Resolutions

New Year's Eve means that it is time for me to sit down and make a list of all of my new resolutions for the year ahead. This year, however, I think that instead of listing a whole bunch (that I know I won't follow), I will just list one resolution. One that actually means something and will benefit me more than "getting in shape" or "eating healthy," etc.

This year, I am going to build my relationship with God. By going to our amazing church every Sunday, reading my Bible a bit each day and praying, I'll be able to meet my resolution--for the first time ever!

That's it. I think that is really all I need.

Hindsight

There are so many things I wish I could go back and tell my sixteen year old self. I don't have many regrets, but there are definitely words of encouragement and advice that I could have used along the way.

1. Get close to God now. You have no idea how much you will need Him over the years, and loving and knowing Him will help fill that huge void you feel from Mom's death. You will make peace with her death so much sooner if you do this. Listen to Aunt Jayne when she gives you this advice!

2. You will meet your first "love." Enjoy the good times together, but when they start to get bad, move on so you don't waste an extra year and a half of your life trying to salvage something that isn't there. He isn't "the one," anyway. You'll meet your true love in college!

3. Don't stress so much about grocery shopping/cleaning/cooking/taking care of Dad and Traci. Learn to do those things, but make sure Dad and Traci know how to take care of things, too. It will probably make a big difference in Dad's life, and help Traci feel needed. You need to make time to enjoy yourself, too.

4. DO NOT let people tell you that you, Traci and Dad are the reason Mom got sick and died. IT IS NOT TRUE! Don't loose sleep over it. Don't start chewing your lips over it, because you'll never break that habit once you start.

5. Spend more quality time with Dad and Traci. Again, this might alleviate issues that will arise later.

6. Get extra help in Math. I know it's horrible (it will always be horrible), but maybe it will make college a little easier and you won't have to take Math three times to graduate!

7. Don't think you're ugly or unattractive. You are not.

8. Don't think you need to major in English just because Mom, Aunt Linda and Kristin all did. You're good at it, yes, but take the time to really think about what you want to be and what you want to do with yourself. But I hope you still choose to go to Plattsburgh! You will make some of the BEST friends of your life there!

9. Remember everything Mom taught you and told you. She is always right. Listening to those life-lessons will serve you well and make things easier. Make sure to take the time to teach Traci, too.

10. Know that the life you are living will be even more wonderful than you imagined! You'll get through all of the tough times just fine. Only remember the good ones!

After Christmas Shopping

It's the day after Christmas, which means that the world (and the two of us!) are winding down. Even though we were unable to be with our families this year, our Christmas was still wonderful! We ate some delicious food--though I say it myself--got some really great/thoughtful gifts, and even began a new "family" tradition.

I had high hopes this year of getting Bart and myself new winter coats. Ours are 3 and 4 years old and, lets face it, peacoats just do NOT get the job done when you live in Chicago. I thought for sure that we would be able to get some great winter coats at pretty fantastic marked down prices today, you know, because it's the day after Christmas and every store in the world is having sales. But, alas, it is not to be! I have had my eye on a new Northface coat for months now. It's beautiful. Black, removable faux-fur around the hood, down-filled, and to the knee. And you know what? It's STILL $300! Which means that the coat I wanted Bart to get is also STILL $200. Sigh. I guess we are going to be cold for a while more.

In other news, I am also in the market for a new nostril screw. I lost mine on Christmas day when it fell down the drain. And it was the BEST screw I've had, too! It was pronged, so the fake diamond never fell out and it laid flat against my skin instead of sticking up like a big round zit in the way some screws do. I asked my sister to pick me up another (if they still have them) in Saratoga, but in the meantime, I am going to a tattoo parlor out here to see if they have something that will hold me over until the new one comes. So yes, folks, this is going to be my big after Christmas purchase!

O Holy Night

This has always been my favorite Christmas song. It's beautiful, it's powerful and it always reminds me of the real reason we celebrate on this day. Merry Christmas!

O Holy Night, the stars are brightly shining
It is the night of our dear Savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and error pining
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth

A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees
O hear the angel voices

O night divine
O night when Christ was born
O night divine
O night, O night divine

Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and his gospel is peace
Chains, shall he break for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we
Let all within us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord
Then ever, ever praise we

Noel, noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, noel
O night, O night divine
Noel, noel
O holy night

Photos.

Well, last night I finally uploaded and ordered some pictures from our wedding for Christmas. It's something I have been wanting to do for a while since Carrie captured some really wonderful candids of our families having fun on the day. The only problem was that I had NO idea how to get the photos off of the DVD she sent and onto my computer where I could use them. Bart, thankfully, knows a thing or two about technology, and showed me how to upload. The bad news? It took 4 hours to get the 580 pictures onto my laptop! And guess what? Another 2 to get the uploaded photos uploaded onto mpix.com where I could order them! Lets just say that I watched a lot of TV yesterday.

Anyway, I'm pretty excited about the pictures. I ordered one of me, Dad and Traci to replace the old one of just me and Traci above the mantle in the living room, and I just know he'll love it. He hates getting gifts on Christmas (he'd rather we saved our money), but he always loves the little, thoughtful things. Bart and I are giving Grandma and Grandpa a digital picture frame with a zip drive of alllllll of the pictures on it. That way, they can see them all and print out whatever they want, when they want. I can't give away the rest of the details since some people who read this blog will be recieving pictures!

I can't think what is more wonderful than looking at each and every one of the photos taken on our wedding day. It's so nice to get to relive the day over and over--all the happiness, the tears of joy, the laughs, the love. And tonight we get to look through all of them again! We have to choose our favorite 100 to go into our wedding album that Carrie is making for us. How amazing would it be to have a professional photographer following you around every day? Every wonderful moment would be captured forever!

Survival

Well, it's all over. Black Friday has come and gone for those of us crazy enough to go out and battle the crowds for the best Christmas loot. Though things are winding down in the stores, you can be assured that Christmas has now begun in earnest.

This was the first year that I went BF shopping without my sister, or at least a friend. I talked Bart into agreeing to go with me and to pull an ALL-NIGHTER in order to enjoy Thanksgiving at our friends' Jeff and Tara's and then hit Old Navy at midnight, which would be closely followed by Target at 4am. I had my game-plan (sort of) and my list of what we needed to get for everyone. So, we headed down the street to stuff ourselves full of food and settle in to wait for the first strike of midnight.

Unfortunately, during this settling period, Bart, Jeff, Matt and Jesse decided it would a great time to play darts. You know, the mature kind where the losers have to chug a beer or take a shot. And guess whose team lost 6 rounds in a row? That's right. So, I quickly decided to knock Old Navy's opening off of my list so we could focus on Target, because, you know, it's hard to shop with a drunk husband.

