This is my first full week of work since October... November was so nice!
This past weekend after we got back from Peru, Indiana, my parents came up to Chicago for a visit. We went wedding dress shopping on Saturday out to the 'burbs and my sister found her wedding dress! I love it and it looks beautiful on her! Actually, just about every dress she tried on looked gorgeous on her... she could walk down the aisle in a trash bag and still look great! : )
On Saturday night, we went to dinner at Pete's Pizza - yum! Then we all went to see the movie Blind Side. I liked the movie a lot. I didn't really know the whole story about Michael Oher before seeing the movie.
Yesterday, Matt picked out his tuxedo for the NYE wedding reception. The boy is going to look sharp! I can't wait to see him all decked out! : )
Last night, we had breakfast for dinner and I tried out our new waffle maker. It's awesome! I love waffles!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Turkey Day
I hope everyone had a nice turkey day and stuffed themselves! I know I did! : )
Matt and I went to his hometown of Peru, Indiana for the festivities. We drove there on Wednesday and came back early Saturday morning. While we were there, we ate lots of food and enjoyed visiting with everyone.
Matt and Ryan's cousin Scott got schooled in euchre by the girls (me and Scott's girlfriend, Kelly). It was actually a really close game, came down to the last hand. Intense!
Quite a crowd for the Thanksgiving day meal
Matt loves Thanksgiving
Best idea ever = turkey + gravy + noodles - which you put on top of the mashed potatoes = YUM!
On Friday night, we had taco night at Ryan's parents' house and a friend of Matt's from high school came over with his fiance'. We played a new game that we got called Smart Ass. The guys won that game... not because they are smart asses. You have to figure out who/what/where am I type questions by the clues read.
Matt and I went to his hometown of Peru, Indiana for the festivities. We drove there on Wednesday and came back early Saturday morning. While we were there, we ate lots of food and enjoyed visiting with everyone.
Matt and Ryan's cousin Scott got schooled in euchre by the girls (me and Scott's girlfriend, Kelly). It was actually a really close game, came down to the last hand. Intense!
Quite a crowd for the Thanksgiving day meal
Matt loves Thanksgiving
Best idea ever = turkey + gravy + noodles - which you put on top of the mashed potatoes = YUM!
On Friday night, we had taco night at Ryan's parents' house and a friend of Matt's from high school came over with his fiance'. We played a new game that we got called Smart Ass. The guys won that game... not because they are smart asses. You have to figure out who/what/where am I type questions by the clues read.
Monday, November 23, 2009
New name
This morning I walked over to the SS office to officially change my name. I didn't think much of it until I had to actually SIGN my new name on a piece of paper. I've been practicing for fun for a while (like anytime we go out and I pay by credit card, I always sign my new name to the extra copy... because I'm cheesy and it's fun!)
I got all nervous today that I would spell the name wrong or something. I'm sure the lady thought I was a nutcase. : )
I got all nervous today that I would spell the name wrong or something. I'm sure the lady thought I was a nutcase. : )
New toy
This morning I got to use the new coffee maker and brewed myself a hot cup of coffee right in my own kitchen! Exciting!Thanks to Tony for the great gift! : )
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Happy birthday to Ross
To celebrate Ross' birthday, we all went to dinner on Saturday night at Hugo's Frog Bar on Rush. The good thing about this place is that they have the same kitchen as Gibson's, so it's basically like eating there. We had loads of good food and wine!
Brett tried his first oyster
Check out the size of these potatoes!
And this cake!
After dinner, we walked to Finn McCool's to watch football.
Way to ditch out of the pic, Matt
That's better!
The boys did a tequila birthday shot with Ross
Brett tried his first oyster
Check out the size of these potatoes!
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And this cake!
After dinner, we walked to Finn McCool's to watch football.
Way to ditch out of the pic, Matt
That's better!
The boys did a tequila birthday shot with Ross
Friday, November 20, 2009
Our honeymoon
We left bright and early Monday morning to catch a flight back to Miami and then we were off to St. Lucia!!!
The flight to St. Lucia was b.u.m.p.y! Thanks again to Hurricane Ida! Boo!
When we got to St. Lucia and walked into Customs, we noticed something... almost everyone there was a newlywed! Seriously, I've never seen so many bride/groom t-shirts, bags with wedding dates, shiny new rings and couples! We realized that any hope of honeymoon upgrades were probably out of the question. : )
All of the flights to St. Lucia must get in at the same time, because it was packed! Getting through Customs and to our hotel shuttle van was like being herded with a bunch of cows. We just moved with the masses!
