Family in Chicago!

It takes forever for me to post anything--buttt I wanted to make sure that I blogged about my family coming to Chicago! It was greaaaat! I enjoyed every second of having them here. The weather was surprisingly wonderful (for Chicago standards) and it was fun to lug them around and show them the sites/sights of Chicago.

All of these pictures are completely out of order, but here goes:

Chance and I at the Science Museum, which was so fun and interesting, by the way!!

Astronaut Angela--Chance refused, anyone surprised? =)

Chance and I in front of the museum of science

I took my parents to the Bongo Room-they agreed, it's amazing!!! Anytime you're in Chicago stop for a bite of their white chocolate pretzel pancakes--yum yum!

Mom and Shawn on Lake Michigan!

You can't see our toesies, BUT we waded in the water, which was freezing!!

Fam in front of the museum of science (totally out of order, sorry!)

Shawn went for a swim in Lake Michigan, at night, in the winter!! CRAZY kid...

but major PROPS!

Shawn and Dad earlier that week.

It was an incredible trip and I'm so glad that they came. I've really missed having my parents around and hadn't seen them since the wedding. I can't wait until Christmas.

Thanks Mom and Dad for making the effort to come to Chicago. It meant a lot! Love you guys--and thanks for tugging along, Shawn. I hope we weren't "too uncool" for you.

Bull Game!

Our friends Adam and Hannah invited us to the Bull's Game Tuesday night. My work schedule this week was pretty hectic and I was exhausted, but I'm so happy we went. It was against the Denver Nuggets and it game down to the buzzer. Brad Miller made a shot with .2 seconds to go and it went it to put the Bulls ahead at 91-90. Unfortunately, after a long review from the refs they said that it didn't count and the Bulls lost. =( It was a fun game nonetheless!! Thanks for a fun night Adam and Hannah!

InflataBULL!

Chance and a few friends at work had the opportunity to dress up for a little race at the Chicago Bull's game. Here are some pictures... "Go # 2!!!"

Here is his commentary for the night:

Although I came in second, this was one of the happier times in mylife (not to mention, a resume builder).
A little more color to the night of wonder:
-I actually got kind of nervous when I put the suit on. You can't seewhatsoever and you're wearing a giant blower with a car-size battery.-I didn't know the race was down and back and then down and back. Iwas winning by a good 10 yards after the first lap. I startedcelebrating and dancing until the people started yelling at me to keepgoing.-Even after my celebration, I was still in the lead until I decided totry and take out one of the other inflatabulls. Bull #3 dove at thefinish line to beat me by inches.

He makes me laugh! I wish I could have been there, but I had to work late. Maybe next time I can race along side him! =)

I LOVE the smell of pumpkin!

This is what it smells of in my apartment and I love it so much:
While I was at my in-laws for dinner on Sunday, I noticed a Yankee candle my mother-in-law got and mentioned that I wanted the spiced pumpkin candle. Last night, before I got home, she brought by the candle I mentioned along with my skirt, 2 of chances shirts, and a curtain she hemmed for us as well. It brightened my day--I'm so blessed to have such a thoughtful mother-in-law!

California--Here We Come!

It might be wrong of me to post while at work, but I figure everyone's entitled to a 15 min break here and there. We're going to California this weekend to visit Chris and Jenny. Kira, Emmet, and Emery will be there. We had talked about going for a while, but ticket prices jumped, which left our trip plans hopeless.

We were able to find two remaning tickets with another airline for a decent price and jumped to buy them. We are VERY excited!! After a sweater suggestion scare, I jumped online to see the weather stats--82 and sunny almost all weekend. We'll probably need a light sweater for at night, but we needed this break from the already cold Chicago weather! Chance is excited to surf and we're both excited to hang out with the Olson family.

THANK YOU Chris and Jenny!

I'll just picture it all

Like always--it has been way too long since I've posted. Here is what we've been up to for the past couple of months. The first few are out of order.

BYU v Oklahoma over at Hannah and Adams--notice I'm the only one posing!

The girls +Trevor while the boys were at a fireside

BBQ at our place after an intense day of beach volleyball

Mary Martha came in town for work and we went to the ESPN zone for dinner--it was SO wonderful to see her and Andew--they're a great couple!!

The Air Show in Chicago

This is right by our place--it was pretty crazy (too bad I only got a picture of a helicopter). Planes were doing tricks all day and millions of people were watching. The noise echoed through downtown Chicago--it was unbelievably loud and would have been terrifying had I not known what was going on!

I asked these girls if I could take a picture--they made me wait till their other signs were ready. They were hysterical--when a plane flew by they would scream as loud as they could, "AHHHHHHH--that's the sound of mother earth in pain." Good for them, right?

Bears Game

We went to the pre-season Bears Game. We scalped tickets together and got ripped off. We were told that all three seats were next to each other. Turns out Ken's seat was on the other side of the stadium. Next time we won't be so trusting--ha!

Some long requested pictures of our old place-a highrise in downtown Chicago

As you can tell from these pictures, we outgrew this place quickly---there was no room for anything!

The New Place

Moving--the most stressful day of our young marriage. We hired movers to make it easy (so much for being an easy day). Everything that could have gone wrong did, but we're finally settled in!

As for everything else--work has kept us both very busy. I'm enjoying my job, but it makes for very long days. We are excited to have made wonderful friends out here in Chicago and are enjoying married life very much! More pictures to come..

The Working Life

After today I have been officially working for two weeks!! I work at Sears Holdings, but I work in the corporate offices! It's funny b/c when I tell people where I work they imagine me sitting in a backroom somewhere inside a Sears or Kmart store.

The first week was just onboarding--a little get to know different business units and people working at the company. This past week I felt like I was thrown in a pool without knowing how to swim. Boy was it tough!! It's humbling to be put in a job when you don't have a clue about what's going on. I feel like a sponge and just try to soak up every piece of information I can get. The people here are great, though. They care and they take the time to teach you. It's a very steep learning curve, but I'm learning a lot.

It's such a dynamic organization and such a fun time to work at a company of this sort. There are so many brilliant people that are driving so much change. My recruiting class alone is strictly from Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, and BYU. Talk about intimidating! It's fascinating to learn about all the different initiatives and even more exciting to be a part of them.

I have to admit, there were times this week when thoughts like, "I can't do this", "I'm not smart enough," or "I'm just not cut out for this," went through my head. At the end of the day things came together, I found the right people to help me, and I learned so much. I'm in an organization when the measly business analyst can really drive change and they want to hear about all my ideas. Don't worry, I'm not getting a big head--I'm very humbled by it all and grateful for this wonderful opportunity. It's very rewarding and so exciting!

Sidenote: they even have summer hours!! work a little later Monday-Thursday and leave early on Friday! =)

It's a great organization and a blessing to be a part of it. You just watch--Sears and Kmart will make it big! =)