2nd Anniversary

A break from the Greece recaps to celebrate!!!  Today is our second anniversary!

The last two years has brought J and I a lot of changes and challenges to overcome, but I am so grateful for the support that we can show each other and I know that through all the challenges, our love and partnership has continued to grow and get stronger!  I am so blessed to have such an amazing man in my life - one who supports my personal and professional goals and who does everything he possibly can to make our lives together happy and comfortable.  I cannot put into words the love I have for him, nor the amount of thoughtfulness and kindness that he shows me on a daily basis.

www.catiescaptures.com

Happy second anniversary to my best friend, and here's to MANY more together!!

5 wonderful years!

5 years ago, a boy picked me up for a date... a date that he planned.  We start at the Dallas Aquarium and for those of you who don't know me, I love animals so this was right in my wheelhouse.  We then went to a wine bar and drank wine, and had dinner and talked for hours.

It was the best first date I've ever had, and because of that, I decided that I wanted to keep this boy around.  Not too long after that, I decided that I loved this boy and that I definitely wanted to hang on to him.  When I got an opportunity for a promotion at work, this boy, who had become my boyfriend, encouraged me to take the job, and told me that he would stay in Texas if that's what was best for me.  That summer, we moved in together.

The following December, that boy asked me if I'd like to spend the rest of my life with him, to which I joyfully agreed...

...and a year and a half later, we made it official.

www.catiescaptures.com

5 years ago, I went on a date with a boy and that date changed my life for the better...

Happy Birthday

Today is Jason's Birthday!  

On of my fave pictures ever of J - Mexico 2009

We are so excited to get to celebrate it with his mom, who is in town from Minnesota, and my parents who came down for the weekend.  I love celebrating Birthdays and I especially love celebrating my best friend and the best husband I could ever imagine!!!

Well Hello There September!

After spending most of my time on the couch this weekend, trying to recover from whatever it is going on in my sinuses, I got the strength to get my computer out and write my first legit blog of the month.

I can't believe it's September and we have a LOT of stuff coming up in the next couple of months, so I'll delay the Labor Day trip recap a little longer and share the things that I'm looking forward to in the next 6-7 weeks!

I have a lot of work this week... I'll be there late Tuesday and I'm on call next weekend (good time to get some crafts done), but I plan on taking advantage of some flexibility in my schedule and sleep in this week so I'm not exhausted again by the end of the coming week.

J and I took some days off the following week.  We are going up to the lake for our last trip of the "summer", and just taking a couple of days to relax and hang out with each other!  Then we will head up to Michigan for a family gathering.  My uncle is an amazing artist, and has found a spot in the Art Prize weekend in Grand Rapids, MI so there are about 25 of us heading up there to see his art and to spend some quality time together.  We are actually planning to camp in my cousin's back yard, and so we ordered these...

They are only rated for 50 degrees, but I feel like I could wear some long sleeves and sweat pants and I'll be plenty warm... especially with that cozy hood  :)

The following weekend, J is going to meet a bunch of his friends in Wisconsin for Oktoberfest so I'll be left here to play Glee Karaoke on Wii fend for myself.  I also have a very special Birthday party to go to... our friends from work have a little boy who will be turning 1... and I get to take pictures  :)

The following weekend is my cousins wedding... SOOOO excited, so I'll have a short with that week, too.  I can't wait for their wedding day... I know she is so excited for it to be here, and I'm so honored to stand beside her on her special day as she did for me!  I may need to write a speech for this...

We have a weekend "free" (although I wish we were going to Texas that weekend for the Texas/OU game) and then the following week we are going to see Chicago (the musical, not the city this time) and then my mom and aunt will be here the weekend after that for a visit and to celebrate my mom's Birthday!

To round out the month of October, I'll be heading up to Detroit to present at a conference.  I'm feeling exceptionally special about this because they actually contacted me to ask me to present, are paying for me to fly up there, and taking care of all of my accommodations.  It makes me feel so fancy!!

So, as you can see, our next couple of months will be very busy, but hopefully that also means I have a lot to blog about!

What do you have on your agenda to kick off the fall?

Anniversary Trip Recap: Part 2

We got up on Saturday morning to a special delivery outside our door...

