May 17

Herb Garden

Today I planted cilantro, basil and parsley. Looking forward to some good caprese, guacamole and salsa later this summer!

May 16

Imitating Tiger

May 15

Mark the Spot

We played in a golf tournament with our friend Kent. Here Troy is marking Kent's drive for the "longest drive" contest.

May 14

Happy Birthday to Me!

Celebrating with a chocolate/peanut butter martini after dinner at Biaggis.

May 13

One of My Favorite Things ...

is going to the library. This one in Bettendorf, Iowa is especially nice. I was here picking up some books on CD to prepare for an upcoming road trip.

May 12

Guest Photographer

My friend Corey and his daughter, Lyric, 8, came over for dinner and Lyric had a great time taking pictures with my camera. Here's her self-portrait.

May 11

Bing.com/Travel

I've been spending a lot of time searching for flights to Reno, Nevada for my friend Sarah's wedding this August, which is going to be on the beach at Lake Tahoe. Bing.com/Travel has been a huge help!

May 10

Kitchen Aid Mixer

My parents gave me a Kitchen Aid mixer for my birthday and I couldn't be more excited about it! I have been wanting one forever!

May 9

Happy Mother's Day!

May 8

Spring?

This flower pot should be on my front porch, but I had to bring it inside because of a chance of frost. What happened to spring?

May 7

T.G.I.F.

That's all I have to say about that.

May 6

So. Many. Babies

Another new little one - Jacob, here with his Aunt Missi.

May 5

Organized Closet

I finally had a chance to re-organize my closet and get all the summer stuff out and winter stuff packed away. We'll see how long it stays this nice...

May 4

Baby Geese

Now that I look at this photo, the baby geese kind of blend in with the grass, but if you look carefully they are there! I've been enjoying some walks along the river this week and watching the baby geese and ducks is the best part! One bit of advice though - these Mama geese are MEAN! They hiss at you if you get too close to their babies.

May 3

Riverfront in Spring

Quite a contrast from this day in January...

May 2

Welcome Jude!

On Sunday I went to visit my friends Seth and Andrea at the hospital so I could meet their new baby Jude. What a cutie! And doesn't Mom look great?

May 1

Build a Better Burger

Troy was perfecting the recipe for his Southwest Burger for a work competition. He ended up winning 1st in creativity and 1st in presentation.

April 30

Stormy Day

Some decent storms rolled in this afternoon and since I was out running a check over to our printer, I had a chance to capture some of the clouds. I wished I had more time because the light was really neat.

April 29

Photo Class

Missi and I are taking a photo class at Black Hawk College in the hopes that we will be able to get our cameras off of the automatic mode. Here our instructor is helping another person in the class with his camera.

April 28

Vanderveer Park

I took this for a photo class I'm taking. This sculpture is in the Children's Garden at Vanderveer Park.

April 27

Lillies of the Valley

I'm not thrilled with this photo because it's blurry, but I LOVE the lillies of the valley coming up in my backyard. They have always been my favorite flower and they bloom just in time for my birthday.

April 26

And the Aftermath

Here's what the kitchen looked like after book club. But that's ok, because the good friends and conversation are well worth the mess!

April 25

Strawberry Jello/Pretzel Dessert

I made this dessert for book club and it was a big hit! It's three layers, with crushed pretzels/butter/sugar on the bottom. The middle layer is whipped cream and cream cheese mixed together and the top is frozen strawberries and strawberry jello. I'll definitely be making this one again.

April 24

Another Birthday!

This time is was Troy's mom's birthday and since she was turning 60, we went up to Des Moines and surprised her with a party, complete with tiara!

April 23

Buddies

Visiting Troy's good friend Dean in Des Moines. These two are like two peas in a pod when they get together.

April 22

Softball Season

The Harrington's Pub softball team is back for its third season with head coach Troy Gutknecht and is already dominating on the field. The secret to their success must be their No. 1 fan Amy Thon, watching from the safe distance of the dugout.

April 21

Cham and Cham

For a tasty summer drink, try mixing Chambord with Champagne. It's delicious!

April 20

Squeaky clean!

I helped Troy clean his refrigerator from top to bottom. As a single guy, the cleanliness of the fridge is not exactly a top priority and it had reached the point of being a crisis. Now, good as new!

April 19

Toastmasters

About a month ago I joined the Toastmasters club at work. Toastmasters is an international organization to help people learn public speaking skills. This is something I've been wanting to do for a while, but had been putting off because I really hate public speaking. But, for my job, I feel like it's a skill I need to get more comfortable with.

At the first meeting I attended I won the "Table Topics" trophy! Table Topics is a section of each meeting where the moderator presents a topic, sometimes in the form of a game, and each person has to speak on the topic for 1-2 minutes. At the end, we vote on our favorite. I think they may have just been trying to be nice since it was my first meeting, but I still like the trophy!

April 18

Finished Product

Here is how Troy's bathroom ended up - such a major improvement from how it looked before. I love the green color too. We were afraid it was too dark at first, but it ended up being perfect.

April 17

Saturday Night Bags

This will be a very familiar scene for the next couple of months!

April 16

Wine Tasting

Troy goofing around at at wine tasting. Looks like Brandon found a few things to buy!

April 15

Lilacs in bloom!

These lilacs were blooming on the tree just outside our office, so one of my co-workers cut some off and brought them inside for us all to enjoy. I thought they looked neat under the sky light. Since I'm a Lombard (the Lilac Village) girl, I think I'm required to love lilacs!

April 14

Happy Birthday Mom!

I had Mom and Dad over for dinner to celebrate Mom's birthday. Troy and I made a lemon pepper chicken salad and Dad made an awesome Tres Leche cake for dessert - yum!

April 13

Birthday Card

I made this card for my mom at a card class. I just love the bright colors!

April 12

New Recipe

We re-created the Chicken Pesto Pasta from Noodles and Co. with great success!

April 11

Pampered Chef

I hosted a Pampered Chef party and here Sarah is sampling one of the tasty treats we made. I can't recommend the Pampered Chef products enough!

April 10

Sullivan

Meet Sullivan, aka Sully. He belongs to my friends, Pete and Staci, and is just such a cutie in his green shirt.

Wow, have I fallen behind on updating this! The good news is I have a picture for every day - now I just need to find the time to upload them. Stay tuned!