This game plan eventually turned into me waking up at 4am so I could order my items online since Bart was drunk and I suddenly couldn't move from the bathroom--but we won't go into details about that portion of my night here. ANY. WAY. In case you all didn't know (because I sure didn't), you can order stuff online for Black Friday, just not the good stuff that you really want. For that, you have to actually get up, get dressed and drag your exhausted and sick butt to the store. Which I did. ALONE. Because Bart was incapacitated. Or passed out, however you want to look at it.

So, I went Black Friday shopping at 4:30am by myself in the big city of Chicago. And you know what? It was horrendous! I got, literally, the last shopping cart in the lobby. All of the fliers were gone and I had forgotten mine. The $30 Christmas tree I was NOT going to lose out on this year? Sold out. At 4:45am. So I got an OK tree for $20. It was wall-to-wall people, and not the nice kind. Can you believe that I saw a lady with her screaming 5 YEAR OLD shopping with her that early? Probably not, because I had a hard time believing it myself and I was there. On a bright note, I DID get the last $12 blow up mattress. The negative? I didn't realize that the air pump was not included until we got home. I even broke into tears at one point because the lady in front of me just stopped moving because, apparently, her brain had melted or something. I'm going to blame the crying on PMS, exhaustion, homicidal feelings, frustration and feeling like poop.

I made it home by 6:30 with a bunch of stuff and woke Bart up with the door bell so he'd have to wake up and help me (bwahahahaha!). Then I got into bed, cried a little more, watched the sun come up, went to sleep, woke up at 10am and got dressed AND WENT BACK OUT SHOPPING! Because I am a Christmas ANIMAL!!!!! No shoppers, pets, husbands (barely), or gift items were harmed during the making of this Black Friday Fiasco.

***Bart has requested that I include the fact that he went out with me at 10 and was helpful. And that he's now cleaning the entire apartment to make up for the "BF Incident." :)

Bleak Friday

I can't believe that, in less than a week, it will be Black Friday. Forget Thanksgiving. That's just they day you carb load before the BIGGEST shopping day of the year. Normally I have my game-plan all figured out. I know exactly which stores I'm going to hit, how long I want to spend at each one, and exactly what I am going to buy for each person on my list.

Not so, this year.

As of right now, I have ONE fool-proof (I think) idea for a gift for ONE person. I have some other ideas, but the only problem is that I can't find any hard evidence anywhere that the items I want will actually be on sale on BF. And lets face it, folks, I'm on a tight budget here. Especially since I now have to figure shipping and handling in with the overall cost of each person's Christmas gift.

Today I went out and bought two--yes, TWO--Sunday papers for the inserts. Here I am thinking that the Black Friday fliers will be included, especially since each paper weighed about 3lbs. But, alas. I was wrong. It was filled up with PRE-Black Friday fliers for the PRE-Black Friday deals. I mean really. You are completely nuts if you think that I am going to take time out of my week to get shoved around by city jerks for NOT SO GREAT--AVERAGE SALES!!!

So, right about now, Black Friday is looking pretty bleak. Who wants to picture themselves standing in a crowded store filled with screaming people while they bite their nails and think, "Gee, I think my sister would like this. But I'm not sure."? I think I am going to have to go out and spend even more money on Thanksgiving for a paper that, I hope, will contain the inserts I want. And hopefully the stores will magically have the items I want at very low prices.

Eyes Are The Windows To The Soul

So last quarter, Bart decided to sign up for an extra class (not cool) in which he learned to photograph the inside and outside of the human eye (cool). It was a really great class for him to take because it a) gives him an "edge" in his C.V. for Residency and b) allowed him to learn to use to state of the art equipment.

Anyway, I was pretty bummed to missing out on--more--time with Bart. That is until he asked me if he could photograph the inside of my left eye. You know, the manky one.

When I was about 5 years old, I was in a "freak accident" at a local fair. I was at the top of a super huge, super slippery slide, when my cousin pushed me. I was having a blast flying down the slide until I saw the bigger girl ahead of me. She had never gotten up from the bottom of the slide and I knew I was going to hit her. And I did. With my forehead. Hard. I was knocked out and when I came to, I had a torn Retina, damaged lens and one hell of an egg on my forehead.

I've had three major surgeries on my eye. My lens was removed due to the severe cataracts that developed as a result of the trauma of the impact. I have a Scleral Buckle and a re-attached Retina. During the last surgery, my ophthalmologist tightened one of the muscles in my left eye to keep it from wandering (lazy eye).

As a result of the lens removal, I became immediately and permanently, legally blind in my left eye. They do corneal/lens transplants now, but I am not eligible for one. Humans don't "learn" to see one image with two eyes until the age of about 7, so my brain never got the chance to do this. I cannot even begin to fathom what it is like to see out of two eyes. The only thing I can imagine is that the average person sees two different parts of one image, separate but together. Kind of like if you put two TVs together and have half of a single picture on each screen.

Anyway, as a result of all of this, I have a huge amount of scar tissue in my left eye, higher eye pressure, which means that I am a "Glaucoma Suspect"--basically it's only a matter of time before I develop Glaucoma and go completely blind in that eye. The nerve that would have allowed me to see is shriveled and underdeveloped. Basically, it's a mess in there. And after going to specialists for 19 years and wondering what these doctors found so interesting inside of my eye, I FINALLY got to see it for myself! (Super cool!). Here they are:

This is my right eye. Nice and healthy, nice and red.

This is my left eye. That big cobweb thing is what Bart thinks is a broken off piece of Vitreous. Scar tissue is clustered around the nerve. What a difference, huh?



I am so glad Bart took this class. I can't even begin to tell you all how awesome it was to see the difference in my eyes; manky and normal.

Not So Merry Christmas

I had always imagined the first Christmas that Bart and I had together would be filled with friends, family and love. We would have a week to spend with both of our families and be sure to enjoy everyone. Unfortunately, due to both my (stupid) job/whoever is in charge of training for the new system we will be using and the fact that Bart and I can't afford to spend $800 on tickets home, we will be spending our first Christmas alone.

It is true that we will have each other, which is really all we truly need, but I just can't imagine celebrating such a special holiday without my family, old and new, surrounding us. I think Bart will handle all of this better than I will. I already have a hard enough time during holidays, since Mom died, anyway. I don't like my holidays to change. At all. I want everything to stay the same. For it to be routine. Like it was before Mom died. I guess that's my way of hanging on to the past and those amazing memories we had. We won't even go into the rage I felt when Grandma and Aunt Linda decided that dinner would take place during the Christmas Pagent/Mass in Cambridge last year--so that they could go to Midnight Mass in Hoosic Falls...

Anyway, we have decided to make the best of things. The first plan of attack is to buy a 5 food tree (when the time comes--Bart's request) and the second is to make this apartment look like two Christmas Elves live here (my request). We even have the menu picked out (homemade sauce and meatballs, garlic bread, pies, etc.). I just hope that we can make this a special, intimate Christmas celebration that we will look back on with fondness.

