Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to my Dad....he is one of the greatest people I know - and is an amazing role model. He always preaches doing the right thing, he instilled great values in all 3 of us as kids, and he still motivates us to always do our best. My dad helped to make me the sports fanatic that I am now....he taught me how to play tennis, practiced with me whenever I wanted to (still does!), played basketball with me in the driveway, and threw a softball around with me in the backyard. He'd never even ask for a moment to sit down after a long day's work -- if I was up for something, he'd change and would be right there. He also sat at the kitchen table to help me with math problems, proof-read my papers, and quiz me on spelling words. He's infamous among my friends for creating quizzes on the destinations for our vacations (he always looks for teachable moments). He'd take the encyclopedia, and create a 2-3 page quiz on the demographics, geography, history and politics of the various states/cities/countries/islands/etc. to which we traveled. It was a long-running joke, but he would always do it for our family - and he even did it for my friends in high school when we traveled to Mexico City and Acapulco for our senior year spring break.
The moment I am most looking forward to in our wedding is when my dad walks me down the aisle, with SB standing at the end, and all of our family and friends surrounding us. It will be amazing, and I can't wait to just let it all sink in. I wish that I could be with him today to celebrate Father's Day - but now that we're driving distance from Madison, I have a feeling that we'll be able to travel up there much more often for holidays like today!

One full week....

....and LOTS of "grown up" decisions later, and we are still surviving St. Louis...you might even say thriving in St. Louis.
So after arriving last Saturday, we spent about every waking minute after work searching for houses, driving around the city with our realtor, and figuring out if we'd make offers. We ended up finding a great place in a nearby suburb - made an offer - they countered, we went slightly higher and they accepted! Bam, just like that we have an accepted offer, a date for an inspection, and a date for closing.....all before we leave for the wedding. We are REALLY excited about the house, there's a yard for Daisy - and the interior's really nice, but I'll share more about it later.
Yesterday we bought a refrigerator and a washer/dryer. There are always sooooo many decisions to make when making big purchases like that. The sales people always try to persuade you to go with the top of the line models, so it's tough to then figure out what you really need after that. The laundry guy ended up convincing us that we really need the "steam" feature on the washer/dryer. I'll report back if it's really worth it, but I sure hope it is! SB nearly convinced me that we had to have the "shaved ice" feature in the fridge.....for snow cones......but it was like a $400 difference and the only thing we wanted on the nicer version was the shaved ice. I think you can buy a snow cone maker for like $40....so maybe that'll be an upcoming Christmas gift ;)
For now we're searching for living room furniture. Where did you guys buy your stuff? I love Pottery Barn, but I feel sure that there must be other places that have nice stuff at better prices....but I'm having trouble finding stuff we both like right now. It's a work in progress, I guess.
2 weeks from today we'll be flying to Florida for the wedding!!! CAN'T wait :)

A Brand New City!

And just like that......after lots of packing and a long drive....we've arrived here in St. Louis safe and sound! It is so strange to be living in what amounts to a hotel room, and to call this place home - but that is just what it is for now. We have been house hunting since Sunday, and it has been quite an adventure! The housing market is really great here (especially coming from the crazy pricing we saw in DC) -- we just need to narrow down the area in which we want to live, and pick a final place (really easy to say.....not so easy to do). We already have one front-runner....it would be pretty wild if we would be able to buy a place before the wedding. The big questions are if we want to live in the suburbs close to where SB will be working, or live in a neighborhood in the city that would be a touch more city-like (but would still include a house and a yard).
I appreciate all of your advice so much.....I really do need to remind myself to take one step at a time, because that's all anyone really can do! There have been a few moments where everything seemed to be insurmountable, and I literally had to stop and take a few big breaths to think clearly. There are just a lot of BIG decisions to be made....and nobody to tell me exactly how it will all work out 5 years from now (I wish!). How great would it be if there was some way to forecast how we'd get along with the neighbors, where our friends will live in the city, etc. etc.
I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep....tomorrow is another day! (Plus "Sweet Home Alabama" on TV right now seems to make things better too .... LOVE that movie!!!)

Keeping Calm...

This is my mantra this week...and it will continue to be until we are totally settled in a new place in St. Louis. I may even try to find a poster & frame like the above set for my new home office (exciting!). The place is totally packed and the movers are coming any minute to take all our stuff and my car. Our landlord will swing by tonight to return the deposit and give us a thumbs up on cleanliness (or so I hope).....and then tomorrow at like 4:30pm we will be westward-bound!! I sort of feel like I need to pinch myself to realize that this is really happening, and not just some crazy dream. SB and I will be sleeping on an air-matress tonight, in sleeping bags....much like what we did when we first moved in here b/c the crazy movers were practically holding our stuff hostage. One of the stranger things that happened when we moved to DC was that we shared a 2-bedroom apartment in the Caps' corporate housing with one of the players for like a full week! He was beyond nice, but it had to be weird for him. Fortunately, that scenario will not be happening in STL. So, for now....I'm keeping calm (or trying to!) and I'm really excited about what lies ahead!

Sign # 1 I should have just stayed in bed....

