Sunday, May 31, 2009
Three Rivers, MI
On Saturday, Neill and I took a semi-impromptu trip to meet up with his brothers, Jayson and Jared. They live in Toledo, OH and so we decided to meet half way between us and them. Three Rivers, MI here we come! As it turns out, Three Rivers was actually only about 20 or so minutes away from Kalamazoo, which would have probably been a much more interesting town to stop in, but we managed to have a good time anyhoo.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
more of the same
nothing to blog because I've been doing the same thing every day....packing.
Yesterday, Neill and James lugged two HUGE and HEAVY bookcases from my mom's house to our place. Soon to follow will be boxes of books and then a dresser.
If anyone is looking for any sort of furniture, books, or childhood relics of mine (uh creepy) please feel free to let me know. The Ark is scheduled to do a mass pick up some time next week, but it is all free for the taking before that.
This weekend, we may decide to take a last minute trip to Toledo to chill with the family. But, the Division Street festival is scheduled and I sorta really wanted to check that out. So we will see.
Yesterday, Neill and James lugged two HUGE and HEAVY bookcases from my mom's house to our place. Soon to follow will be boxes of books and then a dresser.
If anyone is looking for any sort of furniture, books, or childhood relics of mine (uh creepy) please feel free to let me know. The Ark is scheduled to do a mass pick up some time next week, but it is all free for the taking before that.
This weekend, we may decide to take a last minute trip to Toledo to chill with the family. But, the Division Street festival is scheduled and I sorta really wanted to check that out. So we will see.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
and more and more and more stuff
lots and lots and lots and lots of more packing going on at my mom's house. packing sucks. it makes me never, ever want to move.
On the other hand, seeing how much room my mom had for all of her stuff . . . I am itching to move into a house. A real house. Not an apartment or a condo or a duplex or whatever. A house with a front and back yard. And two floors. and a basement. A home that we can settle into and not have to worry about moving for years and year and years.
don't get me wrong - i love our condo. And I think we do a very nice job of making it a home. But, I feel like a move is inevitable. At some point, maybe 5 years from now, we will move. And knowing this makes it hard to really put deep roots down. At least, not like I could in a house that has enough room for us and our futures babies.
ahh babies
On a completely (and perhaps opposing) note, I found out what classes I am going to take in the fall! The program is pretty set, so I don't really get to choose my classes until later on. This fall I will be taking:
Psych 412, Sect 001, Class #2248, Hours = 1.5, Intro to the Profession of Clinical Psychology
Psych 432, Sect 001, Class #2264, Hours = 3, Intellectual/Personality Assessment
Psych 446, Sect 001, Class #2276, Hours = 3, Psychopathology
Psych 480, Sect 001, Class #2300, Hours = 3, Advanced Statistics I
Life is feeling very real.
On the other hand, seeing how much room my mom had for all of her stuff . . . I am itching to move into a house. A real house. Not an apartment or a condo or a duplex or whatever. A house with a front and back yard. And two floors. and a basement. A home that we can settle into and not have to worry about moving for years and year and years.
don't get me wrong - i love our condo. And I think we do a very nice job of making it a home. But, I feel like a move is inevitable. At some point, maybe 5 years from now, we will move. And knowing this makes it hard to really put deep roots down. At least, not like I could in a house that has enough room for us and our futures babies.
ahh babies
On a completely (and perhaps opposing) note, I found out what classes I am going to take in the fall! The program is pretty set, so I don't really get to choose my classes until later on. This fall I will be taking:
Psych 412, Sect 001, Class #2248, Hours = 1.5, Intro to the Profession of Clinical Psychology
Psych 432, Sect 001, Class #2264, Hours = 3, Intellectual/Personality Assessment
Psych 446, Sect 001, Class #2276, Hours = 3, Psychopathology
Psych 480, Sect 001, Class #2300, Hours = 3, Advanced Statistics I
Life is feeling very real.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
carry your homes on your backs
I helped my mom go through, organize, get rid of, save, pack up, whatever today. Sooo much stuff! Items of particular interest are:
+shoes from when I was a little tiny baby
+an old report card of my father's from when he was in high school
+my mother's old acupuncture certificates
+baby clothes made for me by my grandmother
+billions of books
+old journals of mine from middle school
+art projects from when I was in preschool
+my grandmother's yearbook, my father's yearbook, and about 6 different yearbooks of mine
+old pictures and photo albums
+shoes from when I was a little tiny baby
+an old report card of my father's from when he was in high school
+my mother's old acupuncture certificates
+baby clothes made for me by my grandmother
+billions of books
+old journals of mine from middle school
+art projects from when I was in preschool
+my grandmother's yearbook, my father's yearbook, and about 6 different yearbooks of mine
+old pictures and photo albums
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
life of leisure
So . . . it's been just over two weeks since my last day at NRS. I've got to admit, I haven't missed it once. Not that I haven't missed the wonderful people at NRS, but I haven't missed working. This sounds so bougie of me, but let's be honest -- that is just the way I can be (somtimesalot).
