Check out the flickr stream, I added new pictures from our trip to the pumpkin patch. The girls had a blast checking out the animals, watching the pig races, going on the hayride out to the pumpkin patch and picking out pumpkins.
The girls have picked out their Halloween costumes and I can't wait to show pictures of my little witch (Arabel) and my queen (Emma). I am sure that I will have plenty of pictures. :)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Monday, October 11, 2010
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
pictures!!!
Check out the flickr stream!! I have pictures up from Emma's first day of kindergarten. :)
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Long awaited update
I apologize for being so behind on the blogging as of late. I haven't really had a ton of extra time or the drive lately. I am sure people are awaiting pictures as well. Pictures will have to wait until I find the card reader I bought for my laptop, it was purchased during the fire and has been "misplaced". My charger didn't make it, so a new camera may be on the horizon. :)
We LOVE our new place. It is big, with a huge yard, a garage, basement (storage!!!) and brand new carpeting and flooring. We are still settling in, but for the most part are back to a normal life. Rob and I have both struggled with a bit of anxiety, but we too are back on track. I recently have signed up to be a Pampered Chef consultant (in addition to my regular job bartending and managing the bar). I am excited about the new venture and am already loving all of my new kitchen gadgets. It has even inspired me to cook a bit more at home, which I am sure Rob is thrilled about!
Emma is almost officially a school kid. She starts kindy on Tuesday. It is hard to believe that in a few short days we will be watching as she starts her school journey. Her first day is more like an activity day, it will only last a couple hours and I will be with her the whole time. Her second day is a half day and her third day is when the year gets into the swing of things. She is in full day, and I can only imagine that she will be one tired girl at the end of the day. She is excited, but is a bit nervous. She is worried about not being able to read or tie her shoes well enough. We have explained to her that she will learn these things and it seems to have helped calm her fears. I have no doubt that she will have a million friends by the end of the first week and love every second of it. I was excited about the school supplies that I got to buy, I finally had a reason to get them!! I have a feeling that I may shed a tear on one of her first days of school, but can't wait to watch how much she grows and learns this year. One of my friends from high school is a teacher there and has already introduced himself to Em. It does help ease my anxiety a bit to know that she is in such good hands. Hard to believe that I am going to be taking my "baby" to school.
Arabel is hilarious. Her speech has exploded over the past few weeks and she is always good for a laugh. Her personality is much like Emma's (and mine), but has a nice dose of Rob's thrown in there. She is stubborn and opinionated, but laid back and very lovey. She does things on her own terms, but we knew that from the refusing to walk shinanigans. :) I am looking very forward to spending one on one time with her and watching her grow while Emma is at school. I know that she is really going to miss her sister though. I have a feeling that she will be a little lost for awhile before she gets the hang of Emma being gone. I am also looking forward to getting her potty trained. She is completely ready (we will see if she is willing to train though), and I am completely ready to say good bye to diapers. :) I hope that it isn't a year long struggle like it was with Emma. Something about those stubborn kids, I have no idea where they get it.
I hope everyone is doing well, and thanks for being patient. :)
We LOVE our new place. It is big, with a huge yard, a garage, basement (storage!!!) and brand new carpeting and flooring. We are still settling in, but for the most part are back to a normal life. Rob and I have both struggled with a bit of anxiety, but we too are back on track. I recently have signed up to be a Pampered Chef consultant (in addition to my regular job bartending and managing the bar). I am excited about the new venture and am already loving all of my new kitchen gadgets. It has even inspired me to cook a bit more at home, which I am sure Rob is thrilled about!
Emma is almost officially a school kid. She starts kindy on Tuesday. It is hard to believe that in a few short days we will be watching as she starts her school journey. Her first day is more like an activity day, it will only last a couple hours and I will be with her the whole time. Her second day is a half day and her third day is when the year gets into the swing of things. She is in full day, and I can only imagine that she will be one tired girl at the end of the day. She is excited, but is a bit nervous. She is worried about not being able to read or tie her shoes well enough. We have explained to her that she will learn these things and it seems to have helped calm her fears. I have no doubt that she will have a million friends by the end of the first week and love every second of it. I was excited about the school supplies that I got to buy, I finally had a reason to get them!! I have a feeling that I may shed a tear on one of her first days of school, but can't wait to watch how much she grows and learns this year. One of my friends from high school is a teacher there and has already introduced himself to Em. It does help ease my anxiety a bit to know that she is in such good hands. Hard to believe that I am going to be taking my "baby" to school.
Arabel is hilarious. Her speech has exploded over the past few weeks and she is always good for a laugh. Her personality is much like Emma's (and mine), but has a nice dose of Rob's thrown in there. She is stubborn and opinionated, but laid back and very lovey. She does things on her own terms, but we knew that from the refusing to walk shinanigans. :) I am looking very forward to spending one on one time with her and watching her grow while Emma is at school. I know that she is really going to miss her sister though. I have a feeling that she will be a little lost for awhile before she gets the hang of Emma being gone. I am also looking forward to getting her potty trained. She is completely ready (we will see if she is willing to train though), and I am completely ready to say good bye to diapers. :) I hope that it isn't a year long struggle like it was with Emma. Something about those stubborn kids, I have no idea where they get it.
I hope everyone is doing well, and thanks for being patient. :)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
I did it!!
I got an email yesterday... my picture was picked to be included in the guide to Chicago. Click here for the website. My photo is one of the revolving ones on the right hand side of the page under "DOWNTOWN". My name is there too. Not too shabby!!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
fire update
We have a new house!!!! We are renting (possibly buying) a 3 bedroom duplex. :) We love it! This is going to be brief as I am exhausted from moving things in and cleaning them. Our beds are set up and we are staying here for the first time tonight!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
fire.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010 will be a day that we will always remember. It was the day that our lives as we knew it would be turned upside down.
