BLIZZARD!

We feel so privileged that we moved here just in time to experience one of the top 3 worst blizzards Chicago has ever seen. It was definitely all it was hyped up to be. Tuesday Ben was home by noon because Sears was worried about people getting home before the worst of it hit, and then got to work from home on Wednesday. We journeyed out Tuesday for treats and movies to get us through the storm :) It snowed pretty much the whole morning and afternoon, but it really hit at night. It was so crazy to watch! The wind was so strong that our windows were covered with snow. The lights flickered a lot, but luckily our power stayed on. We were like little kids the next morning, so excited to look out the window and see how much there was. We didn't really realize the extent of it until we saw our front porch...you couldn't tell we had steps. We lounged around and then busted out the snow gear to go play in the snow and get some pictures.

Out our front door

Snowed in...literally. There are quite a few steps hidden under there

Up to his chest, and just remember how tall he is

The wind was so cold on our faces!

Poor little drain, completely frozen

Our house is on the end, so everything gets piled up right next to our driveway. The crazy wind didn't help this issue, and therefore we have this small mountain that probably won't melt for months

We have never been so glad that we pay HOA dues. We watched the poor little man try to shovel our front walk way, and even with a snow blower it took about an hour. Now it looks like a tunnel. We also watched this...

As they were trying to clear the snow on the sidewalk right in front of our house, this got stuck. It was very entertaining to watch them try to dig it out. Slightly disturbing when even this gets stuck in the snow. All in all we thoroughly enjoyed our blizzard and it's been fun driving down the street and feeling like your in a tunnel with giant snow banks piled all along the roads. Gotta' love Chicago.

Out of town

      Ben got to go to Utah for a couple of days to recruit at BYU for Sears. He had a great time meeting up with old friends and seeing his brother, Dillon. But I'm pretty sure the best part of his trip was watching BYU's basketball team beat San Diego State...in the 14th row at the Marriot Center! He was so excited to get to be there, and especially to have such great seats, thanks to his awesome friend, Dan.

Of course Ben didn't take any pictures, so I had to turn to Google

     Meanwhile, I didn't want to be home by myself, so my wonderful parents flew me home for the week!  There is just something so fun and relaxing about going home, not to mention having my mom take care of me (make me food, take me shopping, do my laundry) for a week!
    (Warning- This probably isn't that interesting to anyone else, but it's my little journal of what I did) Monday morning I went and saw my sister's new house...which is amazing, and got the tour from my niece and nephews. Next we volunteered in my nephew's kindergarten class (which is also the school my dad is the principal at). The kids were hilarious, although it reassured me of my decision to just substitute instead of teaching full time :) Then we got my Grandma and picked my aunt Gayle up from the airport and went to dinner at Cheesecake Factory. It was a fun girls night out!

    Tuesday morning I worked out with the trainer with my mom. We did this for a whole summer (while Ben and I were dating and he was in Indianapolis). I realized 1- My baby bump is much more evident in workout clothes, and 2- I'm out of shape. Apparently just doing the treadmill at our house isn't working nearly enough of my muscles, because I was sore for days. Next we went out to lunch with grandma and Gayle again, and then grabbed my sister and got pedicures! My feet were in serious need of this, and the massage chairs felt fabulous! Then once my dad got home we headed to Happy T. with my sister's fam. Delicious.
     Wednesday I chopped off my hair! I had been wanting a change, and thought my long hair would take too long with the baby, so I was excited to have my hair dresser (that I went to since I was 11) do the big cut. It's much shorter but I'm loving the change. It even inspired my sister to chop hers off the next day, and it looks so cute on her. Then we made muddy-buddies and played with the kids.

     Thursday we worked out with the trainer again (once again, I realized how out of shape I am) and then we hit up a few stores for maternity clothes. I only have a small bump so far, but I figured it would be more fun to shop with my mom and sister than to try to drag Ben along. That night we all went out for ice cream (and for the first time in my pregnancy, I kept all the ice cream down!)
      Friday we met up with 2 of my best friends from high school, Claire and Elise. It was so much fun catching up with these girls and made me realize how we need to get together more often. Then mom and I hit up the mall for more maternity shopping and a quick run through Babies R Us. I love getting to do that stuff with her. That night we all headed up to my Grammie and Gramp's house for dessert and to catch up with them.

