2nd Annual BYOP

Things have been rather intense around here the past couple months, with layoff notice warnings & actual layoffs (one for each of us), the subsequent worries about making ends meet, trying to figure out how the heck to run a freelance and then new jobs lined up (yes, one for each of us), but one thing was clear even when it looked like we would both be out of work at the same time…

The show must go on and the annual BYOP Carving Party would happen. Even if we had to ask our friends to not only bring their own pumpkins, but to bring food as well.

Luckily, our luck shifted rather quickly. Mike was able to line up a new job a mere 4 days after being laid off (yet somehow I don't think he was able to enjoy his month of unemployment one bit). And I – well mine took a bit longer, about a month and a half after finding out my full time job would finished come the beginning of November, I was offered a new position at a company that (fingers crossed) will have a bit more stability.

Because of the shift in luck, we were able to treat our friends this weekend to fabulous fall evening, complete with pumpkin carving, food and silly costumes (though I must give a shout out to the De Wildes for providing a yummy pumpkin soup & a couple others who brought some sweets).

Since this year's festivities took place so close to Halloween, we left it up to our guests on whether they wanted to come in costume or not. We had everything from Babe-raham Lincoln to Where's Waldo to Lindsay Lohan.

I've been wanting to dress up as Coraline since last year. I was able to find the perfect rain slicker shortly after Halloween last year, so with my rain boots and some sprayed blue hair I was able to pull it off. Though I wasn't the most recognizable obviously since I was asked multiple times if I was the Morton salt girl - ha!

Mike surprised me the morning of the party, while I was cooking the day away, when he said he wanted to go to the party as the Fantastic Mr Fox. Now when we first saw the movie last year, I immediately thought he should dress up as him and even said I'd make him the costume. Nearly a year went by and no mention of it, not even when I spoke of my costume plans. But not wanting to snuff out the flicker of enthusiasm that matched my own, I said I would make it work - that I could make him a bandit cap to wear with a corduroy blazer & pants he already owned. I still have nearly an entire bolt of orange fur fabric from four years ago, so to Mike's amazement I was even able to give him little fox ears so he didn't look entirely like a burglar. If only he had told me the night before when I went to the costume store, I could have gotten him a fox nose to make the costume perfect.

It was a mellow evening that involved devouring buffalo chicken dip, Bugle crack (caramelized Bugles) and candy corn cupcakes. But it's definitely the kind of evening that suits me, and I'm already starting to think about next year.

Tour de Cure

As I begin my journey into running, Mike has begun a journey of his own. He's finally, after years of talking about it, has started long distance cycling. Initially he was planning on training this spring and summer for a century ride in the fall, but then an opportunity for another long ride came up in June.

So currently Mike is working toward a 50 mile ride in Grafton, IL as part of the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure. I know I don't typically do this kind of thing in this space, but if you're so inclined and would like to support a good cause, Mike is trying to raise $150 for ADA. If you'd like to make any sort of donation, we'd both greatly appreciate it - donate here!

Hopefully Mike doesn't get too upset that I'm posting a picture of a doll bike (I WANT this cruiser!) and not a picture of his own Black Beauty. It's just the American Girl bike is a little more me, and after all even though I'm plugging him in this post, truly I can't not make it about me. ;)

Good luck dear! You'll do great!

No, We Did Not Stage This Picture.

I've taken to wearing the robe Mike got me the Christmas we were going to move down here almost constantly. We keep the house at a moderate 68, but since it's an old house I'm pretty sure it's only 68 in the dining room where the thermostat is. I've been pulling the robe on each morning and each evening immediately upon returning from work since about November. It's cozy. It keeps me from complaining (too much) about being cold. It makes me feel at home.

As much as I've been enjoying my robe lately, I decided that Mike might actually enjoy one of his own, though he never expressed any interest in one. I found an excellent deal for a mid-length fleece robe and slippers at Old Navy before Christmas and scooped them up in a flash. And I must say, one of my gifts has never gone over as well as this robe (and consequently slippers). Mike, who had been a dig-in-the-laundry-to-find-that-old-baggy-fleece-sweatshirt kind of guy, has taken to the way of the robe like a fish in water. He even said it was the best gift he never knew he wanted. (Yay, I'm not very good at giving gifts, so this is a total victory for me) He gets into his robe after work even before I do!

Well, now that we're a family of robe wearers and Nibbler thinks she is just as human as we are, she had to get in on the action too.

No, I'm not one of THOSE people, who bought my dog a Snuggie. We're old-school in this house, and don't tend to spend money when we can find an equivalent at home.

If you've met Nibbler, you're probably thinking this is a stage picture with one of bribing her with treats and holding her still, but really this is the real Nibbler. The Nibbler behind the excitement of meeting you or of finally seeing you again. The Nibbler that jumps up and makes you think that we need the Dog Whisperer. This is the real Nibbler.

The sweet, cuddly puppy, who will just lay next to her mom or dad on the couch for hours at a time. Who will quietly follow her mom around the house, curling into a ball at her feet when her mom settles in at the sewing machine or computer or sits next to the stove (in between peek up at the counter) waiting for some sort of food scrap to be dropped while dinner is being made.

Now you might be saying, well Nibbler certainly Nibbler didn't put the blanket on herself. And, well yes, you would be correct. You see Nibbler has what seems to be a chronic staph infection that causes her to be very itchy. And to ease the itch Nibbler scratches her face on the rugs (not that big of a deal) and she schnarfs (as we call it when she bites at herself because that's the noise she makes when she does it) her belly. There's no getting around this. We've done several rounds of antibiotics (but it always comes back), we've tried telling her No, startling her, yelling at her to stop in desperation. Nothing gets her to stop when she's really itchy. Nothing except covering to access to the area - like covering her with a blanket, pillow, bag of yarn...

So that's how Nibbler was caught in a robe of her own. This picture was actually taken on the day after Christmas. We had just gotten back from being out of town and the house was freezing as we had turned down the heat because we were going to gone for several days. So we were all very cold, and since her mom and dad were all snuggly in their robes, Nibbler wanted in on the action and actually walked around like this for a while. And as I sit here typing, she's curled up on the couch next to me wrapped up in her blanket, keeping my feet warm.

A European Vacation: In Pictures (I Mean, Words)

So last year I thought talking about our vacation a week after we returned was probably too late. What would last year me think about this year me as we've been back for nearly two months and I have finally just finished getting through all the photos we took.

Sadly my recollections probably won't be too great, seeing as it has been nearly a month and a half since the beginning of our trip. And we did so much in a pretty short amount of time, but I'll try...for prosperity's sake.

