We kept ourselves out of trouble in June by working too much, traveling a lot and spending a horrible amount of money.

This picture is of our nieces Miriam and Katie playing in the sprinkler in California.  Pretty darn cute, no?

We traveled to California at the end of June for a wedding and stayed a few extra days for a mini vacation.  There was lots of visiting with family, although the whirlwind nature of the whole weekend left us feeling that we didn’t have enough of a chance to visit with anyone.  There was a baby shower.  There was a trip to the beach where I went swimming in a rip tide.  There was a really hilarious story of the hotel we stayed at also hosting a 150 member biker gang.  There was Michael Jackson music.

It was awesome.  We were exhausted.

So far July has consisted of staying at home for a major holiday and not much else.  Perfect.

My brother Michael moved into his new apartment in Chicago last weekend.  At only two blocks away from us, he is officially our neighbor.

He has the perfect bachelor pad.  He is on the top floor (I am JEALOUS, as I type this and listen to my neighbor upstairs doing what I can only assume is some sort of tribal dance which involves heavy furniture, but that is another story) of an older apartment building.  There is no air conditioning, but there is  a beautiful bay window and the apartment opens up with a nice breeze.  He has renamed the living room “the den”, of course.  And what bachelor pad would be a bachelor pad without a bar in the den?  PARTY at Michael’s!

Michael invited Dave and me over for dinner one night this week.  We packed up our folding lawn chairs (there may be a bar in Michael’s den, but there is also only one chair) and we walked over to his place for dinner.  We had a great time.  So often Dave and I only visit with our families during the craziness of a hectic weekend, for a special occasion or when we are on vacation.  This time, it was really nice to visit with family in the casualness of a weeknight dinner.

Welcome to the neighborhood Michael!

Katie, what have you been up to lately?  Well, since you asked…

We traveled to visit my family last weekend for Mother’s Day and a graduation party.  My brother Micheal and his girlfriend Katie are both officially college graduates now.  Michael has a job lined up in Chicago which starts in June.  He found an apartment in Chicago and will be moving in next week.  He will be living only two blocks away from us.  Katie will be attending graduate school in Chicago at Loyola starting this fall.

Getting back to last weekend for a minute, we had a relaxing visit with the family.  The nice weather allowed for lots of outside games.  A great time was had by all.

My little sister Morgan can drive now!  I am positive that she appreciated me taking pictures of her driving, as I was her first official passenger since she recently got her license.

My Mom traveled north with us last Sunday and spent the week with us in Chicago.  It was a treat to have her around all week.  In my Mom’s true form, she went straight to work.  Pictures were framed and hung.  Furniture was rearranged.  This is the table she refinished while we were at work.  She also made curtains and left Chicago with a list of sewing projects she will be bringing back next week when she helps Michael move into his new apartment.  She even convinced me that I could possibly paint two of the chairs she didn’t get to and she loaned me a staple gun to reupholster all of the chairs.   Wish me luck on that one!

On Thursday, my Mom’s sister Becky flew into Chicago from Tampa to visit.  My Mom finally stopped working and we started to play the tourist.

This is the view from the top of the Sear’s tower on a rainy day.  You can see the top of the John Hancock building and the spire of the newly constructed Trump Tower.

Tourist destinations are really really fun when there are no tourists around.  And yes, that is “zero visibility” out of the windows of the Sears Tower Sky Deck.  But look, no tourists!

And I saved the very best picture for last.  This is us zooming around on Segways.  Awesome!

We also visited with Amy’s in-laws who live in Chicago.  Then my Dad drove to Chicago on Saturday and everyone left this morning.

I had an absolutely wonderful week visiting with everyone.

Now I am going to bed.  I assume the cat will wake up from her nap in about a week.

#79 – Travel to visit Maggie at Ball State.

College was such a very long time ago.  Nine years in fact.  Life can change a lot in nine years, you know?  What I’m getting at here is that Dave and I are a bit removed from “college life”.

We spent last weekend visiting my sister Maggie at Ball State in Muncie, IN. It was great to visit with Maggie and see her in her “natural student habitat”.  While our days of dorm life, student councils, roommates, cramming for finals, sleeping-in late just to run to class in sweat pants without a shower are over, Maggie is still living the student life.

