Our Little Piece of America!

Well, it took a few weeks but we finally got the "SOLD" sticker on our lot sign. A very exciting moment for sure! Next step...build the house.

Our House!

We bought a house!!! Sort of. In actuality we put in a contract to have a house built. If all goes well with the construction, we will move in sometime in August or September. We are so excited and I am sure the next 5 months or so will take forever, although right now we have lots of work to do in picking out floors and carpet, and such.

The house is in Leesburg, VA (about 30 miles or so west of DC). Its located in a cute little community with lots of trees and a big park in the center. It has a very rural feel but is very close (like 3 miles) to things like a movie theater, grocery store, and restaurants.

Here are some pictures of our new neighborhood and the spot where our house will be once its built:

Our lot - Lot 43B

Here's the view across the street from our lot.

This is what our house will look like only ours will be a light yellow/cream color

And here is the park in the center of the community

Be sure to check back often as I am sure we will be adding new pictures as the house goes up! And we can't wait to have everyone over once we move in. Please remember you are all always welcome in our home. We feel so blessed to be able to buy a house and want to share it all with our friends and family.

Baby Ryan!

We are officially an Uncle and Aunt!! Sweet little baby Ryan Michael Sobierajski was born on Saturday, February 28th, weighing in at 8 lbs and 1 oz. Mom Alysia was a trooper going through roughly 12 hours of labor. Both Ryan and Alysia are doing great! We cannot wait to meet him. Congratulations Todd, Alysia, Trevor, and Riley; as well as new grandparents Frank and Maryjane. We all feel truly blessed by this newest addition to the family.

Welcome to the world Baby Ryan!!!!!

The "South"

Despite all the excitement and the historical significance of the past inauguration, we decided to skip it and leave D.C. for the weekend to avoid all the people and traffic that would inevitably accompany it. We took advantage of a long weekend off of work and took a road trip down to Charleston, SC. We were hoping for some warmer weather by heading south. We got it, but not by a lot. It was still pretty chilly in S.C. although we probably shouldn't complain too much seeing as it was like 10 degrees in DC when we left.

We ran into a little car trouble on the way down, but the friendly people of Roanoke Rapids Toyota got us fixed up and back on our way in no time at all. We eventually arrived in Charleston, only to be greeted by a lovely sunset along the Ashley River. It was a beautiful setting; sun drenched sweet grass blowing in the breeze, the setting sun, beautiful southern houses on the riverfront, and the boats on the river. A great introduction to the great city of Charleston!














It rained a bit on our first day there, but our second turned out to be a beautiful day. We took a walking tour of the historic district of downtown Charleston, which we thoroughly enjoyed. The houses were beautiful and even though it was winter and most of the flowers weren't blooming, it was still gorgeous. (We will certainly have to go back when everything is in bloom though - I'm sure it’s even more beautiful then). Other highlights included shopping at the old city market, driving through the citadel, driving out to some of the plantations. We even saw a swamp. It looked just like we always imagined a southern swamp to look like!

It was a quick trip, but more than likely not the last to this southern gem!

Mr. Frank goes to Washington...

Michael's parents were in town the weekend before the inauguration. It was their first trip down to DC in some time, and we were very happy to host them. We took them on a tour of the U.S. Capitol and the newly opened Capitol visitor center.

We also enjoyed a nice dinner out, a picnic lunch, a drive through the countryside, and lots of quality time together (which unfortunately did not include any board games - despite Megan, Michael, and MaryJane's best efforts). The weekend went by super fast and we truly enjoyed it. We hope they come back soon!

Happy New Year!

We just wanted to take a moment and wish all of our family and friends a blessed and joyous new year in 2009. We've been blessed with so many happy memories from 2008 and look forward to sharing many more with you in 2009. We hope everyone had a peaceful and enjoyable Christmas and we look forward to talking to all of you soon and trying to visit with as many of you as we possibly can in the year to come.

Love,
Michael and Megan

Arizona

And now for a long overdue entry on the rest of our little trip out west. After a few days in the Los Angeles area we drove over to Arizona. Our first stop included a visit with friends Diana and Jason (as well as their cute little daughter Grace). All of us made the drive up to beautiful Sedona for a relaxing day, neither of us had ever been there before and we just found the red rocks just gorgeous.

The next day, Megan and I headed further north to the Grand Canyon. It was my first trip tot he canyon and I was beyond excited. Even with all the build-up in my head, I was still blown away by the enormity and beauty of it. It was definitely a highlight for me!

We spent our last few days in Phoenix with good friends Amy and Ed and their adorable twins, Moses and Lancey. We had such a nice time getting to spend time and see all our friends in Arizona. As an added bonus, we also got to have lunch with Megan's Uncle John, which included a VIP tour of the Arizona Biltmore, McCain's election day HQ, the day before the election. The trip couldn't have been more perfectly planned.

p.s. For anyone out there who is kind enough to check on this blog periodically, we apologize for the lack of posts as of late and promise to do a better job in 2009 :)