A Place to Hang Our Hat

The last couple of weeks have been a blur of house listings, viewings, open houses, loan documents, Realtors, and neighborhood statistics, but I'm happy to announce that as of last night Eric and I bought a house! I'm sure that those of you who have purchased a home before know the insane flurry of things to follow before it can be officially official, but that doesn't make this moment any less fantastic!

We ended up finding a home that needs just the right amount of TLC, just a couple of blocks from the Mississippi River. It was built in 1924 and I believe it may even have the original owner's player piano in the basement. :) It has a nice backyard for Harper and when we told him about it, he did a little dance. I'll admit it, I did a little dance too.

There will be more pictures to follow - especially as we start putting it together - but here's a few for now.

The Front

The Back

The Living Room & Dining Room

P.S. Speaking of the Mississippi River, I thought I should post a link to the most hysterical story of two 'adventurers' who attempted a Huck Finn-style voyage down the Mississippi in recent weeks. (Thanks to Eric for alerting me of this gem).

I feel It All

I love the new video "I Feel It All" by Feist for the following reasons:

1. Catchy tune

2. That's exactly how I dance (especially at 1:15 and 2:49)

3. Who doesn't love fireworks?

4. One take - are you kidding me?!

Catching Up

The last month has flown by and since I have been M.I.A. on my blog, I thought a bit of catch up was in order. Let's bust out the bullet points, shall we?

Our new race car

• Bought a car! After nearly 5 years of being a single car family we finally broke down and bought a second car. A car that I'm still learning how to drive because it's a manual. We fell in love with the 2005 Saturn Ion and after it was explained to me that once I got comfortable with the manual system it would be like driving a race car, how could I resist?
• Eric is a real life attorney! One Saturday in April, Eric and I were driving down to Marshall for my baby brother's prom when he got a phone call. Thirty minutes stopped at a SuperAmerica later, he had a job offer! He now gets all gussied up everyday to fight crime at a small firm in the twin cities. And by fighting crime I mean mostly representing clients in bankruptcies and divorces. If you live in Minnesota and you're in need of competent and good looking representation, email me. I'm just sayin'.
• Baby Brother Graduated! We got to spend a long weekend with my family for my brother's graduation a couple of weeks ago. And when we all get together for a celebration, it gets a bit wild. It was so nice to see everyone and I swear my cheeks hurt by the time I got home.
• Feng Shui'd my office! Okay, I really don't have a clue as to how to feng shui, but as part of my new happiness project I decided to spruce up my office space a bit since I spend 8 hours a day there. A bonsai plant and a new fountain have really made a big difference (although when my coworkers pop in to visit, they keep telling me it makes them have to pee). It's still a work in progress, but I think surrounding myself with things that are calming and motivating are important - now I don't feel as if I'm just sitting in a box. What do you do to make your workspace feel more inviting? (FYI - I was inspired by this article.)

Eric and I at my brother's graduation