Heading Home for Homecoming - Day 3

Back to Homecoming weekend...

We started the day by tailgating with Sarah and Kris' family. Kris had smoked some pork and it was fantastic! We certainly appreciate all of the work Sarah and Kris did to put the tailgate together. They have quite the setup! I wish I would have snapped some pictures of it.

While at the tailgate, our friends Brendon and Katie stopped by. It was great to see them! They told us they are expecting baby #2. Congrats to them!!

This is the beginning of the game as the team runs onto the field. It's hard to tell in this picture, but the stadium was packed - so fun!

Us at the game

We spotted my cousin Kurtis (#78) on the sidelines. Kurtis grew up a mile from my house and attended the high school that I went to. He is the first person from my high school to play Division I football in college. We're so proud of him!

The game in action...

It turned out to be a blowout. Mizzou beat Colorado 58-0. This was starkly different from my first Mizzou game. My Uncle Lee and Aunt Erin took me to my first game my senior year of high school. We played Colorado then too, but it was Colorado who scored the 50+ points. There were also a LOT fewer fans in the stadium during that game. Certainly, things have changed in 11 years! Anyway, we had a great time at the game!

Thanks to the Smith family for letting us stay with them!

Witnessing History

This morning, we woke up with the answer to a question that has taken nearly two years to determine - Barack Obama will be the next President of the United States. Last night, we witnessed a historical election unfold. Many thought this day would never come. But, it did. And it proves that the spirit of America is strong. That we, as Americans, believe anything is possible.

I realized this morning that when Garth and I have children, they will never know what the world was like before we chose an African American to lead our country. I can't begin to understand the turmoil of the civil rights movement or the days of slavery. But, even in my lifetime, I've lived in a world where riots broke out L.A. following the Rodney King trial and witnessed other countless stories of inequality. Certainly, the election of Barack Obama does not end racism. But, it proves that our country is capable of looking past the color of one's skin, the strangeness of one's name or the uniqueness of one's heritage. Our country, unlike so many others, offers tremendous freedom and opportunity.

Electing our country's first African American President is historic enough. But, I think this election goes beyond that. The record number of voters in every category - young, old, black, white - was incredible. The enthusiasm for taking part in an important aspect of our country's political process was astounding. People were happy to wait in line to cast their votes. Extraordinary numbers of people volunteered for both campaigns or get out the vote efforts (I know we got three calls last night to see if we voted!).

I'm especially proud of my generation, whose stereotypical apathy has previously shown that this demographic couldn't be counted on to show up when it counts. But this time, young people realized that they could make a real difference in the outcome of this election. Perhaps the young vote became mobilized because they felt, finally, that someone was listening to them or that their vote actually mattered. Whatever the reason, I think we should be proud that so many Americans acted upon their right and privilege to vote.

Our country has many challenges ahead. I hope the enthusiasm generated from the election will be channeled toward participation, interest and involvement in the political process. It doesn't matter if you voted for McCain, Obama, Nader or Barr, we must work together if we hope to accomplish change for the better in this country.

Heading Home for Homecoming - Day 2

Here's the next of our Homecoming trip. Jenna's birthday was the day we arrived, so on Friday we went to lunch to celebrate. Paula was able to squeeze us in between classes, so it worked out pretty well.

Us kids at Applebee's

The fam (except mom - she was taking the picture)

Mom's dog, Jewel, had a litter of puppies a few weeks ago. They were about 4 weeks old when were there. They were so cute!

Us with the puppies. I took a lot more photos a couple of days later, so look for those in an upcoming post!

On Friday evening, we headed to Columbia to meet up with our friends Sarah and Kris. We went to dinner at Sophia's, one of my favorite restaurants while I was in college. It was great!

Sorority sisters and former roomies - Sarah and me.

After dinner, we headed to Greek town for campus decorations (aka "house decs"). Basically, it is tissue "pomped" boards that are hung on scaffolding. The boards serve as the backdrop for a kid-friendly skit. This is the house dec for KD and Phi Kap. It is based on the movie Cars. This picture does come close to doing it justice. It looked awesome!

We went to a couple of our favorite bars, Harpo's and Shiloh. At Shiloh, I ran into a bunch a friends that I was on Summer Welcome with. This is a few of the people from that group - Nathan, Christen ("CT"), Chris ("CD") and Morgan. It was great to see them!

