Jillian Michaels Rocks!

Through my insurance plan, I have been participating in a healthy lifestyle program.  It is a 6-week program and it gives daily recipes for healthy eating and a workout plan with cardio and toning exercises.  It is pretty cool that they are offering this to us.  

I love to have a schedule for working out and I feel like because of this program I am really accountable.  They give me sample exercises to do...but...I have found one of the best workout programs that I have ever seen.  It is an exercise program by Jillian Michaels, she is one of the trainers on The Biggest Loser, the show.  She is pretty hard core and has developed this 3-2-1 exercise program that is awesome.  We have Comcast and we can get the workouts through On Demand.  Love it!  Seriously, it kicks my butt in only 20 minutes, but I feel like it's not that hard.  The workouts are very do-able but I completely feel like I have accomplished something in only 20 minutes.  

I was running during the summer...but now that we are back in school it is so hard to find time.  I can go to our fitness center after Jordan goes to bed, but it's hard to get out of the house and it's not really all the exciting to run a hundred laps around a tiny track.  This is great for me right now.  We'll see what kind of results I get in a few weeks.  If you are looking for a new or different kind of workout this is definitely one to try!

Slaughterhouse Five

Most Recently Read Book:

Slaughterhouse Five

Kurt Vonnegut

Chad and I are huge fans of the TV show Lost.   I have always been intrigued by some of the books that pop in the shows.  Lots of times Sawyer, of all people, will be reading a book on the island.  On the Lost website there is a "book club" list of all the books that have somehow been either talked about or read or on a book shelf somewhere in the Lost episodes.  While I was looking through these lists I saw Slaughterhouse Five.  I had heard of the book before and  decided to pick it up at the library.

I really had no idea what to expect from this book, but it was definitely an interesting book solely based upon how Vonnegut writes.  He has a very unique style.  The story is about a man who is a prisoner of war during World War II and who ends up being in Dresden when it is bombed, and basically obliterated during WWII.  The back cover of the book talks about how it is a serious book and has emotional subjects but it's presented in such a way that it's almost funny and never do you feel like shedding a tear.  It is definitely an interesting perspective on being in the war.  

In terms of being on the Lost list, the character "time travels" and is abducted by aliens at one point so I guess that somehow has a link to Lost because the characters on the TV show are in some kind of time traveling or time warp.  Soon the final season of Lost will start and hopefully it'll all make sense soon!

Overboard

Most Recently Read Book:

Overboard

By Elizabeth Fama

This was a quick adventure/survival teen read.  Emily, the main character, is in Sumatra because her parents are doctors who help sick children there.  She gets frustrated that she had to move away from the United States and her home to Sumatra where the culture and climate and many other things in her life are different.  She decides to take a ferry to an island to visit her uncle...without telling her parents.  While on the overcrowded ferry, it sinks.  Emily struggles to survive through the night out in the ocean.  She meets Isman, a young boy, who helps her make it through the ordeal.  I think young adults would really enjoy reading this book because of the survival aspect.  

Peony In Love

Most Recently Read Book:

Peony In Love

By Lisa See

Loved it!  This is the second book I have read by Lisa See.  The first was Snow Flower and the Secret Fan.  That book was very well written as well.  I think they definitely go hand in hand and if you are going to read them then probably read Snow Flower first, but they are both very good books.  These are historical fiction pieces about girls/women growing up in China.  It gives a great description of what it had to have been like for these girls/women.  The traditions are very interesting and sometimes unbelievable.  I definitely recommend these two books by Lisa See. 

16-month-old Jordan!

Last night I tried to take some pictures of Jordan.  I really wish I could get a picture of him smiling but it is so hard!!!   I can usually get a few serious shots, like this one:

I used eehee as a ploy during this one.  I was hoping he would stand still and smile for me.  Isn't he cute with his eehee?  He just loves it so much.  This one is the perfect size for him.  We have multiple eehees so he is never without...one for my car, Chad's car, Jordan's bedroom/in the crib, and Patty's house.  This picture is just a little blurry, but it's still cute. 

