Irish Football + The Windy City

Several months ago Andrew and I decided that we wanted to enjoy a Thanksgiving Vacation this year.  We began discussing destinations.

 If you have ever been privy to our vacation planning then you know we always discuss several destinations before settling on one.   There are a few ideas that seem to get discussed every time yet we still haven't settled on them.

Hawaii....I will always discuss that one until he takes me there.

A Cruise.

Leaving the country.


This year we Andrew settled on the first part of our destination pretty quickly.  He has been a Notre Dame fan for quite some time and decided it was time to knock something off his bucket list so he purchased tickets for us to see the Irish take on Navy.


Before we could get out of town, the LBs had to be taken care of.  I packed their food for a week, kissed them goodbye, and dropped them off at the kennel.

Friday Night



We packed our bags and then packed our bags again in a bigger suitcase.

Saturday morning we hopped on our first plane of the trip

We landed in Chicago, found our bags, grabbed the rental car, and headed to South Bend.

Notre Dame campus is beautiful!

As you can tell it was a little cold and rainy.
There are so many traditions that happen before the football game.  We would both like to go back to a game sometime and give ourselves more time to take part in all the traditions.

We were able to watch the trumpets play in the dome.  I LOVED this!  I had the biggest dumbest grin on my face the whole time.

The game was cold and wet but the Irish won and my husband loved  every minute of it so I'll call it a success.

After the game we did a little shopping in the bookstore.  It was by far the biggest campus bookstore I've ever seen.  There was enough apparel to make you feel like you were shopping in a Notre Dame Mall.


We made it back into Chicago just in time to grab a bite to eat and then head over to the John Hancock building to take in some gorgeous views of the city.

Our hotel was right next to the John Hancock building.

 Our room was TINY.  You opened the door and walked right into the bed.  But it was perfect for our one night stay.

Sunday morning as I was getting ready Andrew went downstairs to the lobby and bought us some donuts from Glazed and Infused.

Sunday was our only day in Chicago so we had a few things we wanted to cram into our day.  We started by heading toward the Shed Aquarium.  There was a NFL football game going on so we had the Uber drop us off a few blocks away.  We ended up walking those few blocks with a sweet family from Georgia.  They were headed to the Field Museum which was right next to the aquarium.

We hadn't been walking beside them very long when their little boy, probably 3 or 4, reach his little hand out to hold my hand.  His mom held one hand and I held the other as he walked.  He was so proud of his new blue gloves. :)  His mom and I visited while our husbands walked ahead of us visiting.  We walked like this until it came time to take separate paths and then we said goodbye to our new friends.

The Shed Aquarium was AWESOME!

We enjoyed the view of the city while eating up some food truck tacos before heading over to the Field Museum.

It was huge.  And that's really all I have to say about it.  It just wasn't our thing.  We did watch a 3D video about the Egyptians.  Andrew like it.  I liked what I saw of it but I may have fallen asleep.  Oops!

The one touristy thing I wanted to do while in Chicago was to take a picture in front of The Bean.

Touristy pictures in front of The Bean...Check

The Willis Tower was next on the list.

(Just noticed the lighting in this picture makes me look like I have lipstick all over my face. HA!)


The sun was setting and it was time to head to the airport.  Our second location was calling our  names.

We grabbed dinner at the airport and ended up sitting by this older gentleman.  Andrew and I were talking about cycling and he just chimed right in.  Turns out he was a competitive cyclist.  He's now retired and works loading luggage onto planes.  I'm not sure how long we sat there and visited with him.  We talked until it was time for all of us to head to our planes.

The plane...

I'm pretty sure Andrew would give the plane its own blog post, but since he isn't the one blogging...

The Boeing 787-8


Y'all I don't think I've ever seen my husband so excited!!

 Buckled in like I'm in a car...

 All the little pods

Recline those seats and relax

I don't ever want to fly any other way!

What I'm Loving Wednesday

1. My Christmas tree and fireplace.  There's nothing better than sitting in our living room with no lights other than the ones of the tree.  Okay...well I can think of a way to make it a little better.  Give me a Hallmark Christmas movie and a fire in the fireplace. :)

2. Big Boo Podcast.   Whenever I'm in the mood for some lighthearted fun and laughter I listen to Big Boo.  It makes me laugh until I cry every time.

3. Andrew and I have a seen a few plays and concerts lately and have more to come.  They have all been soooo good!!

4. This Album....on REPEAT....at least when I'm not listening to Christmas music and Big Boo Podcast.

5. All the hype about our new football coach.  WPS!

Never Have I Ever Food Edition

Those who know me even a little bit know that I'm a tad bit picky about food.  Okay I'm a whole lot picky about food.  Andrew and I have had many conversations over a dinner table that sound something like...

Andrew: Try this.

Me: No.  I don't like that.

Andrew: Have you ever even had it?

More times than not my response is No I haven't tried it but I know I don't like it.  

Seems like a fair response to me.  I've never been shot either and I don't need to be to know it would hurt.

And that's definitely an equal comparison.

Being shot and eating food.

Same.

Anyway...snack time with my students got me to thinking about foods I've never eaten that every other human on the planet has had at one point or another.

This list is long but since I know you probably have better things to do than read about food I've never eaten but will claim I don't like, I narrowed it down to ten for you.

Never Have I Ever Eaten....

1. Poptarts

2. Vegetable Soup

3. Twinkies

4. Dressing

5. Meatloaf

6. S'mores (Yet I like the individual ingredients)

7.  Oatmeal

8. Waffles 

9. Onion Rings

10. Ketchup

What's something you've never eaten?

