Give. Thanks.

Give. Thanks. With so many things to be thankful for, this was a perfect theme for a fabulous week. Over the course of 4 or 5 days I heard so many different things people were thankful for..... Some things as simple as a pair of shoes, other things as complex as a computer/iPad, some things as weird as a pet rat (seen/heard from a girl on a public bus), some things as serious as a life (such as the one my friend Jen described saving), and some things as silly as root beer floats (like the one I'm about to take down)..... No matter what it was, "Give Thanks" seemed to be a unanimous theme over the past week, which was why it was no surprise to me my mom made a "Give Thanks" sign to hang over our Thanksgiving feast as a friendly reminder we all have a lot to be thankful for!
The weekend at home was wonderful for both AK and myself.....
Wednesday: I headed home and Andy's brother flew in from Denver, so the weekend had officially begun. I helped my mom finish up the day before cooking, and by helped, I mean I drank wine and kept her company and we got all caught up! AK entertained his brother in Chicago as they and his sister were gearing up for the Annual Thanksgiving Turkey Trot in Lincoln Park.
Thursday: The day of thanks!! What a fun day it was! AK and his siblings (younger bro and sis) ran in the annual Turkey Trot in Chicago before heading to his parents place. I had my very own turkey trot as the sun rose over the Iowa River in good ole' Eldora, IA. Both scenes were beautiful I'm sure...I know mine way!! By the time I returned home, the madness had begun...."I left too many things to do last minute".... "how long should I cook the turkey?"...... "are we going to have enough food?".....  so the pre meal scurry was underway. I quickly detoured to the shower (smart, I thought) and by that time company had started to arrive. And then there was no turning back! Luckily the weather was beautiful so we were all able to sit outside, visit with each other, the kids played on the four wheeler and of course we all ate plenty of turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, etc. Beings it was an all day event the day was hardly over. What is Thanksgiving without as many deserts as main courses? And really what is Thanksgiving without the annual Ping Pong tournament? The deserts were wonderful as was as all the food (thanks Mom!!) and the ping pong tourney....well the outcome was not as great as Gehrk (the all time victor, or so he thinks) had hoped but it was time for a new champion!!! :) Before the day ended we were sure to have a night cap and reminisce about how much fun the day was and all the funny things that had gone on. With roughly 30 people in house, there were definitely stories to tell and laughs to be had!! What a great day it was to "give thanks!"
Friday: As we went to bed on Thursday many people were Facebook posting about Black Friday shopping already, which I was thankful I was not!! Black Friday shopping is never something my mom and I have done, which is quite a surprise, considering shopping is easily one of our favorite past times!! ;) I guess we are more excited about decorating for Christmas and I was relieved to know AK's family was too.... proven by the picture text of their family Christmas tree strapped to the top of their family car (if you're having trouble envisioning this scene, think Griswald's!) :) So my mom and I decorated most of the day and we had such a great time! We also watched the Hawks lose to Nebraska....not so great!! But we didn't let that break our stride as we had things to light up and ornaments to hang. Friday night was rounded off by my cousisn's 9 year old birthday party. There is something so fun and refreshing about witnessing the innocence of a child (spoken like a true adult, huh??), which is why I chose to take care of kids. So you know the drill....we sang "happy birthday," made a wish, blew out candles and again ate way too much food!! Happy Birthday Nolan!!!
Saturday: Saturday was fast and furious as I was heading back to Chicago by noon in hopes to hang out with AK and miss the traffic madness on Sunday. One would think a full day of decorating would just about do it, but boy are you wrong. We still had plenty of halls to deck so we got busy and cranked out a few two woman tasks before I headed back. After a quick visit with my good friend Jacki (a.k.a. Fancy), I called it a wrap and headed back to the Windy City. A quick stop in Iowa City broke up the drive and for you avid blog followers, get this.....my hawkeye hat (you know, the one I lost while at the IA/MSU game) lives another day. I found the exact replacement, so we are back in business!!! Boy did I give thanks for that!! ;) After a long drive and decorating our little place, AK and I were ready for a beer and champagne. HA! So we met some friends out for a light night drink and called it a night!
Sunday: Sunday began late as our late night soiree turned real late before we knew it! But we didn't let that stop us. Before I knew it we were out and about getting things checked off the list! For the record, Uncle Sam can personally thank us later for single handily stimulating the economy....out and about turned expensive real fast, but our halls are decked and our house screams Christmas, which I love!! So Thanksgiving turned to Christmas time real fast but in the midst of a whirlwind weekend, we were sure to pause to "give thanks!" Sure I am thankful for the things we have and were able to purchase, but I'm more thankful the weekend moments I just described! Time together was a joy and I'm already looking forward to it again in 1 short month!!!
Cheers everyone and be sure to scroll down for a picture recap.....(a limited recap as I was too busy visiting and having a good time!!)

