An Amazing Weekend...

Wow, where do I begin? This past weekend was incredible and was exactly what Matt and I needed right now. We arrived to Chicago at about 11:30pm on Friday night after a very long week. We headed straight to Boystown, an area in Lakeview, to pick up Matt's race information that our friend Chucky had picked up for us earlier in the week (so nice of him). I also got to see the lounge that Chucky works at and it was so cool. Very ultra chic and stylish. I wish we could've stayed longer but Matt needed to go to bed early for the race the next morning.

We woke up around 5:45am on Saturday and Matt stretched and then left and walked about 1.5 miles to where the race started. I was able to take my time getting ready and head to Starbucks and really enjoy walking the streets of downtown early in the morning. Our hotel was 1 block west from the Navy Pier and 1 block east of Michigan Ave so we were at a perfect area. On my way to the race, I caught this perfect picture over the river coming in from the lake. The sun was coming up and it was beautiful. I actually sat on the bridge for about 10 minutes just looking at the city light up by the sun. How corny, huh? When I finally came back to reality, I headed to the race. I met these lovely 2 women who come to Chicago every year for the Urbanathalon to watch their husbands and they knew the perfect spot to watch the runners to catch them at 2 different places. It was so perfect. So, I caught him running during his 2nd mile here (we were all cheering for him, that is why he is looking at me!) and then caught him again by the lake doing his 2nd obstacle (police barriers and construction barriers-see below for complete list of obstacles).

Mattis in all white. Matt actually did really well in the race. He finished 68/about 3,000. The numbers are a little off as to how many total ran because there were a number of relay teams and they count as 1.

I was so proud of him! Here we are as soon as he crossed the finish line. And guess what we did after the race?? SHOPPING! What a trooper. I did give him some time to shower and rest for about a half hour at the hotel, but we did not want to waste our time in Chicago in the hotel. So, we walked up and down Michigan Avenue and had a ball. We then headed to the Navy Pier and spent some time with Chucky, which was so fun!

Saturday night we went to Province Restaurant and we were so happy with our selection. It was delicious! If you are in Chicago soon, please try it! The chef really takes care of the customers and sends out a "taster" of his style right when you sit down. It is something that is not on the menu but a way to show you his type of cooking. We started with Goat Cheese Fondue with herb crisps! WOW! If I wouldn't have been afraid of being kicked out I would've licked the bowl. Matt decided to get a BBQ lamb with chorizo and cornbread and I got rare tuna with caper and red pepper vinaigarette. Umm, I cannot even describe to you how delicious it tasted. And to top it off, it was VERY AFFORDABLE! Gosh, I could really go on and on about it! YUM!

We drove back on Sunday and we were glad to get home to see Mabel. And I think she was glad to back to her home. She loves staying with my mom, but she curled up on our bed and did not move the whole night. We put this on her about 40 minutes before I took this picture. It looks like she enjoys it.

I hope everyone enjoys their week.

Much Love.

UrbanAthalon-This Weekend!

The time has finally come for Matt to run in the Men's Health Urban Athalon! I blogged about it a while back when I was still going to try; however, I have wimped out and now I will be cheering for Matt on Michigan Ave. He has been training his tail off for this and I am so excited for him. Check out below if you want to know everything he will be doing during the race.

We are staying at the Embassy Suites-Downtown and I am so excited for our little weekend getaway. Matt and I are great travel partners because we both hate schedules (which is weird because in our everyday life, we are all about schedules). When we are away, we do not want to think about anything but enjoying each other.

The last time we were in Chicago we were looking for apartments because Matt had just got a job offer from Chubb Insurance. How different this trip will be not worrying about where we would live and just enjoying Chicago.

The one thing we do think about before travelling somewhere is where we are going to eat. We do not care when we eat there, but we must eat there sometime during our trip. We research these places in the local city magazines or newspapers as "Must Eats." This weekend, we will be trying

Province on Jefferson Street. The place looks incredible to say the least. The building is made from all green sustainable materials and has a farm-to-table menu. I am so excited! Here are some views from inside the restaurant. It looks quite small, which is even better. I know I should make a reservation, but a part of me wants to just show up and sit at the bar and wait. Who cares how long.....

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend as I think this is one of our last ones with this AMAZING weather. I hope to be outside in Chicago most of our time there.

Much Love.

Time does not stop for anything.

It has been almost 4 months since my last post and I cannot believe how time has flown by. Time definitely does not wait up for you to catch up. So many things have happened over the past 4 months, it seems as if whenever I turn around, something else happens.

Teaching ended in June, but I was still going to school in the evenings at Xavier for grad school. I am absolutely in love with the administration program and I know that being an administrator is where I want to be. It has been amazing. I took a school law class and a principalship class in the summer and my professors were incredible. I know it is super expensive, but the connections and experience that you gain from your professors, it is worth every penny to me.

