Monday, October 10, 2011
Weekend in Michigan
Johann and I just got back last night from our trip to Muskegon, where we attended the beautiful and way fun wedding of our friends Anna & Noel. We drove to LaGuardia and then flew into Grand Rapids, then rented a car to drive into Muskegon. Had such a great time and got to see a lot of the friends we miss so much from Champaign-Urbana. The only downside was that I couldn't stay up late enough and hang out in the hotel lounge with everyone the two nights we were there. But it was great to catch up with everyone, and I got some good baby time with our friends' girls, Skyla and Sylvia :) We had a nice walk along the shoreline with the Carty's, followed by a hilariously bad lunch on the way to the wedding, and an allergic reaction I suddenly had to the earrings Johann bought me. I was also finally feeling like my normal self as far as appetite goes. Which was great, because the food was amazing at the wedding. Anna's family owns restaurants in the state and everything was so yummy, I wish I had two stomachs! Congrats again to the happy couple!!!
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
I Am a Naughty, Neglectful Blogger :(
Well HELLO again everyone! I can't believe how busy life gets sometimes. Looks like I haven't updated this blog in a little over a year. And since it is WAY overdue, I have decided to do a quick recap of what has happened since Aug of 2010 (more like, what I can remember).
Aug 2010: Got back from our awesome honeymoon trip to Alaska and Seattle! Started to put a little scrapbook together. Johann starts getting his CV together to apply to jobs and conference talks.
Sept: School starts again, Johann's last semester teaching as an undergrad student. I am taking nutrition courses again, this time working in the community educating kids at the farmers market about healthy eating habits :)
Oct: Had an awesome time at the B-52's concert at the Rose Theatre in Effingham with my buddy Sylvia. Johann gives a talk at a conference in California and visits our friends Isaac & Karina. We host the annual Math Halloween party at our house for the first and only time. Johann dressed as Harry Potter and I dressed as Flo, the Progressive Insurance sales lady.
Nov: Thanksgiving at our place again! Johann has put in most of his job applications by now, more to go.
Dec: Aced my final exams. Johann's last class was made up of his worst students ever, though he did his best work with them and got a prestigious teaching award for it. My little brother Aran graduates from Barry University in Miami!!! I am so freakin' proud of my boys. I can't believe my little bro is a college grad. Also, Miami is totally insane, more than I remembered it was, and even more overcrowded. Couldn't wait to get outta there. But before I left, I spent some quality time with my dad and nana, too. Nana took me shopping, bought me a mani/pedi, and took me to her favorite restaurant- The Cheesecake Factory. Dad and I went out for sushi and took Aran, his girlfirend Krista, Aran's friend Delano and his little brother to see Tron Legacy. You know you're old when only you and your dad ever saw the first Tron movie or know anything about it. Sigh. Helped Aran clean and pack up his stuff to move out of Miami to Gainesville. He had a gallery showing of his work before graduation and the turnout was amazing, he also curated an exhibit on photo-booth photography. Hitched a ride upstate with Aran and Krista for Christmas. Johann drove down to meet us in Palm Coast with the dogs and they were on their WORST behavior for the holidays.
Jan 2011: We drove back home after Christmas and spent New Years with our friends at the Carty's. We had, as always, awesome food which included yummy crab legs! I started training for an upcoming 5k run at work and ran it. My time was awful, 45 mins for 5k. BUT it was 30 degrees outside, so that's my excuse. It was my first race, so the goal was really to actually finish, not to make good time. So mission accomplished :) Johann attended the Joint meetings in New Orleans and got snowed in, and ended up very very sick. He eventually got well enough and the roads got safe enough to drive home. He gave a talk and interviewed with 5 different places before he got sick thankfully. Johann is purely doing research toward finishing his thesis this semester, so I decided to pick up extra hours at work at the convenient care clinics. So this meant, I stopped taking classes.
