A hitch in my get-a-along

I have come to the realization that I can no longer wear heels.

This is distressing to me since most of my shoes have at least a 1in heel or higher.

Why can't I wear heels anymore?

Mostly because for the past four weeks it feels like my right leg is trying to detach itself at the hip and walk away on it's own. I now sleep with an abnormally long pillow between my knees and ankles and have only recently (this morning) realized that heels make it worse. Today is the first day in many that I can get up from my chair at work and not walk like an 80 year old woman. It still has a distinctive pain to it, but it's much less than it was, say yesterday.

You know, times like this cause me to think back to the not so distant past when my view of pregancy was less than flattering. I would look at these women and although I was generally sympathetic to their pains, I was thinking, "Your uterus is expanding will you get a grip? It's not like your leg is going to fall off or your stomach will eat itself".

At this time, I would like to say, I'm sorry. My thinking was so horribly wrong that it's almost laughable. I'm sorry for my unsympathetic thoughts, because now I realize; Pregnancy isn't just about your uterus, it's like a virus that takes over your whole body.
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Tagged by LZA

LZA,

I'm not completely sure that I'm the R that you tagged in your post, so since I'm in doubt, I'll do it anyway and give you all the benefit of my amazing answers! *heavy dose of sarcasm*

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? wrapping paper
2. Real tree or Artificial? artificial - it's the only way to go.
3. When do you put up the tree? this year? Last week :(
4. Do you like eggnog? Alcohol free please!
5. Favorite gift received as a child? wow...my memory is awful.
6. Hardest person to buy for? DH
7. Easiest person to buy for? My neice, MM
8. Do you have a nativity scene? I made one in highschool?
9. Mail or email Christmas cards? neither this year (I know, bah humbug)
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Large & In Charge - a workout video from the 80s for the more plump aerobicist.
11. Favorite Christmas Movie? White Christmas -are there any others?
12. When do you start shopping? December 15
13. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No
14. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? cookies
15. Lights on the tree? white
16. Favorite Christmas song? All I want for Christmas is You - with the video that has that guy with the weird hair.
17. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home.
18. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yes
19. Angel on the tree top or a star? Star
20. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning
21. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Target commercials
22. Favorite ornament theme or color? My mom had purple berries and green pears one year. That was really great.
23. Favorite for Christmas dinner? turkey
24. What do you want for Christmas this year? China

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Candi, This is for You.

Tag 1: Six Random things about me.

1. I moved 6 times in college.

2. I broke my left arm at age 6.

3. I have 6 winter coats in my closet. (Sadly, it hardly seems like enough!)

4. I teach seminary which STARTS at 6am.

5. Dave and I take the same train home which get's us to our apartment at 6p most nights.

6. 6 of my coworkers were fired on my very first day at Tribune Co. (Boy that was weird)
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*Disclaimer*

Please read before opening the following two posts.

I am readily willing to admit that I am over using the italics, bold, and capitalization functions in the following two posts. I also overuse the !!!exclamation point!!!

Consider it part of my pregnancy. As I share my little adventures (Here I go AGAIN!!!) I will occasionally be more emotionally attached to certain memories, like cereal and ice scrapers.

There is no explanation for this, so, as a collective blogging community, let's work together and hope this doesn't continue for another 6 months until little Schlomo or Bertha Jo arrives.
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The BEST day EVER!!!

Be Prepared for the awesomeness to come...

Sunday was a really warm day. It was like 51 degrees. In December, in Chicago, you just can't beat that. There was a little rain, but nothing a good wiper blade couldn't handle.

Anyway, I should know better seeing that I'm from here, but it got cold Sunday night.

Really cold.

But don't worry. It kept raining. And then icing.

I wake up on Monday morning for seminary and remember that I'm driving. Oh man, I'll need to make sure I leave early so I can scrape my car. I bet it's going to be just covered!

So in my mind, I'm having this dialogue: "Self, you better hurry.", "I know, Self, I'm going to give myself 10 extra minutes to scrape my car.", "Good thing, Self, because you're probably going to need it", "Self, don't be such a pessimist, you'll be fine with 10 minutes. It's not like someone dipped your car in ice and then froze it like an ice cube".

I walk outside and practically fell on my face. The parking lot is covered in a certifiably skate-able sheet of ice. I get to my car and I look at the windows. "Self, I think you are totally screwed", "Self, that doesn't help right now. How 'bout we open the stupid door and turn on the defroster?"

