Cement or Mattress

I am trying to post a least once a week, but as you can tell I am not that good at taking the time to do so!  By the time my long day is over I get in my pj's, cook dinner, and honestly go to bed!  I am pretty lame now-a-days, but work has been busy lately and our weekends of course just as busy!

But what I really want to post about was this amazing holiday that is only a few days away..Thanksgiving! I can't believe that it is already the end of November and that Christmas is just on the horizon.  Thanksgiving has always been a chance for me to reflect on what has been so great in my life over the past year and I would say my life has made some large changes over the past year!

Each and everyday on my way home I drive by a man who is homeless and sleeps on lower-lower Wacker near the entrance to my parking garage for my condo.  I watch him take his blankets out of his bag, lay them out on the concrete ground (honestly he has like 10 of them) and lay there underneath the other blankets on top.  I have seen him since I moved in and he looks just like any man in his 40-50's that I would see everyday.  I want to say that to see this man that seems to be normal, trying to live a life, have a bed, belongings, and is homeless sleeping on the side of the road is the most HUMBLING experience ever.  My first thought always is wow how hard that cement must be, second whoa that is a lot of blankets, third I can't imagine living this way!  I know that most people look at homeless begging for money and think you were the one you put yourself in that position, but there is just something about driving home from a long days work whether it be just ok or bad and realizing that no matter how bad something might be for you, it doesn't compare to the life this man lives and leads everyday.

I know that I lead/live a life that most people never have the opportunity to live and there are no words, phrases, or sayings that can thank God or the people in my life who have helped me to get where I am enough.  I have been so blessed not only with the wonderful foundation of God and Jesus as my savior, but with a family that is second to none.  Without the unconditional love and selflessness of my parents I would not be in the position that I am today.  More than that, they have taught me that sense of giving, sacrificing, and providing whatever I can to help better those around me.  Additionally, I am thankful for my brothers, who are the ones I strive to lead a life that they would be proud of and look up to for their own decisions, but most of all they are the best friends anyone could ask for no matter what the situation.  Then there is my ever loving and most amazing Husband!  My life came full circle when we got married this past July!  Each and everyday is better than the next with  him by my side and he is the rock in which I make it through any good or bad day.  He is everything to me!  Lastly.. there are my gracious, amazing, always there for you friends!  You all know who you are.. without all of you, my life wouldn't be so entertaining, I wouldn't have anyone to laugh at me, and I probably wouldn't make it through my daily life without.

As I sit and think about all these people in which I am so grateful for, I think back to the homeless man, where are those people he cared about, why isn't anyone there to love him, care about him, help him..  I obviously don't know his story, what happened to him, or how ended up in his situation, but I do know that each day God has him there as a reminder that life can change in an instant and no matter what I am dealing with there are those who are struggling more and in a way that I can't even imagine myself in.  Each day I pass this man, I just smile at the thought of how blessed I am by God for all that I have.  Isn't it just amazing how God can provide these small signs or ways to keep you on your toes and following in his guiding light!!

 But enough of the serious stuff!  I am also thankful for a funnies that most people who know me will get a kick out of: Peppermint Mocha's, Decorating, Heating Pads, Uggs, Leggings, Foot Massages, My amazing profession, Shoes, The Colors Black&White, French Fries, Dogs, & of course Mexican Cuisine!  Even you know me at all..that list had you cracking up and of course you can tell I am still a big kid at heart!

I truly pray that everyone has a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving with their own families!

3 Months!

Hey All!!

I can't believe it but 3 months has past since my last post!  My life has been a whirl wind since the beginning of August!  B (my hubby) & I moved into our apartment downtown Chi, start our new jobs/externship (me), and honestly haven't looked back.  B works right downtown traveling a mere 10 minute walk, while I hike to the northwest suburbs an hour or so to the office.

Since I blogged last..B passed his CPA exam while I started my externship/residency for the first month.  B's oldest brother got engaged and is expecting in April, while the middle (but older) brother is expecting in March.  To start, this has been a crazy beginning to our fall.  As for October I got my second sister-in-law, traveled to see my brother at college, and planned a baby shower for the baby due in March that happened last weekend with the help of my amazing mom!  During October my husband was in LA and Orlando for the first three weeks of work.  Believe it or not, I have been enjoying the week without him because I get to study for my board exam (which is this Saturday), watch the shoes I want to watch, and most of all eat pasta just about every night (which is my new favorite for some reason)!  And lastly, we visited Brandon's parents in Florida for Halloween weekend!  It was such a treat to be in their gorgeous weather, sit by the pool, and spend quality time with them and relaxing!  We can't wait to go back for Christmas and to be with the entire Bugg clan.

