Weekend in Omaha

Last weekend we headed to Omaha, NE because two of Todd's old college friends were getting married. We flew out Friday night (free thanks to my flight benefits). We had reservations to stay at the Marriott of course. They had an airport shuttle, but we were told it didn't run after 11, and our flight got in at 11:30. As we were leaving the airport, however, we ran into the Marriott shuttle van. It turns out that it only picks up airport crews after 11. So he let us jump on, and the crew from our own flight hopped in the van as well! We made it to the hotel and we met up with our friends, John and Kelly, for a little while.

The next day we were up bright and early as usual for a football Saturday. We went across the street from our hotel to a bar that was playing the Iowa game. Some of the other crew made it into town by then and joined us. Two of our friends from Sioux City (Aryon and Jennica) drove up Saturday just to see us while we were in town.

Jennica and I

Kelly and I

Todd and Aryon

The bar had a theater style seating area. I've never seen anything like it in a bar, so I had to take a picture of all the men probably escaping from their wives to watch football at a bar! Ha!

Todd and I at Jen and Mike's wedding

John and I

Trying to take a self-portrait.

It was a fun weekend. The wedding reception included an open bar all night with top shelf liquor. That couldn't have been cheap....The reception was inside an old Railroad Station turned Museum. It was also only 3 blocks from our hotel. It was nice to be able to walk everywhere all weekend. Although the walk home at the end of the wedding night was freezing!! Besides my wedding shoes, the only shoes I brought back for the weekend were flip flops. Not a good idea! Its amazing how quickly you get used to warmer weather. The heat in our hotel room was also broken the first night we were there! Thank goodness they got that fixed.

I did spent a little time down in "Old Market." Its a quaint, cute part of Omaha that has original brick streets and buildings. Its full of great restaurants and unique shops. I went shopping with the girls down there Saturday, and Todd and I ate breakfast there on Sunday at this awesome breakfast buffet that reminded me of Iowa River Power Co in Iowa City.

We were a little nervous about making it back to Phoenix on a flight. The flights were pretty full, and since we were flying standby, we weren't sure we could get on. Lucky us, my priority level got us on, but a couple of people below my priority didn't make it on the flight.

House

Here is the front of the house we put and offer on and was accepted this week by the seller! Its a short sale, so we still have to wait on the bank's decision. But we're crossing our fingers! 2600 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, and a pool of course! It was built in 2006 in a newly developed area of Phoenix: Laveen. Don't worry, Home Depot is right around the corner!

We'd like a bigger patio, for a grill/kitchen/bar area and a patio TV. That will come with time :)

There is actually grass for the dogs! But I didn't move to Arizona to mow grass! Luckily, a weed wacker is all that is needed! It will need some bigger palm trees and foliage eventually....

WOOHOO!!

Way to go Hawks! 21 - 10 against Penn State!!!!

The guys were doing victory stomach bumps, and Gordan would do a high five with every play. He's become a football junkie, because he gets a treat with every high five! He stays on the couch and acts like he's watching the game. Izzy runs and hides under the bed with the screaming still. She'll learn.....

The Weekend in Review

This weekend we spent a lot of time (both Friday night and Sunday) up at the Smith Condo, trying to finish up the majority of the painting. Todd's parents are scheduled to come down to Phoenix the first week of October to buy furniture for their condo and get a little "moved in." I want to have the majority of the painting completed before we have to worry about working around furniture.

Saturday was an exciting day.... we officially started house hunting! We spent the morning with our realtor. For the most part, it was standard. Although we did run into one foreclosure that looked a little scary. It had graffiti and broken windows. And at another house, the owner was home and wouldn't answer the door. But we heard him yelling on the phone inside. We decided to scrap that one, and as we were pulling away, the guy came out waving us to come back. We did see two homes we liked; one in particular. We're hoping it can be ours!

Saturday evening we went out for a nice dinner for sushi and teppanyaki. We had Japanese beer; Sapporo and Kirin. Todd ordered spicy tuna (his favorite) and I ordered a new kind of sushi that was deep fried. It was yummy! We couldn't order off the teppanyaki menu without at least two entrees. We wanted to share one entree since we started with sushi. Luckily, one more group came in for teppanyaki. It turned out they were originally from Columbia, MO. So that started some conversations. The highlight was definitely the teppanyaki entree; we ordered lobster and beef tenderloin - beef on the rare side of course - we're from Iowa! YUM!!

