Family

My older sister Jennifer, her husband Jaime and their three kids, Megan (5), Joshua (2) and Sofia (5 months) came up to Chicago to visit for Thanksgiving. We had a great time while they were here. We took the 'EL' downtown Saturday and visited the American Girl Store, Lego Store and saw the bean in Millenium Park.

Bears Game

Steve and I were invited to go to a Bears Game with Steve's bestfriend Brad. This was my first Bears Game, and it was SO MUCH FUN. Bears fans really get into it. Tailgating was great. Oh, and the Bears lost. :(

It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL in Chicago today. The trees in my front yard have finally changed and the breeze is making the leaves blow all over. I love this time of year. Of course they are talking about snow this weekend.

Fall

I love the fall! I went out for a jog yesterday. It was about 65 degrees and just beautiful. The tree colors aren't at their prime but they are starting to change.

Steve installed a sliding door out to the back yard a couple weeks ago, so we finished all the drywall, painted it and hung curtains.

Steve built this hutch last year, and it's finally finished completely!

Our master bath (it's kinda a mess, but you get the idea). Steve built the cabinets too!

The Half Ironman!!

STEVE DID IT!!! He finished his first half Ironman in 5 hours and 29 mins.

We got up at 3am so that he could eat breakfast, get the car packed up and be in Lake Geneva by 4:45am.





The swim started before the sun even came up.






He was exhausted when he finished, but after about 15 mins he was feeling much better.


In fact, he was feeling so much better that on Monday (2 days after his race) we went up to Madison, WI and he registered for the full Ironman. That race will be on September 13, 2009. He is predicting his goal time will be around 13 hours!!!

Steve's big race (the half Ironman) is on Saturday. He say's he's ready for it. I'm so excited for him. I'll be taking lots of pictures!

Homemade Laundry Soap

My sister Jennifer recently started talking about Homemade Laundry Soap. So I decided to give it a try. The recipe (found at http://modcottage.com/?p=117) includes 1 bar of Fels-Naptha soap, 1 cup of Borax, 1 cup of Washing Soda, and a 1/4 cup of OxyClean. And instead of dryer sheets I am using vinegar in my downy ball. Jennifer was having a hard time finding the Washing Soda. I found all the products at a grocery store called Garden Fresh Market.



I grated the soap with a cheese grater. The final mix is pretty chunky, not real fine and powery.



My first load is in the washer now. I'm excited to see how it turns out.

Triathlon's

About 6 months ago Steve decided he wanted to do a Half Ironman Triathlon. For those of you who don't know, an Ironman is a HUGE accomplishment. The full Ironman consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26.2 (a marathon) run. The winners of these races are professional athletes and it takes them around 8 hours. The half Ironman is half the distance and Steve's goal is to do it in 5 hours and 45 mins. In training for this huge race, Steve has been doing olympic distance triathlons, and he's been doing really well. He actually got 5th place in one of them. http://onlineraceresults.com/race/view_race.php?race_id=8420
Steve's half Ironman is getting close. His race is on Saturday, September 6th, the weekend after Labor Day. I am so excited for him!

Hello!

I started feeling left out because both of my sisters, Jennifer and Andrea, have blogs. So....I've given in to the peer pressure and here's the start to my blog. :)