Autumn in Chicago

Bart and I had a lovely walk around Lincoln Park last weekend. The weather was warm, the sun was out and the leaves were turning! It's nowhere near as beautiful as the views at home, but it'll have to do.

I just couldn't resist throwing this picture in. Sorry the quality isn't the greatest (I had to zoom in like 38742 times), but I HOPE you can see this lady's bike. She has her kid strapped to a seat attached to the front handlebars and wheels (please look closely and notice that it looks like a backwards tricycle), while she pedals. The real gem here is the dog that is riding along by STANDING IN AN ATTACHED WAGON AT THE REAR OF THE BIKE!!

Only in Chicago, people. Only in Chicago.

Family of Two

The month of September has been stressful for Bart and I. We've moved, I wasn't chosen for that great, better paying job I applied for, we had to choose Bart's externship sites for this coming year and...we had a pregnancy scare.

I debated about whether or not to blog about this, since it's not something I'd love to discuss with most of my family back home, but I'd really like to be honest in my blogging, and this is something that has had me riled up for a month. I mean, it's not like it's something to be ashamed of, right?? But that's just it--I have felt like I had to keep this a secret because I have spent my whole life being told how shameful and irresponsible it is to have a baby out of wedlock. Never mind the fact that Bart and I are married, so it's okay at this point. It would STILL be irresponsible.

Anyway, I missed my period last month. The first period I was supposed to have as a married lady. And as I always get my period, I was immediately freaked out and stopped taking my pills. This was definitely NOT something that was planned or wanted right now. All I could think of was the fact that I make pretty much only enough money to support myself and Bart--barely--and Bart only has his school loans. And the fact that we are over 800 miles from home and our families. And that I would NEVER want to raise/be pregnant in/give birth to a child in a city (especially this one). And this wasn't the right time. And, oh so much more.

I told Bart, who immediately freaked out on a heretofore unheard of level, while I tried to keep it together because, obviously, I had to. Someone had to be in control if I was, in fact, pregnant. I then went out, bought two pregnancy tests, and took them within a few days of each other. Both were negative. I waited two days, bought two more tests, took them within a few days of each other, and they were negative. I called my gyno from home, she told me to wait until two weeks after the missed period, buy another pregnancy test, take it, and see what happened. It was negative. If I had known how many of those stupid sticks I would buy and pee on, I would have bought stock in ClearBlue first.

Anyway, at this point, I was about 85% sure that I wasn't pregnant and was more worried that there might be something wrong with me. Bart, however, was still at a constant low-panic and decided he couldn't relax until I had a blood test done to know, one way or the other, for certain. So he scheduled me an appointment (on a day I was home sick from vomiting that morning, no less) with a gyno here in the city. Long story short (ish), we found out that I was, definitely, not pregnant. Thank you, Jesus.

And the craziest part? I was almost disappointed when I found out I wasn't. I mean, clearly, it would have been incredibly hard on us and this is not the situation we would want to bring a child into. But reading those mommy magazines in the waiting room made me wish so hard that this had been the right time. I have known my whole life that I was put on earth to be a mom. I know it will happen--hopefully in the summer/fall of 2012--and the timing will be right. Mainly because we are going to be oh-so-careful after this fiasco. So, for now, we are still (happily) a family of two.

Fight

Bart and I had our first real fight since we got married yesterday. Honestly, with my temper and Bart's way of saying things without thinking, I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner.

This fight was just awful. Terrible. And it was over something completely stupid (with a bunch of old junk brought up by both of us). And we fought in public. Not super loud and obnoxious fighting, but still, in public. It was embarrassing, but we couldn't help it. And I wished for a while that we weren't married.

That was the most horrible thing about the fight. I felt so angry and hurt over a couple dumb little things that got blown out of proportion, and all I wished was that Bart and I weren't married because now, no matter what, we are together FOREVER. And it was a really scary thing to feel. I just felt so cornered. In the past, I've always had the knowledge that I could, if I wanted to, just walk away from our relationship. Now, I can't.

Of course, after almost an entire day of fighting with each other, we made it through grocery shopping fine (which is usually where we argue, because seriously, who likes grocery shopping?) and by the time we got home and got started on our weekly cleaning, we were hugging (Bart) and crying (me) and apologizing to each other for everything. So it all worked out, in the end. But I am just so frightened of the fact that my first thought at our first fight was, "I wish we weren't married right now." Who thinks that about their husband?? And I love Bart more than anything. What am I going to do if this is what I think of every time we have a fight? Especially if it is a fight over something that actually matters? I don't want my stupidity and stubbornness to ruin my life with him.

Last Weekend

Since we are having a nice, quiet Sunday (after our weekly cleaning of the apartment, of course), I thought that I would share some pictures of the Windy City Wine Festival that Bart and I went to last weekend. He has been talking about taking me to this festival since he moved here last year. What can I say? The boy loves his wine! We arrived a bit late, so I'm sorry that some of the darker pictures came out a bit blurry!

I was excited because we were out together on a beautiful night AND it was cool enough for us to break out our fall/winter sweaters!!! I love this pictures of Bart. You can tell exactly what he was thinking (and what he said immediately after I took the picture)--"Okay, okay. Hurry up and take one! We only have 3 hours to taste all this wine!"
Bart and I were standing in line to taste wines from one of the tents when I noticed that it was getting darker. Then I noticed how beautiful the city lights looked. As much as I am sick of living in Chicago, this is one sight that I will miss seeing when we leave.
There were tons of tents all around the Buckingham Fountain plaza. Besides offering wine, there were some scattered throughout that offered food, candy, wine related products and...CIGARS!!! Bart loves to have a cigar every once in a while. Don't ask me why. But I figure, if his worst habit is smoking a cigar twice a year, I can deal with it.
Bart and I had some really great wines. It was so fun to taste all of the REALLY expensive stuff since it is something that we'll probably never be able to afford. My favorites were two champagnes--Rosa Regale and a cheap one I can't remember the name of that tasted like marzipan. We had such a blast sharing the excitement of the night with each other and then sharing a burger after the festival was over. It was certainly one of the best dates we've had!

Day Off

Since working at the clinic, I am all about the uneventful days off. Maybe this has something to do with me working 6 days a week and at least 10hrs every day except Saturday (4hrs). There is nothing better than a quiet day at home after I wake up with Bart. I get to relax on the couch, watch some crappy television and nap. And don't even get me started on how amazing naps are. Seriously. Am I turning into an old lady this early in life???

Today I slept until a little after 9am, went to the bathroom, and then slept until a quarter to 11. I've been so exhausted since the wedding and moving that I have been unable to catch up on the sleep I missed. Being stressed out all the time because of lack of sleep, amongst other things, doesn't help, either. Pretty sure I am back to where I should be at this point!

