Nicole Blair & Benjamin Luke

Michigan Lake House - Labor Day Weekend

2009-09-08T20:24:00.000-06:00

Labor Day weekend we spent a few days with some of our best friends at a lake house in Michigan. We want to try to make it a tradition. It was one of the most relaxing weekends I've had in a very long time. Ben and Aaron fished nonstop, while Emily and I relaxed at the pool. Vicki and Chris came in a day later and joined in on the fun.

Emily's parents were amazing to us all weekend. They really know how to live it up! Can't wait for next year! We'll have a little one with us then!

Here are a few more pics from the weekend...

Oh..yeah... we also found out that Chick-fil-a is only 20 minutes away! We happened to go on a day where you got a free chicken sandwich if you sported clothes of your fave sports team!

Ravinia - Carrie Underwood Concert

2009-09-04T13:34:00.003-06:00

Monday, we went with some friends to see Carrie Underwood at Ravinia. This was our first time going to this outdoor venue.

The lawn seats were cheap and you can bring your own food and drinks in. So, we packed up a picnic dinner and our lawn chairs for a wonderful evening under the stars!

Weeks 21, 22, 23, 25

2009-08-30T20:49:00.000-06:00

Missed week 24...

Mom & Dad Visit - Chicago Air & Water Show

2009-08-16T19:42:00.002-06:00

For Rachelle's birthday, she got plane tickets to visit our other sister, Angie, in Colorado for the weekend. Her flight was scheduled to fly out of Chicago, so my parents drove her down, stayed with us for the weekend, then picked her up today and left to go back home to Michigan.

As Rachelle and Angie were having fun in Colorado, we were having fun with my parents here in Chicago. They came Thursday afternoon when we just took it easy and had King Ranch Chicken for dinner. (Thanks for the recipe, Steph!) ..and followed with a fire in our fire-pit and roasted up some s'mores.

Then, Friday, we had lunch at Texas de Brazil. Afterwards, Ben and Dad headed to the theater to watch G.I. Joe while my mom and I went and registered for Baby G at Buy Buy Baby. We planned to go to the pool, but it was so hot, we decided against it. Instead, we had dinner at Portillo's, then hit up the Vintage Rides night downtown Wheaton to look at all the classic cars.

Saturday, we got up early and grabbed the train to downtown Chicago for the Air & Water Show. We got back, had Gnocchi for dinner then headed to the cheap seats to watch The Proposal.

Sunday we just had time for church and Meatheads for lunch, then it was time for my parents to pick up Rachelle at the airport and head home.

Thanks for visiting mom and dad!

Graney's Visit Chicago

2009-08-01T14:59:00.011-06:00

Our posts have been all baby lately. Now here is something fun. New friends of ours, Neil and Teresa, came to Chicago for a conference. When I heard they were coming, I quickly offered up our home to them so they wouldn't have to pay for a hotel. Sounds like I had their best interest in mind, but little did they know it was all selfish...so that Ben and I could hang out as much as possible with these two cool folks! :)

We attempted to take the 3 'o clock train into the city, but missed it by literally 1 second. We were driving along side the train just as it arrived, but there was no way we could make it. The next train was at 5 PM so we decided to kill time by heading to the nearest 7 Eleven for some Slurpees. Unfortunately, the machine malfunctioned and sprayed all over Teresa's white tank! And, the mean store clerk wouldn't even let her have the drink for free! bleh!
After that we hit up Old Navy to get her a new shirt, then caught the 5 'o clock train to Chicago. We decided to have dinner at a Mexican restaurant called Zapatista and it was A-mazing! Very delicious! The made to order guacamole was a favorite!With our bellies full, we walked around the city a little bit to sight see and take a few more photos, including this one at Millennium Park. And, of course, anyone who comes to Chicago needs to see the Bean, or the Cloud or whatever they call it now.Inside this bean, you must take photos of your reflection...We hopped the train back to Wheaton and ended the fun day with ice cream at Oberweis. Yum!Thanks, Neil and Teresa, for such a fun weekend!

Weeks 16 - 19

2009-07-30T18:59:00.000-06:00

It's a Boy!!

2009-07-27T17:23:00.001-06:00

We're keeping the name a surprise. (Once we finally pick one out!)

Tomorrow's the Big Day!

2009-07-26T11:56:00.002-06:00

We have our ultrasound tomorrow. Hopefully the baby will cooperate and reveal his/her gender! Then, we can finally start to register and even buy things here and there! I've put it all off until now because I didn't want to fall in love with the nursery decorations of one, but then find out we're having the other.

You can anonymously vote for what you think we're having. The poll is in the top right hand corner of this blog. It closes at Noon tomorrow, since our appointment is at 11:30. I'll let you all know tomorrow!! yay!

4 Years of Love

2009-07-09T15:27:00.000-06:00

Ben and I have been married for 4 years! Although we planned to spend the weekend in the city, the Librarians booked all the hotels for their conference, so we stayed for a night in Schaumburg, did some baby shopping, and saw The Proposal (very cute movie!). We had lunch at one of our favorite places, Texas de Brazil, where they gave us free champagne and dessert with "Happy Anniversary" spelled out with caramel. YUM!

I can't believe it's our 4th anniversary, and here we are expecting our first baby. What a journey and what a journey we have ahead! I love you, babe!

Prego Pics Weeks 12 - 15

2009-07-01T20:25:00.003-06:00

Our 2nd Ultrasound at 12 Weeks

2009-06-23T17:18:00.004-06:00

Our First Ultrasound at 8 Weeks

2009-06-23T17:16:00.005-06:00

Wiese's, Quinn's, and Gladd's Michigan Weekend Trip

2009-06-21T16:48:00.000-06:00

This weekend we took a trip to Michigan with our friends, the Wiese's and the Quinn's. We stayed with my parents' in Rockford and hit the beach in Grand Haven. Here are a few pics from the trip:

Topol and Fiddler on the Roof

2009-06-12T17:04:00.000-06:00

I surprised Ben with tickets to see Fiddler on the Roof because it's his favorite movie. To make it even more special, the original cast member, Topol, was performing in it.
His mom traveled up that weekend, so I gave my ticket to her since I've never even seen the movie and I thought she would enjoy a date with her son. They had a great time. In fact, Ben woke up the next morning singing "If I were a rich man...dah dah dah dah dah...!"

2009-06-04T15:26:00.000-06:00

Hanging with my Sister in Colorado

2009-04-27T19:16:00.003-06:00

I've been in Colorado since Friday visiting my sister. We ate at a restaurant called Casa Bonita the night I arrived, which is an all-you-can-eat Mexican restaurant with a ton of entertainment, including cliff divers, gorillas, arcade games, haunted cave, mariachi band and more! Saturday, we drove around Fort Collins and Loveland to do a little sight seeing, then headed to Colorado Springs to celebrate a friend's birthday. We stayed the night in "the springs" and then woke up the next morning and drove to Estes Park to see the elk. Sunday night we changed into our pj's and ate some Papa John's pizza while watching a chick flick. Today, I rode along with my sister as she worked and did some property adjustments. Best part? We stopped for lunch at Pei Wei. Delish!

Now, we are getting ready to watch another chick flick. Heaven! :) How often can I just be lazy and watch a movie with my sis?

The weather has been chilly and a little rainy, but it's been nice to just relax with my sister. I'm going home tomorrow...when the weather is warming up. But, we'll have part of the day to enjoy some of it.

Meanwhile, Ben is in California for a speaking gig at The Master's College. Maybe I can convince him to blog an update about his trip when he returns. :)

Visiting the Lindsey's

2009-03-21T12:55:00.005-06:00

Last weekend we drove to Michigan to visit Chris and Vicki. What a fun weekend!! Vicki and I made an Irish meal for their friends. It was fun getting know them all better.We also spent a day at the outlets (Pottery Barn and Northface) then headed over to Frankenmuth for the biggest Christmas store ever! It's called Bronner's and even though I grew up in Michigan that was my first time there!

I miss living near my best friend, but there is something special and exciting about looking forward to our visits. Can't wait 'til the next!

Sledding 2009

2009-01-24T15:38:00.006-06:00

Two weeks ago we got a ton of snow in just one morning. It was perfect sledding weather. I had to call up my friend, Stephanie, because sledding is one of the things on her list that she wants to do before turning 30. So, she and her husband joined us. We headed out to Blackwell Forest Preserve and found a nice little hill right at the frozen pond.I tried pushing Ben down the hill a few times. In this photo, I think Ben and Brian were racing, but I obviously wasn't getting Ben a good start.
A nice man and his sons were also at the hill and let us use their sled and snowboard. So, I tried my hand at snow-boarding, but didn't make it very far.
Next time I think we'll head back to our house and make some homemade sugar donuts like my mom would do for my me and my sister after ice skating on the pond down the road. Ooohh.. the memories...

Glow and Behold!

2009-01-17T09:00:00.000-06:00

Stephanie didn't turn 30, she turned 29. But, she had a party anyway because she wanted to start her last year in her 20's with a BANG! She invited a few of her close girlfriends over for a "glowing" dinner and dessert. The formal invitation requested that her guests wear something that makes us feel like we are glowing! So.. I wore my golden bridesmaid dress from my best friend's wedding over 5 years ago! I was holding on to this dress wanting a reason to wear it again. So, how perfect! Yay that I still fit into it!!

The party was so much fun! The theme was "Glow and Behold." We played a Family Feud style game where the subject was Divas. Who knew that a diva's favorite nail color is hot pink!?

Steph made a fantastic pork tenderloin dinner and served up some little pizza appetizers with drinks. She also gave all of us gifts!

Thanks, Steph, for such a wonderful party! I adore our friendship!

Return of Jack Bauer

2009-01-11T21:17:00.001-06:00

Hip Hip Hooray!! Jack Bauer is back! Night one of 24's two night premiere just ended and we are pumped!

Knapp Christmas

2009-01-09T05:30:00.004-06:00

My parents and little sister drove here last weekend on New Years day and stay for a few days. We celebrated our family Christmas while they were in town. It was fun to see my family and just hang out with each other. We didn't do anything extremely exciting, but just enjoyed being able to relax after the hustle and bustle of Christmas.

We did go see the movie, Bolt, at the cheap seats. What a cute movie!

Christmas in Maryland

2009-01-03T22:09:00.002-06:00

[Heather & Nikki]

Merry Christmas! We spent our Christmas weekend in Maryland with Ben's family. We forgot to bring our camera, so the only photo I have is the one above that I stole from Heather off Facebook.

The "boys" went on their annual Gladd hunt with the dogs. The gals stayed behind and shopped. I got to hang out with some of Dana and Heather's friends, then Ben and I had the rare chance to catch up with Ben's long-time friend, Dan, before catching our flight home.

The following week (this weekend) my parents and little sister visited us to celebrate the new year and do the Knapp Christmas (minus Ang... we miss you!!). They actually just left a few hours ago. I'll post pics of our weekend later... It's time for bed!

Now in Print

2008-12-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

Ben's dissertation is now published. We found out months ago that it was accepted for publication with a very respectable publisher, Walter de Gruyter. Now, after his hard work of putting all the finishing touches together, the book is in print and available on Amazon. Surprisingly, you can also purchase it on Target's website. Can you tell I'm so very proud of my dear husband?

We Put Our Tree Up Today!

2008-12-02T22:15:00.003-06:00

Thankful for New Friends

2008-11-27T10:54:00.017-06:00

It took a little while for me to decide what to blog about this year for Thanksgiving. We're thankful for so much, but I didn't want to bore you with listing it all... from family and friends to Ben's graduation to good health to having food on the table to having an affordable place to live to find a church we love, etc.So, I chose one of these to post about today. We are so thankful for all of our friends. I'm thankful how I have become good friends with Ben's friends and Ben has become good friends with my friends. But, this particular post is about the friends we have made as a couple. It's about the friends neither one of us brought into the relationship, but the ones we developed together.

