Visit from Mom and Dad

kathy and paul came and spent a long weekend with us.  it was awesome being able to spend so much time with them.  thanks guys! we love you both.  puma especially loves them too.

on the way home from the airport

shedd aquarium

"we're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl....."

the weather was perfect!

all of us together, forever! :)

riding up the elevator to the willis tower/chicago's mountain

this jumping action freaked kathy out! lol.  the pics of her and paul out on the ledge are on her camera, and i need to get those pics!

they are city people now ;)

rich gave us a tour of his fabulous school and sim lab

fix that tooth!

no ladies...he is not a available...

Chi-Birthday

moment of truth: ever since i turned 21, birthdays make me feel a little weird.  weird meaning i don't like getting older...ahah! i love the celebration party stuff, but the actual part of getting older isn't that awesome to me.  oh well! most people wanna be young forever, i hear, so i don't feel that alone in my weird feeling.  despite the weirdness part of birthdays, i still love them, and rich is so great at making my day special.  he took me to the signature room in downtown chicago! the signature room is on the 95th floor of the john hancock building...need i say more?!  what a view-what a day-what a man! ;) happy birthday to me! thanks love.

driving.  i didn't know where we were going.  i like suprises.

it was so pretty! i felt like bruce wayne's girlfriend.  ;)

the picture doesn't capture how cool it was.

we were a little cray-cray after dinner.

xoxoxoxo

Pumpkin Time!

can you tell what has been on rich's mind? go romney! lol!

puma + pumpkins

Climbing in Chicago

rich and i found an incredible climbing gym in chicago! verticle endeavors is better than the quarry.  no lie.  life just got so great!

this pic doesn't really showcase the place, but we look great, right? ;) i will take a better pic next time. 

We Own Something

drumroll....after seven years of paying rent, we now instead will be paying a mortgage! why? because we bought a one bed-one bath condo! this is so exciting for us because it means no more living in the hotel apartment (what we called our last place).  we are still busy moving in and making it "ours" but i think we love it?! a lot?!  buying was a little scary for me at first, but it seemed like a good idea because paying almost $1000 in rent is a bad idea.  we also love it because it is on this cute little lake (i love water).  i posted some pics of our place.  home sweet home! 

living room

living room with dining room behind

i love my fireplace!

the place where i will make rich delicious meals ;)

our "wash room" (i love how most chicago people call the restroom the washroom)

our backyard with the lake behind it

GIRLS.NIGHT.OUT

my bff from work, lis, and i went for dinner and to a comedy club at downtown chicago.  the comedians were pretty funny, but lis is even more hilarious.  i love this girl.  she makes work a blast.  it was a fun night.  we had such a good time that we missed the metra and had to get a taxi home.  oops!  

...afer we missed our train...

it was a beautiful night

my lover marries her lover

sarah oesterle is now sarah christiansen!  go sarah! :)  i am so happy for her and jared.  congrats you two!  sarah's wedding was beautiful.  she had it in nauvoo.  rich and i were able to make it down for a couple days before, and i am so happy we could be there for it.  i definitely cried.  i love weddings and i love sarah.  i also love jared.  jared is an awesome dude.  these two are perfect for each other.   rich and i are looking forward to spending some awesome fun times with these two.  congrats again ya little love birds!

malorie getting sarah beautifed the night before

match made in heaven ;)

laura and jared were able to make it too!

the cake that brook make was amazing!

first dance

yes. yes i love this pic.

prettiest person i know