Taylor & Laurel Cline

The cookie bar that changed my life...

2011-05-15T21:00:00.008-05:00

Hersey's S'More Cookie Bars

If you know me, you know that I love desserts. I think this comes from having the most amazing mother and baker known to man. She makes the tastiest treats!

I came across this cookie bar recently on Hersey's website and I must say it changed my life. I'm obsessed. I've made them three times in three weeks. I can't get enough. They are simple (They only take about 45 minutes start to finish) and amazingly delicious.

Check out the recipe on Hersey's website.

The only change I made to the recipe is adding extra marshmallow fluff. Who doesn't like lots of marshmallow?

Try them next time you have a BBQ to go to or just want something sweet.

You won't be sorry.

New Purchase

2011-03-12T16:28:00.004-06:00

I just bought this on Etsy for our condo! I'm so excited.

I can't wait for it to get here and hang it up. I have the perfect spot picked out.

Taylor and I have been working on the condo again. Pictures coming soon.
Our big project the last few weekends has been a sliding barn door for the office. I can't wait to show you. It is looking quite sweet. It should be done this weekend (if everything goes to plan).

Have a great weekend.
XOXO,
LC

2011-Chicago Blizzard

2011-02-02T21:12:00.003-06:00

The Chicago 2011 Blizzard was crazy. Being from Kansas, I've seen snow. I've seen ice. But I've never seen anything like I did on Tuesday/Wednesday.

We had wind gusts of up to 60 miles an hour. We had "Thunder Snow." It's a thunder storm with snow instead of rain. We lost power for a short while. We got over 20 inches of snow.

Here are some pictures I took around my neighborhood today.

It's going to take these people a while to dig their cars out. I'm just glad we park our car in a garage nearby.

All the men in my neighborhood were out this afternoon shoveling the snow. Their piles are taller than me.

This little guy wasn't really a fan of the snow. He's kind of a baby about that.

Though I don't really blame him. It was hard for him to get around. It was by far taller than him.

I was lucky enough to be able to work from home today. I'm not looking forward to my commute tomorrow. It will be interesting.

PS-I know I've neglected this blog for far too long. I'm working on it.

This is for real...

2010-06-12T07:48:00.004-05:00

I was watching tv last night when this commercial came on. After it was over I sat there thinking, "was that real?" Taylor had even wanted me to rewind...This is a real commercial.

Unfortanately, it cuts off the last part of the tagline at the end. "The coolest you'll look pooping your pants" That's right. That's what it said. How funny is that?

Hope you have a lovely Saturday. I'll be back later this weekend with another post.

XOXO,

Taylor and Laurel: American Pickers...

2010-05-30T22:07:00.004-05:00

I love going to thrift stores. You just never know what you're going to find. A few months ago I found our credenza for $40 at a local thrift store. I felt like I won the lottery.

Today was even better.

Taylor and I were on our way to Whole Foods when I suggested we stop into a local thrift store. I just had a feeling there may be something great waiting in there for us. Boy was I right. We had walked through the whole place and were going down the last isle when Taylor spotted it, an authentic Bertoia Diamond Chair, similar to this one:

I've wanted one of these for a while now. A cute little vintage retail shop was selling one with the cutest cover, but there is no way I would pay retail price for one of these. So, Taylor has been keeping his eyes peeled for a reasonably priced one on ebay, but no luck. I was thrilled when we found this one today.

I can't wait until we finish our bedroom. I have the perfect spot in mind for it. Now we'll just have to work on getting a cover for it.

Hope you're having a great holiday weekend. Taylor and I got a little too much sun on Saturday so we spent most of today indoors. Until next time...

XOXO,

My 3 Nephews...

2010-05-09T20:21:00.005-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA for awhile. I haven't really felt like posting much. Plus we've been super busy working on our counter tops (I'll post more on that later).

When I was home last month I took some pictures of my three nephews. They are so adorable. I love being around them. I wish I lived closer since they grow so stinkin' quick. Here's a peak at some of my favorite photos of Kaleb, Kyson and Kolt. Enjoy!

Have a great week!

XOXO,

Strangest night of my life...

2010-04-18T20:02:00.002-05:00

Taylor and I got invited to an "art show" on Saturday.

It turned out to be the strangest event I've ever attended. I'm not even sure if words could explain it. I think it may take me a week to digest.

The best way I can think to describe it is when you are watching a movie and something so strange and off the wall is happening and you say, "that could never happen in real life. People don't do that in real life." Oh yes they do...I saw it with my own two eyes.

Here's some highlights:

People dressed as squids.
Battle dancing.
Dome of Doom.
Horrible art.
Bad drinks.
People with bunny ears.
Guy in green bunny costume.
Angry jellyfish.

Words just can't do it justice. I found this video on facebook from last night. This was after the art show they had everyone go down to the floor below for a "battle dancing tournament." Here is what ensued.

Yes that was a woman on stilts and yes that announcer had pants with Christmas lights.

I would have left as soon as the girl outside told us she was the princess oracle of the donut, but we were with my husband's boss...what a strange and eventful night, especially considering I thought we were going to a stuffy art gallery.

Drugs could probably have made everything make sense...o well guess I'll never know.

People are crazy!

2010-04-06T20:44:00.002-05:00

So today I got a friend request from a stranger on FB.

I don't know why or how he chose me, but let me tell you...some people are crazy.
Here is the message that came along with his friend request.

"Lekan says, "How are you doing?I hope you get this mail and it finds you well.I was glancing through profiles when your Pretty and fresh pic got me attracted and your lovely Fresh face had me wrote you ,WOW i really fainted cos I have never ever seen someone so Gorgeous Like this before, and the first was that came out of me was how amazing you are ... WOW you are drop dead Gorgeous,I am looking for a woman who will be my Partner,Soul mate,Best friend and Lovers for a Long term relationship and let me tell you and let you know that Age,Distance or space cannot stop the two Lovers who really love,know and cares for themselves worth. and I want you to know that Distance or space cannot stop the two Lovers who really love,know and care for themselvs worth.Let me tell u a lil things about love in this dayz:Love is like swallowing hot chocolate before it has cooled off. It takes you by surprise at first, but keeps you warm for a long time,Love is blind but after experiencing it for a long time you should become familiar with some particular spots,Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly, and without expectation. We don't love to be loved; we love to love.True love is when the only thing that makes you cry is seeing the one you care about unhappy...I will really like to know u more than this.I am really dieing to hear back from you soon.You can e-mail or add me for chatting on (removed email address)"

This may be the worst grammar I've ever encountered.
Just for the record I didn't accept his friend request.
Hope your week is going well.
LC

Movie Monday...

2010-04-05T18:45:00.003-05:00

My favorite movie to watch in the spring is...

Tale of the Bunny Picnic.
This movie by Jim Henson is a classic.
I love how the dog actually says "bark" instead of "woof".
It cracks me up. I wish I could find it on DVD. I've only seen it for VHS.
Check it out below. Hope you enjoy.
Happy Monday,
LC

Here's the other parts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8quBD1wR0I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zdKCnERh8RQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFnkcRqbJCw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PpQFDhecxw

Happy Easter!

2010-04-04T18:55:00.013-05:00

Easter is my favorite holiday. Not only does it have the best candy, but the message of Easter is such a great one.

We had a great service at Willow Creek, (the band and choir were amazing) and topped it off by celebrating the day with lunch with some friends (post on this coming soon), but I still wish we could've been with family. Since we couldn't be together today, I'm posting a little blast from the past. Here are some photos from my childhood.

This is my brother, Kyle and I in the backyard with our dog Freckles.

My grandpa and I when I was a toddler. I love this photo.

My best friend, Amber and I playing dress up when we were probably six, gotta love my perm.

Three things I loved at age 8, Scottie dogs, light up yoyos and berets.

Our family photo when I was in middle school.

Hope you had a lovely Easter. I'll post some Easter dinner photos later on.
XOXO,
LC

Music Monday

2010-03-22T21:09:00.007-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA lately. Life has been a little hectic. I feel like we've been super busy. We haven't really been home much lately...which is a nice change of pace. I tend to be kind of a homebody.

I'll try and post more but for now here's a funny little video from one of my favorite musicians...BEN FOLDS!

