Super Bowl 2014

I grew up in a basketball family...my entire family has played and I'm now a basketball referee for Parks & Rec {makin' my dad proud!} Then I married Ryan...who is all football all the time. He played his entire life, and is now a walking football encyclopedia. Super Bowl sunday is where we come together as one...party planner extraordinaire and football fan maniac ;) 

We love being social and having a reason to rally up some of our favorite people to come over, which is why this is our second year hosting a Super Bowl party. I love hosting parties, so I had a complete blast putting the food and table together!

I made some Cafe Rio pork in the crockpot and had rolls {or "Bronco Bread", so corny right?}, cheese, and sauces for everyone to make their own little sliders. Throw in some southwestern dippers, themed cupcakes, cheesy potato skins, and 7-up punch and we're in business! Everyone brought over their own appetizers to contribute which included: cream cheese filled croissants from the Provo Bakery, amazing avocado salsa with chips, homemade girl scout cookies, and delicious artichoke dip. Can you tell that we all love food?!

I also printed up some Super Bowl commercial bingo cards which was actually super fun! We all got pretty competitive to see how could hit bingo first ;) I don't know if it's a sad or happy thing...but I had such a fun time the whole night that I didn't even pick up my camera to take pictures of who was there. BLOGGER FAIL! Even more of a fail? The Denver Broncos...ouch!

Weekend Update: BYU Football Monsoon

My parents were in Utah for a cousin's wedding and decided to make a quick weekend trip out of it by staying with Ryan & I for a couple nights {plus they dropped off my Lucille, yessss!}. We snagged tickets for the BYU vs. Texas game on Saturday because even though both my parents attended BYU, my dad had only been to one game while my mom had never even been in the stadium!

We got all decked out in our BYU gear, grabbed our anoraks for the 40% chance of rain, hopped in the car, and made our way over to campus to find a close parking spot. When getting out of the car, we noticed that the dark clouds were quickly moving towards Provo, in a creepy Wizard-of-Oz-flying-monkeys-are-coming-to-attack-you sort of way. We brushed it off thinking that it would pass over soon, were not too worried about it, and kept pressing forward!

Ok, the clouds were moving in WAY too fast, it looked like someone was hitting the fast forward button on a VHS tape! So of course, I had to stop and take pictures...for the blog. As we kept on foraging our way towards the stadium, the winds were getting harsher with every passing second and I thought I was gonna get blown off the sidewalk! It was the most blustery windstorm I had ever been caught in, and while we kept on moving forward some families took cover under a tree, hoping the winds would soon calm down.

Then it started POURING. Insanely ridiculous downpour! As the raindrops fell, they stung the backside of my legs with every single pelting drop. It burns it burns! We were instantly soaked...as were the poor tickets. My mom & I took off our California sandals/espadrilles and continued barefoot to the LaVell Edwards stadium, only to find that because of the monsoon-like weather and lightening, that the game had been cancelled until further notice. 

Ryan's extensive football knowledge gave us hope that the game would go on. He said that once the lightening stops, they will start a 55 minute countdown until kickoff; this was then confirmed by our good friends on Twitter. The boys hiked to the other side of campus to grab the car while my mom & I drip dried under the bless-ed cover of the Hinckley building. 

It would then become absolutely necessary to procure some delicious 7-11 hot chocolate {my favorite} on the way home to dry off & warm up at the 'lil yellow brick house. Once we got to the house...did we forget to close the windows before we left? Why yes, of course! We ran around closing windows, mopping up puddles, throwing sopping wet clothes in the dryer, and blow-drying tickets...waiting with baited breath for go-time. 

From ByuTv we got the go-ahead. Game time. 55 minute countdown starts now. SCORE.

We put on our newly warm & dried clothes, found an even closer parking spot and walked amongst the excited BYU fans to the stadium. We were FINALLY here!