Anyway, I have decided to get my hair cut this afternoon to kind of pamper myself a little bit. I haven't had it cut since right before Maria's wedding in May and it's about time it was trimmed. It's so expensive to get a hair cut out here. $50 for a wash, cut and style--and that's just the starting amount. I clearly try to go as little as possible to save money. One benefit from the outrageous salon charges in Chicago is the fact that I've started taking super good care of my hair in between trimmings. I buy Organix shampoo and conditioner, which is a bit more expensive than the Herbal Essences I used to use. I'm not sure if the shampoo is actually organic or not, but I do know that it does not contain ANY sulfites or parabens, which are the things that damage your hair. Parabens are chemicals added to keep the shampoo and conditioner from spoiling, but could be harmful for your health and sulfites (i.e. salt) are added to make shampoo sudsy. It doesn't make sense since suds don't make hair cleaner and salt/sulfites just dry hair out and damage it. Maybe the $50 cut charge isn't too bad considering I learned all of this from my new hairdresser!

Love...

There are so many things I love right now! I'd just like to mention how proud I am that I did not include ONE food item to this list, though Chipotle almost made it. It really should have made it, but shame prevented me. We won't even discuss how many times I've eaten there since we got back from NY...

Anyway, first item: East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. This is another one of my "Bargain Books" from B&N and I loved it. I mean, l.o.v.e.d it. It's about three young British women who are coming of age during the 20s in India. Mystery, love, abduction, and more for only $4.99. What a steal!

Next item: Essie Nail Polish in Starter Wife. Seriously, that is the name. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love a clever turn of phrase or name. Which is why I purchased this polish. To wear on my wedding day--I hope I'm not the only nerd here who thinks this is funny. But I really do LOVE the color. It's feminine and neatens up my nails without making them look totally fake.



My #1 favorite drink (besides water with lemon, of course), is Mr. & Mrs. T's Bold and Spicy Bloody Mary Mix. I. Love. This. Stuff. I drink one glass--virgin--nearly every night after work. I love how it is salty and spicy and it even fools me into thinking I'm filled up, which is fantastic. It's one of the little things that relaxes me. I don't love it with alcohol, though. I can't stand Vodka in it, but beer is okay.

And my latest discovery, Spiced Chai tea. I decided to buy the tea bags after reading East of the Sun since I'd only ever had it from Starbucks and in a powder form. Both were very good, but this tea is great! It gives directions on the side of the box to make it in the more traditional style, which is very sweet and boiled with milk. To be honest, I think the reason I like it so much is because it smells spicy, like Christmas. If that makes no sense to you, I'm sorry, but Christmas DOES smell spicy! No hint of Christmas Tree scent in the tea, though.

September

I always loved September. Even more so now that it doesn't mean I have to go back to school! I love the way the days turn from sultry and hot, to cool and crisp. And the way the apples turn red on the trees and pumpkins turn orange on their vines. I love coming in from a nice, cool walk outdoors to a lovely hot bowl of soup or pasta to warm me up. Is there anything better than curling up on the couch with a blanket and a cup of tea while the wind is whipping the trees outside? I didn't think so.

It has been hard this weekend to rein in my urge to go totally wild with buying autumn stuff. We did get some great decorations that we'll use for future Falls, but we somehow managed to keep from buying apples and caramel until the weather turns cooler. I'm still regretting that little bit of will-power!

I am excited to see what the city will look like during this season. In winter (especially without Christmas decorations up), the city is very dreary, mucky and cold. The warm summer weather and greenery have improved it some. It's just hard to appreciate the changing of the seasons in a big city when one has lived in the country. Especially in Upstate New York. In a little town called Cambridge. Just a short drive from the Green Mountains of Vermont. Can you tell that this weather makes me homesick?

It's another grey, rainy day in Chicago. And I hate it. The only time I love yucky, rainy days are when I get to spend them at home reading a fantastic book and/or watching a great BBC movie. And for the past two rainy days, I've been stuck at work (and on one of those days, I was stuck at work soaking wet, but we won't talk about that...).

Sigh.

The good news is that I have FOUR days off this weekend! F-O-U-R. I cannot begin to tell you how excited this makes me! And Bart has the three day weekend, too. We have big plans to just settle into our apartment, get some things we need, and just snuggle and love each other. How much better could a weekend get, I ask you???

Being married has been so wonderful. Yes, I know we haven't been married a month yet, but I just love it. I find that I am so much more patient with Bart (he's always patient with me, so not much new there) and that I make a much bigger effort to be kind and loving to him because I'm his wife now. I had decided a long time ago that I was going to take my new job as a wife very seriously. And Bart has made it clear that he is taking his job as husband and protector pretty seriously, too. We've found that we work even better than we used to at being a team, that we feel so much more selfless toward each other, and that we want to give as much as we can to our spouse to make him/her a better person. I know we will keep this up every day throughout our marriage. Maybe not all day everyday, but everyday.

Stone Age And A New Place

Hi! I am writing to you from work--but don't worry, I'm on my lunch break. This is because Bart and I don't have internet in our new apartment yet. Or cable. Ick. Anyway, we moved in on Saturday, though we are still a little bit spread out through the two different apartments right now. Hopefully tonight we will be officially DONE with moving forever. Or at least until this time next year.

It was so hard moving all of our stuff in. We had to bring everything down two flights of rickety old stairs, walk half a block down this back alley, climb four flights of rickety old stairs (a.k.a. Mt. Everest) at least 291957037569 times in 96 degree weather. Let's just say that if I don't lose 10lbs. and my butt cheeks aren't rock-hard by the end of this week, I'm going to be a pretty disappointed girl.

Bart did such a wonderful job with the moving. He was super motivated, organized and (thank God) super strong. The guy did probably 75% of the moving on his own, what with me only being able to carry the light stuff (I'm weak, OKAY??), and Jason only helping us on Sunday with the heavy furniture. I really don't know what I would have done without Bart. And he has been so sweet about helping me unpack and organize our stuff in the new place. I mean, really, could I have asked for a better husband?

All in all, the new apartment is pretty fantastic and the move wasn't so bad, either. I'll have to post pictures later when I a) get internet hooked up and b) have a second to breathe.

A New Engagement!!

It certainly seems that love is in the air! Just one week before Bart and I got married, my younger cousin, Branyn, got engaged to a lovely young man, Braden. I cannot begin to tell you all how excited I am about this! She will make a beautiful bride and, of course, a strong and loving wife.

When Aunt Jayne, Alyssa, Branyn and I went to pick up my wedding gown, I insisted that Branyn try on some herself. They live in California, so when else am I going to get the chance to be involved in any of her wedding planning fun?? Needless to say, she was stunning and may have even found THE DRESS! No pictures of her in the gown, though. We'll save those for the big day!

I do, however have a picture of us in the store that I just love.
Two engaged ladies!


These two are so lucky to have found each other so young. Congratulations!

