New Home Week 1

Well, we are officially Clevelanders! We've been here just over a week and I don't even know where to begin with the blogging. It's been nonstop work around the house with unpacking, projects and painting. I'm already back to work and Derek has knocked tons of things off my 'honey-do' list for him around the house. We're adjusting quite well and our house is already starting to become our 'home'.

 Below is another slide show of the work and changes over the past week! Derek's parents were in town last week to help around the house and my parents are coming in Thursday as well. We've got a couple larger changes to be made (ie: change out the hideous kitchen linoleum) but we'll have it just how we like it in no time. Meanwhile, the girls are loving the (daily) snow in the back yard and I'm loving being back with my husband!

Graduation and the Trek Home

I could go on and on about the record snow falls in DC and the 20 hour drive home, but wouldn't you rather just see some pictures?

Thought so.

Happy Birthday to my Brother!

Can't believe my little "Bean" (soon to be doctor!) is all grown up. We'll miss you in Cleveland and hope you come visit soon. So proud of you and all your accomplishments. Love you tons!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIKE!!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

WE ARE OFF!

Bags are packed, dogs are loaded, and the driving has begun. Fingers crossed that the snow holds off for the most part for when we arrive in Ohio on Wednesday! More pics of our house to come later this week.

Bye Bye Kansas City!

Back from DC

What word would I use to describe the last 4 days? CRAZY.

Almost immediately upon arrival into DC, the "storm of the century" hit. Record snow falls completely shut down the entire city, including the airport. Luckily - we made it down to Derek's graduation, but they quickly kicked everyone out after the ceremony to get back to hotels safely.

I will do a more thorough blog later as well as post additional pics, but for now I'll leave you with this picture for a small glimpse into our weekend. Every museum was shut down, all flights cancelled and non-stop snow.

With everyone needing to get back into KC on Sunday for some reason or another, we had no choice but to rent a car and make the 16 hour drive. We seemed to forget until a couple of hours in, however, that with the weather, our drive would be more like 20 hours total. We lucked out getting the last SUV in town and piled in 6 people and 11 pieces of luggage to start the hike. Leaving Saturday night, we made a 5-hour 'rest stop' at a hotel and ended up making it into Kansas City about 10pm last night.... withOUT killing each other!

We're enjoying a lazy morning as we're soon off on a road trip basically from the same area we just came from. After this week, we'll have spent about 32+ hours in a car. Good times.

Puppy Pictures

I've known my fav photographer in the world, Jessica with Epaga Foto, forever. We grew up together, went to school together for over 12 years, and now she's an in-demand AMAZING photographer with a serious natural talent.

After showing my mom her website a while back, she fell in love too. So much so, that my dad and she surprised us with a doggie portrait session for Christmas! We were very excited as our two pups are our 'children'. Little did we know that we should have loaded them up on hydrocodone before attempting a one-hour, in-studio photo shoot. Bailey was going crazy at the huge light flashing in her face, Lacy was slobbering all over the mat and they both were so energized, it was almost impossible to catch any pictures with their tongues IN their mouth. Thankfully, Jessica worked her magic and caught some wonderful pictures that we'll cherishfor a lifetime.

Below is just a sneak preview of some of the pics she did....

Isn't she amazing? Well she comes highly recommended if you need a photographer!

Click Here for her Website

And thanks again Mom and Dad for the great gift idea!

5 Months

I feel like I'm about to meet my soul mate all over again. For the first time. Ever!

Although these past 5 months might have gone by fairly fast for you, it seems like it's been forever since I've lived with my husband. I'm beyond excitement!!This crazy experience has made me admire army/navy/marine spouses who raise a family and see their loved ones (maybe) once a year. I now have a new appreciation for their sacrifices. There were some positives though.... it wasn't ALL bad. Definitely had to learn some independence, like renting a car and driving around a new city I've never been to before! I also single handedly set up every utility for our new home as well as managed all documents and information needed for our home mortgage. (Previously, this was Derek's job so I had no CLUE what I was doing). Obviously, there's also the whole "absence makes the heart grow fonder" saying and BOY is that true. It just feels like our love has sprouted to new levels I never knew could exist.