Let's walk through a day in the life of someone who is unemployed by choice:
9:30 - wake up from the sunlight streaming through the windows.
10:00 - enjoy a cup of coffee and cereal
10:30 - play guitar hero with Neill on our new Wii (courtesy of an amazing engagement present from Kurt)
11:30 - sit outside on the balcony enjoying the sun and reading (perhaps enjoy the sun a little bit too much and get sunburned. oops!)
1:00 - lunch!
2:00 - Go work out in an empty gym and dominate two of the four TVs since no one else is trying to use them.
4:00 - run to Olivia's market to buy last minute ingredients for tapas (Serrano ham, manchego cheese, dates, and bacon)
5:00 10:30 - prepare a delicious tapas spread with friends, and eat and drink myself silly (okay, I'll be honest - mainly eat), and plan and then book a trip to Puerto Rico (to leave on July 4th!)
11:00 - clean up with hubby to be (who really did an amazing job cleaning up earlier so there is very little to do) and then sweet sleep.
All to be repeated the next day with some variations.
life is so so so sweet
Let's walk through a day in the life of someone who is unemployed by choice:
9:30 - wake up from the sunlight streaming through the windows.
10:00 - enjoy a cup of coffee and cereal
10:30 - play guitar hero with Neill on our new Wii (courtesy of an amazing engagement present from Kurt)
11:30 - sit outside on the balcony enjoying the sun and reading (perhaps enjoy the sun a little bit too much and get sunburned. oops!)
1:00 - lunch!
2:00 - Go work out in an empty gym and dominate two of the four TVs since no one else is trying to use them.
4:00 - run to Olivia's market to buy last minute ingredients for tapas (Serrano ham, manchego cheese, dates, and bacon)
5:00 10:30 - prepare a delicious tapas spread with friends, and eat and drink myself silly (okay, I'll be honest - mainly eat), and plan and then book a trip to Puerto Rico (to leave on July 4th!)
11:00 - clean up with hubby to be (who really did an amazing job cleaning up earlier so there is very little to do) and then sweet sleep.
All to be repeated the next day with some variations.
life is so so so sweet
Monday, May 18, 2009
engagement party
On Saturday, my mother hosted a party for me and Neill to celebrate our engagement. Neill's parents and two of his brothers, Kurt and Jared, came to Chicago for the occasion. Both my parents attended as well, along with my aunt Lanie and cousin Toby. My mom invited family friends and Neill and I each invited our closest friends. Although being the center of attention was a bit overwhelming at times, it was amazing to celebrate with so many wonderful people! I feel so lucky to have the love and support of so many people.
On a more bittersweet note, the party was also an occasion to celebrate the wonderful house that I grew up in. My mother sold the house and the closing is actually happening today. She will be moving to an apartment in Andersonville at the beginning of June. I'm happy for her that certain issues will be finally closed and of course I am excited for my mom to have an official "fresh start". But, I will still miss calling that house home. I suppose it is a blessing that all the bad memories of that home have started to fade, but it does make it harder to let go.
Change -- the only thing you can really count on.
Anyhoo, all the pictures from the party are uploaded here. Enjoy the amuse bouche!
On a more bittersweet note, the party was also an occasion to celebrate the wonderful house that I grew up in. My mother sold the house and the closing is actually happening today. She will be moving to an apartment in Andersonville at the beginning of June. I'm happy for her that certain issues will be finally closed and of course I am excited for my mom to have an official "fresh start". But, I will still miss calling that house home. I suppose it is a blessing that all the bad memories of that home have started to fade, but it does make it harder to let go.
Change -- the only thing you can really count on.
