Mackenzie Gets Hitched

It may have taken me a month to write this post, but better late than not at all. Following Christmas in Chicago we trekked through fog so thick I thought we were driving in the middle of a cream puff to arrive in Galena, IL for my friend Mackenzie's wedding on December 27th. Now, a little background...

Mackenzie and I met on my unit, IPCU here in Iowa several years ago. We've shared many memories together including birthdays, parties, work, and our own respective weddings. Shortly after we moved to Texas, Mackenzie and her boyfriend at the time (Meryl), moved to Philadelphia. They met at the U as well while she worked in the surgical ICU. He was a neurosurgeon. I could say something witty about chemistry or how they "cared" for each other but I'll spare you the puns.

So, the wedding was held in an old Catholic church in downtown Galena and the reception was followed at the Desoto Hotel. You can tell from the pics how beautiful the place was so little needs to be said on that front. Likewise you can image how beautiful the wedding was...ok...I'll stop saying beautiful...well except to say that the bride was beautiful...that's a given. We had a wonderful time...except for our room.

(Side note: The room sucked. I don't know who designed the Desoto House website, or rather, who determined that the term "courtyard view" should be used in their advertising. What does "courtyard view" mean to you? To me it means overlooking some sort of courtyard, more than likely a green space outside. Right? Well, the courtyard is inside, is where the reception was held and where some asshole woke me up at 8am playing a damn piano!!! I wanted the "courtyard view" thinking it would be quiet! When choosing between a street view or a courtyard view you think you're choosing between traffic and a peaceful green space. How freaking deceiving! I restrained myself from commenting on the comment card figuring the housekeeper would just throw it out anyways. I feel sorry for any people who also chose the "courtyard view" and weren't there for the wedding. How would you like to be listening to "I like big butts and I cannot lie.." while you're trying to fall asleep?)

At 10pm when the reception ended, we joined some of the wedding party and went to a local burger joint and sang karaoke. This was probably my favorite part of the evening because Meryl and Mackenzie joined us and we had time to connect a little more personally that we didn't have at the wedding.

Here ends the summation of a winter weekend in Galena at a fabulous wedding. Enjoy the pics compliments of Chris.

"Song of the Day":

Accentuated Anatomy

In dental school it is often stressed how important anatomy is to the final outcome of a restoration. One might claim that the dental technician who fabricated these crowns took this advice to heart. I received this picture by way of a friend in Texas...where everything is indeed bigger, even with regard to dental anatomy :o)

"Song of The Day":

Cabin Fever!!!

You know that the state of affairs in your life isn't that great when in the past few days there has been a 50 degree weather swing to the milder side, and you still find yourself in +25 degree weather!

Thus, you may have noticed that January has been a fairly light month for posts, as compared to previous months on our blog...and this is for good reason...there really is nothing much to do when you're locked inside 24/7. While Dallas may not have been the outdoorsman's paradise, this long, albeit far from over midwest winter is killing us (we're starting to think literally, as we never feel like moving from the blankets after work).

At any rate, warmer weather seems to be headed in our direction, although not soon enough. Chris will be heading to Houston briefly for work later this week, and then late February will find Chris in San Diego for a meeting, followed by Emily joining him in Phoenix afterward to visit family, and hopefully a warm hike at Grand Canyon National Park.

We can't help but mention however that we await brighter days ahead given that Obama is as well poised a leader as we can imagine to hopefully reclaim this great country that has been pillaged and plundered during the past eight years.

At any rate, we figured we'd share a photo from an earlier visit to Lake Michigan that is better enjoyed in print than in person.

December gives way to September

Hard to believe, but it's already 2009 (in case you're still recovering from New Years Eve), and although 2008 seemed to fly by, the whole holiday season of 2008 seemed to go even faster than past holidays we could both recently recall. Maybe it did, or maybe we're just getting older.

In either case, the other night we were out to dinner to celebrate our 2nd wedding anniversary, and we both remarked at how it seems as though December is beginning to collect too many events to celebrate in one month. By this, I think we mean there's only so many "special" moments that one can possibly celebrate with true zeal in such a short time span, without some of the celebration producing what some might call diminishing returns.

For us December starts with Chris' birthday, then there's the holiday get-togethers with friends and co-workers on both sides of our respective jobs, then the multiple family Christmas party get-togethers, then our wedding anniversary, and then the next day New Year's.

We highlight this not to sound unappreciative of cookies, rich food, and more cookies, but just to highlight that it seems like the other 11 months of the year get short-changed a bit by the big bully that is December. So under normal circumstances, we both would be excited by the idea of going out to a nice restaurant to celebrate something (say our anniversary for instance), but after all that is December, we both found ourselves wondering if we wouldn't be better off celebrating our wedding anniversary in a more appreciative and subdued month, say September, when we got engaged. It seems to us that September has really gotten the short end of the stick. No major holidays or events are celebrated on any scale in September, and unfortunately September is usually blamed for allowing fall to invade summer.

So maybe 2009 will be the first year in which we decide to steal from December, and give to September, I mean, just look at the other cool holidays that were celebrated this past September:

Sept. 1: Labor Day

Sept. 2: National Blueberry Popsicle Day

Sept. 3: Uncle Sam's Birthday (Uncle Sam's image was first used on this day in 1813) & Barkley the Dog's Birthday (Sesame Street Character)

Sept. 4: Newspaper Carrier Day

Sept. 5: National Cheese Pizza Day

Sept. 6: Read a Book Day

Sept. 7: National Grandparent's Day & Neither Rain nor Snow Day

Sept. 8: Internaional Literacy Day

Sept. 9: Teddy Bear Day

Sept. 10: TV Dinner Day (On this day, in 1954, Swanson sells it's first T.V. Dinner)

Sept. 11: 9/11

Sept. 12: National Chocolate Milk Shake Day

Sept. 13: Positive Thinking Day

Sept. 14: First Department Store Opens (Opened in 1848 by Alexander Stewart)

Sept. 15: Make A Hat Day

Sept. 16: National Working Parents Day

Sept. 17: National Apple Dumpling Day

Sept. 18: National Play-Doh Day

Sept. 19: POW/MIA Recognition Day & Talk Like a Pirate Day

Sept. 20:

Sept. 21: International Day of Peace

Sept. 22: Dear Diary Day

Sept. 23: Great American Pot Pie Day

Sept. 24: National Punctuation Day

Sept. 25: Chris proposes to Emily 2004

Sept. 26: Native American Day

Sept. 27: Crush A Can Day

Sept. 28: Good Neighbor Day

Sept. 29: Rosh Hashanah

Sept. 30: Safety Pin Invented

Just a thought...

"Song of the Day":