George Fam
Announced our new addition at the cloud gate sculpture in Millenium Park.
“so excited for our new lil bean coming March 2020!”
Spent the last week of April with our darling friends, Matt, Rachel & Jada. Took them to all our fave spots in Chicago. It was still freezing cold so that was a bit of a bummer.
Lucky for us we also had my mom and dad visiting for my dad’s work. We went to the zoo and MSI. They also babysat. A LOT.
So many beach days ahead of us. Within a week the temperature went from 40 degrees to 80.
I’m obsessed with Jack’s new vans.
Chris’ company recently acquired “Avocados From Mexico” as a new client. He helped with the pitch and that means they will be making their super bowl commercial. Sooo we had a date night downtown to celebrate. Chris is obsessed with Korean BBQ places where you cook your own food. It was fun because at the end you got to roast your own s’mores.
We went to 3 softball games in one night. Jack was a trooper. The championship game ended up going till 11 and had extra innings. However, we will never know who would have won because the park lights turned off and they couldn’t finish.
Quick Easter trip to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was so cute!
Recommended spots:
Mom Visits | Lots of Maggie Daley | The Purple Pig | Daily Walks | St. Paddys | Little Goat Diner Children's Musuem | Cousins in town | Sink Baths | Wicker Park
when chicago breaks 50 degrees in the winter months it is like God is saying being patient spring will come! Honestly, you can get so depressed here with no sun and negative temps. We are in the home stretch!!! This week we had some warm weather and it was amazing. We went to Maggie Daley & hung out with my cute friend Madi and her son, Mason. Side note, I tinted my own eyebrows following this gal's tutorial, Mikelle Kennedy. It was a little scary but I definitely am excited to be able to do this myself!
brunch at the Promontory, quick play in the snow and a fun stay at the intercontinental hotel to go swimming with jack.
I found this quote yesterday & it embodied exactly how I feel love should feel.
That unconditional love is so important in a marriage and in any relationship. I am going to strive to be more unconditional and freeing in the love I give to others. I just want to let it flow from me. I don't want to give them expectations, check lists and impossible demands for them to earn my love. I want Chris and Jack to be them, who they truly are, and see that like our Heavenly Parents do. See them and love them and therefore free them. Jack and I visited our valentine downtown and had a picnic in his office.
Ended up hanging at the zoo with an old friend, exploring the houses in our neighborhood and having a spontaneous fire pit at the lake.
This week was especially hard because Chris had a very busy work week. One night he didn't come home till 5:30 AM!!! Yikes. Anyway, we tried to make the best of it. Did lots of laundry, cleaning and just enjoyed the "warmer" weather.
just a little leisurely walk around the most beautiful campus. we had to get outside since it got about 30 degrees!
4 years ago I walked into marriage with what some would call a naïveté. I would agree with that for the most part. I would probably call it more of a blind faith. But, in a way, I'm glad I had that faith and optimism. If I were more cynical and logical I probably would have passed up on Chris. I was 19 and many people thought it was a mistake. What a relief that I listened to my heart and that my heavenly parents gave me confidence in my decision.
I've learned over the years that marriage genuinely is one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences. Like any important thing, it comes with an array of emotions and experiences. Similarly to your relationship with God, your spouse knows ALL your flaws, shortcomings and secrets. One may find it difficult to love someone when knowing all the other's imperfections. I would say that is not the difficult part. The difficult part is letting your spouse love you for EVERYTHING that you are when you know you're imperfect. Being vulnerable by telling them when you fall short, sharing the pain you feel and apologizing for the hurt you may have caused. In our brokenness and honesty that is where the love is in our relationship.
I love that Chris has helped me in becoming my best self. He sees me how God sees me, the good & the bad. The instagram self and the sweatpant-wearing, house a mess self. He has pushed me when I needed it and held me tight when needed it. These four years have been both amazing and mundane, comfortable and uncomfortable, joyful and sorrowful, easy and difficult and many more opposites.
I am so grateful for the partnership we have formed and have loved being married to Chris for the last four years. All I keep saying in my head is "4 more years! 4 more years!"
So in honor of our 4th anniversary, I thought I'd share a few photos from my favorite moments this last year as well as some photos of our wedding day.
