Things That Have Been Keeping Us Busy

While I can give excuses all day long for not posting for a month, it would all mean nothing. I simply apologize to all of you for not updating what has been going on more often, especially becuase some of it is pretty funny.
We'll start with my godson Matthew. Over the past month we've had the great opportunity to spend a good deal of time with our nephews. As seen below, Matthew is getting pretty darn cute (he must take after his mother). Anyway, we had the pleasure of treating him to a lunch at Red Robin - he took full advantage of their unlimited fries special. Also following is a video of him trying to hit a ball as it is 'pitched to him'. Let's just say he is in the learning process.

Each year Megan's family is part of a charitable race at Arlington Racetrack which is named Horses for Henry, after her Grandmother's brother who died several years ago. This is a picture of the family going down to the track to take a picture with the race's winning horse/jockey. It is always an enjoyable event and maybe one day we'll be old enough to go down for the picture. (Then I can get my picture taken with a real live jockey, no matter how much their stature and secret lifestyle may creep me out. I imagine them to be on the shadiness level of carnies. Perhaps they can prove me wrong.)








Like I said, we've gotten to spend some time with our nephews and one weekend we got the chance to babysit for the night/morning. We had such a fun time playing games, reading books, singing praise and worship songs and eating granpy's french toast. Megan and I did get a good scare when at 4 in the morning Jacob climbed out of his crib and we heard a rather loud, THUD! Waking up in a panic Megan harshly wispered, "Jacob!" into the absolute darkness. He responded with an angelically cute, "Aunt Megan?" about 3 inches from her face. We then found out that bringing a squirmy 2.5 year old into your bed in the morning means that you don't get much sleep - or much of the bed as he likes to take up as much room as possible. We certainly had a fun time at our first sleepover. Here are a couple of pictures to make the occasion.








The next weekend we went down to visit Fr. John in Champaign. Now let me preface these photos by saying that I value the opinion of my wife, sometimes I question if I value it a little too much when I put on one shoe of each (gym and casual) and go to ask her opinion, then forget to ask her and even forget to change shoes until I realize when we are 2 hours down I-57 and I'm stuck with one shoe on and another shoe on. Boy did I feel like a doofus. Anyway, He was in such good spirits back in Champaign at St. Matthew's. We took him out to lunch at Dos Reales (the best Mexican restaurant this side of the Mississippi - heck maybe even the other side of the Mississippi). So after lunch we got the grand tour of the St. Matthew's rectory, church and school tour. We had a spledid time down there, as Champaign usually unvails a most welcoming atmosphere if not but for nostalgia's sake.











These two photos are of the Chicago Honor Flight 'welcome home' event at Midway Airport. My grandpa, on his 92nd birthday, was able to take part in this flight wich goes about 4 times a year to Washington D.C. with WWII veterans. The plane leaves first thing in the morning and the veterans (and their caretakers, as the average age is in the 80s) are able to tour the memorial sites which are dedicated in their honor. It is a very emotional day which is capped off by a 'mail call' on their flight home where they receive letters from their loved ones and this grand welcoming. As you can see Megan awaits with her sign, as many other did, and Grandpa has his picture taken with some of his children (Joan, Jane and Alan). It was a really awesome experience to be a part of, I would recommend going for a welcome home sometime.







So that is what has been keeping us busy over the past few months. Again, I apologize for the lack of posts. Still, consider yourself somewhat caught up with our semi-busy life.

Some of My Favorites

Just thought I would share with you (more to come)-
One of my top 5 favorite songs:


One of my top 5 favorite books:

A Steamy August in a Breeze

If you can believe it our August was busier than our July. Perhaps it was because Megan's summer break was coming to an end or perhaps it was because my boss leaving the country and leaving me in charge of his construction company. In either case, we were as swamped as the dog days in August. Still, we found time to have fun on the weekends with family, friends and each other. Here are a few pictures of the fun times we had.
On August 1st we headed up Lake Delavan to celebrate my mother in laws birthday. It was a blast. We always seem to eat good food when at the lake. This time was no different. The birthday of beautiful women now remind me of a quote from Archbishop Fulton Sheen when he said "To tell a woman who is forty, "You look like sixteen," is boloney. The blarney way of saying it is "Tell me how old you are, I should like to know at what age women are the most beautiful." Happy Birthday Mom!

