Orchids

My Brother&HisGirlfriend sent an orchid to the funeral home for Mr.U's mom.

In full bloom, it is so beautiful.

The card reads:

"What we have once enjoyed, we never leave. All that we love, deeply becomes a part of us."

-Helen Keller

Losses&Blessings

My heart both breaks&sings today.

My dear friend, Katie, lost her mother this morning

...far too soon&suddenly...

and her pain tugs at my core as I remember the closeness of her precious family

and the warmth&love her quiet&peaceful mother always showed anyone she encountered.

Katie&Jeff even chose their wedding date based on it's relevance to her parents' wedding date.

I can't even imagine the inconsolable aches that will follow this passing

and I can only hope she'll embrace the best of memories and wrap herself inside them during this terrible time.

And while Susan's soul left its earthly body, my beautiful&amazing friend, Christine, gave birth to her first child.

Baby Ryan was born in the early afternoon at a healthy 8lbs&1oz with 5fingers&5toes and the most handsome face.

It's days like these that remind me that we are never given more than we can handle.

Losses&blessings surround us in life and our reactions are what define us.

I'd like to bottle this emotional energy for the next time I let the littlest thing get to me

and remember that events of much greater significance are happening all around the world

so I should appreciate what&who I have and cherish the memories I'm still able to make.

Thursday, you've knocked me down and built me up.

And so it goes.

Katie's adorable family christmas photo

christine & joe's perfect baby ryan

Chicago Shots

a nice afternoon walk around wrigleyville with joe, dustin, and mom

rest room sign in boys town

IPAs at Timothy o'tooles while watching the red wings

Mom's 50th Surprise

My mom turned 50 this past week and my sister-in-law helped me plan a Surprise Party for her.
We found a nice restaurant called Salt & Pepper Pub in Holland, MI with a private room for 30 people
and Chelsea created some adorable decorations for the quiet dinner celebration
including mason jars lined with patterned paper filled with dowels holding old pictures
and a framed piece of chicken wire displaying more photos.
She also put together a cute banner and a chalkboard with stats from 50 years ago.
My main contribution was the cake, which I ordered from Holland Cakery right next door to S&P.
Since I knew cake would be my mom's favorite part, it had to be incredible and it definitely was.
.Almond Cake with Raspberry Filling and Butter Cream Frosting.
Though she didn't want a party at all, I think she was genuinely surprised and happy with the event
and I'm pretty sure my sister-in-law had a lot of fun creating things while off on maternity leave.

Last Wings Game

It was the Red Wings last regular season home game and Scott wanted to get a bunch of people together to attend, so he bought tickets for Joe&I, himself&Linds, his parents, his cousin&boyfriend, and another college friend and we all headed down last night after work. Linds met Joe&I at the MGM Parking Structure where the 3 of us had a few beers before walking toward Joe Louis. We stopped at Cobo Joe's for a tequila shot before heading through the Cobo center (with a quick stop in the men's bathroom - yep, all 3 of us) and onto the arena for a tour of the press box compliments of Joe's fellow track coach. Linds&I got to put on the official Fox Sports Detroit headphones and stand in the DJ booth. We got to talk to the guy who does play reviews and even listened to him call Toronto to check in. It was honestly very cool and really neat to see before the Red Wings officially move to the new arena and Joe Louis is no more. The game wasn't as good as the pre-game considering we lost, but the beer was good and the company even better and the walk through Detroit was excellent.

Everson Lovin'

While in Colorado, I planned a couple days to spend with my friend from high school, Peggy, her husband, Nick, and their 1-year-old son, Everson. I haven't seen E since last summer, so it was very nice to see him again. He's such an adventurous&fearless little man and Peg&I got to enjoy a quiet morning hanging out with him and their dogs. I was amazed at how effortlessly he pulled himself into the bay windowsill, so he could look outside. Not-so-amazingly but still very impressively he'd turn and throw himself off to get back down. He's a quick learner, though, and after just a few times showing him how to turn and scooch himself backward, he started being a little safer with his dismount. Besides hanging with Everson, we also had a game night with Nick's fellow youth leaders at the church he works for and enjoyed a breakfast&shopping out on the town. An excellent end to my Colorado vacation.