Overall, I am truly looking forward to the next two weekends as B and I get to be home, in Chicago, with no where to be, no deadline to meet, and nobody counting on us.  It will be great to enjoy time together, enjoy the city, and hopefully the cold weather will hold off one more week so that we can enjoy the outdoors!

This Saturday marks a huge milestone for me, school, and my goal of becoming an Audiologist (hearing doc).  I have my sort of board exam/Praxis...I have been studying for this practically all of college, graduate school, and most of all the past two months!  Before I know graduation will finally be here and all the hard work, stress, and money will pay off with the start of my first real job/career as an Audiologist.

I hope that everyone has been having a great fall..and most of all my B is having a great night at IU for recruiting!

Residents!

We are finally residents of The Windy City as of this week!  We are so excited!  It feels like it has been a long time coming, but most of all I finally feel like we are officially married since we are on our own.  Although we spent a lot of time together over the past 5 years of college and even since we got married over a month ago, it never really felt real until this past week!  From the ability to only have to clean up after each other, leave things lying around if needed, cook in a clean kitchen, and oddly enough having an ice maker have just made life so much easier for me, sounds weird, I know!

But we had an orientation to the building today, I've laid out on the top deck, used the gym everyday, and most of all enjoyed cooking for my hubby, which if you know me at all is a shock since I can't even heat something up in the microwave properly!  Beyond that, my in-law's are coming this visit tomorrow for a few days to see our place and hopefully help us get everything all set up!  I am trying to finish cleaning and getting things organized, but our walls are bare and we don't have any real patio furniture yet, but we are working on it!  

Furthermore, my birthday is on Thursday, so we are going to be heading to my house for dinner, Friday to Canton, OH to visit my grandparents, and then onto Columbus, OH to visit my husbands brother for his birthday on Sunday!  It is great to have all this time off to visit with everyone and relax, but I am really looking forward to getting started with my externship in a couple weeks!  While I do have to admit I am very nervous because it will be a completely different setting, I am so curious to see how things work there and what a great experience it is going to be for me!

Well I just wanted to give a little update!  We are so excited and loving life in the city! XOXO!

A Serious Update!

It has been forever since I have had the chance to update everyone on everything!!  SO it might be long, but here it goes..

1. We tied the knot!  My husband and I got married on July 3, 2010 at Crystal Mountain Resort on the most perfect day!  I couldn't have asked for a better ceremony and reception, let alone the people that traveled from all over to celebrate the whole weekend with us!  It was a great mixture of happiness, excitement, and sadness of the realization that yes, we are growing up, but what a great life we have ahead of us!  Thank you to everyone for all your love and support and most of all for celebrating and making our wedding weekend the best time of our lives!  Here are just a few pictures from the rehearsal, dinner, the wedding day, and the reception!

2. The Honeymoon!  We went on our honeymoon to Couples Swept Away, Negril, Jamaica!  It was just perfect, we spent a whole week there enjoying the sun, sand, drinks, and food.  Our place was just perfect, everything we ate tasted amazing, the entertainment at night was good, and even better than that with that with the all inclusive we could drink whatever and whenever we wanted to!  We also got massages and even bigger than that I chopped about 8 inches off my hair, finally!  We had a great time and miss it already!  Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Jamaica!

3. My hubby is in the process of taking the CPA exam right now and we found out on our honeymoon that he passed the first exam!  He has since then taking the second part and has two more to go!  He is continuing to study as I continue to pray that he can pass all of the exams the first time around!

4. Chicago!  We moved to the "windy city" this past weekend from Bloomington, Indiana where had been living while attending Indiana University!  While we started, or should I say I started packing the week before, we moved everyone home to South Bend, picked up the wedding gifts, dropped some stuff off, and headed for downtown!  On the way there we stopped be IKEA again for some more furniture shopping and decorating!  We are so excited to move, get settled in, and acquainted with the city!  Here are few pictures from our new place, it isn't completed decorated yet, but here is what we could get done in one weekend!

5. Lastly, I am in my last week and a half of interning in Bloomington at a local ENT office and class!  I start my new position in August in Niles, IL with a private practice!  I am so excited to get started see what else is out there in my profession!

Well now that we have stopped being so busy and I have officially updated everything I hope that I will begin updating my blog more often than every month or more!

The Crazy Life

Ah!  So It has been almost 3 weeks since my last post, which isn't surprising once you hear my ridiculous schedule!

Holiday Info:  After a great Christmas with my parents and an additionaly almost two weeks before that for me of being home, My Hubby (tobe) and I went up to Crystal Mountain where we are getting married for NYE!  It was awesome!  We skiied, met with the wedding coordinator, relaxed, and most of all had a great NYE at the resort. I'll have to post a picture of all of us later! 

