The wheels on the bus...

As a U of I employee, I get to use the public buses (we call them MTD) for free! Taylor has been riding the bus for the last year to get to school, but I have never really had a reason to ride them. Now that I'm on campus everyday, it's easy to take a bus from our neighborhood that drops me off at the Admissions building.


So on Tuesday I took my first MTD bus ever! Taylor rode with me in the morning, but he had to stay late for a meeting so I had to ride home by myself in the afternoon. I will admit that I was pretty nervous about getting on the right bus or getting off at the wrong time, but it all turned out all right and I made it home!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Wish we could be there to celebrate with you!

We love you and hope you have a wonderful day :)

He passed!

So this is kind of old news, especially to those of you who actually read this, but I wanted to record it for our memories. We found out a couple Fridays ago that Taylor passed his qualifying exam!

This is really important for a couple reasons...

1. He couldn't stay in the program if he didn't pass.
2. He would not be able to stay in the program if he didn't pass.
3. He (as in Taylor) would not be allowed to stay in the program if he did not pass the exam.

You can see, clearly, how important this exam was!


Here is a copy of his official letter. They make it sound so official. Why don't they just say, "Hey, you passed and can stay in IL for another 5 or 6 years". Ha!

Happy Tuesday!

Changes

So, we have had some changes in our household since I last posted... today I started a new job at the University of Illinois as an Admissions Counselor. My time at the radio station was good and I truly enjoyed my co-workers, but the opportunity at the U of I was something I just couldn't pass up.

Here are the cookies the radio station got me on my last day. How nice is that? I will truly miss them.


This was on my desk when I arrived in the Admissions office this morning. I loved the little orange and blue candies!


This is a view of the right side of my desk...


Left side...


Center...



Have a great week!

Southern Comfort

Sunday was our friend Keith's birthday! To celebrate, we decided to try our hand at some good old southern comfort food... chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls. I watched Pioneer Woman's new cooking show over Labor Day weekend where she fixed CFS and was inspired. Here is the finished product...


I should have taken some pictures of the kitchen during the cooking process because it was a mess! Ha. I thought it turned out pretty good but isn't something I would make very often, I don't think my arteries could handle it.

Chicken Fried Steak

Creamy Mashed Potatoes (minus putting the butter on at the end and baking it)

Laine also brought over a chocolate Heath bar cake, which we called a "Keith cake" since it was Keith's birthday! I wish I would have taken a picture of the cake as well, because of course it looked like it was straight out of a magazine. Laine is so talented! Every time she brings over a cake to something, I remind her how thankful I am for our friendship :) Ha. Click here and check out some of the other cakes she has made, you will be so impressed.

Hope you are having a nice week so far!

Where We Were... 9/11

This morning after church, Taylor and I were talking about where we were 10 years ago when we found out about 9/11. Taylor said he was in Study Hall and that was about as specific as he could remember.

I remember being in my 1st hour class in 8th grade, Business Technology with Mr. Biggs, and in the class we were learning how to dub radio commercials into programs. So when Mr. Biggs turned on the radio and we were listening to the 9/11 coverage, I first thought it was a past historical event and remember feeling very confused. Our class quickly realized what was happening and we ended up just watching the TV in each of our classes that day.

Today, we are praying for all those effected by 9/11 and feel blessed to live in America, the land of the free and home of the brave.

Fall is here

So I know that the official beginning of fall isn't for a few more weeks, but in our household fall is already here! Know why?? Because I have purchased these (and sadly almost gobbled them all up!)...


and make this...


Candy corn and chili mark the beginning of fall for this girl! Plus it's been in the 60s and 70s the last couple days so I officially feel ok about putting up fall decorations. I just love fall!!

Here is the chili recipe we like..

1 lb ground beef
1 pkg chili seasoning
1 can of rotel
1 can of bean (drained)
Tomato juice (however juicy you like your chili)

Brown the ground beef and mix everything in a crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours! Simple and yummy :)

Have a great weekend!

iPhone Life

Since I haven't been great about updating on what's been going on with us, here is another quick update through whatever pictures I had on my iPhone...


This is my new favorite way to eat fruit! Laine always cuts it up this way and it makes it a lot easier to eat fruit as a side dish with dinner.



I'm still on the lookout for a bench to put at the foot of our bed. I found this cute turquoise bench and mirror the other day, but I think it is too wide.



A couple weekends ago I worked an event for the station called "Half Century of Progress". It's a really big farmer's expo and that's about all I can say about it. Here is Elizabeth (one of our on-air personalities) in a photo that sums up the expo pretty well...


And took at this bundle of joy I got to hold! We were handing out ice cream samples and a woman asked if I could hold him for a second which she put her baby carry thing?? on (obviously I don't have children)!


The expo covers over 300 acres of ground so everyone drives golf carts/really awesome mules/fancy tractors/hove-a-rounds (no, I'm not kidding!) to get places. It was quite a sight to see.


They also were flying the biggest flag in the United States! This pictures doesn't do justice to how large the flag was.

We also went to our annual Sweetcorn Festival!


This is Taylor. He is my husband and he is really weird sometimes and really loves kettle corn. I guess this is how he expresses his love for kettle corn? Ha.


We also enjoyed a concert by Survivor! For those, like myself, who didn't recognize Survivor right away, they sing "Eye of the Tiger"... which was played at every high school athletic event I ever attended.


This is one of Taylor's drives during the Twin City Open he played in a month ago! I know, I'm really late, but it was on my phone. Needless to say, he was NOT pleased when we walked up to see where his ball was. He ended up placing 14th overall which is great for playing 3 courses he had never played against some very good golfers.


Last weekend we headed to Branson and Tulsa to spend time with our families! We played a lot of golf and enjoyed some nice family time with both sides. On Monday we enjoyed a joint b-day party for my grandma and myself! It was nice to see extended family we don't see very much.

Hope you are having a nice week! It's Friday tomorrow, yeah!!! :)