the theme (good idea momma!)

gobble gobble!!! and so stinkin cute!

one of my favs from the weekend....john deere is the only way to roll!!

my favorite people in the whole world....all i need is a little beer to round this one off!! :)

so thankful!

end of the night...cute! cute!

We. Are. Thankful....

for each other, for so many "luxury things" that we are capable of having (cars, appliances, computers, smartphones, etc), for so many people, for family, for love, for forgiveness, for shelter, for food, for jobs (even bad ones, like mine and for new jobs, like the one andy will start in a few weeks), for freedom, for clothes (especially warm stuff now that we are in Chicago), for health, etc. The list is endless and should be recognized more than one month, one week or one day out of the year. Time flies...which is a concept I'm realizing more and more as I get older and many times we/I (especially ME) forget to stop and be thankful. What a fun time of year to embark upon. I'm looking forward to the holidays as always and you could even say I'm thankful they are upon us!!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone....may you have as many blessings to be thankful for as we do!!
Cheers!

Birthdays are the B.E.S.T!!!

You guessed it...It's someone's special day today and that someone happens to be my Mom. Today should be all about her and what makes her so fabulous. She's truly a gift from God and someone I cherish every single day. Coincidentally enough her birthday falls in the month of "thanks" and I'm pretty sure most people in her life would say they are thankful for her....I know I am! All the memories, all the laughs, all the mother/daughter disagreements....I hold close to my heart. She has made me the woman I am today and challenges me to be better, but yet comforts me and consoles me when I'm sad; Her smile is contagious and her home is filled with LOVE! She is one good Momma. I can't imagine a day without her and today I want her to know how much I love her!!! Cheers momma...I can't wait to see you in Iowa City on Saturday decked out in Black!! :)

one of my favorites pics from 2011...at my graduate school graduation in Denver....there she is....my #1 fan!! xoxo

Time for a little Reflection....

Mentally and physically....hear me out!!
We have now lived in Chicago for a month and it has been one fast and furious month with lots of change, new surroundings, new schedules, new forms of transportation, etc. And so this weekend we had a long chat reflecting on life here and life there (Denver)! (this is the mental part!!). We talked about meeting new people and me feeling like I'm dating again in the friend world and AK feeling like he has to maximize time on the weekends as he is busting his booty working on the road. We talked about going on dates via a bus/the El but that we are grateful for so many great restaurants and so much entertainment. We reflected on being closer to family and how great that is. We reflected on the difficulties of leaving comfort, such as comfortable jobs, very great and comfortable friends, a comfortable/familiar drive to the mountains, etc. We reflected on many comparisons trying to point out what we find different and similar between Chicago and Denver and basically came to the conclusion that that is like comparing apples and oranges....IMPOSSIBLE!! Either way it was fun to try!! So in the end there may have been a few tears (happens to champagne occasionally), but we reflected on the fact that we are happy about that too, because that means we loved Denver and didn't waste a good chunk of our 20's. We met great people, had great experiences and made countless memories, and on the flip side, we are already doing all those things in Chicago....so lucky us!!
So the experiences and memories created this weekend are:

Friday: a date night at this pizza place/brewery in Bucktown called Piece..... Very yummy and where the reflection started! We had delicious food and even better entertainment as we sat next to a group of fourteen 60 somethings all in for a Chicago reunion....they were hilarious and had us laughing all night!

so good!!

