sept 11th

Just a note to remember all those who have lost loved ones...not a day can go by that we don't think about these angels we are so blessed to have. 

My little angel army:)
AE, BT, FC

Peanut

I realize I have yet to comment on Peanuts weekend with the dog sitter...hilarious. The girl is a little interesting... is is common for a pet sitter to ask u if you have a belt she can borrow and where your nail polish is? I am unsure as to how we personally like her but I will say Peanut seemed fine when we got home. When we first open the bedroom door where his crate is he seemed really confused to see us he just stared at me then he started whining and cryign and yelling... now hes back to being himself:) thats all for now

j

Chicago day 5

On day five we woke up later than normal (930) and ate breakfast at the b and b...we said bye to the lovely owners and headed to HARPO studios:) The store was closed but we took some pictures outside and peeked in windows. On the way home we hit the outlets which was insane! But we really didn't buy anything on the drip besides some magnets at the sears tower so I treated myself to a new watch to commemorate the trip on sale of course and pat treated himself to a pair of timberland's... on clearance:) Now we are home in bed reviewing the picture and playing with Peanut who we missed dearly! Hope all is well back to work tomorrow:)

j

Chicago Day 4

On day 4 we went to the Alder Planetarium and to the Field museum. By now we were kind of tired of museums...actually tired in general! We went to a yummy brunch sport and had pancakes. Patrick had 4 berry and white chocolate and I had lemon ricotta coconut gram cracker... or something like that either way very yummy.  Then we went to our friend Joeys Birthday party and meet up with Billy and Scott:) It was great to see the guys and Joeys house is so cozy!! Day 5 is go home day we we don't have much planned so we will see...

j

Chicago Day 3

Day three started with another yummy break fest at our B and B. We then headed to the Shedd aquarium which was amazing, but it was probably the busiest place we have been yet! After that we went lunch at a place not worth mentioning followed by Navy Pier! What a interesting place! The lines for the rides were too long to wait in but we did watch the Cirque Shanghai AMAZING! After the show we had tickets for the Tall ship windy sailboat so we set sail and got some amazing twilight pictures!. Last we with to a place called dicks for dinner which was basically a pub where they are know for a comedy bit.. the purposely are rude and make hilarious hats for people! Headed home and literally crashed:) Hope all is well back home we are missing our pup like crazy ttyl:)

J

Chicago day 2

Well Day 2 was just as exciting as day 1 was! Fist we went to the museum of science and industry for the Harry Potter Exhibit, which was awesome! Don't worry its next stop is BOSTON MA!!!! Then we left there are headed to Smoque a restaurant off the blue like that has amazing BBQ...this is another restaurant from dinner drive-in and dives! After that we went to Sears Tower and took some amazing pics of Chicago and walked into the skydeck (YIKES) it is basically a clear plastic (industrial strength) so you can walk into and look straight down into the city! After that we went to our new favorite Tea store Argo... and the Red Sox Game which was BRUTAL!!! PICS TO COME:) TTYL

CHICAGO day 1

Here's a little update an some pics...first we went to six flags which was fun! No lines no waiting we literally would walk right onto the rides! Pat and I did realize we aren't as young as we use to be though! By the end of four hours we were beat and luckily had done every roller coaster in the park. Unfortunately our heads were killing us so Excedrin was needed! After we went to Kumas Corner and had an amazing burger with caramelize onions, brie and spiced pear yum yum! It was like a heavy metal pub lots of fun and great people watching. We then drove to the B and B to settle in and walked to get our tee passes and go into the city to walk around...we found millennium park and took load of pictures.. enjoy:)

im sorry if it doesnt work i'll add them when i get home!

Bye bye see you next week!!

CHICAGO here we come!!:) We in less then 18 hours. Life is good Patrick and I haven't seen each other since Sunday, we have been working opposite shift, but the trip planning has been split in between the two of us:) I am excited to talk to him tomorrow! We haven't even started packing but knowing us we will wake up in the am and do that. Say a little prayer for good weather for the trip so far it looks nice. I have some new yummy recipes for you first is Quarterback chicken and second is Hollywood squares(not good for you at all but yummy, make a batch and freeze a lot so you don't eat them all!), so go to the tasty kitchen website and look them up! For the chicken one I would half the mayo/Dijon it made way too much for me! Anyway that's really all for now we are just gonna try to finish up a few things tonight/tomorrow and leave in the early am:) Wish us well. Miss you!

Love and Hugs 

J

p.s. where should we visit next? Mall of America?? let us know what you think!

