Despite being people who live fairly scheduled lives, and enjoy structure and predictability, Steven and I tend to have a penchant for spontaneity and adventure when there isn’t something scheduled. After a week of rain (thank you, Lord!), both kids’ soccer games on Saturday were rescheduled, so we found ourselves with an open Saturday last weekend. On Friday afternoon, we mulled over a few choices for how to spend our free Saturday, discovering that tickets to the Texas Tech football game were relatively cheap (and were actually good seats, not crazy high or right in the sun). We decided to go for it, and take the kids to their first Tech football game.

Since it was a 6:00 PM kick off, we were able to have a slow start of a morning at home, sleeping in and enjoying a large soaking thunderstorm that rolled through around 7 AM. While the kids played, Steven and I made brunch- bacon and egg biscuits (I use Amy Hannon’s biscuit recipe from Love, Welcome, Serve, and it’s wonderful!).

We finished up getting ready and headed to Lubbock around lunch time. When we arrived, we went straight to Uncle Julio’s for a late lunch. We’d never been before, and it was good!

After our late lunch, we ran into Red Raider Outfitters for some new t-shirts, and then drove around Lubbock a little- it seems like it changes so much every time we go! When we lived there 10 years ago, it was drastically different than it is today (and people used to say the same thing to us about what it looked like even before that!). It was pretty close to game time at this point, so we parked at the Health Sciences Center, which was fun, because we got to point out to the kids that was where we met! They have shuttle buses that run from the free parking lots at the HSC and satellite parking lots to drop right next to the stadium, which we knew would be our best bet with little legs that tire of walking easily. I think if you asked the kids, they would actually say their favorite part was riding the bus, haha!

We found our seats quickly, and then popped back up to the concourse for snacks before the game. Henry was a popcorn fiend- he devoured every single bit he could until it was completely gone. I was most excited for Liv to see the Masked Rider before the game. She has been loving all things horses, and I was hoping she’d love seeing the majestic black horse flying across the field leading the team out. She thought it was neat, but didn’t love the fire cannons behind it, or the fireworks blasting after every touchdown- she’s not big on loud noises! But she did love seeing the pom squad and cheerleaders perform, and Henry kept a watchful eye on Raider Red as he made his way around the field.

They made it through close to 2 quarters before they started getting restless and we felt like we should probably head home due to time anyway. Lubbock is about 2.5 hours from home, so it was going to be a late night followed by an early-ish morning getting everyone up and ready and out for church. After snagging Liv’s much requested soft pretzel, we rode the bus back to our car, and then hit a Freddy’s on our way out of town before heading home.

I love Texas Tech, and would love for our kids to want to go to Texas Tech because I think it’s a good school, and it is rich in tradition and west Texas heritage. But more than anything, I love Texas Tech because it’s where I found some of my favorite blessings- the love of my life, a profession I enjoyed, lifelong friendships, and an ownership of my faith as an adult. Tech didn’t necessarily give me any of those things (other than two degrees), but being there allowed God to move in all those ways to be where we are today, and I am so unbelievably grateful. And for that, Tech will always have my heart. I don’t know how our kids’ stories will play out, but I know the Author, and regardless of where they end up, it will be right where they are meant to be, and I’m so blessed and excited to get a front row seat and be their biggest cheerleader! But that doesn’t stop me from doing some serious campaigning for Tech for the next 10-15 years 😉 Strive for honor, evermore; long live the Matadors!