2011 One More Year until the World Ends

Since the world is scheduled to end in 2012, we decided we had better make the most of 2011. Thus, big changes are in store this year. But, let me begin with what we did and did not accomplish in 2010.



Our 2010 Goals included the addition of travel to our lives. We began the 50 state challenge and thus far have accomplished the visitation of 9 states, not including Indiana (only driven through, or stayed in separately) and Texas (only crashed one night on the way to Mexico).  We also managed a fantastic winter vacation in Mexico, beginning our international travel plans. Check out pictures and details of our travels and other items at Fauxtopgraphy.

2010 also brought us the 100 Books list-- remember that?

With an amazing amount of help from friends and (mostly) family, we are just 21 books short of our goal. The remaining list below:

Number	Author	Title
1.	Arthur Conan Doyle	The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
2.	Boris Pasternak	Dr Zhivago
3.	Dashiell Hammett	The Maltese Falcon
4.	George Bernard Shaw	Pygmalion
5.	H.G. Wells	The Time Machine
6.	Hunter S. Thompson	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
7.	Johann David Wyss	Swiss Family Robinson
8.	John Milton	Paradise Lost
9.	Malcolm Lowry	Under the Volcano
10.	Marcel Proust	Remembrance of Things Past
11.	Margaret Mitchell	Gone with the Wind
12.	Nathanael West	The Day of the Locust
13.	Nathaniel Hawthorne	The House of the Seven Gables
14.	Oscar Wilde	The Importance of Being Earnest
15.	Robert Ludlum	The Bourne Identity
16.	Stephen King	The Shining
17.	Sun Tzu	The Art of War
18.	Sylvia Plath	The Bell Jar
19.	T.S. Eliot	The Waste Land
20.	Tennessee Williams	Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; A Streetcar Named Desire

In 2010 we purchased a car suitable for our great dane, 2 iphones  and a macbook air proving once and for all that apple reigns victorious in the apple vs. pc debate, became lifelong Blackhawks fans, Dave took up golfing and we got engaged.

As I mentioned before, 2011 is going to be a year of big changes. We are trying to get more healthy, Dave has been running and Andrea is in the midst of the 30 day shred. We are getting married in July and Andrea has begun graduate school.

Our honeymoon will add to our travels, and hopefully we get enough time off this year to get a few more of the 50 states completed. We are looking forward to a great year!  Hopefully this year will provide us with some much needed new (local) friendships.

Noteworthy News

Last night, the Blackhawks game ended with a 5-0 win over the Oilers. Dave and I couldn't watch it, since for some reason it was broadcast on a channel we do not have. We did not get to see our beloved Captain Jonathan Toews score a hat trick (3 goals), nor did we get to see Andrea's favorite, Patrick Sharp come back from his scoreless few games to score a short handed goal. But that is ok, they won, and we have the ability to watch the highlights.

Oh, and by the way, Andrea found out this morning that she has been accepted to Northwestern University for graduate school. Want more info? Go here: http://andrea-gradlit.blogspot.com/ 

(that's right, another secret off-shoot Andrea blog project)

Tis the Season

The temperature has dipped slightly, the leaves have begun changing, Halloween costumes grace all the stores.  You know what this means....

Hockey Season has started.

Before you judge, we fully admit that we are bandwagon Blackhawks fans. But, the timing just worked out so well. Considering the fact that while Columbus does indeed have a hockey team (Bluejackets.. we will beat you on Friday!) they were only introduced as an expansion team in 2000. Before that, hockey and Ohio... not so much.  So, we had ignored hockey through our early years and early adulthood, with only occasional observations of the sport. Then we moved to Chicago.


We arrived in our new home and decided we needed to get to know the area, the teams and the variety of sports. We tried liking the Cubs. eh. We tried the Sox. better, but eh. We don't care for basketball much, and we haven't made it to a Bears game yet. But, last year, we were given free tickets to the first Blackhawks playoff game. 2 things happened.

1. Dave and I loved it, instantly, entirely and equally
2. Andrea fell in love with Patrick Sharp

Since, we have witnessed our new found love win The Stanley Cup. It was so exciting, we still get chills thinking about it. Andrea stood in horribly muggy hot weather last summer with millions of people to watch the parade and see the cup (and Sharpie, of course).

And now, the season has begun again. 82 games this season, and we intend on following every one. Hopefully, to another positive result. Though, we realize it is unlikely we will win the Cup again this year... but there's no reason not to cheer and hope!

But we have a few concerns.

We lost some of our Stanley Cup winning team due to the salary cap. The hardest for us is Antti Niemi. Our fantastic goalie, now a San Jose Shark. We have Marty Turco as a replacement, but so far, 2 games into the season we aren't all that impressed. Perhaps we are being a little hard on him, still mourning the loss of Niemi, and hopefully he proves us wrong. So far, we've lost our first two, but with 80 still to go, we aren't worried (yet). Hopefully we beat Buffalo tonight.


Let's Go Hawks!