Double Digits

Wow. How has it been two months since Maggie joined us? She's ten weeks old today- TEN! WEEKS! I can't believe it. September just blew by. Well, really October did too. It's amazing how fast the days go by, even the hard ones. They seem slower but looking back they really go by just as fast. We really are blessed- Maggie is a good baby. She gets the most upset when she's hungry, and moderately upset when wet or tired. Other than that she just hangs out. I sometimes feel like she's bored, so we travel from swing to play mat to blanket with toys, etc. She really loves her changing table and I think would stay there kicking all day if I let her. Her first month was full of getting used to each other and figuring things out. And lots of pictures.

Getting ready to watch the Bears game

Whoo hoo!

It's amazing how much she changed in a month. The first few weeks it was a struggle trying to figure out her feeding needs. Then, like magic, we fell into a groove when she turned one month old. We were sidelined with a bout of thrush that took quite some time to go away, but it didn't seem to bother her and she continued to grow and thrive. At her one month appointment she weighed 7lbs 7oz and 20 3/4 inches long.

October brought more alone time with just mommy as visits started to thin out, especially during the day, and all my help went back to work. So we just enjoyed each other. Through the month we went to Target for the first time, the pumpkin patch and celebrated our birthdays. A couple weeks ago, Maggie really started smiling with intent and at our silly voices and my heart melted. We're in trouble when she gets older. But put her by the ceiling fan and forget it- good luck getting her attention! It doesn't even have to be going, as long as she can look at it she's happy.

On the business side of things, we're working on tummy time (which she doesn't really like) and not favoring the right side so much (per the doctor). I find myself getting worked up about the littlest things so I'm working on myself too. I'm definitely the worrier parent and really need to learn just because something changes out of our "normal rhythm" doesn't mean it's bad or that something is wrong. Otherwise this is going to be tough since babies change all the time. Dale is the much more relaxed parent and takes things in stride and doesn't worry. It's amazing really. I wish I can be more like that sometimes and I wonder if it's a mother/father difference or if it's just my personality to worry more. Anyway- back to Maggie. Her naps during the day are more like cat naps. 25-40 minutes and a time but she's not cranky in between and sleeps well at night, which I'm thankful for. She likes spending time in her swing and on her mat still, but when she's had enough she definitely lets me know. She absolutely loves her bath. I can't wait until she's bigger and starts kicking and playing in it. I should probably invest in ponchos! Her two month doctor appointment was on Halloween. She now weighs 9lb 5oz and 22 inches long. She's really growing! I had to retire her newborn clothes and we're now in 3 months. Some are still big but I know she'll grow into them in no time. I can't imagine life before her now even though she's only been her for a short time. She's already daddy's girl and I can't wait to see their relationship grow.

Enjoying her whale tub

We think this lion is her best friend. She stares and talks to him.

2 months old- 10/28/11

Nom nom nom. 1st Halloween- 10/31/11

I'm so excited to see her personality really come through in the coming months. But that means she'll grow up too! She's getting so big before my very eyes and before I know it she'll be running around. A part of me can't wait, but a part of me would love for her to be a little baby forever.

