Playing Catch Up

I'm going to try to catch up on blogging for the past 3 weekends.

So here's weekend #1:

A few weeks ago I went down to Florida for my friend Jenn's wedding. Over a year ago when Jenn first got engaged and they were picking dates it seemed so far away, and now it's over. It was a pretty whirlwind trip. I was in Florida for 5 days.

I flew into Tampa to see my family for a day. We went shopping and just hung out and talked. It was really nice to be there with them and not just talking to them on the phone. I love Wisconsin, but I miss my family. I found a WEDDING DRESS, but sadly will not post a picture on here because Mark reads this. If you want to see a pic I can email you one! Anyways...after only being with my family for a day (which was way not enough) I was on my way to Jax for Jenn's wedding. I drove up to Gvlle with my sister and then up to Jax with Laura and Galo. We stayed with Hailey and Shaun in their SUPER CUTE apartment. (Thanks Hailey.)

The weekend was busy, but here are some highlights-
- Making pizza with Laura, Galo, and Hailey
-Morning walk around Hailey's super cute neighborhood
-Breakfast with Jenn and all the bridesmaids
-Rehearsal Dinner on the St John's River (the weather was wonderful, warm, but with a breeze)
-Getting our hair done and hanging out with Jenn on Saturday (her WEDDING day!)
-Jenn's wedding
-The reception (it was nice hanging out with friends I hadn't seen in awhile and seeing Beth! And also Greek dancing was fun!)
-Picnic with Hailey!

Today I'm thankful for...

At Red Caboose there are 3 rooms. 3 sets of kids. 3 sets of teachers. I have had my fair share of problems with my kids and my partner, and there are times when our room can be a pain (we have to have snack upstairs which is not the easiest). But yesterday I was SO SO SO SO SO SO thankful that I'm in the auditorium because unlike the other 2 rooms and unlike most of the school we have AIR CONDITIONING!

So after sitting in my hot apartment all morning (it got up to 90 yesterday and i don't have AC) I was fully expecting to go sit in a hot room with 20 grumpy kids, but instead ac bliss! Thanks life.

We're engaged!!!!!

Yesterday Mark and I helped Mark's parents move out of their house. It was a lot of work, but filled with fun and family time. Mark and I made a quick stop at the Farmer's Market and then headed over to their old house to start moving furniture. Partially due to my weak upper body strength and partially due to their extremely heavy furniture, I wasn't able to help move that much stuff, but it was nice to be there. Their new condo is really nice and it was fun to see it come together with all their stuff. After the big move Mark and I went for a walk at Frederick's Hill which I also mentioned in this post. It was a lovely day for a walk. The hill is now extremely green (last time it was very snow covered). We sat down on a bench where we'd sat on our last visit there. We were talking and Mark started telling me how much he loved me- everything about me and doing everything with me, and then said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. Of course I said yes! I love Mark very much. The ring was my Grammy's so it is very special to me. We're thinking sometime next July! We stopped by Mark's parents condo and his Grandma's apartment and I called my parents. Then we went out to the Union Terrace to celebrate with some ice cream.

I love my life. :-)

This weekend...

Temperature highs-

Sat- 68
Sun-67
Mon- 70
Tues-72

I didn't mind winter while it was here, but now that I've been spoiled with warmer temperatures I just want the cold weather to go away and not come back until there can also be snow. The weekend forecast looks wonderful...so I'll just ignore the temperature of 44 right now.

Also, the first Eastside Farmer's Market was yesterday. Mark and I walked out of our apartment building, across the street, and voila fresh produce! This Market is much smaller than the Saturday one, but we were still able to get what we needed- rhubarb and spinach. And also what we didn't need, but wanted...a mini rhubarb apple pie yum! I'm going to experiment with rhubarb this week. I just couldn't resist, it's at virtually every stall at the farmer's market!

More adventures and spring in my neighborhood

I don't know if the winter sky was greyer and I just didn't notice, but the sky seems so BLUE now!

Orton Park looks so green!

Cool flower sign in Chicago

Mark and I in the shiny bean

Grafitti

This weekend Mark and I went down to Chicago for the day, Saturday. One of the artists who works with Tandem had an art show there and I really wanted to see it. We drove down and had brunch in Wicker Park at the Bongo Room. Mmmmmmm. Then we walked around that area for a bit and went in one of my favorite stores Renegade Handmade. The bad thing about going in that store is that I want to buy everything (even though I could make most of it). However, I restrained myself. Then we went to see the Judy Pfaff show. Her work is really awesome. You should check it out here. One of the pieces in the show had a piece in it that I had painted with varnish so that was pretty cool. Then we walked around for a couple hours. We went to The American Girl Place (every little girls dream come true...or at least every little girl who has an American Girl doll). Then we walked to the shiny bean in Grant Park. I'm not sure what this is actually called, but it's super cool. We walked around the Loop just looking at the city and then headed back to the car. We had an extremely DELICIOUS dinner at Mana Food Bar in Wicker Park and then drove home.

Sunday was full of errands, and a short bike ride. We also went out to lunch with Mark's parents to celebrate Mother's Day. I was sad not to be in Florida with my mom though.

Spring is really here. The trees have leaves. The grass is green. Now if it would just stay warm for longer than a day.