That's What She Said!

2012-01-11T18:26:00.000-08:00

So Kevin and I had an AMAZING Christmas I wish it could have lasted so much longer. We got to spend some time in Canada, and believe it or not, we had fabulous weather(like mid 40s), Kevin got to watch as much football as possible, and we didn't have work/school for 10 days! Here are some highlights from our trip.

All my sisters and Kelly's spawn.

THE tree. It reminds me of the tree from Christmas Vacation. I was half expecting a squirrel to jump out at any moment.

Check out that amazing form. I think the Canadian olympic team is going to be calling.

I just wanted to document Kevin with a broom. He makes it look good. We might have to practice this skill a bit harder.

It was so warm when we went snow shoeing, there wasn't much snow.

Kevy liked his 'ninja look while he was out in the mountains.

Crafty little Robyn. I DID get revenge.

We had Christmas eve with the extended family and my amazing grandmother.

I <3 Waterton

Thank you family for such a wonderful time at home. We look forward to FINALLY getting to spend next Christmas with the Hills.

Count it

2011-12-15T19:00:00.000-08:00

10 sleeps until Christmas, but only 8 until I am in the mother country. We are so excited to be able to spend the holidays with family. We get to spend 10 lovely days in Canada. Please say a prayer for mild weather so Kevin will allow me to return someday.

RANDOM

2011-11-10T19:37:00.001-08:00

I have an announcement.... No, I am not pregnant, but after 2 1/2 years, the Social Security office officially has me documented as Catherine Hill. It was actually a really simple and quick process. Why didn't I do it earlier? I am not sure, but it was time to renew my passport, so it motivated me to finally get it done. The only reaction from my husband was a "hmph you finally did it?"

Kevin has started his bar exams. He took his first section last week on ethics. If he isn't ethical enough, I am sure he will start entertaining the idea of being a Geologist again....Heaven help us.

I finally got on the Pinterest bandwagon. I think it is going to be an enormous time-sucker. I am half regretting this new addiction already. I don't even really understand what it is or how to work it, but I think it will really cause me to either get fat, or want to shop.

Fall is officially over since it snowed here in Chicago today. Here are some last looks at the last time we can spend outside for the next several months :( On the bright side, it is now the holiday season and time for all sorts of deliciousness.

Kevin and I went to the "largest corn maze in America" We caught some pic races, and made it through the maze in about 30 min. It needs to be a trickier maze I we decided.

We also took part in our church Halloween party. Kevin was a bull rider, and I was a taco. They ALMOST go together. Kevin was vindicated this year and won the pumpkin carving competition, but I am in big trouble and forgot to take a picture. Of course it was just as sadistic as last year's. A doctor pumpkin mutilating his pumpkin patient. He was proud.

I can't thing of any thing else even sort of interesting for now.

So it has been a bit since I have posted. Not much interesting has happened. Here are some updates on our recent adventures,

Sky High

2011-10-19T21:01:00.000-07:00

So a few weeks ago, Kevin and I decided we needed to go to the top of the Sears Tower (OK, it is the Willis Tower, but most of you wouldn't know what I was talking about if I said it). Since we have lived in Chicago for 2 years and haven't done it, we decided it was time.

The Sears Tower held the title of world's tallest building for over 20 years and it is still the tallest in America., so that was reason enough for Kevin to fork over the cash for some amazing views. The observation deck is on the 103rd floor and they have these nifty retractable glass rooms that stretch out over the Chicago river and give you a great look at what is below. On a clear day, which it was, you can see Wisconsin, Indiana, and Michigan. We got up there in the late afternoon, and got to watch the sunset and Chicago light up in at night.

We're going to miss this city.

Happy Camper

2011-10-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

What does it mean to be a "happy camper"? Well, Kevin and I went on a camping trip this last weekend, and I have yet to decide if I was a "happy camper" or not. The being outdoors, campfire, hiking, and the scenery were all divine. Unfortunately, the camping/sleeping portion of the the trip was sub par. You see, my darling husband purchased a tent, but not just any tent. It was the "Lone Elk". Now Kevin and I are over 6'0" tall and I would not describe either of us as petite, but the Lone Elk, was a 1-man tent. Needless to say, I didn't sleep. I think my sister-in-law is on to something. She claims camping to her is staying in a Motel 6. I think I will be in charge of our next camp out and then, I WILL be a happy camper.
Our camping location was Sleeping Bear Dunes in Northern Michigan. It was gorgeous. The weather was incredible, as in 80s, the scenery was pristine; peak fall colors, sandy beaches, gorgeous water, and Kevin's new favorite thing, dune grass. Thanks to Kevin, I have over 550 pictures, but I will only share a few so I don't bore you.

Hotty Toddy

2011-10-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

So, since BYU has gone independent, and they were going to be taking on an SEC team (Ole Miss) for their season opener, it was a MUST see game. Kevin had been getting excited, and ended up buying front row tickets for this grand event. We were ready to take on the deep south and enjoy some southern hospitality.

We left after I got off of work on the Friday evening before the game, and drove late into the night down to Mississippi. We found our camping spot, and roughed it in the backwoods with the possums and other critters and I even survived.
The next morning, we headed into town for breakfast and the best tailgating in the country (per the travel channel and ESPN). On the way in, we passed some homes that made me giggle. Kevin was driving, so I was in charge of pictures, but I got distracted and didn't get any really good shots. These houses were built of nothing more than scrap metal and/or plywood, and all of them had a brand new $50,000 truck parked out front. I thought that was super classy, I love me some backwoods rednecks!

Here is the best example I got of their humble residences.

We did however, have time to stop and document that we saw the World's Largest Cedar Bucket. I bet you always wondered where this was located. Oxford can certainly claim it.

Oxford was such a delightful town, and I had to keep reminding myself that I hate Ole Miss because of its affiliation with the Manning family. Every speed limit sign kept me in check. I can hate Tennessee more because I like Payton the least of all of them.

After wandering around campus for a bit, we noted that Rowan Oak was just a short walk from campus. It was the home of William Faulkner. I think the BYU fans were the only ones visiting that day.

If it is a national historic landmark, Kevin HAS to go check it out. It was a nifty little estate.

This is the entrance to "The Grove" The central location of tailgating and where the the fans and band line up for the team to walk through on their way to the stadium.

Then it was back to campus to enjoy the festivities. There were just droves of people everywhere. Apparently there is a tradition among the students that the women wear cocktail dresses and heels that I would break my neck in to the games and the men wear slacks and sport coats. I do love that they would tell you that they may not be the best team in the SEC, but they are definitely the best dressed. Kevin LOOOOOOOOVES big bands. I have about 30min of the band playing recorded. If you would like to see it, just let me know. They do have a pretty fantastic band.

While I am still trying to forget that I hate Ole Miss, I do have to say, I have never met so many pleasant people. As we were walking around in our BYU gear, everyone would stop to talk to us, take our pictures, and give us high fives. I couldn't help but get an eerie feeling that I was either the butt of their inside jokes, or this is what southern hospitality really is. I think I will choose to believe the latter. Although, I still want to know what "Hotty Toddy" means. I had that said to me way too many times.

This is to prove I was actually there.

Kevin made it onto ESPN! He was so excited when his friends texted him, that he had to watch the entire thing that night just to see about 1.5 seconds of himself. Then we watched it over and over and over again.

Since a hurricane was moving in and rain was in the forecast, we scratched the Ozarks and decided to hit up the sights of Memphis. Of course, we needed to get some southern BBQ. It was delicious. Kevin has converted to dry rub ribs.

We sat in the same booth Pao Gasol sits in at Corky's. If you're in Memphis, this is the place to go!

Then it was off to Graceland. The nice lady at the Elvis store had to comment on the Ole Miss loss and mistakenly confused Kevin for an Ole Miss fan. After she started in on BYU, it was a little too late for Kevin to pipe up and claim his alma mater. He does look cute in his Ole Miss shirt though. Good disguise.

Finally it was off to the Lorraine Motel where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot.

Although we had to cut our trip short, we got a BYU win, great BBQ, and some good historic sites in. Overall, I'd say it was a Hotty Toddy trip.

To Quit or not to Quit?.....That is the question.

2011-10-06T09:07:00.000-07:00

I decided I should be healthier. I am taking my multivitamins more regularly, watching what I eat, thinking about exercising....but is THIS something I am willing to give up. I can't decide. I decided that I am not addicted. I checked. I have over a week without having it, but I just really enjoy a cold can of pure divinity. It's been like a companion to me for so long. What do you think? Just for the taste of it. I feel like I might lose a sense of self.
Quitting might take some convincing.

Kevykins Comes Home!

2011-09-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

Forgive my absence, but after 11 long weeks of being a single wife, Kevin and I finally reunited and got to enjoy the last bits of summer together. We tried to jam as much as we could into a few weeks, and we did a pretty good job.

First on our list of activities was to finally take Kevin out on a river/lake architecture tour since Chicago self proclaims itself to be the architecture capital of the world. I got to go last summer when with some wonderful girlfriends (he left me then too).

I think I have a dozen pictures of each building in Chicago, but who wants to see those when you could see us!

We were just waiting in the locks to head out onto Lake Michigan.

It was a beautiful clear day, and we don't get many of those. I would love one right now!

Kevin was LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVING the trip and just lounging on the boat deck.

There is our skyline. What a great city. We will miss it.

Then, we had to see if we could get tickets to another Cubs game. I love Wrigley Field.

Kevin in the "bartman" seat. Actually, they removed it because of its bad luck, but this is the same row. I will have to watch the ESPN special tomorrow about him "Catching Hell"

Love that old-school scoreboard. All movable parts!

We also got to spend some time out at the beach, going on picnics at the lake, shopping, museum trips, road trips, and a ton of bike rides. We attended the BYU season opener at Ole Miss (check back soon for that post). I highly recommend keeping your husbands around. They are a lot of fun. I am so happy he is back! We have literally been out and having so much fun trying to take in all Chicago has to offer. Kevin started his final year of law school today and so our time in Chicago may be limited. We have really loved it here and I will be sad when it is time to go.

I'll leave you with one last shot of Kevin's cute bum (he's gonna kill me!)

Wild Rose Country

2011-08-14T20:32:00.000-07:00

So I know it has been a really long time since I last updated my blog. It doesn't mean that my summer has been wild in crazy. In contrast, most of it has been quite mundane. There have bee moments of fun. My sister and my mother both made it out to Chicago to visit, but with Kevin bailing on me for yet another summer, I have had a lot of alone time. My family felt bad enough, that they suggested I take a trip home. Who in their right mind would deny a visit to the Fairbanks house? Nobody I know, so I booked a flight and took off 3 days later Alberta!

I will warn you, there are a lot of pictures and this is a long post.

What a beautiful sight! Welcome to Alberta. Wild Rose Country

My mother the Rec major, is always up for a good time. She had every day planned out with so many events, that I knew there would be very little down time. I was going to my favorite places and hanging out with my favorite people (except for Kevin of course). But, even my fabulous mother couldn't predict or plan just how perfectly my trip went. We had a day at Red-Rock with the nieces and Colton, Sister hike to Forum and Akimina Peaks, kayaking with Lloyd, Jackie and the boys, biking down Logan's Pass (Going to the Sun Road), chick flicks, Rook tournaments, and so much more. It just made me think of what Kevin always likes to tell me "you just want Jackie's life". Well.....who wouldn't. She gets to hike at least one a week. Kayak all weekend, and not work. It sounds pretty good to me. I really need to figure this out.

Our first day, we were off to Waterton with my mom, Angie, Kelly, and the kids. On the agenda was a picnic, a little hike, and play at one of my favorite places from my youth. Red Rock!

It was just as I remembered; beautiful, freezing water, and natural waterslides. I had forgotten, however, just how slippery those natural water slides were. I think I fell 6 times. Once; flat on my face, three times; on my bottom; and a few more on my stomach, and sides. Flip flops were a poor choice. On one of those spills, I really hurt shoulder. I was a bit concerned because of all the fun I was supposed to be having including kayaking the next day. I consulted with my Canadian doctor and I think since I am not covered in Canada anymore Dr. Mike just told me I bruised my rotator cuff to get me off his case. So I did what any Fairbanks does; take 800mg of Ibuprofen and sucked it up.

At Blackeston falls. We had some excellent photographers.

Lots of fun and then we went home to see the rest of the family and play late into the night.

The next day we were scheduled to do our sister hike and kayak. We were off to Forum Peak and Akimina Peak. We combined 2 hikes into one....In hindsight, it was a good idea, but I was not prepared with how long the hike was. Just when you thought you were at the top, there was ANOTHER peak.

So we were off to Waterton again. Adults only. Apparently the warning for experienced hikers only should be heeded. Kelly cannot be trusted to make plans since she mistakenly assumed we could complete our hike in 4 hours when in actuality it took us nearly 8.

this is us trudging over the bog just before we hit forum lake.

This is at the top of one of the MANY peaks we hiked that day. Below is Cameron Lake. You will see it again in my kayaking pictures. The view was spectacular, and then it started to rain. We thought it was a bad idea to be on the top of a mountain during a thunderstorm, so we moved on.

And we moved up. This is the 2nd of like 4 peaks we hiked. If you think it looks steep, it felt steeper. I guess I need to get into better shape.

This was still on our way to the top. We had to blaze our own trails for a while and climb up rocks instead of a trail. As you can tell, I am still not moving my right arm from one of my nasty spills the day before.

Climbing up the rocks.

Angie Checking out Forum Lake. She loves me for this shot I am sure.

We are on our way down!!!! I am losing my toenail, but it was a worthy sacrifice.

Below is Wall lake. We were planning on jumping off the glaciers into the water as Robyn had done the week before, but once the storm hit and temperatures dropped, we were not as easily convinced that it was a good idea.