The Birth Story

My due date was August 22^nd. Ever since hearing that day, I had convinced myself that I was going to go early, only by a week or so, because no way would my body not send an early eviction notice in the hot, hot summer. (Holy cow were there some hot July days!) I had a doctor’s appointment the Friday before and was making no progress. They did an ultrasound and estimated she would weigh 7lb 7oz. I knew they could be off, but then I started to get nervous about how big she was going to get and when she was going to come. I was a little surprised that I wasn’t dilated at all, but knew that didn’t mean I couldn’t go into labor at any time. My due date came and went and I became frustrated. Then I was mad at myself for being frustrated and not just going with the flow. My husband was getting antsy and ready for his girl to make his appearance and I was all “Yea me too buddy!” As the week went on I started to cringe when the phone rang because I knew it was someone asking if I had the baby yet. I didn’t want to be rude of course, but I couldn’t understand why my little girl didn’t want to arrive. My next appointment was the 26^th and I just knew I had to be making progress. I had felt some contractions over the past couple days so I knew I had to be getting close to time. I was somewhat right. I was dialated 1cm and 50% effaced. Finally at least something was going on! Because I was almost a week late, my doctor said if I didn’t have the baby by Monday the 29^th I’d be induced that night. She also said she wouldn’t be surprised if I didn’t go into labor on my own in the next 24-36 hours. That made me feel a little better because as much as I wanted her to come out I really wanted to do it on my own. After the appointment, we went to breakfast, where I had the best stuffed French toast EVER and went for a walk outside, all around CostCo then went home and super cleaned the house. The contractions picked up that night and I thought this was it- but once I relaxed and laid down that night, they went away. I woke up Saturday feeling a little off. I couldn’t explain it, but something was amiss. We finished cleaning, had lunch with friends and hung around at home. Later that day, we went to my brother in laws and that’s where the contractions picked up. We downloaded a contraction timer on Dale’s IPad (because clearly a regular watch wouldn’t work- but he was so excited about it) and there I sat for the next hour or so pressing the start and stop button. They were about 7-8 minutes apart and not that consistent but I knew this was the night. We went to our friend’s house next and I continued to time contractions. I even sat on a wooden kitchen chair instead of the comfy couch in case my water broke. Even though we were closer to the hospital being at their house, we went home around 11pm and walked around the block. It got to the point where I couldn’t anymore, so we went inside and I took a quick shower just to make sure the contractions would keep up. Once I got out we decided it was time to get ready to go- some were as close as 3 minutes and lasting a minute, but for the most part, they were 4 minutes apart for the last 2 hours. We got everything together and Dale made me make a video and talk about how excited I was. At the time I was not too pleased about it, but now, I’m glad we have the memory. The whole way to the hospital I was so nervous about being sent home, but as the contractions got stronger I knew we were good to go. We checked in and were put in a triage room- apparently they were very busy so I had to wait for a delivery room- but at least I was staying. I was now 3cm and 100% effaced and everything was going smoothly and just continued to labor. After a few hours- I lost all track of time as it was so late and was trying to get some rest- but probably around 3am sometime, I was hit with a double whammy contraction that was extra sharp and painful. That’s when I forget a lot of the details. Right after that contraction, the baby’s heart rate dropped. I knew something was not right when I heard it and then nurses and residents rushed in. They put oxygen on me and started moving me around. I was hooked up to an internal monitor and when they broke my water- there was meconium present. During this whole time, which felt like an eternity, her heart rate still didn’t go back up. They paged my doctor and told me that I may need to consider having a c-section. I didn’t have an epidural at this point so they told me I may need to be knocked out and Dale couldn’t be there with me. That thought was completely terrifying. I couldn’t imagine having to be asleep during all of this and wake up not really knowing what went on. Finally after about 8-9 minutes, her heart rate went back up and stabilized. But they were watching it very closely. I have never been so scared in my life- it’s actually really hard to write this. I looked at Dale and he was grayish white and I thought he was going to pass out. He stepped out of the room (which was tiny and hot since I still was never transferred to a proper delivery room) and the nurses helped him come to. Surprisingly on the outside, I was much calmer than I thought, but after seeing him like that, I knew I couldn’t endure that again. My doctor came in and checked me and I was 5 cm. He said I could try to labor more and see what happens, but since it was my first baby, it could be another 5-6 hours before I’m ready to push and during that time her HR could drop again. Or I could have a c-section and if she remained stable for the next 15 minutes, I could just receive the spinal and be awake with Dale with me. We couldn’t bear going through another episode like that and together decided it was safest for her to have the c-section. I feel like they had everything ready quite quickly and before I know it I was in the operating room (Grey’s Anatomy is almost spot on). I received the spinal, which is such a strange feeling, they brought Dale in and before I know it she was out. She didn’t cry right away, which the nurse said was a good thing since she had meconium all over, but they cleaned her out and then we heard the best sound in the world. My baby was here, and despite what happened, she was fine. They wrapped her up and showed her to me, and I could hardly see though the tears. Everything may have not gone the way I really wanted it too, but in that moment, it didn’t matter. She was beautiful- and so tiny! Maggie Grace arrived at 6:09am Sunday August 28^th 6lbs 1oz and 19 ½ inches long. Big brown eyes and a lot of dark hair. And perfect. I could never forget the perfect.

Re-Introduction

Well hello dusty, mistreated blog. It's been 8 months. Wow- 8 months to the day, actually. (Well to the day when I started writing this.) Since I last blogged, we've entered our third change of season, baseball has started and is about to end, football season is here and I had a baby. Yes, a beautiful baby that arrived August 28th. I could name a bunch of reasons why I haven't blogged, but I'm going to forgo that and just update and move on.