When we first got married and lived in Wheaton, it was a struggle to find friends. We found a few, but not many that we just "meshed" with completely. We were starving for the type of friendships we had (and still have) in our college friends who live across the country.

Now, a little over three years later, I can say we have finally filled that void. We love our new friends!

So, through out this post are photos I've found of our new friends. Please remember, we love all of our friends from college, too, but this particular post is about our new friends. And, if you are a "new" friends but there isn't a photo of you on here...it's simply because I don't have one! :)

Thank you, friends, for being like family to us. Thank you, friends, for loving us. Thank you, friends, for all of the fun. Thank you, friends.

Of course, I can't talk about friends without posting this fun photo from a couple of years ago:

Sewing Buttons

2008-11-22T13:29:00.003-06:00

Shamefully, I can not sew. Not even a button. Someday I'll learn, but I really have no desire to...especially when Ben happily does it on his own. I've got to say, I'm ecstatic.

Ice Skating with Pat & Jessica

2008-11-14T22:24:00.000-06:00

Pat and Jessica had us over for some delicious chili. Afterwards, Patrick pretty much begged if we could go ice skating next door to their apartment. He was the only was so enthusiastic about going, so we flipped a coin, heads we would go ice skating, tails we would not. He flipped tails, and was so disappointed that we let him flip it again... but it was tails again!
Because of his disappointment, we decided to go anyway. Glad we went because it was so much fun! Thanks, Pat, for making us go!

Rachelle, Colorguard #3

2008-11-01T21:48:00.000-06:00

Rachelle is taking after her two big sisters footsteps. She's in the colorguard. :) Although, Angie and I were in Belding's colorguard, Rachelle is in a much more competitive colorguard, Rockford.

I had the privilege of watching Rachelle's band compete in the state finals this weekend in Detroit at the Ford Field. My parents and I spent the entire day there watching all the bands march. It was fun to see how good these bands are and the types of props they use on the field.

Rachelle is a very good spinner. She did an awesome job, and it's only her first year! I'm proud of you sis!

And, I love being goofy with you.

Surprise Ben!! You're 30!

2008-10-25T22:04:00.003-06:00

Ben's birthday weekend was full of excitement. We had our 4th annual BYOP party and later I had a surprise party planned for him that included racing RC cars. I was able to rent a room in our church, then Ben's good friend, Patrick, built a race track out of PVC pipes, including ramps and all. About 15 of our friends were there to surprise him. Even Devin and Marlena were up from Nashville for the weekend and were able to participate!Ben was definitely surprised and grateful for the friends who came. After the party, we headed to our landlord's house to have carrot cake and watch the UFC fight.

BYOP 2008

2008-10-25T21:26:00.000-06:00

We held our 4th annual BYOP (Bring Your Own Pumpkin) event again at Kelly Park in Wheaton. This park is right down the road from our house and includes plenty of space for football, carving pumpkins, basketball and even has a really nice children's playground. It's the perfect setup for our party.There was a great turnout this year. Unfortunately, some people already left before I remembered to take a group photo (the one above wasn't the best photo, but I like the candid shot, especially Marlena's face). The weather was polar opposite of last year. Last year we were in short sleeves and shorts. This year, we couldn't bundle ourselves up more! It was COLD! Nonetheless, everyone had a good time and it was fun being able to have it on Ben's 30th birthday. Little did Ben know, though, that I had plans for him later that night with some more friends!

Click here to see more BYOP 2008 photos.

Check out some of the food I served on my food blog here.

Happy 30th Birthday, Ben!

2008-10-25T08:00:00.002-06:00

Ben's 30! Below is a slideshow of Ben in the last year. Since he allowed me to go to the NKOTB concert on the eve of his 30th birthday, I thought it was only fitting that NKOTB sing him a birthday song to the slideshow... :)

Happy birthday, Sweetie! I love you!!

NKOTB! Reliving the Past...

2008-10-24T21:14:00.000-06:00

When I heard that New Kids on the Block was reuniting and touring again, I immediately emailed my girlfriends and asked who was dying to go see these five, once young and hot, guys get back on stage and relive a 13 year old dream once again with me! It didn't take long for the gals to respond. A few didn't think paying $75 was worth seeing them, some said they were the ones who grew up making fun of NKOTB, others stated they would love to go, but just couldn't make it to Chicago, but...then...finally, responses from the ones who were just as excited as me! There were five others who were giddy and would pay whatever price to see these hunks try to dance across centerstage again, singing in their falsetto voices, making the ladies swoon.

And swoon we did... We couldn't have even imagined how great of a concert this turned out to be! I've never been in a place where there were so many women in their 30s (soccer moms, if you will) screaming at the top of their lungs, dressed in their 90s gear and dancing like 1999 hadn't even happened yet.I've been to many concerts, and I'm not ashamed to say that this was the best of them all. Maybe it was the hype from reliving a childhood dream, or maybe it was because the not so new "men" on the block could actually put on a great show!
Yup, that's Donnie.

It was fabulous because they sang all of their old popular songs (which weren't many to begin with) and then they did quite a few of their new songs from their new album. And, I have to say, I'm hooked on the new album.

My five girlfriends and I wore t-shirts that said "Team Joey" or "Team Donnie", etc., depending on who our *crush* was back in the day. Marlena wore crazy eye shadow and tied her shirt like we did in the 90s. I wore torn jeans, like Donnie did when the group was first together. Other women there also wore 90s clothes, big NKOTB buttons, big bangs, and shirts that said "Before Justin, there was Jordan". Loved it!
Call me crazy...call me nerdy...call me what you want. But, this NKOTB experience will never be forgotten.

Wisconsin Apple Picking & Golf

2008-10-19T16:07:00.006-06:00

Last weekend Ben's parents were in town, so we drove up to Wisconsin to also see Joel & Dana (Ben's brother and sister-in-law). Friday night we spent the night in Madison and "da boys" went hunting in the morning.Our friends, Pat and Jessica, came up on Saturday afternoon. The guys headed on out to hit some golf balls while the gals went apple picking at an orchard called Epelgaarden.We spent Saturday night at the House on the Rock Resort, then the gals visited the House on the Rock Museum (you can see it sticking out in the trees below) while the guys went golfing.
The trees and fall colors made for a beautiful drive!

Welcome Fall!

2008-09-22T21:19:00.004-06:00

Today is the first day of Fall! Yay! To Ben, it means it's time for me to make him some pumpkin bars. He begs for them all year. To me, it means new decorations to go with the change of season!

We had our first small group session meeting in our home last week. I wanted to warmingly welcome in the fall season and our new small group. So, I went out and bought a new doormat, wreath and chair for our front porch. Before, there was nothing, making it a cold entrance. Now, it's a lot more welcoming. Come on in!

Ladies Day at The Races

2008-09-10T19:02:00.005-06:00

We made it to the races last Saturday. The weather couldn't have been nicer, and our day couldn't have been more fun!! If you read my earlier post, you knew that some girlfriends and I got together to decorate derby hats for ladies day at Arlington Park. The day finally came to wear our hats!

We had a fun-filled time with $2 bets, VIP tour that included visiting the sound booth and judges suite, hat contest (I got third place, yay!) and just enjoying the horses and the sun!

Click here to see more photos of our fun day!

Who am I?

2008-09-07T17:21:00.001-06:00

My mother-in-law just emailed this video to me from You Tube. So cool!

Branson - Labor Day Weekend

2008-09-01T21:07:00.000-06:00

We met up with some friends, the Roods and the Carlsons, in Branson, MO for some Labor Day weekend fun! After eating a lot of BBQ and challenging each other to mini golf, bumper cars, pool volleyball and basketball, we each had to part our ways back to our own homes. The Roods came from Seattle and the Carlsons from Dallas.
It was fun to be with them again, during a relaxing and exciting weekend. Our hotel was amazing, too!

Click here to see more pics.

And here to see even more!

Mad Hatter Party

2008-08-21T08:30:00.001-06:00

My friend, Stephanie, came up with a great idea for a party! September 6th is Ladies Day at the horse races at Arlington Park. So, we got a few of our gal pals together for a hat decorating party and made derby hats that we can wear to the races.

Steph and I bought all the hats and flowers to have them ready for the party. We made quite a bit of food, too, including these horse racing cupcakes:
and these delicious tomato appetizers:
The party was fun, but I can not WAIT to go to the races with these cute hats. Some gals made their's wild:
And some made their's elegant:
I say mine falls in between:

In Honor of the Summer Olympics

2008-08-20T09:08:00.000-06:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Happy 30th Birthday, Jen!

2008-08-19T19:40:00.009-06:00

A week ago, today, my good friend, Jen, turned 30! Her husband planned a surprise roller skating party for her, then this weekend a few of her closest girlfriends spent the night in Chicago to celebrate.

The rolling skating party was a blast. It was fun to watch the kids falling all over the place, then get right back up and try again.In Chicago, we saw a matinee, the broadway show, Jersey Boys, then stayed the night at that Hyatt Regency hotel. We enjoyed the Chicago nightlife and had breakfast at Lou Mitchell's. YUM-O!It was a great weekend! Thanks for being such a great friend, Jen, and including me in your celebration!

Now I have to gear up for mine and Stephanie's horse party Thursday! I'll post about that....later.

E-Session by Nancy Beale

2008-08-14T20:30:00.003-06:00

Our good friends gave us one of the gifts that I've been the most excited about ever! They paid their daughter, who is a photographer, to do a photo-session with us. Since we never had engagement pictures taken (except that quick pic my mom snapped of us for the local daily newspaper announcement that doesn't even come close!) this was a great opportunity for us to make up for that.

You can view the photos by clicking here.

Also, check out the photographer's blog here!

Crab Feast!

2008-08-05T18:26:00.003-06:00

We visited Ben's family in Maryland this weekend and had a Crab Feast on their deck. Check out my food blog for more pictures and a yummy recipe!

Garage Sale

2008-07-29T20:30:00.006-06:00

Saturday, six (or seven) gal pals and I got our unwanted treasures together to sell in a garage sale at our house. Even though we didn't make much money, we had a ton of fun!

We spent a lot of time just buying each others' items.

The hubbies even hung out for a while... and came across "heaven on wheels."

Milwaukee Adventures

2008-07-13T19:23:00.008-06:00

Friday we headed to Milwaukee and stayed overnight at the DoubleTree downtown. We had a great time just exploring the city since neither one of us had been there before. We didn't have an agenda and didn't research anything, yet it still ended up being a wonderful trip!

After checking into the hotel, we walked down to the lake (Lake Michigan) and saw the amazing art museum that looks like a tremendous white space ship! Then, we decided to hop on the free trolley and took a half hour "tour" of the city. During this tour we drove by some interesting neighborhoods that we made note to check out later.We got off the trolley at Cathedral Square where the Bastille Days festival was being held. We spent some time there checking out the entertainment and booths. I even tried some strawberries crepes!Then, we headed down to one of the neighborhoods we saw on the trolley, call Historic Third Ward. I would recommend this area to anyone visiting Milwaukee. It's a must! There is a public market there where I fell in love. We had dinner in this neighborhood at a place called The Wicked Hop. My meal was fantastic!Even though we were having such a nice time, we didn't feel all that comfortable walking around at night time, so we headed back to the hotel and chilled for the rest of the evening. In the morning we packed to go home but stopped again at the public market to grab breakfast and see the outdoor art booths.If you live nearby, go to Milwaukee for a day visit. It's worth the quick trip! On the way back you can stop at the Gurnee Mills outlet mall (like we did!). Ben found a cheap little toy there... a remote control car! ha!

Our 3rd Anniversary!

