In NYC.


Meetings for Executive Networks in NYC this week. Such a great trip -- bringing HR execs together to network and discuss trends and hot issues. Super fun work, I love it, but its definitely the least amount of sleep I get ever since I've gotten married.

We went to an amazing Broadway show and then watch the end of the World Series Game and then closed out the bar with a couple of our members...and don't worry -- I was only drinking water :) Great conversation, great people.

I love my job!!

Confession: Sometimes I stalk people's blogs. (And I hope I have enough photo space for this  post!)

I mean, who doesn't, right? Ok, but this blog-stalking is for a good cause. It's not really that creepy. It all started because of my mother. She came across my brother's Mission President's Wife's blog. Did you follow all of that? And so my mom called to tell me that she had spent some time scrolling through all of this woman's blog posts to find a photo of my brother. So what did I do? I asked for the URL and went and did the same thing. But I didn't find anything.

Until today.

Apparently over the weekend the missionaries had to go and get flu shots. Direct orders from their Mission Presidents Wife. So she went, with her camera, and fully stocked first aid kit with Disney Band Aids and promised to hold the boys' hands if they got scared. What a great woman! She even linked her picassa album to the blog, so I could look through 200 photos to find the one of my brother.

And here he his, folks:

Taking it like a man! (Trust me, many of his fellow missionaries did not take this shot well).

Sweet Jasmin band-aid. Your nieces would be sooo jealous!! Ps. What is that watch you are wearing??

My incredible little brother, serving his heart out in the SLC mission for our church. 2 years of his life and he is loving it. I have another confession: Wednesdays have become my favorite day of the week. Why? Because that is the day I get a sweet email from Matthew. I have been blown away by how much he has matured and grown over the past 15 months! He has an incredible testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and it such a great example to me.  I can't wait to see him next summer when he completes his mission and comes home!!

Here's an excerpt from a recent letter to my mom: 
We have had a great week. We now have 4 people on date for baptisim. On Sunday we only had 1 person on date and now its 4!! Aby who got baptized two weeks ago her little brother and sister now want to be baptized! Then we got a great referral from a bishop about a new family that just moved in. They are Navajo and have a little girl that is 9 that wants and needs to be baptized. The family is extremely nice and i am excited to get to teach them.

Last night we brought a Recent Convert with us to a lesson. His name is Travis and his story is incredible. He has faith and lots of it. He is a great example to me. We taught Niki who is a single mother and struggles with lots of problems. We invited her to come to church and to feel of the power that is manifest through the ordinance of the Sacrament. We promised her that peace will increase in her life and that her week will be much more bearable and she obeys the Lord in Keeping his commandments. Travis bore testimony of his conversions and it has blessed his life. Niki talked about how she knows she needs to go to church and become a member of the Lords Church. It was incredible the spirit prompted me and elder davis and was probably of the most perfect spirit filled lesson of my mission. I love teaching the gospel and seeing people commit themselves.

Well i love you and thank you for being so incredible ...

i miss tri tip a lot!! i miss you bread as well. Dont worry i am not homesick. lol

love

your son

Out of Space.

I was working on my latest post, and got this message (see above). Have any of you run into this problem? I've had my blog for a long time now ... I think I'm pushing 4-5 years now, so maybe I've just uploaded way to many photos in that period of time. There is no way I am purchasing space for more photos.

So, what will I do?

I think I'll finally switch over to my new gmail account- you know, the one with my married name instead of my maiden name... and then start a new blog.

Any other suggestions?

Virginia is for Lovers Post #5: Jefferson & Madison = BFFs.

Or at least that's what everyone told us as we went on these tours. Monday was our last day in Virginia, and we wanted to make the most of it. First we went up to Monticello, which is just beautiful. Set on top of a mountaintop, you could see why Jefferson loved his home. There was a lot that we learned, but I'll let the pictures do the story-telling.

Really cool old tree in front of Jefferson's home.

Monticello Home.

His front door is glass-- that center panel in this photo.

Side/back of Monticello. 

Jefferson had a really diverse and beautiful garden, as well as vineyards.

