Beer & Champagne: 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!!