At the top of Forum Peak.

First we had to get to the top of that peak, then over to a peak on the left, then to one behind the one right above us, then to the ones on the right and one more after that. Luckily the scenery was beautiful and the company was even better.

Just these 2 more peaks left!

Once we reached the bottom we met up with the men, kids, and kayaks. We grabbed dinner and headed out for an evening kayak. Just as we started out, the skies opened up and it started to rain. Allen and Sam hiked up their kayak skirts and b-lined it for shore. It was quite foolish of them since it didn't last long and then we got the beautiful double rainbow that you can sort of see below.

It was so lovely.

We went down to the end of the lake and into one of the glaciers that was still there in August.

But with all the water melting, it afforded the beautiful greenery and plentiful waterfalls.

If you look at the top of that ridge, yup that's where we were earlier that day. As we were finishing out, the sun set, and we had a moonlight trip back. How could it get better you ask? Well.... on our drive back, we had a front row view of the Northern Lights. I don't know that I had ever seen them so early in the year, but it was the perfect ending to the perfect day.

Did I mention all the wild life we saw? Well...We saw the usual deer, marmots, mountain goats, big horn sheep, a she-moose, and 8 bears. I'd say it was a success. We got a few pics to prove it.

One of the bears right next to the road on our way to our hike.

A big horn sheep just chillin at the top of Going to the Sun Road.

They were just hanging out in the parking lot.

The family minus Todd's fam and Kevy. Aren't we cute?

So how do we top our previous day? Well I am not sure it's possible, but day 3 was equally as fun. We got to bike down Going to the Sun Road. It was all down-hill, so I could just enjoy the scenery as we went down.

Here is the crew. Since I had my falls a couple days earlier, I was not able to talk my way out of a helmet. I make it look good though.

Biking past the weeping wall. It was sobbing.

Nearing the end.

We were not about to bike back up, so we threw all our bikes in the back of the trucks and headed up to the top. I just wanted this picture for the record that Jackie was naughty and sat in the back of the truck.

Thank you so much for letting me come home!

And for more good news....KEVIN COMES HOME IN 3 DAYS AFTER A 12 WEEK HIATUS!!!!!

The terrible horrible no-good very bad day

2011-06-16T22:14:00.000-07:00

So where to begin... Well my morning started off with a telephone call waking me up at 5:30am. It was someone from work informing me that we would need coverage for sunday. Did I need to wake up at the crack of dawn for that? No! That was still days away. Was I now already grumpy for 2 reasons? Yes. So, since I was now awake, I decided I would try to sort out my Internet fiasco.
You see, 2 weeks ago I was supposed to have my Internet connected. A quick self install and that was the end right?...Wrong! After a frustrating week and a half with 4 hour appointments,countless hours on hold, getting hung up on, getting stood up for appointments, getting sent faulty equipment, and then replaced with the wrong equipment, I had-had it with AT&T and my building mangers ( who both rank extemely low on the customer service spectrum) trying to figure out my problems. I thought I had finally got a hold of the person I needed to solve all my Internet wiring problems.
He came over at 8:00am to check my apartment and supposedly tell me where AT&T could find the wires to fix the short in my line. He was showing me around and we went outside to check the phone room. When we started back to my apt, I went for my keys...they weren't there. That's when I noticed I locked myself out. Just my luck eh? He didnt bring a key. After 45 min, we finally got in. I was late for work, so I talked to my boss and decided I would take the day off to make up for Sunday. Things would only get better right? I made an appt for AT&T to come out and fix my line that evening for what I thought would be the last visit.
Since I now had all this time on my hands, I decided I should get my hair cut, I mean I have been wanting it for a while. I decided on one of the styles below and off I went. I got to the salon, gave the girl instructions of what I wanted, she verified and we started to snip.
She turned me away from the mirror( that should have been my first red flag) but we were having such a nice conversation. When she finally turned me around, I looked at my reflection and started to cry! This was no salon, this was a butcher shop! 13 inches gone!!!!! That is 2 years of hair growth! Are you kidding me! I hate it and you better believe I was not paying for the cut! The only good thing is that it still fits in a ponytail and there it will stay for months. Kevin's only response was "I am not a happy camper" Then he proceeded to ask how long it will take to grow back.
Then the night ended with AT&T telling me that the building needs to re-wire my apt in order for me to get internet. If you understand how this mangement works, you would know why I am so frustrated. I am so glad that it is a new day.

Before

After

Hair

2011-06-13T08:18:00.000-07:00

So I have had almost the same hair all my life. Long and straight. It is boring, but so am I. I have experimented a bit, but have not found anything I loved. I have tried bangs, both fringe and 80's style. I attempted lots of different colors, it was too much work. I tried cutting it short but realized I have a chubby face, so I wore it up until it was past my shoulders.

I feel the winds of change coming. I am so sick of my hair right now, I am tempted to take the shears to it myself. (It wouldn't be a first). I have tried to get hair dressers to cut it, but they seem so reluctant. The don't want to damage the "virgin" hair.

I need help. I am not savvy in the ways of cosmetology and I have no vision. Kevin might divorce me if I cut too short, but I think at least 6 inches need to go. It is long and shapeless. We need to infuse some life back into it. I want to keep it longer than shoulder length, but I am 6'0 and it hits the small of my back. I am starting to look like a Polygamist or a Mennonite.

So, will you help me decide what to do? There is a poll on the left side bar....Otherwise, post a pic of what you think I should do in my comments.

Style 1

Style 2

Style 3

Style 4

July 23-24

2011-05-24T06:17:00.000-07:00

Kevin sent me an email the other morning. One of his friends is competing in a "Tough Mudder" challenge. I had heard about this ridiculousness a few days earlier and thought it was insane. After researching it, I am sort of intrigued. So, the fates must have aligned and today, there is a Groupon to enter.

It is not a race, or so they claim. It is a challenge. If I had to compare it to something, I think I would compare it to American Gladiators on steroids. It is a 10 mile obstacle course doing military obstacles, run through fire, slide through mud with barbed wire above your head, and to finish it off running through live electrical wires carrying a 10,000 V charge.
In order for you to get the full idea of what this challenge entails, here is a link to the map with all of the obtacles.

If you are not convinced yet, these are some of their FAQ:

Do I really get one beer?

Yes. The registration fee includes one beer for participants 21 and over, which can be collected after the conclusion of the event.

Are you really giving out Tough Mudder tattoos?

Tattoos of our logo for anyone tough enough to want one will be available for $70. Send your receipt to info@toughmudder.com and we’ll give you a free entry to a Tough Mudder of your choice in 2011. Customize it by having the event date and location put on–keep adding as you go to record all your epic Mudder adventures.

Does anyone want to join me?

Wallowing

2011-05-17T13:33:00.000-07:00

I suppose clean could be a subjective term. I think that sometimes I am not the most immaculate person in the world, but I do like things tidy. Kevin has informed me that since he got married, he has forgotten how to pick-up after himself, do laundry, or any other homemaking task.   To his credit, he does the dishes and takes out the trash, so I won't complain too much. He has however, created his own definition of clean. I am not sure I completely understand it, but I will give a few examples of some of the things that have made me wonder what goes on in his head.

Kevin has a habit of putting shirts, shorts, or anything he has worn, but doesn't deem "dirty" in a corner of the bed. Socks that he has decided are not "dirty" get placed in the middle of the bedroom floor. (if they go on your foot, in my opinion, they are dirty) One day, as I was gathering laundry, I asked my usual question"Is there anything here that you would like me to wash?", but this time I may have added "-or would you like to continue wallowing in your own filth?" I thought I was funny. Apparently I struck a chord. I offended him. This is not unusual I think I do this on a regular basis. He of course opted to wallow for a bit longer. Now any time I asked about anything, he likes to mention that he is enjoying wallowing.

Shoes are another area that confuses me. I think that shoes in the middle of the floor are an obstacle, an object that possesses impending doom for the clumsy such as myself. Not to mention that they look sloppy and out of place. To Kevin, this makes them accessible and easy to find. When I am cleaning, I enjoy putting them back into his closet on his shoe rack. This, of course, makes me feel like I have tidied my house and it looks neat.  Each time I do this I know that I am about to get reprimanded for it.

Finally, the last thing is the cup. If your mouth touches it, bacteria are breeding and growing. This is a problem to me. Kevin would keep the same cup on the counter for him to keep re-using for weeks at a time if I would let him. If I put it in the dishwasher, I am in trouble because he didn't get good enough use from it. We have plenty of cups. There are enough replacements. Recently, I will replace it without his knowledge and put the dirty one in the dishwasher. I love him too much to allow him to get sick.

If you do not believe me about the shoes and socks.  Here is photographic proof.

My Mom

2011-05-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

I love my mother. She is pretty fantastic. I admire so many things about her. Someday when I grow up I would be doing a pretty stellar job if I could be more like her.   I could go on all day about all the wonderful things that she does for everyone all the time, but I think i will just mention a few.

I don't know if anyone has a better disposition. She is so positive, upbeat, and FUN all the time. I can only remember a couple of times when she was actually angry.   Like the time they changed the flavor of Diet Coke back when I was elementary school. She got so upset she ACTUALLY wrote a letter.  Usually when she is upset about something she just threatens to compose those nasty-grams.

She goes out of her way to be friendly with everyone. unless you are a stranger. Then you are automatically Chester and evil. (yes, I learned it from somewhere). She would always wave to everyone in town. I used to have kids come up to me in school and tell me "you're mom waved at me today. Does she even know who I am?" C'mon this is Raymond, she knows EVERYTHING about everyone. One of her best friends is Barb Depew. Talk about omniscience.

She is always up for a good time. She has this addictive and inspiring zest for life. I cannot tell you the number of times she stays up late to watch chick flicks with us, she gets giddy when she hears the Dr. Mario music, she hikes/snowshoes/cross country skis with her mountain mama's every week, her and Lloyd have taken up kayaking and go religiously at least once a week. Kevin always tells me that I just want Jackie's life. I think I just want her stamina.

This woman raised 6 kids who are all 2 years apart. That in itself should be grounds for sainthood. I think most of us turned out OK too. Not only did she raise us, but with my dad's work schedule SHE moved us somewhere around 15 times, and no child was ever older than 8. I cannot even imagine all the times she wanted to strangle all of us, but she was always so kind. I am not sure how she had the patience and the ability to stay so collected all the time, but I think I need lessons.

She had this amazing ability to balance life. She had 6 extremely active children. We were always involved in basketball, volleyball, football, soccer, swimming, baseball, figure skating, hockey, riding horses, and any other imaginable activity. With 6 kids.... that is just crazy. I can only remember a couple of times when my "stalker" (as my friends coined her) was not at my games cheering me on. She was so supportive and wonderful, but she was not just at my events, but all my siblings stuff.  She was all our our #1 fan.

So besides her innumerable neuroses and her inability to cook, she is perfect. I think that those things make her even more perfect. I have learned to be more careful; ie wearing hoodies in movie theaters to avoid lice and not letting anyone sit behind me on a bus that could possibly decapitate me.  I learned that there is always something more fun to do than worrying about cooking or other menial things, so just go with it. We didn't starve.

I love you mom!

Riddle Me This....

2011-04-26T06:17:00.000-07:00

What do bananas, mucus, Y's, and Indian Polygamists have in common? The key to unlocking one of Kevin's biggest goals in life. To have 100 boys.

This may seem strange to most of you, but I have been humoring this man for several years now with his claims that he wants 100 spawn, and ALL must be male. I have informed him that biologically, it's his job to determine the sex of our children. No pressure on me right? He thinks if we don't produce a professional athlete, our marriage is a failure (and that must be a male professional athlete by-the-way). I am not even going to get started on his name selection. That deserves a post of its own.

So what spurred these talks? NO, I am not expecting, and not planning on it for a while. { I am waiting for your Angie.} His sister is however, and we couldn't be more thrilled for them! And, we have a ward FULL of babies and pregnant women.  So at church, I get to have my dose of baby time which brings up these random and bizarre conversations that we have.

It originally started when I sent Kevin this link to an article about an Indian man who had 39 wives and 100 children. I, of course, had a normal reaction and was disgusted. Kevin, however, thought this was a fantastic way to ensure a strong posterity. This was several years ago. He continues to mention that he will need several wives to complete this goal. I have in my most polite voice, told him I am not in that celestial mindset yet. It ain't gonna happen on my watch!

Occasionally, Kevin sends me these articles he reads online, just to ensure I am preparing myself properly to have boys. I couldn't figure out why, for the longest time he has been force feeding me bananas. Every day he asks "have you had your banana yet?" "I don't think you ate a banana. Let me watch." I feel like a little kid, I don't mind the occasional banana, as long as they are green, otherwise they are too strong and soft. Yick! I was going through and deleting a bunch of emails, when I came across one with a link in it. I am not sure I ever read the article, but now I can see where his insistence that I eat more bananas comes from.  My consumption of bananas directly improves my chances of conceiving males in the future and BONUS: not dieting increases those chances too. I think I will stop thinking about a diet now.

I think the final straw was a couple weeks ago he sent me a this link.   It is an article with tips on how to conceive a boy. Now, I want to keep my PG rating on my blog, so for details you can read the link. Its nothing graphic, but I know that bodily fluids repulse people. The most appalling part for me is that it comes complete with a Mucus Tracker in Excel or PDF form.

For now, I will eat bananas, but that's about where I draw the line. We revisit mucus talk once he has 6 girls in a row, or when we finally decide its time for Klaus Nicholas Hill to join us here (I told you it deserves a post of its own). If I need advice, I think I will just call up my brother Todd and his wife Jenny.  They seem to have it figured out with their 3 darling boys.

