It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year...

Well it is already mid-December, can you believe it?  Things are as usual very busy, and I can't believe how fast time has gone by.  

Alex and I have done a few festive things this holiday season.  A few weeks ago we went with two of my friends from the school I teach at to the Festival of Lights downtown.  On the way there we rode the train and had a pleasant surprise because we got to ride the Holiday Train!  It was awesome!  It totally puts you in a better mood.  It is all decked out in holiday decor, Santa is on the train, they play Christmas music, AND 

you get a candy cane!  Best "L" ride ever! haha

This is a picture of Katie (my friend from Purdue and UNO) at the festival of lights. 

When we were home last for Thanksgiving I got to spend some quality time with my BFF Brandy!  Yay!  Our moms, her sister Sara, my grandma, and the 2 of us went down to Edinburgh for our 2nd annual shopping trip.  We had a blast and spent a lot of $$ (I bought a lot for myself, but I got Alex a few nice things as well).  

Last weekend I went with friends from school to the Lincoln Park Zoo Lights.  It was fun to walk around the zoo see it all lit up.  Unfortunately, I also started to not feel so well that weekend and came down with strep throat.  I'm feeling a lot better now, still coughing a little,  but nothing like it was!  It was one of the worst soar throats I have ever had!  I had to go see the doctor for the first time up here and he put me on some antibiotics that are doing their job nicely. 

Alex is in the middle of his finals schedule.  I think they are going alright for him, he hasn't said too much otherwise. However, he has started a little superstition for himself and his beloved Bears.  He is growing out a beard (I'm not sure yet how I feel about this) in support of the Bears and their QB and Purdue Alum Kyle Orton "KO".  He says he is not shaving it unless they lose because if they lose they ruin their chances of making it to the playoffs.  KO has a beard so Alex says he is sending him "neck beard vibes".  Yeah... I'm not so sure about this either.  I believe though during the game Thursday when they went into OT, Alex was rubbing his beard the

 whole time for good luck.  I guess it paid off that time.  But anyways... here is a picture for your enjoyment!

We're coming home on Saturday after a detour through LaPorte.  I hope everyone is enjoying their December!

The past few and the next few

It has been awhile since I have made a post, I'm kind of bad at remembering to do this.  Things are going well, just always extremely busy!  

School is going well for both Alex and I.  I'm better adjusted to my new lifestyle (up at 5 and working 12 hour days).  I never thought I would say this, but I miss college sometimes.  It was nice sleeping in and seeing my friends on a daily basis.  

Like I said, school is going pretty good.  We took all 3 kindergarten classes on a field trip this past Monday to a pumpkin patch in the suburbs, it was a lot of fun!  The weather was awesome and we all had a blast.  It was interesting seeing their personalities outside of school and watching them run and play on real playgrounds!  We also held a mock election at the school and the students had to come in on Tuesday to vote.  We didn't have school this day because it was a teacher professional development day.  Well... my class had the biggest turn out of all the k-4 classes and we won a pizza party that was held yesterday!  It was pretty exciting to see that kindergartners were so enthused about voting.  I voted not so bright, but definitely early on Tuesday morning.  I was in line at 5:45 (ahhh!), but luckily I was 4th in line and in and out quickly.  

It was pretty neat knowing that all of the activities were happening so close to us Tuesday night, a lot of teachers at my school went down to watch.  The city is obviously extremely excited about the results.  

Alex is done with his negotiations team.  He was in St. Louis last weekend for a competition, but unfortunately they did not advance.  Now he is getting ready to start his crazy finals study schedule (I don't know how he does it!).  He only has about 3 weeks left of the semester and then finals begin.  

Thanksgiving is around the corner and we are excited to go home for a few days, it will also be nice to be off for a few days as well.  I have lots to do while I am there, but I am hoping to make it down to Edinburgh to do some shopping like last year.  We had a blast- hopefully the rest of crazy people that did it with me last year will be up for it again! haha 

The weather is getting much cooler and the sun sets at 4:45 each afternoon, but at least its light in the morning when I leave for school.  Winter is definitely on its way, but that's okay- it means Christmas and time off to spend at home with my family and friends. 

I hope everyone is doing well out there, keep me updated!  Incase I forget to post in the next few weeks, Happy Thanksgiving! 

Grandma's 90th

Here are the pictures from our first actual WHOLE family gathering.  It was a great time, and I am glad that we were all able to be in one spot to celebrate with Grandma!

Grandma and her 5 children

(behind them is the slideshow my uncle made of pictures over the past 90 years)

All of the grandchildren

The whole family

Grandma and the girls

Yay for pictures!

Here are some pictures of the past few months.  Everything I have talked about, just the image that goes along with it. 

Lollapalooza...

Taking a break from the heat.

Duffy

Lots and lots of people!

Front row... Dierks Bentley!

The skyline

Mackinac Island

Mackinac Bridge

The main drag
Arch Rock 
Mom, Dad, and I

Arch Rock from below

Overlooking the main area

My classroom 

It looks a little different now, but you get the idea

My First Actual Blog...

We will see how this goes.  Jackie and I have been pretty busy over the last couple of months.  She is doing extremely well teaching, even though it is a little taxing.  The classroom part of it is great, but all the surrounding circumstances seem to cause the headaches.  I have just been trucking through school and branching out a little more with extra curricular activities.  I am on the Negotiation Team, which is kind of like a debate team on some levels (go ahead and make your jokes), but I actually find it interesting.  Wanting to go into transactional law, I feel that negotiations are going to be something I do a considerable amount of the time.  Plus, we go to St. Louis and then possibly Boston.  I am starting a Corporate and Securities Law Journal at the school (currently working through the steps), and I am starting to make some important contacts with the faculty at the school.  Law school and being a lawyer is all about who you know, which I guess that pretty much goes for most everything in life.  Cubs blew it...  Can't win the World Series when you don't act like you want to be in the playoffs.  Oh well, what can you do.  On the brighter side... the Bears are starting to look really solid.  I used to doubt KO (all from the Wisconsin fumble), but when he has won 14/19 starts, I cannot complain.  Bears should be 5-0, but the Packers suck and Bears are first in the division.  Hope everyone is well and I will try to do this more often.  Kind of enjoyed it....