It's call Chatroulette...people logged on and he had to improv a song about them...i love it. He's amazing.

Enjoy and hope you are having a great start to your week!
LC

Go Cats!

2010-03-11T10:22:00.002-06:00

Thanks to my awesome Father-In-Law I am headed to KC today for the Big 12 Tourney.
Taylor is following this weekend. I'm pretty excited to see my dear friend Sonya and hang out at the game tonight, followed by some family time Friday and Saturday.

Go State!

I'm sure I'll have some pictures to post when I get back to Chicago.

Please pray...

2010-02-28T15:49:00.002-06:00

This is Taylor's Uncle Doug and his family. Doug and his daughter, Micaela were in a snowmobile accident this weekend while visiting WY.

Micaela has broken her arm and her jaw and will require surgery.

Doug broke 5 ribs and his neck (though he is not paralyzed).

Luckily they were both wearing helmets.

Please pray for them and their family.

XOXO,

Spring where are you?

2010-02-21T18:52:00.005-06:00

Here are some photos from our weekend here in Chicago.

It was so gloomy.

I need some sunshine in my life.
Is winter about over?
I'm not sure how much more of this I can take!

Delicious....Banana Bread

2010-02-20T13:56:00.007-06:00

As I've mentioned in previous posts Taylor & I are trying to eat a little healthier. This means more fruits, especially bananas. We've been eating them a lot.

The only problem is I won't eat them if they aren't a little green. Taylor won't eat them if they ARE a little green or too brown. This works out well, except if I don't eat my fair share there are too many for him to eat before they get too brown. That's where banana bread comes into play.

This week I used our extra bananas to make some yummy banana bread. I've tried several recipes in the past, some really complicated ones and some fairly simple ones. This time I used a really easy recipe that probably took me a whole 10 minutes prep before baking. It turned out super yummy. I took it to work and it was gone in about 15 minutes.

So if you have some extra bananas lying around try this recipe. You can't go wrong with the following recipe.

Super Simple Banana Bread

3-4 Bananas Smashed

1/3 C. Butter Melted

1 C. Sugar

1 Egg Beaten

1 tsp. Vanilla

1 tsp. Baking Soda

Pinch of Salt

1 1/2 C. Flour

Mix all ingredients in the mixer and pour into a greased bread pan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (mine took a little longer).

Cool on Rack.

Feel free to add nuts or my friend Jessica's favorite, Chocolate Chips.

Have a Happy Saturday!

XOXO,

What are you giving up?

2010-02-17T18:37:00.003-06:00

After a long deliberation I have decided what to give up this year for lent...Eating out. This is definitely harder than last year's pizza.

Let me clarify my commitment though...eating out includes during the week for breakfast, lunch or dinner. This excludes Friday nights, Saturday and Sunday.

It seems doable, especially since 2 of the girls I work with are doing it with me.

What are you giving up this year?

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-15T19:41:00.007-06:00

Taylor and I had a nice Valentine's Day. We spent the whole day together which was lovely.

Church in the morning, followed by grocery shopping at Trader Joes (the best grocery store in the world).

Then we headed to a new fancy meat market in Lincoln Square to get some delicious meat for dinner (Gene's Sausage Shop & Delicatessen).

I let Taylor have his pick and he did an awesome job. He chose the Cowboy Cut (bone in ribeye). It weighed 2.0 lbs! Don't worry we didn't eat it all in one sitting.

Sebe got the best gift of all I think...the bone!

Hope you had a lovely day.

XOXO,

2010 off to a running start & #71 - DONE!

2010-02-08T20:43:00.008-06:00

Sorry for not posting anything lately. Life just seems to move too quickly sometimes.

2010 is shaping up to be a good for us. Here's a recap thus far:

This little guy turned 27....Love you Husband! I took him to dinner at Devon Seafood, one of our favorite places in the city. I just wish I could've found a gift as cool as his Micky Mouse T-shirt.

We also enjoyed time with Taylor's Grandpa and wife, who were in town for the month of January. I think I gained 5 lbs while they were here, since they took us out to eat at some amazing places (sadly, I didn't really get any photos).

This mustache woman got a promotion! You are looking at the face of a new Senior Marketing Manager. One of my co-workers brought treats today. I chose the chocolate mustache sucker. It was delicious. I couldn't resist taking a picture with it before I devoured it.

Things that we're looking forward to in the coming months:

1. Finishing our training and running the 1/2 marathon in Abilene in April.

2. Taylor's 1/2 sister, Katie, graduates from High School in May.

3. Vacation and our 5 year wedding anniversary in July (I know, I can't believe it's been that long either).

So long for now.
xoxo,
LC

I feel like I won the lottery!

2010-01-17T16:50:00.004-06:00

Taylor & I love vintage furniture. We live really close to Andersonville in Chicago which has a ton of cute vintage furniture stores. Check out my favorite (white attic).

We've been searching for almost a year for the perfect credenza for our condo. We were hoping for walnut to match our Eames plywood chairs (like these). We also wanted sliding doors if possible. We've spent countless hours in stores and on eBay trying to find the perfect one at a reasonable price; easier said then done. Vintage furniture is expensive!

Friday night I felt like I had won the lottery. A couple of my girlfriends (Jessica and Andrea) and I had gone to run an errand in Andersonville and decided to stop by Brown Elephant. It's a thrift store benefiting the Howard Brown health centers.

That's when I saw it! The perfect credenza. A little beat up, a couple of water rings; but all in all everything I'd hoped for - price $50.00. I was freaking out. I'd seen ones in worse shape on eBay for over $200. Long story short I got the credenza with Taylor's approval by cellphone photo and at a discount of 25% off!

One of these days we'll refinish it or have someone do it for us but for now it's just fine and I can say goodbye to his homemade TV stand out of plywood and metal studs.

Hope you've all had a great weekend.

XOXO,

It's gonna be a good year...

2010-01-12T20:32:00.005-06:00

Hello 2010! I feel like it's going to be a good one for Mr. Cline and I. We have several goals for the new year...here are a few of mine.

1. Run more. I have decided to run another 1/2 marathon. This time I'm making it a family affair. I've recruited Mr. Cline to run the Abilene 1/2 marathon in April with me. We're also bringing along my brother and his wife (check out her blog here), my two cousins and my aunt. The only bad part is being stuck inside for training since Chicago weather isn't exactly warm right now.

2. Drink less of this. Mr. Cline has more of an addiction than I do, but we both need to drink more H20 and less pop (or soda depending on what you call it).

3. Eat more of this (No explanation needed).

4. Get our finances in order (More on this later).

5. Open my Etsy store (Hopefully by the end of January).

So here's to 2010. I think it's going to be a great one.

Happy Howlidays...

2009-12-23T09:48:00.004-06:00

From our favorite little dog, Sebe.

We're off to the land of oz.
Wish us luck on the drive; crazy winter weather!

I heart handmade...

2009-12-22T20:34:00.006-06:00

So I'm in the process of opening a store on Etsy, an online community for all things vintage and handmade. Finger's crossed, I'm hoping to fill my store by the end of January.

I was telling a friend about my ideas of what I'd like to sell and she asked if I would create one of them for her mom as a Christmas gift.

I love to bake and I always find myself writing recipes on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, etc. and from that came the idea of a recipe journal. This would allow you to have a place to write everything and be super-cute at the same time.

So below are pictures of my first recipe journal, personalized for Joyce (hope she isn't reading this).

I'd love to hear what you think!

What would Christmas be...

2009-12-22T13:28:00.003-06:00

Without a little Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas.

I've already watched it twice this year and I may go for a third time tonight. That is if I can pull my husband away from his PS3. We'll see.

If you haven't seen Emmet Otter you should definitely check it out. It's a classic. Plus the DVD has some pretty funny special features. Bloopers are much funnier when they're muppets. I couldn't stop laughing.

Tomorrow afternoon we're heading back to KS for a much needed vacation. I can't wait to see family and friends. I love this time of year. Let's just hope the weather cooperates with our drive.

Love,
LC

A Great Holiday Read.

2009-12-11T07:43:00.004-06:00

Check out this book if you haven't already. It's a really great holiday read. Thanks mom for letting me borrow it.

Christmas Jars
By Jason F. Wright

Have a fabulous Friday!

