Disney on Ice

Shawn's parents, Bob & Stephanie, came for a visit this weekend with Shane of course so we could all go see Disney on Ice at the United Center.  We had a great time!  They arrived Friday evening and we had a nice time chatting while Shane thoroughly enjoyed our Wii (especially Wii Sports Resort).  Saturday morning we went to breakfast with Dad, Ana, & Niko (our typically Saturday morning routine) and it was delicious.  We were going to check out the Lego Discovery Center near Woodfield Mall but it is like $20 a person, so we decided against it.  Shane still got a lego police helicopter.  The Disney on Ice show was really good.  The skaters were all great and the show really wasn't too incredibly cheesy...well yes it was, but it was still good.  Jasmine and Alladin skated together to "A Whole New World," which will always hold a special place in the hearts of Shawn and I since we danced our first dance to that at our wedding :)  We had to introduce Bob & Steph to Lou Malnati's pizza too, so we got that on the way home from the show.  SO delicious.  I only had one piece too in order to at least semi stay on my diet :)  I am afraid to say that I crashed mega early, but we were all up this morning playing the Wii again before they left.  I think we only found one lego on the floor after Shane left too.  Not too bad.  It was great to have them here, but Shane is quite a handful!  We were glad to have some peace and quiet today to just sit around and watch movies.

I am trying out a new recipe from the Weight Watcher's website today called Chili Meatloaf.  It looks like it will be pretty good, so we'll see how it turns out.  It is in the oven right now and we are watching Hercules.  I love lazy days with my husband!

Recognition Time

Today is my weight day for Weight Watchers.  Since I am doing this with only the online resources (not going to the meetings I mean) I basically choose a day that I want to be my weigh day each week.  For me it is Friday morning.  Today I reached my 5% of weight loss goal!  I have lost 11# and I am still going strong!  I have been following the plan now for a month and it hasn't been too hard.  Shawn is adjusting to me not cooking for us as often and when I do he eats the healthier than usual options without complaint.  Although, he has been stopping at McDonald's more than usual....wonder why?!  haha.  Anyway, I just wanted to report that Weight Watchers is going well and I am on my way to a healthier me!

Carlos

I know many of you have heard me talk about "My Baby Carlos" at work...he is a baby that was born at our hospital last year very, very early.  He ended up getting a very serious infection of his gut and has had a very rough first year of life...but amazingly he celebrated his 1st birthday on Wednesday!  He was my favorite patient and I took care of him just about every time I worked.  Shawn and I even bought him a hat in Ireland while we were on our honeymoon!  He is no longer in our NICU, nor in our hospital.  His mother invited us to visit him at the hospital he is in currently for his 1st birthday party.  He doesn't look great yet, but he is slowly getting better.  It makes me so happy that this sweet little boy has made it to his first birthday and I hope he has many more!  It was really great to see him, even though he is still very sick.  His mother promised she will continue to keep us posted on his condition and I hope she does.  Babies like these, where I can really impact their lives and they truly impact mine, are the main reason I love my job as much as I do!

My puzzle

Over the last couple of weeks on days when I can't sleep and I wake up way before the rest of the world I have been working on puzzle.  This morning (when I woke up at 5:15am) I finally finished it!  The last week has been the longest because I have been trying to finish the sky portion of the puzzle, and doing the sky is HARD!  Anyway, it is all done.  So, now what am I going to do when I can't sleep??

I also found a couple of random pictures from Christmas that I never posted.

This is the tie I got for Eric for Christmas.  I knew he had a new nice shirt for dressy occasions and I thought I would try to find him a tie that he would actually wear.  Turned out pretty cool...if I do say so!  He liked it, so I guess that's all that matters!

Also, since I got to see my favorite puppies in the world I thought I would post the picture I have of them together, both looking at me!  Amazing!  They are hard to get to focus at the same time!  It was so fun to get to see them...now I just have to wait until I go to Texas to see them again.

Date night last night was nice.  Unfortunately, the movie Shawn wanted to go see isn't out in theaters yet.  Well...he doesn't actually want to see it, but I do so we were going to go.  We still went out to dinner though at Red Lobster.  Yum.  I hadn't been feeling well all day though and I totally crashed when we got home.  Basically sound asleep by like 8:30pm.  That would explain why I woke up at 5 this morning!

