The internet (and the Allen's) are back & fine in 2009!

Phew ... it's nice to be back in the world of the internet again. While I value my peace and quite at home, after about 4 weeks without any way to connect with the outside world I thought I was about to go crazy! I have been dying to know how all my blogger friends are doing as well as brainstorming ways to share all of our holiday stories with everyone.

I will admit that thinking of how many blogs I would like to post is quite overwhelming ... almost anxiety inducing. So, I hope I won't disappoint anybody by deciding to start small. The idea of choosing blog worthy pics from our cruise is still quite daunting for me, therefore I will pick smaller, more manageable posts until I get my feet on the ground again.

As incentive to not give up reading about our lives though, I do want to post my ideas for future blogs, so stay tuned! I'd like to share about ...
* A humorous incident we had with our neighbor.
* All the great memories from our cruise!
* A quick update on our half-marathon training (we are T minus 28 days)
* Movies I would recommend
* An update on TC ... the cat
* My feelings on the ABC line-up for the spring season

For now, let's just review the recent pics & stories I uploaded to my computer tonight.
1. TCU vs. LA Tech basketball game
During my break from work, LA Tech played TCU at a home game in Ruston. We were so excited and so we decided to be the biggest fans for TCU! A friend of mine from college, along with Grayson, Winston and I were 4 of 8 fans cheering for the frogs this night. We had a blast rooting for the frogs, even though they lost. We thought it was pretty rare and cool that TCU was playing Tech and so we loaded up the entire family and headed to the colliseum. Grayson lost about $3 in various bets with Tech friends, but it just made the time we spent heckling our Tech friends (and family) more fun throughout the game. I was proud when I got to work this morning and a co-worker commented on how loud the TCU section was at the game and how surprised he was to see me in the middle of it! Not sure if that was a compliment or not?
2. Independence Bowl: Louisiana Tech vs. Northern Illinois University I am proud to say that the Bulldogs made it into another bowl game this year, the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, LA. We graciously received the tickets as a Christmas gift and loaded up in the car again and headed west for the game. Some of us (ie: Winston) were a little un-prepared for the freezing cold weather. Literally, it was 38 degrees for most of the game. Luckily, we brought lots of blankets to keep us (and him) warm.

For this game, I definitely wore my red & blue. Although, upon looking at the crowd I realized I need to add more red and blue to my wardrobe. I figure this is logical and a necessity since I'll probably be attending more Tech functions. Really, it's just another reason to head to the mall :)

Winston and Thurston were wrapped up and ready to cheer on the Dawgs as well. (Thanks for the tickets Uncle DJ and Aunt Sandy!)

Who doesn't bring a toothbrush with them to football games?

We watched more sports than anything else during the holidays. We saw two TCU games and two Tech games. It was so much fun rooting for teams where we actually have something invested. At the end of it all, Grayson won a silver dollar, peanuts & a drink at the I-Bowl, another buck and I think we were only down $1. Not too bad if I do say so myself!