Hot Sulfur Springs

Our main vacation adventure in Colorado was visiting some Hot Sulfur Springs about 20mins from our resort. We paid less than $20 a person to go sit in these naturally occurring hot springs that were routed into little pools all over the side of a mountain. The higher the elevation - the higher the water temperature ...so we went right to the top. The sulfur water smelled a little like rotten eggs, but it made our skin and hair so soft&shiny. And it was so nice to sit in the hot water while the snow fell around us. One area even had a waterfall we could enjoy, which was great. It was definitely an awesome, one-of-a-kind experience.

Turning Dustin's Peace Ring Colors

Etching on the Concrete

Sign posted on a bench

Dustin under the waterfall

Waterfall in one of the springs

Hiding

CO Trip

My brother decided to take a late February vacation to Colorado for snowboarding, so I found a cheap flight and decided to join. It was just him and his co-worker, Lauren, at the condo he rented for the week, so the three of us had a nice, laid back couple of days in the pool&restaurant and enjoyed the mountain views. Not an extravagant vacation, but definitely necessary.

Snowboarding Views

Our Resort in Granby Ranch

Windy Mountain Driving

Valentine's Tree

My daddy sent me a bonsai tree for Valentine's Day.

A great addition to my desk.

Grandpa&Fiona

So this happened last weekend and melted my heart.

My favorite man on the entire planet smiling&snuggling my baby puppy.

Elton

Elton john at joe Louis arena

Sadly, my companions were either drunk or silent (as per usual) but I still loved the show. I probably most enjoyed chatting with Bunni's dad over his excitement for me to see Elton just like he had in the 70's. He may not have been the most active performer, but he belted out those classics & brought me right back to my youth and the memories of my dad singing Your Song to me on long road trips. The stage was sweet - the lights at the back changed constantly and sometimes turned into different images and we were lucky to be on the side where Elton's piano was, so our view was great considering the cheap ticket price.
Elton, you enchanted me.

Misc Fall

Fire place & candle in the master

Tryna strip that dark outa my hair

knee high boots & leggings for cold weather

knocking one football out of the tree with another football

trying some local beers with joe

flowers from my mr. before a long weekend

pretty mug i eyed for weeks before purchasing

gel manicure and a glass of wine

...if only it was that easy.

Turning 3

My only nephew turned 3 this past weekend, so Mr.U&I spent the night at his house and woke up bright&early on his actual birthday to celebrate. Before bed, my brother had put his present on top of the kitchen cabinets. In the morning, he was on a stool stretching his arms to reach his birthday present. Clever little 3-year-old ...that's for sure. Later in the day, we celebrated his birthday with a Dinosaur-themed party and his biggest gift was a soccer goal to practice his new favorite score. By evening, he was beat and wanted his only aunt to read him books in his "big boy bedroom" before sleep. We chose a Halloween book from the library ...something about a dance party. I loved the book in the moment, but all I can remember now is my sweet&snuggly nephew intently clinging to his aunt's words. He may turn terrible 2's into terrible 3's, but I love him just the same - and, since I don't see him very often, I never tire of his affection.

Jones Fun

Mr.U&I drove into Chicago for a night full off:

The Jones Family, My Brother, & Comedy.

We got a late start leaving the office

so we drove through Wrigleyville just as the game ended

and found a prime parking spot in front of J&K's house.

After some pre-drinking, snacking, & porch-sitting

we headed downtown for a CD Release Party at Timothy O'Tooles.

BartenderBrother had reserved us some seats at the bar,

which was exactly where I wanted to sit

since he's moved a million miles away now

and seeing him at his bar is the best I'll get for a while.