At the bottom of this post is a pictorial review of week in Europe, the highlights are as follows. I warn you now, it is long. As I no longer keep a written journal, I have no record of the trip, so I wanted to try and get as much down as I could remember. It is really for my own benefit, so please feel free to pop down to the bottom to see the pics or straight on to my Flickr set, I won't be mad if you don't read the book that follows. ;)

Getting There
Our journey actually began Friday (September 4) after work. We had packed our carry-ons, our backpack and all Nibbler's stuff in the few days prior, so we threw everything into the car, got Nibbler in there as well and then headed up north to Mom & Dad's. Nibbler was lucky enough to stay with them (thanks Mom & Dad!) while we were gone, and they also acted as our ride to and from the airport. Almost immediately upon arriving, Nibbler not only managed to run into their sliding screen door, but turned it perpendicular on its track! I know, the dog is a beast. Luckily mom & dad are used to dogs ruining the screen door and despite being dogless now, had a spare in the garage.

Our flight to Ireland left Saturday evening, so Nibbler got to have some quality time with us before we headed on our long flight with an even longer layover (what you have to do to get cheaper flights these days!). We were dropped off at O'Hare and waited nearly an hour for our ticketing booth to open…so much for needing to be there at least 3 hours early for international flights. But you know what, we knew we'd have so much waiting to do on this trip, that it didn't bother us. While checking in, I followed the advice given to me by my coworkers and asked if there was an exit aisle available, since originally Mike and I were not given seats next to each other. We lucked out and we able to get seats with extra leg room - though it still appeared that someone would be seated between us. Oh well, we'd be glued at the hip for the next week, so it was probably a good idea to get some alone time while we could. We went smoothly through security and then sat and wandered waiting for boarding time. Not that there were many places to wander, these small airlines seem to be put off in the middle of nowhere at the airports.

When we boarded, turns out our exit row seats were actually the first row of coach - right by the main door and flight attendant station. It made it nearly impossible to sleep throughout the 8 hour flight since the station was lit at all times, but to make up for it, we had awesome stowable screens (everyone else's were on seat backs) and the ability to watch a bunch of different movies and tv shows. Between meals (2 full and a snack) and a bit of reading, I also managed to watch 2 movies and a couple episodes of the first season of Mad Men which has been on my Netflix queue.

There were a couple surprising things about our flight. Number 1: we actually left O'Hare on time. And number 2: we arrived in Dublin about an hour early. That meant our seven hour layover turned into an eight hour layover. After arriving and passing through security again, we headed to our terminal, which turned out to be a major mistake because once we passed a certain point we weren't allowed to turn back. And as it turned out the majority of the food and shops and other time killers (and warmth) were on the other side of that point. So for the majority of our layover we were stuck on stiff metal chairs & benches in a chilly terminal (on a cold rainy Dublin day) with very little option in the means of food. Mike experienced Ireland by having a Guiness (but no fish & chips or haggus because that was probably on the other side of the "point") and then we sat, read, listened to podcasts and tried to stay warm. We were each able to grab a little cat nap, but nothing substantial, and I was able to get my first taste of Glee (thanks ipod touch!).

Once it was finally time to board and get our butts to Rome, it was raining and we, of course, had to board the plane on the tarmac. So we were a bit misty, but ready to be on our way. The flight to Rome offered me a couple hours to nap again, but I'm not sure what Mike did, probably read his advance copy of the Rod Blagojevich biography. Upon touchdown, the back of the plane burst into cheers. I'm pretty sure that it must have been a group a young travelers that had a ripple effect because the flight wasn't bad - turbulence or otherwise. After taking a bus from the tarmac we were greeted by a long line of Asian travelers with many wearing face masks, thinking it was some sort of tour group traveling together we snaked our way through only to see that, oh no, that was the very line we needed to be in - for those of us with non-EU passports. More waiting ensued, only this time on foot and after many hours of flying and waiting and not sleeping we were getting to our wit's end. Luckily after passing through customs (at least an hour later) we were able to quickly get our backpack and find the train that would take us from the Leonardo di Vinci airport to the Termini train station in the center of Rome.

By the time the train departed, it was dark and getting late. We were hungry and tired, but we were able to keep it together long enough to walk a few blocks and find our hotel. After checking in and dropping off our things and the clock nearing ten, we headed out into our neighborhood to find a place to eat. We came across this little place with a few tables outside and headed down the stairs into the tiny dining room. It was crazy to see little kids being out so late, eating dinner so late. A family with a small (maybe 3-4 yrs old) girl came in shortly after us - not crabby or anything, like it is completely normal for such a tiny child to be up so late and just eating dinner.

Day 1 - Rome
Our first full day in Rome started with both Mike and I almost killing ourselves in the shower. Our shower was what can only be described as a half tub with built in seat. There was no where flat to stand on both feet, so we both ended up slipping and almost cracking our heads open - I actually had to call Mike in to help me out because the tub side was about 2 feet high at the least, slippery and wet, a disaster waiting to happen. Despite almost dying, we were able to leave the hotel early and head on foot to the Colosseum and the rest of the historic district. We ended up actually splurging on audio tour headsets, so we were actually able to know some of the history behind the site, as opposed to my first time there where we tried to duck in and out of tour groups for free and only managed a piece meal version. Our only mistake was not eating beforehand because combined with the heat, by the time we were done walking around the Colosseum (our first stop), I was feeling ill. After grabbing a frozen bottle of Gatorade, I was able to continue on and make it through Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum and up near the Trajan Column until we stopped a little pizza place to grab some pizza a taglia and some fruit. Let me tell you something very important. Choose your shoes wisely. Despite being comfy, convenient and somewhat more stylish then gym shoes, they ended up not having enough cushioning and my feet were constantly achy from days and days of walking miles on cobblestone. The rest of the afternoon was spent seeing the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain and getting Mike his first taste of honest-to-goodness Italian gelato and then hiking back to our hotel for a break/nap. As evening came we headed out for a stroll (hike, whatever) to the Spanish Steps and to find a nice dinner outside our neighborhood. Lucky for us, our journey to the Spanish Steps brought us to the top of the Steps because I'm not sure after the day of walking I could have made it up the 300+ steps. We arrived right around sun set and took some time to try and capture some photos - of the sunset, the lit steps, of all the people. And once we were all photographied out, we found a restaurant and sat outside and enjoyed antipasti and pasta (my first gnocchi and it was delicious) and a shared tiramisu. Once we were all done, we walked the long way back to the hotel so we could see the Trevi Fountain lit up at night.