2008-07-10T20:40:00.006-06:00

Tonight we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. Can you believe it's been THREE years!? I'm so joyful to be with a man that loves me *almost* as much as I love him :) and ecstatic that it has only been 3 years because that means there are many many more to come!
Yesterday, July 9, was our actual anniversary, but we celebrated tonight with dinner reservations at The Capital Grille. Our time there was such a nice dining experience. Our waiter was just wonderful and the entire staff treated us like special guests.

We ordered an appetizer (bacon-wrapped mozzarella with tomatoes), a chop salad, our steaks, a side, wine, and then they came out with a complimentary appetizer and dessert!
This was definitely the most expensive meal Ben and I have ever had together, but thanks to some good friends of our who gave us a gift card, we were able to have such an affordable, great experience! They even used their camera to take a picture of us and printed it into a card.Last night, Ben surprised me by telling me he booked a Double-tree hotel stay in Milwaukee for Friday night. So, we will be heading there tomorrow. It's about 100 miles away...so definitely do-able. Not sure what is on the agenda, but our hotel is right in the city and near some shopping district! Hmmmm..... :)

Happy anniversary Ben! I've loved you for 3 years... and will love you even more for the rest of our lifetime!

College Family Back Together Again!!

2008-07-07T20:53:00.000-06:00

The Russell's (Devin and Marlena) and the Lindsey's (Chris, Vicki & Genna) traveled to visit us for the holiday weekend. They came in Thursday night and left Monday morning. We had so much fun seeing each other and experiencing some time in Chicago.

Friday, we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo (again). It is fun however many times you go! Always something new to see! Genna especially loved the apes...
...and the polar bear.Later that night, we hung out at the Dalings' house and watched the Wheaton fireworks.

Saturday, Marlena and I had the chance to babysit Genna and take her to the French Market with us while Chris and Vicki had some "date time" and saw Wicked. Devin and Ben golfed. In the evening, we went to Claim Jumper with some friends from church.

Sunday, we headed to church then to Sweet Tomatoes (Marlena's request) for lunch. Devin and Marlena had to head home to Nashville after that, but Chris and Vicki ..and Genna.. stayed for another night.After Genna's nap on Sunday, we headed to our community pool, or more like waterpark, and had a blast! We discovered the tubing slide and all went down it a few times.
Genna loved the water!I'm sad that they are all now gone, but it makes it even more fun to see each other again! I'm just glad they had this chance to visit.The best part was having my crazy college girlfriends around once again!

Chicago with Rodarte's

2008-06-21T14:00:00.008-06:00

Last week our friends from California, Hector and Christy, visited from Monday to Saturday. This was Christy's first time in Chicago.

I took the day off work Thursday to go to the city with them.

We started off the day at Lou Malnati's for breakfast.

Then we took the "L"-train up to Lincoln Park Zoo. Admission is FREE!

Ben liked the giraffes.

This was my favorite... I call it the yoga ape.

We ate at Giordano's, then ended the day shopping at H&M. This is how Ben and Hector shop.

One of the nights, Hector and Christy took us out to eat in Naperville at the Rosebud Italian restaurant.

We have more pictures if you click here.

Falling Trees

2008-06-15T17:07:00.002-06:00

We've had a lot of major storms here the past few weeks. For a while I felt as if we had a tornado watch or severe thunderstorm warning at least every other night.

I've become quite the fraidy cat when it comes to tornado watches. Lately, I've made myself and Ben sleep in the downstairs bedroom because I was too fearful of sleeping through the possible tornado siren. Wimpy, I know. It doesn't help that we sleep with a very loud fan...so we can't hear anything.These are photos of a tree that was blown down from this morning's storm. This tree is (was) located at the park down the street (where we held last year's Pumpkin party).

The Landscaping's Taking Over Our Home!

2008-06-01T21:23:00.006-06:00

Our landscaping is getting out of control. Don't get me wrong, it's beautiful and we love it. But, there are a few things that need to be trimmed and we just do not have the tools for it yet. Ben did buy some clippers and trimmed up the short green bushes, but there is one bush that is HUGE and pretty much covers our entire house! This bush was one that we were contemplating removing, until we returned from vacation and found this:

So, we'll be keeping it, but we'll need to talk to our landscaping friend, John, and figure out how to maintain it.

It's been fun spending our first spring here and having a surprise of different colors every few weeks. Check out the colors in our entry way:

Another surprise popped up this season in our backyard. We noticed, in a very random spot, that someone planted these tulips and other flowers, just in one spot. I think the previous tenants may have buried a pet here!

Check out the difference in our yard between April and May. (Keep in mind we did not plant anything new.)

April 2008:

May 2008:

Hilton Head Vacation

2008-05-27T14:15:00.000-06:00

A week after Ben graduated, we took our long-anticipated vacation to Hilton Head Island in South Carolina.

We spent the entire week at the Main Street Inn & Spa, relaxing on the beach, golfing and eating a lot of good food.

You can see pics of our vacation by clicking this link.

Another Crash :(

2008-05-15T19:18:00.007-06:00

My car is a magnet for crashes...that always are the fault of the other. Today on my lunch break, on my way back from snatching a free chicken sandwich from McD's, a lady rammed her Toyota Tundra into my wee Toyota Camry. Ahhhh... the annoyance of it all. We leave Saturday for our road trip to Hilton Head and will now be taking a rental car instead.

The crash was obviously the fault of the owner of the Tundra. We were at a 3-way stop, I stopped then drove straight and immediately when I got in front of her she pulled out and drove right into the side of my car and damaged my rear passenger-side door/tire/quarter-panel/bumper.

She was waiting to turn left from her side of the 3-way stop and tried to blame the crash on me because she stated I went out of turn!

It's strange that she tried to say the crash was my fault, when we both were going less than 15 mph yet she still managed to HIT me. I know she just didn't see me because she didn't even start driving from the stop sign until after I was already in front of her.

I tried to be nice, offered my cell phone, smiled and waved at her child in the back seat...yet I still got dirty looks from her.... but smiles from the child. Ooohh... the sweet innocence of children.

Above is the back of the policy report where I was instructed to draw the illustration of the crash. I have to send this in within 10 days or my drivers license will be suspended. Interesting.

Just pray the insurance goes through and is determined that it was indeed her fault. The police did not issue a ticket, but they did list her name first on the report, which is an indication that he believes it was her fault. We do not want to get stuck with paying for the rental... (unfortunately we didn't sign up with our insurance for the rental coverage). It's not like Michigan, either...where they have weird "no-fault" insurance policies. So, her insurance should have to pay for everything.

On a lighter note, we're still very excited to go on vacation. Again, we leave Saturday for Hilton Head Island. We'll stay Saturday night at our favorite half-way spot, Nashville, and stay with Marlena and Devin. Then arrive in Hilton Head on Sunday and leave on Friday to head up to North Carolina and visit Clay and Heather...then head home on Sunday.

YAY!!

Graduation... Done.

2008-05-12T21:22:00.003-06:00

Wow... graduation is over. We had a great time visiting with friends and family. Did you know we had 12 people staying in our home over the weekend? Thanks to the Gracey's for making it possible to rent such a lovely huge home!

Ben looked so professional in his gown. I'm so proud of him.

The last 4 years flew by. What are we supposed to do now? Oh, get ready for vacation in Hilton Head? Okay! :)

Testing the Water

2008-05-04T07:43:00.004-06:00

We installed a new water heater on Tuesday. Before this, Ben was always taking luke-warm showers and I never knew it until two weeks ago when I mentioned that I think we need a new water heater because on the days we get up at the same time, I always have a cold shower.

So we called our wonderful landlord who arranged for the plumber to come over and check it out. Sure enough, we needed a new one.

Since we have gobs of company staying at our house next weekend for Ben's graduation, I wanted to make sure the new water heater would hold up for all the showers. How could I test this out, though, when I get up so early during the week and take my shower...then Ben wakes up about two hours later to take his?

Well, on the weekends we wake up about the same time...so yesterday was my chance. I woke up, took my HOT shower first. Then, I ran two loads of HOT laundry did some dishes in HOT water and flushed the toilet (without actually using it) while Ben was in the shower. Then, I asked Ben if his shower was HOT.... His answer? Yes, very hot.

YAY! Our hot water heater works... and works well.

That's what I call "testing the water".

Hello Spring, Meet Ducky!

2008-04-18T17:11:00.007-06:00

Spring has finally arrived this week! What a pleasant surprise to see the tree out front starting to blossom. We definitely need to work on our landscaping this year. It's hard, though, to make the decision to put money into landscaping when you don't actually own the house. But, it is our home and Ben likes to work in the yard, so I think we might just bite the bullet this year...if we find time.We had little visitors today. Two ducks were right out front, just wandering around. We normally do not see them around our house...but rather in parks near ponds. So, I had to take a few pictures.I'm excited to enjoy the outdoors and really take advantage of the spring/summer. So far we have great outdoor plans at Wheaton's French market, Montana Charlie's flea market, Seven Gables Park for jogging purposes, Micah's (our friends' son) tee-ball games, camping with our small group, vacationing in Hilton Head, Ben's graduation party, drive-in movies, grilling, couples photos, the beach at Lake Michigan and many other activities we come across. Oh! And, we decided we are going to buy season passes to Wheaton community's Rice Pool. I can't wait to have the liberty to go to the pool this summer and just relax and get a sun tan! :) Last year... I was so white! This year... bye, bye white skin...hello summer tan!

My next mission... trying to find affordable bikes so we can bike on the Prairie Path this year.

Special Effects on Video iChat

2008-04-06T17:43:00.005-06:00

This is what happens when you have three guys talking on iChat on a lazy Sunday afternoon. (Ben, Clayton and family friend Ryan)

Chicago Blackhawks Game

2008-04-02T18:29:00.003-06:00

Sunday night we went to the Chicago Blackhawks game. Our friend, Walter, had tickets for us and a bunch of friends from church. We had a skybox all to ourselves with a bunch of free food, drinks and desserts! And, best of all... we won the game!

Check out more pics of our fun night here.

And So This Is....... Spring!?!?

2008-03-27T21:05:00.003-06:00

Today's weather... not so spring-ish.

Memories Illustrated

2008-03-11T20:41:00.001-06:00

My friend, Jamie, just made her talents into a creative business! She can draw your fondest memories into a comic strip type illustration so you can frame it and display it. It's so cool! Below is the illustration of my wedding. Soon I'll be ordering illustrations of my engagement and honeymoon for a complete set.

She also makes very cute notecards that you MUST check out!

Her business website is under construction, but in the meantime you can check out her blog and view all of her creations so far here: Memories Illustrated.

In a few weeks I'm going to hold an introduction party for her. We're thinking we'll serve cute little appetizers. :) I'll be sure to post the recipes on my food blog!

You can find details about how to order notecards or your memories illustrated here.

Wet Towels

2008-03-09T18:54:00.003-06:00

I'm sneaking this post in while Ben is away on a missions trip in NOLA with a few guys from church.

Once in a while, without thinking, Ben still throws his wet towel on our bed leaving a damp spot on the sheets. It's always on my side of the bed, too! Usually, I'll catch it in time and remove it before the bedding gets too damp.

This last week he did it again! This time I was at work all day so it wasn't caught in time and the foot of my bed was damp and cold.

I called Ben into the room and moments later found him "fixing" the situation. See the photo below: LOL!

More Snow!? You're Kidding...Right?

2008-02-25T22:00:00.010-06:00

Yup! More snow...already here and more to come! We're expecting at least 6-8 inches overnight tonight!

Our good friends had us over for dinner tonight to celebrate Ben's successful defense. (The meal was awesome! Thanks Mike and Jamie!!) When we got home, we decided to play in the snow. This is the snowiest winter in 22 years, surely we couldn't go on without making at least ONE snowman!

He Passed!!

2008-02-15T21:22:00.004-06:00

I love my Dr. BG.

It's an iPhone! :) [Read previous post]

...more from Ben later.

