That was Then - 2000

My apologies if people thought my last post was a little worrisome. I was trying to be funny but I think I sounded a little tired/done with pregnancy. I am pretty tired, but not done with the pregnancy. Yet. (This could change at any moment :))

I did want to document the last decade with a picture to represent each year.

Here is the year 2000:

My sister Misha and I are in old town Jerusalem. We were part of the BYU study abroad program in the Summer 2 Group of 2000. We were actually one of the last groups that were able to attend a normal semester before it was closed down for a few years. We considered ourselves very lucky to be a part of the group. In all honestly it was Misha who made this experience happen. She was the one who reminded me to fill out paperwork, deadlines, forwarded me information on student loans.

Because of her efforts the trip was simply - INCREDIBLE. It was incredible to travel through the Holy Land but there were also great teachers, classmates that became lifelong friends, and about 14 rolls of film to document how much we managed to laugh on this trip. It was simply FUN. And made more fun by having an automatic friend to share it with.

Strange fact - Darren was a part of the Summer 1 Group. His group left a few days before our party arrived. Maybe things would have been different if we had crossed paths a few years earlier? Hmmm. I wonder if I would have been mature enough to realize that this is the guy I was going to marry? Probably not. Although I was in college, I still had a lot to learn.

Memorial Day 2009

We had a lovely weekend. Most of it was spent at the AVP tournament watching Casey and Ty rock the AVP - they placed 5th on Sunday morning and we couldn't be more proud of them. 

Sunday night - we (me, Sara, Corey, Baker, Darren, Jenny, Lexi, Casey) had a pasta party to prepare for our half marathon. A pasta party and sugar cookies - thank you Jenny!

Memorial Day morning we got up at 5:30am (on a holiday I might add), and prepared for our race. It was. So. Much. Fun. I saw my cousin Tiffany Brown at the race - we have cousin's everywhere! I found out from her Facebook status that she was running a half marathon in CA over the weekend, and it was the same race - what are the odds? Probably high - there are a lot of us :) It was so fun to see her and all of her cute friends. Thanks Facebook for the connection!

I didn't have a great time, so that won't be posted, but I will post Darren's. He did the half marathon in 1:35. He is so awesome. He was aiming for his previous time of 1:28, but maybe next time? 

After the race, we went to a ward picnic and then to Terminator Salvation - which I really liked.  But I like Christian Bale and the Terminator movies - so it was a great combination.  By about 7pm, the early morning was starting to catch up with me, so I was out by 9pm. Sad but true. 

Today I am a little sore (not bad) but glad we did the race.

Here is a picture of me and my cousin Tiffany - I stole it from Facebook. Luckily she is more organized than me and was taking pictures - I had no photographic proof I was even in the race! Thanks for the picture Tiffany!

To our Half Marathoners - Darren Harris, Corey Cooper, Baker Morphy, Adam Koch, Tiffany Brown and Co., Me, and Sara Spilsbury - thanks everyone for such a fun race - it was a great Memorial Day!

C-town

Do you know what I like about Chicago? There are too many things to list. It is a big city but not too big. I feel that I could comfortably walk to anything in town. (Did not feel that way in New York). It is clean. And is a beautiful. Darren and I did a whirlwind trip. Complete with art museums, food, friends, Cubs game and shopping.

We were staying two blocks from Michigan Avenue - the Magnificent Mile. Take it from this shopper, it really is magnificent. You name it, they had a store for it. Our first stop in Chicago was at Portillo's. For a Hot Beef Italian Sandwich and hot dog. Which was so filling, we couldn't even eat dinner.
Next we just walked around and shopped. And saw the Silver Bean in Millenium Park. We next had dinner with the Lippencotts. And by had dinner, we watched them eat because we were still full from our afternoon snack. :) Even though we didn't eat, we did have a great time visiting them and their new baby.

Darren in front of the giant silver bean. And our bean reflection.

About 11pm and our appetites returned. Luckily for us, Grand Lux Cafe was around the corner and still open! So like responsible adults who watch what we eat, we helped ourselves to beignets and molten chocolate cake. DELICIOUS!!!

Saturday morning was just as fun. We visited the Art Institute of Chicago, I saw the building from Adventures in Babysitting, and we went to a Cubs Game! I have been to a lot of sporting events, but this was a BLAST! These fans take it seriously, despite how freezing it was. :)

We did the American Gothic pose:

And had a Ferris Bueller's moment - does anyone remember this moment from the movie?:
And I took a picture of the building in Adventures in Babysitting (sad but could not resist):
Our Wrigley Field moment - in the shade was the only moment we were cold in Chicago:
Afterwards, we of course had some more food when we had a stuffed pizza at Giordanos and more beignets at the Grand Lux Cafe. Then we spent more glorious time shopping...Ahhhh - what a great trip. Shopping, friends and food. How can anyone not like Chicago?
This is a picture of another late night trip to the Grand Lux Cafe - ahhhh. I can't wait to go back!