Chicago Day 3

Our third and final day in Chicago started late.

I left hubby sleep late, hoping he'd complain less about driving and I wouldn't have to on our 6 hour ride home!

While he slept, I obsessively organized, folded, and packed all of our things!

Then we headed toward Wrigleyville.  I couldn't go to Chicago and not at least SEE Wrigley Field!

We attempted to see a game there on Day 2, but it started while we were on our journey to the suburbs and our new car, so we missed our chance.  I think it's just a reason to have to go back to Chicago another day!

Our other reason for making this stop in town before we headed back to Ohio.

Southport Grocery & Cafe

To anyone going to Chicago, I HIGHLY recommend their breakfast! The cupcake pancakes were amazing, but by hubby's bruschetta was even better!  On our way out I got a cup of tea for the road, and it was the best blueberry tea I have ever had!

Then we started the 6 hour drive home, which I didn't mind, because none other than Caden & Caleb were awaiting us at Grandma's house! 

Chicago Day 2

We began again with a lovely breakfast at corner bakery!

Followed by morning tea on a stroll through Millennium Park.

 

The sculpture is by far the strangest thing I've ever seen hanging in a public park.

This piece or art work has a twin facing her on the other side of the area.

Our stroll through Millennium Park left us with time for our walk past the Art Museum on our way back to Union Station.

We wondered around Union Station for a bit looking for a place to purchase our tickets for the train ride to Naperville where our new car was awaiting us!

We finally got out tickets and headed to find a Chicago Style Hot Dog for lunch.

We found Gold Coast Dogs in Union Station.  I am NOT a fan of the Chicago Style Hot Dog.

We rode train on the upper level to our destination.  Hubby and I have a real conversation with each other without any interruptions and just connect!  It was wonderful!

Once we arrived at our stop, we called a cab to take us to the car from the train stop!  

We had or new car then and we were driving back into the city thanks to priceline for the awesome deal on our hotel!

We paid an insane amount to have our car parked over night and walked toward the museums.  

They were closing for the day by the time we got there, so we grabbed another cab back to the hotel.  

We received a great recommendation for dinner at Ben Pao!

Wine with dinner lead to the inability to say no to dessert!

After dinner we walked down to Navy Pier again for some Garrett's Chicago Mix Popcorn!

We stopped in for a drink at Harry Carey's Tavern!

We had a bit more fun at Navy Pier before calling it a night!

Chicago Day 1

We arrived in downtown Cleveland by 1 a.m.to catch our megabus!

We arrived in Chicago shortly after 6 a.m. to Union Station.

We walked with our bags to our hotel.  Thank you priceline!

Breakfast @ Corner Bakery

Then we headed for a stroll through Navy Pier.  

(This photos was not taken when we were there this time. There was NO ONE thereat 7 a.m.!)

Our awesome hotel people had it ready for us by 9:30!  So we headed there for some clean up time and to check out our room!

Shower time, because 5+ hours on a bus leaves you feeling yucky!
Then a stroll down Magnificent Mile where we found Buzz & Woody t-shirts for the boys.  They're going to wear them for their birthday party Saturday!  (Pictures to come after the shin-dig!)
Pizza at Gino's East!

 Then it was off to Blue Man Group in the Briar Street Theater!  This was by far the best show I've ever seen!  It was amazing!  I will definitely see it again if given the opportunity!
We very stupidly decided to walk back to our hotel from the theater on some bad advice from a local.  It was an hour + long walk through Lincoln Park and along the water front the whole way, which left us very sore, but we did see some very interesting sights along the way!

Our walk lead us back to Navy Pier for dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.!

Following dinner, we were EXHAUSTED and took a cab back to our hotel for a relaxing night and early sleep!

A post about Day 2 coming soon!

Oh crap...

After being out Monday for our fabulous weekend getaway in Chicago, I had a busy day of work ahead, and had planned on working late to do some catch up.  Around 4 this afternoon I'm talking on an account or two with one of co-workers, when I move my arm, and suddenly my FULL glass of ice water sitting on my desk to drink was down the front of shirt, in my lap, and all over my chair.  As it happened, I sat there starring at the cup that was just lying on my desk.  Co-worker stands there watching, and we followed up afterwards by chatting about the mess.  Using all the napkins of my co-workers to soak up things, I informed my boss of the mess, packed up, and went home feeling utterly stupid.  It felt like I'd peed myself all over again, only worse!

