New Blog Header

I have to give a huge shout out to our pal Roxanne for making and designing our new blog header.... we love it!!

Thanks Rox!! I would say you should make a career out of it.... but I have a feeling Mr. Standeford wouldn't like that!

In other news, we are back in L-town. Its been great getting together with everybody and seeing all of our families. We are meeting up with the boys tonight to watch the Bears game.

Christmas was great! We went to 4 different Christmas celebrations this year, I think that's a new record for us. We were very fortunate this Christmas and received some wonderful things (thanks to our families). Its funny because this year we started receiving gifts that are meant for the 2 of us.... so its not just mine or his anymore- its OUR'S! haha

Wedding planning has kicked up a notch since we have been back. I met with the florist and cake decorator last week. I've also been diligently working on our picture slideshow that we will play at the wedding. It has been so much fun going through old picts, scanning, and arranging them in the slideshow, just one more reason why I love this computer (thanks LBC!)

In case I don't blog before the new year... Happy New Year!

2010 is going to be a big one for us!

It is officially vacation

Yes! The time has come for both of us to get a break from our busy day to day lives. Alex just finished up his finals on Friday, and I sent my kiddos off for a 2 week break from school (with a little homework to keep them practicing their reading). I know, I know.... sooo mean, but its expected at my school. I can't tell you how much I've been needing this break. Of course the majority of it is packed full with things, but honestly that's the way I like it.

We're heading back home on Tuesday for the holidays, so we will spend most of the break in good ole' L-town. Then for New Years we are heading down to southern IN to stay with Rox, Jake, El, and Ryan in a cabin for a few nights.

I also plan on getting some things done for the wedding such as meeting with a florist and someone about the cake. Hopefully those will be 2 things I can check off of my list here shortly. Really the only big thing left is the honeymoon. We're still struggling with this because we want to get a good deal, but at the same time we're a little nervous about what to book since neither of us have ever planned and paid for a vacation in another country before. We don't really know what to look for or how much it should cost. I think we'll be getting a travel agent to help us out with this process. Maybe that will be another thing we can do while back at home....

Amazingly enough the winter weather hasn't been too bad up here for us..... yet. It snowed some today, but not too much. It was more like the wet, slushy, messy snow (yuck). I'll be happier when spring is here. :)

We hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!

Back Home Again in Indiana....

We're back home in L-town for the holiday. Its been a great time so far. We got in Wednesday and for once, we had time to just hang out. Wednesday night we got together with Jay, Fife, Brad, and Kels for an evening of laughs.... as always when you are with these guys!

Thursday morning we headed off to Camden to have brunch with Alex's family. We had a great time playing all of these different games with his cousins, we even learned a few new ones. We can't wait to do these at X-mas, and then again for New Year's with the Birch's and Standeford's! That afternoon we came back to my parent's house for Thanksgiving dinner with mom, dad, grandma, and my cousin and his wife.

This morning mom, grandma, and I got up fairly early (nothing crazy) to find the bargains. We did okay. We hit up Best Buy first b/c I've been wanting a 3 in 1 printer: check! Then we went over to HH Gregg b/c mom and dad have been wanting to get a Wii: no check! (They were sold out, but the hunt continues). Then.... we went to JoAnn Fabrics b/c I was wanting to get some lace for our centerpieces (you know, just trying to plan ahead) and this ended up being the craziest place we went to!! We were not expecting that. I had to wait for over an hour to get the lace measured, but I was in and out of Best Buy in about 15 minutes.... I don't get it! Anyways, I got what I needed, plus a few things I didn't really need.... oh well.

We ended up having lunch with the whole family after that, it was really nice! Then we went to a few stores with Al's mom. We got to pick out our X-mas present with her, I'm super excited!

All in all, its good to be home for more than just a weekend.

Tomorrow, heading down to Edinburgh with mom and grandma..... should be a good time!

Gobble Gobble

A few weeks ago Alex was down in Champaign for his negotiations competition at U of I. He went in not feeling too confident, but they ended up doing really well. His team came in 2nd. They may have a chance to go to Orlando in February for the National Negotiations Competition. If this happens.... I might be looking into a plane ticket to go down there as well! I'm sure I'll be needing an escape from the cold Chicago winter.

