Happy 3 years!

One snowy Saturday afternoon three years ago Jimmy and I tied the knot. Wow time flies when you are having fun. Happy Anniversary Jimmy!! Love you!!

Ready, Set, Go......time to start house hunting.

Jimmy and I have started our house hunting extravaganza. We saw 5 houses yesterday and liked one. Of course the one we liked is at the upper edge of our price range. I guess that's how it goes....it was the prettiest of all.

The rejects:
House Number 1: Sad Little House
One house, the one I was most excited about seeing was a little bungalow style home near campus. Let's just say it was well lived in. It needed a major overhaul including gutting the kitchen, knocking down walls and creating a bedroom where a bathroom use to be and creating a bathroom where the basement is. Oh daddy dearest.....can you come live with us for about a year, Jimmy and I know nothing about handy work.

If you had the time, sweat, tears and of course money this house is for you. Setting all things aside it would be a huge investment. For you Raleigh people it would be like living at Cameron Village, Dixie Trail or the rose garden part of Raleigh.....huge money potential if you could fix it up.

House Number 2: There's a Story of a Lovely Lady
Another house that we saw was just like walking onto the set of the Brady Bunch show. This house was immaculate but very mod and retro. Pink carpet with flowers, textured wallpaper from 1950, bright yellow leather sofa and chairs. It was a bit much. The house was huge and in a nice part of town too. Setting all things aside it was priced way to high but we wanted to look at it anyway. The inside was very nice despite the furnishing and with alot of work you could rip down the wallpaper and pull up the carpet. BUT do we really want to do that?

House Number 3: Its Not Easy Being Green
This house we will call Kermit's house. It is very green. Dark green and light green on the exterior with white trim and a green deck in the back. The owner must being having a hard time selling it because he is offering the buyer a credit for a new paint job. Much to our surprise the inside had green bathrooms and trim.....yay more green. This house did not impress, too small.

The other house we saw was okay so I won't make fun of it.

These are the houses we didn't like. I am going to wait on describing the house that we liked so I don't get attached to it. The more I talk about it, the more I like it. So for now it will be a secret.

If you have any house hunting advice please share.

This morning....

I woke up early for a change. I got dressed and was ready for work on time. I was headed out of the door and realized I didn't have my ID card. So, I went back to my bedroom, dug through the clothes hamper, found my pants from yesterday and found my card. I am on my way out of the door again and this time I can't find my keys. I look, and look, and look....only to find my keys in the door, which was where I was when I discovered I needed my ID card for work.

Mind you that I have decided to take the bus this morning and it would arrive at my apartment at 6:57, it is now 6:55. I walk out of the apartment to see the bus pick up everyone on the curb and leave me behind. That is okay, I will park in Jimmy's spot (Jimmy is out of town by the way) and then take the campus bus to my office.

So, I get in the car, drive to campus and park. Mind you this bus arrives at the stop at 7:21 and it is 7:19 when I arrive at the parking deck. Again, I watch another bus pick up its people and leave me behind. That is okay, I will walk. They say it will be warmer today.

My naive little mind.....with visions of shorts and sandals dancing in my head....today would be warmer, today will feel like springtime, today will be different.

So, I walked to work, which is basically a mile from his parking deck to my office in the wind, with a wind chill, with paper thin pants on. My legs are still red and burning from this morning. Jimmy laughed as I told him my story. Its not funny!! I was in tears when I arrived at work!! My hands felt like needles and I thought my fingernails were going to fall off.....I had on good warm gloves too. My legs were sort of numb and then sort of tinglely too. They hurt. Everything hurt.

Where are you springtime.....

New Movie: New In Town

Here is a link to the trailer for New In Town.
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi1554121497/

Embrace the Winter.....

Everyone up here says in order to love Madison year-round, you must embrace the winter. This weekend we did.

Friday afternoon Megan arrived and then we took Jimmy out to dinner for his 29th birthday. Ginger and Aaron joined us as well. The dinner was excellent. The place was called Eno Vino and was a wine bar/tapas place. The food was amazing and the drinks were very yummy!! I cannot wait to go back again!! Maybe for Valentine's Day........hint hint.

On Saturday we toured Madison. We went to the capitol building and walked on Lake Mendota. Yes, I said we WALKED on the lake. I have never in my life walked on water!! It was so weird to be walking out into the lake when normally you walk along the shore and docks. People were playing frisbe with their dogs, walking, running and fishing. You almost felt like you were at the beach. Every once in a while we would come across a crack which would send chills through your spine because with all the fun you can't forget that it could crack....but with the cold weather from the last few weeks they say it is fairly safe.

Jimmy and I standing on the lake.

You can see downtown from here.

Then on Sunday we ventured to Devil's Lake for our first snowshoeing adventure. As part of Jimmy's birthday present I bought him snowshoes and of course he can't go by himself so I bought a pair for myself as well. We rented a pair for Megan at REI.

Devil's Lake completely frozen:

Us in our first attempt at snowshoeing:

We snowshoed out onto the lake and walked along a trail for a few hours. It was a good workout. You move a little different at first b/c your feet have suddenly grown so you kind of have to learn to walk with wider strides.

Then after snowshoeing we went sledding!! It was awesome!! I felt like a huge kid. I went sailing down the hill a few times sitting upright on the sled. Then I mustered up the courage to go face down on my belly. It was the best!! I went over a ramp that some kids had built, went airborne and landed with a big "Yah Hooooooo." The family that was at the hill with us gave me style points for my jump. I must admit that I was not aiming for the ramp....it just happened!!

I am ready for the Olympics! This is me pre-jump. Great form!! "Anna should sit in the front." I am not falling for that again. This is us right before we ate a pound of snow on the way down!!

Then on Monday we took it easy. I went an applied for my passport while Megan packed and then we went to see the Renee Zellweger movie New In Town (aka Anna Moves to Madison..sort of). The movie is about a corporate girl from Miami whose company sends her to New Ulm, Minnesota in the middle of winter. Madison and the little Minnesota town are nothing alike but the accents, cultural happenings and sayings are very similar. The movie is quite funny! I even think Jimmy would have liked it.

What a wonderful weekend!!