Moving....

Another weekend of packing brought memories and panic! Memories found in boxes we had not looked through in years. Such as Ben's boy scouts gear. Panic, brought on my the realization that we have way more stuff than we realized! Also, the dogs are panicking because they cannot figure out why we are moving all our stuff downstairs, in brown boxes!

Here are some cute pics of them putting up with our chaos.

Nostalgia...

I can't complain.... the last few years living in our townhome have been pretty good. Besides the space issue, we have been happy! We are thrilled to move into our new home, but I can't help but be a bit nostalgic. Who can blame me.... the townhome was our first home together, where we got engaged, where we "raised" two boston terriers, where we came home to after our wedding, and the place we spent two blissful anniversaries. I did realize this year that our home finally looked like a home, not the college dorm room/hand-me-down/craigslist bought place it started as. Here are a few pics to show you our place and to help me have proof we lived there :)

                                                                        Guest room

                                                                    Main living area

                                                                      Our bathroom

Well... It's good to be back.

I will hopefully begin to blog at least twice a month now. Here is what has been going on with us since my last post!...

I got a job teaching K-5 art for three different elementary schools
I have successfully completed three Market Day events
My Urban Ecology Etsy shop has been flourishing
We began house hunting .... and bought a house!!!
We are moving to our dream house on Sept 30th :)
Oh! And Cyclone football took down the Hawkeyes.
That is all the big news as of now! 

Even the dogs....

I absolutely love being a pillow designer because I get first dibs on my creations! Even the dogs love it!

Craft Saturday!

I recently decided to expand Urban Ecology to local craft shows. I applied to Craft Saturday and got in! Please join me for my public premiere of Urban Ecology on April 30th. Check out the flyer for more details!

At the lake house....

Ben's aunt and uncle were so generous to let us stay at their lake house south of Saint Louis in De Soto. We had a great time relaxing and exploring the area. Here are few pics of our adventures during the week!

Scout loves me. Thanks baby!

Cutest babies EVER.

Elephant Rocks State Park - awesome!

Delicious crab cakes!

STL continued...

Monday morning we woke up to snow and rain... at the same time! It was GROSS outside. We got up and headed out to St. Louis Bread Company aka Panera (they call it this because it was founded in STL). We got some hot breakfast and coffee to start our day. First, we decided to go to Missouri Botanical Garden. I know, that sounds really stupid on a day like that, but it was actually a great decision! They had a special Orchid exhibit going on inside. I absolutely love orchids and they had a bazillion species displayed! We also toured the Climatron and Temperate House. The Climatron was like stepping into a tropical rain forest. It felt very nice on that dreary day. We saw really neat tropical plants and flowers in there! Check out a few of the beautiful orchids we saw!

After the Missouri Botanical Garden we headed to "The Loop". Ben's cousins said this was the place to go to eat and shop! We cruised the loop and checked out all the restaurants and shops. We decided on Fitz'. Ben's cousin has a friend whose family own Fitz's. We thought it would be a fun place to check out!We had their freshly made Root Beer and Cream Soda. They had a variety of soda flavors that looked yummy! We ordered a burger and a veggie wrap. Both were delicious and large portions. MMMmmm! The restaurant was neatly done in a retro theme, but open to the second story. Exposed brick on the walls and a counter for malt making. Here is a photo from our experience!

 The big event of the day was our Anheiser Busch tour! We chose to do the Beermaster tour which was a little more pricey, but worth it! As you can see in the pics, we got hats, headsets, sweet shades, and lots of free beer in free nice beer glasses. We toured the plant and saw the process of how our delicious beer is created. We had access to the stables and got to see the Clydesdales in their homes :) That was my favorite part.... well, getting a fresh beverage out of the big tank was pretty great too! We also met some fellow Iowans. Turns out one of them is in my sorority from ISU... she is a Gamma Phi. We ended up talking for a while and she knew my brother and my mom! Small world. 

The Budweiser Suite where we received free beverages and snacks!