Throwback Thursday

In honor of the Olympics, which are starting tomorrow, I thought I'd throwback to when I worked at the Olympics… I cannot believe that that was 4 years ago! So much has happened since then. In 2010, I started dating Adam, worked at the Olympics, and promoted the World Equestrian Games. In 2011, I finished my senior year of college, got engaged, moved to Indiana for my first job at Indiana Wesleyan University and Adam went to Marquette for grad school. In 2012,  Adam and I planned our wedding, I had the best/worst year of my life in Indiana (made great friends, loved my job, but had such a hard time being long distance), He got a job at BMO Harris bank, and then we got married and I moved to Milwaukee. 2013, was our first year of marriage, some job transitions for me, and Adam graduated from grad school. Now 2014 finds Adam with a new job and us moving in a month. It's all very exciting. I am so thankful for the people I have met and the person that God is shaping me into.

Reading over those old posts 4 years ago was brutal. (If you decide to re-read them, you can start here but I warn you to grab some cheese because I provide a lot of whine…whew, thankfully I have grown up a little the past 4 years.)

Happy Thursday! We're looking forward to curling now that we curl. Are you guys looking forward to any specific sport?

Super Bowl Party

Our fantasy football team got together for the big game on Sunday. We got to host since the original "host" started to think of his set-up and realized he didn't have a table (his roommate moved out recently taking his half of the stuff), he didn't have adequate seating for 15 people, and he didn't have cable and therefore was have trouble getting his antenna to properly bring in the Fox.  I'd say he made the right choice.

We got a little excited about hosting and so we made a football field to use as our "table cloth". So of course the guys played paper football.

Adam had a lot of fun building the field and went into great detail.

And brought out our mini game of corn hole.

and everyone brought a great array of snacks. (yes we had a tv on our snack table.)

Stephen Colbert couldn't say Superbowl on his show last week so he kept calling it the "Superb Owl" hence our banners.

 We had a guacamole football field on our football field. Mind blown.

If only the game or the commercials had been entertaining. Oh well, we had fun with each other ;)

p.s. this is my first year on a fantasy football team. Is it normal to have a winter meeting about said league to discuss rules and changes "everyone" wants to make happen next season?

Chicago, here we come.

We are moving to the Chicago area and we are pretty pumped about that.

Here are some reasons why we're excited.

1. Traffic Public Transportation

Chicago is huge! but it's nice that there are so many ways to get around that don't require you to drive. Depending where we live, we might even get rid of one of our cars. From our times in the city, it's been nice to take advantage of all the forms of transportation to get around.

Back in July we took a water taxi downtown

2. The food

If you haven't had the pleasure of going to Chicago, I'm sure you've still heard about their deep dish pizza and Chicago dogs (A hot dog on a poppy seed bun with mustard, onions, relish, pickle, tomato, and a dash of celery salt- ketchup is not allowed.). However, the fun thing is they have so many more options for food as well. From ethnic (lItalian, Chinese, Polish, Greek, you name it ) to hopping restaurants like this one we love. I'm also excited to try some new places that offer more gluten free options.

3. 2 airports

Sounds silly but with family and friends all over the country, it's exciting to have more options! O'hare is actually the fifth busiest airport in the world. So lots of options and hopefully price breaks.

4. Family

Even though we won't live in the same place as Adam's family we will be closer than we've been for a while. It will be nice to have family closer and a bigger part of our lives.

Horrible picture but these are some of Adam's friends that he grew up with.

5. Friends

Adam has a really good group of friends that he grew up with that will be living not too far away from us. It will be fun to have more hang outs and traditions started while we are young. We are hoping to have game night and barbecues. Bring on the quality time.

6. New places and faces

We are also excited to keep exploring this part of the country and meet new people. This is actually my third year moving so while I have things down pat for the moving part, it will be nice to get settled, plugged into a new church, and know where all our doctors/grocery stores/daily needs will be met. Chicago has a lot of different neighborhoods, entertainment options, and museums to attend so it will be fun to see them all.