I'm in the middle of my parent teacher conferences for the 1st quarter. When these are all done we'll be heading back home for Turkey Day. We're doing an early one with Alex's family and then an evening one with mine. So, it should be a good day full of awesome food and wonderful company! That saying "absence makes the heart grow fonder" is definitely true. It has been several weeks since we have been home, so we are both in need of some time with our family and friends.

I definitely plan on hitting up the stores for some good deals. Probably around L-town on Friday and then heading down to the outlet mall on Saturday. I can't resist the after Thanksgiving Day shopping.

Does anyone out there watch The Amazing Race?? I know Rox is a faithful watcher, but I just absolutely love it this season. It makes me want to try out and be on it! I think Alex and I would be pretty entertaining.... I might have to look into it. Just a thought.....

I hope everyone is transitioning into winter well. Christmas will be here before we know it... Can you believe its already Thanksgiving?

Happy Turkey Day!

O-H-N-O

This past weekend we went home for the Purdue vs. Ohio State football game. Walking in everyone (who cheers for Purdue) wasn't feeling very hopeful, but walking out was a completely different experience! Boy, what a game? We had a blast and of course our Boilers finished with a "W"!

The day started with some tailgating with my parents and the Standefords. Seeing the Standefords two weekends in a row was great, and I couldn't tell you the last time that happened.

The game was a roller coaster ride to say the least. It was so neat seeing the student section flood onto the field! Hopefully this win will lead them into Saturdays game with a little more of a spark.

Below are some pictures of the day....

Boiler Up!

Columbus Day Weekend

I didn't have school today because of Columbus Day, so it has been a wonderful long weekend!

Friday we drove home to L-town, our first stop was a dinner date with Alex's mom at Arni's!

Saturday, my mom, Brandy, and I continued the search for a wedding dress and bridesmaid dresses... mission accomplished!! It was super fun and very exciting when I committed to "the dress". Two more things that are now checked off of the list, about a million more still to do.... but, its a pretty fun process.

After dress shopping, mom and I had lunch, and then Alex and I drove down to Plainfield to see the Standefords. We had a great time in Indy with them! We went out to dinner downtown and then to a comedy club. The comedians were pretty funny, plus it was nice to do something out of the ordinary (like going to see a movie).

There's a few pictures below courtesy of Rox:

We'll be home again for the Purdue vs. OSU game next weekend!

Late September/ Early October Events

Last weekend Alex and I made a trip out to Tinley Park to see our final DMB show for the season, it was a great time as always. It was nice going somewhere different as well, since our regular place is Noblesville. I think his count is now up to 26 shows and I've been to 14... I don't even want to do the math on how much money we have spent over the years. Its become a tradition for us, so I think we'll keep it up for as long as they are touring.

The day after the concert we met up with my parents, Ryan, Shannon, and Hunter for the Sox vs. Tigers game up here at US Cellular. It was a super nice day, and it was great to get to see everyone, since that doesn't happen so often anymore. We were there to cheer on the Tigers (Dad and Ryan are big Tigers fans), unfortunately the Sox came out with a "W".

We are heading home Friday night for the first time since Labor Day weekend. Mom and I are going to go wedding dress shopping again (only the 2nd time), and then Alex and I are driving down to Plainfield to visit the Standeford's in their new home! We haven't seen Jake and Rox since El's wedding in August, so a trip is long over due!

We will actually be home 2 weekends in a row because we are going to join my parents at the Purdue vs. Ohio State game. Maybe they'll start to turn things around by then... (wishful thinking).

Happy October!

Alex and I went out to dinner to a place we haven't been to before, a Brazilian steakhouse... WOW! It was quite an experience to say the least. Basically, its an all you can eat salad bar (my favorite part) and then meats and sides (Alex's favorite part). They come around and ask you if you want various types of meats: steaks, chicken, lamb, and pork. I think they had like 16 different kinds. So, you have this card and if you want the guys to stop at your table with the different meats you turn it to the green side. I promise, as soon as you turn your card over... they're there! When you are set for a bit you turn your card to red. And then you flip it back over when you are ready to grub again. haha I know Rox, it was nothing but a bunch of people over eating, a dietitian's nightmare! We were celebrating our last "dating" anniversary, which is actually on Tuesday, but he TA's on those nights. We've been discussing investing in a new camera as our gift to each other, we'll see.

Other than that, just school and school for both of us.

Below is a picture of my bulletin board outside of my room.

