Up in the 715 for Fathers Day

Me and Craigy took a road trip to the "715" aka the north woods of Wisconsin, where I was Borned. It is funny that just over a year ago, 5 hours would get me to the beaches of CA, now it gets me to the north woods of Wisconsin... Strange world we live in....(you know you are in the 715 when __Insert red neck joke here__ . Funny thing is.. my cousin Phil, really is a red neck now days :) We went because my parents were taking their vacation up there (as they do every other year), and we wanted to go up and visit them. It is always fun to go up to camp, a place I have spent many summers since I was a kid.

We did a lot of fun things, we spent a lot of time at camp (Silver Birch Ranch) we Zip Lined, went to Antigo (whoot whoot) for dinner with Phill Sr. and Jr. and Addison... so a little family Reunion on Fathers day with our Fathers. We saw a 900 lb Pig at the barn! I got to see Brooke and Adam Betz, who I have not seen since my wedding... and we did a lot of relaxing! A Lot of reading, game playing, and just chatting. It was a nice relaxing family time vacation, and probably the only vacation me and Craig will have all summer!

Super fun! Now for some more pics:

Me and my daddy.... I had a picture with my mom... but the camera seemed to erase it :( boo...We did LOTS of reading like this :)
Craig did lots of Homework.... because school does not take a vacation :)
This is the 500 lb mama pig
And this is the 900 lb papa pig.... THAT IS ALOT OF BACON!! yikes!I thought this sign was funny... since it was my two homes away from my home now.... we were of course going strait! I had to take a picture!

Out for now!

Love love.

Funny Funny

me: "You are a Stinker"

April (the three year old I nanny for): "I know"

Pump up that Thai Food

Last night me and Craig did one of our favorite things... we took a walk down our Clark Street (Down Clark street is our favorite restaurants, our grocery store, shops for people, shops for dogs, clubs, bars, convenient stores, etc, etc... you need it... its probably on that street) and Picked a restaurant. We were able to take our time since Roxy went to day care and did not need to go to the park, etc... YES I take my dog to day care... NO judging.... ANYWAYS...It is a weekly tradition that we pick a different restaurant each week that we eat at, as to "expand our horizons" and taste buds, since there are so many different restaurants in Chicago. However, this week, we went back to a regular. We went to Noodle Zone, which is one of our favorite Thai places... and since there is not much Chinese food that I am in to in Chicago... we eat Thai a lot more.... I had something at the Noodle Zone a while ago, and I keep trying to remember what it was... unfortunately... I did not order it last night :(

These are my 5th favorite potstickers in Chicago.... YES I have a list, we get them a lot :)



This is Clark Street... a walk we take weekly, if not daily!

Today was 60 and Rainy... seeing as 90% of my Facebook updates are about the weather, you can see I am not exactly thrilled with the weather here... HOWEVER... on days like this... as a nanny... you have to improvize... Staying inside all day is not ideal... so today we went to PUMP IT UP... an indoor blow up Play place in Old Town.... It was very fun... HUGE SLIDES... big obstacle coerces... Jumpy houses... They were tired maybe even to a fault... but it certainly brightened up a gloomy day.

Last but not least... I NEED to share with you... The funniest video I saw on You Tube:

Out for now!

Garden Inspiration

My own blog has inspired me... I decided based on my last post to start a fruit and veggie garden.... Due to lack of space... it is VERY small... but hey... its a start...

I feel so grown up... blogging about my garden...

Here are my Strawberries...
And here are my peppers! (Green and Orange)
I can't wait to eat what I grow!!! yay!

Our Home

It took me a while to make my home my own. At first I just let craig do all the decorating, because I wasn't really committed to living here. But over the past few months, I have really made my little home my own, and I wanted to share with you what our little 3 story walk up in Chicago looks like.

Living room...
Bathroom... if you haven't been able to tell yet... we have a bird and tree theme in our house!
Living room...
Bedroom.... We got our bed spread at Urban... and a few weeks later... Roxy and the Cats Ripped up the lace... OUCH! Lucky for us Craig's mom just came in town and Fixed it for us! Catastrophe averted!
These Birds were a Brain baby of mine... I came home from word one day and I wanted to paint... basically a few hours later... their were birds painted on my wall in our bedroom... Hopefully our landlord wont be to mad :)
Kitchen! Not very big... and our oven stinks... but hey... it works :)
Guest Room!!! so if you want to Visit!! this would be YOUR bed :)
This is were our pets spend most of their time... in the living room... on OUR big comfy couch with the cutest pillows from Target!

This is our little balcony Garden! It is a lot of fun! we had one side die already from the AC unit... but we just replanted, and I think I am going to start planting some veggies on the ground! It keeps me occupied a little :)This is our little court Yard! It is pretty fun... This is a view from my bedroom window... So its the unit across from us... but its basically the same all around the U shape.

This is where we call home for now... In our little Edgewater Apartment... with no dishwasher, no laundry, and no AC... It is like living back in the day... but it is a fun adventure!

Our for now.

Our First Year

Well... I decided to start a blog due to many suggestions as well as lack of a hobby. Our first year has been a whirlwind. Craig has successfully completed his first year at Moody, and is now a Junior!! (whoot whoot) and I am now at me second nanny gig which I love. I work with a 1 and 3 year old, and I am getting awesome and changing diapers!
Craig and I have gotten acquainted with the City, there is so much to do here. The beach feels like San Diego, and the City feels like New York... It is a very crazy place to be. We had one of the biggest blizzards Chicago has ever seen this winter, and had to dig our car out of 24 inches of snow. And then 3 days ago, we had 100 degree whether with so much humidity I thought I was swimming in it... This is the most Bizzar weather I have ever been in! It took me a while to like this crazy “little” place Chicago but a year later, I am ok with living here. Craig loved it from the second we got here, all the new places and food, and books (Craig loves his books).
We have found a new Church home, its called Holy Trinity Church. Its in the Center of Down Town Chicago. We love it! It has been a place of refuge for us! We have met so many neat people there, and it has been a joy to get involved in little ways!
On an average week we try one new restaurant, we take Roxy to the beach at least once, we have many conversations with our neighbors at our dog park, Craig reads over 400-600 pages, and I at the moment am catching up on Lost!
Fun Facts: Our neighborhood is the #1 dog populated area in Chicago (and because of that, I can take my dog into the bank, shoe store, and drug store in my neighborhood). Our neighborhood is the #2 Gayest neighborhood in Chicago (5th in the US). Bill Pinalto lives 2 blocks away from us. Andrew and Stacey Stravits live right above us in our building. The name windy city has nothing to do with the wind (even though it is pretty windy here... its all about the politics). My mom, dad, Craigs mom and dad, my sister and Erick, Denise Pence, Ryan Lunkens, Matt Savage, Stacey and Chiko Wolf, Tim Savage, Chad Damewood, Dave Delnoce, Derek Nsubaga, Brent Klontz, Jason Doughty, James Hoxworth, Vermone Pierre have all come to visit us... WHY haven't you?!?!