Celebrating Childhood Memories with the Little Brother

My little brother, Jimmy, is probably my favorite person in the whole world.  While growing up, he was known as Bucky, Bucket, Bucket of Fudge, Chub Chub (in reference to his chubby cheeks as a baby), and a multitude of other names. 

After not seeing him for over a year, I was pumped to fly home to Wisconsin, even for just four days.  My brother is a very quiet guy, who is very funny, but also somewhat shy.  However, once you know Bucky, you have one of the greatest friends a person could ask for.  Although he's my little brother he is now significantly taller than I am and has definitely been there to coach me through heartaches.  I often think that some very wise person was reincarnated as him because he is so wise beyond his years.

When Jimmy was a little kid, we went on a trip to Chicago.  While on the train, he realized he left his trusty companion, Mr. Bear behind.  You would have thought that this little boy had neglected his own child.  He was completely distraught and my dad came up with an idea.  When we got to the hotel, my dad took hand towels, hair ties, and rubberbands and created a human-like figure which we dubbed Towel Buddy.  Of course, this looked nothing like the bear he toted around but my brother was and has always been a caring person.  At that young age, he was disappointed at not having Mr. Bear but could appreciate that our dad took the time to fashion a towel friend for him.  He was thrilled and would ensure that Towel Buddy was safely tucked into bed or placed on the table before we would leave.  He became an excellent substitute for his furry friend.  Towel Buddy has become one of our most favorite stories to tell at family gatherings.

When I went back home to visit, we were reminiscing on childhood memories when Towel Buddy came up.  While in Chicago, we stopped at a Build-a-Bear and decided to recreate our Towel Buddy friend.  At 15 and 23, I'm sure the Build-a-Bear associate we were working with was incredibly confused, but we had a ton of fun. 

We picked out a white suit, complete with bow tie, and dubbed him Mr. Towel Buddy.  He flew home to Montana with me.  It seems juvenile and silly, I know, but Towel Buddy and the newly created Mr. Towel Buddy symbolize our childhood.  To us, they represent having a friend when you've seemed to left them behind or you feel alone.  Although Mr. Towel Buddy currently resides on a shelf in one of my spare bedrooms, I know it's something that my future children will definitely appreciate as a bond between me and Bucky.

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Trip to Chicago

 I was thrilled at the opportunity to go back home to Wisconsin for a few days.  Most of that time was dedicated to Emily and Matt's wedding but I was able to stay with my family and I had a blast.  The trip was off to a rocky start though with the small town airport not allowing me to check-in.  I was forced onto a later flight, which was kind of poopy, because I had wanted to spend that lost time with family but there's only so much you can do in those situations.  My dad thinks that they let a standby person take my seat instead of me so they didn't let me check-in, which is total crap but I never again will I underestimate this small town airport and its divalicious ways. 

 

 After arriving in Wisconsin, my parents met me right outside the security check area and I was so excited to see my mom and dad.  I haven't seen them in a year so this trip, although short, was good for the soul.  We drove home, picked up my little brother, and headed to Bdubs for dinner.  My current town doesn't have one so going back home and having something like Bdubs was a treat.  There are still a ton of hometown favorites that I didn't get to try but that's ok because I definitely need a trip in the near future.

 The next day we rode the train down to Chicago for a day of adventures.  We took the Chicago Architecture River Cruise and I loved it! I highly recommend it because it's informative, teaches you a lot about the buildings in Chicago, and it gave me that extra special connection with the city.  Just by walking around, I recognize things that I learned from the cruise.  For example, you'll notice that some buildings are supported by large concrete columns and they have glass lobbies.  This was done esthetically because architects and building owners wanted to be able to see into the heart of the buildings.  It's pretty neat!

 

 

 These two buildings are pretty neat for two completely different reasons.  The one on the left has a structure to fit a building law where buildings couldn't take up 25% of a space.  It was confusing at first, but if you notice, the building looks like a giant armchair.  By creating this unique structure it allows light to filter uninhibited to the sidewalks below.  The building on the right is the only building that can be that close to Navy Pier.  It wasn't even supposed to be built in its location and its unique structure is actually part of its wind brace capability.  From up above, it looks like a three leaf clover.

The suite up top is made of bullet proof glass, for visitors like the President.

 This yellow building was created after architects spent time in Europe and noticed how all of the buildings utilized so much color.  So they decided to add yellow to the concrete.

 From warehouse to your house

 These cables are from the warehouse that this building used to be, hence the phrase "from warehouse to your house."

 This building used to host catalogs and couponing for merchandise companies.  Its hallways are so long that employees wore rollerskates to access different rooms and offices.  Today it serves as the offices of Groupon.

 We went to Navy Pier and had dinner.  The Tall Ships were there and I had never been to the pier during the summer.  It was so busy and there was so much activity.  We had a lot of fun and I had meant to get Ryan a Blackhawks jersey but by the time we got back to Michigan Avenue, the stores were closed. 

One of my favorite aspects of the Chicago trip was making Mr. Towel Buddy which is a childhood memory of my brother and mine.  I'll be sharing the story later this week.

Have you been to Chicago?  I've been so many times but each time is different.  What are your favorite sites or things to do there?

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Emily & Matt Tie the Knot

I flew back to Wisconsin last weekend to celebrate my best-friend's wedding. Emily and I have known each other since Middle School and she is the most selfless person that I know.  She and Matt have been dating for eight years! We all became friends in marching band and traveling to different cities to perform in the summers. Emily and I headed off to different universities, but we've always remained close.  She was the first person I confided in about Ryan thinking about marrying me.  It was an exciting and difficult time because people were really confused about it and very judgmental. She, however, always had my back.  Being her Matron-of-Honor this weekend was such a privilege.

