Moving on up...

It's official I've moved out of my little, yet awesome, apartment on Nottingham and moved into Scott's house.  It pretty much took about 3 weeks to totally move everything out of my little apartment.

I had made the decision about 2 months ago to make the big move into Scott's house in Maryland Heights.  So I knew I had plenty of time to move all my stuff out.  And every week I would take a car load up and it actually made the moving process not so painful.  The best part was while I was in Hot Springs, Scott moved all of my big furniture pieces so all I had to do was come home and clean an empty apartment.  It was great!

Now that I have moved into a house, Reily has a backyard to play in and she loves it.  It's been amazing to watch her play in the yard and run up and down the hill.  It really seems to have done wonders to her knee.  The only down side I've learned is that I'm no longer living in the City.  Although I do know it won't be permanent.  It should only be about a year or so to live here and then back into the City.  So far it's been a great move!

Hot Springs, AR

This past weekend I took my first trip to Hot Springs, AR.  And it was a bit of a drive down there from St. Louis.  I left St. Louis around 8:30  Friday morning and thought I would leave after the traffic had died down and I didn't really have much traffic until South of Arnold when the construction really started to back up traffic.  The drive wasn't too bad.  I was able to catch up on the songs on my iPod and realize I need to find some new music since I kept listening to the same songs over and over.  But it passed the time.



I had finally made it to Arkansas and still had about 2.5 hours to drive after crossing the state line.  After a quick stop for gas I was ready to get to Hot Springs.  I arrived shortly after 3:30...it was a much longer drive down there than I had thought.

Friday night Kelly and I took a nice relaxing swim in Lake Catherine and after dinner we went for a tour of the lake on the speed boat.  The lake is beautiful!





After a nice long boat ride we were both ready to relax for the night.  We headed in to watch a movie and rest up for the upcoming hike in the morning.

We woke up early Saturday to hopefully beat the heat and get a good hike in.  Kelly's parents have been next door neighbors of Lake Catherine State Park for 5 years and Kelly has yet to try out the hiking trails.  We put an end to that on Saturday.  We decided to hit the 3 mile trail since it was the middle distance.





All the trails were easily marked with color squares and the map that we got at the ranger station was a huge help.  Had we actually read the description of the trail that we took we would have known that although it was only 3 miles, it went to the highest elevation (782 feet).  The climb was a bit tough at points but the views were great.



On our way down we found the sign that lead us to the waterfall and we moved easily on to the next trail.  We were able to follow a creek until we actually got to the waterfall.  The waterfall wasn't much of a waterfall this time of year.  It was merely trickling from the creek but it was still fun to climb on the rocks.



All in all it was a great hike and would love to do it again, maybe in the fall  when the leaves are changing colors.

After our hike we cooled off in the lake for an hour or so and relaxed a bit more.  I love lake time.  There is no sense of time!

After a quick lunch we headed down into downtown Hot Springs.  We toured the galleries and the little shops that lined Central Ave.  The town really reminded me of the small towns in Texas that I've been to.  We stopped for some Fudge and avoided the Duck Tours that were all over the place.  The one place that we did stumble upon was the Gangster Museum of America.  Kelly had never been there and thought it was fairly new so we thought it would be a nice little treat to check it out.  We were pleasantly surprised as to what we found from the tour that we took.


We learned all about the history of Hot Springs and the gambling in the town and how it was a safe haven for all of the mobsters.  They even showed on a video of the under ground tunnels that the mobsters took to get around.  It was a fun tour to talk about the town's history without being boring!

After the Gangster tour we quickly walked through the Arlington, the hotel of choice for Al Capone and other big named mobsters when they were in town doing business or enjoying the bath houses.



We even took a tour of a bath house on bath house row.



On Sunday we took another 2+ mile walk around the neighborhood followed by a jump in the lake to cool off.  I have learned that Arkansas weather is very similar to St. Louis.  the humidity is just as bad and it is just as hot.  But having a lake outside your back door makes it so much better.  We ended up taking the pontoon boat out for a spin to see if Kelly could water ski behind that and it worked.  She says it ruins her skiing credibility, but I think it makes you a better skier if you can ski behind that.  We swam a little while longer after the boat was put up and then it was time to clean up and start the drive home.

I've decided that my next trip will include me flying down there.  It's just too long of a drive to do it by myself.  But it really was a great weekend!

Night out in Forest Park

This weekend we had tickets for the Muny on Saturday night.  We needed to find a way to kill a little time before we headed over to our seats but wanted to get decent parking.  So we decided to go to Bar Louie for a late lunch/early dinner and watch some of the Cardinals game.  After a quick bite we headed to the Zoo.

This was the first time at the Zoo this year for me and this first time as an adult at the Zoo for Scott.  It was a really hot day to be walking around but I felt like we had timed going to there perfectly.  It seemed like all the families with little kids were pretty much gone and the craziness was pretty much over.  We were able to walk without the crowds and really see the animals that were out.







After hanging out at the Zoo for a hour or so it was closing time.  We then walked around near the World's Fair Pavilion to kill a little more time.  There was a wedding reception going on so we couldn't really see much of the Pavilion but it really is a site to see.

Finally it was time to get over to the Muny to see Damn Yankees!  What a play!  This was the one play that the Muny was putting on that I wanted to pay to see.  The other performances I could sit in the free seats and be ok.  Our seats were great until the woman next to me sat down.  She was a larger woman and the breeze that I had before she sat down was gone.  Once the play started I quickly forgot about the heat.  But that was short lived.  It was just too hot, even after the sun went down.  With about 3 scenes left until intermission, I started looking for empty seats and was able to find an almost completely empty section that we moved to after getting more water and some food.  Scott and I really liked the play and truly love going to the Muny!

