Little Visitors

Joe and I had some visitors over the weekend. My sister, brother-in-law and nieces came to visit for a few days. We ate Chicago-style pizza, went to the Children's Museum, visited the petting zoo, ate dinner at Rainforest Cafe, played at the local park, ate at a diner that delivers your food via train, and did some shopping. Whew! Now we probably all need a vacation to recover after the vacation weekend!

Feeding the ducks at the petting zoo.

"Riding" the "train" at the children's museum.

More learning and playing on the teeter totter at the children's museum..

Happy Days

It seems like my blogging has been infrequent lately. I'm sure that's partly due to the fact that I have been keeping busy at my new job.  It's crazy. I used to be very connected to the online world by checking blogs, facebook and email throughout the day. Now I rarely have time to be online. Once I get home in the evening, I am tired and trying to catch up on other things. (So this is how the other side lives??) In fact, I don't think our television has even been turned on once in over two days. I'm not complaining though...today I worked more than 11 hours. And guess what? I love it! (If I knew working felt this good maybe I wouldn't have avoided it for so long...kidding!!) I feel like I'm already in my groove at work and so glad to be there. I feel productive. And busy. And happy.

Graduation Party

My mom's first cousin, Terrie lives in the area and Joe and I have really enjoyed spending time with her family since we've lived here. Just so happens that this was a big weekend for our family. Terrie's son, Adam graduated from college on Friday in Colorado (but they arrived back in Illinois in time to celebrate with us) and Terrie's sister, Pam (who lives in Australia) was in town for her son Jack's graduation from law school today in Chicago. Are you keeping up? That's me and two second cousins all celebrating graduations this weekend. So we had a party...14 of us in all. Great Fabulous food and wonderful company!

Joe and I at the party. (That cute braid in my hair is courtesy of my mom...proof that you never get too old to have your mom braid your hair.)

The specialized menu for our table listing all of our courses. Notice the top right hand corner says, "Happy Graduation Adam, Jack & Amy."

The graduates! Jack, me and Adam.

Our beautiful (and delicious) cake.

My coffee with my name in fondant.

Graduation

Not only is today Mother's Day it's also the day of my graduation ceremony for my Master of Business Administration Degree. I am so glad my mom was here to attend the ceremony and celebrate with me. A few months ago, I was hesitant about participating in graduation but I'm so glad I did. Here are a few pictures from the day's events.

Mom, me and Joe before the ceremony.

Joe and I. (Little did I know my hood was falling down.)

Me and my beautiful mom on Mother's Day.

Walking towards my diploma.

Getting my diploma after more than two years of hard work.

Our Jamaican Getaway

We are home from our Jamaican holiday. Joe and I decided to go back to the resort where we got married almost four years ago for a little rest and relaxation. The only time it seems Joe truly can relax and get away is when he's out of the country and can not answer his phone. :) It was a great trip despite the fact that it rained probably almost more than it didn't. The ladies at the spa told me the weather has been crazy with nonstop rain since March which is out of the ordinary. The only explanation they could offer was climate change. But rain in Jamaica with a little sun here and there is probably better than a regular day in Illinois.

This is me on our first night in Jamaica. Little did I know when I left the house wearing a black skirt, white tank top and a black sweater that those clothes would be all I'd have for almost 36 hours. Yes, I arrived in Jamaica but my bag somehow stayed in Chicago until it was delivered to me the next evening. Upon arriving at the resort, I went straight to the gift shop and bought a dress (which is what I'm wearing in this picture), a swimsuit and a tshirt. The resort also was kind enough to give me another tshirt and some toiletries. I will admit I was a bit bummed for the first day and a half until my bag arrived. Yay for my stuff! And not to worry, I plan on sending the airline the bill.

Happy Joe on the beach. Nothing says relaxation like crystal blue water and white sand in your toes.

The two of us enjoying our fine dining night at the resort. We ate a lot of bad yummy stuff (chocolate croissants every day for breakfast) but I probably also ate more fresh fruit, veggies and drank more water than usual. I'm thinking the good cancels out the bad.

On our last night at the resort, we found this elephant on our bed. This was my favorite out of all the towel creatures that were left for us.

We did a lot of lazing around, hit the beach when it wasn't raining and even went to a killer yoga class. (We had incorrectly assumed that it would be "laid back" yoga and instead I'm still really sore two days later.) Another fun adventure was a glass bottom boat ride. This picture is from one of the glass panes in the bottom of the boat near where we were sitting. We had an amazing viewpoint!

This is a starfish that someone snorkling near our boat gave to the crew on our boat to show us up close. Don't worry - this guy went right back in the water after we all had a good look.

Yesterday I treated myself to a massage in this treehouse. (Sore yoga muscles!) Earlier in the week, Joe and I also had a couples massage on the beach...Ahh, what a great vacation!