Mixed Feelings About the Upcoming Husker Season

The calendar has turned my friends, which means we have reached my favorite part of the year, Husker Season!  Yesterday was Husker Fan Day, the day when the media coverage picks up and the internal excitement for the upcoming season starts to build.  There is no way for me to describe the feeling of joy I get from being in our seats for pregame with all the action in the stadium and then the Husker vision screen goes black and it starts….the tunnel walk!  With all that said, this year I have mixed feelings.  

Anyone who knows me and my husband, knows that starting towards the end of August through Thanksgiving, on home game Saturdays from 8:00 am until sundown we can be found in the great city of Lincoln, NE.  My husband has attended every home game for the past ten years, and our annual vacations are set around Husker away games.  Some of my favorite memories of my husband and I were made at the Husker home games we have attended.  The Stadium holds a special place in our hearts, so much that when he proposed to me, he did so as we were on a walk around the outside of the Stadium.  That proposal was over 6 years ago now, our lives have changed since then and are about to change in a big way very soon.

As my belly continues to grow and I head into the last 3 weeks of pregnancy, reality is setting in. While I am totally overjoyed about this little boy growing inside of me and can hardly contain the excitement to meet him, a piece of me is sad that I know my normal fall Saturday routine will be changing.  As a new Mom-to-be, I don’t really know what all the changes will entail.  I do know that sometime very soon my Saturdays will probably start before 8:00 am, and won’t include loading up the car, stopping by both the coffee and donut shop before heading to Lincoln.  My Saturday mornings will include new things like getting my little man dressed for game day which, thanks to his dad, he has a plethora of outfits to choose from. They will also include late night, early morning and all day feedings, naps, snuggles and passing along the love of Husker football to my little man from the comfort of the couch. 

 

While my Saturdays may change for awhile, I also know that there is no shortage of family that will be willing to watch my little man, so that my husband and I can have a “Date Day” in Lincoln and I can experience the joy and excitement of Husker season from inside Memorial Stadium.  While I will always cherish the memories of Husker home games from the past seasons and will miss not making new ones at every game this year, I have no doubt the memories I will make with my little man this season will easily become some of my new favorites!

Go Big Red!

4th of July Extravaganza!

Featherbone Ribs, Buster Bar, Scotcheroos, Bocce Ball, Racecar fireworks races, a planned out fireworks displayed set to music…..these are just a few of the details that make up the Schutz Family 4^th of July Extravaganza!  Sometimes you don’t realize how much you truly enjoy something until you have to go without it one year.  Around the holidays people often ask what your plans are, or invite you to various parties or gatherings. 

For the Schutz family, the 4^th of July was one of those holidays you knew you would decline any other invitation you got because nothing was better than your family’s party.  The only detail you needed to check the invitation for was what time “gates” were opening.  Maybe in college you attempted some other plans, but the whole time you found yourself thinking, “People call THIS 4^th of July, they have no idea what they are missing out on.”  

Buster Bar

As I think back to past year’s 4^th of July gatherings, I could tell you just about every detail including the menu.  The main dish is Featherbone Ribs cooked by my uncle.  These ribs are so good, that Bo and I decided that all we wanted for our wedding rehearsal dinner was my uncle’s ribs!  Everyone else brings a side dish, and because the guests are the same every year, you can count on your favorite side dish from the prior year to be there the next year.   There are salads, fruit bowls, deviled eggs, beans, the list goes on.  And after you fill up on the main meal, the desert choices are Bluster Bars (an ice cream desert made by my aunt), Scotcheroos, or cookies.

The afternoon yard activities are made up of various games for various ages.  The kids run around with water balloons and shoot off some little fireworks with their blow torches.  The next generation can typically be found in the yard playing a game of Bocce Ball.  And the older generation is sitting at the table with their dice yelling out “Snake Eyes”, “Box Cars”, and “Eight, Skate and Donate.”

On your mark, get set, go!

At some point after everyone has been there for a while but before it gets dark, it is time for the races.  Everyone lines up in the street with their firework race car and the countdown begins.  There is the standard class, and then the modified class.  The goal is to have the car that goes the furthest, it doesn’t matter how fast it gets there.   You just want it to be the one that travels the furthest down the street, in the right direction!  

Then as the sun goes down, the real excitement begins!  The fireworks display that they have been planning and preparing for multiple weeks.  This is no “you light this one and when it gets done then I light that one” kinda show.  The shells and roman candles have special canisters that allow multiple fireworks to be strung together so they go off one right after another.   They get laid out in the street in a very specific order so that the men lighting can work from one row down to the next and so on.  The patriotic music begins and the show gets started!  

Getting the show set up!

The only rule for the day that has to be followed is “No Drunken Buffoons around the fireworks”!

Fountain Display!

 

When All Else Fails I Call Dad

Sharing my love for Husker Football with my parents last fall!

There is something that causes the bond with a child and one parent to be stronger than the other. It doesn't mean you love the other parent less, it just means that you relate better to one than the other.  The phrase “Daddy’s Girl” holds true for me.  As far back as I can remember the bond between my dad and I has been the stronger one.  Growing up people would tell me that I look and sound just like my Mom (which is true), however I was always quick to respond with “but I act like my Dad”! 

Rog's Runners after our 5K relay on Father's Day last year

Having been married for five years, I have found out that my husband is a “Daddy’s Boy”.  He can talk for hours with his dad about sports and other current events.  I think in his case not only does he look and sound like his dad, he also acts like his dad! 

Now that I am carrying my own child, I am almost jealous of my husband.  While there are miracles during pregnancy that I know he doesn’t get to experience like I do (feeling movement from the inside and the joy of another life sharing every moment with you), but our child is already showing signs of being a “Daddy’s Boy”.  I find myself questioning, how is that even possible?  What has HE done for this kid?  My husband has been traveling for work and is gone two days every other week, I have had morning sickness my whole pregnancy, but it never fails that one of the two days he is gone this kid decides to make it even harder on me.  It is as if he is telling my husband “Dad don’t leave me alone with HER again!  When are you going to be home?  I don’t want you to go!” 

As I reflect on memories of my dad with Father’s Day approaching, there are a lot of good memories that come to mind.  For a while it was a joke that Dad knew if Father’s Day was approaching that only meant one thing, I would be calling to ask him to help me move.  I don’t know how it happened, but somehow my leases during college always started or ended around June.  Even though it was supposed to be his weekend, he would show up with the truck and be there for me!  

A day I won't forget!

One memory that stays with me is the flood of emotions that came over me while he walked me down the aisle at my wedding.  In that particular moment I could feel how much he loved me and how proud of me he was.  There is one guarantee if Dad gets emotional about something, there is no way for me to control my emotions.  

Throughout life when times get tough, I have had different support systems or people I turn to, but the one thing that has stayed true is that when all else fails I call my Dad.  Most of the time he doesn’t have the best answer to my problem, but there is something about hearing him tell me “everything will turn out and that he loves me” that truly does make everything ok at that moment.

I love you Dad!  Hope you have a great Father’s Day!