3 Days Without:

I'm proud of myself in the fact that my hubby and I just returned home from a long weekend in Chicago enjoying ourselves and did well without distractions!

We both survived for 3 days without:

• Any form of internet,
• Books (other than our map of Chicago siteseeing guide),
• Netflix or TV (mostly, we did watch a teeny bit in the hotel),
• And only about half a dozen calls home to the kids!

Hopefully soon I'll blog about our trip and the great time we had, but now it's time to fix my cravings for email, twitter, the Twilight series, and maybe some TV!

The day I peed myself at work.

During the summer before my senior year of college, I was interning for an amazing company.  (It happens to be the same company both my hubby and I work for now.) For some reason though, this day, I had been busy or distracted and forgot to pee during the afternoon.  It was around 4:30 in the afternoon, I left at 5:00, when I realized how badly I needed to go!  So I hurried to the bathroom.

This day, I happened to be wearing a nice black pencil skirt and my favorite thong.   Every other time I'd used the restroom that day, I pulled up my shirt, undid my belt, undid the hooks and buttons, undid the zipper and pulled my pants and thong down.  Well this time I had to go REALLY bad.  And I thought to myself, what the heck have I been doing all day!?  It's a skirt, I can just pull it up!

So in the rush that I was in to relieve myself, I pulled up my skirt sat down and started to pee.

Mid pee, I had my "OH SHIT" moment.

I had forgotten to take my thong down.

Of course I left them on and finished peeing before laughing at my self.  Then I started wondering what in the world I was going to do.  My options:

• Option 1: I can throw my undies away.  Concern:  It's my favorite thong, and who wants to see someone's underwear lying in the trash can at work!?
• Option 2: I could wash them/dry them out in the sink.  Concern:  What if someone else walk into the bathroom and sees me washing out my thong in the sink!?
• Option 3: Wear them, knowing I have a clean change of underwear in my car.  Concern: What if I smell like piss!?

I picked option 3.  I used some toilet paper to dry them up, and on I went with the last half hour of the day, planning to change them as soon as I got to my car.

Well, wouldn't you just know that it just so happened to be the first night my now husband ever asked me to do anything after work, and he walked me to my car!  (You can read about how I met my hubby here.)  My next thought was that I could change them when I got there.  But no, he was standing at my car waiting for me.  What was I supposed to do, reach into my bag in the backseat and shove undies in my tiny purse to carry into a bar to change with him standing there?  And if I did, again, what would I do with the dirty undies!?

So I sat outside in the hot sun with several coworkers and my now hubby with piss covered undies for a hour or two, hoping to find an early excuse to leave!  Of course, we ended up leaving at the same time, and he walked me to my car, killing another opportunity for me to get clean underwear on.  I'm getting fairly self-conscious at this point, but my next stop was my friend Allison's apartment 40 minutes away.  You'd better believe the second I parked in her parking lot I changed my undies!

My Blighted Ovm Experience

I found out I was pregnant in January.  Shortly there after we discovered it was a blighted ovum.  After doing our best to wait for it to pass naturally, we scheduled my first D&C for the week of my birthday.  (Awesome a timing right?)  A few days after my 24th birthday I had my first D&C.  Things seemed to go fine, and I was slowly adjusting and getting back to normal.

I was having some constipation issues though.  It wasn't the first time I've had this issue after an embarrassing ER visit a few years ago!  At least I knew how to help improve the situation this time.  Well, when the issue was finally resolved, another appeared and there was some serious problems.  I lost a lot of blood from sever bleeding and off the ER we went.

We stumped the doctors.  They didn't know what was going on.  After tests and more tests, I was sent home in the middle of the night to return straight to my regular doctor first thing in the morning.  She was also confused.  We heard the terms weird, shocked, and scratching heads.  She consulted with another doctor in that practice before trying to consult a specialist in a larger city.  After several hours of waiting in the office, a second D&C was scheduled for that afternoon.