Anyhoo, all the pictures from the party are uploaded here. Enjoy the amuse bouche!
Thursday, May 14, 2009
save the dates
Once Neill and I have June 12th for real for real set in stone (aka we fork over the cash), we would eventually also like to send out save the dates. Since the actual wedding invites go out semi close to the wedding, we want to make sure all of our important people know well in advance to keep that day free (assuming they want to come - I suppose its also a heads up to guests who don't want to go that they should schedule something on that day so they can't make it. But who would do that?).
Since our wedding is going to small and we will know everyone who we are inviting (and know them well), I like the idea of sending a personal note to everyone. In fact, it seems sort of silly to just not call people and deliver the news verbally considering we aren't inviting anyone we would feel uncomfortable talking to. But, on the other hand, I definitely see the benefit of having the information written down. And, moreover, I don't want to pass up the cute premade stationary and cards out there like this lovely library themed save the date, by Chicago's own Little Lady Company
What do you think of save the date cards? Are they too impersonal? Are they a waist of paper? Are they useful (and aka a good use of $$)?
Since our wedding is going to small and we will know everyone who we are inviting (and know them well), I like the idea of sending a personal note to everyone. In fact, it seems sort of silly to just not call people and deliver the news verbally considering we aren't inviting anyone we would feel uncomfortable talking to. But, on the other hand, I definitely see the benefit of having the information written down. And, moreover, I don't want to pass up the cute premade stationary and cards out there like this lovely library themed save the date, by Chicago's own Little Lady Company
What do you think of save the date cards? Are they too impersonal? Are they a waist of paper? Are they useful (and aka a good use of $$)?
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
blonde joke
BEST EVER BLONDE JOKE
A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, 'Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get started..'
Her boyfriend asks, 'What is it supposed to be when it's finished?'
The blonde says, 'According to the picture on the box, it's a rooster.'
Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle.
She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.
He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, 'First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster..'
He takes her hand and says, 'Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then ..' he said with a deep sigh, . . . . . ..... .
'Let's put all the Corn Flakes back in the box.'
A blonde calls her boyfriend and says, 'Please come over here and help me. I have a killer jigsaw puzzle, and I can't figure out how to get started..'
Her boyfriend asks, 'What is it supposed to be when it's finished?'
The blonde says, 'According to the picture on the box, it's a rooster.'
Her boyfriend decides to go over and help with the puzzle.
She lets him in and shows him where she has the puzzle spread all over the table.
He studies the pieces for a moment, then looks at the box, then turns to her and says, 'First of all, no matter what we do, we're not going to be able to assemble these pieces into anything resembling a rooster..'
He takes her hand and says, 'Second, I want you to relax. Let's have a nice cup of tea, and then ..' he said with a deep sigh, . . . . . ..... .
'Let's put all the Corn Flakes back in the box.'
Monday, May 11, 2009
quick update
neill and i just got back into town after our quick trip to toledo to watch jared graduate college. yay! that really deserves a full, well thought out post with pictures so I am tabling it for now. but just know that it is coming!
what i wanted to update you on right now is my cleaning progress. Today, I tackled the fan in the living room (gross. that experience alone is enough to convince me never to go that long again without dusting our fans!) and the front closet - my own personal organizational nightmare. How can one neatly store everything and anything...shoes, jackets, cold weather gear, a tennis racket, a vacuum, a giant extension cord, umbrellas, random shelves that fit in to our fridge, back packs, etc.
I don't think I ever fully realized just how many scarfs I own! But hey, when you live in chicago i suppose its necessary to own your own personal arsenal of warm weather gear. If that means having three winter jackets, two hats, eight scarfs, and a variety of ear warmers and gloves, then so be it. (Although, I did purge two scarfs that I've had for two + years and have yet to wear).
What I have a major harder time aka cannot accept is keeping things that we never use. We have two board games in our front closet that we have NEVER opened. NEVER. We've had one of them for more than three years (which, as a side note, is actually something I bought him as a present and he still never opened) and another for about a year. I want to get rid of them sooooooooooooooo badly, but Neill wants to keep them. I let him win this one and they are staying, but their presence is seriously irking me.
okay thanks for reading my posts on the most boring topic in the world-cleaning.
more interesting things have happened and are happening, but i don't feel like talking about them as much.
+found out the names/began stalking the other kids who will be in my cohort next year at Loyola. There are 6 of us total, one boy.
