Congratulations graduate!

After a super busy but very productive workweek in Michigan (thus the reason for no blogging), today was a fun return to home, friends, and happy reasons for celebrations. Today Deborah graduated!

We found great seats high in the balcony in Hilton Coliseum and watched the graduates and faculty file in.

The colors were presented and Simon Estes led everyone in singing the National Anthem. He has the most amazing voice. I could have listened to him sing all afternoon.

Then Richard "Ric" Jurgens, CEO of Hy-Vee, took the podium and gave the commencement address.

Immediately after the Ph.D. candidates were invited on stage one at a time and hooded, the Masters degree candidates followed and Deborah walked proudly off the stage as an Iowa State alum!

We searched high and low through all the crowds and thanks to a couple cell phone calls, we found her quickly afterwards. There were lots of smiles, photos, hugs, and well-wishes. After all, it's not every day someone graduates with their Master's Degree :)

Way to go, Deborah! We're so proud of you! You've worked hard, done well, and will continue to succeed in all you do.

Cyclone victory!

This afternoon we went to the ISU women's basketball game with Richard.

The national anthem brought the crowd to their feet and then the game began.

The score was low and tied much of the game.

By the end of the first half, however, the game was tied at 24 with less than 30 seconds to go. The pressure was on! Jamie pointed out the students sitting in the student section were all mimicking the opposing coach's actions. Not sure if the copycatting added any pressure, but it sure was funny to watch.

A successful last moment drive to the basket put the Cyclones ahead by two as the buzzer sounded. Eurphoria erupted and the crowd leaped to their feet in celebration and the teams filed out to their separate lockerooms.

Just one row below us we spied Jenny and Pete, their son Max and Jenny's mom Jane. We haven't seen them for a little while so it was really fun to catch up. Out of all the 14K seats in the place - how cool they were in the row in front of ours!

We enjoyed the timeout festivities on the court throughout the game.

Nearing the end of the second half, the Cyclones were gaining a nice lead over Michigan's Wolverines.

In the end, the Cyclones managed to lengthen their lead and pulled off a nice win.

A stop with Richard at Culver's for hot chocolate and ice cream was the perfect end to a great afternoon. Thanks again for a good time, Richard! We had a lot of fun and enjoyed the game.

The last home game

Missouri came to Ames today to face off against the Cyclones in Iowa State Football's last home game of the season. This was our last weekend to be suite hosts so we lived it up large.

We enjoyed a quick meal in the skytower and watched the stadium field below come to life before the game.

The wind was brisk today and the game was scheduled to start at 6pm. Not a good combination for warm seats for all the fans.

The Iowa vs. Ohio State game was on the TV in our entryway. Lots of guests stopped and watched with us. Some were rooting for Iowa. Several were rooting against Iowa. It was a lively bunch. With only :53 left in the fourth quarter, the screen froze, then turned blank. We didn't find out until much later that Ohio State managed to win, 20 to 17.

Jamie made friends with Ava tonight. A couple weeks ago she wasn't so sure of his beard. Tonight she walked right up to him and gave him a high five. It made his night. Near the end of the game when Ava's family was heading out, Jamie asked to pose for a photo with her. She was tired and decided she wasn't in the mood for frivolity like smiling for the camera. Next year will be different - Ava will be a whole year older and Jamie will be even better friends with her :) Then the photo will turn out great!

After all our guests left and we'd finished our duties, we said goodnight and goodbye to all the other staff and headed out into the breeze and down the hill towards our car. It was a good season and a good night.

Hope your night is good too!

I'm not the only one - AgWeb was there too

I'm not the only one who posted about Saturday's historic gameday rivalry between Nebraska and Iowa State.

AgWeb visited Ames, toured campus, and captured great game highlights. See it all here: http://www.agweb.com/campus-tour-scenes-from-iowa-state-vs-nebraska/. Enjoy!

The 105th match and the end of an era

Today the Huskers and the Cyclones faced off for the 105th time, marking the oldest rivalry in Iowa State University history and sadly the end of an era. Next year the University of Nebraska leaves the Big XII Conference and joins the Big X and will never play Iowa State University again.

The upside to this is Jamie will be free to fully join me in cheering the Huskers on against the rest of the Big X so finally we'll be able to root for them together. Maybe then he'll finally wear the Husker Football t-shirt I gave him when we were dating. :)

This morning we went to the stadium early and walked around all the tailgaters in a sea of red crimson, cardinal and more than a little gold.

We came across fair friends who proudly sported new shirts made up just for this game. Jamie quickly fell in with their schemes and thought these shirts were brilliant.

Needing some air, and thinking to myself these shirts were a bit brash we left in search of friendlier turf and came across an intriguing bunch.

Some of the Iowan supporters of the Husker state next door were even quite boisterous and begged to pose for photos.

Perhaps feeling out of place, Jamie suggested we keep moving along, and so we left the tailgaters and went inside the stadium to report for duty.

We are very fortunate to be suite hosts in the football stadium suites. Here you can see some of the windows where our guests sit in their boxes and watch the games.

We were welcomed and greeted at our suite entrance by our friendly security guard.

We never grow tired of walking up the hill and watching the stadium come to life each game day.

This is where we stand each game and greet our suite guests. We help them find their suites, answer questions, and really enjoy seeing the regular attendees.

A new addition this year is the TV on the wall in the entryway where we stand. We were so excited when this was installed a few weeks ago. Now we get to see the game too! It's also really nice for guests who wait at the entrance. We've even had several guests ask us to check scores of other games so this new TV has been a great addition we've all enjoyed.

Almost as much fun as it is to see the stadium come alive is seeing it put to bed at the close of each game. We close the windows in the suites, turn off the radios and TVs, and peek out the suite windows at the buzz on the field below as the band finishes playing, fans start to return to their cars, the grounds crew scuttles about putting equipment away, and the cleanup crew begins the arduous task of prepping the stadium for the next home game.

As we walk out of the suites and down the hill back to our car, the visiting football team is gathered at the foot of the hill around their equipment semi, waiting to board the buses for the trip home. This time the team is vibrant and enthusiastic because the Huskers won in overtime by only one point against a Cyclone team who was supposed to lose by 19 according to the broadcasters. This Cyclone team, the team who beat Texas, AT HOME, a couple weeks ago, and then shocked themselves further by defeating Kansas the following week, is becoming a team to be reckoned with.

Maybe, just maybe, now that the Huskers and Cyclones won't be playing each other any longer, I'll allow myself to have two favorite teams - one in each conference. And peace will come to our household because one of us won't have to lose because our teams will no longer be playing each other. Who says change isn't a good thing? ;)