Proposal

The Summer was pretty JAM-PACKED with traveling to see family, and conversely, family FINALLY coming to visit, and working a full time Job. I managed, in the 'supposed' free time of running two small businesses to meet with our good friend Jeremy Dunn. Jare, as I randomly call him, is a metal smith, and more specifically, he works with a lot of diamond dealers and fixes up and creates small jewelry. Therefore, Jeremy was a perfect person for me to go see and meet with when I decided I wanted to get a certain piece of jewelry for my love, Erin.
Jeremy and I had been working together for about three or four months, meeting periodically to look at stones and to try and hammer out a ring design. I looked through a lot of different stones until I found the one that I knew was perfect for Erin. Unique with a certain "twining wisp" inside the diamond if you look closely.
Once I had the ring, I knew it was only a matter of time before I asked for her hand. I did, however need to ask for permission before I did so. That is an entire story in itself, and it is much better told in person. But we'll say that Joe will never admit he knew why I was coming to see him.
I proposed to Erin on a Monday night. After playing some canasta and having a well cooked meal. We were supposed to go to Mrs. Murphy & Son's Irish Bistro, but Erin had a long day at her shop and didn't want to go out, postponing the 'date' until the following evening. Well, I couldn't wait. I was ready, and I knew I had to go for it. As she was getting ready for bed, I called her back into the dining room, hugged her, told her how much I loved her and got down on one knee right there and then. What happened immediately after is a bit of a blur, but I know she was smiling her wonderful smile from ear to ear and said yes.
Some may say it isn't the most romantic setting. But if you know us, it couldn't have been more exactly our style. Relaxed, at home, in pajamas. Who needs the glitz and glamor, the most important thing is the fact that we love each other so much, that that love is much more glamorous than any of those things combined. And trust me, if you could have seen Erin's face the way I did as I was down on my knee, you would've thought the Eiffel tower was just a metal point, that a sunset was just a sunset, because she lit, and continues to light, up my life more than any amount of fireworks can or ever could.

The Ring...

UPDATES COMING.

WOW.
A lot has happened since Maddie's 1st birthday. Seriously.
Lets see if I can get as much into this post as I can without going crazy trying to remember it all.
Here Goes.

Maddie's 1st Birthday 8/6/09

She loved her doggie ice cream
birthday treat!

I love how random articles circulate via the technological superhighway. Thanks Garrett for bringing it to my attention... interesting in that Dogs are much more like us than we usually think

Canine emotions raise theological questions - The Denver Post

Source: www.denverpost.com

Canine emotions raise theological questions

Some DC Fun

Cubs game with (from Left to Right)- Megan, Mac, Josh, Jonathan, Joe (dad), me and Danny. The Cubs won all 4 games this series and that made the trip even better! Rick and Carn came the second game that we went to and we had a great visit at their home in Poolsville!Danny and Jonathan having some fun at the bar after the Cubs/ Nats game!
~erin

Maddie at the Park

Maddie had a little too much fun at the park yesterday. After chasing her ball for awhile we decided to join all the other dog owners last night. Maddie found a new friend and they were chasing each other and tackling each other too.

Maddie sprinted across the baseball field and tried to cut around one of the dug outs and slid on some mud probably about 5 feet. When she got up it looked like there was a little brown dog standing next to her but as she sprinted back towards us, I realized that there was no small dog. The whole back right side of her body was covered in mud!

So Danny had the pleasure of hosing her down when we got back from the park, while Maddie thought he was playing a fun hose game with her. She is such a puppy! ~ erin

Beach Evenings....

On the evening of the 4th of July, the 4 of us (Brad, Devin, Erin and I) Came down the stairs to have a little bonfire (and some modest fireworks) It was unfortunate the others couldn't come down, but it was a good time all the same.

I think this image will be forever ingrained in my memory of Up-North.
This is what it means to me. Gorgeous sunsets on the beach, with family and friends, enjoying our time together. There is not a place in this world that is more peaceful. The campfire smell is still in my nose, with the sound of the waves lapping on the beach.

Mackinac Island

Pronounced MAK-in-aw (and no, it's not what Mac is in awe of...)

on Monday, July 6th, Brad, Devin, Lucas, Erin and I all headed up to the Island to do some touristy stuff (locally known as Fudgies).
Always beautiful.

The Grand Hotel... This was Almost as close as we could get to it without paying the fee.

I think if you zoom in really close, you can see on the pen, it says "Grand Hotel"... Thief.

Decisions, Decisions.

Swimming

Maddie wasn't the only one who got to swim in the cool waters of Lake Michigan!

Maddie thoght it would be prudent to give me a big kiss while we were swimming...

I fact, she wanted to swim right along next to me the whole time

I did, however, get apprehensive about Maddie swimming far out, so I brought her back to the beach. Brad and I (as you can see in the photo above) swam out to some rocks pretty far out.

Fireworks!!!

Well, not real fireworks anyway... just some basic sparklers...

I think John was the most enthused about the Sparklers... His face says it all!

Owen was a close second, though the photo looks more like Mandy is having a good time, and John certainly wanted to take over for his cousin!

Even Brad, Devin & Lucas weren't that impressed...

I wasn't impressed (clearly) with the sparklers...
The were much much better in the Dark, but I think the boys had a good time with them, and that's what was important!!

Pond Hill Farm

On the 3rd of July (also Abby's birthday, you'll notice the totally awesome green t-shirt that we got her at the last Hazel concert we went to...) we went to Pond Hill Farm, to see the Piggies, Goats, Ducks, Chickens and just have an all around good time...

Tire Swing!

John, just like his bubbie Owen, loved the tire swing!

Even Erin Did!!!!