+going to help my mom look at apartments later and then taking her out for dinner for mom's day
+wedding ideas and meetings taking place
+neill's family coming to Chicago this coming weekend to meet my family
+reading Obama's The Audacity of Hope
+vacation planning for the summer
im going to try and write super interesting posts on all of these things. just you wait and see. its going to be great.
what i wanted to update you on right now is my cleaning progress. Today, I tackled the fan in the living room (gross. that experience alone is enough to convince me never to go that long again without dusting our fans!) and the front closet - my own personal organizational nightmare. How can one neatly store everything and anything...shoes, jackets, cold weather gear, a tennis racket, a vacuum, a giant extension cord, umbrellas, random shelves that fit in to our fridge, back packs, etc.
I don't think I ever fully realized just how many scarfs I own! But hey, when you live in chicago i suppose its necessary to own your own personal arsenal of warm weather gear. If that means having three winter jackets, two hats, eight scarfs, and a variety of ear warmers and gloves, then so be it. (Although, I did purge two scarfs that I've had for two + years and have yet to wear).
What I have a major harder time aka cannot accept is keeping things that we never use. We have two board games in our front closet that we have NEVER opened. NEVER. We've had one of them for more than three years (which, as a side note, is actually something I bought him as a present and he still never opened) and another for about a year. I want to get rid of them sooooooooooooooo badly, but Neill wants to keep them. I let him win this one and they are staying, but their presence is seriously irking me.
okay thanks for reading my posts on the most boring topic in the world-cleaning.
more interesting things have happened and are happening, but i don't feel like talking about them as much.
+found out the names/began stalking the other kids who will be in my cohort next year at Loyola. There are 6 of us total, one boy.
+going to help my mom look at apartments later and then taking her out for dinner for mom's day
+wedding ideas and meetings taking place
+neill's family coming to Chicago this coming weekend to meet my family
+reading Obama's The Audacity of Hope
+vacation planning for the summer
im going to try and write super interesting posts on all of these things. just you wait and see. its going to be great.
Friday, May 8, 2009
spontaneous fun
last night, neill and i went out for a late night walk to enjoy the weather and sticker up north avenue with RTD logos. As we passed by Piece on our way home, I saw through their window an older gentleman dancing awkwardly on stage and singing semi-awfully.
KARAOKE!
we watched through the window for a moment before deciding that the comedic possabilities of this were just too great to pass up. So into piece we went! We picked a table right up front by the stage for prime people watching, ordered drinks (dysfuntion ale for him, strongbow for me), and watched the crazies come out of the wood work.
there was a group of about 7 twenty somethings that were there to celebrate a friend's birthday. they must have been hammered, because they were dancing all over the stage and getting down with their bad selves to Umbella, Shoop, and some other songs that seemed to be about touching bodies. Then, there were these two other chicks who danced uncontrollably inbetween embarraseed giggles to 50 cent's In Da Club. They were so into the dancing they weren't even trying to sing into the microphone. There were various frat looking guys who sang a few classic country(ish) songs like Its 5 O'Clock Somewhere and a group of three who did the classic, the wonderful I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys. The whole thing was just how karaoke is supposed to be - awesomely bad!
I was half tempted (well, more like a quarter tempted) to do a song, but I think I would need about 4 or 5 more drinks before having the guts to get up there. Regardless, I had such a good time watching everyone else make a fool of themselves! I really wish I had my camera with me so I could share a video of the wonderfullness of it all with you.
What is your favorite karaoke song?
KARAOKE!
we watched through the window for a moment before deciding that the comedic possabilities of this were just too great to pass up. So into piece we went! We picked a table right up front by the stage for prime people watching, ordered drinks (dysfuntion ale for him, strongbow for me), and watched the crazies come out of the wood work.
there was a group of about 7 twenty somethings that were there to celebrate a friend's birthday. they must have been hammered, because they were dancing all over the stage and getting down with their bad selves to Umbella, Shoop, and some other songs that seemed to be about touching bodies. Then, there were these two other chicks who danced uncontrollably inbetween embarraseed giggles to 50 cent's In Da Club. They were so into the dancing they weren't even trying to sing into the microphone. There were various frat looking guys who sang a few classic country(ish) songs like Its 5 O'Clock Somewhere and a group of three who did the classic, the wonderful I Want It That Way by the Backstreet Boys. The whole thing was just how karaoke is supposed to be - awesomely bad!
