Lilypie Maternity tickers

Lilypie Maternity tickers

Monday, March 21, 2011

March Adventure

Patrick and I just got back home from a whirlwind trip all over the world. Ok not the world but it felt like it was. We left on Monday, March 14th and arrived back home on Sunday, March 20.  The reason for taking this trip was to sell our fish and ski boat to a guy that lives in Canada. RANDOM huh? This trip had been in the making for months. We agreed to drive our boat up to the border to meet the guy who was buying the boat and he in return agreed to pay for some of our travel expenses. We decided to make an adventure out of it! So here is a summary of our trip!
Our first stop was in Indianapolis..we didn't see anything but the hotel we stayed in. It was halfway between Buffalo, NY which is where we were meeting up.
On our second day of driving we stopped of to see Lake Erie. It was an awesome sight. I had never seen any of the great lakes before. I was amazed at how large it was, it looks just like an ocean! It was still frozen which was  incredible to see.
After 2 days of driving, we ended up in Buffalo, NY. We stayed on the outskirts of Buffalo and then met our boat buyer the next day. All went well with the transaction! We were very excited to say goodbye to the boat ( well I was!) For P it was a little bittersweet. On Wednesday we ventured into downtown Buffalo, NY to try out the famous ANCHOR BAR. It is supposedly the home of the original buffalo wing. It was super yum and we were so glad we stopped there. Here is a funny pic of us in chicken wing hats!
Niagra Falls is only about 30 minutes away from Buffalo, NY. Everyone has said that the Canada side was way better, so we ventured across the border into Niagra Falls, Ontario, Canada and stayed for the night. We had a room with an amazing view of the falls. It is a very touristy town with lots of shopping, great restuarants, and a casino. I am not big on gambling but we decided to spend $20 each at the casino and I was lucky! I put my money into 2 different slot machines ( one of which was named "HEE HAW" ;) and won 90 dollars right away! I cashed out and ran with it! 
The falls on the Canada side are STUNNING! Words can't describe how powerful and amazing they are. It was great to just stand there in awe and listen to the roar of the falls. We got some great pics!


This time of year, there is still lots of ice as you can see in the last picture. The only thing I wish we could have done is take a boat up to the falls, but they do not run this time of year. 

After Niagra Falls, we headed up to Toronto, Ontario. Toronto is a BIG city of about 2.5 million people. It was a little like NYC.. busy busy busy and cabs everywhere! It was St Patricks Day and people were lined up around corners since the morning to get into the Irish Pubs in town. We didn't get to spend too much time in Toronto and it was really cold so we didn't get to do or see a whole lot. 
All in all, Canada is much like the US. They have a lot of the same restaurants and stores, but many different ones too. Canada is VERY expensive!! We ate at an IHOP one morning and our tab was a shocking $50. It would have been about $15 in the US. 
Canada is also on the metric system so that brought much confusion! The highway signs are all in kilometers or meters, and kilometers per hour. The thermostats are in Celsius. Kind of crazy. 
We enjoyed our Canadian adventure! Our last big stop was CHICAGO!! It was my first time to visit the windy city and I had several missions to accomplish in our short time there...
1. Eat a real Chicago style hot dog
2.  Stroll down Michigan Ave/Magnificent Mile and buy myself a treat!
3. Take a trolley tour of the city
4. Eat some amazing Chicago style pizza!
I was able to accomplish all 4 of my missions in just a matter of about 9 hours. We left Chicago full and happy but VERY EXHAUSTED. What a fun place! It is so fast paced and busy like any other BIG city. There is so much to see and take in. I loved Michigan Ave, but wish I could have had some more spending money to really do it justice! I could have done some damage so it was good we only had one day there. :) The food is yummy! I wish I could have tried more of it. 
Here are some highlights from Chicago...





On this trip, we logged about 2400 miles of driving, drove through 8 states and another country,  stayed in 6 different hotels, saw 4 of the 5 great lakes, and saw one of the natural wonders of the world!!
We are grateful for the opportunity to go on such a fun trip but it was so good to get back home last night.
Car travel can be tiring and its always good to get home to your own comfy bed! I wish I had more time to rest before going back to work but I have to go back in just a couple of hours. :(
Have a great week!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

teeny hint of spring and a little goodbye



Even though its dreary, cold and rainy outside, I can't help but get a little excited about springtime! My forsythia is blooming and my tulips are sprouting. Two of my favorite things about spring! I wish these were pics from my yard.. but they are just pics I found online. :)

 There is only one thing about spring that I do not look forward to...
SPRING CLEANING!
I really don't like to clean anytime of the year. I can "tidy up" or "de-clutter" a room anytime but deep cleaning it is a different story. I have to be REALLY really really bored to want to do that. I usually call on my bestie who LOVES to clean and she helps me out when needed :) ( I pay her of course!)
We are also starting a spring cleaning program at work soon and we will be in a competition with the other stores in our community. Gee, sounds fun! I am actually better at keeping my workspace clean more so than my home. I guess because I spend MORE time at work than I do at home. I am always disinfecting counter tops at work in fear that I will catch all the bugs my patients have. It won't be too bad.


On another note, we made the decision last week to give Izzie, the dachshund/beagle mix dog to another family. We tried it for a few months and it just didn't work out the way we wanted it to. She was a super sweet dog and very loving but she was still very much puppy and drove us as well as Tucker ( who is almost 6!) crazy! He was always trying to get away from her as she liked to chew on him and chase him everywhere. She was also a chewer of anything and a digger. Bittersweet goodbye. Things are much calmer and quieter around the Marbury house now. Izzie went to a sweet young couple who just adored her. She will have a little companion to play with too.
Goodbye Izzie..we hope you are loving your new home and new mom and dad!!