Dallas Trip

Last Wednesday (9/30), my parents came up from Hot Springs and spent the night. Rudy brought home pizza and we spent the night doing laundry and packing. I really needed some new maternity jeans for our trip to Dallas, so Mom and I ran out at 7:00 at night to try to find some decent looking jeans for me. We found what we were looking for and got home in time for her to give Caleb a bath while I finished packing.

When we got up Thursday morning, Rudy and I headed off to work and Mom, Mr.L. and Caleb headed off to Hot Springs. They were all geared up for a weekend of fun - full of fishing, playing and all of the other great stuff that comes along with being a 3-year-old at Pops and LaLa's house.

When Rudy and I got home from work, we packed up and loaded our bags to head for Dallas. The Hogs were playing Texas A&M at the new Cowboys Stadium and some of Rudy's fraternity brothers took the opportunity to put together a reunion. We were so excited to see those guys - most of whom we hadn't seen since we left the UofA 10 years ago!

We left home Thursday afternoon about 4:45 and got to Matt and Mandy's house in Denton at about 10:30. It was a LONG ride for this pregnant girl! I worked in the car until it got dark and then I played on my phone - texting and Facebooking - most of the rest of the way there. I was just trying to keep my mind off of how uncomfortable I was in the car! When we got to the Montgomerys' house, we visited for about an hour and then crashed into the bed.

Rudy and I had both taken a personal day from work on Friday, so we felt like we were playing hooky and it was great! Matt made us a wonderful pancake breakfast and then it was time to enjoy our day in Dallas. They guys were meeting up for golf and Mandy and I were meeting our new friend, Patty, for a day of shopping. We all met in the parking lot in the golf course and it was fun to see a lot of the guys together for the first time. Once they split up into their golf carts, Mandy, Patty and I headed for our first destination: Sam Moon.

Our shopping day was very successful and a lot of fun. I got a couple of great handbags and even managed to find a temporary wedding ring to wear while my hands are pregnancy swollen. After our Sam Moon adventure, we headed for the mall and shopped a little, then had lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Yum! The rest of our shopping time included a stop at SuperTarget and IKEA. Once we had shopped ourselves to the point of exhaustion, we met the guys and then headed home for a little rest and to freshen up before the evening's festivities.

Friday night, we packed our cars back up and went to Jason Reed's parents' house. We were so fortunate to have the chance to stay in their amazing home for the rest of the weekend. Jason invited us to stay there so we would be a little closer to the stadium and not have to travel back and forth to Denton every night. It worked out great and we felt like we were in a luxury hotel. Jason, Mandy, Matt and Brandon Ward had arranged a great catered BBQ dinner for us. The rest of the crew showed up and we had a great time laughing and catching up on everyone's lives in the past 10 years. Thanks to the magic of the internet and Facebook, we were able to pick up right where we left off and were even able to know information about people who weren't even there.Here are the guys on Friday night ~ Jake Dickinson, Jason Reed, Rudy, Brandon Ward, Stacy Singleton, Matt Montgomery and Josh Adler.

I finally had to bid everyone goodnight at about midnight - about the time we would've just gotten started back in college.

My favorite summary of the night was the following top ten list posted on Facebook by Stacy Singleton (slightly adapted for this G-rated blog):

Top ten reasons not to miss the annual AKL reunion!

10. Reed's parents are LLLLOOOOOOAAAADDDDDEEEEEDDD!

9. Rudy pushes girls down when he plays basketball.

8. Blake's pledge name was Toby.

7. Lucas is so old he doesn't remember his pledge name.

6. Gomer proudly displays his mooning picture.

5. Adler and Stephanie are having a black baby.

4. There will be a sighting of Coco Beware.

3. Brandon supposedly almost got married to some crazy b****.

2. There is a lot less hair in the group.

1. Bolts wearing the classic Cousin Eddie shoes! (photo below)

Saturday morning, Mandy and I went to a nearby nail place to get pedicures and they were the worst pedis we have ever had! Honestly...this was the only negative to the whole weekend! When we got back to the house, the guys were loading up our car to head out. We met the rest of the crew for lunch at BoneDaddy's, where we were served lunch by scantily clad girls who looked like they hadn't eaten in months and talked at very high pitches. This is what the majority of the people at our table ate:

Here's Bolts (Matt Osborn) modeling his Cousin Eddie Razorback fan attire, complete with polyester knit shirt and his ever-present white patent leather shoes. It was a sight to behold.

Once we were sufficiently fed again, we piled back into the cars and headed for Cowboys Stadium. Brandon had managed to get us some parking passes in one the tailgating lots. We got all set up and then the sky opened up and it poured down rain for most of the afternoon. We managed to have fun anyway and took advantage of the breaks in the rain. Stacy and Lisa Singleton brought some photo albums from college and we all had a great time looking at those. There were some pictures in there that brought back memories I haven't thought about in a long time. Here are a few pictures from our tailgating afternoon...

The guys: Blake Hall, Josh Adler, Jason Reed, Jake Dickinson, Matt Montgomery, Stacy Singleton, Matt Osborn, Rudy, Brandon Ward, Jamie Luck, Lucas Jobe.

The Girls: Lisa Singleton, Patty Dickinson, Haley, Mandy Montgomery, Colleen Jobe, Tracy Luck

As gametime got closer, we headed for the stadium and all its glory. The place is amazing. We joined the sea of fans streaming in and began the ridiculously long climb up ramp after ramp to our seats. When we finally made it to the upper deck, we were in awe. Our seats were amazing, even from that far up. The women sitting behind us took one look at my belly and proclaimed me a "real fan" for climbing that far for the game. Fortunately, the Hogs showed up BIG TIME and we won the game 47-19. The Hog fans were fired up during and after the game and it was so very much fun. After the game, you could hear one Hog Call after another all the way down those winding ramps that we climbed before the game. It was awesome! We knew it was raining after the game, so we walked through the stadium to an exit that was closer to where we were parked, but we got soaked going to the car anyway. We were so delirious over the win and the fun we had that we didn't even care that it was pouring on us. Besides - what choice did we have? Once we finally got to the car, we spent FOREVER in traffic trying to get on the interstate to get home. It was still raining, and as the designated driver of my car, I was a nervous wreck. But - we made it safely to the IHOP for a late night meal and final few minutes of reunion with the whole crew. After eating some greasy food, we went back to Reed's house and hit the bed hard. When I woke up Sunday morning, everyone was gone except for Reed, Rudy and I. We quickly got ready to go home and started the long trip back...in the rain. When we got home, Rudy and I spent the evening relaxing and trying to recharge our batteries from the busy and long weekend.

We can't wait for next year's reunion at the 2010 Southwest Classic.

More pictures from the weekend here.