2010 in Pictures

January 2010: Mark had just started his new position at Barcodes, Inc. and worked throughmost of the holidays- only taking time off for friends and family. The holiday season was marked by extreme gratitude and excitement about his new job and the potential it created forourfuture.We hosted a wonderful NYE party with friends and family, celebrating at our Wrigleyville apartment and at a pub down the street.

February 2010: The year was underway, and Mark and I had a whirlwind move to a new apartment in Old Town/Gold Coast, Chicago. We love being closer to downtown!

We moved in and found furniture

just in time for our Super Bowl party! (although my boys in blue unfortunately did NOT show up to the game...)

April 2010: I finally had the chance to

visit UE for Bike Race this year! It was SO wonderful to see these important people. Of course Bike Race was fun, but it was much more special to see my Orientation Leaders, Chi Omegas, and friends who are now scattered across the world.

May 2010: Summer is finally here! One of

the best things about living in Chicago is there is never a lack of fun things to do! Mark and I love heading up to Wrigley and watching Cubs games and grabbing fajitas at our favorite Mexican place, or just walking around new neighborhoods and street festivals.

June 2010:

My position at the Illinois Institute of Technology included training and supervising Orientation Leaders throughout the summer. I had the amazing opportunity to take the OLs to Camp Tecumseh YMCA for leadership and team building. What a treat (for them, and for me!)!

I also got the chance to go home for a weekend with my Columbus ladies, and it was a wonderful, relaxing, summer treat =) I can't wait until Syd, Hannah, and I are together again!

July 2010: Bernadette and Ben (finally) got married this summer! The 4th of July weekend was another AMAZING trip with best friends, celebrating B's marriage and her bright future with Ben =)

August/September 2010: While these pics may not all be from August... There were great friends who got together this year in Chicago. I do love living in a city that people want to visit- I usually get to steal a few minutes with them while they're here!

September 2010: September brought the beginning of classes and two new adventures for me: Interning in the Career Services office at UIC, and working with student organizations at Roosevelt University. These schools let me practice working in student affairs at two very different institutions (different from UE and IIT, and each other!) and I met many amazing people there, as well.

Fall 2010: This fall was very busy with travels and events that lasted though the holidays! My 25th birthday was an event to remember- birthday dinner and drinks with amazing friends, and my sister came up from Indy to celebrate with us! Mark and I went to a great wedding the weekend after Thanksgiving in Kalamazoo, danced, celebrated, and saw good friends!

December 2010: This last month of 2010 was full of traveling, visiting, family, friends, gifting, celebrating and hosting (and lots and lots of delicious food!). More pictures will be coming as soon as they're uploaded.

Thanks for revisiting 2010 with Mark and me, and stay tuned for everything 2011 has in store!

2011!

After lots of travel, holiday celebrations, and an amazing wrap up to 2010, we're recharging today for a brand new year!

I haven't blogged since last summer, and one of my goals for 2011 is to keep up with this site much more consistently. For now, I'll just send out a congrats on 2010, a best wishes for your new year, and an invitation to stop by and see how the year is coming along for Mark and I here in Chicago :)

2011!

After lots of travel, holiday celebrations, and an amazing wrap up to 2010, we're recharging today for a brand new year!

I haven't blogged since last summer, and one of my goals for 2011 is to keep up with this site much more consistently. For now, I'll just send out a congrats on 2010, a best wishes for your new year, and an invitation to stop by and see how the year is coming along for Mark and I here in Chicago :)

something new...

Today has been a whirlwind of changes, emotion, and coping skills.....

The Dean of Students at IIT resigned effective immediately (around 10:30 this morning), leaving our Office of Student Affairs to restructure and prepare for the summer without him. He left no statement of explanation, and didn't say goodbye to anyone; he simply left. I don't know the story behind his decision, but I'll miss him stopping in to say Hi and catch up with me now and then. He just defended his dissertation and got his PhD, so I wish him all the best in his future endeavors in higher education.

The most interesting events followed his announcement, though. Our Division of Student Affairs had a meeting with the Provost and head of HR, announcing the Assistant Dean (Katie, my supervisor) as the interim Dean of Students- and the entire Division pulled together to support her and join forces for the best interest of the students at IIT. I was really impressed by the positive energy that everyone offered, and by their willingness to do anything Katie will need to help her transition and manage the office without an Assistant Dean to help her.

Since Katie now has many many more things on her plate, she will not have the time to manage Orientation as she would have as the Assistant Dean, so after the Division meeting, she asked me if I would be willing to step in and manage Orientation mostly on my own. I enthusiastically agreed! I'm so happy that she was confident handing over the reigns, that she has faith in my capabilities and (hopefully) has been pleased with my performance so far =)

I showed up at work this morning stressed about money, hours, career, you name it....... I left work today with 40 hours a week, the confidence of my supervisor, congratulations from my coworkers, and finally a chance to really prove that I have what it takes and feel some ownership of the Orientation program at IIT. I know people always say things work out for a reason, and patience can be the best solution..... and today it proved to be true! Now, I can't wait to get to work Monday morning and really get started.....

a wonderful weekend

So I realize that I will have to really work to hold myself accountable to posting here, but that's my plan. I know that chronicling this pivotal time in my life, when so many decisions are being made and paths being forged, this reflection will be a huge help as I start figuring out the future.

