Cheer, Cheer for Ole' Notre Dame!

Andrew and I just got back from a great weekend at Notre Dame! It was kind of a spur of the moment thing (well as much as it can be, with airlines and travel arrangements needing to be made) but it ended up being such a great weekend.

 

I am so thankful that I have been getting so much time to spend with Andrew before he deploys. I am pretty much dead broke at this point, but I keep telling Andrew, we can always make more money, but we can't always make up for the memories that we didn't make. 

Dierks Bentley (another country guy) has a great song called "Can't Live It Down" and my favorite line is: 

"There's times I've wasted money cause I know that I can always make more cash; but wasted time is something, man, when it's gone you can't get it back" 

So that is my motto for the moment. I'm just living it up and soaking it in as long as I can... and MAN oh man, am I enjoying life!

BUT that is all beside the point! Andrew and I had a great weekend in South Bend. I woke up at a ridiculous 4:45 AM to make my 6 AM flight in Harrisburg to get to Louisville by 10. Then we went to the gym, showered and drove the entire length of the state of Indiana to get up to South Bend by dinner time! The GPS said it was a 4.5 hour drive, but IT LIED! It's okay though, we had lots of fun on the trip! This is what we saw for most of the time:

  We got up to South Bend after a stop at the Cracker Barrel for lunch just in time to eat right across the street from campus with Uncle Dan and Matt. Then we went over to the first Basketball game of the season at the new Purcell Pavillion and watched the Irish absolutely STOMP on Georgia Southern. We headed to bed pretty early cause tailgating was to start early the next morning.
  
... and it did start early; for the boys :) Anne Michelle and I went over around noon after the guys had started around 7:30. I love tailgating with all of them! One of Sean's buddies from college lives in South Bend so they call him Townie. A few years ago he bough an old ambulance and that is now their official tailgating vehicle! It's pretty awesome! Unfortunately, Andrew, Matt and Uncle Dan went out to get some Keystone light and ended up with the most horrid beer in the world. It's called BEER light. On the box it asks "what time is it? BEER 30." It comes in a purple can and nobody (except Anne Michelle; cause she's a champ-- and later Townie because he is Townie) could finish a whole can. So we ended up selling half of the case to some Utah fans (gross) for ten bucks. Horrible deal for them! 

The game was FREEZING and it started raining just as we were wrapping up the tailgate and going into the stadium, but it was still all a part of the experience. Andrew and I sat up near the press boxes for the first half and then took Matt and Anne Michelle's seats three rows back from the 40 yard line. It was definitely an amazing experience, and the Irish were unstoppable. They beat Utah 28-3; their first win against a ranked opponent since 2005.

  

After the game, we went to grab takeout at Rocco's (a family tradition) and then had dinner at Matt and Anne Michelle's which was great. The plan was to continue the party and go out to the bars that night, but Matt was in Sweatpants and Andrew fell asleep on the couch so that was a no-go. (I still hate that term a little; I think it's one of those things from Ranger School that will always stick with me). Andrew and I drove home the next day and another great weekend was in the books.

Or so I thought. Instead of flying back home at 6:10, I decided to switch my flight, stay the night in Louisville and fly back the next day. Great decision! The Patriots kicked the Steeler's butts and we had a few beers and all had a grand olde time! Dierks Bentley really got the right; and I can't live it down... and I don't want to.