Lucky Seventeen

What a challenging year to be a Hog fan.  We started with a close then not so close game in Auburn and then a few solid victories over non-SEC schools.  Riley got to witness her first full Razorback game!

Then we headed to the Big D for the resurrection of one of my favorite Razorback traditions - the Southwest Classic.  What's not to love about a game in Cowboys Stadium complete with a Cowboyrita or three?

Riley also got to meet Jerry Jones - way cool.

(PICS TO COME...As soon as Mom texts them to me.)

But a little piece of me died during that overtime loss, and losing to Alabama 14-13 the next game did nothing to help my spirits.  With two close games against ranked opponents we went into the Georgia game with optimism.

Turns out Georgia is much better than we are, and I spent a whole quarter and half time looking for a changing table in War Memorial.  Not cool.  We won homecoming and marched into Starkville to play #1 Mississippi State with a 16 game SEC losing streak and a chip on our shoulder.  But yet again things didn't go our way and we lost by a touchdown.  After a week off, my least favorite team in all of sports - that's right, more than the Philadelphia Eagles - Lousiana State University came to Fayetteville.  We're in the middle of a cold snap and kickoff was 7PM, so it took some real troopers to attend this game.  Fortunately, I know a few.

A crowd of over 70,000 people stayed until 10:30PM in 30 degree weather to see our Arkansas Razorbacks beat #17 LSU to snap a 17 game SEC losing streak by a score of 17-0.  The team charged across the field as time ran out to seize the Golden Boot trophy and the crowd stormed the field to celebrate.

If I had to wait 17 SEC games to see the Hogs win, I am extremely happy that it happened in Fayetteville against a ranked LSU - couldn't be sweeter.  Here's hoping we win out and head back to and Eddie Money concert...I mean the Liberty Bowl!  Go Hogs!

Resident President

The weekend before last, something special happened.  First of all, my parents came up.  This girl loves her parents so that in itself was special.  We had a weekend of woo piggin' planned - Hog baseball and basketball followed by a horse show for Alli.  Alli, Ryan, and Dad went to the Razorback game.  Alli saw Ribby, almost caught a foul ball, and continued to improve her seed spitting.  She's going to be quite the softball player this spring.  Ryan worked on getting a wicked tan.

To make a special weekend even more special, my boss let Ryan and Dad use his father-in-law's courtside seats for the basketball game.

And it was Riley's first basketball game and the whole family got to be there.

And oh by the way, my favorite former president was there, sitting just rows behind us.

Can't tell who it is?  Let's get a better shot, shall we?  Here he is with the two greatest coaches in Arkansas basketball history, Eddie Sutton and Nolan Richardson.

Can you tell now?  No?  How about now?

That's right, Bill Clinton came to Riley's first Razorback basketball game, along with Eddie and Nolan.  Oh, and the Razorback final four teams.

I was Alli's age when these two were hooping, and I had posters of them both on my walls.  My parents even took me downtown to see the parade after we won the National Championship in 1994.  So being in Bud Walton with them being honored was a little surreal.  So Riley attended her first basketball game with some of the greatest players, coaches, and presidents to ever grace the University of Arkansas.  And we got a Hog win out of the deal, too.

Sunday we went to Alli's horse show, and on the way home the last special thing happened.  We had been telling the family about the park right off of Garland and how some people use it for LARP'ing on occasion.  What's LARP'ing you ask?  It's Live Action Role Playing, and it means in this case that a group of people don actual armor and have fake sword fights.  Well lucky us, LARP'ing was going on right as we passed.  Ryan turned right and we slowed down to watch someone actually have to get carried off from a sword fight.  Talk about capping off a perfect weekend!

Little Piggy's First Game

This weekend marked a huge milestone in the lives of all football fans (especially Razorback fans who marked the beginning of the Bret Bielema era), but none more special than Riley's first Hog game!  With temperatures soaring to 98 degrees and heat indices even higher, we cancelled the tailgate and headed straight for the game.  I decided to take Riley despite the heat because our seats are under the overhang, and I was prepared to jet out of there as soon as she seemed ready.  Ryan got his gameday walk on with Riley strapped to him.

The closer we got to to stadium, the uglier the looks got at our audacity to bring a baby in this heat.  I started letting it get to me, and it made me feel a little panicky.  But we trekked in, sat down under the overhang in the shade, and I turned the fan on her.  She was a little pink from the walk, but seemed okay.  But by the time the band was marching onto the field, I had decided I was going to high tail it out a few plays into the game.  At the first Hog call, Riley cried at the noise, and Ryan decided we were going to leave after the Hogs ran out.  We just couldn't handle the heat AND the noise AND the glares.  So Alli went to sit with her grandparents, and after her first flying A and a quick photo op, Riley exited Razorback stadium, missing her first Arkansas touchdown by mere minutes.

About thirty minutes later, our view looked like this:

Our friends Dave and Lindsey came over (they made it just a little longer than Riley did) and had pizza and watched the rest of the game in the AC with us.  And even though Riley's first game was a little bit of a bust, I still got these awesome pre-game pics.