Men, Cars, and Friends

2011-04-12T20:26:00.001-07:00

You know what they say-Men are like parking lots, all the good ones are taken, the rest are too small or handicapped....well, I got the last good one. I swooped in and got prime parking. I love my Kevy. So, we have now made it 2 years! Happy anniversary to us yesterday. We have really got to spend much more than time together than just that. We have been together for almost 5 years now and have had so much fun. Some of you know, but I am not sure ALL of you have our 1st meeting story. I get to tell the whole story since I have sole power of the blog.

It was a dark, but not so stormy night... my good friend Alicia decided that I needed a good man in my life. She didn't like any of the guys I had gone out with and thought I needed a good man to distract me. She decided she would doll me up and take me out for a night on the town.

If any of you know me, this might not be the best tactic. I am deathly afraid of strangers "stranger danger" and would rather die before looking desperate in front of a male. I tried to explain this to her, but she ignored me. Thank goodness too eh.

We searched high and low. We went all over Provo in search of a tall-dark and handsome man. After hours of torture, I finally convinced her that we should give up our search. It was still early enough, we could get a movie and then go back to my place and relax. So, we headed over to Blockbuster (this dates the story now that they are obsolete). We walked in. and the background music started, there he was. Alicia saw him and started in on me immediately. She was a woman on a mission. She kept urging "go talk to him". I of course refused. I even tried the excuse that I thought I was taller (it usually works). After arguing or a couple minutes, i had to satisfy her, I walked by him. He WAS taller! Unfortunately, he had his hood up, so I couldn't get a good look at him. He had nice shoulders, but if she thought I was going to talk to him she was kidding herself.

She told me that if I did not give him my number she would not give me a ride home. (empty threat, I lived a block and a half from blockbuster...I could walk!) So, after arguing for about 5 min. she let me into the car. She sat down, fiddled with her keys, grabbed a piece of paper, and bolted back inside. I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks (I blush pretty easily) I was mortified. I slunk down in my seat hoping that she was not doing what I knew that she was. She did. She gave him my number. She told him I was too shy.

Well, that smart man, made the smartest move he ever could have made. He called! I made the bravest move ever, and actually returned the call (of course with her sitting next to me coaching me). The rest is history. Thanks Leesh. Best friend ever!

Winner!!!

2011-04-05T13:34:00.000-07:00

I won....on a technicality, but I will take it! March Madness is officially over, the Huskies won, and so did I. I love winning. I am usually a really good, really humble winner. I am not sure I have ever actually won a tournament challenge, but I can now gloat about it. Kevin's Mormon club at the law school did a bracket challenge and wives were allowed to enter. I technically came in second, but the winner had submitted 2 brackets, so I decided he is disqualified. Sorry Jared.

To my credit, I had at least UConn in the finals.

Thawing

2011-04-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

Its starting. On the way home from the gym the other day, I saw a daffodil that wanted to bloom so badly. Spring wants to start, and we have had a few days where it even felt like we were on our way. We have taken advantage of a couple of those. Kevin just finished his spring break, and this quarter looks like it will allow me to see more of my husband than justbthe back of his head as he studies.

One day a couple weeks ago, while Kevin was on break, we were able to go up to the Adler Planetarium. Kevin and I were not too impressed, but it was nice to get out of the house and walk around outside on a beautiful day here in Chicago. They were offering a free day, so it was quite busy and Kevin and I were able to spend the day with like 50 school field trips, and every homeless person that wanted to use a clean bathroom and get inside somewhere.

There was not much to see. This was the largest telescope there and the only picture we took inside. If you know my Kevin, you know that it must have been REALLY bad.

It is located in the best place to view the city. So we hung out for a minute and enjoyed the sunshine.

Kevin and I were so excited to see the sun and have it be warm enough that we didn't need our winter coats. This tease lasted for about 2 days before it started snowing again.

This is some astrological thing...

Today, we got to head downt to the Garfield Conservatory. Kevin's love for taking photos returned and I have over 100 pictures from our 1.5 hour visit

It was the spring blooming event, so you can imagine what a good time he was having taking pictures and planning our future garden. I think I will have to spend all of my days in the yard if he gets all the things he wants.

The flowers were very pretty and they were certainly blooming

Our next stop was supposed to be for lunch at the Signature Room. It is at the top of the John Hancock building on the 96th floor. We got to the bottom of the elevator, but without reservations, it was going to be a long day.

Since I am an SNL "super fan", and love and "Da Bears", so we opted to try a restaurant that involves a lot of SNL skits, and a bit of Chicago black magic and mythology. Before the Cubs had the Bartman curse, there was a Billy Goat. Click Here to learn more about that. Its a funny story.

The restaurant is in the lower part of Chicago, under the Magnificent Mile. It is not so magnificent down there. You'll feel like you're on the Batman set.

The Cheezborgers were not impressive, but now I can check it off my list of things to do while I am here.

Just a sunny day outside of the Water Tower. It was the only thing that didn't burn during The Great Chicago fire.

We love our city, and I love it even more when Kevin gets to come enjoy it with me.

Life Stinks and Then You Die.

2011-03-14T06:14:00.000-07:00

I know, what a terrible title. I am not really such a pessimist. My mother used to tell us that whenever we wanted something and she said no. It was quite effective. I catch myself saying Jackie-isms from time-to-time and I used this gem recently on 2 separate occasions. Both times, I was informed that I should never say that again. Kevin told me I was NOT allowed to say that to my future children. So, I then repeated "Life stinks and then you die". I am so funny.
Really, I am just sad that it STILL feels like winter here. I am ready for the sun to peep out and for the daffodils to start blooming. It is Kevin's spring break this week, but it doesn't feel like spring. It isn't warm enough to go anywhere on a road-trip. I know that it is time for spring. It is the middle of March.
So on Saturday, I went to the gym with my work-out buddy and she convinced me that I needed to go spring shopping with her (if you know me, that was probably not difficult). So, we took the bus downtown (don't worry, I looked for bedbugs before I sat my bottom anywhere). Once we started getting near downtown, there was a sea of people wearing green. It was the St. Paddy's day celebration downtown. I had forgotten. Here are a couple pics from our girls day out!
Oh, and yes, it was just what I needed. Thank you Alexandra!

Yes, we are both tall. Fabulous isn't it!

I love the green river. Doesn't that look disgusting.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY

Snowmageddon

2011-02-14T19:08:00.000-08:00

It all started that fateful afternoon on the first day of February. I left at 3pm to some flurries, and by this time (after 6pm) was getting walloped by blasting, drifting snow from the lake. I probably should have used more common sense and stayed on the freeway, but it was so packed and its usually so much faster. I was not one of the unfortunate ones who got to stay on Lake Shore Drive overnight. I got behind the SUV shown below. He went rogue status and just went around all the cars that had given up and parked along the road. I made it out just before they shut down the road. Over 1000 people were stuck all night. Stinks to be them. I was hungry and had to go pee. I would not have done well if I had to stay out there.

Talking and texting is illegal, but I haven't read anything about taking pics.

During the night, we saw thunder and lightning, there were supposedly 25 foot waves on Lake Michigan, and most of our neighborhood was without power all night (not us, but we have radiator heat, so it wouldn't have mattered). It was supposedly the 3rd worst storm in Chicago History. We woke up the next morning to 20+ inches of snow.

The Streets were covered, you could barely see cars, and

Cars were abandoned in the middle of streets and intersections.

I love these pictures. The cars just look like speed bumps. It was so bad, both Kevykins and I got 2 snow days. That is 2 paid work days without working. Can't beat that!

Its a good thing we were robbed once, they could have easily just walked up to our back windows there. EEK!

I wanted to go down to the lake to check it out, but I didn't have the energy to forge through all that snow to get to it and Kevin didn't want to go.

The streets were too much for the plows to get to. After 2 days, and no plows, the residents started shoveling the roads. Cars were trying to make it through side streets, and people were spending hours trying to dig out their cars. Since it can be so laborious and time consuming, Chicago has a code (not like the new TV show). Its tradition. It is not illegal (not technically legal either). If you dig your car out, you get dibs. Dibs are an understanding. If you're street like me, you get it. You respect it. Someone marks their spot. Its theirs. The more clever you are, the better. I saw some good ones, but didn't get pics. I saw some baby baskets, cat scratching posts, dinner tables and chairs, and the classic bucket and stick.

The common chair and stick. Don't try to park there, or you're 'finna' get shot. (or just get your tires slashed.). Don't break code.

Valentine's HELP!!!

2011-02-14T06:42:00.000-08:00

Valentine's Day. It is a day for romance, love, and all things mushy. I love super duper sappy movies, I love to hear about other people's romantic encounters. I am a sucker for love. I hate anything that doesn't have a happy ending.

As much as I love romance, I am not very romantic. I come by it honestly. My father was not much of a romantic. My mother used to say "if he ever bought me flowers, I would think he had cheated on me". (He did eventually buy her flowers once, because she was gone for over a month). Therefore, I do not enforce or inspire romance from my darling Kevin. Don't get me wrong, he does all the right things. Especially when he actually remembers that it is the 14th, not the 15th, which has been a problem every year. I do get flowers every Valentine's day, even when we weren't in the same place. We just don't go crazy with exorbitant gifts and getaways. Do I wish he were more romantic? Maybe when I am romanticizing life, but not really. It would force me to be more romantic.

So, you might ask, what my Valentine's day plans are. Here is a list of my planned day: I sent him an e-card. I am super thoughtful, I know. I am working out with my new work-out buddy after I get done at work. He gets to feast on left-overs for dinner (probably alone), and he has a basketball game tonight. I will likely be asleep when he gets back because I have to get up early for work.

SO, here is where I need your help. I love this guy, I'd like to show him, but I realize I am Pathetic. Please, give me some ideas of how I can make-up for my lack of romantic ambitions. Give me some ideas (mind you they have to be cheap...remember, ultra frugal husband). I have a long weekend this week, so I have a few days that I can plan a late V-day celebration.

To wrap things up, I want to mention how lovable my darling Kevin is. Aside from being so hot that he still makes me weak in the knees and gives me butterflies, he also has other redeemable qualities. He is far more thoughtful than I am . He is sweet, kind, compassionate, really logical, almost as funny as I am, smart, and did I mention Hot? He is the LOVE of my life. I think I'll keep him.

Groundhog Day

2011-02-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

Am I superstitious?

Maybe a little. Kevin does like to point out that I am illogical. So I suppose we'll go along with that. Tomorrow marks Groundhog day. Punxsutawney Phil is going to come out and predict the future.
We are in the middle of a blizzard. The Governor has decreed Illinois in a state of emergency. We have the national guard on standby. Lake Michigan has 25ft waves (this isn't the North Shore of Hawaii) 3-4 inches of snow are falling per hour, drifts as high as 10 feet. It took a whopping 3 hours to get home today.
If that Groundhog wants to live, he will close his beady little eyes and not even look see his shadow. If he does, you better call PETA because I will make Michael Vick look like a saint.
On a happier note, tomorrow is a SNOW DAY. No work!!!

The Joys of Working in Education

2011-02-01T10:52:00.000-08:00

We found this little gem attached to the elevator this morning.

The Fairbanks Bunch!

2011-01-31T04:42:00.000-08:00

The ENTIRE family was home for Christmas, here is our proof.

The Bachelor

2011-01-19T15:13:00.000-08:00

I love this show. Most of you that know me, know this. Watching it with Kevin brings a new perspective to things. He makes it more entertaining, or more frustrating. Sometimes I'm not sure which it is. I do prefer to watch it with him even when he complains, or drools over breast implants. So, here is a list of some of our 'Loves' after only 3 episodes.

I love that ABC had to make this entire season an issue about Brad's fear of committment. I was hoping he wouldn't pick either girl.
I love that to show how sincere he was about fixing this supposed "problem" they had his therapist make a cameo on national TV (HIPPA anyone?)
I love every time they say "This is the ___________ moment in Bachelor history"
I love that EVERY girl that is on this show has a sob story
I love that RIGHT after the sob story (girl is crying and has a snotty nose), Brad makes out with her. Is that all it takes?....Robyn, take note!
I love every shirtless scene
I love that every date is the same from season to season
I love Emily's response to the question, tell me about yourself. "I'm just like everybody else... When I am tired, I get grumpy." I guess that sums us all up.
Kevin loves to insert his own dialogue..which is usually ridiculous.
I love that Kevin googles these girls on his own time ie. Michelle Money (yes, that is her name) is on a new 'Mormon Movie' coming out this March. Chantal's dad was a Seattle Seahawk, but only played one season and has NO fantasy points.
He loves to rank them according to 'favorites'. 1). Emily 2). Chantal 3). Michelle....
He loves that Brad, during interviews, refers to the girls as "these women" "that girl". He just automatically distances himself from them. Kevin cracks up every time.
He loves to bring up that Emily dated Dale Ernahrt Jr.
I love that "fang" wasn't anything like I thought she would be.
I loved the comparison of Emily to looking like Barbie, with the soul of Mother Theresa. You want to, but you can't hate her.

Those are just some of the gems I gave gleened from my guiltiest pleasure.

C eh N eh D eh !

2011-01-13T19:16:00.000-08:00

MERRY LATE CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We were so blessed this holiday season for getting to spend time with the ENTIRE Fairbanks Clan for the holidays. Kevin, in a moment of weakness told me we could go to Canada for Christmas this year. I never let him forget it after. After our last experience, I wasn't sure he would ever return in the winter. Two years ago, we went to Canada for a short Christmas visit. As we walked out of the airport, I looked up and saw a sign with the temperature reading -30 C. He has never forgotten that. Most of the time it is embellished and exceeds -70 in his stories, but regardless, it was butt friggin cold!
This time, it was fabulous. We had a brown Christmas. It was in the low 40s F (that is a positive number). It didn't even snow until later in our trip! We had SOOOOOOOO much fun. Thank you mommy. I hated leaving. It was a party for 10 straight days. We ate until we couldn't, we had rook tournaments, chick-flicks, Dr. Mario, Wii Tennis matches, tower building, snow-shoeing, sledding, swimming, curling, 5 pin bowling, music jeopardy, white elephants, the first Fairbanks boys basketball game, giant soccer, scooter racing, all sorts of games, and so much laughing that I don't need to do an ab workout for years.
Here are only some of our good times.

