Double Decker

I type with purpose.

2011-03-03T20:32:00.000-08:00

So, I'm sitting in a shady hotel, typing away in the dim light, drinking a Manhattan....okay, well, the shady hotel part was a lie. It's actually quite nice.

I'm in St. Louis for work, and so begins a busy couple of months, ending after Autism Awareness Month in April. There is traveling galore on the books for the coming weeks, and I'm trying to get excited, because it really is tiring! Everyone says, "How fun! You get out of the office for a few days, get to take it easy...what is there to stress about?" I guess I'm answering their question as a wrap up my real work at 10:30, the stuff I didn't get accomplished while we were attending to our exhibit booth and sitting in on breakout sessions.

The good news- I get to meet so many cool people! Who cares that I don't have a voice at the end of the day?

In other news, if you see my husband, shake his hand. He's working a 60 hour week and kicking butt doing it. Interestingly enough, I met a gentlemen at my conference who worked with Will at a conference in Springfield in January.

Slowly but surely, we're taking over the conference circuit.

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2010-02-02T11:05:00.001-08:00

I realize we've been MIA in blog world. There are some exciting things going on, but a working computer at home is not one of them.

Frankly, I feel too guilty updating any further from work, so check back to see when I get my quadcore processor (if Will gives me the thumbs up). Until then, please mind the blog mess.

What's New?

2009-10-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger, but life's been very busy, thus, the crux of this post. If you haven't already heard, we're moving back to central Illinois!

As of yesterday, Will is the new Meetings Director at the Crowne Plaza Hotel! He started last year in Chicago at Dave & Buster's as a special events assistant, until the position was eliminated company-wide. Since then he's been doing odds and ends for the company, but now has a more permanent place to use his great customer service and event planning skills. If you plan a convention with the Crowne, Will is the go-to man for all of your details!

This week I am busy tying up the loose ends in Chicago and I start my new position on Monday the 19th at the Hope Institute and The Autism Program of Illinois in Springfield. Their new location is the medical pavilion near the old Doctor's Hospital. It seems I will have the opportunity to use my communication and journalism skills, along with the clinical experiences I accrued working with individuals with mental illness at Thresholds.

The apartment is full of boxes, and we've cleaned as much as possible. Will is riding the train up Friday and we're moving on Saturday.

We're glad to move back to the land of half price rent, but I've been feeling a little sentimental. This has been our home for over two years, our first big adventure together and our first place together. Yesterday, I was walking to the gym, enjoying the leaves falling amongst the brownstones, the smells of the bakery and the kids riding their bikes on the walk. Then, I heard all the honking, had to wait to use equipment at the gym and almost got hit while crossing the street.

Things I won't miss are going around the block 20 times to find a parking spot, digging the car out of a parking spot in the winter, riding the train home with drunk and obnoxious Cubs fans, paying $4.00 for a gallon of milk, and over 12% tax on a bottle of wine.

While stating those lofty feelings of loving the city life, my friend recently asked me what I would miss most. After some long thought, the only thing I could come up with is the FOOD. In the city, there's Thai, Japanese, Italian, Argentinian....the list goes on. But the best part? It all comes to your doorstep any time of day. We're back to the land of the Horseshoe (which I love) and the land of "everything closes at 10:00 p.m." *sigh*

We're renting an apartment in Springfield for six months for literally less than half our current rent, and plan to save for a down payment on a house. Once we get settled, we'll make connections with everyone and start enjoying the best part of moving- family.

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-26T20:40:00.001-07:00

We decided to stay in and make our own picnic, sans grill. Will whipped up some awesome burgers. I'll have to get him to post the recipe, but they involved soy sauce, pineapple grilled over the stove burner, bacon, pepper jack cheese and pretzel rolls. My contribution was strawberry margaritas; the approximate recipe is below. I made them frozen 'cause that's how Hubs like 'em, but you could blend the strawberries first and shake them in with the other ingredients for a margarita on the rocks.

Prep:
Make limeade from concentrate, but use half the water required.
Clean Strawberries, and blend before hand if making rocks.

