Chicago-Memorial Day Weekend 2009

Here is the detailed chronicle of my trip to Chicago! Please be advised, the following pictures are in no particular fashion or order!!! When you have this many pictures it's a bit of a hassle to try and re-order everything into timeline detail, so... I'm kind of starting at the end...

This is the bean in Millenium Park. It was our last day there and the only ladies left in Chicago were Amanda, Tiffany and I so we did more sight-seeing! And shopping!

Trick photography??? :)

Amanda, myself and Tiffany in front of the bean. I love the way you can see the Chicago Skyline in the bean behind us!!!

This is from inside the bean!!! You can walk up underneath it and arches up really high into this optical illusion type reflection. Who can spot me???

This is a fountain that changes the digital images of faces and then it spits water out at passers by!!!

Chicago style hotdog for lunch at Portillo's! If you order a hotdog with ketchup on it in Chicago, they will laugh at you!!! lol

This is the Adler Planetarium. Lianna and I saw a show here. We kind of did a whirlwind tour with a CityPass. It got you into most places and we wanted to see as much as we could but only had one day and it was only good until 5:30pm. So we rushed around and saw as much as we could! :)

Outside of the Shedd Aquarium... Stop number three or four on our whirlwind tour...

Beluga Whales at the aquarium.

This is Amanda, Lianna and I in front of the city line. It was really windy!!!

We had stopped to get off of the trolly tour to take some pictures and don't you know, just as we stepped off, we rand into the rest of the ladies who were doing a Segway tour of Chicago!!!

This is a picture of the city taken from the observation deck of the Sears Tower... Another stop on our whirlwind tour!

Flags inside the first floor of the Sears Tower. Pretty awesome looking!

We went to an off-broadway show called "Tony and Tina's Wedding." It was pretty funny. Basically it's as if you were invited to be a guest at the craziest most ridiculous wedding you can imagine and then you attend the reception for dinner and traditional wedding dances like the Electric Slide and such. But they also continue the show. It's entirely interactive and you mingle with the wedding party while they stay in character. Very funny! One of the groomsmen asked me to dance with him for the slow dance... The most incredibly awkward thing ever!!! I didn't know him from a hole in the wall and had to slow dance with him for the whole song and talk the whole time.... Wierd!!!

This is Tony, the groom.

This is Tina, the bride. On the right is her brother who was a groomsman but got more comfortable for the reception and took off his jacket and suit shirt. And the girl to the left is one of her bridesmaids who was "pregnant" and just so happened to be the girlfriend/fiance of the groomsman who asked me to dance with him.

Lianna, Tiffany and I went on an Architectural riverboat cruise along the Chicago River. It was pretty amazing. That's where all the pictures of buildings and such are from below.

This is the Navy Pier taken from the boat.

This is a random building, can't remember which one it was, but if you look closely underneath the building, you can see the subway train. Appearantly part of the City of Chicago was built overtop of the railroad system. All of the property is owned by the rail company so any buildings built on top had to purchase "AIR SPACE" to build onto. As a result any one who buys a condo in one of the buildings is also buying "AIR SPACE" to live in... Wierd, right?

This building followed the natural curve that the river made here so the facade is slightly rounded. I loved the reflection of all the buildings across the river that you could see in the face of the building. Very reflective!

Skyline including Sears Tower, which was recently bought by an overseas Brittish company and they will be renaming it because they sold the Sears Tower with the naming rights!!! What were they thinking?!?!?!

More cool architecture...

These two buildings were amazingly cool! The condo's here are called Marina Towers, I think, and they're located right on the Chicago River, but most locals refer to them as the Corn Cobs... The lower portions of the buildings are parking spaces, you can see the cars if you look closely, and all of the condo's are "petal" shaped following the design of the building. They were also supposedly the inspiration for the living quarters of a well known futuristic cartoon family... ANY GUESSES?????

I think this was our first night there. Lianna, Valerie, Tiffany and I went to a dueling piano bar called "Howl At The Moon" where they had two pianos and singers that would take requests and go back and forth playing the requested songs, trying to get everyone to sing along and participate with them.

This is a huge sculpture of the "American Gothic" painting that was along the "Magnificent Mile," which is the equivalent of 5th Avenue in NYC. You want any kind of high end shopping store, look for the Magnificent Mile!

The archetecture here was absolutely amazing! The tall building in the back is the Trump Tower...go figure!

This picture was taken in front of the Water Tower Building. From left to right is Valerie, Lianna and Emilee. These were only three of the thirteen ladies who came for the weekend!!!

And this tall beauty is the second tallest building in Chicago, the Hancock Tower... Appearantly Jerry Springer lives here... booooooo!


Well folks, this is it for now! I managed to take 371 pictures while I was in Chicago! This is just a taste of the pictures that I have but it definitely shows everything that we did for the most part! Hope you enjoy!!!

Is This Real Life???

I was a little blue when only two people showed up for youth group tonight! But at least they were up for some fun!!!

