A Taste of Chicago

Let me start off this post by saying that Jared is the perfect husband for me. His sense of adventure and love of traveling benefit me greatly.

My birthday was on Tuesday the 13th. Jared's birthday present to me was a date in Chicago! I found out on Friday that he had already bought us plane tickets to Chicago for the following day. We planned on having 8 hours in the city to play before flying back to Arkansas. But of course, there had to be a few glitches. Actually, there was really only one: Plane Delayed.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 7:40 am and get us to Chicago by 9:20, which would give us enough time to do everything we wanted (shop, Sears tower, pizza, ballet, and travel time). However, American Airlines did not leave until after 9:30 am, getting us to Chicago around 11:30. BOOOOOOOOO! And the worst of it was their reason for the delay. The crew overslept. That's right, you heard me correct. The ticket ladies kept making announcements to us like, "We are still waiting on the crew to show up. We aren't sure if they've left their hotel yet or not."
Really people?!?!


Here we are, spending two hours in the Northwest Arkansas airport, trying to still be happy even though we should already be playing in Chicago!

These pictures are a little out of order and blogger is not super friendly about letting me move them around. So, I'll tell the story just a little out of order. Here is a shot of me at the Chicago O'Hare airport on our way home after a whirlwind day.

Here is cute Jared!

I love this picture because it reminds me of the crazy frenzy that our shopping experience was. We had planned on spending 2 hours in the morning shopping on Michigan Avenue aka the Magnificent Mile- and let me tell you, it is MAGNIFICENT!!! Well, because we got majorly jipped on our (my) shopping time, Jared gave me TEN minutes to find a pair of boots (which I really wanted). I found Nordstrom (which does not exist in Arkansas) and ran like a crazy person! A salesperson came to me right away. I'm sure he thought, "this girl is going to buy something for sure." It's true, I was determined to find something. And I did! I bought a cute pair of khaki green northface boots that I LOVE. Everytime I wear them I will think of my fun 10 minute shopping spree!

Here is another favorite part from our trip. We saw the Joffrey Ballet perform "Othello." It was world class dancing and world class music. We LOVED it. Unfortunately, we had to leave after the halfway mark thanks to American Airlines and our complete lack of time. :( If we didn't leave then, I wouldn't have got my awesome boots.

Isn't the theatre BEAUTIFUL?!

Here we are at Giordano's. We had to get some Chicago style pizza. Yummy!

Chicago is an amazing city. I even like it better than New York City, which I LOVE. It has a St. Louis feel to me- and the Michigan Ave even reminded me a little bit of Madrid. Ahh, I love traveling!

Here we are, the happy couple!

I can't wait to turn 28!!!

Internet Addict

My timer says I have about 5 minutes left on the computer before my "time is up." I told Jared yesterday that I think I'm addicted to the internet. And I don't like it. I waste so much time doing nothing important online- like looking at real estate when we aren't even planning on moving or looking at what random things people are selling on Craigslist. Or checking my email 10 times a day (or more) or facebook or recipes or blogs or the weather or ebay or etsy ETC.
Anyways, so this morning, Jared put a timer next to the computer that had 25 minutes on it. He told me to start it when I get on the computer and press stop when I get off. I can't believe it, but I only have 2 minutes left of computer time! Where did those 23 minutes go?! And worse yet....if these 25 minutes went by so quick, how long exactly have I been spending on the computer on normal days???

BEEP, BEEP- I'm outta time. Enjoy the pictures and I'll catch y'all tomorrow!

Tiny Tim

I went to a bunch of garage sales this weekend and ended up buying hand me downs for Noah from my neighbor who has a 10 month old who outgrew his clothes. Yep, my 14 month old just got a brand new 3-6 month outfit and 6 month jeans that are TOO BIG FOR HIM STILL.

I would be more concerned, but he's hitting all his milestones (early) and is a healthy little boy. He's just tiny! Don't you just love him? :)

Anniversary Weekend

Jared and I had a great weekend getaway in Dallas, Texas-about a 5 hour drive from here. We went to celebrate 2 years of marriage and had an absolute blast! Here are some highlights:

• Eating Mexican food
• Getting free parking at the Texas Rangers game
• Being at the Texas Rangers game (we both love baseball!)
• Talking non-stop
• Eating fruit and warm bread and feeling rich
• Six Flags!
• The fact that it was "gay day" at Six Flags
• Riding about 8 rollercoasters until our bodies couldn't take it anymore- "please, no more, my brains are going to come out!"
• Going to the Dallas temple
• Eating an entire large pizza from Papa Johns AND a cinnapie! Then watching the Arkansas/Georgia game. The epitomy of lazy- and MAN WAS IT NICE!
• Sleeping without waking up to feed Noah (yeah, he still doesn't sleep all night)
• Shopping at IKEA
• Eating a burrito from Chipotle (and planning the diet that starts now)
• Visiting Jared's good friend Scott and his wife Larissa

It was a fantastic weekend- I'm so glad to be married to Jared, my best friend! These last two years have flown. We're stoked for year #3! :)

One Lucky Girl

It's been a stressful last few days with our car breaking down (yes, again), getting another eye infection (w/ $100 prescription drops), having my camera dropped on the cement and shattering the lens, and hardly seeing Jared b/c he's been so busy w/ work, school, and the Emergency Prep fair that he was partly in charge of. (!!!) HOWEVER, lucky me, I have a perfect husband to help me get through everything.

The other day, I woke up and began finding little slips of paper, love notes, all over the house. It turns out that while I was sleeping, Jared was awake and writing all kinds of messages to cheer me up. Here are some examples:

"You light up my life" (taped to a picture of Jesus)
"You mean the world to me" (taped to a world map)
"You're smoking hot" (found in the microwave)
"I love that you love to workout" (found in my running shoe)
"You make me smile" (found under my pillow)

I could go on and on...because there were 55 notes!!! I've found all of them, except for 3 or 4.

Cute, huh? Good job, Jared!!!

Race Pictures

I got to run a race on Labor Day with the following ladies (Where's Waldo? Can you find me?):
Some ran a mile, a 5K, or a 10K. I ran the 10K. It was the most fun I've ever had at a race! Not only was the race awesome, but it benefited a good cause (children), and it was so well organized. The after party was set up like a carnival with tons of free food and bounce arounds for the kids. Here's Jared and Noah looking pretty stoked about it all. (ha ha, not!) I swear they really did like it!


Here I am, pre-race. The morning was beautiful and foggy. Great running weather.


Excited! I love races!

And we're off. I'm in the middle of the pink shirts!

Noah waits patiently with his friends for me to finish. Awww, cute!

"Mmm, a sippy cup. Looks good," thinks Noah.

And here's as good as we get of a finish line shot. I look wasted by the finish line. That works.

Hooray! Victory! I did it!

Living the Dream

I don't have a whole lot of time to blog, but I thought I should update with a few pictures from the past couple weeks.

Our little dinosaur!!!

Mom made a quick visit here to pick up Kallie to drive her back to BYU. We had a fun time eating junk food and playing with our favorite little friend.

Jared's been going to school full time and working full time, in addition to church callings which seem to be full time. So, we enjoy spending every spare second together as a family.

Enjoy the Labor Day weekend. We know we will!!! :)