Our shuttle ride was a little over an hour long and it was giving me flashbacks of our trip to Costa Rica. St. Lucia is very similar to Costa Rica - mountains with roads carved in them, hairpin turns snaking through, drivers who pass when you think it's a completely blind turn and they shouldn't be... we just sat quietly until we got to resort. Luckily, we had taken some Dramamine, so we were all set!
The resort was beautiful! We went through a short orientation when we got there and then checked out our room. We actually were upgraded, which was awesome. The room we ended up with was near the main lobby/pool/restaurant and it had a fridge with complimentary water, juice and soda. That water was a lifesaver!
For most of the time there, we had a daily routine...
- get up early enough to claim our chairs at the pool and grab fresh towels (they all go fast!)
- get breakfast at the main buffet
- lay out at the pool for hours and drink fruity drinks from the swim up bar (awesome!)
- grab a late lunch and take a nap
- grab a late dinner around 8-ish
- listen to the nightly bands by the pool
The pool and swim up bar were our favorite hang-outs!
The drink menu... our goal was to try them all, but we didn't quite make it!
We were pretty lame and didn't make it out super late most nights. Apparently, laying around all day makes a person pretty tired!
The resort had daily activities at the pool and at night at the main pavillion. The pool activities were pretty fun to watch. We played in the pool Olympics one day and our team won! They had people that worked there called "playmakers" that would encourage everyone to participate. One playmaker in particular (Ricky) was super funny. Everyone at the resort knew Ricky - he was everywhere!
One of our late nights out was on Friday night - there was a street party with lots of entertainment. We went there after dinner at Kimono's, which is where we met another couple Ben and Lauren. So we hung out together for the night. I was excited to find out that there was karaoke at the pub on the resort that night... so, of course, we had to go!
I convinced Lauren to go up with me, but she didn't want to sing! And speaking of Ricky, he was the karaoke host!
We went on one day tour with Joe Knows St. Lucia tours. Our tour guide, Al, drove us all over St. Lucia and showed us the cool sites. As I mentioned before, the roads were quite twisty and hilly, so the ride was a little much at times. There were a few times Matt looked kinda green, but he made it!
We ate at some great restaurants, both at our resort and the other Sandals. You can stay at one resort and visit the others for free. They have shuttles that take you back and forth all day long.
We ate at a Japanese restaurant called Kimono's - our chef was a riot - he kept yelling "NIIICCCEEE" over and over!
There was a fancy French restaurant that was supposed to have a dress code for men where they had to wear dress shoes. Matt hadn't brought any, so he ended up wearing his golf shoes! : ) Of course, when we got there, other men were wearing flip-flops, so Matt didn't have to worry.
The resort we stayed at does a complimentary photo shoot for the guests. After putting it off the entire time, we decided to do that the day before we left. I loved how the pictures turned out (even though some are kinda cheesy!)
The honeymoon was fantastic and we really did not want to come back to Chicago!
We stopped for one last picture our on shuttle back to the airport
The flight to St. Lucia was b.u.m.p.y! Thanks again to Hurricane Ida! Boo!
When we got to St. Lucia and walked into Customs, we noticed something... almost everyone there was a newlywed! Seriously, I've never seen so many bride/groom t-shirts, bags with wedding dates, shiny new rings and couples! We realized that any hope of honeymoon upgrades were probably out of the question. : )
All of the flights to St. Lucia must get in at the same time, because it was packed! Getting through Customs and to our hotel shuttle van was like being herded with a bunch of cows. We just moved with the masses!
Our shuttle ride was a little over an hour long and it was giving me flashbacks of our trip to Costa Rica. St. Lucia is very similar to Costa Rica - mountains with roads carved in them, hairpin turns snaking through, drivers who pass when you think it's a completely blind turn and they shouldn't be... we just sat quietly until we got to resort. Luckily, we had taken some Dramamine, so we were all set!
The resort was beautiful! We went through a short orientation when we got there and then checked out our room. We actually were upgraded, which was awesome. The room we ended up with was near the main lobby/pool/restaurant and it had a fridge with complimentary water, juice and soda. That water was a lifesaver!
For most of the time there, we had a daily routine...
- get up early enough to claim our chairs at the pool and grab fresh towels (they all go fast!)
- get breakfast at the main buffet
- lay out at the pool for hours and drink fruity drinks from the swim up bar (awesome!)
- grab a late lunch and take a nap
- grab a late dinner around 8-ish
- listen to the nightly bands by the pool
The pool and swim up bar were our favorite hang-outs!
  |
The drink menu... our goal was to try them all, but we didn't quite make it!
We were pretty lame and didn't make it out super late most nights. Apparently, laying around all day makes a person pretty tired!
The resort had daily activities at the pool and at night at the main pavillion. The pool activities were pretty fun to watch. We played in the pool Olympics one day and our team won! They had people that worked there called "playmakers" that would encourage everyone to participate. One playmaker in particular (Ricky) was super funny. Everyone at the resort knew Ricky - he was everywhere!