Heading Home for Homecoming - Day 1

Last weekend, we headed to Missouri for Mizzou's Homecoming. Last weekend was my first football game at Mizzou since my senior year, so I was really excited to go. I took a LOT of pictures, so I'm going to break up the blog posts.

We left on Thursday, so we could have time to go see my family. As always, we're not really thrilled with the 8 hour drive, but we make the most of it.

This time, we got stuck in construction traffic. Boo! So, what's a bored girl to do? Take pictures of it!

Garth talking on the phone as we sit in traffic.

Meanwhile, Bailey just sleeps in the back seat. Isn't she cute?!?!

When we finally got out of the construction traffic, it was dusk in St. Louis. I thought the sky looked so cool behind the arch. This photo was taken as we were crossing the Mississippi River while in the car, so it doesn't nearly do it justice!

I finally did it...

Yesterday, I did something I never thought I would do....I joined Facebook. That's right, until about 27 hours ago, I didn't have a Facebook page. I was probably one of 10 people in the world who didn't have one (Garth and our parents make up at least 5 of the remaining 10). For some unknown reason, I had a huge thing against signing up. Maybe it was because everyone else was doing it or maybe it was just because I didn't get the point and I didn't want to join to have to figure it out (it would help if they could at least offer a demo without signing up!), or maybe I prefer to communicate the good old fashion way - by e-mail, text or phone.

Whatever it was that was holding me back a mere two days ago, is no longer there. I admit it - I'm a convert! There's something thrilling about determining that I now having 102 "friends" since yesterday. It's not that these people are new to me, it's that there are at least 80 of these people I haven't talked to in a really long time. Forget old fashioned e-mail blasts with pictures from your latest vacation - you can now post them on your Facebook page and all of your friends instantly know about it and can share their thoughts (just don't put that bikini pic up there unless you REALLY want people to see it.)

I thought my blog did the trick. I thought that was enough, but clearly, it's too difficult for people to go to a separate page to read all about you. The genius of Facebook is that you go to one place and get short tidbits of information about your friends. Readthe updates if you want, skip those you don't.

The downfall of this magical online world? Addiction. That's right, I said it. Clearly, people are addicted to this thing. 661 friends, Drew? I mean honestly, how much time can one spend on this thing??? And, is it really necessary to post hourly updates on your life with people you haven't conversed with in years? Probably not. But, this is the new norm. This is what the web is all about these days. I realized today that I am about the oldest 28-year-old in the world. I clearly didn't realize just how much I was missing out on, or perhaps more appropriately, didn't understand about how people communicate today.

What will I think about Facebook in another month or two? Who knows?! I guess it depends on how many more friends I have by then. ;)

ADDED NOTE: Thanks to Christen (see previous post) and Dan for convincing me to join up on Saturday night! I have to give credit where credit is due. I've had plenty of friends and family try to convince me to join Facebook, but you guys were the who got me to take the plunge.

Saturday Night - Good & Bad

The Bad...

If you know how much of a Missouri Tiger fan I am, then you know how upsetting Saturday night was for me. Two weeks in a row of disappointment is bad enough, but it's even worse considering the high expectations for the season. Certainly, all is not lost. If the team can get it together, we can make it to the Big 12 Championship game and hopefully seek some redemption...especially, if we get to play Texas again. I think it's just sad that they didn't play like themselves. They played like they were afraid to lose. Hopefully, this Saturday will be better...especially, since we're going to the game! That's right, Garth and I will be going to our first Mizzou Homecoming together! This will be my first Homecoming since I graduated, so we are definitely excited about that.

The Good...

Even though my beloved Tigers lost on Saturday, it was good to be in the company of fellow Mizzou alumni. We had another watch party at Beyond the Edge. It was especially fun to see Christen, a good friend of mine since college! She and I were in a lot of the same things in college - Journalism school, Tour Team, Summer Welcome, Homecoming Steering Committee, etc. We haven't seen each other since graduation and she happened to be in Nashville visiting her cousin, so they joined us for the game! It was great to see her! Now that she lives in Louisville, hopefully, it won't be another 6 years before we see each other. ;)

Me and Christen at the watch party

Family-filled weekend

On Saturday, we got to spend time with Garth's family - his parents, Amy, Carl and our neice, Sarah. While Sarah was getting her pictures taken, the rest of us went to the Germantown Oktoberfest for some good eats!

Here's the guys with their polish sausages.

Mmmm, mmmm good!

Mommy and baby. Later we all got together for dinner at Anatolia, a great Turkish restaurant in town. Check out the previous post for some pictures of Sarah!