It takes me the 1st 5 minutes of my extra 10 minutes to OPEN THE DOOR. I turn on my car and let the defrosters start working. Has anyone else noticed the futility of blowing barely warm air on a piece of glass that is covered in almost 3/16 of an inch of ice?

So I start scraping. I realize my lame-o scraper from Utah (where they get normal snow) isn't going to cut it, but I don't have any other options. I'm hardly making a dent and after another 15 minutes (5:40) I have 4 inches of visibility on the drivers side only. Awesome.

I call the other teacher that I carpool with. Her car is in a nice dry garage. Can she drive today? TJ says yes, because she's awesome. I turn off my car and go inside. I can't believe that this is happening. we are SO totally late. TJ calls me back at about 5:45-5:47. Her garage door won't open. It's frozen shut. She has a clean car, but she can't get into it.

I go and start scraping again. By 6:00 (BTW, we start seminary at 6) I have 12 inches of visibility on my side and 5 inches on the passenger side. Good enough. I go and pick up 2 students and TJ. We get to church at 6:20 and some students have already come and gone. It's a sad day.

Hilariously enough. That's not even the best of it. As we are driving to seminary. We're talking about how those dumb seminary teachers should have cancelled seminary, and that we are never going to get there when out of nowhere, my windshield cracks.

Yep. starboard to port in two swift pops. It's taken me till today to write this post because if I wrote it yesterday I would have used words that would STILL get me in trouble with my Mom. And NO ONE wants to make her mad. (j/k mom) :)

So, as a recap, the best day ever included a car shaped ice cube. three stooges like antics, and a broken windshield. And it's not even 6:30am.
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Lots of goings on.

Okay, so I'm probably going to have to post something like a million entries. I've been tagged 3 times, and I've had some very interesting happenings in the last few days.

Okay (this is no the most eventful happening, but it is certainly on the forefront of my mind).

So I eat cereal for breakfast. This is a fairly recent change from my normal breakfast intake of...air. So I have purchased a few options. I have an old box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch that I absolutely can NOT touch (more on that later), a box of honey nut cheerios, and a brand new box of flavorless bran flakes. All good choices.

I had bran flakes yesterday so I was feeling pretty fiberful, and thought I'd indulge in a big bowl of yummy honey covered oat rings. I got my milk, my bowl, my spoon and my cereal. I said my prayer, because I don't like soggy cereal, and what if my prayer is long!?

I then open that glorious box of cereal to find...Cinnamon Toast Crunch!!!!!! Oh, the horror!

Here's the problem. Due my particular condition, I have a rather strong aversion to things, like bean soup, and oatmeal, but most of all CINNAMON! I can't stand the smell or even thinking of it. *spine shudder*

Remember, I have seminary so it's like 5:15 and I yell DH's name in vain! HE must have done this!! The EVIL FIEND!! (OK, so maybe I'm a little hormonal) He comes running thinking that I've fallen to my death on the kitchen floor and then I feel bad. I tell him to go back to bed and that he wasn't supposed to hear that.

I then settle for bran flakes, day 2.
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teeth

So, remember this post?

Well, the filling just fell out. How's that for awesome? Now I have a giant hole on the side of my tooth and absolutely no contact between my two teeth. It sure makes food fun to eat. I invariably save some for later.

Luckily, my appointment isn't for like another week. *sarcasm*
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hmmm....

So I don't really know how to approach this topic. It requires some delicacy and forethought, neither of which are core competencies for me.

This happened,



Then this happened,



and then this happened,

and then finally, this happened...


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Bankruptcy...

Big news at the office...

Yep. Tribune Co., and almost all of it's subsidiaries, is filing for bankruptcy. Chapter 11 to be exact. That means we have a crapload of debt and a really poor way of managing it.

Thusly, we were given the option to file for bankruptcy or post our Q4 ad sales and have our debt to profit ration exceed the allowable limit set forth by our many creditors.

Needless to say, it has been a very busy afternoon. I'm very tired from all the conversations that I've had with vendors and contractors trying to calm them down. No one is losing their job and no one will be defaulting on payments (hopefully...), it's just a mell of a hess.
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Tagged

Okay, so I've mostly been putting this off, because I don't think that I have any fun pictures on any computer that I use. I finally found this one and thought is was pretty good, so here you go. BTW, no 4th folder anything, I'm lucky I have a "photos" folder let alone anything organized inside it.

