I might add - go Texas beer!) on the Riverwalk while taking in some more Big XII football in the form of the Cotton Bowl back in Dallas.  We spent the afternoon exploring the Riverwalk, doing some shopping, enjoying the general sea of red and black surrounding us, and admiring the more creative t-shirts the crowd was sporting:

We headed over to the stadium a couple hours before the game and enjoyed some quality time with the Goin' Band from Raiderland and fellow fans before seeking the comfort of the dome...in marked contrast to last year's bowl game where we were sweating and seeking shade, this year we resorted to hoodies and shivering before gratefully entered the enclosed space.  Thank you, Alamodome, for keeping us from freezing our buns off.

Let me just say, thank goodness for the victory in the end - the Red Raiders didn't play as brilliantly as they could have, although given the coaching circumstances I think they pulled it together pretty well.  I'm going to give props to the exteme amount of yelling Diana and I poured into the game - we could barely speak the next day.  We did have to explain to the Michigan State couple seated next to us why the crowd was booing Adam James (and not their band) at halftime and why the crowd went crazy chanting "Sticks, Sticks!!" late in the game.  Bit of a ridiculous week for the team.  So great to be there, though, and hooray for the win!!  It was pretty great to see an enormous crowd of red and black circling the stadium and supporting the team.

Courtesy of Picasa (love you, Picasa!) you can check out Diana's pictures from the weekend here, and my collection's over here.  Here's wishing the Raiders the best of luck in a search for a new head coach (hard to imagine a football season without Mike Leach!), and wreck 'em, Tech!  Here's to Diana for loving college football and our Red Raiders just as much, if not more, than I do - incredibly glad we got to spend so much quality time together last week, dear friend!  And until next season, college football - I'll miss you.