Emma left with my parents on Tuesday to go camping up north for the remainder of the week. It couldn't have been better timing. I headed off to work on Wed. and when I got there received a frantic message that I needed to get home, there was an emergency. I got back to my apartment complex to find multiple fire trucks, police cars and ambulances. I walked up to see my apartment in flames. Rob and Arabel were able to get out safely, so that was priority number one. Rob had called 911 and grabbed Arabel out of bed. He left the house without shoes or his cell phone. After the fire had been put out we met with the Red Cross when we were notified that the firefighters called our home a complete loss. Jason had come to get Arabel and take her back to my parent's house. They finally let us walk through the place at around 9:15pm.
What we saw was heartbreaking. There was no fire damage to the actual apartment, the fire had climbed the wall and moved across the roof. Due to the mass amounts of water (around 5,000 gallons according to the fire marshall) the ceilings had collapsed and our house was covered in drywall and insulation. The office, girls' room, bathrooms, master closet and laundry room were unharmed. We were unable to find the cats and we were worried. The living room, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom were ruined. We grabbed a few things that night that we could and headed to mom's.
Thursday morning we showed up ready to start digging through the rubble to salvage what we could of our lives. Thursday proved to be worse than anticipated. The fire has restarted sometime in the morning, needing an additional 1,000 gallons of water to be used. Now, the bathrooms, laundry room and master bedroom closet was covered like the rest of the place. The girls' room remained in tact so we were very thankful for that. After hours of digging through 1 1/2-2 feet of wet insulation we packed up what we could in a U-Haul and put it in a storage unit. The firefighters did take our electronics and throw a tarp over them so many of them were saved. They even grabbed my framed photos on the walls and covered them as well. Still no sign of the cats.
Friday we went and planned on getting the remainder of what we could and would then sign over the place to the reconstruction company. After about an hour of Rob and I sifting through rubble Zoe, one of our cats, strolls out of hiding. Rob then went on a mad hunt to find Oscar. Rob found him on the bottom shelf of a shelving unit in the laundry room. He was buried in, matted with insulation, hungry, thirsty and really upset. My aunt took them to her house. I am happy to report that they are doing well. We left Friday night knowing we would never be back.
Emma knows that we are getting a new place to live, that her toys, clothes and bed are safe. We are telling her just enough to keep her happy without over sharing.
The outpouring of support we have received from friends, family and strangers is overwhelming. We will never be able to express how thankful we are. At this point we are remaining positive and looking forward to what comes next. The tears have stopped for the most part and we are ready to move on from this tragedy.
If you need to contact us in anyway... we are staying at my (Kimm's) parent's house. Our cell phone numbers are the same and we can also be reached via facebook. (Kimm more so than Rob on the facebook thing.) If you need any specific information leave a comment and I will get you the information.
Emma left with my parents on Tuesday to go camping up north for the remainder of the week. It couldn't have been better timing. I headed off to work on Wed. and when I got there received a frantic message that I needed to get home, there was an emergency. I got back to my apartment complex to find multiple fire trucks, police cars and ambulances. I walked up to see my apartment in flames. Rob and Arabel were able to get out safely, so that was priority number one. Rob had called 911 and grabbed Arabel out of bed. He left the house without shoes or his cell phone. After the fire had been put out we met with the Red Cross when we were notified that the firefighters called our home a complete loss. Jason had come to get Arabel and take her back to my parent's house. They finally let us walk through the place at around 9:15pm.
What we saw was heartbreaking. There was no fire damage to the actual apartment, the fire had climbed the wall and moved across the roof. Due to the mass amounts of water (around 5,000 gallons according to the fire marshall) the ceilings had collapsed and our house was covered in drywall and insulation. The office, girls' room, bathrooms, master closet and laundry room were unharmed. We were unable to find the cats and we were worried. The living room, dining room, kitchen and master bedroom were ruined. We grabbed a few things that night that we could and headed to mom's.
Thursday morning we showed up ready to start digging through the rubble to salvage what we could of our lives. Thursday proved to be worse than anticipated. The fire has restarted sometime in the morning, needing an additional 1,000 gallons of water to be used. Now, the bathrooms, laundry room and master bedroom closet was covered like the rest of the place. The girls' room remained in tact so we were very thankful for that. After hours of digging through 1 1/2-2 feet of wet insulation we packed up what we could in a U-Haul and put it in a storage unit. The firefighters did take our electronics and throw a tarp over them so many of them were saved. They even grabbed my framed photos on the walls and covered them as well. Still no sign of the cats.
Friday we went and planned on getting the remainder of what we could and would then sign over the place to the reconstruction company. After about an hour of Rob and I sifting through rubble Zoe, one of our cats, strolls out of hiding. Rob then went on a mad hunt to find Oscar. Rob found him on the bottom shelf of a shelving unit in the laundry room. He was buried in, matted with insulation, hungry, thirsty and really upset. My aunt took them to her house. I am happy to report that they are doing well. We left Friday night knowing we would never be back.
Emma knows that we are getting a new place to live, that her toys, clothes and bed are safe. We are telling her just enough to keep her happy without over sharing.
The outpouring of support we have received from friends, family and strangers is overwhelming. We will never be able to express how thankful we are. At this point we are remaining positive and looking forward to what comes next. The tears have stopped for the most part and we are ready to move on from this tragedy.
If you need to contact us in anyway... we are staying at my (Kimm's) parent's house. Our cell phone numbers are the same and we can also be reached via facebook. (Kimm more so than Rob on the facebook thing.) If you need any specific information leave a comment and I will get you the information.
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