This is DH and I at the Thanksgiving Point gardens back in May. Obviously the sun is in our eyes, hence the goofy expression on DH's face and the mildly annoyed expression on mine.

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Dear CTA...an open letter

Dear CTA,

I want to tell you how much I love you. For 2 dollars I can go practically anywhere and at practically any time.

You are so great. Your drivers almost always know where they're going and your suggested, but not quite accurate, schedule always keeps me guessing.

I have to say though, today was a bad day. I hopped on your 151 to Union Station thinking to myself, "what luck! I only had to wait a few minutes and I even got a seat!" Then you disappointed me CTA, your bus crapped out in the middle of Michigan Ave., only two blocks from where I was picked up.

I would have had a picture to show you, but it was so cold there was no way I was stopping. Besides, I needed to find a new bus to get me to the train station. You see, CTA, I have a head cold. A very nasty one, that required me to leave work early. It was so nice of you to accommodate my needs on the quick pick-up, but to then dash my hopes of a speedy trip two blocks down was abominable.

I would like to propose a solution. We are in this together and so we MUST work this out. How about you check your buses on a consistent basis for things like working batteries, and even alternators, and I'll not look for alternative transportation.

Deal?

All my love,

Rae
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scheduling

So, being that I'm a little behind the times, I just figured out how to schedule posts.

Seriously, this is awesome. I wrote this yesterday. I am that cool.
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Pizza

Do you ever have those days?



I got home on Monday, DH had class and wouldn't be home until long after I went to sleep. I didn't feel like cooking and there was no food in the house (i.e. nothing I thought I wanted to eat).

So I ordered pizza. In general, I don't like pizza, it's greasy, cheesy, and heavy. Most pizza places are dark, serve root beer and beer, and all their appetizers (veggies included) are batter dipped and fried.

Often DH has to do something extraordinarily nice for me to even consider the thought of eating pizza. So you can imagine how DH felt when he got home and saw a pizza box with pizza still in it and he didn't suggest that it be purchased.

It's like I'm compromising my morals.

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He Won One

So Saturday Morning, we were in the car on the way to my parents house. It's pretty much what we do on Saturdays.

We were driving along as we normally do, and DH decided to take a different road than we normally took. Right as he was turning he asked me if I thought it was a good idea. I told him, "No, this road is longer than the other one, it will take us longer to get there". To which he replied, "Why didn't you say something sooner?"

Often this is how our driving conversations go. To most it would be sad, but it's just normal for us.

So anyway, we were talking about other things and he explained why he picked the road he did (he just can't let things go...) and he started talking about speed limits, and traffic and it actually made sense. I looked at him and said, "That makes sense, I rescind my previous comment" - because that's how we talk to each other.

To which he replied the following...












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Working from home

Have you ever had one of those morning?

The alarm went off, and I was having the seriously most WEIRDEST dream ever! (I know, bad grammar - I'm trying to prove a point!!) I didn't even eat anything weird last night, but there were people in my dream that I didn't even remember I forgot.

DH was moving around a lot last night too so I kept dreaming in this half awake/half asleep daze. I start moving and get reading for work and seminary. Everything seems to be normal. I'm driving this week and I'm actually on time (shocker).

The goofy part comes in when I get home. There are a LOT of people at the train station outside our window...too many, in fact. I turn on the news and, yep. The trains are delayed.

I decide to make myself some breakfast. As I'm stirring my cream of wheat, I think about my day and realize every meeting I have is on the phone. I can do this anywhere! Gosh, those pajamas sure look comfy.
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My 3 Saviors

So I passed out on the bus today.

Yep. I'm just standing there minding my own business when it feels like my internal body temperature just jumped about 800 degrees. I start peeling off my scarf and unzipping my coat. I put my mp3 player away and try to keep my knees bent.

It's not working, lights are looking really bright and everything seems "over-developed". My peripheral vision is fading to black so I finally turn to the man standing next to me and I say, "excuse me, I'm about to pass out, can you help me?"

My voice sounds tinny and then there is just a jumbling of words all around me. The bus has stopped. We are at an actual bus stop. I feel hands and arms around me as I am unceremoniously shoved off the bus and made to sit down on my new bright red coat.

