Hey Friends

Well, it's been a long time since our last installment and still not much has happened.  I did sign up for another half-marathon this spring bringing my total count for runs I am doing to 4.  It's an inaugural half-marathon in Chicago.  This isn't exciting news, but I am just trying to get some filler to make this blog look better.  

Tonya and I enjoyed part of Tonya's spring break visiting Grandma Harbottle, Aunt Janet, and Uncle Dick down in Louisville.  While we were there we went to the Makers Mark distillery to see how their bourbon was made.  It is a pretty cool process to see in action.  Other than that we mostly just enjoyed catching up with what was going on in Louisville.  

Tonya is looking forward to getting back to work tomorrow, but is really looking forward to summer vacation that is in 9 weeks.

Sorry, that is all for now, but I am hoping that we will start to get a more interesting life to write about for you all to read about and enjoy.

We're Still Alive

It's been awhile, and I apologize.  We haven't been really busy, just lazy, but we are getting ready for a busy spring.  Tonya and I both have signed up for 4 runs this summer.  We signed up for a 5k run in April that is in our neighborhood, the 5/3rd RiverBank 25k in Grand Rapids, Mi., the Rock n Roll half marathon in Chicago in August, and the Chicago marathon in October.  It is going to be a run filled summer that both of us are not sure if we are ready for, but we are looking forward to it.  I am thinking this is going to give us a lot to write about and plenty of aches and pains to rub.  We are also hoping with all this running we will become fit and trim by the end of summer.

During my semester off I haven't stopped writing and have a couple stories almost ready to send out to see if I could get them published.  I actually just had a story printed in the school's newspaper this past week.  It was kind of exciting to have something published for the first time.

Tonya is still enjoying teaching 2nd grade, but regrets papier mache.  Sorry, but she isn't leading an exciting life at the moment and doesn't have much to expound on at this time, but wants everyone to know she enjoyed giving the dog a bath today. 

Happy New Year!

This was the first New Year's Eve in a long time that Jeremy and I were really excited about our NYE plans.  Last year we hung out with our friends Josh and Diane at their place.  It was a lot of fun but nothing really exciting.  This year I had talked to her about kickin' it again into the 2009.  Josh decided he wanted to go out for a "fancy" dinner.  He checked some places out and made a reservation at ZED451 downtown Chicago.  It sounded so good that our reservation ended up being for 14 people!  We met at Josh and Diane's around 7 and a shuttle from the restaurant came to pick us up.  The atmosphere was incredible.  We hadn't even tasted any of the food yet and Jeremy had already decided this was a place we wanted to return to.  Then we got to the business of eating dinner.  I can't even explain to you how amazing the food was.  I ate things I had tasted a thousand times before.  I tasted things I had tried before and ruled out as nasty.  EVERYTHING was amazing!  We started out buffet style.  There was a raw bar (which I did stay away from), a meat, cheese and bread bar, a dessert bar (I'll get back to that later), and so much more.  We sampled a few things and thought it was all really good.  Then we took the river stones out of the bowl and set them on the table.  This was the signal to the chefs that we were ready for MEAT.  The chefs come to your table with a tray or skewer of a particular meat.  The chefs were coming so fast I couldn't eat fast enough.  Everything was amazing!!!  Did I already say that?  Anyway, the only conversation around the table was about the food.  It was so amazing!  I didn't know food could even taste this good.  I'm not even a huge meat fan and I LOVED this place.  Jeremy ordered a second drink and that's when I thought to myself, the food is so good that I'm forgetting to drink my delicious drink.  I recommend the California Crush.  Finally, when we stuffed, I decided I couldn't leave without sampling everything on the dessert bar.  Now keep in mind, all of the desserts are bite-sized.  There were only two things on the dessert bar that I did not try.  That means I came back to the table with about 10-12 bites of dessert.  I can't even remember which ones were my favorite.  This was by far the most amazing dining experience we've ever had!  I say it again...IT WAS AMAZING!!!

After dinner, we piled back into the shuttle and went back to Josh and Diane's where we hung out for the rest of the night.  We talked, danced, and sang very badly.  Of course, at 11 pm I had to text all of my Michigan peeps a happy new year.  We had a little champagne toast at midnight and Jeremy and I decided to head home around 1:30 am.  Now we were going to take the L train home but with so many cabs and the cold weather, we hopped in a cab that would take us right to our own front door.  What can I say, I'm a little bit of a wimp and it was really cold.  Today, we're still talking about the amazing food at ZED451.  We can't wait to go back.  Anyone want to join us?

Happy New Year!  Hope everyone has a healthy, happy, and wonderful 2009!