Catch Up

It has been a busy last few weeks! I started the new school year, officially as a 2nd grade teacher and I can say (at least so far) that I am enjoying it much better than kinder! The year has gone well so far, but its only been 4 days. Teachers started on August 17 for workshops and such. I spent a lot of time getting my room together and meeting all of my parents before the school year actually started.

Al and I just got back from a trip up to Schaumburg, my new favorite suburb. We made another trip to IKEA (love this place) and of course when you are in Schaumburg you have to go to Woodfield Mall... awesome, awesome mall! Al got a new Bears jersey.... and I got some things for my classroom (can you see where our priorities are?) haha

Last week was a pretty big football week for us. We got tickets from the Butera's to see the Bears' last pre-season game at Soldier Field and then we were back home in L-town for the first Purdue football game with my parents. We tailgated at the Purdue game and had a blast! Plus, both teams came out with a win!

Tailgating at the Purdue game.

Go Bears!

Below are a few of our engagement pictures that we took up here in Chicago in August. Hopefully we'll be sending out our "Save the Dates" sometime this fall!

Have a great weekend!

Mackinac Island

We returned today from our short vacation to Mackinac Island, Michigan. We had a blast! We got up to Mackinaw City on Wednesday and stayed the night there. We took a drive over the bridge and had dinner in the U.P. It was neat going over the bridge, I haven't done that in a long time, but this time I was the driver- I don't think I could have done that the last time.

Thursday morning we got up and took a ferry over to the island. We walked around quite a bit, looked at all of the shops, grabbed some lunch, and then decided to take a narrated carriage ride over the island. This was really fun and quite educational I must say! I haven't taken a carriage ride there since I was 8 years old, I couldn't ride my bike around because I had a bright pink cast from my fingers to just short of my shoulder on my left arm. (For those of you who know my history this was the 2nd time I broke that arm.) After the carriage ride we were able to check into our hotel. We stayed at the Chippewa, super cute hotel with a great location right on Main St. We shopped around a bit more, grabbed some dinner, and then called it a night.

Friday was a little more of an adventurous day! We rented bikes and took a LONG ride all over the island. We went all the way to the top and checked out all of the sights around it such as Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf, and Skull Cave. We took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up going down a thin and muddy trail called Juniper, needless to say, my shoes weren't as white after this little detour. We made our way down to the other side of the island and then took a ride around it. As we got to the other side, we decided to go back up. We looked at some of the neat houses, enjoyed the view, and then went back down again and rode around the other side that we didn't do the time before. I guess you could say we were a little soar after our 12 or so mile ride. We turned the bikes back in, rested up a little, and then Al treated us to a nice dinner. We ended the night with some shopping and of course getting some famous Mackinac Island fudge to bring back home and enjoy!

We got up early this morning, caught the first ferry back to "the mainland", and took the 7 hour drive back to Chicago.

We had a great time and we can't wait to go back again. Below are some pictures from the trip. Also, at the bottom is a link to the complete photo album. I'm learning how to do so many things with this new computer.

Mackinac Bridge, this connects the "mitten" of Michigan to the Upper Peninsula (U.P.).

Posing for a picture!

Arch Rock, there are some pictures of this from below in the photo album.

The 3 horses that took us around on our carriage ride.

The view of Main Street from above.

http://gallery.me.com/jslucter/100023

We also got an e-mail today to view our engagement pictures!! Yay!!!! We really like them. I will post those as soon as we get the disc in the mail, probably Wednesday or Thursday. I start my teacher work again on Monday. I can' t believe summer is over and I am beginning my 2nd year of teaching, boy how time flies!

I don't think I've spent this much time checking blogger and facebook in a long time! I'm beginning to get really bored! Thank goodness Alex and I leave tomorrow for a little vaca time. He is going to a Phish show tonight with LBC, Hank, and Brad. But, then we'll be up bright and early to begin our long drive to the UP.

I spent a good majority of the day yesterday buying things for my classroom. Last year everything was just super fast and I didn't have a lot of time to think about how I wanted to do things, so this year with a little experience and preparation time I've had time to think. I'm going to do a frog theme this year. I bought these cute name tags (for their desks) at the Dollar Tree and they have frogs on them, so that was my inspiration to go with a frog decor in my room. I got online to Carson and Dellosa and bought lots of frog things like the cut outs, "Hoppy Birthday" poster set, decorations, etc. I also went to the teacher store up here and bought a cursive alphabet (ohhh, awwww!) and a word families set.