Just Married!

I can't believe how long it has taken be to blog that Bart and I are FINALLY and truly married! I guess things have just been pretty crazy around here. You know how it is--you finish one huge project and wind up with two more. Or something.

Anyway, the wedding was just wonderful! August 14th turned out to be a sunny, warm-with-a-cool-breeze kind of day, which is perfect wedding weather, if you ask me. But I probably would have thought a hurricane was perfect wedding weather just because I was going to become Bart's wife! I had a wonderful afternoon getting ready with my sister, bridesmaids and best friends. And you know the best part? I WAS COMPLETELY CALM. I mean, like nothing was going to freak me out. And the only thing I felt was this huge sense of excitement, just like I used to get on the mornings Mom would be getting ready to go to the Great Escape (sort of crummy theme park for those of you non-upstate NY-ers). Like an urgent, ankle-tingling I want to scream, but I'll keep it cool kind of excitement. It was great. And the things I will cherish for the rest of my life are the beautiful note Bart sent to me that morning and the dill pickle that he had delivered to my room after I had brushed my teeth. That boy sure does know the way to my heart!

Everyone got a kick out of the fact that Iwas SO ready to marry Bart, that I actually forced all of my BMs to get me to the church 30 minutes early. That's right. For those that don't know me well, running late is what I do. It's just in my genes. And I was so pissed that NO ONE ELSE WAS READY FOR ME WALK DOWN THE ISLE! I know that's a little self-centered, but it was my wedding day and I was excited, okay?? Bart is still teasing me about it. I told him that me being early was his wedding gift haha.

Anyway, our wedding day was perfect. It was, in fact, the best day of my life. Seeing all of our friends and family having such a great time celebrating our special day and loving us so much was just SO worth all of the planning stress. Here are a few pictures that family and friends captured. Warning: picture overload!

A beautiful dress certainly does help a girl feel like a beautiful bride!

Me and Dad walking down the aisle.

Saying our "I dos." This was by far the best part of the whole day!

JUST MARRIED!!!

"You & Me Together" DMB

"I Loved Her First" Heartland

So excited.

No Shoes? No Veil? No Problem!

As of right now, I have no shoes to wear to my wedding, or a veil or any sort of barrette or hair piece. And you know what? I'm alright with that. Obviously, wearing flip-flops down the aisle with my hair styled simply is not the worst thing that could happen on my wedding day (unless you're my Grandma, then it's another story). I am just TOO excited to share that day with Bart, and the people that we love most, and SO thrilled that the planning is done, that I just don't care! Of course, I am going to spend today shopping at Water Tower Place downtown to try to remedy at least one of the two minor situations and to try to find a nice (cheap) outfit to wear to my bachelorette party.

Of course, those are only two things on my huge list of "To-Dos" for today since we are leaving at the crack of dawn tomorrow to catch our flight to NY. Laundry, packing, and cleaning are just a few. And I'm happy to do them all because it means that I will be on my way back to the East Coast to visit my family, celebrate and marry the love of my life!

A Roof Over Our Heads

The big news today is that we have finally found an apartment. Not just any apartment, mind you, but our FIRST apartment together. Where just the TWO of us will live. Together. Married.

And I think the best part of all is that I am the one who found it, called the landlord (who happens to be the same one we have now, but that is neither here nor there), and set up an appointment with the currant occupant to view it. And it is lovely. It's much smaller than the apartment we have now, which is fine by me. There is a sweet master bedroom (and his/hers closets!!!!!!!!!!!!) with french doors that open into the living room/eating area and even another second room that Bart will use as his "office" when it's not being used as a "guest room." The kitchen is adorable--almost like a play house kitchen, but for a grown up. There are windows on BOTH SIDES of the apartment, which is something you really don't see out here in Chicago. The walls are a soft white, the trim around the windows is natural wood in a beautiful buttery shade. It almost reminds me of the Cape house--no wonder I love it!

I am just DYING to decorate. I'm so sick of having crappy IKEA furniture that falls apart every time you try to use it. I don't want to live like a college student anymore. My goal is going to be to decorate the whole place, slowly and on a budget, through craigslist.org. I love that site. You can get the best stuff for dirt cheap since most people who are desperate to sell things get rid of their stuff there. The only tough part will be finding a vehicle to get the goods back to our new place!

Anyway, we move, hopefully, on August 30 or 31. It's going to be so fun and exciting to live alone with Bart for the first time in our relationship--and just in time for our marriage!

Ladies and Gentlemen...We Have A RING!

Yes, folks, it's true! I actually have a wedding band that I LOVE and that matches my engagement ring perfectly! I'm so thrilled (i.e. relieved) that this is an issue I no longer need to worry about. Sorry, but no picture! Since the big day is so close, I figured I'd just wait to post it with the rest of our wedding photos.

The band fits the curve of my engagement ring, and is super thin so that it actually almost blends in with the micro diamonds on the sides of the engagement ring. It just accents the beauty of the engagement ring, instead of trying to over power it. I'm so glad our jeweler understood (clearly a lot better than I did) that there really isn't a wedding band in the world that is equal in beauty to my engagement ring. The best thing to do is just let the engagement ring shine!

He was also able to do the engravings inside the rings, which made me super happy. We chose to have a quote from "Letter XXI" from Confidential Correspondence of the Emperor Napoleon and the Empress Josephine: "To love you alone, to make you happy...this is my destiny."

Bart's ring reads, "To love you alone, to make you happy," and mine says, "this is my destiny." I thought it was actually kind of nice that we had to split the quote between our two rings, since, together, they create the one declaration of love.

In other news, Bart is still sick--or if you ask him, insanely ill. And he's still studying so hard for his finals. I feel so bad for the poor boy. There is nothing worse than being really sick AND having to study and take all important finals at the same time. So, I do the only things that I can do to make him feel better; I feed him his favorite foods, comfort him, baby him and give him mini pep talks so that he doesn't lose faith in himself. Please pray for him!

14 Days!

I can't believe that we have exactly two weeks until our wedding. Until we are husband and wife. I'm so excited that I almost can't stand it! Seriously, the level of excitement we are talking about here is right up there with a 10 year old going to Disney World in two weeks.

Things have been going really well with the last minute wedding details. Just about everything is taken care of (minus the flower girls' baskets and the unity candle stuff) and our rings are coming tomorrow!!! I really can't wait to see what my wedding band looks like. I made sure to give him absolutely NO instructions beyond the engraving inside the bands. Bart asked the jeweler how it looked, and he said, "Just like it should have looked the first time." I really should just leave things to the professionals from now on.

Anyway, Mrs. H has been on the Cape for the past week and decided that your every day escort cards were just not good enough for our wedding, so she went out and bought a bunch of sand dollars that we are going to attach dark blue, blue/grey and white ribbon to, depending on the meal, and write the guests' names and tables on them! Cute, right? I was hoping to write them out with my California Cousins when we all meet in NY, but she's already started them. That's okay, though, because we have centerpieces to make!