Feb: Johann went to an on campus interview at Hood College, which did not pan out :(
March: Johann got another invite, this time from West Point Military Academy. He came home with an accepted job offer!!! I ran my second 5k, this time the Pi Run put on by the Math dept at Eastern IL where Sylvia & Will work. Will won for his age group, Sylvia and I did a combination of walking and running. Again, 30 degrees out. Ugh. But my time improved a little!
April: Gearing up for the IL marathon. I am so excited and nervous! This has become a big race that attracts racers from all around and I didn't know what to expect. I had been training with my friend Susan. Ran the 5k portion with Susan, and ran past other friends and coworkers. A lot of fun, a lot of community support. Ran through campus and into the stadium to the finish line. I got a medal and eventually got pictures and video of myself crossing the finish line. An amazing experience, so proud of myself and my time was improved. Susan kicked my butt by about 10 mins though. We also drove to Columbus, Ohio at some point to surprise our friend Bart for his birthday. We had a lot of fun, but someone at our hotel apparently got shot and we didn't find out until we checked out, and we didn't hear a thing. Won't be staying at the Red Roof Inn there again. Also hosted Easter at our place again this year (as always).
May: Still waiting to get all the official paperwork from West Point so Johann can get hired. Took a while, mostly waiting on the Federal budget to pass. Once it did, we left town and went up to NY to apartment hunt for about 3.5 days. Saw designer Tim Gunn at the airport. Thought we found a nice place, fell through. Backup apartment, fell through. Starting to leave town, feeling discouraged, checked out 2 more places on the way out of town and found something! Once home, I start making arrangements to get our stuff moved out for move in day on July 1st. Johann will have to start work almost immediately. Also put our house on the market.
June: Arranged to have a POD dropped off at our house toward the end of the month. We have been having open houses every weekend since we listed the house, some foot traffic, but no offers. Got our wedding albums in the mail and sent the extras off to family. The pictures turned out amazing and everyone loved them. Left my job at the hospital in the middle of the month. Johann passed his defense, like I knew he would! Everything in the house except for furniture was in boxes. Had a professional stager came through the house and moved things around. Our second wedding anniversary was definitely overshadowed by all the changes coming up, so we celebrated our "cotton" anniversary by getting each other T-shirts (his says "You Can Call Me Doctor"). We're nerdy and we know it :)
July: After 2 days on the road with full cars and dogs in tow, we make it to Newburgh NY! That weekend, Joy & Dave came up and helped us unload the furniture we still hadn't moved. We drove them back to the city and had dinner at an awesome little Cuban dive. Johann started work July 5th. Started attending social events with the Math dept people at WP. Took a boat ride up the Hudson River and had dinner on the boat. Met the Alba's in NYC and spent the day lunching, museum-ing, dinner-ing with them until we crashed with Joy & Dave and BBQ'd with them on the fire escape the next day. Then, I got OLD. I turned 30. Johann promised revenge on me after I surprised him on his 30th with a basement full of friends. We went to DC and met up with the Thiels and company to attend a FCB soccer match. Spent our first day touring around, then the game at night. Forgot how fun DC was. And Johann never got his revenge ;)
Aug 2011: We're both settling into things here in NY. Johann is enjoying being called Sir at work by his cadets. I am getting used to housewife-ing. I have poured a lot of my time into the gym and into cooking. I lost a total of 15 lbs since moving from IL. We went to our first Yankee game together, and hurricane Irene came and went. Took the train to Chinatown to meet our friend Dash for lunch. He moved the next day to Cali.
Sept: Spent Labor Day at the West Point 1812 Concert with fireworks! Started tailgating with the math people before home games- Go Army! I gained 5 lbs back. Then we found out we were PREGNANT!!!! Johann was very smiley :) Our house is still on the market in IL, fortunately our friend Tim is renting from us. Hopefully it will sell before the baby comes (cross your fingers). Waited to tell the family after the doctor confirmed the pregnancy. Told our friends. Went to our first prenatal visit, the nurse was kinda rude, so Johann was not too happy. Still, so exciting!!!!!!!!!!!
