Summer Is Over: Back to School

After almost a full year of being in Chicago, it was time for the both of us to take a vacation! Phil left right after finishing his summer research to go to Alaska for ten days!  He literally fished night and day.  He caught lots of fish and spent some overdue time with family.  I will have to see if I can get some pictures to put on here of his trip.

I left the following friday for Seattle!  Larisa and Michelle picked me up from the airport with Larisa's new puppy Paco! We went straight to the beach to watch the Blue Angels practice.  Later on that night Larisa had a bunch of people over at her house to BBQ and slip and slide!  I was planning on heading to Chelan the next day but ended up leaving on Sunday so that I could help Marsh pick out the perfect wedding dress!

After spending a relaxing week in Chelan with my dad and Terrie I went home to pick up Phil at the airport so that he could get a little R&R in before he started school again.  That night we met up with some friends and in the morning headed to Ellensburg to meet up with his uncle and grandma and my friend Jan.  We had a great lunch at the Tav and then spent a little time driving past our favorite spots.  

Then we headed over to Chelan just in time for Dad's birthday dinner.  We had dinner at Campbell's and were just in time to catch the tail end of a sunset before we went back to camp for pie and ice cream!

We had a super relaxing week in Chelan, despite the weather not cooperating with us.  Our friends, Danielle and Greg were also in town and we spent time doing things with them.  We played mini golf, went to slide waters, went boating, had lunch at Blueberry Hills, drove around to winerys, and took plenty of naps!

Finally it was time to leave.  Phil had to go back to school and I wanted to spend some time over on the westside.  So Phil and I got one last meal at the Lakeview and drove home to meet Kris and Tessa in Edmonds.  We went to a bar in town to watch the Seahawk game.  Then the next morning we met up with Phil's friend Brian and his family for lunch before we left for the airport.
After dropping Phil off at the airport I battled traffic and headed to Jessica's house for fish tacos with her, Josh and her parents.  The next morning I met up with Jessica and Bobby for Pita's to catch up before they headed back to Spokane.  Then it was home to get ready for Chicks with Sticks with the girls.  We got to the 14th hole before it was too dark to play anymore.  Michelle and I spent the remainder of the night on the couch watching True Blood.

The next day I headed up to my Mom's to hang out for a couple of days.  We hung out and had dinner, then the next day we rode our bikes 17.5 miles from Arlington to Snohomish to have lunch and an ice cream cone.  Then we rode back!  Surprisingly it didn't seem that far.

Thursday night I headed over to Adam and Sarah's for dinner.  They used their BBQ for the first time in their new apartment and it was delicious.  I also got to meet their puppy, Chloe! So cute in her little pink diapers.  Then I stopped bye to hang out with Tara and Michelle before heading over to Jodi's for the night.

Friday was a busy day.  I first went over to my friend Janets and we hung out and went to lunch at the Maltby Cafe.  Then I stopped bye Bree's house to hang out for a bit before going to Vanessa's for a BBQ.  After that I stopped in at the Rock to see Ryan and Rachael, then finally spent the night at Jessica's.

Saturday morning, I headed over the Shawn's restaurant to have breakfast with the family and then headed home to get ready for Larisa and Dave's reception.  It was a great party and turned out to be a great day to celebrate the happy couple!

After the reception I headed over to Larisa and Dave's house before I went to meet up with Jessica, Bri and Chris to go danincing to my favorite band, the Spazzmatics!  It was so much fun! I have been really wanting to do that lately and it was just what I needed!

The next morning I met up with my friend Arielle for coffee to catch up before going home to pack up.  Then I headed over to grandma's for some quality time before heading home!

Now we are both back in school and we are so happy that we got to spend time going home to visit our friends and family's and to get to spend time with each other without having to study or work!  

Summer time

Phil and I have been having a great time this summer. We have just been doing things around home. Here are some pictures of Dad's visit and some other ones from the summer so far...

Statue of Harry Carey
Dad wanted to go to the sandwich shop he saw on Man vs. Food. Below is the sandwich.

Dad and I at the concert in Market Square
Meggie's first attempt at swimming.
Meggie telling us what she thought about it...
Go Lantern Softball!
Lake Bluff beach
In Evanston by the beach
At Indapendance Grove Nature Preserve
We had a picnic and then took a nap...it was glorious!
Eileen's Graduation party

Me and the guest of honor aka Eileen
Julie and I at the parade in Lake Bluff 4th of July
Alicia and I on the 4th. She is a neighbor of ours!
The famous lawn mower drill team. Yes they all have a beer in hand. These people know how to party on the 4th.

The house we watched the parade from.
Bike ride to Highland Park.

Modeling vintage clothes at the car show in Highwood.

The summer is going way too fast! Phil is almost done with his research and then he is going to head home to Alaska for a couple weeks and then down to Washington for one before he starts school again. I can't wait to head home myself! Then school starts the day after I get back! Hope everyone is having a great summer, we can't wait to see you!

I have my husband back!

