Mike and Sarah

... give a little bit of your love to, two amazing causes Although I think the best way to give back is for a cause near and dear to your own heart, the following happen to mean a lot to yours truly . #1- The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Click on the link to learn more about the greatest kid you could ever hope to meet who also happens to be, my cousin. Researchers are so close to finding a cure for this chronic disease. I know it's said all the time but with research this close to a cure, any  amount you can give will make a difference. #2- The National MS Society One of my close friends from college lives with the reality of MS everyday as she watches her mother battle the Multiple Sclerosis. Help support her team and help fight MS by following the link above. Go ahead, click a link, take some time to read a bit about some amazing people and, if your monthly responsibilities allow... go ahead, donate your a** off... it'll be our little secret .

- I will complete all coursework necessary to receive my Master's degree and, as such, have weekends and Thursday nights free for as far as the eye can see - William and Kate will marry... guilty pleasure moment: I've been glued to the tv for the 7 minute segments on the Today show since last week, I'm surprised to find I'm totally into this royal wedding - The calendar will turn from April to May meaning we are now officially one month away from summer - Mike and I will continue the search for the perfect house... something that seems a bit unreachable at the moment, but we're making huge progress my friends, even our Realtor said he was proud of us this weekend =) So you know... all in all... a perfectly normal week in the Pentek household... royal weddings and all What's new with you?!

Geesh, who knew house hunting is like taking on an additional full time job... this gal... I know I'm so naive sometimes it's amazing I've made it 26 years. I suppose, though, I should've realized this and, in all honesty, I'm sure a part of my impatience with this process has something to do with the fact that I've been operating on the assumption we'd be completely relocating our lives for the past three months and then transitioned straight into local house hunting mode. Anyways, house hunting is difficult. I'm a quick decision maker, always have been and most likely always will be. I like to determine what I like, keep my options minimal, then make a decision based on these options. Here are all the situations in my life this has worked wonderfully: - choosing a college - choosing a sorority - choosing to stay in Des Moines after college - choosing apartments - choosing a grad. school and the program to pursue - planning our wedding Situati...

Here's a random list to liven up your Monday: - Mike and I met with our Realtor on Friday night. It went well but we both realized how large of a process this is. We were/are probably really naive but it's still a bit overwhelming and, I'm not gonna lie, I can't tell you how many times since our meeting I've thought, "irresponsible people do this everyday, we'll be fine, " (that makes me sound bad, but it's the truth). - the weather in Des Moines today was fantastic!!  I can't wait to go for a walk tonight - I have 7 Monday's left of the school year and this excites very much - I'm officially four class meetings away from completing my master's degree but I have one pretty major assignment looming over my head that I've conceptualized but not created yet... this is stressing me out just a bit - One of the last classes I had to take ended in early March and we just  found out our final grades for the course. This is the...

Given the slight craziness of the past few weeks, I informed Mike early last week I was in need of a little getaway. He agreed without hesitation and we decided on Kansas City. It's an easy drive from Des Moines and not ridiculously expensive so it was perfect. I had just enough background with the city to know where to stay and a general idea of what to do and Mike was along for the ride (the only time he's been to KC was for a bachelor party and, needless to say, he remembers nothing haha). So here's the lowdown on our wonderful quick trip for two: We got a sweet deal on Expedia.com for a suite in the Sheraton right on the Plaza. The drive leading to the hotel was perfect because we got a great rundown of possible places for some late night snacks and cocktails. We ended up about two blocks away at Tomfooleries  restaurant and bar. They had a fantastic menu and, to our surprise, they had a "choose two" option where you could order two smaller portions of pop...

I suppose it is time to let the blogosphere in on a little secret... the main reason posting has been light around here over the last 6 weeks or so is that I have actually been... interviewing.  (hahah, I'm laughing at all of you who thought I was going to say something else). Allow me to explain, since getting married it's always been a goal of ours to eventually move to back to Illinois (where Mike is from) to be closer to family. Throughout last spring and summer, it became apparent that this year may be "the year" to start going through the motions of relocating. It was an exciting decision for us. We knew this was the track we wanted to take and we were hopeful about the process. In January we began applying and in February we traveled to Illinois for a job fair specifically for teachers. It was here we started to realize this process would be harder than we originally had hoped. In a span of 4 1/2 hours we each only spoke with three school districts each a l...