~ Chicagoland ~

When possums are playing possum, they are really not "playing," they actually pass out due to sheer terror. This has nothing to do with what we did this weekend...just an interesting factoid.

Once upon a time, Kyle was flying all over the place for all of these interviews for an internship this summer. I know, I know, didn't he just start the program? Yes, he did, but because his field is in such high demand, they start recruiting immediately! This is why we were in the Conrad Hilton in Chicago last weekend. And how, you might ask, did we pay for a 5 star hotel on a student's budget? Simple: we didn't. Thanks Wrigley! We had an delightful time in the "Windy City!"

Look how cute he is! I think he is well pleased with this situation...Let the Chicago fun begin!

Nothing like a proper tea! Our favorite past time is definitely having some nice Mint Medley herbal tea together. So civilized. Lol, even if we do often pair it up with an all-fruit Popsicle!

The Grand Lux Cafe: owned by the same company that owns Cheesecake Factory, but nicer and better food. Had I known it was the same management as Cheesecake, I probably wouldn't have gone. I loathe it for its cheap, buttery nonsense. But it was surprisingly descent and had mediocre desserts!

This picture is rather Nancy Drew...I always loved her mysteries (quite an adolescent addiction, actually).

Going down... I had to make sure to restrain myself from getting off every time the elevator door opened. I just assumed that whenever the doors open, it must be my stop since I was the first person on...doesn't seem to pick favorites, just by floor number. How rude. I suppose I'm not very good with elevators, though I use one almost every week to get to Trader Joe's (one floor up...I think this is why it took me 4 tries to get to the hotel gym). I can't believe I'm actually fessing up to it really.

One last pose before we hit the road, all bundled up, to window shop and check out the Lights Festival. I love Christmas, and that's an understatement. I cannot tell you how excited I was when the radio stations started playing music for the Holidays! Off to chop down our tree in a couple days...no need to fear, we won't leave a carbon print. It'll be quick and painless. Promise.

Last stop: the Chicago Temple. It was much smaller than any I'd been in, which doesn't say much, but very lovely. Too bad the ice was starting to kick in (we still have some remaining snow outside from last weekend's snow storm) so they had to turn the water fountains off. The one behind me is supposed to be really cool!

I wouldn't say it was particularly windy for the "Windy City," but then again, I did live in Rexburg, so there's really no comparison. I guess we'll just have to find out this summer. Kyle accepted the offer at Wrigley for a 3 month internship! After such schmoozing, how could he ever refuse? Plus, they really are an awesome company with great people and he already feels right at home.

Wrigley here we come!

It was a Mash...It was a Monster Mash

If we had more time and were willing to pay money for a costume that would be worn once, we would probably have been Gumby and Pokey or something of a random nature. Instead, we chose to be the Stepford 50's couple for Kyle's MBA party.

All I had to do was tease my hear, put on an apron, heels and bring my trusty and domestic rolling pin. Kyle simply had to wear his already nerdy-chic spectacles, hat, "I LIKE IKE" (one of the Asian girls at the party actually asked Kyle if IKE was a rock band! LOL! Come on people!), and brought his daily Wall Street Journal. Easy! I sort of wish I had been The Magnificent, Marvelous Mad Madam Mim...she is so delightful.

A quick tribute to our all time favorite last-minute costume...

It was our 1st Halloween as a couple: We were "Fowl" or "Foul," take your pick. I had come back to Rexburg to visit Kyle on my off-track and there was a Halloween party that night so we went to the local K-Mart and picked out the already discounted childrens costumes, cut out the arms and legs and wore them quite splendidly I might say!

Here he is feeding me worms: the delicious and mulitcolored kind! And it tasted like Bubble Gum Pie, yum! Perhaps next year we'll relive the good 'ol days of kids costumes...you'll just have to see what kind of tricks we have up our sleeves...

Face-Off

The Northface Endurance Challenge: Half Marathon Trail Race!

Saturday, October 25th was the big day! The drive to the race was 1 1/2 hrs away and of course, there was an unexpected detour awaiting us...that was fun. We of course, got lost and showed up with only 15 minutes to run to the loo, get our registration and time-chips, and stretch. The last piece (stretching) didn't seem to make it on the schedule...oh well.

After a glorious 13. whatever miles, we were finished! Hurray! It was so cold, we couldn't wait to get in the car! We were used to racing in Georgia, where you are so hot, you wished you could run naked! I look so haggard in this pic and Kyle has such great form...poor thing, he always insists on staying with me when we race, even though I'm WAY slower than him.

Of course we made an innocent by stander take a sweaty "after-pic" of us.

Hydration is key! A few IBprofin and we're good to go. Next goal...Marathon (Trail Race of course, none of that wimpy road racing)! LOL, guess who's driving home...not me!

The SCD and Lewis Clan Still-Life Pics

Thanks to my schedule of studying, I was able to take a few weeks off. I left poor Kyle alone to do school and interviews alone whilst I was in WA...I know, this story starts out sad, but don't worry, there's a happy ending.

