Girls Weekend!

Last week three of some of my best girlfriends from college all made their way to Chicago from Florida and Indiana for a girls weekend!  It was SO wonderful to see all of them and I was so glad they all were willing to make the trip.  There was a lot of talking and catching up, but in between that we managed to head to downtown Chicago for the night, eat at some great restaurants, visit the Art Institute, do some shopping, and head to the movies :)  It was such a great weekend and I am so thankful for them!  I love that we can still get together and catch up like we did in college- cannot believe it has been 4 years!

Our room for the night!

Lovely ladies: Cynthia and Jamie

You could reserve a table to have tea :)  We wished we would have known that!

The lobby

At the Art Institute

Cynthia, Kylie, and Jamie

Intently looking at the art :)

This was a popular one for sure



Annnd the contractions kicked in so they chilled with me for a little bit :)

Heading out to eat!

At Atwood Cafe

Heading off to get dessert

Posing by the Chicago sign!

The most ADORABLE bakery ever.

helllooo amazing cupcakes

It was seriously so cute!

Of course we had to visit the bean

Good Morning

Last night was one of those nights Dan and I stayed up wayyyy too late.  He was working on finishing up some journal entries (and now he is DONE for the semester! yay!) and I was working on a study guide for my last. final. ever.  I can't tell you the last time my body saw 1:00 am on a Thursday night.  However, what is nice for me is that I have the day off to continue studying... Dan on the other hand had to go into work :/  So, to get me up and moving I made myself a wonderful breakfast :)  I love fruit. I have been craving it non stop... I wish this was the case when I wasn't pregnant, too :)  So this perfect blend of yogurt, granola, blueberries, bananas, and strawberries drizzled with honey hit the spot.  I am awake and SO ready to tackle studying for this final. onnne more left.  I can do it.  Bear with me while I motivate myself this morning through this blog post.

Oh, and to leave you with some encouragement... I read this the other day and wanted to share it. In my Bible study on Wednesday night we were talking about how we study the Bible and what we normally look for when we dive into a passage. This quote goes perfectly with what we discussed :)

The more you know of God’s attributes, the more you understand of his acts; the more you treasure up of his promises, and the more you fully dive into the depths of his covenant, the more difficult will it become for Satan to tempt you to despondency and despair. Acquaint thyself with God and be at peace. Meditate on his law both day and night, and thou shalt be like a tree planted by the rivers of water; thy leaf shall not wither; thou shalt bring forth fruit in thy season, and whatsoever thou doest shall prosper. Ignorance of God is ignorance of bliss; but knowledge of God is a divine armor, by which we are able to ward off all the blows of the enemy. Know thyself, O man, and that will make thee miserable; know thy God, O Christian, and that will make thee rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. 
— Charles Spurgeon in Sermon No. 287 Delivered on Sabbath Morning, December 4th, 1859

Hope you have a lovely weekend :)

Baby Shower Updates

Hello!  I'm sorry it has been a while since I've been able to blog.  With friends in town, life decisions to make, Capstone papers to write, and finals to prepare for, I'm actually surprised I was able to put this together!  However, I was really excited when my friend, Jess, sent me the pictures she took from my baby shower a couple weekends ago so I wanted to put some up :)  I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and I hope to be back later this week!

** please note these are somewhat out of order ...

Introducing my mom to everyone

chatting with my other pregnant friends :)

Working on the scrapbook!

The shower was "book" themed so Becca asked everyone to bring a book instead of a card!  It was so sweet and we've already started a little library for this baby :)

getting excited about diaper creme

Krysten got us our noise machine!  We definitely needed this being in tight quarters!

Emily and I!

Me and my mom!

My Willow friends - Laura and Ruth

I had to include this because I look like a crazy person.  Yes, Stef, this is a diaper changing table and you will be changing diapers with a baby.

Dan arrives!

Rach and Sara

A drink was spilled.. I love how Jess ran to get her camera lol

Me and the host Becca!!  She did SUCH a great job planning!!! So thankful for her :)

Me and Seija, my supervisor from Willow :)

Dan looking good next to that stroller.  Just mentally preparing :)