Emily's parents grew these flowers in their backyard for their centerpieces. What an amazing budget saver and they turned out gorgeous!  They cut several flowers, filled them in individual containers and let us arrange them.  Emily had the vases filled with water and water beads and let us have at them.

Nathan, one of the groomsmen, and Matt, the groom, 

both helped us arrange the flowers and it was a blast!

I picked up coffee for all of us and of course had to have the barista write on the cups. I thought they turned out pretty cute :)

Look at all of those centerpieces!

The bride and groom at the hotel where the reception was held.

Sprinkling powdered sugar over the kolaches :)

The groomsmen at the rehearsal dinner, celebrating with a shot

Emily gave her bridesmaids this beautiful, engraved jewelry box and each one held a necklace with our first initial. I definitely wore mine throughout the weekend.

I chose to do my hair and make-up at home as a cost saver.  Salons for me are tricky.  I don't like having to pay for up-do's and because of that I learned how to do them myself.  I also find that many hair stylists have difficulty working with my hair or I end up having to fix the hairstyle. I joined the ladies a couple hours later at the salon.  It was perfect timing because the ladies were still getting their hair done and I had time to capture pictures.

Missing a couple of the bridesmaids, but here's Emily's bridal party

Me and my bestie

I designed the programs for the wedding and I loved how they turned out!

My favorite element was the "for happy tears" page which I added as a sentimental part and perfect for the ceremony.  Matt and Emily are both musicians, and Matt is a music teacher so the bar of music was perfect!

It was a Catholic ceremony and we got ready at the church.  Emily looked so beautiful in her dress!

The picture to the right is the speech I wrote for me and Kristen, the Maid of Honor, to say at the reception.  I framed it against scrapbook paper and gave it to Emily the next day at brunch.  I also gave each of the bridesmaids a CD of twelve songs out of the hundreds that we listened to the day before while getting ready.

This Kristen and I at the salon and I had a really great time having her as a co-partner in all of this. 

I learned a ton from this experience, especially being a MOH long distance.

I poured over Pinterest to help Emily in creating special details for her wedding and read a ton of articles.  The wedding turned out beautifully and I would love to share what I've learned and some of my thoughts on wedding planning/assisting in a later post!

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Opportunities look a lot like hard work

1. Opportunities look like hard work.
2. The sexiest thing in the entire world is being really smart and being thoughtful and being really generous.
3. Everything around us that we call life was made up by people who are no smarter than you. So build a life, don't just live one.

I so appreciated a celebrity speaking to young people about things that really matter.

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Practically Imperfect in Every Way or My Flaws Through the Use of GIFs

Last week I had one of those moments where I realized that I really need to get my sh*t together.  Ever since college, maybe even farther back to getting married, I've been changing into a different person. I think it's a good quality to be flexible and face adversity head on, however I'm seeing some changes that I don't like in myself.  Some of these things just happen because everything is new and you're in a completely different place, but nevertheless ain't nobody got time for that.

1. Girl you are BITTER.

Life is not fair and you are never promised that it will be.  So people often respond to any amount of bitterness or complaints about this as that you better embrace the suck and move on.  Well, I struggled/am struggling with that.  Being in a career field that I certainly did not choose and one that really does not fit any aspect of my personality has been a bitter berry to swallow.  I do know that being bitter is a lousy way to live and can be exhausting.  I'm a huge advocate for optimism and looking on the bright side, but recently the bitter bug has bitten me.  So I have constantly been using the motto, "don't get bitter, get better."  I'll let you know if that works.

2. Would you like some wine with that cheese?

I have learned to wallow in self pity and it's gross.  I don't know if it's this place or the redundancy of everyday life but boy howdy I can complain.  I bought the gratitude journal and I still haven't used it and the whole point of purchasing it was to counteract this. It's so bad that when I flew into town from the wedding I was at, I actually felt really sad to be here. This has got to change. I never let a place bring me down.

3. "Meatified"

 

 

I know I'm not the only lady with this problem but I definitely let beauty fly out the window since I became an officer.  I know a ridiculous amount about beauty products and make-up.  I spent a lot of time in my high school days watching youtube make-up gurus and it's one of my favorite things to do.  However, ever since my schedule has become crazy busy and I'm always working, shaving legs and putting on make-up has just been the least of my priorities.  When I went home my mom also called me "meaty," as in I've filled out...Thanks mom.  I've definitely gained weight since I've been a missileer and I'm definitely no longer 107 lbs.  How I managed that in college, I'll never know.  The best things I've come up with is that I was doing ROTC physical training two-three times a week, walking everywhere since it's a walking campus, and was probably stressed out of my mind.  Whatever the case is my body definitely now has curves and my mom told me not to get fat. #alwaysinspiring

4. Your Mean Girl is Showing

 

People sure can gossip and like a freshman in high school, I totally get sucked in.  I realized it was a problem when I started thinking negatively of people that I didn't even really know.  Like wtf mate?  That doesn't even make sense to not like someone before you even know them.  So I'm trying to separate myself from that because I wouldn't want to be treated like that and I don't think anyone would. It's a really nasty habit and it only makes everyone look like crap.

 

So to sum all this up, I need a throwback to the lessons I learned in Kindergarten...

"All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten"

by Robert Fulghum

Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sandpile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:

Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life -
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work everyday some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

 

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