It's time for the second Wednesday feature in thanks for helping us get over the HUMP as we get ready to do the HUSTLE UP THE HANCOCK next month. Thank you to all our amazing donors! We are almost halfway to our $2,500 fundraising goal.
To check our progress or make a donation, please visit our fundraising page.
We're continuing with another great blast from the past - enjoy a very young Bobby Brown and more video cliches than you can count!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Wednesday Feature: THANKS FOR HELPING US GET OVER THE HUMP!
As promised, here is the first Wednesday feature in thanks for helping us get over the HUMP as we get ready to do the HUSTLE UP THE HANCOCK next month.
This had to be the first choice, for the choreographed stair dancing alone, but the hair and clothes sure don't disappoint. . .
This had to be the first choice, for the choreographed stair dancing alone, but the hair and clothes sure don't disappoint. . .
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Carol's Climbers are Hustling Up the WHOLE Hancock!
Matt and I are once again climbing the John Hancock building in honor of one of our favorite people, Carol Knoepke (Matt's mom, Diane's second mom). On February 27, 2011, we will climb all 94 floors--no matter how long it takes us!--in honor of Carol and all of us who are working to show lung disease who is boss.
We would love to have your support. Please click here to make a donation and check out our fundraising page. Thank you so much for being on our team!
Weekend on Dove Mountain
Opportunistic little devil I am, I turned a work trip + Southwest miles into into a lovely desert weekend for me and Matt. We spent last weekend on Dove Mountain outside Tucson.
It might go without saying that we were and are greatly affected by the tragedy of what happened in Tucson while we were just 20 miles or so down the road. It certainly cast a sense of urgency and concern over our weekend, and we consumed a lot more news than we planned as we found out that the Congresswoman had survived and several others had not.
With our good fortune smacking us in the face, we enjoyed the luxury of being away again so soon after our holiday vacation and relished the opportunity to get outside without hats and gloves. We hiked by ourselves on Saturday and then joined a guide for a sunrise eco-hike Sunday morning. The guide was terrific and he and Matt had much to talk about along the trail.
Below are some views around the property we stayed in (big thanks to the client who picked it) and the flautist that played as the sun set.
It might go without saying that we were and are greatly affected by the tragedy of what happened in Tucson while we were just 20 miles or so down the road. It certainly cast a sense of urgency and concern over our weekend, and we consumed a lot more news than we planned as we found out that the Congresswoman had survived and several others had not.
With our good fortune smacking us in the face, we enjoyed the luxury of being away again so soon after our holiday vacation and relished the opportunity to get outside without hats and gloves. We hiked by ourselves on Saturday and then joined a guide for a sunrise eco-hike Sunday morning. The guide was terrific and he and Matt had much to talk about along the trail.
Below are some views around the property we stayed in (big thanks to the client who picked it) and the flautist that played as the sun set.
Holidays in Portugal
We left early on the 26th for a terrific trip to Portugal that started with a planned overnight in London and ended with an unplanned overnight in Madrid. We had the best time--here are some of the highlights!
London (with a Quickness)
I had never been to London (Matt had as a kid and exchange student), so we chose to take an overnight layover on our way to Lisbon. It certainly wasn't enough time to even begin to see the sights, but we had a perfect little London morning. We picked a hotel near the Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, as two spots pretty high on my London list and ones not seen by Matt when he was here as a young man. We had breakfast at the Tate Cafe at the Tate Modern. I was very excited to drink English tea in London, while Matt was very satisfied by his traditional English breakfast. We only had about an hour at the Tate Modern but got to see some modern giants as we hurried through. And we saw a very interesting piece by Anish Kapoor that gives you a very different feel than his famous piece ("Cloud Gate" or The Bean) in Chicago. Then we went over to Shakespeare's Globe and looked around. Soon after, we had to head to the airport to catch our flight to Lisbon, and our cab ride back was great as we saw so many of the famous London sites that it was almost like a tour!
BEM-VINDO A LISBOA
We arrived in Lisbon that evening ready for a great dinner, which we got across from our hotel at the recommendation of the cab driver. We were surrounded by large groups of locals getting together for extended holiday meals. Both the scene and the food set the stage for the rest of the week beautifully.
