Pittsburgh ... Our Other Home!

So Chad's family is from 2 small towns about 30 minutes outside of Pittsburgh, PA.  Chad's Dad's family is mostly from Beaver Falls, PA and Chad's Mom's family is from New Brighton, PA.  We 1st went to visit as a married couple in March, 2007.   I was not sure what I would think but I LOVED IT!  I would actually love to live there if we were not so tied to NC because all of my family is here and Chad's immediate family is here too. However Chad still has lots of family there that we can go visit.  Below are some pictures of our Home away from Home! If we ever win the big lottery we will have a house there too!

The road in front of Chad's Grandmothers house.

Chad's favorite Restaurant!  Mine is Orams Doughtnuts!!! The best EVER!!!

Chad's Great Grandma Young's House on their Farm.  The house was 150 years old. She sold the house and the farm but lived there until she couldn't stay alone.  She moved out at 97 I think, not that long ago actually.

Chad's Great Grandma Young, Grandma Hicks, and then you know the rest of us!

Ton's of Steel Bridges!

The Allegheny and the Monongahela Rivers converge to start the Ohio River!  Thus the name 3 Rivers and all the bridges!  I love the different colors in the water!

Point State Park!

More of the Point

PNC Park  Home of the Pittsburgh Pirates

Heinz Field Home of the Pittsburgh Steelers

Floor Front: Timmy  Floor Sitting (L to R) Nikki, Eric, and Brodie Kneeling or on Couch (L to R): Carrie, Corey, Grandma Hicks, Jenna, Harley, and Kasee   Standing (L to R):  Dina, Chad, Me, Jason, Roger, Shane, and Quinton  These are all Grandma Hicks Grand kids, great Grand kids and their significant others.  Missing: Amber, Kamal, Kyan, and Micha Wallace as well as John, Marquie and Aeris Hudak . Oh and Nisee and Jade were not born yet when this picture was taken so we are missing more now!

Inside Mellon Arena Home of the Pittsburgh Penguins!

Outside the Mellon Arena.  The 2009-2010 season is the last season at the Mellon for the Pens ... starting in Fall of 2010 the will be at the new Consol Energy Center which is just across the street!

Picture of us at the Hockey Game!

Looking from the Monongahela Incline down on the river front!

Nisee meeting Great Grandma Young at 6 weeks old!

Nisee's 1st Trip to Pittsburgh at 6 weeks old!  We already have her started!

We really love it there and love to spend time with Chad's family! We wish we could visit more often but we get up there as much as we can.

Yes we are Sports Fans!!!

We are huge sports fans and that might just be the understatement of the year! Most of our Fall, Winter, and Spring revolve around some sports team. We don't leave Summer out that's for Nascar! We watch all the games we can and if we can squeeze in an actual live game, we do that too! We both pull for the same teams. Mostly because I was the bigger sports fan for 2 of our favorite teams when we started dating. Hollie was the bigger fan for 1 specific team. So what sports do we like?! (and some pictures to go along with it of course)

#1 HOCKEY!!! We both love hockey! I was the bigger fan for this sport and our team the Pittsburgh Penguins when we started dating but it did not take me long to get Hollie hooked. She loves it now. She probably gets into the games more than me sometimes. Our team is the Pittsburgh Penguins. As most know my family is from just north of Pittsburgh and I have been a Pens fan for years. They are doing well and have a great team right now! Hockey starts during September (pre-season) and runs into June if the team makes it to the Stanley Cup Finals which the Penguins did in 2008 (lost) and 2009 when they won their 3rd Stanley Cup. Our Dog Geno is named after one of my favorite players Evgini Malkin and you better get used to the name Sidney because if we ever have a little boy well that's his name! Sidney Crosby is Hollie's favorite player. My all time favorite player for the Pens is their current owner Mario Lemieux and for some reason Hollie won't let us name our son Mario. I don't understand why not but I like Sidney so I can deal. Hockey teams play 2 to 3 games a week and they can play up to as many as 100 games in a season if they go far enough. So we get to watch a lot of Hockey and we Love it! Only bad thing is that since it is not that popular around here we have to pay for NHL Center ice which is not cheap! So GO PENS!!!

Me in My Pens 3rd jersey

Nisee in Daddy's Jersey at 6 weeks Old

Each Year I grow a play off beard!  2008's

Me and Hollie at the Pens vs Canes Game in NC

#2 Football We are huge Steeler fans! I have always been a Steelers fan but Hollie didn't dislike football when we started dating. she just didn't have a team to pull for and she didn't care for the Panthers so she decided after a few games to pull for the Steelers. She now is an loyal fan and I think that it helps that she loves Pittsburgh so much! We watch most of the Steelers games if they are on TV down here. We were able to get tickets to go to the Steelers vs Panthers game in 2006 in Charlotte. We still have dreams of going to see them at Hines Field and one day we will. Hollie's favorite player is Troy Polamalu! I was partial to Willie Parker but now since he's gone I like Rashard Mendenhall. Either way we were pulling for them before their recent success and will be pulling for them for a long time. They won their 5th Superbowl in 2005 and won their 6th in 2009 more than any other team in the NFL I might add! So GO STEELERS!!!

