Which ones are the animals?

A few friends and I went to the zoo the other weekend.
Enjoy!

Devlin gets eaten by a Lion!



Look at those strange creatures!




And finally... what is more mature than turtles doin' it!

Fun times

So a couple funny pictures...

Apparently, if your hot dog is tarnished, you can purhcase something at this gas station that will help rectify that problem.

Also, Allie and I went out to our favorite Mexican restaurant and I tried to feed this bird that landed near our table.
Upon closer inspection, the bird was actually painted on the wall. But that didn't keep me from trying.

It has been a rediculously long time since either Jon or I have posted - 2 weeks! I do love you blog, I promise. Work and life and everything has just been crazy. So, until something cool happens, I will leave you with a cool picture of four little eggs. This birdie built a nest in the wreath on the front of Jon's parent's door. You have to be really careful when you open the door to make sure you don't knock any of the eggs out!

Here's to your eventual hatching and flying away, little birdies!

Pixelated imagery

So now that I've had my phone for a couple weeks, I decided to do something with the pictures I've taken with it. Some of them weren't any good, so here are the best three.

Lenny loves to sit in our dining room chairs and play through the bars in the back. He thinks he's such a tough kitty... take a look:

This one's my favorite. It's from the Home and Garden show at the Assembly Hall a while back. There was a booth about (I'm guessing) sidewalks and keeping them even. They had this little sculpture on their table:


Heehee.

It is worthwhile to live/ and fight courageously/ for sacred ideals - Norbert Capek

This week was really, really tough. One of my friends and co-workers Bill Mueller passed away on Monday. He was only 51 and passed away from diabetes related complications. He worked at CCHCC for the last nine years fighting for health care justice for all. He was a kind soul with a mad sense of humor. We are truly a family at CCHCC - a strange little over-worked family, and loosing such an important person is a huge blow. I have spent a lot of time this week at the office, hugging and crying, spending time with fellow CCHCC folks, trying to cope with this. His funeral was today, and hopefully this will be the begining steps to closure.

After the funeral in the morning, I needed to focus on something else and get my mind on something new. Luckily, in the afternoon Jon and I had a meeting with a caterer to talk about food at our wedding reception, and it was a great meeting. The lady was really nice and the food will be wonderful - no meat! We're pretty sure we'll be going with them. My Mom is helping us out with some wedding $$, so we are going to be able to afford this lovely food.

Then after the meeting with the caterer, Jon and I went to a local park to go fly a kite. Jon's Mom bought us a kite several years ago, and we keep it in the trunk of the car for spontaneous windy days. Today was crazy windy - almost too windy - but we tried anyway.


Here is Jon fighting with the kite.


And finally up in the air!



And now my turn.


And finally, here is a picture of the extremely tall clouds that had just passed over Champaign. These clouds were insane! So big! And VERY beautiful. Just the ending I needed to a really difficult week.

These are a few of my favorite things

My leap into the 21st century

I've finally made that all-important leap into the modern era. Yesterday I purchased a mobile phone and plan. The phone I got is actually really cool: a Sony Ericsson W600i. Here's a picture.


It plays MP3s, and it has a 1.3 megapixel camera. Here's more info about it. I'm still getting used to it, but it's really cool so far.


Also, Allie and I are both taking a day off next week to meet with people about wedding stuff. Speicifically food for the reception, and the cake. I think the wedding plans are going very well!

Our American dooty.

Today we did some voting. Go primaries! There are a few interesting races locally, as well as a $65 million school funding referendum to be decided. The numbers aren't in yet, but we'll see soon enough, I'm sure.

Not a whole lot else going on. Jon and I are both crazy busy with work. We're going to take next Friday off, however, and spend some time together and some time doing a bit of wedding planning.

Bitches aint shit!

What another crazy week. I can't believe it is nearly Friday - and there is still so much work to do!

The best part of the week was definitely Tuesday evening, however, when Jon and I got to go to Decatur and see a Ben Folds concert with my sister! Ben Folds was rockin', as usual! We had to sit in the very back, because we got there a bit late after our yummy dinner at Taters, but Kirkland has awesome acoustics, so alls good.

I have a friend (Jim) who does rigging for concerts - speakers, lights, etc. He was doing the Ben Folds concert, and after the concert I saw him on stage getting ready to take stuff apart. Jim knew I was going to be at the concert and that I love Ben Folds, so he was able to snag a souvenir for me!! He was able to get the set list from the piano Ben Folds was playing! (Set list = handwritten piece of paper with a list of songs to play for the evening)

SO COOL!!!!!!!!!! This means Ben Folds and I are friends, yes?

I have made it back after a week in Chicago. I spent Monday - Friday attending Midwest Academy, a school for organizers. Basically they teach you how to take down The Man in a more systematic and organized way! It was a really interesting time, and I definately learned alot. Soon I plan to write a post more fully explaining what the heck I do at work, and what exactly an "organizer" is. Everyone always asks what I do, and I'll do my best to put it into words.

We didn't really have time to do much sight seeing in Chicago, as the training went from 9am to 9pm ever day. However, we did get to take a couple of walks and do a bit of shopping. Here are a few pics from the trip.


Here is me, Katie, and Claudia.




Here is a group shot of of some of the people who we went through the training with. There were about 30 of us total.

Happy Anniversary!

Oh yeah!

And Jon and I had our official 5 year anniversary on Friday! Half a decade!

I love you, Don!!

<3

we be jammin'

This weekend was MUCH needed. It feels like we've been either out of town or working every weekend for months. We got to sleep in a bit, play some Nintendo, and have some fun.