As far as Alex goes, today was his last day of his externship. He's been working quite diligently on a paper for it for the last 3 weeks or so, I think he has one more round of editing and then it should be finished. He'll have a few days of a relaxing summer break and then its back to school.

Good luck to all of my Indiana teacher friends who start this week!

New Look

I was inspired by Rox to give our blog an updated look. WOW! Soooo many options, super fun, and totally addicting. Who knew? I hope to update it some more next week when we get our engagement pictures back, plus I like playing around on the new computer.

So, yesterday I declared my residency in Illinois... yep, I went and got my driver's license and new plates. I went last week and got the book so I could be a little prepared for the written test. It was pretty easy, but I am definitely glad that I studied a little. I'm a little sad that I will no longer have my Purdue plate though. :(

Alex and LBC just took off for an afternoon/ evening at LollaPalooza (the annual music fest here in Chicago). Crazy hot day for it today and tomorrow! Yikes! Its in the 90's and ridiculously humid! That kind of humidity when you walk outside it hits you in the face and just about takes your breathe away. My fellow L-towners know how that goes. Good ole' midwest weather, it doesn't get any better.

On the upside, we leave for Mackinac in just a few days! I can't wait. I've been looking at the weather and although its a little early to tell probably, they are calling for mid 70's and sun! Yay!

I'm thinking about running to Office Depot and buying an office chair, since right now I've been stealing Al's to sit at my desk. Just the beginning of a lifetime of sharing and compromises. :) I also need to get started on some planning and things for the upcoming school year. I've been enjoying my vacation, but I think I'll be glad to go back. I get a little stir crazy.

Enjoy your weekend!

Lots to blog about!

So, it has been forever since my last post and I feel like a lot has been going on since then.

During July I taught 2 weeks of summer school to 2nd graders, which was great since this is the age group I will be teaching all of next year. I'm super excited about this! I student taught in 3rd grade (which was awesome), so I think 2nd grade will be a better fit.

We've had lots of visitors up here, which is awesome and always welcome!

The Schlueter's came up here for a few days. We went to a Cubs game and then saw some sights around the city.

Brandy and Kelsi came up here to go to the Rascal Flatts show at Wrigley Field (1st country concert at Wrigley!) We had a blast.

The day after the concert I left for vacation with my parents and grandma. We went down to New Orleans, LA and Gulf Shores, AL. It was super fun going to somewhere new. We went on a bus tour of New Orleans that showed us the 9th Ward and different parts of the city. Gulf Shores was great, and it was nice to take a couple of days and just hang on the beach. I can't wait to go back down there!

Alex and I took our engagement picts around the city on Monday. We took them around the Field Museum, Navy Pier, and the beach. Our photographers were awesome and super friendly! We had a great time and they should be ready in 7-10 days.

I took the plunge yesterday and bought a Mac. (So this is my first blog on my new comp.) I love it so far, and I got a free iPod touch with it (awesome!) The iPod was a huge upgrade for me since my old one was about 4 years old, black and white, no album art, etc. Alex basically made me feel like I was living in the dark ages with it. haha

Next week, Al and I are heading up to Mackinac Island, MI for a few days. Super excited about this. After that.... summer is over and its back to work/ school for both of us! =(

Here are some picts of the last few weeks....

Alex, Jamie, Danielle, and I at the Cubs game.

Me, Brandy, Kelsi, and Alex and Rascal Flatts.

Cathedral in New Orleans.

Dad and I on the bus tour.

Look closely at the yellow/ brown lines on the house. Those are watermarks from where the water was standing after Hurricane Katrina. Water was standing in many of these houses for 3 weeks.

This is one of the "Brad Pitt houses". He is building houses in the 9th Ward, our tour guided said they generally cost around $250,000 and they are eco-friendly.

Bourbon Street

4th of July weekend

Happy 4th everyone... even though its the 3rd! So I am officially no longer a first year teacher, hoorah!! All of the kids got out on Tuesday and the teachers had their last day on Thursday... I know its July and we are just now done with school, gotta love it!

However, I will be making a move to 2nd grade next year, so I am pretty excited about that. Second and third are definitely my preferences, kindergarten was a little bit out of my comfort zone.

I start teaching summer school on Monday to 2nd graders as well, it will be nice to have a few weeks to get used to that age group, since I am so used to the real little ones.