In the middle of August we had the opportunity to go to my family's house in Galena with some of our couple friends. We spend a lot of the weekend playing games...(a lot being an understatement). We ate lots of food, shopped downtown, went to mass and experienced a less than mediocre mexican restaurant. One of the shops we went into was a games shop with many old time games, like these cap guns and stick horses, and fake puke and whoopie cushions. It was a fun weekend.









On August 28th our friend Steve Borello was ordained a Deacon in the Diocese of Joliet. It was our first deaconate ordination, and hopefully not our last. It was a beautifully joyous mass and a very exciting time for our friend. Here are a couple of pictures during the mass and after at the party for Steve (which included a soft service ice cream machine - Best Party Ever!).


The sunday after the ordination our neighbors, who are building a new 4 car garage in their back yard, needed to make some room so they offered us their shed. The only catch was that we had to move it somehow. This shed, 11'x17', would end up about 25 feet away from where it originally stood, but could not go through the fence which our neighbor just put up. Instead, my dad brought some 2x4s and large PVC pipes and, with the help of my borther Jeff and friends Chris and Mark, we pulled the shed along the pipes out of their yard and back into our yard. It was a tough job but well worth the value as we now have a place to put our lawn mower, decorations, tools and any other stuff that we can't fit in our garage. Thanks for your help guys! Oh yeah, my godson, Matthew, came along to help move the shed. His job was to pull with the truck.















Finally, over the Labor Day holiday weekend we treked back out to Galena with my family this time. We ate a lot, played some games, played with the boys, went for lots of walks, went to mass and even sung some P&W. Our nephews are at such a fun age right now, so 3 days with them was such a blessing. The two pictures are of Jacob with Megan and one of him acting like a 'woman of Jeruselem'. Very Pious.








I'll have more photos and videos soon. Updates will be coming more often now that I'm not as busy. Thanks for checking in.

Video Voting

So a couple of posts ago I spoke of what planners do - promote great places. Well, I have promoted and now it's time for people to check out some other great places and vote for their favorite (hopefully, mine).

Here is how you can help:
1. Go to this webpage - “Makes Your Place Great? Your Secret Corner of Chicagoland”

2. Click anywhere on the block of photos halfway down. (A new window will open)

3. In that block of photos click on the photo (with the play button) that is in the third row from the top and second from the right (its a black and white picture).

4. The webpage to open should say "South Cook Street, Barrington, IL - Submitted by Peggy B." (That is my boss). You can watch the whole video on youtube by clicking the link or scroll down to the bottom of the essay click on "vote for your favorite entry".

5. Polldaddy will open and the 17th entry down (about halfway on the page) click on the circle for South Cook Street, Barrington, IL and head to the bottom to vote.

6. See how many votes we have and tell your friends to vote too because, despite this being a Chicago event, you can vote early but not often (only once per computer).

Thanks,
Have a GREAT day!

Photos of the Summer

I wanted to share with you some pictures from the past month of our lives. I haven't been able to post them because of the move into our new place and the lack of internet in that time. Anyway, here they are with some captions of their own.

Here are a couple pictures from the show 6th Street played down at the LaSalle Power Co. in Chitown. Oh yeah, I got my picture taken with the lead singer. (He just happens to be my best friend I grew up with...Great show Mike; we're praying for you, keep playin!)



















These next photos are from the day Megan and I left our apartment and closed on our house. We celebrated with one of our favorite meals: Potbellys!!!





















Our first project in our house was to tear out the old shower surround and 1960s pink tile.













The next project was to tame the vast weed pit that is our back yard. (I'm still working this one.)