O Blog...It's been way too long.

2009-12-06T21:23:00.005-06:00

Wow, it has been quite awhile since I last updated.

Things here have been crazy! We've been working very hard on our condo (picture update to come) and have been busy getting ready for the Holiday Season...

I have a lot of catching up to do. I will start with Thanksgiving.

My family came to visit! (sans my dad) We had a great time. I love being around them. My nephews always have so much energy. The day they left we woke up and Taylor asked..."Is this what it's like when you have kids? I am sooo tired."

I cooked Thanksgiving, minus the turkey. That was Taylor's job. They all went to the parade while I stayed at the condo to bake. We had a lovely meal of wonton star appetizers, fried turkey, twice baked potato casserole, green bean casserole, creamed corn, my great grandma Laurel's famous rolls, apple pie and chocolate espresso cake for dessert. I should've taken some pictures of my work. O well, next time.

While they were here we also went to the aquarium, ate some Chicago deep dish pizza and checked out Wrigley field. It was so fun! The boys loved riding the "el" and buses. Kyson got really good at it and even told Taylor as we left the aquarium, "Taylor, we need to find a bus schedule!" What a funny kid. Here's a couple of pictures from our day.

Kaleb and Kyson outside the Shedd Aquarium.

Kaleb with the giant dinosaur statue outside the Museum of Natural History.

I can't wait til Christmas so I can see them again!

Look for more updates to come this week...

What did you do this weekend?

2009-10-26T21:44:00.003-05:00

We worked on the condo (surprise, surprise). Things are finally coming together. I figure it's almost time for a progress update. But for now, here's a sneak peek at the color we put on the walls yesterday.

P.S. the photos don't do it justice and NO it's not white.
A busy week ahead. I can't believe it's only Monday. More to come.

LC

Mike and Sara...

2009-10-13T19:54:00.008-05:00

Saturday took some engagement photos for a co-worker.
Mike and Sara are getting married in April.
They were so cute together; they are definitely in love.
We wandered around my neighborhood. It was a good time even though it was a pretty chilly morning. A nice fall day for pictures nonetheless.

#93 Attend a concert for a band I love.

2009-10-11T21:39:00.001-05:00

Well Friday I felt like I was 13 again.
My friend Jessica and I went to see Taylor Swift.
I made me feel so old.
I think we were the only women our age there without kids.
The screaming was ridiculous, especially when Taylor Lautner (aka Jacob Black from the Twilight movies) walked out. It's rumored he's dating T-Swift.
But despite all this we had a great time and the concert was pretty awesome. She is a great performer. A seemingly genuine person. And just a fun one to see. So if you have a tween daughter, I would definitely recommend this show.

Other than that we had a pretty normal weekend. Worked on the condo some and attended the K-State watch party.
Well most of it.
I couldn't bear to watch the whole game and we went home after the 3rd quarter.
I don't know if I can take much more of this.
I hate losing.

Vacation Post #3-Venice Beach

2009-10-02T18:54:00.000-05:00

Venice Beach was my favorite find of the vacation.

I never knew it was called Venice Beach because it had little canals like Venice, Italy.

It had such a laid back vibe.

People seemed to ride their bikes or skateboards everywhere. There was even a guy who carried a case of beer and some food all while skateboarding down the street.

Next post will be a collage of all the other photos and places I saw while in CA.

Vacation Post #2-Bonfire on the Beach

2009-09-29T20:19:00.000-05:00

In honor of the season premier of "The Hills" tonight (which I don't watch anymore. It's just gotten too fake and ridiculous) I thought I'd post the following photos.

I always thought it was so cool how LC and the gang had bonfires on Laguna Beach.
So we were pretty stoked when we saw the bonfire pits on the beach at our hotel in Oceanside.

Our last night we decided to go for it. We bought hotdogs and stuff for smores. It was awesome.

What a way to end a day at the beach.

Enjoy.

Vacation Post #1- Mt. Soledad

2009-09-27T18:28:00.000-05:00

I've been editing hundreds of photos from this vacation.
I have tons of photos I love.
So many, so that it's hard for me to decide what to share.
Enjoy these photos from Mt. Soledad, the highest point in San Diego.
It's a Veteran's memorial.
Plus, it has breath taking views.
Enjoy the photos.
There will be other photos from the vacation to come.

Fantastic Mr. Fox

2009-09-25T12:36:00.000-05:00

My favorite author of all time is Roald Dahl.
He's given the world some of the best childrens books.
My favorite book of all time is Matilda. I read the cover off it.
Some of my best memories are of my mom reading Roald Dahl to us on family vacations in the car. I can remember my dad driving and laughing so hard he was almost crying.
So you can imagine my excitement when I found out that Fantastic Mr. Fox is going to be a movie. It comes out this fall.

Have a look at the trailer. Enjoy your Friday. Hopefully this weekend I'll have some vacation picts to post.

Something funny for your Thursday...

2009-09-24T10:55:00.000-05:00

I saw this and couldn't stop laughing.
Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Happy Thursday!

#12 Run a 5k or Race up the John Hancock Building

2009-09-23T21:50:00.000-05:00

Well, we're back from our vacation. It was great. I must say it's been a long week so far getting back into the swing of things. Plus, I am in the midst of editing the hundreds of photos I took on the trip. I will definitely dedicate several posts to the trip but first I must tell you about #12 on my list.

September 13th I ran in the Chicago 1/2 marathon. That's 13.1 miles people. I know you're thinking, I must be crazy. I think I may have been. I was suppose to run it with a friend, but of course a couple of weeks before he dropped out. I was all alone. We decided to think big on this one instead of just a 5k, I guess it worked out ok for me.

All in all I was pleased with how it went. It was hot that day and there was pretty much no shade after mile 4. I wasn't entirely happy with my time but not really disappointed either. It was 2 hours and 31 minutes for those who would like to know. That is 10,538th out of about 18,000 registered runners.

I wish I had some good pictures, but Taylor was not a very good photographer. O well. Maybe I'll run another someday... or maybe not.

PS...#15 is also complete. I saw an optometrist the other day. Perfect eye sight. I knew it.

i {heart} Kansas.

2009-09-06T20:39:00.000-05:00

I {heart} Kansas. When I was younger I always wanted to live somewhere else. But I suppose absence makes the heart grow fonder. Holidays always make me wish I lived closer. My family had a get together today and of course we couldn't be there. But I've started to notice that I am able to find things that remind me of home, even here in the windy city. Below are a few pictures I've taken recently in Chicago and the surrounding area that remind me of home.

Happy Gameday!

2009-09-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

I am so excited. It's finally here. Football. Football. Football. We're starting on the day with a little "Crazy Train" by Ozzy Osbourne and getting ready to move onto "Thanks Coach," Snyder's final game video before watching some of the other football games on TV. Unfortunately, we can't watch tonight's game so we'll be listening on the radio over the Internet.

Since we can't be there for the game today I figured we'd show our support with some throwback photos. Here are some pictures of Taylor and I over the years. Too bad I can't find the pictures of Taylor dressed as Bill Snyder. That was a good one.

K-State vs. MU 2006

Auburn PreGame 2007

Christmas Photo 2008

We'll also spend our weekend some time working on the house. The kitchen is torn apart and the flooring is half laid. Is this project ever going to end? Maybe I'll post some progress pictures later this weekend, along with some other pictures I've been editing.

i {heart} pictures.

2009-08-31T20:55:00.000-05:00

Here are some more pictures from our trip back to KC. My brother's family is pretty hillarious, so I think I captured them perfectly. When I said "Ok, now funny faces." They did not hold back. Gotta love it.

This last picture was at the park the next day. We met there before going to surprise my grandma at church. I love this picture. My brother and I have one just like it on my parents front porch. I should see if I can dig it up.

i heart life.

2009-08-25T21:51:00.000-05:00

i heart spending time with family.

i heart playing with my nephews.

i heart tire swings.

i heart my life.
here's a preview of this past weekend. lots more to come.

#42 Take an Unplanned road trip.

2009-08-09T20:28:00.000-05:00

Sorry I've been MIA for a couple weeks. Time to catch you up.