Squash Rocket!! I think Brad ended up having the closest to one of the goats... Hey, it's not our fault they were going into a 'Hot SZ' (Spud Zone)

After a quick trip to Harbor Springs... then to Petoskey... (the IGA in Harbor didn't have the proper formula for Lucas) we came back up to Three Pines Studio to do some Shibori with Abby, Mandy & Tashi. They were getting close to finishing up, and definitely had some amazing works. Brad and I both made a Sarong, and Erin made a Bandana for Maddie. I think all of the pieces came out fantastic, and I deifnitely plan on wearing mine!!

4th of July Family Fun!

I think Owen was a little happier that the 'fireworks' display was finally over...

John, on the other hand, could not get enough!

At Pond Hill farm baa-ing at the goats...

Both John & Owen watching the Goats run over to the Pig pen's to munch on the hay.

John giving me the 'Bama Fist Pump... I taught the "Blow it up" part of the fist pump to the boys (Owen not pictured) to give the fist pump more of a dramatic effect... They kept wanting to give more and more and more fist pumps while we were on our way out!

Water Dog

After a few apprehensive outings to the Montrose Dog beach here in Chicago, we were able to finally test Maddie's swimming prowess over the 4th of July weekend.
Erin and I got Maddie down on the beach with a good bright floating water toy, and tossed it in to the (quite cold) Lake Michigan water.
For the first couple of throws, we kept it short, so she could see what the water was all about. Then I launched one about 20 yards out, and, Well, as the photos show, she went after every single one. We officially have a dog who loves to be in the water!


She liked to just plow into the waves...
And then a fun game of 'keep-away'....

Chicago to Detroit to Rockford to Detroit and Back to Chicago

All of that in 4 days!
We started our weekend journey Saturday after Danny got off work- and arrived late to his parents place to have some great food that his mom had waiting for us. At 9:45 pm that night....... we heard from Jed that Mandy had "the baby" which we learned his name is Julian!

And that is when the plan that Danny and I had schemed days before was actually going to work! THE PLAN: go to the BLACKHAWKS- red wings game on Sunday- meet Julian on Monday and back to the next hockey game on Tuesday. It was Perfect!

Sunday we had breakfast with Danny's parents, went to Chelios' for some beers and Coney dogs. My dad and some friends met us here- then we all ventured over to the game together. If you would like to know the score of the game... it will not be disclosed here (you can ask Danny). :)

Then there was Dinner- meeting of the fathers- and it seemed to go very well! We were all pretty tired from the long day at the game, and with all of the traveling, so it was a perfect low key dinner.

The next morning we dug up some hostas- and were able to bring back something else from Danny's parents house back to ours in Chicago :) Our drive to Rockford seemed to be a very quick drive! We had a awesome time playing with Owen- playing with rocks, pitching and batting with his new ball and bat and just running around with all 4 dogs! I love this photo of Danny with Julian..... too cute! He is a beautiful baby boy and we can not wait to see him and again!

The rest of out trip flew by.... driving back to Detroit to spend a few hours with Ari, Parker and Kristen. We drove to the hockey game and met Ken and Kristen there..... got home late. Then got up early to make it back to Chicago. It was a quick trip but it was great to see everyone (and we can't wait for Abby to be up North soon)!

Maddie @ the Beach

Maddie's First Trip To the Montrose Beach Dog Park!

Maddie has seen Lake Michigan before... but that was in November, up in Cross Village. There was no way that we were going to get her in the freezing water then.

We took her to the Montrose Beach dog beach after Danny got off work a day this past week. It is great to just let her off leash so she could run around and play with the other dogs. And best of all.... go into the water.

Maddie at first just stuck around the shoreline by us... not sure of what to make of the water. After we tossed her ball in the water a few times she slowly began to get a little deeper and deeper.

She watched as two fellow Labs went way out into the Lake to retrieve their ball & Maddie's ball when it went out too deep for her to get.

Maddie would only follow them to a
certain point and then turn back around once it got a little bit too deep or a wave came near. Maybe she will actually swim on her next visit to the beach!

Goodbye to my First Place

310 W Miner St #3B
Arlington Heights, IL 60005

This past weekend, I packed up all of my remaining things in Arlington Heights and moved to the city to live with Danny. My place in Arlington Heights was my first apartment where I was solely responsible for everything!

I had a great landlord, Phil, and a perfect location to downtown Arlington Heights. Jewel-Osco was my next door neighbor, and bars/restuarants were a minutes walk away. There wasn't anything more that I could have asked for, for it being my first place.

The U-Haul truck was loaded in less than an hour and then unloaded by Danny, Brad and myself in under an hour as well. Unpacking and organizing everything is and probably will be another story in itself. And I am very excited to begin my new adventures with Danny and Maddie in the city!

erin

Stanley Cup Playoffs- Game 1

Danny, Kris and Tommy made it on TV again (and I saw them)! Blackhawks won their first game in overtime... scoring 12 seconds into the overtime!

When asked for comment about the game... he said "It was awesome & that he is losing his voice".

Cubs vs Yankees

We were very excited to go to New York city to see my sister and to go to a Cubs game.... (the Cubs game that got me out of running a half marathon) ;) We wore our Cubs gear on the plane and most of the day on Saturday!

The new yankee stadium was very cool
and right next to the old stadium. There were a
good amount of Cub fans... and we were only
heckled by a few drunken yankee fans. Before the
game we got to sneak down to the field and see
the Cubs warm up!

(or fall down and hurt themselves??)

So we have a picture of a tie game.....
And if you ask me... that was the final score.
The cubs did not loose like 1-10. haha.
What can I say, I am a true Cub fan and this
is the year that they will go all the way!!!!
~erin