sickness...

I seem to find myself getting sick at situations when it's just not fun to be sick. For example, when I have a test at school that I really can't miss. Or when I have to drive in to work to open up the shop because no one else is coming in till 10:30 and we'll lose two hours of business. Or when it's Christmas Day (that's happened to me four times actually in my life - no joke). Oh, and this is my personal favourite of really annoying and frustrating times to be sick - three days before my wedding, right when my family and my fiance's family and all our friends were flying halfway across the world to be with us. That was a great moment to be sick (sense strong tone of sarcasm). And now again I am sick, when I am here to be with family and to hang out with my niece and nephew. And also two days before I'm to travel back to Colorado, and you just really don't want to be sick when you're travelling.

But I do sense a lessening in my sickness today. It might be because of all the Master Tonic (intense anti-sickness potion made of natural products, such as onions, peppers, garlic, etc.) I chugged down yesterday. So hopefully by tomorrow, I will be less sick and can enjoy my plane journey with no achiness and sore throat (or I'll just pump myself full of ibuprofen!).

my time in Valpo and our reception...

So, I have not blogged for a while, and thought I would take advantage of this extremely hot Madison weather to sit inside and spend time staring at a computer screen doing one of my favourite things: blogging...

I had a lovely time in Valpo with my brother and his family. They are all so fun and I love them all so much. I had a great time bonding even more with my gorgeous niece Emma:



We played Rummikub, chatted loads, planted flowers, watched the finale of Lost (grrrr), watched the finale of Bachelor (kinda fun actually), and ate Coldstone Creamery ice-cream (yummy). I got covered in baby drool (Adi), baby snot (Emma) and baby love (both of them).

Look at those eyes (Adi):



I also got the best haircut ever - only really because she actually did what I wanted her to do! It was amazing. I've had so many bad experiences in the last 5 years, that I get so panicked about getting my haircut. It was nice to walk out of there with a big smile on my face! Now, all I have to do if I want a great haircut is fly back to Valpo!

Then we travelled down to Illinois for our third and (hopefully) final wedding reception. It was a long day, but it was so much fun. I super enjoyed hanging out with my fam and John's fam altogether. Hawaii had been a bit too stressful to enjoy some good downtime with the fam! Anyway, here are some pix of the day (I need more, so if anyone has any, please email them to me!):

Our good friends David & Callie (soon to be married)


The lovely Valpo Bonjours:


Emma just wearing those heels!

a few of my favourite things...

I bought these shoes recently with a friend at Famous Footwear using their buy one, get a second pair half off. We saved ourselves a few bucks each! It was fun. I had been looking for flats like these for almost a year and not found any that I liked or really wanted. Now, these are my favourite shoes:



John and I got this wonderful gift as a wedding present: an electric steamer. The other night, we made a nice meal of salmon fillets and asparagus with my dad and were able to cook it all in the steamer. The salmon melted in your mouth and was so juicy and delicious and the asparagus were divine. This is definitely my favourite cooking appliance:



On another note, my dear father left yesterday. It was sad to see him go, we will definitely miss him tons. I was down-town in Denver all day yesterday hanging out with my dad, then taking him to the airport, then hanging out at John's office until he was done with work. John had a bit of a stressful day, so we conked out as soon as we got home and played Tony Hawk's Underground for a while. We have almost completed it!

a holiday at home...

John and I feel like we have been having a holiday at home these last few days as my dad has been here, and we have been doing all these fun things we've been wanting to do since we got here, but haven't, either because of money or not having the resources to do it! Here are some pix of our adventures the last few days!


Hanging out in Old-Town Fort Collins




Getting yummy Gelato!!



Eating yummy Noodles & Co. in the sun!





Going on a bike ride on the bike trails they have here:





Heading up to Rocky Mountain Nat'l Park for a barbecue with our dear Baugh family and one of their friends:





Wearing flip-flops in the snow!



Letting the kids get wet!



John continuing to try out fly-fishing - and what a view, eh!?



A frozen lake!



A huge field of elk behind us! Yeah for Colorado!



More fun news: We got two free bikes from freecycle last week, one men's bike and one women's bike. And they are in great condition (pix coming up later...). We were so excited about this - especially me as I will no longer have a car while John's at work!

Also: John had his first day of work yesterday! And he seemed to really enjoy it, found it interesting, connected with his co-workers, came back full of energy. This really is from the Lord! Thanks for all your prayers!