About a week after my last blog entry, I was laid off. It wasn't completely unexpected, but it was still a hard pill to swallow. Even though I knew it had nothing to do with me, I went through a bunch of emotions and had a hard time dealing with it for awhile. And I'm sure the pregnancy hormones probably didn't help. I found out I was pregnant a month before this happened- on December 19th to be exact. I even told my bosses 2 weeks before which made it even harder for them to let me go. I looked for jobs and sent out resumes, but nothing came of them. Then when I started to show I knew it might be harder to find something. But on the happier side of things, my pregnancy was going very smoothly and we were THRILLED. I was feeling good, only a little sick during the first trimester and it seemed like exactly at 12 weeks and 1 day I woke up with no sickness and wasn't as exhausted. I was a new woman! The only thing we kept close watch on was gestational diabetes. My family has a history of diabetes so they wanted to be sure this didn't pop up. 3 one hour and 2 three hour glucose tests later, I remained in the clear for my entire pregnancy. While out of work I went about my business of growing and planning for our little bundle to arrive. Originally, I wasn't going to find out the baby's gender. My husband said he was finding out with or without me, but my plan was to wait until the shower and have the decorations do the big reveal. That plan didn't last for long and we were both too anxious to wait. Finally at the big ultrasound, we found out we were having a girl. I was shocked as I would've put big money on us having a boy, but I cried tears of joy that we were having her and more importantly that she was healthy. Once we knew, nursery plans, names and everything else was in full swing. Even though it was sometimes difficult, I will admit it was nice to have the summer off- my first one ever since I turned 16 and started working- and it was nice to relax during those hot, hot days. All in all, I was blessed to have a wonderful pregnancy. Of course I had some bad days, some uncontrollable crying days and days I couldn't.stop.eating. (I'm ashamed to admit one week I went to Chipotle three times becuase I couldn't get enough of their rice. My only real craving.) And now here we are at the end of September, and my baby girl is about to be a month old. I can't wrap my head around how fast time went. I feel like I just took the pregnancy test. I'm very excited to watch her grow and share our journey here so we can always come back and never forget. Next to come, our birth story.

A Sad Day

It's a sad day, well sad last night as well, in my household. My husband's beloved Bears were booted out of the race for Superbowl champs and the right to relive the glory of 1985. Some might not warrant this worthy of a blog post, but friends, it really affects my husband. He was in such a mood last night that we hardly spoke and he didn't want to watch the second game- he was done with football. It didn't help that he spent all week gloating and telling anyone that will listen that they were going to win. He posted all kinds of anti-Green Bay pictures on his Facebook...

(There were ones that were much worse that I will not share haha)

All the preparation and stress of the week to be let down. I quote "My head hurts, my heart hurts and I hate life". haha. He wants to put the house up for sale because our next door neighbors are Packers fans and he can't take the shame. Now, of course he's being dramatic with all the hating life and selling the house business because come on, it really is just a football game. He told me I don't understand because I'm a Cubs fan and I'm used to feeling the pain of losing. (Baseball season is always rough in our house). After the loss, he promptly ripped off his #54 jersey (he already rid himself of the Cutler jersey he started the game off with when he did not come back in to play) grabbed his White Sox fleece blanket and laid on the couch the rest of the night. I talked to him this morning on my way to work and he said he felt better but it would take time. (I'm laughing as I type this). I just looked at his Facebook page and he just replaced his Bears profile picture with that of the White Sox emblem. I questioned him and the sudden change and he said "I'm ready to move on to better and brighter days." So friends, if your husbands or wives are seemingly distraught over the game and you think the entire week is ruined, fear not, there is light at the end of the tunnel. Now, let's see if our house divided will survive baseball season. GO CUBS!!!

Circle Gets the Square

Does anyone else remember Hollywood Squares?? I love that show!! Anyway. I digress. This weeks assignment was circles. I had fun trying to think creatively and spot circles I wouldn't normally seek out. So, the other morning when I was getting ready  for work I was all "Hey!!! Circle shower curtain!"

Bonus for the tissue holder too.

My next set is something I often enjoy...

These are my favorite wine glasses. They are so much fun and I feel fancy because they are from Pampered Chef. It's the only thing I own from there. Clearly I'm not that fancy though if I only have wine glasses and none of the gadgets they sell.

And lastly, behold my favorite circles of all...

The Target bag. I love Target. I go there at least once a week and this bag contained my latest purchases: dish washing detergent and Lemonheads. You know, life's essentials.

I had fun with this You Capture this week! Go head over to Beth's for more!

I'm back- You Capture!