Bart isn't doing so well lately--he's sick (he gets sick ONCE a year and decides that now is the time for a viral attack?!) and has finals allllll this week before we leave. He has 13 days to get himself healthy. He'd better do it, too, because I don't want anyone sick and unable to enjoy our day.

It's so crazy that in just two weeks I won't be Kari Carelli anymore. Or ever again. Which reminds me--I need to ask Maria what I need to do to change my last name...

Opportunities

I just really love to watch a movie that makes me think. And I love it even more when the movie isn't meant to be intellectual, just funny, but it makes me think.

Last night Bart, Jason and I watched Evan Almighty after dinner. It wasn't anything any of us necessarily wanted to watch--it was just the only thing on. Anyway, there was this really great quote made by God (a.k.a. Morgan Freeman) that I've been thinking about almost non-stop since watching this movie.

"Let me ask you something. If someone prays for patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does he give them the opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage, or does he give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or does he give them opportunities to love each other?"

Does that make sense, or does that make sense? I mean, maybe it made sense to you a long time ago, but I have personally never thought about prayer that way. I always thought that, one day, God would finally instill in me the ability to not freak out over everything unsatisfactory that came my way. It never occurred to me that He would want me to PRACTICE not freaking out; that he would want me to PRACTICE forgiveness. How else do you learn how to do something if you don't try it out yourself?

So, I am proud to tell you, I took an opportunity God gave me today to practice my patience when Bart snapped at me about some household chore. I remembered that he has a big proposal for school coming up this week, along with a huge list of other stressful things, and did not mean to lash out at me. He just wanted help. And do you know what? I was PATIENT and FORGIVING without Bart even knowing it! And it felt great!

Looking Here, Looking There...

Today was our second day (or second Saturday) of apartment hunting and...the news is good! And bad! We think we may have found an excellent apartment in which to begin our lives as husband and wife! I really didn't think it was possible, especially since I so badly wanted (still want, actually) the place across the hall, but I could definitely love "the high-rise apartment." But, the upfront price is steep.

The ONLY fly in the ointment, so to speak, is that we'd have to come up with a pretty sizable amount of money pretty darn quick to secure this place. And the only problem with that is the fact that we have spent so much money on the wedding already AND we have August's rent here to still pay, that we aren't sure if we can swing it financially. We'd pretty much have to use a huge chunk of wedding money (if we receive any) to pay for the second month and bills.

So, Bart and I have something new to discuss and mull over for the next month. At this point, I don't really care what happens as long as we have a half-way decent place to live--the wedding has taken up ALL of my available stress. Say a prayer for us!

Hot

It's so hot here that I really think I might melt. And I'm exhausted from working overtime and from a day full of doctor's appointments (to try to clear up my 13 year old girl acne) and shopping for a stupid black blazer for work. In 98 degree weather. Whew.

On the bright side, I'm too tired and hot to be stressed! AND...

I'M GETTING MARRIED IN 22 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!

Outdoor TV

Last night, as Bart and I were getting ready to go to bed, I heard a man talking outside under our living room window. I forget what he said, but it apparently sounded interesting at the time because I went over to take a look. There were two police officers outside directing traffic away from the street we live on. I'm guessing that they needed one of the streets nearby to film a scene for the new Transformers movie (they've been fliming alllll over the city). Don't ask me what was so super entertaining about it, but Bart and I sat on the couch and watched all of the goings-on on the street for about 40 minutes before going to bed.

Anyway, it kind of made me wonder if that's what people did before TV and radios. There was not one exciting thing going on outside beyond the occasional near accident because of stupid Chicago cab drivers, but we just couldn't tear ourselves away. It was so neat to be able to clearly see what was going on and hear what people were saying down below and know that they didn't know we were watching. Almost like it wasn't quite real. Like it was just a bunch of actors on a television show. I wonder what will be "on" tonight!

OHM. OHHMMM.

That's me trying to find inner peace. And make peace with the fact that nothing is ever going to run smoothly as far as wedding plans go. E.V.E.R.

So, yesterday--or, if you're counting, day 3 of freaking out over the minister's kids--things got worse. Phenominally worse. We booked our plane tickets. How is that bad, you ask? Isn't it great that you are actually going to make it to this wedding you've poured your blood, sweat and tears into? Yeah, that's fantastic. The $900 (no, that is not a typo) price tag, however, was not. I'll make a long story short, since I'm sure you can imagine the extent of freaking out that occured on my part, and say that I ended the day with the WORST migrane of my entire life.

But you know what? That horrible day ended up being a really fantastic one. I slept in the car on the way home, threw dinner in the oven and got my sorry behind on the couch. Bart was so sweet. He came and sat next to me, put my feet up on some pillows and went a poured me a tall, ice cold glass of Mr. & Mrs. T's Bold & Spicy Bloody Mary Mix. I know how bizzare that sounds, but I have been addicted, and I mean addicted like thank-God-its-not-Crack addicted, since my move out here. We won't even go into how much money I've spent on bottles of that stuff. BUT I want to add that I don't drink it with booze. It just doesn't taste as good. Seriously. But I digress...

Anyway, Bart brought me my delicious drink, turned on an episode of Wipeout that we DVR'd and lightly tickled my arms to help me relax. Now, I do know how sweet all of this was, but I have to tell you I also find it almost comical when he goes to this extent to take care of me. It's like he has absolutely NO idea what to do, and so he brings me allllllll of the things I like all at once. Like a little boy. So cute.

All of that just showed me how greatful I should be for what I've got--even if what I've got is five extra brats coming to my wedding, but whatever. I need to let go of my anger and frustration so much faster than I do, because it just puts a strain on everything else I'm trying to accomplish. I know it's pretty late in the game, but I'm going to try hard to brush off all of the rest of the crap that is going to fly my way for the next three weeks. And keep in mind that I'll return to being a normal human being once it's all over!

My migrane went away and we ended up having a nice dinner, laughing our butts off at people falling down, and then going to bed early and just talking about how much in love we are and imagining our future together. After all, isn't that what really matters most?

AHHHHHHHH!

This is (another) venting post. The big news this time is that Bart, finally, got ahold of his family minister to schedule our final meeting before the wedding and to discuss the rehearsal times. Apparently, this is when the minister decided to drop a bomb on us: not only are he and his wife (whom we invited) coming to our wedding, but now his FIVE children are, too. FIVE. Can I just tell you how pissed off this makes me because we had to drastically scale back our wedding list to just one hundred people due to budget issues? And now we tack on FIVE little kids that we a) don't know and b) don't want there and c) now have to feed. He even asked Bart if there was "anything special" going on for the kids coming to the wedding. The only kids coming are my 9 year old cousin who is reading and Bart's two little cousins who are our flower girls. No, sir, I am NOT hiring a babysitter for your kids that you insist on bringing with you.

