Julsus Christ

Praise Julsus! Can I get an Amen?

Winter Wonderland

My company let us out early today due to the storm that has dumped 12+ inches of snow! Woot woot! This is yet another storm to hit the Chicago area in less than a week and the meteorologists are already saying this is going to be one of the snowiest winters on record. Having the afternoon off I decided to drive around and take some pictures of my neighborhood which was transformed into a winter wonderland.

After The Storm

As you can tell from the picture of Brian above, there is a butt load of snow! The storm dropped 8 to 12 inches of snow across the Chicagoland area! Not a record but still quite impressive.

2.5 Hour Commute Home!!!

Yes, my normal 25min commute turned into 2.5 hours last night thanks to the latest winter storm to hit the Chicagoland area. Stupid winter!!!

Bald Eagles Along The Illinois River

Earlier today we drove to Starved Rock State Park for Bald Eagle Watch 2008. We joined hundreds of others to watch the wintering Bald Eagles along the Illinois River. We saw roughly 40 eagles. Some were perched on trees and others were flying around and diving towards the river to catch fish! This was my first time seeing a Bald Eagle in the wild so it was pretty exciting. Thanks to Brian's bright idea, I was able to take some close up shots of the birds by taking pictures via my binoculars with my point and shoot camera.

Frigid Temperatures

Today was good hibernating weather as temperatures outside reached the single digits for a high. Luckily we have south facing windows which made for a balmy 79 degrees indoors. The heater did not go on once!

Amy Got A Baby

Today Brian and I found out that Amy was having a baby!!! We met up with her and hubby Tom, Beth, Bob, and Val for lunch today. And thanks to today's technolgoy I can show you a pic of the baby in the Amy's tummy as well as a picture of us all at lunch. Congrats Ames!

Karaoke With The Boys

So yesterday I had a lot of fun. I met up with my longtime friends (Craig, Peter, Mark and Jason) for dinner and then drinks at a bar. Well, it just so happened to be Karaoke night at the bar. Mark started off the evening by singing Elton John's "Daniel" and a beautiful rendition of Brooks and Dunn's "Neon Moon". The pressure was on for the rest of us to get up and sing so after a few drinks, Peter took to the stage and sang Kelly Clarkson's "Since U Been Gone". I followed up by singing Soul Asylum's "Runaway Train". After hell froze over Brian took to the stage and sang Bowling For Soup's "Ohio". John rounded out the evening by singing Dixie Chick's "Wide Open Spaces". A good time was had by all! Below are some pics and clips of the evening!

Baking Cookies With Joe, Sam, and Kids

Last night we went to Joe and Samantha's house to bake some cookies with the kids. We made pizelles and sugar cookies. The adults had some wine and then it got really crazy when we all started singing and dancing which made for a very merry evening!

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town

OMG, I just bought Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town on DVD!!! Yeyyyyy!

What's Hansolo Packin'?

Is it just me or does anyone else notice what Hansolo is packin' in his pants? This was on display at the Museum of Science and Industry this past week.

Star Wars Exhibit

Yesterday Paul, Brian and I decided to take a day off of work go to the Museum of Science and Industry to see the Star Wars exhibit. My employee discount got us in for $5 bucks a person! Can't beat that! I was able to meet Queen Amidala of the Naboo and see many of the props that were used in making the movies. Below are some of the interesting pics that were taken.

Seperated at birth?

What's funnier? The fact that Brian is picking the Duck-Billed dinosaurs nose or the fact that he looks just like it? Seperated at birth perhaps? I think so!

Christmasmarket

Yesterday Brian, Shep, Chesca, and Aaron went into the city to see the maps exhibit at the Field museum. After that we headed to the Christmasmarket downtown and it was FREEZING!!!! Below are a few pics, and I mean a few since it was so damn cold out!

Wiesbaden

I thought the picture below was quite funny. I decided to take a picture with the sad and happy lion statues atop the Neroberg hill in Wiesbaden. After doing a little sight seeing we all walked around town to do a little shopping. I ended up buying the most beautiful cuckoo in the whole world! Not only does it "cuckoo" but it plays "Adelweise" and "The Happy Wander" at the top of every hour while little figurines dance around. Ich liebe meine cuckoo clock!!!

Surprise!? Happy Birthday Jeanie!

Brian and I made a special trip to Germany to surprise his mother for her birthday. As you can tell from the clip above, she was very "surprised". She later told us that she had a gut feeling we were coming. Her expression was priceless. :-)

When I grow up I want to be a _______________.

Photo courtesy of an Lui5.com fan.

Lost In A Maiz Maze

Last night Brian, Paul, Mark and I went to the Richardson Farm which has the world's largest corn maze. The conditions were just right for a late night maze under a full moon. With the light of our illuminted cell phones we were able to zigzag our way through the maze and find all 24 checkpoints in a little over 2 hours. We received our certificates of completion and became true SUPERSTARS!

Cranfest 2007

This weekend we went to the world's biggest Cranberry Festival in Warrens, Wisconsin. This was our 2nd year in a row and just like last year, we had a great time! We also got to meet Anna and Kirby's new puppy, Mika. Thanks again to Anna, Kirby, Seth and Mary for hanging out with us.