Giant Soccer Check out Robyn's Shirt. I want one!

Kevy taking on the Fairbanks boys Awwww Twins!

Dr. Mario tournaments Scooter races

He's a natural. I think its working... He wants one! Check out that red shag. When I get a home...

The Girls!!! Aren't we cute The Group! Crandall Lake Trip #1

The solitary snow Shoe-er Todd attempting more tricks

My little snow angel

Kevy outside the Cabin A few days later the entire lake was frozen

Mads, Hurrying Hard! Team Canada Wins!!!

Impressive Tower Kevy! Xtreme Snow Shoeing

Moments before he broke his brand new snow Shoe. It was so fun, we went twice!

Face wash!!! Our trip #2 Extreme Snow Shoe team

Close up. Poor Ang! Family pictures were so much better The end of our journey. Cameron Lake

That's the Reader's Digest Version. I can't wait until we do it all again. Hopefully we will have a family picture to post soon. Look out for more pictures when I get really ambitious!!

Booty Pop!

2011-01-09T19:19:00.000-08:00

So being a Fairbanks by birth, I was blessed to inherit several unique qualities; lack of body hair, height, athleticism, and other redeemable qualities(clearish skin if Maddie is contributing). I also was blessed with "back". This does not mean junk-in-the-trunk, but rather extended back. It starts at my neck and ends at my legs. I have had this brougt to my attention for years. People have offered remedies such as in increase in collard green consumption, lunges, or a Christmas diet like my cute brother Sam (how many bum bars was it?) I now live in the south-side of Chicago, where I am reminded daily of this missing feature. There is a lot of what Kevin refers to as BAM. That is, when they turn around, it's like BAM, that's a lot of booty!
So this year at the office, we engaged in a Secret Santa gift exchange. I had the best secret Santa. I received gifts every day and they were wonderful. One of my final gifts, was wrapped sitting on my desk when I came in one Friday morning. A note was attached reading: "for you and your husband". Curious I tore open the gift to find a Booty Pop! See below for the ad.

Kevin had actually come to work with me that day so I decided I would slip it on to see what reaction I would
get. Little did I know, I was creating a monster. He didn't say anything all night. When we got home, I grabbed his hand and had him hit my bottom. He
immediately started laughing. Afterwards, he told me that he thought I gained 10lbs. He then decided it was love. He tried to get me to wear it everywhere!
I, still thinking it was a joke, tried to give it away as a White Elephant gift at our family's New Years Eve party. My brother opened it, and I looked over at Kevin only to see such a deflated look on his face. I was in big trouble. It is a good thing on the next turn, my gift was taken and I could act as the "indian giver" and take backy Booty Pop so Kevin can continue his love affair. I guess it's only as deceiving as a padded bra, but I still think it's strange. I can't complain about the extra comfort I'm sitting, but I doubt you'll see me in one on the street.

Not So Fast My Friend

2010-11-28T15:11:00.000-08:00

So, what could be better than watching college football on a Saturday?.... Watching a college football pre-game show LIVE on a Saturday morning at 5am. Right???
Well, it was worth it. Kevin was happier than a pig in poop. It was so cute that it made it worth it. Wrigley hasn't hosted a football game in a very LONG time, so the College game day boys came to support the Northwestern vs. Illinois game. Wrigleyville changed to purple, and football fans filled the streets.

They even changed the iconic sign to Purple. The field wasn't long enough, so teams could only go one way.

Kevin and Ernie "Mr. Cub." We had to get there early in order to get this beautiful hard hat.

If you watch the video on the link below, you can see Kevin at the 12second mark waving his arms.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jspcontent_id=13025821&topic_id=&c_id=mlb&tcid=tw_video_13025821

It was a day for Chicago celebrities to come out! Ditka was the guest of Honor! He tried to evade all his fans though. He is a sneaky rascal.

We stuck around after so Kevin could get his hard hat signed. Here is Kevy and Kirk

He can officially die happy now. Erin Andrews......sigh.

And of course, Lee Corso.

Even Tom stopped to say hello. Look how happy Kevin is.

I did get a nap later in the day!

Pumpkins!

2010-11-07T16:49:00.000-08:00

Kevin is a master pumpkin designer, and found some clever ideas for pumpkins. I thought they were funny, but they did not win the competition. Maybe they were just too edgy for a church Halloween party.

Pumpkin eating baby.

Executioner pumpkin

Executioner pumpkin at another angle.

Kevin was so convinced he had won, he started walking up to accept his prize before they announced it. I am sure he split his votes by have 2 exceptional pumpkins.

ON TOP OF OL' SMOKY

2010-11-06T18:18:00.000-07:00

So Kevin and I are in the Midwest, we do love it here and we have so much fun, but there is one thing missing.....mountains! So, we decided we needed to get back into some mountains. It is fall, and we love changing leaves, so we determined that now would be the perfect time to see The Great Smoky Mountains! It is the most visited national park in America, and neither of us had been down through Kentucky or Tennessee. So we picked a weekend, and decided we could do it all in a matter of a couple days. Several football/basketball/and other sports venues later, we arrived at our destination.
This is going to be a LONG post with a TON of pics, so here is your chance to turn back.

1st Stop: Louisville

Louisville; Home of the Louisville Slugger and giant bat

This is the museum/factory.

They love their baseball bats

We had to stop by Papa John's Stadium; Home of the Louisville Cardinals.

And right next door was Churchill Downs.

We were too early for the breeder's cup, so we missed the jockey fight, but here it is just in case you missed it as well.

I enjoyed the winner's circle

2nd Stop: Nashville:

All you Percy Jackson fans might recognize the Parthenon.

Kevin was so cute posing for me.

And what do you know... right across the street was Vanderbilt's stadium... We were tailgating with the Game Cocks, I think they liked Kevin because the kept yelling "Go Cocks!" ...he thinks he is pretty funny

Next stop, Country Music Hall of Fame.

I think it looks like a piano?

Then we went across town to the Grand ol' Opry. As mentioned before, Kevin LOVED this. He quickly fell in love with Nashville too. It is a fun, friendly (everyone said hi!), diverse, interesting, warm city, and the new home of my Randall Moss.

As we were heading back to our hotel, we kept seeing signs for "The Hermitage" So Kevin made me look up what this thing could possibly be. When we discovered it was the home of an American president (albeit Kevin's least favorite, cite the trail of tears), it was decided, we had to go. Unfortunately, when we got there, they were not permitting the general public to look around. October was reserved for "The Haunted Hermitage". So we'll have to go back someday.

3rd Stop: Knoxville

After Nashville, it was off to Knoxville.

Knoxville had some charm, but it quickly faded as I walked across Peyton Manning Street. Yick! the hairs on the back of my neck rose and I think I threw up a bit in my mouth.

As we were walking around the stadium, we noticed a door propped open. We unfortunate (due to looking at the wrong dates) missed a big Tennessee Bama game the night before. They were cleaning up, so we went in and looked around. 2nd biggest stadium in America.

4th Stop: Great Smoky Mountains

I am not going to deny that I LOVE southern accents. I called to check a hotel and some girl cursed on the phone in her southern accent...It didn't even sound bad. Kevin and I would just look at each other and start laughing when people would speak to us. They do say some of the greatest things too.

We timed it right, the leaves were changing and it was an AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL day.

We went on a lovely drive through the mountains. It made me miss my Sunday drives through Provo Canyon that I would go on every week in the fall.

Just a few more for your viewing pleasure.

I LOVE fall!

I wish we could have stayed longer. A weekend trip just wasn't long enough.

We were getting a picture with the mountains behind us, and some sweet southern lady was taking the picture. Afterward, she insisted that we cross the street, she stopped traffic (the ranger was first in line), stand under this tree, and take a picture together. She told us, "you should use this on a Christmas Card" so if you get a Christmas card from us, here is the preview. I love southern hospitality.

At the end of our 3 hour loop, there were some old buildings, so we felt obligated to get out and check them out since we drove so far. Here is the old mill. It is actually still functioning.

We also witnessed an old man give a child a good old fashioned spanking while screaming Kevin's new favorite quote "you better mind me boi, or I'm gonna tear your tail off"

we then started back so that we could reach the top of ol' Smoky for the sunset.

the colors were getting better as lighting changed

I think This is my FAVORITE picture. I love the random guy behind Kevin.

We crossed Tennessee and made it into North Carolina.

The mountains were starting to look Smoky

You may ask, why do they look so smoky? This is a valid question. I asked it myself.

Well, the answer is; there is so much foliage, that it traps in so much moisture. As it releases this moisture, it gives the appearance of smoke settling in the valleys.

An amazing, but beautiful phenomenon.

After such a long day, we had us some good southern cookin. We had us some apple fritters, fried chicken, corn bread....all the good comfort foods. Kevin enjoyed his rocking chair out front.

5th Stop: Lexington

We had to make a stop in Lexington Ky and check out Rupp arena

And of course Commonwealth stadium.

6th Stop: Cincinnati

A look across the river into Kentucky

I am not sure what this statue was about, but it was too funny not to take a picture of.

The beautiful Cincinnati skyline.

Oh, we couldn't miss a stadium stop! Go Bearcats!

7th Stop: Indianapolis

Then we hit up Indianapolis Speedway! We were still in white trash mode.

Indianapolis also boasts Hinkle Fieldhouse. This is where Hoosiers was filmed. It is a national historic landmark....so of course, we had to stop.

Except Butler, not Indiana, plays here.

That was our last stop on a fun-filled, action-packed weekend.

Patrioic

2010-11-02T20:06:00.000-07:00

I LOVE this man in spite of his obvious issues. His comments are amazing. "I will not answer any more questions. If there is going o be an interview, I am going to conduct it". He still has love for his Pats and the best coach in the history of football.
My only hope is the Pateiots pick him up. They could have ended up trading Moss for a 3rd round pick and Moss!

Hide yo husbands

2010-11-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

So apparently I forgot to share this gem with Kevin until recently. Robyn brought this entertaining video to my attention while she was out here. I brought it up to Kevin yesterday, and I could not have anticipated then extent of inexplicable pleasure this has brought to his life. In case any of you feel as though you could improve your life with this video, I wanted to make sure I make it available to all of you. So you can run and tell that homeboy!

Country Grammar

2010-11-01T18:59:00.000-07:00

Slowly but surely, Kevin has been coming around. He is realizing that he does have some country roots, and that he has some REALLY hidden love and respect for simple country folk. This may be me reading too far into things, but I think Kevin may really love cowboys and country music. Either that, or he is the best, most supportive husband in the world (which is likely as well), but let me plead my case and I will let you judge;

Exhibit A

Kevin willingly went to a Gretchen Wilson/Clint Black concert.

Albeit it was free, and the crazy eclectic mix of people around us did provide additional entertainment. I had never before heard East Indian, African American, and Asian people sing Redneck Woman and dance like they did. He did seem to be enjoying himself.

Exhibit B

We went on a trip to the Great Smoky Mountains( check back later this week for that post). On our way, we stopped in Nashville. On our visit to the Grand Ol' Opry, Kevin noticed that Trace Atkins was performing, He asked "Doesn't he sing the badonkadonk song". Who knows that, unless you secretly love country music.

Exhibit C

Yee Haw! Enough said.

So what do you think?

A. Supportive Husband

B. Country Fanatic

C. All of the above

D. None of the above

Viva Mexico!

2010-10-20T19:43:00.000-07:00

Since I love deals, I LOVE to travel, and my husband was gone all summer, I was able to convince him that we NEEDED a vacation together. I found us a remarkable deal, too fantastic to turn down and to my delight, we everything fell into place and we were able to go! We checked the forecast religiously each day...Kevin almost cancelled at the last minute. It was hurricane season, and there was a 60% chance of rain every day. Luckily, we didn't cancel, and we got that 40% chance of SUN every day! We had amazing weather, beautiful scenery, and the best company ever!

We got settled in, and went for a walk and enjoyed the sunset from the dock.

Kevin loved the white sand...it doesn't get hot. The water is so clear, and we really enjoyed the surf. I did get rocked by a few waves, and my whole left side was a bloody raspberry and I thought I ruptured my eardrum from getting plowed into the ground body surfing, but it was well worth it.

The scenery was fantastic too. I just love how brave some people are.

Kevin haggled with a Mexican and got himself a conch.

We scheduled a trip to Chichen Itza, and on our way we stopped by a cenote. This is a sink hole that peers down into the cenote.

The entrance to the cenote. Cenotes are caves, like sinkholes, usually filled with fresh water.

Its a bit dark in there, but you can see the stalagmites. We were told we could swim, but I didn't feel like contracting meningitis, so I abstained.

That hole a couple pictures above offers the light spot in this picture.

Kevin below the light beam. He loves the dramatic pics.

There was another cenote at this park but not as impressive as the first.

This cenote's sinkhole, sunk. There is a wide opening here.

Wouldn't we make a darling Mayan couple ;)

We made it!

We finally made it to Chichen Itza, but we were VERY limited on the time we were allotted there, so we ditched the guide and set off on our own tour.

Kevin at the base of the pyramid temple

They loved snakes and jaguars.

This entire segment used to be covered, but there were thousands of pillars. It was pretty impressive

One of the many temples here.