Taylor and I celebrated our 4th anniversary on July 30th. Since our actual anniversary was on a Thursday, we didn't do too much. We had dinner at this cute Italian restaurant near our house. Calo has excellent food (I had the fettuccine) and a darn good peach martini.

All summer we've been talking about going to Michigan. Here in Chicago Tim Allen portrays Michigan as this amazing place (tagline:pure Michigan), so we wanted to see for ourselves. We woke up on the Saturday after our anniversary and said what better time to complete #42 on my list of things to do than to take an unplanned road trip to Michigan. No maps, no schedule. So we packed up the dog, some snacks and heading out in our zipcar.

Sad to say, Tim Allen was lying. We didn't see much "pure Michigan." Now I see why Ohio says "we don't care about the whole state of Michigan." If we decide to do it again I'll definitely do my research first. We drove a lot and didn't see much. But we did find a cute little beach. Sebe loved the wind in his face (as you can see by the below picture). We also stopped by South Bend, IN to check out Notre Dame. Taylor really wanted to see touchdown Jesus and it really wasn't far out of the way. The campus was a lot different from KSU. The town seems completely separate from the school. We couldn't even find a place for lunch nearby.

So all in all our unplanned road trip was a bust. Too bad, it sounded like a fun time.

In other news...
Taylor & I finished gluing down the flooring in our entry way and dining room this weekend. Here's a picture of the wood floors next to the tiles we're considering for the kitchen. They are a ceramic tile in Charcoal grey...thoughts?

Home Sweet Home

2009-07-26T20:15:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Taylor & I took the MegaBus to KS to spend some time with my family and see some friends. It was really nice to see everyone and we had a blast. Here are some pictures I took of my nephews while we were there. They are growing up so fast. I can't believe Kaleb just turned 6. Time flies...

Kaleb & Kyson played on their trampoline with the sprinkler under it. It reminded me of when I was growing up. My friend Tamra and I would do the same thing at her house.

Kyson really enjoyed hamming it up for the camera. He liked showing me his mean face. He is just hilarious.

We were so excited to meet our new nephew, Kolt. He was so sweet. I even got to take a few photos of him, though he mostly slept through it.

While it was sad to leave, it's always nice to come back to the city. We are now trying to catch up on projects around the house. We knocked down the last section of wall. I am so excited that we are done with that part of the project. We still are hoping to have most of our place finished by winter...We'll see.

Welcome to the world, Kolt Brady!

2009-07-09T13:20:00.001-05:00

My brother and sister-in-law, Kyle and Steph just had their little bundle of joy.

Kolt Brady Becker
Born July 9th at 12:15pm
9 lbs. 12 oz. 21 in. long

Welcome to the world! Mom and Baby are doing great! I can't wait to meet the little guy next week and spend some time with my family.

#29 Take Taylor's Grandpa & Barb to a Cubs Game

2009-06-28T16:01:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Taylor's Grandpa, his wife Barb, Chelsey & Matt all came up for a visit. We had a great time. We showed them around the city and took them to a Cubs game (Barb is a big fan). Here are a few pictures from our weekend.

The view from the stadium looking back towards downtown. I love the city skyline. I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at it.

The game went into extra inning. I never thought it would end. But the Cubs won!

Taylor with his family at "the bean" downtown. All in all it was a nice weekend.

This weekend we were pretty relaxed. I went to get a mani/pedi on Friday with Andrea. Taylor and I played golf with some friends on Saturday. Taylor is pretty bitter that I beat him as usual. We did some alfesc0 dining at a neighborhood place called Rockwell's. It was pretty tasty. The queso was awesome but yet so bad at the same time. And did some laundry and cleaning (o so exciting). We're looking forward to the 3 day weekend next week with some more Cubs action and seeing my aunt, uncle and cousins who are coming into town.

Sorry for the boring post. Next time I'll try and make it a little spicier.

More Photos...

2009-06-06T16:14:00.000-05:00

Nothing really to report. I just wanted to post a few more photos. Enjoy.

Is summer here yet?

2009-06-02T20:52:00.000-05:00

Life is pretty crazy right now. Taylor & I have both been super busy with work, but summer is here (though you wouldn't know it). It's been in the 60s and 70s, some sun, some ran. I'm not complaining though. The nice summer weather is why we say through the crappy winters. It's so nice to sleep with the windows open. I just want to go to the beach.

One funny story. We don't own a car, but I Zipcar (car share) a few times a month to drive to meetings for work. After work on Friday my co-worker Jessica (she's from Oklahoma) and I picked Taylor up from work so we could go out to dinner. I wanted to surprise him, so we weren't going to tell him where we were going, just that we were driving there. About 5 minutes into the drive he ruined the surprise when we guessed "SONIC!" Yes, we drove over an hour each way for Sonic. We all knew what we were going to get before we even got there. I had the chicken strip dinner with bbq sauce and a lemon berry slush. Man I miss Sonic. It was delicious.

Above are some photos I took recently. Enjoy. That's all for now.

101 Things...Progress

2009-05-24T10:30:00.000-05:00

#37 - Take Megabus somewhere.
Taylor & went back to KC for a weekend to his cousin's wedding.We were kind of late planning the trip and flight prices for two people were a little expensive. Some of our friends have visited us from Ohio by taking Megabus before, so we decided to look into both that and Amtrak. Sadly, for tickets to KC on Amtrak, it's about as expensive as flying. But, Megabus on the other hand was a lot cheaper.

For those of you who haven't heard of it, it's the same concept as Greyhound, but cheaper and cleaner. The tickets start at $1.00 (yes that's $1.00) and go up from there based on the number of reservations. We were a little late in booking out trip so for the two of us it was about $100. (1/2 as much as flying for sure). The main thing you give up is time and scheduling. We were lucky and had an overnight ride there. We left Chicago at 11:45 p.m. and got into KC at 10:00 a.m. I was a little sceptical at first, not knowing the type of people who may ride it. But it wasn't bad, mostly a lot of college kids. So, you should check them out. It's definitely worth it. I'd take it again for sure.

#38 - Take Amtrak Somewhere.
Well, as luck would have it, I had the pleasure of crossing number 38 off my list as well recently. As most of you know I work for a financial corp. doing marketing. I handle 3 bank groups in Illinois and Wisconsin. My ad rep for a paper I use in Wisconsin invited myself and a girl from my bank to the Milwaukee Brewer's game. Of course, I couldn't turn down a free baseball game and no work on a sunny Thursday, so I took the Amtrak to Milwaukee. Here are a couple of pictures from my trip.

I got to Milwaukee a little early, so I walked around downtown. They have a really awesome waterfront museum.
Our tickets were in the front row, right next to the home dugout and first baseman. It was pretty awesome. The Brewer's have these racing sausages and they ran right by us.

Now for a little life update. Taylor & I have both been crazy busy. At this rate I don't think we'll ever finish the condo, because we're never home long enough to do anything on it. Plus, when we are here we're too exhausted to work on anything. His dad and step mom came up last weekend. We had couple of nice dinners and took in a Cub's game.
Our weekends for the summer are filling up really quickly. I'm just hoping for some beach time this summer. I need a tan. Have a nice holiday weekend everyone.

I better make this quick. I'm suppose to be working...shhh.

2009-05-07T14:13:00.000-05:00

Just a quick life update.

#37 is getting so close to being completed. Taylor and I are heading out to Kansas City for a wedding this weekend, megabus style. Only the best for us. Don't worry I'll be documenting the journey on film. Well, not film, but pixels. It should be interesting to say the least. I can't wait to see Taylor's family. It's going to be a whirlwind adventure. Only 25 hours will actually be spent in KC. 10 hour drives, just don't sound like that good of a time to me. We'll see.

Ok back to work, 1 postcard design down, 2 to go.

A story about a bike...

2009-04-19T21:14:00.000-05:00

Living in the city makes you much more aware of the stuff you are accumulating, at least for us. We try our best to purge often of anything we aren't going to use/wear again. Unfortunately, I don't think it works this way for a lot of people. Here's a story about just that.

Today I was doing laundry downstairs. Our washers and dryers are in one of the bike rooms. Our bike room is getting pretty full. There are more bikes than bike racks so a few people have their bikes locked up to another bike on the rack. Taylor's bike is actually locked to mine since we could only get one bike rack.