Mom and Dad are coming up here for the weekend. Not to sure what all of our plans will be, but we are thinking about hitting up the Taste and seeing Booker T perform. It should be fun... crowded, but fun! Tonight are the fireworks down there, and they are expecting about a million people! Noooooo thanks, I think I'll pass on that one!

I guess that's about all for now.... I hope everyone enjoys their holiday weekend!!

My Best Friend's Wedding

Alex and I just got back to Chicago after a busy weekend full of memories! The day finally came after a 2 year wait for Brandy to become Mrs. Withers!

Here are some pictures from the day...

The beautiful bride!

Maid of honor (MOH) and the Bride

Mother of the bride, Bride, and MOH

Sister of the bride and the little ring bearer, who was pulled down the aisle in a wagon!

Sooo... cute!!

The new Mr. and Mrs.

Cruising in the limo

Awesome cake!

Our day will be soon enough.... :)

Brandy had her eye on who was to catch the bouquet... mission accomplished!

Garter toss

Brandy dancing with her dad... too precious!!

The happy couple.

Brandy and Kyle, I had a blast! Thanks so much for asking me to be a part of your special day! Love you guys and have an awesome time on your honeymoon!

Graduations Galore!

Well, its the beginning of summer so of course that means graduations!  This year Alex and I both have cousins who were graduating from high school- so we had to be there!  

His cousin Olivia graduated Saturday from Delphi and my cousin Jennifer graduated Sunday from New Prairie (LaPorte).  I wasn't able to attend Olivia's because of all of the events surrounding Jennifer's graduation.  But, Alex was there and then he made the trip up to Northern Indiana for Jen's festivities!  We had a blast! 

Jen's party was pretty bumping, lots of family, all in all- a great time!  Here are some picts for the family to check out... 

Alex and I waiting for the ceremony to begin... 

Jen walking in, at NP they get to decorate their hats for where they are going to school!  I wish we could've done that at McC, but of course about 80% would look just like her's... Go Boilers! 

Yay!!!

Me and the grad! 

Grams, Al, me, and Mom after the graduation. 

I hope everyone is enjoying their summers!  I still have 3 weeks left with my kiddos... it'll go by fast I'm sure, then I will no longer be a first year teacher.  Definitely a title I can live without!  A little less than 3 weeks until Brandy and Kyle's wedding-- yeah can't wait!!  We've got the bachelorette party this weekend and it should be super fun!  

Happy June! 

Joel McHale Show

The show was a blast last night!  We got to the casino fairly early so we gambled a little.  I basically broke even, but we bought a few beverages, so that put us a little behind... darn slot machines!  As we were hanging around the casino we heard some guys talking about a Bears player that was there, Hunter Hillenmeyer.  So we walked by and saw him playing Craps- Alex was excited!  

We then wondered up to The Venue.  It was actually a pretty nice venue.  It just opened last summer, so still in nice shape.  There was an opening comic Chris... something, he was on The Last Comic Standing.  He was actually really funny!  Then Joel came on and he did his skit for about 90 min. it was cool.  Lots of jokes about the Kardashians, Tyra Banks, and of course his nemesis... Ryan Seacrest! haha They had made an announcement that if you buy a t-shirt you get to do a meet and greet with him, so we bought a t-shirt and waited in line for like 2 hours (ahhh!), and we got to meet him.  He signed my shirt and we took a picture with him.  All and all a good time.  For all you Soup watchers out there I got the shirt that says "Its a Felony!" and he signed it "Its Miley!" haha 

But, here are some pics from the evening: 

So, it has been awhile since our last post!  I'm not really sure where the time has gone.... April has been a pretty busy month for me.  Started off with my Spring Break and my birthday, woo hoo 23! haha Then Easter, parent teacher conferences, Jake and Rox visiting, Brandy's bridal shower, and then it was May!  7 more weeks of school I can hardly contain my excitement!  I honestly didn't know in September if I was going to make it this far... just a few more weeks.  But then, I have signed up to teach 2 weeks of summer school.  I am splitting the time with another kindergarten teacher.  I was having an internal battle with myself over this b/c my summer is short as it is, but its good dinero for 2 weeks of work and only 4 hours each day.  Especially since we will be having a lot of purchases for the "big day" next summer, I figure I need all the $$ I can get!  