Kevin dominating the pillars.

I felt bad for his irreverence, so I offered myself as a human sacrifice.

I am glad that they determined the Mayans were wrong. I would like to live past 2012.

Can you see me?

Another temple.

Some of the carvings

Jaguars riding snakes...

Temple of the jaguars and the pyramid

This was their field where they played their version of soccer. Up high on the walls are small holes that they had to kick the ball through. Pretty interesting stuff.

They had an observatory... Mayans had astrology too I guess.

Kevin was going to walk over into the building for a photo op here, but as soon as he lifted his foot, a little Mayan worker jumped out from nowhere and started chasing us. I couldn't stop laughing. It was seriously as though he matriculated out of thin air.

A much smaller pyramid.

We love ruins. The next day, we scheduled a trip to Tulum. Chichen Itza is a HUGE set of ruins in the middle of the jungle. Tulum is set right on the beach, it is much smaller, but the backdrop is breath-taking.

see...

This one is for you Jackie.....there are PLENTY more where that came from.

There were iguana's everywhere here. We saw dozens of them.

We went down to the beach and went for a swim...I took my underwater camera, but I still need to develop those pictures.

That water is unworldly

a good shot of the largest ruin.

I could have laid on that beach every day for the rest of my life. Why do vacations never last long enough?

Da Bears

2010-10-20T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hello! I know, it has been a while and you all have missed me...or not, but I thought I would do a quick update with a ton of pictures. Summer is now officially over, and we are having a splendid fall here in the Chi. Kevin is back from Reno, and has endured his fall interviews and call backs. We are pleased to announce that he has decided he will be working with a firm in Palo Alto. Looks like we will be eventually heading back to the Bay!!

Since I last blogged, my darling sister Robyn has come to visit. Here is a quick recap of the festivities:

We explored downtown together and gave her a taste of Chicago

Da Bears had a preseason game while Robyn was here, and I was able to score some cheap tickets so that we could go. Robyn supplied us with the matching tees. (If you didn't know any better, I think we successfully pulled off looking like bears fans....sorry Bill, you know I love my Pats)

Kevin knows Robyn loves SNL, so we took her to Second City Comedy (it is where most SNL cast members start out)

We saw Buckingham fountain

Explored Soldier Field

Modeled our sexy matching tees again

Got fireworks before the game, and after the game...in fact, there were fireworks EVERY night that Robyn came. I know, I am the best hostest ever, so you all better come visit!

The view of the field. Kevy even supported Da Bears with his hat

We went to the beach...

Hogwarts...

ok, it is really just the Uof C, but whatever.

Thanks for coming Robyn!!!!

Hostest With The Mostest

2010-08-11T21:13:00.000-07:00

****** Disclaimer: KEVIN THINKS THIS IS THE MOST OFFENSIVE BLOG POST EVER BECAUSE WE HAVE DONE ALL THESE THINGS EXCEPT FOR BOAT RIDE*****

I do live in Chicago, one of the most beautiful, diverse, fun cities in America, but I am slightly ignorant to all it has to offer. We got here in the Fall last year, and it rained almost every day until winter. Then it was cold, wet, and miserable. Finally warm weather came, it was time to go out and have fun. Unfortunately, at that very instant when warm weather rolled in, my husband left me for the summer :(. I have done minimal in the way of exploring since he left, since I have no friends out here. Fortunately, my mother and a few friends decided to come out and entertain me.

First, My darling Mother come out to see ME this time. In the past, she stopped by to used my bathroom while still drugged up on Ativan on her way to Southbend to see my sister. Well she moved, and my mother was worried for my safety, so I conned her into coming out!!! She was convinced I lived in the roughest, toughest part of the city. She had planned on not leaving my apartment her entire visit. I think by the time she left here, Chicago became her favorite city...almost. She was such a great guest, she went out bike riding, to museums, to the beach, and for walks while I worked, then I came home and we played.

Jackie and I went out and had a night on the town. We walked all over downtown, and I showed her a little of the not-so-scary side of town.

We checked out Navy Pier and its fireworks

We went on Picnics by the lake

Checked out the river.

And of course, we finished each night with a sappy cheesy chick flick! It was so much fun having her come out and spend time with me.

I had a couple days to clean up and regroup, and more fun flew in! After about a half an hour of looking for Bev and Betsy and driving around and around O'hare airport, I found them waiting in the departure section. They must have forgot to follow the signs to arrivals. We then piled in the car and enjoyed a nice LONG drive into the city during rush hour.

By the time we reached Hyde Park, we were in for a special treat. All the roads were blocked off, and the cops were crawling everywhere. My good ol' neighbor decided to come home again and ruin my life again. Luckily it was only a 1-night ordeal and our president was off the next day, but not after our Bev and Betsy got to experience the motor brigade.

We were starving that night, and I introduced the girls to a typical Chicago meal

a little deep dish pizza (yes, that is a small)

We loved Giordano's so much, we came back again a few days later!

After ingesting a 1/2 pound of cheese and bread, we watched the sunset and went home, and fell into a food coma immediately.

The next evening I met the girls in the city and we explored Millennium Park (not Centennial Bev) and listened to a bunch of international Polka while others danced. After I got asked to dance by a 65 year old playa' I figured it was time to go home. Don't forget, I can't even dance Polka. I am that white...clear actually.

Just another of us enjoying the bean...it has a name I just can never remember it.

We went to the beach the next morning while Betsy went and watched a play about Poofs. Not my thing.

Then we got cleaned up and went into the city for a boat tour and some fun!

I learned about buildings, but most importantly I learned that Oprah and I are neighbors.

The view of Navy Pier from the water

When we got done, we walked around and checked out the city.

I was on a roll. I delivered fabulous weather (only a bit muggy), taught them a new language, delivered the President, gave them a pyrotechnical extravaganza, scenic beach time,a beautiful city with a spectacular skyline, breath-taking sunsets, amazing food, even better company, and Shia Labeouf. (see above...filming of Transformers 3). I am probably the hostess with the mostest!

after walking around for 3 days straight and wearing out the soles of my feet, and experiencing public transportation for the 2nd time here, we had stomped out most of the city. I must say, I am starting to learn a thing or 2 about this place. Last stop, Wrigleyville. Cubs lost. They got killed, but we enjoyed ourselves, even Bev, who almost got attacked by a hungry man wanting a little Garrett's Popcorn. You can't blame him, they put crack in it I think.

Now I get to show Kevin all that I learned. He gets back in just a couple days!!!!

A Break in The Monotony.

2010-07-24T13:17:00.000-07:00

So other then my cleaning, reorganizing, and beach days, life here has slowed down a bit. It is raining today, so I can't even do my usual Saturday routine of gym, beach, nap and movie so I will mix it up and blog. It is a good thing I like myself, or I would be going crazy this summer. I think I have exhausted Hulu's reality TV section, I am even caught up on Chad Ocho Cinco's new show 'The Ultimate Catch' and NO, it is NOTHING like the Bachelor. They do have a new show coming out Aug 9th that I am so excited about. The Bachelor Pad with all my old Bachelor/Bachelorette contestants. I know there will be some amazing drama. The Weather man...Craig....Wes. The only way they could have cast it any better would have been if they could have got Bevin and Erika back.
As of today, I have officially reached the half-way point of Kevin's internship, but a break in the monotony is coming! Jackie is coming to visit ME this time! She is here for a week starting tomorrow and then Bev will be here shortly after that. Let the fun begin!
On a different note, back a month or so ago, Kevy and I were FINALLY getting some time together since he was officially on break and we could actually go and do things. We decided to check out a few other things in our city and had lots of fun doing it.

Even before we moved out here people told me I HAD to check out the Taste of Chicago. It is a festival they have every year featuring the different foods the city has to offer with vendors from all over. They have live entertainment and it lasts for 2 weeks. Kevy and I braved the crowds and I took public transportation for the first time in the city and I even lived through it.

We checked out an orchestra who was playing all sorts of American music. (It was the 3rd of July).

And then we went and watched the Steve Miller Band play. I am pretty sure I was high. I haven't seen so much weed at a concert....ever.

The day before, Kevin came up to work with me and we actually had time to go out on a date...We first checked out the Botanical Garden and then yes, dinner and a movie.

Kevykins loved his square trees.

Kevin was our navigator. It was a beautiful place and even had and Alberta Spruce Bonsai tree. So I approved.

I laughed out loud when I looked at this picture. Its so cheesy. I do cheesy really well though

We explored for a couple hours of and I managed to sweat off about 30lbs...I am not a fan of humidity. What was I thinking living out here. I have learned a valuable lesson. I would rather it be 110 F in dry heat, then 85 F with humidity. I get out of the shower and never dry off. I am ALWAYS sticky. I miss summer in the west. Give me dry heat any day.

CLASSY

2010-07-11T21:02:00.000-07:00

So, once upon a time, I asked my mother why I wasn't more well-rounded. Her response, "You play lots of different sports". Needless to say, I am a little backwards, a little small town, and I might not be very cultured. I am now working on this...a little bit. My cute husband has decided to refine me. I am a diamond in the rough, really rough. He is way ahead of me in all these areas he is into classic literature, art, music (not just pop), history, and all things cultured. He is even into pop culture and sports, so I don't have an excuse. He's so perfect it almost makes me look bad.

Anyways, I now have reading assignments (he has not required a book report...yet) these books are ranging from classic literature, strategy, and up next, philosophy. I am so thrilled...or something. He is cute though. We have also had the opportunity to go to a few museums. I think cultured people do that, so I am well on my way. Watch out! I'll be coming to a country club near you some day soon!

Our main purpose of this museum is to see the frozen baby mammoth they found in Russia a little while ago.

This is Sue. She is the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found...or so they claim.

We've been really tapping into Kevin's Native American roots lately

It's a real mammoth tusk

There she is! Lilyuh. She died of inhaling some anthrax derivative. She is a real mini mammoth (not a pygmy mammoth, just a baby)

There was a really impressive Ancient American exhibit there. They had the most amazing masks, headdresses, totem poles, and all sorts of native artifacts

I liked this creepy totem pole thing

So the next day, was a free day at the aquarium. Not quite as cultured, but I am fascinated by oceanic animals. Cute Kevy with the Jelly's

When we had a TV, Kevin's favorite show was river monsters. He wants to catch one of these things. I think they are creepy.

It was a gorgeous, sunny day. Quite an anomaly for Chicago. So we went for a walk.

Kevin in front of the Field Museum

The museum campus has some of the best views of the Chicago skyline!

People just put bizarre "art" all over the parks here. Can you find Kevin's legs?

A shout-out to the Hawks!! How cool that I live in the city of a team that won a title! That has never happened before. The closest would have been the Sharks last year, but they know how to choke! Chicago was so proud of them that they dress all sorts of things up in hawks gear. Here a just a few things we saw on our museum day. Unfortunately, we never made it up to the United Center to see Jordan in full uniform, including skates.

Look closely. The baby has a jersey on!

Go Hawks!

Even the lions at the art museum celebrate!

Canada Eh?

2010-07-04T18:05:00.000-07:00

So, I am not quite sure how it happened, but I was able to convince Kevin into crossing the border into my home and native land. Oh yeah, now I remember. As long as he could still see America, he was fine. None the less, I was able to venture into Canada. Not Raymond, unfortunately, and not for Canada Day, which would have been amazing, but beggars can't be choosers.
We were off to embark on another fun road trip! Niagara Falls!!! We stopped by South Bend to wish the Kelly and her family goodbye. Those lucky rascals got to move to home. I am not gonna lie, I'm jealous. Very early the next morning we woke up, said goodbye, and we were off. First stop; Ann Arbor, home of the 'Big House'

I am only slightly in trouble for getting this picture with his eyes closed. It was a dream to visit the home of the Wolverines, and I ruined it.No pressure eh?

So after a brief stop for a picture, gas, and an opportunity to empty my bladder, we were off again. We next went through Detroit. Not much to see there. We thought about stopping by the 8 mile, but I already live in the ghetto adn I think they must all be the same? They did have a nifty tunnel though. We drove through the magical tunnel and just like abracadabra, we popped out at the border. What a heavenly sight! It was as though angels were descending in song and everything was glowing. I was so excited, I took a picture

What a beautiful sight. I love the maple leaf. I think Kevin started worrying about this point and second guessing himself for bringing me back home. Tee Hee.

After getting lost only once ( I had to turn my phone off for fear of 'substantial charges', I couldn't have access to live google maps). We finally got back on track and started making our way across Ontario. We drove through Hamilton and my old home, Stony Creek, and then headed down to the Falls.

We checked into our seedy hotel (I am on a budget!) and were pleasantly surprised with how close we were to the Falls. We were only about a block and a half away. The reviews didn't lie, and we decided after a half a bottle of Fabreeze and some airconditioning that if we didn't walk in bare feet or sit on anything, it wasn't so bad. Kevin was not impressed with TSN and the Hockey draft instead of the USA world Cup game. Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures of the place, and the one from priceline website with the little Indian kids in the hot tub is gone :(

We headed down towards the falls, and just as Kevin was mentioning an urge for soup and doughnuts, we saw Tim Horton's. OK, he was kidding and he thinks that is the weirdest, maybe even grossest thing in the world. Then, we saw the mist rising in the air, and the falls were visible.

The view from the Canadian Side is AMAZING! This is Horseshoe Falls

Then, we had to check out the Maid of the Mist. We are almost as romantic as Jim and Pam, so we, after a bunch of pictures, headed down to board the boat.

Apparently these sexy blue poncho's are all the rage in Raymond. The Mountain Mamma's requested we go dumpster diving for enough to outfit their entire possy. Well, that was a little below me, but I did keep mine and Kevin's. Now, Jackie can pick her favorite friend to share with.