The annoying part about this is that there are several bikes that have been collecting dust. And I don't mean dust from the winter. I'm talking dust from several years of sitting, not being taken care of. Some don't have seats, some have flat tires. Taylor and I have discussed this several times. It is just so annoying that people who are clearly never going to ride their bike again are taking up space. I think our association should send out letters once or twice a year to each bike rack renter to let them know that they do in fact have a bike rack with a bike and that if they would like to give up there spot that the building association would recycle it for them (ie. call brown elephant to pick all the unwanted bikes up ).

So anyway, today as I was doing laundry, a women comes in to do hers. She's getting organized when out of the blue she asks if the Schwinn behind the door is mine. I tell her no, I don't know whose that is. She then proceeds to complain about how it is touching hers and has put several scratches into her bike. I look at the bike she is referring to. It is an old red bike, collecting dust. I think to myself, 1) this woman rides a bike. I don't mean to sound mean but she was an older, not very skinny woman. 2) This woman cares if her bike gets scratched, why? It's not like it's a new expensive bike. It is covered in dust, has obviously not been ridden in years and probably came from Wal-mart.

I then proceed to tell her what I think about all the bikes piling up and how we should do something about it. She did not feel the same way. She told me that people who own bikes have good intentions of riding them again. I was polite, kept my mouth shut and left. Came up here and wrote this blog.

She is exactly the people I was talking about. She isn't going to ride her bike again. There are probably people who don't even remember they have a bike. Why is it that people like accumulating that much junk? I don't know if I'll ever understand. I won't even tell you how much junk is in the storage room....that's for another day. I just hope most people aren't still reading this. Sorry I just wanted to vent a little.

Just one of those life updates.

2009-04-16T16:51:00.000-05:00

I really don't have a lot to blog about today, just felt it had been awhile since I posted anything. Taylor and I had a nice Easter here in Chicago.

We went to church. It was a great service. The band was amazing as usual. I think that's what I love most about Willow Creek. They have an amazing praise and worship session at the beginning of the service. It always puts me in the best mood. For those of you who know me well, I love music. I love to sing. Though I'm not good at it. I am just glad Taylor doesn't mind my awful voice, since I sing a lot and loudly.

After church we came home and I made dinner. My friend/co-worker, Jessica came over. I thought I did a pretty good job. I made rib-roast, twice baked potatoes, green bean casserole (can't have a holiday w/o it), my great-grandma Laurel's rolls and apple pie. All homemade. About these rolls...I've blogged them before. They're even on my 101 things to do in 1001 days. These rolls are amazing. I love them. We've had them at pretty much every family dinner since I can remember. I have tried several times to make them. They always turn out more like biscuits than rolls. I am happy to say that this time was different. I finally got them right.

Well that's all for now. Nothing new and exciting to report. I'm headed to the Cub's game tomorrow with my co-workers. We got the box for the Cardinal's/Cub's game. Can't wait for free food and drinks...and that desert cart. Guess I'm going to have to run a lot this weekend to make up for it.

Last snow of the season?...I sure hope so.

2009-03-29T20:31:00.000-05:00

Well, we definitely had some fun weather this weekend. It started out with rain Saturday afternoon. It rained and rained and rained. This was really unpleasant considering Taylor and I have an old window air conditioner unit in our bedroom. The tinking of rain kept me up until almost 3 am! Needless to say I was not a happy camper, especially since Taylor stole the couch in the living room and left me to suffer. Around 3 the rain turned to snow and we awoke to a few inches of really wet snow and I was finally able to fall asleep. I just hope this is the last of the snow for the winter. I know in Chicago I could be in for a few more snow storms before Spring actually shows up.

Here are a couple of pictures I took today. I know I haven't been very good at posting pictures, especially anything other than snap shots. I've decided to make an effort to get back into my photography. I've been out taking pictures the last few weekends and have really enjoyed it. Hope you enjoy these. There's more to come!

Catching Up...

2009-03-21T11:40:00.000-05:00

Well, life here has been pretty busy lately. We've been working on our house a lot. My mom came up and helped us finish up the living room and hallway. It finally has paint (Thanks mom!). We are almost done with the office and bedroom so soon those will have paint too. Then it's on to flooring and the kitchen...I swear it's never going to end.

I've also been working a little bit on my 101 things so here's an update on that as well.

#26-Go to the South-side Irish Parade. My friend Amber came to visit for St. Patrick's Day weekend. We had a blast hanging out and going to the parade. We took a bus with some friends down. I've never seen so many people at a parade before.

#90 Try Superdawg. Taylor & I decided to try it out the other weekend. For those of you who don't know, it's a famous hot dog place in the city. It's kind of far from where we live so we'd never tried it before but talked about it a lot. So a few weeks ago, after running some errands we decided to hit it up. It was excellent. A little expensive for hot dogs, but hey you have to try it at least once, right?

#19 & #82 Give up Pizza for 1 month and Give up something hard for lent. I don't know if this is cheating or not but I'm double dipping on this one. It has actually been harder than I thought. I pretty much consider pizza to be another food group and I've had to watch people eat pizza in front of me twice now and it hasn't been fun. O well, not too much longer to go.

PS I can't wait for summer! It's my favorite thing about living in the city...the beach, Cub's games, and sidewalk dining.

Rally for Reese

2009-03-04T12:58:00.000-06:00

I haven't posted about this before but after seeing the cutest picture of Reese I decided it was time. One of my best friends, Erin Green, has a niece who was diagnosed with cancer in October. I truly believe in the power of prayer, so please pray for this cute little girl. Below is her caringbridge website if you'd like to read more about her story.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/reeseerlain

The Bachelor

2009-02-24T21:48:00.001-06:00

I don't know if anyone else watches The Bachelor anymore. Sometimes I think I might be the last person that still watches it, except one of my co-workers, Meegan and I chat it up every Tuesday after watching Monday night.

I recently found out about a spoiler and was not happy to learn about how it really ends. So if you are a fan of the show and don't mind missing out on the surprise check out this sight. If you would rather be mad, disappointed and upset next Monday go ahead and don't read it. And if you don't watch The Bachelor, why are you still reading this?

http://realitysteve.com/blog/?p=113

I don't know if I will continue watching upcoming seasons of the show if this turns out to be true. I'm not too happy about it. Anyways, my mom is coming on Thursday to help paint part of the condo, so I'm pretty excited about that.

#99 Completed...Happy Birthday Taylor!

2009-01-31T19:18:00.000-06:00

Taylor had his 26th birthday this week. I didn't get him anything. Now don't think I'm a bad wife or anything. He has some tool he really wants. And I wasn't about to go out and try and buy it. I'm sure I wouldn't get the right one. So instead I cooked him a birthday dinner of roast, little red potatoes and white chocolate cheesecake. It was my first attempt at it and I must say I did a half way ok job. After a minor issue of the cheesecake weeping and causing the entire condo to fill with smoke, and the fact that it was still slightly soupy in the middle it still was quite tasty. Someday I'll even try again. Hopefully next time with better results.

I'm looking forward to this week. The weather has been nicer. It was a sunny 40 degrees today . Tomorrow we're off to our friend, Brett's for a Super Bowl party and then our friend Erin and her fiance, Jared will be in town next weekend. All in all it's shaping up to be a nice February.

#59...completed.

2009-01-18T19:07:00.000-06:00

Taylor and I created a list of addresses in excel when we got married. After several computer problems we lost the electronic version. We did however, have the original print out from our wedding invitations. After three and a half years of marriage, you can imagine how many people have moved, moved again, gotten married, had kids, etc. There were so many scratch outs some addresses were almost illegible. It was definitely time to update it. So while Taylor was playing one of his football games against his brother-in-law, I decided to finally complete this one. Exciting I know. But hey it's one more thing off my list.

Other than that our week was quite uneventful. Did a little drywalling. Hopefully we'll be ready to paint sometime in February. So be on the lookout for updated picts of our place.

The Paper Bag Christmas...

2009-01-06T20:29:00.000-06:00

For Christmas my Grandma Corker gave me a book. I heard stories about this book the entire time I was home; stories of people sobbing while reading and how wonderful it was. If you know me I cry easily and often, so I wasn't so sure I wanted to read it. She instructed me to read the book, write my name in the cover and pass it on.

