Thursday, October 13, 2011
ILL...INI!
Megan and I ventured down to Champaign on October 1 for the UofI homecoming. We enjoyed an Illini football win, dinner with our friend and presider of our wedding Fr. John, and a beautiful day out at the apple orchard/pumpkin patch - where we got a whole lot of kettle corn and we saw a miniature horse which looked like lil' sabastian from the show Parks & Recreation!
Sunday, September 25, 2011
I'm All Beef Baby!
Megan and I went shopping the other night. We bought everything except for beef, chicken, pork and more beef. So we stopped off at GFS (Gordon Food Service) who provides food to restaurants. aka: they have quality food in bulk. Well we took full advantage of the bulk getting this 9lb log of 85/15 beef for just $2.15/pound! Needless to say I had to take a picture with this massive chuck...and Megan wanted nothing to do with it.
Going All...Phillip Rivers!!!!
While doing the Walk for Life in Chicago today, which benefits the Women's Center, I heard about this article on Lifeteen. It's about an elite QB in the NFL, Phillip Rivers, who is outspokenly Catholic and seems to be in love with his faith - making Mass a priority on the one day he has a big test/meeting/examination during the fall & winter. Check this out. Our society needs more role models like him. It makes me even more happy I drafted him in my fantasy league.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Passing On
It is the end of a generation. My truck, which taught me the joy and practicality of the manual transmission in a time when I was most formidable and vulnerable (my high school & college years) has now passed on. Stanley, the '95 GMC Sonoma which was too reliable to be given a woman's name (no offense to women), reached 161000+ miles when his exhaust system became too rusted out to be worth repair. Several people thought I was silly to lament over the loss of "just a car" but a mans first truck is more than "just a car". I cannot explain how special it is - the memories of tailgating, moving down to college, attempting to race my 4 cylinder engine, and of course, sitting in the Wendy's parking lot sharing a frosty with a friend. A man does not forget his first truck and surely will not forget you Stan. Thanks for the memories.
That being said, WE GOT A NEW CAR! A sturdy, reliable, low mileage, four-door, 2009 Honda Civic. Hopefully we will get a long life from this car and it will provide us with many more great memories! Here's to our new car - we're open to names if you have suggestions.
That being said, WE GOT A NEW CAR! A sturdy, reliable, low mileage, four-door, 2009 Honda Civic. Hopefully we will get a long life from this car and it will provide us with many more great memories! Here's to our new car - we're open to names if you have suggestions.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
What's More Manly?
So I had a couple of stumps in my backyard that needed taken out so last weekend I got out the trusty shovel and ax and went at it like a real man. But I ask you, what is more manly than digging out a stump in the backyard that you're paying the mortgage on?
Using a chainsaw to just cut the darn thing out! I love keeping my man card.
Boom. Manly.
Using a chainsaw to just cut the darn thing out! I love keeping my man card.
Boom. Manly.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Another Trip Out West
During our second year of marriage Megan and I wanted to enjoy the Mountainous United States once again. While we drove to Colorado then back through Kansas last year during Spring Break we took our westward trip just recently at the end of June, although this time we weren't just going to visit, we were going to be a part of the marital sacrament between our good friend Bridget Halvey & Teddy Ariniello (as seen here on the right side of the couch). 
Before the wedding festivities began we took a day and a half to hike, visit my sister, stop by the Shrine of Mother Cabrini (Her birthday is the same as mine! How cool is that?!), enjoy the process of beer brewing - and the product itself and generally relish in the beauty of God via the Rocky Mountains.
So as you can see the trip included myself, my wife (Megan) and my mother-in-law (Liz). Our flight out of Chicago was at 6am, now normally 6am flights don't have very long lines for security so we got there at 4:50 but the night before Chitown was hit with some hard storms that delayed flights until the early morning light. Thanks be to Jesus, through another gentleman pushing through the security lines to make his early flight and another TSA agent opening a new x-ray, metal detecting line - seemingly just for us - we were able to run to our gate and make the plane with a whole five (5) minutes to spare. That must have been an omen to our mom as she was wearing sandals that nearly killed her just running through the airport - and we had yet to get into the mountains to do some real hiking!
We landed early on Wednesday morning and had the whole day to spend in the Denver area (check out those mountains in the distance! Sooooooo beautiful!)