I slowly realize that there are still 3 people around me. They are asking if I'm okay. One of them is running to the nearest store to get juice and water, another is hailing a cab. After 5 minutes, I can thank them for their help. After another 5, the cab shows up. I am personally mortified at this point and they then offer to pay for my cab. I have no cash, so I accept.

As I'm walking to the cab, we finally introduce ourselves. So to my Saviors of the day, Jeff, Juliana, and Brandy...Thanks.
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Cute...Overload!

Baah! I Love tiny dogs!!



Anyway, I thought this was hilarious. Get it? A Dachshund? That's where the name "hot dog" came from?

Does anyone else besides me appreciate the humor of this?

You can find more awesome-ness here.
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So Tired

So, in honor of Veteran's day, there was no seminary.

I still planned a lesson last night, made DH buy ribbon for an object lesson on his way home from class, and then I woke up early, showered, dressed, and walked down to the lobby of my building. I waited there for 15 minutes before I realized...we don't have seminary today.

I was a little frustrated with myself. :) Now I'm super tired and can't get out of the funk I picked up from my confusion this morning. I just need a good nap and maybe a book.

My boss probably won't mind, right? It's not like I'm paid to work or anything...
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...For Amy

So this post is for my friend Amy (AD from here on out)..

AD - I've sent you emails, but I have the sneaking suspicion that they are not getting to you. It may be that I can't type to save my life, or I have the wrong address or something equally silly. I'm posting my email address so that you can invite me on your own, since I can't seem to get my act together...

rachelmossferguson@gmail dot com

You're great. Thanks for dealing with my technical ineptitude. :)
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Copper-Bopper

This is what my mom calls the dog. The dog that loves me best...:)






As you can see, Copper loves her costume. It's a black t-shirt (very slimming) with a spider cape attached at the collar and then a hat that conveniently covers ears with a giant spider on top.

By the look of pure joy on her face, you can tell she's glad that I'm there...making her put on a stupid costume...that doesn't really fit...
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Numb

So I had another dentist's appointment today.

Has anyone ever tried to put make-up on when your face is numb up to your eyeballs? Applying concealer required a whole new skill set...
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He-larious

So I forgot that I had like this hugely important vendor meeting today, so what did I wear to an office that no longer has a dress code?

Yep. Jeans and a cotton v-neck gap sweater in orange...seriously. I had my hair in a ponytail and next to no make-up on. It was not pretty.

So I did a quick search and figured out when the nearest Ann Taylor opened (10am, perfect for an 11:30) meeting and I found the closest sales person and told them I needed an ensemble.

It was fantastic, 20 minutes later I had a glorious pair of wool slacks, a synthetic blend plum colored sweater and a creamy undershirt. I looked professional (except for the shoes, but I hit a payless on the way back and got a cute pair of kitten heels in a goldish cream.

I fixed my ponytail, put on some make-up from my emergency work stash, and off I went.

Anyway, as I was racing to Ann Taylor I saw this guy walking along Michigan. Now I get it, we all have to have a place to put important things and sometimes pockets are just not big enough. Besides, what better way to show your manly-ness than with a camouflage fannypack!




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The infamous cord

A-ha! I found the mini-usb to usb cable to connect my card reader to my computer and I "stole" it back. I'm pretty sure since DH never reads this blog, he'll never know it was me who went into his super secret hiding place and took out like the only white cord there...

So does anyone else always want to spell cord with and h, i.e. chord? As in chord for music? Maybe it's just me and my musical geekiness (I did play 3 instruments in jr. high)

Anyway, this will probably mean tons more posts with lots of pictures (hopefully).

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sad

I haven't posted any pictures.

DH took my memory card reader (actually he took the usb to mini-usb cable that I used with my memory card reader) so, no fun pictures.

Which is kind of sad, because this weekend we dressed my parents dog up in her Halloween costume from last year and took tons of super cute pictures.

Poor Copper was so unhappy. She had to be squeezed into a shirt that was too small with a dorky cape attached to it, and THEN to add insult to injury, it came with a little hat that Velcros around her head with a wiggly spider on it.

It cute and mostly hilarious because she can't stand to have it on for more than a few minutes and only allows for us to dress her because it's me, and she doesn't bite me. :)

So...someday soon, I may actually get another cable and I will yet again, post photos like a fiend.
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Walking...It's an Art not a Science

I walk a lot in the city. I walk from the train station to my office or to the bus stop. I walk to pick up lunch, and I walk around Michigan Ave. just to get some air.