Day 2 - Rome
Our second full day of vacation started early as well, but this time with breakfast. I dig European breakfast (at least those you find at hotels) - bread, a soft cheese and some fruit - that is my kind of breakfast. After fueling up, we headed to the metro to make our way to the Vatican City. It always surprises me how at ease I can be while taking the subway in foreign countries, but when I need to take it in like Chicago, I'm nervous. We spent the morning wandering through the Vatican Museum, making our way to the Sistine Chapel. The afternoon was spent going through St Peter's Basilica and then Mike dragging me to the top of its cupola. Yes, we hiked to the top, though I must admit we took the elevator up to the first level and walked from there. Around and around through increasingly smaller corridors and up steeper and steeper flights of stairs. I made it to the top without passing out, tripping or needing to pull the emergency SOS alarm, so victory. I'm glad Mike made me go, there's nothing like seeing the inside of a basilica's dome from so close and looking down from high up to the altar and then to see Vatican City and Rome from so high in the air. After returning to the hotel for another afternoon rest, we headed out later in the evening to find dinner, where I enjoyed fresh calamari (so good, not chewy, yum), and then back to the Colosseum to capture it at night and then on the back to the hotel for the night we stopped to get our last taste of Italian gelato - swoon!

Day 3 - Rome & Venice
Our final day in Rome was spent wandering through the National Roman Museum and then walking the streets killing time while toting our huge backpack until it was time to catch our afternoon train to Venice. And despite being there a couple hours early, disaster nearly struck as departure time neared. As we were validating our internet purchased tickets to board the train, I noticed our tickets looked very different and said "ticket reservation" and I panicked thinking perhaps I was supposed to exchange our reservation form for a ticket, so we hurriedly went to try and figure out a half hour before the train was scheduled to depart. With no information desk to be found, we were directed one way but we decided to briefly split up. Mike heading the the main ticket booth to stand in the long line, and I to the "information" desk (which was really just a smaller ticket booth) far down the first terminal - our train was at the 24th terminal. As I finally got to the front of the line and the train was scheduled to leave in 15 mintues, I quickly found out that my reservations were an actual ticket, and sprinted loaded down with backpacks and packages to find Mike. But he wasn't there and time was ticking down. So I sprinted to our terminal thinking Mike would be there waiting, but he wasn't so back to the ticket booth, panic rising, I started trying to flag down a police officer to ask if there was a way to find a missing person, a PA, anything, and they had no idea what I was saying. So back I ran to our terminal with 5 minutes before the departure, hoping I would just find Mike, not caring that we would miss the train, just wanting to find him. We had insurance on the tickets so we could get a partial refund for not using them and we could just catch the next train...and then I saw him looking panicked and mad and we ran and jumped into the first car as we were down to only a couple minutes so there was no way to make our way to our coach outside the train. But we were together, and on the train as planned. Ugh, it still makes me stressed thinking about it. The panic, the despair, the fear. When we found our seats, some guys were sitting in them and the panic about the tickets didn't subside. Thinking I was told wrong, and we didn't pick up our reserved tickets so our seats were sold, there was nothing we could do as the train was moving. I found a conductor to ask for assistance, really just hoping for validation that our tickets were ok sooner rather than later. We were lead to our seats and the conductor asked the men to move, we sat down and then finally breathed again. As soon as our ticket was punched, we were able to relax and our journey to Venice began with a vow never to stray from the other's side. Several hours later we began to cross the water into Venice and as we stepped out of the train station and saw all the people and bridges and the grand canal, we knew we finally made it. After finding our hotel right off the grand canal and settling into our gold room with 4 beds and a side canal view, we went to explore Venice in the dark in search of food. As we wandered the tiny, dark streets occassionaly coming across other people but no real food establishment - we realized that National Geographic article we read before leaving was true, there are very few real Venetians left in Venice, which can really be seen at night as the streets become deserted - so we headed back to the Grand Canal and back across to eat at a hopping place on the canal. As we watched vaporettos load and unload, we ate, Mike being the more adventurous one (he dined on cuttlefish in a black, black, black squid ink sauce!), before heading in for the night.

Day 4 - Venice
Our day in Venice, started with us packing and checking out of the hotel at like 8 in the morning. Lucky for us, our hotel allowed us to store our bags all day so we didn't (and by we, I mean Mike) need to carry around the giant backpack all day until our evening train. We were then free to roam the streets of Venice, and that we did. We just walked and walked through the tiny streets and over the hundreds of bridges. I was just so amazed at how tiny and cramped it was, like a theater set of a city. We knew two things for sure about our time in Venice. Number one, we were going to find a mask to bring home and add to the wall in our dining room with the African masks my sister brought us from Africa and number two, we were going to take an gondola ride, despite be super expensive. We were out early enough in the morning that the city wasn't super crowded, we were able to find what I can only describe as gondola port and get right in for a 45 minute ride through the tiny canals. It's amazing that the gondoliers can maneuver those extremely long boats through those tiny canals, following so closely behind one another with only the one paddle. Mike's favorite part of the ride had to be when the gondolier in front of us was all like, "Ehhh!" to the a motorboat that tried to cut in front of us. The rest of our day was spent just wandering. We hit St Mark's, where despite Mike's fears of birds, I made him stand within 10 feet of a giant flock of pigeons to take a picture, and the Rialto, along the Grand Canal. And we searched for the perfect Venetian mask. In the end we actually (miraclously) found our way back to the first mask shop we visited - where the young man had modeled a mask and cape for us, even cocking his head in a very creepy, scary movie way - and I found a mask that really stood out as different (though those little Pinocchio masks were calling my name) and sophisticated, with bronzed brown and blues and greens, just perfect for our home's color scheme. As the day wound down and we tired out, Mike and I headed to the train station to check the status of our train and to just chill on the steps over looking all the people until it was time to board for our overnight train ride to Paris (in a 6 person coachette - I ended up in the bottom coffin bunk with a runny nose and freezing cold).

Day 5 - Paris
Upon arriving at the Bercy station in Paris the next morning, we were greeted with a massive temperature change, no ability to change to warmer clothes and needing to waste about 4 hours until we could check into our hotel. We ended up hiking from Bercy Station to Notre Dame Cathedral first thing in the morning. The nice thing about starting so early in the morning is for the most part (except for the line to get into the Vatican Museum) the crowds are weak. Since the crowds were thin, we were able to go into Notre Dame with our giant backpack no problem. If you haven't been, the rose windows really are amazing. Enormous and intricate. After making a pit stop (finally - the train had not toilet paper & the train station bathroom was closed) in a free restroom underground in the area in front of the cathedral, Mike and I headed off to find the nearest Metro station to take us to our hotel. Despite having a map, we couldn't find the station as we were staying on the streets and after walking in a giant circle and stopping at a information booth outside the cathedral, who was no help, we found the station entrance tucked within a pedestrian block. We navigated the Metro and walked to our hotel, which ended up sending us to a different hotel several blocks away because of a plumbing problem. We settled in, changed and went to take the Metro to the Louvre. We walked through and made our way to our final destination of the Mona Lisa, which has been moved since I was there several years ago. When I previously saw it, we were ushered through a small room and not allowed to spend too much time in front of painting, and don't even think of taking its picture. Now it's displayed in a big hall on it's own wall floating in the center of the room and the surrounding walls showcasing only a enormous painting - a nice contrast between the giant paintings and the petite masterpiece. We were able to spend as much time as we wanted, and even though we couldn't get too close (there is an altar type thing below it and then an area was roped off a couple yards beyond it - I believe within a month or two before someone threw a beverage at it), you could still see it wonderfully. And there was no restrictions on photography! We were able to snap a clear picture as proof we had been - and unlike my last visit, trying to get a photo didn't distract from actually viewing the masterpiece.