It's been awhile since I've done a You Capture and I'm not proud of that. BUT, I'm going to try my best to participate in every challenge and to use my actual camera. I've had it for awhile but haven't really become acquainted with it yet. So, this year I'm going to learn more about it and read some books on how to use it better. I'm really excited about this goal of mine.

So- here are my doorways. I tried to get creative with the "meaning" and angle and stuff, but these are what I came up with.

This is the view of my doorway from right up the stairs into the beginning of the kitchen . I LOVE the light fixture there. I think that's one of my favorites things about my house- all the light fixtures match.

This is the view from my front doorway. I love the snowman "Season's Greetings" I have hanging. And of course my husband felt it necessary to put the Bears chair right next to the door. It's actually the first thing he moved into the house. Our next door neighbors are Packers fans so you can imagine what that's like.
There you have it!! Go check out some more doorways over at Beth's!!!

1914

My beautiful, wonderful, awe-inspiring great-grandmother turned 97 on Saturday. 97! Can you believe it? She is the most amazing woman I've ever had the pleasure of knowing and I'm blessed to call her my grandma.

The birthday girl

  Since some of my cousins have kids, there are 5 generations in our family. When I tell people I still have my great grandma, people are shocked because they never met their great grandparents or sometimes even grandparents (that thought is SO sad to me).

Only about half of the great grandchildren

 Some of my family members and I went to the nursing home she lives in and surprised her with a lunch party. It was so much fun and to see the joy in her face and hear it in here voice.

My grandma (her daughter) and grandpa, my mom and my aunts and uncles

Her eye sight is mostly gone, but she can tell who each person is and loves to just sit back and listen to all of us talk. She's in otherwise good health and her mind is all there- she was telling us things she remembers from when she was 3! I'm so thankful to be able to hear stories about her parents and her early life. My how things are different now. I hope one day my kids will be able to meet her, if not, I'll tell them stories about her everyday for the rest of my life and let them know how much she loves them- even if she's not here. I'm so blessed to have such a wonderful, loving family. Happy 97th birthday Grandma! We all love you so much!

…And a Happy New Year!

 Well, 2011 is here! I can’t believe. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. It's hard to believe it’s already gone, but I’m slightly excited to return to “normal” life again. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the extra time off of work and the wonderful family time, but sometimes there is just so much to do you feel out of sorts. And I’m just kind of ready for my sorts to be put back in place.

I’ve never been one to make resolutions. I don’ really know why. I think because most of the people I know that make them quit by the end of January. And it’s often very apparent to me when people drop their resolutions when I go to the gym January 3rd and it is PACKED then I go on February 3^rd and it’s back to normal. Or when on the first Tuesday of January, my Weight Watchers meeting is standing room only and then in February I can sit again. I’m not saying anything bad about these people. It’s hard to make a change you’re not used to and we put way too much pressure on ourselves to do it and do it now. I think a change in lifestyle has to be a gradual thing because obviously it’s something we’re not used to, otherwise it’s just too much. I want my changes to be long term and spread out so I feel like I can truly succeed and not just do it half way. This year, I’m committed to getting back on the healthy lifestyle horse. More working out, more eating better, but mostly, more positive thinking and being kinder to myself. I’m going to try to not sweat the small stuff and realize what’s really important. All too often I find myself stressing about something that isn’t even important or doesn’t even affect me and I’d really like that to stop. It’s going to be hard because I think I’m a worrier by nature, so maybe along the way I can find external way to distress. Soothing music, scents, teas- anyone want to share their favorite tricks to relax and be stress free?

Hope everyone is happy and healthy in 2011!

