OSU Homecoming 2009

This past weekend was OSU's homecoming, so Matt and I headed to Stillwater for the weekend. This was my seventh OSU homecoming (eighth if you count the time I went when I was still in high school to visit Matt), and my first as a "true" alum. I guess I've technically been an alum the last 3 years, but since I was working on my master's I don't count it. Anyway, if you haven't experienced an OSU homecoming celebration, you are missing out. They are known for America's greatest homecoming, and I believe it. This year we were just planning on going to Stillwater for the football game instead of going Friday night to the Walkaround celebration. But these sweet friends called and asked if we wanted to spend the weekend with them, and we just couldn't resist!
And we are so glad we did. We had an incredibly fun weekend. The whole way to church Sunday, we kept talking about what a great weekend it was. Matt and Amie are good friends we made from church when we lived in Stillwater. We have really missed them since we've moved and hadn't gotten a chance to see them in several months. We had some catching up to do. We got to Stillwater Friday evening and headed to dinner on campus. After dinner, we went to Walkaround. If you're not familiar with walkaround, all the fraternities and sororities on campus put up elaborate pomped house decorations that are amazing to see. The detail is unbelievable. So, tens of thousands of people crowd the streets around campus and walk around looking at all the houses. Matt took a couple of pictures of some of them this year. There are vendors set up all around too selling OSU merchandise and food, and Theta Pond is all lit up in orange lights.

The weather was beautiful for walkaround and being on campus for homecoming always brings back memories from my college days. As we walked around we got a chance to catch up on each other's lives and happenings in Stillwater we had missed out on since we moved.

On Saturday we just hung out at Matt and Amie's. They cooked us delicious food, and we got our football fix watching the OU/Texas game. Matt and Amie are some of our favorite friends to play games with. If you haven't figured it out, we are a board game loving family :). Matt and I introduced them to Settlers of Catan, and we played 3 games during the day. We also walked around campus a bit and visited.


Matthew and Amie are special friends to us, and we are thankful for the blessing they are to us and how much fun we have when we are with them.


The only downside to the weekend, was that the kickoff to the homecoming game against Missouri wasn't until 8:15 that evening. So, although we got to spend more time with Matt and Amie, it made for a cold game and a late night drive home.

Bundled up waiting for the game to start

Don't worry, it was totally worth it. It was a great game. There are several homecoming heartbreaker games I remember, but this game wasn't one of them. We came out with a solid victory even without Dez Bryant and Kendall Hunter (2 of our best players). Our team played well and looked like a nationally ranked team. We're hoping for a big upset at Boone Pickens Stadium on Halloween. ESPN says we're the only Big 12 South team left that could upset Texas, and we'll be there to watch it!

We left the game a little early, but this ended up being the final score, so we didn't miss much.

Oh, I forgot to mention another thing that made the weekend great. Remember that awful pre-game song they were playing before all the football games. Well OSU listened to the fans and students, and are no longer playing "Cowboys Forever." Thank you OSU for having some sense and changing the song.

We got home about 1:30am Sunday morning. Needless to say, after church on Sunday, I took a nice long Sunday afternoon nap. It was the perfect end to a perfect weekend :).