After making our way out, we started our walk to the Eiffel Tower and headed to the top as the evening started to set in. Boy, was it cold and windy up there, but just as peaceful as I remember. Mike and I walked around looking at Paris from all directions. After we finally finished just gazing in the distance (and freezing) and headed to dinner. The funny thing is, we ended up eating at the same restaurant I ate at while visiting in 2003, crazy, right? As we sat down and I looked around the decor felt so familiar, I am almost 100% that it was the same place. Once we were done and it was dark, night pictures of the Eiffel Tower were in order and then we strolled through the park slowly making our way to a Metro station to get back to our neighborhood.

Day 6 - Paris
That was the nice thing about about where we were staying, it was an actual Parisian neighborhood, not touristy like the areas we stayed in Rome and Venice. The next morning as we made our way back to the Metro station for a train to the Arc de Triomphe, we walked through a street market (like a farmer's market). Our day was pretty low key, having done the major sites the day before, no rush, just going at our leisure. In addition to the Arc, we visited Les Invalides (the World War Museum and Napolean's tomb - pretty huge tomb for such a little guy) and then as we walked, we picked up a sandwich, some giant grapes and some chocolate and enjoyed an awesome picnic in the lawn in front of the Eiffel Tower. That may be my favorite memory of the vacation, sitting in the sun in the mild weather, enjoying big grapes just gazing at the Eiffel Tower. It was actually kinda funny during our days in Paris we actually we mistaken as Parisian by a couple different people - I think it's because we weren't just in jeans and tee shirts - it was tough to tell the French lady that we couldn't speak French to give her directions. Hee. After our picnic we went out in search of Le Bon Marche so I could get a souvenir of fabric and yarn. That little trip to the department store turned out being perhaps the most stressful time on vacation (besides that incident in the Rome train station). Department store works very differently in Paris or at least their craft department does. Once I finally picked out my yarns and fabric, I got in line behind another person or two at a small register in the center aisle, when it was my turn, I got the evil eye from the french lady with a moustache with pointing and jabbing, we got the point we were missing some sort of ticket. But we didn't know where a ticket was obtained, so after passing around and retracing my steps to the different brand sections I had, I was lucky to come across a brand manager (?) who understood english, though did not speak it well. She helped me get started, so I understood what I needed and then headed to the other brand desks to obtain tickets that I would give to the register lady to ring up. Basically if your item does not have a Le Bon Marche barcode sticker, you must obtain a ticket from the brand's desk giving the price for what you want, kinda like when you get some fabric cut at Joann's. After I finally had my merchandise paid for, we headed to the highest point in Paris, Sacre Couer. Hiking up a giant hilly street crowded with people, and then up all the stairs to the actual church. On our way down we hit a little crepe stand and watched the man make our crepes in a little workstation right on the sidewalk (I had nutella, Mike had cheese). For our final night in Paris, we headed out in the neighborhood looking for some place local. As we walked, we passed through a block party of sorts, and eventually ended up at a little bar, with no english on the menu, so authentic, you know. Luckily our waiter was very kind and was able to help us out and speak some english and well as teach us a bit of french. The problem came as our night came to a close. We were tired, little sleep over a week and being on the go constantly had finally caught up with us, our waiter took a very long time to get our check even after asking him and then I got us a bit lost on our walk home. I'm still not sure how that happened, as I went the exact direction we came, but we eventually got back to the hotel to pack for our early morning ride to the airport.

Getting Home
Our journey home started very early the next morning, as we has a 10AM flight and we were reliant on a shuttle service which according to the hotel front desk had never done a pick up that early in the morning, especially on a Sunday. As we rode through the dark streets of Paris, we ended up picking up an entire van full of people, so I think the hotel clerk just liked trying to freak out the americans. During our ride we passed by the Arc de Triomphe lit up at night and through the red light district. Our time in the Charles de Gaulle airport went well, except for I was patted down at security! I know! Like full body pat down and all my bags were searched by hand, I think wearing my watch through the metal detector and the crochet hooks and metal water bottle in my bags were prety suspicious. Ah well. We finally made it back to Dublin, and this time we were smart...we did not cross the "point" until after we ate (Burger King, I know, I know, but we only had some many euros left and we really just wanted a burger) and walked around a bit and luckily our layover this time was not as long, only a couple hours. The flight home from Dublin was so long and I managed to make it even longer when I misread the time and told Mike that we only had about two hours left when actually it was like 4 hours. Yikes! Sorry, Mike. But at least we got to watch A LOT of tv (and crocheting on my part). I managed to watch about half the first season of Mad Men which was cool. Oh, and you know how on our flight to Dublin when I said we left on time and arrived early...well guess what happened on the way back?

You'll never guess.

We got into O'Hare about 45 minutes early! Shocking, I know. And when the pilot said we were early and there was not a terminal ready, I was convinced we were going to turn into one of those cases you hear about on the news where the planes full of passengers get stuck on the tarmac for hours with no water and stinky bathrooms. Well, we weren't. About 10 minutes later we were disembarking and calling my parent's to come pick us up. Oh and another cool thing was we basically went through the whole customs process in Dublin, so besides a quick question about what kind of food we had brought back. By the time we grabbed our bag and I went to the bathroom, mom and dad were pulling up to pick us up (of course right after I told Mike, "yea yea you have time, just go to the bathroom"). We struggled to stay up to a normal time, trying to beat jet lag, and by the next morning our vacation was on its last leg. We were both up super early so we were able to say goodbye to mom before she left for work and pack up Nibbler and eat breakfast , and still get on the road early so we would at least have a few hours in our own home to recoup before needing to head back to work the next day.

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Or you can visit my Flickr set to see everything!

Four Years Down…

The 2009 Team of the Year is…

Project #7 in '50 in 3008 Challenge' - Mike's 2009 Fantasy Baseball Team Shirt

As per tradition (three years now), for Valentine's Day I made freezer stenciled Mike a team shirt for his fantasy baseball team. It started out as something for him to wear to his league's live draft party, and though that's kinda faded away since everyone has spread out, the tradition of the shirt has stayed.

