Settling in... -Amy

On Friday of this week, I was in a meeting at school where we were informed that 2 people had decided to leave our school midyear because they either weren't in agreement with the school's philosophy or because they were too exausted from the huge workload. This prompted our CEO to talk with all of us about our own personal goals and expectations for our work and personal lives. While my school is going through a bit of a reorganization, I was forced to look at my own commitment to the organization, and what my steps after this year might be.

I'm not going to lie. When I got this job, I was really excited mostly because I had a job in Chicago and was not going to have to commute. Since then, I've gone through a rollercoaster of emotions as I learned a ton, grew as a professional, and learned to somehow manage a workload that seems unmanageable. I was busy as a teacher last year, but nothing could have prepared me for this. We write our own curriculum, which adds atleast 10 extra hours of work for me each week. My kids all get an individualized prescription for what they need to learn in every subject, which adds a varying amount of work for me each week. Bottom line, teachers are busy... every teacher, everywhere, if they are doing their job the right way. When I started this job, I thought, "This will be great for a few years, but my ultimate goal is to get back to somewhere like I was teaching for my first year." Somewhere suburban, somewhere like I went to school.

Now, after this meeting I'm not so sure. I feel like I am busy, but that I'm really settling in. I have gotten really attached to my kids, and I can't imagine leaving their school. I enjoy this job, I'm growing as a professional and learning more than I thought I would. There might even be a chance to move into an administrative role in a few years. I like the freedom that a charter school allows for. I like working with people who are all dedicated to growing themselves to make their students' lives better. I think my thoughts on this job have gone from "This will be great for awhile..." to "This seems to be where I fit."

Obviously, my life will take turns that I'm not expecting, which ironically this job was. I truly enjoyed my life last year, and I truly am enjoying my life this year, so I am excited to see what happens.

But let's just say, I am MUCH more settled into this job than I ever planned on being.

Epic Weekends - Kelly

Every once in awhile a weekend will come along that somehow, out of nowhere, turns itself into an Epic Weekend. That's right- Epic Weekends are so epic they're proper nouns. This weekend happened to be one of those.

While not every story is quite blog appropriate (don't worry, Mom and Dad- I'll feel you in on all the chaos later!) let me give you the run down...

Friday night- Adam and I got home from work, were both exhausted from the week and decided to throw being healthy out the window. We ate frozen pizza, nachos, some awesome little chocolate straws... then proceeded to pass out in food comas on our couches at about 7 PM. Luckily I had set an alarm to go off at 8:30 when I was supposed to head to Amy's for Round One of Amy's 24th Birthday Celebration. Drinks were drunk, fun was had, and I toddled home in the cold at a halfway reasonable hour.

Saturday morning- My parents came to town for brunch! You know it's going to be a good weekend when you're consuming gin and whiskey at noon and the brunch involves multiple desserts. :) My parents hung out for most of the afternoon before heading home to take care of good old Buckner.

Saturday afternoon- Feverishly transitioned from my brunch look (glasses, sweather, messy hair) to my going out look in about 15 minutes.

Saturday evening- Brady, Kevin and I met up with our cousin Reed and his wife Holly at an awesome little Italian restaurant for amazing food and some great wine.

Then the chaos started- after dinner we headed to Duffy's (our go to party bar) for Amy's real birthday celebration. Let's just say I fully maximized the vodka tonics my wristband got me until 10 pm when I switched to fully enjoying the wide variety of shots Duffy's offers. Lots of dancing happened, I got an admirer (who funny enough is heading to jail this week for three years... long story), and ended up having one of the most bizarre nights/mornings of my life...

Sunday morning- Scraped myself off the ground and headed to a wine bar (where I consumed NO wine!) for brunch with Amy, Brady, Kevin, and another cousin, Matt, who was in town from New York for the Bears game.

Sunday afternoon- Came home, passed out, listened to the Bears lose on the radio, swore off drinking for the next year of my life.

No more Epic Weekends for me for quite awhile, please!

Amy 2004 vs. Amy 2011 - Amy

Roger and I have really been trying to make an effort to be healthier and get in shape. This new lifestyle brought about sort of a funny conversation about how different our bodies react to things now then they did when we were 17. Here is a little run down of Amy in 2004 and Amy in 2011, and what lifestyle changes have had to happen to accomodate a 23 (almost 24) year old body as opposed to a 17 year old one.

Amy in 2004:
Ate fast food on a regular basis, probably 3 times a week. Frequently, this involved a bacon cheeseburger from Wendy's and large fries as I ran from practice to practice. I'm not proud to say (ok, maybe I'm a little proud to say it) that I have consumed an entire "Big New Yorker" pizza from Pizza Hut all by myself. Lunches usually consisted of whatever high calorie meal was being served in the lunch line at school, and on occasion, a frozen Snickers bar for dessert. The real kicker is... I DIDN'T GAIN A POUND. EVER.

Went to the YMCA in town to hang out with her friends and pretend to use a treadmill for 12 minutes.

Somehow got enough exercise from after school activities (cheerleading, tennis, show choir) to stay the same size from age 15-18.

Could eat whatever she wanted, whenever she wanted, never make time for exercise, and not be affected in any way, shape or form.

Amy in 2011:

Eats one french fry from McDonald's and feels jiggly for a week.

