Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

To celebrate Ryan's last 1/2 day Friday, we took a little road trip to Lake Geneva. The message of this trip was "The Joy in the Journey". We definitely got caught in Chicago holiday weekend traffic on Friday afternoon and a few inches of rain on Saturday so we just enjoyed spending time together :)

Lake Geneva is this cute little Lake Town in Wisconsin -- lots of history and a quaint downtown district. We stayed at this awesome resort on Lake Delevan and Ryan was wishing he had his golf clubs.

View from our Balcony (yes, we had a balcony and rocking chairs outside our room!)

Lake Delavan

Kissing on the dock.

Cute downtown.

Gorgeous Sunset.

 We had dinner at Popeyes and enjoyed a walk around the lake and some ice cream for dessert.  A perfect summer night.

This place was themed to the max! Great food though.

Yes, I am a hot mess and have a weird smile, but its ice cream on a hot summer night ... does life get any better?

Remembering 9/11

US Flag on the Wrigley Building in honor of 9/11.

We turned on the news this morning and watched a portion of the 9/11 Ceremony taking place at Ground Zero. It was humbling and sobering to watch -- and participate in the moments of silence for those who have fallen.


I, like many others, remember where I was when I first learned of the attack on 9/11/01. I also remember the way our country came together and prayed unto God like never before. It was an experience that unified our country and shaped many generations to come.

I loved reading President Thomas S. Monson's remarks on 9/11 in the Washington Post this week. An excerpt:
Our Father’s commitment to us, His children, is unwavering. Indeed He softens the winters of our lives, but He also brightens our summers. Whether it is the best of times or the worst, He is with us. He has promised us that this will never change...If there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us. We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives. It should not require tragedy for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before giving Him our faith and trust. We too should be with Him in every season.To read the full article, click here.

Another moving tribute to 9/11 is the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, along with Tom Brokaw, Music and the Spoken Word, which pays its own homage to the unforgettable events of September 11, 2001.

Happy Anniversary!

Two years ago I made the best decision of my life and married my best friend, Ryan Merrill in the St. George Temple. It was the best day of my life and one that I will always look back on with a smile on my face and in my heart. We have learned so much about each other in two years and continue to grow closer and deeper in our relationship. I love every second I get to spend with this handsome man and look forward to many MANY more years in our future!!

I love you, Ryan Merrill!

Da Bears.
Teaching the next generation about Football.

I am a leader in our church's Young Women's Organization, for women 12-18. This includes preparing lessons for Sunday instruction, as well as planning weekly activities on Thursday nights. These are incredible women and I feel so blessed to get to work with them!!

One of the other leaders husbands is a security manager for Soldier Field -- which means we have a sweet hook-up for games. His brother-in-law who owns the company gave us AWESOME tickets and a parking pass for a pre-season game against the Browns!! We got there early and got to see the stadium, as well as practice from first row. It was so fun!!

My sweet Young Women.

Yes, I bought a Bears shirt for the game!!

Jay Cutler. Also known as Kristin Cavallari's ex.

Knox- we saw him get a TD.

Kick off.

Team Huddle. Those are some big boys.

D-FENCE

Action shot-

Touchdown!!

We had such a blast at the game. The girls loved it and I tried to teach them the few things I know about Football. It was also one of the hottest days of the year that day --- 100+ with the heat index and no breeze through the stadium. We just sat there sweating. It was gross. We drank lots of water and made the best of it though!!!

My favorite activity yet.

Refreshing. 
Isn't it so refreshing to try new things? I love it. Especially when it's in my kitchen. I was talking to a girl friend the other day about how sometimes it just feels great to be in my kitchen alone trying a new dish, dessert, etc. There is something almost therapuetic about me and my kitchen tools and creativity. Here are a few things I tried last week:

Raspberry filling.

Buttercream frosting- (over vanilla cake and raspberry filling).

My next level of patience will come when I learn how to actually frost a cake!

My next feat was: Neapolitan Style Pizza! I would love to figure this one out ... I love pizza. It was pretty good but not perfected-- just yet. 

Rolling out the pizza dough!!

I bought fresh sliced mozerall at the store vs. shredded.

Genoa Salami and Mozerella

Margherita Extra, anyone?

What do you like to do to relieve stress and express a little creativity??

Sunday Evening Walk. 
One of the best things about Chicago in the summer (ok, any time but winter) is how fun it is to take a walk in the city. There is so much vibrancy in everything around you ---

It's also amazing how quickly blocks turn into miles. We walk SO MUCH. It's awesome.

Sunset by the river.

I LOVE all of the flowers downtown! The city does an amazing job of planting seasonal arrangements.

L Train over the LaSalle Bridge.

OVO

Our first Cirque Du Soleil experience at the United Center  and it was a great one!

I love this circus tent.

We found discount tickets for Ovo and jumped at the chance to go. It was a perfect summer afternoon activity as it was super hot that day. After, we found a great Thai restaurant and ate outside on the sidewalk -- have I mentioned how much I LOVE outdoor eating? Whether it's picnics, patios or sidewalks, I just can't get enough.

Love love Summer.

Wow, can't believe it's September 1. Where does the time go?

Jazzin at the Shedd
Great Music AND the coolest Aquarium? Sign us up!

On Wednesday evenings the Shedd Aquarium stays open late and has a great live jazz band on the patio looking out at the gorgeous Chicago Skyline. We went with Dave and Angela, our BFFs from our building and had a really great time. They were so patient with us as we went through every exhibit in the Aquarium.... and then we sat outside, enjoyed the skyline and the mid-week Fireworks show that Navy Pier puts on.

What an amazing way to spend a summer night.

Shedd Aquarium at the Museum Campus

I LOVED the Jellyfish exhibit. So cool.

Love.

I'm making it official: I am training for a 1/2 marathon.

Given the crazy year that I have had with my exercise regimen due to my crazy back issues (see post here), I am amazed that I am now in a place where I am running consistently and considering committing to doing a 1/2 marathon this fall! I am not much of a racer. I enjoy the journey, not the race, for sure. But I thought, why not give myself a goal? We'll see how it goes.

This girl is my 6am running buddy. Somehow we get each other up to run! I LOVE having a running buddy.

The race is called the monster dash, on Oct 29th, and I definitely want to buy a tutu to wear as my costume. Any ideas on where to get one?? Too bad my old ballerina costumes don't fit any more :)

We May Not Get Irene...but we do get some pretty crazy summer storms. 

I've lost count of the inch count -- when you get 9 inches in 5 hours, who is counting after that?

The worst is when you get a crazy summer storm on a Saturday morning -- it really just sets the tone of the day and that is not a good tone. It always bums me out. Especially when I have a beach day planned. Rain, really?

Ryan checking out the rain.

Beginning of storm.

Two minutes later it was this.

We sulked for a few minutes about the plans that were changed but then just soaked up the opportunity to sit on the couch, watch a movie and hang out. Lucky for us, the rain stopped around 1:30pm and we could still get out and enjoy the afternoon. Pretty soon we were on our bikes on the Lakeshore path, watching the Worlds Best Air Show!! It brings 2 MILLION people to the Lake every year.

It never gets old seeing them fly that close together.

The plane is hard to see in this photo, but they flight RIGHT over the pier!!

Lots of people.

We were so glad we got to enjoy the afternoon and see part of the show!!