Birthdays, Registering and Packing... Oh My!

Okay, so first off I was at Eric's this weekend and didn't get a chance to blog on Saturday about two my favorite birthday boys. Happy Belated Birthday to Jeremiah and Nate.

Jeremiah is my "other boyfriend" as Eric and I like to refer to him. He turned two and I am good friends with his parents, John & Marla. I can't believe he is 2 already... he is growing up so fast. Jeremiah and I enjoy talking about the Illini and the Cardinals. We have had a few short visits at the Illini football games this fall, and he cracks me up with his "touchdown signals". He has become quite the talker these days... please check out his blog for all sorts of cute photos and stories. Happy Birthday Jeremiah!!!

Nate is one of my Assembly Hall buddies, technically my boss (kind of weird but whatever) and exactly 20 years older than Jeremiah. Coincidentally Nate and I also enjoy discussing the Illini and Cardinals but he is little bit easier to understand. I can't believe Nate is 22... he is growing up so fast. It seems just like yesterday I bought him a beer when he was under age to celebrate the Cards winning the 2006 World Series... never even crossed my mind that he was under age at the time... ooopps!! Happy Birthday Nate!

On Saturday Eric and I hit a couple of retail establishments and got the wedding registry underway. It was exhausting, but lots of fun too. In case you care, yes we did register for storage tubs for the big basement at the new house. We spent lots of time together this weekend and it was nice. We bought a new game (Brew-opoly, Monopoly for beer lovers) and played it several times. We both realized that we REALLY enjoy each others company. Yes, we both know that "lovey dovey" stuff will fade but we are enjoying while we can, but it was just so great to have it reinforced that the person you are about to commit the rest of your life to really is someone you simply adore talking to about countless topics, hanging out with and being silly with. On the flip side though that made for another one of our "Sunday Evening Sucks!" moments when I had to head for home. Neither one of us likes saying good-bye but this one was more difficult than normal, but we did figure out that we only have about 10 more "Sucky Sundays" before I move and then we will get to see each other nearly everyday.... woo hoo!!!! That also means I have about 10 weeks to pack up everything I own too... Yikes!

Home Sweet Home

So Eric and I started house hunting a couple of weeks ago, first just driving around on our own and then a week ago Saturday we worked with a realtor and looked at 12 houses in five hours! There was a standout, so we went back and looked at it again on Sunday. Last week we got our financing ducks in a row and we made an offer on Saturday... and after several rounds of negotiations we reached an agreement. Yippee!!! Provided inspections etc. go as planned we will close January 2nd, and I will move up a few weeks later in the middle of January. I don't look forward to packing and moving, but I have over two months to work at it and I think my garbage man will be getting quite a work out.

So the house... we both really love it. Some might think it is a little big for two people, but we hope to do a fair amount of entertaining. Plus I will be working from home, so one bedroom will be my office. The house is just north and west of Geneseo in a somewhat wooded subdivision that sits up on a hill. Winter driving could be challenging at times but the CRV has 4-wheel drive and Eric will only have a 10 minute commute to work, and I will just have to walk across the hall to get to work.

Here are a few pictures. We are really excited to be buying a house together, and we hope to welcome all of the loyal readers for a visit!

A view of the back of the house from the road below... the screened in porch is one of our favorite features. If you continue up the road, turn left and then turn left again you will be on the court where the front of the house is.

The front of the house... could use some landscaping touches to make it more welcoming.
One view of the kitchen... it is so much bigger than my current kitchen... I am so excited to put it to good use!
This is only a portion of the huge storage room in the basement... woo hoo lots of room for our stuff. I am thinking we may register for storage bins for the wedding... is that wrong?

So that is the latest. Hopefully I will be a little more faithful blogging, but until May... don't count on it.