What is wrong with people?

Do I look like an axe murderer, a child kidnapper or an alien? My neighbors within a four-mile radius of my house sure make me feel like it. Today, just like many other days when I am not going to go to a gym class, I take a 3 to 4 mile walk just to do something. I've mentioned before how different this experience varies in WI as opposed to IL. Apparently, in WI people do not think I look scary, but in IL they do. Every single time I take a walk in IL, I purposely count how many people I walk by and smile, give a friendly nod and/or say hello/hi/good afternoon/good day matey or something of the sort to. Generally this number equals the number of people that completely ignore me or look at me like I am nuts. Today it was 8, however, miraculously ONE acknowledged me...and she was 2. YEA!!! Finally!! Thank god I haven't totally given up on the human race thanks to this little girl. I had already walked by 2 people and said hello to blank stares, when I came across this little girl and a woman, who I assume is her mother, playing in their front yard. I smile to the woman in the manner of "oh your little one is adorable", but she just looks at me like I'm not even there. When lo and behold - the little girl gets this huge smile on her face and she says HI! I say "well hello there little one - how are you?" She babbles something as she is only a toddler. I smile at her mother and giggle, her mother still doesn't acknowledge me. I turn to keep walking and the little girl runs a few steps and says "Buh-bye!" Holy moly!!! Can you believe that this made my day?!? Because everytime I wander on the sidewalks of Arlington Heights, I come home defeated that I can't get anyone to say a simple hi. I mean do I look scary?!?! I mean I think I'm nice... hello I AM smiling at these people!!! I have a substantial amount of friends... I just don't get it. Today was absolutely perfect - I'm happy to take 2 seconds to say HI to someone that is on this Earth right along side me and should be enjoying the day as well. However... blank stares... that's it... that's all I get. What IS that about? I just don't get it. Isn't it human nature to acknowledge other people? I guess it isn't here.

In other news, we've been keeping busy. This past weekend, Bry had a boy's weekend up at the lake, while I attended Jaime's bachelorette party. We both had a BLAST!!! Last weekend, Kevin and Bernadette hung out up at the lake with us and we had a riot at the Lake Geneva Fest and on the golf course. We sang and danced for HOURS!!! It was so much fun. We spent a day with our friends, Gina and Dave, on their ridiculously large boat! We also took a tour of the Yerke's Observatory and were able to look through their 24" telescope to see Jupiter and its moons, the Andromeda Galaxy, an exploding star among numerous constellations up close and personal. It was AWESOME and we highly recommend it to anyone that would find it interesting! The weekend before that - was ACDC and our Iowa friends' visit to the lakehouse! Tif, Aimee, Darren and McCartney, Lori, Rob & Carter all came to visit and we had a blast! We had a good time during the day hanging out at the pier with the babies and in the evening, Tif, Aimee, Lori and I had some good girl time! We need to do that more often for sure!

Blogworthy?!

All right time to update the blog…

What’s been happening in Crowleyland? Lots… Blogworthy? Dunno… but here goes.

Two weekends ago we hosted a bunch of Bryon’s family up at the lake for the weekend. It was a bit nutso, but what can you do? It was a gorgeous weekend and we golfed Sunday afternoon. We’ve figured out that this is a nice way to relax and unwind after guests depart before it’s back to the grind on Monday. We also are loving the opportunity to go on after work boat rides when the lake is free of tourists – no offense!

Last weekend we trekked to Iowa for Bryon’s very first Mississippi Valley Fair. Unfortunately, there were loads of thunderstorms on Friday and the fair was MUDDY and dead. We did however get to catch up with a few old friends and Bryon got to down lots of fair food favorites. I stuck with the drinking and chatting… I was looking forward to trying a fried snickers, however, just as we approached the booth they closed down. I guess that is a reason to go back next year. Who am I kidding? Like I won’t be there? When was the last time I missed the fair???? On Saturday, we had lunch at Bryon’s all time favorite, Mongolian Grill. Mom told the noodle-cookers that we had come all the way from Chicago to gorge on their yumminess and they did some super-duper food flippin’ just to show their excitement! Saturday we went to my mom’s good friend, Debi’s son’s wedding. It was ummm… HOT. The ceremony was outdoors at Vandeveer and was a tad sticky. The reception thankfully was air-conditioned and we proceeded to have a good ol’ time. Nothing like a bunch of draft beer, good friends (and some crazy ones – good lord!), rice krispie “cake” and lots of dancing with my favorite dance partner Tina! We had a great time! Sunday we hung out and ate again too much at Ganzo’s taco bar and had Whitey’s on the way out of town. And I wonder why I need a girdle??? WTH!