It was a very fun boat ride. Much cooler, wetter, and even more scenic than the riverboat cruise from St. Louis. Who knew. We parked in the middle of the falls for quite a while and got blasted by water, but it was a hot day, and it was so pretty, that we didn't mind. The blue poncho's worked well.

After the Maid of the Mist (you can see a boat right by Kevy's neck) It was time for some more pictures. We were challenged to beat Jenny's 1400 from her Canada trip, but we came up short. We only got about 350. Not even close. I can't believe Kevin let that happen.

I think about half of them are of this Rainbow in the falls. It was pretty cool.

At some points, you could even see 2 rainbows going into the falls

Later that evening, we heard that they were going to do fireworks!!! I love fireworks. We went back to the inn and slipped on some flip flops, showered, and headed off in search of food. After opting against soup and doughnuts again, we finally found something, and then set off to explore Niagara. After a beautiful scenic walk, we figured it was time to locate a spot to get the best view of the show. We parked at the top of a hill by the falls. We waited for a while, the crowds gathered and sky grew dark. Then, after we were entertained by a fabulous pyrotechnical display over the falls. It echoed so loud, we kept looking for them on the American side.

They also light up the falls every night and do a light show.

Which of course we enjoyed.

And took lots and lots of pictures.

They had a whole circle of lights that shone on both the American and Horseshoe Falls and would change and bedazzle all the watchers.

I was freaking tired at this point, and my head felt like I had midgets inside of it slamming sledge hammers on my temples. I was tired enough, that I was going to get a good night's sleep. Even in the Knight's Inn. Kevin settled in and found his new favorite show, R.J. Burger, or something. Much Music totally redeemed Canadian TV...who would've guessed. It was a LONG day. I was exhausted.

The next morning we woke up still unsure what we were going to do. We knew it was supposed to rain, and we hadn't really decided what our plan of action was going to be. We thought we might go check out Toronto. The CN Tower is taller than the Willis Tower (Sears Tower), but the G20 was going on and half the city was shut down.. After we turned on the News and got word of all the riots, we decided heading to Palmyra New York might be fun. We also still needed to check out the American side of the falls.

Reluctantly, we crossed the bridge, and headed back into the USA. Kevin's first time to the Empire State. It is now documented. He was there!

After mentioning on our drive to Niagara that the wild rose is Alberta's flower, we stumbled on one.

We walked around. Took some more pictures.

American Falls, From America.

After completing our Niagara visit, we were off to visit Palmyra

Unfortunately, my phone died, but we made it, without getting lost! Here is Kevin at the top of the Hill Camorah. We were 2 weeks early for the pageant, but we did see them setting up the stage. It is the larges outdoor theater event in America.

He might be slightly inappropriate, but really funny. He's looking for gold!

We followed the maps that the sisters at the Visitor's Center gave us. We stopped to check out the temple.

Kevin must have been summoning his native American ancestors again, because the rain kept letting up when we would stop to look at these sights. It was a drizzly/raining miserable day, but we are troopers and had a wonderful time in spite of it.

We continued on our tour of Palmyra. We stopped at Joseph Smith's home and the Sacred Grove

It was a very large area, and we did get pretty lost. after a good 30minutes, Kevin's Eagle Scout kicked in, and he found our way out.

We didn't know that they offered tours, and so as we were giving ourselves a self guided one, a sister missionary had just finished another with a big group, and gave Kevin and me our very own private tour.

80% of the house is original, including the hearth. This is the original brick that Joseph hid the plates under.

We even got to go upstairs.

Us in the dining area.

We figured our stop would take maybe an hour or so, after being in Palmyra for a little over 2 hours already, we thought we would make 1 more stop, take a few pictures, and then be on our merry way. Little did we know....

We made a stop at the BOM publication site. We were in a slight hurry, but thought we could make it through the tour quickly. I am all for history and spirit, but we had a first day missionary that took EVERY opportunity to bear her testimony and she forgot her lines to most of the stuff on the tour, bless her heart. (Angie says that you can say that after or before you say anything mean about someone and it makes it so it wasn't mean. I did not intend to be mean, only to mention that we were in a hurry) 2 hours later, Kevin and I split early and got back on the road.

We passed through Pennsylvania (check that off his list) and found ourselves in Ohio, (check both of ours). Well, since we had already had some church history, it didn't seem right to pass through Kirkland without stopping. So we did.

And we would NEVER miss an opportunity to take a picture of a National Historic Landmark.

Unfortunately, it was late and so we were not able to go inside. Although, we would have liked to. We were there for about 10 minutes and on to our last stop.

Now I am unsure how this happened, and I am not sure when in my family this became a tradition, but I only became aware of A Christmas Story about 3 years ago. This shocked not only my Kevin, but my family as well. I am not sure why they were excluding me from their family traditions, but apparently was was not invited to join in these family Christmas bonding sessions. But, since I am now familiar with this bit of history, and since Kevin is a big fan, how could we pass through Cleveland without stopping at A Christmas Story House and Museum.

We could not. We had to stop. I am not sure why they put the house in the Cleveland ghetto, but I am convinced I heard gunshots while we were down there. We posed and took a few pictures for posterity, but our light was fading quickly and it was time to get out!

It was late, and we were not about to stay in Cleveland any longer than we had to. We did not get to go inside and see the snowsuit and other things, but we did get a picture of the coveted leg lamp...

In ALL her glory!!

It is a good thing we got a good night's sleep at the Knight's Inn, because Kevin decided it would be a good idea to drive all the way home that night. So we did. We got out paying for another hotel. Love my accountant.

Day Trippers

2010-06-13T14:51:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!!!! After 9 very long months, Kevin has officially finished his first year of Law School!!! Except for a paper he is writing to try to get onto law review. I am so proud of him, and FINALLY, we get to spend some FUN time together. Not that watching him study isn't thrilling, but most people who know me, know I LIVE for good road trips.
Kevin and I are planning a trip to Niagra in 2 weeks, but last week he suggested a spontaneous trip to St. Louis. How could I say no. I looked at the forecast, and it was supposed to storm most of the weekend, but most thunderstorms occur in the afternoon, so we decided to get up early yesterday and spend the weekend down there. Here is a TON of pictures of our fun road trip.
***Warning: Long Post***

At the base of the "Gateway to the West"

Another must do/see would be a riverboat cruise along the muddy Mississippi, so of course how could we pass that up? We didn't

Mark Twain would've been so proud, we boarded our Riverboat 'Tom Sawyer' and took off to see the sights of St. Louis, on the muggiest day ever!

Side view of the riverboat

The scenery from our boat...the only scenic part. This as a deceptive cruise. St. Louis has a nice downtown...everything else along the water scared the snot out of me. Itl looks like there could be all sorts of shady activities going on.

This is a picture of what our Riverboat looks like from the back. We had Jazz music blasting, and I felt like I was in the 'Dirty South'

Look at all that muddy water.

It was then time to go up the arch. We didn't know what to expect or how we would get up there, but we were assigned a boarding pass, and waited to see what was behind door #8.

Then, like magic, a little capsule popped open in front of us. The doors were 4 feet high, and there was seats for mini butts, mine barely fit in there, so I am not sure if any of those 'southern'girls could squeeze their bam into it. It was a tight fit, and luckily one of the other guys who was assigned our little capsule with us, chickened out. We would not have fit in there with him.

The view of St. Louis from the top.

Kevy peering through one of the mini windows in a clausterphobics nightmare. While we were up there, a fire alarm went off...can you imagine being trapped 630 feet above the ground in this tiny little arch and it were to burn down. We were soon reassured that it was someone opening the door to the stairs.

Looking straight down you can see the base on bith sides.

The Arch is 630 feet tall and 630 feet wide

Both of us at the top

A better picture of the capsule

Kevin was summoning the spirits of his ancestors. Its a good thing, we needed them later. He is something like a 62nd seminole.

If you look really close, you can see the itty bitty windows.

Kevin thought he was Atlas. It took something like 30 tries to get this right.

We then checked out downtown, and found that the best thing to do as a local is go swimming in the many fountains along these parks, this one had the fewest.

We checked out some of the local art

Kevin was a little disturbed by this one, for good reason.

The view of the arch from an alley.

It was still early when we finished downtown and figured we could see everything we wanted to in 1 day. After the skies opened, and we were victims of a downpoor that got me wetter than a shower, we decided to continue on our trip. We were off to see some mounds. As we exited of the road onto the next leg of our trip, we ran across a cute little turtle in the middle of the road. Kevin stopped and I ran out and rescued our little friend. We then, put him back in the brush. Poor little Speedy.

When we pulled up, you can see, it was still raining, but just this week, Yahoo! had mentioned that it was a place you should take your children before they grow up. It is the largest archeological site in America, and it is remnants of religious grounds and a civilization from back in the days of earlier native Americans. So, we had to see them rain or shine.

Kevin, earlier in the wig-wam, did a rain dance and summoned the Native spirits of his ancestors. They listened and the skies parted, and the rain stopped for a few moments. Long enough for us to climb to the top of 'Monk's Mound' and check out the rest of these piles of dirt (did I just stay that?).

From the top of Monk's mound, we could see a few more mounds, but we also got a great view of a very cloudy, rainy, downtown St. Louis.

Yes, you are reading correctly, these natives had their own Woodhenge. Maybe not quite as impressive as Stonehenge, but these wooden poles had the same idea

I am trying to see what astrological info I can find in the middle of Woodhenge.

We then had to stop in Springfield. Home of our State Capitiol, and Abraham Lincoln. We rushed there and got in while there was still a few moments of light.

They restored the entire block where Lincoln had lived, and all the houses are museums that you can tour. We got there a little late, but we still got to see where his home was.

There is Kevin, Resting on the stoop of Abe's home.

We then, checked out the Presidential Library and Museum, but only from the outside.

Outside the Library. We may have to go back so Kevin can go in. He LOVES presidential libraries.

Outside the old Capitol Building. They were even doing a reinactment of civil war camps on the grounds.

Inside the old capitol building, we got there JUST as they were closing. We got our own private tour.

We even got to go into the Supreme Court room.

And a look at the new capitol building.

It was a busy day. It started at 6am, but we made it home by midnight. Our weekend outting, turned into a day trip. Why not.

Reality Rocks!

2010-05-17T18:54:00.000-07:00

I love trashy reality TV. For some reason I cannot get enough of the drama... and I do like to believe its ALL REAL. Why else would it be reality TV. My guiltiest pleasure happens to be starting back up again in 6 days... THE BACHELORETTE
I have been a huge Bachelor/Bachelorette fan for years. I have even tried out to be a contestant. Kevin supports my love for this(he is even a closet fan). He used to send me links to a sports-writers Bachelor blog during Andy's season, He even drove me to my audition for Brad. He enjoys the drama, the more the better, and really loooooves when the men bring on the drama in Bachelorette seasons.
I have been slightly dissappointed in the most recent seasons, I just have not been falling in love with the Bachelors or Bachelorettes except for Jillian...(Canadian Shout-Out), Kevin, however, thought she looked like the girl from the Family Guy. I am not a huge Aly fan, but of course, I will watch and I will enjoy it, even without a TV. Thank goodness for HULU.

Fancy

2010-05-04T10:03:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I both enjoy the Shrek movies, so we were watching the new Shrek 4 trailer, it is very funny (see below). We laughed about it and thought it was great... Until recently, when I became the butt of that humor.

So, in the clip, Puss packed on a few pounds. Shrek, astonished by what he sees, tells puss that he looks "fa fa fa fancy".

I had been working, and running around all day in my heels and dress pants, luckily I was wearing a long lab coat that day because it was a bit chilly. I was organizing the lab area at work and bent over to pick up some lost supplies. As I was squatting down I heard a loud RRRRIP. Eek, Immediately I flipped my head around to see if anyone had heard or seen what had happened. I was safe for now, no one was in earshot, or close enough to notice the brilliant shade of red that my face had become. My pants had ripped, and I was just starting my day. Luckily, I was able to wear my lab coat for the rest of the day and kept my secret to myself.

After a long day of positioning myself just so, and not bending any more for fear the rip would continue to spread, It was finally time to go home and rescue myself from this embarrassment. I walked in, exhausted and still licking my wounds, and proceeded to tell Kevin, my ultra compassionate husband, what had happened. He glanced up over his law book and with a look of pure disgust, told me I was fa fa fa fancy. That was not the response I was looking for.
He has been trying to get me to work out with him for a while. I guess I caught the hint. I am dertermined to become un-fancy. Whatever it takes.

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME

2010-04-22T20:26:00.000-07:00

Kevin enjoys a little spousal rivalry, but sometimes he takes it a bit overboard. One of Kevin's favorite pastimes is to create rivalries for us. He enjoys setting up fantasy leagues, college bowl pick 'ems, tourney pick 'ems, and sometimes, he even goes so far as to actually make up rivalries and/or facts.

Since we live in Chicago, there are 2 baseball teams. The traditional and fan favorites; the Cubs, a cute cuddly little bear or, the Sox, a smelly piece of gym wear. The Cubs are synonymous with the the strong sports history of Chicago, they are seen as Chicago's team. The Sox are the 'South Side' team, that would make it synonymous with crime and Obama. (I will leave interpretation for that up to you).

So, Kevin has decided, since I had been to a Sox game, that I was a fan, and he would be a fan of the Cubs. Well, you have to understand, before January 7th 2010,the days when we still had a TV, (yes, I am still suffering without one. and you wondered why I blog so much these days) I was once, and would still be, a Fox News watcher. Seething hatred for Obama, who does he think he is? Robin Hood? Its bad enough that we live a block and a half from his home, but there is NO WAY we could share a love for the same baseball team. Although, Kevin may have be coming around to the Sox. We did enjoy a lovely day at US Cellular field.