Well, today I finished the book and I must say it was touching. If you haven't ready it you should. It's the story of a little boy who goes to help out in a hospital during the Christmas season. He says that Christmas was his first true Christmas. It's not just a story to read at Christmas but one that will touch your heart no matter what time of year.

It's called, The Paper Bag Christmas. Go out and find it. Read it. And learn what a true Christmas is all about.

Update 101 things in 1001 Days

2009-01-04T19:36:00.000-06:00

It's the start of a new year and I haven't been very good at completely many of my 101 things. So here's an update.

#58-Purge my shoe collection
With the new closet system now seemed like a great time to finally complete this. I am proud to say that I have purged over 20 pairs of shoes and will be donating these to the Salvation Army. Sadly though I have over 15 pairs of tennis shoes left that I was unable to part with. You all know I love shoes and they are hard for me to let go of. Happily though, I have enough room now for Taylor's shoes to grace their presence on my shoe shelf.

#61-Give away old clothes to the SA/BE.
Related to the previous post, after putting up the new closet system Taylor and I spent our Saturday evening going through our clothes. We now have 6 bags of clothes to donate. As soon as we can rent a car we will be giving them up.

#64-Reorganize our filing cabinet.
Thanks to Taylor and the "spring" clean this is now complete and I didn't even have to mess with it.

Spring came early here in Chicago

2009-01-04T19:25:00.000-06:00

Spring has come early to the Cline household. Taylor & I just spent the weekend "spring cleaning" our condo. We were fortunate enough to recieve several nice monetary gifts along with all our other gifts for Christmas. We thought hard about what would be the best thing to purchase with our money. So with the money burning a hole in our pocket by the time we got back home we were ready to go shopping.

Friday morning we headed to IKEA. I know a lot of you have never been to IKEA, but it is quite an experience. You look around at all the home furnishings, write down your selections and go to the basement to find where they are stored and pick them up yourself. Then stand in line for an eternity before paying. Then it's time to load your car yourself. The worst part is, once you get home you still must assemble your purchases. Man I love that store.

So, after debating for several days we decided a new closet storage system would be the best purchase to make with our cash (pictures to come). It is a really nice set with 8 drawers and several haning rods including one just for pants. The best part is that it fits nicely into our new walk-in closet and is completely customizable, so if the next owners wants something different they can easily change it.

I have some catching up to do.

2009-01-04T19:10:00.001-06:00

Well, I'm failing at number 97...Update my blog twice a month. I have some catching up to do so I'm going to split these posts into a couple different ones. And I'm being lazy but am not including any pictures.

First, Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.

Taylor and I had the pleasure of traveling to KS and MO for the holidays. It started out on the 23rd with a drive through snow, rain and ice. We were hoping to make it to at least Des Moines, Iowa or at best to Omaha. That definately did not happen. After a 5 hour drive that should've taken us only 2 hours we decided to stop for the night in Davenport, Iowa. We got up the next morning with hopes for better weather but were unpleasantly surprised to find 2 inches of snow on the ground with more coming down. Luckily, by the time we made it to Des Moines the snow had stopped and the sun came out, and we made it home in time for Christmas Eve service.

We spent the first half of our time in Abilene with my family. It was a blast. I love hanging out with my family, esp. my nephews, who only seem to get cuter, and more fun every time I see them. I also was able to have lunch with some friends from high school. It's always fun to catch up.

The second half of our time was spent in KC with Taylor's family. First, we had brunch with his mom, and brother's and sisters on the 28th. Then Taylor had lunch with some of his friends from college. He was pretty pumped that he got to have some KC BBQ. Then we met our friends Dave and Debbie in Lawrence on the 31st for lunch. It was nice to see them since they currently live in Columbus, OH. We are looking forward to visiting them this fall and going to the Ohio State vs. USC game with them. Lastly, we spent New Years Eve with Taylor's family, eating food and playing games (Taylor taught his family the game of moose).

We traveled home on New Years day a little sad to leave but also excited to sleep in our own bed again and have a weekend in Chicago before heading back to work.

Stepping up...onto my soapbox

2008-12-01T20:34:00.000-06:00

I read the Red Eye everyday on my commute to work. For those of you who aren't from Chicago, it's the free newspaper here. I came across a news blurb today that I just couldn't believe. It was titled "Wal-Mart Death." It described how in a NJ Wal-Mart a worker was trampled to death by a "post-Thanksgiving stampede of shoppers." This sicked me. I just haven't been able to get it out of my mind.

I understand that in this rough economic time purchasing sale items is important, necessary in many cases. I have nothing against getting a good deal. You're talking to the girl who will buy the same shirt in every color if its on sale. But to have no compassion at a time that is suppose to be all about peace, joy, happiness and love is unacceptable. I mean, some people are just ridiculous and don't care about anyone but themselves.

The worst part to me is that, most likely, no one will be held accountable for this incident. The police are reviewing the surveillance tapes but to pinpoint one or more people is probably impossible. My heart goes out to that family.

I wish people would think twice about pushing and shoving for those holiday toys. After all, they are just things. Things are what's important. It's the thought that counts. OK, I just had to get that out. Stepping off the soapbox now...at least for today.

Thanksgiving Weekend...

2008-12-01T14:33:00.000-06:00

Well, I survived cooking my first Thanksgiving dinner. Taylor and I stayed in Chicago this year. It's just too hard to make it to see everyone in such a short amount of time. We always feel like we're jipping someone. Taylor has a co-worker from Peru so we invited him to join us. I'd say overall it was a success-no major problems. And it was quite tasty. The pictures just can't do it justice.

My menu was as follows: Rib Roast (Taylor's one job), twice baked potatoes, greenbean casserole (what's a holiday without it), Grandma Laurel's rolls (well, sort of, mine were more like biscuits. I just can't seem to get it down and yes I'm named after her), apple/sniker salad, and for dessert, apple pie.

So the rest of the weekend was pretty boring. We stayed in a lot. We were too scared to try and go shopping on Michigan Avenue, too many crazy tourists. I did some online shopping in the comfort and safety of my own home. I am over 1/2 done. YAH!

The one think we have not done is any decorating. I think we are going to be anti-Christmas this year and not decorate. With the construction zone, I don't want anything to get dirty or ruined. O well.

New York & Halloween

2008-11-06T13:10:00.000-06:00

Well it's been awhile since I've updated so let me catch you up to speed. I recently went to New York with my mom to celebrate her birthday. We had a fabulous time, did a lot and came back exhausted, just the way a vacation should be in her opinion.

We saw 5 Broadway shows including: Lion King, In the Heights, Spring Awakening, Mary Poppins and Phantom of the Opera. I would recommend 4 of the 5 to anyone. Spring Awakening was not exactly my or my mother's taste, so I'd say pass it up. In the Heights was by far my favorite. It's set in Washington Heights, NY and is kind of a Latino version of West Side Story. It's 1/2 rap 1/2 singing and was excellent. I hope it tours to Chicago because I really think Taylor would love it. All others were excellent as well, including my 3rd time seeing Phantom. It was just as good as the 1st.

We also did some sight seeing including the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. We also walked around Central Park, ate frozen hot chocolate at Serendipity (from the movies One Find Day and Serendipity), had the famous Magnolia Bakery cupcakes (not that great), had Papaya Dogs (not as good as my last trip to NYC), looked at the World Trade Center Site, and took a tour of the NBC Studios (very interesting, though short). We also got to see my cousin and her tiny apartment. It was nice though, and from the rooftop deck you could see into the construction site of the World Trade Center. All in all we had a great time. Next year I'm thinking Boston or San Francisco.

On to Halloween. Really nothing exciting to say about it other than we bought Seb a cool hat to wear. He looks thrilled, doesn't he?

101 Things in 1001 Days

2008-10-20T20:17:00.000-05:00

So for those of you who know me I'm slightly obsessed with lists. I recently went to a management seminar where we learned about how we work and how to be more organized. We took a quiz and were classified into a specific person type. I was classified as a relator. This type of person loves post-its, check; has candy in their office, check; wants to talk with everyone, check. And lastly, always makes lists, check. So needless to say when I came across this self-improvement project I couldn't resist.