Isn't it gorgeous?

I liked this tree :)

Jefferon's Grave. He only has 3 things listed on this monument: The Constitution, The Virginia Act for Religious Freedom  and the University of Virginia. Isn't interesting that US President is not listed?

Ryan sizing himself up against Jefferson.

Who is taller? :)

After Jefferson's Monticello, we walked around a few really cute shops at the bottom of the mountain, we found this amazing Pewter store, where Ryan bought me a souvenir! :) And also the General Store (although no General Store will compare to my favorite General Store in Minnesota). Then we headed off to Madison's Montpilier, to see what his life was like.

Unfortunately, we had to cut this trip short since we had to get to the airport, so we only saw the first few rooms. The most interesting thing about Montpilier is that it is currently undergoing restoration. I have never seen a home so bare, and where the foundation is working currently to piece together what the home used to look like -- and that's exactly what is happening at Montpilier. I am excited to go back and see what progress they have made!!

Did you know the DuPonts owned this home for a long period of time?

More beautiful country-side.

We cut it close getting to the airport in time. We thought Montpilier was "on the way" to the airport; when we mapped it, we should have cut at least 30 minutes off our driving time. But as we drove (on 45 MPH country roads) we realized we had underestimated how long it would take us. I grew more and more nervous as I realized that our flight left at 5:35pm, and we would maybe get to the airport by 5:00pm. Yikes!! Mom did her best to drive quickly and at the speed limit, and my sweet husband did his best to not stress out (even though I knew he was totally stressing out in his mind). We got to the airport at 5:00pm, and raced inside. Finding the Southwest kiosk as a challenge (of course the one time we didn't print our boarding passes). We ran to the kiosk, and then ran to security.

The security line was of course long, so I asked "is there a diamond lane??" The TSA woman said yes, go up the elevator and go to Baggage Claim 8. "Upstairs?" I asked, "will it really be faster?". Her response? "YES!" So I grabbed Ryan, and we got in the elevator, gave each other a "I hope this works look" and then ran to Baggage Claim 8 (why is the security line in Baggage Claim? I don't know). We got there, and the line was empty!! Wahoo!!

We ran to the terminal train, got on, and then ran to our gate. Our plane was boarding, and somehow since we were "A" passengers, we got right through the line. We sat in our seats, and I looked at my watch. 5:20pm. How did we just do that? I don't know, but it was a little miracle and we arrived safely in Chicago at 6:35pm.

Virginia is for Lovers Post #4: TJ err Thomas Jefferson err Mr. Jefferson.

Charlottesvillians LOVE Mr. Jefferson. There is a deep respect rooted in the hearts and minds of those who live there. Which is cool, I guess. Just part of the culture, especially on campus The Grounds. Thomas Jefferson lived just outside of Charlottesville, and he designed The University of Virginia. It's a really cool concept, and the architecture is AMAZING. We walked around campus Sunday afternoon ...

The really cute super old church.

Ryan and Mr. Jefferson

The rotunda looks out to the great lawn, and has student residences & professor residences that line either side of the lawn.

Wouldn't it be cool to live there? I thought so too until I saw how tiny they were and realized that they are probably 10x more expensive as regular dorms.

Did you know Edgar Allen Poe went to UVa? It was only for a semester, but they saved his room.

Front of the Rotunda

Virginia is for Lovers Post #3: The Shennendoahs.

I've never really spent much time in the Blue Ridge Mountains, but I got my fair share while I was visiting mom and dad. Apparently these mountains are the oldest in the country, and that is why they are so round (or something like that).

I got to meet up with one of my dearest friends, April Graf, and meet her beautiful 1 year old daughter, Tasha. April picked out this "easy" hike (easy for her, since she is so in shape, being in the military!) while the rest of us struggled up the mountain. Haha. But it was really fun, really beautiful, and I even got to eat a freshly picked apple on my way.

The views of the valley were gorgeous, and although the colors of the leaves were not as vibrant as I would have liked, it was amazing to sit out on these rocks and look out over the world, I mean Virginia.

