New additction

I have found a new potential addiction- going to the spa! Last fall a new all male spa "Sir Spa" opened just around the corner from my house. I had been meaning to check it out and get a massage and some pampering done and the Christmas gift from Grandma seemed to be the perfect opportunity to indulge a bit. It was wonderful right down to the luxury bath robe and delighful shaving products I got to try!

This is in preperation for a busy January of travel. Next week I will be in Iowa all week long. I have built some good business relationships in Iowa and don't mind traveling there too much. The following week I will be at home office all week long for a conference. It now feels so weird to stay in a hotel and be a guest in city that still feels like home to me. I am looking forward to seeing many good friends and family. To end January strong I will be doing a quick overnite to Dallas, TX and then a quick trip to Peoria and Springfield, IL. I am just thankful that I have the Sirius satellite radio to keep me company!

I hope the new year is treating you well and keep reading for more updates!

Welcome new Readers-

I am aware that I have some new readers trying to figure out who I am- WELCOME!!!

Happy New Year

It's time for a new year- so welcome 2007!!!! I always enjoy a new year- we each have a fresh slate to start out on. While it is impossible to erase the past- I enjoy the idea of having a new year to make a fresh start. 2006 was one of the best years of my life- I am sure someday when I am gray and old- I will look and think of how pivotal the year really was. There are many new things that I want to accomplish- so a new year is the perfect time to do that.

Today I am posting using my new personal computer- so if you ready my blog and have a blog of your own- please comment so that I can bookmark your blog on my new pc easily!!

This has been a fun New Years- Megan & Matt had such a fun party to ring in the new year (see photos). Laura (aka Fergie) came back to Chicago to visit with me - and we have had a blast. Everyone is meeting the new boy (Jon)- and so that has been fun. Even Missy from Des Plaines made it into the city to have some fun last night-.

May 2007 bring each and every one of you happiness, health, prosperity and anything else that may tickle your fancy!

Happy Holidays-

Merry Christmas- I admit it- I am a bit late on getting around to writing this year. December has been extremely busy and hectic for me. This was my first December living in Chicago and working as a regional wholesaler for Nationwide so I did not realize how much work and all of the corporate parties and such would overtake my life for almost two weeks. You might think that holiday party after holiday party would be fun- think again. It is work to continually be entertaining clients, not nearly as much fun as a holiday gathering of family and friends. To make the season even more stressful I developed the worst cold that I had experienced in about 2 years- it made the full circle from the sinuses to my chest. Mom and Dad also made a December visit to Chicago. We did the full shopping experience in downtown Chicago. Macy’s on State Street (the former Marshall Fields store) was spectacular. The windows were decorated in a Mary Poppins theme which was really unique. One of the upper levels of the store is a dining room called The Walnut Room- which featured their annual 30 foot Christmas tree which was really beautiful. Another holiday highlight was my first real fresh-cut Christmas tree. Good friend, Megan helped me select the tree and decorate it. I really enjoyed the fresh evergreen scent in the house. My neighborhood in Chicago, Andersonville, was very festive all season. The shops along Clark St. had tempting gifts for everyone on my list. For Christmas I did treat myself and purchased a Sirius Satellite radio- I really enjoyed it on the drive back home to Ohio-- I had a clear signal the entire way and great music. I am impressed that they have an all Elvis radio station- who knew???
2006 was certainly an eventful year for me and in reflection was a whirlwind of activity. I feel very blessed to have had so many wonderful things happen in my life during the past year. To reward my sales in 2005 I had such a great trip to Huntington Beach, CA with good friend Greg. It was so much fun and a trip to remember for a lifetime. In March and early April I was given a short term assignment in San Francisco, CA with Nationwide. It was quite a challenge to learn how to navigate the Bay area in my rental car- but it was so much fun and so beautiful. In May my second nephew, Dillon was born (what a cutie). Over Memorial Day weekend I packed up after 7 years in Columbus, Ohio and moved Chicago- the windy city. The corporate move was quite an adventure. I am still shocked at how quickly those packers had my life in boxes. I am still looking for a few things- that are apparently in the stack of boxes I have not yet unpacked. I am beginning to wonder if I will ever be fully unpacked again. Over the summer I was blessed with tons of visitors from Ohio which allowed me to be a tourist in my own city- how cool. In November I traveled back to Northern California for a second time to attend my graduation from The American College with my Chartered Life Underwriter degree (basically it means I know about life insurance). This time I took my parents along for the ride. We had awesome weather- and a spectacular drive along the Pacific Coast highway. With my job I have also gotten to explore all of Illinois, Iowa, and the Dakotas.
While no year is perfect- this year will be hard to beat. I only hope that life is treating each and every one of you as well- if not better. I thank God for all the blessing of 2006 and pray for all my friends and family for a wonderful 2007.

Coming back from the dark side-

I have seen the dark side- and it was ugly--- to make the story short I have had a cold for a little over a week now. This week I was running around like crazy spreading the corporate holiday cheer as best that I could. I began the week with a lovely overnite to Des Moines, Iowa and then have been just running all around Chicago. Most days I have been on the road for about 14 hours-- grrr... add that with sinus drainage and an annoying cough and you have misery.

So that is the short story of what is happening in Andyland right now.

I will keep you up to date.

