Homeowners :)

We started talking about buying a house about 4 months ago.  We knew we were going to be starting our process to pregnancy and our apartment kept raising the rent, so looking for a house seemed like the best option.  We started saving some money and then started looking for a house in May.  It didn't take us too long to find one that we thought would be perfect for us, we made and offered and it was accepted!  We started the process of getting our loan secured and today we closed on our first house!  We are so excited!

Unlocking the door to our house!

The house is in a cute little neighborhood in South Austin called Rancho Alto.  We fell in love with this neighborhood immediately, for several reasons.  First, it isn't a huge neighborhood and every time we drove through people we out walking their dogs or playing with their children and it looked friendly.  Secondly, we knew we wanted to stay in south austin somewhere and it was an affordable neighborhood with really cute houses.  Third (and most importantly), the streets are named after members of the 1980 USA Olympic Hockey Team (the story featured in the movie Miracle).  Our house is on O'Callahan Dr. and neighboring streets are: Jim Craig Ct., Herb Brooks Dr., Craig Patrick Way, Eruzione Dr, McClannahan Dr., etc.  Cool, right?  Well, you probably don't think so but we think its awesome!

Our house is 5 bedrooms (so a bit bigger than we wanted, but that just means there is room for visitors!) with 3 full bathrooms.  We were looking for a house with a bedroom and bathroom downstairs (for mom) but not the master downstairs.  That is hard to find.  This house had it plus 4 additional bedrooms and 2 bathrooms upstairs!  It already had an updated kitchen too!  Plus a really good sized fenced-in backyard for Marcie!  I think she is gonna really love her new yard!

Logan already loves the stairs!

The upstairs hasn't been painted before, so it's very neutral.  I hope to get some color to at least some of  the rooms before we move in. 

Logan is checking that vent for us.

Peek-a-boo from the pantry :)

Toasting our new house with some Sparkling Cider :)

I think Shawn is a bit overexcited!

Our current lease isn't up for about 6 more weeks, so we will have plenty of time to get the house ready before we move in, plus we can move stuff over slowly.  The living room and dining room are painted yellow with one dark red wall, so that whole area needs to be neutralized prior to moving furniture in!  We will be buying new living room stuff eventually, so for now I don't want to add any color downstairs because I'd rather wait until we choose a new couch and things so I can coordinate the colors.  I've been watching HGTV for a long time and now I will get to use some of the stuff I've learned!  We'll start by buying the essentials (mower, fridge, ceiling fans) then cleaning and painting.  We'll post updates as we progress!

Quick trip to Dallas

Shawn and I have started a tradition since we moved to Texas...a yearly trip to Dallas to see the Chicago Blackhawks play the Dallas Stars.  Yesterday was the game so we decided to go up a bit early and spend the day doing something in Dallas.  We decided to try out their train system.   It was nice but kind of strange.  We each bought a single day pass for the system at $7 each.  We never once had to show anyone!  We could have ridden the train all day for free!  Apparently Dallas is very trusting of the mass transit system riders.

Shawn decided that we should go to the The Sixth Floor Museum.  It is in Dealey Plaza and is the museum about the JFK assassination.  It is on the 6th floor on the old Texas School Book Depository and is the location that Lee H. Oswald allegedly shot JFK.  The tour was really pretty interesting and we both learned a lot.

This is the 6th floor window where the shot originated.

This is the street where the car was when JFK was shot and of course, the grassy knoll.

JFK and Jackie in their car just before he was shot.

One thing that Shawn and I were both struck by in the exhibit, was the parallel between JFK and Obama.  There were are surprising number of similarities in their policy and the struggles they faced during their presidency's.  Look it up.

Last night we headed to the American Airlines Center (on the train again...still no one asked to see our ticket!).  The Blackhawks were taking on the Stars, who are currently ahead in the rankings.  We got there early so we could wander around and get close to the ice for some pictures.  

Although the stands look empty in this picture this ended up being one of the most packed houses the Stars have ever had...in large part to the number of Hawks fans!  There were a TON!  Hawks fans are super loyal :)

The view from our seats...in the nose bleed section.  It was cheap though and still awesome!

Warm up time!  Unfortunately Toews is still out injured :(  No pictures of him...

My favorite...Sharpie!!  He just happened to be #1 player of the game too.  My next jersey will be a Sharp jersey!  Also had Crawford in goal for the game...he did awesome!

Here we have Kane in the distance, Keith and Leddy up front and of course Crawford, the goalie.

