5 Friday Favorites!

It's been quite a while...as in almost (but not quite) a year since I last posted one of my "5 Favorite" posts. Coming at you now: 5 Friday Favorites!

1. Really relaxing. It feels so good to be home, to be done with the week, to know I don't have to get up early tomorrow...unless I want to for (most likely) something fun!

2. Comfy clothes. It's kind of an unwritten rule that you can be comfy and casual on Fridays. I have some schools that wear uniforms so I don't let myself wear jeans (gasp!) but today I broke out my sneakers. My feet felt light all day...I actually ran to my car from one of my schools and it just felt great.

3. Movie Night Somehow Friday night seems to end up as a movie night. I think it's just the best way to really relax and wind down. After a long week, we're usually so tired we just want to veg.

4. Perfectly Hot Air Popped Popcorn Yum! Well, what did you expect? You have to have popcorn if you're gonna watch a movie! We bought a hot air popper at Wal-Mart maybe a year ago for $20 and it's one of the best investments we've made!

5. Pizza! Growing up, I feel like we almost always had pizza on Friday nights. Silo, sausage, deep dish pizza. Double yum. Triple yum, in fact. We don't seem to order pizza as much on Fridays as we have in the past...but believe me it's one of the best nights for pizza. Maybe we'll bring the Friday night pizza night tradition back!

What about you? What are your Friday favorites?? I think it's important to recognize and celebrate the good things in our lives!

5 Fall Favorites!

5 Fall Favorites!

1. The beautiful color-changing leaves!  I love that we live in a part of the country that has four season, especially in the fall, when the leaves change to yellows and reds and oranges.  I love it.  I remember as a kid we used to drive around in Lake Forest to see all the trees.  When I lived in DeKalb, I remember going home and seeing the leaves and realizing how even from DeKalb to Lake Forest, the scenery could be so different even.  It's not fall without changing leaves!

2. The cool sweater-wearing weather.  I love being able to go out in a sweater but not needing a coat just yet.  I love being able to wear my vest, too.  

3. Halloween!  That includes dressing up, trick-or-treating, and carving pumpkins.  This year we have had so much fun with Jordan.  He loves pumpkins.  Everywhere we go he looks for pumpkins. 

4. Pumpkins...in food!  I love carving pumpkins, but I love eating pumpkins in food just as much!  Pumpkin bread, pumpkin muffins, pumpkins pie, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin coffee...it's pumpkinlicious!

5. Apples...crunch!  I love the apple season, too.  We love to go to the apple orchard.  Edward's has the best apple donuts.  Mmm...freshly baked, they are so yummy.  I love caramel apples and apple cobbler.  

5 Aunt Jacquie Favorites!

5 Aunt Jacquie Favorites!

1. She drives me crazy like only a sister can!  And, I admit, I drive her crazy, too.  I think it's part of the job title.  

2.  She loves to come over and play with Jordan.  She loves her nephew.  It's fun to see her hang out with Jordan.

3. She loves to read fun young adult books and gets into them as much as I do!  This summer we had so much fun reading the Fablehaven series, the Percy Jackson series, the Maximum Ride series, and, of course, the Twilight series!

4.  She's very sentimental.  Our dad calls her Princess Tender Heart and she does have a serious tender heart when it comes to sentimental stuff from our childhood or last week. 

5. She loves Full Moon ice cream.  The girl knows what she likes, and one think she likes is Full Moon ice cream from Sweets, the ice cream/candy shop in downtown Lake Forest where we grew up...not to be sentimental...

5 Papa Jack Favorites!

5 Papa Jack Favorites!

1. Papa Jack is always the voice of reason.  Ever since I was a kid I could always talk things out with my dad and he could help me figure out what was going on and how I could deal things.  I have fond memories of waiting for the bus with my dad talking about life.

2. Papa Jack always has a good hug in him.  Papa Jack is just a big teddy bear who is always ready to wrap you up in a great hug. 

3. Papa Jack comes to the rescue when you need him.  Any time I had a car problem or a house problem or any other kind of problem, my dad was only a phone call away. 

4.  Papa Jack always has encouraging words of wisdom.  Papa Jack has some great words of wisdom in him, my favorite: Nothing is impossible if broken down into manageable segments, stabilized by faith, and purified by belief.  It's  a classic.

5.  Papa Jack is a great cook!  No one can deny the man can cook and we love it when he does!  

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.

5 Grandma Favorites!

5 Grandma Favorites!

1. Grandma always has a positive attitude.  My mom has to be one of the most optimistic people I know.  She looks for the good in things and tries to have a good time no matter what.  She's so fun and cheery.

2. Grandma is always willing to babysit.  Chad and I are so thankful for my parents in regards to how much they take care of Jordan.  We know that if we ever need (or want) a babysitter they are always there.  

3. Grandma goes along with my crazy projects.  In my 28 years I have come up with some crazy projects, from last-minute Halloween costumes to sewing purses, she is always there willing to help me as much as she can.  

4. Grandma cheers me on when I run.  Runs are usually early in the morning, and sometimes in cold weather.  My mom is always ready to be out there watching me run.  Today, she was asking me what she needs to do so she can start running.  Love it!