The Big Day

2008-02-15T16:45:00.003-06:00

This is the day we have been waiting for since Ben started his doctorate 3 1/2 years ago. Right now he is at the college, standing in front of a board of scholars and academic spectators, defending his 300-page dissertation.

The defense is scheduled from 3:20pm until 5:20pm. Right now it is 4:48pm. I've been praying for him all day.

I'll save the details for him to share on a later post. But, let's see if anyone can guess the present I bought for him pictured below!

Four Car Crash

2008-02-11T18:29:00.003-06:00

Yes... I was in a "4-car pile up" Saturday. No no no.. don't worry. No one was hurt, and my car barely has a scratch on it. And, it wasn't my fault! :)

My friend, Michelle, and I were on our way to the mall and were stopped at a traffic light with two cars stopped behind us. There was also another stop light not too far behind us. Another little white car decided to race through the yellow light without noticing the stopped traffic in front of him. So, I heard a CRASH, looked in my rearview and saw the van behind me lunge forward, then .... tap!... my car was ... well... just tapped!

So, not that you need further explaining... but the car who caused the crash slammed into a car, that then hit the van in front of her, who tapped us. The first car was totaled. The poor guy must've broken his nose from the airbag because his eyes and face were immediately bruised. Everyone else seemed okay, except the lady behind us with her husband... who was a little too dramatic.

I had my camera on me, so I took a few pics. They aren't very good. I didn't really take the time to take any good ones.

I've counted my blessings and am grateful no one was hurt and that our car wasn't damaged. Plus, the policeman made mine and Michelle's day right before we left when he said "You ladies look like you could be on TV!" hahahaha Was that a compliment? :)(My car is in front of the van)

Snow Tracks

2008-02-02T17:23:00.000-06:00

There's not much to blog about lately. We've had quite a bit of snow this week. In fact, Ben's mom was supposed to visit, but there was so much snow coming in the day of her flight that we encouraged her to cancel and come a different weekend. The roads were horrible on Thursday and Friday. Today is better... it's actually very pretty. We'd like to go sledding again, but haven't found the motivation or time.

Speaking of motivation, we finally made it back to the gym this morning. Ben has been going off and on, but ever since we moved a whole 2 miles farther from the gym, I haven't gone! Yikes. It felt very good to make it back again today. Three of our friends recently signed up, so we get 3 months free for the referral.

The last two weekends I've been gone, without Ben. :( One weekend I was in Nashville for a girl trip. It was a lot of fun. The best part was a concert we attended at the Grand Ole Opry. It showcased 10 country singers who each sang a gospel song. The concert was recorded for a showing on the GAC channel scheduled for February 9. Our seats were amazing and the tickets cost us only $25! The line-up included stars like Trace Adkins, Vince Gill, Sara Evans, Dierks Bentley, Charlie Daniels and Carrie Underwood! It was so amazing listening to them singing gospel songs. Vince Gill's "Give Me Jesus" was my favorite because of his high uncracking voice. On the other hand, my friend, Jen, was in love with Trace Adkins' deep voice.The weekend after that, I was in downtown Chicago for my church's women's retreat. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott right off The Magnificent Mile. Jen was my roomie and we arrived way early in the limo our small group ladies rented. So, we headed to the Grand Lux Cafe for a late lunch/early dinner. It was a neat place! I've heard a lot of people talk about it... but never had a chance to go until then. The retreat was fun and refreshing, but it was nice to get back home on Sunday and be with Ben again.This weekend we are relaxing and of course watching the Super Bowl. A few friends will be coming over to watch the game with us. We'll hopefully have some good food and fun fellowship. Ben is also reading and studying like crazy since he defends his dissertation in only 2 weeks!!

I'm going to leave you with a puzzle of the picture at the beginning that I took a few weeks ago when we had some snow. (This is Chicago's snowiest winter in 22 years) The photo is taken from my craft room, where I saw random tracks in our yard leading from the house to the sidewalk. Each track looks exactly the same and the exact same distance apart! I can not figure out what they are from. Any ideas?

Elaine Mae Knapp

2008-01-06T22:54:00.001-06:00

My Grandma Knapp passed away last Thursday morning (12:40 AM), January 3. She was 87 years old, turning 88 at the end of this month. Ben and I are in Michigan at my parents' right now. We had visitation tonight and the funeral service is tomorrow.

Even though I dread visitations, this one was actually pretty refreshing. The circumstance may have been unfortunate, but it was nice to catch up with my cousins, aunts, and see old friends. The best part of it so far is when we sat together as a family after the last visitation tonight, and just shared memories of Grandma...laughing and crying together, but mainly laughing. Grandma always had a sense of humor and I know that she was looking down on us smiling as we shared these memorable moments as a family.

Everyone is at peace about her passing, because she was ill for quite some time. The night she passed away, all three of her surviving children were there with her at the nursing home along with my mom, cousins, and Rachelle. My dad and his two sisters were actually in the room when she died. They said she opened her eyes wide and smiled, then she was gone....just like that. She saw something.... she saw Jesus.

It is very comforting to know Grandma is in a better place and no longer in pain. Funny how death can be so much easier to cope with when you know the deceased person had a relationship with the Lord. We can only be selfish in feeling sad for her death. Instead, we should rejoice that she is with Who we long to be with someday. We'll see you again someday Grandma! We love you!

Phantom of the Opera

2008-01-01T14:41:00.000-06:00

Ben bought me tickets for Phantom of the Opera for Christmas. Little did he know when he bought them...the show was playing on New Years Eve! So, we had to cancel our plans to go to the N'skis for a party, and headed to the city instead. We took the train and walked to the theatre from the train station. It was a short distance, but it was cold and snowy. We really just laughed at each other in the end because we literally ran back to the station after the show.

The night was a lot of fun. We didn't go out to dinner before-hand because places were booked and others were really expensive. So we saved our green and ate a sub from Jimmy Johns on the train.

The show was amazing. I have to admit when I saw this show in Nashville I didn't like it very much, so I'm glad I got the chance to see it again. Last time I was bored, this time I was intrigued. Ben loved it too. All of the lead roles were very good, and the inside of the Cadillac Palace Theatre was so beautiful!

Christmas in Chicago

2007-12-08T20:42:00.000-06:00

Ben and I rode the train down to the city last night and spent about 3 hours shopping, walking, and dining. We didn't have any set plans, but knew we wanted to walk the State Street area and see this year's Macy's windows displays. The theme in the windows this year was the Nutcracker. Last year's story was Mary Poppins.

On our way, we walked past the ABC studios during the evening news so we were able to watch the live taping. Our friend, Tiana, loves ABC's weatherman so we snapped a quick pic of him.

Since we were starving right away, we decided to eat at the first appetizing looking place we could find. It took a little while, but we came across this classy little pub called Elephant & Castle. I ordered the meatloaf while Ben had some sort of stew. Our meals were delicious!

An update on our lives besides trips to the city? Well, we have our membership interview tomorrow for church and this weekend we'll be traveling. We're spending Christmas in Michigan with my family and Ben's parents are going to be there too!

Ben's applying for jobs at this point for next Fall. It's funny thinking about how we don't even know where we will be living in less than a year! He defends his dissertation February 15 and graduates in May. Have 4 years already almost gone by!? We almost can't believe it...

Check out more photos by clicking here.

GUITAR HERO!

2007-11-25T17:28:00.000-06:00

Ben brought Guitar Hero to my parents this weekend for Thanksgiving so we could play it on my dad's projector. We played and played and played. My mom really got into it... (see the video above). And, believe it or not, my Grandmother was good!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

2007-11-16T18:16:00.001-06:00

Ben is in San Diego for a conference, and I thought the week would be hard to get through. But, thanks to my girlfriends, this week has flown and it's already Friday!! I've kept myself busy with hosting a jewelry party on Tuesday night and hanging with some girlfriends last night. Today I went with my friend Colleen and her daughter, Lauren, to check out some specialty markets. We also spent some time at The Guitar Center and had lunch at a local restaurant, The Seven Dwarfs.

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get some cleaning and laundry done before heading out for some more girly time with my friends Jen and Laura. We're going to help Laura pick out some fun decorations for her home.

Tuesday, after the jewelry party, most of the girls stuck around and hung out. Four of the other girls' husbands were also out of town, so we were all in relaxed moods and had fun. A few of us ended up playing Guitar Hero III! Ben's not the only one who can have Xbox parties! :)

Last weekend we were in Oklahoma for Mike and Mikel's wedding. It was a fun road trip and we got to see some friends we haven't seen in a long time.

Next week we'll be in Michigan for Thanksgiving and we'll get to see Angie and Glenn! (For those who don't know, that's my older sister and her husband) I can't believe the holidays are already here... but I'm looking forward to it!

A Few Updates...in Bulleted Form

2007-11-06T09:48:00.000-06:00

*I took the day off work today. yay!

*Yesterday, three girlfriends and I went to the So You Think You Can Dance concert at the United Center (where the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks play).

*Also yesterday, at work our unit (9 of us) went to a women's self defense class during the entire afternoon. It was nice because it was a half day of work and the class was actually very informative and fun! I would suggest you sign up for taking one sometime. There are some good tips you need to learn.

*Ben's parents were in town for the weekend. We were supposed to go golfing, but the course was closed in the morning due to frost.

*Ben's birthday was October 25th and we celebrated with our annual BYOP party. (See pics from previous post)

*We are going to Mike Forehand's wedding this weekend in Oklahoma, where we'll get to see Chris and Vicki and Genna!!

3rd Annual BYOP Party (Bring Your Own Pumpkin)

2007-10-22T21:06:00.001-06:00

Check out pics from our BYOP party we held Saturday...

Two links:

2007 BYOP Pics Album 1

2007 BYOP Pics Album 2

Michigan with the Larsen's

2007-09-22T20:09:00.001-06:00

Last weekend, we went to visit my parents for the weekend. But, this time we brought our pals, Scott and Jen Larsen. My parents live on lake BellaVista in Rockford, MI, and Jen was so excited to go out on the lake in a boat. Unfortunately, the weather was only in the low 60s so it was way too cold to go out on the lake. We made the most of it anyways, and spent some time at the Orchard eating donuts and drinking cider. Then made our way over to the winery and paid $3 to taste 6 wines of our choice. We even got to keep the goblet as a souvenir!

On our drive from Chicago to Rockford, we stopped at mine and Ben's usual seasonal stop, Sherman's Dairy, to get some delicious homemade ice cream. At this dairy, when you order a "baby" size, it is twice the size as another dairy's large size! No kidding! We finally made it to my parents, just in time for a nice cookout on their newly finished deck.

Of course, we spent the rest of the evening watching a movie in my dad's home theater...with the nice leather theater seats and movie projector. Always a treat (especially for Ben)! The next morning we woke up to go to the Orchard and winery, where I lost my favorite sunglasses while trying on some goofy reading glasses. But, all was lost when we stopped at Starbucks afterwards to get Scott his daily coffee and they were all out of travel lids! Scott's world almost stopped! We found an alternative lid, and continued on our way.

We headed to downtown Rockford, had lunch, checked out a few shops, then went rollerblading on the trail along the river. Exhausted, we headed back to my parents'. I then took a nap while Ben and Jen competitively played about every game you can play on Wii. Of course, Jen beat Ben in just about every game... Killed him in bowling! I was quite proud of her. :)

We ordered pizza from Marinades' (a local pizzeria) for dinner and spent the rest of the evening playing card games and watching another movie.

Sunday, we attended church, played more cards games, and thought we were heading home right after lunch. But, our plans changed when we realized that the Bears were going to playing while we were on the road. So, we thought it would be a better idea to stay and watch the game on the home theater, THEN head home. We didn't get back to Wheaton until pretty late.

All that to say... we had fun last weekend!

