Chicago!!

We spent the weekend in Chicago for my friend Elizabeth's birthday (which was on Wednesday).  We (Elizabeth, her boyfriend Grant, a friend Nile, Tyson, and myself) loaded into Elizabeth's car and we left around 5:30 on Friday evening.  We got to Elizabeth's sister's house (Melissa) a little before 10:30.  Although Elizabeth and I were tired, everyone else was ready to go out! So...out we went!  We walked a few blocks, in the frigid temps, to a pizza place.  Melissa and the guys ordered a PB&J which consists of a huge slice of pizza, a 16 oz PBR, and a shot of Jameson.  Well....Tyson ordered 2. Ha!  After the pizza place we walked back to Melissa's and she drove us to our hotel which was in the Lincoln Park.  (I don't know Chicago but people were saying this like it's popular).

We got to bed around 1:00am.  After a glorious 9 hours of sleep, Elizabeth and I headed to breakfast in the hotel.  The guys had been up earlier and eaten.  We needed our beauty rest. :)  After breakfast, we got ready for the day, although we had no plans.  Tyson and I hadn't been to Chicago before, but with temps in the 30s, we really had no plans and were up for anything.  Tyson had a list of food options, and we hit one up for lunch....Frontera's which was a short walk from our hotel.

After lunch we kept walking and decided that we would go to Millennium Park, which is where The Bean is located.  We knew it was about a mile walk, but once we started seeing signs, we decided we would forget about our freezing toes, faces, and hands and make it there.  On the way we saw a group of 5 boys playing the "drums" on buckets! They were so amazing!! 

We finally made it to Millennium Park and took a few pictures of The Bean. Then we watched some ice skaters fall and decided we should head back.  The walk back to the hotel seemed MUCH shorter.  However, Tyson requested a stop at Harry Caray's (the late Cubs announcer) for  couple drinks.  I welcomed this stop as I was cold! 

After finally making it back to the hotel, we left again soon to go to Melissa's.  We had a few drinks at her house while Tyson and I taught everyone how to play Farkle.  Elizabeth and I got ready while the guys continued to play. :) 

**I should mention that Melissa won a free "happy hour" at a bar and could invite anyone she wanted.  We got 2 hours of free drinks and then we all paid an extra $10 to last another hour.**

The night out ended up being more eventful then planned...but doesn't that always happen? :)  On Sunday we headed home around 11:00am.  We had a great weekend.  Tyson and I can't wait to go back when the temperature is warmer and we can enjoy walking around Chicago without freezing! :)

Here's a recap in pictures:

PB&J!

THE BEAN!!

Self-portraits in The Bean

The Bean needs to be cleaned!!

Me with the Farrell sisters

Birthday parties!

February has been a great month so far!  We had a blizzard and I got the snow days I desperately needed!  Now, 2 weeks later, the snow is melting and it's feeling a little more spring-like today (and this week as well)!

On Friday (2 days ago) I picked up our wedding photo book from our wonderful photographer and it is AMAZING!!  We couldn't be more happy with our pictures, but the book is just as amazing!!  We haven't gotten around to ordering any prints yet (I know...I know) but hopefully we'll do that soon.

So anyway, I brought the book over to Wendy's to show her...and guess what?! Ava decided it was time to walk!!  So I got to watch that little turkey show off her skills! We all got a good laugh and did lots of clapping and yelling to keep her going!

Tyson and I ended the day by stopping at Panther Lounge :) for a few drinks and then off to Tony's for dinner.  We went home after dinner because I was TIRED!  I didn't even make it through an episode of OC when we got home.  I crashed on the couch in less than 45 minutes.

On Saturday, I slept in and then took another nap! :)  It was great!  I had to be ready to party for Wendy's birthday that night.  We went to Brown Bottle for dinner and then to Toad's for the rest of the night.  We had a lot to celebrate.....Wendy's turning the big 3-0 tomorrow!


Next weekend, Tyson and I are going to Chicago to celebrate my friend Elizabeth's birthday.  We're leaving Friday after school with probably no plans for Friday night besides spending time in the hotel.  On Saturday, Elizabeth's sister, Melissa, won a free happy hour at a bar, so we'll get free drinks for 2 hours!  We can't wait for a weekend away!  Stay tuned for updates from next weekend!

As always, it seems like this month is flying by.  The month is half over already!!

Celebrating Wendy's birthday!!

 Sorry Wendy, I didn't even get a picture with the birthday girl!

Irony

Funny how my last post was about how all of the snow was melting and I was sad because I didn't think I could get a snow day in my first year as a teacher.  Well...I guess I jinxed us there! 

On Monday I missed school as my grandpa passed away and I was at his funeral.  It snowed/blew all day, but nothing too bad.  The roads were a little slippery on our way back to Cedar Falls.  Then Monday night it started snowing more and more.  I woke up Tuesday morning at 5:00am and put off getting out of bed in hopes that I would see "Waterloo schools - closed" scroll across the bottom of KWWL.  Finally at 5:30am I knew I had to get out of bed.  I turned on the shower and heard a *ding* from my phone - signaling a text message.  It was the KWWL text telling me school was closed!!  I shut off the water and went back to bed!! :)  Yay!! 

I knew the weather was supposed to be worse Tuesday night and Wednesday.  I took advantage of the fact that Tuesday morning and afternoon were pretty calm and made a trip to Target to waste some time.  On Tuesday night I got a call from Waterloo schools informing me that school would be closed on Wednesday as well!!  YESSS!!! 

Today was spent writing thank yous from our wedding.  Tyson didn't go to work today either so we both got to join in on the fun!  (Yes, we're 6 months into our first year of marriage and just got our thank yous done).  I made a goal to have them done by February 1st, but I'm thinking the 2nd isn't too bad either! :) 

Anyway, I'm about 99% sure that we'll have school tomorrow, so I need to get out of sleeping in/staying up late mode and get ready for a 2 day work week! By the way, did I mention how amazing these snow days have been?  I don't even care that we'll officially be in school in June.  These days were MUCH needed! Thank you weather Gods!