Career Path

After almost 4 months of looking for a job I have been offered a job as a buyer's agent with a  local Realtor.  It's is a new career path that I've decided to take.  I'm a little nervous about this adventure but I feel that it really is the right move for me.

After about a month of hints from Scott that I would make a great Realtor I had a job interview with a real estate agent for a market assistant.  I didn't get that job, I didn't think I really would have but hadn't had an interview in a while and needed the interview experience.  The day after the interview I received a call back from the Realtor and she stated that she kept thinking about me for a position as a buyer's agent.

A buyer's agent will take clients who are looking to purchase homes out and handles the contracts and negotiations for the buyers.  I will have to get my real estate license and take classes but I will have continuous education through the company.  I'm very excited to get started in my new career.  I truly feel that this will be a great career and a long career for me.

Weldon Springs

We found another place to hike around St. Louis.  We drove into St. Charles County to tackle the Weldon Springs park and hike 5.3 miles on Saturday morning.  The hike included some moderately strenuously hills that came out to some amazing bluffs view the Missouri River.

The hike guide stated that it was to take about 3 hours to hike the 5.3 miles for the Clark trail or 8.2 miles for the Lewis trail for about 5 hours.  We chose the Clark trail.



We did feel that the trail was poorly mapped out and there were no maps at the beginning of the trails.  Also, there were no guides along the way to let you know you were on track.



Otherwise the first half was great views and lots of hills, even a deer siting.  But the second half was mostly walking through forest and creek beds.



After seeing the entire trail we decided that we will be back in the fall to see the leaves change.  I'm sure it will be very pretty to see that!

World Cup 2010

And the winner of the 2010 World Cup from South Africa is.....



Espana!

After an amazing game Spain emerged victoriously!  The game was scoreless until the second half of overtime.  The Dutch put up a great fight but with 14 yellow cards during the course of the game there was bound to be a red card called...and in the second half of overtime a Dutch player received a red card and the team played a man down.  Shortly after Ignesta scored the only goal of the competition.

Great tournament!

World Cup Finals

And so the finals have been determined...





VS.

Spain will play The Netherlands in the World Cup final.  Germany will face Uruguay in the battle for third place.  This is the first time it will be an all European final when not playing in Europe and Spain's first trip to the finals.

The final game will be played on Sunday in Soccer City in South Africa.  The excitement is unreal and I think there will be more Dutch fans in the stadium but I think the Spanish will win the match...

4th of July

What a great holiday weekend.  July is shaping up to be a very busy month and it started out with a bang!  We started the weekend by heading to Alton, IL to watch the fireworks with Jenner and Andrew.  It was a nice little drive across the river and the only place with a firework showing on Friday night.  The show was worth the wait and great company.  Here is a random picture from the show.



On Saturday we headed to Pere Marquette Park for some hiking.  We could not have asked for better weather.  We drove up to Grafton, IL and did encounter some flooded roads and took a tour of the town.  By the time we got to Pere Marquette we were ready to hike.  We checked in with the Visitors Center and decided to take the Goat and Dogwood Trails.  They offered the best views stated the woman at the Visitors Center.

[caption id="attachment_479" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Visitor Center"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_480" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Flooded Picnic Grounds"][/caption]

We had to start the trail a little different than normally, the beginning was flooded and after we got start it was all uphill, but it was a lot of fun climbing it.  The hike offered a lot of great views from the top.  Here are a few views from 791 feet above sea level.









After Pere Marquette we headed home to get ready for another night of fireworks.  This time we were going to check out the Webster Groves show.  I had seen the show last year and it was a great show.  So I was expecting a repeat performance.  We got there with plenty of time to people watch.  Once the fireworks started the show was great, it seemed a lot better than the Alton show.  The only downside was that it only lasted 10 minutes.

On July 4th we headed down to Fair St. Louis for the real July 4th Festivities.  I love going down there on the 4th to see the air show and there is usually a fun band to watch before the fireworks start.  Although this year it was the B-52's and I only really know "Love shack" but it would have been a fun show to watch.

We got there in time to get a great seat under the Arch to watch the cover band before the air show and relax a bit.  Then the air show started.  The show started with a C-130 dropping 5 parachuter's through the Arch and onto the grounds.



Then the show was followed by more high flying tricks.  Overall the show was great, until the rain came in.  We decided to try to beat the crowds and ducked out a bit early to the parking garage.



Instead of going back and sitting on the wet lawn we went to the Landing for some food and to avoid the crowds for a bit.  We made some friends while people watching.  around 9 we headed back over to the fair grounds to watch the fireworks under the Arch.  There is nothing like watching the 4th of July fireworks under a national monument.  It really is amazing to see the fireworks glow off the Arch.  It seemed that the people to organized the show this year did a great job of matching the fireworks with the music.

After a quick stop at City Garden we headed to the Metro Station and took a cramped ride home.

Owl City

I recently was surfing the net and came across a blog and it had clip of the song If My Heart Was a House and had to find out who sang it.  I used my Shazam app on my iPhone and found out that Owl City sings the song.  After that I checked out the website.

http://www.owlcitymusic.com/home.aspx

After looking around and listening to some other songs, I decided that I had to download the CD.  Apple iTunes really comes in handy in moments like this.  I just search on my phone and check to make sure the album has the song I like and then download straight to my iPhone.

I have since only been listening to the Ocean Eyes CD, it even made working out fun today!  Thank you random blog for opening my eyes to new music.