We Heart Evora
The next morning we caught a bus to Evora, where we spent two nights. The local marketing campaign is "I [Heart Symbol] Evora" and that summed it up nicely for us! Evora is all history--a UNESCO World Heritage site that has remnants of its Roman past including an amazingly well-preserved Temple, Roman Baths, and an aqueduct.
In Evora, our lodging was one of the main attractions of our trip. We stayed in the Pousada dos Loios, which was originally the Monastery of the S. João Evangelista. The current building was built in the late 1700s and retains the original doors and doorways, countless antiques, and yet all the modern comforts you could want. One thing we learned (and Matt learned the hard way) is that Matt is definitely bigger than a monk.
We loved the location of the Pousada, as the Roman Temple (said to be built in honor of the Roman goddess Diana) is right outside the front door. This picture isn't the best quality, but it shows the proximity. In this shot, directly behind the Temple is the Jardim Diana (Diana's Garden) where we sat and had pastries and espresso one afternoon--one of the simplest and one of my favorite things about the trip.
The tower in the upper right-hand corner of the picture above is the beautiful cathedral in Evora, or the Se. We spent the better part of an afternoon exploring the Se, mostly from its roof, as we were able to climb two of the towers to explore and view Evora from above. Of course I stayed more toward the center of the rooftop (seeing as I inherited the Muller fear of heights), while Matt laughed at danger. Literally, as seen in the unstaged picture below that he didn't know I was taking. . .
We also spent a lot of time in the cafes, shops and restaurants around the main square (the Praca), which was especially beautiful at night with all the Christmas lights still up. And we walked around most of the town to find the many highlights detailed in our guidebook. We read about a village that had been built into the Roman aqueduct, as if it were a hillside or something. Totally cool.
New Year's in Lisbon
After a great couple days of decompression in Evora, we amped things back up in Lisbon for the second half of our trip.
This is the impressive park next to our hotel. We hoofed up its steep path one rainy afternoon which was a great help to the lingering afternoon jet lag that kept popping up late in the day.
We spent the first half of New Year's Eve day in Belem, a neighborhood of Lisbon that could have been at least a weekend in itself. We started with their very famous Pasteis de Belem, a pastry that I firmly believe is the lovechild of an elephant ear and creme brulee. A tartlet with no equal. Then we hit a number of the key sights in Belem, including the monastery (we didn't have time to wait in line to go inside--something for next time!). We hit the Museu de Marinha (Maritime Museum) and learned tons about Portuguese expeditions and, well, saw a lot of cool boats! :) Matt the sailor had a much richer perspective on it all of course, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. We ended our time in Belem at the Tower of Belem, where there was plenty of rain and plenty of sun, so we even got a double rainbow to cap things off.
We switched gears for New Year's Eve night and headed to the main square in Lisbon for the big party. It was a big party with a band and drinking and fireworks. And yet it was supremely civilized and family-oriented. Lots of swigs from bottles of wine and yet the most efficient and relaxed port-a-potty lines I've ever seen at an event of any size. We felt like two people in the middle of a great community that were weren't part of but no one minded letting us pass through. And the fireworks show was just terrific--shot over the river and over the buildings surrounding the square, which had me doing spins throughout the show, adding to the fun dizziness of it all.
We lazed around a lot of New Year's Day, as much of the city was shut down for the holiday. But Matt did get the chance to have another meal that involved both dried ham and seafood, so he was a happy and very complete boy.
Our travel plans coming home were bested by fog in Lisbon and Madrid, so we ended up spending a night in an airport hotel in Madrid. Certainly worst things. . .
We had such a great trip and scratched our very itchy travel itch. And yet, thing is, like so many itches, it just gets worse when you scratch it! Who knows when our next vacation will be, but I can tell you I'm starting to plan it (in my mind) already!
London (with a Quickness)
I had never been to London (Matt had as a kid and exchange student), so we chose to take an overnight layover on our way to Lisbon. It certainly wasn't enough time to even begin to see the sights, but we had a perfect little London morning. We picked a hotel near the Tate Modern and Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, as two spots pretty high on my London list and ones not seen by Matt when he was here as a young man. We had breakfast at the Tate Cafe at the Tate Modern. I was very excited to drink English tea in London, while Matt was very satisfied by his traditional English breakfast. We only had about an hour at the Tate Modern but got to see some modern giants as we hurried through. And we saw a very interesting piece by Anish Kapoor that gives you a very different feel than his famous piece ("Cloud Gate" or The Bean) in Chicago. Then we went over to Shakespeare's Globe and looked around. Soon after, we had to head to the airport to catch our flight to Lisbon, and our cab ride back was great as we saw so many of the famous London sites that it was almost like a tour!