Jessie's Strawberry Margaritas
2 oz limeade
1.5 oz tequila
.75 oz triple sec
Spash of orange juice
3-4 large strawberries
*Blend with ice until desired consistency is reached. Use fresh lime to rim glass and dip glass into kosher salt. You'll need a straw!

Christmas Ornaments in May

2009-05-26T20:35:00.000-07:00

I've been going through a couple boxes a week, assessing how much....stuff we have. In this process, I stumbled on some Christmas ornaments I started in, oh, 2006? My goal is to wrap up all the half-completed projects I've started and continue to move from one household to the next. I figure we'll still have to move them in their completed version, but I'll be less disgusted about it.

Snowflakes make sense, but Christmas spiders you ask? They were just too weird not to make! Four snowflakes down, two to go. I'm happy to report all six Christmas spiders are complete.

Weekend Trip To CoMo

2009-05-26T20:29:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Will and I took a long weekend. We stopped in Springfield so he could take an employment assessment at UIS, had a birthday lunch at Cozy Dog with mom and headed to Columbia, Missouri.

We were lucky enough to imbibe and eat at all our favorite places, but somehow, I only came back with a couple pictures of us and friends at Eastside Tavern. Also, I have a few when we stopped by the Lewis/McCoy house on the way back to Chicago.

Nom Nom, Uncle Will

Mike Kowalik and Molly

Remembering Derby

2009-05-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Seeing how most of my readership is composed of family, you might only know my good friend, Sara Wolff, as the fourth bridesmaid in our wedding. What do you know about her? She has dark hair like me and blended in with my sisters easily, she has a noteworthy giggle, and she was great under stress that day. It was probably hard to notice more in the short time you may have crossed her path in September, but the very extraordinary part of our relationship involves an even larger group of women.

Sara and I met in August or September of 2007. She lived next door to my good friend Brian, and as Sara and Brian spent more time together, so did Sara and I. By January, we were in the depth of Missouri winter (which now I find temperate and wonderful) and bored. We felt like we needed to do something, anything, and fast. I mentioned that my co-worker, Adrienne, continually mentioned trying to start a derby team, and we.....did it!

Today, a great article ran in the Columbia Missourian recounting this infamous (at least to us) beginning of the CoMo Derby Dames. When we began, I would guess I spent 20 hours a week doing derby-related things, be it working out, planning practices, going to meetings, helping with fundraisers, etc. Will and I were fairly new to each other at the time and he frequently worried for my safety and sanity. No words could describe to him the empowerment, camaraderie and downright awesomeness I felt while knocking down my best friends, even when it resulted in a suspected hairline fracture. It really was hard to attempt to validate my experience while I cried and he iced my leg; he thought I was upset because my leg hurt, but I was infuriated because it would keep my off my skates.

I realized he was over his hesitation during our first bout. After my first good block that resulted in our team scoring, I looked into the stands to see my future husband standing up, screaming for me at the top of his lungs. My heart swelled and it hit me- this was the first time in my life when I was the star, my friends were the stars. The stands were full of boyfriends, husbands, friends and derby children all present to support the strong women in their lives. And I was part of it.

In June last year, I went to Columbia for a visit and went to have a drink at a familiar haunt. Sara, several friends and I sat in the corner window on a busy corner. Soon, we saw a derby girl and her friend standing a few feet away on the street corner. We left our table to join them and they greeted my excitedly as if I'd never moved to Chicago. As we chatted, more derby girls accumulated on their way to different destinations. Momma Knee Ya screamed, "Foxy! You're here!" from across the street and made a mad dash to join in the fun. Simply by standing in a high traffic area, there were friends all around, and the vast reach of this organization really touched me.

Enjoy the article; it makes me proud that I still make the news, even though we moved almost two years ago. Below are some pictures from Season I and some more links to publicity.

Roller Rumble

Derby Dames

Derby Fundraiser with Ninja Skwidd

First bout at Empire Roller Rink: Howie, Skwidd and Bex.

My wheels

Publicity shot

Blocking at the first bout

As Promised...

2009-05-11T15:48:00.001-07:00

The pictures are in reverse order (oops), but I don't really relish the task of reorganizing them.

Wrigley Field for the Reds/Cubs Series. Below, you can see Lake Michigan in the background.

