Day Trip to the City

A few weeks ago we took a day trip to the city.  It was beautifully sunny, but more cold than we anticipated.  We walked through most of the Field Museum (Natural History stuff) and then walked to Millennium Park to eat at Park Grill.  We also stopped in the lobby of the Art Institute, but their free nights had changed, so we didn't stay.  It felt good to be adventurous and we got about a weeks worth of walking done all in one day!

 View from our parking spot.

 Sue the "T-Rex" in the Museum lobby

The Art Institute

All in all, a good day.  The best part was having a few carefree hours to spend with my husband.  Neither of us wondering about the future, or worrying about work we could/should have been doing.  It was a good reminder of why I like him so much :)

The Many Names of Virginia Peanut

a.k.a :
Peanut
Peanut Butter
Nutter Butter
Butter Bean
Bean
The Nut
Fur Child
Sweet Pea
Little One
Tiny Dancer (video explanation below, though it doesn't really do her justice)

Ode to Sweetness

I always say that I don't have a sweet tooth, but sweet TEETH :) 



Some of my absolute faves (in no particular order):
~ Candy Corn (hands down my favorite part about October - and the inspiration for this post)
~ Sour Patch Kids
~ Cinnamon Crunch Bagel from Panera (through the bread slicer, with cream cheese)
~ Chocolate Chip Oreo Brownie Bars (new find!)

And of course...

~ Chocolate Peanut Butter Cake



Do not leave me home alone if any of these items are in the house.  They WILL disappear :)

Book Review

"O Me of Little Faith" by Jason Boyett

2 thumbs up
An easy, non-overwhelming read.  He is a clever writer with witty comments and funny footnotes.  Besides, you have to have a good sense of humor to put that picture on the cover :)

This book has made me think hard about my faith and how I handle my doubts and uncertainties.  I am definitely going to keep it on the shelf and refer back to it in the future.  I also plan to recommend it to a few friends. 

Buy it online!

PS - kudos to me for actually finishing a book.  Yes, I said it was an easy read.  That is in comparison to books my husband reads.  I also have a tendency to start books and not finish them.  So, regardless of how high the hurdle, I give myself points for jumping it at all.  :)

In the Dog House #1

So anyone who reads our blog, probably already knows that we live at a dog shelter. But in case you didn't know... now you do!

Most people are very curious how this works... so I figured I'd share some fun details.

We have over 100 dogs on any given day, and sometimes up to 150. We usually get new van loads of dogs 2-3 times a week. They usually come from local animal control organizations and high kill shelters. Most of the dogs are strays, abandoned, or owner surrenders. We also have cats here, several hundred, in fact.

There is an apartment above the shelter, and also a house on the shelter grounds. We moved into the apartment in October of 2010, and then over to the house in June of 2011. The best part is, we get to live rent free in exchange for helping with chores!

That's our life now. Not what we had imagined or anticipated, and probably not what we would have chosen or planned had we been in charge. But I'm sure glad we're not calling the shots. I love our little life. It's quirky, it sometimes smells like dog poop. We have more space than we know what to do with. Oh, and our favorite part, is that we found our little Virginia Peanut! She is our baby, and she loves us back :)




"Thank You!" - Peanut

Every other month

I seem to be on an "every other month" schedule with blogging. Oh well, it is what it is. I currently have an unintended break from temp assignments, so have been catching up on that infamous "To Do" list that we all keep in the back of the junk drawer. (Write a blog post, "check!")

In other news, our free cable disappeared, so we went completely without TV for about a week. Just a movie or two. It was an interesting experiment, and definitely reminded us of how much we depend on it for a distraction, or as the default activity. I called the cable company to see about having them hook up basic cable (you know, like the free channels you should get anyway) and it cost $17 a month, plus tax, plus a $32 installation fee. Please note that our apartment is already wired (as is the entire campus...) and the "installation" consists only of coming down to the campus, opening up some box and flipping the switch to "on". Also note that the installation fee for a residence that previously had NO hookup at all was only $46. It is interesting to me the correlation of necessary work and money we pay... I guess I should say lack of correlation.

Moving on. We decided to try out the digital antenna route, in the hopes of paying more, up-front for something that will last a few years. A $40 antenna, gets us the basics, about 8 channels or so, including the public access channels that are only good for soothing a fussy baby into a lull with mindless elevator music. Unfortunately, the picture gets all jumbled and seems to be temperamental. So, we will either stick with this and work on our patience finding the perfect spot for the antenna, or return it and upgrade to a more expensive one. The great part is that as long as we spend less than $200 and use it for at least a year, we are saving money! It would be good for us to invest our free time in other ways/things anyway. PS - Thanks to Mom and Dad for teaching me about money, more specifically how to be smart about investing in something of good quality that will last you in the long run.

We just need to have access to the TV for our favorites, which include but are not limited to:
Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution (Fridays) Our favorite! Check it out on Hulu.com
Flash Forward (Thursdays)
The Mentalist (Thursdays)
The Good Wife (Tuesdays)
Parenthood (my new interest, though the official verdict is still out, Tuesdays)

See you in another two months! hah, hopefully sooner ;)