Money money money money:)

Trips planned:) We received our Go Chicago cards in the mail and have a list of good restaurants to visit! We are staying at a B and B to save some money and they serve breakfast daily so we will save money there as well:)  Plan is to go to Six flags Great American on Thursday then to the B and B that night and to spend the next 4 days in Chicago 3 days with our Go Chicago card and the last doing free stuff in town and visiting friends:) All very exciting. Pet sitter has me nervous but we have a back up plan with a friend in town just in case. Patrick bought his hockey skates for next season... wow it is an expensive sport! I was totaling up the cost of supplies if you had to buy all your gear... its insane! He is excited though!! Once the Chicago trip is over so is his summer so he's really looking to enjoy himself before another year of school and hockey. He also has his Europe trip coming up this year right after thanksgiving so he has a lot to look forward too! I forgot to mention that he is selling raffle tickets (profits go to the trip) for 10$ a piece or 3 for 25$ there are a whole bunch of prices including 1000$ 750$, 500$ 250$ cash, and free weekend trip to Vegas... if your interested let him or I know:)

that's all for now love and hugs 

J

Oats!

I have to speak of our obsession with oats lately:) Here are two of our new favorite recipes and please make note that they make large servings so we are currently still eating these two things...:) The recipes are from my new favorite website tasty kitchen which you an find the link for on this page under "website" how convenient!

First: Basis granola

• 4 cups Old Fashioned Oats
• ½ cups Chopped Pecans
• ¾ cups Slivered Almonds
• ¾ cups Brown Sugar
• ¼ cups Water
• 2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• ½ teaspoons Table Salt

• 1. Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Line two large sheet pans with parchment paper.

  2. Combine oats and nuts in a large bowl.

  3. In a small, microwavable bowl, combine sugar, water, vanilla, and salt. Microwave on high 2-3 minutes, or until sugar is dissolved and the mixture resembles maple syrup.

  4. Pour syrup over oats and stir until oats and nuts are coated.

  5. Divide mixture among the two pans and spread into a thin, even layer.

  6. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until golden and a bit crispy.

  (You can stir the mixture occasionally so that it browns more evenly and the nuts don’t burn. I also rotate my pans between oven racks a few times during the baking process.)

  7. Let cool completely before storing in airtight containers or resealable bags.

  Second: Baked Oatmeal (serve warm with fresh cold fruit)

  • 6 cups Oatmeal (quick Or Rolled Oats)
  • 2 cups Brown Sugar
  • 1 cup Oil
  • 4 whole Eggs, Lightly Beaten
  • 2 cups Milk
  • 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
  • 2 teaspoons Salt
  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased 9X13-inch baking pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Serve warm with milk….or not.
  • 
    
  Now  I justify the not so good ingredients in the second recipe  because per serving size this is  not bad for you... yes if I gobbled up the entire 9 by 13 I would be in trouble but if you only have a 3 by 3 piece its not that bad for you:) tasty yummy too! I will be trying more granolas due to our current obsession with oats:) enjoy

Go Chicago....

I bought our Go Chicago Cards:) Now Patrick is in charge of the Hotel (eeeekkkk) I just pray we have a roof over our head when we get there. In all fairness he is pretty good at finding places to stay he did find our home here in WI with no help for me. We have to buy our passes to the Harry potter exhibit separately and we want to book our sailboat tour (included in the Go Chicago card) before we go. We have spoken with our pet sitter and she's all in for the trip:) We also have Red Sox tickets for Friday night(Patrick gave them to me as a gift last Valentines day). We can get our transportation passes when we arrive and we are holding off on six flags tickets until we have a better idea as to what the weather will be like. One big set back with the hotels is that car parking fee... can you believe it? Hotels don't come with parking you have to pay extra as a guest of the hotel to park your car!! INSANE So may times we have thought we had a good hotel that was affordable to be blown away by parking cost even hostel for 2 people and parking can be 80+. No needless to say we are still working on this.. one option is something like The loop Chicago hotel but I guess its a hotel in a "up and coming area" the reviews don't speak well about the neighborhood at night... and the parking is fee but not watched or gated. Frustrating...oh well that's the update for now! Hope all is well back home. Hear your weather is much better than ours has been!! JEALOUS but I hear your all enjoying it and you deserve it after all that rain you had so soak up the sun and think of us working all weekend...

love an hugs from WI

jen

Harley Davidson

We ended up going to Milwaukee to the Harley Davidson Museum yesterday! The weather didn't get any better and we decided not to take the chance of drive 2 hours to a water park to have thunder and lightening storms all day. We left EARLY in the morning and headed to Milwaukee our first stop was of course Dunkin Donuts for coffee!! YAY every time we hit the city we stop for a coffee there because that is the closest DD around:( 2 hours away! The we went to the museum and left there around 2pm. We then located a AMAZING Irish restaurant where we had corned beef hash with poached eggs, and Eggs Benedict with crab cakes...yum yum way better then we expected and the prices were even more amazing! Everything made from scratch! We left there and hit up Whole foods because that doesn't exist near us either followed but the humane society and back home around  7 pm. Our pet sitter took care of Peanut and gave us a great report saying he was a doll and caused no problems at all! Anyway we still want to go to Noah's Ark in the Wisconsin Dells this summer so cross you fingers for us! Here are some great pics! For more pics look on my facebook account there are 3 albums with like 50-60 pics in each album!