You can view the rest of our pictures from the weekend here: Michigan with the Larsen's Pics

Da Bears!

2007-09-08T23:33:00.001-06:00

We've been extremely busy the past few weeks. So a quick update...

Two weeks ago my family (little sister, mom, dad, big sister, brother-in-law) came to visit during my birthday weekend. It was the first time we've been together since my wedding! It was wonderful to hang out and laugh the entire weekend. Oh, and to give you an update from the last blog (where I asked for prayers on my parents safe commute)... Well, it took them 7 hours to drive a usual 3 hour trip because of the flooding! On the way home, they had to stay in a hotel because east-bound I-80/94 was shut down. My poor parents! They are so easy-going though, they certainly made the most of it!

The following weekend (last weekend) some of my friends from Nashville came for a visit. Marlena, Devin, Kristin, and Ben all drove up from Tennessee to spend the Labor Day weekend with us. It was so fun to have my girlfriends here to be goofy with again and just spend some girly time together. We went to the French Market, downtown Chicago, the Flea Market, IKEA, Sweet Tomatoes, and just hung out at our house. I think everyone had a good time just seeing each other again.

Now we are at this weekend. Last night we had our first GG of the Fall, so it was nice to be back together again with our Friday night friends. Then today Ben and I went on the Chicago Luxury Home Tour. It's like the Parade of Homes, except the homes in this tour range from $1 million to $6.5 million! We toured a $5.4 million house today that was quite useless. Seriously, who needs all those odd-shaped rooms.. ?? Anyone with that many kids usually can't afford that big of a house, right?

Tomorrow is the opening game for da Bears! Go Bears!! Since U of M is not doing well, I'm going full fledge into the Bears this year. Not that I have really ever followed UofM...but I am from Michigan, so everyone assumes that I do...so I just play along.

That's it! Good night!

Auntie Em! Auntie Em!

2007-08-23T19:09:00.000-06:00

It's a Twister! Today has been quite an interesting one. First, three storms came through during the night. All pretty severe thunderstorms. Then, at work today...at 2:45pm...the tornado siren sounded! Our Emergency Response Team (ERT - volunteers who know nothing about tornadoes and severe weather) directed everyone to the first floor to take cover. I quickly shot Ben an email "tornado siren is going off! yikes!" and rushed down the stairwell to the first floor and joined my coworkers. Of course, there were no windows to look out of at this point and the hallway was way too crowded. People were fanning themselves and sweating. One lady somehow happened to have an ice-pack on her and applied it to her neck!

After about 15 minutes of waiting, we received additional directions from the ERT that a tornado touched down and was headed our way! So, (and this still doesn't make sense to me) they commanded us to take shelter in the stairwell by doubling up and moving up the stairs so that everyone could fit in! I couldn't help but find a spot on the bottom floor in the farthest corner and refused to move up the stairs. I'm sorry, but was I always taught wrong that if there is a tornado warning, then you should move to the lowest area of the building possible!? Then tell me why they were making people go UP the stairs?

Anyway, after a total of 45 minutes, the weather was supposedly cleared so we could finally leave the stairwell and go back to our desks. I called Ben when I finally found a spot in the building that would give me service. Someone told me that a tornado touched down in Winfield, which is our neighboring town..so I wanted to warn him. He told me he just got done mowing the lawn and I said "head for the basement!". Right when I hung up, someone said "a tornado just touched down in Wheaton!" Of course, then I felt a bit more unsettle.

I stuck it out at work since the sky was looking very dark in the area I would have to drive to get home. About 4pm I left and headed next door to Meijer and spent about an hour grocery shopping. In the store, I noticed a few ladies running around with their carts... and I mean literally RUNNING. I thought it was strange, but really didn't think much of it. It wasn't until I checked out, paid for my groceries and exited the building that I understood why these women were rushing to get their shopping done. The sky was so dark and the clouds were extremely creepy looking. It wasn't raining at this point, but the clouds were moving fast and I could see the lightning on it's way. I ran to my car, threw the groceries inside, then ran back into Meijer because I was too afraid to start driving home. The drive is about half an hour, and the sky in my direction was once again too threatening.

Well, my moment of waiting out the storm did not last long. I stood outside at the door entrance, marveled at the lightning and beautiful clouds, then decided to brave it out and start home. To this hour I still can't tell you if my decision was wise, because the whole way home I was about crying and if I had a full bladder I probably would have wet my pants. I can not tell you how many emergency vehicles I passed by, how many stop lights were out, how many deep puddles I drove through, how many lightning bolts blinded my vision, and how many thoughts went through my head about what I would do if I flooded my car!

Thanks to Jen and Tiana for keeping me busy on the phone for part of the drive, and to my awesome triple tread tires for keeping me from hydro-planing. I am now home safe and sound with Ben...and most importantly, our basement is not flooding. :) However, it is still storming... probably the longest line of storms I've ever witnessed.

When you think of it, say a little prayer for my family tomorrow. My parents are driving from Grand Rapids with my little sister to see us. And, my sister and brother-in-law are flying in from Colorado. We're all going to have an awesome weekend, but their commute might be a little difficult since the weather is calling for more storms!

Two Down, One to Go!

2007-08-14T20:22:00.001-06:00

We're talking about weddings. Within 9 days, we have 3 weddings! We've already gone to two, and now we are going to our last one this Saturday. Last Friday, Ben's brother was married in Park City, UT. Then Sunday, our friends Hannah and Eric were married in Wheaton. Then, this Saturday our friend Patrick will be married in Ohio. Ben is in all three weddings, so we have had many free dinners lately! :)

Follow these links to the first two weddings, and later I'll post more pics for the third wedding.

Click for Photos of Eric and Hannah's Wedding

Click for Photos of Joel and Dana's Wedding

H to the Izzy, P to the Pizzy!

2007-07-29T11:44:00.000-06:00

We are currently consumed with the 7th Harry Potter book, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. Last Monday I bought two copies at Target so that Ben and I could read it at the same time. A few nights this week we have sat in bed reading and reading and reading... We even spent about 15 minutes at a Harry Potter party in downtown Naperville where there were thousands of people just hanging out, enjoying some Butterbeer, Polyjuice Potion, pictures with Dumbledore and Severus Snape...and much, much more!

Ben is not as determined as I am to get through the book quickly. I'm at the point of paranoia where I think that someone is going to ruin the ending for me if I don't hurry and read it all. Two friends at work, who's cubicles are right next to me, have read it and want to talk about it...so I need to finish before they let it slip!

Beyond Harry Potter, we do have other things going on in our lives keeping us busy as ever. Tuesday we attended our new Growth Group, which was definitely fun. Also, some friends and family have been in town visiting and there are more to come! Last weekend, Ben's parents came to visit. Ben and his dad golfed almost every day, and his mom and I got to partake in the golfing fun one afternoon too. What a lovely course it was!

This last Wednesday we got to see our friend, Jared Mott, from Nashville. He was with his Youth Group staying at the Hostel International in downtown Chicago. So, we met up with him, had dinner at the hostel, attended the evening chapel service, then headed off with the youth to compete in a scavenger hunt around the city.

Friday, we went down to the city again to see our friends, Jeff and Amber Carlson who were in town from Texas. It was so good to see them and spend time with them talking and laughing. We met at "the Bean" (which the creator prefers to be called "the Cloud") in Millenium Park, then hung out at a Chocolate Cafe on Michigan Ave for quite a while. Dinner was at Gino's East (Chicago style pizza) where we continued to just share stories and crack each other up. As always, it was hard to say goodbye at the end of the night.

Us, with Amber and Jeff Carlson

Yesterday (saturday) was a nice lazy day for me and Ben. We just hung out inside the house all day, reading Harry Potter and watching movies. We actually attempted to watch The Last Mimzy, only because "Dwight" from The Office is in it. What a boring movie, even for little kids! We couldn't make it through the whole thing.

Now, Ben just left for Madison, WI to help his brother, Joel, move to his new place. He'll be back later tonight, so he can rest up for teaching Greek class tomorrow at Wheaton (as a substitute teacher).

In a few weeks, I'll have much more to tell since my parents, little sister, and big sister and brother-in-law will be coming for my birthday weekend! I'm so excited! Then, the weekend after that (Labor day) we have some really good friends coming to visit! We can not wait!

That's it for now. Check out the food blog, too, because I've been updating it once again!

We Love Our New Home!

2007-07-15T17:38:00.000-06:00

"It's only been a week." These are the words that just came out of my mouth when deciding how I was going to start this post. Ben came home from Notre Dame only a week ago Friday and we have already made ourselves a nice home in this new rental house of ours.

It amazes me on how our energy level is so completely different now that we have more space. This house is probably too big for us, but we are having a blast! Ben has been working on the lawn and completely enjoys it. He's already mowed twice! We also painted our kitchen blue, so now not EVERY wall in the house is eggshell anymore.

Many friends were over this week to enjoy our new home with us. The previous tenants gave us their fire pit, so we have spent numerous nights sitting on the patio roasting marshmallows for s'mores.

On another note, we went to the Harry Potter IMAX (3-D) movie the other night with our friend, Wendy, and her two sons. It was really good! I'm now starting the 6th book since the 7th book will be released this week. I can't believe no one has ruined the 6th book for me yet. I know something major happens in it...but I don't know what.

That's it for now. You can see pics at these links:
Whitman Home Before Pics

Whitman Home After Pics

Wheaton Fun

How I Will Miss the Venables

2007-07-05T18:55:00.000-06:00

Wow. What a whirlwind these past few weeks have been. All the events have been leading up to this day... the day the Venable's left me with an empty home until Ben comes to join me tomorrow. "Who are the Venable's," you say? Where do I begin?

Let me give you the short story first, then if you want to continue reading you can get the long version next. The Venable family consists of parents Steve and Michelle and their adorable children Sarah, Steven, Rebekah, and Moriah. Steve was our previous landlord who was also our savior in providing a wonderful safe home for us to rent after a disturbing event occurred in our last apartment complex making us realize we needed a new home to feel safe. We quickly became good friends of the entire family and now they left today to make the long trek to Phoenix where they will start their new home and Steve will continue his new job at Harvest Bible Chapel.

This last week and a half I've been living with the Venable's. If you read earlier posts, you will understand why. The first week I was actually not around much because I stayed with my friends Jenn and Scott for two nights, then picked up Ben at Notre Dame to spend the weekend in Michigan with my family. But, this week (Sunday night through today) I was able to spend a lot of time with the Venable family and really enjoyed the short-lived time.

First I have to explain my admiration for Michelle, who has been trucking along quite well (although rough at times) with her cancer treatments. I've learned that she is a ridiculously strong woman! I don't mean muscle-strong, I mean faithfully strong, motherly strong, energetically strong! She doesn't even know it...but I've learned so much from her just this week.

Now Steve... what a worker and a care-taker! Not only was he busy taking care of his own family, but he made sure we were taken care of, too, like we were his own. (Of course he's not quite old enough to be our dad, though. ha) Both he and Michelle made sure that Ben and I were taken care of through-out the last (almost) two years. While I was living with them, they made me feel so at home and I am very grateful for that.

And on to the kids... all four of them... precious, sweet, little angels that I will miss dearly. I don't want to be mushy, but my eyes really are tearing up as I'm typing this part. This week Moriah, Rebekah, Steven, and Sarah allowed me to remember what being a kid and using your imagination is all about. The most special part was our walk in the park...Was it 4 miles? They showed me their "common"...their secret open field that has a hidden trail where no one else goes. How privileged I felt that they shared this secret place with me, so now I can escape there and maybe read a book, bring Ben and play Bocce ball, or just walk around and practice using my own imagination. We spent more time playing in the yard...games I haven't played since childhood. Like, "Red Light, Green Light" and "Mother May I". Every one of these kids have their own unique personality that just shines and shows their extremely good upbringing. Now I really can't wait to have kids of my own.

