Family Fun!!!

Back in the middle of April my whole family came to Chicago for the wedding of our very close family friend, Amy. The wedding was in a small town about two hours west of Chicago. My family used the wedding as an excuse to also spend a couple of days with us here in Chicago. We loved being able to share our new city with my family. We tried to see most of the big sites, but I still feel like there is a lot left for them to see. Looks like they need to plan another visit! We went to the Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, The Art Institute, Millennium Park, and visited the Goose Island Brewery! It was great having my family here. I only wish it had been a little bit warmer!

Here are a few pictures from their visit. Hope you enjoy!

Mom and Sue at The Field Museum 

Mom and Dad on the steps of the Field Museum

Katie and John at Goose Island Brewery

Brandon and Me at Goose Island Brewery

Mom and Dad at Goose Island Brewery

I don't think we have a "normal" picture together. Wonder where we get it from? (See below!)

This picture makes my heart happy!

Frame worthy!

Dad at "The Bean"

In front of "The Bean"

Dinner at Wildfire on the last night

Hayden and Stephani were only able to come for the wedding. They flew in on Friday and out on Sunday. They will have to come visit another time!

Papa Turns 80!

Yes. I know. It has been awhile since I lasted posted! I really have no excuses other than I was traveling or my parents were here, but that only accounts for about a week of my absence. Ooops!

Any way, back in April I traveled back to Texas for the first time to surprise my Papa at his 80th birthday party. He had no clue my sister and I were coming. The party was held at small Mexican restaurant in Harlingen and about thirty of his friends were in attendance. My Papa is one amazing man! He is truly unmatched and those that meet him come away saying the same thing. He has the ability to make you feel like you are the most important person in the room and he counts everyone as a friend. He is incredibly giving and takes care of those around him. Because of that, I was so happy to be there for his birthday!

Here are a couple of photos from the big event!

I think he was truly shocked and surprised!

Give and Take

Our condo has amazing views of the city. We face west and get to enjoy some amazing sunsets. 

However, the bright sun can make things difficult!

..........

I wear my sunglasses at night

So I can, so I can

See the light that's right before my eyes

......... 

Now that song is stuck in my head... dang it!  But I only know those lines!!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

This past weekend Brandon and I soaked in the city air and celebrated St. Patrick's Day with the rest of Chicago. We started the day by catching a bus up Michigan to the river. We arrived around 9:30am and quickly made our way to a spot along the river to watch the dying of the river. It was quite a site to see. I expected some large boat spraying dye along the expanse of the river, but instead it was a small boat with four or five guys on board who were dropping a powder in the water through what looked like a small flour sieve that you would have in the kitchen. The powder must have been a potent mixture because as soon as it hit the water it turned it orange and then immediately green. Now the green is a bright green. It reminded me a lot of the Hulk (not that I have ever seen any of those movies). The whole process took about thirty minutes.

From there we headed south to Grant Park to grab a spot for the parade. It was a bit chilly, but it was worth it. I don't think I have ever been to a parade before (unless you count the ones at Disney World). We grabbed a spot right next to the road and we were ready to go! Who knew there were so many pipe bands and Irish dancers in the area? The whole parade took over two hours and by the time we were ready to leave my toes were frozen!!!  If you were there you might have mistaken Brandon and me for two seven year olds. Every time some one passed by with something to give out we held open our hands like it was Halloween or something. Thus, we have countless green bead necklaces, candy, two plastic green hats, sunglasses, keychains, and at least 10 coupons for a free small fry at McDonald *with the purchase of some shake. All in all we had a fun time. I loved the pipe bands!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

Texas Country Music in Chicago! Score!

For those of you that know us well, you know we love Texas Country Music! Yes there is a distinct difference between Country and Texas Country! We knew when we moved to Chicago (or out of Texas) that we would be hard pressed to find one of our favorite bands playing in the city. Before we even left Texas, I began searching the internet to see if any of our favorite bands were playing in the Chicago area. I was shocked and so excited to find out that the JOSH ABBOTT BAND would be playing in Chicago right after we moved here! There was no way we could miss it! Brandon and I love the Josh Abbott Band! Both of our ringtones on our phones are from them, we saw them in concert this summer at Luling Thump, and we listen to them all of the time!!! So we ventured out to Joe's Bar to watch them perform. The concert was GREAT!!! They always put on a good show and it was great to hear music from back home! Brandon and I even two-stepped to a couple songs (while everyone stared at us as if we were aliens! Have they really never seen some one two-step?!) After the show we were able to talk to a couple of the band members. They  are so friendly and it was great to be able to talk about Texas! I was even able to take a picture with Josh Abbott!