The second D&C was a success and they double checked their work via ultrasound immediately after.  It was quite a rough ride for us, and not the way you'd hope your first pregnancy would go, but we've survived, and I feel stronger than ever now.  I can only say that because it's been nearly two months now for me to heal emotionally and physically.

I may not be ready for another baby now, or anytime soon, but I am ready to explore life with a new appreciate for what God's blessed us with.

Halloween 2009

What do my husband & Ron Howard have in common?

What do you get when you cross an Elephant and a Rhino?

Elephino!

Finding a Few Family Treasures

My biological grandmother passed away in the early 70s shortly after my dad graduated from high school.  My whole life it was always Grandpa & Gladys.  They took my brother and I everywhere.  We spent a lot of time with them, and almost always had fun!  My grandfather passed away when I was in middle school about 10 years ago, but Gladys has remained a part of our family.  The past November she passed away.

This past Saturday was the estate auction for her belongings.   My family and I went our for the morning, and really had a good time.  I hadn't given it much thought in advance other than, yes I will be there.  (We moved our weekend in Chicago to be there.)  It didn't really hit me until the auctioneer started talking about how the day was going to run and a bit about the family that was hosting and those that had passed.  As I held back tears as the auction started it turned out to be a good day for my family.  We came home with a few items to remember Gladys by, but also my Grandpa.  

Our first purchase was a set of mixing bowls.  I've always wanted this set of mixing bowls, and it's so much nice to have them from someone who was so special.

Our next purchase was a bit of a surprise for our family to see.  It's a thermometer from my grandpa's business he ran many years ago.  

After we made the purchased I teased my dad about them not being able to spell back then.  Since they're really from Holmesville!  Apparently there was a second shipment of these made to correct the spelling, which resulted in the excess amount of thermometers!

We rounded out the day with a few more purchases. 

We purchased the end tables from Gladys' living room to be put in our nearly completed family room in the basement for our fish tank.

We also found another treasure of my grandpa.  He was a character, who always had something up his sleeve and could tell a story like few people I know, other than my dad and brother who have inherited that trait!  He was a funny guy...

A unique purchase, and for some reason we were the only bidders on it!  May my grandpa and his tricks live on!  My boys were quite insistent this be put up in our yard, and with the help and encouragement of my dad it is now the back corner of my house, facing the state highway we live on.  Come to think of it, maybe that is why everyone was looking at my funny as I mowed the lawn today!  

Our last purchases were some miscellaneous tools and a box of games.  Some ring toss, bingo, and Hi-Q.

It was a good day for our family, and I'm glad we'll have something to remember Grandpa and Gladys by.  Rest In Peace. 

My Pillow Dilema

Last night, my hubby decided that he no longer liked the pillowS on our bed.  He insisted on needing a larger pillow, but since I nearly always go to bed before him, I left him figure it out for himself.  He used our pillows with shams on them that ever so nicely match the comforter.  Usually, they sit on the end of the bed during the night.  So for a night, alright, I can live with that, but on a regular basis, he can't use those pillows!

So here is the dilemma.  We no longer agree on the type of pillows we like to use to sleep.  Who cares right?  WRONG.  All pillows on our beds have to match.  His pillow and my pillow HAVE to be the same!  They can't just be the same size, they have to be exactly the same, bought from the same store, at the same time.  All pillow in my house have perfect matches on the bed with them.  Or did, I should say.  A few weeks ago when the flu hit our house, we had a pillow casualty!

So hubby wants to know why he can't just use the pillow sham covered pillow.  My response is almost immediately "How could you even think of doing that!?"  What if you drool, or get sick, or something happens to it?  Then that pillow sham has to be washed.  THEN what if it fades different than the matching bedspread?  We can't have them not matching!

Now I have to talk myself into finding another pillow case that matches and allowing it to be a 5th pillow on our bed as an accent on top for him to use as night.  Now I'm worried about finding a pillow case that will match and continue to tie the room together.  We just redid the bedroom and made all these decisions about what to do with it, we can't mess it up now!

If only it were just the pillows I were so particular about!

How I met my hubby...!

