Funny... - Brady

how much more pleasant writing papers is when I'm at Lake Wawasee.

(Not a photo taken this year, but might as well be.)

MOH's to the MAX! -Amy

So, I have to say, I have the BEST MOH's in the world!

Not sure what that means? Not updated on the very latest wedding slang?

Well it simply means I have the best Maid/Matron of Honors in the world! Kelly is my Maid of Honor, and Brady is my Matron of Honor, and those two little cuties did something adorable and awesome: they sent me magic in a jar!

Ok, maybe not magic, but I did get a wonderful little package the other day, along with an email telling me that I would be receiving a prewedding de-stresser. They sent me Living Tree Botanicals Limon Vert Scrub(aka, an AWESOME body scrub to use in the bath or shower).

This stuff is awesome! I am bound to be the bride with the softest skin, since I use it MUCH more than I am supposed to. More importantly, how awesome is it that my MOH's thought of me and sent me this lovely gift! They are AWESOME! Thanks, MOH's! You are the BEST sisters and MOH's a girl could ask for!

Here's a picture of a similar product (I couldn't find a picture of my exact product):

Fabulous Chicago Weekend! -Amy

I had an AMAZING time in Chicago this weekend with 14 of my very close friends! One of my friends has been through a bit of a difficult time, so we decided to make a huge girls' weekend to celebrate how awesome she is. Her sisters really did all the planning, but we LOVED enjoying the plans! It was so good to see these girls, as some of us have not seen each other since graduation. It was long overdue, and we all decided that we MUST keep these weekends going! Here were some of the weekend highlights:

We arrived at different times on Friday evening, and started the celebration right away. We had some snacks and cocktails at my friend, Katherine's, apartment. She is so lucky to live just blocks away from all that Michigan Avenue has to offer. We ended up going out to a bar that was pretty close to the apartment that night, and it was a lot of fun.

The next day, we were slow moving! We did however have a wonderful lunch at "The Grill on the Alley" which is located in the Westin on Michigan Avenue.


Next, some of the girls had spa appointments, while the rest of us walked and shopped on Michigan Avenue.

After plenty of shopping, we refueled with some Starbucks, and then went back out for more! After our break, we happened to see Giuliana and Bill Rancic (Giuliana is the E! correspondent) walking down the street! Needless to say, my friend, Chelsea, and I shamelessly followed them into Gucci where we had to pretend that we could afford anything in the place. After working up the courage, Chelsea talked me into going over to tell them that we were really big fans. She did, and then they asked where we were from, talked about how Lakeview was a great neighborhood to move to, and over all, became best friends in a matter of a 30 second conversation. I'm sure we'll hang out all the time after I move!


After becoming BFF's with famous people, I had the good luck to go with Merrit, a friend and fellow bride-to-be, to the Ralph Lauren Cafe for a drink and to catch up!


Then, we all headed back to get ready for a night on the town! We started with dinner at "Lux Bar." HOLY MOLY they have the best french fries I've ever eaten. They are cooked in truffle oil, then topped with garlic aoili and Parmesan cheese. Seriously, to die for.


After dinner, we headed to "Lasalle Power Co." and "English" for some REALLY fun dancing that went on well into the wee hours of the morning! It was seriously one of the best times I've had, and I am SO happy that so many of our "group" from college could make it.

At the end of the weekend, we were all saying our goodbyes, and it made me super excited when one of my friends said, "The next time I see you it will be your wedding!" Holy moly! 69 days, and then another AWESOME party. I can't wait!

I have AMAZING friends!

Smile Like You Mean It - Brady

I'm not particularly photogenic. I slouch. I get "sleepy eyes" when I smile. If my lips are dry they disappear into my gums. My hair tends to look flat, and my clothes get wrinkled the minute they come into contact with my body.

So, probably in high school, I started doing certain things to try and look cuter in pictures. Once or twice I actually looked up a list online of tricks models use.

I've made a resolution recently. I'm not going to be fake about photos anymore. In other words, I'm not going to arrange my body in a way that I think will make me look thinner or smile in a way that I think will make me look prettier. I'm also not going to insist someone not take a picture of me because I don't think I look good enough at that particular moment. I'm not going to ask people with digital cameras if I can see the screen right after they take a shot. I'm not going to "un-tag" myself from other peoples' Facebook photos because I don't like how I look in them. And I'm not going to put my hand in front of my face when someone just wants a picture of his daughter-in-law on Christmas morning! (Sorry Fred...)