It is June and Phil is finally done with school!!! We can be a normal couple for the next two months! We can now do things like go on walks together, make dinner together, go out together. I finally have my husband back!!!! We are looking forward to enjoying all of the things that the greater Chicagoland has to offer in the summer time. We just got bikes last weekend at a yard sale and we have already been on quite a few bike rides. I feel bad having to leave Meggie at home and I am trying to convince Phil that getting a baby Bjorn to hold her in on bike rides is a good idea. He thinks it is embarrassing, but if I end up getting one then he will just have to live with it:-)

Phil will be spending the summer doing research at his school. He will be working with one of the professors trying to find out how methamphetamine effecst the brain. They will be using rats in order to do this. That is the basic idea anyway.

My mom was just in town for the past couple of weeks. It was perfect timing with Phil studying for finals. It was nice to have someone to hang out with. We had a ton of fun! We went down to the city one day and checked out the Art Museum. It was cool to see the originals of the famous paintings that we see all the time. We went up to Wisconsin one day and had lunch and went to the outlet malls. We also went to the Botanical Gardens with my friend Jodi. They were awesome! I wouldn't mind going again. It is constantly changing with what is in bloom. They must have a million gardeners to keep a place that size so perfect. Most of our time was just spent hanging out, walking around town and eating. We couldn't keep mom out of the kitchen! When I would work, she would be in the kitchen. I bet it takes me a month to work off the weight I put on when she was here!

During Phil's finals we missed a couple of important dates; Phil's birthday and our 2nd wedding anniversary. I guess we are going to have to do something to make up for them this month. Although we did celebrate with pizza and champagne when Phil's finals were over!

Last month we got to go to our first sporting event in Chicago. When I saw that the Mariners were going to be in town to play the White Sox I had to jump at the chance. A friend at work got us some awesome seats! It was nice to see the familiar players out on the field, especially Griffey! I thought we had the game in the bag but we ended up losing on back to back home runs. It was a good game though with lots of scoring!

For right now we are both just working and hanging out and we are looking forward to coming home this summer. I am going back to Seattle for three weeks and Phil is going up to Alaska before he starts school again to see his family and get some fishing in!

Things are looking up!

I can't believe that it is almost May! I like it when the winter starts to go bye more quickly. Things have been pretty busy here in Chicago or I should say Lake Forest. Phil finally decided what he is going to be doing for the summer. He is going to be researching at his school the effect of drugs on the brain. He will be working in a lab running tests on rats and stuff like that...I think. He also just finished his midterms so that means that he only has one more month of school for the year!!! It has been a long year and a lot of hard work so he cannot wait to be done for a while!

I just got back from a week in Nuevo Vallarta for Larisa and Dave's wedding. I was so nice to get away someplace sunny and warm and hang out with my bff's for the week! The wedding was absolutely beautiful and everyone had a blast dancing to mariachi music on the beach! Prior to the wedding Kendra, Vanessa and myself rented a condo down the beach and enjoyed a quiet week of laying by the pool, walks on the beach, reading and naps. It was amazing to sleep with the sound of the ocean in your ear. Although we did make it into Puerto Vallarta for a day of exploring and lunch at Pi Pi's, our favorite restaurant from last time we were down there. On Thursday Angela and Tara joined us at the condo. We went out a couple of nights and enjoyed the local culture with all of the other American tourists:)
Finally Saturday came and it was our time to enjoy life at the all inclusive 5 star resort! It was something that I could definitely get used to. Eating and drinking all you want all day long while you are surrounded by beautiful scenery and plenty of fun things to do. Also rooms that go cleaned multiple times per day and people who come in to turn on soft music and turn your bed down for you! Plus the rooms were stocked with things to drink and plenty of alcohol and fresh fruit at all times. I highly recommend staying at one of these places. But bring your elastic waist band pants, and a collared shirt:)
Finally after a week in paradise it was time to leave and get back to the real world. After my extremely long voyage home, I was welcomed at the airport by snow and below freezing wind chill. I made the mistake of wearing flip flops on the way home:)

The Saturday before I left for Mexico I received and long anticipated letter in the mail. The letter from the college where I applied to dental hygiene school finally came. I was too scared to read it so I made Phil do it for me. Well...I ended up getting in!!! I start school in August the day after I get back from my three week trip home! Yay! No more random jobs!!!

Speaking of random jobs. I have been working for the past few weeks at the local health club in town. It is a really nice place and I will be working there on Wednesday and Thursday mornings starting at 4:45am! Boo to getting up early, but the best part about the job is the free gym membership! Everyone there is very nice and things have gone very well so far.

On top of all of my random jobs I have also been participating on the committee for the Young Professionals Group of Lake Forest and Lake Bluff. The goal of the group is for both business and social networking for young people that live or work in Lake Forest or Lake Bluff. We try and put on one event per month at a business in the area which usually involves eating and drinking. It is a great way to meet all of the young people in the area!

All in all we are looking forward to the end of Phil's first year of school and the weather getting nice. People have been raving about how fun it is here in the summer, so I can't wait to see if they are right. We are also looking forward to my mom visiting in May and my dad and Terrie are coming in June! It will be fun to have some visitors! Bye for now:)