SO Exciting!!

Well, I still need to share the story as to why I was missing in action for a few days the week before last.

Thanks to Kenny's Mom and Dad for entering us!!!! Kenny was selected as the Grand Prize winner for The Phillips 66 Big XII Basketball Sweepstakes!!! It was truly one of the most exciting things that has ever happened to us! I randomly enter neat-o sweepstakes like that, always wondering in the back of my head....does ANYONE ever really win these things!? I know I've never won such a great prize!

Well, Kenny found out that he was the winner back in February. He called me on my cell phone and said "I have some good news and some bad news...." (oh no)...."The bad news is we may not be going to Florida, but the good news is....I'm the grand prize winner for The Phillips 66 Big XII Sweepstakes!!" (He was afraid that part of the prize package would overlap our trip to the Florida Keys)

WHAT!?!?! I couldn't believe it!! I still didn't believe that we were THE grand prize winners. Maybe we won some free gas, or something like that, but THE top prize winners!!!!? Not until we received a notarized FedEx package directly from the head of marketing with Phillips 66 did I believe it!

It was SUCH an amazing blessing! We won round trip airfare (to Oklahoma City *grins*, so we didn't get to use that), $500 cash and $500 in free gasoline, four nights at The Renaissance Hotel downtown (super exciting because this is where we stayed for our wedding night), FRONT row tickets to ALL of the Big XII Basketball championship games, PLUS Kenny would have the chance to shoot free throws between one of the games for THOUSANDS of dollars!!!! Oh my goodness gracious!!!

We were walking on cloud nine for weeks! We decided to kind of keep this a secret so there wouldn't be any added pressure, plus we could surprise everyone when we were on tv and winning money! :)

Well, the big week rolled around and my sweet boss let me have a few days off of work and Kenny and I got to see all of the Big XII basketball games! It was such a wonderful experience! I have NEVER sat so close at any event in my life. You could see all the players facial expressions and hear them talking to each other on the court, you could hear the coaches screaming their hearts out (whoa!) it really was amazing!

We had a glorious time staying at The Renaissance hotel, it brought back a lot of wonderful memories! We just felt like celebrities the whole time *smiles* This alone was grand prize enough for me!

When Friday finally came (the day Kenny would be shooting the free throws) we were both shaking like a leaf. I was trying to hide my nervousness because I didn't want Kenny to be nervous. I think it was especially scary because we knew we were going to be on TV and in front of thousands of people at the Ford Center.look at ALL those people!!!

I don't think we paid attention to one moment of the first game that night. I know I don't remember any of it! Finally a Phillips 66 head honcho came down and was chatting with us, then he took us up to the Suite to meet all the big wigs! The CEO of Phillips 66 and heads of marketing and all sorts of people! Eeek, talk about intimidating! And they were all giving us advice and trying to tell us what to do and what to say and offering us food and drinks! Whew, we were glad when we got to leave there.

Finally the big moment arrived, we were waiting in a little tunnel to run onto the court and all the television people were trying to tell us where to go and where to stand, and then he'll talk to you on camera and ask you some questions and don't forget to say this and then walk around behind this guy, then smile at your wife and be humorous...ahhhhhhhh!!! Too much information! I was stressed and I wasn't even the one shooting the free throws!! I don't know how Kenny remembered all that stuff!

Then the actual moment flew by like a flash! Kenny shot his free throws and won us $16,500 and he did an amazing job on camera and with all the questions! I was SO proud of him! They presented us with a enormous check and then it was all over!

We eventually went back to our seats sort of overwhelmed and dazed and tried to watch some more of the basketball game. We ended up leaving a little early and going out to dinner. We made quite a sight walking out of the Ford Center with an enormous check *laughs*

We felt so blessed to have this opportunity! What a fun time! We even got to share some of our good fortune. The night of the final game Kenny and I gave our tickets to my Mom and Dad and they got to enjoy the game and spend the night at The Renaissance hotel! They said they had a great time and I'm so glad they got to experience it!