Here is my case for Kevin becoming a Sox fan. You get to be the Judge. Get out your gavel.

Exhibit A: Kevin looks good, and HAPPY in black and white

Exhibit B: 'The Chicago Dog' Kevin's new favorite way to eat a hot dog. His first experience with one, was during the Sox game. Good memories for him. I personally think there is WAY too much going on, and the relish has a very radioactive green to it. SCARY! This may go against everything Chicago (but I never claimed to try to fit in), I like ketchup, and ketchup only on my Dogs!

Exhibit C: He got to spend the game with his favorite person...ME!

Final Ruling: Kevin is the Sox fan of the house (or apartment).

1 YEAR!!!

2010-04-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy year, moving, starting a new school, a new job, a new state, a new roomate (sorry, to all my previous ones, but so far, he's the best). Best of all, We are still happy!!!

Love and Basketball

2010-03-31T19:34:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had the opportunity to go to a few basketball games (as if we haven't had enough with the tournament going on). By the way, what happened this year? My good friend Yakhouba, who plays for the Miami Heat, was in town. D Wade is from Chicago, so they got to spend some extra days here, so we were able to benefit. We got to see Kub a couple times, and he was kind enough to get us tickets to his games. We got the chance to watch them play the Bulls here in Chicago, then on Friday we took a roadtrip up to Milwaukee to watch him play the Bucks. Great seats both times, and you can't beat free. Thank you again Kub!

We had to walk all over the place just to find this statue and get this "shot" magnificent isn't it. Did I mention the wind chill was like -50 F eek.

Kevy and MJ

Benny the bull

Thanks for the tickets Kub. We had a great weekend

We're still working on him, He will be a hockey fan someday.

Before we went to the game in Milwaukee we tried to go to a secret restaurant, you had to know the secret password to get passed the secret door. Well... I don't think the place is very secret, if you have to wait 2 hours to get a meal. If I go to Milwaukee again for some reason, I guess I'll make reservations.

At the Bucks game. This is the quietest stadium I have ever been to, except for Bogut's cheering section. I would enjoy going to watch try-outs for that. I can't believe he has to pay for their seats all year, just so SOMEONE will cheer during their games.

Going Green

2010-03-31T19:07:00.000-07:00

No, I am not an environmentalist, it was St. Paddy's day! Since we are in Chicago, kev bot and I had to see the famous dying of the river. For all you environmentalists, it is entirely safe and environmentally friendly.

Birth Control

2010-03-16T18:06:00.001-07:00

We are big fans of The Office. Last week was the baby episode...it ranks up there with some of my favorites. I was enjoying it so much, Kevin had the crazy notion that I had 'baby fever'. I assured him I did not, but he didn't seem so convinced.
Beginning the very next day, I was blessed with the opportunity of babysitting my darling nieces and nephews. I do enjoy them and was looking forward to spending some time with them. After cleaning up a ripe and messy blow-out, getting disowned as an aunt, and losing my nephew at the zoo, I think I recieved a strong dose of birth control. I can hold off on procreation for a little longer.
Unfortunately, or fortunately (I'm not sure)I do believe that the fever must have been contagious. By the time I had exhausted my welcome with these darling munchkins, they were so excited to see Kevin. You see, they are 'in luff wif him'. He is fun and, even bearded, all children seem to love him.
He didn't dissapoint. They got to be human bowling balls, cuddle with him, and get thrown around. He was definitely popular, and really cute. (especially with no facial hair). We love family and are sad that Kelly and Mike sold their house so quickly and are moving. :(

Oh Happy Day!!

2010-03-08T17:40:00.000-08:00

Yay! The day finally came. I heard the buzzing of a razor, but I was not going to be tricked again. I was fooled once, but then, he came around the corner. The side burns were gone! the beginning of my clean shaven husband once again.
Since we had the hair, why not play with it.

Here is fun with shaving.

2010-02-27T11:03:00.001-08:00

Catch Up

2010-02-21T20:32:00.001-08:00

Keving was looking through all of our pictures the other night and noted that I had not put ANY of them on my blog. So here is a sample. I gave up halfway through and there is a slide show post after.
Most of these are from the Fall (you will notice Kevin is clean shaven).

Wild ,Untamed, and Uncut

2010-02-20T15:04:00.000-08:00

You may see the unibomber, his mother calls him the prophet, and some just think he's homeless. He is my husband.

This is the "dapper" slicked back look.

In this photo, I can't decide which I would like to get rid of more. The excess hair on my husband, or his silly poster that hangs in our bedroom. I just love going to sleep and waking up to the byu football team staring at me. But, in order to rid myself of the poster, I must win in Ping-Pong. I guess that i better get used to the poster.

I awoke the other morning to buzzing... could this be, could Kevin have finally come to his senses?

Alas, It was a tease.It was the sound of a razor, but he was just "trimming up". Kevin is still sporting his 'man' beard. I am not really sure what spurred this idea. I used to tell him that I enjoyed a little scruff. You know, the rugged look. mmmm. Ever since thanksgiving, Kevin has refused to shave or cut his hair. So what happened? Look for yourself.

He loves his "flowing" hair

and his "that's what she said"
t-shirt. I want to burn it.

No, He has not had anything to drink, and he

does still have all of his teeth. Pretty funny picture though.

See, the rugged look is Hot.

I guess he keeps trying to convince all his law school buddies that they should grow a "playoff beard" for their intramural championships. It seems they all care to much what their wives would think. You can't count the number of times people have asked me "do you actually like it?". I just hope they win their championship soon!

Weapons

2010-01-17T19:13:00.000-08:00

So, since out little "incident" a week or so ago, I have been thinking to myself. "that could have been a worse situation. What if I had been there?" This type of thinking got me a bit concerned. I always thought men were like cougars, they went for the smallest victims, and this does not include me at 6'0". What if it was not an intentional, I'm going after you, but instead, I stumble upon something and thus become a victim. What would I do. I have nothing to intimidate them besides my size. So, I have been looking at all sorts of personal weapons. a)Mace, but that won't do anything to an intoxicated, or high individual. b)Pepper spray, but then I actually have to hit them in the eyes. c) a gun...lets not even go into the trouble that could cause me. d) a crow bar, am I really going to haul that around? I have the perfect solution. I have a friend at work, who specializes in all sorts of martial arts. He and Kevin think I would make a fantastic MMA fighter. What better weapon, then my sick fighting skills. I think I will start training this week.

Happy Birthday!

2010-01-08T16:29:00.000-08:00

Check out my birthday surprise. I guess these guys don't have a conscience. Don't they know it was BCS national championshio day?
If you see a 52" LCD Samsung on Craigslist in Chicago. Let us know.

With the fingerprinting dust and all

Chicago Lessons

2009-11-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

Here are some Pics. This is only a small sample. Stay tuned for more in the near future. For some silly reason, my computer will not let me edit. So read on if you want to read the post.

Wrigley Field

Go cubs yes, it is SUNday

Kevin and his new bff (anyone would be if you shared 20oz of coke with them right?). They are outside the College football hall of fame in South Bend before it moves. More free, Thanks Kelly. Notice, it is NOT SUNday.

kevy by the famous Chicago theatre.

awww.

Kevy by the Chicago river. I can't believe they can dye the entire thing green for St Patty's Day

The famous bean. I believe I have about 40 pics of this landmark. My cute husband and his picture happy ways.

Fun but strange architechture in Millenium Park

Buckingham fountain

Me and Kevy on a SUNday walk along lake shore drive (less than 5 min from our apt)

SUNday

I think the best and most obvious lesson learned I have learned since moving to Chicago is about Sunday. Now I have finally learned how it gots its name. Yes, we have learned that it is a day of rest, but the history around its name must have originated in Chicago. Since Kevin and I have lived in this city, the only day we seem to be able to observe the Sun is on Sunday, hence where Sunday gets its name. The other days of the week do not include sun in their names, thus it must be a day for rain and gloom. Not that we don't like Chicago. We have had so much fun exploring and learning about our new home, but it makes it a bit challenging when the only day we have for these explorations is this single day of the week.

Distance and Time

Now I am from Raymond (population: roughly 2500) to me, 60 miles should take 40-60min, that would only make sense right? Well, forget everything you have learned. Forget that I lived in the bay area and thought I had seen traffic, and assumed I knew what it was all about. I have relearned everything I once knew. 10 miles, can mean an hour, depending on when you want to go, in what direction you want to go, and what road you are taking. Who knew that it could be so complicated.

Hair and Humidity

I hate the humidity, I also hate doing my hair. Now this lesson is coming from a girl who managed to make it her entire senior year of highschool with a wet messy bun or ponytail to school. I would not mind doing this, but I do have a husband, and I feel like I should get all razzle dazzle once in a while, but read the 1st lesson once again, If I did do my hair, the humidity and rain make it look like I had a battle with a penny and an electrical outlet, what a mess. Poor Kevin.

Toques and Polar bears

One, who will remain nameless, since it is so "embarrassing", was tossing her darling toque in the air, when a gust of wind came along (hello, it is the windy city and there are plenty of gusts of wind) and picked up the hat and threw it over the 10ft glass wall into the polar bear's pool. (this polar bear was much prettier than the green one at the San Francisco Zoo). It sure got her attention (I am sure it was a girl), she almost dove in. I guess, they have good taste in fashionable hats. I think she just wanted to try it on.

Chicago Dogs

They aren't as good as I thought they would be. I will break every Chicago rule, and stick to JUST ketchup on my Dogs from now on.

Sox vs Cubs.

We live on the south-side, in fact, we live on the same street as Obama (I know, we almost moved when we figured this out), He pitched the opening pitch at a game this year for the Sox. For this reason, and this reason only, I am a Cubs fan. We even went to Wrigley field. Lots of fun.

Free Days.

I married an accountant. He watches his money (we are not allowed to say cheap), but in this city, there are so many fun things to do that ARE Free. They have a free zoo (where I learned about polar bears and fashion), free museums, and free fireworks. Since being here, I have been to 3 free museums (one of them twice), the free zoo, and we are planning on several more. We love free.

Countdown 9 days...

2009-09-09T22:08:00.001-07:00

My favorite place, Monterey. We got to go last weekend with kevy's family

Just a few short days left here in sunny California. We have loved living here and we will miss it, but we are looking forward to our big adventure up ahead. I thought I would post some pictures from some of our more recent adventures and favorite places.

Me and my BFF and "drinking buddy" at Half Moon Bay. Our husbands were supposed to take us to the Ritz (as seen in the background), but must have spent too much on lobster for breakfast.

Kevy showing off his amazing form. He is a fantastic boogey boarder and body surfer

Kevy, our nephew Kaden and his sister Lianna down in Carmel. too bad it was a chilly summer day, but still so pretty.

Kevy and me at Point Lobos in Carmel

This hike was done on the hottest day of the year, I am sure, and nearly cost me my husband. I almost had to carry him down the mountain as since he ran out of water halfway up the hike. oops. We did live though. Yay.

Our hike at the Pinnacles continued. We did see a California Condor.

Kevy and I hiked Half Dome, this was on the way down. We ran out of water at the top of that hike as well. I need to become a better trip planner.

The hike was just over 20 miles. (I am sure most of it was straight up) as you can see behind me in this picture, the final ascent is up chains that go at about an 85 degree angle up. People are going up and down that same set of chains. That line took me 3 hours to get through, but the view from the top is spectacular. Its a good thing I have kevy and he takes lots of pictures to remember it, because I will never hike it again.

We are on the Diving board at the very top of Half Dome.

At the beginning of our hike (you can see the part jutting out, it is the diving board we are standing on in the picture above)

Kevy thought he was commanding the elements.

The day before, we explored the valley and Yosemite Falls.

Kevy's family came into town for Labor day weekend. We had lots of fun with them. This is us at the beach in Monterey

Back from retirement

2009-08-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

ADDENDUM: Reader Beware The following post has been falsified, embellished and contains down right lies. But to appease my darling husband, I will allow the post to stand.

By: Kevy Wevy AKA Kevykins

I'm coming out of retirement for one post only due to recent developments at home. These recent developments involve absurdly placed cups, bowls, plates, and cans that contain potential spillable disasters. The obvious culprit is seemingly unaware of these recent developments, and thus the need for the blog.

As you will notice from the picture, there is a table with an interestingly placed bowl partially filled with milk. As you will also notice, the bowl filled with milk is not just interestingly placed on the table, but it is placed at the most extreme edge of the table. As of now you are probably asking yourself the same question that has puzzled me for months. Why? Why is the bowl there? Why is the bowl placed on the corner of the table when there is plenty of room to accomadate it elsewhere? There is in fact, plenty of room to put the bowl in the middle of the table as to avoid cleaning up a mess in case of a spill. Well, after months of cleaning up diet coke, orange juice, and milk, I have determined that there is no answer to this question. It's like the chicken and the egg. In fact, I don't even think the culprit knows the answer.

Home Sweet Home

2009-08-23T15:24:00.001-07:00

So this past weekend, I got to go get a taste of my future life. A glimpse into the inner workings of Chicago. The city has a bid in for the 2016 Olympics. It is filled with fabulous architechture, great views, diverse culture. and fantastic sports teams. Yup Sounds pretty spectacular right? Tons of Glitz and glam. Thats us.
Well, I have been doing some research. Kevin and I live in "America's safest big city" currently. Chicago has murder and crime rates 2.5X the national average. Kevin will be attending the University of chicago. It is a fabulous and presigious school. Good ol' Barack taught there at the Law school, Yup we will live just a few blocks from Obama himself. Every time I think about moving there, a song pops into my head (I was rasied on oldies) Jim Croce was right on When he wrote his song....