I'm ready though. SO ready for this to end and in a few hours, I'll be in D.C. for the ceremonies and back with my other half.

I definitely couldn't have made it through this without my friends and family. From the tears, to the frustration, you have helped me through these past 5 months and I'm very grateful. But mostly, we're especially thankful for both of our parents. They have helped us in so many ways and we'll forever be in debt for their generosity. Love you all. Now let's CELEBRATE!!!!!!!!

Move #2

Well, our personal belongings have officially moved out of the 10x30 storage until and are now located in a GYNORMO moving truck!

Running in the Warmth

Indoor running? In the winter? Where it's warm?

Absolutely. My friend Morgan mentioned this indoor Groundhog 10K run to me a while back and I was SUPER excited. It's a 6.2 mile course that winds throughout the Kansas City caves. Temperatures there are maintained at 65-68 degrees year round and it was definitely warm (and in some parts stinky). The hardest part was simply figuring out how to get INSIDE the caves without your limbs freezing off in the 20 degree weather. Thankfully, my brother came to the rescue and picked us up from our parking spot and drove us right to the entrance. What a stud.

Overall it was a long, good run. I definitely don't run as much in the winter so my time wasn't a personal record by any means. The goal was to finish well and we both did! Thanks for the finish line cheers Mom!

The Final Countdown

For anyone who knows us, this clock has been looming lately as we prepare for these last couple of weeks...

Only this much time until.....

- Two halfs become one again

- Two four legged animals get their other parent back

- Falling asleep (and staying asleep) becomes a much easier task

- I can actually hug and touch the one who I vowed to live the rest of my life with!!

CAN.  NOT.  WAIT.

Favorite Pastime

When I was young, my brother and I would spend hours days on our Atari, then Nintendo, then 64, then Xbox, etc, etc etc. We would battle until our fingers couldn't move anymore. Come to think of it, that might even be where my hardcore "competitive side" was sprung.

Well for Christmas this year, Derek's sister got the new Mario Bros game for the Wii. I think I almost peed my pants with excitement as I couldn't wait to relive my youth through the eyes of a fire-spitting, short-person with a red hat.

That was December 25th.

This is January 14th.

Somehow, this little old school video game playing has officially turned into the "2010 Challenge to Beat The Game Before Matt Returns To School". Over the past couple of weeks Derek's brother and I developed this infatuation for the game and making sure we complete it in the next week. Are there endless free lives so you never really die? Yes. Are we pretty much dorks? Yes. Do we care? Nope.

So if I'm not picking up my phone, or responding to emails, I might just be on the last level fighting off the final big guy! Don't be jealous.

Midcourt Mayhem

Just amazing.

Baby Fun!

This weekend I was asked again by several people when Derek and I were going to start a family! Both at a baby shower on Saturday, and then visiting a friends baby on Sunday! (I honestly think God is now sending blatant signals.)

First was Kayla's baby shower on Saturday. Kayla and I used to work together a few years back before she moved on to another company. She is tiny, sweet and in love with the color pink. Madelyn Kay will be born late February and you can see how blessed she'll be with all the presents below!
On Sunday, my friend Brandy and I ventured up North to see our friend Allison's new baby who was born on December 17th. Little Levi is the cutest little boy !

Photo credit is Allison's sister Jenni

Fieldhouse Fun

This past Wednesday, I went with my little brother and dad to see KU barely beat Cornell! It was our birthday gift to my father and we sure did pick THE game to be at. It was too close the entire game and the Fieldhouse was CRAZY LOUD!

Happy Birthday again Dad!

We Have a House!