Because of this, I get to see a lot of people. How they walk, who they're with, what they're doing that day. It's interesting. When I worked in the Loop, I would always seem to be frustrated about how people couldn't seem to walk at a "normal" pace (which was whatever pace I was at that day).

I've since slowed down a bit and really noticed the people that are around me. Some walk fast, some slow. Some swing their hips a la Marilyn Monroe, and others act like their smushing bugs with each purposeful stomp.

I decided last Friday, that walking is really more of an Art than a Science. The mechanics are all pretty much the same; left, right, left, right, in a forward or backward motion, but the execution is as varied as the people.
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What a weekend!

DH and I are trying to be more social. We tend to be really busy and so when the weekend rolls around we're lucky if our laundry gets done and food gets replenished. Doing things "just for fun" has just been too much work!

But, I have been feeling antsy. I needed social interaction with people, so about a month and a half a go we, along with two other couples, bought tickets to a play. A musical even. Yes. A musical. DH was such a good sport to go to an expensive restaurant for lunch, deal with all the traffic and people downtown on a Saturday and sit through a performance that he wasn't entirely sure about.

The play was called Turn of the Century and it had Jeff Daniels in it (that's how I got DH to buy into it) :) It was really entertaining and reworked a lot of classic bradway showtunes as well as a few modern classics from this decade and last.




All in all it was a really great Saturday spent with some really great friends in a really awesome city.

Now, lest you think that this is all we could muster, we went for broke this weekend. We had a Stake Conference for our Church this weekend so our Sunday meetings went from about 5 hours to about 2. It was a huge blessing, because my mom had invited us for dinner and she made her famous lasagna.

As soon as he heard, DH canceled any plans he had for the afternoon just to be sure we wouldn't miss that cheesy goodness. It was delicious. Mom, you do great lasagna, it's like you lived in Italy for 18 months or something.

After sleeping off the lasagna for most of the afternoon, we met two other couples that night, for a quick game of Settlers of Catan. It's a super fun game.

We had no idea how seriously involved they were though. Frankly, I was shocked at the level of skill shown to me last night. Although one of the players has a "good luck charm" of sorts, as witnessed below...

Yep. That's his wife, being totally embarassed. :) They're super cute together though, don't you think?

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Sailboats. Do they stay in the harbor all winter?

For those of you who are curious. We have like a gazillion sailboats hanging out on the harbor all summer, but we happen to live in the midwest, where it gets cold and windy. The waves get pretty bad in the winter and so sailboat owners have to put their toys away for the season. How do they do this? They're on a gian lake that only leads to other giant lakes in colder weather?

Well, we have the Chicago river. To be honest I don't really know where they go after they get on the river, but frankly, it can't be as interested as when they go along the river. See what I mean.

.

Yup. All the bridges along the Chicago River open up. They stop traffic (generally during rush hour) and have all the sailboats just float on through. To get a better visual, watch Batman Begins and when they are lifting the bridges to isolate The Narrows, they're actually just keeping all those North Siders on their side of the river. :) It's just like that only with boats in the water and no batmobile. or famous people.

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It Rained again today...

Due to popular demand (Okay, MH - this is for you) I am posting a photo of me with my sassy coat and way fun boots. I try to stick my pants in my boots to show them off properly, but these pants are a thicker gabardine and I tend to look like a drag-queen pirate if I do...

Here's a fun photo of DH. He's humoring me and my mad camera skills on a Sunday morning heading to church.

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Concealer

I think I'm finally getting older...beware, scary pictures ahead.

I've always had pretty good skin growing up, so foundation was never really something that I ever used a lot of, and concealer was only used about 2 months of the year during the darkest days of seminary (and that one week right before the HS production of Faustus my junior year).

I took a picture of myself yesterday wearing my awesome green shoes and I looked at my face and thought, jeez...have you heard of make-up? So today, I wore concealer AND pressed powder. Besides the sleepy eyelids, it's shocking how much healthier my skin looks and frankly how much more awake and put together I feel.

In the pictures below, I have the exact same colors on. Seriously. Concealer and Pressed Powder are the only add ons.

(don't mind the creepy red-eye. I'm working with my photographer on that)

So sad. I'm too young to get older...
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My DH, what a guy

So this is why I love my DH. While I am gone at seminary, he gets up and makes me a lunch and packs it in my appropriately girly lunch box. What a guy...


