I Tried Speed Dating!

Did that get your attention? Don't worry, it is not a secret from Adam. It was actually speed dating for a priest. Does that sound even more worrisome? How about if I admit it was actually called a Priest Information Night? That is probably better. I just called it speed dating. =) Let me explain....Our pastor has been at our church for 12 years, which means June 30th he has to leave and we will get a new pastor. Priests can stay at one church for 2 six year terms. Unless there is a very good reason (like there is a crisis in the church or the priest is going to retire in a year), the archdiocese is pretty strict about adhering to the rule. Last January (2008), I was chosen to be on our church's Transition Team. We are a team of about 16 individuals that have been working on the process of preparing our church for transition, writing a report to give to the Bishop (we did that in October), holding parish wide town hall meetings, conducting surveys, and now the fun part....planning goodbye and welcome parties! We have been meeting at least once a month for the last year and during September and October, I think I saw them more than my own family! In addition to being on the Transition Team, I was also on the writing team (a sub group of the Transition Team) that compiled info and wrote the report for the Bishop. Well..the point of this is a week and a half ago, the archdiocese held an Information night where all parishes who will be getting a new priest were invited to set up a table. All eligible priests were also invited. I was chosen to be one of the 4 members of my church to go to the event and represent our parish...hence....speed dating for a priest! There is a meeting held at the end of February where the Cardinal, Bishops, and Priest Placement Board assign all of the pastors. We will find out our new pastor the first week in March. We have been and will continue to pray for them as they prepare to meet and meet and hope the best thing happens for CHS.

CHS reps

Dad and I designed this!!

Our info!

On the Train

So here I am. Blogging from the train! With my fancy new phone. Tonight was night 3/10 of my class in Chicago. I have actually been taking the train and getting to and from class all by myself! I even take different ways to class depending on the lights! I sometimes wonder when I am walking if it obvious that I am a suburbanite...but I think I fit in pretty well. I was excited to catch an earlier train tonight. Class is supposed to end at 8:20 and I catch the 8:40 train. But we have been getting out early...but not early enough to catch the 7:40 train (which I would have to leave by 7:20 for). So tonight when it was 7:00 and it seemed like we were wrapping up, another lady and I asked if we would be done by 7:20. Our professor said if we weren't, we would be soon after and to just go whenever we had to leave to catch the train! Yah! I'm excited to be getting home at 8:40 rather than 9:40!!! So...here is a picture I took of myself before I got off the train to walk to class...I got this really fashionable head thing that covers everything but my eyes. I know the people in Chicago are definitely not confused about me being a fashionista or anything. But I am warm!

We are getting old!

Last night (Sunday) I went out to Dekalb to celebrate my college roommate Kristin's birthday with her and our other friend Katie. She turned 26! That means I will be turning 26 this year!

That just seems old for me....

Maybe because she is married with a baby and I am.....well...not. =)

But we had a lot of fun. It is always good to see the girls and especially little Layla!

Little Layla enjoying all of the attention from her college aunties!

Layla trying to go somewhere with Katie

Layla having a silly time on her mommy's shoulders!

We went to one of our favorite restaurants from college....Eduardos. We had yummy margaritas and yummy Mexican food!

Watch for Falling Ice

I saw lots of these signs as I was walking in the city on Thursday night...to and from my class. But this isn't one of the ones I saw. It was too cold to stop and take a picture, so I found one online. Gotta love Google Images!

These are the icicles hanging from the roof of my townhouse! Do you see the one hanging like 8 inches below the shutter? Crazy!

Baby It's Cold Outside

....and mommy, will you take me to my first day of school?

Last night was the first night of my class for this quarter. Unfortunately, the only place the class I need is offered is at the Chicago campus. My school has an Elgin campus (classes there would be great!), Wheeling campus (fine!), Lisle campus (fine!), Skokie campus (not fine) and a Chicago campus (not fine). There is no good way to get to Skokie and it would probably take me over 2 hours to get there by car. It is the same with Chicago. There is no way I can get there in time driving....so I have to take the train. The train leaves Bartlett at 3:38. Which means I am going to have to leave work a few minutes early (we put our kids on the bus at 3:30), drive to the train station, park, and run to the platform.