Spelunking Otherwise Known As Caving

SPELUNKING: The hobby of practice of exploring caves

(http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spelunking)

Yes, Yes...I know it has been quite a while since I have posted... And I'm very sorry!!! But as I recently had quite a bit of fun exploring the Clarksville Caves in Clarksville, NY I thought it would be fun to post the pictures from the experience! Hope you all enjoy!!!

This is the before picture. We're all still nice and clean and dry!

And here's the after picture. We're soaked and filthy and gross!

This is the hole we had to go into in order to get down into the caves. Only slightly larger than me I think.


Once down in that hole we were in the actual cave. The entire ceiling of the first cavern was all fools gold. Doesn't it look so beautiful!!! It was stunning and this picture doesn't even begin to do it justice...

This was a bit further into the cave. There was a little underground stream running down the middle of the cave for almost the entire way. At first we were able to hop on different rocks and avoid getting wet but eventually the rocks thinned out and we ended up having to just walk right through the stream. And boy was it cold!

Just another picture in the cave. The ceiling was higher here but at some points it was very close to your head...other points you had to squat and shimmy or crawl.

Joy and her friends Hollan (green jacket) and Vartan (blue jacket) in the cave.

This is actually a shot of the group walking ahead of me although it's hard to tell because of the fogginess. The fog/mist effect was caused by our breath. I was very damp and cool in the cave and there wasn't much air flow so whenever we breathed out it created a mist that did not quickly dissipate. It was kind of a cool effect though because your breath just kind of hung in the air and then slowly moved away still almost in formation.

So the story behind my hand is this. Bubba attempted to climb up a piece of the cave wall behind us and a massive clump (bigger than my head) broke off of the wall where he was holding on. After it broke off though, we realized that it was actually a massive lump of clay and that there was a ton of clay in the actual wall of the cave! It was super moist and got on my hand because I felt the need to play with the clay...What can I say, it's the child in me!

This picture was taken after we as a group decided to go further up the tunnel/underground stream. We knew that the water got pretty deep (about waist high) but we wanted to go for it anyway. We started heading into the water and by the time we got as deep as we did it hurt so bad. We were all yelling "Ahhhh, it hurts...Pins and needles...Go back...Go back!" So we turned around and headed back...Appearantly there was a new tunnel a bit further up but we would have had to be in up to our waists...We decided to save that for a warmer day and plan on going back in couple more months.

47 Questions...

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Not that I know of...although if I were a boy I was supposed to be Justin Scott Slater...Don't know why I know that!

2.WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Wednesday night at Bible Study. The worship music struck me in just the right way.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It depends on whether I'm having a good handwriting day or a bad handwriting day. See my handwriting is kind of like my hair for me... Sometimes you have good hair days and sometimes you have bad hair days...

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCHMEAT?
Either maple honey ham or mesquite smoked turkey.

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Not yet unfortunately...but I'm working on that...so hopefully in the next couple of years...God willing... :) But in the meantime, does my amazingly beautiful and silly God-daughter count???

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I don't like to brag...but I'd like to think that I definitely would!!! :)

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Way too much unfortunately...it's a habit I need to curb!

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Nope, had them taken out to stop my chronic ear infections...worked though!

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Absolutely!!!

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Honey Bunches of Oat's Cinnamon Clusters...mmmmm.....yummy

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
Nope, I sure don't.

12. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICECREAM?
Easy...Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

13. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their eyes & smile.

14. RED OR PINK?
Gonna have to go with Pink on this one.

15. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
My midsection! lol

16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
Definitely my dad.

17. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO COMPLETE THIS LIST?
Nope...doesn't matter to me...just thought it would be fun to post something different, but I don't really care if anyone else fills this out. :)

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Dark wash jeans and white sneakers.

19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
The white noise of the air vents in my office...yeah...sounds fun, huh?

20. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
I always liked Blue-Green, Forest Green and Magenta...so probably one of those.

21. FAVORITE SMELLS?
The smell of rain as it's just coming down on the pavement on a warm day...The smell of wet leaves in the forest...Canali men's cologne...Moon Sparkle perfume for women...and my laundry after it's been washed with Febreeze detergent, fabric softener and dryer sheets...lol

22. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
Bubba... :)

23. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU AND HOW DO YOU KNOW THEM?
I do like the person who sent me this and I used to go to high school with her. She was a year ahead of me.

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Football, baseball...and now that we have the digital converter box, some of the more random and obscure sports like bobsledding, luge, snowboarding...etc.

25. HAIR COLOR?
Variety of brown shades going on in my hair. :)

26. EYE COLOR?
Blue with flecks of grey or green depending on my mood and the color of clothes I'm wearing.

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
I have and did until recently...

28. FAVORITE FOOD?
Indian!!!

29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy Endings...sigh... :)

30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
Taken with Bubba, Karmen and Shyvonne. Very good movie by the way!

31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
It's white with pink, silver, black and green funky design on it.

32. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Early summer/late spring, or any part of Autumn, but NO winter for me!