One of our late nights out was on Friday night - there was a street party with lots of entertainment. We went there after dinner at Kimono's, which is where we met another couple Ben and Lauren. So we hung out together for the night. I was excited to find out that there was karaoke at the pub on the resort that night... so, of course, we had to go!
I convinced Lauren to go up with me, but she didn't want to sing! And speaking of Ricky, he was the karaoke host!
  |
We went on one day tour with Joe Knows St. Lucia tours. Our tour guide, Al, drove us all over St. Lucia and showed us the cool sites. As I mentioned before, the roads were quite twisty and hilly, so the ride was a little much at times. There were a few times Matt looked kinda green, but he made it!
Our first stop was a banana plantationMatt played golf a couple times, but it was really hot. I walked along one time to take some pictures. Not too many golfers were out there. Matt was covered in sweat by the time he finished 9 holes!
Our tour guide, Al, tried to get us to put this snake around our necks, but we said NO WAY!
Matt and me with the Piton mountains in the background
We went to the "drive-in" volcano, called that because you are actually in the crater portion of the volcano. Luckily, it's dormant! It smelled like sulfur SO bad! We're standing in front of the boiling pools of mud. You could actually get in a mud bath that was like a hot tub, but we were already super hot, so we decided not to.
We took a quick dip in a waterfall
We had lunch at the Beacon Restaurant - traditional St. Lucian creole food - very good!
We stopped off at a rum factory and paid $3 to try all the rum varieties we wanted! They had some "double strong" stuff that was like Everclear and they even had peanut butter rum!
We ate at some great restaurants, both at our resort and the other Sandals. You can stay at one resort and visit the others for free. They have shuttles that take you back and forth all day long.
We ate at a Japanese restaurant called Kimono's - our chef was a riot - he kept yelling "NIIICCCEEE" over and over!
There was a fancy French restaurant that was supposed to have a dress code for men where they had to wear dress shoes. Matt hadn't brought any, so he ended up wearing his golf shoes! : ) Of course, when we got there, other men were wearing flip-flops, so Matt didn't have to worry.
The resort we stayed at does a complimentary photo shoot for the guests. After putting it off the entire time, we decided to do that the day before we left. I loved how the pictures turned out (even though some are kinda cheesy!)
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The honeymoon was fantastic and we really did not want to come back to Chicago!
We stopped for one last picture our on shuttle back to the airport
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Last day in the Bahamas
On Sunday, we recovered from the big party and spent the day relaxing at the pool.
Oh, forgot to mention this before... after the wedding reception, we decided to go to the casino for a little dancing (which I was too tired to do) and gambling. Matt went ahead of me while I was changing out of my dress. He told some people at the blackjack table he had just gotten married and they didn't believe that his new wife would allow him to be gambling on his wedding night... so he bet them that he wasn't lying. Ryan (bestman) showed up and validated the story. They ended up giving him $50 to gamble with as a wedding present. : )
Back to Sunday... relaxing by the pool, a few fruity drinks, good times! People were starting to leave and it was sad to see them go.
On Sunday night, we went to the Bonfire on the Beach party. It was super windy again! Not ideal for an event where flames are shooting in the air! : )
The party was fun - drinks, buffet, silly games, a fire dancer, limbo - it was a nice way to end the wedding weekend with everyone!
The bonfire was pretty small
Hany won the "hat" game
Chuck won the dance off
Matt and I "won" the balloon game - the game may have been rigged!
Jerry gets his legs done
Andy eats fire! (stole this from Michelle)
Hany almost won the limbo contest - kind of hard to do in a short dress!
We ended up coming home with quite a few bottles of rum!
Oh, forgot to mention this before... after the wedding reception, we decided to go to the casino for a little dancing (which I was too tired to do) and gambling. Matt went ahead of me while I was changing out of my dress. He told some people at the blackjack table he had just gotten married and they didn't believe that his new wife would allow him to be gambling on his wedding night... so he bet them that he wasn't lying. Ryan (bestman) showed up and validated the story. They ended up giving him $50 to gamble with as a wedding present. : )
Back to Sunday... relaxing by the pool, a few fruity drinks, good times! People were starting to leave and it was sad to see them go.
On Sunday night, we went to the Bonfire on the Beach party. It was super windy again! Not ideal for an event where flames are shooting in the air! : )
The party was fun - drinks, buffet, silly games, a fire dancer, limbo - it was a nice way to end the wedding weekend with everyone!
The bonfire was pretty small
Hany won the "hat" game
Chuck won the dance off
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Matt and I "won" the balloon game - the game may have been rigged!
