I think I figured out a couple of the reasons I have been having a hard time keeping up with blogging.  For starters, many of the things we have been up to lately have included us taking some pictures.  Since it would be nice to share those at the same time as the blog itself, I put off writing the blog until the pictures are uploaded and ready to be included.  This, however, is a process Jack has walked me through at least twice and I continue to forget how to do it (something about saving them to our computer from the card in the camera, then opening them in Picassa to adjust the size of the image to a size I never remember, then from there, I don't remember the rest).  So in the meantime, I put off writing the blog and clearly that has made for a boring WindyCityMinsters site. 

The second reason is that I have been trying hard to catch-up/keep up with regular necessary things to not feel as ovewhelmed.  Even though we are getting close to our one year anniversary, I think we are still figuring out what works for us and our schedules sometimes.  I would love to get a bit more of a routine and although life throws all kinds of curve balls that I am OK with, for my sanity's sake, I have been focusing on our stuff much more than this blog has come to mind.

There is also a bit of news that I think everyone who reads this blog knows by now, but just in case you haven't heard yet, we are pregnant!  I am currently 19 weeks along, all of our appointments have been going just fine and I am feeling good these days.  But knowing that our lives are going to DRASTICALLY change soon, I think we have been trying to focus on us even more and what we both want to do and need to do before the baby arrives.  We've had some fun times with friends, have a couple trips planned that are coming up, and we are working to get some things in order in our condo to make it more like home and to make room for our new addition.

For starters, we are finally repainting our bedroom this weekend.  I am totally excited!  Well, that is if we can come to a final decision on the paint color.  We thought we had it all picked out, but after putting a bit on the wall as a test, we aren't quite sure anymore.  Since we have dedicated time this weekend to get it done, I know it'll all work out.  Jack has plans to take before and after pics, so those will get posted here too (someday).

Otherwise, the last month or so has been filled with a knife skills class that we took with our good friends Kristen and Jay, a July 3rd BBQ at my brother's house, a surprise 30th birthday party for our good friend, Kati, Jack taking a trip to LA for work, going to the movies just the two of us 2 weeks in a row for a mid-week "date night", a couple outings with my girlfriends, a BBQ at Kristen and Jay's, some shopping, Jack taking a 36-hour trip to Michigan for his friend, former roommate and fraternity brother, Joe's bachelor outing, vet appointments for Bentley, an ultrasound and a doctor's appointment for me, and a bunch of the usual making dinners and condo stuff.  I have loved focusing on us a little more this past month and am looking forward to the plans we have before the baby arrives.  Makes me a little nervous to know that our lives are going to change so drastically, but as Jack often reminds me, who is to say it isn't going to be better once the baby is here?!  So, in the meantime, we are living more in the moment, and getting more excited with each day.

Thanks for being patient in between blogs.  Have a great weekend!

I have been a bad blogger.  Thank goodness for Jack who has kept our blog alive over the past month or so with his entries or everyone might have given up on looking at our blog (if they haven't already)!  The summer seems to be flying by and I am embarressed to realize that my last post was back in May.  I cannot believe that July 4th weekend has come and gone.

Since then, my trip to New Orleans to work with my dad went really well.  I love working with him, we had some good meals and got to spend a lot of quality time together. 

Once I arrived home, I quickly got ready and headed to the rehearsal and dinner for Kristen and Jay's wedding that weekend.  The following day I was back to work for part of the day, headed to meet the girls for manis/pedis and headed home to get ready for the wedding weekend.  We got to Kristen's parents' house bright and early to start getting ready and everything went very smoothly.  Kristen looked absolutely fantastic - a picture-perfect bride!  They had beautiful weather that day, things went very smoothly (minus a few bumps that thankfully didn't impact the success of the day) and a wonderful time was had by all.  The food was delicious, the DJ kept us on the dancefloor, and we all got to take cupcakes home with us, along with some candy from the candy buffet they had put together.  Jack and I stayed in one of the hotels right next to the reception and the following morning we went to meet everyone for breakfast.  We assumed that we would be lucky enough to say "hi" to the bride and groom amongst all the family, but somehow we lucked out that just for 4 of us sat at a table and we got to hear what they thought of their big day. :)

