Whirlwind Tour of the Windy City

Another weekend gone...can't believe it!?! It was an awesome weekend though! Jenna and I survived our trip to Chicago and as always, had lots of interesting moments. haha We visited places we'd been before, saw a few new sights, and shared our dislike for CTA (Chicago Transit). I'm ready for the next vacation already! haha ;)

Our stops in the big city...
Giordano's Pizza
Magnificent Mile - Coach Store (no, sadly I did not buy a purse...nothing I just LOVED)
Navy Pier
Millennium Park
Greektown
Berwyn - Chicago Dance Store so we could pick up Jen's Christmas gift from mom
Lincoln Park

On our way to Chicago we made a stop at Purdue to shop the tent sale, unfortunately I didn't have the sizes I needed to make a few purchases. :( We stopped at University Spirit too and bought some stuff there and enjoyed the employee discount from Sharon (one of Jen's co-workers/boss).

On the way back from Chicago we made a stop at Fair Oaks for some ice cream!! yummmmmmmmy ha

Here's some pics to recap, if you want to see all of them, you'll have to log in to Facebook! :p

Chicago Bound!

Leaving home in a few hours....headed up to Indy to meet up with Jen....then headed to CHICAGO via a detour in West Laffy! haha :)

Stay tuned for an update on the trip!

On the Sidelines

Last night the Colts beat the Dolphins...thankfully! haha It was too close for comfort, but a win is a win (even if it ain't pretty!). ha

It was pretty cool to see a special guest on the sidelines with the Colts team...

Peyton Manning & Tiger Woods

On other news...I just have to make it through work today and Thursday, then Friday I'm off to Chicago for the weekend!! We were supposed to go to New York, but our friends ended up not being able to go, so Jen and I decided just to have a relaxing weekend in the windy city. I'm most looking forward to our massages and facials scheduled for Sunday! :)

Where'd it go?

hmmm...where did it all go?

I started out yesterday evening with a bank account that looked quite healthy and robust. Today, it is sad and empty! haha

Last night I booked all my hotels and tours for the Australia trip. :) With every step, it seems more real!! I still can't believe that in 61 days, I will be leaving for the land down under!?! Woah!

I have everything I need until I get there. So now my account can rebuild before I go so I have spending money. haha Keep your fingers crossed anyway! ;)

10"

Recently I decided that to help boost my weight loss, I would do a series of bodywraps. For those of you who don't know...it's essentially ace bandages soaked in water and a special solution, wrapped around your body so you feel like a mummy, and then you take a nap for 30-45 minutes and unwrap! haha I've had a few of these done before back when I was a senior in high school and had great success. Today I was pleased to lose 10" overall. Now that's a combination of the inches lost off my arms, legs, chest, stomach, butt, etc. They measure you before and after. I am going to do 5 more of these over the next 5 weeks. This morning I weighed myself and was pleased to see that I'd lost a few more pounds...and that was after being up 2 pounds at the end of last week!

Still have a LONG way to go...but I'm getting there! :) I'll try to update this each week with the inches lost.

Happy Wednesday!

Ugly....Burgers!

It has been a VERY hectic week with 3 golf events at the course. I survived...barely. haha I needed a short getaway from the hustle and bustle...and also needed to come to Indy to get some stuff for Toby and myself. Since I had to switch shifts with an employee to accommodate her schedule, I decided to go ahead and come up to Indy to see Jen tonight.

I listened to the Colts game the whole way north...YAY Colts! :) Then when I got to Jen's apartment, the Colts game ended, so we watched the last few minutes of the Bengals game. I have to preface this by saying that I have ALWAYS been a fan of Brandon Stokely (he's a cutie!), especially since he used to be a Colts player. He now plays for the Broncos with good ol' Purdue grad, Kyle Orton. It was absolutely magnificent to watch the final game changing play when Orton's pass got tipped by the Bengals...right into the hands of Stokely, who ran it in for a touchdown and then ran ALONG the endzone to kill time off the clock! Go Broncos! :) hahaha

Okay, enough football...for now. ;)

Tonight Jen and I had dinner at Bub's Burgers & Ice Cream in Carmel. I had never been there before but it was soooooooooooo good! I am already planning the next trip! ha :p It's the "home of the ugly burger" and apparently if you eat the 1 pound burger, they take your picture and put it on the wall. We each had 1/4 lb. burgers and shared a SMALL fry basket (which really wasn't very much at all) and we were stuffed. I can't imagine eating the 1 lb. burger. haha So if you're ever in Carmel, give Bub's a try!



We just got back to the apartment after running a few errands. I still have one more errand to run tomorrow morning, since we missed the store being open by 5 stinkin' minutes. :( I'm also hoping to meet up with my friend, Charlotte, tomorrow for some Starbucks before I head back home.

Hope everyone enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous weekend!

Golf is my Life

Isn't it ironic that a girl who doesn't play golf...manages a golf course and feels like she eats, sleeps, breathes golf?!? haha The past week has felt like I'm on golf overload!! Sadly, it's not getting any better.