Highlights from this Year:
Moved to Chicago | Jack turned one | Cruise to Carribean | LP & Oceanside | New Friendships | Hosting many visitors in Chi Town | survived 5 weeks a part | Fam trip to Portland | 30 Bday trip to Scottsdale | Reliving our first date at March Madness | Christmas with our Families | New traditions | So many sporting events | 2 months of the mustache
Feels like yesterday even though we look like 12 year olds.
New Year's Resolutions have been a tradition in my fam since I can remember. It honestly is one of my favorite things we do and I just love the season after Christmas. I love the chance to refocus, gather yourself & get ready to kick some butt in the new year.
What we do:
Trace our hand and create a visual representation of our goals. I have a hand goal sheet that was from when I was 5 with handwriting that was illegible. Jack has them now and it's so fun to see his hand already growing.
You then create a goal for each finger and palm area if you'd like. Each goal should focus on a different aspect of your life. Here are the ones we use generally.
Social | Personal | Academic | Financial | Spiritual | Physical | Spousal
At the end of the year we bring our goals to a family dinner and share how they went, what worked, what didn't etc. My mom and us decide if the goal was completed. If the goal was completed you get 5 bucks. It's awesome.
Here are mine for this year.
1. Spiritual - Read the Book Of Mormon with the #thebookofmormonproject
2. Social - Listen. Talk Less, ask more questions
3. Personal - Make (x) amount of money in freelance
4. Spousal - Go on at least one getaway/vacation with just Chris & I
5. Financial - Create a monthly budget and stick to it
BONUS - Create a focus word for the year. Something that you can center around and keep as a little reminder to help you improve.
My 2018 Focus Word: Outstretch
out·stretch
verb
past tense: outstretched; past participle: outstretched
extend or stretch out (something, especially a hand or arm).
"I walked with my arms outstretched"
go beyond the limit of.
"their good intentions far outstretched their capacity to offer help"
I want to offer more help, go further in relationships & dive deeper into the word of the Lord. I want to go past my limit and do things that make me uncomfortable. Because I know that's where I grow.
Our Christmas break was absolutely fantastic!! Utah and Idaho with our fams was much needed.
Annual Christmas dinner with the #Trio
Christmas Eve Sunday. Is there anything better than just singing hymns for church the entire time? The answer is: no, there is not.
Earrings by Michelle Made It!
Seeing the lights and the Grand America window displays.
Shout out to Zeke & Asia for bringing this game. Organ Attack is LEGIT.
Skiing at Grand Targee
We had Christmas early with Jack so we didn't have to haul his gifts back and forth between Chicago and Salt Lake since we will be in Utah over actual Christmas. We had a blast! Having Christmas with a kid is so stinking fun.
Christmas Eve consisted of jammies, the Grinch, putting together our neighbor gifts, Christmas stories, reading Luke 2 and a dance party to our Christmas Cheer playlist.
Christmas morning consisted of lots of claps, laughs, tears, blocks, ribbon and a yummy breakfast.
The Black and White wrapping paper you see I created! I wanted some Christ centered wrapping paper this year. So I made my own with my handwriting! It says “Come adore on bended knee, Christ the Lord the newborn King!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!
Date night turned into a mini photoshoot at the park.
The Wrigley Building has such gorgeous Christmas decorations. Lucky for us it was 50 outside that day!
You know those times where you plan to do something and it does not work out. We had one of those moments on Saturday. Tried to go to this parade and it was freezing and couldn't see a thing. We ended up just playing in the subway station while waiting for our train. Still a fun night. Gotta go with the flow as a parent.
Jack's first photos!!
yesterday I felt pretty down. I felt like my life wasn't my life. I started to be angry, questioning why I got married so young and why I already had a child, wondering if laundry and cleaning was my only point of existence. It's hard playing the "what if" game. I have no regrets, but sacrifice can be hard, and that's ok. I'm thankful for the life my Heavenly Parents have blessed me with. When I look for them in my life that's when I find myself. Shout out to all you moms and women who feel like no one notices them. I SEE YOU.