This week we have some excitement going on. I’m hosting a jewelry party tonight and my girlfriends will assist me in loading up on all sorts of gorgeousness! Thanks ladies!
Friday night, we are headed to see ACDC! For those about to ROCK – yea… that’s us!
Then Saturday morning back up WI way, to host folks from back home. Rob, Lori, Darren, Aimee, McCartney and Tif. Should be good times! (As usual). Hopefully I will have some pictures for next week as I completely forgot to take out the camera last weekend. OOPS. So unlike me!

Until next time… XOXOXO

Hello summer... wait where are you going?

So first we sit around and wait and wait for it… and then it pretty much just passes us by with a quick wave and sends us on our way. Don’t the door hit ya! I can’t believe we are nearing the end of July and it has hardly gotten warm enough to even declare that summer is here! It appears though that our summers do seem to last longer…well into September and I do know that we have been on the boat in October. Let’s just hope the next three months are much nicer and warmer so we don’t totally feel like we got jipped! (How do I spell that word? Someone let me know as I am having a brain freeze and unfortunately not from Whitey’s).

Anyway… we’ve been busy spending time up at the lake. We now spend Thursday nights (or Friday mornings) until Tuesday mornings up at our house in Wisconsin. Let me tell you how it is 100 times better than Illinois in my opinion. It constantly makes me feel like I am away at some posh resort for the summer like in Dirty Dancing. Although there is golf and plenty of water activities, there are no fox trot lessons or charades in the main hall. And although my husband is one of a kind… he doesn’t sport the black slacks and black wife-beater and take me away in his cool car while it is raining to practice lifts. Damn. Sorry… now I have all of these other Johnny Castle involved thoughts running through my head. I digress.

Last weekend we hosted the bulk of my city friends at the lakehouse. This included: Jaime and Dan, Dan and Julie, George and Marnie, and Laura and Chris. Most of these folks have been around for quite some time ever since I lived in the city. We used to see each other every Friday, Saturday and Sunday it seemed meeting for meals, drinks, festivals or the occasional Hairbanger’s Ball at Joe’s. In fact, pretty much the only reason I even miss the city is that I miss these folks. I am SO very thankful for this great group of tight-knit pals. We were missing a few: Jason, Paul, Larry and Tricia…and we did indeed miss you.

We took everyone for boat ride on Saturday which I think they thought we were going to try and drown them all. You see… it was windier than all get out… and we have a pretty small boat. Instead of gliding over waves, the waves seemed to want to join us IN the boat. Well… you see we just did this on purpose because some people said they didn’t want to swim! HA! After the treacherous 3-hour tour, we hung out on the pier. This, with food and drink, was more up our alley. We caught up and even found out that two of our guests went to high school together. Small world!!! We went back to the house in early evening to BBQ, which turned out spectacular. Bryon built a nice campfire that new BFFs Dan and Chris enjoyed and we sat around until the wee hours sobbing because we were laughing so hard. “If anyone wants to know where I am, I’m RIGHT HERE!” When was the last time you played “I Never”…probably in high school or maybe college? It’s just not as much fun with mostly married folks. We had a blast anyhow. I haven’t laughed so hard in ages!!!

We enjoyed our company through Sunday afternoon. Watch out if you want to take a run in our neck of the woods – because as we found out it’s easy to get lost. Sorry Julie! Glad you found your way back!! We were so very happy that that group decided to venture out of the city to join us, and we do believe they all had a good time. I miss them a lot and I am very happy when we see them again. We’ll be seeing most of them soon as we have TWO weddings this fall! YIPEE!

This weekend we will have many of Bryon’s family members as guests and then the next weekend we are heading home for THE FAIR! Bryon is a MVF virgin, so those of you fair-goers need to help him have a wonderful experience. He’s going to have indigestion for days after he has all of the wonderful fried samplings of fair food.

After that we have I believe 2 free weekends until the third week of November!!!!!!!! Can you believe it?!?!?! Oh wait I just realized then it will be Thanksgiving. So, we will look forward to relaxing in December! Merry Christmas!!! Holy Schmoly.


XOXOXO
BNT

Happy 1 Year Anniversary to Us!

One year ago today...our wedding day... Time flies when you're head over heels....

I love the 80s - both the temperature and the decade!