Thank you, Steve, Michelle, Sarah, Steven, Rebekah, and Moriah for sharing your lives with me these last few days. I really enjoyed myself and hope you have a safe journey to Phoenix. You'll all be in mine and Ben's prayers. We love you!

Our First "Big" Move

2007-06-08T16:53:00.001-06:00

Ben and I are moving two weeks from tomorrow. This is our first big move. Actually, it's semi-big but compared to our past moves, it's huge. In the past Ben and I have only moved as single people with only enough stuff to fit into our cars with one trip, and once as newlyweds only 2 months after our wedding so we didn't have enough stuff accumulated to define it as a big (or semi-big) move.

Now that we have been married 2 years and lived in the same place for almost 2 years, we have filled our condo and now have to move it all. Those of you with homes filled with a LOT of stuff and who have moved on several occassions are probably laughing at me right now...but you can't take away the fact that this is an exciting "first" for us.

Let me tell you, I did not think this move was going to be classified as anything major. But, when you add up the sofas, buffet, dinner table, breakfast table, kitchen appliances, dishes, bedroom furniture...and Ben's books... it is more than I expected.

Ben was in Seattle all week and I had many opportunities to start packing without him. Our nice new neighbor, Larry, gave us his boxes and packing material so I had what I needed to begin. Unfortunately, each night I busied myself with something else to do rather than packing and thought "this move will be a piece of cake, I can wait until last minute to pack." Well... I'm glad I kicked myself in the butt and started a little tonight, because spending 3 hours just to pack up the things in my buffet table made me realize that this packing process is going to take a lot longer than I anticipated! Good thing Ben flies home tonight and can help! Needless to say, it made me stressed. :)

So what do I do to relieve the stress? I blog about it.

Thanks for listening.

Looking Back and Ahead

2007-06-03T16:24:00.000-06:00

A lot has been going on, yet not much time to blog about it. We finished our vacation in Michigan where it was nice to spend time with friends and family. Now we're back in the good ol' routine of work and school.

One twist coming up is that we are moving! Now do not get too excited and start thinking we are moving because Ben got a job early so we are relocating to where his job is. Nope.. that's not it. We are moving because our landlord got a new job and he is relocating to Arizona with his family and therefore has sold the condo. Here's the fun part. We have to be out by June 28, which is a Thursday. Unfortunately, Ben will be in Indiana that entire week (along with the week before and the week after) for his 3-week summer class at Notre Dame. Since he will be home on the weekends, we are going to move all of our big stuff the Saturday before, to our new place that we're renting. Then, my mattress and I (and some toiletries, clothes, etc) will stay in the condo until June 28. That day I will move in to our new place and will live with our current landlord's family who lives there right now but will be moving out July 5. Our landlord and family are very cool and fun...so this is not a problem at all. I just hope they do not mind putting up with me! :)

Let's back up to our vacation in Michigan. I last posted about my mom and little sister visiting Chicago and then we drove to Rockford, MI to hang with my dad too. Ben flew into Detroit that Tuesday so we could spend the next three nights with Chris and Vicki. Their baby, Genna, is adorable! She has the most contagious smile!

While spending time with Chris and Vicki, we also went to one of our favorite restaurants (that we do not have in Chicago) called Pei Wei's. It's like PF Changs, but a faster version.. It's actually owned by PF Changs. We also went to a Tiger's game with them and Kara and Josh Graves. It was SO hot! Because of this, Vicki and I took Genesis out to the picnic table area where she could be shaded and sleep. This gave me and Vicki a good time to talk and catch up.

Friday (a little over a week ago) we headed back to Rockford to spend two more nights with my parents. Then we headed back home Sunday morning. On that way back to Chicago, we stopped by a diner, The Frosted Mug, that was featured on "Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives" which is a show on the Food Network. We ordered Char Burgers and an Oreo Shake. Yum yum!

So all last week we were working and studying until Thursday night when our friends, Dave and Debbie, came into town for a conference. They stayed with us so we could hang out Friday and Saturday evenings. It was really good to see them and spend some time with them before they took off this morning. We stayed up pretty late both nights, so today...I hate to admit...I took a really really really long much-needed nap! I won't tell you exactly how long, but I bet Tiana Quinn can give it an accurate guess. :)

This week we have another end of the year PhD party to attend, but I think our weekend is pretty free for once. We'll definitely be using the free time to pack and organize for our move. Oh! But...wait! Sunday we get to see our good friends Emily and Aaron at their "We're in Chicago so come see us" party! Yay!! I can't wait!

Have a great week!

Knapp Girls in Chicago...Minus One

2007-05-20T21:12:00.000-06:00

My mom and my little sister took a bus to Chicago yesterday. The women in their church get together every year and take a Chi-town shopping trip. So, my mom and Rachelle signed up. Instead of taking the bus back, though, I met up with them and we took the Metra back to my condo for the night. Today I drove them back to Michigan where I am staying for the week. I decided to take a week off work for a much needed vacation. Ben is in Maryland until Tuesday when he'll fly to Detroit so I can pick him up and we'll visit Chris and Vicki...and Genna.

So...yesterday in Chicago... We shopped a little and walked a lot! Mom and Rachelle arrived about 10am, which is 11 to them. So we went to a shop, then walked over to Ed Debevic's for lunch. They had never been there, so i thought they should have the experience. It was fun! For those of you who've never been there or heard of it...it's a diner where the waiters' job is to be mean to you. :) Two of the waiters sang to Rachelle for her birthday and gave her "The World's Smallest Sundae". After lunch, we shopped a bit more, then took a cab up to North Ave beach where we rented bicycles. It was a ton of fun to ride our bikes up and down the Lake Michigan coast. It was probably the best weather we've had all year...just gorgeous! There is something about Lake Michigan that makes me extremely happy and feel so at peace. This was definitely my favorite part of our day Saturday. We drove down to Navy Pier, then back up to the beach to drop off the bikes.

Afterwards, we hit up the State Street shopping area where I introduced Rachelle to the store, H&M. She bought a really cute outfit and another shirt, but before we left she decided to return the outfit. Ohhh...the fickle days of a 13 year old. We then rushed to the train station to catch the 4:40 train back to Wheaton. Once we arrive at my condo, we cleaned up a bit then headed to dinner at Cafe' Buonaro's which is a delish "mom & pop" Italian restaurant in the old train station in Naperville. Then after dinner, I took them to the quaint downtown area of Naperville to have dessert. Our dessert was at Ethel's Chocolate Lounge where you can get dessert fondue! Yummmmy!!

Dessert wore us out! We were ready to hit the sack by the time we got back home. This morning we woke up, went to church, came home and ate our leftovers for lunch. Then mom wanted to go to IKEA ..especially to pick up some ginger cookies that are $4 at the grocer store but only 99 cents at IKEA. :) Rachelle bought a squiggly mirror for her new Hawaiian room, then we got back on the road to head home to Michigan.

Tomorrow I think we are going to spend some time in downtown Rockford and Grand Rapids. I'm going to see my Grandmother Borrello too!

I'll update more later this week when we get to see little Genesis! Can't wait!

Google Image Search

2007-05-12T11:22:00.000-06:00

Here are the rules: Put the answer to the question in Google Image search function, and you have to use the FIRST image that comes up--you can't use quotation marks when you search:

The city and state you were born in: Grand Rapids, Michigan
The big building with the slanted roof is the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel where we had our rehearsal dinner and where we stayed our first night after our wedding. Aaron and Emily also stayed here for their 1-year anniversary.

The city and state you grew up in, that you consider "home": Belding, Michigan

The city and state where you currently live: Wheaton, Illinois

Your first and last name: Nikki Gladd

Yeah, not sure who that is... they say his name is Bobby Gladd.

Your grandmother's name: Mary Jane Borrello
Again, no idea...hmmm.

Your favorite food: pepperoni pizza
yuck...this pizza looks nasty

Your preferred drink: Sweet TeaYour favorite smell: new house
A favorite song: Our Wedding Song by Dan Rood
A place you have lived: Nashville, Tennessee
A place you have worked: Hallmark Services Corporation

A place you want to visit: Napa Valley, California

That wasn't too interesting... Oh well. Maybe you can repost this on your blog and come up with better pics.

Chick-Fil-A!! Yay! Yay! Yay!

2007-04-29T20:34:00.000-06:00

Anyone who knows us well, knows that Ben and I LOVE Chick-Fil-A. For those of you who do not know of Chick-Fil-A, then you must check them out at www.chick-fil-a.com. It is a fast-food chain that serves chicken instead of burgers and waffle fries instead of standard french fries. The food is hot and fresh...and they have sweet tea! Yummmmmy!! While Ben grew up with it, I was only introduced in 2000 when I moved to Tennessee for school. The restaurant originated in Atlanta, which is the first one that I've been to! That particular one is called the Hobbit House and is quite cute! The rest of the restaurants are either regular free standing units or placed in a mall or university. One interesting fact we also like about Chick-Fil-A is that they are Christian owned, therefore closed on Sundays. Of course, when we are traveling on a Sunday and see a sign for Chick-Fil-A then we do not like the fact that they are closed! ha!

Now, when we moved to Wheaton, IL we were very disappointed to find out that there are no Chick-Fil-A's in our area. We emailed the chain through their website feedback and they replied that they have no plans to build any in the Chicago area! Bummer! But, for sending them a note, they did send us coupons for free sandwiches that we were able to use when traveling to Tennessee. Nice!

Yesterday (Saturday) Ben and I were sitting in our living room trying to decide our plans for the rest of the afternoon/evening. We knew our engaged friends, Hannah and Eric, were coming over later that night, but we didn't know what we were going to do for dinner. Then, we thought of it! The closest Chick-Fil-A is 77 miles away JUST over the Wisconsin border in Racine, WI! Unfortunately it is a mall one, but still... it's Chick-Fil-A and we were CRAVING it! So we called up Eric and Hannah and told them to come early because we were kidnapping them to take them an hour away to eat fast food! They were totally up for it...especially since Hannah has never had the privilege of tasting Chick-Fil-A and had no clue what it was!

They arrived at 5:30pm and we trekked up. Mapquest said it would take 1 1/2 hours, but it only took an hour. On the way we passed Ben's twin in another car. Eric bravely took a pic of him as we sped up to pass him for the prime opportunity. We then found our exit after passing many acres of farmland, then drove about 7 miles off the interstate to find our gold mine. We ordered the value-sized meals and of course Ben ordered the mint milkshake. I wanted to buy a gallon of their sweet tea but decided that I can just make it at home.

Ben and I decided the hour drive was worth it. We compared it to driving into Chicago in a lot of traffic which would take about an hour. So, if we can do that, then we can drive the easy hour up to Chick-Fil-A once in a while to satisfy our appetites. Anyone want to come along next time? :)

Nesting Season

2007-04-22T19:47:00.000-06:00

Geese...they are everywhere. Even in the winters the resident geese remain because they do not know how to migrate south. Since we have a few ponds nearby, we can often hear them without seeing them. The past few weeks two particular adult geese have drawn my fascination, causing me to research a little about them.

The mating season for geese is from February to March. They find a mate for life, but will find another if one dies. Mid-march to mid-May is nesting season. This is where they are right now...in the nesting period. This is the part that drew my attention ---

There is a goose nesting in the parking lot at my local Meijer grocery store. Let me back up and give you a few nesting facts. Typically, a mama goose will find a place near water, near her place of birth...or even the exact place of her birth. The nest usually is on the ground in the open. The sweetest part is that the father goose stations himself nearby, but not too close in order to conceal the nesting location to predators. They stay here for about a month.