Christmas Extravaganza

Five fun whirlwind days and its over...just like that!  Where do I even begin!?!  On the morning of Christmas Eve we packed up the Vibe with suitcases, presents, and one cute dog and headed toward the big mitten.  With much concern over the weather, it ended up being an oh-ke-doke ride.  Once we got to America's high-five, we headed over to Kate's for a little gift exchange.  It was of course more exciting to see her and her cutie little husband.  Baby Sluiter is coming along just nicely and we are excited for his/her arrival.  Man, I'll be glad when we know that thing's gender.  Oh, by the way...I forgot my camera so its like this Christmas never really happened.  Later that night, we had a gift extravaganza at my parents' house.  It was great fun!  I got lots of cute clothes, jewelry, a super cute wristlet and of coursed, the Sex and the City movie.  Jeremy got his much anticipated Wii with lots of games and controllers and what not.  On Christmas day we had a little party with my grandma and crazy extended family.  It was fun to see everyone and answer funny questions about living in Chicago.  These people sure don't get out of the mitten much.  Its always great to see my granny.  Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a fist full of cash from your grandma.  Thanks granny!!!    The day after Christmas, we repacked the Vibe and headed for Jeremy's family.  We made it to his bother's house around noon and by 3:30, we were off to see Jeremy's grandparents and extended family.  It was crazy in the small space of grandma and grandpa's living room with all of the grandkids....none of which belong to me....thank GOD!!!  The kids LOVED all of their presents and again, nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a fist full of cash from the grandparents.  What is it with grandparents?  Do they have an aversion to shopping or shopping centers?  Not that I'm complaining.  Not only do I get something new and fun.  I have received the gift of shopping!  Turns out, its my perfect size!  We stayed with Jeremy's bother and his wife and kids until Sunday.  Jeremy's parents were also there so it was a full house.  After much eating and visiting, Jeremy and I packed up the Vibe one final time and headed back to the Windy City.  Zoey (the dog) was happy to be home and Anastasia (the cat) was happy to see us.  We've unpacked, done the laundry, ordered pizza, and we're already guitar hero rock stars.  Here's to relaxing after all of the craziness of the holidays.  Now we're looking forward to New Year's Eve with friends.  Hope everyone has a great 2009!

Oh, what a day!

So today started out as an average Wednesday. Then it all went down hill when I got to school. When I arrived, I remembered that I have morning duty...which I hate. Once class started things were fine...for an hour. One of students came to me and told me she had a headache. I felt her forehead and it was fine so I told her I would check in with her before we went to science lab. We went on to finish math, do centers, and I was just finishing up my writing lesson on the rug and sending the students back to their seats to work when the same student came to me again. She looked miserable so I felt her forehead and she was burning hot. She said she felt like she was going to throw up. I asked to wait by the garbage can until everyone got settled and I would take her to the office. She casually walked over to the trash can (none of our trash cans have trash bags in them...I think you know where I am going with this). Just as she approached the can, she leaned over, pulled her own hair back and just vomitted. I thought to myself, I'm 30 years old and I'm not that calm when I vomit. Anyway, I took her, and the trash can, to the office. I called her mom who came quickly to pick her up and the custodians had my trash can clean in no time. After practically bathing in hand sanitizer, I returned to class thinking, that was really gross but could have been so much worse. After writing, I took my class to science lab. I was in a meeting with my principal and the other second and third grade teachers while our students were at their specials. After picking them up, we only had a few minutes to fnish writing before lunch. One of kids didn't come back from science lab. I thought to myself...that's wierd...but the students informed me he had gone to restroom but had been gone for a long time. As we're getting lined up for lunch he comes back to the room to get his things to go home. He had a huge cut by his eye and it was swelling. I asked him what happened and he told me that when he went to the bathroom, he stopped to get a drink and fell, hitting his face on an edge. I thought to myself...this is just great. We survived the rest of the school day, incident free. After school I only had one hour to work and realized I had to go to my last class at University of Chicago tonight. Last class means final. Of course, I wasn't prepared for it so I didn't want to go. I survived it but don't think I did so well. All in all, I guess you could say, it was a really strange and annoying day. Here's to hoping tomorrow will be better!

Lots of Updates

We've had some excitment here in Chicago! A few recent happenings for us...October 24th my sister came for the weekend for a visit. Now this wasn't just any visit! She came because we had tickets for the New Kids on the Block concert. I know what you're thinking...lame. As I sat there and watched the show I thought to myself, "Oh my gosh! They were the first N'Sync!" The music was a little teeny bopper. That's what made it so fun. It totally brought me back to being twelve years old. It was so much fun! And really hilarious! We had a fun weekend. Jeremy did not attend the concert. He thought it was all pretty lame but I know deep inside he's sad he didn't go.

We've both been working like crazy since then. I just finished the first quarter at school. I was at school for thirteen hours on Friday trying to finish grades and get report cards ready. It was a little stressful. Our new computer grading/report card system is easier but I still wasn't ready for it. It made for a looooooong day.

Jeremy's friend, Kevin, and his family came to visit this past weekend. It was a little crowded with them staying here but it was so much fun. Kevin and Kathy have two kids and we took them all to the Field Museum on Saturday. The kids loved all the dinosaur bones. The kids thought it was so cool riding on the el train. We stopped for pizza on the way home. We had so much fun the kids didn't want to leave this morning!

I'm looking forward to this week. Tomorrow I have a professional development day. Tuesday is no school for Veteran's Day so my mom, sister, and Aunt Kathy are coming on the train for the day. Then Wednedsay there is no school for students because we have report card pick-up and conferences. Only two school days with students. It should be a pretty easy going week....which I need after last Friday. Oh, and this Friday Jeremy's Aunt Janet, Uncle Dick, and Grandma are going to be in town from Louisville for a wedding. We're having dinner with them Friday night. Its always fun to see them. Tootles for now!

Our First Post-Marathon Run

After three weeks of rest, Jeremy and I took our recovered legs out for a little run. I only went two miles and Jeremy went two and a half. I was feeling optimistic. I even took Zoey with me. Now that I'm running lower miles I thought she might enjoy a little trot through the neighborhood. It felt really good. In fact, my only complaint was that the slightly colder air was burning my lungs. I felt tired at the end but I wasn't in any pain. On the one hand I thought, this will be easy, afterall, three weeks ago I ran 26.2 miles. How hard can this be? On the other hand, I thought to myself, this will be very hard because I haven't done any running in three weeks! It felt good to be out running again. However, I'm not looking forward to running in the cold temperatures and on the slippery sidewalks. We're looking around to join a gym at least for the winter. So for now, we'll enjoy the warmish fall weather and keep on running.