After all that hard work I needed a relaxing swim. What better way to do that than to enjoy a dip in beautiful Lake Delavan with my brother-in-law, Kyle, wearing a 'diaper' (A device usually used on babies, but can also be used when refering to a life vest turned upside-down and put on through the legs to allow one to float comfortably and enjoy a beverage or cup of Okey-doky.) We make these look good!










Next thing you know it's my birthday. Yup, July 15th I turned the big 2-4. Alright, maybe it's not that big. But I sure did have a great birthday! My wife made her delicious lazagna and my sister, brother-in-law and nephew Jacob (the smiling one) and my mother-in-law all came over for dinner. We had a great time and I'm even going to get to celebrate it again in a couple of weeks with the rest of my family. Boy, I am lucky! Here is a shot of what my wife got me for my birthday. A Stanley Cup Blackhawks shirt and 2, count them, TWO seasons of the Cosby Show. I sure am blessed!










Last year, 2 days after my birthday I got the privledge and honor of marrying the most loving, beautiful, perfect, god-loving woman. The kind all men hope for. So, two days after my birthday we got to celebrate our 1 year anniversary!!! (I realize three exclamation points may be overdoing it, as one exclamation point should always suffice as it relays excitement, we were really excited.) We went away to Wisconsin for the weekend to celebrate and stayed at a B&B in Mazomaine, WI (about 35 west of Madison). The weekend was wonderful; complete with a trip to a bonafide Cheese Factory, the beautiful Devil's Lake State Park, a trip to the movies (Despicable Me was the feature. While it was good and funny, I would wait for the video. $10 a person is too much. But don't get me started on movie theater ticket prices), Mass, a stop at the "Midwest Largest Shoe Store" and a sweet mini-golf course where it more resembeled a playground than a golf course. These are also some pictures of the room we stayed in. It had a beautiful garden view with a large hot tub, a nice KING sized bed and really cold A/C. All of these things were enjoyable on our vacation as we have none of them at home. The best part of the story of our weekend though came when we began our drive up North. As we sat on I-90 in traffic headed west Megan's Saturn - Olivia - decided that she did not want to shift gears any longer. Yes that's right, her transmission had worn out. Boy was that not perfect timing (On our way to celebrating our first anniversary and first home, we encounter a problem which would set us back an entire car). Thank God for our parents. (No really, we did thank Him for them, a lot!) We borrwoed my dads truck for the weekend and Megan's mom bought a new car and we bought her sweet ride: a 2006 Honda CR-V. It was a set back we weren't expecting, esp. after having just bought a home. But once again, God will provide...and He did!





















































Finally, on July 25 we embarked on "A Slice of Chicago" Pizza Tour with our friends, Dan & Lisa and Kristin & Tom. (Tickets were half price on Groupon.) It was a delightful tour of 3 of the first Deep Dish Pizzaria's in the world. We got to try pizza from Uno, Pizzaria Ora and Geordano's. In between the restaurants our tour guide spliced in fun facts of Chicago, walked us past several 'historic' buildings and threw in some pizza trivia. (Did you know that the #1 pizza topping in the U.S. is pepperoni and the #1 topping in Europe is Tuna? - yuck!)









So that has been our end of June and July. We've been busy...real busy. But more than busy, we've been blessed.

Am I Alone?

We had my parents over for dinner tonight to show them our new house with stuff unpacked. It was such a delight to sahre with them our blessings, many of which they helped us to receive. I was reminded by my mom of how enjoyable my blog was to her. And that is when I realized, I am alone. My mom is the only one who reads this. And you what? I am okay with that. Thanks for reading mom, this one's for you.

What A Planner Does

Here is a flavor of what I have been doing at work; what planners often do. We promote and market the great places of our city. In some sense, we are all planners.

The music is courtesy of 6th Street. Check them out at www.6thstreetmusic.com/

Metro Riding Music

Riding the Metro can be cool. Take a watch/listen.

New House, Renewed Patriotism

The past week brought many more blessings and joys to our lives.
On June 30, 2010 Megan and I happily closed on our first house together! It is a 1,400sf ranch in Hoffman Estates, IL. With a large living room, three bedrooms, 1.5 baths and nearly a .5 acre lot, we should have plenty of room when you come to stay with us.

