Ohio Trip Part 3

After our luncheon at Woody's in the Union we drove to our favorite OSU bar Nyoh's. We got a little more food (the sandwiches at the luncheon were "different"... if you are trying to feed the masses and only have two options my advice is to keep it simple. No caramelized onions or pesto sauce on my sandwich thank you.) We enjoyed some amazing pepperoni pizza... they have the same pepperoni as Addornettos. Yumm!

Me and Andrea.

Matt and Jim. The main topic of conversation was Hurricane Earl who was getting near the North Carolina coast and was threatening The Outer Banks where we had just been together.

Then it was time to walk over to the game... well French Field House first for some quality Grassy Noll time. It is a very long walk.... I think I blocked out memories of how long that walk really was because I was not dreading it at all until about half way through the walk and realized how far we had to go.

This parking garage is also a new addition since I left OSU.

Here is the little wrist band that everyone was worried about getting. Apparently OSU has implemented a limit on how many alumni cheerleaders were allowed to cheer the game.

Jim and Mike... Mike recently became a father and his son definitely stole the show at the luncheon!

Here are some pictures of Jim doing some stunting. And then the entire group of alumni cheerleaders who have this posing as a group down to a science. They all get together, smile, and count down from 10.

At this point I had to leave Jim and get to our seats as he would be walking in with the other cheerleaders.

I had forgotten how crazy the crowds of people are on game day.

See all these people... this wasn't even the worst of it.

When the ROTC guys start lining up that means it is about time for warm ups to start.

Then the Buckeyes do their entrance for warm ups.. and the crowd that has made it to their seats goes WILD!

And of course the man everyone talks about Mr. Pryor! :o)

The cheerleaders also make their way in for pregame. This is part of what the alumni cheerleaders get to participate in.

Once the teams have returned to the locker room the band makes their way onto the field and everyone cheers as they march out and then completely goes crazy when the drum major touches his plume to the ground in an amazingly controlled back bend. They also played Carmen Ohio which always makes me excited. One of the greatest things about being an Ohio State University alumni is having experienced a college so rich with tradition and history that alumni from two years ago and 30 years ago had the same traditions, to share those experiences with such a large group of people is pretty amazing.  And Blogger won't load the video I have of it so ya'll will have to wait and experience videos when I figure out that feature. That is also why there was such a delay between posts... have I ever mentioned how sometimes I get frustrated when things don't work the way I want? Yea last time it was figuring out the layout.

 Back to the subject...The game was not a nail biter but it was exciting to see the Buckeyes play and get a taste of the rest of the season.

At halftime both the regular marching band and alumni marching band preformed Script Ohio and made not two but FOUR Script Ohio's!

The third quarter brought more cheering for Jim and even more of a great performance from the Buckeyes.

 After the game we stayed for the singing of Carmen Ohio.

And we got down on the field to get some pictures of us together! :oD

Once we were able to get outside we met with my friend Tasha who is in her last year of Vet School. It was so great to get to meet up with more college friends.

Now it was time for the long walk back to Nyoh's... but it shouldn't be that bad right? We used  to do this all the time and had plenty to talk about it. 

Luckily we did have lots to talk about because the walk felt like forever... although we were moving faster than the cars sitting in traffic which was kinda humorous. We finally made it back to where we wanted to be... :oD

Next we make our way to visiting some family!

Ohio Trip Part 2 More OSU Tour

When we left off Jim and I were checking out some nice OSU football history. We left the library and headed back across the oval. We had to stop to get this picture of me with William Oxley Thompson (he was the 5th president of OSU). The story with the statue is that back in the day when all the families were assembled to watch the students graduate the students would receive their diplomas and return to the back of the line for William Oxley Thompson to marry them as he was an ordained minister and it was difficult to get entire families together frequently back then. Not gonna lie if Gordon Gee were to offer the same we may have gone that route.

A view looking back towards the library across the oval.

Next we walked through Page Hall. It has an exhibit dedicated to John Glenn. Who happens to be a big deal where I am from. There is even a John and Annie Glenn Museum in New Concord, OH

Then we had to explore the new Ohio Union. They have a cute little store with all things Buckeye. If they had these rain boots when I was at OSU they would have been mine. Trudging across campus in late winter and spring you have two options... rain boots or wet, cold feet. These are such a cute and school spirited way to endure the endless potholes and puddles.

There was a plethora of Buckeye clothing but I was immediately drawn to these cute items. Yes, my future children will be adorned with endless amounts of OSU themed apparel. I am very proud of graduating from OSU and really hope they'll at least consider going to OSU. Notice in the second picture my hand for size reference. Tiny clothes are SO irresistible.