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"Matchy, Matchy, Green Squared"

...Movie quote? Anyone? Come on. It's only like the #10 best chic-flic filmed in Chicago. Still nothing? Okay. It's at the bottom of the post.


I love matching. It's a documented issue. I would rather have ugly and matching than beautiful and mismatched. Thus, when I find something truly beautiful and 'matchy', the sun shines and the world is at peace.

Exhibit A: These truly awe-inspiring green shoes that match my favorite green sweater. I'm part Irish, so I tend to think this emeraldy goodness suits me.

?Return to Me? Come on. David Duchovny, Minnie Driver...Bonnie Hunt? Jim Belushi?

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It rained on Wednesday

I actually really like the rain here in the midwest. For so long I was in Utah where it mostly just spits dirty raindrops over everything causing serious irritation and then gloomy Guses seem to appear out of nowhere.

But not here in Chi-town! We have beautifully torrential rain that would sooner flood your basement than spit at you!!

Anyway. Rain out here makes me happy, mostly because of the accessories that I get to wear.

These are my rain boots. I have an awesome rain coat too. I don't have a picture of my exact coat. But it sort of looks like this. Mine isn't double breasted, it's just a plain trench. I still love it. I wear it with my sassy boots and then I feel great.

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Love at First Sight

Okay. Lose the ooky model with the bad hair and just look at this dress...just breathe it all in...ahh.



I feel as though life has just improved for the better.


For those that care this is from Marchesa (spring 2009, ready-to-wear).

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Conference Weekend

I stayed in all weekend and watched conference.

For those who are unaware, I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

I really enjoy our semi-annual conferences. They are so very uplifting and hopeful. I felt like a bit of a boob this weekend, because I was tearing up at just about every talk. Two that really struck me this weekend were in the Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning sessions.

Saturday Afternoon Elder Jeffrey R. Holland spoke about the ministering of angels and how the Lord sends special messengers to deliver ordinances and doctrine that are too important to miss. Being that I'm a seminary teacher and we are studying the New Testament, I think about how often Christ was ministered unto, and how many of those key players in the restoration of the Gospel in the meridian of time also played key roles in the final restoration in this dispensation.

The other speaker that really resonated with me was Elder Henry B. Eyring. He wrote the home teaching message last month and it was on a similar topic. He spoke of Unity and it's importance in our lives here on earth and in the life to come. I thought about Dave and I, how we are unified as a couple as well as being a part of a unified extended family, both on his side and mine. It reminded me to be more of a peacemaker and advocate for my family so as to help build a greater unity of purpose and inclusion.

If you're interested in seeing these talks, or missed them the first time. Click here, and then select the speaker that you would like to hear.
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What Could Have Been

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Back to Conformity

So apparently we were only supposed to be different for about a week.

I was looking out my window at some of the seriously awesome architecture here in Chicago and I have a really great view of the Carbon and Carbide Building.


It was built during prohibition, so...guess what they were missing?? (Can you say Champagne!!) Anyway, DH has another name for it, but it's not approriate for mixed company.

Speaking of champagne, I heard a funny quote yesterday, "Champagne for me real friends, and real pain for my sham friends". Get it? Hilarious.

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Looking Out My Window

This is the view from my office. I have a nice office with a door and a window and real wood cabinets. My favorite part has got to be the view from my window. It doesn't show very well in this picture, but I can see the Chicago river from my office and all of the goings on in the plaza. It makes my day great.

So I was watching people out my window last Friday and I saw them constructing this goofy looking Chicago sign, so after work I went to take a look...

I'm not completely sure what this is about, but it is TOTALLY awesome. The entire sign was made of "green". It wasn't up when I got back in on Monday so I'm not sure what purpose it served over the weekend, but it was still neat to see.

So yesterday I came in to work, sat down and got to work on some leftover projects from Monday when all of a sudden I heard a thud...and then another...and another. This is what I found.

Yep. I had a feathered friend attacking my window. Apparently when the sun hits the window just right it becomes a mirror and this little guy was defending his territory (against himself). It always brightens my day to see wildlife downtown (other than pigeons and purse dogs), he only stayed for about an hour and then I guess the sun no longer reflected his image.

Funny Story. Tribune Tower just recently unlocked all their windows so that people can open them and get a little fresh air. A lady on the 6th floor left her window open overnight and came back to an office with a trespasser. A bird had flown in during the night and couldn't get out! It had ruffled all her papers and made a royal mess of her office...I guess this isn't that funny. Seriously, you had to be there.
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Saturdays in a small(ish) town

I love Saturdays in our little town of Downers Grove.