What is wrong with people? Why do people think that it is totally okay to bring everyone they know to a wedding? Don't they know that we probably have a budget for this wedding??? NOT TO MENTION the rehearsal dinner, which we have already budgeted for. We can't just raise the guest list to 40 just for him. What the hell am I supposed to do? Am I supposed to take money out of my own savings (that hasn't already been spent on the wedding) and pay for his kids to eat at a dinner they were never supposed to go to? Do I call the innkeeper and force her to allow five extra kids into our reception after I already fought her for Jack, Felicity and Aiyla? This is not what I needed to have dumped on me just a few weeks before my wedding.

Wedding Nightmares

Bart and I will be getting married in exactly one month and three days (eeeek!!!). This means that I have had a huge jump in wedding nightmares in the last week. And by huge jump, I mean one every other night instead of one per week. I guess I can forget the beauty sleep. Yikes.

At first these dreams were just plain weird, but they have gotten scarier and more realistic by the month. This week, one of my nightmares was about the infamous wedding bands. In the dream, I went to the jeweler's to pick up the finished wedding band, along with my engagement ring, only to find that the jeweler had destroyed my original engagement ring. He had two particular wedding band designs in mind that did not go with my ring, so he created two other engagement rings--one to match each of the new wedding bands. I woke up shaking and crying and filled with an overwhelming sense of panic about how I was going to tell Bart what happened to the ring he gave me. It took me a full minute to realize that it had all been a (very) bad dream.

Last night I had a horrible dream in which I realized, the day of my wedding, that I had NEVER gone back for any of my dress fittings. Which meant that, not only did I not have the dress, but it wasn't going to fit me at all. There were also a ton of other things going wrong, but I don't remember what they were. My family forced me to get my hair and make-up done, telling me that the dress didn't matter, but at the same time, whispering behind my back that I was stupid, unprepared and foolish to forget about it. I woke up at that point, again, crying, sweating and filled with panic.

I wish I knew that dreams like this were normal. Could it be weird to dream that you are walking down the aisle and NO ONE cares? That everyone is talking to each other and dressed in shorts and t-shirts?

In related news, Bart and I still don't have our plane tickets. To our own wedding. Our rehearsal dinner is still not finalized. I still don't have an appointment for a hair trial at the salon (thanks, Traci). Oh, and I still have to order alllllllllll of the stuff for the non-floral centerpieces. AHHHHH!

I feel like I won't get a good night's sleep until my wedding night.

Books

I am looking forward to a boring weekend. A weekend (for me, a day and a half) of reading, movie watching and, minimal, wedding planning. Unfortunately, I finished my box of B&N Bargain Books about a month ago and have had to resort--again--to re-reading some. Which is fine, I love to read books 2,3 or even 10 (Pride & Prejudice) times. I just don't love to read them immediately after I finish. I'm doing my best to scrimp and save here and there to come up with enough money for another load of books.

Is there anything better than a quiet day of just laying around reading a new or favorite book and eating a huge jar of pickles? I didn't think so. I told Bart the other day that I couldn't wait for him to finally become a doctor so that I can order books more often without worrying so much about the fact that the money I spent could have been used elsewhere. He responded with, "Once I become a doctor, you can order ALL the books you want, whenever you want." That boy sure knows the way to my heart <3

I've been thinking about trying to find some Agatha Christie books to read. I've been watching her stories on PBS's Masterpiece Mystery every week and I just love Miss Marple. But then I love just about anything British/European. Anyway, I do need some other ideas, so if you have a favorite book, author or have heard of a good book, let me know!

Fourth

Bart and I had a great Fourth of July yesterday. It was a little bit sad since we didn't have our friends and family from home with us to celebrate the birth of our country, but we made sure we had fun.
I woke up to a pretty surprise from Bart. Let's just hope that I a) don't kill it and/or b) it is able to get enough sunlight from our windows.
After we spent some of the afternoon reading the paper (Bart) and reading a book (me), we decided to go for a walk in the (sweltering) sun. We ended up wandering to the Lincoln Park Zoo, which is really pretty much outside of our door--and free! We wandered through the zoo for a while, but left pretty quickly since most of the animals were too hot to hang around outside where we could see them. Poor things! We did manage to get a couple of photos, though.






Like I said, we didn't get to see too many animals, but there is always the city "wildlife."

Anyway, after the Zoo, Bart and I decided to walk to the Lincoln Park Conservatory to look at the beautiful flowers and plants they have. Because we came from the Zoo, we walked through the Victorian garden that was planted in front of the Conservatory. It was so beautiful! Now, I should tell you that this is exactly where Bart brought me my first whole day in Chicago, but that was in November. No flowers, no butterflies. I was so thrilled to see the gardens full of life and to sit on a bench and people watch--just like the first day I was here.





And while we were there, we saw a bride and groom having their wedding pictures being taken in the gardens! I got so excited that I practically dragged Bart closer so I could take pictures of the happy couple, too.



Is that dress just stunning? I am seriously thinking I chose the wrong dress for myself. And what a beautiful place to have wedding pictures taken! I always love seeing couples having their wedding pictures taken in the city because it reminds me that there is a light at the end of this hellish tunnel that is Wedding Planning and that I'll get to enjoy my day with Bart when it finally arrives.

So, even though Bart and I didn't grill or even make it to the fireworks display (we were exhausted), we still had a lovely Fourth. I hope yours was great, too!

Holiday in Chicago

So the Fourth of July is fast approaching, as is my paid (!!!), 3 day(!!!!) holiday from work. I can't even begin to describe how thrilled I am to be looking forward to sleeping in for multiple days in a row. Sweet.

Bart and I really aren't sure what to do with ourselves this weekend. Right now, the Taste of Chicago is going on, but we've already been and tasted the not-so-great food. There are a ton of concerts going on in various parks and Giada DeLaurentiis is in town, so maybe I'll have Bart take me to see her and have her sign my cookbook.

The only other big thing we can do is go to one of the firework shows on the lakefront. One thing I'm worried about are the crowds. The off-duty policemen who work at the clinic/college for security told me that murders and other crimes jump dramatically during the holidays, especially during the summer. Just last weekend over 40 people were murdered in what I guess is some kind of gang war. That doesn't include the other weekends we've had in the month of June. Yikes.

Frankly, I'd love to do a little shopping (clothes for work, so it's justified, OKAY?) and maybe have a nice sushi dinner out at our favorite place. Just lay low, you know? Since most of the big wedding stuff is out of the way (I finally got a wonderful florist and the rings should be mailed out today), I figure I deserve a nice relaxing weekend. Maybe I'll even get a mani/pedi while I'm at it.

Ring-ing.

Another wedding post. I should have titled this blog "The Hell That Is My Wedding Planning." This one is kind of scary/disappointing/okay. If that makes sense. Probably not. It doesn't to me, anyway, and I went through it!