Maggie, enjoy being a student while it lasts.  Oh, and don’t worry, living like a student will not last forever!

See all of that white stuff on the ground?  It is not snow, but a blanket of spring beauties!

This is a picture from a park close to my parent’s house.  As a kid I remember this mystical time each spring when these flowers came out.  It was a sure sign that winter had passed, and a reminder to enjoy the beauty of spring while it lasted.

These flowers only bloom for a short time each spring, and only open up in the sunlight.  They are quickly outgrown by the grass that surrounds them.  Then the park department mows them all down.   I would hate to have the job of taking a riding lawn mower to all these flowers.

Dave and I spent last weekend in Indiana visiting with my family.  It is always great to see the family.  Being in Indiana to see the spring beauties this year was just an extra treat.

Ok, these pictures may give you some insight into exactly how much fun was had at the reception.

Congratulations guys and all the very best wishes for your life together!

Did I mention that my husband plays the piano?

Dave played the music for the wedding ceremony of his cousin Galen and his lovely bride Jess last Friday.  I am very proud of Dave.

The wedding was a wonderful time.  Spending time with Dave’s family was great.  I only wish that I had a picture of the bride and groom to share, but the pictures that I have do not do any justice to how happy Galen and Jess were, how yummy the food was, how great the company was or exactly how much fun was had at the reception.

My sister Maggie is visiting us this week, as she is on Spring Break from Ball State.

Maggie got to experience Nia with me tonight.  There was a lot of free dancing and we imagined we were angels.  It was awesome.  At the end of the class, the Nia instructor said, “Katie, I think I freaked your sister out.”  I think she did too.  It might be a while before I can get Maggie back to another Nia class.

But she cooked us dinner tonight, which automatically extends an invitation for her to visit us again!

I am very proud to say that Maggie was recently offered an RA position in the dorms at Ball State next year.  This job comes with a lot of responsibilities and perks.  All she has to do to earn free room and board is keep sixty college girls sober and not pregnant for a full school year.  Good luck kid!

Life is moving along as usual.  “Usual” usually equals crazy, frenetic and hectic in my world.  You would think that with the usual pace of things I would have at least one witty, funny or quirky post for the blog.  It seems that I do not. 

We went to Dave’s grandfather’s funeral last week.  I wish I had had the opportunity to meet him while he was alive, as he certainly set a healthy and holy example of how to live to his family.  Apparently he wrote his own memoirs several years back, and I look forward to reading them. 

It was great to see old pictures from Dave’s family, and hear old stories.  I know a lot of things about my side of the family, and have seen many pictures over the years, but don’t really know much about Dave’s ancestors.  I would love to learn more. 

We visited with family at the funeral and I got to play with my favorite baby pickles.  My niece Miriam asked, “When you get pregnant, will you be happy to quit your job?”  Oh, you kids say the darnedest things!

Dave’s parents visited us for two nights during the last week, as they were traveling back and forth from the funeral.  It was wonderful to visit with them, as we do not often get the chance.  They didn’t even seem to notice the smell of bleach and Windex, as we had frantically cleaned the place and shoved mounds of dirty laundry into closets the day before they came.

Two weeks ago I bragged to Dave about how I had not gotten sick all winter, nagging him to take vitamins and wash his hands more.  The very next day I got a cold.  And then I passed it to Dave.

I have developed an odd spasm in my eyelid, the likes of which I have only had one other time in my life – the entire two months before our wedding.  Weird.

Our previous landlord, the one who still owes us our security deposit, is MIA.

I am deeply enthralled in a Stephen King book I picked up last weekend.  

Dave is practicing the piano a lot, as he is playing for a wedding next week. 

Oh, and I gave up alcohol for Lent.  OH, that’s probably where all my creative blog ideas went! 

Dave’s paternal grandfather passed away yesterday morning.  He died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 99.  He was being taken care of by his daughter and her family.  While I never met him, I know through family stories that he lived a healthy and active life.  He is well loved and respected by his family.  We are traveling to Michigan this week to attend the funeral. 

Please say a prayer that he rest in peace.