Us at a recent concert

7. The shows
Theater, broadway shows, concerts, festivals, you name it, Chicago has it. We're excited to continued to gain some culture.

8. We'll still be close to Lake Michigan
We love being close to water and love that even though we are moving, we'll still be close to the lake.

9. We will be out of Packer Country
There is nothing more annoying, being an adopted Bears fan myself, than having to endure packer fans and being in their main viewing market. Can't wait to have the Bear's game be the priority game on tv again.

10. Adam's job

Adam's job the last year hasn't really been up his alley so we are really excited that he found something he's really passionate about. It also doesn't hurt that his new place has windows (he had been in a windowless office in the basement) and that the lake and the city of Chicago are his view.

Here is to new beginnings.

Wisconsin

Quintessential Wisconsin complete with a painting of the Great lake that Adam painted for me

Today is Adam's first day at his new job in the Chicago area. We are both thrilled about this opportunity for him and aware of the reality of us moving this month (the poor guy will have a decent size commute the next month). The last year (for me) and 2 1/2 year (for him) in Milwaukee have been really fun. We are going to miss a bunch of places and people (lucky for us, some of our friends are hoping to move to Illinois as well).

Our top ten things we'll miss (not necessarily in order of importance but more in order of how I thought of them)

Via

1. How close we are to Downtown

Milwaukee is such a manageable city. We always laugh when the traffic report is on the radio because they mention delays going from 9 minute to 11 minutes to make the same route (11 minutes! That's awesome!). We have definitely been spoiled with the ease of getting around and the fun things this smaller city has to offer. It will definitely be an adjustment to move to such a big city as Chicago but we are up for the challenge.

2. How close we are to the Lake

Even though we rarely get in the lake, it was so fun to be close to water. During the summer, we took runs along the lake, laid out (mainly me on this one), and would watch all the boats coming into the harbor. It was so beautiful.

3. Curling

Even though I haven't gotten to curl this season, it was really nice having a curling club so close. In Chicago there are a couple but they are a lot more expensive or farther away. This hobby might have to take the backseat for a while.

A lot of sandwiches come with a least 2 different cheeses on them. I have gotten a grilled cheese that came standard with 4 different cheeses. um, yum!

4. Cheese everything

Who doesn't love cheese? I loved that there was an extensive cheese section in our grocery store, cheese shops all around, and cheese curds and really yummy grilled cheese sandwiches at almost any place you go. Yum! Adam and I would often get a new flavor of cheese we had never tried just to try out everything.

5. Custard

Along with the cheese theme, Wisconsin is known for their custard. It's so good. It's different than ice cream or fro yo, because it is just so darn creamy and thick. We love it! It's also fun because they have a flavor of the day, so you gotta keep up with the "flavor forecast" or you'll miss out on your favorite flavor. (  Leighann, are you picking up what I'm putting down?)

6. Our Apartment Amenities

Guys, we have been spoiled the last year with a heated garage space, a dishwasher, and an in unit washer and dryer. These things are going to be a thing of the past when we move to our next place. What's that you say? Husbands make good dishwashers? I've heard that too. Guess we'll see how that works out.

7. Sport's games

Miller Park is sooo close to our apartment, we could have technically walked to the games we went to. We have easy access to Milwaukee Buck's, Marquette Golden Eagles, and even lesser known activities like the roller derby. I have never lived that close to any professional sport's stadium but loved always having that option on the table for things to do. 

8. Living across from a Farmer's Market

Oh man, the farmer's market was open every Saturday from May to November and I think we only missed getting our fresh veggies and fruit 5 times . It was so nice. They even had organic/cage free meats/eggs which were nice to get as well. I loved supporting the locals and getting really fresh produce. I also loved the flower people that I bought from often. I am a sucker for fresh flowers… really flowers of any kind. They bring so much life to our apartment.  I am hoping a farmer's market will still be an option in Chicago even if it's not right across the street.