Oh, and for a bit of trivia, Todd's brother Chris, was actually born in Japan, on a naval base. So he likes to tell people that he's Japanese.... might explain why the Smith's love sushi. :)

Before dinner Saturday night. We got a little dressed up for fun. And yes, that's me wearing a sweater in Arizona! It's starting to get down to a chilly 80 at night!

My camera has been sucking lately, and Chris was trying to take a pic for us. That's a bad combo. However, this "mess up" I actually like. I was laughing at Chris's attempts, and he caught me in a happy pose.

Oh, and don't forget that Iowa beat Arizona in football Saturday!! We have one friend in particular that went to Arizona. He told Todd he couldn't watch the game with us because "it wouldn't be good for our friendship." Actually, I think it was because he was too nervous about finding out some other results. After the game Saturday, he sent a picture text to Todd of a pregnancy test stick reading, "Pregnant." Guess they are expecting now, after 2 months of marriage!

My Parents Condo

My parents recently bought a condo here in AZ, and have asked Vicki and I (mostly Vicki) to help decorate it, paint it, get it ready, etc. Vicki is really good at that sort of thing, I just follow her directions... =) We've spent the last two days doing some painting up there, and below are some before and after pics.

The hallway, white before.

The hallway, some green color after (Vicki would have to tell you the color name...)

Vicki, doing the edging.

The living room (new color, was white).

Living room, into kitchen. Was also white.

I don't have any good before pictures, but one wall in the living room was an awful color of pink that we painted over. We managed to get two walls in the living room with two coats, and painted half the kitchen and the hallway with one coat. We might have gotten more work done, but we ran into some difficulties running errands both yesterday and today, including a dead battery in Vicki's car today at Home Depot.

All in all, we did a lot of work, but have a lot left to do. I hope my parents appreciate it!!

Iowa vs UNI

We went to the Sandbar to watch the opening year football game; home of the Phoenix Iowa Club. They played an instate rival - University of Northern Iowa. Even though not a conference game, UNI gave Iowa a run for their money, which is not totally unusual. Nonetheless, our alma mater ended up winning 17-16. There was a good crowd out for the game watch, although I would expect many more at the conference game watches. Todd and I got up at 6 am, and made it to the Sandbar by 7:30 am. Our friend, Armando (And Arizona State grad) tagged along with us, sporting an Iowa shirt and all. We met up with one of Todd's college friends that just moved to Phoenix as well, and her boyfriend. I knew of quite a few people that were going to be there for the game, but whom I did not see. But considering I never left my seat except to use the restroom all morning, I'm not surprised I didn't run into them.

Armando engrossed in the Iowa game. Even the Arizona natives love Hawkeye football! ;) Armando said he'd never seen anything like these Hawkeye game watches before he met Todd and the other Iowa guys down here.

Me, Cara, Russ

The dogs, apparently all tuckered out from watching football all day as well!

On a side note, Todd's grandma called him tonight and wanted to talk to me. I haven't met her yet. Talking to her reminded me of my grandma when she was alive, and made me tear up. I wish my grandma could have met Todd before she died.......

Doggie Spa and Daycare

This is the view I see everyday on the way home from work. Its actually just a few blocks north of the house. I do love seeing the mountains everyday!


On Thursday, the dogs were groomed at Preppy Pet Suites. They had doggie daycare while they waited to be groomed. Now they have more appropriate Arizona hair. Gordan loves being groomed, but it was Izzy's first time. I assume all went well, as she came home happy. Their faces are a little too short for my liking, but they should feel a lot better in this weather.

Gordan by the pool



Todd with his girl, Izzy

The dogs with their normal bickering pose.

This is Todd's cat, Ghost. He seems to be in mid hunting pose here. He's great at hunting bugs and killing them! He's like a live-in exterminator.

A nice pose by Ghost on the stairs.

This weekend marks the start of Iowa Football season. This is exciting for two reasons: Todd is a HUGE football fan, and we are both Iowa Alumni. I LOVE going tailgating, going to Iowa bars, and generally celebrating Iowa Football! And everything else Iowa..... We are planning to get up at 6am tomorrow morning so that we can head to the Sandbar. The Sandbar is the 'Iowa Bar' in Phoenix. It fills up early, and we want a table, so we will be in line by about 7am. Hopefully I'll get some fun pics tomorrow. GO HAWKS!!