Iowa Trounces Michigan (Not Quite...But We'll Take It!)

As was mentioned in our last posting...this past weekend Ryan and Vamsi made what may be one of their last voyages to Iowa City to hang out with me, sans baby, to watch the Hawkeyes host the Wolverines, in a battle to defend the Hawks' undefeated record.

To all of our amazement, the Hawkeyes actually didn't let go of this one, and pulled of a victory, even if by a slim margin. The game was cold, even with the handwarmers, but was a great game to attend. There's something about night games that are just a little more interesting.

Nathan and I were more than happy with the result, while Ryan, on the other hand, was not so enthralled. He drowned his sorrows with a few of the other Michigan fans with seats near ours while the rest of us headed out on to the field afterwards to celebrate. Vamsi didn't really care either way, a past Illini and Wildcat himself, he had no loyalty to either team, but just wanted his money's worth from the tickets.

We all had a great time, especially with the pre-game festivities. We can only hope the Hawks will pull out a victory against the Badgers next week.

Flip's Furniture Arrives & Sarah Visits

The past couple of weeks have been somewhat busy around here...seems like just about every weekend we've had someone in town. Starting about 4 weeks ago we finally moved the last of our "stuff" (furniture, keepsakes, wedding gifts, etc.) from storage at Chris' parent's house back to Iowa City. We figured they'd had enough of our stuff clogging up their house for the last two years, and since we'll be moving this coming summer, we figured now would be a good time to consolidate. Luckily we had the help of friends to make the process more expedient, but no matter how much help you have, moving always sucks.

So now that everything is under one roof, there are some new additions to the household worth mentioning...

1) Chris' parents decided that they may one day want to join an Amish community after retirement, and figured they'd better get to know the ins and outs of furniture refinishing and restoration if they are to be accepted fully by their fellow Amish. So in pursuit of this goal, they went about the mammoth task of stripping, sanding, refinishing, and sealing not one, but two items of furniture for Flip's room. One is a changing table that Chris' mom used as a dresser as a child herself, and the other is a rocking chair that Chris' parents purchased when Chris was born. The stains turned out great, and we're so excited to use them when Flip finally arrives. We're pretty sure that if you happen to see Chris' parents, at any time, especially at a dinner party, they'll tell you the whole gruesome story.

2) "Ebert", the armoire that we purchased from our family friend Jeff Kessler. "Ebert" was made in Germany in 1860 by a man named Christopher Ebert for his son. It still contains the original German newspapers that line the inside of it. We just think it looks cool, and is a great storage piece for blankets, but the history of it is definitely interesting.

A couple weeks later, Chris' sister Sarah visited from Peoria, IL, where she lives and works as a news reporter. We enjoyed a lazy weekend all hanging out together, grabbing some good food around town, sharing some laughs, rubbing Emily's belly, and going for a hike up at Palisades Kepler Park on the Cedar River.

Jill Hansen, the dentist from Seattle that Chris will be partnering with next summer, came all the way to Iowa to visit for a long weekend. Chris and Jill had a pretty busy itinerary, but in between we got time to show her a little midwest flavor. We can't blame her if she still prefers the northwest to the midwest.

This coming weekend Chris is looking forward to hosting Ryan (Michigan Alum), Vamsi, and Nate, as the guys head over to Kinnick to watch the Hawks defend their undefeated record against Michigan on homecoming evening. Should be a good game, go Hawks!