Sounds simple. But the thing is.....I'm not so much a fan of the city OR public transportation. In fact, both of them freak me out and make me very anxious. And my class is at least a 20 minute walk from the train station! Luckily, I have the best mom in the world and she offered to ride with me on the train and find my class the first night. Dad drove down after work to meet her.

Mom on the train

Me on the train
We made it down, walked to class in the -31 wind chill (because if I didn't do it with mom last night, I would never figure out which way to go on my own!), mom left, I had my class, walked back, FOUND the station, got on the RIGHT train, and made it back to Bartlett where Adam picked me up because it was -14 and -34 with the windchill. 1 down. 9 more nights to go!

P.S. My toes were so frozen that I actually took my shoes off in class and sat Indian Style with my feet tucked in my legs on my chair to warm them up, my top and bottom eye lashes were frozen together, and I'm really not sure how I was walking because I literally could not feel my legs.


I thought I would post this because I wore this necklace to class last night because it made me think of summer and summer makes me happy. My friend Erin from work gave this to me for Christmas and I love it!

I also thought you might enjoy our weather this morning. Once again, we have a "cold day" and there is no school. I understand that it is unsafe for kids to be waiting at bus stops and walking to school in this...but still...now we have to come 3 extra days in June!

P.S.S. I know this is a really random rambling post. But what else am I supposed to do on another day off from school?!?!

Cold Day

No school today. But not a snow day..it is a "cold day". -31 is pretty darn cold.

The temperature according to weather.com is:

This is our second weather related closing of the year. Lots of teachers are happy. Not me! I don't want to come extra days in June. And we didn't even have kids today. Preschool didn't have class and we just were supposed to have meetings. What a waste of a snow day! The first snow day was the Friday before winter break. What a waste that day was too! It was supposed to be fun all day! Also, I feel like we just got back from winter break, so I don't need the day off. AND Monday is MLK day, so we had the day off then anyway!

But I guess I shouldn't complain because I am getting important things done...like blogging!

Hope you California people are staying warm. I bet you never close school because of the cold!

I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

About three things I was absolutely positive:

First, Edward was a vampire.

Second, there was a part of him–and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be–that thirsted for my blood.

And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

I finally did it! Heidi (Adam's brother Austin's girlfriend) and I went to go see the Twilight movie last night. We have been trying to arrange a date for while now with Amanda (Aaron's wife), but schedules have been crazy. Heidi and I were finally able to go yesterday! People told me that it was important to remember that the movie is not the book. As is the case in any book turned movie, they change some things and they cannot include every detail, so if you go into it thinking "That is different." and "That isn't how it happened in the book", you will be disappointed. Overall, I really enjoyed the movie. It did make me want to read the books again; however, I won't be able to do that until April when my class is over!

Things I liked about the movie:

Rosalie-I could not get a good picture of her in my head in the book and I think she was perfect in the movie

Emmett-Same as above. I couldn't get a good picture of the big burly handsome vampire in my head and the casting was perfect.

Carlisle-At first it didn't sit right with me, but by the end of the movie I totally bought him as Carlisle.

The scene in the dance studio-I think that was done very well. Except it freaked me out when Alice tore James' head off.

Things I didn't care for in the movie:

Jasper-I thought he was a bit creepy. What's with the hair? And his facial expressions were weird, especially since they didn't explain that he feels the feelings of people in the room.

The scene in the baseball field-I thought when James said, "You brought a snack" and they all crouched down, it looked a little lame and not as intense as it should have been.

Esme-During the movie I was having a hard time buying her as Esme. All I could think about was she seemed weird, but I couldn't remember where she was from. After the movie, Heidi reminded me that she was weird Rebecca from Grey's Anatomy.

Here is the extended trailer if by some chance you have been hiding under a rock and haven't seen it yet!

Blizzard Warning

That's right. We are in the midst of a Blizzard Warning.