Me, Elise, Claire

Our senior prom in 2006

      Saturday morning we went to this small local farm/mill (not sure what you call it), but they have the best apple fritters known to man. Amazing. Then we played a little Wii with the nephews, my mom and I watched a some classic Lifetime movies (a tradition with us), and that night we went to stake conference.

      Sunday we went to the morning session of stake conference (it was fun to hear my dad speak), and then off to the airport.
      I've realized even more since I've gotten older and moved away, how much (next to my hubby) my mom and sister are my best friends and how much I love being home with my parents and seeing my nieces and nephews. It was so much fun, but I was definitely excited to be home with Ben (and show him all my fun maternity things!)

Some Holm-made cookin'

 Take a little bit of this...

And a little bit of that...

 Mix it all together and you get....

I'm "Prego"! Ben and I are thrilled to have a baby on the way! We are due July 8th, making me almost 14 weeks along!

Happy Holidays!

I am terrible at keeping up with blogging....so "happy holidays" will even include Thanksgiving.
My parents flew out here for Thanksgiving (and to see my new niece, baby Claire), and we had a great time having visitors! We of course got in some Chicago deep dish pizza and a lot of games. Thanksgiving dinner was at our house this year, which would sound like a lot of pressure, but I really didn't have to make anything. Between my parents and Bryce and Camille, I just had to supply a clean house :)

Our delicious feast!

 We hit up some Black Friday shopping the next morning (which, by the way, is much warmer in WA than in freezing cold IL). Then on Saturday we got to have Ben's brother, Marcus, and his wife Lauren and their twin boys (who live in Texas) come visit. It was a great Thanksgiving week!

This was our first year getting a Christmas tree. Now I'm from WA, and grew up with giant real trees every year. Ben, is what I refer to as the Grinch. He is very anti spending money on decorations, especially a real tree. So...where else could you get a fake tree, that's over 7 feet, for $19??? Goodwill. Yes, I know that sounds kind of sad, but I only plan on using it while we live in this house, and it actually looked pretty decent. I have actually found some great decorations at Goodwill, and no husband can complain when you are getting decor for that cheap.

Yes, with the money I saved, I purchased a peppermint candy tree topper and skirt

We opened our presents over a week early, since we were heading out of town.

Then the next morning, we flew to Cabo! This was my parents gift to us, and it was so fun spending the week with them in the sun. Here's just a few of the pictures:

The first day of tanning....very white

Ben had his first deep-sea fishing trip with my dad

The marina downtown. My poor dad tore his meniscus 2 days before the trip

We're driving down a busy road, and a herd of cows start walking across. Oh mexico

Lover's Beach in the background

Ben and my dad won us free drinks dominating in water volleyball

Delicious fajitas and cute tablecloths

Another great dinner, and round 2 of fajitas for me :)

This is the same restaurant and table Ben and I ate at on our honeymoon a year ago!

A daily routine...

Ruth's Chris. Delicious!

Back at Pueblo Bonito

It was such a fun trip, full of lots of card games, great food, and perfect sunny weather to lay in! Thanks so much mom and dad, we love it when we get to be your travel buddies!

From Cabo we flew to Minnesota to see Ben's family. Imagine trying to pack for both of those places...very tricky. We got in Christmas Eve, just in time to get to be a part of the Christmas Eve program, all about Christ. Then we opened all the presents (the Holms do everything on Christmas Eve). It was fun for me to get to experience their traditions (being my first Christmas at Ben's house) and it's fun to be part of such a big group (Ben has 10 siblings, and all but 1 were there). The rest of the time in Minnesota was spent chatting, eating his mom's good home-cooking, and me avoiding going outside (it is sooo cold there!).

