A Wedding Weekend

We are finally home after a weekend full of events! Our good friends Rachael and Sylvain were married last night up near Cincinnati and since I was in the wedding we've been going strong since Thursday afternoon. It seemed like each evening was more fun than the next. I love dancing at receptions --especially when the Champagne is flowing! We got home from Cincinnati this afternoon only to have to turn around after about an hour and a half to head over to Louisville. One of Pete's high school friends got married this summer and her parents had a reception dinner for her tonight. On the plus side, we hadn't seen Pete's family yet this holiday season so we went by his mom's house and spent time with his family before changing and going to our last wedding-related dinner of the weekend. Here are some pictures from our fun-filled weekend.

Pete and Emily REALLY liked the ribbon on our presents!

The Lovely Bride

Dancing Queens

Christmas Eve and Early Morning

Merry Christmas Everyone! We'll probably post a few times today so we can share all the day's pictures, but here are some scenes from last night's celebration and stockings and presents this morning.

Pete hung lights on the house Saturday night, and I added some over the door yesterday.




Baking treats for last night --in my new Christmas apron!



The tree last night with all the eats, and us in front of our tree.


Presents from Mom and Dad --Thanks!



We got each other some clothes --Pete got me a nice North Face fleece, and I got him some flannel-lined jeans.

Well, that's it for now. Hope you all are enjoying the celebrations at your houses!

2nd Try --Christmas Tree Story, etc.

Now I've got Firefox instead of Explorer, so hopefully I won't lose posts anymore. Back to the story of how we got our Christmas tree.

We got our Christmas tree Thursday afternoon and it's a beauty --8 ft tall! This year we went with a Fraser fir, it touches the ceiling and we might not be able to put our star on it. We went to the same tree farm where we got last year's tree, it's just a little ways out of town and the family who runs it seems really nice --they even remembered us from last year. We've got the tree fully decorated and everything, but I think it might need something more --maybe some beads or wired ribbon, I don't know. We put it in a different place this year, a little more out of the way, but we didn't have to move any furniture, it makes it easier to walk through the house, and isn't as tempting for the dog to eat. Here are some pictures from our mantle as well, so you can see our stockings, etc. In the corner is Big Dolly, Pete's toy soldier from when he was little --you should have seen me getting that thing out of the attic!
The next couple of weeks should be pretty busy for us, we've got Christmas church services, Egg Nog Night (only ask if you REALLY want to know --it's a scary tale involving Pete and 64oz of the stuff), a weekend in Cincinnati for a wedding, etc. We'll be pretty worn out by the start of 2007, but we will have no doubt had some good times. Hope everyone has safe travels for the holidays!

Bummer

I had this nice post about our Christmas tree with pictures to go with but internet explorer encountered a problem, had to restart, and I lost the whole thing. And now I have to leave to go to Cincinnati for a music rehearsal for my friend Rachael's wedding. All that to say, sorry no update, I'll try to log back on tonight and repost everything.

Holy Moly Guacamole

We made guacamole this evening so we could use our new avocado bowl --here's the picture as proof! Thanks again to Pete and Jenn for giving it to us, like we needed another excuse to make guacamole --we love that stuff. Anyway, Pete (my husband, not my brother) wholeheartedly approves. Not much else going on here, our big staff party is tomorrow night so I'll probably have some pictures from that later on in the week.

He's My Lobster!

We arrived home last night from our Thanksgiving trip to Omaha, NE. Unfortunately, Pete had to leave again this morning at 4:30AM to fly to Florida for his company's annual meeting. Hannah and I miss him already! Because I am one of the last people on the planet to still be using a film camera, I just got back some pictures from Halloween. Pete and Hannah were
lobsters.

I decided to borrow Hannah's costume after she'd gotten sick of it.

On to more recent events. Wednesday night we arrived in Nebraska and we brought Ben his first pair of New Balances. He seemed to take to them right away, although by Thursday I think he might have preferred my Danskos!

Thanks again to Pete and Jenni for hosting us! I haven't had brisket in the longest time and deep fried turkey truly is a religious experience. We had a great time seeing everyone and really enjoyed getting to play with little Benjamin. Can't wait to see you again sometime soon.

3:19:49 Baby!!

I know it's not Monday, but it takes a few days to recover from being out of town. So, at long last, here's the dish on our trip to Chicago:

On Thursday we drove to Wauconda, IL --a suburb of Chicago-- to see the house Pete grew up in, and go by his schools, etc. When we got to our hotel they told us that Pete was the Guest of the Day and gave us a free upgrade to a suite with a jacuzzi! Whoo-hoo! I love giant whirlpool tubs, and hope to someday have a house with one (a girl can dream, can't she?).