Catch Up

I guess I've been slacking on my blogging the last couple of weeks.  So...where to start with the catching up.

Most importantly...Mimi is pregnant!  She found out that it will be a boy (she is about 21-22 weeks along right now) so I am going to have my first little nephew!  I am so freaking excited!  She is due on June 2nd, so it looks like I will be taking a vacation to Texas in June.  Well...I hardly think it will be very relaxing since helping a new mom get settled at home with a new baby and helping with house work, cooking, getting the dogs settled, etc will hardly be easy.  I am excited to do it though!  Yay!  Here is my favorite ultrasound picture so far.

Another exciting, but somewhat scary news is that my friends from college (Sarah & Ian Bundy) were pregnant and due to have a baby in mid-March. Well...that baby decided to arrive early and was born about a week ago. Isabelle Bundy is healthy but was only born at 31 weeks, so little bit more than a smidge early. She is doing very well, but will be in the hospital for several more weeks. Luckily Sarah went into labor early enough to get a dose of steriods to help little Isabelle's lungs and she was also born quite large for a baby only about 7-1/2 months along. So far everything looks good and Sarah is doing well too. Although Isabelle is doing well, there are many complications that can arise from prematurity so please keep the Bundy family in your thoughts as she continues to grow and develop and hopefully she'll be home before we know it! Here is a picture of baby Isabelle with her happy mommy!

I have been doing Weight Watchers for the last few weeks too.  So far it is going well!  I haven't been getting to the gym as much as I should (it has been so cold to walk there...I know that is a lame excuse though) but the changes in my eating habits has been working.  So far I have lost about 8 lbs.  Yay!  Quick loss early really helps with the motivation to stay focused!  I think the hardest part is the cooking at home.  It is hard to find things for me to cook and also be able to eat that Shawn will also enjoy.  I don't need him losing a bunch of weight either.  Luckily the Weight Watchers website has a TON of recipes and you can alter then if you want and it will recalculate the point value for you.  Nice.  I hope that I can continue following my plan!

I have been working a lot lately because we have been swamped at work, but that is good because it is extra money for us.  We are planning a trip out to LA in February to stay with Albert and of course we will finally be able to visit Andrew!  All reports from his family sound great...but of course he still has a long recovery ahead still.  Because I have been working so much Shawn decided we needed a date night, so that is tomorrow.  He won't tell me what we're doing though.  Boo.  I hate surprises!

Christmas is officially over now :(

I have taken down all my Christmas decorations as well as my Christmas Tree.  This is always a sad day for me.  I love Christmas time and I LOVE my Christmas tree...so putting all that stuff away is kind of depressing.  On the other hand, now my apartment doesn't seem quite so cramped!  I will just have to fill that space with something else, right?!

Resolutions

Although I didn't actually makes resolutions this New Years, I have decided on a few things that I need to do.  Shawn and I both decided we need to help encourage each other to go to the gym more often (and we have been since the new year...good for us!).  Also my big change is that I have decided to go on weight watchers again.  I did it before, right after college, and I had a lot of success with it.  As with all things concerning weight loss and myself, the weight didn't stay off for too long (boo).  So I am back on the plan and so far so good.  I just started this week, but I have been sticking to it pretty well.  I haven't been hungry, but poor Shawn is gonna have to start eating veggies.  hahaha.  I will keep you posted on my progress!

2009 Review: In Pictures

I have decided to borrow an idea from some other bloggers and do a year in review using pictures.  It has been a busy year with lots of stuff going on so here is the story of the year 2009!

Toasting the new year: 2009

2008 was a crazy year for us, with some good but mostly bads.  When the new year rolled around we weren't taking any chances so we stayed in just the two of us to celebrate a new year and hopefully a better one.  It had already gotten of to a good start because we had just gotten engaged!

Our first Hawks' Game together at the United Center.