A nice momento? Or perhaps just an easy gift for a wife to give a husband that does not want anything? I won't say.

It is nice to see Mike actually wear something I make him. I tend to give him a hard time about that because he rarely wears (like went years without knowing where it even was) the hat I knit him when I taught myself to knit. But the proof lays in these shirts that he does actually wear, like, remember the things that I've made for him.

It's most likely the hat is just too itchy…

And the name for this year's team, you ask, is Merkle's Boners.

Nothing dirty, mind you.

It just refers to a boneheaded play.

If you haven't noticed, Mike is kinda into weird and unusual baseball history and like to draw from that knowledge when picking a team name (2008 & 2007).

A Vacation: In Pictures…and A Lot of Words.

Is it too late to blog about our vacation. We've only been back a week, but it seems so far away.

Above is a pictorial review of our week-long Bahamas cruise. The highlights are as follows:

Sunday
- We left for our 6AM flight at 2AM. Downtown was hopping while we drove through.
- It started to pour right when we crossed the Mississippi.
- Check in and security went easy-peasy at the airport…except Mike almost left his wallet.
- The ride up to cruising altitude was like riding a roller coaster, lots of stomach drops, but it could have been worse, right? The oxygen masks didn't drop, so it couldn't have been that bad.
- I managed to hold myself to only looking through 2 of my 5 magazines on the first leg of our trip. That took much self-control.
- We were able to check into our Miami hotel room 5 hours early. Upon arriving we ate a lunch buffet that included cheesecake, took a dip, then crashed for 5 hours before getting up and ordering room service to go along with our Vince Vaughn marathon. During that time I also managed to finish knitting one of Braydon's birthday presents, a Meathead hat (see that post soon), which I started on the plane.

Monday
- The next morning we went to the conveniently located Miami Mart (we were staying in the Miami Mart Airport Hotel) in search of a sun hat for me. Found one immediately for $7.50…a bargin.
-Took a shuttle at 11:30 to the Port of Miami, this was the first of many times Mike and I had to crawl to the back of one of those conversion vans. This time was understandable (all the old people); all the others times…not so much. I guess we're just really nice midwesterns.
- Boarded the Norwegian Sky with ease, and immediately went to enjoy our first of many buffets and hand sanitizer baths.
- After finally finding our room, we changed for a quick dip and lay in the sun while waiting for all the others to finally board. Then changed again (we did A LOT of changing) for disembarkation. No fancy send off. No waving crowds. Just a couple of old,drunk Norwegian women making bets on which way the boat would turn.
- Dinner in the main dining room, where we enjoyed a rather nice, 3 course sit down meal…you really can't go wrong with a creamy pasta. Though our "dinner mates" would beg to differ. The old couple whom were seated at the table next to us, complained from the moment they sat down. About Everything.
- The night ended with an introductory variety show of sorts. A british emcee, singing and dancing, a young Korean guy singing Johnny Cash's Folsum Prison song, and of course, a comedian who seemed to yell every word that came out of his mouth.
- We headed to the pool deck before heading to bed, tripod at the ready, hoping to catch some of those unbelievable night sky's everyone said not to miss, but were sorely disappointed. The first of many cloudy nights that prohibited the stars from shining. And then we were perplexed to find the deck void of all people and the pools netted and drained. Hmmm…

Tuesday
- An early wake up call, in order to make our excursion time. Breakfast, yes, I said breakfast. I ate things like french toast and eggs with no prodding. Perhaps I am growing up?
- Headed off the ship in Freeport, Grand Bahama Island and queued up for our kayaking excursion. Then was loaded on a coach bus and driven out into the middle of nowhere.
- We were dropped off on the side of the road, and loaded into another conversion van. And yes, again, Mike and I ended up in the back. The way back. Our tour guide was incredibly friendly, with a wonderful Bahamian accent and but that girl sitting in front, with all her questions. Ugh she was another story. 'How much do you make?' 'How old are you?' I'm surprised she didn't ask him for his medical history, that's how personal her questions were getting.
- Kayaking the ocean inlet in the two-person kayak (isn't that just a canoe?) went surprisingly well. Meaning we didn't tip as I tend to do in small boats. I have a feeling Mike was getting annoyed with my "help" at times. And my directional dyslexia did not help (it's a real thing! We read about it). But we DID NOT tip! I did manage to make a tree branch break Mike's glasses though. So that's something.
- Our reward for making it through some very narrow man-grove paths was a beautifully secluded beach. Crystal clear water where you could walk out a half mile without getting your hips wet. That and sandwiches with very domesticated raccoons. These things were practically human. Oh and I got a bonus…sunburned shoulder blades that peeled all this past week in a miserably itchy mess.
- Upon being returned to civilization, we headed back to the boat early. Showered and CHANGED, relaxed and explored a bit before heading to dinner. Where we were once again lucky enough to sit near Mr & Mrs Complainer-Pants.
- I also dragged Mike to a educational seminar at that gym about, well it turned out to be about detoxing your body. I learned it is completely normal for Mike to poop several times a day, and not normal for me to not poop everyday (is that too much information?) and that I will probably die of colon cancer because of this. We also learned about this amazing thing that would eat all the toxins in around my fat cells, thus getting rid of cellulite with diet and exercise and make me all around healthier…this amazing product is called Green & Red Algae! And will detox our bodies thus helping in weight loss in 6 months. Available for only $500 for a 1-person 6-month supply! Besides the sales pitch, in sounded pretty legit so we decided to look into it when we got back…surprises! It's not! Goodbye, miracle.
- The evening ended with a Broadway song and dance number, then I made make go back to the room and practice some 70s dance moves with me. And we were welcomed back to our cabin by a towel puppy, wearing my sun glasses. Cute, right?