Saturday: The reflection weekend continued while we went for a brisk morning walk along the lake and soaked in a little more "fall!" This was all before we celebrated a BIG....I MEAN HUGE Iowa win over Michigan and a Sparty win over Minnesota. Next week could be interesting....Iowa vs MSU at Kinnick. Stay tuned and I will keep you posted!! :) Saturday night we went to a local watering hole for some more entertainment/football (as if we hadn't had enough) and took in the LSU/Alabama game. We live on School Street and this place is no further than 10 blocks away on our street and it is called the Schoolyard....with name like that, how could it not be fun!?!?

"Fall" on School Street

a self shot along the path....notice the city in the distance!! 

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday: Began early and productive as we made it up for Church (a Lutheran one at that Momma)!! ;). After church we headed downtown as Andy had to pick up his rental car. This has been a regular occurrence on Sundays and a good reason for us to noodle around downtown. This time Andy took me to Millennium Park and I saw THE BEAN!!! Something I have always wanted to see!! And this is where the physical reflection comes in to play. This thing is a huge bean shaped mirror essentially (I'm sure the creator of this would be horrified with my explanation, but that's all I got at this point). It's right off Michigan Ave so the distorted funny reflections were not only of people but of the skyline as well....just wait, you'll see!! We had so much fun and were cracking up at how silly we looked. After all that, I had a fun skype date with 5 of my Denver girls, which I was so thankful for. ANNNDDD after that, AK made us a fabulous dinner and we watched Water for Elephants....to keep our Sunday night ritual of dinner & a movie going!! Cheers to a great weekend!

me (front and back)...being weird and a cool shot of the city reflection

a framer!!!

Beer & Champagne.....looking their finest!

my handsome little Ginger....wrapped up in argyle! Too cute!! :)

The front reflection...looking into the bean

cute, cute!!

"Hi mom, Hi Dad!!" :)

and this is what sunday nights look like on school street....

Toys are not Just for Boys....

Thanks to my cool and fab mom I scored a new toy and boy is it fabulous. Over the years I have become quite the baker and collected all kinds of necessary items that any baking extraordinaire would need, and there was only one thing missing....wait for it....wait for it...wait for it....THE KITCHEN AID MIXER!!!! How exciting, huh? I realize it's quite a toy, but I have quite a mom and when she gives gifts she doesn't mess around. It's such a nice addition to the kitchen and I am so excited. I'm sure many wonderful things will be created with the new mixer and we can't wait to explore all it's potential. So here is a sneak peak at what she looks like while undergoing banana bread (apparently I can't eat those things fast enough!). Thanks momma....this thing is great!!!

there she is....lookin so pretty and shiny!! :)

looking good even at work!!!

and the finished product....if only it hadn't stuck to the bottom of the pan!! hmmm....

Spur of the Moment....

I have yet to start work and truthfully, it's killing me. I have enjoyed the break and am grateful for the time off, but I'm kind of over it, which I'm sure I will regret saying in roughly two months when I'm completely overwhelmed with the all the joys of starting a new job. Anyhow, those close to me know I'm getting a little antsy..... I mean our place can only be so clean, I can only bake so much without going up a size in pants, there are only so many times I'm willing to get lost in new city by myself, and I think the people at Target are starting to recognize me.... so I was thrilled when my good friend Jacki (a.k.a. Fancy) called and said she was going to be an hour away at an outlet mall!! Without hesitation and on the spur of the moment I jumped in the car to meet her. It was a quick trip, but in a short amount of time we each found some good finds and had a few laughs. The trip was so quick, I forgot to to take a picture....ooops, next time for sure!! Thanks Fancy for making my day and providing worth while entertainment!!