Thanks to Katie and Ryan's wedding gift we spent last weekend at the Hamilton House in Whitewater, WI. It was a lot of fun and we recomend it to anyone who needs to get away, but not go a huge distance to get there. We got in Friday night at 9pm and basically passed out from the week we had. We ate breakfast with two other couples from the area and enjoyed a nice cozy morning. We later went to Broken Pieces which is a pottery shop where you can make a whole bunch of stuff. I made a square serving plate and Eric made a mosaic trivet. We made friends with the two young daughters of the owner and had the place to ourselves. After we finished we walked over to Jessica's Restaraunt. Eric decided to take on a monster of a burger.

After an afternoon catnap we headed over to the fireside theater in Fort Atkinson. It was a dinner theater that was showcasing Best of the Bands Musical Revue. Eric asked me on the way over if there was audience participation and I said of course not. And OF COURSE who was asked to join the conga line, Eric and I. It is crazy to know that over a half million people go to the Fireside every year and there are only 11,000 people in this rural town.

Sunday we ate with the guests and learned about the history of the house which was used by the Underground Railroad and multiple tunnels were in the home. Eric wanted to use them but unfortunately they were in the inn keepers personal family quarters. Also, the home was a fraternity for Whitewater for awhile and John Belushi went to school their for six months. The Hamilton House was inspiration to Animal House. The scene where D-day drives a motorcyle up the stairs actually happened in the Hamilton house and you are able to see the marks on every stair. Plus, it was the Animal House anniversary that weekend, coincidence I think not.

On Monday the gang got together to celebrate Amy and Danielle's b-day. Amy and Aaron's son Peter (an unofficial prayer group member) ate dinner with us and gave us a show. One of Peter's favorite things to do to get a laugh is shake. After he realized people laugh after he does it, it stuck. Here is a video of Peter doing what he does best for the crowd:

With our multiple check-ups to the dentist, eye doctor and such. Danielle got some new glasses that she is now sporting.

Last weekend we painted and the house continues to get into order. Plus, more pictures to come of Michele and Domenic's metropolitan Chicago Condo!

We finally got a new battery for the camera and so now we are able to showcase our lives to the fullest. Last weekend my parents came down to celebrate my 25th b-day. My dad helped pick out colors for the living room and my mom made us food :) My mom also got to see the glamorous side of Promotions by attending a Loyola Ramblers game with me. She made an excellent sidelines dancer. Eric's parents also came up to see us and met us as church on Sunday and went over to Burnt Toast for brunch. But, of course the most important part was to see the TV. Monday I had off and we shopped for a few new home items (and myself) and said adios to the Derks as they headed back up to WI.

With this being our first Valentines Day we made sure to make it special. So we went to ASHA salon spa to have a couples massage. That place is super nice and they are great. After being completely relaxed we ate dinner at Claim Jumpers I knew Eric would go crazy for their Motherload cake, it is a mouthful. We hope you had a special day yesterday and here is our special Valentines Day family picture (whether Bud wanted to be in it or not).

After pondering and thinking and discussing on whether or not to get a flat screen TV to provide us some more room in our living room we finally agreed to go for it. We started smart at Best Buy talking to the sales people about what are the best options and best use for our home. Extra tidbit of info: If you cannot easily control the amount of light in your room, plasma isn't the way to go. After narrowing down our options, I decided to take Eric on our date night to a little slice of heaven he calls Abt Electronics in Glenview, IL. If you have never been there before, like us, it is a crazy electronics store 3-4 times the size of a best buy. There is a 103 inch plasma TV screen on display for $70,000, crazy I know. We met our now good friend Lenny who talked us through some options. After some thinking, dinner at TGIF's and a trek back to ABT later on in the evening we settled on the new TV and made our way in one of the first blizzards of the week.

The rest of the week we tried to seek out a perfect entertainment/shelving area which wasn't providing many options. However, after another snow storm and a 2 and a 1/2 hour drive home we came to an option at Ikea.

We picked it up on Friday, put it together Saturday morning in time for the delivery guys to bring in a piece of technological mastery. We were really excited about it and the guys at the store kept saying you will have it just in time for the superbowl. However, being the avid Football fans that we are (NOT!) we had plans elsewhere with friends. Superbowl Sunday was spent with Dan and Susan's house and their two kids Baby Romey and 2 year old Avery who affectionately calls us Dan-yo and Irk. Susan said Romey "cast her spell" on me and Eric and I were going to have a talk once we got home. However, for the record we are still NOT pregnant and don't plan on being for awhile. Sorry Moms.
Anyway...we are looking to future "fort nights" with our new drive in movie theater and if anyone wants to have a movie night...you can rent our "theater" for a nominal charge!