We signed our contract on our Cleveland home last week and the inspections are currently taking place! It was number one on our list after visiting there a few weeks ago and it's a great deal too. It's almost the same size as our old Kansas house, much cheaper and in a great area with young couples and families. It's open floor plan, basement, 2 fireplaces and fenced yard all enticed us, but there was one key factor that played a big part... the double sink! We looked at about 10-15 houses on our first visit and this is the only house with a double sink in the master. Because they were all built in the early 1900's up there, the bathrooms are very small and had limited counter space. Well not our new house! A double sink and plenty of counter space! Those who lived there before us were a bit eclectic so we'll have to get used to the black jetted master tub and the unusual tiles around the basement fireplace!

We close early February and are very excited to officially have a home for our next step in "the adventure" (otherwise known as our life!).



More pictures to come as soon as we move in!

Trip to DC!

This past week/weekend, we spent a few days in the DC area. We were able to spend NYE with some good friends (lasting until 4:30am!) and see many of the sites while there.


One of our favorite's was the Newseum where Derek enjoyed the FBI exhibit and I loved the Presidential dog portraits (of course!).







Seeing the Declaration and Constitution were also pretty neat.



But, to be quite honest, it wasn't the historical views, or the empowering tour of the Capitol, or even the amazing sights of the area at night that were my favorite parts. It was the gamers and sweets that made my weekend!

The "sweets" were the famous Georgetown Cupcakes that we indulged in throughout the weekend. I must say, they were by far the best I've ever tasted, even a notch up from the famous Magnolia Bakery in NYC.




And the "gamers" were those attending the Magfest convention held at our Hilton. They were up 24 hours a day in the meeting rooms playing their video games. Many dressed up and needless to say, it was the best people watching ever.

Avatar = Amazing

Despite the fact that Derek and I are avid movie-watcher's and frequent the local AMC theatre, I rarely post on these experiences nor give my reviews. The movie, Avatar, however, deserved just that.

This Action, Sci Fi movie was beyond any expectations that I had.... and even those were somewhat high being that it's a James Cameron movie! It's not just a cheesy story about extremely tall blue people and their world with flying dragons. It's a visually stimulating, magical story with wonderful music and top notch CG imagery with an amazing James Horner score. After leaving the theatre, I would have given anything to be back into the world of Pandora and the beautiful plants and animal living in their world.

Overall, if you haven't seen this movie, I would highly recommend it. Regardless of if you are a Sci Fi lover or not, I personally believe any normal human being would like this movie. And definitely see it in 3D if you get the chance. It will really surprise you!

Gift Wrapping!

Another favorite part of the Holidays are wrapping gifts. I spend a lot of time picking out my paper, ribbons, bows and gift labels and like to carefully and strategically wrap each gift. I do realize that some people probably just threw up in their mouth reading that as it's a disliked task in certain households. I find it very relaxing to throw on some Christmas music, wrap and dance around while singing at the top of my lungs!

This year, I chose a red and gold theme and think they turned out mighty fine if I do say so myself! (Minus the few thousand glitter speckles all over the kitchen!)

Gone to the Dogs

I do think my cooking skills have improved within the past few years. I enjoy trying new meals, even if I do refuse to venture at all from the recipe. They seem to turn out well for the most part... at least edible if not yummy.

I also am a sucker for traditions so it was time again to make my favorite Christmas treat..... my mother's banana bread. So my first batch (3 small loaves) cooked for an hour like it should and then was removed from the oven. The toothpick came out soggy so they went back in for another 15 minutes. Same thing. Back in for another 10 minutes. Same thing. I finally gave up and knew something was wrong although I had gone over the recipe 8 times in my head and had followed every step to a Tee! The bread was like rubber and only the outside was cooked, and I could not figure it out for the life of me!

Anyone want to take a guess as to what was wrong? This website explains it all. Apparently I had grabbed the baking powder out of the pantry instead of the baking soda. I can just hear all of those cooks out there groaning while reading this in disappointment of my stupidity. How was I to know? They both are white, powdery and for baking. The worst part, however, is that I thought I could use them as treats for the dogs. Nope. They pretty much looked like they were choking on the most disgusting thing ever tasted when I tossed them a nibble. Pretty sad when your own dogs won't even eat your cooking.

Oh well, got more bananas and will be on loaf #7 tomorrow!