October 20, 2008 - Starting Date
July 19, 2011 - Ending Date

I will post my progress throughout my tasks on here and hope to have them all checked off by day 1001. Wish me luck!

"Mission: Complete 101 preset tasks in a period of 1001 days.

Criteria: Tasks must be specific (i.e. no ambiguity in the wording) with a result that is either measurable or clearly defined. Tasks must also be realistic and stretching (i.e. represent some amount of work on my part).

Why 1001 Days? Many people have created lists in the past — frequently simple goals such as New Year’s resolutions. The key to beating procrastination is to set a deadline that is realistic. 1001 Days (about 2.75 years) is a better period of time than a year, because it allows you several seasons to complete the tasks, which is better for organizing and timing some tasks such as overseas trips or outdoor activities."

If you're interested in starting your own list, here is a website that may be helpful!

http://www.triplux.com/dayzero/

Apple pie and sore feet

2008-10-19T18:24:00.000-05:00

I could really use some apple pie. Today was the Bucktown Apple Pie Contest. Our friend Nicole was competing for the second year in a row so we thought we'd go out and support her and get some great apple pie. The contest was at a little park in Bucktown so it took us about an hour to get there. The contest started at 2 and when we arrived at 3 they said they were running out of pie and no one else was allowed in. This was very disapointing to us as we had gotten very excited about apple pie. So what else was there to do? We set out on a quest to find apple pie. We even called Chelsey to google dessert places in the area. She told Taylor of one on Webster, so off we went. Now if you've ever had Taylor lead you anywhere in the city you know he always says it's just a couple of blocks. My feet are screaming at him right now and beg to differ. I just googled our route and it was 3.8 miles. That doesn't even include our walk to the bus or our walk home from the train. So needless to say I got a work out. O and by the way, we were not able to find pie but I did get a big hunk of chocolate cake. Well worth the walk. If you are ever on Webster, check out Sweet Mandy B's (http://centerstage.net/restaurants/sweet-mandy-bs.html).

Feels so bad, but so good

2008-10-18T16:38:00.000-05:00

I finally did it. I decided that after a long break (a couple of years infact) that I was going to begin running again. I haven't really run on a consistent basis since high school. If you knew me then you knew I loved to workout, run, play sports, everything. But if you knew me after high school you know me as the girl who hates to sweat. I'm not exactly sure what changed but somewhere along the way I decided I no longer enjoyed working out.

Actually, I think I just became lazy and busy. Other things seem so much more important now than running. Since high school I've not afraid to tell you all that I've gained 10 pounds. Most people would say that's pretty good for six years, but I'm not satisfied.

So, this week I decided to do something about it. My friend at work, Brett, and I have been talking for awhile now about running, so we decided to stop talking and go for it. We brought our clothes to work, since we both know that once we get home we won't get back out and run. We left the office with a goal of jogging two miles. We work 1 mile from the Skokie Swift (the yellow line train) so we decided to run there and back. I was impressed. We ran there then a few blocks west and then headed back towards work. I told him about 1/2 mile in if I was by myself I would've stopped by then. When we arrived back at the office we googled how far we ran, and it was 2.6 miles. Not too bad for the first time in a long while.

Now, don't get me wrong it wasn't easy and I was so sore the next day, but it was worth it. Hopefully I can keep this up. I'm currently working on my 101 things to do in 1001 days (posting on that to come soon) and running is on the list. I just hope I can stick with it.

Kindness of others...

2008-08-20T20:56:00.000-05:00

I'm super excited. I just found out yesterday that I'm going to get to fly back to KS for a weekend in September. I wasn't planning on going back until Christmas, but thanks to the kindness of others I will get to see my family this fall.

Taylor's best friend, Drew called to let us know that his mother had a voucher for Southwest Airlines that expires on the 15th of Sept. You not only must book your flight by then but also fly by then or you loose it. Drew said we traveled more than anyone he knew and that neither he nor his family had any upcoming travel plans. So they offered it to us.

Taylor is busy working on the remodel and likes it better when I'm not home. He says I complain too much about the dust and noise...who me?? But it works out perfectly. I get to go home and not have to split time between his family and mine. I know I'm selfish. And he gets to work on the house. Not to mention seeing my family. My nephews grow so much between times I get to see them. I can't wait!! Bring on the KS heat.

Time for a little Change

2008-08-15T18:32:00.001-05:00

Same boring blog...just new colors. I'm not so good at updating this thing in a timely manner. I never seem to have anything to say. When I do, I just feel too tired to get the job done. O well. What can you do? So hopefully I'll have something interesting to say sometime soon. Check back later.

Zoom....

2008-07-17T16:08:00.000-05:00

So we are back in Chicago and in the midst of our busiest month this year. We had a great time with family and friends. Chelsey's wedding was beautiful. I'll post a full update later. I just wanted to throw this out there that I really like Hybrid cars. I know you're thinking...what a yuppie. But seriously, we rented a car from enterprise to drive home and got lucky with a Honda Prius. I wasn't so sure at first...we had to have a tutorial before she let us go. It drives like a forklift. Not that I've driven a forklift before either but Taylor swears they are the same. So off we went and I swear we got to KC on 11 gallons of gas. Let me state that again...11 GALLONS of gas! Crazy. The thing got almost 50 miles to the gallon. So yes I will be getting a hybrid...that is when I decide I actually need a car. Which for now is no. That's all for now. Pictures and more about our Vaca to come.

Also about tornadoes...

2008-06-12T18:53:00.000-05:00

CNN called me and may use the same tornado photos posted below. They said either online or on TV, they aren't sure yet. I'll keep you posted. Crazy huh?

Tornadoes...part two

2008-06-12T18:49:00.000-05:00

I've been thinking....is the weather getting crazier or is it just me. Growing up I don't really remember having so many natural disasters? Maybe there are more now or maybe it's just that as a child you don't remember it ever being so bad. Just wanted to throw that out there.

PS - The family is fine. They live about 10 miles from all the distruction that happened in Chapman. My mom was a teacher there for over 35 years. All her friends and collegues there are fine too. Just a lot of damage. Pray for them.

more about tornados

2008-06-11T19:04:00.000-05:00

So I am pretty excited. I posted one of my tornado pictures on the Chicago Tribune website and it got posted online. Also, I found out it was chosen as photo of the week and is going to be on pg. 2 of the Tribune on Saturday...so don't forget to get yourself a copy. j/k

One crazy Saturday

2008-06-08T12:09:00.000-05:00

I find it very funny that I lived in KS my entire life and never saw a tornado. Now that I live in IL I had the pleasure (If you want to call it that...I don't) of encountering my first, second and possibly third tornado. Here's the story...

On Friday I zipcarred down to Springfield, IL to go shopping with Chelsey (Taylor's sister). We did some wedding shopping for her big day (7/12/08). We had a lot of fun and about 2:00 we decided to head our separate directions. I headed out to Chicago and her to Columbia, MO. About 4:00 I start to notice the sky getting darker and bolt lightning in the distance. PS...I hate storms so I was a little freaked out about the lightning. For some reason I think that my car would be the one to get struck.

Then about 4:15 I start watching these weird looking clouds. Now I never used to worry about tornadoes when I lived in KS but when I went home for Memorial Day I noticed myself starring at clouds wondering if they could produce a tornado. I'm a worrier by nature so when I was starring at these clouds I told myself I was being paranoid.

Then about 4:30 I started to see this pointed cloud start to come down and sure enough it made one of those skinny snake tornadoes. It touched down for maybe a minute and then headed back up into the sky. I then called Taylor and freaked out to him about it. He was more worried about the fact that I was taking pictures of it while driving than the fact that I had just seen a tornado. He said, "Did you at least pull over to take the pictures?"...yeah right I was not about to stop for anything.

Then a few minutes later as I'm starting to pass those clouds and get into the actual storm I see a lot larger tornado coming down and a couple smaller ones forming. By this time I'm completely freaked out and shaking. I call Taylor, again freaking out and decide I just need to keep driving because I'm pretty much past the tornado part of the storm.

So to make a long story even longer I just kept driving until I got to Chicago I was not about to stop for anything. I've included the pictures that I took while driving...I didn't get any of the bigger one. Looking back maybe I could've stopped and taken some of it. But you all know me I'm way too much of a worrier to actually do that by myself....o well. Hopefully not another time. I hate storms!