Aug 2010: Got back from our awesome honeymoon trip to Alaska and Seattle! Started to put a little scrapbook together. Johann starts getting his CV together to apply to jobs and conference talks.
Sept: School starts again, Johann's last semester teaching as an undergrad student. I am taking nutrition courses again, this time working in the community educating kids at the farmers market about healthy eating habits :)
Oct: Had an awesome time at the B-52's concert at the Rose Theatre in Effingham with my buddy Sylvia. Johann gives a talk at a conference in California and visits our friends Isaac & Karina. We host the annual Math Halloween party at our house for the first and only time. Johann dressed as Harry Potter and I dressed as Flo, the Progressive Insurance sales lady.
Dec: Aced my final exams. Johann's last class was made up of his worst students ever, though he did his best work with them and got a prestigious teaching award for it. My little brother Aran graduates from Barry University in Miami!!! I am so freakin' proud of my boys. I can't believe my little bro is a college grad. Also, Miami is totally insane, more than I remembered it was, and even more overcrowded. Couldn't wait to get outta there. But before I left, I spent some quality time with my dad and nana, too. Nana took me shopping, bought me a mani/pedi, and took me to her favorite restaurant- The Cheesecake Factory. Dad and I went out for sushi and took Aran, his girlfirend Krista, Aran's friend Delano and his little brother to see Tron Legacy. You know you're old when only you and your dad ever saw the first Tron movie or know anything about it. Sigh. Helped Aran clean and pack up his stuff to move out of Miami to Gainesville. He had a gallery showing of his work before graduation and the turnout was amazing, he also curated an exhibit on photo-booth photography. Hitched a ride upstate with Aran and Krista for Christmas. Johann drove down to meet us in Palm Coast with the dogs and they were on their WORST behavior for the holidays.
Jan 2011: We drove back home after Christmas and spent New Years with our friends at the Carty's. We had, as always, awesome food which included yummy crab legs! I started training for an upcoming 5k run at work and ran it. My time was awful, 45 mins for 5k. BUT it was 30 degrees outside, so that's my excuse. It was my first race, so the goal was really to actually finish, not to make good time. So mission accomplished :) Johann attended the Joint meetings in New Orleans and got snowed in, and ended up very very sick. He eventually got well enough and the roads got safe enough to drive home. He gave a talk and interviewed with 5 different places before he got sick thankfully. Johann is purely doing research toward finishing his thesis this semester, so I decided to pick up extra hours at work at the convenient care clinics. So this meant, I stopped taking classes.
Feb: Johann went to an on campus interview at Hood College, which did not pan out :(
March: Johann got another invite, this time from West Point Military Academy. He came home with an accepted job offer!!! I ran my second 5k, this time the Pi Run put on by the Math dept at Eastern IL where Sylvia & Will work. Will won for his age group, Sylvia and I did a combination of walking and running. Again, 30 degrees out. Ugh. But my time improved a little!
April: Gearing up for the IL marathon. I am so excited and nervous! This has become a big race that attracts racers from all around and I didn't know what to expect. I had been training with my friend Susan. Ran the 5k portion with Susan, and ran past other friends and coworkers. A lot of fun, a lot of community support. Ran through campus and into the stadium to the finish line. I got a medal and eventually got pictures and video of myself crossing the finish line. An amazing experience, so proud of myself and my time was improved. Susan kicked my butt by about 10 mins though. We also drove to Columbus, Ohio at some point to surprise our friend Bart for his birthday. We had a lot of fun, but someone at our hotel apparently got shot and we didn't find out until we checked out, and we didn't hear a thing. Won't be staying at the Red Roof Inn there again. Also hosted Easter at our place again this year (as always).