These sweet pictures and a Hog win equals a victory in my book.  Woo pig, y'all!!

Quick Updates

I am falling so behind in my blog posting - I am never going to hit my 2 posts a week for the year goal unless I really turn it up!  We Lowes have been pretty busy getting ready for little Riley's arrival, attending soccer games and riding lessons for Alli, and just living!  Here's a few things we've been up to lately:

• Razorback Red White Game - My daddy and my brother came up this Saturday to attend the annual Red White game for the Razorbacks.  This year was pretty highly anticipated since we have a brand new coach and a new offensive scheme.  We were running late getting there, so Ryan pulled right up to the stadium to let us out.  A police officer started telling him he couldn't do that and needed to move on until Big Mama got out of the car.  At that point, the police officer sheepishly told Ryan he was fine, and then he was overhead saying "What was I going to say when she got out of the car?"  Special treatment?  I'll take it.

• Alli learned a life lesson - After the Red White game, we all went to eat and then I went to do a little nursery shopping while Ryan, Dad, and Alli went to the Razorback baseball game.  I went to bed before they got home, and the next morning, I asked Alli what her favorite part of the game was.  She didn't hesitate at all and announced, "Learning to spit sunflower seeds!"  Apparently her father and grandfather thought it was high time she learned how to properly eat sunflower seeds at a baseball game, and she caught on pretty well.  That's my little lady.

• Cash had surgery - I noticed a small lump on Cash's neck right by his collar, and when we took him in to the vet, they aspirated it.  They said it looked okay (he gets blocked sebaceous glands regularly), but they decided to send it to a lab in Little Rock to test it.  The lab called back and thought we needed to have it removed - apparently they saw some cells that they didn't like.  I've been pretty shaken up by the whole deal, but we knew it was best to tackle it head on and get it taken care of.  He had surgery last Wednesday and was doing really well until Saturday when he scratched open the stitches.  Ryan took him back to the vet, where they stapled him, but ten minutes after being home, he opened them up again.  When Ryan took him back the next time, they said he had opened his inner and outer stitches and would need to go back under to get fixed up.  That was Saturday, and now we're at Tuesday.  He's been spending his days in the crate with a sock over his foot and his evenings with me following him around saying "Don't scratch!!"  It's looking pretty good, but we still have about ten days of this to go.  Worn.  Out.  Ryan tried to create a solution, but our active boxer just can't seem to keep a bandage on.  So say your prayers that the results of the removal are positive (the lump is down in Little Rock getting analyzed, and we should hear something any day now).  

• Riley's room is coming together - Thanks to some major deliveries last week and huge strides in decorating, Riley's room is almost complete!  I should be able to share some pictures this weekend, but it's probably one of my favorite rooms I've ever done.  Seriously.

• Alli finished her first soccer season - Last Friday, Alli wrapped up her last soccer game.  She's made dramatic improvements since the beginning of the season, and almost made a goal twice!  She's also turned into quite the goalie.  We're so proud of her and can't wait to see her continue to develop through camps and fall league.

Where Did October Go?

I feel like I blinked and one of my favorite months of the year was gone!  And I didn't give the world a single update on it!  Fortunately, my all time favorite month is upon us, but just to keep everyone in the loop, here's an October recap.

• Football, and lots of it.  We attended every home football game the Hogs played in October, and tailgated for most of them, which means we had very few free weekends.  I love football, and I love the Hogs, but they really aren't making the time, effort, and money we're putting into them worth it this year.  Here's hoping it will pay off next year.  It's a good thing for us we have such great family and friends around to commiserate with.

• A field trip to the pumpkin patch.  It's really hard to believe that the last time Alli's school took a field trip to the pumpkin patch she was in kindergarten, and now she's in second grade!  I was able to go with her and it was so much fun.  The most wonderful thing about Alli's personality is that she thoroughly enjoys life.  So many kids on the field trip complained or didn't participate in the events, but Alli did everything that was put in front of her and had a blast the entire time.

• Halloween.  This is Alli's all time favorite holiday.  She's the kid who loves going in the Halloween store to see all of the scary stuff and swears she's not afraid.  I can't look at the demon babies, but Alli doesn't seem to mind them at all.  This year Alli decided to be a vampire.  We went to her school carnival the Friday before Halloween, and then went trick or treating in our old neighborhood with her good friends Addison and Samantha.  It was a great night, and I'm still sneaking her candy.  Someone stop me.

Here's to a wonderful October, and a warm welcome to the best month of the year, November.  Happy fall, y'all!

Hog 'til I die...

...but this season might kill me.  My hopes for the piggies crashed with Bobby Petrino's motorcycle in April, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a glimmer before this season started.  That all came to a screeching halt when we lost to ULM last weekend, but the Holloways and Lowes still love those Hogs, so we set up our first tailgate of the year in the rain for Alabama.

We had a pretty great tailgate despite the rain, and Ryan's friend Jake who recently moved to California showed up!  Check out the fashion statement --

All in all, great food, good friends, and a terrible game.

But today is Sunday, and it's a new day.  Go Cowboys!!