After NYE, we flew to Florida to be with Brandon's parents for the last week of break.  We had a very relaxing week of mostly nothing and it actually worked out perfectly for my crazy schedule of when I got back.

School: Even though I am back and it is officially my last full semester..it is the craziest semester I have ever experienced!!  I am truly bust from 8am to 8pm Monday thru Thursday and if it weren't for nothing on Friday I don't know how I would make through!  I have a lot of practicum/clinic hours, class, and work (as a personal trainer at the gym as always).

Other than all this, my hubby (tobe) and I finally finished our registry, almost have all of the invitations finished and ready to send out, and are trying to finalize more of the plans!

Hope all is well with everyone else and congrats to all those I know how who are newly prego &/or just has  a baby!

Lately

So..Haven't blogged in awhile, but between being home, on break, spending time with family..I have had no time for anything!!  Let alone I have just been pure lazy!

Anyways, I almost have all of my invitations finished for the wedding!!!  We decided to make our invitations because it is half the price by using stuff at scrapbook store and printing things off on cardstock at Kinko's!  It has been so great, but a lot of work.  Basically there is a black shiny big outside envelope, then a white 4 fold envelope closed by a cut-out I used that is in the shape of my flocked damask print and the actual invitation is glued to this white outside envelope...kind of like this picture and the envelope of the back left!

The actual is mounted with two different types of paper behind it too!  Then there is an isnert about our website, an insert about the reception, and the response card which is like the envelope of the top left in which we included a sticker to close as shown with the response to be marked on the inside! :)  We are really excited and they are almost complete and ready to be mailed out!

If you haven't read my wedding website yet, we are having a mini-destination wedding about 3 hours from where my hubby(tobe) are from at a golf and ski resort in which his parents have a townhouse.  So that means we need to plan on sending out the invitations about 5 months in advance if they still want to be able to book rooms after they receive the invitations! (We already sent save-the-dates with a magnet, information about the hotel, and information about our website)

Beyond that I finally ordered my underskirt for my wedding dress :)  It will be interesting because I decided on a 6 hoop petticoat that has the ability to remove the rings and comes up a little big higher.  The whole problem is that I have no idea what to expect as to how the skirt will fit in the waist because I am pretty petite and more than that how long it will be!?  It should be interesting!  Furthermore I decided on the hoop skirt, which could be good or bad..many people say they have no problems with it and its not uncomfortable, but then again it just might be a pain!  If you have any advice or have heard in anything let me know, but it was half the price of a non-hoop skirt!

Other than that my hubby(tobe) and I are heading up to where we are getting married for NYE tomorrow to spend a little time with his family and brothers family.  After that we are headed for FL for a week to spend time with his parents before we head back to school!

Registry.Registry.Registry

Hi All!!  So I have been very busy with my hubby(to be) registering for the upcoming wedding the past couple days as well as celebrating Christmas with my older brother's family!

Friday, we spent the day at Macy's registering for just about everything that we could.  We are really struggling to find a place to register that we like because we are not interested in registering at bed, bath, and beyond.  SO..despite what everyone else has been telling us, we decided to do our major registering at Macy's.  We really found everything that we needed there except for any furniture, lamps, and decorations.  We have been trying to find a way register at IKEA which does not have registry and found a site called http://www.myregistry.com/ which allows you to put anything from any store on your registry.  You sign up with your own registry and people can purchase online.  Additionally the site has the ability to give you a cash gifton their too.

So while we have it all figured out, it is the hardest thing to decide how to decorate, what colors, how it should flow, what do you really need..so if anyone has something that they for sure know is the best thing they registered for let me know!

Saturday, we went to Chicago to go to IKEA to check out some of the furniture that they had for our apartment.  The biggest thing we have been looking for is a sleeper sofa, which I have to say is really hard to find that is nice, comfortable, functional, and for a good price.  The biggest thing is we ended up buying all of our living room furniture while we were there.  We got a sectional sleeper sofa (http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/90125722)

We decided to get the sofa in the dark beige and we got a smaller loveseat/chair in this color..

Along with some dark brown end tables and coffee table!  We also found a shag carpet that is orange with lime green, light pink, and purple..and we hopefully will find some pillows that will match with it in those colors and lamps as well!

We also found all this stuff for our bedroom, but I willl post more later once we have decided on what we are going to go with! 

Saturday night we spent time with my brothers family while they opened their xmas gifts together because they are going to Disney World for Christmas and leave in a few days.  We got to play with all their toys, eat spaghetti dinner, etc.

Sunday slept in, did a little shopping with family, baked cookies, puppy, chow, and celebrated christmas with my brothers family at my house!  It was so great to see them play with all their toys and eat dinner with everyone before they leave for Florida.

Well I am headed to bed!  Nite :)