My handsome husband. :)

Grandpa Doug and Evelyn on Easter.

Evie and Daddy.

"Bath? Ew."

Trying on her new headband.

New clothes from Mike and Elisa.

Dying Easter eggs with Mommy. Evie sure looks interested!

"For moi?"

I forgot to mention in my last post that my best friend, Megan, flew from Minneapolis to spend the weekend with me. I have no pictures of the two of us, but I DO have pictures of our loot from Hot Doug's. Click the link and check out their website! They are renowned for their interesting dog selection, and our hour wait was well worth the Polish, Hot Link and Duck Fries we ate.

This is St. Patrick's Day in Springfield. Josh, Will and Ed were getting into the spirit at Brown's.

Bagpipers at Celtic Mist.

Evie and Daddy at the St. Pat's parade.

My preparations for an ealy Irish celebration at our house included whiskey soda bread and corned beef.

Into the pot with ye!

Nine pounds was barely enough!

Our first married Valentine's Day.

Its been a while

2009-05-05T18:35:00.000-07:00

Since our last post, a few things have happened. Let's see...

February involved our first married Valentine's Day. We went really fancy with a cheap bottle of pink champagne and a frozen pizza at home.

March was my birthday on the 16th and St. Pat's. I went to Springfield on Friday and Will took the 7:15 train to Springfield on Saturday night. We had a good time seeing all the friends and family, including baby Evie would saw her first parade.

April was a busy month. We were fortunate enough to acquire tickets to two games during the the Reds/Cubs series. My first trip to Wrigley was on a Tuesday night and about 25 degrees; we did get to see a cat run across the field with a few people chasing it.

I went to Springfield for Easter and saw the whole family, including Aunt Susan and Uncle Ron who came from Omaha. Sarah, Jake, Evelyn and I went to church in Berlin with Dad and Patty and then we had a great meal at Aunt Molly's.

Also, last week, I had a job interview in Springfield. Hopefully, our relocation will happen soon! Everyone cross their fingers! I'll post pictures soon of our last several months!

Weekend with the baby.

2009-02-01T13:31:00.000-08:00

Here are pictures from our weekend with the McCoy/Lewis family. We had a great weekend, minus Will and me getting food poisoning and Sarah's starter going out. Jersey Boys was great and we lazed around and snuggled the baby. We're looking forward to having them back when the weather warms up and we can sight see.

In like a lion...

2009-01-22T18:23:00.000-08:00

Its been a while since the last post. I would like to say we've been busy; really, we've been recovering from the excitement of the holidays.

The weather has been pretty bad. Since the first of the year, we've had multiple snow storms. I went out one morning to find the Charger surrounded in an ice castle and sitting on a former pond. Armed with my trusty windshield scraper, I futilely chipped at the boulders in front of the tires and drew the glances of several onlookers. With the help of three nice fellows, we rocked, pushed and loosened the car enough to get it into the relatively clear ruts in the middle of the street. Embarrassed and wary this would happen again, I purchased a 50lb bag of ice melt and a steel snow shovel. The car has yet to even pretend to get stuck.

This week, the weather warmed into the 20's. I called Will one day at work and sang "Heat Wave" to him. After -30 windchills, I felt like I could ditch my parka, long johns, first pair of gloves, second pair of gloves, long socks, tall boots, hooded sweatshirt, long sleeve t-shirt...well, you get the idea.

Last weekend, we double dated with the Beinlich's. We met for sushi at a BYOB and went to Kingston Mines to listen to blues. It was nice to explore new places and go out with good friends. We really enjoyed the environment at the club and loved Joanna Connor.

In the down time, I've been trying to keep up with the mud puddles tracked through the house. Also, I finally ordered the remainder of our wedding photos and began scrap booking our honeymoon. Since its no fun to be out and about, I've committed myself to the winter mission of finishing projects started during my fits of A.D.D. during the summer. So far, so good.

Will and I are excited to host Sarah, Jake and Evie this weekend. Jake has never been to our apartment and Will has yet to meet his niece. I'm eager to see how much she has grown and changed. Sarah and I have plans to see "Jersey Boys" on Saturday in honor of her birthday at the end of the month.

Next month: cross stitch my heart out. Exciting, no?