My first real hosting event

2008-03-26T19:34:00.000-05:00

I'm offically turning into my mom (mom if you're reading this, I'm not being mean). I hosted my first Easter dinner at our house here in Chicago. I will now bore you with my planning this dinner, which I must add turned out fabulous. Since it was our first real Easter here, we decided to invite our friends Karl and Andrea to come celebrate with us.

I started prepping a week before, trying to figure out what to have, of course I just asked my mother...since she's the most amazing cook/baker/hostest. She gave me ideas and some good advice. START EARLY. I started the day before making the chocolate expresso cake with buttercream frosting (see photo).

Everything went to plan, except just like my mom I burnt my arm (twice) getting the cake out of the oven. I also made twice baked potatoes but didn't take her advice on starting the homemade "grandma Laurel" rolls early...big mistake. I was tired. So the next morning I wake up and start the rolls. I've never made these rolls, only assisted my grandmother and mom, so I wasn't too sure what I was doing. I followed directions carefully but when it came to the yeast I wasn't sure what it was suppose to look like. I should've checked the internet for guidance (mistake number two). Next there wasn't an exact flour amount to add. It said about 5 cups....so five cups it was (mistake number 3). So Taylor and I went off to church and come home to find the rolls not so raised. opps. So needless to say these three things in combo turned the family favorite rolls into biscuits. I told my grandmother we'll make a second recipe and call them "grandma laurel's biscuits" she laughed. I also must admit my phone bill might be a little higher this month with all the phone calls to my mom about things like, "what's scalded milk," "Is this really what it's suppose to look like" and about a million other things...Thanks mom.

So dinner went great and Karl and Taylor began their PS2 football games while Andrea and I began every 5 year old's favorite part of Easter...Egg dying. We weren't impressed with the kit we got so after 10 minutes we were bored and began looking for something else to do....spot Sebastian.

Sebastian got his first hair cut the day before. Taylor told the lady that he needed to look more like a male dog, aka "he needs a mohawk" She laughed but when we came back, tadaa a Mohawk!

So spoting his cute little white mohawk we decided we could spice it up. In comes blue food coloring, a spray bottle and Wahla! A blue mohawked Sebastian (see photo). Needless to say he's now a badass and get's a lot of looks from people and a lot of attention from the lady dogs in the neighborhood.

The end.

Where are you spring?

2008-03-10T20:20:00.000-05:00

Knock knock...Spring are you in there? Come out Please...PLEASE. So it's the middle of March now and still no spring. I'm really getting sick of seeing snow flurries pretty much everyday. Or walking with our new dog (see picts above...about time I know) over to the beach only to see an ice covered lake. I am really really wanting it get warm. I'm definitely a fan of spring but even more so a fan of summer. I cannot wait for lazy days at the beach and bike rides in the park. Plus, I'm seriously considering getting off my butt and riding the 7 miles to work every other day (there one day and home the next). Spring's going to tease me this week and get up to maybe 50 (fingers crossed) and then drop again and maybe snow...seriously, NO MORE SNOW! So as you can tell I am in need of some sun. If you are reading this and know where spring is hiding please tell him to come up to Chicago...I pay.

A new addition to the family

2008-02-18T20:22:00.001-06:00

woah woah woah...don't anyone get excited. We are not, I repeat NOT having a baby (at least not for a couple more years) but we did add a new addition to our family. His name is Sebastian. He is a year old Shih Tzu pup. We adopted him through a shih tzu rescue in the Chicago suburbs. He is housetrained (thank goodness), crate trained (supposedly) and all in all a shy quite boy...except when left alone. We had a little bark fest this morning and I was a wreck not knowing what to do. I can't imagine what I mess I'll be when we do have kids. I called my mom to ask if she thought he'd stop (like she'd know) and she proceeded to tell me that she didn't know but if it were a baby she could probably be more helpful. What that a little poke that she wants us to have baby because that isn't going to happen soon. Student loans have sucked all the baby having money and will continue to suck it out of our account for like 5 more years...not good times. Is it bad that when I begin to pay back next month that we'll be paying more in student loans than our mortgage. I just think that's ridiculous. O well.

2008-01-28T20:13:00.001-06:00

So I saw this survey on Lilli's blog so I figured what the heck...i have nothing else to do productive besides laundry, going to the grocery store, doing dishes, picking up the house...yea nothing important. So yea here ya go. Enjoy.

1. WHAT COLOR ARE YOUR KITCHEN PLATES? we have two different colors...purple and blue
2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? the automatic millionaire (it better make me rich)
3. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? no mouse pad...taylor has a strange mouse with a rolling ball so you don't physically move the mouse, just the ball...confusing.
4. FAVORITE BOARD GAME? cranium or monopoly
5. LEAST FAVORITE SMELLS? wilted endive...my mom makes it for my dad...awful!
6. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU WAKE UP IN THE MORNING? why is it so dark out if i have to get up?
7. FAVORITE COLOR? purple
8. LEAST FAVORITE COLOR? yellow or tan...they both look awful on me
9. HOW MANY RINGS UNTIL YOU ANSWER THE PHONE? i don't have a ring it's a song
10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? i have a few in mind...Evi Kay Cline is my favorite
11. CHOCOLATE OR VANILLA? Chocolate
12. DO YOU LIKE TO DRIVE FAST? no I pretty much hate to drive since I totaled my car
13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? nope, i used to sleep with one of my stuffed frogs...usually kermit (i had a slight obsession)
14. DO YOU LIKE THUNDERSTORMS? no i hate them about as much as i hate snow!
15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? a silver geo tracker...it was sweet!
16. WHAT IS YOUR SIGN? Virgo
17. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS OF BROCCOLI? yes...i don't like the trees
18. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY JOB WHAT WOULD IT BE? i want to design custom invitations, stationary, and greeting cards and have my own store to sell out of
19. IF YOU COULD HAVE ANY COLOR HAIR, WHAT WOULD IT BE? i like my red hair, anywhere besides abilene kansas it's considered rare
20. IS THE GLASS HALF FULL OR HALF EMPTY? half full
21. FAVORITE MOVIE? hmm....probably mall rats
22. DO YOU TYPE WITH YOUR FINGERS ON THE RIGHT KEYS? yup sure do
23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? clothes that need to be taken to the salvation army...it's hard to get it there when you don't have a car.
24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? college basketball or football and golf a close third
25. YOUR SINGLE BIGGEST INTENSE PAIN? any renovations we've tried to do on the condo
26. KETCHUP OR MUSTARD? ketchup...shhh don't tell anyone in chicago that, i might get ruffed up
27. HAMBURGER OR HOT DOG? hamburger...again don't tell the chicagoans
28. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SEASON? summer
29. THE BEST PLACE YOU HAVE EVER BEEN? hawaii
30. WHAT SCREEN SAVER IS ON YOUR COMPUTER RIGHT NOW? we just have the windows one, but our desktop is a computer rendering of chuck norris that he made...i know he's super cool
31. FAVORITE FAST FOOD? Sonic...o how i miss sonic :(
32. WHAT IS YOUR BIRTH NAME? Laurel Christine Becker
33. ANY NICKNAMES? LC

Cold Days

2008-01-20T20:53:00.000-06:00

This weekend has been the coldest since we moved here. You would think that I would learn that I don't live in a world where you can just run 20 ft. to your car and then 20 ft. from your car into where you're going anymore. I can't seem to get that through my head when it comes to what I wear. For instance, Thursday, I knew there was a chance of snow, but I wore flats...without socks. That wasn't the end of my bad attire choices this week. Friday, the high was maybe 15. Did I wear my warm snow boots to work? NO. I wore black dress boots thinking it's only a 10 min. walk to the bus. Well, when the bus breaks down and you have to wait a half hour more (40 minutes total) for another bus to show up, wearing dress boots that don't keep the cold out makes your toes feel like they may fall off. I now know from experience. And today, we go to church on the coldest day of the winter...the high was 4. And did I wear long johns under my clothes so my legs would be warm or wear 2 pairs of socks with those dress boots??? NO. Seriously. I must have idiot tattooed permantly on my forhead. Maybe one day I'll learn or get Taylor to move back to KS...probably will have to be the first one. That's all for now.