33. HUGS OR KISSES?
Hugs!

34. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Ice Cream

35. IF YOU COULD MAKE A WISH?
No more outstanding bills!

36. WHAT BOTHERS YOU THE MOST?
People who don't use their blinkers when driving...grrrr....

37. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
When Boy Meets Girl by Joshua Harris

38. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSEPAD?
Cats & Dogs...Got it because my dog passed the training class at PetSmart...although I still havne't figured out why...

39. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NITE?
Nothing. I was too busy talking on the phone.

40. FAVORITE SOUNDS?
The rustle of leaves in the trees, babbling brooks, the ocean waves, and suprisingly, the sounds of the city...NYC.

41. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Definitely the Beatles!

42. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Uganda, Africa...halfway around the world...

43. DO YOU HAVE SPECIAL TALENTS?
Umm....I can wiggle my ears??? Haha, don't know!

44. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
St. Peter's Hospital in Albany, NY.

45. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
Anyone who wants to do this and post it I guess. :)

46. WHERE DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE, SIGNIFICANT OTHER?
Well he's not a spouse, but I met him at his parents house... I think...

47. DOES IT BOTHER YOU THAT THIS LIST DOESN'T END ON AN EVEN NUMBER OF QUESTIONS?
It actually does! For anyone who knows all of my little OCD quirks...they know I can't leave the volume on the TV set unless it is divisible by 5...20,25,30,35, etc... So it's not even that it doesn't end in an even number, but it doesn't end is something divisible by 5!!! LOL I'm so crazy it's ridiculous!!!

For He's A Jolly Good Fellow

Here's to Willie...Our dear friend from Cali! I just thought these would be pretty fun. Again I was searching through old pictures that I have, wondering what I could post that would be different. So in honor of someone who's definitely impacted our lives in NY I've posted these as a memory of the fun times with Willie!


He saw me getting ready to take a picture in the dark movie theater and made this lovely face...

This is how tiny the movie theater was...Willie is on Russ' shoulders and he's able to touch the movie screen...Oh, and the lights on either side indicate how wide the theater actually was...

The mummification of Willie...In the lobby at the theater...

And I'm pretty sure this was at Yanni's Restaurant in Coeymans. Again...what's with the faces Willie??? If we didn't know you any better we'd wonder if you ever smiled! It's a good thing we do know the good natured Willie though! Here's to you man!

More random posts to come my friends!!!

My Little Man

Since I have a ton of random pictures of my dog, Tucker, I figured I would do a special post just for him! So, without further ado, here goes...





This picture was taken within the last year. He's still a puppy here and he looks all cute and innocent. What you don't know is that we no longer have this couch anymore...





Why you ask???





Because he chewed the cushions...all three of them...to some degree. Some had very large holes that couldn't be hidden by flipping the cushion over. Others had minor holes in comparison. Needless to say, we have a different couch now...





Thanks Tucker!

This picture here was taken right after I had brought him home...probably within the first three months of him living with us. He was such a little squirt then! Again, he looks cute and innocent. But don't let that face and those eyes fool you! The chair he is sitting in...don't worry...we still have it. However it doesn't look like that anymore!!!

It looks more like this. I zoomed in on a picture of the chair in the background. If you look at the arm of the chair, you can see it's been chewed beyond repair. It actually is just a wooden arm on the chair now that the stuffing and leather has been chewed off!!!

Here's the story behind this one. It all started one night when I slept in the living room on the couch. Tucker was just a little pup at this point and I wanted to give him a night out of the kennel. In the past he would sleep on the couch with me and be fine all night. Well he had had more kennel time that day than he usually got so I wanted to let him sleep out of the kennel. I awoke at three in the morning to wierd noises coming from across the room. I sat up and fumbled around to find the switch for the lamp. When I finally was able to focus my eyes in the bright light I saw Tucker standing up on the arm of the chair, staring back at me with a mouth full of stuffing. Now it was only a little rip at that point, but over the past year and few months, it has turned into what you saw above...

I thought this one was just cool. His eyes are glowing and somthing happend with the flash to give him a bit of an eerie look. There are wierd streaks of glowing light all around him. I still don't know what happened and have not been able to replicate the glowing streaks of light since.

This picture and the following pictures were part of a random picture post effort. He was so sleepy and I kept waking him up to take the pictures. I'm sure he thought I was crazy! All he wanted to do was sleep. This is the dialogue I imagined was running through his head (in barks and woofs of course) while I was snapping shots.


Jess: Tucker...Watch me...it's picture time...

Tucker: I don't wannaaaaa...I'm too tired...Too sleepy...Sigh....

Jess: Come on Tucker! Tucker! Tucker! Watch me! Tucker...what are you doing little boy???

Tucker: I can't believe you won't even let me sleep! Fine...you want a picture, here's one...up close and personal. Now can I go back to sleep??? Sigh...

Jess: Come on Tucker...Watch me...One more baby...

Tucker: But I just want to go to sleep... I'm tired....Sigh....

Jess: Just one more Tucker...If this is a good one you can go back to sleep...I'll stop bugging you...Okay now, watch me...

Tucker: You promise? Just one more? Here goes...but you better keep your word! Sigh...

Jess: Good boy Tucker! What a good boy! Watching me for the picture...Okay...Go to sleep...Good boy!!!