New Baby!

2009-01-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

Evelyn Rose McCoy was born Dec. 29th at 7:56 p.m. She weighed 8lbs 11ozs and was 21.5 inches long. We are all very proud! Momma and baby left the hospital yesterday, a day earlier than expected, and everyone is doing well. She's a strong little girl and has already found her thumb.

I spent a long day Monday with the McCoys at the hospital. Sarah was induced at 5:00 a.m., but did not progress as they had hoped. So, she had a C Section and we had a baby very quickly after that long wait! This is a lucky baby with four aunts and two uncles to dote on her.

Proud dad with his sisters and mom.

Dad holds her hand while she warms up after her bath.

Happy family. Grandpa Rich

Grandpa Doug

Aunt Rachel

Grandma Laurie

Aunt Ginnie

Grandma Patty

Aunt Jessie

The outfit Uncle Will picked out.
Duckies on the feet.

Momma feeling better the next day.Little sweetie.

The end of December

2009-01-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

Will was very fortunate to have an entire week to celebrate his birthday. We had a lot of fun, in spite of the fact that Will had food poisoning Thursday of the celebratory week. I planned a surprise gathering of friends at our neighborhood bar, but spilled the beans early in case he didn't recovery. We still had a good crowd show and everyone had a good time. That Saturday, we spent time at his parents house for more cake and our Christmas celebration.

On Christmas Day, we celebrated in New Berlin with my dad's side of the family and Jake's family from Jacksonville. Our immediate family opened presents before everyone arrived and we had a great meal. I definitely ate too much and thoroughly enjoyed spending time with everyone.

Stilllllllll pregnant.......
At Brown's

Happy Birthday, Will!

2008-12-16T14:23:00.000-08:00

This weekend, Will's parents took us to Medieval Times to celebrate his birthday. He always wanted to go, so this was his year! We had a great time eating with our hands and cheering on the yellow knight.

Dinner:

Tomato Bisque (Dragon Blood Soup)

Roasted Chicken (Baby Dragon)

Spare Rib (Dragon Brain)

Pastry of the Castle

Two rounds of Coke products

As the waitress was passing out the items and explaining the dragon-related names, someone down the way asked what she called the bread item. She curtly answered, "Its garlic bread!"

There were sword fights, jousting and Andalusians on parade. Also, there was a pretty elaborate dressage demonstration.

Tonight, we are celebrating Will's birthday by getting snowed in, it seems. Most of the commutes are over two hours now, so home seems good! I made a butter cake with German Chocolate icing, so the kitchen smells great and it seems like the perfect night to read or crochet.

Also, Happy Birthday to Elisa tomorrow!

Giant tree in the Great Hall (a.k.a. giftshop stocked with swords).
Cool ceiling decor.
Will and his parents.
The MC.

Will enjoying his frozen margarita out of his souvenir stein.

The King and Princess aloft.

Last year, I was very proud to show Will the wreath I made. He said, " Since when are we Jewish?" It hadn't even crossed my mind then I picked out the materials at the craft store.
...and it begins.

'Tis the Season

2008-12-05T18:31:00.000-08:00

The past week and a half flew by! We hosted Thanksgiving at our house for the first time. Will's parents and grandparents joined us for our feast. Will and I made the whole spread, incorporating things from both of our families. We had a great time in the kitchen together and felt proud that we pulled the whole thing off with no snafus. However, we have a better understanding of all the stresses the mom's used to go through around the holidays that we didn't always understand as children.

Also, we decorated the house for Christmas. We are still building our stash of holiday stuff, so it didn't take us more than an hour to trim the tree. Over the past several years I've made some holiday ornaments, so its fun to display them and see the collection grow.

We are eagerly anticipating several things in the next few weeks. Will and his mother, Elisa, have birthdays coming up (Dec. 16 & 17 respectively) and Sarah is due to have the baby any time. I live in mortal fear that when she calls saying she is in labor, I will have no clean clothes, it will be snowing like hell, the car will get a flat tire, etc. You see where I'm going with this. I think the whole family will be happy when the baby arrives so we can quick stressing and begin enjoying the new love of all our lives.

Everyone enjoy the Christmas shopping, partying and decorations. Its a great time of year (minus the weather).