I was half tempted (well, more like a quarter tempted) to do a song, but I think I would need about 4 or 5 more drinks before having the guts to get up there. Regardless, I had such a good time watching everyone else make a fool of themselves! I really wish I had my camera with me so I could share a video of the wonderfullness of it all with you.
What is your favorite karaoke song?
Thursday, May 7, 2009
cleaning!
cleaning cleaning cleaning
ahh i can't wait till our apartment is sparking clean!!!! is it weird to be this excited about scrubbing base boards and dusting fans???
my plan is to do major cleaning in our apartment one room at a time. Mostly, its the main room and the bathrooms that need to be scrubbed down (especially "my" bathroom aka the master bath - i won't lie!), but I'm also going to make sure everything is dusted and and vacuumed in our office and bedroom. I also want to organize our front closet (yay destashing...but shh neill doesn't know about that). Then, once the major cleaning job is done all I will have is more upkeep cleaning. The thought of this makes me insanely happy for some reason. Does anyone else just go gaga over a sparkling clean oven? Or dusting the tippy top shelf thats been accumulating crap for months?
List of cleaning projects:
+stove
+baseboards
+fans
+front bathroom
+back bathroom
+dusting every single surface
+washing our duvet cover and pillow shams (I've been kind of negligent about this. I won't lie)
+floors (I just finished mopping so that one is sort of crossed off the list...at least the initial cleaning)
baaaah just call me a clean machine
ahh i can't wait till our apartment is sparking clean!!!! is it weird to be this excited about scrubbing base boards and dusting fans???
my plan is to do major cleaning in our apartment one room at a time. Mostly, its the main room and the bathrooms that need to be scrubbed down (especially "my" bathroom aka the master bath - i won't lie!), but I'm also going to make sure everything is dusted and and vacuumed in our office and bedroom. I also want to organize our front closet (yay destashing...but shh neill doesn't know about that). Then, once the major cleaning job is done all I will have is more upkeep cleaning. The thought of this makes me insanely happy for some reason. Does anyone else just go gaga over a sparkling clean oven? Or dusting the tippy top shelf thats been accumulating crap for months?
List of cleaning projects:
+stove
+baseboards
+fans
+front bathroom
+back bathroom
+dusting every single surface
+washing our duvet cover and pillow shams (I've been kind of negligent about this. I won't lie)
+floors (I just finished mopping so that one is sort of crossed off the list...at least the initial cleaning)
baaaah just call me a clean machine
Monday, May 4, 2009
may 4th
so today was my last day at NRS. :(
When I logged out of the phone for the first time I started to tear up.
As much as the schedule sometimes sucked or I would complain about annoying volunteers or how incredibly stressed out I got some days, I feel SO lucky for the time I spent there. NRS is truly a great organization filled with amazingly awesome people. I'm going to miss my NRS family.
When I logged out of the phone for the first time I started to tear up.
As much as the schedule sometimes sucked or I would complain about annoying volunteers or how incredibly stressed out I got some days, I feel SO lucky for the time I spent there. NRS is truly a great organization filled with amazingly awesome people. I'm going to miss my NRS family.
Sunday, May 3, 2009
feeling salty part 2
feeling like you are doing a really good job on the no red meat thing and then finding out that pork counts as red meat.
what do they call it "the other white meat" for??!
what do they call it "the other white meat" for??!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
White House Well Wishes
Thumbing through the June/July 2009 edition of Modern Bride I came across this little blurb on page 58:
"Our new president may be too busy saving the economy to do the bump at your
reception, but if you invite the Obamas to your wedding, they'll send a
congratulatory note. (Bonus: You won't have to feed all those Secret Service
agents.) Send your invite to: The Honorable Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama, The
White House Greeting Office, Room 39, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 205000. Or fax it to: 202/395-1232. "
Cool!
"Our new president may be too busy saving the economy to do the bump at your
reception, but if you invite the Obamas to your wedding, they'll send a
congratulatory note. (Bonus: You won't have to feed all those Secret Service
agents.) Send your invite to: The Honorable Barack Obama and Mrs. Obama, The
White House Greeting Office, Room 39, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC 205000. Or fax it to: 202/395-1232. "
Cool!
