I left Friday night (and luckily got on an earlier flight) to fly to Fort Worth for the Virginia-TCU game and to get my ring! :) It was such a good weekend! I got in about 10 p.m. and my parents flew in also because it was an 11-o'clock game Saturday, so they picked me up. I finally got my Raising Cane's when we met Trey at the one in Arlington. Within an hour of being in Texas, I got to see my parents, eat Cane's, see Trey, and even see Trey's new car! And that was only Friday! I got to see Trey's apartment and watch a little TV before joining my parents at their hotel to get some rest before the game.

Saturday morning when we went to Frog Alley, it was HOT!! At 9 in the morning we were already sweating. But it was worth it, we got some free breakfast sandwiches (apparently paid for by Gary Patterson). Then we found "Big Daddy" and "MadDog" at their tailgate. Big Daddy is a friend of Uncle David's and Big Daddy and MadDog played football for TCU in the 1970s. Big Daddy's sons also went to TCU and played football and baseball. Then we found the Bishops and Mrs. Polasek. We talked with them for a while and then went into the student section with Trey. We both finally got to see a home game! And to make it better, we saw Lauren, Megan, Kim and Wyatt too! Then it was time to go to the Bookstore and dinner.

family :)

ADPi sisters <>

Sunday was the ring ceremony! Mimi and Stephanie came up from College Station to see me get my ring. I was sitting next to Cameron luckily, so I knew someone. And with like 5 ADPis there, Cassie had to get us to take a picture! And I had to get my picture with the family, my mom, my dad, my parents together, Mimi, Stephanie and finally one with Trey. Afterwards I found Bryn, which was a nice surprise! We all went to the reception and relaxed a little before heading to the airport. My parents went to their terminal to go to Houston, and I went to my terminal to come back to D.C.

Then it was back to the everyday grind of D.C. life. Programming took up most of Monday. Then the rest of the week was pretty much spent researching the NG Kids wild card ideas and Guinness World Record stories. Friday I got to go on a field trip, though, to do some more research for a potential special issue of the Kids magazine coming in the future.

Friday I went with Mariah and Katy to a charity hockey game between the FBI and the Canadian Embassy. Surprisingly the FBI won! It was a non-contact game, so it wasn't that great as far as entertainment goes, but at least it was hockey. If the NHL is going to stay in a lockout, a non-contact charity game is good enough for me. I had forgotten how much I missed the smell of an ice rink and the overpowering smell of hockey.

Saturday we went to another game-watching party for the TCU-SMU game. Unfortunately, the manager at Hill Country BBQ didn't plan things correctly, so we had about 60 TCU and SMU fans (it was a joint watching party with SMU alums) watching the game on two little TVs in the bar area. Hopefully that manager learned her lesson to remember our standing reservation for four reserved tables in the main dining room with the big projector screen down for the game. We can only hope for better next weekend. For once I was happy I wasn't at the game, though, because it looked downright miserable. The rain apparently didn't stop all game and it made for a very sloppy game in general. A win is a win, though, and that's all that really matters I guess.

Mariah and me with the Aston Martin

Sunday Mariah and I went to the International Spy Museum. It is such a cool museum! Even though it's $21 for a regular adult ticket, it is so big that it's worth the price! Plus you get to see James Bond's Aston Martin! And I got a really cool hat in the gift shop that has secret pockets. Even though I'm not planning on quitting school and becoming a spy, the hat pockets would be good to keep my keys, ID and money safe for when I'm walking or (if I ever get there) running. Then we walked around Chinatown and eventually came back to finish working on our research papers for the Media and Washington class.