May: Still waiting to get all the official paperwork from West Point so Johann can get hired. Took a while, mostly waiting on the Federal budget to pass. Once it did, we left town and went up to NY to apartment hunt for about 3.5 days. Saw designer Tim Gunn at the airport. Thought we found a nice place, fell through. Backup apartment, fell through. Starting to leave town, feeling discouraged, checked out 2 more places on the way out of town and found something! Once home, I start making arrangements to get our stuff moved out for move in day on July 1st. Johann will have to start work almost immediately. Also put our house on the market.
June: Arranged to have a POD dropped off at our house toward the end of the month. We have been having open houses every weekend since we listed the house, some foot traffic, but no offers. Got our wedding albums in the mail and sent the extras off to family. The pictures turned out amazing and everyone loved them. Left my job at the hospital in the middle of the month. Johann passed his defense, like I knew he would! Everything in the house except for furniture was in boxes. Had a professional stager came through the house and moved things around. Our second wedding anniversary was definitely overshadowed by all the changes coming up, so we celebrated our "cotton" anniversary by getting each other T-shirts (his says "You Can Call Me Doctor"). We're nerdy and we know it :)
July: After 2 days on the road with full cars and dogs in tow, we make it to Newburgh NY! That weekend, Joy & Dave came up and helped us unload the furniture we still hadn't moved. We drove them back to the city and had dinner at an awesome little Cuban dive. Johann started work July 5th. Started attending social events with the Math dept people at WP. Took a boat ride up the Hudson River and had dinner on the boat. Met the Alba's in NYC and spent the day lunching, museum-ing, dinner-ing with them until we crashed with Joy & Dave and BBQ'd with them on the fire escape the next day. Then, I got OLD. I turned 30. Johann promised revenge on me after I surprised him on his 30th with a basement full of friends. We went to DC and met up with the Thiels and company to attend a FCB soccer match. Spent our first day touring around, then the game at night. Forgot how fun DC was. And Johann never got his revenge ;)
Aug 2011: We're both settling into things here in NY. Johann is enjoying being called Sir at work by his cadets. I am getting used to housewife-ing. I have poured a lot of my time into the gym and into cooking. I lost a total of 15 lbs since moving from IL. We went to our first Yankee game together, and hurricane Irene came and went. Took the train to Chinatown to meet our friend Dash for lunch. He moved the next day to Cali.
Sept: Spent Labor Day at the West Point 1812 Concert with fireworks! Started tailgating with the math people before home games- Go Army! I gained 5 lbs back. Then we found out we were PREGNANT!!!! Johann was very smiley :) Our house is still on the market in IL, fortunately our friend Tim is renting from us. Hopefully it will sell before the baby comes (cross your fingers). Waited to tell the family after the doctor confirmed the pregnancy. Told our friends. Went to our first prenatal visit, the nurse was kinda rude, so Johann was not too happy. Still, so exciting!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
July/mid-August recap
So I started power walking early this summer with my friend/coworker/ neighbor Joyce, and we are up to about 2 miles each night. We are hoping to start interval running soon, as I have joined the couch to 5k website. It's so hot and muggy lately, that when we jog, my asthma (which hardly ever acts up) acts up.
Had my Mary Kay & margaritas party, and only one person showed up :( Thanks for coming, Melina! Watched the world cup, went to the art theatre with Joyce and her daughter and saw "Food, Inc." for the first time (OMG- loved it), donated to NPR in exchange for an awesome cookbook- All Cakes Considered, went to the Champaign County Fair with Johann and we watched our first demolitian derby right before another doozy of a rainstorm, more farmers' market, went to Silvercreek restaurant with a big group of our friends to celebrate my birthday early and then on over to Crane Alley for drinks, visited my friend Keri at the hospital after she had her baby, did an iron-chef type cook-off at the Wengers using ingredients they were trying to clean out of their house while moving (and I won with a spicy peanut sauced tofu and green bean dish), went out for steaks on my actual birthday and came out from it to see double rainbows...
