Chicago

I got to spend 3 weeks of September in Chicago for work. Sears flew me and8 other National Management Trainees out to work in their flagship store at Woodfield Mall (the 2nd largest in the US) and then attend the holiday conference at Hoffman Estates the last week with the District Managers and Regional Vice Presidents.

I got to see my dearest friend Emily Collins, and made some really great friends too. Kory even got to come out for a weekend! It was such a great time!  I should explain that the "reflection" pictures were actually taken in the box that extends outside of the 103rd floor of the Sears tower. Those pictures were actually taken through the window showing how we're hanging in the air 103 stories over Chicago!

Girl Time

I have written 3 posts total tonight. I hope you enjoy each of them!

While Kory has been gone, I've had the opportunity to have a lot of girl time.  I hosted a baby shower for my friend Kayla the day after he left.  It was so fun to have over tons of the girls from work for a BBQ, games, and gift-giving.  I love Kayla and the other ladies I work with.

Fortunately (for me), my best friend Aubree's hubby has been gone at the same time my hubby has been gone.  I have been down there nearly every day hanging out with her and her sister.  They are so fun.  We've just been hanging out like single ladies kickin it in sweats and chatting it up for hours, so fun!  Plus, you can't forget the occasional ice cream run!  I don't know what I'd do without Aubree.

I have also had the chance to hang out with my other really good friend Sarah.  I'm so glad that I've gotten to be closer to Sarah in the last few weeks, I absolutely love it.  It's funny because her husband is SO much like my husband they are the perfect pair.  The more I have gotten to know Sarah I have found that we have a lot in common also.  Today we went for a walk around the park and back because it was absolutely beautiful out today.  I love early summer months, great weather without too much heat or bugs.  After our leisure stroll we watched SYTYCD (So You Think You Can Dance) with her hubby while munching on nachos.  I'm so sad these two will be moving in a couple of months! We'll miss then like crazy.

I got to have a girls day with Shantell!  She and I have been friends since even before we started dating our husbands.  She and Mike attending a wedding reception of one of our friends, and luckily I ran into them there.  I attended alone, and was so glad to see them.  Shantell and I planned to get together later in the week.  Monday we ended up going shopping for a couple of hours and then hit up Zupas for lunch.  It was a perfect girl day.

I got to see my friend Sydney's new baby yesterday!  He is absolutely adorable, and she looked great.  It was fun to spend a couple of hours visiting and spending time with her and her family.  They were kind enough to invite me to stay for dinner, which was so yummy!

I also got to spend some time with my neighbors Michelle and Neal meeting their beautiful baby girl.  It was fun to get to know them better.

What was SO fun was having girl time with my sisters-in-law Kelli and Celeste while Celeste was in town.  They invited me along to check out some boutiques and Tai Pan.  I always enjoy spending time with them and their families.  Celeste and Bryan invited us to their family BBQ on Sunday.  I absolutely LOVED attending and hanging out with the whole bunch.  All of them were incredibly welcoming and genuinely interested in how I was doing without Kory.  They are all just wonderful.

I haven't had the chance to get together with everyone because I'm still crazy busy working.  But I feel so loved hearing from from Ela, Stephanie, Emily, Mekelle and so many others asking how I'm doing when Kory is gone.  I am so blessed to have the most amazing family and friends that anyone could ever ask for.  Thank you so much everyone!

Hopefully my best friend Karly and my mom can make it to town for some girl time! :)

First Solo Sewing Project

I finally learned how to sew 100% alone!  I feel so proud of what I accomplished.  At first I was really struggling because I could not seem to get the sewing machine threaded correctly.  It was very tricky.  But luckily, after celebrating my neighbor's birthday at their super-fun birthday BBQ, one of my good friends Crystal came over and taught me how to do it correctly.  There is no way I would have ever been able to accomplish my sewing project if she didn't take the time to teach me.  You're the best Crystal! 

My friend Kayla is having a baby, and so I decided to host a baby shower for her.  I wanted to try to make her a nursing blanket/cover-up.  Every time I see them online in Etsy shops they are are $30 and up!  I thought I for sure could make one at a much more reasonable price.  I found directions on a blog called Little Birdie Secrets, which was so awesome.  Then I went shopping for materials.  I wanted to choose a fabric that was fun and catered more to mom than baby.  I ended up choosing a really loud print that I fell in love with.  I was nervous that Kayla may not like it, but everyone I asked seemed to think it was great and it turned out really cute.  (If I find out she doesn't love it, I'll just tell her to pick a fabric of her choice and I'll make her a new one! hehe).  Here is the print.

After hours of trying to figure out what in the world I was doing, and many character flaws later, I finally completed my first solo project!  Here are some pictures of the finished product.  I'm trying to show how it is used, haha.  AND it's like 3 AM when I'm taking these pics (I was waiting for Kory to call after he arrived in Asia).

After all is said and done, I now understand why these things are so expensive!  The materials add up and once you include time and labor expenses I think the price they list them for is reasonable.  However, I thoroughly enjoyed dedicating my time learning how to make such a functional and personalized gift for my friend.  Now I know how to make one for me in the future too!

Big Birthday Year

I celebrated a birthday not too long ago.  It was so great.  Kory had been up in Washington the couple of weeks beforehand, so I took a weekend off work and flew up to meet him for a weekend.  I always enjoy time with family, as every who knows me knows well.  When I arrived at the airport Kory greeted me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers, I am so lucky!  We also went to House of Doughnuts, which is my favorite treat up there!  We spend the day running errands for Rick, having lunch with Lynda, and then playing cards later that night.  Saturday Kory and I went to some great malls for some birthday shopping.  I was able to get some fun headbands, flower hair clips, and shoes that I can wear to work.  I absolutely LOVE them! What a great birthday gift.  After shopping we met up with the rest of the family at the Melting Pot.  I have never been to the Melting Pot, it was a really fun experience.  The cheese fondue was absolutely incredible! Yum!  I really enjoyed the 3-hour dining style, it felt very European to me :)  After dinner, Kory and I went on a Seattle date.  I told him I wanted to do something really touristy, because we never really get to do that when we visit.  So we went to the Space Needle!  It was very romantic, and lots of fun.  I have to find my cord to pull all of the pictures off of my memory card.  So hopefully I can do that soon.  Sunday dinner with the whole family over was so fun.  I absolutely LOVE all of my adorable nieces and nephews, I'm so lucky :)

I flew home to work while Kory stayed a couple of days longer to work.  After a crazy long road trip home (He was able to stop in Boise though! Thanks for the luggage Mom!) Kory made it home just in time for my birthday.  Unfortunately, because it was also my only day off for the week I still had tons of "day off errands and tasks" to accomplish.  We did go to Tucanos for lunch, which was a treat.  We tend to go twice a year, in the months where one of us is free due to a birthday.  I received some beautiful cards and wonderful gifts from my fabulous parents, in-laws, and aunt.  My best friend Aubree surprised me in the morning with some delicious Shirley's Bakery cinnamon rolls with cream cheese frosting that read "Happy Birthday."  I also received countless phone calls, a special email, text messages, voicemails, facebook posts, etc.  Mom always sings to me which I love, and Stephen sang the best Happy Birthday song I've ever heard.  The best thing about birthday is how they make you feel so special!  It was wonderful!  Thank you everyone who contributed to a great day! I love you all!

I even got to have a special birthday dinner on Sunday with family. The best part is the traditional birthday song and the delicious birthday cake!