Homecoming 2011 (Part 1): Walkaround

"Oklahoma State...a southerner's dream and a northerner's wish; the pride of Oklahoma; the ultimate college experience; Pistol Pete; The Possee; and a place that can get in your blood and stay forever..." ~OSU T-shirt

Well last Thursday after work I made a trek to Oklahoma for Homecoming at OSU. I've just got too much to say to put this all into one post...so we'll have a little mini-series. Today, we'll cover Day 1 of the Homecoming festivities.

In case y'all didn't know this, OSU has the biggest (and best) homecoming celebration. And this girl does her best to partake every year! Here are a few shots from homecomings past....

So Friday started out with Loud Oklahoma Girl and I hitting the gym with her personal trainer. I felt pretty good during the session, but I'm here to tell you, three days later my arms still feel like they might fall off! And after our workout and a little fixing up, we were off to the happiest place on earth....Stillwater, Oklahoma! In the car, the Blonde Oklahoma Girl decided that my hair needed some volume, so we had a little "poofing" session right there driving down the road. Love it.

Every single time I drive into Stillwater, my heart just automatically gets happier. I just can't get over what a great college experience I had there. I hope that all of you have a place that you feel this way about!

And when we arrived, we headed for the main attraction of the night: Walkaround. This is where all of the students, alums and community--I'm talking 80,000 people here y'all!-- go out and literally walk around the campus and sorority houses to check out the "house decs" which are basically these huge walls of pictures made out of chicken wire and tissue paper. Actually making the house decs is called pomping. Here is a great video about it featuring President Hargis and his wife Ann. Andh ere's a close up photo for ya.Every year I wonder how they will top the house decs from the year before, and they always do. This year's Homecoming theme was "Where Your Story Began." LOVE it! Favorite theme ever. Even bought a shirt becuase I loved it so much.

Anyway, back to Walkaround, here are some of my favorite shots.

I absolutely loved the references to The Ten, ten years later. We will never forget.

And after Walkaround, the girls and I headed for our old stomping grounds....my favorite bar in the world, The Copper Penny. Some things have changed (couches where the pool table used to be...it's not a freaking nursing home, it's a bar!), but some things stayed the same (cow manure on the floor and cattle photos on the wall). We enjoyed a little limee action, chatting with old friends, and watching Game 7 of the World Series.

And then, it happened. We did not shut the bar down. I know, I know....it's a disappointment. We made it until 11:30 (two of the three of us were ready to bail at about 9:45) and then decided that we were too old to keep going. We left it to the college kids. They seemed to have it under control. I guess this turning 28 thing caught up to me!

Stay tuned over the next few days for a recap of tailgating, the game, and a missing person report.