5. Grandma always thinks about other people.  It's easy to overlook this, but my mom is a very caring and thoughtful person.  We joke about how she will ask me questions about what Chad likes when Chad is sitting right next to me...but really, she's just trying to do things for Chad.  In the mornings when/if I talk to her on the way to work, she always remembers to tell me to have a good day.  It's these little things that are so easy to miss, but that make her such a thoughtful person.  

5 Mundelein Favorites!

5 Mundelein Favorites!

1. Barefoot Bay.  On the way home from Barefoot Bay yesteday we realized how much we really like Mundelein.  This year we bought season passes for our park district's water park and we have loved being able to go over there any time we want.  It's a beautiful park.

2. Fremont Public Library.  The library has to be my favorite part of Mundelein.  It is a fairly new facility and they have tons of adult and young adult books.  They have lots of activities and a fun summer program.  Jordan did Baby Jam this summer where he got to go sing and dance with lots of other kids.  Love it!

3. St. Mary's of the Annunciation.  We have been members at St. Mary's almost since we moved here and it's a beautiful church.  We just celebrated the pork and corn roast with them which is always fun.  I just feel really welcome there.

4. Super Target.  This is the one place in Mundelein we are probably at most, second only to home, of course.  We like having Target so close.  We get everything we need there.  When we take Jordan we buy popcorn and let him snack on popcorn while we shop.  It's fun!

5. Patty.  Patty is our daycare provider and we love her!  I am so glad that we are able to take Jordan to Patty.  Jordan is going to be excited to go back to Patty's house in a few weeks where he can play with all the other kids there.

5 1/2. Our House.   I'm going to add this one just because I realized how much we do love our house.  I love our little neighborhood.  It's exactly 1 mile around, which is perfect for when I run.  It's nice a quiet.  I love our vaulted ceiling and all the windows, this morning I was looking out our window and the sun was peeking through the leaves of the trees outside.  It was really pretty.  We will be sad to move someday. 

5 Twilight Favorites!

5 Twilight Favorites!

1. Edward!  I'm sorry, but how can you not like Edward?  He is Bella's beloved vampire.  He is completely passionate.  He is strong and opinionated.  He sparkles!!!!

2. Vampires in general.  Edward is a vampire, but he also has his family of vampires: Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Jasper, Rosalie, and Emmett.  They are such a great family and watch out for each other.  I love how these books are just normal fiction stories but with vampires.  It really makes me feel like vampires maybe do exist!

3. Forks.  I had never heard of Forks, Washington before I read this series.  Now, I hope I can visit some day!  I looked at pictures online, the "green" there is just absolutely beautiful.  Plus, they now have all sorts of fun and cheesy touristy things to do there now that Twilight is based there.  Love it!

4. True love.  I'm a sucker for love stories.  I love love stories that go on for four books!  I am so happy to see Bella and Edward in love and living happily ever after.  

5. Bella.  Now that I really reflect upon all four books in this series, I really do like Bella, the main main character.  Her nickname is "Danger Magnet" because she always seems to get into trouble and needs saving (usually by Edward, how convenient).  I like that Bella has some strong opinions throughout the book and stands up for herself as much as she can against Edward.  She isn't afraid (well, sometimes, depending on the vampires) to hang out with vampires or werewolves.  She is brave and she looks out for her family and those she loves throughout the whole series, but especially at the end.  Gotta love strong women!  

**Please notice that Jacob is not on this list.  I am not really a Jacob fan.  Although, he did grow on me in Breaking Dawn, the final book.  Sorry, Jake!

5 Summer Favorites!

I think it would be fun to celebrate all the great things in life so I'm going to start posts about 5 Favorites!  I really think focusing on the good things in life are important.  I also believe that we need to cherish every moment and to realize how blessed we are in life.  To start, I thought I would list my 5 summer favorites!

5 Summer Favorites!

1. No school!  Being off for the summer has to be the number one best thing about being a teacher!  I love working with the kids and helping them learn but nothing beats being home with my hubby and my son all summer!  

2. Flip flops!  I love wearing sandals.  I have a ton of pairs of flip flops, probably twice as many pairs of flip flops that Chad has gym shoes, and as a physical education teacher he has a ton of gym shoes!  It just feels good for my feet to be free!  Plus, I love seeing my cute toes with their pink nail polish.

3. Water fun!  We have had so much fun going to the water park.  I love to watch Jordan go down the slide.  This week we went to the water park with our friend Kathy and her daughter Maddy.  The water park is not as relaxing as it used to be before we had Jordan because we chase him around everywhere, but it's still fun!

4. The grill!  Chad grills all the time in the summer.  It's nice because he does all the grilling but mostly because I love food from the grill.  Tonight he grilled hot dogs and corn on the cob.  It was fantastic.  We went to a Farmer's Market today and bought lots of summer squash and I can't wait to get that on the grill.  Yum!  I love all the summer fruits, too (see post below).

5. Big Brother!  Okay, I'm going to admit it, we watch Big Brother.  It's a reality show that usually is only on during the summer.  It's on 3 days a week, gotta love that!  It's kind of like Real World except there are 13 people living in a house and someone gets evicted every week.  There are lots of competitions and other things going on that make it very interesting.  Chad and I get addicted.  I have to say, though, this is about the only show I watch.  If you turn on our TV it's usually set to ESPN, and our DVR has either Big Brother or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse recording.  With the weather so nice, who has time (or wants) to sit inside and watch TV all day?

 What are you summer favorites?  Please share!