It seems like at this age Jordan is just into everything and playing with everything.  Everything is soooo interesting.  It's hard to get his attention away from stuff so he can look at the camera.  Sheesh!  I think we were playing with MegaBlocks here, he was excited!  

I still can't believe my little peanut is 16 months old (yesterday).  He is so not a baby any more.  I cherish every chance I get to snuggle with him or give him hugs because it seems like he's on the go all the time.  It's very fun to watch him become more of a big boy every day!

About the Type

This is totally random, but over the summer I was chatting with my sister, Jacquie, and her boyfriend, Joe about books when we started talking about how sometimes books will have a random page in the back where they tell you all about what kind of font and what size font they used for the book.  Jacquie had never seen this before and Joe and I were trying to describe it.  

Today I was calculating how many pages I still have to read in our book club book before we meet to talk about it when I happened upon such a font page as we had been talking about.   I had to laugh...and then take a picture to post!  

Guilty Indulgences

This weekend and today I made two exciting purchases.  I have been thinking about these things and finally splurged with my budget money to get them.   

First, this weekend I bought a fuschia Beijo wallet.  My friend Nikki's mom sells Beijo purses.  She gave me and the other girls in Nikki's wedding all Beijo purses to match our bridesmaid dresses.  I had never heard of Beijo, but Oprah has!  For my birthday, Nikki gave me a chocolate mini-wallet, which I love!  Unfortunately I needed a place to put all my gift cards or frequent shopper cards...so I bought a larger wallet.  I love the feel of the material, I have no idea how to describe it.  It's super smooth and the wallet just fits so nicely in my hand.  It's sleek.  That's a great word for it.  I love this bright pink color, too.  Here is my beautiful new wallet:

And today, after lots of consideration and deliberation I stopped at Vera Bradley on the way home to buy the Mod Floral Pink Hipster bag.  All summer I have wanted a bag I can throw over my shoulder...and now I have found it.  I remember seeing old ladies with Vera Bradley purses when I was in high school and always thinking they were cool..even though they kind of seemed like they were for old ladies.  I really love this new pattern and I don't think Vera Bradley is for old ladies at all.  The store is really neat with lots of colors and just bags on shelves every where.  I was so excited to get home and put all my stuff in my new purse.  Love it!

I have been more careful lately as far as my purchases.  I really think about what I want and then buy something that is really worth spending the money on versus spending it on little things or on Starbucks (although I so love Starbucks).  I thought long and hard about my two purchases and I felt good when I bought them because of it.  Honestly, I think a girl deserves to buy herself some nice things every once in a while...or once every paycheck.  Life's short, we've got to live a little!  

Football Season is Back!

I am so happy to announce that football season is back in gear!  We got to relax on Sunday and watch football all day.  It was great!  Chad had a killer game of fantasy football which was fun, too.  Jordan is finally old enough to watch with dad.  He loved saying, "Go!" 

Our friends, Christina and Eric came over to watch the Bears game with us.  We put Jordan to bed and then Chad grilled up some of his yummy, bacon, cheddar burgers, my favorite!  Best of all Bears won!

  

Congratulations Chris and Nikki Rhode!

Congratulations Chris and Nikki Rhode!

This weekend, Chad and I were in our friends, Chris and Nikki's, wedding in Batavia, Illinois. We were excited to both be a part of their wedding. Nikki is super

organized and everything went well. The weather was perfect for their outdoor wedding. We ate great food and danced the night away.

Chad, Chris, Nikki, and Jen

Nikki's bouquet
Nikki and Jen
Chris and Chad
Here are Chad and I all dressed.  I love Chad in a tuxedo.  I don't really wear that much green, but I really loved the color of our dresses. 
Here we are a little bit closer up and you can see my earrings and necklace.  I helped Nikki design and put together the jewelry for everyone in the wedding.  I think they turned out great!  The whole wedding was beautiful!

