Third Annual Academy Awards Party

The past few years, Stacy and I have hosted an Oscar dinner party for our friends. Formal attire is encouraged, which is also a great way to re-use those old bridesmaid gowns! The menu this year was: Spinach salad, rolls, bacon-wrapped green beans, twice-baked potatoes and pot roast. For dessert, we braved our first attempt at cheesecake and I think it was a success. Stacy found this great recipe online so we bought some springform pans and tried it.

The guests filled out a ballot and prizes were awarded to those who got the most right. Shanna was the big winner this year with Erika taking second place. We had a third prize that was given to the "Best Dressed" guest, which was decided by an anonymous vote of those present. And the winner was... Cheris Larson - way to go, Cheris!

Here's a slideshow of pictures taken that night. Enjoy!

My Valentine's Day Date

Valentine's Day... the dreaded holiday for singles is always a challenge for me. Each year, however, I end up making something fun come of it.



2005 - Double date with Ben & Jerry. Erika's idea to eat some ice cream and watch movies with hot men in them.

2006 - Same Ben & Jerry concept, though we added Stacy to our soiree.

2007 - Dinner at Monical's followed by "Music and Lyrics" at the Palace theater with the girls.


2008 - Pizza and Trains with Grant Zimmerman! :) Mark and Rita wanted a night out and I have Thursday nights open, so it was a deal. I had so much fun! Grant is getting so big and more aware of things. He was also very excited to play with Miss Julie. As soon as I walked in the door, he rushed to greet me with a little bag of heart-shaped brownies that he had "helped" Rita make for me. I had barely taken my coat off when he instructed Mom and Dad to leave. We had some serious train tracks to build!

Super Bowl Party

I hosted some of my Journey friends to a super bowl party. I am not so much a football fan, but it was a great excuse to get the group together to hang out. I had planned to use both TV's... one for those interested in the game and one for those who weren't. However, everyone congregated in the basement, both football and non-football fans alike. Maybe because that's where all the food was... :) Here's a slideshow from the party.

"Wicked" Trip

Last weekend, I took a trip to Chicago with some of the girls to see "Wicked". We took the train up from Bloomington which was a fun adventure! It actually is much cheaper and less stressful than driving. $24 round trip... can't beat that! The only drawback of the train is that you are tied to their schedule and there are often delays. We had a great time in the city. The show was incredible... it was my third time to see it! We walked down to Giordano's for some pizza before the return trip to Bloomington.

Holidays 2007

Christmas 2007 ~
This year was the first time to celebrate the holidays in my parents' new house. It was also the first holiday where Jen is married. It all worked out well though, because Eric's extended family celebrates on Christmas Day where ours is on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas Eve, we went to church at Minooka Bible then came back to have dinner with extended family. Mom made dinner then we had the annual gift exchange. Everyone brings a $30 gift that could be for anybody and then we play the game where you can steal back and forth. The first year we tried this game, my aunt Lisa brought a victorian-looking Santa dressed in leopard print pants. He became the joke of the party and keeps returning year after year. And it never fails a guy ends up with him!

On Christmas Day, Jen and Eric came over after opening gifts at the Danielson's. We did our immediate family exchange. Jen and Eric then took off to his extended family gathering, so Mom and I watched a movie. It was a good, relaxing day with family.

New Years Eve 2007 ~
This year I spent New Year's Eve with my Journey friends. John Julien hosted the party at his house. Wii bowling was a hit!

3rd Annual Girls' Chicago Shopping Trip

On Saturday, the girls and I braved the winter weather and took a road trip to Chicago to see the sights and enjoy a good meal. This year's crew included Stacy, Steph, Joy, Erika and me. We stopped in Shorewood for lunch at Portillo's, then finished the trek to the city where we did a LOT of walking. It snowed pretty much the entire day, so we had a few shoe issues. Stacy's shoes were cracked in the sole so water kept creeping in. Joy was wearing some non-water-resistant cute little shoes that quickly became saturated within 20 minutes of walking. So our first order of business was to locate a shoe store for those two to get their footwear dilemma resolved. Stacy ended up tossing her shoes and wearing the new ones right out of the store. Joy, on the other hand, still valued her old pair but changed them in the store before we left.

Another fun story is that Erika got engaged on Friday night so we got to hear all about it on the way up. She wore a permanent grin on her face all day and was often caught staring at her left hand. Congratulations, Erika! :) The day ended a bit earlier than we had planned when we found out that the weather conditions in Bloomington were not good. So we had dinner at Maggiano's then went to the State Street Macy's to see this year's window display. Erika read aloud each pane of the Nutcracker story as we worked our way around the store. It was a fun day with the girls - I'm looking forward to the next one! Here's a slideshow of pictures from the day.

I finally updated my blog

It's now December. It's been 4 months since I updated this thing and my few faithful readers (Hi Mom!) have pointed out that it's time to post something new. I'll share some highlights of this last quarter of 2007. Maybe a goal for 2008 could be to do more frequent updates? No promises. Here goes...


September - The slow pace of summer ended and life picked up again. BSF, Orchestra, Small Group, etc. I'm down to just one free night a week, but somehow I thrive on keeping busy. Here's a picture of our Journey Labor Day picnic at Annette's house. That's Tiffany, Shanna, Jerrad, Craig and Kera.




October - Life as usual, I guess. A few birthdays... the girls celebrated with Tiffany as she turned... oh I better not say. She's 29 again. ;) My little cousin Kaylin turned one so there was a big family celebration. I'll attach a picture with her smash cake - she's adorable!



November - Rehearsals for my church's Christmas concert really ramped up this month so I spent some considerable time with that. I also participated in the worship team for the ONE Thanksgiving Dinner event at East White Oak. Here's a picture from that. My real Thanksgiving at home in Joliet was nice too. Grandma and Murrie hosted - it was good to spend time with family.

December - This month started with Eastview's Christmas concert the 1st and 2nd. I got some more use out of the bass clarinet and alto sax, so that is always fun. Last weekend we had an ice storm - gladly it's all melted now. I went to Jen and Clint's wedding amidst the storm, only managing to fall in my heels once, and that was at Huck's getting gas on the way home. So, not too bad! :) The ceremony was very nice with a reception later at Crestwicke. My favorite quote of the evening was by an usher who looked all around for the rest of my party before escorting me in... "Are you here all by YOURSELF?!?!" Yep. Nice, huh? Tomorrow is a day in Chicago with the girls. I'm hoping the weather holds off for us!