STATE FAIR PICTURES! (Round 1!)

The Minnesota State Fair!! What luck that we could be back in Minnesota in time for the fair.....one of my all-time favotire things to do here! More food on a stick that you can...well...shake a stick at!

We went on Sunday, and below is Installment 1 of our pictures (we took over 200!).

This one wasnt all that impressive - basically a grilled cheese, but instead of cheese, a chocolate bar is melted between the bread.

This next one, though....My. Favorite.

I can't go to the fair without this. Not sure how they do it, but the pork chop on a stick is so yummy! The first item I get every year....

This statue was in the ag building:

I thought it was super-cute.

I've never tried the infamous pickle on a stick, but this year, they also had a Kool-aid version.

And this is me, doing the weather forecast!
Finally - HAIR!

This is the best place for fries, too....

I could easily eat an entire Super Jumbo size myself....
And it wouldn't be a Minnesota get-together without a hotdish...
Meanwhile, this little guy tries out that "grass is always greener on the other side" thing....
Stealer!

Ahhhh, what a great time.

Housing Updates

Our poor Realtor has taken us all over the place since we've been here, looking at houses. We've probably looked at over 30 places all over the Twin Cities. And we found one we like! Ok, WE LOVE!!
When we walked in, I think we knew right away this would be the house for us. We will save the details and more pics for later, but suffice it to say this is one heck of a great house!

We are scheduled to close on Tuesday, September 4; our stuff should be delivered on the 5th. Hard to believe we've not even been here a week and we already have a house and a closing date - YAY!

It Was A Boring Trip

Usually there are lots of really interesting sights while driving cross-country. This trip, there just didn't seem to be that much. These are the best I could come up with:

I'm not exactly sure what this sign was about, and can't remember which state we were in when we saw it. I think it was Illinois. I'll look for it when we drive back with the pets and figure it out.

This was the best scenery chot I got:
Somewhere in Wisconsin. Reminds me of a rock formation in Phoenix we always saw.

We are closing in on a house, and should have some exciting news shortly! Stay tuned!!

Move Updates!

Wow, what a busy week it's been! On Monday, the packers arrived to pack up all our household goods! And boy, did it take them awhile! Not that we have alot of stuff, but there were only 2 of them, and they did a very thorough job (which is a good thing!). But they were there from 9:00 am to 9:30 pm. What a long day!

Tuesday, the Big Truck showed up at 8:00 am, and all our stuff was loaded up. By 2:00, the Big Truck was on it's way to Minneapolis:
We headed out on Wednesday morning to Pittsburgh. (For the record, sleeping on the floor sucked. Royally. It was one of the worst sleep nights we've ever had).

After visiting the puppy dogs for a day (they were happy to see us at first, but then were reallly really pissed that we had left them! Even Spike had a few choice words for us!), we took off on Thursday morning for Minneapolis.

We left at 7:00 am, with Plan A of driving straight through (14+ hours), and Plan B of stopping in Janesville, WI (8 hours) and finishing the trip on Friday.

We got to Janesville around 4:00 CT, and decided to keep going! So we did :p We got into Minneapolis around 9:30 Thursday night.

On Friday, we looked at several shrot-term, furnished corporate apartments, and decided to take one. WE got moved into that yesterday, thank God. The hotel room was SOOO small and nasty. The apartment is 1,000 times better and roomier!

On Friday afternoon, we met up with our Realtor, and looked at houses from 2:30 - 8:00! We must have looked at about 15 houses - but nothing we really liked. Today, we were back out with her and looked at about 10 more. We found a few we'd think about, but nothing so far that screams BUY ME! So more tomorrow! Our realtor is being quite accommodating!

Those are all the updates for now. I look forward to a decent night's sleep tonight.....

My Prediction, Updates, and The Countdown

So back on June 23, I posted a prediction - the number "5". My prediction was that the 5th showing of the house would be The One that resulted in an offer. I was off. By 1. It was actually the 6th. And the 7th. Oh well, I guess I will not start a psychic hotline......

We are feverishly getting things ready for the movers that are coming on Monday...putting aside what what we need, getting everything organized. Fun! Our stuff will go into storage for 30-60 days until we find a house. For the first week in Minneapolis, we have a hotel room, and will look around at a few corporate housing places before deciding what to do next.

And we will start house hunting immediately!

We Have Great News To Report!

Guess what!?? We sold the house! Yay! We've been mum about it for the past 2 weeks, because we are a little superstitious and did not want to jinx things.

But, we got an offer last week (we actually got 2 offers within 2 days!) , and everything was finalized today.
So with the house sold, we are free to move on to Minneapolis!

With that being said, the movers will be here on Monday to pack the house, Tuesday to load the Big Truck, and Wednesday we leave Maryland for good!

We're driving up to Pittsburgh first to visit Mom and the pets, then driving to Minneapolis. We'll be there either Thursday or Friday, depending on whether we feel like driving straight through or stopping. (It's about 14 hours from Mom's house to Minneapolis).

And you know I will take plenty of pictures from our adventure! Wish us luck!!

Chicken Patrol!

Farmer Jon also has quite a few chickens. They usually keep to the far end of the farm, but this guy decided to make the rounds! I also get a chuckle out of the ones that sit on the fence in the background.....I know, I am easily amused.

The alpacas kept a close eye on the chickens, to make sure they did not completely invade their space.
They tend to always travel in packs too - apparently there is safety in numbers....
And they are constantly eating grass!!
Speaking of chickens, a few weeks ago, when we told Farmer Jon and Mrs. Farm Jon we were moving, they were kind enough to give us one of their fresh chickens they had just frozen!
Joe's working on ways to make the best use of this treasure! I've never had farm-fresh chicken before and can't wait!