Here are two pictures of me. The first is fake Brady, and the second is the real one:









I know they don't look super different, but in the first one I can tell I'm smiling wider than I do in real life and I'm working really, really hard to keep my eyes open. I'm also tilting my head down on purpose because I read that that pose is more flattering. The second one is just me.


To prove that I'm serious about this, here's the worst photo of me I could find in a quick search of our iPhoto library. Enjoy, and go Slicers. :)

The Old 'Hood - Brady

Kelly has a knack for coming up with good activity ideas. Last night Kevin and I were disappointed because by the time we got home it was too late to go for the run through our old neighborhood - Old Town - that we had planned. Kelly suggested we get up early, run south to Old Town, grab some coffee, and take the bus back up to our apartment to get ready for work.

So we did! 5 a.m. felt really early, but it was an awesome morning. Old Town is gorgeous - there are all of these colorful houses on narrow brick-lined streets. At one point, honestly, I told Kevin it reminded me of Key West.

We saw all of the places we used to go - Second City, Ranalli's, and Coldstone on Wells Street, to name just a few.

Here's a picture taken from the window of our old apartment. We were looking down at Clark Street on a particularly exciting evening. When I was student teaching out in Oak Brook there were snowy mornings where my footprints were the very first on the path you can see in the photo. I always felt like that was a big accomplishment in the big city.

I can do anything good. - Brady

Wow.

I think my favorite line is, "I like my Allisons."



Thanks to the blog red letter daze for finding this one. :)

Isn't this nice? - Brady

"Throughout our lives we will go through the processes of opening to new information, integrating it, and stabilizing our worldview. No sooner will we have reached some kind of stability than it will be time to open again to new information, which is inherently destabilizing.

If we see ourselves as surfers riding the incoming waves of information and inspiration, always open and willing to attune ourselves to the next shift, we will see how blessed we are to have this opportunity to play on the waves and, most of all, to enjoy the ride."

-DailyOM


I read this on a blog called Blissful Self a couple of days ago and keep thinking about it.

Let's follow that up with a nice ocean shot by my favorite photographer, Kevin Rasp. :)

New house! - Kelly

This is my new home. :) Also, I had an interesting night last night- my car was broken in to and all my work stuff (computer, iPod, recorder, etc.) was stolen. It's been a long day dealing with it, but I think I have everything taken care of. Gotta love the big city!

Full of Changes -Amy

My life is definitely not uneventful at the moment. That is most of the reason that I have been a bad blogger, Brady! But I get the message too, so let's see if I can try to sum up some of the craziness that is happening for me at the moment.

1) Finishing up wedding stuff. I have now entered the phase where I feel like another day lived is another day lost... in finishing wedding stuff. I am SO excited for the wedding, and it all honesty, we have everything pretty much set. It's just the small details. Oh, and 1 big one. Called "getting the Honeymoon paid off." That would be the one hanging mostly over my head currently...

2) Apartment searches. Roger and I have officially reached the point where we need to start looking for, and deciding upon apartments for next year. This reality is starting to make me realize that the bills we have been budgeting for are becoming very real, very fast. While we will be fine, and have gone OVER and OVER the budget, I just can't help but be a little worried. This is, in fact, the first time I will live in an apartment since I spent the upper years of undergrad in the wonderful Delta Gamma sorority house, and the year after college at the lovely Chip and Susie house in La Porte (my parents' house). Real life is quickly approaching. Again, exciting, but making me a little anxious.

3) Job Uncertainty. While I am guaranteed to have a job in my school corporation next year (Thank GOD), I recently found out that I will be bumped from my current position because of section changes at our school. Pretty much, how it works is this. I am low man on the food chain because I have the least amount of seniority. Therefore, when a section of another grade level was eliminated (due to enrollment numbers), my position was given to that teacher, and I will be placed at another school, in possibly another grade level. I am SO happy that I still have a job, as I know that this is definitely not common for all first year teachers in Indiana currently. I don't even mind moving at all. I just am anxious to find out where I am going and what age level I will have. This is actually surprisingly exciting for me, and I am up for the challenge!

Update! - Kelly

Alright, Brady- I got the message. :) So here are a few quick life updates, with more to come!

Mini-Marathon:

As Brady posted, we all finished the mini marathon on Saturday! While the last few miles REALLY sucked, it was a great experience overall. I'm definitely looking for races in the fall, although this time I think I will train a little more. :) We will definitely post pictures as soon as possible!