This weekend was really great. Mark hasn't had a day off since he started his job, and we really had fun together. His roommate from Cincy, Aaron, and his girlfriend, Megan, drove over from Cleveland Friday afternoon. It was fun to be able to show them some of our favorite places in Chicago, as well as try out new ones!

Friday we had dinner at Matisse on Diversey near my old studio apartment (delicious!). Then headed south to The Other Side bar on Clark St. to meet up with Russ (Mark's coworker) and his friend Dave from NYC. After a few more beers at Russ's apt, we headed home for an "early" night.

Saturday, Megan and I cooked biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, and COFFEE, then headed to the beach to meet some friends for volleyball. North Ave beach on a holiday weekend = SPRING BREAK! The beach was absolutely packed, and the middle of the beach looked like PCB or Cancun.... =) Mark and I aren't volleyball fans, but we enjoyed a refreshing drink at the bar while we people watched (and there was NO shortage of people to watch). A few hours out in the sun and we were exhausted and hungry. We headed home with plans to return to the Sheffield/Belmont music festival, but a little too much sun did us all in and we spent the afternoon napping, snacking, and enjoying aloe and the AC. Saturday night Aaron and Megan treated us to a magnificent dinner at Roy's- a Hawaiian fusion seafood restaurant just a few blocks south on State St. We were all feeling the sunburns from the beach by the end of dinner, so we called it a night and watched "Away We Go" (very cute movie!!!!).

Sunday, Aaron's plan was to go to the Cubs game, no matter what. We stopped by Red Ivy in the heart of Wrigleyville, and met up with Russ and Dave before the game. Mark and I decided to finally wander over to the street festival and stop by our favorite bar, Sheffields, instead of going to the game. The rest of the crew met us there after the game (Cubs lost....) and we headed back to Russ's for dinner. Mark was a grilling master (as usual) and fixed burgers, brats, and chicken with peppers and onions- DELICIOUS! We were all pretty wiped out, so made it another early night after stopping by The Other Side one last time.

Monday morning, Mark and I took our guests to Eggsperience for brunch (another wonderful meal) before they hit the road back to Ohio. We spent the day being lazy, watched "Up" (another cute movie!), caught up on a few TV shows, and I made Chicken Parmesan for dinner.

All in all- it was a weekend filled with good friends, an amazing city, and delicious food! Happy Memorial Day!

inspirations from a friend....

"The brick walls are there for a reason. They're not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something."

My friend Michelle sent this quote to me. She probably knows how I'm feeling these days better than anyone, since she was almost in my same shoes last year at this time. If I've realized anything, it's how incredible the people and support systems in my life are. The brick walls that keep arising have been great reminders to me, reinforcements that I am following my heart and being true to my strengths and potential. She even lent me her old "away message" as inspiration:

Someday everything will make perfect sense... For now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, and keep reminding yourself everything happens for a reason.

So, this is my plan. I've always been good at laughing, so these days I'm working on keeping things light and focusing on the joy. My smile is one of the ways that I motivate others and improve my own mood. I know that I have a goal (a future in higher education where I can inspire students, help them improve their futures, and also work to improve the system of higher ed in this country), and I know that I have the capacity to make that goal a reality.

This weekend, Mark and I are heading to Detroit for his friend's wedding. I'm really looking forward to this trip- I love special occasions with Mark, and I'm excited to get dressed up and dance with him, too! Hopefully there will be some great pictures to share next week. Today, I'm working from home (phone calls, emails, and presentation materials are portable!), cleaning, trying to organize and pack, AND waiting for our new glass table-top and NEW MATTRESS to be delivered! It certainly feels adult to be so excited about these purchases, but having a functioning table and a good night's sleep will really improve our day to day lives =)

Now, back to working on the apartment- getting it ready for our deliveries, and some great friends coming to visit next weekend and through the summer!

settling into summer...

Classes have ended, students have graduated, grades have been posted.... (I lost my 4.0 by 0.055! sad day....) and I'm finally realizing that it is my first real summer in Chicago. This is my third summer here, but the last two I have spent working several part-time jobs which often kept me busy Friday through Sunday. I've missed all of the wonderful free festivals and celebrations that characterize summer in this city.

Mark and I are looking forward to hosting many of our friends this sunny season- we have planned at least 4 weekends of friends and family visiting so far, and are anticipating more! We LOVE summers in Chicago, and can't wait to share it with our loved ones.

Reflecting and writing about my plans, dreams, goals, and bumps in the road has helped me sleep easier and feel calmer about the perspective that I have on my life. It's easy to get caught up and feel overwhelmed by all of the unanswered questions and frustrations that life brings your way, and I was certainly getting bogged down by everything. I know that I have amazing people in my life who support me no matter what. I have a plan. I have a dream. I am passionate about giving my students the best possible experience in college that they can have- and beyond that, I am passionate about fixing the system so that more students can graduate and feel confident that they are on the best path for a successful future.

I'll keep updating and sorting through all of this. For now- roasted chicken, risotto, and a nice glass of wine. xoxo