This past weekend was a BLAST!!! We had so much fun! Friday night didn't quite turn out the way we thought it would. We were originally supposed to go watch my niece's softball game in Naperville, but Bryon couldn't get off of the phone and we were going to be late. He's back to work like normal! So we went for massages and dinner instead! Whatever... it works. On Saturday then instead we headed to Naperville to watch Maddison's game. It was fun! It's really a good time watching the girls. They are awesome! Mom and Dad were there and we went out to lunch after the game. It was an absolutely perfect day for a ballgame. We headed into the city after that and went to meet Jaime and Dan at the Village Tap and then headed over to the Rock Around the Block. If you know us - you know that Bry and I are the biggest 80's rock band nerds ever. We rocked out like we typically do to one of the best cover bands EVER... course I decided NOT to post our renditions of Pour Some Sugar on Me and Talk Dirty to me (yes I did record them), because we will actually see the REAL DEAL this Friday.!! Yes, we actually paid for tickets to Def Leppard and Poison. Yea...we're cool... or not.

Sunday we headed up to the lake and hung out on the pier. It was so nice and relaxing and great to catch up with some of our neighbors. The great weather actually motivated me to get up early and take a walk by the lake and after work we went kayaking and for a swim. It was amazing! I (we) love it here....

Back to Illinois in the morning though... see you then!

XOXOO

Groupies!

Weirdo guy behind us
Me & Julz

The guys

We were told not to quit our day jobs...hey...we are just havin' fun!

Remember this guy?

You are not going to believe this...but today...I was in a different Subway when the Pompous Ass that Ruined my Lunch walked in. I looked up and thought I know that guy. He's kind of a dweeb...where do I know him from. THEN... I remembered. I looked and saw that STUPID effing earpiece and then looked down and saw the velcro shoes. Noooooooooo... He can't take over my Subway spot #2!!!! Thank god I was already headed out the door or there would have been a brawl had he started in again.

A Year Ago Today...

We were starting our adventure in Ireland. Waa.. Time flies.

For Nolan's About to Rock...

Happy Birthday America, Mom, Dad, Tyler & Jordan, etc!

Good Lord the Crowleys have been busy with Birthdays! Let the good times roll though! We'll start with the weekend before last. My Mom and Dad came out to our lakehouse for the weekend and we had a blast! They came up on Friday night, but Bryon was still getting home from LA, so I took them out to Crandalls for birthday dinner #1. You see my parents birthdays are within a few days of each other so that is why we have one big birthday celebration! They love Crandalls in Hebron, IL, if you have never been...you should go. All you can eat broasted chicken... the best chicken anywhere! AND the best chocolate cake EVER. After dinner I snuck to the "bathroom" and ordered up the giant chocolate mess with two candles. Poor Bry missed the best part!!

On Saturday, we headed up to Milwaukee for Summerfest. We met my cousin, Courtney and her hubs and also Coach, Julie, Paul & Jody were up as well. We listened to some tunes, drank some brews and wandered around until the rain shut us down. It was fun anyway...but we headed home earlier than had we been drinking dry. Dripping wet just isn't as enjoyable. ;)
Sunday was windy but beautiful... we had a wonderful breakfast on the deck and took off down to the pier to enjoy the day. It was mom's actual birthday and I think she enjoyed it. We took her out to our favorite Italian joint, Paisano's in Richmond (again if you haven't been there you need to go). It was so flipping good I thought we would all explode!! Mom had birthday gelato as well! She is the cutest birthday girl.

Monday night we headed back to Illinois to the Crowleys to celebrate two of our nephews birthdays. Bryon's sister, Suzy and her family were in from Colorado and joined the regular crew.

This past weekend, we held Bryon's mother's family reunion/combination 4th of July party up at the lake on Friday. We hosted 38 people, many being cousins that hadn't seen each other in years. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. We had so much good food and great fun! I think everyone is thinking it may be an annual event! After everyone left on Saturday...we took the rest of the weekend to recover. Throwing parties wears you out! I also need rehab from CAKE and Cookies and any other sweets that I have inhaled in the past couple of weeks!

Signs of Summer

Summer is finally here! Thank the lord! Warmer temperatures have heated up things over the past few days (after the terrible storms of course). I'm thankful as the better weather definitely affects my mood for the better! We are looking forward to lots of fun this summer with our friends and families.