Awesome, aint it? I also forgot that my drivers license expired, so that weekend, I had to get up stupid early, renew my license, so I could drive to Iowa City for Sylvia & Will's wedding. It was great, but I wish I didn't get so sappy/ drunk at weddings. I gave a very incoherent, sobbing speech, then ate and drank and danced like a fool. Then, we got up early and drove home the next morning, ugh. PS- never use more than one form of directions/ GPS navigation, because you will end up driving around in circles trying to find a bathroom or McDonalds. Should have updated my TomTom before going. Anyway, congrats to the happy couple!
My dad also got his yellow belt that weekend :) Apparently he got tattoos, and I was almost the last one to find out. They're actually very nice, one on each lower inner arm, one tiger and the other a dragon. Unfortunately, my little brother posted videos and pics on facebook, which my uncle saw, and now my grandmother knows about the tatts. But I say, don't hide 'em. If someone's gonna get offended by them, get it over with- show them off! They'll get over the shock faster and you can move on with your lives. LOL
Johann and I took off Aug 5th for Seattle, and bummed around for a day before boarding our week-long cruise to Alaska. This was our much needed and belated honeymoon trip. We sailed to Ketchican, Juno, Skagway, and Prine Rupert in British Columbia. We had so much fun, except me for getting an upper respiratory infection half way through. But, I rallied and went on all the excursions anyway, doped up on antibiotics and other lovely meds. Pictures from our trip are posted on my facebook page. I saved a lot of souvenirs from our trip, and hope to get a scrapbook of the trip put together soon. When we got back, we spent a full two days walking around Seattle and discovered so much and decided we loved it there. So if Johann gets a job there, I am totally ok with it.
Anywho, that's all for now folks!
Had my Mary Kay & margaritas party, and only one person showed up :( Thanks for coming, Melina! Watched the world cup, went to the art theatre with Joyce and her daughter and saw "Food, Inc." for the first time (OMG- loved it), donated to NPR in exchange for an awesome cookbook- All Cakes Considered, went to the Champaign County Fair with Johann and we watched our first demolitian derby right before another doozy of a rainstorm, more farmers' market, went to Silvercreek restaurant with a big group of our friends to celebrate my birthday early and then on over to Crane Alley for drinks, visited my friend Keri at the hospital after she had her baby, did an iron-chef type cook-off at the Wengers using ingredients they were trying to clean out of their house while moving (and I won with a spicy peanut sauced tofu and green bean dish), went out for steaks on my actual birthday and came out from it to see double rainbows...
Awesome, aint it? I also forgot that my drivers license expired, so that weekend, I had to get up stupid early, renew my license, so I could drive to Iowa City for Sylvia & Will's wedding. It was great, but I wish I didn't get so sappy/ drunk at weddings. I gave a very incoherent, sobbing speech, then ate and drank and danced like a fool. Then, we got up early and drove home the next morning, ugh. PS- never use more than one form of directions/ GPS navigation, because you will end up driving around in circles trying to find a bathroom or McDonalds. Should have updated my TomTom before going. Anyway, congrats to the happy couple!
My dad also got his yellow belt that weekend :) Apparently he got tattoos, and I was almost the last one to find out. They're actually very nice, one on each lower inner arm, one tiger and the other a dragon. Unfortunately, my little brother posted videos and pics on facebook, which my uncle saw, and now my grandmother knows about the tatts. But I say, don't hide 'em. If someone's gonna get offended by them, get it over with- show them off! They'll get over the shock faster and you can move on with your lives. LOL
Johann and I took off Aug 5th for Seattle, and bummed around for a day before boarding our week-long cruise to Alaska. This was our much needed and belated honeymoon trip. We sailed to Ketchican, Juno, Skagway, and Prine Rupert in British Columbia. We had so much fun, except me for getting an upper respiratory infection half way through. But, I rallied and went on all the excursions anyway, doped up on antibiotics and other lovely meds. Pictures from our trip are posted on my facebook page. I saved a lot of souvenirs from our trip, and hope to get a scrapbook of the trip put together soon. When we got back, we spent a full two days walking around Seattle and discovered so much and decided we loved it there. So if Johann gets a job there, I am totally ok with it.