It certainly has its quirks, like all first homes should, but we are coming to love them...or rip them out and fix them. In fact, our first project has been to re-tile and make over the bathroom. We thought it would behoove us to change the bathroom now before we officially move in, than to try and change it while we're living there (in which case we would be much stinkier as it is our only shower). Tour pictures to come.

My father has been a HUGE help in getting the house fixed up and in good shape. He's really been the one to re-tile the bath, replace doors, install a new water spigot, move the washer/dryer and add a sink, and replace ugly light fixtures. Wow, after writing all of that down, I realize he's done a lot. Thanks Dad!!!

We finally got moved in on Saturday the 10th of July. See some of the moving photos here.


While the house has been exciting we also had the opportunity to relax and celebrate the 4th of July weekend with Megan's family up at Lake Delavan. The weekend was complete with games, food, napping, fireworks, food, swimming, laughing, food and water skiing (beware of the pictures below - they are to come when we get internet).

Time with family is a blessing in itself. We spend so much time in our lives with people who love us unconditionally that it is a sad thought to think of those who do not know the feeling of being loved. It is that freedom to love and be loved without persecution which makes our county a great one. It's not the 'freedom to do what we feel like' or the strong 'go get-em' workaholic attitude or even the acceptance of all races, creeds and religions. No, its love and charity. Love is what we fight for and what we all desire to protect. Even when it seems like our society takes a turn for the worst and values vice over goodness, we must keep fighting for our freedom to love.

Your Smiling Face

Here is one of the cutest videos I have seen in a while. It comes from my nephew Jacob who, when you ask him to smile, feels he would look his best with eyes closed and mouth wide open. He even adds an unprovoked, "Cheeeeeeese". Watch it once and smile. Watch it twice and laugh. Continue to watch it and continue to laugh.

Lord Stanley Presents His Cup

Congratulations to our 2010 Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks!!!
What a GREAT season it was. Thanks for the hard work and the good times; you deserve this.

Memorial Weekend Joys

Memorial day weekend brought about some joyful times. It began with the wedding of our good friends Tom Spoden and Kristin Althoff. Megan and I were blessed enough to sing in the choir for the couple and it was truly a beautiful mass. It certianly brought back many memories from our wedding just 11 months ago and the joy of that day, and the many days which follow. A few pictures show the beauty of the mass and the new Mr. & Mrs. Tom & Kristin Spoden after the wedding and the reception which followed.









The reception hotel had some problems spelling Kristin's name correctly.









The meatballs that were served during cocktails were beyond amazing. I truly believe they were sent directly from God.

Dan gave the Matron of Honor's toast...as she was giving it. And Tom and I have the same ring - Real men wear rings like this.












The weekend continued with a trip up to Delavan, WI where Megan's family has a lake house. We had such a relaxing time with beautiful weather and got to go out on the lake to swim and do a bit of kayaking in the calmer parts of the water. Our cousins however decided to venture to a more central part of the lake. We decided to give them a little more 'fuel' to continue on. That fuel was in the form of a tasty cold beverage.
Anyway, we had a GREAT weekend full of many blessings. It truly was an excellent start to the summer.

Overdue Updates

Well it is time that I owe you an update on what has been going on in the Kramer household.

First, Megan has grown a mighty nice playoff mustache in support of the Blackhawk's Stanely Cup run.

We've gotten to hang out with our nephew Jacob and one day he wondered, "is there a kangaroo up there"? So, I climbedthe tree to check...no kanagroo was found.

Spring has indeed sprung upon us here in the Northwest suburbs and Megan and I have tried to take advantage by going for walks in the evening (as seen below). It has been so beautiful and we are blessed to be able to take advantage by enjoying it together.

Lastly, we are in the process of buying a house. (Keep us in your prayers.) The house is in Hoffman Estates, has 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and is a ranch. It's got a HUGE back yard because it is on a cul-de-sac. It has some room for improvement, but we are really excited.

St. Joseph, Pray for Us!