School Begins Again

SCHOOL UPDATE: We have officially started fall semester classes. I go to school MWF and Ryan goes on TTH. This is my last semester at NIU and during the spring I will be doing my internship. This is also Ryan's last semester at Kish and he will have his Associate's Degree. Yay! We are so excited for this semester to begin and be over. We will be leaving Dekalb in December and moving back home closer to our family and friends. Just have to tough it out for 4 more months!!

JOB UPDATE: As everyone knows, Ryan and I are both still working at Steak 'n Shake. And recently work has been VERY stressful. So I have been in the process of looking for a new job. Today I went to Moxie (a very cute store downtown), Walgreens, and Pier 1 Imports and pretty much got laughed at for asking if they were hiring. My ACI (the athletic trainer at my clinical site) told me to check out Farm and Fleet. That was my last stop when getting applications and the lady seemed very positive. She said they were hiring and gave me an app. I turned it in later today, so fingers crossed I get a call. A girl I have clinicals with said if I get the job I'll probably be the hippest one there....ahha.....it's not a place that I would normally shop at, but a job's a job.

WEDDING UPDATE: We are still hard at work on planning the wedding. The bridesmaid's dresses have been chosen, our DJ is booked, I'm still looking for my dress, and the theme for the day is set. We are currently searching for a photographer. We had one we really liked, but when getting back from vacation we found out he booked someone else on our date. I believe things happen for a reason and we weren't meant to have him. So, we have been talking to two others and plan on meeting them in the near future. We're always open for ideas for the "big day" so feel free to let us know!

Thanks Lizzy!!

Like I mentioned earlier, Elizabeth gave Ryan 2 White Sox tickets for his birthday back in April. And the game we picked to watch was this past Thursday, the 14th. We drove home Wednesday from the lake and went to Pontiac because we had left the tickets there. Before going to bed I called Ryan and told him to look up the directions to the park and make sure the game was at 7 p.m. He called me and said, "the game starts at 1:05 p.m.!!!" We really wanted to go to a night game and we thought this one was. We contemplated on going to a different game, but they were all during the week and once school started, so that wasn't possible. So Thursday morning we left Pontiac around 8 a.m. to give us enough time to go to Dekalb, get ready, drive to Chicago, and find the stadium. I was the one driving and let me tell ya, we will NEVER do that again. Next time, train ride here we come. Driving in the city is ridiculous!!! The game was a little boring the first couple of innings, but later picked up and I think we saw a little bit of history (or so I was told). The Sox hit 4 home runs in a row! Which was pretty awesome. Oh, and of course my favorite player, Crede, wasn't playing.....oh well, maybe next time. Here are some pictures from the game...

Cellular Field

Ryan with the city behind him

Ryan and his $6.25 beer (and no shirt...it was SO hot)

LOVE

Action on the pitchers mound

Favorite pic of the day

The view from our seats. Thanks again Lizzy, we had a BLAST!

MN '08

We had a blast this vacation. Wish we could have spent more time with the family, but the days we were all together were great! Here are some pictures from the trip...

Ashley, Elizabeth, Grace, Me

Ryan and Zach found a dead Loon washed up on the shore. This is the first time Grandma and Grandpa had seen this. So Grandpa checked to see if he had choked on a fish, but his throat was clear. It's a Mystery?

Fishing Trip.....I'm pretty sure the girls caught more than the boys.

Dropping Anchor

Ryan tossing Michael the ski rope

Grace the little water bug!

Ryan getting ready to attempt the wake board

HE DID IT!!!

Ashley/Zach VS. William/Dad

BAG-O

Grandpa/Uncle Steve VS. William/Dad

If you look closely you can see through Grandpa......What was weird is that it was like this in every picture I took......creepy

If you want to see some more great photos of the boys tubing, us on the water and the multiple games we played (including sequence, black jack tourney, and bag-o) check out ashley's blog...From A to Z

Please Come Faster...

ONLY 2 MORE DAYS UNTIL WE ARE AT THE LAKE! Ryan and I have been very busy this summer with work and our first summer staying in DeKalb and taking classes. We will both be done with school Thursday around 1 p.m. and we are leaving for the lake RIGHT AFTER! Ryan really didn't get a break from spring semester and summer semester because he took a 4 week class inbetween. So he can't wait to get to the lake and start fishing, skiing, fishing, tubing fishing, jet skiing...oh and did I mention FISHING. The family went up there last Friday and we are very jealous....but our time will come soon!!

So Long Apartment 7

Goodbye Aspen, Hello Varsity....this past Tuesday I moved into my new apartment. It feels like just yesterday I was moving into the dorms and saying goodbye to my family & Ryan. I only have this coming Fall semester left of school and then I'm leaving Dekalb in December, so when it came to making the decision on where I would live for four months, it was hard. I didn't want to have to sign a lease and then try to sub lease for spring and summer. My mom wanted me to find an old lady who would let me sleep on her couch.....how weird would that be?/? She also told me I should ask one of my teachers.....which would be even MORE weird.....So I was stressing out for awhile. Then it dawned on me, the athletic training class below me has to be here for the entire year, so I asked my peer partners, Ashley and Katie what their plans were. They mentioned they had been thinking about getting an apartment together. So I asked them if they were, if I could sleep on their couch for a few months. When they told me that I could, a HUGE weight was lifted off my shoulders. They didn't make me sign a lease and are letting me pack up and leave after finals! Yay! The apartment is neat, but I'm downsizing alot from my old apartment.

Old Apartment: Room to myself

New Apartment: Futon in the living room

Old Apartment: Own bathroom attached to my room

New Apartment: Shared with 2 others

Old Apartment: 2 closets

New Apartment: Closet in the storage closet/kitchen pantry

Old Apartment: Guaranteed parking spot in lot

New Apartment: Fingers crossed for street parking (and close to apartment)

I don't want to make this apartment sound bad because it's actually pretty neat and the girls are helping me out ALOT! Check it out....there is a spiral stair case which takes you downstairs to Ashley and Katie's bedrooms!

Thanks Christie and Mary for being GREAT roommates last year!!