Week in Review

It has been an absolute gorgeous autumn in the Quad Cities this year. Last year, we had so much rain the trees never turned. This year, the trees are just gorgeous. Or maybe it's because we live in Rock Island now that we notice all the colors. We feel very lucky to see all the Fall colors this year that we didn't get last year!

This past weekend was a busy one. Friday night, Rob and I hosted 3 couples (8 people total) in our first ever dinner party. We cooked an amazing meal that everyone loved, and had a blast with friends old and new. Around 11pm, I started to turn into a pumpkin and everyone finally left. We can't wait to host another so we can get these wonderful people back in our house! Christmas party, here we come.

Saturday, Rob and I started our Intro to Hatha I yoga class at Davenport School of Yoga. I tried going last Spring, but I didn't know much about the poses and always felt as if I was looking at everyone else rather than practicing the asanas. Now, it's me and Rob and only a few other folks in the class, with our amazing teacher Jeani, this little Austrailian woman who is probably the most gentle person I've ever met. We both left feeling amazing, and can't wait for class again this coming weekend. In addition to my gym workouts, I've been practicing yoga every day this week, and already I feel great!

On Saturday afternoon, we celebrated our grandparents 70th (yes, 70 years!!!) anniversary at Ridgecrest Village, where they live. We had a lovely party room and many folks came to celebrate. My sister and Lou came down with the two kids, and we finally got to meet our niece, Isabella.


Isabella



Enzo

The best part of the day was watching Uncle Rob and Enzo playing garbage truck for at least an hour. By the end, both boys were exhausted.



This week, both of Rob's siblings are in town. Ross from LA and Ann from Tasmania. We are looking forward to spending more time with them during their visits!

Week in Review

The big news of the week was that we finally painted the living room! After living with the dark, dismal green for 7 weeks, we decided to go with something a little more bright and warm. We tend toward the warm colors in this house- reds, browns, and now, yellow.


Before



Primed



Done!!


I call this the Panera Bread bathroom color. If you've ever been to a Panera Bread, you know what I'm talkin' bout. I love the warmth of this color, and it looks amazing next to the red dining room. We will, however, be finished with projects for a while. Next up? Getting rid of those horrifying colors in the studio.

Yesterday I had my first audition in about 6 months. The Green Room Theatre is staging a production of Jason Robert Brown's Songs for a New World in January, and I am hoping to be a part of it. I felt quite confident with my audition and singing from the score. Now all I gotta do is wait to hear!

This coming weekend, we are having a little dinner party and inviting some close friends, and some friends we'd like to get to know better. We are very excited for all of them to meet each other, and for us to host a lavish dinner. It's something we've been excited to do for years. Now that we finally have a beautiful dining room, the time has come!

This week, I'll spend some time grant writing, as deadlines are beginning to loom again. RTC can always use grants and donations, so it's time for me to put on my Producer hat and get to work.

The man

In case you didn't know, I support and am voting for this man in the election...






I'm just sayin'...

Week(s) in Review

After a long hiatus from seeing my Dad and Cathy, we had a nice visit with them while they were here last weekend. We ate way too much (which is the norm when they are here) and we even got to take them to the Blue Cat to show off our local hang-out. The only downfall of the weekend was having to spend time with extended family I don't care too much for. Being told that "28 is old for having a baby" and constantly being insulted with passive-aggressiveness is not my idea of fun. Seeing Dad and Cathy is always a positive experience when they come to the QC, when it's just the two of them.

Tomorrow I turn 31. To celebrate, Rob and I had a lovely weekend of travel and shopping. Saturday we drove down to Burlington to have dinner at Martini's Grille, a swanky place overlooking the Mississippi River. The drive down was beautiful with the midwestern trees finally turning their autumn colors. Burlington is a beautiful town on the bluff with old houses and railroad money. It reminded us both very much of Galena.


View from our table at Martini's


After eating so much we felt like we might puke or die, we rolled ourselves back into the car and drove home. Sunday, Rob took me to Best Buy to get my birthday present, my new iPod Shuffle.


It's so awesome! I spent two hours downloading 60 songs onto it last night, and still have room for 190 more. I took it to the gym today and I love using it. Rob wanted to get me the zatzie iPod Nano, or even the 2 GB Shuffle, but honestly the only time I ever use it is at the gym, so why in the world would I need something that holds that much information?


In addition to celebrating my birthday, we also celebrated one year with Ike. We went to the shelter to bring donations and brought him back with us to visit. They always go gaga over him and can't believe how good he looks and how social he is. It was a long row to hoe, after all his health problems last year, but he is now the healthiest, sweetest little guy and we are so happy he is in our lives

Ike one year ago.



Ike today

Happiness vs. Contentment

My journey as of late has been one fraught with conflicting emotions. For months, I fretted over the house. Was everything going okay with our loan? When will we close? Will we have enough money to get through?

Once all of this came and went with no hiccups, I found myself in a new house, with an extreme amount of free time. With the economy a nightmare, the studio is down a few students. I kind of figured that might be the case. But honestly, teaching is my livelihood. Take it away from me and I'm completely lost. I enjoy being in the studio more than I can say, and now that I'm not in it as much, I'm finding myself becoming more and more discontent.

The work I did in therapy last year still sticks with me, and I still find myself quite happy. But I also find there are extreme differences between being happy and being content. I'd like to feel both, because contentment is seeming to elude me most days.

I am far from depressed. Bored is more like it. While there are a few projects I'd like to do around the house, they will have to wait for a month or so. I am planning the theatre season, and getting things done there, so that is helping.

However, the more time I have on my hands to think, the more I'm beginning to realize how much I want a baby. That little person has decided not to come yet, and that is okay. Biology needs to make an appearance and take over. What I'm tired of hearing from people is "just relax and it will happen". Frankly, this comment does nothing but piss me off. I'm sure there are women friends who read this blog who can understand. Once a woman decides she wants a child, she wants it NOW. I am no exception. Once I did the work in therapy last year, I finally realized I was ready for a baby. That my past/childhood was nothing but just that - in the past. I dealt with the demons that were holding me back for so long in getting to the point that I was ready to make that step with my amazing husband. I also realize that it has been a bit crazy these past months since April: Elegies, Kimberly, Bees, packing, closing, moving. All in 6 months. That is a lot of stuff. My body was probably making it so no little person could survive with the amount of stress going on in there. But there isn't much stress now. So come on, little person. We're ready.


In case you wanted to see some of the shots Rob and I had taken by Jan Scott, click here to access her blog. Just scroll down and you'll see some of shots! We ordered our prints and should get them in a week or so. Can't wait!