Baby, it's cold outside...

Well, kind of anyways. It's been in the 30's, which isn't that cold. There's been a couple of light snowy days, which is nice, it's not hard to drive in. These are from the first day that some snow actually stuck overnight.

I brought this inside for Alexis

on our cars

a little bit on the ground, and the roof

puppies new coats!

he's excited

modeling

I am looking forward to more snow. It's been snowing a couple of times a week, just not a ton of snow. It's been cool outside, but cold with the winds. I am definitely enjoying the season so far. Looking forward to heading home for Thanksgiving as well.

Fall Fun

Fall has been an awesome time of year up in here in the midwest. Luckily, my parents were able to make a trip up and experience it. The trip mostly revolved around food and all of the specific restaurants we wanted to try. One of the highlights was visiting Hilger's Friendly Market, and loading up on pumpkins, fresh bread, and cider.

Hilger's

with my parents

some sort of tee pee?

hiding from the cold

dad's new favorite beer

The trip was really fun, and hopefully they will be able to come back soon. The weather was pretty cold while they were here (30s-40s) and then went back into the 70s awhile after they left. This week the weather went back down (it's 33 right now) and I think it even snowed today...it was definitely an icy, floaty rain, but not cold enough to stick. It can be annoying sometimes when it is cold outside, but I have to admit it makes fall/winter so much more exciting. We bought hot chocolate and egg nog today, and it just seems more fun to drink when it's actually cold out. It feels like this is our first real, authentic holiday season. Plus I also get to stock up on sweater dresses and boots : ) Needless to say, I am enjoying the season so far. I am looking forward to the first real snow, and I am thinking about decorating for Christmas soon.

Anyways, I need to go, or I might throw my computer against a wall and then repeatedly beat it with a hammer. No lie, every 60 seconds the computer pauses and 'refreshes.' I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE! It's enough to make a person go insane.

Class of '85 Rocks!

On October 31st this year, we had our senior class prom! Not gonna lie, it was a bitchin' time! And a great excuse to bring out the crimper! The entire marketing department won the 'golden pumpkin' for the year, for our beautiful outfits and fabulous creativity.

'Enchantment Under the Java Blue Sea'

our dance floor and decorations

rockin the dress

with my date

class of 85

our yearbook

(can't get this to rotate right)
can you find me?

As I'm sure you can tell, we got A LOT of work done that day! It was definitely a day I'll never forget.

Chicago!

A few weeks ago I had my first trip to Chicago, to attend a web design conference with two other VB web designers. Luckily VB paid for the travel and hotel room, so Alexis got a free ride to Chicago as well! What an amazing city! We must have taken hundreds of pictures of all the architecture. Our hotel was right on the river, and right in the heart of the city. On night one, Ray took us to the top of the Hancock tower (breathtaking) and then we hooked up with Austin and Jen as well to get some sushi and drinks. Pretty much an ideal night!

For the next two days I was in my conference pretty much all day so Alexis got to explore the city and take pictures. We hooked up for dinner and Alexis and I, along with Mark and Steve, my fellow designers, ate at Shula's steak house. Expensive and YUM. I love a fancy steakhouse. VB is now responsible for my first trip to Morton's and Shula's, and I am truly grateful! The second day I skipped out for lunch at Giordano's with Alexis, so we could get some authentic Chicago-style pizza. Again, delicious. I wish I could just eat my away around that city! We did some browsing (but not shopping) along the Miracle (?) Mile, which I think was my favorite place to hang out, naturally. We headed back to Fort Wayne on Tuesday night with high hopes of going back to Chicago someday with more time to explore. Only problem is, next time we'll have to pay for ourselves. ugh.

Chicago at night

cousins

a night out

chicago

across the river

the bean at millenium par

at Giordano's

yum!

More Chicago Pictures...

So that was Chicago, it was a lot of fun, and I can't wait to go back...one day when we have money! Plus I learned a lot at the conference as well, so hopefully we will get to back next year. The only downside of the trip was the news of grandaddy : ( but thankfully I work for a great company and was able to take time off and drive home that weekend.

Anyways, stay tuned...more posts to come about what we've been doing for the last month.
: )

Grandaddy

I haven't posted in awhile, because things have been busy. But in the midst of everything, we lost Grandaddy, and that really threw a wrench into life. My Grandaddy was an awesome man...he was a veteran, a pilot, a captain, an entrepreneur...but most importantly, he was a family man. A father to four, a grand-father to 9, and a great-grandfather to 5. There are a lot of things to miss about him, and a lot of things he shared with me...week long boat trips, flying excursions in his plane (I am still uncomfortable with flying unless he is the pilot), oysters, gator football...I will miss him everyday, but I know he will be with us always, and for that we are blessed. We miss you, Grandaddy. Thank you for creating our wonderful family.

The rose bush in my grandparents backyard where grandaddy would clip a flower for grandmommy.