When It Rains It Pours

 Murphy's Law seems to be nipping at our heels.  Two Saturdays ago, Brandon and I went to grab a sandwich around the corner and while we were there we received a phone call from our Realtor (we are currently renting out our house back in Texas) that we had a leak in the house and that water was running out the front door. The news sent us into immediate panic mode. We called our neighbor Margaret, who is also our property manager, and she was already on her way to fix things. Seriously, everything I say about Margaret will not do her justice. She really is an amazing woman! Margaret went to work and turned the water off and began soaking up all of the water. The leak occurred in our master bathroom.  The night before (Friday) we had a plumber come out and fix some leaky faucets in the master bath and the only thing we can figure is something was turned too tight or torqued the wrong way and caused a valve to fail. We were lucky enough to have a showing on Saturday and they are the ones who found the leak. Thank God! The water leaked through the bathroom, into the carpeted master closet and through the back wall of the closet to the entry way of the house. I think we were lucky and did not suffer much damage, but we are still worried about certain areas. The plumbing company sent out a special company who brought in high powered dryers and they were able to dry everything out (with the exception of a few things).  Almost two weeks later we have everything put back together and we have tenants! However, we are still dealing with the plumbing companies. Plumbing company A (the company that came out that Friday) wants to blame it company B (who did work for us 6 months ago on the valve that failed), all the while the home warranty company, who sent both plumbers out, is doing very little. Ahhh! The joys of home ownership! We finished all of the repairs at about 7:30 on Tuesday night and Margaret gave the keys to the new tenants at 8! Whewww! Thank God for great neighbors who have helped us along the way! It would have been soooooo much harder trying to do things from Chicago without them!

Oh and did I mention that Riley (our 15lb Rat Terrier) came down with the same thing that Bexar had two weeks ago!!! Yup... so not fun. But he is doing much better now!

But in the words of the Beatles.....
Here comes the sun, here comes the sun, and I say its alright
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes!!!!

How many days does it take to form a new habit?

I follow several blogs daily and I find my self getting frustrated when they have not put up a new post in a couple of days. In all my frustration with their lack of posting, I completely forgot that I have a blog that needs attention. Now I must say that I don't think I have people waiting for me to post, but it did remind me to write! I do have two posts that I have yet to post. Today I am going to play catch up. Enjoy!

Our Nest

Many of you have been asking for pictures of our new place and I figured the best way for you to see it without having to send you a ginormous file was to post them here! We are really starting to love our place. It is very different than what we are used to. Lets just say it is much more "cozy." Our kitchen/living/dinning area is flanked by two walls of floor to ceiling windows. Really cool, right? Well, sure, but it sure does make you feel vulnerable! I feel like people are always watching me! But truth be told... who is the creep with the binoculars? Yeah, this girl! (Brandon's Note: Yep, it feels kinda weird having binoculars on the living room coffee table...) Oh geez, I hope no one from neighboring buildings stumbles upon this. I swear I am no a creep... okay maybe my desire for a higher powered scope would qualify me as a creep, but until I actually get it I am a harmless voyeur. There are also no ceiling fixtures or fans!! Everything is lamp light! Weird!! This is has been a hard transition for me because I LOVE light! Just ask Brandon. I am often in trouble for leaving lights on. Have they never heard of can lighting?

Okay enough with the rambling. Here is the grand tour!

This is from the front door looking in. To your left is a very small den/ office and to the right you will find the guest bath and bedroom. Up ahead to the left is the master bedroom and to the right the main living area. (I have always wanted to be a tour guide.)

This is a look into the den. We need to get a small desk to put in here!

This is the guest bath. Yes it has a toilet but I could not get it all in the photo!

This the guest bedroom.

This kitchen has no pantry! This is quite painful for a girl who likes to buy in bulk! Guess who just got a Costco membership? ME!!!!!!!! (Brandon's Note: Yes McGhee's, we have crossed onto the dark side!)

Our living and dinning area. I am not a big fan of the red. I had red walls and red couches back in college . Yikes! I am so over it. Who wants to come paint for me?!

Oh yeah! That black building in the faint background is the Sears Tower!

Our balcony needs a grill. (Brandon: YESS!)I attempted to make steaks on the George Foreman two nights ago. Fail!

This is our bedroom. Ahh it needs color. Again, anyone want to paint? And yes for all you designers out there, I know putting the bed against that window is an awful idea visually, but we had the room arranged the traditional way and it was so cramped. We practically had to tip-toe around the end of the bed. I am fully aware that my Fung is off my Shui. Oh well!

This is our master bath. Brandon and I are back to sharing vanities again. I liked it better when we had separate vanities because I could ignore the messes he made. ( Love you, mean it!)

Ahh! A nice big shower!!!

