Whirlwind

Guys. I know it's been a while since our last update, but things have been B-U-S-Y! Which means I have lots to fill you in about. Fasten your seat belts.

Part One: Homecoming

If you didn't know, Mizzou invented the Homecoming tradition way back in 1911. Mizzou did it first, and Mizzou does it best. But don't take my word for it. Read more about it here. Even the TV show NCIS knows Homecoming started at MU.

What you may not know is that Mizzou Alumni Association (aka my employer) organizes the Homecoming celebration each year. Which means that yours truly gets to work it. It's a lot of extra hours, but it really is worth it when you see all those Mizzou alums come home and reconnect with campus. Totes fun. Except the 7:00am parade. That part sucks.

Casa de Anderson hosted several guests this Homecoming. My friend Nicole and her friend Lauren flew in from NYC to enjoy the festivities. They ended up staying a little longer than expected, but more on that in a minute. Our old pal Bryan Quick (Terrence, too) also came in from Colorado to partake in the fun.

Shannon, Nicole, Lauren, me, and Megan hanging at Quinton's.

Brent, Quick (Terrence), Alex, and Josh. Apparently they weren't having fun...except Josh.

So Homecoming went off without a hitch, and all of our guests were supposed to return to their respective homes on Sunday. Or so we thought. So we move on to part two...

Part Two: Hurricane Sandy

As I mentioned above, Nicole and Lauren live in NYC and as you may have heard the east coast (New York in particular) was hit with some unusual weather recently. Like a huge hurricane named Sandy.

So Nicole and Lauren got to extend their vacation in CoMo for a few more days. Which meant that they were able to partake in other fun things, like a Mizzou basketball game and...

Part Three: Halloween

Friends Stef and Jordan talked for weeks about how they wanted to throw a Halloween party at Casa de Anderson since we are the most likely to have trick-or-treat-ers. And since we like friends and candy, we obliged.

There was a debate as to whether call the gathering The 1st Annual Anderson Spooktacular or Hefferween. What's your vote for?

There were some excellent costumes, but the most popular costume at this party was Alex. Both Jordan and Brent dressed as him, complete with bald cap and golfing accessories.

They even have his goofy smile down...

Josh and Shannon also came through with a clutch costume based on the hilarious website Awkward Family Photos.

Josh was a big fan of the red turtleneck. 

Alex Gray's squirrel mask was also a big hit.

Sorry about my incessant giggling. I couldn't help it.

Halloween was a success and the hurricane house guests finally made it back to NYC on Friday morning. They ended up staying with us for more than a week and the house felt weirdly empty once they were gone. Nicole and Lauren...COME BACK!

Part Four: An Engagement!

The other Stefanie and Alex finally got engaged! We are SOOOOOOOO excited for them. (And I can't wait for Stef to start planning, since she was such a huge help as MOH for my wedding.) Woot!

Stef and Alex 2.0

Part Five: Decision 25

Josh's 25th birthday fell on Election Day this year, so Shannon hosted a birthday/election shindig and coined it Decision 25. It was fun watching the results with friends, but the real fun was seeing all of Josh's presents.

He got a lot of cheese.

Back-story on the cheese. Josh gave Shannon cheese for her birthday, so it was only fair that she (and a few others) return the favor.

Part Six: Mizzou Beats Tennessee

This past weekend Alex and I traveled to Knoxville to watch Mizzou beat Tennessee in 4 overtimes! It was a really great trip. We won, Knoxville is awesome, and we got to see our friends Jeff and Dusty. 

Victory is ours!

I think we had to listen to Rocky Top 23 times, but it was worth it to go home with the W!

Told you we've been busy!

Friend Invasion

Remember this guy?

How about him?

If not, meet Jeff and AJ. They were both integral components to our wedding. Jeff was Groomsman #2 and AJ was the emcee extraordinaire. Now they both live in Madison, WI. And they both came to visit last weekend. They're pretty much inseparable.

Alex and I were excited all week for Jeff and AJ to get to CoMo, so around noon on Friday this little text exchange occurred between Jeff and I:

          Steph:  JEFFFFFFFFFF! Have you left yet? Hurry up!!!!!!! I want to see you!!!!!!!!
          Jeff:     Just left! We're going 180 mph!

Don't worry...they didn't really drive 180 mph, but they did make it to Columbia in record time. We met up with them at Mizzou Madness (the kick-off for Mizzou Basketball). We had a great time and are definitely pumped up for basketball to start. (First game of the season is in 11 days.)

Aren't Jeff and I the cutest?

The highlight of the scrimmage was also the #1 play on Sports Center that night. Keion Bell dunked the ball while jumping over 6 people. Pretty amazing. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

Then we went to our CoMo fave, Addison's, to grab some dinner and watch the Cardinals game. FYI, I'm now 2-0 when it comes to watching epic Cardinals comebacks at Addison's. I was also there for game 6 of the 2011 World Series. But I think the real magic behind the comeback is in my friend Jordan's rally hood (or her hair).

Jordan's rally hood and majestic hair. 

Go Cards!

On Saturday, we headed to Faurot Field to watch the Tigers get slaughtered by the Crimson Tide. Everything was going according to plan when it started raining. A lot. Then lightening struck and everyone was asked to evacuate the stadium. It took forever to get everyone out so rather than waiting in line, AJ and I decided to have a dance party. We have no shame.

We were eventually asked to leave, so we tailgated in the parking lot for a bit before coming back in. The plus side of a rain delay? Most of the big alumni donors leave and we can sit in their seats!

50 yard line. 30 rows up. I could get used to this...but probably won't.

And now for a series of wet pictures where we look kind of happy, but were actually miserable...

Alex and AJ

Steph and Stef

Alex and Alex

In the end Bama won, Mizzou lost, and we were completely soaked. We eventually dried off and had a bunch of friends over for pizza and Cards Against Humanity. If you've never played Cards Against Humanity before it's like a really inappropriate (and really hilarious) Apples to Apples.

Despite the rain, it was great to see Jeff and AJ and we still managed to have a fun time. Now Casa de Anderson must prepare for its next friend invasion...HOMECOMING! T-minus 8 days!

Where have we been?

Whoops...it's been a while since we've given an update. Our bad. But we have been staying busy. Scout's honor. What have we been doing, you ask? Well...

• Steph went to Starkville, MS for the SEC Alumni Professionals conference.
• Alex experienced his second Hefferfest. (There were no rainbows chased this year.) As a veteran, he also got to pass on the Hefferfest newbie hat and initiate the newest members.
• We got a roomie. Josh moved in with us (just until December).
• Mizzou classes started with another year of record enrollment. Enrollment is at almost 35,000 students, meaning more work and more traffic!
• We did a TON of yard work. But we'll save those details for a separate post.

The only pic I took during Hefferfest. What a beauty, right?