2011 IU Football Schedule

I hope everyone orders season tickets this year for IU Football like we did. It will be so much fun to get back to Bloomington and catch up with everyone. We will be at the first home game against Virginia, as it is also the IU Football Alumni weekend. We plan on going down the following weekend for the game against South Carolina State as well. Actually looking at this list, we are definitely going to try and make all the home games : )

You can order your season or single game tickets here: http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/tickets/ind-m-footbl-tickets.html

GO HOOSIERS!


Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result


09/03/11 vs. Ball State Indianapolis, Ind. (Lucas Oil Stadium) 7:00 p.m. ET

09/10/11 vs. Virginia Bloomington, Ind. 7:00 p.m. ET

09/17/11 vs. South Carolina State Bloomington, Ind. 3:30 p.m. ET

09/24/11 at North Texas Denton, Texas 7:00 p.m. ET

10/01/11 vs. Penn State Bloomington, Ind. TBA

10/08/11 vs. Illinois Bloomington, Ind. TBA

10/15/11 at Wisconsin Madison, Wis. 12:00 p.m. ET

10/22/11 at Iowa Iowa City, Iowa 12:00 p.m. ET

10/29/11 vs. Northwestern (Homecoming) Bloomington, Ind. 12:00 p.m. ET

11/05/11 at Ohio State Columbus, Ohio TBA

11/19/11 at Michigan State East Lansing, Mich. TBA

11/26/11 vs. Purdue Bloomington, Ind. TBA

12/03/11 Big Ten Championship Game Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis, Ind.) TBA

1 Year Anniversary: Marando Life

A year ago yesterday, I wrote my very first blog entry. I can't believe everything that has happened in one year, and how quickly it has gone by. Here is a little recap of what has happened since starting this blog, one year ago....

* I turned 25 years old in August.
* I became a wife, on September 25th Ryan and I got married, and had been together for 6 years. I can't believe our one year anniversary is only 2 months away!
* Ryan & I traveled to Mexico for our honeymoon.
* Taylor & Kyle got a puppy, GoldenDoodle Bentley : )
* We got to go back to IU a few times and cheer on the Hoosiers!
* Ryan & I spent our first Thanksgiving & Christmas together.
* Ryan started working as a Sales Rep for Salient Surgical Technologies.
* We made a lot of changes/ updates to our first home (and this Fall we are going to be right back at it!)
* We celebrated in all the pre-wedding festivities for Taylor & Kyle -- California & Vegas Trips, Showers, Golf Outings, ect.
* We ran the Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis.
* We got a new Brother-In-Law!! Taylor & Kyle got married!
*Ryan's parents bought a boat : )
* We had so much fun with friends at the Kenny Chesney Concert.
* I started a new job as the Travel & Meetings Manager at Drum Corps International

I am sure I could on and on with this list, but these were the things that came to mind. I am excited for what we have in store for us the rest of this year as well. After the Drum Corps World Championships in August, Ryan and I are going to Charleston, South Carolina for a trip he won with his company. I am excited because neither one of us has been before. We are going to the Marando's condo for Memorial Day weekend up in Marblehead on Lake Erie with friends. We also have our 1 year anniversary coming up, and are deciding between a long weekend trip to Nashville or Chicago. Ryan was just in Nashville for work and loved it, and thought I would too, so we are leaning towards that. Originally we were thinking Napa Valley, however starting a new job, I didn't think taking so much time off right away was the best idea. We already have out IU Football season tickets ordered, and can't wait to get back down to Bloomington for tailgating and games this Fall. I'm not sure how soon this Fall we will get started, but I have a lot of home improvement ideas on my mind. I have started getting estimates to redo our kitchen and master bathroom. I also want to paint the entire house, and have someone come in and landscape the backyard. Ahh before we know it the holidays will be here lol.

Thank you all who read my blog. It has been a fun first year. Hope everyone had a great rest of the summer!!

3 Week Update

Sorry for the lack of blogging lately! These past few weeks have been a little crazy and I haven't had to much time to myself. July 4th weekend Ryan and I went to the condo on Lake Erie with his parents and mine. We had so much fun, and it was so relaxing. We took the boat out, went tubing, fishing, and hung out at the beach. The first morning Ryan and I went to the state park (my first time) and went on a 4 mile run, it was so neat along the water. Later that evening my parents arrived and we went to the winery for dinner. Saturday we spent the day at Kelley's Island and that night went to Camp Runamuck for the drawing and some dancing. Sunday the guys got up early to go fishing. They caught over 60 perch and had them filleted when they got back. (We fried and ate these later and they were amazing!). That afternoon we had a cookout with all the Marando's family & friends. We had such a nice time at the lake, like always : )

Monday we all headed back to Indiana. Ryan and I were so tired when we got back, but I talked him into going to Geist for fireworks. We were shocked by how many people were there! They closed the street and Fall Creek Bridge, where we stood above the water to watch fireworks. That weekend (my last free for the next 5 weeks) Ryan and I went to visit the Edmo's and had a great time catching up in their awesome backyard. Later that night Kitch joined us, and we went to Broad Ripple to meet Taylor, Kyle and the crew. We didn't stay out to late, but before we headed home we made a much needed stop to the West Coast Taco Truck! It was Ryan's first time, and he loved it. I had been telling him about it for weeks, and he finally got to try it : ) Sunday my Mom and I went with Taylor to the Nordstrom Anniversary Pre-Sale and got some Fall shopping done. After that we met Kyle, Ryan, and my Dad at the Cate's for Claire Bear's 1st Birthday! We had so much fun, great food, and Claire and her friends could not have been cuter.

Since then I haven't had much free time, because the first week of July I started a new job as the Travel & Meetings Manager at Drum Corps International. I started right in the middle of their busiest time, so it has been a bit overwhelming, but I am starting to settle in. Last weekend I traveled to one of the Premier Shows in Minneapolis, that took place at the TCF Bank Stadium. The stadium is new and it was so nice. We were their working for about 14 hours on Saturday, but it was great to see my first ever Drum Corps Competition. This weekend I will be in San Antonio, and the following I will travel to Atlanta. The weekend of August 12th is the World Championships in Indianapolis, and that concludes the "busy season" at DCI.

Our sand volleyball league has been going well. After losing our first Sunday, we have won the past 4 weeks in a row. Our team is really fun, and I'm getting excited for the tournament to start in the next few weeks. I'm predicting a Championship Win! This Sunday I got home from Minneapolis at 10:30 am, and after a nap Bentley came over to visit before our volleyball game. We played, napped, and watched the U.S. Women's Soccer game. (It was exciting, but wish the outcome was different.).

So that's the update for now. I'll let you know how my trips to San Antonio & Atlanta go the next few weekends. I haven't been to either city before, so I am excited to be going somewhere new. I hope everyone has a great week.