Our hike on the way down was quicker than the way up! I enjoyed walking through the leaves and the beauty of the trees, and just being out in nature. It's amazing how good it feels to get out of the concrete jungle every now and then!

After our hike we went straight to Sonic in Waynesborro for Limeaid slushes. Sooo good! There are a few sonic's in Illinois but they are too far away for me to get to .... so its a good thing we could go in VA! We had dinner on the Mall in downtown Charlottesville and then sad to say we were so tuckered out from Friday's adventures in Philladelphia, and a full day of exercise that we all went to bed early!!

Virginia is for Lovers Post #2: JCREW Warehouse sale.

Mom saw a sign for a JCREW warehouse sale in Richmond. I did a little google searching and found out (a) it was happening. and (b) you can get amazing deals. Like a-maz-ing deals. So, we decided it was worth the 1-hour drive to Richmond to check it out.

Dad and Ryan had plans to play basketball. So, we had an easy out to say we had plans for the morning too :)

As we arrived in the parking lot a few minutes before the doors opened, I realized I was not prepared for this. A line of at least 100 women were outside the store with huge plastic garbage bags!! I sent mom back to the car to grab a few bags of our own. I envisioned elbow-throwing and fighting over certain coats and dresses...

Luckily, I can say that it wasn't violent in there at all. There was a limited number of women (and a few men) let into the store at a time, and everyone was super nice. Mom and I split and got lost in the piles of tops, bottoms, coats, dresses, accessories, etc etc. I have to admit, it was hard work. Digging through piles and piles of clothes to find those little golden gems was not easy. But in the end, I can say we had success!

To make a long story short -- I ended up with:

1 Long wool coat, in a cream color (valued at approx $300)
1 Mid-length wool coat, in black (valued at approx $200)
5 cotton tops (valued at approx $100)
1 sweater (valued at $80)
1 sweater dress (valued at $80)
1 wool dress (valued at $150)

For a grand total of ... $150.00 (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Isn't that AMAZING? I still can't believe it. The best part is that I really needed a warm wool coat for the killer winters here in Chicago, and I got 2 for way less than the price of 1. SCORE! I will be going back to JCREW for more warehouse sales in Virginia!

With Love, Philladelphia XOXO

My dad lived for 2 years in Philadelphia, and loves this city. When he heard that Ryan had never been there, he instantly decided we would make it a part of our East Coast trip. So, Thursday night we picked up Ryan from the airport in DC, and then made the drive up to Philly. We were blessed with the most gorgeous fall weather, and we had a blast exploring this awesome city! I hadn't been back since I was 11, so it was fun for me to see so much culture and history as an adult, when I can appreciate it just a little bit more :)

Aren't my parents the cutest couple ever??

Liberty Bell.

Walking along the historic streets of Philadelphia.

Christ's Church.

Independence Hall had all kinds of scaffolding on it, so I thought a photo of Congress Hall would have to do the trick. 

See all the scaffolding? I was so disappointed.

Outside Independence Hall.

The Signer.

We went to lunch at a little dive called Ishkibibbles, for philly cheese steaks. Delicious!! It also gave me the chance to meet up with one of my dearest friends, Nicole, who has been living in Philadelphia for the last year and a half. It was so fun to see her!!

We went exploring beyond the typical historical sites and found the oldest neighborhood in the history of the US. I LOVED this alley and the gorgeous row houses that are still occupied today.

Another one of my favorite things on this trip was finding Reading Terminal. This was an awesome market full of fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and awesome restaurants. Since Dad already made plans for a cuban restaurant for dinner, we decided to have our dessert first and grab some ice cream before leaving. It was AMAZING. If you ever go to Philly, go to Reading and get some ice cream!

We took a stroll by gorgeous city hall, and of course took some photos in front of the LOVE sign. It did take a local guy to pressure Ryan into giving me a kiss in front of the sign! :)

We ended the day with the most amazing meal. Alma de Cuba was an incredible restaurant for design, and aesthetics as well as the food and flavors. I would go back in a heart beat!

Thanks Dad for showing us the best time ever in Philly!!