Issued by The National Weather ServiceChicago, IL 7:53 pm CST, Mon., Jan. 12, 2009
... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT... ... BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM CST TUESDAY... ... BLIZZARD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT...
A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 12 PM CST TUESDAY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST TONIGHT. A BLIZZARD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT.
SNOW IS MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS EARLY THIS EVENING AND WILL SPREAD OVER NORTHERN INDIANA DURING THE LATE EVENING HOURS. STORM TOTAL SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED. NORTHWEST WINDS WILL STRENGTHEN OVERNIGHT TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH FREQUENT GUSTS TO 35 MPH. THE COMBINATION OF FRESH SNOW COVER... CONTINUED LIGHT SNOW OVERNIGHT... AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS WILL LEAD TO BLIZZARD OR NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS AND DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS... WITH WIDESPREAD VISIBILITIES OF ONE QUARTER OF A MILE OR LESS. TRAVEL WILL BECOME EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND MAY BECOME NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY TUESDAY MORNING. WINDS WILL BEGIN TO DIMINISH IN SPEED TOWARD MIDDAY TUESDAY.
IN ADDITION... ARCTIC AIR MOVING INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS BEHIND THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO PRODUCE BITTER WIND CHILLS OF 15 BELOW TO 20 BELOW TUESDAY MORNING.
ANOTHER CLIPPER SYSTEM WILL TRACK ACROSS NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND INDIANA ON WEDNESDAY... BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF SNOW. THIS SYSTEM... POTENTIALLY... LOOKS EVEN STRONGER THAN THE SYSTEM TRACKING ACROSS THE REGION TONIGHT. BLIZZARD CONDITIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN... WITH ACCUMULATING SNOW BEGINNING EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING AND BLIZZARD FORCE WINDS BEGINNING WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING INTO THE NIGHT.
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.
A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW MEANS THAT ACCUMULATING SNOW WILL CAUSE PRIMARILY TRAVEL DIFFICULTIES. BE PREPARED FOR SNOW COVERED ROADS AND LIMITED VISIBILITIES... AND USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING.
A BLIZZARD WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR FALLING AND/OR BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND EXTREMELY POOR VISIBILITIES. THIS CAN LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND MAKE TRAVEL VERY DANGEROUS.

You gotta love Chicago in the winter. It snowed Thursday night into Friday morning. It stopped Friday morning, but then started up again Friday evening into Saturday. Saturday morning dad had to snow blow his driveway on slow speed because there was so much snow and by the time he was done, he had to do it again because there was another 1/4 inch! Before the hour was up, he had to go do it again! It continued snowing off and on all day Saturday and it started again early this evening. I had several errands to do and then I came home to bunker down for the night. Nights like this, I am thankful that I live in a townhouse and don't have to shovel my own driveway!

I'm a Geek

I finally did it. Thanks to my Christmas money! This is my new Samsung Ace. I have been lusting after a PDA phone for quite a while now. Part of the reason is that I would like to be able to synch my Outlook calendar to my planner I keep with me. Part of the reason is that I would like to be able to google anything at a moments notice. Mostly, it is because I am more than slightly addicted to my email and I would like to be able to check my email anytime anywhere. At work we cannot check personal email (it is blocked). Sometimes I have things to do right after work, but I don't like to go somewhere right from work, because that means I can't check my email until I get home that night. And that is just unacceptable. Honestly, it makes me a bit anxious to not check my email for that long! =) It is not like I am so uber important....but I do use email as my main form of communication. There were two in the store (in my price range) that I liked. One was a Blackberry and the other was this one. I chose this one because it uses a Windows Operating System and will work better for my purposes. So this is another Christmas present! I have had it for 2 days and I love it already!

Illinois is long....kind of like French Bread

That is what Adam said to me when I commented how it is amazing that we could drive for 3 hours and still only be in the middle of the state (also a reference to our silly Cranium game on Saturday night).

Last night Adam and I drove down to Springfield to go to the Illinois Specialty Growers conference. This is the week of their annual conference and the pre-conference today was all about Pumpkins. We made really good time and had a lot of fun listening to the music on my new iPod. I put all 2,895 songs on shuffle and it was fun listening to really old songs along with new ones. It was also fun to sing together to songs that were popular long before we ever met.