On Saturday Jon and I went bowling!! It had been the first time for both of us in several years. Our first game was something like: Jon: 70 - Allie: 88
The second game was a bit better, somewhere around: Jon: 90 - Allie - 105
It was a lot of fun, and we each got one strike! We also both managed to pull some muscles! Hopefully we'll get to go again soon!



Then today we got the oil changed in the car at Farm and Fleet. We got to wander around for a while when we were waiting for the car, and Jon got into a bit of mischief!!!



We also had a YUMMY lunch at Olive Garden. This cheese dip with bread stuff they have there is SO AMAZING!




I also got a few ideas for wedding decorations. I got these candle sticks from Crate and Barrel and these flowers from this local company called English Hedgerow. English Hedgerow is a restaurant, florist, craft/design shop, and cater all in one! They have wonderful vegi food, we hear, so we're going to talk to someone about catering our wedding!
Here are my ideas...





These are the pretty flower/grass decorative thingy! Lenny wants to EAT the grass so bad!





Here are the candles. The actual candles I got today from Meijer or whatever, and they're a bit too big. But this is just a quick example, and I was also just trying various colors.




And finally, what it could look like all together.



I will be out of town in Chicago for work all next week, so I don't know how much internet access I'll get. I'll do my best to write something, and definitely post when I get back!

Vonnegut in film

Hello out there in Blogland!

Allie and I just watched Slaughterhouse Five last night. It was really good, and very true to the novel. Funny and sad, and weird. I was just looking it up on IMDb this morning and I found out that there are plans to make a movie out of Cat's Cradle, another of Vonnegut's great novels. I'll have to read it again soon before then.

Exciting!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Saw me some Arlo Guthrie last night! We went to the concert for my Dad's birthday. It was a good time.

RIFMY version 1

To counter act the super lame/cheesy wedding related posts, I thought I'd start a new series I like to call Random Images From My Youth (RIMFY). In this context, "youth" is being used very broadly, meaning any time since yesterday. :)




Today's winner comes to us circa early 1990s. That's my little sister Megan (now 16) on the left, me in the middle, and Lori (now 17) on the right. I remember this moment very well, as we were coming back from the Surf Club. The things that pop into my mind are: the TALL diving board, the "Welcome to our Ool, notice there is no P in it, please keep it that way!" sign, and orange arm floaties. We spent a lot more time at the MTZ Swim Club (aka the MTZ Bath Tub), than the Surf Club, but memories of summers at the pool are frequent and fond.

Anyrate, I hope you enjoyed the first installment of RIFMY! Lets hope there are more to come!

Wow...

We have REAL wedding plans going on here!


*As you know, we have a location!
*We also have a confirmed DJ!
*Also confirmed now is the photographer!

I have also called about the dress I want, started discussion with a Reverend, and pretty much decided what the groomsmen should wear.

Go us!

Wedding music

So we met the man who will most likely be the DJ at our wedding reception. He has over 30,000 songs (all digital) and he's very reasonably priced. We met with him at Filippo's Pizza in Mahomet. He was a really nice guy and seemed very experienced and flexible. He's done weddings at the Lake of the Woods several times, so he knows the pavilion very well. I think it's a good fit.

"You yourself begin all over again, in them, with them, and so there is something more to the world again"

There are several little humans in my life, all of which I don't get to see nearly enough. I miss them all dearly, so I thought I'd put some adoable pictures of them up on the blog.

This little dear is Shea. He is my first REAL nephew... or he will be come October. He is the product of Jon's sister Liz and her husband Derek. He is oh so cute and just learning how to crawl. I haven't seen him in over a month, which, in baby time, translates to dozens of developmental milestones that I have missed. He lives over three hours away from us right now, which deeply hurts my heart. Depending on their job situation, they may be moving closer to us somewhat soon, though! I hope i hope i hope!

I bought him that cute little hat by the way! I got it this summer from the Mono Lake Committee!

These little buggars are my cousins Cory and Jordan. They live in Oklahoma and are my Dad's sister (Julie) and her husband's (Kermit) kids. They are five yrs (almost 6!) and three yrs. They are crazy little heathens, but I love them to peices.

Recently my Aunt Julie asked Jon and I if we would be willing to be Jordan and Cory's legal guardians should something happen to both her and Kermit. Even though I'm sure nothing bad will ever happen to them, nor would we ever want anything to, it is very touching to be asked and to be so deeply trusted. I have some of the best memories of my life going to visit my Aunt Julie and Kermit with my sisters, and so I can't wait until Jordan and Cory are old enough to come visit Jon and I and stay for a week or something. I REALLY wish they lived closer, but even an 8 hour drive is worth it to see their nutty faces.

Weekend Update

Tonight we had CHILI DOGS (with cheese and onions)!!!!! Proves, once again, that you can be a vegetarian and still managed to eat junk food.



Also, check out today's Herald and Review. There is an article on Medicare Part D which quotes my co-worker Katie!

5+ years

Five years ago, my life changed forever.

On February 17, 2001, in a dark movie theater, I was quietly introduced to the one person I'd spend the rest of my life with. Of course I didn't know that at the time. Not for a couple more hours.

After the movie (Chocolat), we went to Steak & Shake and I finally got a good look at her. We clicked instantly. It's obvious why now; we were soulmates. In the following days and weeks, everything about life seemed better because of my having met Allie.

I'll never forget the night we met. Before our eyes, a chain of events was set in motion that neither of us had any control over: becoming best friends, falling in love, moving in together, making a life for ourselves, getting married, and then... we'll see what happens next! I'll gladly walk down any unknown path, because I know that with Allie at my side, the world will always be beautiful.