What a great service the hotel provides!!!  It makes sense to me... it's cheaper to brew coffee in bulk, it's easier than having to re-stock a mini coffee pot station that they also have to make sure is functioning!  It takes a little extra "man power", but what a great personal touch!

I really wished I could take this with me

So, after a quick breakfast, we hopped on the Red Line and headed up to Wrigley!  I was so excited about my first Cubs game, and we met J's old boss and he gave us the grand tour of Wrigleyville (he grew up not too far from there).  We bought some water, peanuts and a scorecard before heading in to the game, and we sat down just in time for the Cubs to take the field!

The famous marquee

Our seats - they were awesome!

Jay Cutler (Bears QB) - 7th Inning Stretch
Singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Cubs Win, Cubs Win

The "real" W flag - during a downpour

My completed scorecard

After the game, we made our way to Gino's East for some pizza and my cousin met us there.  We ate, and made plans for later with her and with one of my friends who lives in Chicago.  We spent the night hanging out on my friend's roof top patio, drinking beer and chatting.  It was a great night!

We slept in on Sunday and got packed up.  We walked down to the Millennial Park area and grabbed some breakfast and then got back on the South Shore Line to go home.

It was a really great weekend, and a great anniversary celebration!!!

Anniversary Trip Recap: Part 1

After quite a Thursday night (I don't even want to get into the hotel issues we came across - I'll just get mad again) J and I made it up to the train in Michigan City and took the South Shore Line in to Chicago.  I love the South Shore - it makes travel to and from Chicago stress free, and you can drink on the trains - we didn't this time, but I have before  :)

We got there and checked in to our hotel.  We stayed at the ACME Boutique Hotel and it was AMAZING!  When we were booking the hotel, we looked at the reviews and literally the ONLY negative comments were about how small the rooms were and how there were no closets - HELLO, IT'S A BOUTIQUE HOTEL.  It was so modern, but still so comfortable, and I thought we had plenty of room!!

LOVE this bathroom!

This robe was awesome and I used it daily!

What a great night light!

Loved the cool stickers on the elevators

Once we got all settled in at the hotel, we went around the corner to one of my most favorite Chicago restaurants - Portillo's.  I have seriously NEVER had a better hot dog!  The fries and onion rings are both good, and it's so reasonably priced.  I was really hungry and forgot to take a picture of my hot dog before I basically inhaled it... but do have something to remember the meal by  :)

After lunch we stopped at Garret's popcorn and then walked down to the Navy Pier.  I'd never been there before, so I was excited to see everything!

We're almost there!

Coming from the west, we walked through a park (Navy Pier park?) and I loved the green, and the art there.  It was definitely not something I expected right there in the middle of the city!

We got to Navy Pier, and walked up and down so that we were able to see everything!

We also stopped in the building where the Chicago Children's museum is... which I actually knew better as a place that I saw on Four Weddings on TLC.

We got to the end of The Pier and had some amazing views to take in.

Sailing competition

We decided to take a water taxi back to Michigan Ave, so we hopped on and were treated to some more great views on our way back.

We went back to the hotel for a while and took a nap before we headed to Hub 51 for our dinner reservations.  My cousin later told me that Hub 51 is a place where people go to be seen... well, we didn't see anyone, but I did have an amazing arugula caesar with my Kung Fu Girl riesling.

It was a great Friday, and we had even more to look forward to on Saturday!!!

[to be continued...]

Playing Catch Up

I know I was going to do our Chicago trip recaps this week, but I've been trying to get back in to work this week... it's been rough.

I know it's still July, but it feels like the summer is O-V-E-R.  I have exactly ONE MONTH until school starts again, and that just doesn't seem possible.  I feel like the students just left, but all of a sudden, we only have four weeks until they return and take over Bloomington.

On our agenda for the weekend is some time in the yard, pulling up all the dead stuff (the drought continues) and some time up in my craft room making some fun things that I've bought the supplies for, but never gotten around to making.

SO, Chicago recaps starting on Monday, but here's a couple of amazing pictures (especially amazing since they were taken with an iPhone) to get you excited  :-D

What's on your weekend schedule?  Happy Friday!!!

Birthday

Happy Birthday to my bestest friend... my husband!

Mexico, 2009 (my fav picture of J)