Uptown and beyond

Welcome in, 2013! It's been awhile since I've posted much, I suppose mostly because settling down isn't nearly exciting as moving across several continents! But, it is what it is, and the day to day has become the norm. The new norm I guess. Ryan is a month and a half in to his new job, and now that things are picking up (which also means later and later hours), he's finding his lawyer sea legs again and feeling comfortable on his team. I can tell by the way he comes home at the end of the day now, because his recounts seem more and more confident, and he has a bit more energy about it all. Saying goodbye in the mornings is still rather hard, but as I wave to him out the window, I know he'll come home happy.

I, on the other hand, am still wading through the application process for Chicago Public Schools, and honestly, as much as I love Kathy Lee and Hoda, I am just not totally digging the stay at home lifestyle. Job is needed. So, I spend my time working on my résumé, searching the web for all sorts of employment, and hoping that all this work will pay off in a timely fashion.

I am also dedicated to a creating a body that is far more in shape than my current one, so I've taken up a work out routine with Jillian Michaels shouting at me to literally kick myself in the a**, and taking frigid walks to Lake Michigan (just because I can). I've learned to pay no mind to the bums under the Lakeshore Drive overpass, they are just looking for a warm place to rest, like everybody else. I can't wait for the summer when I can just grab a towel and a book and go sit on the beach that is literally just a 15 minute walk from my apartment. Central Park? What's that? I've got Lake Michigan now! I'm honestly not looking back! Also, I just realized that I may never want to get a gym membership to use the swimming pool ever again! Yes! I love it here.

Lets talk about the cold. It is VERY cold here, which I can handle, I think, and perhaps in some sick, sadistic way I was always sort of wanting it in New York, but didn't get as much. What can I say, I fricken love snow. Although, I've actually seen more snow in Michigan, by my parents place in Kalamazoo. I also have been enjoying the fact that I can just pop over there pretty much any time I feel like it. Home for Christmas? Yes, please! Friend's wedding weekend, no problem! Miss my nephew and want to just head home to visit for a day or two? Think I will! So, there is an upside to still being jobless, I guess.

Before Christmas, I also added Las Vegas to the growing list of places I've seen and loved. Man, that place is wicked fun, and even more fun because I got to spend her birthday with my dear friend Kelly and her super awesome friends. Bloody Mary's were the signature drink of the weekend, except for in the random club we got into because clubs like it when hordes of women join them for all night dancing under strobe lights. They literally haveGo-go dancers there that just stay up next to the DJ and it's their job to shake there scantly clad junk all night long. Man, Vegas is crazy. My liver needed a break after that one. What a way to break in Vegas though! Whew!

So, I'm back from Starbucks, where I sat and worked on applications and my resume today. The Earl Grey latte was my treat to myself after my 2 mile walk to the lake. Had to break in my new tennis shoes, which I love, and I really wish is gotten before our trip. Alas, feet are still healing. Now, I shall remove said feet from their resting place on our new coffee table (so domestic, new furniture!), and start the dinner for the hubs! Pintrest, you inspire me with your homemade chicken tenders yet again! Maybe if the recipe is good I'll post it later.