In late July, my sister Robin started feeling really bloated in her abdomen area. She went to the doctor and they found that she has a cyst in her ovaries. That day was the beginning of a horrific nightmare that we are still living. The cyst turned into her being pregnant. Being pregnant turned into impossible because her ovaries have been dead for months. Ovaries being dead for months turned into her have a malignant tumor from hip to hip in both of her ovaries. Malignant tumors in her ovaries turned into the cancer coming from somewhere else. The cancer coming from somewhere else turned into finding more cancer in her spine, ribs, pelvis and shoulder. The cancer in her bones turned into still not knowing where it was coming from. Still not knowing where it was coming from turned into getting a one year to live prognosis. Yes, you heard me correctly. She received that one year prognosis on August 31, 2010 and she has been fighting ever since. I wish I could pause time to spend every second with her. But it doesn't work like that. You must never take anything for granted. She lives 3 hours away in Evansville, Indiana, and I try to go down there every chance I can.
She began chemotherapy on September 2 and has since received 3 treatments. She is handling the medications like a pro.
So, that brings us to today. She writes on CaringBridge.org (search RobinEvernham) and is an inspiration to anyone she talks to. God is speaking directly through her to anyone that is questioning him and so many people are turning to him. It is AWESOME! I know that she can beat this and that prognosis means NOTHING. It is in HIS hands and no doctor can tell me otherwise.

Thank you to so many that pray every day for her. Keep storming the heavens for her!

Last Day of School

I cannot believe how fast this year has gone. It seems like just yesterday I was organizing my room and setting it up for the first day of school with my new students. Now, 181 SCHOOL days later, I am looking around my bare walls and boxed up bookshelves feeling nostalgic about this year.

I truly believe that 7th grade is hands down the hardest year a child has to go through, but it is also the year that you see the most growth. The kids that started at the very beginning of the year are not the same ones that just walked out of my door. Some of them have grown in size and some (not all) have grown in maturity. Some of the kids I had the most trouble with at the beginning of the year, I have a true respect for at the end. I could go on and on with all of the crazy awful stories from this year, but as I reflect right now I just want to think about the good times.

I am so excited about this summer and sitting by the pool as much as I can. I have a month off of my night classes and then in July I start those again. I am looking forward to hanging out with my junior league girls whom I have been MIA from the past few months! I want to read a ton of books and spend quality time with Matt on our back porch. I want to hose off Mabel and eat our delicious tomatoes in our garden. I hope to do it all.

Next year, I will bring so much more to the table of teaching because of this year. I have learned so much from my students. They have taught me the lesson of just laughing sometimes, of "that look," ipod mania, and telling really corny jokes.

I hope whatever anyone is doing this summer, they enjoy it. Whether it is a full time job, laying by the pool, shopping constantly, going to school, getting married, having a baby or travelling the world. ENJOY!

Much Love.

Every party must have...

Old Time Pottery in Florence, Ky is closing. The place for some great buys and also some great junk will be closing its doors on June 30. I went out yesterday with my mom and found some cheap glass plates for entertaining and also some chargers to match my china.

For some reason, I always feel like a better host when I have glass plates and cups during my parties. I love to entertain but it can be very costly if you're not careful. I bit the bullet and bought clear glass dinner plates and cocktail plates. They have a cute little design on them that I really liked. It was costly up front, but I will be very happy that I can just throw them in the dishwasher party after party.

Is there any must have for you before you have a party?

For me,

1. I must have flowers. How pretty is this arrangement with dark peonies and hydrangeas (reminds me of my wedding bouquet)? I think it is also neat when you are able to build your own bouquet. I sometimes go to Findlay Market and buy flowers and then put them together in a great bouquet. The possibilities are endless!

2. I like to have a WIDE array of drinks. I am not a beer drinker and I know many people are not liquor drinkers; so I always try to account for everyone. I usually have a white and red wine, 2 different types of beer, and a specialty drink (like a martini or slush). Even if beer is all that is drunk, I still feel good that I covered my bases.....and the next day I have a few things to sip on (hopefully it's warm and I can sit on my deck).

3. Meat-less Options for Food. Whether you have vegetarian friends or not, sometimes people just prefer it. I have noticed once I started entertaining that most snacks I munch on at a party are meatless. If you want to take this one step further, go no dairy either, but I usually just stick with no meat snacks (I like cheese WAY too much)!

Here are a few from the Food Network:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/hot-spinach-artichoke-dip-recipe/index.html

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/bobby-flay/grilled-french-bread-pizza-with-mushroom-pesto-and-fontina-cheese-recipe/index.html

4. This is a new one of mine. I recently was given a dock for my Ipod and before that I never had music at my parties. Although I put it on low, it changes the whole mood. The silences that happen at the beginning when only a few people have arrived are filled with good music. I will never have another party without it playing. I usually play the Michael Buble or John Legend channel on Pandora! It makes everyone happy!

