Houseguests!

So, unless something comes up between now and then (Christina, please no more broken bones while rollerblading that require surgery), we will have our first house guests this weekend! This is exciting on many fronts...

...first and foremost is the actual house guests...Christina and Pablo! Not only do we have an absolute blast with them everytime we hang out, but we actually get to host them for once. We've stayed at their old San Fran pad on two occasions -- one trip to wine country and one to Tahoe -- and we've never been able to return the favor because either (a) Shane and I didn't live in the same city or (b) they stayed elsewhere during their trips to the Windy City. Unfortunately, we don't have luxury, private accommodations in our one bedroom place, but we do have a cleared out corner of the living room, an air mattress and down comforters. Not too shabby. Hopefully it will do! However, it will be quite interesting having 4 people share one bathroom. I will keep all posted on this...

...second, we get to be tourists! Not quite sure what we'll do or what C&P will want to do, but either way, I am sure that we'll get to embark on some sort of adventure that we have yet to do in this fabulous city. Shopping in Georgetown, eating at a yummy restaurants, sipping wine at a local vineyard (did you know northern Virginia rivals Napa? and that there are wineries within 35 minutes of our house?), or seeing the memorials...so much to do! One thing we will be doing for certain is cheering on the marathon runners! Go Karen, Nicole and Denise (and of course anyone else I might possibly know who is running!)

...lastly, it forces us to finish the house organization and unpacking! This is about 95% done, but we cannot find the motivation to finish the last few tasks. All that remains is (1) hanging another level of shelving in the closet (you try cramming two peoples stuff into one small walk in closet -- talk about difficult) (2) re-hanging the bathroom shelves (these were up and looking pretty, but we quickly learned that they had too much weight on them, when Shane's reach made them come crashing down) and (3) the last two boxes (its all miscellaneous stuff -- like all wedding memoirs -- that have no place in everyday life, but need to be saved!)

Alright, time to get back to work. Hope all is well with everyone and hopefully we'll be seeing you soon! The next few months are pretty busy travel wise for us, so I'll post our schedule below, and hopefully we can catch up and see everyone!

Friday 10/31 -- Libertyville, IL -- Mickey Finn's Brewery with the Kiefers and Pastorinos
Saturday 11/1 -- Chicago, IL -- Dave & Tiffany's wedding

Friday 11/21 -- Steph will be sleeping at O'hare; Shane will be in Houston
Saturday 11/22 -- Victoria, TX -- Jerod & Erin's wedding
Sunday 11/23 - Friday 11/28 -- Houston, TX -- Thanksgiving!
Friday 11/28 - Monday 12/1 -- Chicago, IL including my 10 year reunion that Saturday

Wednesday 12/17 - Saturday 12/20 -- Chicago, IL
Saturday 12/20 - Monday 12/29 -- Houston, TX
Monday 12/29 - Sunday 1/4 -- Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

Whew...that's a lot of travel...after that, house guests welcome! Miss you all tons!

Love,

Stephanie & Shane

There's always next year...

...right? So the Cubs choked (or whatever you may call it) again. What's done is done. Although Shane would have liked to see them win (partially for my sake), I think he is at least a tad bit relieved...all the Cubs gear -- the hats, the shirts, the windbreakers, the W flag -- are out of sight until next year. He get's the next six months or so without his wife obsessing about her beloved cubbies...so until next year...

It's college football time!! Nothing makes you feel more like a college kid and an adult at the exact same time. 12 hours of drinking and cheering on your team...sure we can still do it and love every second of it...but that next morning. Ouch. You realize you are just a tad bit older than the crazy fans cheering into the TV cameras. Oh well...go Illini and Aggies!!

Other than that nothing else really excting to report. I promise to post pictures of our place sooner-rather-than later! Miss everyone dearly!

Love,

Stephanie & Shane

Forgot one thing. GO CUBS!

Steph - No More Posts About the Cubs!

Stephanie,

Hey dear! You just posted about Jinxes and Hoaxes. Let's not mention these types of things in the same reference to the Cubs. They need all the help they can get.

On a side note to all,

Being that this is my first posting, I wanted to let everyone know that we are excited you all can be apart of our lives through this type of medium. Give us a holler anytime you want. Love you all.

Shane

Here's to curses, jinxes, billy goats and black cats...

...the 2008 MLB playoffs begin today and I am just giddy with excitment! Maybe, just maybe, this is the year?!?!? In anticipation of the excitment (and hopefully not heartbreak) of the next few weeks, I've been singing this song in my head ALL day. Let's just hope that we hear it after every Cubs home game...and in bars throughout the country after every Cubs game! Go Cubs Go!