Harry for the Holidays

Last night we went downtown to see Harry Connick Jr. in concert at the Chicago Theater which we've never been too yet. He sounded exactly like his albums and was hilarious in between songs. 

Concert locale.

Macy's on State Street

Inside of the theater. 

Outside of the theater with our infamous head shot!

Soooo will not go see this but I was thrilled when I saw the ad. "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang we love you!"

This is Chicago's version of the tree at Rockefeller - but this is in Daley Plaza. The church behind is a Methodist Church - tallest church steeple in the world. (kinda looks like the Salt Lake Temple to me)

Yay! He was AMAZING!

Inside of the theater.

We went to dinner at this German restaurant. It's been around since 1895 and served the first legal alcoholic drink in Chicago after the end of prohibition. Ben got wiener schnitzel (yuck) just to say he ordered it at an authentic German restaurant and for dessert we split some strudel of course!

Some video of the concert for all to enjoy!

it's that time of year...

Decorations, decorations, decorations...

no idea where to hang this sucker... on the hurricane lamp will do!

our only nativity to the right - and three snowman playing the wisemen...?

totally made this the other night

our lovely matching stockings (thanks mom!)

our fat tree we so lovingly call "big mama" - $14.99 woohoo! (and yes it's real)

oh (random picture I know) but over the weekend I did a baby shower for a friend and these ridiculously cute shoes were my present - so I had to throw this on here

oh and here are some Thanksgiving pics - we were able to fly out to Seattle for five days - above is my niece Claire pooped in the car

right before riding a merry-go-round together (Emma is on the right)

telling secrets...

my mom with Hallie the youngest niece

yeah - just ignore me please

Australia Movie - soooo good

I went and saw this movie late last night and fell in love. It was long but I could have sat there another hour. The story line was good, the casting was perfect, and the romance between the two - oh.. my .. gosh - loved it!

eh

I don't quite know what to say... I mean the book is cheesy so why wouldn't the movie be? I should have expected that. But the music and special effects...? Maybe they'll put more money into the second one... (cross your fingers).

Feeling Hesitant...

So I, like many of you, have read the entire Twilight series. A few times actually... it's a little embarassing but true. No, the writing isn't terribly good (quite cheesy in fact) but the plot is interesting and let's face it - Edward makes us all swoon. So tomorrow I will be venturing out to see the movie. I know it won't be as good as the book because movies never usually are (minus Pride and Prejudice.. Mmmmm... =) I just hope it doesn't "ruin it" for me. I know they didn't have a lot of money for filming so we'll see. I'll let you know tomorrow night how it goes!

Two Thumbs Up

loved it

Obama Nation

We are completely surrounded in Obama Nation living here in Chicago - luckily we like the guy. Last week after we voted we found out that we got tickets to his rally downtown. Even though I had to wake up for seminary the next day - we knew we had to go and witness such a historical event. The streets were blocked off and hundreds of thousands of people roamed the streets. It was an amazing sight to see. No violence, but a lot of hugging and crying of complete strangers - I didn't let anyone touch me though.. =)  We took some pictures and video of the rally - if you're interested in seeing them click on the link below to Ben's blog where he's uploaded all of them.

(if you watch the last video on his blog you'll hear a hollering woman yelling at a poor girl sitting on someone's shoulders... the yelling woman was me - caught up in the moment I suppose..)

Pictures and Video from Obama's Rally in Chicago

a chocolate chip cookie and a dang fine bottle of milk

I have a thing for dressing up as food products for Halloween. Years ago I was a box of mac and cheese and my roommate Kristen was a box of green jello. Then a year later she was jelly, I was peanut butter, her boyfriend (now husband) was a bag of wonder bread, and another friend was a buttering knife (we won for most creative that year). Then last year Ben and I were mustard and ketchup with a hot dog and hamburger hat.

These were our costumes last year (we won for most creative that year as well).

This year ( you can't see it very well ) the other fifth grade teacher and I were a bottle of milk and a chocolate chip cookie. 

Complete with nutritional facts on the back (accurate - straight off their website)!

Then that night we headed to a Chipotle restaurant for free burrito night (if you "dressed up" like a burrito) - they wrap all of their burritos in tin foil so as long as you have a little bit of that on then they're free! We did this last year - sweet tradition...

Our friends Eli and Krista ( I have no idea what they're doing ) - then we headed back to our place for an Alfred Hitchcock movie night.

My Day in Pictures (and small captions)

A friend of mine did this on her blog where she took pictures of her commute and I thought it was interesting.. but she also gets to hop on a train, go downtown, and walk across the river - so mine is nothing compared to her commute by a long shot. It might be interesting to some and completely bore others. Many of the pictures are blurry because it was dark and I was pooped.

This is actually the night before my journey begins by setting my alarm to 4:50 am (M,W, and every other F).

When I leave the house (M,W, and every other F).

The church before I enter - pitch black (I teach seminary on M, W, and every other F - by the way).

When I get out of seminary I always get to see the sunrise over the nearby graveyard - kind of trippy but always foggy and really pretty - I always picture listening to the birds and music playing in Pride and Prejudice at the end when Mr. Darcy is walking towards Lizzy - when I watch the sunrise in the mornings.

Then I arrive here where I teach the fifth grade.

My lovely classroom.

Time for the kiddos! And I know I haven't ever blogged about teaching ( I don't know why exactly ) but I LOVE my job. Absolutely love it! I have 24 10 and 11 year olds that are my little buds. This is my fourth year teaching and is definitely my favorite so far (no offense Sage Creekers). My students have a lot of obstacles in their lives and yet they try so hard to make the best of things and try their very best - (most of the time). 

Leave school usually around this time or a little later.

Come straight to this place M, T, W, Th, and sometimes F.

LOVE this gym - they offer a ton of classes for free like my faves - Turbokick (really fast Taebo-like stuff for an hour) and Group Power (weightlifting, squats, etc. for an hour). They also have t.v.s hooked up to most of their cardio machines (awesome for someone who doesn't have cable)!

Leave the gym and head home. I'm typically gone on seminary days for 13 - 14 hours and the rest about 12. 

*Sorry if this was extremely boring (and you're welcome if this was amazingly entertaining/uplifting/inspirational - HA just kidding) - but I just wanted to give you a glimpse into my typical day in Chicago!

painting and an aching back

Since we'll be living in Chicago for a few more years I decided last spring that I wanted to make it as home-y as possible.. and I love to decorate. A few months ago I painted my dining room a Tuscan-orange that I blogged about before. Yesterday I finally (I've had the paint for 5 months) painted my family room a lovely cappuccino. I thought it'd take me a few short hours since I was only doing two walls... oh no... I'm a bit of a perfectionist with certain things and painting is one of them. Every line had to be straight and perfect. So six hours later... and now I LOVE it!

before

in the middle of painting

huge wall that took me hours to complete (and Ben watching The Jetsons on his computer)

and AFTER (I need a huge mirror to replace that multiple-picture frame on the right-not a fan)!

AFTER!

love the woodwork - the white bullseye woodwork is throughout the entire house (sorry picture is sideways)

COMPLETE!