So, as you know (I think), I bought a wedding band from Kay jewelers that didn't work out. Attempt at a ring, round 1.

After that, I mailed out my engagement ring (yes in the MAIL and yes, it was horrifying even though I paid to have it insured and over-nighted) to the jeweler to made my engagement ring. In New York. He had my ring for about a month and a half as he made the custom wedding band that I designed to go with my ring. After a lot of phone calls (i.e. harassment) on my part because I was so worried about the process, he sent me pictures of the finished ring last week and it was beautiful. I loved it. I paid for it. And it arrived on Saturday, along with my engagement ring (yes!) and Bart's wedding band, safe and sound.
Unfortunately, the rings looked AWFUL together on my finger, because the space between my two knuckles is so short. They were also incredibly uncomfortable to wear because the two together were so very wide and super tight because they did not sit where they were supposed to. I wore them both around for two days thinking that maybe I just needed to get used to them being on my finger and to get used to the way they looked. We'll just cut the story short there and say that I cried Saturday and Sunday night.

Attempt at ring, round 2.

So, today I finally worked up the courage to call our jeweler to discuss the matter with him. The man, quite possibly a saint, assured me that another ring could be made in plenty of time for the wedding. I'm mailing my engagement ring, old wedding band, and Bart's band back out, hopefully tomorrow. Bart's band is going out with everything else because we (fortunately) forgot to ask him to engrave the bands. We settled on a beautiful quote. It is from Letter XXI, from Napoleon to Josephine. It reads, "To love you alone, to make you happy...this is my destiny." Because my band will be so small, we are going to break the quote up between the two bands so that, together, they form the full quote. Nice, huh?

Anyway, here is the sketch of (final) Attempt at ring, round 3
This is the sketch that our jeweler originally sent to me, that I vetoed in favor of the one that I have now. A nice, thin band that will be subtle and compliment my engagement ring instead of trying to take it over. It's what I should have gone with in the first place.

Beat Up.

Man, oh man. Today has been a really rough day. We woke not only having no hot water, but having only ICE COLD water coming out of both taps. Clearly, this kind of catastrophe would only happen on morning that I have to get up early for work. On a day that is normally my day off. Because I have to fill in. We had to pack up allllll of our shower things and work/school clothes and shower at the gym at ICO. I went to work with my hair dripping in the freezing air conditioning, and just because life was so great today, my hair frizzed right up like a white girl afro. We'll just say that my morning did not begin on a happy note.

To make matters worse, some crazy lady yelled at me at work because I asked her what her father's SSN was. You know, so I could enter his insurance information so they would pay for his office visit. I'm so unreasonable and irrational.

Then, Bart comes to me near the end of my (very) long day to pressure me into going to a--and I swear this is the truth--turtle race. After I have just had the morning from Hell and worked an extra seven hours of over time, knowing that I have to work early tomorrow morning, too. Really, Bart?

Bart also has thing about trying to convince people who don't want what he wants that they actually DO want what he wants. He does this most often with food and social activities. And he does it to me all the time. This is normally how one of these conversations goes:

Bart: What do you think we would have for dinner tonight? Burgers?
Me: No. I'm not in the mood. How about Chili?
Bart: Nah. Are you sure you don't want a burger, though? I'd really like one.
Me: Bart. You know I'm rarely in the mood for a burger. And I'd have to go shopping for the stuff to make one. What about BBQ Chicken?
Bart: Oh. No. But burgers are good. Are you sure you don't want one? Remember how good that last one I had at the restaurant looked.
Me: Fine. [or sometimes: NO!!!!!!!!]

So we basically had the same conversation, except with "turtle racing" and "bar" thrown in where "burger" is. This in itself didn't make me happy, but it only compounded my anger that I thought that tonight Bart and I were spending some alone time together. Apparently not.

And to make matters EVEN worse, Bart forgot to bring home ALL of my shower things (and his own) that he brought to his office at school, so now I have to go buy a bunch of stuff so I can shower for tomorrow.

This has just felt like a Beat Up Kari Day. It seems that no matter which way I turn, I'm getting the short end of the stick. Every time. I just hope that tomorrow brings a better day. At least I know it will bring hot water.

Old Town Art Festival

Last weekend our little area of Chicago threw an Art Festival that required a huge section of Wells Street to be blocked off. It was TONS of fun, even though Bart and I got poured on. There were literally over one hundred tents that sold everything from handmade jewelry, to blown glass to potstickers and Pina Coladas that were poured into hollowed out pineapples. The only down side was that Bart and I had no money to spend on a nice piece of artwork to bring back to NY with us next fall.

We did, however, have money for food and drinks. Okay, so maybe if we hadn't spent so much money on food and drinks we COULD have bought some art, but it smelled good, okay?!

One of the best things we had were, in Bart's case, an ice cold beer, and in mine, delicious homemade lemonade. We also had the world's best homemade guacamole and homemade tortilla chips from the Adobo tent.

It was so much fun to wander up and down the street and in and out of tents to look at everything people were selling. You wouldn't believe how many people commented on Bart's sweatshirt--at least 4 people selling at the Festival were from Massachusetts! I thought more people would think Bart was from Chatham, IL or something.

I also ate Celtic corn on the cob. It was soooooo good! It's sweet corn that is left in the husk and grilled until it's piping hot and cooked through. Then the husk is pulled back, all the way to the bottom of the cob and the corn silk is pulled out and thrown away. The people selling it dipped THE WHOLE THING in a huge cauldron (I am not kidding, folks, a cauldron) of melted butter and sprinkled it with Celtic seasoning. I'm not sure what the seasoning was made up of, but there was definitely salt and I'm pretty sure dried lemon zest in it. Delicious. There isn't a picture of me eating it for obvious reasons. I was picking corn out of my teeth all night and scalded the roof of my mouth, but oh well.

<----This was what we ended our night with. It took a lot of coaxing on my part for Bart to let me buy one and eat it since it is probably the most unhealthy thing a person could ingest. This, my friends, is a DEEP FRIED SNICKERS BAR. I'll just give you a moment to let that sink in.

So the way they make this amazing bit of deliciousness is that they dip an unwrapped Snickers into Funnel Cake batter and then throw it into a deep fryer. I'm not sure which freaked Bart out more--the fact that it was candy basically covered in more candy, or that it was deep fried within an inch of its life.

Anyway, the batter is made sooooo wonderfully crunchy in the deep fryer and when you cut into it with your fork, Snickers literally ooze out onto the plate. I probably should have waited at least a minute for it to cool, but I didn't and burned the roof of my mouth for the second time that day. Enter second homemade lemonade. I wanted another Snickers, but Bart was, probably rightly, terrified that I would die that night in my sleep of a heart attack if I did, so we left it at the one and went home.

What a glorious day :)