Us in our Steelers gear!

Hollie in her jersey pregnant

Hollie and Me at the Steelers vs Panthers Game 

Nisee with her Steelers doll and Terrible Towel

The Steelers Family!

#3 College Basketball Now I think that we probably like College Basketball and Football about the same but for numbers sake it's just easier to do a 2 and a 3. Hollie was the bigger college b-ball fan of course being from NC how could she not be. I have lived here a long time but with most of my family being from up North we didn't get into it as much but it was odd that we had always been partial to Duke and here Hollie is a HUGE DUKE FAN! And I mean she is a huge fan. She has Duke shirts that are so old they have more holes in them than they have fabric left. She has the 1st SI cover that Grant Hill was on. She has a trunk full of Duke memorabilia. So naturally when we started dating I always liked Duke so I just made it official and I had always despised the tarholes (yes that's what Hollie and Tara call them so it stuck) so that made it all the easier! As we all know Duke won the NCAA Championship this year! Yeah! Hollie's all time favorite player is Steve Wojciechowski (and yes she just told me how to spell that! LOL) followed closely by Bobby Hurley. LETS GO DEVILS!!!!

I think this speaks for itself!

We love our santa hats ... yes we have all 3 teams!

DUKE GIRLS

BEST IN THE WORLD

The Whole Family All Duked Out!

Hollie and Nisee in their Duke Gear

#4 Nascar Yes we like Nascar. Our favorite driver is Jimmie Johnson #48. I started pulling for him after Dale Earnhardt died (he was my old fave and I didn't care for Dale Jr.) and have done so ever since. Hollie did not like Nascar when she met me. She could not believe that I liked it and didn't see what the big deal was but over time she has come to appreciate it and even like it. Jimmie Johnson is an awesome driver to pull for and has had lots of success of late winning the last 4 championships. Go #48!

At the Coca Cola 600

We also watch some College Football. Duke is our team of course. Its hard because they suck at football mostly but are getting better and actually had a decent season last year. This year we hope to be as good if not better. I also watch baseball and I am a Pirates fan. Yes I know they aren't the best (again understatement of the year) but they are my team and I am loyal even through the rough years. Hollie does not do baseball on TV period! Hollie does however like soccer and will watch it if she comes across it every once in a while like for the World Cup this year.

Well that's about it for our sports. I just thought you out to know what your going to be seeing posts about at some point, I am sure! We really bonded over our sports and it's great to have these things in common as a couple. We love our sports and hope you will enjoy reading about them!

AND yes for all of those who know me, Hollie typed the most of this but we did talk about what to include the whole time. I am just too slow at typing for her. LOL

Super Bowl 6

Fleury pulling for the Steelers

Love it!

Just won the CUP!

Ice picture of the whole team with the cup

2009

Love these Towels

GO DUKE! 2010

I want this as a poster!!!

Hollie created this picture!

Youngest Captain to win a cup!

Me and Hollie meeting the Stanley Cup when the Canes won it.

Hollie went to Toronto and while there she went to the Hockey Hall of Fame and saw the cup where it stays during the season!

Our Animals!

When Chad and I started dating he already had a 1 year old cat named Ringo.  I adopted him from the start as he is the cutest kitty ever and so soft and cuddly! Ringo is still our oldest baby.  Nisee loves him and he plays very well with her because he is so laid back!

Ringo

Ringo

In February of 2006 Chad and I adopted an orange 1 year old cat with no tail named Bart.  Bart was scared of everything and he would tell you about it. He loved to talk and lick.  He would lick the skin off your arms if you would let him.  Bart was with us until March 15, 2010 when he died suddenly.  Just that morning he had been fine but when we got home from work he was almost dead and died with in 5 minutes of us getting here.  We are still not sure what happened to him.

Bart

Bart

In April of 2008 we adopted a Brittney Spaniel and English Setter mix from a shelter. We named him Geno after one of Chad's favorite hockey players. He was really shy and skiddish around most people but he warmed up to us right away.  Geno is a good dog but he is so hyper that he mostly stays downstairs.

Geno

Geno

And here is a picture we made for Chad's Mom for Mother's Day in 2008!  It has all of the boys in it!

Chad, Geno, Ringo and Bart

We Bought a House

Our House

We bought our house on July 26, 2006!  We love it.  It has changed a lot since we bought it.  Actually this picture was after we had painted the door and shutters green.  When we bought the house it had blue shutters and a red front door.  The green looks much better!