Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Guilty Pleasures

My good friends Shauna and Rachel did a post a few days ago about their guilty pleasures.  Although they didn't "tag" anyone to do it back, I thought it would be fun to join in with a few of my own!  With no further ado, here goes:
Cheddar goldfish crackers.  Only cheddar.  I can't wait until Elise can eat these because then I will have an excuse to buy the big bulk box from Costco and end up eating it all myself and blaming it on Elise :)
Buying swim suits.  I don't know what it is.  Do I swim a lot?  No.  I don't know what the fascination is, nor do I think I look awesome in a swim suit.  Maybe that is why I keep buying them, I'm waiting to find one that makes me look like a size 2 ha ha.
Rolls.  Mmm, warm butter rolls.  At one of my bridal showers my friends had video taped Zack and asked him a bunch of questions about me.  They asked him what my favorite food was and he said, "She probably wouldn't say this about herself but definitely rolls."  Man was he right.  Love love love them.
So far this show remains to be my favorite show of all time.  I love it.  I own the entire series on DVD and it still makes me laugh.  It is great to pop in an episode while Elise takes a nap or to watch while I work on a project.  I love how close they are to each other and their mother-daughter relationship.  So fun.  I wish Stars Hollow was real- I would go for a visit for sure.  Where would I stay?!  The Dragonfly Inn of course :)
Jamba Juice Caribbean Passion.  My mouth is watering just thinking about it.  The depressing part?  I just googled location of Jamba Juice in Wisconsin and there is only ONE and it is in Madison :(
My go-to movie when I am sad, bored, need a pick me up, or inspiration to cook something I go here.
This stupid network sucks me in with just about every show it has to offer. I'm pathetic.  Fortunately the one show I don't like on the channel is The Secret Life of the American Teenager.  But just about anything else...
The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Bachelor Pad...you name it, I unfortunately watch it.  I'm always still hoping that eventually someone that gets together because of this show HAS to get married.  It's gotta happen at least once right?!  And while we are one this, I like to read this blogs thoughts on each and every episode.  Great commentary!
I thought to end this post I would put up a store that I always go into and buy something.  I kept thinking of clothing stores but the truth is I don't have a particular store that I just love or have to always have their things.  So I put up a fabric store.  There is always cute fabric to be found, great projects just asking to be made!

So, what are YOUR guilty pleasures?!  I'm not going to tag anyone, but I would love to read about yours!

Monday, August 22, 2011

White Coat Ceremony

The White Coat Ceremony for MCW's class of 2015 was on Friday, August 12th.  Both my parents and Zack's were able to fly out to be here for it.  It was so fun to have them out here and definitely made the move/transition to Wisconsin a lot easier.
The ceremony was held downtown at the Pabst Theater.  I reminded me a lot of the Capital Theater in SLC.  It was very pretty inside with neat architecture and chandeliers and has a lot of old charm.  Here we are standing outside of the theater.
Here's everyone who came minus Zack's Dad, Evan, who opted to take the picture and not be in it. It was a nice program that lasted around an hour.  The presenters talked about the history of the white coat, the importance and prestige of wearing it, as well as some funny things related to it like TV doctors- it was short and sweet.  The perfect program!
Our family on stage after the ceremony.  Doesn't he look so handsome in that coat?!  I think so :)
Here is a quick shot of downtown near where the ceremony was held.  It has a real Chicago feel to it we think.  Downtown seems to be really neat, we can't wait to have more time to get out and explore it!
On Sunday Zack and his parents went on a walk to the medical campus and he showed them around.  Elise was taking a nap so I decided to join her in that!  Here is Zack and his parents in front of the main building of the medical college.  It is really nice and new unlike a lot of the places he interviewed at.
Zack and his cute Mom on campus with all that beautiful green we get in Wisconsin.  And no sprinklers!! That is so strange to me!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Our New Home

I know I said that I lost my camera. That much is true!  Fortunately, my in-laws are here now and they brought theirs so I can update this post with a few pictures of our new home!

It took a week of settling in but we finally have turned our house into a home!  I'm so incredibly grateful to my parents and Zack's parents for all of the help they gave to us to hang pictures, put things away, wash clothes and even dishes!  A huge shout out to my mother for the many things she made to hang in our home that make it look so incredible.  Mom, you never cease to amaze me!

Elise's room is my favorite in the whole house!  I go in there all the time and just look around at it, really!  It is all shabby chic- nothing matches exactly but it is all pink and green.  I couldn't love it more.  My Mom made so many things for the apartment including the curtains (with blackout fabric lining) as well as re-covering the ottoman to my rocker and she made the pillow for the rocker as well. She also made the darling quilt hanging on the wall.  This room is so sweet and pretty, just like our Elise.
I really like our room as well. It is the biggest bedroom we have ever had as a married couple and the best part is that all of our clothes fit in our closets!  It is a miracle!  The funny thing about our room is that the wall above our bed is all brick or plaster so you can't nail anything into it!  So that is why that wall looks so bare!  I bought command strips but it says on the back to not hang things above beds, so I decided to heed that warning!
Next is the kitchen!  I certainly don't have as much counter space or appliances that are as nice as our last place, but this kitchen had great cupboards!  I was able to fit all of our dishes and appliances in them and I even had a drawer that would hold a utensil holder.  Why my last apartment only had drawers that were 3.5 inches wide is beyond me.... My mother of course made the darling valance for the kitchen and even helped to purchase the cute decorations above my fridge.  I was fine with putting the cereal up there but she told me no!  We have to make it cute she said :)  I love her.
I was excited that this is the first apartment we have lived in to not have stark white walls!  All the rooms have a nice neutral beige color- except for the bathroom!  The bathroom is a pretty red color!  I saw that in the pictures the landlord sent me in Utah.  I knew our current bathroom linens and shower curtain wouldn't match so I got this one to use!  I think the bathroom looks cute, even if it is small.
The last room is our dining room and family room.   We were able to fit a lot of stuff into this large room and we even were able to fit the couch up!  We thought we were going to have to sell it or saw it in half (literally).  Lucky for us there is a handy man in our ward!  He took off the banister so we were able to get it through the door way then he hoisted up the whole couch by himself up to the second floor.  What a lifesaver!  Here is our fan club showing it off!  The pillows on the couch were also made by amazing mother. 
I love all of the natural light in this apartment.  We previously lived in a basement apartment so it was always so dark!  We also live across the street from the medical college/hospital so instead of having a building to look at we look across to a beautiful green lawn and trees from our front room.
To end, here is the front of our home.  We live in the upper left side of the home.  We are excited to finally be here and to start this new adventure!  If any of you are ever in Wisconsin or Chicago (it's only 1 hr. 15 min. from us!) please give us a call!  We'd love to have you over!

Sunday, August 14, 2011

We have arrived!

We made it to Wisconsin!!  We took 2.5 days to drive by car and little Elise was the perfect baby!  We arrived here last Saturday and so far so good!!  I have lots of things to update all of you on but I did lost my camera! So for the next few posts there won't be any new pictures :(  But we are all settled into our apartment, the internet and cable has been installed, we have a washer/dryer and our ward members were great to come out and help us move in!  I'll post more about our new home when I can, until then, just know that we are here safe and sound!