Our Thanksgiving table, complete with wedding china, baking items, etc.
Will polishing off my apple pie.

Our pretty Christmas tree.
Looking tired, but happy.

Happy Thursday!

2008-11-20T17:54:00.001-08:00

This past weekend was busy busy busy!

Friday, we celebrated Mike's birthday with dinner at our house on Friday night. Will cooked an amazing spread, including pork schnitzel with dill sauce, German carrots and sweet potato and apple casserole. I made a mediocre chocolate cake with white frosting. It was nice to break out all of our new Fiesta ware and cooking/baking supplies and put them to good use. Mike and his father, Grandpa Bill, share their birthday on Nov. 13, while my dad's is on Nov. 15. Happy November Birthdays, Dads!

Saturday, I caught up with some high school friends for a girls' night out in Chicago. We went to a great loung-y restaurant called The Bar Celona in Wrigleyville.. They have amazingly inexpensive food and sangria specials. Needless to say, Mel and I have been before. After dinner, we caught a cab to the Hancock and had martinis on the 95th in the lounge. Following cocktails, we headed to the Second City. Surprisingly, Kirsten's second cousin is one of the comediennes! It was hilarious and really cool to be in a place that is such an intrinsic part of comedy in the past 30 years. Thanks to Mel for putting our evening together!

Kirsten Aslaksen, Rachel Ford, Lori Kasarsky and Photographer Melanie Beinlich at the Second City and the view from the ladies room at the Hancock.

Really, I was pretty sick by Saturday night, and its only gotten worse. I took Monday off from work to lay on the couch and now Will has The Sickness. Battling the germies is pretty much consuming our lives this week.

I've finally finished uploading photos to Facebook and Myspace. I'm sure seeing wedding photos has become completely obnoxious to everyone else, but I don't think I'll ever get tired of going through them. However, I am becoming more selective, as it has been time consuming. One of my favorites for fun:

..AND Will with no beard. He grew it back and he no longer startles me when rounding the corner.

Wedding Photos

2008-11-12T15:02:00.000-08:00

Wedding photos are posted and available:

www.jfimagedesign.com/920

Register to access the album. Kudos to our photographer and friend, Jeremy Fenelon, for outstanding photos and major patience. If any one is interested, there are also engagement photos available. Some of my favorites are below.

Hope everyone had a great Wednesday. Now, the downward roll to the weekend!

Why another blog?

2008-11-11T16:55:00.000-08:00

It recently dawned on me that Will and I both have Myspace and Facebook accounts. However, there are many family and friends who do not, and thus miss out on pictures and happenings in our lives that are relegated to blogs on the aforementioned websites. In answer to this problem, I shall (attempt) to update you on our lives at this location, a universally accessible site. Please comment and refer back to see what's new in our lives!

Soooo.......the update!

Since the Sept. 20th party, we've been extraordinarily busy. I fooled myself back in August when I said, "if only I can make it though the wedding, then I can relax." We spent almost a week of bliss in Hawaii lying on the beach, site seeing and eating (and then trying to figure out how we could sell our possessions as to not return to the mainland). Alas, we returned to real life, chilly weather and more things to accomplish.

The first on the list was wedding thank you notes; hopefully, you all received them and if not, let me know- I'll write you another! Next, was sending invitations and planning Sarah's baby shower on November 8th. We had a great turnout (almost 40 people) and enjoyed some female bonding. Now, we are planning for Thanksgiving, and then a trip home around Christmas. With any luck, there will be a new niece or nephew to cuddle.

Will is working at Dave & Buster's in the special events department and I am still at Thresholds. I will have my one year anniversary on December 10th. We've been busy hanging out with friends, new and old, and spending lots of time with family.

We love being married. Before September, I thought nothing would change after the wedding. However, it does feel a little different, in a very good way. Its a new experience for both of us and its really awesome that we can share it together. We're looking forward to the new experiences to come.

I've included pictures from Sarah's baby shower last weekend. Enjoy!

"Guess the Gerber"

Aunt Mae and Sarah

The McCoy table

Aunt Molly and my mother-in-law Elisa

Sarah and Patty

Me, Sarah/Belly and Mom