Going Native

Go·ing na·tive (gō′iŋg nāt′iv)

To adopt the lifestyle or outlook of local inhabitants, especially when dwelling in a colonial region

Up until last year, if you would have asked me where I’m from, I probably would have told you Kansas. It’s where I was born and, with the exception of a brief stint in Pennsylvania, where I was raised.

Never mind the fact that I haven’t lived there for more than a couple of months at a time since the year 2002. Never mind the fact that I’ve been married and living in Iowa since the year 2005. I’m not from Iowa, I just live here. Makes perfect sense, right? ;)

But let’s be real – we’ve got a baby, a house, and a great church family, not to mention at least one set of grandparents living nearby. Unless God changes our plans, we’re putting down some serious roots in the good ol’ Iowa soil.

So when one of Dave’s co-workers told him it was high time he picked an Iowa sports team to root for, he was all for it. After doing a little research and receiving some arm twisting gentle pressure from some friends of ours, Dave chose the Iowa Hawkeyes, and to make things interesting, he even started a blog about it.

{Which you should totally visit, because he’s an awesome writer}

{And he’s also super hot}

{In my humble, completely unbiased opinion :) }

We were told that in order to truly capture the magic that is Hawkeye football, we needed to take in at least one game at Kinnick stadium.

So a couple of Saturdays ago, we packed up and headed out at the crack of dawn, {and I do mean the crack of dawn} met up with some friends, and car pooled to Iowa City to take in a live game, Iowa versus the Minnesota Gophers.

I have to admit, I was just a smidge nervous because I knew I’d be spending the day surrounded by some diehard Hawkeye fans and I…knew basically nothing.  I didn’t want to look stupid.

But you know what? I had nothing to worry about because it……

……………………….was………………………

………..so…………

………..much……….

……..FUN!!!!!!!!!!

We tailgated {minus the alcohol}.

We made fun of the all the drunk people {and I was worried about looking stupid…pshh}

We jumped up and down and high-fived perfect strangers when the Hawkeyes scored a touchdown.

We made fun of the male cheerleaders.

We sang the fight song.

We made fun of the way Minnesohtans talk (sorry Beck :)

We ate stadium food {the more it costs, the better it tastes}

We went down on the field after the game.

We got to spend some quality time with good friends that we don’t see nearly often enough.

And we took pictures. Lotsa, lotsa pictures. Here are some of my faves:

The view from our seats

 

Final score

Down on the field Me and Katie

So it’s official.

We’re Iowans.

Go Hawkeyes!