Social Media

I recently watched a movie (I can’t for the life of me remember the name or the rest of the plot) that talked about 2009 like it was WAY in the future. Flying cars, futuristic clothes- the works. We’re not quite there yet in 2010, but sometimes I still can’t believe the strides technology and social media has made. I remember the days of calling our friends on our home phones asking “can you play?” Granted I was much younger back then, but that’s what we did. Or we just stopped by. But if we were lucky we could leave a message on an answering machine, otherwise we just waited until they got home. That's the way life was- lots of waiting and we were okay with that. Now, my brother who is the same age now as I was then, is texting his friends, IM-ing or waiting for his parents to come home to take him somewhere because walking or riding your bike takes too long. It seems to be more of an instant gratification thing. I'm in that mindset now too sometimes, but he can get just way too impatient if a friend doesn't text back right away. He'll text again and again. I ask him why he just won't call and leave a message, and he looks at me like I have 3 heads. Then I feel inclined to say "you know when I was your age" but then I stuff that inside cause I'm not that old! There are so many ways of getting a hold of someone or putting yourself out in the cyber-world it’s amazing. I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, but sometimes I feel like I can’t keep up. My brother is 12 and I’m 29 and he’s more advanced than I am! I admit, some of it is probably just me. I don’t really instant message, I joined Facebook a little over a year ago and just started to blog. I don’t have an I-Phone (though I REALLY want one) and I haven’t started tweeting- yet. But my old ways have definitely changed to keep up with the new ways of the world. Where I once used to spend hours on the phone catching up with friends, writing notes to pass in the hall in my school days or sending a letter to a friend who moved away, a simple “how have you been” text or email takes its place. Sometimes I’m okay with it seeing as how I seem to have less time to be on the phone, and of course email is so quick. But sometimes, I miss writing a letter to someone and thinking about how excited they’ll be to get it (or am I the only one who loves getting mail?) or the anticipation of knowing you’ll be getting a letter soon. So, in 2011, I’m going to try to bring back some of those old traditions. I’m going to send more letters/cards- even just little simple ones to let friends know I’m thinking of them even if I get to see them. I’m going to make that phone call to the friends I haven’t talked to in 4 months so I can hear their voice instead of the hey-how-are-you text. I’m still going to text and email, but I’m going to go old school again too. I’m still going to Facebook, still going to blog and I think I’m going to join twitter. Even though technology and life is speeding up and it can be hard to keep up, it's time to because some things really are too good not to share right away. And I think I’m going to have a lot of good things to tweet about in 2011.

Winter Wonderland

I think it's safe for most of us to say hello to winter and snow. I hope everyone is safe and warm and didn't have any issues with this (stupid) storm we had this weekend. I’ve been away for awhile- which does not please me since I’m still pretty new to blogging, but time got away from me. Every time I decided to blog something, something else happened. But now, I’m going to commit to getting that in check and make 2011 the year of blogging for me! Can you believe it’s going to be 2011? I cannot. I’ve heard that time starts to fly faster as you get older, but I didn’t believe it until this year. It’s truly crazy. I remember last New Year’s Eve like it was yesterday and here we are preparing for it again. I'm going to need time to slow down a little bit, I already can't keep up!

I’m excited for the holidays this year, not only because we’re in our new house, but we’re HOSTING both Christmas gatherings. My husband’s side always has their Christmas the Saturday before to ensure everyone will be there, so that is this Saturday. And with him being one of five boys and all of them married with kids, it's going to be a packed house. Then on Christmas Day, my mom, grandparent’s aunts, uncles and cousins from my mom’s side will be at our house, and again it will be packed. But to me, pack them all in, the more the merrier! I’m so excited to have them all over because none of them except my mom have seen our house. And I just love being around my family. And I’m not going to lie, not having to leave the house sounds pretty good too. So, hopefully I’ll remain calm and not let the stress of party planning and hosting bother me. I’ve already started my baking- and that includes one of my favorite Christmas treats- the green wreaths made with Corn Flakes…YUM! 

Exhibit A

Someone in my family would always make them so I’ve never made them before until Sunday and oh my are they easy AND good. I have a feeling they are going to get me in trouble! Is it weird to still make those when April comes? What are your favorite things to bake? And what holiday traditions do you prepare for this time of year?

Weighing Down

This post has been sitting in my drafts for awhile, it's not even a huge deal, just took me some time to hit publish. It's my first "venting" post. And while I still feel guilty for it because there are so many more important things going on- I also need to remember this is my space to write my thoughts and reach out to the blog world. And maybe one day in the future, I can look back here and be proud of the changes I made. So, here it goes. Weight loss is hard. Now, I don't want to sound too dramatic because I know many people have their ups and down, but this is my worst personal demon. It's also something I don't talk about a lot save for in my Weight Watchers meetings or with a select few friends, one if which who is taking the journey with me. I don't know that I "struggled" with weight when I was younger, I was just kind of oblivious too it. I wasn't the overweight kid in grammar school. I didn't go away to school, but I did work retail and the eating Taco Bell after a night shift caught up with me. Time went on and I started really feeling the effects of my weight mentally. In 2002, I was going through a particularly rough fall quarter in college and weeks before my 21st birthday, I broke down. I was in my then boyfriends driveway and started crying uncontrollably about my weight, the way I looked, the stress of school, everything. After it happened I wanted to brush it off- and to be completely honest, I don't remember a lot of that night. I know that for the next few weeks a lot of people were there to support me and help me and I know that that night was the start of years of beating myself up about my weight. It didn't help that certain members of my family always made not so nice comments about it too. When I turned 21 I was so excited, all but a couple of my friends were older than me, and they were so excited to take me to all the fun places and dance our nights away. I was the biggest in the group, and a lot of times I spent those nights out mentally beating myself up and wondering why I couldn't be pretty and skinny like my girlfriends- silly I know, but it still happened. But there were also times that I didn't think about it at all- and of course I never talked about it. Finally in May of 2007, a friend talked about her joining Weight Watchers and I decided to join with her, and so did another friend. I didn't feel like I was being saved and there was no big "it's about time" epiphany, but I just did it cause why not- her idea was my in.