The Union has many food options and reminds me of the Marketplace on south campus that opened during my time at OSU. They also had these nifty plastic utensil dispensers which I find much more sanitary than containers of them sitting out for others to breathe, sneeze, and cough on. Do you have any idea how many germs college students have?!?!

Upstairs was the ballroom. We overheard another woman giving a tour telling her followers that much of the materials used were recycled. Notice also the attention to detail on the door handles.

There is also some space dedicated to Mr. Griffin. He's kind of a big deal, and since he has two he has allowed one of his Heisman trophies to be put on display in the Union.

This is the ILLIBUCK it is a trophy that is passed between Ohio State and Illinois based on who wins in football each year. Jim wanted this especially for his sister Jen who went to Illinois.... and I believe there was also a "ha" involved. :)

The view of the Union. It is so beautiful. The decorating was amazing.... everything is done in shades of Scarlet and Gray with various textures and patterns. We actually kept bumping into people that we knew a lot of cheerleaders as the luncheon was downstairs and a few people from University Housing. I worked for University Housing during my entire time at OSU, I started as an Office Assistant at the front desk of my dorm and moved up to the administrative offices when I moved out of the dorms and was an Assistant Resident Manager for one of the offices.

By then it was time to go to the Alumni Cheerleading luncheon. It was so nice to get to meet a lot of the people I have heard Jim talk about all these years and even meet other alumni from before and after Jim's time cheering at OSU. The current cheerleaders came and did what they do best. As they were preforming some of Jim's favorite people Corey and Laurie that owned Ohio Cheer Force came in with their children! :) We were so happy to get to see them again.

Next we have one more stop before it is Game Time!

What I love about the South.

One of Jim and I's favorite things we've picked up here is SWEET TEA! And there is a definite difference between sweetened tea and SWEET TEA. I have been disappointed several times by this misunderstanding. The first time was when we went to the Outer Banks and their sweet tea was glorified sweetened tea and the second this past weekend. My family loves Tradewinds Sweet Tea.... but again not quite enough sugar. All this time we have been drinking a powdered mix of sweet tea or drinking it while out at restaurants. So I figured it was time to learn how to make it on my own (according to Jessica I'm not a real South Carolinian if I can't and as it appears we will be her for the foreseable future I might as well embrace it). I bought tea at the store but wasn't quite sure exactly how much sugar would be needed, the box just said "sweeten to taste".... thank you Lipton, very helpful. So I googled "How much sugar is needed to make sweet tea". The first entry said "For two quarts use as little as possible"... ummm nope. The next suggested using 1-2 cups of sugar and even suggested using 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda during the brewing process. I did not try the baking soda part but did use 1 cup and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Jim says I make good SWEET TEA! :) 

 Does anyone know the purpose of the baking soda or have an opinion good or bad of it's effect on the taste of the tea? How much sugar do you use?

 

Ohio Trip Part 1

 Jim and I got OSU tickets through the Alumni Football lottery. We just happened to get tickets to the Marshall game which also happened to be the Alumni Cheerleading game. Since It was also Labor Day weekend so we were excited to make an extended trip back home. Here is Tucker riding in the back seat being a good boy. Tucker stayed with my parents while we were in Columbus.

 After resting for a few hours we headed to Columbus a bit early so we could walk around before the Alumni Cheerleader luncheon. 

And we got our first glimpse of the new Union. It is huge!

We walked over to Mirror Lake and took some pictures. Everything seemed so much more beautiful than when I was there. Jim thinks it is because I was too busy stressing during my time there to fully enjoy the scenery. Not going to lie I believe that is a possibility.

 After Mirror Lake we walked up to the library. We also got to see what is in my opinion the most beautiful building on campus, University Hall. I had at least 8 classes in University Hall and most of them in the same large lecture hall in the basement.

Then there was the beautiful new library.

It is very open and bright. A stark contrast to how dingy and closed in it used to be. I will never forget the time I was searching for a book and in a back tightly squeezed corner, on the other side of a support column I found a door that opened into a whole separate room.

The stacks are much more welcoming now. Probably a lot less confusing too.

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The top floor is still a space dedicated to studying and has maintained the focus on an amazing view of the campus. I was a little disappointed to see that they have not adorned the wall with the old pictures of campus that I used to marvel at. It is crazy to think how vastly the campus has changed through the years.

 

The view of the oval. I used to sit at a any of the tables along this wall. It was my favorite view.

The other side offers a nice view of the stadium.

Or you could choose south campus and downtown.

Downstairs there was an exhibit on old Buckeye football items.

Like this Brutus the Buckeye mascot helmet.