So Long, Rn!

Dear Radon,

I'm not so sure how long you've decided to inhabit our new home. I'm not sure where you are going to go next. I'm not sure what damages, if any, you have done, what you look like, or if we will run into you again in the future, but I do know that you are no longer dwelling in our basement. (Thanks to the lovely radon eradicating system that was installed in our new home today.)

We certainly thank you for your short lived time with us, the various amount of knowledge about yourself that you have brought our way, and the comfort that you now provide us knowing that you are no longer there. You are not welcome in the future, but should you so choose to appear again, we will be sure to take the necessary action to eliminate your presence. We do appreciate your natural tendencies and hope that you maintain a steady presence in our Earth's environment. (For getting rid of anything natural, completely, has its consequences.) But we do hope that you decide to keep you and your radioactive self far away from us, our family, and our friends.

Thank you for your time. Best of luck with Uranium and the infinite decay process that the two of you together create.

Kind Regards,
Your New Landlords

Pack Rats

This weekend Brian and I got down with our packing skills! We packed the kitchen, we packed the office, we shredded a million 'not really that important anymore' papers, we started packing the bedroom, the closets, the basement. We packed! And our living room now looks like a storage room:

Our lifesize game of tetris.

But in that process we also had some fun! I brought up the trampoline that we have in the basement. Jack and I got a little workout in:

Actually, we got caught taking a break.

Then, Jack claimed his new throne.

We got so much accomplished with our packing (probably because of the daylight savings change), and we are well on our way to moving into our new house. It's a bittersweet process, but definitely way more sweet than bitter! Plus, we are so excited to show Jack his new yard. (He's not going to know what to do with his space!)

Puzzle Pieces

In t-minus one week Brian and I will be closing the sale on our current home and signing the papers to our new home. Literally in the same day. One right after the other.

And we are very excited!

We have managed, with the impeccable help from Brian's Uncle Joe (our realtor), to fit all the pieces together and to close on both of our houses on Friday afternoon. It's so surreal. In one week, we will be homeless. And, in one week, we will have a new home!

It's time to get packing!

Nonna e Nonno

We all had a lovely weekend with my Grandparents in town. We celebrated Halloween, Jack's Birthday, Grammie's Birthday, and absolutely wonderful company! (Not necessarily in that order!)

On Friday night when they arrived, we headed to Marcella's for dinner for some authentic Italian cuisine. We also received an 'especially made for Grampy' Vodka Penne dish, compliments to the Chef! (Our waiter overheard Grampy talking about the delicious Vodka Penne a friend of his made and had the chef make one up for him! ...Well, us! It was delish!)

Then, on Saturday, after stopping by the new pad, we took Pupster to the dog park (in honor of his birthday weekend), gave Pupster a new chew toy (compliments of Grampy & Gram), headed to Katzinger's for lunch (to enjoy the infamous Columbus deli), and relaxed at the homefront. It was so nice to just enjoy each other's company!

Saturday night we found ourselves with two bottles of wine, dinner at Barrio (one of the best restaurants in Columbus), and then to Highball - the notoriously wild Halloween Party on High Street in downtown Columbus! We certainly weren't as decorated as last year's Halloween, but we came up with a creative way to incorporate four people and a dog: we were the calendar year. (A stretch?! Possibly, but sometimes you've got to think outside the box...) We each wore one costumey item, and picked a holiday. Here was our list:

Gram - Item: feathery mask; Holiday: Fat Tuesday

Gramps - Item: bunny ears; Holiday: Easter Monday

Brian - Item: pirate eye patch; Holiday: Columbus Day

Erin - Item: tiny red, white, and blue hat; Holiday: President's Day

Jack - Item: pumpkin sweater; Holiday: Halloween

Ok, fine. A HUGE stretch. But we all enjoyed it!

It was absolutely wonderful to have my grandparents in town and all to us! We were able to catch up, laugh, chat, eat, and above all, celebrate!

We love you guys so much, and can't wait to see you soon!

Supervised Visitation

This is how we allow play time at our house:

We warn them both that curiosity killed the cat...

(And, yes, that is my shirt that Jack is so tenderly gripping onto.)

Bookworm

Books. I just love books! Especially new books! And I love bookstores! Especially Barnes and Noble!

I went in to that specific store today to grab a new book because I just finished the one I was reading. (Side note: I hardly ever buy new books because they are so expensive, but I'm nearly out of good reads, and new books just smell so good!) Anyway, so, I went into Barnes and Noble and was flabbergasted at the breadth of literature that sparked my interest! Seriously, folks, I could've filled a library with the amount of books that caught my attention. Brian and I would've been poor and on the streets at the amount I would've spent, but at least we'd have a library over our heads! From magical to historic, from fiction to non, from beachy romantics to self help, I was enthralled at the selection! There were more books there that interested me in the short 5 minutes (5 minutes, mind you), that I could possibly read in a lifetime, and in a strange, odd way, it felt comforting.

Books, to me, are escapes. They allow you to dive into a completely different world. They allow you to relate, and work through, and reminisce, and sympathize, and fantasize, and imagine, and the emotions are just limitless, as are the plots! If you can think of it, you can write about it, and that is an amazing gift that we are all given. (Note: I'm not trying to escape life with my dear husband, bunny, and pupster, sometimes it just happens!) It just amazes me the different worlds that can be created through reading. Books are interesting, enlightening, captivating, and you can learn so much about so many different things!

