Chicago- Lincoln Park and Late Night!

Our second day in Chicago we woke up late, ate some Einstein's Bagels and then made our way to Lincoln Park.  We walked around for a bit and then went to the free zoo!  It was a great zoo... I don't know what Chris and I were expecting but it was absolutely awesome!  I think one of the highlights of the whole trip was when Chris and I hung out by the monkeys and watch them interact.  It was a mom, dad and baby monkey and the baby was hyper! He entertained us for awhile! I think visiting a zoo like that when I have little ones will be so wonderful... They'll probably be able to go numerous times before getting bored of it!  

In front of the antelopes

At one of the entrances

After the park we walked around a cool residential neighborhood that was by Lincoln park.  I love walking with Chris!  We went to a Lululemon store, but sadly and surprisingly there wasn't anything I couldn't live without.  After a good walk around cool neighborhoods, we went to Stanley's to get lunch.  One of my favorite clients from Pure Barre, Ryann told us to go there and I'm so glad we did!  We had mac and cheese for a starter and it was the best stuff I'd ever had! YUM!

My yummy BLT with eggs and sweet potato chips!

In front!

Then we went back to the hotel and walked down to the waterfront Navy pier but it was too rainy to get on the Ferris Wheel. We hung out inside while it continued to pour!

My creative pic for the post 

Chris and I on the pier! 

Then we walked back to our room and then to Michigan Ave for a little shopping. We got some stuff for our new condo and enjoyed going to stores we normally don't go in to!

Experiencing the meaning of the name Windy City!

Then we went back to our room to get ready for our dinner at rpm.  I called to make reservations and the earliest they had was 10 pm!  But that was fine because honestly I wasn't hungry until then.  A sorority sister of mine had been to Chicago the week before we went and she recommended the place. I'm so glad we went because it was such a fun experience! It's like a club and nice restaurant mixed.  We had a wonderful time wining and dining!

Leaving the hotel

Love him!

Chicago- Coldplay

Last weekend Chris and I got to go to Chicago! We went initially for a Coldplay concert  but we stayed an extra night so we could explore Chicago.  It was my first trip to the windy city and I'd say it was a success!

We drove to Chicago and arrived mid afternoon.  We walked around Michigan Ave, had drinks and appetizers at Purple Pig and then made our way to the concert. 

 It was in the arena the Bulls play in and I know every seat was sold out.  When you came in they gave you these wrist bands that lit up at specific points during the show.  It was awesome! The entire show was absolutely amazing.  The lights, laser lights, music, it was all pure entertainment! Our seats could not have been better! They were right in front of the stage but where the stadium seating began so it wasn't all on one level.  

The view from our seats

When the band came out on the "runway" in the center of the stage they were so close!

Chris and I enjoying the experience

They came out in the audience and were one section from us!

Such a good view!

Chris and I with the band behind us!

Chris had bought these tickets last December so I'm so glad the show and night was absolutely amazing!  He made a coldplay fan out of me!  It's so neat that Chris and I have such different interests because it means both of us get to do twice as many fun things! 

Trip to Orlando for Amanda's Last Fling!

Thursday I flew down to Orlando for Amanda's Bachelorette night.  Thursday night and Friday day though, K and Linds came down and we had a relaxed girls night!  We stayed at a fun hotel and Thursday night we shared 2 bottles of wine and just talked, giggled and shared our lives with each other.  I seriously love these girls and it was such a blessing to sit and talk in person for hours!  The next day we went to the pool, and then headed to Park Ave, a really cute place in Orlando.  We had lunch and then shopped and shopped! 

Love my K!

Linds!

After a fun filled day

The Lilly store got us... We all found some fun things.  We had such a fun and relaxed afternoon.  When Amanda got off work, she met us for dinner. We had some yummy sushi!

So happy to be with the Bride!

From there, Linds and K and I hugged goodbye and went our separate ways.  

Amanda and I went back to her new home and she showed me around.  It's so cute! Then we went back to her house and did our nails and watched Sex and the City!  

The next day we ran some errands and then Amanda's MOH Lindsay and I went to the hotel the bachelorette party was happening and began decorating.  Later on everyone started showing up.  We had some drinks, took some pictures and then headed out to dinner. 

The lovely Bride and I!

Future Mrs. Bogle

The group after dinner!

 From dinner we began the real fun!  Amanda had a great night and I'm so happy for her!

Fun Times

The last few weeks have been so much fun for Chris and I.  Chris has been off from school and he is the best stay at home dad (to annabelle) ever!  He's taken over all cooking, cleaning and shopping! 

A yummy meal I came home to last week!

We had a busy week last week- went to see Batman with our CG, went to trivia night with some friends and then they came over to to play Catan

They brought their dog Brooks too, so Annabelle had a playmate!

This weekend we really just hung out with each other a lot.  Chris helped me with some statistics (I'm taking an online course really quickly),  I practiced a lot of Pure Barre (I'm hoping to be testing out soon)!

It was one of my favorite weekends I've had so far! Lucky to be married to the man of my dreams :)

The Princess needed a bath! 

Anna loves the olympics!

Love him too much!