Wednesday
- Another early wake up call, another real breakfast. Then off the boat in Nassau in the hopes that our excursion wouldn't be canceled because we were the only people on a boat of a couple thousand that thought a Segway tour would be fun. Luckily we weren't. Just all the other cool people waited until after 7PM the night before to book the tour.
- So we crawled into the back of another conversion van, and were dropped off at the side of the road again. Where we were promptly led to a small building and outfitted with knee pads, elbow pads and helmets and given a short lesson on how to "trust" the Segway.
- After only about 20 minutes they had us Segwaying down the road and unlocked our speed regulators. All in all, Segways were awesome. We didn't see much of Nassau in our tour, but we were given plenty of opportunity to zoom around. I know understand why GOB never got off his.
- When our tour ended we ventured around town looking for conch (which our kayak tour guide raved about). Conch salad was not available at the establishment we went to, but we did have conch fritters and fried conch. Yummy, just like any other shellfish. But I am a bit disappointed that there was no fresh conch salad.
- As it got hotter out, we wandered through the Straw Market trying not to peter out on the port too early. The Market stressed me out, as most similar situations do. Tiny aisles. People harassing you to buy their goods. Lots of crap. And even more "pretty lady, pretty lady." The best thing I ended up with was a real Bahamian license plate, hopefully not stripped of somebody's car that morning (the second best: a Bahama Mama ornament, made of pinecones, with giant boobs).
- After returning to the boat and CHANGING into swimsuits this time, we spent some time in the pool before having a body assessment on board. Yup, that's my idea of a souvenir. Mike gets shot glasses and I find out my body fat percentage by having electrodes shot through my finger tips and toes. Seriously though, I've always been curious and we were offered a deal (2 for $35) at our detox seminar, so I went for it.
- So right after we found out how fat we really are, we got dressed up and headed for a fancy dinner at the on-board steakhouse. Crabcakes, Clam Chowder, Salmon and Crab Legs, you can't go wrong…unless you order the molten chocolate cake. Not as good as I thought they would be. I should have guessed, considering I don't like cake, let alone chocolate cake.
- Upon returning to the room we were great by another towel creature (an elephant), and CHANGED again to go to the comedy show and then the "white Hot party" on the pool deck. Which was not our thing and we left before it began to "snow." I actually think we went back and watched "Definitely, Maybe" so at least I don't need to add it to my netflix queue.

Thursday
- We didn't have to get up early, but we did and were greeted by nothing but the ocean from our window. Our last destination was the Great Stirrup Cay, a private island of the cruiseline. We caught the first tender to shore, grabbed our snorkel gear and staked out a hammock in the shade.
- A day at the beach was relaxing as ever imagined. We snorkeled by ourselves, just puttering around in the crystal clear water until we got freaked out by how close the fish were getting. Then napped in a hammock in partial sun. Mike went on a "hike" to a lighthouse. I believe he put it as "hiking through a desert to a lighthouse you couldn't get close to." I chose to read magazines and nap. We had an island buffet with such exotic, native delicacies as…pizza and burgers. And then we splashed around in the water (and in the crowds, by then) until the seagulls started to "attack." With the beach and water so crowded, the water cloudy and several hours of sun under our belt, we decided to call our day on the beach quits and beat the tender rush back. But before we left, I had Mike covertly steal a bag of sand from the beach for our trip jar.
- As we wiled away the rest of the afternoon aboard, we tried out a trivia game (which we sucked at, the only answer I knew was Val Kilmer - who played Batman in Batman Forever?) and thought we'd stay for bingo. But not bingo for like $40 minimum with no chance at winning. So we walked out and checked the Cubs game out in our cabin.
- Our final dinner aboard was spent awaiting Mr & Mrs Complainer-Pants arrival, but to my surprise they didn't show. I think our dinner "out" the night before threw off our sychronization. There is no way they would have paid a cover charge for dinner.
- We went to one last show (another song & dance number) - where they finally suckered me into the Instant Win Pull Tab game. A winner on every ticket, with a chance to win $2000! For $20 I got 6 tickets and an NCL white tee shirt. I won $6. So really I bought a $14 white tee shirt with a small "sports at sea" logo on the chest. Maybe next time, right?
- Mike had tried to play craps at the casino the night before only to lose his money while playing by himself, so I promised to go with him our last night. We still ended up playing by ourselves, but Mike re-taught me to play and guided my bets. When a couple guys joined us, I did well and won them money. They did bad and lost me my money. All but $4. Stupid men. Then it was Mike's turn, and he managed to win my lost money back in like 5 minutes (he was by himself…AGAIN), so decided to take his chance at a couple different games. All in all we were down 5 bucks for an hour or more's fun. Not too bad.
- Our night ended shortly after that and we headed to bed with no set time we had to be off the boat.

Friday
- At who-knows-when-in- the-morning, we jerked awake and were able to see Miami asleep. I was basically asleep, so I only vaguely recall Mike saying "look at Miami," then craning my head around and dropping back to my pillow.
- Despite no set time to leave, it seemed we had to be getting off by ten. So we packed up first thing and ate a leisurely breakfast. Then walked right off with our three bags. Disembarking was easier than ever imagined, though our same birthdays and Mike's undeliberate lie about tobacco products almost caused some problems at customs. It didn't and they let us back into the US just fine.
- By that time it was only 9:30, but we didn't have much choice for what we could do. So we hopped in a cab and went to our hotel. 5 hours early. And this time we were denied ealry check-in. We tried re-booking our flight, but not for $170 extra each. So I coaxed (a pouty) Mike out to the pool area, where we sat in the salty shade and read (and I napped) for 3 hours. At which time I tried to check us in, and was happily given keys.
- We crashed again, just lounging in our separate double beds (I wasn't going to take a handicap room just for the king bed! What kind of person would I be?). Knitting for me, watching Home Improvement for Mike. We ordered room service (which took over an hour so we got it free). And then slept. When we awoke, we watched more tv, ordered more room service for dinner and bought an in-room movie (Baby Mama) and then slept again. Perfect way to wind down before our flight back the next afternoon.

Saturday
- We woke up at our leisure and spent the morning repacking our bags from 2 carry ons and 1 checked, to 2 carry ons and 2 checked to avoid having a bag over 50 lbs (which would have a hefty charge). Our checked bag on our way had been 51, but the man was nice and let us slide.
- At the airport several hours early, went smoothly again. No wallets almost forgotten this time, yay! And the flight had not a bump or drop.
- We got home with plently of time to play with Nibbler, though she did bark really mean at Mike when he went in to let her out to me. But she was over it in no time. And we were a happy, relaxed family for the rest of the weekend.
- All in all, I came home with two completed knitting projects, 5 read magazine, a sun tan (and a bit of burn), and relaxing week spent with Mike with virtually no arguing (had one spat after spending all day in the sun kayaking but it was over within a half an hour).

The End.

Sunday Night Dinner: Spinach & Leek White Bean Soup with Homemade Dinner Roll

A late dinner tonight. I was determined to have dinner rolls with my soup tonight. The first soup of the season!

Thank goodness for cooler evenings…and waking up chilly after sleeping with the windows open.

Yesterday at the Farmers' Market I finally found a few leeks. I've been dying to try leeks…forever. And have even been on the look out for them each Saturday at the market. Thinking perhaps we missed leek season since it seemed like the market started rather late this year, I had almost given up hope. But on our final leg of the market, there they were. Only about 5 stalks or bulbs or whatever the proper term would be, but they were finally there.