Finals are beginning for Alex- so he has been hitting the books!  Today he went to his first Cubs game of the season w/ LBC.  As they were waiting for the other guy they were going to the game with they were hanging outside of Murphy's the bar right by our apt.  And all of a sudden this camera crew walks by and it was Denise Richard's filming her reality show "Denise Richards colon Its Complicated".  They had to sign waivers b/c they will probably be on the show when it comes out.  So make sure you all DVR her show and look for Al.  He is the one w/ the look on his face like, "Who in the world is this lady and why are these people following her w/ cameras?" haha 

Tomorrow we are heading to the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, IN to see Joel McHale's comedy show.  He is the guy that hosts E's The Soup.  We love that show and watch it every week, so we are really looking forward to it! 

Hope everyone is doing well! 

March Madness

My parents just came up today for a short little visit.  We drove down to my school, and amazingly enough we were able to get in!  So they got to see my classroom and check out where I spend most of my time. haha  We then came back up to our place and took the train downtown to lunch at Webber Grill and then we walked around Michigan Ave.  It was a nice visit, and I am looking forward to going home in 2 weeks!! 

Alex and I are getting ready to head out and go to Durkin's, which is a Purdue bar up here.  We have been there once before with the Standefords to watch a Purdue football game.  It's kind of a neat thing.   All of the Big 10 schools have bars up here that are all decked out in that school's stuff, and its where alumni and fans go to watch the games. 

Hopefully it will be a good time, but it would be a lot more fun if some of our Purdue friends from home were with us! =( 

Hope everyone is enjoying this weather we have been having lately and happy spring!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Growing up in Lafayette you never realize how big of a deal St. Patrick's Day is to people!  WOW!!  Up here everyone is all about St. Patrick's Day!!  

We met up with my Uncle Jerry, Aunt Nancy, and cousin Jennifer for part of the day because they were in town to see the celebrations. The day starts off with turning the river green, there's a parade, and a huge drunken fest!  It reminded us of Breakfast Club in a way.  Because we live in bar central basically, there are a ton of people around here today enjoying the festivities.... needless to say, parking is not the best right now! 

So, after we found Jer, Nancy, and Jen we headed down to Nordstroms to do a little prom dress shopping for Jennifer.  It was fun to look at all of the dresses, I haven't done that in a few years!  We then proceeded to lunch.  We went to a place called Ed Debevic's.  It is an old fashioned hamburger place, but it has the theme like a Dick's Last Resort, where the waiters are all rude and super funny!  It was fun!  They gave us paper hats, but they didn't write on them like they do at Dick's.  Then about every 1/2 hour or so the waiters get up on the counter and do a dance, but they really can't dance so they are just up there looking ridiculous!  It was a good time and we got a kick out of it.  The only disappointment was that they didn't have green beer!  So.... we settled for regular old Bud Light in the yellow/brown color it always is.  

Alex posing in front of the newly green river.  

Quick trivia fact: the dye they put in the river is actually orange, but somehow when mixed with the wonderful Chicago water it turns a bright green. 

Crossing the river on Michigan Ave. 

Alex and I at the restaurant with our hats on.  We are also sporting the green beads we caught from people throwing them out of the trollies and busses downtown. 

Jen, Jer, and Nancy with their hats on too.  Jen also caught some beads!

The waiters getting their groove on... 

My parents are supposed to be making their way up here tomorrow morning for the day.  They both caught my cold from last weekend, so hopefully that doesn't keep them in L-town.  I'm sure we will go back downtown and drive to my school to see the construction progress because it has been a while since they have seen it. 

Hope everyone enjoys the holiday!  Don't forget to wear green on Tuesday!

Go Boilers!!

Home for a visit

I came back to L-town last night for a much needed long weekend. Alex is in Virginia this weekend with some friends for 3 nights of Phish concerts. Needless to say, he was really looking forward to it! I've spent the day relaxing, sleeping in, going to Wal-Mart (another one of those simple things I can't do in Chicago), and playing around on the internet trying to make invitations for Brandy's upcoming bridal shower, plus I'm getting ready to leave soon to get my haircut from my pal Judie, she does a great job!
This week has been super, super, super nice in the weather department! I didn't even have to wear a coat this morning, it was great! With all of this nice weather I desperately need to get my car washed, but I think its going to rain, which would make my efforts a total waste.
Big plans for tomorrow are getting together with Brandy to do some planning for her bridal shower and probably dinner.
Happy Friday!

