local find (and we're alive)!

in an attempt to explore our new city of south bend, i'm going to use this blog as a way to force myself to get out of the house (away from all the boxes) and navigate around our new grid.

but first! why not start in the town i feel most comfortable in? yep...that's right - we're back in athens. i mean we couldn't stay away for THAT long, could we? [well, in all honesty, as part of the agreement with notre dame and beau's program, which will allow him to still get his degree, he is supposed to come back to athens  three tuesday's throughout the quarter for class, sooo i guess we were kinda forced to come back].
athens has TONS of cute little coffee shops, restaurants and boutiques lining court street, but the one i have been to most often is definitely brenen's (you might recognize the outside of their shop from this post). they have great coffee and specialty drinks (their vanilla chai is a-mazing), bagels and breakfast sandwiches, and a HUGE lunch menu...lots of veggie options (their  tomato bisque is fabulous). the entire place is has floor to ceiling windows, so it's an awesome place to pop-a-squat and get your work done [yes, they have free wireless]. i've spent many a-hour soaking up the sunlight through the inside of their cafe...the owner even knows my name...

on  a side note, beau and i are alive! this is the first time i've had contact with the outside world since friday, so i'm trying to get as much in as possible before we drive back to south bend tonight...back to no internet and no 'real' tv.

the move was successful. my dad and beau did a bunch of work on thursday - picked up the truck and moved a bunch of boxes to the garage. then, those two heavy-weight lifters, and our gracious, gracious neighbor, spent six hours loading the 26' truck on friday. woke up at 6am saturday and drove six hours to south bend, spent four hours unloading the truck (with the help of beau's uncle and grandparents. yes...grandparents). and completely crashed that night. and crashed is probably an understatement.
it will take a few weeks to get our new home in order, but i'm up for the challenge :)