Chicago

Ryan's brother, Craig, is here to visit us for a little over a week and since he's the only one in the family that has never been to Chicago we decided to spend a few days there and take him around the city. Ryan and I got off work a little early on Thursday and we drove up that night. The next morning we had a tour scheduled with MARS to go see around their chocolate plant. This is not open to the public, but we obviously got in since Ryan works for the company. At this plant they make Snickers, Milky Ways, 3 Musketeers, Dove chocolate, and Munch Bars. It was so awesome and felt like we were in the Willy Wonka movie! At the beginning, they gave us a "taste test" of each kind of chocolate they use for each candy- and they are all different (and Dove was of course the best chocolate). The best part was that we got to grab chocolate straight off the conveyer belt! Ryan, Craig and I agree that our favorite candy was the Milky Way without the chocolate on it yet. SO so so good!!! We were sent home with three big boxes of candy and we aren't quite sure what to do with it all, but since it was already decorated for this Halloween, maybe we could pass it out in October to the trick-or-treaters?! :)

After the chocolate tour, we headed into downtown for a lunch reservation at the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the Hancock tower. It was pretty pricey to go up to the observation deck in this building, which was one floor below the restaurant. After some research though, I figured out that if you eat at the restaurant then you get to ride up for free. It's a super nice restaurant with amazing views, but we ended up spending less for our lunch than we would have to just go to the observation deck- and we got a food and a better view! We also heard that the Hancock tower is better than the Willis (Sears) tower observation room because you can see the whole lake and city, whereas in the Sears tower you are in the middle and can't see the lake as well or the whole city scape at once. Just a little tip for anyone who plans on visiting there. :)

After lunch, we walked the Magnificent Mile, strolled through Millenium Park and visited the infamous bean statue thing, and the water fountains and gardens. It was the perfect day to be outside- sunny and warm!!

That evening, we took a boat tour through the city to learn about the buildings and the city's history, and then out on to the lake where we got some awesome views of the Chicago itself. Afterwards, we stopped to get some amazing Chicago hot dogs (how could we not?) and a Portillo's chocolate cake shake.

The last day we went to Wrigley Field, and even though we didn't go to a game, it was fun to be there on game day to get a feel for all the craziness of the Cubs fans. They were playing the Yankees that day, so it was a big game and there were tons of people there even 4 hours before game time!

We wrapped up the trip with a leisurely stroll along Navy Pier and then a late lunch at none other than Giordano's, of course.

Memorial Day weekend

This past weekend we headed up to Cleveland on Saturday and got to see family and do a little shopping, hanging out, and eating. It was great weather and a good little break. We came back to Columbus on Sunday and had a great Memorial Day! It was so nice to not have to go to work, and we also loved going to our ward's Memorial Day breakfast to honor those who have served our country and to get to know some people a little more. After that, we went shopping for some maternity pants for me but came home unsuccessful... they're either hideous or too much money. So I guess I will continue to look like a weirdo and keep my pants unbuttoned and unzipped at work until I can't even do that. Anyway, we came home and Ryan worked out while I went to the pool because it was a record-breaking 93 degrees and sunny! It was fantastic, except for the fact that our air conditioner decided to break that day! 88 degrees and counting...

We escaped the heat of our apartment for a while and hopped in our car to take a drive and enjoy the beautiful sunset. We also swung by our house and was surprised at how much they got done... and that there were still workers there at 8:30 p.m. on a holiday! Sorry the pictures are so dark.

Back:

Street side:

Other side:

Front:

3.5 more months....

I seriously can't take living in this apartment another day, but unfortunately we have 3.5 months left. Ryan and I have tried to find another temporary place just until our house is done, but no one will give us a 4 month contract. I've tried to not think about it, but after going through countless candles and bottles of febreeze and freezing my bum off all winter with the windows open and it STILL smells like 5 smokers are all in our apartment at once... I have a slight problem with it. Not only does our next door neighbor smoke like a chimney, but the ONE room in our entire place that never smelled like smoke now does because some idiot girl moved in beneath us that smokes like crazy (yet pounds on our ceiling if she doesn't like noise at the moment). So that means that 3 out of 3 of our neighbor apartments smoke. This smell is not good with a pregnant nose, either and has been the trigger for several awfully sick nights.

The kicker for me was a couple weeks ago after church and our apartment REEKED of smoke, so we lit all of our candles. A little while later our neighbor came over and knocked on our door to ask what kind of candles we had because she loved the smell. She's never been to our apartment before that, she could just smell them THROUGH THE WALL!!! It kills me.

Just needed to get that out. This just might be the slowest 3.5 months of my entire life...

Church today

We missed most of church today because it was stake conference and both Ryan and I had no clue. We usually pay attention to announcements, so it most certainly wasn't advertised much. It started at 10, but we got there at 11 and ended up just sitting in the hall with all of the fussy babies. On top of that, it ended 20 minutes early, so we only had to stay for 40 minutes. Obviously we missed the adult session last night, too. I was just excited that I didn't have to teach primary and I have a lesson ready for next week now, but the funniest part about it all was Ryan's first comment once he realized all of this:

"Yes! This is what you always want to happen but it never does!" (We really did feel bad about it though).

The good thing is that we got there just in time to hear Elder Ballard and Elder Eyring's talks. Also, we made sure to feel the spirit this morning as we were getting ready and watching the recording of last night's BYU Rugby game. Whoops, I mean BYU devotionals. :)

Coming November 19th...

and we are SOOOOO excited!

This ultrasound is from about 5 weeks ago, but I'm just a little over twelve weeks (i.e. 3 months) and due November 19th!

Beach Body Conversations

Who needs 90 days when you can look this good after 90 minutes? ;) (Okay, I must admit...I photoshopped Ryan's body into a gym. We don't actually have a gym pass.)

So Ryan is starting P90X with a few other family members (all out in Utah though) and, well, let me tell you! It is HARD! I know this because sometimes I wander into the living room after stuffing my face in the kitchen only to see him, and he looks like he's gone through the whole workout after just the warmup. It put's the 30-Day Shred to shame. Sorry, Jillian Michaels.

Anyway, since Ryan is doing this by himself without a workout partner, I think it's kind of funny how he keeps himself motivated... which is done by pretending the people on the video are here with him. I came in from the other room to hear the first conversation, which then caused me to listen a little more closely. Just imagine him by himself doing this:

Instructor: "15 more seconds until a water break! You're gonna LOVE this water break! What are you going to do on your water break?"

Ryan: In between breaths but without skipping a beat, "Oh, just drink some water, wipe my sweat off with a towel... what are you gonna do?"

***

Instructor: "Alright it's time for jump knee tucks, are you ready?!"

Ryan: "No."

Instructor: Assuming people are thinking something along the lines of Ryan's response,"There's no 'just a second'!"

Ryan: "Well, at least he's listening to me."

Two years

We've had so much fun the last two years, I can't wait to see what another year brings!

Happy Anniversary, Ry!