Couples dinner at Big Bowl. (Marcus, Lauren, me, Ben, Dillon, Amy, Joann, Ron)

We got a little addicted to Wii Mario while we were there

 

It was a great visit, and we were so thankful to get to see my parents and almost all of Ben's family over the holidays. I was also more grateful for the weather in Chicago after feeling how horribly colder it is in Minnesota, and I was grateful the airlines eventually found our suitcase....since it had all of our underwear! We were very blessed over the hollidays!

1st Anniversary and more

 Ben and I celebrated our first year anniversary this past weekend. Hard to believe we've been married a year! At dinner we talked about all of the things that have happened in the past year. Here's some we came up with...

-I completed my student teaching in 2nd and 4th grade

-Ben finished school and worked until 9:00 p.m.....not fun

-We both graduated from BYU and got to walk together

-We've had some great trips, including honeymoon to Cabo, Maui, Minnesota, multiple trips to   Washington, Chicago, Missouri, and the Bahamas. Yes, we are spoiled.

-3 different Uhauls- move from Provo to Springville, Springville to storage unit and us to WA for a month, then storage unit to Illinois

-We were in a car accident which resulted in our first trip to the ER (it was all minor)

-We got pregnant and 11 weeks later, during our move to Chicago, we miscarried. Definitely the hardest thing we've dealt with this past year.

-Ben got a job with Sears Holdings

-We sold and bought a car

-We bought a house!

It's been quite a year for us but we've loved being together for all of it!  

We celebrated by going to dinner and a movie

In other news....we welcomed a new niece, Claire Warning. She is adorable and I'm so glad we live so close and got to go see her in the hospital.

And Ben turned 26! My mom was in town so all of the fam went out to Panera for lunch and then Cheesecake Factory for dinner. 26 sounds pretty old to me... :)

Wednesday Night Football!

Ben had only been working at Sears Holdings for like a week when he got asked to join a flag football team, "Team Happy Hour" (yeah...). They take flag football seriously here, with practices, multiple refs, and a lot of swearing and yelling during the games.

The team huddled up (notice the pretty fall colors in the back)

 

Ben playing quarterback- nearly impossible to block a pass that high

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They made it to the championship game but ended up getting second place. It was great Wednesday night entertainment and I'm sure we'll be there again next fall :)

Birthday, pumpkins, and visitors!

So I've been a lazy blogger lately and therefore am just lumping a few things in one post.
First off: my 23rd birthday. Some of the highlights included....
    -Lunch with Camille and Graham
    -Birthday phone calls from friends and family (including Happy Birthday renditions from Kyle, Evan, and the Jones girls
    -Dinner at Cheesecake Factory with Ben (always delicious)

Had to stop for a picture in front of the Lego giraffe!

    -A Cinnibon (my birthday tradition since I was little)
    -An adorable surprise from Ben of his "23 favorite memories of us" (very sweet and funny)

    -Cupcakes and a cake from my cute Young Women and getting my porch "heart-attacked"

    -Birthday mail! Fun cards and packages (including Halloween decorations from the Holms)
    -Cute birthday clothes from my parents and a sewing kit (I can now sew on a button!)
    -And the big present- a treadmill! (yes, you know you're getting older when that is what you want) But Ben and I have wanted one for a while and we found a great deal so we were very excited

Not the best picture, but a fabulous new treadmill that has a crazy incline (we never have it that high), and our new cute curtains from my mom

 Thanks to all the family, friends, and cute hubby for a wonderful birthday!


On to some fall festivities.... Bryce and Camille invited us to go to the pumpkin patch with them. Now apparently out here in IL they take their pumpkin patches seriously because this place was amazing! There was petting zoos, bears, camels, and giraffes!

Up close and personal!

Graham was a little unsure about the long tongue

The corn maze

Seeing the little piggies- (thanks Camille for the pic)

This past weekend we had Ben's sisters, Hannah and Michelle, come to visit. We got in lots of shopping, great food, games, movies, and pumpkins. It was so fun having them here and reminded us how nice it is to live in driving distance to family in Minnesota.

Cheesecake Factory

Vikings/Jared Allen pumpkin

Pirate pumpkin complete with eye-patch and earing

Well that sums things up for the past little while for us. Fall has treated us great so far!