Friday morning we drove in to Chicago and walked around the city before going to the race expo to pick up Pete's packet. Millenium Park is one of the coolest places I've ever been, the outdoor sculptures are amazing. In the late afternoon we were finally able to check in to our hotel. All the bellhops at the Chicago Hilton (race headquarters) and Palmer House Hilton (our hotel) were in Chicago Marathon jackets with special make-up Chicago Marathon New Balances, it was pretty neat to see the whole city geared up for one event. Also, since we were at the hotel for the Marathon, they gave us these packets with Balance Bars and Gatorade, and even our room key had the marathon logo on it.
Friday night was our night on the town --we had tickets to Wicked! I've been wanting to see the show for a few years now, and Pete was pretty much just going along to be a good husband. Well he ended up thinking it was fantastic! Our seats were really good and there is more than one twist at the ending, so we really enjoyed ourselves.

Saturday we really wanted to take it easy since it was the day before the marathon so we just walked downtown to the Magnificent Mile and looked at all the buildings and cool stores. We had a really good time at the 4-story Crate and Barrel and saw some neat things at the Lego Store. Saturday night we went to the Cheescake Factory so Pete could carb load.

Sunday was the big day! We got up really early and it was COLD. It was colder at the finish of the marathon than at the start, and the wind chill made it feel 10 degrees colder than it actually was --so it felt like it was 23-26 degrees! But Pete ran really well despite all that. He was 2 minutes ahead of his goal at the halfway point, but just 'hit the wall' around mile 20. Pete ran the Chicago Marathon in 3 hrs, 19 min, and 49 seconds --averaging a 7:30 mile...not too shabby if you ask me. So we won't be going to Boston in April, but Pete feels really good about his performance. New Balance had a great shuttle system set up so I was able to see Pete at the start, 2miles, 13.1 miles, 21 miles, and again at the finish. After the marathon we went back to the hotel and got ready to drive home. We had a really great long weekend and truly enjoyed our visit to Chicago. Here are some pictures from our trip, I still have to get the film developed from our non-digital camera, so check back in a few days for more shots.

Our Guest of the Day Certificate

Cloud Gate at Millenium Park

At the Expo - Pete in front of the countdown clock and me with the NB992

Friday night at Wicked (in my new boots!)

Pete carb loading the night before the marathon

Race day photos --look at all those bananas!

Chicago Bound!

Well, our special weekend has finally arrived. Tomorrow morning we load up the Pilot and head to the Windy City. Pete has been training long and hard for the Chicago Marathon and I'm excited to get to go with to support him. (Getting to see Wicked Friday night certainly isn't hurting any.) Hopefully he'll run under 3:10:59 and qualify for the Boston Marathon in April. I've never been to Chicago so I'm looking forward to seeing all the sites, I hear there's even a three-story Target! So if you're reading this be thinking about Pete Sunday morning at 8:00am, and I'll be sure to report more on Monday.

Happy Anniversary Hannah!

One year ago tonight I spent the night on the floor of our living room with two of my fingers poking inside our tiny puppy's cage so she could make it through her first night away from her litter. That's right, our pooch Hannah has been a member of our family for one year as of today! There have been some rough times --hello potty training! --but for the most part is has been great. There would definitely be a void in our lives if she wasn't here every day when we got home from work. So for those of you in the area in need of a dog, we recommend the Kentucky Lab Rescue. Here are some then and now pictures:

Riding home in the car...

Her first time in the back yard...

The 55lb dog she grew in to...

WE LOVE YOU, HANNAH!

Thanks for the visit Mom and Dad!

We had a great time when my parents visited us this past week--mostly in the backyard playing croquet! Here are some pictures from that 'tournament' and also some from riding in the car with Hannah on our way to the lake.

HOW CUTE IS MY MOM?!?

We love our puppy, and my parents seemed pretty taken with her, too!

No More Ugly Wallpaper!

Our dining room has this wallpaper that I've never cared for but haven't messed with because I thought it would be a big ordeal to tear it down. I have plans for wainscoting and painting the room wedgewood blue above the chair rail, so I thought we should just wait until we could do the whole project and do it all at once. Well mom and I were really bored this afternoon and she said that she didn't think it'd be too hard to tear down if it had paint underneath--which it does--so we went at it! In fifteen minutes the scary denim stripe was gone! Plain beige isn't great, but it's better than what it was.