Instead of hanging out with friends near the treadmills, spends all sorts of time on a treadmill to keep her stomach from hanging out...

HAS to make time for exercise atleast 4 times a week, or else.

Pretends she can eat whatever she wants, whenever she wants, on occasion, then pays for it for atleast a week (depending on how bad I decided to be...).


While this thought it somewhat depressing, I it's actually a really GOOD thing. This is clearly my body's way of telling me that all of that junk is bad for me, exercise is good for me, and even if I wasn't gaining a pound at 17 from all of that I was probably clogging ever artery in my body.

So, thank you 24 year old body for keeping me on my toes (and on the treadmill) and making me feel unhealthy when I'm being unhealthy. It is GREATLY helping me stay on track with this new healthy lifestyle. =)

Snow and Sun - Brady

Some pictures from an exceptionally fun past two weeks.

First, the snow.

Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo.

The view from our window at the house we rented with friends in Lake Geneva over New Year's.

Still in Lake Geneva. A cold walk led us here and to a great martini.

And now the sun.

The Hollywood sign! We were out in L.A. for Kevin's job, and had the best weekend. I forgot how easy life feels when the weather is good. I didn't like L.A. the first time we went back a few years ago, but just embraced the whole quirky, over-the-top atmosphere this time and kinda loved it.

Beautiful views. You can see the L.A. skyline waaaaaaaay down there.

An afternoon at the old Mexican market. I love this kind of stuff. I even gathered my courage and practiced my Spanish.

The gorgeous mountains of Palm Springs.

I couldn't stop gaping at the fruit trees out there. In the backyard of our B&B there was both a grapefruit and an avocado tree.

Where we had an amazing outdoor meal. (Do you remember what it's like to eat outdoors? Sigh. Winter is long.)

Palm trees. My favorites. Whenever I go on someplace warm, I make a note of when I see my very first palm of the trip.

And finally, the mountains at sunrise from the porch of our hotel room. Can you see the windmills at the base? (Maybe not - these pictures are awfully small. But they're there and really pretty!)

Happy Wife, Happy Life... -Amy

While I think this title is clever and a funny saying, it only partially describes what this post about. I am, indeed, a happy wife with a happy life, but there are many other reasons besides the recent marriage that I am happy.

I was driving to work this morning, and I was thinking about how much I had been complaining recently. I am always talking to Roger about how tired I am after school, all the crazy stuff the kids are doing, how much there is to clean up the apartment, how I want to get organized in all aspects of my life, how I need to save money and I'm terrible at it... it goes on and on. But as I was driving to my job (that I am lucky to have and that am totally fulfilled by), in a city that I have learned to love very quickly, with sisters only blocks away, parents only an hour away, a wonderful husband headed to his job (that he sort of likes, but GREATLY helps with bill paying...), a full to-go mug of coffee, and delicious macaroni and cheese cooking in the crock pot for dinner, I couldn't help but think: what in the world do I have to complain about?

Yes, my job keeps me very busy (and tired). But I am lucky to have it, and I get to do something that I totally love and find very important.
Yes, the apartment is never quite as clean as I think it should be. But it will get there and it's fine.
Yes, I should probably work on saving more money. But luckily, it's just Rog and I so we aren't in a huge time crunch to pay for things we can't afford (ehem... children...)
Yes, I should probably eat healthier and work out more. We'll just leave that one alone.

But seriously...
My life rocks. I love it in Chicago. I love that Roger and I just get to hang out and have fun and do whatever we want. I love that my parents and best friends are a short drive away. I love that I have great friends and awesome sisters in the city. I love that I am learning more in this job then I feel like I did in my entire 4 years of undergrad.

I'm just happy...

Happy wife, happy life!

Here are some pictures of things that make my life happy:

Also, a little something fun... -Amy

Just wanted to let you know that I finally got on the ball and posted our wedding annonuncement on an online news website for our town. Click on the words below to check it out! =)

Wedding Announcement

What's cookin good lookin? -Amy

Why hello there blog world! I have thought frequently about stopping by our little corner of the internet to update this blog, but never felt like I had anything super blog worthy. I decided as the new year begins, I am going to make it part of my resolution to blog once a week. While I sometimes may feel like I don't have much to say, I HAVE been trying out my hand at cooking over the last few months and think that this experience may actually be blog-worthy! So, I may throw a few updates or funny things that happened in here every so often... but I am also going to be sharing at least one recipe a week.

Now, I realize this may go against my sister's principles, because they are vegetarian and I am a carnivore. So, while a lot of the recipes will include meat, most the of the time it is optional!

Here is what I made tonight, and it turned out delicious!



Broccoli Chicken Divan (chicken optional, could add tofu or more veggies... potatoes would be a good, hearty subsitution)

1 pound chopped fresh broccoli
1 1/2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of broccoli soup
1/3 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon butter, melted
2 tablespoons dried bread crumbs

Directions
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
Place the broccoli in a saucepan with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Drain.
Place the cooked broccoli in a 9 inch pie plate. Top with the chicken. In a bowl, mix the soup and milk, and pour over the chicken. Sprinkle with Cheddar cheese. Mix the melted butter with the bread crumbs, and sprinkle over the cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, or until bubbly and lightly brown.