Sunday the golf course was host to the Samples Scramble. I really didn't have much to do for this event besides make sure the course was ready, but it's still a big undertaking to get there early and get all the carts out, and then handle 40 people at once wanting to buy drinks/snacks before heading out to play. They made it through their scramble, amidst some sprinkles. It started POURING down rain as they were parking their carts. I got soaked trying to clean the carts out and put some of them away. I had people waiting to go out (once the course was officially open), but it never let up rain...so they had to go home. I ended up putting the rest of the carts away and closing up shop for the day!

Wednesday was our first ever Member Day. Now this is an event I have been bustling to get planned for the past month. We decided we needed to have an "appreciation" day and thankfully, the weather was perfect!! We had about 3/4 of our members come spend the ENTIRE day with us. They didn't have to pay anything to ride as many holes as they wanted...they definitely took advantage of that deal! haha We provided coffee and danish for them in the morning, which they loved! Then I grilled hamburgers and hotdogs to serve with potato salad, baked beans, chips, and fantastic golf ball decorated sugar cookies. It was a big hit! The last surprise of the day was that each member got a thank you gift, a custom Pine Hills Golf Course can koozie. :) Everyone really seemed to enjoy the day and were quite thankful. Although it was a long 12 hour day for me (especially since Wednesdays are my only day off each week), it was still a fun day with my favorite people!

chow time!

our golf themed cookies!

getting ready for yet another scramble on Member Day

Now I have to get through a few more days and then Saturday the course is hosting the Raider Open. It will be a big event with about 22 teams (11 morning and 11 afternoon) to raise money for the South Ripley Athletic Program. They have this event every year, but it is our first time to host it. A true sign that we are moving up in the world! (our course looks AMAZING right now) So, I have to be there ALL day...it'll probably be a 15 hour day for me...ugh. :(

Other than that....I haven't accomplished much of anything lately. I have not had less than 60 hours since my vacation to Wisconsin. Most weeks, it's been almost 70. I need a break! :p

Books, Books, & More Books

I LOVE to read...I have always been the kid who could sit anywhere and completely immerse myself in a book. My cousin, Monica, and I trade books fairly often because we both enjoy reading. The past year or so we've really been into vampires. haha It sounds funny, but there are quite a few good series out there. Not the deep, dark, twisted stories, but the light-hearted romantic comedy with some drama. ;)

There is a great series by Michele Bardsley about a group of people turned vampires in Broken Heart, OK. We have read all the ones that are out for now...I hate having to wait for the latest book in a series! haha


I also enjoyed the Twilight series. :) Hasn't the world? ha


There is a series about witches and warlocks by a pair of authors, Nancy Holder and Debbie Viguie, that's really interesting. It's called Wicked. It fits in right along with Twilight and Harry Potter. haha


I recently started the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris (on the recommendation of the Wal-Mart book stocker)...and they are AWESOME. I've read the first eight! Just flew through them. :p I'm waiting for the ninth book to come out in paperback, but I may break down and buy it in hardback. haha The tenth book comes out next month and the eleventh book comes out next May. The HBO series True Blood is based on these books. I haven't seen the show yet, but several of my friends are addicted to the show AND books!


And now that I'm waiting to finish that vampire series, I've switched over to the series by Emily Giffin (after seeing it on Rajean's friend Missy's blog). Very good book so far (I'm half way through the first book), but at the same time a little depressing. I say depressing because it hits a little close to home for me! For those who have read it or go look up the synopsis, NO I am not interested in an engaged guy...ha...BUT the guy I like does have a gf, it's a long complicated sordid story that makes me feel like crap (and no we're not "seeing" each other, but we do still talk which is self-destructive) and I am nearing the 30 mark SINGLE while the rest of my friends are engaged/married/having babies. So the feelings and thoughts the character in the book has, are a little too real. Oh well...still a good read!


I also have another series waiting to go when I finish this current set, so I'll let you know when I get to 'em! ha

Also, if anyone's interested in them...let me know. My books are lightly used, no dog ear pages, and I will probably post them for a VERY reasonable price on Ebay in the near future. (Monica still has to read a few of them before I'll post them.)

Say Goodbye to My Waistline!

Every step is a positive one...at least I keep telling myself that! ;)

I'm down another 2 pounds this week! Woohoo! Overall, I'm down a little over 20 pounds!!!! I have a long way to go to get where I would LIKE to be and still a long way to where I'd be OKAY with it...ha

September!

I cannot believe that it is September already!?! Wow. Where did the year go?

Yesterday was mom's birthday...unfortunately we didn't get to celebrate it because I had to work and Jenna is busy with Swing IN stuff in Indy for this weekend. Mom wants to go to Shelbyville to Applebee's for her birthday dinner, so probably tonight or Friday night we'll do that! :p

The weather has been cool and crisp...and I LOVE it! :)

Have a great day!