BEM-VINDO A LISBOA
We arrived in Lisbon that evening ready for a great dinner, which we got across from our hotel at the recommendation of the cab driver. We were surrounded by large groups of locals getting together for extended holiday meals. Both the scene and the food set the stage for the rest of the week beautifully.
We Heart Evora
The next morning we caught a bus to Evora, where we spent two nights. The local marketing campaign is "I [Heart Symbol] Evora" and that summed it up nicely for us! Evora is all history--a UNESCO World Heritage site that has remnants of its Roman past including an amazingly well-preserved Temple, Roman Baths, and an aqueduct.
In Evora, our lodging was one of the main attractions of our trip. We stayed in the Pousada dos Loios, which was originally the Monastery of the S. João Evangelista. The current building was built in the late 1700s and retains the original doors and doorways, countless antiques, and yet all the modern comforts you could want. One thing we learned (and Matt learned the hard way) is that Matt is definitely bigger than a monk.
We loved the location of the Pousada, as the Roman Temple (said to be built in honor of the Roman goddess Diana) is right outside the front door. This picture isn't the best quality, but it shows the proximity. In this shot, directly behind the Temple is the Jardim Diana (Diana's Garden) where we sat and had pastries and espresso one afternoon--one of the simplest and one of my favorite things about the trip.
The tower in the upper right-hand corner of the picture above is the beautiful cathedral in Evora, or the Se. We spent the better part of an afternoon exploring the Se, mostly from its roof, as we were able to climb two of the towers to explore and view Evora from above. Of course I stayed more toward the center of the rooftop (seeing as I inherited the Muller fear of heights), while Matt laughed at danger. Literally, as seen in the unstaged picture below that he didn't know I was taking. . .
We also spent a lot of time in the cafes, shops and restaurants around the main square (the Praca), which was especially beautiful at night with all the Christmas lights still up. And we walked around most of the town to find the many highlights detailed in our guidebook. We read about a village that had been built into the Roman aqueduct, as if it were a hillside or something. Totally cool.
New Year's in Lisbon
After a great couple days of decompression in Evora, we amped things back up in Lisbon for the second half of our trip.
This is the impressive park next to our hotel. We hoofed up its steep path one rainy afternoon which was a great help to the lingering afternoon jet lag that kept popping up late in the day.
We spent the first half of New Year's Eve day in Belem, a neighborhood of Lisbon that could have been at least a weekend in itself. We started with their very famous Pasteis de Belem, a pastry that I firmly believe is the lovechild of an elephant ear and creme brulee. A tartlet with no equal. Then we hit a number of the key sights in Belem, including the monastery (we didn't have time to wait in line to go inside--something for next time!). We hit the Museu de Marinha (Maritime Museum) and learned tons about Portuguese expeditions and, well, saw a lot of cool boats! :) Matt the sailor had a much richer perspective on it all of course, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. We ended our time in Belem at the Tower of Belem, where there was plenty of rain and plenty of sun, so we even got a double rainbow to cap things off.
We switched gears for New Year's Eve night and headed to the main square in Lisbon for the big party. It was a big party with a band and drinking and fireworks. And yet it was supremely civilized and family-oriented. Lots of swigs from bottles of wine and yet the most efficient and relaxed port-a-potty lines I've ever seen at an event of any size. We felt like two people in the middle of a great community that were weren't part of but no one minded letting us pass through. And the fireworks show was just terrific--shot over the river and over the buildings surrounding the square, which had me doing spins throughout the show, adding to the fun dizziness of it all.
We lazed around a lot of New Year's Day, as much of the city was shut down for the holiday. But Matt did get the chance to have another meal that involved both dried ham and seafood, so he was a happy and very complete boy.
Our travel plans coming home were bested by fog in Lisbon and Madrid, so we ended up spending a night in an airport hotel in Madrid. Certainly worst things. . .
We had such a great trip and scratched our very itchy travel itch. And yet, thing is, like so many itches, it just gets worse when you scratch it! Who knows when our next vacation will be, but I can tell you I'm starting to plan it (in my mind) already!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Christmas Day
Everybody was excited over the new toys they got this Christmas!