I was looking for something to help my Mom heal from Crohn's disease, and I had been given the title to the book "Breaking the Vicious Cycle" by Elaine Gotschall. So I did some research. Turns out, that this book has a great following and is a dietary therapy (called the SCD 'Specific Carbohydrate Diet') that promotes wellness in people with a range of digestive and intestinal health problems. Now people are even using the dietary therapy to treat autism, ADD, and Schizophrenia (all relating to dietary problems) called the 'Brain Gut Reaction.'

(p.s. I love this pic of Amanda...she looks like a baby dinosaur!)

So, I thought I'd give it a go and help my mom start it and get well, since this disease has not only been lifelong, but for the past 3 years has kept her extremely ill, going through numerous surgeries and medications (she is such a trooper!). There's nothing weird about the diet (but it must be followed to exactness): just omit complex carbohydrates (disaccharides and polysaccharides) and refined sugars, as well as lactose above a significant amount from your diet. It basically becomes a lifestyle rather than a diet however. It was amazing to see, even after the first day, symptoms starting to subdue! After 18 days, my mom is now getting off all of her medications including some of the strongest pain killers on the market and progressing each day at a time. She's a strong one!

Happy Healing Mom! You're wonderful! :)

When I got off the plane, to my delight, I was greeted by my adorable Kyle with 18 roses for each day I was gone (please don't cry now, it gets sappier). And when we got home, he had somehow managed to blow up TONS of balloons in between study groups that day and buy and hang a big "Welcome Home" sign...I think he loves me or something. So with that happy ending, Farewell until next time. And I promise it won't be so long in duration between posts! Sorry fellow blog stalkers, I have sinned...never again!


*To learn more about the SCD and share it with someone you know with any of the following chronic and auto-immune disorders including Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, Diverticulitis, coeliac disease, autism, cystic fibrosis, schizophrenia, dyslexia, depression, dyspraxia, Attention Deficit (Hyperactivity) Disorder...have them check out these links! Spread the good news!

http://www.scdiet.org/
http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_Carbohydrate_Diet
http://www.pecanbread.com/new/home1.html

"Decorated house, decorated tree, I wish I were a present"

The title of this post is dedicated to my brother, who made up this short song when he was just a wee mensch as we went driving around looking at the city lights one Christmas as kids, he had a habit of being excessively thrilled about life in general...Happy Birthday, Guido! :) We love you!

Newsflash: we're finally settled in! Unpacking was horrendously time-consuming and poor Kyle loathed it...he thinks that I unnecessarily like to have things unpacked and organized quickly when I move to a new place. Am I so weird? (I'm pretty used to moving and organizing by now with 6 moves under my belt in the past 2 years. I think I've got it down to a science and I'm contemplating writing a book about it. Okay, maybe not, but I think I deserve to spend some quality time with the things that I've missed while we've been gone adventuring...

Like, for example, my favorite orange vintage reading chair that makes me gleeful when I think of reading the latest Martha Stewart Living magazine in it or some tragic non-fiction for the book club...either way, I'm happy to have it back in the family.

Things like my vases and a cake plate, which I have a crush on. Our juicer and Vitamix...who would've thought a teapot could bring back such joy and civilization into one's heart?

Our obese table that seats 12 with a leaf has been highly missed and of course our cal king bed that actually has springs and is long enough for our legs so we aren't forced to sleep in the fetal position.

I must say Kyle's favorite thing about the move was probably getting new clothes for school. The Mall of America certainly helped. And in between unpacking bursts, we did manage to get a few things (his and hers vests....*sigh* how quaint) for the colder weather that is slowly sneaking up on us already! And we took a few pictures of his beloved MBA Grainger Hall (his second home).

He will be so upset when he finds out that I put this "touristy" pic of him up here...he might as well be making a peace sign, giving a thumbs-up or some other nonsensical gesture saying: "I'm new!" Nevertheless, it needed documentation.

Until next time, "If they don't find you handsome, they'll at least find you handy." *

*Tribute to the Lewis children and their 60's upbringing of watching the Lawerence Welk show in succession with the Red & Green Show.

Adventure to Minneapolis

We'd like to declare our vote of confidence in Madison for the next two years: It is surprisingly really easy to fall in love with. The director of Kyle's MBA program said that it is really hard to get the graduates to want to leave! Other than a plenty of silos, dairy farms (you can have fresh milk and cheese in glass bottles delivered straight to your doorstep like in olden days!), a free public zoo, surprisingly great shopping, friendly people, 4 seasons, "Red Smog Alert"-free air, zero traffic, a protected state forest or park every 5 minutes, and an awesome farmers market with "Jazz Friday"...what more could we ask for?

The week after we moved in, we were invited up to some friends in Minneapolis, the Kusch family. It was really fun! They are an awesome family, but somehow we didn't get any pictures of Aaron's wife, Erin, and their adorable little girls Zoe, and Quinn! :( Next time...since they only live a 4 hr drive away.