Pure Barre Training Day #1

Yesterday I flew out to Denver for a Pure Barre training. Me and 5 other girls are coming out to learn how to be an instructor for Pure Barre. The 3 owners are also all here with us so we're just having a good old time!
Annie, one of the owners has scheduled all of our dinners and she has seriously done THE best job at picking neat, local and yummy restaurants. Last night we went to this cool earthy type restaurant called root down. We had such a good time talking and laughing and sharing yummy food.
This morning we woke up bright and early for training! We got the the studio an hour early and I'm so glad we did because we got fun PB stuff before any was sold out.
At 9 am our training began. We took a class for the first hour, then had some introductions and then began the learning process. Let's just say there is so much to learn to say its insane. I have so much respect for all PB teachers! We took turns teaching each other and by the end of doing everyone's instructing, I was spent! I'm so not sure how I'll be able to move tomorrow.... I felt like I was very prepared though. Emilee, an instructor at Louisville PB had told me to bring notecards and that was a life saver! I really think teaching with note cards was such an easier task then brining a big notebook up.
Anyways, after training we went to dinner at this fun ceviche type restaurant. The best part of te night was when we got Karen and Lucy telling us the story of how PB Louisville came to be. Omgosh they are hysterical! Ah! Then we went out front Nd took some group pictures and owner pictures. Annie was hilarious because she couldn't get the Karen/Lucy head tilt! We were all belly laughing at them! It was an amazing night and I am just so thankful that I get to do this!
I really continue to fall more in live with PB and Karen, Lucy and Annie the more I get to know them!

Day #1 

The whole group after dinner

Studying our notes!

Catch Up!

So this month has been absolutely crazy! I kept putting off blogging about it because I wanted to do each event justice. But since I'm a month behind I'm simply going to play catch up. I'll try to post 1 pic and 1 sentence about each thing we've done since I last blogged...

Continuous events are that Chris is out of school for a month (!) and I'm OBSESSED with working at Pure Barre!  Ah I love it...

On to the last month's events:

First, all of the girls in our cg (minus Taylor) got together for ice cream at comfy cow!  It was such a blessing to catch up with these women and hear how their lives are going.

All the girls and I!

Later that week I also presented my research rotation.  That was a huge relief because once it was done, I was free from school until Aug!

My classmate Adjoa and I after presenting

That weekend my mom and Hal came into town for 4ish days (we had to beg them to stay the 4th day..).  Although we worked and stuff while they were here we still had fun! We went out to eat, went to Hotel 21c's art gallery, church, etc.  The highlight I thought was lunch at the Brown Hotel! YU-UUMMM!  It was some seriously yummy food!  Hal was determined to have a Hot Brown from the Brown hotel... Thankful for his stubbornness! 

The four of us in front of the Art Gallery!

While mom and Hal were here, Ivan and Amanda had a group of us over to their pool for hangingout/cookingout! The twins came and were in the pool for their first time! We had a wonderful afternoon and it was awesome for mom to get to meet everyone!

That week we also went to see the band Fun.  It was FUN, let me tell you!! Our awesome CG got us tickets for a wedding present :)  

The next weekend we went home for my bff, Meg's wedding!  It was the most perfect weekend ever.  I got some good bonding with Margaret and that was so nice.  All of the wedding events were perfect! I was so happy for her to be marrying the love of her life! We love you Cam!

Besties at the bridesmaids luncheon.  Love these girls!  We've been bff's since 9th grade!  

Rehearsal dinner- all of the bridesmaids with the bride!

The night before the big day... Our last slumber party with Meg as a single gal

Wedding reception! Chris and I with the Bride and Groom!

After that awesome weekend it kind of stunk to come home to move into our new place, but that's what we did!  We packed ourselves up and Jared and Chris moved it all into our new gorgeous Condo!

Chris's parents came up to help us unpacked and stayed for a little over a week! We had a few breaks from unpacking to do some fun stuff

Dinner at Doc Crows!

Blueberry picking!

Before seeing Billy Elliot

Once the left we finished setting up and returning things, etc.  It's exhausting!  But the condo is looking good!

We went to our first horse race!

For 4th of July we went over to Stuart and Taylors to Grill/hang out.  Then we went to see the fire works!

It's been a WONDERFUL month!!  Hopefully from now on we won't do monthly check-ins :)

Double Date Downtown!

This past weekend we had a fun double date with the Gibsons!  We had planned on an O'Sheas on Bardstown dinner then Settler's of Catan fun game night.  BUT we found a Living Social for the O'Sheas downtown AND NBA basketball began and their team, the Thunder, were playing an "important" game that night.  SO, we went downtown for dinner, walked around, then came back to our apt to watch the game!

I loveeee them!

Love my Hubby

The Double Daters

Gorgeous Buildings

Beautiful Downtown

Kody was Annabelle's BFF

Juli has been such a blessing for me as a newly married gal.  She and Kody have been married for 4 years and so there's so much wisdom and comfort I get from sharing with her.  Chris and I have had an absolutely wonderful first 3 months but there are still small bumps and times when things aren't perfect and it's so comforting to talk with Juli and for her to assure me we're normal.  

Good friends are a blessing.  The Lord calls us to live in community and not to isolate ourselves.  I can see how in marriage issues it'd be easy for us to isolate ourselves and think we're the only ones who have awkward moments but when we live in community and share our bumps with our christian friends, we're reminded it's normal.  Usually it's because one of us is being selfish or that we're seeking love and fulfillment in Chris and not in Christ....

SO thankful for Juli and Kody and their wisdom and fun in marriage things!!

Also, Juli is pregnant with a baby girl!!! I am so unbelievably excited for her... Lots of girlie fun projects to happen this summer!