The Sad Day we Said Goodbye to Paradise!

More pics of our beautiful, relaxing vacation!

A Week Ago...

Just a week ago Monday, I was in paradise! I wish we were going back next week... don't you wish you were going with me?

Family, Friends and more Family!

Josh's mom and step dad came to visit last Wednesday night and they stayed with us until Sunday. We had a wonderful time.... I hated to see them go. Josh and I both had to work Thursday so they entertained themselves and I had to work Friday but Josh and Cliff played golf all day. I had arranged for Isla and I to pick up Phyllis for a lunch date. Everything was going great... she had taken her morning nap and was in a rather pleasant mood until she saw Phyllis. She started screaming and crying b/c I think she thought I was going to leave her with a stranger and after a few more episodes in the restaurant, she finally warmed up to the new face and we were able to enjoy our lunch together. I did some shopping with Cliff and Phyllis while Josh worked on Saturday and we ate and ate and ate. Oh, by the way, did I mention that we ate??????? Too much, I need to go on an extreme diet and exercise routine after this past weekend.

After sending Cliff and Phyllis off, we came home and turned the guest bedroom over with clean sheets and pillowcases and headed to the city to pick up Rebecca and Jeremy. We met their friends, Ian and Natalie, who have an awesome apartment in a great location downtown. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant called Skoozie's and it was fantastic! I will definitely go back if given the opportunity. Josh may not ever return... When he checked his bank account online the following day, he noticed that he had been charged double the ticket amount! It didn't put us in a bind or anything b/c he had plenty of money in the account but we thought they somehow charged us for Natalie and Ian's dinner as well b/c we just split the bill that night 3 ways and Ian and Josh both have Chase credit cards that look exactly alike. After a little researching, however, he discovered that our waitress rang up his card the incorrect way and it was actually holding double the ticket amount b/c his card was a debit card. CRAZY!!!!!! It all evened out today though so now I might be able to convince him to go back.

We took Rebecca and Jeremy to see the Naperville Last Fling Labor Day Parade. I was VERY disappointed. I was expecting to see floats and costumes and it was pretty much a political rally. We finally gave up on it and left to do a little shopping, walk along the riverwalk and eat lunch! All too soon, it was time for them to leave as well and our apartment seems lonely once again.

Heather will be flying in this Friday night for a short visit. She's only staying through Sunday and then Josh and I head to MEXICO!!!!! We'll be there for 6 days! It looks like paradise so I'm hoping it feels like paradise as well!

Have a great week!

I LOVE a great deal!

I feel like I found a gem today! Josh and I noticed that there was an Aldi being built near the gym and he asked me if I had ever been in one. I had no clue what it was so of course I've never been in one before. He said that it was a low cost grocery store that sells staples only, you bring your own bag, pay a quarter for the shopping cart and get your quarter back once the cart is returned, etc...

Of course, this sparked my interest and we really didn't have much planned for today except we needed some more bread and he wanted to get new running shoes with his birthday money. Next, Josh tells me that there's an Aldi near our apartment. I had no idea it was even there! We decided to go there to get the bread so we could check it out because he's never been in one before either. I love that we are able to experience new things together.

As we were walking around the store, I was really shocked at how inexpensive the food is in there. They don't sell any name brand items (although we did see Pringles in there) but they have healthy choices which pleasantly surprised me. Almost everything is packaged to look as if it is a name brand item only it has a different name. They carry a brand called Fit & Active and we found turkey bacon, ground turkey, whole wheat pasta, light cream cheese, etc in this brand. I figured with it being a low cost place, they wouldn't offer healthy choices. They even have a huge section of fresh fruits and vegetables and they actually looked good... better than anything I ever see in a Super Wal-Mart.

We only bought a few items while we there (bread included) b/c we made a Sam's run last night after church and didn't need much but I will definitely be going back. This is a great find for me because I LOVE A GREAT DEAL!!!!!

Only 3 more days until Cliff and Phyllis arrive!!!!!

I'm three days into my full-time job and I'm LOVING it! Isla and I are having a wonderful time together. I've taken her to gymboree and a drop-in story time at the local library. She is such a social baby and never ever gets upset when we're out! I'm going to try to find one of the big parks that are nearby and take her there when I wake her from her morning nap.

I got great news yesterday!!!! My sister is coming for a visit!!!!! YAY! So, now we have three sets of guests to look forward to in September. My in-laws (Josh's mom and stepdad, Phyllis and Cliff) will be arriving next Wednesday night and staying through Sunday. My friends from college (and my little sister in Chi Omega) will be staying with us that same Sunday night and leaving Monday (Labor Day). Then, Heather will be arriving the following Friday evening! I highly suspect that everyone is trying to get in their visit before winter. Our visitors are going to drop dramatically I'm afraid.

Anyone else is welcome to come visit! This really is a great place to visit. There's so much to do!

Gotta run... time to wake baby!

Pictures from the past couple weeks....