Jerry gets his legs done
Andy eats fire! (stole this from Michelle)
Hany almost won the limbo contest - kind of hard to do in a short dress!
We ended up coming home with quite a few bottles of rum!
The big day!
As Matt will surely tell you, I had been stressing for days and days about the wedding and the weather and making sure everything went perfectly… but, it was amazing and I loved every minute of it! : )
The day of the wedding, I had lots of appointments - manicure, hair, make-up. Matt had an appointment with the pool bar and the Iowa game. It's much easier being the groom! ; )
Thanks to Hurricane Ida, the day was SUPER windy, but luckily there was no rain. I’m so thankful that the storm wasn’t actually hitting the Bahamas head on. That could have been interesting.
The day seemed to go by so fast. Before I knew it, I had my dress on and my Dad and I were getting ready to walk down the Great Lawn to the beach for the ceremony!
The ceremony was officiated by Reverend Smith, who along with her husband do a lot of weddings in the Bahamas. Matt and I really liked the words of the ceremony, the vows, etc. It was perfect for us.
Matt and his mom
Ryan and Erin (best man and maid of honor)
Here comes the bride...
My Dad and me
Saying our vows
You may kiss the bride! Or maybe the bride is kissing the groom!
The sand ceremony
Making it legal... signing the marriage certificate
We're married!
Love this picture (credit goes to Michelle for this one!)
Erin and Ryan
Just a tad windy, eh?
Time to party!!!
We had a cocktail hour outdoors with a steel drum player. The bartender was making some stiff drinks... well, at least the one she made for me was wicked strong! The reception was held indoors on the second floor of the Manor House.
The bridal party with our wedding planner Stephanie
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Plothow!
Our first dance
My Dad welcomed everyone. Since he knows that Matt and I are big numbers geeks, he decided to give us some sage advice in a format we'd understand... his "Formula for a happy marriage". Matt's still a little iffy on some of the variables in the formula... like one was "Mary Jo moves in with you". Uh oh! : O
Ryan and Erin both gave great speeches. We love them both so much and are so glad they were standing up with us on our wedding day! : )
Cutting the cake
I told Matt if he smashed the cake in my face, he was a dead man. That could have been our first married fight! But, he was good and there was no mess.
Afterwards, I danced with my Dad and Matt danced with his mom. : )
Then, everyone danced!
Andy did his rendition of the Humpty Dance! : )
On a complete sidenote... my uncle Chuck likes to be in pictures! : )
See the differences???
I'm sure there are more of these out there somewhere!
The day of the wedding, I had lots of appointments - manicure, hair, make-up. Matt had an appointment with the pool bar and the Iowa game. It's much easier being the groom! ; )
Thanks to Hurricane Ida, the day was SUPER windy, but luckily there was no rain. I’m so thankful that the storm wasn’t actually hitting the Bahamas head on. That could have been interesting.
The day seemed to go by so fast. Before I knew it, I had my dress on and my Dad and I were getting ready to walk down the Great Lawn to the beach for the ceremony!
The ceremony was officiated by Reverend Smith, who along with her husband do a lot of weddings in the Bahamas. Matt and I really liked the words of the ceremony, the vows, etc. It was perfect for us.
Matt and his mom
  |
Ryan and Erin (best man and maid of honor)
Here comes the bride...
  |
  |
My Dad and me
   |
Saying our vows
You may kiss the bride! Or maybe the bride is kissing the groom!
The sand ceremony
  |
Making it legal... signing the marriage certificate
  |
We're married!
Love this picture (credit goes to Michelle for this one!)
Erin and Ryan
Just a tad windy, eh?
Time to party!!!
We had a cocktail hour outdoors with a steel drum player. The bartender was making some stiff drinks... well, at least the one she made for me was wicked strong! The reception was held indoors on the second floor of the Manor House.
The bridal party with our wedding planner Stephanie
Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Plothow!
Our first dance
My Dad welcomed everyone. Since he knows that Matt and I are big numbers geeks, he decided to give us some sage advice in a format we'd understand... his "Formula for a happy marriage". Matt's still a little iffy on some of the variables in the formula... like one was "Mary Jo moves in with you". Uh oh! : O
Ryan and Erin both gave great speeches. We love them both so much and are so glad they were standing up with us on our wedding day! : )
Cutting the cake
  |
I told Matt if he smashed the cake in my face, he was a dead man. That could have been our first married fight! But, he was good and there was no mess.
Afterwards, I danced with my Dad and Matt danced with his mom. : )
  |
Then, everyone danced!
Andy did his rendition of the Humpty Dance! : )
On a complete sidenote... my uncle Chuck likes to be in pictures! : )
See the differences???
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  |
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I'm sure there are more of these out there somewhere!
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