I had no idea what I would do with them, but I knew I had to try them. So I grabbed 2 thinking it was a safe number for us to use, even if we ended up not digging them.

After scouring the internet and my recipe books, I decided soup would be a simple and relatively fool proof way to dive into leeks. And what better way to welcome significantly cooler nights than soup!

Spinach & Leek White Bean Soup
-1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
- 2 leeks, (everything but the top most green leaf-like part), chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped
- 70 oz of chicken broth*
- 14 oz of white beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 2 cups couscous*
- 1-2 cups fresh baby spinach
- salt & pepper

*note: our grocery store only sells two types of couscous mix, nothing plain. I opted for Lemon Spinach variety because I would be using spinach. So caught up with indignation about the lack of couscous at the store, I promptly dumped the entire package in the soup instead of measuring a measley 1/4 cup. As a result I needed to add another 2 cans (28oz) of broth. If you are proper and actually measure only 1/4 cup of coucous, you can probably get away with only using 42oz of broth total, depending on how brothy you like your soup.

Directions
1. Heat olive oil in soup pot over medium heat.
2. Add leeks & garlic, sauté until tender. Approx 5 minutes.
3. Stir in broth, beans, bay leaf & chili powder. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low.
4. Stir in couscous, cover & simmer for approx 5 minutes.
5. Stir in spinach & season with salt and pepper.
6. Eat!

At this recipe, I had a bowl and Mike had two for dinner. I froze 2 containers that hold probably 2-3 cups. With the addition of a can or two of broth to each container we will probably be able to have dinner and lunch for both of us from each container, I'll probably add more spinach because we gobbled that all up tonight.

That's thanks to all that hearty couscous.



And because there haven't been many gratuitous puppy shots lately, I leave you with this…

Mike and Nibbler spooning this afternoon. Have a nice week!

Could There Possibly Be Anymore Pumpkins?!

A bit late this year, but Mike and I sat down to our yearly tradition and carved pumpkins. This year was a breeze compared to last. The Corpse Bride took a lot out of me, so this year I went simple…a cute little grim reaper based on a piece of jewelry I stumbled across on Wists.

And Mike rocked the unibrow. I've never seen anyone as anal as Mike on getting the inside of a pumpkin clean. He's like obsessive about it. And critiqued mine. I got an 'OK.' I'll try harder next year.

Both on my pumpkin cleaning and house decorating. Though the new house is celebrating it's first holiday, it is not doing it with a bang.

M is for Mike.

Saw Mill Challenge - Philmont 2003 - photo courtesy of J. Troutman

In just a day or so, give or take, I will have known this guy for 28% of my life.

Seven years for those of you who can't do the math.

That's a long time, considering that percentage will just continue to get larger and larger as the years go by.

Mike and I started dating when we were 18, we married at 23 (we'll be hitting that two year mark at the beginning of October). It's kinda nice we met when were so young. We're growing up together. We've experienced a lot together, and will only continue to meet more milestones together. We've grown up with each other's families, therefore we're really comfortable with either family and our families are comfortable when they're together. We have a lot of goofy times together – more nights than I'd like to admit are like slumber parties, where we're laughing up a storm and having pillow fights when we really should be sleeping for work in the morning. We have a lot of dreams together.

Heck, we even share the same birthday!

That's a great tidbit that always throws people. Shortly after our 21st birthday we went to a jazz club to see Buddy Guy, and got lots of looks from the bouncer upon inspection of our IDs. People even ask, "like the same day?" Yes, they same day. In the same year. Only a couple hours apart.

I'm lucky to be able to spend every day with my best friend. (I love you, honey!)

Summer Memories: One

An uncle and a nephew sprawled on a blanket under the tree, playing with an Emergency Center older than both when their ages are combined.




And who needs a motorized Power Wheels when you have a wheelbarrow, a grandpa, grandma, mommy, an aunt and a super fast uncle willing to race you around the backyard.


Some memories from Fourth of July weekend, we spent at Mom and Dad's having one of our family slumber parties. A few weeks late, but a nice reminder nonetheless.

It's a bird, It's a plane…

No, it's Supe-Man.

Mike and I took a weekend trip up north to visit with my family. We actually ended up having a bit of a slumber party at my parents' house, full of snacks, movies, a rousing game of Family Guy Monopoly and staying in pajamas all day Sunday. Besides the winter storm that went through conveniently during our dirves, we had a good time.

Perhaps the best part of the weekend was my gift to Bray. There was the rocket ship scarf, though he could have cared less about that. The big hit was the Superman cape. He did not want to take it off.

My heart melt every time Supe-Man went through his transformation. It's great when presents are truly loved, especially when they hold the attention span of a two-year-old for two days straight. I wish I had video to share, there is nothing cuter than this little boy saying, "I am Supe-Man!" while pointing to his chest. Or waiting for Uncle Mike to put his cape on by standing with his hands on his hips just like the real Superman.

In the above series of photos, you can see the first minutes of the Superman cape. Do you see that smile in the first picture? Bray is standing in front of a mirror watching his mommy put the cape on for the first time. And then Supe-Man prepared to take-off for his first flight. I'm pretty sure Mommy, Pop Pop, Uncle Mike and Aunt Sarah were exhausted after having to preform these flights and allowing Supe-Man to jump really, really high.

The cape was actually really easy to sew up, though I would change my 'pattern' if I made another one. It would definitely lay better with there was some sort of neck curve, instead of a straight trapezoid. But it is reversible in case one day Superman would prefer to become Batman or a king.

To end this post off, here are two of my most favorite guys. Bray and his Uncle Mike. In their pjs at, like 3pm, going "That way!" This kid is too funny, if you tell him to smile, you get a scrunchy face preparing for the camera's flash. But if you tell him to "say cheese," you get a great smile!

Craziness…

Some stability in a time of chaos. That always kinda happens, doesn't it? Well this couldn't have come at a better time. Things have been crazy in our household the last couple weeks, and now with the holidays right around the corner, anxiety and chaos will probably grow exponentially until the new year starts.

Sorry, I can't talk about it yet…you never know who is reading this stuff, right? But soon enough, the beans will be spilled. Gotta love the mystery, right? Makes you coming back for more.

Well, I got the call from my mom that these bricks were finally placed in the park we got married in! We've been checking almost every weekend since our anniversary. There will forever be a legacy of me (and Mike) in my hometown now…forever, or until they demolish the park. But I mean, it's the Sesquicentennial Park, so it should be around for awhile. It will be fun to bring our kids back to it one day and show them the exact place their mom and dad got married. I think my mom has it in with the city , ours are the only bricks on one of the pathways leading to the fountain. In the exact spot we got married (give or take a couple steps). All other bricks encircle the fountain. So go us! And more importantly Go Parents! who so thoughtfully went in together to get us our bricks.