Monday, July 5, 2010
July, july, july... (decemberists song, anyone?)
So for this 4th of July, we went with a group of friends to a friend's house for a porch cookout, then on to Parkland college for fireworks. it was alot of fun, but hot and we were surrounded by mosquitos. As much as I love the smell of bug spray, I hate the bugs more. Johann took some cool pictures of fireworks and our friends with sparklers.
My cousin Benji and his wife Wendy had a baby boy, Ilan. He is a cutie pie! I am so excited for them :) I hope we get a chance to fly out to California sometime soon to see them all.
My cousin Benji and his wife Wendy had a baby boy, Ilan. He is a cutie pie! I am so excited for them :) I hope we get a chance to fly out to California sometime soon to see them all.
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
June recap
So for the last month, the following has been going on:
Trips to the farmers' market, BBQs, lots of yardwork, benefit lunch for a friend's family (who was injured in a motorcycle accident), booked our honeymoon cruise and excursions, attended Ian & Jen's wedding in TX, booked a Mary Kay party, and...
I had been trying to think up things I could do for Johann for our 1 yr anniversary, so I repainted his office. I had originally painted it blue, hoping it would be the ash grey/military blue-ish color he likes. I did this about a yr ago, and he saw it and said it looked like a baby's nursery. I used to be so good at picking colors out, considering what they'd look like dried on the wall. He was right though, it was too light baby blue. So it got repainted to an actual grey this time. My friend Cheryl came over for day 1 to help me prep and start painting, she was a big help. It got done in about 3 days (I have to work in between, people). Johann's moved all his stuff back in now and enjoying the color much more.
So he thinks this was my gift to him, but I had been dropping little hints about it being the paper anniversary for a while. The whole time, I had actually been secretly planning for us to go to the Japan house for a tea ceremony, followed by origami classes. The Japan house didn't pan out, which was a bummer, but through luck and persistence, I found a 16-yr old origami instructor. She and I made plans to meet at a coffee house and surprise Johann. He loved it! He has been making paper cranes in his office at work since :) We also made lotus flowers and shapes like boxes and cups that can actually hold water.
Johann surprised me with paper... tickets... to see... ZZ Top! We had a blast!!! We drove to Normal, IL three days after our anniversary and got totally soaked in the middle of a major scary rainstorm (that had produced a lot of damage throughout the state). We parked at the nearest parking garage, but had to walk about 2-3 block to the venue, those blocks seemed to go on forever. We were FREEZING inside, but the show was really good. I don't remember the opening band, so that says something about them. There was an awful lot of camo at that show, by the way, just sayin. ZZ Top was awesome and I bought myself a T-shirt. As soon as we got out to leave, it started pouring again. We got into Johann's car and I couldn't stop laughing for a while at our luck. This was definitely a memorable show, I had the rain soaked undergarments to prove it :P Here's us, drenched and cold, but excited!
I'm glad we did some things together before I left town that weekend for Iowa City. I rode with Sylvia and we stayed at her parents house. Her bachelorette party was planned by her friends Jess and Andrew, who I met briefly at our last Easter potluck. Saturday, we went to a park with a lake and had another BBQ (so many already this summer). We had frozen margaritas at our picnic/bbq, which was awesome. Then we jumped in the lake, and I got both sunburned and mosquito/ant-bitten. After a power-nap and a shower, Sylvia and I got ready to go out on the town with Jess, Andrew and their friend Linda. We went to dinner at an awesomely swanky mod Italian place with Sylvia's parents. Then we went bar hopping until after 2 am, which ended at a little piano bar where Sylvia sang along to "Werewolves of London." Note: Do not get drunk with temporary tattoos on your person, it makes for a very interesting morning after ;)
Trips to the farmers' market, BBQs, lots of yardwork, benefit lunch for a friend's family (who was injured in a motorcycle accident), booked our honeymoon cruise and excursions, attended Ian & Jen's wedding in TX, booked a Mary Kay party, and...
