Football Saturday

Today is one of the best days in the life of a Nebraskan.  It's the return of college football season.  And in this state, it is cause for celebration.

I have been a Husker fan my whole life, and attending college at UNL gave a whole new meaning to being a Husker.  During my undergrad, I loved going to Husker games.

It didn't matter if it was raining,

Freezing cold,

Early in the morning,

Late at night,

Or 450 miles away.

My friends, family, and I were fully immersed in the Husker football culture.

Now that I am an an adult - more specifically, a non-donating, non-ticket-holding adult - my Husker football season has changed a bit.  I can no longer buy tickets for $21 a game.  I now have to be on a waiting list for season tickets.

Last year, I watched all of the games on TV.  Sometimes people came to my apartment, sometimes I went to other friends' homes, and once or twice I returned home to watch the game with my family.

This year, however, my friend Steph invited me to come to her aunt's tailgate for the game.  I have never been tailgating before, so I was excited to try something new.

Getting there was quite a process.  Steph and I had class from 9-3 before meeting the rest of the gang back at my apartment to carpool downtown.  As it turns out, when 85,000+ fans are all trying to get to the same place, it can be difficult to find parking.  Steph's sister Jess gave us her parking garage card, which gave us a spot without much difficulty, but traffic among other things was a bit stressful.  Then, it took us a while to walk to the Journal Star parking lot and find exactly where Steph's aunt was.

Once we got there, everything was fine.  Steph's aunt was so kind to allow us to join her.  She provided us with food and drinks, and didn't ask us to bring anything.  Her aunt's friends were also great to hang out with.

I love these girls!

Aren't they cute?

Somebody had the idea to take piggy back pictures.

It was all good and well until...

They decided to add Steph's aunt on to Jess's shoulders.

There was lots of laughing

Lots of silliness,

And lots of love :)

Also, lots of community lemonade!

As it turns out, tailgating is a pretty fun way to experience a Husker game.  If you can't be in Memorial Stadium, you might as well be right outside of it.

Go Big Red!