A Great Night!

When Shawn and I got the settlement money from the accident we decided to pay off some debt, put a large chunck in savings for the wedding and then splurge on a few frivolous things for ourselves. One of these things was great seats to a Blackhawks game. We went to the game last night against the Anaheim Ducks and our seats were 6th row just to the left of the goal. It was awesome! All the sounds were amplified...we could hear every little hit on the glass. I jumped everytime a puck hit the glass! Plus when the players bashed against the glass it was amazing! We were hoping a fight would break out right in front of us, but there weren't any big fights! Also, although we were sitting right by one of the goals, every single goal in the game (for both teams) were scored at the OTHER goal! Boo! We got some really great pictures during the game, and we won a box of Lemonheads. Can't beat that! Oh yeah...and we had a great time together :)

Shawn standing by the ice before the game.

Johnson & Kane warming up before the game.

This picture is from our seats! Awesome!

Byfuglien and one of the players from the Ducks.

Crashing into the glass right in front of us!

Action on the ice!

Goodbye My Computer

So...I am saying goodbye to my computer today. My laptop has been a great companion since I started nursing school and now it is time to say goodbye. Although it still works, the internet is being a problem child and it has started shutting down randomly. So yesterday I paid a visit to BestBuy and got some computer advice from Ian and decided that I needed to get a new computer. I wasn't sure if I should get another laptop or a desktop, but I finally decided on a new laptop. I loved my Toshiba, so I decided not to stray. I got a new Toshiba and I love it! I am having a time getting used to Vista, but so far I am figuring it out!

On a side note, Shawn and I are going to another Blackhawks game tomorrow night. This game we have really awesome seats! SO excited!!! Also, Mimi is coming to visit next week! She'll be here in Chicago on Sunday, along with Mom and Eric. I'm so excited!! Also...Shawn and I decided we are going to go to Ireland for our honeymoon. Also super excited about that! I am so excited for our wedding :) I met with a couple of florists earlier this week and I feel really good about it! I was thinking about maybe trying to do the flowers myself, but I think that I am not going to mess with that. Both florists I met with had some really good ideas, so I'm just waiting for quotes now and then I can make a decision. I love getting things decided for the wedding...one less thing to stress about. We finally set the design for the save-the-dates today, so those should be ready soon to be sent out. Shawn and I went to Target to do our registry this week and I did one for Crate and Barrel last week (I didn't figure Shawn would care about that one much!).

My friend Shannon's bachelorette party is coming up in March and that should be fun! I miss my Shannie so much! She was such a good roomie and I miss my sleeping-friend Benji! I don't have anyone (or any dog) to sleep with me now during the day :( The bachelorette party will be really fun. Also, my friend Mark from Ball State just got engaged! I am so happy for him! He really sounds like he has found a path that will truly make him happy and I know he's been struggling recently with his life's path. Yay to marriages everywhere! On a sadder note, my friends Sarah and Ian from IU had announced that they were pregnant but discovered recently that Sarah lost the baby. They are devastated and so any prayers for them I know they would appreciate.

Shawn's new toy

When we moved to Oak Park this past October I spoke with a banker at Chase and discovered that I can earn points when I use my debit as a credit.  Since then I have been doing that and I found recently that I had earned quite a lot of points!  I was trying to decide what to cash the points in for when I realized that I could get an Amazon.com giftcard and use that to buy Shawn something he has wanted for quite awhile.  So...I got him a gift that he loves!  He new friend, the Voice-Activated R2D2!

This is R2D2.  Personally, I am discovering that he is actually pretty annoying, but I can't make him listen to me.  He seems to prefer Shawn!  He has a pretty handy little cup holder (as you can see in the picture, he likes Keystone Light too!) and he has a bunch of preset commands that he is supposed to follow.  For me he just wanders around the room and makes a lot of noise.  The important thing is that Shawn likes him!

Blackhawks Game

As anyone who knows Shawn or I probably already knows, neither of us is really very keen on Valentine's Day.  We both think it is a fairly lame holiday and that people are lazy in their relationships if they think they need a special day set aside once a year to tell the person they love how they feel.  So, when it just so happened that there was a Blackhawk's game on Valentine's Day and I didn't have to work we decided to go!  We had so much fun!  The place was packed and they were celebrating Valentine's Day as you can tell from this picture!

The Hawk's were playing the Dallas Stars and it was a great game from the start!  The guys sitting next to us were pretty annoying and seemed like total jackasses, but we didn't let them ruin our fun.  Our seats were pretty shitty, way up at the top, but the view was still great.  We didn't have any trouble seeing any part of the game.  We are going to be going to another game in March and we have much better seats for that game...so excited!

We had never been to the United Center before, so we made sure to stop on the way in for our picture with Michael Jordan!

Overall we had a great night, but then again we always have a great time when we are together doing stuff we both enjoy. With me working nights and Shawn juggling 2 part-time jobs, anytime we can spend together doing something outside the house is a great time for us!