I initially noticed the father goose at the grocery store a few weeks ago. At this time I didn't know he was a father goose. He was sitting in the middle of the main drag in front of the store, where cars drive by and yield to pedestrians walking in and out of the store. This goose was literally right in the middle of the road...just sitting there! When cars would drive by (around him of course) he would squawk at them as if they were an enemy. It was really quite interesting. I figured he was just a typical goose there for one day, making cars yield to him as other goose do when they slowly cross streets.

A few days later I was back at Meijer and realized that the goose was still there! So, I took a better look and saw that there were several grocery carts tied together with a rope, forming a type of circular barrier. Orange cones were placed on the outside, one with a sign stating "Beware of the geese." I chuckled, went inside and shopped, then left without any more investigation.

Every time I went to the store for the next two weeks that goose was out in the middle of that parking lot road. I had to share the story with Ben. He told me to bring my camera with me next time and take a picture if the goose was still there. So, I did...and it was still there. This trip was when I realized there was another goose...inside the grocery cart barrier. I took a picture of both geese. Unfortunately, the father goose was not stationed directly in the middle of the road as he usually is, but he was on the side. Then I came home and researched... The goose I saw initially was the father goose stationed nearby the nesting mama goose! How romantic! ha!

I wonder if this is where the mama goose was born. Usually, geese start mating when they are 3 years old. So, was she born here at this Meijer store a little over 3 years ago? Were there carts set up in a circular barrier back then? I would love to know.

TobyMac

2007-04-13T22:19:00.000-06:00

This post is way past due. My new amazing friend, Jenn, is completely obsessed (sorry, Jenn, but you know you are) with DC Talk and especially TobyMac. It's totally cool because it's been a while since I've had a friend nearby that is so in love with music and concerts...and just that whole scene. So, when I found out that she wanted to go to a TobyMac concert in Rockford, IL on a Sunday night but wasn't going to go because she didn't want to go by herself, naturally I hopped right on it and told her that I'd go! We bought our tickets and headed to Rockford on a Sunday night. Rockford is about an hour and a half from where I live...so it wasn't too convenient for a Sunday night since work is usually early the next morning. But, I asked for a half day Monday so that I wouldn't have to come in until Noon.

Now, this concert was a few weeks ago but I haven't had the time to post about it...and quite honestly I kind of forgot. We had a good drive on the way there and made it early enough to grab a bite at a local restaurant. We wanted to go somewhere "different" to eat. I saw Cheddar's and Jenn said she's never been there, and since I hadn't been to one since I was a teenager we decided that would be good. Well, it wasn't. ha! At least it was cheap, but we should've eaten at the Old Chicago across the street. lol

It definitely didn't ruin our night though. We found the church (where the concert was) and headed into the auditorium. To our dismay, even though we bought the highest priced tickets (that really weren't very expensive) they still were not the best seats in the house. The front row seats were all taped up as "reserved" for the 'Gold Star members" (whatever that means). So we found the best seats we could and decided to try to sneak our way up later. There were three opening bands and I don't think I can remember their names... I'll try: Building 429, ...ohhh...I guess I really can't remember the other two. But the other two were pretty hard rock...well, Christian hard rock...if that's a real genre. They were all very good.

The 'security guards' there were just teenagers from the church that wore black "SECURITY" shirts. I remember when I worked "security" for a DC Talk concert at Lipscomb and..well..yeah...I was up in the front enjoying the concert with the rest of the ticket holders. You can say I used the volunteer position to get prime seating and back stage access. :) However, this was not the case at this Tobymac concert. These teenagers really took their volunteer position seriously, which made it difficult for me and Jenn to sneak up to the front. Finally, we built up our courage to do it. We found that if we just didn't make eye contact with the "security nazi", then we would be fine. It totally worked. So, while others next to us were getting kicked out of the front and sent back to their seats, Jenn and I succeeded in securing our spots up front!

Toby did a great job. It was fun to bounce around a bit and just enjoy the concert. It had been such a long time since I'd been to a concert, so I was a bit rusty and felt a bit old, but I managed to really enjoy myself. I got a few pics, but my battery was very low and finally died near the end. My videos are better, but I'm not sure how to post them on here. So, I'll leave you with what I can in pics.

Oh...and Jenn bought a sweet sweatshirt!

Where Did the Corncob Come From?

2007-04-09T20:15:00.000-06:00

Can someone tell us why there is a corncob sitting outside on our bedroom window sill? Maybe one of the condo maintenance men was eating lunch and decided to leave us the left-overs? Or did a squirrel drag it from the park across the street? Did Brian and Tiana find it for 70% off at Dominicks and think it would be a nice treat for Ben? What if it just grew out of the brick and we'll see more to come? Is it from a Field of Dreams?

What do YOU think?

Why I love Sanjaya

2007-04-05T17:20:00.000-06:00

Yes, you read that correctly. I can't get enough of him. In fact, I voted for him, not once, twice, but three times this week! But Ben, what would make you do such a thing? It's simple really: American Idol is a joke. Originally, I was voting for Chris Sligh, but ever since he was kicked off the other night, I have lost all respect. American Idol is just like every other pop show on tv--driven by image. I disagree with Simon when he says "this is a singing competition." Umm, no it's not. It's about short skirts and mohawks. But that is not the half of it. The other half is "vote for the worst," or should I say "vote to bring AI to its knees." The producers of AI have probably realized that their show is losing so much respect it's ridiculous. But it's Fox's fault: they chose Sanjaya. Nobody forced them to put him into the final 24. I think that Sanjaya is the best thing for AI, because it's (hopefully) making them realize that if they are not careful, Sanjaya could win and destroy the entire AI ecosystem. Instead of picking contestants that have attractive images, maybe they should pick them for, hold on a sec, their voices.

Do Cops Really Have Quotas?

2007-03-30T17:05:00.001-06:00

Yes, you are reading this correctly. I am officially a violator of the law. Well, I've been a violator, but I was finally caught today. And here's the story:

As usual, I worked my half day Friday. Afterwards, I planned to meet up with my friend, Michelle, so we could go see our other friend, Kristina (who is visiting from California). It took about 45 minutes to drive to Michelle's in Carol Stream from work in Aurora, then we headed to St. Charles where Kristina was waiting for us at the mall. Needless to say, I was already on the road too long, so by this time I wasn't really paying attention to how fast I was driving down North Ave (Highway 64). Michelle and I were deep in conversation, too, so of course I didn't even think to look at the speed limit signs. Subconsciously I thought that if this is a highway, it must be 55 mph. But, honestly, I didn't even think twice about my speed until I looked just ahead and there were about 5 cop cars resting in a dirt lot on the side of the highway. Speed trap!!

One of the cars whipped out behind me, but didn't put his flashers on until he rode my tail for a few blocks. My heart skipped, then I looked at my speedometer and I thought "Why am I getting pulled over for only going 6 mph over?" I was traveling at 62 mph where I thought it was a 55 mph speed limit. I looked ahead again, and to my disgrace saw a speed limit sign that said 45 mph. Shoot!

I must say the policeman was very pleasant. I did everything I was told to do if/when I got pulled over - Keep your hands at 10&2. Say "Sir". Ask for permission to open glove compartment in order to get the insurance. The policeman asked if I knew why I was pulled over, and I couldn't lie. I just said "Yes, but I honestly thought it was 55 mph until I saw you behind me". He said some kind of jibberish like "I clocked you at 62 mph in a 45 mph with a new top-notch radar that accurately clocks the speed of only one single car". It sounded like a sales pitch. ("Do you want me to buy this fancy new radar of your's or something?" ...is what I thought).

Since the cop was so nice and I have such a clean record and did everything I was supposed to do, Michelle and I both thought I'd certainly get off with a warning. Then, at the same time we looked at each other and said "What day of the month is it?" OH NO!! It's the 30th!! Which means it's the end of the month, which means this cop needs to meet his quota. Which means that's why all those cops were in that sandy lot in the first place!

Sure enough, he came back and said "I had to write you a ticket because 17 mph over it quite a lot." (Yeah right, just tell me you have only one more day to meet your quota.) But, it really did help that he was nice. This is the first time I've had a nice cop. Not that I've been pulled over many times.

My ticket is for $75. :( But, if I go without getting a ticket for 3 months, then the points will be eliminated from my record. He didn't even confiscate my driver's license...which is what they usually do here in IL and won't give it back until you pay your ticket.

So I'm leaving you all with this question... Is it true that policeman give out more tickets at the end of the month because they have a quota to meet? I've always heard this but mainly pushed it aside as a wives-tale. Now, I'm almost convinced that it is indeed true.

'Irish' I Was Chef Duff

2007-03-21T19:19:00.000-06:00

A few days before St. Patricks Day, Ben decided he wanted to take his shot at being Chef Duff from the Food Network's 'Ace of Cakes'. If you haven't seen this show, please spend a moment to set your TiVo or DVR to record an episode before reading the rest of this posting... You will not be disappointed. :)

Ace of Cakes is a show about a cake bakery (Charm City Cakes) located in downtown Baltimore that is owned by baker, Duff Goldman, former graffiti artist. Duff hired a few of his best friends and started his business making cakes with no limit in creativity. Dream up any cake and the staff at Charm City Cakes can make it for you! (At a pricey cost for sure...) Check them out at www.charmcitycakes.com .

Ben and I watch this show together all the time. After each episode, Ben remarks " I can do that". haha! Finally, last week he made a move to prove it.

For those of you that know Ben and his "abilities" in the kitchen, you should be laughing about now. I found a cake recipe on the Internet and helped Ben put together his creation. We agreed it should be simple, so we made a double layered chocolate-coffee cake. Because Ace of Cakes always has a 'theme' to each of their cakes, we decided to make the cake's icing green for St Patty's day!

So I'm leaving you with some pictures of Ben's cake. Although the turnout isn't perfect, the cake is still a sight to see. I'm so proud of him! :)

Wii Mii

2007-03-13T18:54:00.000-06:00

I spent last Wednesday through Sunday with my family in Grand Rapids. My company sent me to a seminar on Thursday and Friday in GR, so I stayed with my parents in Rockford. It is always nice to spend time with them, especially when it is an extended amount of time like this weekend. To top off the fun, my older sister Angie (who lives in Colorado with her husband) flew to GR to visit Friday through Sunday! It was fun having the family back together again...the four girls with the daddy! hehe Dad loves it...

Wednesday, I arrived at about 4pm. We ate a quick dinner then headed to church for Wednesday night service. I'll have to admit, we took off early so we could catch American Idol. shhhh... don't tell! :) Then Thursday I had the seminar, but luckily the trainer let us out an hour early so I was able to rush home and spend a good lot of the evening with my family. Again, we watched the results show of AI...(couldn't believe the results...boooo!) Then Friday was the last day of the seminar... and the trainer let us off early once again...but this time almost 2 hours early! yes! This worked out exceptionally well since Angie flew in and arrived at our parents' only 10 minutes before I arrived! Perfect!

Angie's arrival was a surprise for Dad. We had to wait a few hours for him to get home from work, so we decided to play my little sister's Wii. We planned on playing the bowling game, but we got distracted with creating our avatars. See, on Wii you can create little characters to look like you...and use them for your gamer. So we had the time of our lives creating little people to look just like our family members! I've attached pics.

Dad was so happy to have his girls at home together again. We chilled out at home for the rest of the night and ordered pizza from Marinades in downtown Rockford. Rockford, MI is a very cute little town. We enjoyed picking up the pizza and soaking in some of the downtown ambience.

Mom, Angie, and I took off Saturday morning to get donuts at Robinettes, but to our dismay it was closed for the season. :( I knew they didn't serve cider year round, but I thought for sure they kept their donut shop opened year round. Oh well.. I guess it is something to look forward to in the fall. So we headed to downtown Grand Rapids and spent the next few hours at the Women's Expo gathering free samples and coupons. We then headed home to meet up with Dad and Rachelle (my little sister) for dinner at Old Chicago. Yummmmmy! After dinner we enjoyed dessert at Marble Slab Creamery...holy cow! Then, headed home and made MORE food!! My family is allll about the food! We wanted to make something new for my food blog since this is one of the very very few times all the "Knapp girls" would be together. So we made Mini Baked Wonton Cups (see my food blog).