Matchbox Twenty and IKEA

Back to school season is upon us.  

I've been very busy the past couple of weeks getting my room ready and attending workshops.  I will be coteaching this year which means I will have another teacher in my classroom with me.  I'll admit I was a little anxious about that at first, but I LOVE my coteacher.  She has lots of experience and is so sweet.  Plus we seem to have a lot in common.  I have a feeling I'm going to learn a lot from her.  

Open House

Andrew and I were able to sneak away yesterday afternoon for a night in Southhaven, Mississippi for a concert.

But not before grabbing dinner at one of our favorite places.

We saw Matchbox Twenty and let me just say it was best concert we've been to in a long time.  GREAT show.


This morning we drove over to Memphis so that I could go to IKEA.  I've been wanting to go ever since they opened the Memphis store.

I found the things I wanted for my classroom along with a few other fun things.

I could have stayed in there all day but we had to get home to pick up Liberty & Lincoln from the kennel.  According to their report card they had a good time.

We all the perfect little get away before school starts.  

Throwback Thursday: We're Engaged!

Summer 2003

Andrew was living with his parents and I was living two hours away with my parents.  We knew our relationship was headed for marriage.  We were in it for the long-haul.  I had told Andrew I didn't want to know when the proposal was coming and I didn't want to know what the ring looked like until he was ready to give it to me.  

Living two hours apart meant we didn't see each other throughout the week.  We alternated on the weekends who would be the one to drive the two hours to see the other.  

One weekend he informed me that he was hanging out with his guy friends.  They supposedly had big plans to play basketball and do manly things. So that weekend I was hanging out with my family and was in the truck with my dad on our way to pick up pizza when my phone rang.  It was Andrew.  We had a very quick conversation in which he asked me to remind him of my ring size.  That was an odd question for someone hanging out doing manly things to ask.  

August 29, 2003

The day before my birthday.  I had to work that day.  I was working at Sonic and was scheduled to work 6:30 to 1:30.  Andrew was driving up that evening and we were going out to dinner.  I just knew I was getting engaged that evening.  I was so incredibly excited.  

1:30 could not come fast enough.  I was ready to go home, shower, and get ready for the best date of my life.  

And then our computer system at work shut down.  We were sending people outside to take orders by hand.

Right in the middle of our lunch rush.

I remember it being so crazy busy.  

1:30 came and went and I was still at work.  

I don't remember what time I was finally able to leave work but it was much later than 1:30.  

I'm sure I sped home that day.

I got showered and dressed in my white shirt with green flowers and my denim skirt.  

Oh the fashion!

Andrew took me to the nicest restaurant in our little town that evening.

Colton's.

We ate our dinner all the while I was a nervous wreck waiting on him to propose.

He never did.

August 30, 2003

My birthday.

Andrew slept on our couch the previous night.

I woke up and took my shower and got ready for the day.

Then he got up to shower and I knew...today was the day.

I was very nervous.  

Once we were both ready for the day we were sitting in my room and he hands me a birthday card.

I opened and read the card.

Then he says to me...

"I'm only going to ask this one time so you better not say no."

He hands me a box and says, "Will you marry me?"  

I'm pretty sure I opened the box myself and I put the ring on myself.  

 I already had wedding catalogs.

There was no one knee or grand gesture.

And even though I give him a hard time about it now, it didn't matter.

I knew he loved me.

And I loved him.

Since it was lunch time we headed off to town for a nice lunch at...

McDonalds where my newly engaged 20 year old self ordered a happy meal.

And in case you are wondering how my ring fits Andrew...

The day may not have been his most romantic gesture but it was still one of the best days of my life.  

It was the beginning of a life long commitment to my best friend.

Walmart Grocery Pickup

I'm never going in Wal-Mart again!

Yes I'm aware of the boldness of that statement.

I used Grocery Pickup today for the first time and it changed my life.

Seriously...it's the best thing ever.

I went online to walmart.com and added my items to my cart.  You can also do this with the Walmart Grocery app on your phone.  I've already started my second order with the app.

After you add all of your items to you cart you can click Check Out.  You will then be prompted to select a location and a time slot for pick up.

Notice the blue section in the picture below.  It automatically checks to allow substitutes.  This means if they are out of one of your items they will substitute a similar item.  I've not had anything substituted but I've read that if the do this they charge you the cheaper price of the two.

I placed my order early this morning and was able to pick it up this afternoon.  I had scheduled my order for 4:00 - 5:00.  Right before 4:00 when my order was ready I received an email letting me know that it was ready and I could check in.

I was in a meeting all day today so when I finished with my meeting I logged into the app and checked in.  Checking in is your way of telling them that you are on your way.  It tracks your route so that they know when you arrive at the store.  

I admit that's a little creepy.

However I didn't mind when at the exact moment I pulled into the parking spot two employees walked out the door with my groceries in hand.

Corey came to my window and greeted me with a goody bag.

He was super friendly and went over a few details with me while Brittany loaded the groceries into my trunk.  He came around and asked if I wanted my bread in the front so it didn't get smashed.

They were so friendly and it was the best experience.  They did all the work for me.  

I would have loved to tip them, but they cannot accept tips.

Inside my good bag was...

 A recipe book

And...

I have a link for you to sign up.  You will receive $10 off your first order.  Yay!!  Just click here to sign up and receive $10 off.