Shawn and I had gone a NHL game while we were in D.C. in 2008 and loved it so we decided we would check out a Blackhawks game.  It was great!  We ended up going again in March and getting really great seats!  Plus, we had never been to the United Center so we had to get our picture with Michael Jordan!

Brookfield Zoo

Mimi visited for some wedding planning stuff in March and we went to Brookfield Zoo.  It was a fun trip to the zoo, although it was cold.  Mom & Eric were visiting with Mimi and my Dad tagged along as well.  It was the first time that Mimi and I could ever remember with our Mom & Dad being with us together.  It was a fun day!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Shawn's brother Patrick came to visit us in March and we went out to a few Irish Pubs in Forest Park.  My step-brother, Niko, came out with us as well.  We had a great time.  Niko, Shawn and I did some karoke...awesome!

Hart/Fuelling Wedding

Brad and Shannon got married in Indianapolis in April so we got to see a great group of friends!  I love all these people and it is so great to be able to visit with them, we just don't get to do it enough :(  Brad & Shannon's wedding was beautiful!

Engagement Pictures

We took some engagement pictures while we were in Indy for Brad and Shannon's Wedding.  Our photographer had come to Chicago in early March to do our pictures but it was a COLD RAINY day.  We did manage to get some cute pictures that day, but since we were gonna be in Indy anyway for the wedding we met them to do another photo session.  These pictures turned out really beautiful!

New Tattoo

Shawn and I got new tattoo's...mine is awesome!  Sara designed the basic style and the guy at Lucky Rabbit changed it a bit to make it work with the small tattoo I already had.  I think my tattoo turned out really well...I love it!  Shawn got a tattoo too, on his arm/deltoid area.  His is the symbol of the Jedi Order (shocking I know!)

Bryce moved to California

Bryce moved to California so there was a going away party of course!  We had a great time playing beer pong and other games.  He lives in L.A. now and is doing well...but we miss him of course!

Derby Party

Derby Party at the Poremba's in May...so much fun! I had never watched the Kentucky Derby or gone to a Derby Party.  We won a bit of money but it was great being able to visit with Sue (my Dad's second wife) and my cousins.  Lisa and Laura both surprised me with the news that they were pregnant!  Both due only a week apart!  I am happy to report that they both had healthy girls recently :)

Eric's Visit

Eric visited for a few days in June while Mom was out of town for a UMW thing.  We went to the Field Museum...although it rained cats and dogs all day and we were SOAKED we still had a blast!  We were basically walking through a river from the train station to the museum!  We were going to go to the Aquarium, but it was too busy.  We had a great time at the Field Museum though!

Metropolis, Illinois

Shawn and I went to Metropolis, IL for the weekend for his birthday in July.  We missed the Superman Festival (it is in June) but we still had a blast!  We stayed at a bed & breakfast and did a bit of gambling at the Harrah's Casino.

College Friends Visit

Aaron and Angie visited from Florida and bought a new puppy while they were here.  We went to a house warming party at Brent & Soriya's and played some Wii Sports Resort.  It was so much fun!

Our Wedding!

August and September were pretty much exclusively devoted to our wedding!

Ireland Honeymoon

Honeymoon in Ireland.  So beautiful!

Ringling Bros, Barnum and Bailey Circus

Free tickets to the Circus!  Made us feel like kids again!

Men's Wearhouse Holiday Party

Men's Wearhouse Holiday Party...a black tie affair.  It was at the Hyatt Regency on Wacker downtown.  The food was delicious and we each got 2 free drinks.  Shawn looked like James Bond...classy!

Stevens/Scharer Wedding

Caleb and Lindsey's Wedding in November. They got married in Lafayette Indiana.  Good times!

Star Wars: In Concert! 

We made sure to get tickets to the touring show.  It was so awesome!  Any Star Wars fan would love this show! My Aunt Beru's Blue Milk...yummy!  It was really just a White Russian, but it was blue!

Pictures from Christmas just got posted so I'm not gonna repeat them.  December really ended 2009 on a great note though!  My family was all together for Christmas and I found out I am going to be an Aunt in June!  Woohoo!  I spent New Year's with my husband and I really think as great as 2009 was, 2010 is looking to be even better!