I had been trying to think up things I could do for Johann for our 1 yr anniversary, so I repainted his office. I had originally painted it blue, hoping it would be the ash grey/military blue-ish color he likes. I did this about a yr ago, and he saw it and said it looked like a baby's nursery. I used to be so good at picking colors out, considering what they'd look like dried on the wall. He was right though, it was too light baby blue. So it got repainted to an actual grey this time. My friend Cheryl came over for day 1 to help me prep and start painting, she was a big help. It got done in about 3 days (I have to work in between, people). Johann's moved all his stuff back in now and enjoying the color much more.
So he thinks this was my gift to him, but I had been dropping little hints about it being the paper anniversary for a while. The whole time, I had actually been secretly planning for us to go to the Japan house for a tea ceremony, followed by origami classes. The Japan house didn't pan out, which was a bummer, but through luck and persistence, I found a 16-yr old origami instructor. She and I made plans to meet at a coffee house and surprise Johann. He loved it! He has been making paper cranes in his office at work since :) We also made lotus flowers and shapes like boxes and cups that can actually hold water.
Johann surprised me with paper... tickets... to see... ZZ Top! We had a blast!!! We drove to Normal, IL three days after our anniversary and got totally soaked in the middle of a major scary rainstorm (that had produced a lot of damage throughout the state). We parked at the nearest parking garage, but had to walk about 2-3 block to the venue, those blocks seemed to go on forever. We were FREEZING inside, but the show was really good. I don't remember the opening band, so that says something about them. There was an awful lot of camo at that show, by the way, just sayin. ZZ Top was awesome and I bought myself a T-shirt. As soon as we got out to leave, it started pouring again. We got into Johann's car and I couldn't stop laughing for a while at our luck. This was definitely a memorable show, I had the rain soaked undergarments to prove it :P Here's us, drenched and cold, but excited!
I'm glad we did some things together before I left town that weekend for Iowa City. I rode with Sylvia and we stayed at her parents house. Her bachelorette party was planned by her friends Jess and Andrew, who I met briefly at our last Easter potluck. Saturday, we went to a park with a lake and had another BBQ (so many already this summer). We had frozen margaritas at our picnic/bbq, which was awesome. Then we jumped in the lake, and I got both sunburned and mosquito/ant-bitten. After a power-nap and a shower, Sylvia and I got ready to go out on the town with Jess, Andrew and their friend Linda. We went to dinner at an awesomely swanky mod Italian place with Sylvia's parents. Then we went bar hopping until after 2 am, which ended at a little piano bar where Sylvia sang along to "Werewolves of London." Note: Do not get drunk with temporary tattoos on your person, it makes for a very interesting morning after ;)
Sunday, May 30, 2010
A Much Needed Update!
My goodness it's been about 7 weeks since I wrote anything on here. Sorry, folks. Things have been busy busy busy. Last semester's chemistry class was very demanding of my time, though I know it doesn't take much time to blog.
So since my last posting, I have learned to drive stickshift (I still hate it), Johann put a new muffler in my car, and now I'm driving it again :) We also filed our taxes jointly, which may sound dorky to say this, but was very exciting!
We have been using the grill we got for our wedding alot- propane assisted charcoal= awesome! Thanks again to Tia Jenny and Tia Zabet for it! We have also beenb doing a lot of yardwork now that the weather is springy and all weeds are back. My daffodils died and my tulips were up for a short period of time. I had a single peony pop up, and now a single iris.
The end of April, we drove to Downer's Grove (a burb of Chicago) to help celebrate Will & Syvlia's upcoming nuptials. His family hosted activities and a brunch, which was a lot of fun. Johann and I got to meet the rest of Will's family and Sylvia's parents. Everyone was very nice and we had a great time- Brian (Will's twin) and I won the crossword puzzle contest! I felt so smart :) I also drove Johann's car all the way home afterwards (about 2.5 - 3 hrs on the highway). I think he was secretly proud of me.
