One More Sleep Til Game Day

Five weeks ago as the Ravens entered the playoffs I painted my nails what I called "playoff purple" (trust me, it's dark purple even though it looks more maroon/brown in the photo). As the Ravens continued to progress through the playoff season knocking out first Houston, then Denver, then [gasp!] New England, I realized that whatever we were doing in Ravens spirit we had to keep doing. It was right before the New England game that I decided this nail polish was staying on as long as the Ravens won. Five weeks later and with the state of Idaho impressively chipped on my left thumbnail, here we are on the night before the Super Bowl. Whatever is left of this nail polish is in it for the long haul. 

We've spent the past 2 weeks since our win over New England planning our party for tomorrow. We're having a small group of close friends over to eat, drink, scream, cry, cheer, whatever the game brings. It's practically like Christmas Eve around here tonight.

We're cleaning, decorating, and food-prepping like crazy. I wish I could say I have the most creative Super Bowl party planned with all kinds of homemade details and decorations, but as you know I've been doing double-duty between getting the house ready for this party and trying to finish up Carsen's bedroom (I'm thisclose!), so we went with what we had for decorations and kept our menu festive but simple. I'll post those photos early next week. Happily, as a light snow falls outside, the house is very clean and smells of lavender, the fridge and pantry are full of yummy game-day foods, and all of our favorite Ravens toys, banners, and decor are turning our everyday living space into a fan cave of Super Bowl proportions. 

Football season is just a few short weeks of every year. If you're lucky your team gives you an extra week or two in the playoffs. But only two teams make it to the Super Bowl, and with so many variables in play there's just no way of knowing if or when your team will go again. It's a big deal. If the extension of the season wasn't fun enough, everyone and everything becomes focused on your team. Stores are decorated, team merchandise is on sale everywhere you look, and perhaps most fun of all, your team gets national recognition. All eyes are on our boys, and for the first time (in what feels like ever) we're finally getting the attention and recognition we deserve for the hard work and impressive numbers we've put up. When most people outside of Baltimore think of the Ravens, they think of Ray Lewis "the murderer." When most people outside of Baltimore think of elite quarterbacks, Joe Flacco is no where on the list. The truth is, not just these two incredible players, but our entire team have overcome a whole lot this season and have been playing their hearts out. We deserve to be in the Super Bowl. We deserve to be nationally recognized as a force to be reckoned with in the NFL. We deserve some long overdue credit for being an incredible team. We've proven everyone wrong. We've been underdogs the whole way. Now it's time to shut some people up and let them hear us roar. This is our game. This is our day.