Sunday, May 22, 2011

Weekend Getaway

We headed to Chicago last weekend for some much needed time away. 



We left Friday afternoon and made it downtown Chicago in time for dinner. I haven't found a good sushi restaurant here yet, so we asked the concierge to recommend one that was close to the hotel. I was in heaven!


We did a little shopping after dinner. We stayed on Michigan Avenue right in the heart of great shopping! 

Nathan has been thinking about piercing his ears (jk!)....and we found these awesome studs in a shoe store....modeling the look to see if it suits him...we decided it wasn't really a good look for him. 


We enjoyed a little room service....



We headed out to a nearby spa for massages before our shopping day began. 

An homage to my sweet pup...


We had really crappy weather the entire weekend....so we opted not go to the Cubs game...but just enjoyed the shopping!



The flowers on Michigan Ave are always pretty!


Saturday night we headed out for some Chicago style pizza and the show 'The South Side of Heaven' at the comedy club The Second City...we had a great time...can't wait to go back!

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Full Circle

The pity party is over...my nerves are calm once again. 

Everyday the house feels more and more like home...we are getting pictures hung....I ordered our furniture...the garage is organized....things are finally settling down. So, to update..the TVs are officially functioning as they should, although I still would give my right arm to have my AT&T Uverse back....sigh,  oh well. I have not seen anymore ants....and the sun is shining and it's WARM outside!!...actually it was HOT today...all the Iowans were complaining...I was in 7th Heaven...bring on the HEAT!!! This is the best news of all!!!

Nathan and I have been on a quest to find a new church. We've been trying a new one every Sunday. I was raised Presbyterian and Nathan was raised Lutheran...but somehow we found ourselves joining a Methodist Church in Texas...and it was AWESOME!! But since we've been home....we've kind of gone back to our 'roots' and stuck with our two 'native' denominations. I really haven't even seen a Methodist church since we've been back. 

So in our search for a new church I wanted to try out the church where my brother and I were baptized many eons ago. Our planned visit happened to fall on Mother's Day. We invited my parents to come along as we were also hosting Mother's Day at our house. My mother of course came bearing pictures from the blessed occasion that coincidently turned out to have taken place on Mother's Day weekend EXACTLY 35 years ago! I certainly have come full circle! 

The church.....


The original occasion...May 8, 1977....(don't ask me what Dad is doing?!?)


Such a happy family :)


The rest of the fam-damily that helped to celebrate the day....


Here we are 35 years later.....I had proposed the idea of having Dad hold me in the front of the church for this picture...but #1 we weren't sure he would be able to hold me and #2 we didn't think that would be appropriate behavior in God's house :)...so we opted to behave ourselves. 



After church we headed back to our house to break in the new grill and celebrate our Moms!! I stole a recent idea from my friend Teresa and we had a 'build your own kabob' bar. Nathan and Meg were in charge of grilling the kabobs to perfection. 



And of course we had to have some rhubarb pie and ice cream.....


The women all ate off of my set of green 'Dancing Girl' depression glass. 

The Moms opened their gifts....


Gma Jean can't get enough of the Royal Wedding. (Incidentally, she's also obsessed with Channing Tatum and can frequently be seen scanning the magazines in Barnes and Noble to see if he's on the cover of anything...she told me a couple of months ago 'he's the most beautiful man that God has ever made'...I think she watches Dear John at least once a day)


After lunch I quickly put the family to work on my 'to-do' list for the house. It was a great Mother's Day!