Sunday was church, then a quick lunch and nap before heading home to Wheaton. I really missed Ben while I was gone, but it was fun to see my family once again. I arrived home in Wheaton about 4:30pm. We relaxed and unpacked, then the Quinn's came over to eat a kid-themed dinner...Mac'n Cheese, hot dogs, and french fries. We then headed to McD's for Shamrock Shakes!

Now that I'm back home, we are enjoying the warm weather. Today was a high of 77 degrees! wow! So Ben and I washed our cars...inside and out! They are sparkling clean now! Now we are watching the dreadful two hours of American Idol. My faves at this point... Melinda Doolittle, Blake Lewis, Chris Sligh, Lakisha...? Who are your's? :) I actually think this season isn't very good. Do you agree?

Farewell Snow

2007-02-20T20:15:00.000-06:00

This last weekend was a pretty fun one! We started it off by hanging out with our new growth group on Friday night while volunteering at the church for a ministry called "Feed My Starving Children". This organization sets up stations for volunteers to come and put together food packages to send to third world countries. During the weekend, our church made over 200,000 packaged meals which will serve 566 kids for a year! Afterwards, our group went to McDonald's...the one in Naperville with a ginormous play area because we are one of only a few couples in our group that do not have kids. Then, we came home, called the Quinns and went to their place to watch the movie The Departed. Oh wow... what a surprising movie.

Then we completed our normal Saturday morning routine which consists of sleeping in, working out, and cleaning. Although, I didn't actually finish cleaning because lunch time creeped up on us and right afterwards we decided we needed to get out of our hibernation mode and go sledding! We stopped at Walmart, bought the cheapest saucers in stock, and once again called the Quinns. So the four of us started at a popular neighborhood sledding spot. After clobbering a few 5 and 6 year olds on our sleds, we decided we better find a new hill. We packed in our little golf cart (VW jetta wagon) and took off to find ourselves a mountain. Well, we found our mountain, but didn't have the $3/person cash on us to rent the tubes to go down it! We didn't give up and instead parked the car, walked across the frozen lake and to a secluded hill. After a few times down, others followed and before long the hill was packed with sledders so again it was time for us to leave. But, this time, we were frozen, fulfilled and basically out of breath so we headed home.

The Quinns

We dropped off the Quinns and got home just in time to clean up and go to the movies with the Beales. Breach was the movie of the night. My very quick review... Knowing it was a true story made it a great movie for me. Afterwards, we hit up Chili's and then headed to bed to get some good rest before the 8:45 am church service the next day.

So Sunday was church, then lunch with the Quinns and dinner at our Sunday School teacher's home with some other new couples in the church, along with the pastor and his wife. We were able to get to know some neat people that night and really enjoyed ourselves.

Now it is Tuesday and we are watching American Idol. Chris Sligh (our fave) performed a few contestants ago. Simon wasn't too thrilled with his performance, but Randy and Paula loved it. I think he's going to go pretty far in the competition. In fact, there are many polls out there that are choosing him as the winner!

The snow is melting away. It is finally warming up here... to the 30s and 40s. I'll take it!!

My Valentine

2007-02-17T09:21:00.000-06:00

Ben, of course, is my valentine. What gift do you give Ben that makes him the happiest? Sweets obviously! So I made him the pictured valentines dessert (directions on my food blog) from leftover chocolate and oreos I had from the truffles. :) Then sprinkled it with powdered sugar...and gave him a card with loving words written inside.

We decided to do an inexpensive valentines this year. To me, that means make him something. To him, that means get me nothing. Although, I'll spare you the details of my frustration and crying (why must I be a woman?) and let you know that the next day he did make me a card. It included a cut-out of Ben's twin, football player Ben Rothlesburger (sp?) telling me he loves me. I gathered that meant Ben Gladd loves me, too. :) Vday...just a day to make women become even more critical of their husbands. Poor guys.

Even so, I'm expecting next year's Valentines to be much more exciting. But, I have 362 or so more days to find out!

Adventures in Babysitting

2007-02-13T19:28:00.000-06:00

Babysitting--I'm not really sure how it's supposed to go. Do I run to Toys-R-Us and garner every conceivable lego? I don't know. But after babysitting twice, I now have everything under control, or to put it another way, I have control of the tv. Much like a covenant, the tv can be a blessing and a curse: keeping a child under hypnosis--blessing; increasing the number of days until graduation--curse.

Speaking of blessings, here in Chicago we have been graced with another snow storm. Personally, I love the snow. I just hate it when my go cart, VW Jetta, slides through intersections. Not only does my car slide, but my leather seats are frozen like a popsicle. So Nikki and I decided to take Micah, the boy we are babysitting, outside for a "treat."

New Food Blog

2007-02-10T18:55:00.000-06:00

Hey everyone! I started a food blog! It's dangerous, I know, to try to keep up with TWO blogs, but I think the food one will be fun...since it is more of a hobby for me. Ben really encouraged me to start one, so I told him that he will need to make more of an effort to post on this blog so I'm not working double-duty! ha!

The food blog will include pictures of food I've prepared, discussions of restaurant reviews, and any other things that come to mind that may include my favorite past time...FOOD! I definitely married the right guy, too, since food is also his fave!

Since we are on a tight budget while Ben is in school, and have many friends that are also in a similar financial position, I will focus on food that can be made at a cheap price. Therefore, I titled the new blog Pennies on a Platter. Hopefully... we will be able to share penny saving ideas with big money taste!

You can find the link to my new food blog here:
http://penniesonaplatter.blogspot.com

It is also listed on my side bar to this blog page.

I hope you enjoy it! Make sure to leave me comments with your food ideas and restaurants reviews!

Snow Birds

2007-02-09T18:00:00.000-06:00

We want to be snow birds this winter. Meaning, we want to migrate to the south, to the warm weather, away from this bitterly cold windy city. My grandparents do it, so why can't we? Maybe we should go stay with them in the southern tip of Florida. Grandma? Would you mind?

It has just been so cold! The other day on my way to work it was -10 degrees!!! Yikes! Emily and Aaron, I bet you are not missing Chicago one bit this time of year. Lucky are you to be in sunny California! To my friends in Nashville... you might be a little cold, but you can never know the depths of it until you come visit us in the dead of the winter. Except for Kristin...since she is an original Michigander. Mom and Dad Knapp, you may think you are worse off because you have the cold temps along with the layers of snow...but, well...yes, I guess you are worse off! Mom and Dad Gladd, I don't even know what the weather is there! I bet it's a bit cold. Chris and Vicki - oh I'm so glad you made it home safely in the snow you had!

So that is my evaluation of the weather. I'm sitting on the sofa every night with a big fluffy blanket that keeps me warm while I surf the Internet and check my email...and of course, watch American Idol. Ben has been sucking down the hot cocoa his Aunt Maryann bought us for Christmas. He's addicted. Probably has about 3 glasses a day! There are three different flavors... white chocolate, milk chocolate, and dark chocolate.

Tonight we are attending our first small group gathering at our new church. We're excited because this group consists of quite a few fun young couples. They are reading a book and discuss it each week. I'm not sure what the book's title is, but this week is about "Sin and the Promise of Grace". The chapter discusses how grace goes right along with sin because grace is needed for someone to open up about their sins. If the individual does not feel like his friends/family will show grace towards him when he reveals his sins, then he is more likely to hide his sins. Conversely, if he knows his friends or family are loving and will show him grace no matter his faults, he will be more apt to share his struggles and accept their help for battling through it.

This reminds me that we should be mindful of showing our love and willingness to accept our friends' and family's faults. We can not be judging of others, for judgment belongs to only One in His own time. If we judge, we will shut those out that are seeking a brother or sister to help them through their trials. My prayer today is that I may be more loving and less judging.

We need to leave now for small group. Exciting news... it's supposed to warm up tomorrow to high of 20 degrees!! More later!

Chris Sligh...the Hoff will Cry!

2007-01-31T18:27:00.000-06:00

We were finally able to see our favorite American Idol contestant last night during the Birmingham auditions. Chris Sligh. Ben knows him from Bob Jones University. If you missed the show last night, on my...you need to find his audition posted on the Internet somewhere. I know it's on Youtube, just do a search. He's freaking hilarious, so I know you all will get a kick out of him.

He made a comment that was priceless. The judges asked him "Why are you here?" And he said "I want to make David Hasselhoff cry." He was referring to last year's season finale when Taylor was announced as the winner. The camera panned to David Hasselhoff who was clearly teared up from the moment.

There are message boards, videos, blogs, etc posted all over the Internet in just the last 24 hours about Chris. The people LOVE him! I could not find ONE trashing on him. Not one! This is such a good sign. We are very excited for him.

Stay tuned...there will be a website going up pretty soon with Chris Sligh fan products. You can find the site at www.chrisslighstore.com Again, it's not running quite yet...but should be next week sometime!

As far as what is going on lately in our lives (me and Ben), we have been attending a new church, Naperville Presbyterian. We really enjoy it and met today at Caribou Coffee with the Director of Growth Groups so we can try to find a small group fit for us. So pray that we find the perfect one for us so we can start connecting with others in the church.

Ben is moving right along with his dissertation. The plan so far is that he will defend in February. No! Not this next month....NEXT February (2008). Our plans to study in London this Fall have hit a bit of a bump since we found out a few days ago that it will cost twice as much as we originally thought! I guess that's another prayer request you can add to your list for us. It's not looking too good anymore for us to go. But, we are still trying to work it out. We're not giving up too easily!

This weekend we are hoping to visit Chris and Vicki in Berrien Springs, MI. Of course, we will have to drive right through the snow-dump of Gary, IN in order to do so. If the weather is predicting flurries, we might not make it. Ooooh...I hope there is no snow! We really want to see them!!

That's it for now. I'm going to whip something up for dinner, then cuddle up on the couch with my hubby and watch tonight's auditions in L.A.

Nikki's Celebrity Look-Alikes

2007-01-27T15:44:00.000-06:00

I love that I look like Carson Daly when he was in Junior High with braces! hahaha

American Idol Addiction

2007-01-24T20:08:00.000-06:00

As I sit here watching American Idol, I wonder what it is that draws me in to the horrendous weeks of auditions. Most of the contestants they show during these initial episodes are the ones that are painfully tone-deaf, and have either no personality, an extremely wild personality, or a factitious one, at that. Are they really supposed to pull our heart-strings with their fabricated sob stories? The producers seem to think so, since they are the ones who decide to place these people on television to expose their deepest fears, regrets, and timely unfortunate events. We can never be sure why we are so entertained by the humiliation of others, however, I will remain a fan and watch every week as our favorite (yet to be shown) barks his way into Randy's dog pound.

The Gamer Returns

2007-01-08T21:38:00.000-06:00

Ben graciously took two weeks off from Xbox after Christmas, and he's now back to it tonight. Of course, New Years Eve I let him play because I"m such a loving wife. :) It was nice having his full attention for those two weeks...well...shared, that is, with his macbook and football and the Discovery Channel and food and his new cell phone and CNN.com and Dan Rood's emails and movies and iChat with Quinn and Skype with Jeff and books and sleep. But, aside from those, he was totally digging me...

more of the new year....

2007-01-01T19:24:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year!!!!

Here are some pics of our New Years Eve festivities. We started the evening with the Strachans, Xbox, latkes, and french cheese puffs. Then the Quinns joined us for most of the Bears game until we headed to COSMIC bowling at 9:30 with unlimited pizza! yum yum! Before the year turned over, we sped back to our place to watch 10 minutes of the various new years eve specials on tv.

Make sure you check out our New Years greeting below on our video blog!