I am officially a bookworm. I will continue to be an advocate of reading. I will continue to be a spokeswoman for Barnes and Noble. I will continue to explore the world around me with books (ah hem, be a bookworm). But this post is quite winded, and I will not continue ranting about how much I love books aside from this quick quote from William Hazlitt: "Books let us into our souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own." Now, if that is not charming and romantic, I don't know what is!

Amen, Billy H., amen!

Jack-o-lanterns

In lieu of the upcoming holiday, Jack's birthday (and Halloween), we decided to get into the holiday spirit and carve a few pumpkins of our own! Yesterday, we picked out three pumpkins and got busy with our designs. (I know you are wondering why we only picked three when, technically, there are four of us. Bun, you see, eats pumpkin seeds for treats. And when we decided to get to carving, we decided that three would be enough for the four of us, especially since Bun celebrates the holiday by munching on the seeds...That's a believable story, right?! To be quite honest, I completely forgot to get a pumpkin for Bun, and now I feel terrible.)

Nevertheless, we had three pumpkins and last night we got to carving! I cleaned the pumpkins out while Brian and I both did our own designs. Jack's pumpkin was so difficult to cut into so instead of losing a few fingers in the carving process we decided to get creative and paint his. That was the much wiser and easier decision for both of us. We created a 'Jack's worst nightmare' pumpkin where his dearly beloved treat is stuck in a spider web with the spider on its way to capture its prey (Jack's bone)... This seriously would be Jack's worst nightmare. Brian's pumpkin is a mixture of goofy and drunk, and mine is a rendition of Jack Skellington, aka, 'The Pumpkin King', from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

We had an awesome time carving, and what satisfaction to add the candles! Our pumpkins looked awesome on our porch, lit with candles, illuminating the holiday for all the passersby! Check out our photos below!

Just Your Typical Buckeye Saturday

The Ohio State Buckeyes destroyed the Purdue Boilermakers today with a 49-0 win. Even though we didn't attend the game, we were able to make it down to the tailgate to enjoy a few good laughs before the obliteration began. It was wonderful to honor the game day traditions that have triumphantly set the precedences to a great many victorious OSU games.

When we returned from the tailgate, Jack and I took a leisurely stroll while Brian supported his team. Upon our arrival back at home, we all enjoyed the game together and had a lazy rest of the afternoon!

I just love weekends!

PS: We think we sold our townhouse today!!

A Love Like Woah!

Darcy and Than. Let me tell you about these two.

The very first trip I made to Columbus, OH to visit Brian I had the opportunity to hang with a few of his friends. Than was one of them. We had a wonderful time. We went to dinner, we went out to downtown Cbus, we laughed, we joked, we drank, and by the end of the night I felt like I had known Than for much longer than I really had. (And it wasn't the alcohol talking.) He and Brian are extremely close friends (some would argue too close...), and by the state of Ohio, I think they are legally declared as married for as long as they both have lived together.

When I met Darcy, it was evident that these two people [Than & Darcy] were such a compliment to each other. She is a lovely, easy-going, funny, delightful person to be around. And on top of it all, she and Than together make a wonderful couple.

We are never short of fun when we are all together. Than and Darcy are both so likeable, and accepting, and so easy to get along with, and when they decided to get married (well, when Than proposed), we were ecstatic!

This weekend, Brian and I headed down to the Sunshine State to celebrate the nuptials of these two extraordinary people, and it really was an honor to be there to celebrate such a special day with them! They hosted a happy hour at a bar called Undertow in St. Pete Beach on Friday, their wedding was on the beach in Pass-A-Grille on Saturday, and they held their reception on the rooftop of The Hurricane that Saturday night. It was wonderful.

The temperature was perfect, as was the sunset (both nights), the company we were all surrounded by, the atmosphere, even the little Inn that we all stayed at. It really was a tremendous celebration, and so lovely to be able to get to know some of Brian's amazing friends even better than I do now.

To Than and Darcy: We wish you nothing but the best, and may you always be as happy together as you are today. Congratulations!

To see photos of the ceremony, click here.

To see all the other photos, click on the image below.

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

"Brand spankin' new listing available for your immediate occupancy on the remax website!! A lovely two bedroom, one and a half bath is awaiting your company! Updates galore, large kitchen, close to OSU, Columbus, downtown! Easily accessible from everywhere! Truly a delightful home!"

We placed our existing townhome on the market today. It is listed for sale, and we are both a tinsy bit sad that we will soon be saying goodbye to this lovely townhouse. (At least, we think it'll be relatively soon...) After much consideration with renting versus selling, reviewing the pros and cons of both, and pretty much racking our brain about the subject, we've decided that this is the best option for us, even though it may be a bit hard to let go.

Alexander Graham Bell once said, 'when one door closes, another opens', and instead of longingly looking back on our closed door, we are hopeful about the open one, and more than excited to traverse into our new turf, our new neighborhood, our new stomping grounds.

(Forgive me if I'm being slightly dramatic. Our door hasn't closed, yet, and if we can't sell the place we may end up renting it anyway. Besides, you've got to have some sort of drama with a post title like that, right?!)

PS: Radon has dared to rear it's ugly head. It has no idea who it's messing with...