Vegan and Raw Eating:

As some of you might know, I spent the entire month of April eating vegan (no animal products period- so cheese, eggs, milk, butter, etc. were all out along with meat as usual). Crazy me decided to try two weeks of eating only RAW food with one of my good friends. This week I'm eating breakfast and lunch totally raw, and eating dinner 50% raw. It's kind of weird- I've had a dull headache since I started doing it, which is apparently toxins leaving my body... yuck! (But kind of cool!) Next week I'm aiming to go completely raw, then that weekend I'll transition back to regular vegetarian eating. To give you an idea of what I'm eating, here's what I had today:

Breakfast: Coffee and an apple
Lunch: carrots, peppers, salad w/ almonds and craisins, apple
Dinner: Burrito w/ tofu, rice and veggies, carrots- apple w/ peanuts and agave nectar
Snack: orange juice

I know it doesn't sound like a lot, but I'm surprisingly full and satisfied! We'll see what I'm saying when I try to go totally raw.

Moving:

Adam and I are moving into a lovely coach house together in a few weeks!! For those of you who don't know Adam, he is one of my absolute best friends. We've been buds since high school and have been spending a ton of time together since I moved back to the midwest. We will be coming possessions (and dogs!) in our lovely two story, two bedroom house in East Lakeview. I'll be just a few blocks away from the lake and minutes away (walking) from my two favorite diners in Chicago- the Pick Me Up Cafe and the Chicago Diner. I can't wait to post pictures once we're all moved in!

So anyway, that is what I've been up to- aside from the crazy amount of hours I've been working. :) Life is good!

Leaving Cities - Brady

Kelly has gotten me into reading what I refer to as "lifestyle blogs." These are blogs set up by regular people who just talk about their lives - what they do day-to-day. Like this blog, but the ones I read are hoping to attract readers beyond family and friends. The best ones are by good writers and photographers.

I read a post on one today by a young lady about my age who has to move away from San Francisco. As someone who had a very difficult time leaving Chicago three years ago and is now also feeling sentimental about Fort Wayne, it hit home.

Click here to read this great post.

By the way...- Brady

I have made the last 5, now 6 posts. I'm looking at you, Kelly and Amy.



That's me. Looking at you. Judging.

I know your lives are boring right now. What with getting married, moving to a sweet coach house, running a half marathon, teaching squirrelly 4th graders, apartment hunting in the city, doing a raw food diet, etc.

However, I think people might enjoy hearing just a bit about what you're up to, as dull and joyless as your lives may be... ;)

First Days and Sore Legs - Brady

Big couple of days here. Kevin had his first day at the office. I've gotten some enthusiastic texts, but I have to wait until he gets home to get all the details.

Also, I'm proud to say that Kelly, Kevin, and I finished the Indianapolis Mini Marathon on Saturday in 2 hrs 41 minutes. We are sore and happy and ready to sign up for the next one. We ran the whole way and crossed the finish line together - roomie style.

Kevin's Last Day - Brady

Kevin's on the move!

It's amazing how fast things change. I'm sitting here at the Dash-In, a great coffee shop/bar in downtown Fort Wayne, while Kevin works his final day at his law firm in Indiana. The last time I was here was late last summer. I was trying to distract myself with a change of scenery during the very worst of my pre-grad school nerves.

Now it's the last day of our commute, we're selling our house, Kelly's moving into a coach house with Adam, Amy's weeks away from getting married, and Kevin starts work as a big-city lawyer on Monday.

I think he's excited, but packing up your office at a place you've really enjoyed working is not easy. Send him some good thoughts. :)

Some Alone Time with the House- Brady

Kevin went on a long run this morning. I was feeling a little under the weather, so I stayed in and spent some alone time with our house before the craziness of selling it kicks in around 1 p.m. today.

One of my favorite parts of this place is the door in our bedroom that opens up to a little patio out back. On warm days and nights, (robbers, stop reading now) we leave it open all the time. This was my view this morning as I worked in bed.

Morel! - Brady

Friday, in the midst of an epic weeding session at our Fort Wayne house, I found this little sucker:



Actually, the little sucker was even littler on Friday. Kevin and I decided to let it grow one more day before picking it.

This, in case you don't know, is a delicious morel mushroom. We had found exactly one of these last year in the exact same spot where I picked this beauty this morning. When I saw it growing on Friday, I literally made that angel choir singing noise. Do you know what I'm talking about? Then I started yelling Kevin's name. He probably thought I had gotten bit by a snake or fallen off a ladder or something.

Anyway, I fried it up this morning in olive oil, flower, and salt. Just like my mom and grandpa taught me. Kevin and I each had half with our egg wraps.