Today we went to the Shedd Aquar­ium to take advan­tage of Brian’s day off of work. We got there early and the line was still way out the door. We spent about four hours there and got to see the Fan­tasea show, jel­ly­fish, dol­phins, the bel­uga whales includ­ing the new baby and much much more. We really enjoyed our day there.

To cel­e­brate Valentine’s Day we enjoyed a deli­cious din­ner and great cock­tails at Sepia. We also got a cake from Bit­ter­sweet Pas­try Shop which is where we got our wed­ding cake. It was absolutely deli­cious and we savored every bite!

Lucy turned one year old today! It’s hard to believe that we have had her for eight months as she was only four months old when we got her. Lucy was only 15 pounds when we got her and she is now fully grown and weighs about 37 pounds. We love to look back at the pic­tures of when she was so tiny and could fit on our lap.

To cel­e­brate her birth­day we got her a new (sup­pos­edly) inde­struc­tible dog toy. She also got one of these at Christ­mas which she destroyed in one month. We also got her some deli­cious dog treats which included a chocolate/​peanut but­ter cup. She loved it!

Brian and I spent Christ­mas in Cleve­land this year with my fam­ily. We went to my sister’s on Christ­mas day for brunch and to check out all the toys that Santa brought the boys. Then my mom made Christ­mas din­ner for the fam­ily at my par­ents house. Christ­mas was nice and Lucy got to play in all the snow that Cleve­land got before we arrived.

The day after Christ­mas I had my 10 year high school reunion down­town at The Cleve­lander. Before­hand we met Danielle, Louie, Jess, Denon and Mike for din­ner at Pick­wick and Frolic. It was great to see everyone!

The day after the reunion we packed up and headed to Vir­ginia to visit Brian’s par­ents. While there we went to The National Archives and saw the Terra Cotta Sol­diers. We also enjoyed some great din­ners while there.

We headed back to Cleve­land on the 30^th and spent the night and then headed back to Chicago on New Year’s Eve. Lucy did very well with her long trip but was very happy to finally get home on New Year’s Eve. It was a long trip but it was great to spend time with our fam­ily and friends over the holidays!

For New Year’s Eve Brian and I went to 33 Club in Old Town and enjoyed a deli­cious din­ner. We stayed until the ball dropped and had some cham­pagne to cel­e­brate! We then came home to spend the rest of the night with our pup. Happy 2010 to everyone!

We went to the Christkindl­mar­ket this year down­town on the Daley Plaza. We enjoyed shop­ping for lit­tle Ger­man gifts, eat­ing some good Ger­man food and drink­ing hot choco­late in the bit­ter cold.

We cel­e­brated Thanks­giv­ing in Chicago this year. We decided to go to the Chicago Thanks­giv­ing Day Parade. There were lots of peo­ple and lots of balloons.

Each year we try to make it to at least one Notre Dame game. This year we went to South Bend for the Notre Dame vs. Navy game. We met our friends Denon and Mike there for the game. We thought it was going to be a cold one but the day ended up being beau­ti­ful. We got to enjoy walk­ing around cam­pus, watch­ing the band march in and then watch­ing the game! Unfor­tu­nately we did not see a win — the score was 23 – 21 Navy.

On May 31^st, 2009, almost a month after get­ting mar­ried, we adopted a puppy from PAWS (Pets Are Worth Sav­ing). PAWS is a local no-​kill ani­mal shel­ter. We got her at their Angels with Tails event at the Ralph Lau­ren store on Michi­gan Avenue. We had seen her online and knew we wanted her so we got to the event early. Luck­ily we did because there were oth­ers lin­ing up to adopt Lucy after us. Lucy — or Berta as they called her — was about 4 months old and only 15 pounds when we first got her.

Brian and I left for our hon­ey­moon to St. Thomas on May 10, 2009. While there we stayed at Frenchman’s Reef Mar­riott for seven days. We vis­ited Magen’s Bay on St.Thomas, Hon­ey­moon Beach on St. John where we went snor­kel­ing. It was a nice relax­ing getaway!

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On May 9^th, 2009 Brian and I were mar­ried in Chicago at St. Mary of the Lake Church. Our recep­tion was at Archi­tec­tural Arti­facts which really dis­played who we are and showed our cre­ative sides. And although the day was a bit chilly it was a beau­ti­ful day and fun was had by all. We were very happy to cel­e­brate this spe­cial day with all of our fam­ily and friends!