And that is the tour! I hope you enjoyed my sub-par photography skills. I also hope this will entice all of our friends and family to come visit. Who wants to shotgun the blow up mattress in the living room?!

See Ya Texas!!! Here we come Chicago!

THE MOVE
Where do I even begin? The past three weeks have been a whirl wind. Two weeks ago we were residents of Texas and today we reside in Chicago. It has been quite an adjustment! I felt like we were in a rush when leaving Texas. There was so much more that we needed to get done and so many more people I wanted to say goodbye to, but I am so thankful for the love and support of our friends and family back home. Brandon's family came to visit two weekends before we left and my family came in the next weekend. It was great to see them and enjoy their company (not to mention the food they brought us from the valley and all of the stuff we were able to pack into their cars to take back home)! Our friends were also great! We were fortunate enough to have been a part of a wonderful bible study group while we were in Houston. It was hard (and still is) to leave them. They are such a great support system and a constant source of joy and laughter. Before we left they threw us a surprise going away party and Brandon and I felt so blessed by their thoughtfulness. (Brandon's Note: Seriously, that was completely awesome. Man I miss them!) We also miss our neighbors! I know that might sound odd to most of America but our street is always hopping. Even though we are gone they still are helping us with our house and have been just a phone call away. Margaret (neighbor from across the street) was kind enough to let us sleep at her house on our last night in Texas. We had packed everything in the moving van and it was nice to have a bed to sleep on. (Thanks to everyone who helped us pack up! It was a long process. Sarah forgot to mention we had a HUGE garage sale and probably sold more than half of our stuff. We BARELY fit everything in the van and the car. We had to go from a 2400sf house to a 1300 sf apartment....)

We left Texas on the 10th and began our two-day journey to Chicago. We underestimated exactly how we were all going to fit into the cab of the van which made for cramped quarters for two days. With two adults and two dogs, there was no getting comfortable. Bexar "Bear" (our 70lb lab) had to ride between the two bucket seats for two days and there was no room for him to stretch out. Poor baby! (Man that was a rough ride. I wanted to stay on Interstate, because of the weather, but that meant driving through Louisiana, which I will never do again. Next time we'll take the straight shot up US59. It took us about 22 hours (15 hours the first day, 5 hours the next), pulling a 16ft van and a car dolly, against a head wind. Yup I got a sweet 8mpg....)

Riley (our 15lb rat terrier) was a happy camper because he got to ride in my lap the whole way but that meant that I could not do anything with my legs! Brandon was a champ because he drove the entire way! Upon arriving in Chicago, we both looked at each other and said, "We will never do that again!" (We arrived to Chicago snowing. Good thing I hired some movers to get furniture and boxes in the elevators for us! I was at least that smart! But parking a truck in the alley was a nightmare. I kept having to move the truck to let people by. To make matters worse, at the end of the day, I locked the keys in the truck and had to call AAA - (thanks Lady!) As you can imagine, by the end of the day I was pretty frustrated and rethinking this whole ordeal. But hey, we made it without any big mishaps!)

OUR NEW PLACE
We are happy with our new home. We are in a great building and we feel safe and comfortable. We are all getting used to having to suit up every time we go outdoors, taking the dogs out at least twice a day and walking instead driving. Our first week was pretty rough. We need a guide to Chicago for Idiots. It is a whole different language up here and you need a permit for everything! (Seriously, a permit to have a dog, a permit to run the dog off leash, another one to have a car in the city, and the list goes on. I'm noticing though that nothing is really enforced though...) Last Friday was my birthday, but don't let that fool you because it was a HORRIBLE day! When I look back on it now it is really comical, but in the moment I was not having fun. Bexar started to get sick on Thursday night. It came out of now where! Again, it has been quite an adjustment. When your 70 pound dog desperately needs to use the bathroom there is no way to get there fast! (Hallways, waiting for elevators, more hallways, and then a walk to the park)That being said we had our first accident on the elevator! Not cool and totally embarrassing!!! It just got worse from there! He continued to get worse, which meant we were up taking him out every two hours and still not making it every time. Thank goodness I packed all of the left over puppy pads. I won't go into anymore details because it is just nasty, but I spent most of my birthday cleaning up after him! Bexar got progressively worse and I later had to rush him to the pet hospital where he spent most of the rest of Friday on meds and IVs. He is fine now. We are still not really sure what made him sick, but we are keeping a close eye on him. Since Friday was a giant fiasco, we decided to "re-do" my birthday on Saturday. Saturday was PERFECT! Brandon and I got up early had waffles (my favorite) and then walked through Grant Park, ate at Pizzeria Duo and went shopping. We finished the day off by walking to a great sushi restaurant down the street.

Hopefully, I will post pictures of our new place soon, but I will leave you with a picture of Riley walking in his snow boots!