Back to School 2008

Luckily, we didn't get home too late from the Backstreet Boys and I still got a decent night of sleep before having to head back to school.  Chad and I both had meetings on Monday.  Chad had a half day on Tuesday and mine first day was Wednesday.  Here I am on my first day of school.  When I left Chad and Jordan were still sleeping...so we don't have their first day pictures, but Jordan had a great day and loved being back at Patty's.  Chad's first week was kind of wild with his office being barely done and trying to get things organized, but we all survived!

BACKSTREET BOYS!

Woo hoo!  Backstreet Boys!!!  Because we were in complete denial of the fact that we had to go back to school, we decided to go out on Sunday night, the day before we had to go back to school.  It was a great way to end our summer.  Jacquie and Joe met at our house and then we drove to downtown Highland Park to take the free shuttle to Ravinia.  It worked out great.  We were there early enough to get pretty decent lawn space and we really spread out.  We feasted on Subway and waited for the show to begin.  Girlicious opened for the Backstreet Boys...and they really were not good.  It didn't matter though, all was forgotten when the Backstreet Boys took the stage.  We had to try and get close for a look.  We didn't expect a wild mosh pit, but young girls get pretty wild and that's what we got.  We were able to wiggle our way pretty close and could see the Boys.  They were still dancing and doing their synchronized dance moves.  Gotta love it!  It was so amazing how easily we remembered all the words to their songs!

Don't mind my crazy singing in the video!  Here we are in the crowd.  Notice the butt to the left of my face of a girl sitting on her dad's shoulders!

Joe and Jacquie

Chad and Jen

Silvia and Rob

Speak

Most Recently Read Book:

Speak

By Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak is about a girl who calls the police during a high school party one night after something very traumatic happens to her.  Everyone at the party is mad that she called the cops and she becomes an outcast during her first year of high school.  Speak is her story during that year.  I thought this was a very interesting book.  I had never read a book from this perspective.  It is definitely a serious book but I think it would be worthwhile for young adults to read this book to get an idea of what it might be like to deal with what she deals with.  

5 Chad Favorites!

5 Chad Favorites!

1. Chad is a wonderful, loving husband.  Even though he can get cranky sometimes, he really is a great man.  He worries about me and takes care me of me and deals with my craziness.

2. Chad is a great dad.  Chad is a great husband, but I think he is an even better dad.  I love to watch him play with Jordan and make Jordan laugh.  He loves to get him cool toys and take him places.  

3. Chad loves to sing.  Chad makes me laugh all the time when he sings songs and puts in his own lyrics.  He is always cracking me up.  

4. Chad has tons of energy.  Well, sometimes he gets tired, but when it's about something he loves, like Jordan or the Bears or American Idol, he has unlimited amounts of energy and he gets so excited.  His enthusiasm gets everyone else excited, too.  

5. Chad is a geniune friend.  Chad is my best friend, but he is also great to his/our other friends and family.  He really cares about people and what is going on in their lives.  If he tells you he's gonna be there, he'll be there, and early.  If you need him for anything, he finds a way to make it work.  He's a great friend.

Happy Birthday Chad 2008!

Happy Birthday Chad!  On Chad's real birthday we celebrated with out little family.  Chad got some fun presents that Jordan tried to help him open.  

We went out to Dairy Dream for soft serve, Chad's favorite.  Jordan really likes ice cream now although it's pretty messy!

Party at Pat's!

We celebrated Chad's birthday a little bit early at Pat's Pizza because they have all-you-can-eat on Wednesday nights.  Check out these huge slices of pizza!  Added bonus, at Pat's you get to throw the peanut shells on the floor!

Chad got some pretty cool presents for his birthday.  Look at Jordan checking out his cool dad!

Gotta love the Bears gear!

Happy Birthday Chad!!!