I saw success with it right away and within a couple months I lost 20 pounds, and 14 months after I started I was 6 pounds away from my goal, having lost 55 pounds. I never felt better about myself. I hate to sound vain in that way, but I finally felt like a "normal, cute" girl. It was wonderful. Somehow, life happened and I started gaining some weight back- which looking back at pictures was ok because I think I was getting a little too skinny. It was still a manageable lifestyle, but it became a little harder for me to maintain, even though for the most part I was still doing good. In June of 2009 I gained 12 pounds back and in August just as I was getting it under control, I fell at the gym (the day before my wedding shower and a month before my wedding), and severely sprained my ankle. I was on crutches and in an air cast and later had months of physical therapy and shots. Needless to say, I couldn't work out for 8 months and coupled with the first year of marriage I gained a lot more weight than I should have. The program was slightly followed but not like it should've been and I didn't work out at all- it didn't occur to me then to continue lifting hand weights and do sit ups. Every time I tried to get back on track, my body didn't respond like the first time where there was more of a shock to my system. The weight came back in different places which was a hard pill to swallow too. The worst part is that I never quit Weight Watchers. Who gains weight while still a member? Today, I'm still struggling. I haven't lost all the weight I gained back and everyday is a constant battle with my mind trying not to be down on myself. My leader tells me it will happen- she quit and gained back all her weight 3 times and has now kept it off for 14 years- but somehow I don't have faith. I feel like I'll be stuck this way forever- mostly because the results aren't showing like before and I don't know why. But I also know I need to do better. And I need to not stress and be kinder to myself. I try to believe that people don't see me for my weight but what I have to offer- wonderful friendship, loyalty, fun and the occasional sarcastic remark. I know this is true, but for me, weight is a big thing. I feel I needed to write this out so I can become more accountable. I know I could use all the support I can get and would also love to support others on their journey. So if anyone knows anyone else taking the weight loss journey who struggle, succeed or anything let me know and we can help each other. Support is invaluable and I know with a few more pushes I can finally get my inner demon under control.

You Capture

I'm a day late on You Capture this week, but thought it would still be fun to participate. I tried to think outside the box a little for Halloween- we don't have any kids to dress up yet and I spent the day at home waiting for all the trick or treaters. Sadly we didn't get as many as I expected! There's always kids running around all over the neighborhood so I was so excited to get a lot of visitors and was fully prepared with all the good kinds of candy and even a fun bowl from the Target dollar spot. (I LOVE Tar-gey). Now I have a bunch of leftovers and think I've been on a sugar high all week.

I love fun holiday home decor. I never though I'd be into it, but man I can't get enough. My best friends very talented mom makes quilts and decided one year to make placemats. The other side is for Thanksgiving and there is a Christmas set too. I love them.

I suppose with all the traffic the next set isn't really "quiet," but it was for me as I could just get lost in the sunset. Isn't is beautiful?! I turned off my radio and just took it all in amazed. The red tones wrapped around to the sky behind me and then to the left it was just blue. It's amazing what mother nature can do. (I really wish I would've had my regular camera with me- and no worries, I was stopped when I took each picture with my phone. I'm sure the neighboring cars thought I was nuts)

Check out more Halloween and beautiful silence here.

Hall of Fame

My husband and I have a tradition- we go to White Castle on Valentine's Day. I could care less to do something big and fancy on that day- I never really had any use for it. I've always found it hilarious that White Castle advertises to make reservations for dinner there every year. So, for our first one together in 2008, we went there and now it's something we've vowed to do forever. He wanted to have them at our wedding reception for a late night snack, but the hall said we couldn't bring anything in. My brother-in-law, the rule breaker, paid no mind to that and had my niece leave to go get them. Our wish was fulfilled- and they were a HUGE hit.