So this week my hours are shifted a touch on the earlier side. I have to wake up at 5:30am to be in the office at 7. It's usually no biggie -- that's often the time I wake up to run or go to the gym -- but running is one thing...actually expecting my body to think and react and work is another! I think the combination of staying up late packing and being a little tired/stressed led to the following:
I took Daisy's water/food bowls to the sink to fill with fresh water.....I then scooped out her food to fill in the food bowl, but promptly dumped it in the water bowl I'd just filled. UGH! I did my best to fish out the food bits, but it was totally soaked.......good thing she's a lab and will eat anything and everything in sight that even slightly resembles food!!!!! She totally ate every last bit, and didn't even pass any funny looks my way. Love that dog :)(here she is rockin' the shades....)

He Did It!

Federer won the French Open.....and now has 14 majors to his name, and a career Grand Slam! What an accomplishment. I was impressed that John McEnroe made the bold statement that Federer is the best player in history. That really says a lot coming from another pro with a pretty solid career. I was happy to hear that Sampras had been texting Federer throughout to wish him good luck -- it must be a weird feeling to have a record like that broken....but it's bound to happen to most everything at some point.

When Soderling's shot flew wide, and Federer fell to the clay crying.....well I had tears streaming down my cheeks too. There's just something about watching a person accomplish a lifelong goal....and their raw emotion that just turns me into a waterworks too. Here are a few pics from the amazing win:

Breakfast at Roland Garros

Ok, so it doesn't have the same ring as "Breakfast at Wimbledon," but right now I'm watching the women's singles final between Dinara Safina and Kuznetsova. They're slugging it out...."Kuzie" (as Kuznetsova's called) just won the first set....but I hope Safina will make a comeback. Tomorrow I will definitely be watching the men's final.....it could be Federer's first French Open victory, which would tie him with Sampras with 14 major titles!

Today will be a fun day...I'm getting my hair trimmed/highlighted, and then I'm doing my FINAL dress fitting (it had better be perfect, or there will be problems.....mainly b/c we move next Sat!). Daisy and I already went to the dog park this morning for her hour of heavenly bliss, and now I'm doing laundry, and booking spa appts to make sure I can use the gift cards given to me at the shower last weekend. I'm getting a pedi on Tues, and a facial on Thursday (my first ever) -- hopefully they'll keep me nice and relaxed during a crazy week. I should try to go running quickly....so I'm off for now! Enjoy your Saturday!!!

37 Days and Total Insanity

Ok friends, so the past two weeks have been really crazy for us. As you know, we have a wedding around the corner. I am so excited for it, and I feel totally prepared. It could be this weekend and we would practically be ready (minus the last tiny alterations to my dress, determining the seating arrangements and making the wedding program itself). But now we have some huge news.....we're moving to St. Louis. Like in 9 days! SB was offered a great position with the NFL team there, so we're heading west (side note, the AMAZING news for me is that my company agreed to let me work from home remotely. I am BEYOND excited and grateful for that opportunity). Here's a glimpse at what that means for the next two months....

• 9 Days from today: Move to St. Louis
  
• ~29 Days from today: Drive to Florida to start the week of wedding festivities!
• 37 Days from today: GET MARRIED
  
• 38 Days from today: Honeymoon!
• 45 Days from today: Back to reality....in St. Louis
• 50+ Days from today: Buy a house, move in, start new life in Missouri

So yes, if you're doing your math, that would mean 4 gigantic life-changing occurrences in the next 50 days (marriage, move, new job for SB, new house). Fortunately we've taken on 2 of them together already, and it was a fun adventure (plus now that I know I can keep my job, I feel like I'll be able to adjust waaaaay easier than if I was job hunting throughout the process because that totally stresses me out). So far, I'm handling everything well.....staying calm, and looking forward to the new opportunities.....here's hoping I don't have any stress-induced melt-downs!!!!

(Man + Ferrell) vs. WILD

I am a big fan of the Discovery show "Man vs. Wild" with Bear Grylls. He is just freakin' amazing (and not bad looking if I do say so myself!). He conquers the jungle, the tundra, mountains, oceans, deserts....you name it and he can survive it. Some of the methods he uses to survive are unbelievable (ie: drinking the liquid from elephant dung, eating raw meat, eating eyeballs, eating worms and snakes....the list goes on) - but at the same time I feel like I learn how I would survive in those climates (actual likelihood...0%). Last night Bear was joined by one of the funniest men alive....Will Ferrell! It was the best of both worlds, and seriously, seriously funny. You absolutely have to watch the re-run if you can!

Surprise Bridal Shower!

My wonderful coworkers threw a surprise shower for me last Friday after work! My small department of 4 (including me) had planned to go out to dinner together to celebrate the hard work we've been doing....but instead they had a few tricks up their sleeves. When we got to the restaurant, about 20 of our sweet colleagues were waiting there! We all partook in some sparkling wine, sushi, and good times all around. And though I must admit that I had an inkling it was going to happen (long story....), it was marvelous in every way. AND at the end they did fully surprise me by inviting SB who chauffeured me and a few fun gifties home. It was lovely and I baked them cookies last night to thank them for all the efforts. I am truly very lucky to work with such a great group of young women!