Warning...sheep brain pic

I have the day off today...my nanny family went on a short vacation, so I had Thursday and Monday off...which was awesome timing because I had my final on Saturday, and we had our BBQ party on Sunday. There was so much to do- so great to have a little extra time at home.

1. We celebrated Brian's birthday and the cleaning of our house on Sunday with a little BBQ at the house. I wish it had been a little warmer out, but it didn't rain so that's certainly something. Brian and I both love to host and have people over, so we were so excited to finally have the house in order. Hopefully we will be able to have more events this summer. We had such a smattering of friends- from all kinds of different areas

of our lives...sometimes that can be nerve wracking...when people don't know each other...but luckily, we have awesome friends that are friendly and great, and are happy to chat with and make new friends. Plus, all the delicious food...we have so much stuff left over here...we are going to be eating well for days! Here is Brian blowing out the candles (from a distance) on his gorgeous cake (that I didn't make- it was randomly donated to us).

2. My Spring quarter is OVER! Yay...I have two weeks before Summer

quarter starts up. I'm pretty sure this was the hardest class I have to take...and as previously mentioned, it was a bit of a frustrating class...but it is done, and for the Summer I have part 2 of Anatomy & Physiology. I will actually be going to class...I'm not doing that crazy hybrid- learn it all on your own- stuff anymore! Our last lab of the quarter, we FINALLY got to dissect something...we dissected a sheep brain. Most of our labs have been filling out worksheets with fill-in-the-blanks from the text...I always completed the assignment at home before even going to lab...so, I was pretty excited to have an actual activity. Here is the brain...sorry if it makes you squeamish. :)

3. Our kickball team started playoffs last week...our game was scheduled for 9:45pm- which is late and awful as it is...but then the game before us was late getting started AND went into extra innings. We didn't even start playing our game until around 10:30...and then all of the lights went out at the end of the second inning...argh. SO, we have to reschedule the game...though we were up 8-0 in the second inning, so that is promising. Summer league starts this week...

4. We had a great trip to Iowa/Chicago. I had a brief moment of panic as we stood in the security line at SeaTac airport, and I pulled my drivers license out only to realize it expired in May...would they let me travel? Yes, the TSA guy let me through with a 'you should get this taken care of' comment. Next concern was the rental car in Chicago. Brian isn't old enough to rent a car, and my license was expired...what would we do? Turns out Brian is old enough to rent a car in Illinois...and I guess since it was pre-paid, they didn't charge us extra for his age...phew! After flying the red eye, we were EXHAUSTED, and then had a 4 hour drive ahead of us. We made it, checked into the hotel, Brian left to pick up his tux, I took a nap...and apparently while I was sleeping, the tornado sirens went off on a bit of a warning. That night was the rehearsal dinner, which was great- it was at a 'Supper Club', which sounded super exclusive. Then Friday, Brian had to be at the church in the morning to start pictures, so I was on my own in Dubuque for most of the day. I finished my lab assignment and emailed that in to my teacher, found a little house to get my nails done, went on a massive search for coffee- only to end up at a grocery store Starbucks. Then headed to the church for the ceremony. After the ceremony, we rode around town in a trolley, and then on to the reception. We did some dancing, ate some cake, fun times! We had an awesome time hanging out with Dan and Sarah and their super cute and funny kiddos...I haven't spent much time with them, so it was great to hang out! We headed back to Chicago Saturday morning...boy, we ate some delicious and terribly unhealthy food! We went to my favorite breakfast place- Orange. I always have a hard time ordering here- do I go with an old favorite or try something new- I haven't ever had anything that I didn't LOVE. I happened to have seen a 'best burger in the US' article, with one of the spots being in Chicago...Au Cheval...not only was it amazing, but they were SO NICE. We got there about 1 minutes before the kitchen was closing, on the day that we were flying out...the hostess told us there just was no way we would be able to get in- they were packed and the kitchen was closing...as we walked out with our shoulders slumped, she followed us out, and said she would sneak us in. And then continued checking up on us and kept saying 'Thank YOU' to us, every time we thanked her. We also went to a Cubs game (obviously), with a two hour rain delay...late night! Not nearly enough time in that great city, but we got a lot in.

5. I was planning to spend part of my day today adopting our kittens. But, it looks like the weekends are the best times to do that, as the shelters aren't open, and pet store adoption events happen on the weekends. I have been looking on craigslist, but I keep seeing three kittens, and it makes me sad to think about separating one of them. I also look at pictures and want to adopt the least cutest, because I feel sad that maybe they won't get adopted because they aren't as cute. Sigh...I'm the worst.