Who would've thought this would lead him to be inducted into the 2010 White Castle Hall of Fame?! (Also, who knew there was such a thing?!) On a slow day at work sometime after the wedding, he decided to write to them and tell them his/our story. When he was little, he and his late dad used to go fishing and get White Castle and his dad would order extra pickle- he was the only one he knew that ever ordered extra pickle. Until he met me. He immediately thought of his dad and how I must be a good match for him and here we are today. He submitted the story and the picture of us above and he is now one of 13 people being inducted. In two weeks, we'll fly to Ohio for the induction ceremony where we have to dress fancy and he'll have to give an acceptance speech. He's been interviewed on the radio and has been contacted to give more to other stations and newspapers. I can't help but laugh about this whole thing- it's so fun! I love how something so little (but apparently much bigger than I thought) can bring so many memories. I can't wait to tell our future children and grandchildren about their "famous" daddy.

If you're interested, click here for the interview he gave yesterday.

29 Is Fine

Today is my 29th birthday. Now, anyone that knows me knows I have always LOVED my birthday. A lot. I get teased for how much I love it. It's the one day that the world stops and it's all about me. The montly countdown begins at the half way mark in April, and once October hits it's "26 days til my birthday, 25 days til my birthday", you get the point. And being that it's at the end of the month, let's just say it's a long October for anyone who has to hear it. But, I don't care. I love my birthday.

See, even back in the day I loved to get my party on.

Now I feel kind of weird writing my own birthday post, but there is reason behind it. This year, I'm not as excited about my day (gasp!). In fact, up until someone reminded me last week, I forgot it was coming. I think part of it has to do with everything going on with our house and moving and all that. Having a week off really messed up my concept of time. Part of it is probably that in 2 days it's my husbands birthday so everytime I count down he adds two days and does it too (I think it's to make me mad) and instead of having my own birthday celebration I have to share it. Selfish, maybe, but it took some getting used to while we were dating! But the big part of it is- holy cow I'll be 30 next year. A whole year from now, but still, it's close. My "timeline" I planned for myself when I was younger is not what it was and I'm still getting used to that. I was supposed to have one or two kids by now and getting settled into life forever. Now, I've barely been married a year, been in a house for two weeks and just starting to get ready to start a family. And I know this is all ok. I'm by no means old, and I just have to except that my plan is different now. Sometimes it's a hard pill to swallow, but most times I couldn't be more grateful because with the old plan, I wouldn't be with my husband and where I am now. So on this 29th birthday, I am just thankful for everything I have, the amazing people I'm surround with and just to be able to celebrate. Happy Birthday, Me!

You Capture- Orange

I love orange! And it is definitely plentiful in Chicago during fall. With so many options it was hard to decide what to include in You Capture- but I found 2 favorites.

First, I love these pumpkin candies. YUM. I wait all year for them. I enjoy all varieties of candy corn as well. Have you tried the caramel apple kind? Be sure to save me some at the store because they are delightful and you'll want to buy them all. Anyway...mmm tiny pumpkins....

 I love eating the green stems off first, but when I'm not feeling dainty, I pop the whole thing in my mouth.

This, is "Hungry" from the past Weight Watchers commercials. I've been a member for 3 years and it's still sometimes hard, but he sits on my desk at work as a reminder to not eat the whole bowl of pumpkins. However, sometimes it doesn't work (don't tell my meeting leader!)

Also, please note the orange pen in the cup- bonus capture. I have a slight obsession with pens. But that's a whole other post.

Head over to Beth's for more orange fun- can't wait to see more shots!

We Moved!!

I've been absent from the online world and out of touch with anything news related for pretty much the last week as we finally closed on our new house last Tuesday! It was a rough road with more downs than ups, but everything finally went through and we are homeowners. The closing process went surprisingly smooth and we were in and out in an hour. My always helpful brother in law met us at our new house with the truck of all our stuff (prepacked on Monday) and the unloading began. I can't believe how much stuff we have. We were so blessed at our wedding shower last year to receive so many nice things and we didn't really open anything because we wanted to save it for our new house- we just didn't think it would take a year to get! So it was like Christmas as I unloaded all kinds of new treasures. There was a lot of work involved in the last week and more to come, but we are living in our home and I love it. I still sit there like "is this really mine?!" It hasn't sunk in yet- and I think it will take some time- and furniture, but I'm so glad  everything is done. It's safe to say we won't be moving for MANY, many years! Pictures to follow- as soon as I unpack my camera!

