Chicago

I, like 2.7 million other people, was in Chicago this week.  Work flew me out there for "training."  I love exploring, so I often found my self wandering around the city before & after work.  I walk fast so I can cover a lot of ground.

  I snapped the above on my way to work.  

I worked here (but on the 8th floor).

I happened upon this thing...

I also saw all of this.

It was my first visit to Chicago.  So when I hear the Colorado Rockies were playing the Chicago Cubs while I was there, of course I had to go.

Wrigley Field was totally old school - not even an electronic scoreboard.

I also tried some authentic Chicago-style deep dish pizza from Gino's East.  Yum.

Chicago was definitely an impressive city and had a nice feel to it.
 

Easter Reunion Weekend

Grantie came home to visit for Easter!  It was a perfect weekend.  We did some shopping, ate lots of good food, and celebrated Easter together.  We took a few pictures but the settings on the camera were a little wonky so they're mediocre at best.  

One night we headed to the Gaylord Texan, a huge, fabulous hotel in Grapevine.  Instead of paying the $10 for parking we parked about a mile away in the neighborhood by our church and walked over.  

On hotel ground they have a vineyard and lots of cool landscaping with fountains & such.

Here is a view of the pool.  We didn't sneak our swimming suits in :)

Baby bumpin it. 28 weeks.

Inside the giant atrium there are a few restaurants.  Again, the camera wasn't quite cooperating (read: we don't know how to work it...) so we only got a few pictures:

But Grant did manage to snap this lovely picture:

We had dinner at a lovely little Mexican restaurant on the "riverwalk" inside the hotel atrium.  We were serenaded by the mariachi band and Grant translated "La Cucaracha" for me...  "The cockroach can't walk anymore because he doesn't have his back two legs."  Lovely.  I'll have to look up the history on that one so I'm not so disgusted...

The next day we thought we'd check out the new Legoland at Grapevine Mills Mall.

The line was well over an hour, so we just took pictures with the Lego statues instead.  Real classy.

And now Grantie is gone... again.  He's actually in Chicago this week doing some training for his new job at Fidelity- pretty sweet.  

Only THREE more weeks of this exciting long distance marriage.  The Texas spring, or rather, summer storms have arrived, bringing golf-ball sized hail, tornado sirens, and nasty, nasty humidity.  What a good time to move to Colorado!!

Bluebonnets 2011 Pictures

Adorable kids. Beautiful flowers. Perfect day. 

I love taking pictures and learning a little every time I use my camera.  Hip hip hooray :)

Bluebonnets 2011

Yesterday I spent the afternoon in the bluebonnet fields with some friends who were kind enough to adopt me as a family member for the day. Preview:

Spring Skiing

I told my Dad I wanted to go skiing for my birthday.  And so the day after I turned 26, he kindly obliged.  We headed up I-70 to Copper Mountain.  We enjoyed a great spring weather and better-than-spring snow.  

 I love the mountains...

  Dad and I just livin' the good life.  Skiing + great weather = good life.

What's that you say?  You have never been skiing?  Well my friend, you are officially not livin' the good life.

The Unfortunate, The Incredible, and The In-Between

The unfortunate: I dropped my computer yesterday and lost everything on it...

The extremely unfortunate: My final presentation is on Tuesday.  My final presentation was on my computer.

The optimistic: Twenty-four hours later, I have recreated my visual presentation.  I still have hours of rehearsing & nit-picking, but it will get done.

The incredible: There is a baby in my belly.  I feel blessed to be carrying Baby T.  No matter how uncomfortable he might make me, I cannot help but recognize how incredibly blessed I am.  I have my health, I have the gospel of Jesus Christ, I have Grantie (no matter the miles), and my future is as bright as my faith!

You can read more about the faith that makes me so happy, go here.

Happy Birthday Grantie!

Today is a very special day.  Today Grant turns twenty-six years old!  It's the fourth birthday Grant has had since we met and the first that we have had to spend apart.

Normally I would make him a scrumptious Hawaiian cake as it has become tradition.  I've heard rumors that Grant's mom will be making the cake this year so I'm feeling glad that Grant will get some (even if I really just want some for myself...)

I was a bit stressed out about finding Grant the perfect birthday present.  Gifting long distance just doesn't compare to physically giving a present to someone... so I had to make it really good.  After hours of research, (really...) I finally found the perfect present!!

For one night in June we'll be staying in Vail:

Really, does it get more beautiful that that?!

And we'll be attending the Teva Mountain Games!

According to the website, "Professional and amateur athletes from around the world converge upon the mountains and rivers of Vail to compete in eight sports and 24 disciplines for more than $100,000 in prize money. This year’s sporting events include kayaking, rafting, mountain biking, road cycling,World Cup Bouldering, amateur climbing, fly fishing, stand up paddling, trail running and a half  marathon."

I'll be running the half marathon while Grant cheers me on!!

Bahaha. Actually I thought about doing the 5K Mud Run, but then decided the obstacle course section probably wouldn't be appropriate for an 8 month pregnant lady...  But Grant is going to look over the events and see if he wants to participate.  

I am stoked.  Grantie is stoked.  And he is 26.  And we are happy.  Happy birthdaying that is!

A Short Flight Away

Things are picking up at school and at the studio: My culminating presentation for my Master's degree is next week and it's competition season at the studio.  Since the next month or so will be so busy, I bought a ticket to Denver to spend some time with Grant before the long haul.

While I was there, we headed out for one of our favorite activities, hiking!  This time we hiked around Castlewood Canyon State Park:

It was a beautiful spring day in Colorado: the sun was shining and since we started in the morning we were out before it got too hot.

Leslie came along with us.  We are excited to both be in Denver, close to the Tanners.  And they are excited that we'll be bringing their first grandson with us! (Although he'll still be a fetus at that point...)

We followed the perfect little trail along these falls; nothing too steep or crazy for me and the ever-growing Baby T.  

Grant got a feel for the water and ruled swimming out for the day:

Cold, ya think Grantie?

I wore this lovely ensemble which included Ron's jacket.  I always dismiss hiking fashion until I look back and realize how dorky I look in pictures.  Some things will never change...

We made it up to the ruins of this old dam.  As Grantie would say, "We went on a dam hike."  There is the rest of my lovely fashion statement.  

It was a great weekend and I feel like I'm toughening up emotionally.  I'm not one to get super homesick when I'm away from family.  But if I get to see my family for a while and then have to leave... that's another story.  I'm horrible with goodbyes.  Maybe because this was the third goodbye I had to say to Grant in the last month, or maybe because the hormones were on a lull that day, this goodbye was much easier than the last two.  

Now to plan our next rendezvous...