This past Saturday, our friends Larry & Tricia invited us to attend a Cubs rooftop with a bunch of my friends from the city. Thank you so much for your generosity! It was a perfect day for a game! Of course I did way more talking with everyone then watching. It's always so nice to get everyone together and it makes me very happy to see them all every now and again. I miss seeing them every weekend, but everyone has moved their separate ways and we just don't get to do it as much anymore. It makes me so happy however that we do at least get together when we can. We're hoping to get everyone up to the lake this summer and we will be looking forward to Larry & Tricia's wedding in Philly in September and Dan & Jaime's wedding in Ft. Meyer's Beach in October. At least we know we'll see everyone there!

And of course we had way too much fun!

Sunday we celebrated Father's Day with the Crowley's. We are looking forward to hosting my parents this weekend at the lake and heading to Summerfest in Milwaukee with them and some cousins as well!

Bryon is in LA all week at the HITEC show. We're hoping that he accesses a lot of potential clients and will be well on his way to being swamped with new business!!

XOXOXO

Number 100

Well...well... I just realized that I am about to type our 100th blog! Who would have thought anyone would ever be interested in our life?!?! Go figure.

We've been keeping busy since our return from vacation. Bryon has begun his new job as VP of Operations for Guarded Systems out of Atlanta. So far so good.... he's got a big gig coming up next week at the HITEC show in California. Cross your fingers for him. He's working on getting everything up and going. I have no doubt that he will be successful of course... it is Bryon I am talking about. :)

We've been waiting on summer to get here already. We have so many fun things planned for the summer: lots of time at the lake, several concerts planned, Summerfest, Cubs games, family and friend visits and a big family reunion coming up on the 4th.

Luckily for us, we were blessed with some good weather this weekend. On Saturday, we went with some friends to see Aerosmith and Three Doors Down at Alpine Valley. We had a blast of course as we always do! We stopped by the Owl on the way home to hang out with our favorite bartender Lisa too! On Sunday, we hung out at the beach and barbequed and Bryon took his first dip in the lake of the year. I was too chicken as it was still pretty chilly in my opinion. Next time... but it was a great day. True Blood premiered on Sunday night! My favorite show!!!!!! Is there anyone else out there that loves it?! I've read all the books too... love them!

I began working from home Mondays and Fridays last week so that we would be able to really start living in WI. It was great and I was amazed at how much work I could get done away from the office.

This weekend we are planning on going to a rooftop for the Cubs game on Saturday with a bunch of my old city friends. I can't wait to see everyone. I'll be hoping for good weather. We'll see...

Hopefully there will be something fun to blog about after that!

Sheesh what a boring 100th post! I guess I've lost it! XOXOXO

T

HOLA!

So we are back from Mexico and I have been trying so hard to upload photos, however, everything I have been trying is not been working correctly! It is annoying the hell out of me! Anyway... we had a blast. We visited the ancient Mayan ruins of Tulum and Chichen Itza, a natural waterpark, Xel-ha, the Isla of Mujeres on a Carribean Carnivale and the town of Playa del Carmen plus of course spending time by the beach, pool, spa and bar! We also played golf and swam in cenotes - these are natural sink holes that fill with underground freshwater. I've posted our photos here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=128329&id=505907036&l=a6e2d3180f.

On my birthday we went on a cruise over to another island and had dinner on the beach while watching the Carribean show. We made new friends, Connie and Edge, and had a blast with them! My husband got called on stage, for which I think he thought they were going to place him in a contest, however, they only forced him to dance and SING! It was hysterical and he was so brave, especially given there were about 200 people watching him! He did great and everyone remembered him all night. "Oh Bryon, oh Bryon!" It was a riot!!!

Everything was great, besides the fact it was so HOT! We were sweating everywhere we went. We were happy to eat our first meal without perspiring Friday. We headed straight up to the lake and went and had chicken at Crandall's! YUM! We've been hanging out and getting some things done around the house here. It's been a great weekend - but unfortunately 5:15 AM will arrive soon enough and I will have to take off back to work. :( Not excited about that, but I am excited that so many fun things are planned for this summer, not to mention, Bryon's new exciting adventure. I will try to be better about keeping the blog updated with new news!

XOXOXO

T

Nuthin New...

Well...well...I'm actually sitting down and actually thought about the blog at the same time! We've been around, nothing too exciting to report. A couple of weeks ago, Bryon went to Vail for the last ski weekend of the year with some buddies. He had a ball and I had a good time with some me time. It's good to have some alone time every now and again! That weekend Gina and I went down to our friend Emily's new store, Mr. & Mrs. Digz to help get her up and going. If you are in the city, be sure to check it out at Clark & Broadway! Speaking of friends and new stores, if you are in the Quad Cities check out my other friend, Aimee's new store Mint Green Boutique in the Village of East Davenport!

