Let The Guessing Games Begin...

In the spirit of fun (and just messing with all the people that keep asking us) we figured we'd start to toss out some hints for our forthcoming daughter's first name. We'll see how this goes, but let's start simple for now.

Our four criteria before we chose a name:

1. It can't be a top 50 most popular name
2. Easy to pronounce when read
3. Can be spelled easily when heard
4. No stripper names

Weekend In Asia - No Seriously...

And you thought some of our previous travel plans were nuts. Time to up the ante.

Blake & Jeff's Asian Weekend 2009

Most Annoying ....

What is the most annoying thing about being pregnant you ask? I Spill.... I spill all. the. time.

Nursery Update: Its Really Coming Together!

So, Jeff and I have been very busy the last few weeks getting all the stuff for our nursery together. Check out the photos below. We still have a few things to clean up, and items that are still in boxes (Swing, Car Seat etc.) waiting to be called up from the bull pen, but it is starting to feel very real.

I also can't post the pics of this pretty room (i.m.h.o.) without saying a HUGE thank you to our parents. They have gifted us with so many blessings that have made this room possible. From furnitre purchases, to the "can I stop by, I have something for you" stops... they have both been SO generous. Thank you Parents!!!!

Shopping for Deals!

So, many of you know that I use this site to tell me what deals are available at my local grocery store. I also follow a few blogs that post some ideas on how to use coupons combined with store sales to get things for super cheap and even free! Bargain shopping has really made a differance in our family budget. Just because I was so tickled with myself... I took a picture of all the stuff I got last night at Target for $22!

The 12th Man

They're lucky they didn't get a flag for too many players on the field.

The 12th "Man".

Nursery Update (Last Week)

Greetings friends.... I have been working in the nursery a ton this last week.... I took these photos a few days ago... and have since been doing even more work. It seems as if, even though my main goal the night before was get the room put back together, I start every night pulling the whole place apart again! So, here are the updates from last week, and I promise to have more stuff to show you of the fun project I am working on this week. :)

The tree came.... its is rolled up and Jeff and I have to put it on the wall still. Spoiler alert!


We cleaned out the bookshelves, and sentenced LOTS of old textbooks to the new bookshelf in the basement. I also finally got rid of all the binders of class notes from grad school. Why did I ever think I would look back at that stuff? I will admit, Jeff did utter the phrase "our problem is that we don't have enough bookshelves in this house"... seriously!?!?!? One of these days, I will go around our house, and take pictures of all the evidence of how completely incorrect that statement is. It is sad when addicts can't even see the error of their own ways. ;)


This is a common image... :) our girls are going to be so sad when they learn that this is really not THEIR chair. (funny note: Jeff is entranced in a Nicholas Sparks book, one of three that he mistakenly agreed to read one evening in Argentina... I guess there ARE benefits to not drinking during pregnancy, your dripsy hubby will be more willing to make lopsided book swap deals!)

How To Let Other People Subsidize Your Travel

I/We often get questions about the various travel deals we've taken advantage of in recent years. While I can't share everything that involves finding amazing deals without writing an eight-part novel, here's an abbreviated version of some of the resources I use and what I pay attention to.

The whole process is a lot more complicated than just going to a website and booking something. You have to spend time learning how to use resources, what to watch for, keep a close tab on where deals pop up (since the really awesome ones disappear within hours), etc. It really is a game of not just knowing where to look, but trying to keep a regular pulse on what's going on, watching trends, and being ready if/when something pops up. If you're not at least a little bit obsessive, you're unlikely to find great deals very often (but you can still do better than the average Joe).

Some sites I use:
Great general resource for all things involving traveling and deals: Flyer Talk. You can find almost anything pertinent here if you poke around, I highly recommend it.

I specifically like to follow their Mileage Runs, Budget Travel, and American Airlines Forums. The first two often give you a sense for what carriers and routes are hot.

