trip to the windy city

My parents, Chris and I vacationed to Chicago last week over July 4th weekend. It was fun to get away and a great break. Here are a few pictures highlighting our trip. I'll add more of them to my facebook album.

Our hotel, the Palmer House Hilton.

Wrigley Field

Chris and I playing cards while waiting for the fireworks on July 4th

Standing 102 stories over Chicago! The skydeck at Willis Tower (the old Sears Tower)

Deeeelicious Giordano's

our house -- part 2

Here are the pictures I promised! Here's our kitchen/dining room/living room/laundry room.

New faucet that Chris installed. (Have I mentioned how incredibly impressed I've been at his handiness?)

Dining room. This is the view from the kitchen. Door goes to outside patio. The living room is on the left and a wall of windows is on the right.

From the kitchen looking into the living room. Front door is down the hall in the top left of the picture. Dining room is on the right of the picture.

Lovely pantry!!!!

Awesome turntable! (Scout wanted to sneak into the pic.)

Laundry room. Door goes out to garage. On a side note...we found this washer on Craig's List for $25!! The guy said it had a broken pump because it had been leaking. But my handyman husband was able to fix it (without replacing the pump) for less than $30!

Living room.

There's Scout sneaking in the picture again. (He is the epitome of the phrase "follows me around like a puppy dog." Where I am, he is!)

New fan that Chris installed.

That's all for now! We're still working on getting the guest bedroom and office the way we like it. So I'll post more pictures soon!

our house -- part 1

I'm finally uploading some pictures of the house. Today I'm just going to post pictures of the master bedroom and I'll continue to post more in the next few days.

Chris and Cody working on taking the fan down.

When you first walk in the bedroom... that's the master bathroom through the doorway on the right.

new fan!

Eventually we are going to get a night stand for the left side of the bed and put a chair in the corner by one of the windows.

In the next few weeks we're going to mount the TV on the wall space across from the bed.

Stay tuned for next post....the kitchen!

our silly pup

Scout is loving the new house and was in such a silly mood yesterday. I don't know if all Malteses have similar personalities, but he has so much of one!!

sisters

A few weeks ago I mentioned that my sisters and I were getting our pictures taken by AlexMPhotography. You can see the post on his blog here. Here are some of the shots he got. We haven't taken professional pictures together since I was...12 probably. So these are long overdue, but I am so glad we were able to work it around our busy schedules to get some again, 10 years later! I love my sisters very very much.

Becca "borrowed" (STOLE!) these glasses from a 3D movie.

We went to the carnival in the mall parking lot. I honestly don't think I had ever been to a mall parking lot carnival before.

Becca was obviously disappointed her sack was "broken".

You can see how both of them felt about this ride. :)

This was a surf tunnel and it really moved. We had an impossible time all three posing for the picture!

My wonderful family. :)

help end child slavery and win a TV!!

Aja is helping to free kids who are in slavery in Ghana, Africa. Aja and her husband are giving away a Sony LCD HDTV to raise awareness for the Mercy Project. You can enter by reading her blog and following the instructions. This is all about freeing slaves, winning a TV draws attention to the Mercy Project so others will get involved.

Here’s the bad news: Right now, in Ghana, West Africa, there are an estimated 7,000 children in slavery. Some of these children have been sold for as little as $20. Many of them are as young as 5 or 6 years old. The kids often work as many as 100 hours a week as fishermen. They fish, mend nets, and scoop water out of leaking boats. They rarely smile or laugh. Their childhoods have been stolen.

Here’s the good news: We can do something about it. Yes, you and I. It doesn’t matter if you are not rich or famous. In fact, the Mercy Project was started by a guy who is far from rich and certainly not famous, and he started the project for people just like me. People who want to make a difference in the world but don’t know where to start. People who wish there was something they could do to help but feel overwhelmed. People who want to help make the world a better place.