They took us down the street to the Mall of America! It was so HUGE! And Nickelodeon has a big theme park inside! Surprisingly, they were really fun and fast! Lost my stomach a couple of times, and a couple of kids accidentally expelled not a lot, but enough, of their saliva on him to make him unnerved. All-in-all, a great experience! We also had to try the food court while we were there, not a typical endeavor, but discovered that Chipotle now has organic, hormone-free, veg.-feed chicken in their burritos...Go Chipotle!

Woohoo Mall of America...it has pretty much any store you'd ever want to go to. Way to go Minnesota (this can only be whispered and no exclamation sign given because they happen to be Wisconsin's rival in sports. "Big doin's" supposedly).

We drove through the famous Wisconsin Dells. There were probably 4 inside water parks that we passed off the freeway alone. Its a big place for camping and vacationing. Something to look forward to.

Still fairly chipper for our nice 4 hr drive home with lots of detours due to random freeway construction* going on all over the state for the summer. Kyle drove both ways...what a champ!

*A little side note: they don't re-pave roads here. When the snows ruin the roads over the winter, they simply wait till summer and throw a bunch of tar and gravel in the cracks...and whahla! A very nice bumpy ride. Looking forward to those winters that even locals shudder about! :)

Get your hand off my tail, you'll make it dirty...

The day we packed was a quite pleasant 102 degrees + humidity...take that Texas! It took Kyle, I, and Andre about 3 hours to pack the truck. I would describe the experience as swimming back and forth from the truck rather than walking. If you're reading this...Thanks Andre! We never could've done it without you! :) Sunday morning, we began the joyride: 14+ hour drive from Alpharetta, GA to our new residence in Madison, WI. Kyle drove the big truck and I drove the car...it was, however, even...in terms of comfort. Both of us had seats unworthy of praise and each lacked the desired "cruise-control." There's nothing like that feeling of your foot going to sleep in a awkwardly propped position.
We made lunch on the way, as depicted in my joyous face. I obviously wasn't too pleased that "Traveling Almira" was being documented. Isn't cooler camping fun?

Our arrival was greeted by a delightful downstairs neighbor. She left a sweet gesture on our door that night, encouraging us to be quiet...though we hadn't even moved anything in yet. Little did we know, we would be receiving a few more of those sweet little notes with endearing reminders. We brought her brownies and haven't heard a thing since...(fingers crossed).
This is our make-shift shower curtain...trash bags are kindred spirits. Isn't Kyle so cute with our Costa Rica towel (the only one unpacked)? It was quite a trick to get it to stay so the water didn't splash everywhere...Who thinks to bring a shower curtain?! Ooops. And since we hadn't moved anything in...we slept on, yet again, trash bags. I get a little sicked out of any new place we live in before I deep-clean and vacuum.

Stay tuned for: "Adventure to Minneapolis", and "Decorated House, Decorated Tree; I Wish I Were a Present"

Bienvenidos a Miami!

Since Kyle served his mission in Miami, FL, he wanted to show me his old stomping grounds before we moved to WI for grad school. One of the best things about this trip was that we'd found super-cheap tickets to fly down there...try $9 each way! Whoopee! We started in Ft. Lauderdale for the night and stayed by the beach for a night.

The next day we drove down to Miami (our view from the hotel above) for a few days to visit his old ward and the wonderful families that were still living there. We hung out with Ferrer and the Dupellesy families...they both took really good care of us! They each fed us the most scrumptious food ever! I'll never want to eat anything but Argentine meat now! We miss them already!

The Ferrer family (above)

The Duplessy Family...we didn't get any pictures of their other 3 adorable kids, Bruno, the baby, is their youngest. (above)

We went to church that Sunday in his old ward...the first one ever built in Miami.

Key Islamorada was beautiful, but it was mostly made up of coral reefs, so there wasn't really a sandy beach...deep sea fishing is very popular there.

We primarily stayed in Key West, which was lovely, but we had been so spoiled by Costa Rica's beaches that it was hard to not compare the two...tribute to Costa Rica's amazing beaches! But it was still so beautiful and fun. We walked the entire island by accident...took us a few hours!


The classic "Southernmost Point" picture...had to get it.

Kyle was craving his favorite Cuban foods, so we found a cute little restaurant that great hand painted art by the little Cuban man that started it.

Throughout Key West, they have an inordinate amount of roosters and chickens! They just live in the city...wherever they want! We saw a hen and her chicks just taking a stroll on the street.

Of course we had to hit up the Ripley's Believe It or Not! It was pretty weird...I was privileged enough to hold the tallest man's hand. And Kyle and I were able to have a nice self-esteem boost next to the fattest man and oddities found in humanity.

On our last night we caught the sunset which was gorgeous! And all of these carnival people were doing tricks for tips there on the piers with live music. Just a side note...their famous Key Lime Pie is definitely worth the trip! A perfect delicacy.