Cowboy Nation

This last weekend was homecoming at OSU and a weekend that Matt and I had been looking forward to for several weeks. Our great friends, Corey and Brooke decided this summer that they were going to come to Oklahoma for the weekend and asked to stay with us. We couldn't have been more thrilled to spend a long weekend with them. They are some of our greatest friends and just incredible people in general. We were lucky that we've gotten to see them twice in the last few months since they came to Tulsa to visit in June. Matt got home from Florida just in time to greet them at the airport. I've actually made four trips to the airport since Thursday. It's a good thing it's just a few miles away. Corey and Brooke flew in from Houston Thursday evening. We picked them up and then headed back to our house. We sat and visited while we ate dinner and just enjoyed being together again and catching up.

Friday morning we just relaxed. Matt had to go into work in the morning, but I was off since it was my school's Fall Break. We slept in, ate breakfast and just watched TV and visited until lunch time. For lunch we met Brooke's brother and his fiance who also live in Tulsa. Her brother is an FBI agent, so he had some interesting stories to share. After lunch we came back home, packed up and headed off to Stillwater for the weekend. We made it to Stillwater around 4, and visited with one of Brooke and Corey's friends from Sugar Land for a little while. Matt and I also took the opportunity to walk around campus and visit some of the buildings we frequented a lot when we were in school. We walked past the library and there was no denying that it was Homecoming week with the orange fountain
That evening, we visited our good friends Matt and Amie who were gracious enough to host us for the night in their apartment. And let me tell you, they are great hosts. They are the sweetest couple and Matthew is such a great cook. We were spoiled all weekend long. He prepared us a delicious dinner of pulled pork sandwiches and sweet potato fries, and then we trotted across campus for the famous Walkaround. OSU boasts that they have the world's greatest homecoming. I haven't visited many campuses for homecoming, but OSU's is definitely spectacular. The house decs are phenomenal to look at and such a fun tradition. I've gone to walkaround every year for 8 years. We'll see how long my streak holds up. Next year will be different for our family for sure :).


There were a few standouts this year that were pretty amazing, but I will say the decs have lost some of their grandeur after we've seen so many of them for so many years. After walkaround we went back to the Allen's and spent the rest of the night visiting and eating dessert. It was so nice to spend some time visiting the Matt and Amie. Matt graduates with his Ph.D. in a couple of months, so we know they won't be in Stillwater forever, and we relish the time we get to spend with them.

Matt was still recovering from his recent 11 day trip to Florida and crashed pretty early that night. Corey was kind enough to tuck him in.
The next morning, Matt and Amie prepared a delicious breakfast for all of us of french toast, bacon, and fruit smoothies. We relaxed that morning and played a quick game of Settlers. Brooke and Corey and Matt and Amie have always been some of our favorite people to play games with, so it was fun to all be together again. That afternoon we all dispersed for a couple of hours. Matt and I had a few tailgates we wanted to visit while we were in town and so did Brooke and Corey. I was glad to get to see these lovely ladies and catch up with them for a few minutes that day.
I get to see Deborary fairly often, but I hadn't seen lyda in several months, so it was great to visit with her and hear how everything is going in her life. It's also fun to catch up on all the latest MFT news. I've felt really out of the loop since I graduated. She has plans to move back to Stillwater in a few months so hopefully we won't go as long without seeing each other next time. I could have sat around and visited with Deborah and Lyda all afternoon, but we had to cut our time short after about an hour. Before heading back to Matt and Amie's, we swung by the MBA tailgate and Matt got to visit with a few of his old professors. Even though we didn't have tickets to the football game, it was fun being immersed in the game day atmosphere and surrounded by so much orange.

We all made it back to Matt and Amie's about an hour before the game started and got a chance to play another board game before kickoff. The football game was disappointing to all of us (except Matt. A. who grew up in Nebraska and has been a lifelong Huskers fan), but it definitely didn't ruin our weekend. I think watching it on TV instead of in person led to less emotional investment in the game, and I really knew there was a good chance we wouldn't be able to pull out a victory especially since Nebraska had something to prove after their game against Texas. Plus, I thought our offense looked great and we had an exciting first half, so it wasn't a total let down. Matt and Amie were great at providing comfort food for us during the game too (including homemade soft pretzels which were way better than the cardboard one I would have made Matt buy me if we were at the game), which helped :). After the game, we played one last board game while we waited for the traffic to disperse and then said goodbye to Matt and Amie and drove back home.

We listened to the OU/Missouri game on the way home and watched the second half on TV after we made it back. That was a great game to watch (I'm glad we don't have to play Missouri this season). Sunday morning we went to church and then to lunch at Hideaway. We had a great lunch just visiting with Brooke and Corey and trying to soak up the last few hours we had together before they flew back to Houston. It was harder saying goodbye this time than last time because last time we had a scheduled time when we would see them again. I told them that we owe them a trip to Houston, and I think we're going to try and get down there sometime in the early Spring. We are very thankful for the great friendships we have formed over the years with some great couples!

Matt headed back to Florida early this morning so we spent the rest of last night doing laundry and getting him ready for his trip. We also just relaxed and soaked up some time just the two of us taking Rhapsody for a walk and watching some Netflix.

We had a great homecoming weekend and it definitely lived up to all our expectations.