Best Weekend Ever

We just got home from the best weekend ever. We decided to take a random day off just to get away, so this Friday we headed up to Lake Geneva for the night. On the way there we stopped at the outlet mall in Kenosha, WI, of course, where we spent entirely too much money- but who really cares, the deals were fabulous! Plus, this is about the only time I can get Bryan to shop with me of his own free will. Something about outlet shopping works for him, so I'm happy to oblige.


In Lake Geneva we stayed at the Mill Creek Hotel, which was wonderful- and so much cheaper than everywhere else I looked! I was kind of amazed. We had a great time eating out, going to the movies, and playing on the lake. I would have been afraid, ok more afraid, of falling through the ice, but I figured if all these SUVs were safe then disaster was maybe unlikely.
There were plenty of ice fishers out in their little shanties, and also a big sailboat race on the other side of the lake. You can't see the boats very well in this picture, but they were just flying across the lake. Apparently boats go faster on skates/skis than they do in the water...I thought this was cool looking right at the edge- the ice looks like it got just slammed into the shore!Considering stepping out... Here he goes... I call this one, Boy on Lake:Fine, I'll try it too:As it turns out, ice actually IS slippery:Not surprisingly, Bryan stayed upright more than I did:

What a great weekend!

(Sidenote, remember when I used to wear contacts? Yea, those were the days. Due to being decently scared by my opthalmologist-friend Allison about all sorts of horrible things like cornea perforation, transplants and blindness, I agreed to not wear my contacts until my corneal ulcer has completely healed. But seriously, who exactly gets corneal ulcers?! I didn't even know it was possible to get an ulcer on your eyeball. Sigh...)

February Update

So, I clearly don't blog very often. But there has been a lot happening- February was a busy month! Here is a brief update.

First we had the Superbowl, and we were joined by the Paces, Flinns, and Felkels (who somehow missed the picture-taking, sorry guys!)

Next we had Vicki's babyshower, and yes, this part would be more interesting if there were actually pictures of Vicki in it. Oops. When she starts a blog, which I'm sure she will at some point as the soon-to-be mother of twins, I'll be sure to link to her.

After that, our lives changed forever when we found out The Chew Chew, our very favorite restaurant, finally re-opened again! We have been waiting a year and a half for that to happen, and I must confess we went twice on the first weekend. Flinns and Paces joined us for our second visit, and here we all are enjoying the wonderful food and atmosphere of The Chew Chew:

The highlight of February came in the middle of the month when we got to visit our newest niece- baby Nora Kathryn. We love her tons already. Maybe her mom and dad will let her come visit us someday and we will spoil her rotten. Carolyn liked sitting in this box, and when I asked her to smile for a picture for me she said, "yes, and then I will get a jellybean!" And now we all know how her mommy gets such cute pictures out of her! haha! She's a smart one, that Carolyn :) On our way home we got to stop by cousin Elena's 7th birthday party. Those not-so-little blondies are sure getting big fast!

Another major highlight of the month was having our dearest of dearest friends, the Coxes, come stay with us for the weekend. We had a great time just hanging out together, making pancakes (of course), and watching Ryan and Amber learn about all the new baby gear that will soon become part of their life. Ryan and Amber's little one is due to arrive in June, and he or she will then join the ranks of baby Abby and Hannah as one of our pseudo-nieces (or nephew). We are so excited for them!

Another new blogger

Welcome Cousin Lyndsey to the blogging world! Lyndsey is a traveling nurse, currently enjoying the wonderful February weather of Tucson, AZ. Ahhh, sunshine...

Baby it's cold outside!

This is the weather we woke up to this morning:This is what I have to look forward to when I get to work:This is where I'll be pretending I am all day today: Or maybe here:

Or even here:
In all fairness, remind me of this in the summer when we have gorgeous, wonderful weather and these other places hotter than blazes.

Jury Duty

I had quite the lesson in the legal system this past week- I was picked to be a juror on a murder trial. Definitely not a fun experience, but certainly educational.

Here are the top 10 things I learned by being on a jury:

10. Attorneys that are argumentative and confrontational with witnesses are a whole lot more interesting to listen to than those who are more polite.

9. Having the judge sit up so much higher than everyone else is at least partially to intimidate the jury.

8. Being involved with deciding someone's fate is not a pleasant place to be.

7. Sitting in a jury deliberation room for days on end,with only prison food to eat and the promise of being sequestered until a decision is reached, can actually drive one crazy.

6. A jury room halfway through a trial must be one of the most interesting places to test out social psychology theories. Would you cave if everyone else was against you and no one could go home until you changed your mind? Would your opinion of "reasonable" or "justified" change after hours or listening to other people's opinions about "reasonable" and "justified"?

5. A "jury of peers" means some of those "peers" will not know or believe one of the most basic fundamentals of our criminal justice system- innocent until proven guilty. Their vote still counts.

4. Smart, educated, reasonable people can hear the same case you heard and come to a completely different conclusion. Their vote counts the same as yours.

3. The question for juries to decide is not "guilty vs innocent," rather, it is "guilty vs reasonable doubt." Guilty men must go free if the prosecution cannot prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. This does not sit well with most jurors, even smart, educated, reasonable ones.

2. It is difficult to keep one's thoughts straight when there is an innocent victim. How does letting a murderer go free on a technicality give that victim justice?

1. NEVER be the defendant in a jury trial. No offense, but I would not want my fate in the hands of my "peers"!!!

Boy am I glad to be getting back to my Real job now!

Busy week

Last week was a busy one around these parts. Bruce and Hayley came to visit us from New Zealand:

Sure wish we could fly to New Zealand this summer for their wedding! What fun that would be!

We also had Bryan's Christmas party for his work. This is everyone from his clinic that was at the party (the "W's" stand for "Willowbrook"- the location of their clinic):

Over the weekend we enjoyed playing Aunt and Uncle to Little Miss Carolyn. We had a great time watching Nemo, very serious business:Then we braved the snow to visit our neighbors down the street. Carolyn thinks running with her Uncle Bryan is HILARIOUS:Making funny faces at Miss Meggan's house:Carolyn found a very special new toy to play with at Miss Meggan's house- a flash drive! This toy trumped all other toys. Here she is explaining the wonders of the flash drive to Baby Hannah:Considering sharing:

We had a fabulous time with our dear niece!

New Years Eve 2008

We were so excited to be joined this year by John and Kristy Sargent for New Years Eve! We Love our Sargent friends, and it was such a great time to catch up and hang out together.

We took the train downtown and had a fabulous dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, followed by a FREEZING cold walk to Navy Pier, some FREEZING cold fireworks-watching (and yes, we watched the Family Fireworks at 8:30, not the "real" ones at midnight. we're way too cool for that), another FREEZING cold walk back to the train, and finally warmth and cheesecake at our house as we rang in the New Year in the warmth of our apartment.

There were lots of pictures taken: John and Kristy are glowfaces apparently.

Riding the train, and wondering where Bryan's neck went:

Pretty city lights:
Festivities at Navy Pier:
Sent from Heaven, right when we thought we'd never be warm again:
Here's our stash:
John was quite excited about his cheesecake:Ok, we were all excited:

Thanks Sargents for coming to our house- we love you guys!

Happy 2009!