We have a farmers market that is open every Saturday right outside our Apartment.

It's literally, across the street from our apartment and as you can see, right next to our train station. We have lots of organically grown produce as well as organic meats and breads. Local artists and retail shops set up booths as well, so it's a pretty fun time.
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Why I LOVE going to work somedays...

So this is what I have seen going to work the last few days. Why? Because the CTC is re-deploying it's paper after like a million years of practically the same layout. It's kind of a huge deal.

Hey, did I mention that the company I work for owns the Cubs? Cuz they do. And we get box seats to really great games. That's why I have such an awesome shot of the field without all those annoying "little people" down in those seats below to get in my way. :) This was when the cubbies played the brewers last week. I left at the top of the 7th when we were down 3 and (I thought) totally hosed. It turns out we won that game. It's okay though, because I won a raffle at work, so if the Cubs can actually make it to game 3 in the playoffs, I got two tickets. (Totally stoked about this by the way!)

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Fun Day Fridays

So I teach seminary. It's true. I wake up extra super early and I warp young minds. Not everyone can do this, it's a talent that I have.

In all actuality, I love it. We are learning about the New Testament this year and it is my absolute most favorite book of scripture. I teach with another girl about my age, TJ and we have around 16 kids between the ages of 14 and 18 that show up almost daily.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, "Seriously. 16 kids at 6 in the morning? How does she keep them awake and engaged?" Well I'm glad that you asked that. I have a hard time with it. I can hardly keep myself engaged some mornings and I'm actually interested in what we're learning. :)

So, this brings me to the title of my post, "Fun Day Fridays". All week, we study the scriptures, we attempt to discuss deep and meaningful teachings from Christ's ministry and on Friday, when we are all worn down from lack of sleep and too much to do, we have a "fun" day. This consists of us playing a game and one student bringing in treats. It generally gets pretty rowdy and has little to do with what we learned that week and more on Scripture Mastery (key scriptures that we are all urged to memorize and apply) and social interaction.

Why do I look forward to FDFs? It's amazing what a little mindless competition can do to breathe life into otherwise unresponsive teenagers. For some of my kids, it's the only time their head is not permanently attached to the table in front of them. For others, it's one of the few times they can feel accepted by a larger group of kids. Plus, TJ and I can really connect with them on better. There is less of teacher/student relationship and more of a friendship that forms.
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Visits from Family

My DH's cousins, AH and MH came and visited Chicago for a dental conference this past week. We were so excited that they were able to take time out to visit us. We went out to lunch at The Grand Lux Cafe and the went on an architectural boat tour. We have some seriously awesome architecture in this city, and what better way to experience it than with a snarky commentary from a local? (There is no better way, I'll just tell you) I've been on the tour before, but I am much older and much more mature now, so of course I found it considerably entertaining. All four of us also then went to Navy Pier and took a ride on our genuine imitation ferris wheel. It was loads of fun and we just love having family come visit the city. This picture of us is right before we got on the boat. Chicago is all about the photo 'opps' and making a buck here or there. Of course, we got them. because it's awesome. For those of you who don't know. Chicago is situated on a rather large lake, Lake Michigan. You may have heard of it as part of that whole "Great Lakes" concept back in grade school. We also have a river running through our beloved Second City which provides easy transit and shipping through to the Mississipi. This is where our boat tour takes place. All in all, it was a great afternoon and we are so glad that they could squeeze us in to their busy schedule of dental stuff and touristing!

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Inaugural Posting

This is the first post on my brand new blog.

About us:

My DH and I have been married for almost 5 years. We met at BYU, specifically at the Auxiliary Maintenance Building where we both did the laundry. He worked on the Dry Cleaning side and I worked in the Sewing Room. It was awesome. He was super shy and I was a horrible flirt. Eventually, with a little prodding, I caught his attention and he asked me out. (He'll tell it a little differently, but I know the truth - don't be fooled)

We dated and got married rather quickly and settled into a rather tumultuous 2 years in Utah County. I finished school, got a job at a clothing manufacturer, Dave finished school and then we moved out of the Beehive State. We moved to Chicago where we both found suitable work and got a super cute apartment in a bedroom suburb called Downers Grove.



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