Look at the Hawks fans!!

Getting ready for the teams to come out on the ice.

National Anthem.

The start of the 3rd period.

We had a great time, as usual.  We are already looking forward to our trip next year.  Now for St. Patrick's Day celebration tonight :)

Hockey & the cutest baby ever!

Shawn and I had a day off together last week and we decided to go downtown for lunch at The Iron Cactus then head to a Texas Stars Hockey game.

Lunch was awesome!  It was a gorgeous day so we at on the outdoor patio on the roof.  Food was good, weather was good, company was great!  Best lunch in a while!

Since we both love hockey and the Blackhawks are so far away now, we had been talking since we moved down here about going to a Texas Stars hockey game.  They play just NW of Austin in Cedar Park.  The Cedar Park Center is really nice an not too big, so no seat is a bad seat.  We had a great time and will definitely be going again!



Today, Logan is over for some playtime with his favorite Auntie :)  His new favorite thing to play with here (besides all of Marcie's toys) is Shawn's voice activated R2-D2.  Logan loves him!  We turn him on and Logan is totally fascinated!  They are becoming good friends.

Marcie gets a tad jealous when I play with Logan.

Totally understandable though...look at this sweet face :)

He still has those beautiful long eyelashes!



The Stanley Cup Finals!!

Lets Go Hawks!!

For those of you not following the Stanley Cup Playoffs (which is crazy!), here is an update.  The Blackhawks swept the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Finals and are going to play in the finals for the Stanley Cup!!  Woohoo!  The Eastern Conference champs are the Philly Flyers (we can take 'em!).  Game 1 will be this Saturday on NBC at 7pm CST/8pm EST.  Even if you've never watched a hockey game before you should.  They are awesome!   Much better live, but right now the tickets are obviously way too expensive here in Chicago :)

Game 2 is Monday

Game 3 is Wednesday

Game 4 is Friday

Hopefully no other games will be needed because I feel another sweep coming on!  I will be leaving on Sunday to go to Texas to help Mimi with new Baby Logan who should be arriving either Tuesday or Wednesday...which means I will have to find some sort of tricky way to watch the games :)  I will find a way to make it happen! 

On a side note (although it is a really important side note) Mimi had an ultrasound yesterday and Logan looks good, but big!  She is going to the doctor again today and will likely be scheduling a C/S for next week!  Yay!

Quest for Lord Stanley's Cup

It's playoff time in hockey...and for Chicago Blackhawk fans that's a big deal!  Shawn and I are so excited!  The first round is over now and the Blackhawks defeated the Nashville Predators 4 games to 2.  The series was great!  Here is a video of my favorite moment from game 5 of the series.

Lost Puck in Antti Niemi's Gear

If you haven't ever followed hockey before or just have gotten away from it, now it the time to get involved!  There is a really tight competition this year and all the teams left are really good!  The playoffs are into the semi-finals now with the Hawks playing the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night.  We'll be watching!  The two teams that have been the toughest competition for the Hawks this season were the Detroit Redwings and the San Jose Sharks.  Luckily one of those teams will be eliminated this round because they play each other.   The biggest upset of the first round was Montreal's defeat of the Washington Capitals and the all powerful Ovechkin.  Good.  I'm glad.  He thinks way too much of himself.  Ok...now that I have that out of my system I can move on.  Anyway, if you're interested in what's going on you can check out the NHL's website.

National Hockey League 

Let's Go Hawks!

As you may know, Shawn and I have become huge hockey fans since we went to a game when we were in D.C. (plus living near my dad, who is a HUGE hockey fan, has helped this habit along quickly).  The Blackhawks had a great season last year and are doing even better this year.  We went to the game last night at the United Center and, as usual, it was AWESOME!  We just got cheap standing room only tickets, but that made it so we had extra money to buy beer and other random stuff :)  It was the first home game since the Olympics so the Hawks had a special recognition at the beginning for all 7 of their players that had the honor to be Olympians.  3 played for the Gold Medal winning Candadian team, 2 for the Silve Medal winning USA team, and 2 that played for Slovakia. I was a bit irritated with the fans at first because they boo-ed the Canadian players...and that isn't right!  They are still our Blackhawks and they are amazing atheletes that played great hockey for their country...just the same as the American players.  Anyway...the boo-ing was short lived.  The players were wearing their Olympic Medals...it was pretty cool!  We had a great time and I can't wait to go again!