Excuse the hideous background, it looks all urban, doesn't it? It's not really. For the wedding we faced the other direction, so we had a clean building as a background…fyi. But this is the park we got married at. People are still talking about us apparently. We're the first (and I believe, so far only) one crazy enough to get married at this location. Maybe that's why they made the exception with the brick placement.



Well, I've been crafting away, but can't share the goods. I know, I know, more mystery. I'll be starting something tomorrow that I should be able to share as soon as I'm done, ya know, since Bray can't read or use the internet (well appropriately anyways).

The suspense ends…

I know you have all been dying to know what I am so proud of Mike for. Well, your wait is over.

This past weekend, Mike completed his second marathon. He's run once before, that was in Nashville for the Country Music marathon back in April(?). Being relatively new to my job at the time, I couldn't go support him for I had no vacation time. He trained hard for many months and raised a lot of money with Team in Training. He finished then, and had ambitions to run a marathon in every state. Life went on, and shortly after finishing he and a friend he had made during training decided to run in the Chicago Marathon together. You have to sign up early, they only let 40,000 people enter. Life continued to go on, we bought a house and moved, work became tougher, his training less strenuous.

Though he wasn't really in the mindset anymore to run a marathon (I mean, who in their right mind would be, right?), he was determined to do so. So last Friday, Mike prepared for his journey downtown, planning to stay with a friend in the city. I, on the other hand, wobbled to and fro between going down with him Saturday morning, taking the train in Sunday morning for the race and not going at all (before you judge, Chicagoland has had quite a cold snap and it was supposed to rain all day Sunday).

Sunday morning rolled around, I was decked out in my warmest apparrel (that I could find) and I had to the train shortly after the race had started. Luckily, the half way point was just a couple blocks from the train station and I was due to arrive shortly before Mike thought he should hit it. Talk about perfect. So I made my way to the crowds, people cheering on "Go Runners!" for people they don't know, sporting a foam finger I adorned with Mike's bib number. I watched every runner go by intent on not missing Mike. Along the way I got to see the Super Friends (Wonderwoman, Captain Planet and The Flash), Elvis, and Ninja Turtles Donatello and Raphael (sadly I didn't get a picture of any, I had mittens on and my hands in my pockets so my reflexes were slow).

Anyone who knows me out there will not believe what I am about to say next. When I finally saw Mike coming towards me, I started jumping up and down, waving my foam finger, screaming his name. Luckily he saw me…if he didn't I would have felt stupid. He yelled for me to come on the street, so I did. I was one of the those supporters I was in awe of last month in the Quad Cities. I ran with him (well jogged) - downhill as Mike points out adamantly - for a block until I could get back off the street. I was morale runner! I was so happy to be able to see him actually running the race.

So after wandering around downtown for awhile, I made my way to Grant Park and fought my way to the finish line. It was cold and super crowded (imagine, 40,00 runners with on average 3 supporters per runners all at the finish line). I managed to get relatively close about 75 meters in front of the finish and slowly was able to work my way to the front of the fence as time passed. I waited awhile probably over an hour (I wanted to make sure I got there). And it sucked because the spectator fence was pretty far away from the course (probably like 15 feet) and they were blasting bad pop music. Mike had no chance of hearing me, but once again after anxiously watching every runner cross my path and worry that he hadn't made it, I saw him and started to jump up and down screaming.

Realizing that he didn't see or hear me I jogged to the finish and got as close to the fence as possible as he walked the "cool down", hoping he would turn and see me. To know that I was there cheering him on, supporting him. And he did, he was beat. He hurt. He was drained, but he finished. And I was there to see him, to cheer him on, to support him…and more importantly, carry his stuff and act as a human crutch as we hobbled our way to the EL.

Mike don't kill me for posting this picture. I'm so proud of you! And the rest of you can see just how spent he was. He's laying on a street corner in the middle of the Loop. A corner that probably 100,000 people had tread on just that day alone. Gross.

Halloween Traditions

Mike and I are lucky in the sense that we met young. I mean, we're not like preschool sweethearts or anything, but we were still teenagers when we met (18), became friends (umm, still 18) and then significant others (::cough:: 18 ::cough::). Heck, we even got married young(23), especially since alot of people are waiting until they're almost 30 to marry nowadays.

We've grown up together. We've got to be stupid kids together (remind me to post a picture or two from a Walmart adventure that involved riding in shopping carts and wearing boas). We've also grown alot together. We've watched each other struggle with things. But we've been there to support the other. We're adults now. We have full-time career jobs (well, we may not be that adult, I mean, adults don't distinguish jobs like that, do they?), we each own a car fully in our own names, we own a house.

But we still try to have fun. yes, I nag Mike more than I ever did. But to my defense he's become alot more dependent. I've seen him take care of himself, to live on his own, but now it's difficuly for him to put dirty laundry in the hamper or cut a cooked frozen pizza. But we still have fun. We play board games, we go to batting cages, we play catch (…until Mike starts giving too much "advice").

A few years ago, while we were juniors at ISU, still leaving in the dorms, we started this tradition of carving Halloween pumpkins. That first year was fun, we made basic jack-o-latern faces. And then not even a week later things went very sour. In the damp, humid, festering environment of Atkin-Colby, our pumpkins turned to mush. And molded. And leaked gross pumpkin juice all over the place. Mine lasted longer than Mike's (as us girls we cleaner and more airy), but Mike's room was like a humedor and turned his pumpkin into a science experiment. And that gross pumpkin juice dripped all off the shelf onto his bed.

As a couple we had a few bedding energencies between us, that involved panicked stripping of beds and frantic searches for laundry facilities not in use.

So I'm sure you're wondering how I started out with us being "lucky" and ended up here…

Well, I'm not really sure. That's just kinda how my mind works.

And please stayed tuned in the next day or two. Our lasted weekend adventure has made me incredibly proud of my Mike, and though I have very few pictures, I'd still like to share with you. It's just that these pumpkins were too cool to wait!

The Highlights

First Anniversary • Chicago, Illinois • October 1, 2006

And it's one year…

©Floss Photography

One year ago today, Mike and I got married. Yes, it's already been one year. It really doesn't seem like it, but I guess the calendar doesn't lie. It hasn't always been sunshine and rainbows, but it's been pretty great and as Mike and I have been putting it lately…we haven't even come close to killing each other!

We had an action packed anniversary today, which started with Mike waking me up with a dozen roses! We spent the day in Chicago, the place of our mini-honeymoon, went on an architectural/historical boat tour of the river and lake, and out to eat and just general wandering around. It was alot of fun, but also draining, so I'm off to sleep now, but hopefully tomorrow I will post some highlights of the day.