Most of it was really interesting and we learned a lot about the different varieties of pumpkins that grow well in Illinois as well as a lot of other interesting information. There were a few sessions that were....well....let's just say I had a hard time keeping my head off the table. But for the most part, I had a really good time and we are both glad we went!

That's a phonebooth??

Last Saturday night Mom, Dad, Mommom, Poppop and Erin came over for dinner and a rousing game of Cranium. I love to play board games. Adam...not so much. But he went along with it and we had a lot of fun!

Erin participating in a "Senso-sketch" (drawing with her eyes closed).

That was supposed to be a phone booth??????

Mom humming.....867-5309

"It's windy! It's windy!"

Dad couldn't figure out that mom was trying to make him act out "heat wave".

Erin went back to Morocco on Monday afternoon. After some trouble at the airport because they didn't really understand why she was bringing a candle, aluminum foil, and cake mix, she arrived back in Morocco safely. It was very hard to say goodbye to her and we miss her a great deal already.

Drilling and Hanging

A couple of weeks ago I decided that I need a better way to organize my jewelry. I have developed quite the Lia Sophia addiction (but now I accessorize every day!). Because of that, I have way too much jewelry for my little jewelry box. Besides my jewelry box, I had a board to hang my necklaces that I made when I bought my house 2 years ago, but that only holds 24 necklaces! (I made that because I wanted a place to hang my necklaces so they wouldn't get all tangled up in my little jewelry box.) Anyway....I got another board and a bunch of hooks and headed over to Mom and Dad's to use Dad's workshop.

I measured and drilled

(and spaced them to hold necklaces, bracelets, rings, and earrings)

Then I screwed in 76 little hooks

Today Adam helped me hang it up!

I moved my original one up and hung the new one below it.

Now I can see my jewelry all at once, it is organized, and it will be easier to pick out in the morning!

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I love having Mommom and Poppop here because they are awesome grandparents and I miss them when they are in California. But that is a given. I also love having them here because of Poppop's tendency to harass. Back in June, when we finally finished my bathroom, Adam said that he was going to get new switch plates and a new GFI (because they painted over the old one) for the bathroom. Well....it is now January. The family came over for lunch on New Years Day and Poppop noticed the unfinished business in the bathroom. He immediately started harassing Adam and guess what??? This morning I got my bathroom finished! It ended up being a bit more of a project because when he started removing the old GFI, the power in the bathroom went out. Something about the original electrician putting a screw through a wire....anyway....Adam rewired it and we are good to go!

No more exposed light switches!

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The last project of the morning was to hang my new plate I got for Christmas from Adam. I'm very excited about it!

Thanks for all your help today Adam!!!

3...2...1...Happy New Year!

On New Years Eve we went over to Adam's brother's house to celebrate.

Amy came with us!

We played a fun game of Partini.

Happy New Year honey!

Tony and Jess got American Idol for the xBox and we had quite a bit of fun trying out our singing skills. After getting kicked off the stage twice by Randy Jackson, Adam got the mic again and totally rocked out!

Tony said I am a closet singer. Although I have absolutely no tone, I had the right pitch and I was scoring pretty well! By the end of the night I was enjoying that microphone a little too much. Sorry everyone if your ears were in pain the next day!

I hope everyone had a fun and safe New Years Eve! Although 2008 was a good year, I am looking forward to even more fun in 2009!

Water again?

Although we had a beautiful white Christmas, it didn't last long. Last weekend the temperature started to rise and with it came rain. That wouldn't have been a huge problem, except that it melted the many inches of snow we had. There were a couple of streets in my neighborhood closed because of the flooding and unfortunately this flooding hit Adam's house as well.

He went downstairs on Saturday morning to find this in his cellar:

8 or so inches of water found their way into his cellar. His brothers came over to help him and they used a small pump to try to get some out. When it got low enough, they rented a roto rooter and rooted out the drain and finally (at about 10:30 at night) most of the water drained out. You gotta love old houses! Luckily it is a cellar and not a basement and although the water was around the furnace and washer and dryer, no personal belongings of his got ruined.