Things I'm loving

Through the last few really busy months, these things have been keeping me sane so I thought I would share.

1. She reads truth – Daily truth straight to your inbox that is spot. on. Ladies that love Jesus and are being used by the Lord to encourage other ladies on their walk . There is a follow up image if you're on Instagram, which brings me to my second like of the day

2. Instagram – If you aren't on Instagram yet, let's stop the talking and you go get on that gram. Instagram can be catered to what you want it to be. Can be used to keep up with friends, be encouraged by other Godly ladies or inspired by other people in you field. I love a good creative or funny Instagram. (Etiquette for you new users: Instagram isn't for albums it's for single photos. No one likes a double or triple post-er)

3. Skimm – this one is a new find for me but I am loving it. It's a brief Monday-Friday email that gives you a give you a rundown of the news in a funny and friendly way. They read so you can skim.

That's all I got for now but hope you guys have a good weekend!

Coming back

Guys,
Can I just say that the last few months have been crazy? Between festivals and quality time with friends and family, we have been going SO. MANY. MILES. per minute. I thought the changes of season would slow our roll but we are still full-steam ahead.

If you haven't spoken to us in the last 2 weeks, I got a new job as a graphic designer at my church and we are in the process of buying a condo #chicagoforlife. (Today is my first day ;) and no, we aren't pregnant but we are digging our heels in deeper into the city and making it official that we are staying for a while.

So this is why I haven't blogged for a while. I was busy with everything and everyone and something had to give. I was hoping to be able to redesign this blog (finally!) during the break, but found I missed blogging more than my lack of redesign. So buckle in and get ready for some recaps in the next few days.

Where has the summer gone?

I cannot believe we are already well into August and that I've hardly blogged at all. Yikes! We have been so busy with seeing old friends, making new ones and really enjoying our city (all very good things!). Also had no idea how long our busy season at work would last. I am about a month and half in and have a least that much left until I see the workload getting back to normal. I was hoping to redesign my blog this summer because I want it to look nicer instead of being embarrassed when people see it, but it looks like that's not going to happen for another couple of months.

Just wanted to drop in and say I'm still here, Adam and I are doing great and I will have so much to catch everyone up on when I can get blogging back into the weekly routine. Aiming to be back in the fall. 

Getting some Quality Time in

Hotel de Wards is in full swing. I had a blast visiting with friends this past weekend and Adam had an equally good time in Michigan on his annual golf trip with his Dad and some friends of each of them. We are expecting the Marquiss Family tonight or tomorrow depending on traffic and how the kids are faring on the trip. Tomorrow is a year since I went gluten free…. I cannot believe it has been that long but more on that and on all of our visitors later.

Happy Fourth of July (a little early) because we hope to be running around showing the family the city the next few days ;)

Girls Weekend

Tonight, some of my friends are coming into town and I am so excited! We are having a girls weekend in Chicago so I get to show off the city to some of the girls closest to my heart. We met each other freshman year and still managed to stay friends between boy dramas and switched majors. A lot of them ended up in the South (well there isn't much north of Chicago) but we still keep in touch. I cannot wait to see them, stuff our faces with so much good, Chicago food, and laugh so much my abs hurt.

We did this back in October. The group will be a little different than last time based on who can come but I can't wait.

Freshman year to Senior year

Abby and Kindra are coming this time

A box of dishes, a box of memories

My sweet friend, Britt, gave us a wedding present last time I saw her in April which was truly thoughtful. It was a box with two place settings- from place mats to napkin rings. The idea is that you only use it when you have a momentous occasion, whether a move, a new job, a baby, first time you don't go home for the holidays, and the list could go on and on. Then you write about it and put both place settings and the note back in the box so that next time you get them out, you can read any of your notes and relive all the memories. Being someone who likes to document life (blog, instagram, journal, pictures, saved mementos, etc), I love this idea of having a gift that travels with you throughout your life. Adam and I rarely sit down to eat and just focus on each other and our food, so really just to do that would be a momentous occasion but I like the idea of making it special and cherishing those moments together. We already used it once for our collective move and new jobs and have no idea what will be our next use but look forward to that day.

Our Weekend

Adam picked number #4. Thank you all who voted and helped us narrow the choices down.

This weekend, we spent a lot of time with friends. Hanging with people who get you is so good for the soul. We hung with our friends from the burbs on Friday, catching up between bites of pizza. Then we got to show them our place as we ate some ice cream on our cute deck. It was such a chill night.

Saturday, Adam and his dad reffed some games together in the burbs while I got to hang out with my mother-in-law and then my old boss, Mary, from Wheaton. It was so good to see Mary and catch up on life and talk about career stuff for me.

 Then we ate dinner with Adam's parents and grandparents and played some chinese checkers. It was really fun to hang out with them.

Sunday, we had some people over from church for the world cup USA game and some good food. These "family dinners" started about a month ago and the idea is that someone hosts and picks a theme. Ours was "Let's get Saucy" using the word saucy liberally for example hummus, or dressing on salad, etc. We had a total of 15 people so we really maxed out our place but had a lot of fun meeting people.