I also hosted a Slumber Party, which was a lot of fun -but I ended up doing it the same day as the Illinois marathon, so it was really difficult to drive to our house that day. Shortly afterward, I had oral surgery to correct a badly receding gumline and I was out from work for about a week. It's still not healing right (4 weeks later), and I will probably have to go back in about 6 weeks to have another surgery. Argh! My stupid teeth need to start cooperating- actually, the gums do. Genetic periodontal disease sucks :( I also found out that I am allergic to Vicodin... the hard way. A week later, I had a full systemic allergic reaction to a mysterious item that we have not indentified yet. My allergist thinks it might be to an antibiotic I had since my father's allergic to Penicillin. We'll eventually figure it out, but allergy testing is expensive. I just don't feel like waking up with full-body hives and facial swelling again.
Johann's working on his third bike, another road bike which he just had custom painted- a very nice dark green color with gold trim. I will post pictures as soon as he finishes it. We also purged a lot of stuff from our house last weekend; we had a yardsale. Actually, I had the yardsale because it was the same weekend as the Number Theory conference. Johann had to attend because not only is it his field and full of his peers, but he gave a talk. He was one of only 2 grad students giving talks at this conference. He panicked about it, but as usual did really well. He gets compliments from big names in math whenever he gives a talk, I just wish he was a bit more confident about public speaking.
Well, that's all for now. Johann and I will be celebrating our 1-year wedding anniversary on Father's Day, June 20th. I am really excited and have some fun activities planned for us that revolve around the paper anniversary. Should be a fun surprise! Thanks for reading everyone- and don't forget you can sign up tobe a "follower" of this blog.
So since my last posting, I have learned to drive stickshift (I still hate it), Johann put a new muffler in my car, and now I'm driving it again :) We also filed our taxes jointly, which may sound dorky to say this, but was very exciting!
We have been using the grill we got for our wedding alot- propane assisted charcoal= awesome! Thanks again to Tia Jenny and Tia Zabet for it! We have also beenb doing a lot of yardwork now that the weather is springy and all weeds are back. My daffodils died and my tulips were up for a short period of time. I had a single peony pop up, and now a single iris.
The end of April, we drove to Downer's Grove (a burb of Chicago) to help celebrate Will & Syvlia's upcoming nuptials. His family hosted activities and a brunch, which was a lot of fun. Johann and I got to meet the rest of Will's family and Sylvia's parents. Everyone was very nice and we had a great time- Brian (Will's twin) and I won the crossword puzzle contest! I felt so smart :) I also drove Johann's car all the way home afterwards (about 2.5 - 3 hrs on the highway). I think he was secretly proud of me.
I also hosted a Slumber Party, which was a lot of fun -but I ended up doing it the same day as the Illinois marathon, so it was really difficult to drive to our house that day. Shortly afterward, I had oral surgery to correct a badly receding gumline and I was out from work for about a week. It's still not healing right (4 weeks later), and I will probably have to go back in about 6 weeks to have another surgery. Argh! My stupid teeth need to start cooperating- actually, the gums do. Genetic periodontal disease sucks :( I also found out that I am allergic to Vicodin... the hard way. A week later, I had a full systemic allergic reaction to a mysterious item that we have not indentified yet. My allergist thinks it might be to an antibiotic I had since my father's allergic to Penicillin. We'll eventually figure it out, but allergy testing is expensive. I just don't feel like waking up with full-body hives and facial swelling again.
Johann's working on his third bike, another road bike which he just had custom painted- a very nice dark green color with gold trim. I will post pictures as soon as he finishes it. We also purged a lot of stuff from our house last weekend; we had a yardsale. Actually, I had the yardsale because it was the same weekend as the Number Theory conference. Johann had to attend because not only is it his field and full of his peers, but he gave a talk. He was one of only 2 grad students giving talks at this conference. He panicked about it, but as usual did really well. He gets compliments from big names in math whenever he gives a talk, I just wish he was a bit more confident about public speaking.
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