Surprise Ben!! You're 30!

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

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!

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...

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

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!

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

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?

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

Branson - Labor Day Weekend

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

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

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Happy 30th Birthday, Jen!

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

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!

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

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

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!

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!!

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!