Seeing as how we are a basketball family, we drew on Ryan's football knowledge {ahem, obsession} when needing clarification on rules and calls. We cheered when we needed to, which was the most important part. And how often did we sing the BYU victory song? TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT {ok, I'm sure you could count it, but it was a lot}. It was freaking awesome! We picked the best game ever to come to! And you know what? It only sprinkled a couple times the entire game. Completely amazing, especially since we were stuck in a massive thunderstorm only a couple hours previous.

After the game we hit up Smiths to pick up some lasagna & pizza to make for dinner. We made food then promptly fell asleep. We were all tuckered out! Granted, even with the rain it was probably some of the best fun I've had in a while. Go Cougs!

I-Can-Cook-Frozen-Pizza Domestic

Monday was our first day of the Winter Semester, it's crazy how fast time flies!

I've been looking at my school schedule and have noticed that 

I'm only a few classes away from finishing my major and minors.

Then I GRADUATE. 

DUN DUN DUN.

So, aside from the craziness of the first day of school...

Monday I'm just bee-boppin' myself around on campus when I get a text from Ryan,

asking when people should come over tonight.

Ummm what?!

I guess he had planned an impromptu party at our place to watch the Notre Dame/Alabama game, 

and I was just finding out a few hours before people were to come over.

Good thing the house was already picked up and we had some food chillin' in the freezer!

You know what's the worst thing ever?

Going to a party when there isn't enough food.

Honestly though, it's depressing.

Granted it was not some gourmet feast, but I whipped up some:

Digiorno pizza, 'lil BBQ smokies, chicken taquitos, and our friends brought some delish chips.

It made for a fun/manly night & I just felt so domestic!

Like I-can-cook-frozen-pizza kind of domestic.

Superbowlin'

Does anyone else have a football obsessed male in their life?

Mine's on the right, HAWT. 

I swear, if I were to give birth on Superbowl Sunday, he might not even show up... 

{joke! He wouldn't really have a choice.}

I grew up in a "basketball family".

Everyday, everything, every breath I breathe...

BASKETBALL.

Then I meet Ryan who lives, eats, breathes...

FOOTBALL.

Suffice it to say I was a 'lil scared cause I know next to nothing about football.

This is what I have learned thus far and hope that it helps you other football challenged girls out there!

 Sparknote version of football, for girls:

1. Remember who you are actually cheering for and STICK TO IT.

Even wear that color to show your pride and dedication.

2. Watch the Superbowl commercials and be prepared to talk about your fav one the next day.

3. The offensive team has four separate trys to get it across 10 yards. 

Doesn't sound too hard, right?

4. They will run out of bounds to stop the clock to save themselves more time, it's a strategy.

And if brought up in a football-y situation, you will sound educated.

And thus be perceived as the hot girl who knows football stuff!

5. If they are running to make a touchdown, they only have to get the ball across the line. 

Not their whole body.

6. If the player is falling down but doesn't look like he has control of the ball.

He doesn't get the ball anymore.

7. The only positions you really need to know are:

 Quarterback {guy who throws the ball}

 Receiver {guy who receives the ball and makes touchdowns}

and Kicker {guy who kicks it for field goals}.

8. PAY ATTENTION to what is your man's fav football player/team is. 

He goes with you on 3 hour shopping trips, right?!

At least know what team Ray Lewis plays for.

9. Watch a half hour of ESPN Sportscenter and you will know exactly what's going on in the sports world. They seriously repeat the same 5 stories every hour or so! 

Plus, if you can name and have an opinion on certain newscaster, more points for you!

{For example, "Skip Bayless drives me nuts!"}

AND

10. Don't chit chat during the game unless you are doing one of the following:

A. Talking about what colleges the players came from

B. Or previous Superbowl games

C. Screaming/cheering for a pass/touchdown

D. Asking to pass more chips

You girls have any more tips??

<3 Bri

P.S. Stay tuned for a really cool post about what we did for Evan's 19th birthday :D