Samantha, My American Girl

Mimi called me last week to alert me to the news that American Girl is planning to move Samantha to the vault. They are no longer making any of Samantha's stuff, but they will sell what they have until it's gone. I was very sad to hear this! Samantha is the American Girl doll that I have wanted since I was little. Mimi and I used to get the catalog every year and we would go through it and circle all the things we wanted. We never got those dolls, but last year for Christmas we both got the dolls we have always wanted! My Samantha is beautiful and I love her! The one outfit I have always wanted is her winter coat with the fluffy hat and muff and Mimi informed me that you can't get it online anymore. I made a trip today to the American Girl store in Water Tower Place and I was lucky enough to find the coat I wanted and the hat and muff and the ice skates. Now I won't be able to get any more stuff that is classic Samantha, but just look how cute she is!!

Happy Halloween!

Since it is Halloween today, I thought I would post some pictures from the Halloween Party we went to last weekend. One of the girls Shawn works with had a party so we had to do some last minutes costumes. Shawn already had an idea of what he wanted to do, so to make him Racer X from Speed Racer all I needed to get was some duct tape mainly. He suggested I be Super Girl so I got a cheap red sheet to make my cape and other than that I already had my bling Superman shirt! The party was fun and it was good to meet the people Shawn works with!

SuperGirl

Racer X

Shawn and I :)


P.S. I start the orientation at my new job Monday....so wish me luck!

A visit from Theresa!

Theresa was here for a visit this week. The school she teaches at gets a whole week off for Fall Break...amazing! So she came to visit Shawn and I for a few days. We took the train downtown on day to do some touristy things. We went to Navy Pier just to check it out (it was kinda cold so there wasn't much going on). There was a little park out front and we had some fun with the statues!

The fountain at Navy Pier.

Shawn is lending a helping hand :)

I'm so mean, pushing that poor girl down and ruining the game!

Shawn and Theresa are getting in on the Ring Around the Rosey!

Theresa is always modeling! Haha!

Me and Shawn at the end of Navy Pier!

The Lighthouse out past the end of the pier.

Back to a normal life...

It seems as though life is finally gettin back to normal :) Finally! Shawn and I are moved in a settled into our new apartment. We are still waiting on the second half of the sectional (Niko will probably bring it over this weekend) and we need a desk still, but otherwise we are getting things in place. Our apartment has a workout facility that is really nice. I have officially started my diet today by working out this morning. Yay for me! I took a walk down Lake St in Oak Park this afternoon and took some pictures of a few of the churches on our street. There are a ton of churches around here and they are all really beautiful. There is a lot of really interesting architecture as well because this is the hometown of Frank Lloyd Wright. I took some pictures of our apartment as well. The view from the roof is amazing too!

Shawn is back to work and he loves it! He is working a few days a week at the Oak Park store, which is great because he can walk to work, and a couple of days a week at the store in Bloomingdale. That store is about 20-25 minutes away, but it is a lot bigger and has video cameras as well as regular cameras, so he should be able to make bigger commissions, especially around the holidays! The people he works with are glad he's back and that makes us very happy! We are planning to go to a Halloween party this weekend that one of his co-workers is having. I have good news too about work. I got a full-time staff position at Mount Sinai Hospital in Chicago. I will be working in the NICU and I am SO EXCITED! Besides the fact that I am SO ready to go back to work, and I really happy that I'll be working with the tiny babies again! I love the babies and I know I will be enjoying my job! I don't get to start working for another couple of weeks, but I will survive! I've managed this long! Wish me luck!

Yay Oak Park!

We made it!! We moved in on Sunday! Yay! Now we are just working on getting everything settled. Dad is letting us use a couch they aren't using now as well as an entertainment center. That really helps us out right now. We still need to get a desk so now our dining table is pulling double duty as a desk. Oh well! I'll get some pictures taken soon and post it up.

Tonight we're on our way to Aunt Mel & Uncle Glenn's for dinner. Aunt Kathy is in town from Oregon so that'll be nice to see her too.

Oak Park...here we come!!

The time is almost here!! Next week we are heading back to Oak Park...finally!! Shawn will be starting his job at the camera shop again, so he is really excited about that. I'm going up on Wednesday to paint the apartment and get a few things settled in, then we're moving all our stuff up on Sunday. Mom and Eric will be helping us as well as Shawn's family. We cannot wait to get settled and we will keep you you all posted about how it all goes!

Redecorating Adventure

This blog is mainly for Mimi :) I have been redecorating Mom's house over the past couple of weeks since I've started feeling better but am still not back to work. Here is a video of the new kitchen and living room. Flooring is still to come and a bit of furniture, but overall this is a huge improvement!