"Respect the ABC's"

After a lot of googling and e-mailing, I found a photographer.  The couple we are going with was actually a recommendation from the original photographers we were wanting.  So it worked out ok!  So check that one off of the list, now only about 150 other things to take care of.  I feel like I've gotten some of the bigger things done though!  

We were in L-town over Valentine's Day weekend, which was nice.  We double dated with my parents for V-day dinner, went to the mall, and rented a movie.  Generally simple things, except when you live in a big city!  So it was nice to take it easy.  I ended up getting super sick over the weekend, and actually got a sinus infection per the Dr. at Arnett.  Yeah.... bummer!  I'm still not feeling a 100%.  I tell you being around 30 5-6 year olds and another 550 kids on a daily basis really puts a toll on you!  I feel like I'm sick about once/ month.  Plus I'm exhausted all the time!

Its Tuesday night, which means Alex is busy away being TA.  I think he is enjoying it.  Its a different experience for him.  A few weeks ago (I think it was only his 2nd week of being a TA) he got home fairly late ~9:30 and of course I was already in bed.  He came in and woke me up to say "A teacher's job is never done".  Of course I chuckled because that may be the biggest understatement I have heard in awhile.  At least he is getting a little taste of it. 

My school is having a talent show this Friday.  Two of my students tried out.  One is playing the violin with another kindergartner (cutest thing ever!) and the other... brace yourself for this.... he rapped, yes rapped the ABC's! OMG what a riot!  Unfortunately only my violin played made it to the final round to the network wide talent show.  My little rapper got stage fright during the 2nd round and didn't really complete his act.  Although, it was still adorable!  Make note, that this is an original that he rapped and at the end he goes "Respect the ABC's" hahahaha I almost died when I heard this!  I'll be going Friday though to cheer on my violin player- wish us luck!  

In need of a photographer

So, the wheels are officially rolling on the wedding planning now.  My parents booked our reception spot, so we are locked in .  When my dad e-mailed me to tell me he had put a deposit down, he put a special message to Alex in there, basically saying- tell Al its too late, he has to marry you now!  Nothing like fatherly love... haha!  Now I am in the crisis of finding a photographer!  The people I had originally wanted (Monahan) are booked ALREADY on our day! Ahhh.... I was super upset!!  Now I have been frantically googling and e-mailing because its making me panic now.  Honestly, the pictures are one of the most important parts to me because the memories and pictures are all you really have after that day.  I've e-mailed about 5 different photographers, everyone is just sooooo pricey!!  Cross your fingers for us.

Other than that, nothing new is really going on.  Alex is back in school and the same ole' grind for me everyday.... some days, actually most, I wonder how I am doing it.  But, I am still pushing through... trying to survive!  It is rewarding some days!  

Hope all is well with everyone out there.  Let us know of any updates with all of you!

Until next time... 

Cold Blows the Wind

Woke up this morning, to -25 degree windchill and it is -9 at this moment. High -1.   What better way to welcome in these cold temperatures...a good shave.  I know most of you had seen this monster growing, but I kind of feel sad that it is gone.  Kind of like those movie and TV scenes where it becomes blurry and white around the edges, music, and highlights of the time we spent together.  12 hour bar crawl, rubbing it in OT for luck, stroking it for inspiration during my finals. Oh the memories.  Anyways, it is gone and I look somewhat normal again (if 5 years younger is normal).  Not a whole lot going on in Chicago (probably why I am blogging).  I had a pretty good semester, but there is always that one grade that you feel that you should have done a little bit better on.  Still enrolled and pushing on through.  Halfway mark.  I have done absolutely nothing since Jackie and I came back to Chicago.  Bought some books, had a meeting at school, and have been consumed in one video game.  Somewhat ready to get back to the grind of reading all day.  On second thought.  Last weekend came home and played some poker at Brandy and Kyle's house.  Great party and time but the poker did not go so well.  Did not really expect much though.  Jay is coming up this weekend for an interview.  Sounds like he is doing Top Chef.  He gets there and is told to make something. Probably pretty intense.  Jackie, Allison, LBC, and I are going to see Gene Ween solo at a tiny bar on 1/31 (not that anyone really knows who that is).  Should be sweet. Have some beverages and just hang out. There is only 1.5 months until LBC, Brad, Wes, and I go to Virginia for Phish.  Going to be here before we know it.   That's about all going on with me. Hope everyone is well.

Cheers.