Elaine Mae Knapp

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

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

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!

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

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

*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)

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

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!

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!

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!

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!

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!

"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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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.