I am still here-

I have been receiving some constructive criticism that I have not been updating my blog as regularly as I need to... and I would agree. My company has an advertising campaign that states "life comes at you fast" and here lately I would agree. My days and nights have been jam packed with a great deal of business functions. This is good, I feel like I am really beginning to have some affect in the territory and gain some traction. It is a good feeling when the customers begin to consider me as a resource and call me for advice.
I have learned one piece of advice- take a magazine if you are going to the Sioux Falls, SD airport- I was stuck there for 5 hours on Wednesday and it was not a fun time- thank goodness I had my trusty laptop and was able to pass the time.

So- it is Christmas-- Yeah--- I have a wonderful Christmas tree, the presents are bought, cards mostly sent, and I am having a holiday party in a few weeks- yet I do not feel festive at all- I guess I am getting used to not being in the holiday spirit. It seems that the holidays are meant to bring us together and make us appreciate and cherish our loved ones- but that is rarely achieved-- instead stress and family fueds can cause a fuss.

Well kids- I forced myself to blog to just get back in the mood of doing it- but I am feeling unispired all of a sudden- I will update with pictures again soon.

Stella Stella and more Stella... with a little Berkley too.

You asked for more- and here it is-

More fun in the sun.

What an incredible day. I woke to a beautiful surise and moon setting over Monterery Bay- the skies were pink and incredible! After breakfast it was off to the Pacific Coast Highway. WOW WOW WOW-- that was so beautiful-- I can't even put it all in words! It was just incredible- each curve of the road (in my mighty minivan) was even more beautiful than the last! Even Stella (AKA Mom) was impressed- and that is saying alot. Then it was off to the Hearst mansion in San Simeon- more WOW WOW WOW- it was just incredible. The weather was perfect for a day along the Pacific Coast highway. Enjoy today's picutres.

Monterey, CA

What a beautiful day here in Monterey. Berkley and Stella are proving to be quite amusing travel companions. Once again God is playing evil tricks on me- for the second time in two weeks I got to rent a minivan-- wohoo!! I guess it is every 30 year old's nightmare to be driving a minivan. I have really enjoyed just relaxing along the Pacific Ocean-- tomorrow we are off to the Pacific Coast highway to the Hearst Mansion. I am really looking forward to that. See ya soon.

Pumpkin Carving and California

Another delayed posting- I have been so busy (yeah I know, you have heard that before).
I do have more pictures to share with you- The first are from Dawn's AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME pumpkin carving party last Sunday. It was so much fun- and she prepared delicious
chili, apple torts, and even had pumpkin beer (how sweet is that??). I am proud to say that my pumpkin was choosen as best of the best by our wonderful hostess Dawn-- it was such a good time. Thanks Dawn for having us all over!!! This week was a good week- for once I was in Chicago for a full 5 days--- yeah I know I live there- but between sales trips and conferences I have not been home very much lately. I do have to admit that I had a great trip last week to Scottsdale, AZ- the 72 hours in the sun and being able to walk outside with hat and gloves was awesome!! I even snuck in some pool time which was highlighted by a pool bar and pool boy (gotta love that!!). Now I am off in Monterrey, CA and will be touring this are before heading up north to San Francisco. Yeah!!! I will keep you all posted on the adventures of the week.

Run Megan Run!!!!

Ok- a quick post before I hit the road for the day- Yesteday was so much fun- I cheered Megan on as she ran the Chicago Marathon-- her husband Matt and her in-laws had a riot traveling all over town. Even Laura in Ohio was in on the event calling us and text messaging us with updates from the web.

I am very pleased to annouce that I also found Elvis Presley-- he was running the marathon!!!

Enjoy the pictures.

Run Megan Run!!!!

Ok- a quick post before I hit the road for the day- Yesteday was so much fun- I cheered Megan on as she ran the Chicago Marathon-- her husband Matt and her in-laws had a riot traveling all over town. Even Laura in Ohio was in on the event calling us and text messaging us with updates from the web.

I am very pleased to annouce that I also found Elvis Presley-- he was running the marathon!!!

Enjoy the pictures.

A weekend at home-

I enjoyed a great weekend with a good friend of mine, Clinton, up from Raliegh, NC. We had such a great time just hanging out and catching up. We pretty much were homebodies for the most part. We did do our fair share of shopping and such downtown- I love the Bloomingdales home store- what a neat place. We also checked out Luxe Home at Merchandise Mart- that was pretty cool. I am very proud to have made my very own apple butter in the crock pot- take that Martha Stewart!!! Yesterday we tackled the open houses of Rogers Park- trying to see what I can or can not afford. I am still experiencing sticker shock- the more I look at property in Chicago the more I am thinking that my place here looks pretty good-- even though I am renting. I am hoping to figure it all out by February.

I did do lots of decorating this weeekend and hung some more pictures and such.. I am pretty happy with how my living room loos.. so I decided to post a few pictures and show it off to my blog buddies.

Weekend Fun with the girls...

Hello everyone- so I have not been good at keeping my blog up to date- Oh well..
I had the most delightful weekend- Megan & I loaded up Nicole (my big old Ford) and headed to Michigan for a weekend of
fall goodness with our good friend Laura from Ohio. We had a wonderful time. We purchased pumpkins, indian corn, picked apples, drank margaritas, went to a drive in movie theater, stayed at a cheesy cheap motel, had breakfast at Bob Evans (gotta love Bob), and then Megan and I went to 2 vineyards and went wine tasting- it was spectacular fun. I really did not picutre Michgan being quite as scenic, but it was lovely. The weather was picture perfect and the company of friends was even better!!!!! Here are some snapshots from our weekend. If anyone in Chicago needs apples (fresh picked) let me know-- I am oversupplied.