Goodbye, Old Friend

Today I say goodbye to an old friend. A friend who served me well and got me through good times and bad. She saw so many chapters of my life and helped shape who I am today. Since I was 17, she has given me an invaluable gift: Freedom.

Who is this friend, you may ask? A 2000 Toyota 4Runner SR5 in Stellar Blue Pearl with a gold package, which I lovingly refer to as The Runner. 

Here are a few photos of The Runner over the years....

Oklahoma snow during my Freshman year of College

Hanging out with my cousins, Donovan and Drew, Summer 2002

I did it! I graduated! Now to add an OU Alumni tag holder to The Runner!

The Runner has done a LOT of traveling. She's seen the Las Vegas Strip, the Colorado Rockies, Bourbon Street in New Orleans and everywhere in between. I sometimes wonder if she couldn't navigate I-35 on her own and I could just take a nap in the backseat....

One of many road trips. This pic was taken in Austin after driving down from Norman.

Winter weather: not The Runner's favorite, but she' performs well in it.

My inability to sit upright in my wedding dress meant I got the backseat to myself!

There's been some impostors over the years...

A purple "Surf" in Japan

Spotted in Baton Rouge before an LSU game. A very appropriate vehicle for an LSU fan.
(You know it's not mine because it doesn't have the silver tire flares!)

It's transported us to countless races. This is Sarah, Ellie and I before the Mission 10K, April 2011.

The Runner was broken into back in May of 2011. They stole my GPS and all my CDs. The joke was on them as half the CDs were one's I'd burned (no value) and the other half were from 2003 or earlier. 

In 2012 she sported an OU Texas plate! Oh, the irony!

So today, after over 12 years and 162,000 miles together, she'll be traded in for a new vehicle (more to come on that!). Who knows what will come of her. I do hope that she winds up with another adventurous girl so that The Runner can give her the same gift she gave me.

Freedom.

Boomer Sooner Homecoming!

Way back in the spring, it was looking like we weren't going to be in Texas past Summer of 2013. Not knowing where we might land, I figured 2012 was really my last chance to go to an OU football game from within driving distance. (Turns out I was right!) So I told Mike I would be planning an OU football weekend. If he wanted to plan a trip to see the LSU Tigers play, I'd be on board completely, but I wanted to see the Sooners play on Owen Field this year!

Shortly after making this declaration, a friend mentioned on Facebook that he was selling two tickets to EVERY HOME GAME this season. I was ecstatic. I went to the OU Football schedule and strategically chose the OU/KU game on October 20th. It was Homecoming, 3 days after my birthday and since I'm from Kansas I have a special place in my heart for KU (even when OU is crushing them!). It was the obvious choice. So I mailed a check and a few days later, these bad boys were in our mailbox!

Hello, Beautiful!

We got in on the Friday night before the game on Saturday. Mike and I love a little pasta shop on Campus Corner called Victoria's. They have homemade pasta and their food is amazing. It's exactly what you'd expect from a small pasta shop in a college town: limited seating on a Friday night, grungy hipster servers, and amazing food!

We sat above the kitchen so we could watch them prepare our meals!

I decided there should be a birthday celebration at The Mont, a local establishment specializing in Swirls (frozen mix of margarita and sangria) and awarding drunk co-eds with t-shirts on their birthday! My t-shirts were a little worse for the wear (one survived the Warrior Dash and the other had holes in it) so I figured it was time for a new one. I was so happy to see so many friends including folks from my sorority, my meteorology class and work!

This year's shirts were kind of cute!

On Saturday, Mike and I got up and did a circuit workout at the hotel. We stayed at the National Center for Employee Development (NCED) where they train postal workers. It's really nice and has a lot of amenities since federal employees go there for weeks at a time for training. Mike and I also took in some ping pong and a game of horse in the gym!

LSU was playing Texas A&M that day so Mike and I caught the last part of the game at Louie's. It was an exciting game that ended up in a creative last effort by the Aggies, but the Tigers won in the end so Mike was happy.

Mike was really into the game!

Just as we were leaving Louie's to meet up with a friend for some tailgating, we came across the homecoming parade! We got to see the Sooner Schooner, the cheerleaders and the Pride of Oklahoma!

From there we met up with my friend, Chris, with whom I used to work at Weathernews. He and his friends shared with us some of their fajitas, beer and cookies! We were very grateful! We even met a nice couple from Kansas. He was a grad student at OU so he wore an OU shirt. She wore a KU shirt! Soon, it was time to go to our seats and get ready for the pre-game entertainment!

Chris and I

Our seats were in the south end zone. It was a gorgeous day for football in Oklahoma!!

IIIIIIIT'S FOOTBALL TIME in OKLAHOMA!!!

What a good LSU guy to wear an OU shirt for his wifey!

During halftime, I was able to meet up with my college roommate and her husband. They just had twins this year, so it was great to catch up and see what's going on in their lives. They live in Tulsa and we hadn't seen them since our wedding! Unfortunately I didn't get a picture. :(

The game was a bit of a blowout, as expected. The final score was 52-7, OU, but Mike and I left at the beginning of the 4th quarter to walk back to the car.

On our way back to Texas on Sunday, we made arrangements to meet Mike's Aunt Marcia, Uncle Earl and grandmother in Gainesville, TX for lunch. We had a great time catching up with them and were very glad we could stop and see them. Even though we live in the same state, we're still almost 6 hours away!

We had such a great weekend! Mike even asked if we could go to all the games! Ha! 15 hours of driving round trip probably isn't something either of us is up to, but I'd like to make this an annual thing for sure, perhaps switching between LSU and OU games so the Tigers get some Holtz Love, too!