Sorry it's been so long. I could make a lot of excuses of how I was really busy or my internet is too slow but let's face it, I'm just not that good at followthrough.
(Sidenote: I was reminded when watching an episode of criminal minds that blogs, twitter accounts and constant facebook posts are just a way for people to post about their lives to people who don't actually care about their lives, making the poster feel more celebrity-like. Now I'm not saying I want you to care about my life or that I want to be a celebrity. Still, I can't help but feel, nay, hope someone cares...but if not, at least I can use this as my outlet, my diary)
Without further ado:
Dear Diary, As I said before I've tried a lot of things and often quit them before I reach my goal or complete them:
*Guitar (more than the 7 chords for P&W)
*Consistantly working out (I fail that one over and over, esp. after the new year)
*Piano
*This Blog
*The Spanish Language
*Witness to Hope - JPII's Biography (3yrs and counting)
*An 80% free throw shooter (lifetime average)
*A solid, constant prayer life
Still, I am not here to share my missteps and fallibility but rather what I've been up to with pictures and videos to boot. Try to keep up. For Megan's B-Day (10/23 for those keeping track at home) we rented a movie and pushed the couches together to make a SWEET fort. We certainly had a great time with popcorn (from the whirlypop) and some tasty treats. Please note: the pink blanket is not mine.
A day later my brother and I got to go to a bears game. (A big thanks to Uncle Randy and Auntie Rose for their tickets!) We hadn't been to Soldier Field since it was renovated. The bears lost a bad game to a not so good Washington Redskins game, but we still enjoyed the stadium and the experience. Here's a shot of Jeff and I and a picture of Megan's favorite Bears player - Hottie Mr. Robbie Gould!
Then came Halloween. We hosted a party with Doug & Patty, A farmer and her cow, a Legend of the Hidden Temple contestant and of course a Publishers Clearing House winner caught off guard. We had quite the delightful time and invite you all to come next year.
Next came a new addition to our house. A Piano! Our family friends, Tom & Melissa Miller were looking to clear some space in their house and offered their piano for the low price of...free+shipping and handling! So my dad and I went down to Decatur it up. Then, the night we got back we decided to redeem Megan's free meal at Noodles coupon - or should I say Pegan? Look closely at the receipt. We definetly told the girl her name was Megan yet she seemed to hear "it's like Megan but with a P" We had a good laugh with that one.
Thanksgiving 2010 found itself at our new house! We were delighted to have Megan's family over for Turkey, Cranberries from a can and liver stuffing (that was a first for me. I think I need a few more years before I can actually say I like it). Anyway, we were able to move our dinning room around to fit a couple of tables and unite the Adult table and Kid's table...I finally got to sit with the adults! I also got to clean dishes afterward with Erin. Boy, how did I get so lucky.
Right after Thanksgiving our good friend Bridget was in town with her fiance, Teddy. It was fun to hang out with them again and enjoy the company of good friends! This is the four of us on the couch and the typical "Bridget & Megan Pose".
As we know, the Sunday after Thanksgiving was the first week in Advent which means...time for Christmas Decorations! I put up the tree (pre-lit is the way to go) and Megan topped it off with our angel. The rest of the decor was a joy to put up and we realized that with the purchase of a house also comes the purchase of extra decor to fancify the home. Nonetheless, our first Christmas in our house was quite a blessing.
We have also found that with a new house comes little repairs to keep it a sturdy shelter for family and friends. Included with those repairs came a installation of insulation. My dad and I found that in some areas of our house there was no insulation. Now let me explain to you how insulation in a home should work. Instulation is rated with R-values. The higher the R-value the better it will hold the temperature in the room. For example: exterior walls are required to have R-16 in them, Basements exterior walls should have R-13 and attics should have R-38 because more heat will try to escape up through the attic and R-38 is about 8" thick because it holds the heat better. Now in my attic we had roughly 2" of insulation across the entire attic, and 0" in some spaces. Thus, we put over 1,400sf of insulation throughout the house holding the heat and lowering our gas bill. Still, this was not an easy process with our attic being so small. Our knees were hurting pretty badly. So here are a few shots of before and after. (And a picture of our house after the first snowfall.)
The next few pictures represent our December in photography. Christmas puzzles, singing Handle's Messiah with our friends (and 1000+ others in Chicago), building another house...of gingerbread, and baking cookies with my family - someone had play with the boys...pantsless.
Finally, our Advent came to a joyous close as the Christmas season arrived. To say that Megan thoroughly enjoy her "Celtic Thunder" Cds would be an understatement. She put them in her car and has not stopped playing them since - esp. "Raggle-Taggle Gypsy". We also had such a delightful time with our nephews. We got them both a sleeping bag with headlight (as you can see). They seemed to love the lights since they could wear them on their head. I also got a great shot with my godson again.
After our glorious Christmas with everyone we celebrated the New Year with our friends Dan & Lisa and Tom & Kristin. Our third annual gathering commenced with a tasty italian beef dinner and a sweet dance party on the XBox kinnect. We wanted to keep it casual...very casual. We wore our PJs because who are we kidding? We're all friends, no need to get all fancy if we'd be more comfortable in sweats. As you can see, our friend Dan donned a sweet onesie for adults, complete with the flap in the back for easy "use". We had such a blast dancing (some really great videos to come later of Dan and Tom popin' and lockin').
Lastly, Megan and I could use a little more closet organization. So I went to our trusty home repair store to buy some wire closet racking. (We have a Lowe's, Home Depot and Menards all within 10 minutes of our house so I go to they who have the lower price.) I took a day to rip out the old shelves, patch the wall, paint and install the new stuff. The photo below is of Megan's side of the closet and has really given us more space.
So that's what been happening. We've had a lot of joy, but we've also had some tough times. Prayers for us will always be welcomed and prayer requests will always be solicited. I PROMISE to try and post more than once a quarter for all those who may care about my celebrity-type life, but then again I am fallible.