October???

Man, oh man!  The last few months have just FLOWN by, I can't believe its October already.  School is CRAZY!!  Being a kindergarten teacher is even CRAZIER!  Things are coming along slowly, but surely.  I'm trying to take everything a day at a time... baby steps, right?  My kids are actually pretty good (all 29 of them, soon to be 3o) , no real trouble makers- I'm lucky in that aspect.  The days are going faster now, but I still have soooo much work to do.  No time for free time, it took me 3 days to watch a full episode of Grey's, and all of you out there know that I need my weekly dose of Grey's and McDreamy.  

Thanks to  Allison I'm really into Gossip Girl now, you should check it out- kind of a good show.  I just wish I had time to catch up on it.  

Plans for the weekend- hopefully not too much!!  I just need a day to me, I'm really hoping to make it to the GAP or H&M.  Al's mom is in town for the next few days, so I believe we're hanging with her on Saturday.  

Right now the Cubs are playing their first playoff game next door, I think Wrigleyville is about to get a little crazy- too bad I don't have time to take part in any festivities- like even watching the game!

I hope everyone is doing well!  Congratulations to the Standeford's on their recent purchase of a car!!  I'm excited for you guys!

We'll be back the weekend of the 18th for the Cowden Family Annual Fall Party.  Until then.... 

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It has been awhile since I have last posted... sorry!  Things are pretty crazy for me right now.  This was my last week of "Summer Institute" aka training, but we had to meet with all of our students' parents, so it was less training and more busy, busy, busy!  Tomorrow is our Grand Opening, hopefully it goes well and even more, hopefully they will let us into our rooms so we can start decorating!!  Yay!  Brandy (my BFF) is driving up here super super early Saturday to help me out with my room, which I really appreciate, especially since Alex probably won't know too much about how to decorate a kindergarten classroom.  School starts on Monday, I'm pretty nervous, but I'm feeling ready.  I'm tired of planning and waiting; I'm ready to get in there and do the real thing.... teach!  Well, I'm exhausted and I still have lots to do!  Wish me luck on my first day (hopefully you will all think of me around 8:00 am central time).  

Sorry no picts yet... still need to do something about that, oh well just add it to my list! 

Weekend Haps

Today my parents came up here to visit us, which was nice.  They checked out the apartment and then we took a drive to see my school, which is still under construction.  The school is super big, but there is still quite a bit of work left.  The front (which I believe will be the cafeteria and gym) is not even close to completion, but the back of it (mainly classrooms) is looking pretty good!  I'm excited to get in and see everything, and of course get to work on my room!  

After seeing my school we came back up to our neighborhood and went to lunch on a place on Clark, right by Wrigley.  It was a neat place with a nice patio, so we sat outside.  It was about mid-afternoon when Mom and Dad left.  

I sat down and watched one of my all time favorite movies Father of the Bride and took a little nap.  Alex and I then decided we were tired of sitting around and went on a walk to see more of our area.  We walked down to the lake, which is nice, but we were a little disappointed that there isn't a beach.  We will just have to go up to the Montrose Beach which is close to the apartment he lived in last year.  (I think we may do this tomorrow.)  After the lake we took a walk down to Belmont and got a few Jamba Juices, this is our new favorite place and proceeded to walk home. 

Monday I start my week of training, and then I have the following week off!  I'm very excited for this because I finally get to go on a little vacation.  I'm heading up to Mackinac Island, Michigan with my parents Saturday for a few days.  It is a really neat place and if you have never been there I definitely recommend it!  It is a cute island in the U.P. where no cars are allowed and everyone rides their bikes or takes horse drawn carts around.  There are neat places to shop and the best fudge in the world!  I haven't been there since junior high or early high school, so I am looking forward to going back.  

Alex starts school on Wednesday and I think he is less than thrilled to return.  He has a few hundred pages to read between now and then, so hopefully he will get the motivation needed to do this. 

Sorry I have no pictures up yet, we can't seem to figure out how to get my camera to work on Alex's Mac or on Vista.  We have Lucas (the Mac Genius) on the job, so hopefully we'll get something worked out soon.  

Our First Blog

Well, with much influence from our friends we have decided to create a blog to keep our family and friends updated on our lives in the big city.  

Here is a little history lesson for everyone.

We have dated for many years (since high school) and just became engaged in April.  Alex is a law school student at The John Marshall Law School here in Chicago.  Next week he will begin his second year of law school.  He graduated from Purdue in 2007 with a degree in management and because of his background in business he is wanting to pursue corporate law.  His expected graduation date will be the spring of 2010.  

Jackie is getting ready to begin her first year of teaching kindergarten after graduating from Purdue in 2008 in Elementary Education.  She is teaching at Archer Heights on the southwest side of Chicago in a brand new double elementary and high school learning complex.  School for Jackie starts on September 15 because the cafeteria and gymnasium are not completed.  She will have to complete three weeks of training before the grand opening of her new school on September 12.  Good Luck, Jackie!!!!!!

That is all for now.  Sorry we don't have any pictures to put up yet, but the camera won't work on a Mac.  Add us to your favorites and check up on us every once in awhile!!