The following weekend, my immediate family got together to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary!  I had originally offered to throw them quite a shin-dig, but they opted for a dinner at home with just the close family.  Since this was to celebrate them, I wanted them to have what they wanted.  They also wouldn't take no for an answer and provided the main dish for the meal (steak, scallops and lobster for all!), and my brothers and I made up all the rest of the food for the event.  We had the most perfect weather that day, so we spent most of our time on their deck and just enjoying one another's company.  They said that it was exactly what they wanted, so I couldn't ask for a better reaction than that. :)

To say the least, May was QUITE a month!  June seemed quieter, but we had a number of items we were working to accomplish and some fun times with friends and family.  We have also been working on finalizing our wedding album so that we can receive all the digital negatives from the photographers and be able to share them with everyone.  You would think this would be an easy task, but I assure you, it is not!  We were lucky to get to visit with my Uncle Paul and his family while they were in town from Texas, we spent Father's Day with Jack's side of the family and then some time the following weekend with my parents and grandparents to celebrate.  We had dinner with the newlyweds (Kristen & Jay) that Jack blogged about, Jack had a guys' night and a boating outing, and I spent an evening with Gina shoe shopping and having dinner. 

I am looking forward to what the rest of the summer holds for us.  I'll save all that for some other blogs. :)

Last Saturday, Mary and I spent some long overdue time doing things around the house.  Everything from cleaning to laundry to paying bills.  At night, we went out to the burbs to visit our friends, Kristen and Jay.

They recently got married and went on their honeymoon in Maui.  They stayed right next to where we stayed in Ka'anapali.  Their trip was booked before ours, so I guess we copied them, but c'mon, it's Maui!

For dinner, Jay was going to grill, so we expected burgers or something else simple.  That would have been good enough for us.  So to say we were surprised when he grilled steak and lobster tail is an understatement!  They also made guacamole, pasta salad and grilled some pineapple.  All of it was delicious.  Jay even had some LaBatt Blue for me, which took me back to my college days.

Aside from getting to catch up with them and enjoy a nice relaxing evening with friends, I also got to meet their puppy, Kozmo.  He's an eight month old Shih Tzu with short hair and is adorable.  Yes, I'm not afraid to lose man points and call this dog adorable; he's just that cute.

I normally try to have a more descriptive title of my blogs based on the topic, but there's just been too much going on lately to narrow it down.  Since my last post about New York City (I still haven't completed my expense report), I've been averaging four meetings a day at work, waiting for a new neice or nephew to be born, spending time on a boat, celebrating Father's Day, and avoiding folding laundry.

That's the short of it.  Work has been crazy lately, as if it wasn't already.  Some of our IT team from Los Angeles came out for some meetings.  While the time was productive and beneficial, it was also stressful and caused me to lose time on some projects.  I feel like I'm always juggling at least 3-4 tasks at any given time.  I still love my job, and I'm certainly thankful that I have a job, but I could do with a little less stress.

On the family front, my sister is ready to have her baby any day now!  We actually thought it was going to be last weekend, which was a big factor in us not going on the annual camping trip with our friends.  As of right now, she's still just hanging around her house, waiting for the baby to be ready!

Saturday, I got the opportunity to decompress a bit with the guys out on the Chain O' Lakes.  We went tubing, had a few beers, and just relaxed.  Bob was definitely the tubing champion, even when he sent the tube flying!

Yesterday, we went to my sister's house to celebrate Father's Day.  Unfortunately, my dad wasn't feeling so hot, having been fighting off a cold for a few days.  My grandpa was also in town.  Although one of my sisters wasn't there with her family, it was nice to get to see everyone else and hang out with my neice, Annalee.  Which reminds me, her dad, my brother-in-law, has been competing in sumo competitions lately.  Both Annalee and Rhys have taken to it a bit as well!

As for laundry?  Well, no one actually LIKES folding laundry!

It's been a quick week since we've been back from Florida.  And although I am relieved that it is Friday, I head out first thing tomorrow morning to New Orleans to work with my dad for most of the week.  I am glad that we'll be together as I love working with him, but having just gotten home from Jen & Ken's wedding in Florida, I don't feel quite ready to be away again.  And once I come home, it's non-stop still as the night I fly home is the rehearsal dinner for Kristen and Jay before their wedding, then back to work on Friday and mani/pedis with the ladies on Friday for the wedding and then the big celebration of their wedding on Saturday!  It's going to be a fun couple of days, but I am also looking forward to next Sunday when I'll get to be with Jack again after all the non-stop action of the coming week.

I hope everyone has a nice weekend!