Matt and I started the day by opening our stockings for each other and giving the kitties their stocking stuffers.
Ollie waited as patiently as he could. . .
And then promptly lost his patience once he smelled catnip in his stocking. He proceeded to attack the stocking until we got the catnip toy out. He and Harper then spent 15 minutes getting really high off of said catnip, fighting each other for no reason, and then chilling out. Stoned kitties are pretty darn fun for a Christmas morning.
Matt was very excited to receive a tool he wanted, a multimeter. Not that I really know what that does exactly, but Mom and I are quite good at going to Sears and showing them a list of items transcribed from the catalog Matt marked up.
While there's no picture to prove it (which is probably for the best given my oh-so-cute Christmas morning hair), I made a very similar face of Christmas joy when Matt surprised me with a gift from him and the kitties--that had been hidden under the couch--a Devin Hester jersey! I will be wearing it with pride this Sunday as the Bears take on the Seahawks!
We had a very white Christmas--so nice to live on a street with lots of trees!
We headed to Hammond for a very yummy breakfast and gift exchange with Mom, Dad and Grandma. And of course we had to open the gifts that Santa dropped off for us too!
Matt carries the gift Santa Claus left for him in the basement--a big red Craftsman tool box!
Mom was hoping pretty hard for a netbook, but she was pretty surprised to find that Matt the Elf had already come by earlier in the week to set up her wireless network so she was able to use the new toy right away!
Mom and Dad playing with Mom's new toy.
We all played with our new toys--well, especially Mom with her laptop and me with my new iPod and awesome cookbooks--just like you should on Christmas morning!
Then Matt and I headed to John and Carol's for gift exchange and a scrumptious dinner!
The tree was all set with John's gift from Santa (aka Carol, with help from Matt the Elf again), a new bike!
Matt and Carol both got sweatshirts from their alma maters!
John was excited to get a bike lock so he can take his bike for a spin as soon as he wants to brave the weather.
And Matt once again showed us his happy tool face when he opened a package of five different tools he wanted.
We had such a nice holiday with our family closeby, and with lots of warm wishes from family and friends near and far. Too many blessings to count!
Matt and I started the day by opening our stockings for each other and giving the kitties their stocking stuffers.
Ollie waited as patiently as he could. . .
And then promptly lost his patience once he smelled catnip in his stocking. He proceeded to attack the stocking until we got the catnip toy out. He and Harper then spent 15 minutes getting really high off of said catnip, fighting each other for no reason, and then chilling out. Stoned kitties are pretty darn fun for a Christmas morning.
Matt was very excited to receive a tool he wanted, a multimeter. Not that I really know what that does exactly, but Mom and I are quite good at going to Sears and showing them a list of items transcribed from the catalog Matt marked up.
While there's no picture to prove it (which is probably for the best given my oh-so-cute Christmas morning hair), I made a very similar face of Christmas joy when Matt surprised me with a gift from him and the kitties--that had been hidden under the couch--a Devin Hester jersey! I will be wearing it with pride this Sunday as the Bears take on the Seahawks!
We had a very white Christmas--so nice to live on a street with lots of trees!
We headed to Hammond for a very yummy breakfast and gift exchange with Mom, Dad and Grandma. And of course we had to open the gifts that Santa dropped off for us too!
Matt carries the gift Santa Claus left for him in the basement--a big red Craftsman tool box!
Mom was hoping pretty hard for a netbook, but she was pretty surprised to find that Matt the Elf had already come by earlier in the week to set up her wireless network so she was able to use the new toy right away!
Mom and Dad playing with Mom's new toy.
We all played with our new toys--well, especially Mom with her laptop and me with my new iPod and awesome cookbooks--just like you should on Christmas morning!
Then Matt and I headed to John and Carol's for gift exchange and a scrumptious dinner!
The tree was all set with John's gift from Santa (aka Carol, with help from Matt the Elf again), a new bike!
Matt and Carol both got sweatshirts from their alma maters!
John was excited to get a bike lock so he can take his bike for a spin as soon as he wants to brave the weather.
And Matt once again showed us his happy tool face when he opened a package of five different tools he wanted.
We had such a nice holiday with our family closeby, and with lots of warm wishes from family and friends near and far. Too many blessings to count!
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