I am so glad that I LOVE to entertain. It truly makes me happy. I hope one day I am in a position to have sit down dinner parties (my dream). For now, cocktail parties and picnics are filling up my calendar happily.

Much Love.

Fighting the Urge

Matt and I have had no heat or air on in our house for 3 months. Can you believe this? At first, I woke up with ice crystals on my eyelashes and nose and now I am waking up soaking wet with sweat.

I cannot complain about our bills, though. They have been NOTHING and this is definitely something I can get used too. I wonder how much longer we can survive this without totally going insane.

Matt has it easy because he is on the far right side of the bed.....all to himself. I wouldn't have it any other way, but I have a personal space heater attached to me all throughout the night. She cannot stay still unless she is on top of my foot or her head is on my pillow. I love it in the winter, but now that it is hot, I am dying!!!

UrbanAthalon

I think I am in over my head right now. This past weekend I was forced decided to particpate in the UrbanAthalon on October 16, 2010 in Chicago. For those that do not know me, I am the complete other end of the spectrum from a runner or obstacle do-er. Why did I agree to this? The UrbanAthalon is a 9 mile course; however each 1.5 miles you run, you must complete an obstacle course before you continue to run. Here are the obstacle courses:

OBSTACLE COURSE 1: NAVY PIER

You must go through tires (military style) and then walk across concrete barriers. Repeat.

OBSTACLE COURSE 2: DuSABLE HARBOR

You must go UNDER blue police barricades and OVER yellow traffic barricades.

OBSTACLE COURSE 3: SOLDIER FIELD

You must climb over 5 rows of cars and get up and over the marine hurdles and crawl under the cargo net.

OBSTACLE COURSE 4: McCORMICK PLACE

You must go across a HUGE monkey bar.

OBSTACLE COURSE 5: SOLDIER FIELD STAIR CLIMB

You must climb the stairs at Soldier Field.

OBSTACLE COURSE 6: UPPER HUTCHINSON FIELD

You must club across cabs and then climb up and over a bus. Repeat. Then climb up a HUGE wall.

I don't know about you, but just looking at the pictures gives me an anxiety attack. Thankfully, they do offer a relay option. I will be on a team of 3 running 3 miles and doing 2 obstacle courses. Still, that is a huge deal to me.

I am doing it for Matt. I want to show him that I can be healthy and active. That is all he wants for me. I might die trying, though. We are going to begin training this week and continue over the summer and through the fall. I am going to try to sign up for a 5k this summer.

If anyone has any advice on training or running, I would greatly appreciate it.

Much Love.

The quote that says it all.

"I was complaining about not having dumbbells at home when my girlfriend said,
'Too bad you can't lift yourself... you know, because you're a dumbbell,' and
went into hysterics. It was totally corny, but I couldn't help laughing at her
laughing at her own joke. I love how much she amuses herself." - Jim, 34,
Philadelphia

That quote explains my marriage completely. Matt says things like that all the time...usually he cannot get them out because he is already laughing so hard at himself. Sometimes, I try to act mad but I just walk in the other room laughing my butt off. I just don't want to blow his head up too much.

Much Love.

My little Lani

On Wednesday, my niece Lani, graduated from Pre-School. What an accomplishment! hehe. They dress them up in Tshirt graduation gowns and paper caps and gave thema diploma and class ring (Ring Pop). It was so cute. They sang songs to their parents and performed the ABC's with sign language. I looked around the room and laughed when I saw tears in the mom's eyes and the proud dad's video taping every move their child made. What an adjustment your life is once you have kids. What seems so silly to me now, will become the most important thing once I have children.

Matt and I talk about having children all the time. We want to make sure God is in their lives at all times.

Matt loves kids and I know he is going to be an incredible father. You can tell when a man is going to be a good dad by the way they interact with kids. My nieces LOVE him and can't get enough of him. It warms my heart every time I see him playing with them. We are not ready to start trying yet because of so many new things going on in our life (school, house, etc.) but we will not be waiting too much longer. Until then, we will live vicariously through our newest nephew, Benjamin.

Much Love.

Stop to smell the flowers

On my way to my School Law class last night, I walked past a house on campus that had the edge of their yard lined with peony bushes. My most favorite flower. It brings me back to my wedding day and my beautiful bouquet. (Thanks Kevin- Ford Ellington!) When I look at them, I feel so happy. They are so fluffy soft and their fragrance is amazing. Springtime will always bring Peonies and will also remind me of my wedding day.

Much Love.