Well the south side of chicago
Is the baddest part of town
And if you go down there
You better just beware

That does it there. Sums it up. I got to take my sister and her little baby boy house hunting. We saw some impressive things, in some equally impressive neighborhoods. I just have to share my favorite picture of the day.

Yes, that is mold on the wall, and have you ever seen a fan do that? I hadn't. The houses all had some type of similar charm to that. I guess that is why they were so cheap. I think my other favorite thing, was when I was with my real estate agent later. We went to go look at another property, and pulled up in front of the place. She didnt get out of her car, so I waited, unsure if this was the place or if she was lost.... (I'm going to give you a little back-ground, of the area, the population is 99.7% black. I am not, as kevin LOVES to point out) I noticed throughout the day, that these people don't work, they are just out running amuck all day long, doing, who knows what. I bet it isn't good though. Kelly had been sufficiently nervous all day, but these are my future neighbors, I have to be nice and embrace them. Back to the story, So I look out my window and there are probably 15-20 big black guys, in their mid to late 20s. just hanging outside. My real estate agent then calls me and said "don't get out of your car" I am a pretty tough girl and as my little sister once said, "Nobody wants to rape a tall girl", so I wasn't that nervous. She went on to say "if you get out of your car now, within 5 seconds you will be surrounded" That sounded intimidating. I then reflected on the Chicago crime reports I had been reading. Car Hijacking, assult with a firearm, 1st degree murder, Theft of $300 or more. None of those things sounded very good, So I decided, if I couldn't even look at a place because of rif-raf, I probably shouldn't live there.

Cute Colton helping us house hunt

The best part of the visit, was that I got to see my cute sister and her family. I got into Chicago, and drove down to Southbend that evening. Kelly didn't tell them I was coming, and they were very suprised and excited to see me. We got to go to Mike's softball game ( we got there for the last out) but I am sure mike was amazing. We played at the park, found "treasures", went out for a "special" dessert because Aunt Cathy was in town, and watched some amazing bike riding skills. It will be so fun to be so close to them for a while.

Halle was going up and down driveways. Very impressive.

Mads, showing off her modelling, watch out new Jacob!!

Summer Fun.

2009-07-17T15:41:00.000-07:00

Kevy and I have been busy going all over the place having fun this summer. We have had the opportunity to spend time with my parents and Kevin's family. We've been down to Carmel, Up to Tahoe, Spent time in San Francisco, Went to Wicked, to a Giants game. We're cramming in all the fun we can before we have to go. Here is some picture overload.

on the 4th, Kevin Lianna and I went rafting on the Truckee. We weren't the only one's with that idea. There was so many rafters there, you could barely move down the water.

Kevy and I went to Sand Harbor in Lake Tahoe to play on the beach and Jump off the rocks.

After we went rafting, we went to South Lake Tahoe to watch the fireworks.

We are so lucky to have Ken and Tina here, since Todd and Jenny ditched us. Kevy loves playing with his little nephew. They are so funny together.

Kaden was unsure about sand at first, but ended up LOVING it after kevy and Lianna burried him in it. (only to his waist though)

Kevy and his BFF (they have Halo play dates frequently) down at Point Lobos, just south of carmel. They later went body surfing in like 15 foot waves in like 50 degree water. those 2 are crazy

At Crissy Field. Spending the day at the beach while Jenny packed. Sorry Jenny.

Supposedly, this is where Robert Louis Stevenson was inspired to write Treasure Island.

This might be my favorite. He-Man is chasing the Evil Beast Man. You should have seen "Beast-Man" jumping into the bushes the day before. It was awfully impressive.

Aren't they darling.

There is a slide in the coke bottle, but it was really scary, so we didn't go. Now that he is 3, I bet it would no longer be scary.

PUNK"D

2009-07-12T15:20:00.000-07:00

It all started 2 weeks ago. Kevin came home from church and told me that the 2nd counselor had come up to him and asked if we would speak in church in a couple weeks. So of course, he said that we would love to, without consulting me. I would have concocted a marvelous scheme so that I could avoid any such situation. If you know me, the only thing worse than stranger danger, is having to get up and speak in front of all those strangers.
So for 2 weeks I was stewing, still trying to come up with any excuse to avoid speaking. I even considered eating a raw chicken breast, hoping to get salmonella poisoning. I finally conceded, and after stalling most of Saturday afternoon, I got down to business at about 8pm. So I was doing some research, found some good quotes, structured my talk and got down to writing. It was about 10:30pm and I had about 2 pages done and Kevin asked me to email him a copy, claiming that he didn't want us to "use the same material". So I relented. I told him it was sent and he looked up at me with the most pathetic eyes and said, " promise you won't hate me?". I don't like that line, I don't like what it implies, I don't like being in the unknown like that. I start to worry. What on earth could he have done? Is he stealing my talk for his own? Is he planning on embarrassing me in front of the congregation (which he DID do). No, none of this could have prepared me for what was next. He said, " remember when I told you that brother baker asked us to speak?" yes, of course I remembered, I had been haunted by that for 2 weeks. "well, he really only asked ME to speak". WHAT? yes, Kevin had played me like a fiddle. I had sweat, toiled, stewed, griped, murmured and whined for all that time and I did not have to give a talk. Well, I should have been furious, I should have beat his lips off. But, as previously stated, my single worst fear in life is speaking in front of a large group of strangers. Instead of being angry, I was simply relieved. I didn't have to speak. Instead of tearing off each of his toenails, one at a time, I prepared his lesson for Sunday school and baked him homemade oreos at 1am. Reflecting back, I deserve wife of the year, no, better yet BEST WIFE EVER award.

Dominican Republic

2009-06-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

So Kevy and I were originally going to go to Mexico for our honeymoon, but swine flu happened the week we were going to book our tickets. So, in our haste to find a new location for some fun in the sun, we discovered some great deals to the DR. What a beautiful place, and we had so much fun! Here are some pics of our good times.

we went to a place called 27 waterfalls we got to climb up to the 1st 15 waterfalls and then..
slide down some of them...

and jump off others. The water was so clear and cool and beautiful.

kevy and I took up ocean kayaking. we were not like the fat ladies who tried to get on before us, although it was really good entertainment. I think they flipped 6 or 7 times each. I should have taken some pictures of that

Kevy and me again at 27 waterfalls. We wore our own shoes. We could have rented some "water shoes" from the locals, but they looked like old, smelly 30lb loafers. I am sure we would have ended up with some type of foot fungus. yick

we went snorkeling at Sosoua Bay. Kevy was feeding the fish some rolls.

We did some boogie boarding

Our resort was all inclusive. Kevin took advantage of that and drank his weight in Pina Coladas each day.

We went deep sea fishing, but the marlin alluded us. Instead, kevy caught a wahoo.

Kevy and Me at Sosoua bay.

Mrs. Hill

2009-05-24T16:14:00.000-07:00

It has been so much fun so far being a married woman, here are some pics from Our time here in cali (some are pre wedding). We do not have much longer here. We will soon be off to a new place. We have narrowed it down to Chicago, or LA. We have to know by June so we'll keep you all posted. If I were a betting woman, I'd put my money on Chicago. We'd be close to kelly and for a year at least.

Kevy and I went to the beach the next week and played in the tide pools and went swimming. Cold, but fun.

Bev and Alicia made it out for my day. Thank you girls

My first pedicure. Mine is the one at the very bottom. The things brides do.

Allen's first time to the ocean, So we made him get in. Brrrr. San Fran ocean isn't warm

Thats me out there on the walkway.

Kevy the cowboy. He still won't wear wranglers or listen to country, but one step at a time...

Bubble Gum Alley on SLO. We got the idea from the Girl's Next door. No, it is not beneath me.

We are off, tomorrow to the Dominican Republic for our Honeymoon, then the next week we are going to Hike half dome in Yosemite. So I will update you with picture overload again here in the near future.

MARRIED

2009-04-14T12:37:00.000-07:00

I AM NOW CATHY HILL. STILL A BIT STRANGE TO THINK I AM A WIFE AND I HAVE A HUSBAND, BUT IT IS WONDERFUL.
WE HAD SUCH A FUN DAY LAST WEEKEND. THANK YOU TO BOTH OF OUR FAMILIES AND FRIENDS WHO MADE IT OUT. SPECIAL THANKS TO JENNY AND TODD FOR BASICALLY BEING MY WEDDING PLANNERS, AND PUTTING EVERYONE UP FOR A PLACE TO STAY. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN A DISASTER WITHOUT YOU GUYS.
OUR PHOTOGRAPHER SENT US SOME PICTURES, THEY LOOK FANTASTIC. SHE DID AN AMAZING JOB. IF YOU ARE GETTING MARRIED IN THE BAY AREA YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY GET THIS WOMAN! HERE IS THE LINK TO HER BLOG AND TO PICTURES OF ME AND KEVY WEVY

THEY ARE ON HER 4-13-09 POST.

http://erikajacksonphotography.blogspot.com/

Its Official!

2009-03-19T21:29:00.000-07:00

Beat It

2009-01-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

So I am a Bachelor Junkie. I look forward to Monday's every week. I am sucked in by the mindless drama and the ridiculousness of 25 women and their emotional catty ways. Kevin and I usually do our rose picks before each episode, I have even auditioned to be on the show ( I only got as far as the local news, I'll blame it on the height).
So I was talking "Bachelor" with my darling little sister who pointed out something that was so obvious I don't know how I missed it. Nikki looks like Michael Jackson with boobs. judge for yourself, but the entire last episode I kept singing "Beat it". That should have been the song she sang for Jason, she would have got the one-on-one date for sure!

My picks for hometown dates:
1. Jilliane (She is my favorite. and they have depicted her as the obvious front runner. I like her spunk, and an added bonus, she is from Alberta- way to represent!!!)
2. Molly. I hate her, but she already gave it up to him, so he'll keep her out of guilt if nothing else. she seems crafty, like she is always up to something. and a bit creepy too.
3. Melissa. I hate to admit it, but I like her. I will forget she is a cheerleader and just enjoy her goofy personaliy and oversized smile.
4. Naomi. (the eva menendez look-alike)I think she is the sleeper, the sneaky one laying fairly low. We dont know much about her, they are editing it just right, she is gonna come from no where and knock his socks off

Photo update

2009-01-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

They say pictures say a 1000 words, so that means I don't have to explain anything. Here are just a few pics from some of my past adventures.

Cute Kevy in Monterey
Santa Cruz

The Red Woods in Muir Woods

The world's largest pumpkin

Halfmoon Bay pupkin festival

A romantic stroll on the beach. Kevy is such a good photographer.

My first time in a lighthouse. It is the oldest continuously operating lighthouse on the west coast, or so we were told.

My Christmas gift from Kevy. Don't pay attention to the kick-stand, I still have balance issues.

Miss Me?

2009-01-11T22:18:00.000-08:00

I have writers block. I have had it for 2 months now. that is my excuse for not blogging. kevin says it doesnt matter since no one reads my blog except for me, but i'll humor myself and blog away. We had quite the holiday.I'll give you the reader's digest version. We went to Portland on Dec. 19th for Kevy's sister Erica's Wedding. The wedding was on the 20th and then we were going to leave the 21st, fly back to california and then fly out later that night to Canada for Christmas. So we made it to Portland only 2 hours late and got ready for the big day. It was a beautiful winter wedding. Everything was wonderful, except for the weather. It started snowing before we got there and didn't stop during our time there. People in Portland don't usually get snow. It seemed like the entire city was in a state of emergency (I mean c'mon its only a little snow). That, however, was not the worst of it. Later that night, we got an ice storm everything was encased in over an inch of ice and the entire airport was shutting down. No flights were coming in or out that night. So after sitting on hold for hours with Air Canada (I am still really mad at them and am going to write a letter) I was still not able to get through and talk to anyone. We decided we might as well head to the airport and try our luck getting on our flight. Our luck ran out on our way to the airport, we our flight was cancelled. No flights that day were leaving, so we all loaded into a couple cars and headed out back to California. It was a cozy drive, and the weather was great after a hundred miles or less. I successfully got our flight changed after a few more hours on hold to leave the next day to canada. Poor Kevy did not get a warm welcome. Instead, he stepped out of the airport into -30 C. I guess my hopes of moving home were dashed right then and there. We had a wonderful, very short trip home. Here are a couple pics

Friendly Competition

2008-11-08T22:46:00.000-08:00

This will be my first and last blog ever--so enjoy you one faithful reader of this blog.

Sometimes Cath-bot and I engage in friendly competition, or so I think. She claims that I am as competitive as her, but this I adamantly refute. For this I have many examples, but I am choosing to share only one. The other night we played the childrens' (emphasis on children) game (emphasis on game) "Life" by Milton Bradley for ages 9+ (Don't ask why we were playing "Life"). At the start of the game, Cathy chose to be the Banker. The Banker controls the money each person gets and gives loans. I won the spin, as usual, and chose to go to college which required a loan from the Banker. Therefore, the Banker (Cath-bot) gave me the loan documents and my money to go to college. Not checking the accuracy of the amounts, as it is a childrens' game for ages 9+, I continued playing. After a few turns, I decided to repay the loan. However, the Banker had given me the wrong amount of loan paper, so that I owed less. Jokingly, I refused to pay more than the documents stated. Needless to say, this did not sit well with the Banker. After a few more refusals to pay more than was stated, the Banker threw down the bag that contained the miniature plastic life parents and children and quit, citing cheating. The Banker's bright red face was difficult to handle, but after what seemed like hours, I was able to convince the Banker to continue playing the game by paying more than I owed, which happened to be only $25,000 in fake "Life" money. In the end, this amount proved immaterial as I easily won by over $2 million continuing my undefeated streak against Cath-bot in the game of "Life" by Milton Bradley ages 9+.