home. SWEET. home!

As I mentioned a few times, I spent last week back home in Iowa, so I thought I would recap my week and share some fun moments from the weekend now that Andy and I are both back in Chicago.
It seems as though no matter how long I'm home for, there is never enough time and it always goes by way too fast. There are always so many people I want to see and things I want to do, and I swear I never get to them all. I feel very lucky to have so many special close by to share time with, so I won't complain!! This week was filled with lots of family and funny memories. Let's see.....I carved pumpkins, had a few cocktails (happy hour is fun) over great conversation, relaxed, ate great food, watched the world series (what a finish), went for crisp fall runs, and even found time to do a little shopping. Just what the doctor ordered really! Unfortunately though, my grandma had to have knee replacement surgery so my mom played nurse and I tried hard to watch and listen. Very interesting having a family member hospitalized and being on the other side of things. But with all that said she is recovering and doing quite well. I also had the opportunity to spend a shopping day with my sister-in-laws, my mom and my nephew Jack. We had so much fun and so many laughs. We had been together for about an hour when we decided this must be an annual event!! :) The other special event that took place while I was home was my brother Daniel and his wife Marcy's 5th wedding anniversary. That is such a fun milestone for them and they have so much to be proud of/celebrate....2 healthy boys, great job, and and lots of love to share!! Their love, commitment, and support for each other are a testament to their relationship and something everyone can watch and learn from! Cheers to them!! All those things made home very SWEET!! :)
After all that, I returned to my "big girl" home in Chicago on Saturday which is also very sweet. This past week I accepted a "big girl" job so AK made reservations at a fun French restaurant to celebrate. We then met up for drinks with some hometown folks (his from Traverse City, MI and mine from Eldora, IA) who all happened to be at the same bar. We had a great time, but I forgot to capture it all on camera....woops!! Today (Sunday) we just hung out, watched some football (Lions vs Broncos of course) and are going to have dinner and a movie tonight....kind of a Sunday night ritual!!

pumpkin carving....slimy hands & funny faces; Cade (11) & Emma (8)

the end result....not bad grandma!

silly picture!

my brother (Dan) and his boys....Tommy (1) & Jack (4). all so sweet!

heartbreaking....milly's grave. :( the cross is a memento made by Cade & Emma.

purchases and/or evidence...however you want to look at it! shopping day was a success!!

Growing up "Good"

As I previously mentioned in my last post, I was headed home this week to spend a few days with my people before I start back in the real world once again. This long hiatus from work happened for a few reasons: 1. our leases in Denver were up at the end of September so we needed a place to live come Oct 1 and 2. the new hospital I'm working at will not let me work until I'm credentialed which will probably end up being a few more weeks. So that leaves me unemployed for just a bit longer, and it leaves AK left to bring home the bacon....for just a few more weeks!! :)
Speaking of home, Andy and I had friends over for dinner the other night and we were talking about where and how we grew up. We were all laughing at the differences, but the laughter was mostly directed at me, because I grew up in a small town/small high school and they did not. 
So now that I am home, I will try and define what that means....
That means I have homemade hot meals for dinner, that means I get to run along the beautiful lake path whenever I want, that means when I run to the grocery store it takes 4 minutes to get there and I'm bound to see at least 3 people I know from my childhood, that means when I'm driving in the car I usually know who is coming based on the vehicle I'm facing, that means I'm still only known for the things I did in high school and not much beyond that :), that means when I look out my bedroom window I usually see a family of deer crossing our backyard, that means I typically never wake up to emergency vehicle sirens, that means fall harvest is nearing an end and people are preparing for winter, and that means there is always someone happy to see me or "glad I came," if you will. The Cheers reference is fitting, because that is how I grew up, so this to me is "home."
Many times when I try to explain how I grew up to most of my suburbia friends they look at me like I have 10 eyes and horns growing out of my head, but as a kid I didn't know any different and I wouldn't trade that for anything. Sure....we didn't grow up eating sushi, or thai food, or basil pesto (now three of my fav things to eat/cook with), but I firmly believe that is okay. I grew up good, and I was raised right....and for that I'm lucky and thankful!!

Big City Sights....

Well another week has come and gone in the "big city" as Gehrk (my step dad) would say. There have been many wonderful moments and some hard ones as well. Andy was on an extended work week last week meaning he did not get home until pretty late on Friday night and usually he rolls in late afternoon on Thursdays.....that's a big difference when you're talking to the girlfriend who has yet to start work herself and wants to get the weekend started! Let's face it: drinking champagne alone is not nearly as fun as drinking champagne with beer. HA :) So with that said and most of you sensing my sour mood on Friday, Andy promised a fun filled weekend with some great sights of Chicago.....and that it was!!

