Thank you Obama

I'm definitely a grown up. I got married and now...I'm about to be officially in debt up to my eyeballs for the next 30 years. Congrats to me. Thanks to the generosity of President Obama for first time home buyers, Ryan and I have "purchased" a new home. I put it in quotes because we haven't closed on it yet. The good news is that with the loan we have been approved for we only need 3.5% down at closing...check! Then, next April we will get that money back in tax refunds. Sweet.

Anyway, we decided- being we are now in our 30s- that we should grow some roots. We have no plans to move in the near future and wanted a house we could grow into. The new house is up the street in another subdivision from where we are renting now. It has an unfinished basement, 4 bedrooms, 2.5 bath. This will be the largest house that I will have ever lived in. Ryan and I have been driving by it every few days since the foundation was poured and I keep marveling at it. Then, I start to freak out a bit, but I keep it all on the inside. My insecurities start to speak up with, "Oh my gosh. It's way too big! You can't afford this! What are you thinking? Sure, you have a nice house but now you won't ever have the ability to put anything nice in it! And kids?! Forget it now. You won't be able to have kids for another 10 years at this rate!"

Thanks voice in my head. But then I take a breath and realize that we can afford it and that we don't need all brand new stuff. We have stuff and eventually we will be able to get new stuff. We are fine. And as my friend Stacy put it, "No one ever has enough money for kids. You just make it work." So then I become excited and then relaxed.

Ryan is like a kid when it comes to the house. He has had a vision for the basement since before it was even constructed. When asked about it, his eyes get bigger and he starts to fidgit with excitement. He knows exactly where he wants the bar located, what type of bar, where his White Sox pool table will be (that we dont have), his card table (that we dont have), his flat panel tvs (that we dont have but we do have a couple old school big screens), and couches and chairs (that we do have but will eventually be replaced with Chicago Bears furniture). I love this man.

Overall it has been awesome to watch the progress of this house being built and the speed in which it has been built. There is still a lot left but the outside is pretty much done minus shutter and the actual front door. Dry wall is up. Plumbing and electrical is in place. Now we need cabinets, sinks, toilets and doors with knobs. Its amazing that we have just over a month before we close and move in. September 8th. Let the countdown begin!

Anyone want to pack up our crap and move it for us?

Honeymoon

I'm finally putting some pictures up of our honeymoon!

This is the view from our hotel room. The mountain in the background is Mt. Etna, an active volcano. At night you could sometimes see the lava flowing out of it. It was beautiful!

This is Ryan in front of and in the saltwater pool. We went here everyday to relax and swim. On the other side of the pool is a dock that you can walk down to and jump right in the sea. We did that a few times but only when we were really hot being that the water was about 60 degrees.

Here is a typical street in Taormina.

We had gelatto (Italian ice cream) everyday! It was like heaven!

Here I am in a plaza in Taormina where everyone seemed to congregate in the evenings to visit with friends and families.

Here is Ryan sitting at a restaurant at the entrance to Corso Umberto, the main street of Taormina.

Here we are at the same restaurant, Trocadero. They have fantastic pizza and even better wine!

We loved this little spot. This cafe is located right next the plaza so you could sit and people watch for hours if you wanted!

This is the top of the hotel, where the bar is located. We would sit up there and watch the lights of the town and enjoy the weather and scenery.

Here we are snuggling on the plush couch on the rooftop bar (svevo).

I'll try to post more pictures later.

How's married life?

I can't wait til people stop asking this question.

Of course the next question will inevitably be, "Sooooo...when are you gonna have kids?"


Whoah people.....whoah.

things i learned in italy

So, Ryan and I went to Sicily for our honeymoon. I know...I know. The first question we get asked is usually, "Was it AMAAAAZZZING?!" I pretty much think that is a given, don't you? It was amazing and we had a really great time. We tried to assimilate into the Sicillian culture as much as two obviously American Americans could. Before we left, Ryan purchased some Italian phrase books and a dictionary. The plane ride there consisted of sleeping, watching movies, and skimming the phrase books.

I had to get the obligatory search for any and all cuss words and phrases out of the way first. I would sit in my seat, read, then pronounce in a moderately quiet voice, and being the mature 3rd grader that I am would giggle into the book so that I wouldn't look crazy. From the minute we arrived at Capotaormina Hotel in Sicily, we were amazed. It was an awesome place! The pool...fantastic. The food...fantastic. We liked it so much that we didn't leave the hotel for the first two days! That and we were really jet lagged.

Here are some of the things I learned from our time in Sicily:

1. It is possible to eat your weight in food!
Sicillian (pronounced Se-shee-yan) food is not as much pasta as it is seafood. And it is some of the best seafood you will ever eat. Their pizza is actually really light on the cheese and there are no pepperoni. Mostly ham and anchovies.

2. Drag queens wear Dolce & Gabanna.
We saw a drag queen twice in two days and he/she was the best dressed drag queen I've ever seen. Ryan didn't know what to do but look at him/her and say "Ewwww!" everytime. He only did this after I pointed out that she was actually a he.

3. Europeans are smarter than me.
Maybe it was because we were in a tourist-y town but it seemed that everyone spoke at least two languages. We went on a tour of Palermo and the guide and courier would say everything three times: in Italian, German, and then English. They would change over into these languages with ease and without any type of interruption. I was completely jealous!

4. I am very American.
Needless to say, I do not look in any way like a Sicillian. Ryan actually had a couple people start speaking to him in Italian, thinking that he was. He would just look at them with slightly bigger eyes and say back to them frankly, "What?"
Our guide in Palermo, who was actually very nice, told Ryan he could pass as Sicillian and then promptly told me I couldn't. No shit Sherlock.

5. Italians really are pretty laid back.
We were warned prior to our trip to not be surprised if you go to a shop between 12 and 4pm and find it closed. Apparently they take really long lunches. these Italians know how to do it, man. They know that work is just a job and not something that runs your entire life. We Americans could definitely learn something from them.
One thing that took some getting used to is how the waiters and waitresses act. Over here they come by every 2.375 seconds, refilling your drink, asking if you are okay, refilling your drink again, asking if everything tastes all right, refilling your drink yet again, and asking if they can get you anything else like dessert. Of course you are ready to have your bladder explode from all that you drank because every time it was refilled, you immediately drained it....stupid American. Italian servers will bring you a drink then come back about 10 minutes later to take your order, bring your food after another 10 minutes, not refill your drink, and then only bring you the check when you ask for it after waving them down from across the room. It's nothing personal and it's not neglect. Italians seem to enjoy not just the food but the experience of the dinner. They let you talk with your dinner companion without being interrupted every 2.375 seconds to answer the same questions. It was actually really nice.

6. You are insane if you try to drive among them!
Italian road rules seem to be...only the strong (and crazy) survive. They make their own lanes. I never saw a stop light and only two stop signs. They can wedge two cars down a narrow road that could be a one way road to us Yanks, going opposite directions! With other cars parked on the sides!
Ryan and I toyed with the dea of renting a car and driving around the countryside one day, but it took us only 2 minutes into our taxi ride to the hotel when we got there to forget that idea. Ryan is a much more aggressive driver than I, and he was staring wide eyed at the spectacle of vespos careening through speeding, veering cars that do not slow for pedestrians, who took their own lives in their hands when they cross a street. He looked at me and said,"IIIIII don't think we'll be renting a car here."
"Yeah, probably not." I said as our taxi passed another car by using the oncoming traffic lane, with traffic coming our way....sweet.

I'll post pictures when I can. Later!