I've been recovering from a hip flexor pull - at least that is my self diagnosis. Whatever...it hurt like hell and I could work out for about a week and a half. I'm getting back at it, but that week and a half wasn't kind to me!

Bryon has been continuing to work on the house day in and day out. Everything is looking great as it comes a long. I hope one day to have a clean and put together house again! And when that happens - party at the Crowleys!

This past weekend, we ran up to the lake for an Association meeting. We decided to spend the night and enjoy the beautiful morning by taking a run down by the beach to take a look at great summer days to come! We can't WAIT!!!!!!

Sunday night we had a BBQ at the Crowleys to celebrate Bryon's April 30th birthday...and mine too actually although I didn't know that was taking place. Thank you Crowleys! The food AND generosity is greatly appreciated. We had a great time hanging out w/the family.





This weekend we'll be heading down to Iowa for the weekend! We're looking forward to a round of golf, seeing family and friends and Mongolian Grill. YIPEE.

Charlie the Songbird

Everytime I see little Charlie he is signing a new song...I'm sure you've seen them posted before here. On Sunday, he had a new song that I guess his sister taught him. Thank goodness he has no idea what the words mean. He's just so darn cute singing away!

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend recap:

Ok...it's taken me a few days...

Bry and I had Good Friday off of course and we headed down to Iowa. We visited with my cousins Jen and Julie first which was great as we haven't seen them in ages. Then we went out to Parkview to wish our friend Travis a Happy Birthday, then to Buffalo to visit with old friends. The Young family was throwing a shindig and since I've been friends with them pretty much as long as I can remember...it was great to hang out and visit. It's weird how fast time flies and sometimes how it doesn't seem like you skip a beat. I also ran into Heather that I went to grade school with. Cousins Kevin and Steph also came out to visit. Always a good time!

Jason and I
Steph, Dad, Mom...we had to position him in the middle to prevent fighting.

Cousin Kev and Bry

Heather and I (friends since 1st grade!)

Saturday, Bryon, Dad and Darren went golfing while mom and I went to a funeral, met Aimee and McCartney at Mongolian Grill (YUM!!), toured Aimee's new boutique, ran a few errands, and stopped by Rob and Lori's new house. Sheesh. We were worn out. For all of you QC folk, you MUST stop by Aimee's new boutique, Mint Green, in the village of East Davenport. She opens this weekend and she is selling gently used designer apparel. Her place is so fabulous! I can't wait to go back!!! Saturday night we went to Texas Roadhouse. Holy moly that was good! And cheap!!! We loved it...but we stuffed ourselves and we couldn't function afterwards. Unfortunately, we missed our date with Tif. Dang it... next time.

McCartney loves Mom

Mint Green Boutique

On Sunday we celebrated Easter over a span of 12 hours beginning with brunch at Mom's at 10. We had an abundant amount of grub as usual and we of course left stuffed. All the family was there including both of my sisters, their husbands, children and even two significant others! It was great to see everyone and we enjoyed reminiscing (my nephew, Max, loves the stories!) Max and Jack also enjoyed the Easter Egg Hunt and practicing some baseball in Grandma and Grandpa's front yard. We were able to take some great family shots. We have to remember to always do that!

YUM

Jack finds a $5 egg!

Jack needs some height, Alex has plenty!

Jack reaches in

OOPS. The egg fell down the hole!

Grandkids

All in the family

This reminded me of Prom.

The boys playing ball

We headed out from Davenport about 2 arriving at the Crowleys at 5. We had another incredible meal (dinner) of ham and more cheesy potatoes, etc. YUMMY again! Of course it was fun to see everyone there as well and hang out with the kids. We ended up leaving there about 10, so it was a long day!!! But well worth it!

Uncle Bryon and Nolan

He makes him giggle.

Teri and baby

Big brother Tyler playing with the baby

I took Bryon to the airport this morning about 4:30... he's off to get in one last ski weekend in Vail! Obviously he's stoked. I am going to stay back and work of course. ;) But this weekend I will get some things done around the house and hopefully watch some girl tv that I never see when Bry is around! I'm helping my other friend who is opening a boutique as well, Emily, also. Always busy. I am looking forward to the warm weather hanging around for a lot longer and looking forward to really warm weather on our getaway back to Mexico over Memorial Weekend. Until then... I hope the sun just keeps shining!!!

T