Friday: On Friday morning before AK rolled into town I got up and ran the Lakeshore path which is the famous path that runs along Lake Michigan. The run came just in time....physically and mentally. You see I was starting to get a bit homesick and think there was nothing more beautiful than the peaks of the Rocky Mountains, but low and behold Lake Michigan is quite remarkable and after that run I told many people "I get it now." Friday night ended with a great dinner with Kristyn and Alan (pictures to come) and thanking them for all their help with our big move to the Windy City.

sky line from the water!!

Saturday: I hesitate to write about Saturday for many reasons, but here it goes.... Saturday morning we were slow movers and just kind of hung out. We are avid football watchers so watching our alma maters (Champagne = University of Iowa & Beer = Michigan State University) is usually a high priority. We caught most of the Iowa game after a morning run and saw them pull off a great homecoming victory! Go Hawks!! Then it was time to prepare for the "big game," which was MSU/Wisconsin, college game day, etc. However, before the big game, we slipped over to a neighborhood bar and had a Tall Paul sighting. Paul originally worked as a nurse here in Chicago and then relocated to Denver where I met him at Children's. He and his wife Anne (great name...just sayin!) just had a baby not long ago so we snuggled her, had a few laughs with Paul and met some of his great Chicago friends. THEN. FINALLY. AFTER. ALL. THE. HYPE....we went to Grand River, a Michigan State bar to watch an unbelievable game with some really great friends. The game was so exciting with so many great plays, I nearly thought AK was going down way too young. Those Spartans make things interesting, but in the end pulled off a great win (Thank. The. Lord). So a big win makes for a happy home and for celebrating way too late!

Paul, myself & sweet Baby Lila

Such a natural....anyone have any doubt??

And the boys are back in town....

Annie/AK & Alan/Kristyn....notice the Hawkeye shirt? I may root for State, but I still represent!! 

Sunday: Sunday began a little late and a little slow. I was so excited for the big win on Saturday that I insisted on showing these folks how to celebrate "Iowa Style." Big mistake....huge actually! :) I'm not that young anymore, BUT we did rally and went out and about. AK had a few returns to make so we headed to J. Crew (after he twisted my arm and drug me in. HA! :) which ended up being in a really fun shopping area, so there it began. Before long we had been to Gap, Banana, Crate & Barrel, etc. We then hit up a great little burger place for lunch and headed downtown. Chicago has some great sights from some of the bridges that run in the middle of the city and since we are still tourists we thought we should go see for ourselves and snap a few pics. The weather was perfect so we enjoyed walking around and getting acquainted with our new city. All in all we had a great weekend with many great sightings. AK left for work today and I am about to head back to Iowa for a few days before I start back in the real world again!!

self shot...so fun!

not a bad place to call home, huh?

"All dogs go to heaven"

I promise this blog is supposed to be about our new adventures in Chicago and the latest and greatest happenings going on in the Windy City, however sometimes the biggest things that happen, don't happen within the walls and doors of your home or within the city limits of where you live. You see, yesterday, my mom called and broke the news that our family dog of 14 years had passed away. Her name was Millie and we loved her oh so much. Millie was more than a dog, she was a member of our family. She had her own bed, she was fed a special Christmas dinner, she usually had presents under the Christmas tree and she always had an over flowing stocking on the mantle. Besides that, Millie was my mom's best friend, meaning they did everything together from walking to gardening to watching  TV, and after us kids were fully grown my mom was her constant every day. When speaking with my brother about Millie's passing, we decided Millie was just the "perfect dog" and let me explain....she only barked when strangers drove up, rarely jumped on you, was well trained, never got too big, let all the little kids jump on her and ride her like a horse, roamed the woods and fields freely and always came home, and at the end of the day she liked to lay down and watch TV together, just as our family always does!! Millie was a great dog which is why our hearts are so heavy, but we know she is happy and comfortable, because "all dogs go to heaven!!"

The Windy City...

My boyfriend Andy (beer) and myself (champagne) recently relocated to Chicago from Denver. Before I left a good friend of mine suggested I start a blog to document our new life in our new city. So here is my attempt at capturing the highlight memories and moments. We have been in Chicago now for a good two weeks and are adjusting to all the new things a big city has to offer. Denver was an extremely difficult place to leave, but it is also a great place to visit!! We traded mountains for water and cars for trains and are hoping the payoff is great. This past weekend was our first full weekend in the city and we wasted no time getting acquainted. We went out for sushi, had drinks downtown, attended a birthday party and shopped on Michigan Avenue!! I would say weekend #1 was a success! We look forward to many good times ahead....and here are a few shots from the last few days!!

Chicago!!!

city lights at night!

and wrigley field of course....