2 Peas in a Pod

Lacy has always been an Alpha towards Bailey and sometimes (rarely) can even get a bit pissy with her. That's changed a lot over the past year and they seem to be becoming more like sisters should.

I was working yesterday and Bailey was laying on her bed next to me as she always does. Lacy decided she wanted in on the comfort and laid down on the bed as well. Yes, NEXT to Bailey and no, she didn't GROWL at her to get off first! I quickly snapped this picture with my phone as it just warmed my heart to see the two together.

** You can see Bailey's face looking at me with an "WTF?" face!

Cleveland

I thought it would only be appropriate to somewhat recap our weekend in Cleveland by listing some facts we learned about our new city! (Don't expect any pictures as we were purely just house-hunting all weekend!)

- Cleveland has the 2nd largest Theatre District behind NYC. (Don't worry - I didn't believe it either until we ventured down there to spontaneously see a play!)
- When they say it's 30 degrees, it feels more like 2 due to the FREEZING winds coming off the lake!
- Cleveland has gone from being the 33rd largest city in 2000 to now the 40th largest, due to a steady increase in people leaving the city.
- The school districts there have Elementary, Middle School, Junior High and High School. (We only have 3 here!) They are K-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12.
- The Cleveland Metropark Zoo has one of the largest collection of primates in North America. (Can't WAIT to visit the zoo!)
- Last year, the city was ranked the 7th most dangerous city in the nation among cities with a population of 100,000 to 500,000 and the 11th most dangerous overall. Awesome, right? (What is odd about that fact is the lack of security systems in homes, and better yet, our realtor doesn't even lock her doors at night!)
- This city had the first traffic light ever! It began on Aug. 5, 1914.

Decorating Twice!

This year, because Derek and I are homeless, we didn't have our own tree to decorate. Fortunately, both of our parents needed help decorating theirs! I always enjoy hanging the ornaments with my family as there are special memories for most of them. It was also fun to listen to Derek's parents talk about the memories from theirs as well.

Christmas is definitely my favorite Holiday and I think one reason why is the decorations. I definitely didn't mind decorating TWO trees!

(To the left is my parents tree and to the right is my in-laws tree... ignore the camera flash issues!)

Wicked was WICKED!

I was so sad this summer when Derek and I tried to get a ticket to this musical in NYC only to find out it was sold out every night. Fortunately, my mother surprised the family with some great seats to this show this past weekend. I've heard the rave reviews and all of the good publicity and was super excited. And now after actually seeing it? I'm officially on the bandwagon.

I'm not sure if it was the amazing actors, or the costumes, or just the plot and humor within. Whatever it was, Wicked was an absolutely amazing musical. It made us fall in love with the 'villain' that we grew up to hate as children watching the Wizard of Oz. I even had dreams that night involving the cast and STILL have those songs stuck in my head!

Needless to say, wherever you are, you must find the nearest music hall showing this musical and buy yourself a ticket!!

Book Review - Sarah's Key

Although it's taken me a while to finish, this book was wonderful and was a fun, different read.

Sarah's Key, by Tatiana de Rosnay, tells the story of Sarah, a ten year-old Jewish girl, who is arrested in 1942 by the French police. Wanting to protect her younger brother, she locks him in a cupboard and promises to come back for him as soon as she can. Another story is woven throughout the book in every other chapter that sits in a more modern world. This story revolves around Julia Jarmond, an American journalist. She's asked to write about the 60th anniversary of the Vel’ d’Hiv’—the infamous day in 1942 when French police rounded up thousands of Jewish men, women and children, in order to send them to concentration camps. Sarah’s Key is the story of these two families, forever linked and haunted by one of the darkest days in France’s past. The back and forth creates a very interesting, emotionally intense read.

I'm giving this book an A and would recommend it to anyone!

I was especially drawn into this book when a personal, special connection came to be known. Sarah's younger brother's name is revealed as "Michael" a couple of chapters in. Not only is that my younger brother's name, but the connection that they share in the book is similar to ours. I'm very fortunate to have a wonderful brother with whom I have a strong relationship and love to death!