To help find and refine deals, I use ITA Software's search engine. It looks like every other search engine, but it's insanely powerful, as you can narrow down what carriers you want to look for, specific routes, best fares on every day over a month, etc. I suggest reading the help guide and playing around with it, especially the month-long search feature. Just know that you can't actually book through ITA, but it does let you check routes and carrier options faster than any other site, and then you can go to the carrier's site (or priceline, whatever) and pick up the deal.

Farecompare also has a nice feature that sends you email alerts when deals get filed according to whatever you are interested in. The only catch is that not all of them seem to be bookable, I have no idea why that is. They also have all sorts of email updates, twitter updates, etc.

Kayak's buzz feature is kinda neat, it shows you the best deals to various regions on all carriers. Unfortunately it's only fares found by others, so it's not super-robust and not always current.

Yahoo has a site that let's you see the best deals to/from your home city. Just change the last three letters in the web browser to your home airport (i.e. ORD).


Finding great deals isn't just about being diligent, it's also about being flexible in where you want to go. For example, if you're not pegged to particular dates/times, and you don't necessarily know where you want to go, you'll find you're much freer to find and analyze great deals.

Also, I'd offer the rule of thumb that the truly crazy stuff (like Chicago-Moscow for $275) comes up roughly once a quarter depending on where you live. But on a week-to-week basis there's always something good floating around out there. Remember, a great deal is usually no more than $.04/mile traveled (and the best ones are closer to $.02).

Finally, learning how mileage programs work for various carriers is critical, because deals are even better when you can earn lots of miles (read: free tickets). And watching the airlines' mileage program deals is important too, because if you can cash in those miles you earned at better rates, you're making your dollars go even further. It's not a perpetual motion machine, but you can really learn to travel for soooooooo much cheaper than you ever thought possible if you're buying smartly, earning miles smartly, and cashing in miles smartly. Oh, and you might get to see some amazing parts of the world in the process =)

Happy travels.

Our First "Girl/s"

There have been lots of changes in our house these days, and many more to come. From the view of our little dogs’ though, there is trauma on the horizon; of that they are sure. When I have been working in the nursery getting things set up, the dogs just sit in the doorway watching what is happening, but too scared to actually enter in and investigate.

Here is a photo to depict how bad it got for Wrigley the other night when we barred them into the room with us while we were painting… she was actually snuggled up against Gracie!

I know I have to find some way to give them their “place” in the new room once everything gets pulled together… while I know I could just get a cheap doggie bed for them to find safety in, I am struggling with wanting to purchase these critter chairs from PBK… I could say that they were for Sprout, but let’s be honest; Wrigley and Gracie will own those in about two seconds. Plus, I keep thinking I need to purchase a pair of them… and it is my sister Jacquelyn who has the twins, not me.

Could I actually become one of those people who spend $100 on doggie beds?!? If I do, I am hiding from all shame now... because the Hippo and Froggie are calling me... I blame it on them.

Nesting Update

So, last week I was really productive! And it makes me very happy. Here are some of the things I was able to get done.

Purchased, and installed blue curtains, curtain rods etc. (how did I forget to take a picture of this? Sorry, next time). They are the perfect color, and size…. Thank you PBK!

Last week, I was also able to order the 7’ tall tree that will go on the wall behind the crib, and the little butterfly decals too. I’m really excited for their arrival, and hope to get them on the wall ASAP.

Jeff and I also did a little pseudo celebration of our anniversary (tomorrow) this weekend, which included the “new parents’ rite of passage”: painting the nursery. Jeff indulged me by letting me play sappy “love my little girl” music, while enjoying some wine. It was a good “paint date”.

So, here are the before, during and after photos. The room was “office brown” before, and we decided to paint one wall blue (the wall behind the crib). The color matches the camera shy curtains. I sat in the room for a while last night… and felt like saying “its is good”.

It started brown

we taped....(don't worry, he changed clothes later)

I promise, I helped too... Jeff is just the star of this photo shoot

finished blue wall.... woooo!

watching paint dry, and consoling Wrigley (change freakes her out)

Can’t wait for this week!