Engagement Pictures

Yesterday our photographers came up to Chicago to do our engagement photos. They will be making our save-the-dates from these pictures so we schedule this last month. The plans were made but unfortunately the Chicago weather decided not to cooperate. It was raining all day and it was cold! We still managed to take some pictures, but not as many as we would've liked too. I was pretty bummed about it. Hopefully the ones that we got will turn out well, but I think we're going to try to make some plans with the photographer to take some additional pictures next time we're in Indianapolis.

Stuff

The last couple of months have been so busy with wedding planning, the holidays, work, etc.  I feel like time is just flying by.  I don't like that anymore! I wish time would slow down and let me enjoy each day a little more.  I guess there's nothing I can do about that except make sure that I make everyday count.  I'm going to try to remember that I said that everytime I get offered an extra shift at work so maybe I won't take them all...

My wedding plans are coming along really well.  I am getting a lot accomplished and Shawn & I both are really looking forward to it.  We're still trying to decide if we're going to go on a honeymoon after the wedding or wait to do that later.  If you have any suggestions on places to go, let me know!  We are taking our engagement pictures on Wednesday.  Our photographer is coming up from Indianapolis to take the pictures here.  I really hope the weather cooperates!  I am really excited to do the pictures, plus they photographer is going to make our save-the-dates, and sending those out makes the wedding really official :)

I finally have medical and dental insurance again through work!  Now I have appointments with a ton of doctors!  My neck still bothers me quite a bit, so I think I'll go see the doc who will be my regular family doc.  That way she can be aware of what happens and maybe give me a referral for some physical therapy or some pain medication that works better than ibuprofen.  We'll see.  I also will be able to go to the dentist again...and I never thought I would see the day I was excited about the dentist!   I am though because it has been too long!  

Mimi will be coming to visit soon...yay!  She's going to come visit while Eric is on Spring Break that way Mom and Eric can come up to Chicago with her for a couple of days before we head back to Indianapolis to do wedding stuff.  We have to have a massive bridesmaid dress hunt and we're going to do the tasting for the reception :)  Yum!  I can't wait until she gets here!

Um....Christmas?

Shawn and I did manage to get the theater before Christmas to see "Four Christmases" with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn.  It was a cute movie but not at all like the four Christmases we had to manage in a matter of 2 days!  Christmas Eve Shawn had to work, so as soon as he got off work we packed up the car and started on our Christmas adventure!  First stop...My Dad's family.  Christmas Eve at the Murf's is a tradition and Mimi and I haven't been able to participate in years, so it was really great to be able to spend Christmas Eve there this year (plus I totally missed the perogi's!).  It is definitely a different experience than we were kids, now all my cousins have kids and they are so entertaining.

Caitlin the Christmas Elf :)

Fabian, Tommy and Tyler making toy guns out of huge Legos.  I think I have about 6 of these types of pictures!  haha

My cousin Kimberly and her sons, Fabian & Christian.

The bigger girls, Sammy, Tori and Brandy, think they're too cool to hang out with all of us dorky adults!

We headed out that night after dinner to Shawn's family at his grandparent's house in Wakarusa. The drive wasn't too bad, only a bit over two hours.  We had our gift exchange with Shawn's parents and brothers that night then the next day Aunts & Uncles arrived with more kids.  It was a really nice day with tasty food...but we weren't done with our Christmas yet!

Shawn's Dad, Bob, is opening his present with a little help from Shane.

Looks like Shawn is stuck with me as his Christmas present :)  hehe

After lunch we were on our way down to Parker City for Christmas with the Manning Family.  My Aunt Colleen & Uncle Michael were having Christmas at their house, so we headed over to open the presents from our Christmas drawing.  The younger kids are not included, but Shawn and I were in the drawing this year.  Dave also brought his presents for us since this the time we had to spend with him for Christmas as well.  We didn't hang around to eat because Mom was expecting us so we could have Christmas dinner with her and open our present there at her house.  Yikes!  Lots was accomplished, but after dinner at mom's we just go to relax and that was nice.

Holly loved her Bears jersey from her favorite cousin...ME!

"OMG!  Twilight!  So freakin' cool!"  I think Haley liked her presents too.  Again from the greatest cousin ever...ME!

My super cute Eeyore Precious Moment from Mom...Isn't it the cutest?!

'

Super sweet Superman shirt from Mom.  Probably the coolest Superman shirt Shawn has gotten in awhile!

Could I have gotten a more appropriate book for Sara?  I think not.

Family Guy of course...the only show Eric ever watches.  And he watches constantly!!

So overall it was a great Christmas.  Busy, but great.  Shawn only had 2 days off of work so we had to rush back to Chicago, but it was nice to get to come home for a few days at least.  Hopefully we'll have some more time next year.

So I realized as I was reading other people's blogs this morning that my blog completely skipped over Christmas!  I don't know why that happened...probably due to the post-engagement excitement :)  I have not been blogging much lately either because I have been so busy planning wedding stuff.  I am having a ball with the planning though.  Anyway, I wanted to share my Christmas so here it is.