So we started at Red Rocks. It truely was a beatiful site, and I can only imagine the concerts there are a phenomenal experience, to say the least. As I understand it the amphitheater was created in 1941 as part of a Roosevelt CCC project to help kick start the economy with more jobs for people. The structure was kept the same but stairs and seats were blasted out with TNT to provide a seating area for the 9,000+ attendees. However, as it was the morning when we arrived the park was open to anyone who wanted to walk, hike, see the views or intensely workout. Needless to say we did not opt to part take in the last option, but we did see the views, walk the stairs and hike the trails - the latter nearly killed my mother-in-law. But seriously, some people were doing some intense workouts on the stairs. I was very impressed...especially with the high altitude and all.
After red rocks we moved onto the national Shrine of Mother Cabrini. The shrine included two chapels, a convent, a fountain which began to flow when she struck a rock with her staff (aka: a sweet miracle) and a large statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on top of the mountain (375 steps uphill - which nearly killed my mother-in-law again). Nevertheless, it was such a beautiful hike up the hill with the stations of the cross and mysteries of the rosary to meditate on as the steps increased. This is a photo of Megan atop the mountain at the foot of the Sacred Heart statue. I ended up buying a rosary at the shrine, to add it to my collection of rosaries from around the world.
We finished out our first day in Denver with a trip to the Coors Brewery and hanging out with my sister, Kristin (enjoying dinner, an episode of Psych and Yogurtland!). It was so wonderful to see her again. Family is pretty much the best thing in the world, next to Jesus of course.
More to come on the wedding soon...
Before the wedding festivities began we took a day and a half to hike, visit my sister, stop by the Shrine of Mother Cabrini (Her birthday is the same as mine! How cool is that?!), enjoy the process of beer brewing - and the product itself and generally relish in the beauty of God via the Rocky Mountains.
So as you can see the trip included myself, my wife (Megan) and my mother-in-law (Liz). Our flight out of Chicago was at 6am, now normally 6am flights don't have very long lines for security so we got there at 4:50 but the night before Chitown was hit with some hard storms that delayed flights until the early morning light. Thanks be to Jesus, through another gentleman pushing through the security lines to make his early flight and another TSA agent opening a new x-ray, metal detecting line - seemingly just for us - we were able to run to our gate and make the plane with a whole five (5) minutes to spare. That must have been an omen to our mom as she was wearing sandals that nearly killed her just running through the airport - and we had yet to get into the mountains to do some real hiking!
We landed early on Wednesday morning and had the whole day to spend in the Denver area (check out those mountains in the distance! Sooooooo beautiful!)
So we started at Red Rocks. It truely was a beatiful site, and I can only imagine the concerts there are a phenomenal experience, to say the least. As I understand it the amphitheater was created in 1941 as part of a Roosevelt CCC project to help kick start the economy with more jobs for people. The structure was kept the same but stairs and seats were blasted out with TNT to provide a seating area for the 9,000+ attendees. However, as it was the morning when we arrived the park was open to anyone who wanted to walk, hike, see the views or intensely workout. Needless to say we did not opt to part take in the last option, but we did see the views, walk the stairs and hike the trails - the latter nearly killed my mother-in-law. But seriously, some people were doing some intense workouts on the stairs. I was very impressed...especially with the high altitude and all.
After red rocks we moved onto the national Shrine of Mother Cabrini. The shrine included two chapels, a convent, a fountain which began to flow when she struck a rock with her staff (aka: a sweet miracle) and a large statue of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on top of the mountain (375 steps uphill - which nearly killed my mother-in-law again). Nevertheless, it was such a beautiful hike up the hill with the stations of the cross and mysteries of the rosary to meditate on as the steps increased. This is a photo of Megan atop the mountain at the foot of the Sacred Heart statue. I ended up buying a rosary at the shrine, to add it to my collection of rosaries from around the world.
We finished out our first day in Denver with a trip to the Coors Brewery and hanging out with my sister, Kristin (enjoying dinner, an episode of Psych and Yogurtland!). It was so wonderful to see her again. Family is pretty much the best thing in the world, next to Jesus of course.
More to come on the wedding soon...
Thursday, June 16, 2011
A Patio for the Summer
We finally finished our patio just in time for the summer! Here are a couple of pictures of the patio, fire pit and our first guests to enjoy both.
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