We laughed&munched&drank before heading back to Wrigley

and woke up for bagels & JuneBug play Saturday morning.

It was a nice, quick trip filled with wonderfulness.



Pond Day

I spent the afternoon at grandma&grandpa's pond with my bother&sister-in-law and their dog&son.

We kayaked&swam then enjoyed a lunch in the sunshine as per usual.

CaliforniaSunsets

Walks&Icecream

Momma&I did lots of walking in California.

I think we averaged about 7 miles a day.

So we rewarded ourselves with Coldstone...

If my mother is one thing besides a healthy eater,

she's an IceCream Connoisseur.

We both fell in love with the Oreo Filling flavor

but my absolute favorite was Mango Pineapple Sorbet.

There are some simple&sweet things that my mom&I do

like finding a Goodwill to shop at in California

and racing down the road to barely see a sunset

that will only ever be perfect with her.

I wish I could spend every day on vacation with her...

laying in bed watching TV and laughing...

exploring new places and having adventures...

I truly, truly cherish my mother

and the moments I can spend with her.

(they are too few & far between these days)

I'm so blessed to have had California with her.

In & Out Burger

My mom&I got In-N-Out Burger in California. One of the guys on 97.1 the Ticket has mentioned it, so I figured it was a good choice for one of those "must-try" places. The few-optioned menu was served by men in cute hats. The fries were fresh-cut&amazing and the burger was pretty straight-forward&simple. The patty was minimal, which was nice, so I enjoyed the CrispVeggies&MeltyCheese on the toasted bun.

Carl's Jr.

Mom kept checking out Carl's Jr. as we'd pass it on our Target walks.

She'd be craving salad and they had big salads advertised,

so a couple days into our vacation, we finally stopped.

(this turned out to be our only real "naughty" eating day.)

She got a taco salad that looked pretty good

and I enjoyed some delicious frenchfries.

We both, of course, slammed a huge Diet Coke.

The service was great for a fast food restaurant

and the inside was so nice&clean.

It was funny, though, because we'd decided to stop there

then noticed that there were police cars swarming the area.

We opted to go in anyway and watched the action unfold

...undercover police, detectives, and gross men handcuffed

on the sidewalk in front of the neighboring hotel...

All-in-all a pretty interesting to trip for some simple fast food.



Venice Beach

Mom&I headed to Venice Beach for the afternoon

after leaving the Kris Jenner Show taping.

We parked at a lot up the street from the beach

then walked through town toward the water.

Immediately, we saw a "Bicycle Rental" shop

and decided we just had to go beach biking.

We picked two cute&colorful bikes with baskets

and took off down the cement bike path that lined the sand.

We went down as far as we could in one direction

then turned back to head toward Santa Monica

admiring the mountains&buildings as we rode by.

There were quite a few beach-front parks

filled with skateboarders&hippies

and lots of beach houses&shops

filled with partying people & tourist trinkets.

We both snapped pictures while biking.

Sadly, we turned a corner on our trip back

and a couple was taking over the bike path.

I watched my mom slam on the breaks and tip over.

In an effort to catch her, I flew off my bike

and we both ended up with some scrapes&bruises.

Could have been worse, but still annoying.

The funniest part was this group of guys who witnessed our spill

chasing down the couple who continued to walk on the bike path.

After we rode back & returned our bikes

we walked to the car to wash out our wounds

then went to a corner liquor store for bandages.

It was sad to have that kind of ruin our biking experience,

but I still look back on it fondly.

For a couple more hours we walked around Venice Beach.

Mom saw a "Venice Beach Pharmacy" sign

...I had to point out the medical marijuana leaves surrounding it.

Then we looked at sweatshirts (since the weather was surprisingly chilly)

and waited to grab dinner with Elise's cousin who lives in the area.

Pretty successful day with scars as forever reminders.