Jack and I took the metra train to visit dad at work. Chris works at an ad firm downtown, Energy BBDO and we love grabbing some lunch with him. The Nutella Cafe is literally right next door to his office and because Chris loves Nutella he has been dying to go. To be honest, the crepe was fine but I would never go again. Do yourself a favor and go to Eataly or anywhere else. At least they had a cool sign. Chris had a few more minutes before he had to get back so we walked along the river and chased Jack. I love my crew.
We had a warm day here in Chicago. Warm being, 48 degrees. My friend Emily suggested a Zoo Day. Lincoln Park Zoo is completely FREE and it was almost empty. The monkeys were our favorite. The bridge to walk to the Farm area from the street had an amazing view of the Chicago skyline!
In 2016 we planned a Carnival cruise with our good friends, Kelly & Brock, over my spring break. We wanted to have sort of a fun baby moon, as I was pregnant with Jack at the time. Literally one week after booking the cruise, the warnings about pregnancy and zika were becoming more and more prevalent. Soooo we decided to cancel and go another time, after Jack was born. We ended up booking this cruise almost a year in advance and it felt like we were waiting forever. We had planned to go to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas etc. But, hurricanes had other plans. We were rerouted to the western Caribbean stops and still had an absolutely amazing time. Here are some photos and iphone pics of the trip!
Before getting on the ship we ran some errands and got some yummy crepes at Cafe Club
First stop: Cayman Islands
Because of the wind we didn't tender boat from the normal location. We tendered from the other side of the island. Lucky for us, their was an amazing private beach to hang at while we waited to go on our excursion. We went to Sting Ray City and it was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Huge sting rays just swim right up to you and you can feed them. I wish I had photos but it was fun to be in the moment too. DO NOT BUY THIS EXCURSION ON THE CRUISE SHIP. You will pay twice as much.
Second stop: Roatan
The ship ports at Mahogany Bay which is owned by Carnival. It's basically like being on the cruise ship, lots of alcohol, over priced souvenirs and sitting around. We decided to get out of the port and do our own thing. Instead of paying $30/person for a taxi we opted for the rental car. It was $40 for the day in cash + gas and they kept an I.D. as collateral. We drove to Half Moon Bay and went snorkeling. It has an amazing dive community I even met someone from SLC, UT. We needed a snack and I needed a smoothie. We grabbed some lounge chairs at Gingers and it was so so good. They had delicious specials and amazing seafood that was caught that morning. You'll have great conversation with one of the cooks, Sexy Marco as well as the owners, Ginger and Mr. Ginger. They are from Houston, Texas and we loved talking to them about the Astros and the World Series.
We really wanted to eat local food. This place had amazing street tacos & traditional Honduran dinner plates.
Third Stop: Belize City
We did the Cave Tubing Excursion. Again, DO NOT BUY THIS EXCURSION ON THE SHIP. Some life-time cruisers told us to book through "Butts Up" it was only $35/person. On the ship it was around $90.
Butts Up carries your tubes up for you and provides an AMAZING lunch of homemade Tamales. Definitely something worth doing once. You can rent water shoes there for $3.
Halloween on the ship. A captain and hippy. No couples costume just needed something easy to pack!
Fourth Stop: Cozumel
Instead of doing an excursion we opted for exploring the city on our own. Across the street from the port are tons of rental car options. My husband had been dying to ride scooters the whole trip and again it was $40 for the day + gas.
We drove on the scooter/bike road for about 30 minutes to a bunch of beach spots. The scooter guy told us his favorite beach spot is Palancar Beach It did not disappoint. Beautiful water and good food. The chairs are $5 for the day. We had fun just playing cards, eating ceviche, throwing the football and swimming.
formal night. Literally took this same picture everynight.
Last night on the ship. We were feeling sad, yet a little relieved we didn't have to eat cruise food one more day. Kelly & Brock were literally the best travel companions we could have asked for. Can't wait for our next annual couples trip.
Miami:
We ate at a this yummy little spot for brunch, Boho. It's owned by a Greek family and they serve amazing fresh pressed juices. Looking back I wish I got the Eggs Benedict that Kelly got but all the dishes were amazing. Then we went to a matinee movie, Thor: Ragnorok, and rummaged through an overpriced candy store. Naturally, that night Chris and I went to another movie, American Made, because what better thing to celebrate being away from your kid than going to a movie?!
So after all that here are some basic tips and advice from my first cruise experience.