Humbled

This week, I wanted to write a post about how difficult life is right now. House buying stuff, marriage stuff, etc. I don't want to be thought of as a complainer, but sometimes a girl just needs to vent and I thought blogging would be a perfect outlet. But so many other things have been going on and have come up this week with people in my life that are much more important- a child's health, their own health, serving our country, etc. and I am humbled and realize that no matter how aggravated and upset I get right now, that this that I'm going through- shall pass. And I pray fervently for those with more urgent things going on and that everything will work out. Sickness will heal, wisdom for doctors and protection for those at war. Peace for those who lost a loved one and those with unanswered questions and diagnosis. I know that everyone is entitled to have their bad days and to look for reassurance, but this week, I choose to move past it.

My blog journey has been short as I'm just diving in, but if it's one thing that I've learned from behind the scenes and just reading is that it is an awesome community of support, learning and so much more. Something I'm thrilled to embark upon. I'm sure one day I will write that venting post, but for today, I'm just thankful to be here.

You Capture- Faces

For as easy as this assignment could've been, I unfortunately didn't have a lot of time with my camera. Life got in the way, so I had to make do with my trusty cell phone camera. We celebrated our one year anniversary this weekend and we went back to the same restaurant we went to while on our honeymoon in Orlando. We were so excited when we saw they had one in Chicago and came up with this idea back then. I of course forgot, but my husband was kind enough to remind me, so off to The Palm we went. These are the faces of people excitedly waiting for their delicious meal:

Can you find any additional faces in these shots??


Give up???


There are some painted on the walls!!! Bonus! (The one to the right of my husband's head is Lou Piniella- Go Cubs!!) I wish I would've taken some better shots of some of them, but the ones I wanted would've involved me getting in the booth with some other patrons. I'm not sure if they would enjoy that.

Go get some more face time over here with Beth.

You Capture- Togetherness

As much as I can't stand the thought of winter coming around the corner, I am excited for all the togetherness that happens during the holidays. Although it can be quite hectic running around to here and there, it's still such a special time. I didn't get to capture any big group togetherness this week , but we did get to spend time with a special little lady.

This is my month old great niece. I'm a Great Aunt! It's so weird- and makes me feel kind of old- but it's wonderful and she's the cutest little girl. And look at all the hair!!!! Plus, I'm not old! Right?! Right.

Apparently my husband can't go anywhere without Bears paraphernalia.

Who doesn't like togetherness with a cute baby?!?! And with Dunkin Donuts and french bread on the table no less!!!

Let's go hang out together here for more You Capture!

One Year

One of my favorite pictures

Today, my husband and I have been married one year. I can't believe it! How does time fly so quickly?! It feels like yesterday we were spending an amazing day of love and fun with our family and friends. Almost everything went perfectly, and what didn't was quickly forgotten because of the rest of the joy surrounding us (and a quick trip to Jewel by my matron of honor to buy flowers to fix the bouquets). The day was just wonderful- I still remember every detail and I hope that never fades away. The weather was nice, even though it drizzled a little bit in the morning, but when it was time to take our pictures outdoors after the ceremony, it was absolutely beautiful. The mood was a mixture of nervousness, joy and a little touch of sadness- mostly because I couldn't believe I was old enough to be someones wife. I spent the morning with my mom, aunts, bridesmaids and hair dresser and there were some tears, but mostly from laughter.

I can't even find the right words to express our first year of marriage. I'm not going to lie, the first few months were rough. Everyone warned me of it, especially since I did not live with him before we got married, but I never believed people. At least I knew to try not to feel bad if there was a rough patch because everyone of my married friends went through it too. But the love, laughs and joy we've had so far? Nothing can compare to that. I feel very lucky to have found him and that he chose me. And to think this is just the beginning. I can't wait to see whats in store for the next 50 years! My matron of honor said it best in her speech- I hope we look back on our wedding day as the day we loved each other least and that our love just continues to grow. And so far, it's true.

And now, I will bombard you with pictures of our special day.

I was so nervous!

Officially man and wife!

In case you're wondering, yes, the vests are navy blue and ties are orange for the Chicago Bears. (I can't believe I agreed to it)

I'm a Cubs fan, he's a Sox fan. Baseball season is rough on a marriage.

I wish I had more cake than I did- YUM.

The gem of the evening (and can you believe that ridiculous sweater vest?? A Mike Ditka replica- ugh.)