I started my internship after my junior year of college on the help desk.  A not-so-fancy job in a call center for the summer after a terribly breakup with a guy I thought was the one.  I did a lot of things that summer that I wouldn't call being a class act, but I had more fun that summer than I could have ever imagined.

My best friend at the time heard a lot about the "intriguing guy" I worked with.  He was on the next team over, and I was fascinated with him!  I knew he had a few kids (twins) but I wasn't deterred.  It only interested me more.  I had no idea who old he was.  It was an internal debate in my head for weeks about his age.

As the summer wound down, and I was thinking about heading back for senior year!  And that's when we started chatting, mostly in the parking lot after work.  We'd stand in the hot sun in the parking lot for hours after work and just talk.  We hung out a time or two, and things went so very well!  With a big help from this guy.

 We stuck it out through my senior year of college being 3 hours apart and much more trying time when I moved back to northern Ohio and started my amazing job!  We've been through a lot in our lives since then, personally, as a couple, and as a family, but here we are now (last September) a happy family!

So I heard you were...

The days leading up to Easter Sunday didn't go very smoothly in my house.  A lot of things were said, feelings were, hurt, hard work was complete, and people were just plain tired.  By the time Easter Sunday rolled around, I wasn't looking foward to getting everyone up motiveated for the holiday festivities and then to get off to church, but we did it anyway. 

We got to church a few minutes late, and I flashed back to dad being angry at us for making us and driving past the church when it'd started before we got there.  Luckily we'd gotten Grandma to save seats for us in the church, and we tried to quietly sneak in.  As quietly as you can with two 3 years olds in tow! 

As happens nearly every week in church, the boys had to pee during the sermon.  Muffin and I watiting on Daddy & Tater Tot's return and then off we went.  Muffin did his thing, and on our walk back past the nursery, I was stopped by an old aquaintence from my time in youth group.  He had stopped me for what I think was to congratulate me.  He had a big smile on his face and walked up ready for an awkward hug.  (I am NOT a touchy-feely person.  Unless you're my immediate family or a VERY close friend.  I don't hug.)  He says "So I a hear you're uh...expecting."  I flatly responded no, got the awkward hug over with and headed back into church with my Muffin. 

By the time I'd returned to my seat, I was thinking to myself wondering if I'd done the right thing.  I wasn't wrong, I really am not expecting, but I was, not so long ago.  We had shared with out families and close friends not too long after we'd found out.  News spreads quickly, but apparently not the sad things.  Not only was I concened about how I handled it; I was really somewhat offended.  Did he really think I LOOKED like I was expecting!?  I've been without any form of baby now for over month, but I hadn't gain any weight during the pregnancy.  Not only that I've been working to loose some! 

I still don't know if how I responsed was right or not, but what else is there to say.  In the past month I've mostly responded with medical explination, which really may boarder on oversharing at points, but it's easier than trying to talk emotions. I'm not interested in explaining myself, or  having the awkward oh I'm so sorry, on and on., especially with people I hardly know!  (At least in person.  I think I have a case of keyboard courage!)

Family + Campfire = a Beautiful Thing

Friday was a day spent doing hard work around our house preparing for summer, and doing things that we never accomplished outside last year when we moved in.  We worked all day enlisting help from the kids and watching them run around playing in their rubber boots having a blast all day!  We even treated them to a lunch of hot dogs out side and mid-afternoon snow cones! 

The best part of Friday, was that evening when my parents came up for a campfire around out new clay fire pit in our backyard!  The kids were SO excited to eat outside and to see the fire!  We cooked pork loins and hamburgers on the girl for sandwiches all around with potatoes and strawberries, which everyone loved, but the best part didn't come until after dinner.

After dinner, we ran inside for the strawberry marshmallows we'd recently gotten for Rice Krispies that I hadn't yet made.  We found a few sticks in our yard to toast them with, and Papa and Grandma helped the boys toast marshmallows for sometime!  It was a beautiful thing.  We toasted nearly the whole bag!  Papa & boys were getting along and having fun as we all sat around the fire in the cooling evening air and chatted.  I couldn't have been any happier after a hard day's work.  Relaxing with family around a campfire in the backyard of my home was beautiful.