9. Easy access to Nature/Golf courses

Depending where we live in the city/suburbs will impact this answer but it has been nice to be close to so many parks and golf courses, whether it was the real ones, par 3, or mini courses. I didn't get to golf last year very much because of my carpal tunnel but I do enjoy going with Adam. It's fun to be competitive, be outside, and see Adam do something he really enjoys and is pretty good at. (which would be everything, the man is good at everything but at last it's still fun to watch ;)

10. My hairdresser

Okay technically this is a person vs a thing but Shantay is awesome.. Funny story, how we met but our pastor's wife, Tammy, introduced us. I had a wedding hair trial the Wednesday before our wedding and it was bad. I was so bummed that I not only paid for that but was worried that my hair would look terrible on my wedding.

what I wanted my hair to look like.

 

                      What my hair actually looked like after my trial. YIKES!

     

 I was talking to Tammy and she told me she had someone who not only would do my hair and but would actually come to my hotel. Shantay came to my hotel, did a wonderful job, has done my hair every since, and now we're friends. I feel like I found a kindred spirit in her. It makes it so much more fun to go get a haircut when you get to hang out with your friend. I will really miss her but luckily we aren't moving that far away.

Hope you guys have a Happy Monday!

T-minus 4.5 weeks till we move

So my plans to blog more frequently are not going to come to fruition…. I'll still try to post in the next couples weeks but just wanted to throw that out there.

Sorry!

Stay warm! It's supposed to be very cold in the Midwest today… and everywhere else in the country. (I'd like to punch this polar vortex in the gut but I don't think that would help anyone.) Thankful for father-in-laws and husbands who start cars in the middle of the night so that the batteries don't die and for mother-in-laws who make chili on these cold, cold days.

We're leaving on a jet plane

Well, not a jet plane really… more like a moving truck and our cars. Adam got a job in the Chicago area so we are moving at the end of February. We are super excited for the opportunities ahead but also  sad to leave our first city together and the friends we've made. Good thing, we aren't moving that far away.

For our first anniversary a month ago, I had bought concert tickets for Adam as the more modern take on the traditional paper gift. Well that concert was on Saturday so we decided to try and kill two birds with one stone and see possible apartments on the way to the city. It was such short notice that we didn't get to see many listings at all. We did however, get tricked into showing up to see this 1 bedroom listing below. Not exactly what we were looking for in the Tundra up here.

We then arrived early to the House of Blues for our concert because we were more interested in seeing the opener than the headliner.

This wasn't the opener we were interested in. This guy lost more clothing than number of songs he played and he kept dancing on the speakers. It was painful to watch. (Poor guy!)

 We came to see this opener, Parachute. Adam and I have been listening to this band for a couple years and we LOVE them. We aren't big concert people but Parachute was really fun to watch. Their music is awesome live (because you can actually hear the words), they are constantly changing their instruments (guitars, piano, saxophone, you name it), and their main singer really knows how to engage the crowd (walking among everyone, taking someone's phone and taking a picture of the crowd, and getting everyone to sing along). It was so fun!

Thankful for new years to work on old habits

(there is always positives in a "fail" haha)

This week I have hit a wall. I’m discouraged about a lot of things but I think mainly it’s because I’m tired of overcommitting myself and always having to get something done.  If I could sum up the last year of our lives it would be full of this problem. I’m not saying the last year has been bad (because we’ve had plenty of fun times too!) but my problem of not saying no has become a habit I’m hoping to kick in 2014. It’s been worse lately and I can’t tell you how many mistakes I have made in the last month because of it (2 at Wheaton that cost our department a couple hundred dollars- my boss was less than thrilled with me,  a couple in my freelance work that caused me to work more hours than I planned and practically pay the customer to do their work, and minor ones in my personal life ;/) I’m hoping that 2014 will be a more balanced year.

Philippians 1:6

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Reading this verse and holding on to this promise. I’m not perfect (far from it) but I know that Jesus isn’t done with me yet.

Happy Friday and weekend to you guys!