Handfelt Summer Recap Part II

Now that it's mid-November, I suppose it's time for me to finally post the ever exciting second installment of the Handfelt Summer Recap. Ironically, most of these things actually happened at the beginning of summer too, if not spring. If we are one thing around here at the HHH, we are not necessarily timely.

April and May were months of transition for me. First, I started my new job at the University of Illinois at Chicago. I help administer continuing education programs for working professionals. This includes everything from overseeing budgets, marketing programs and recruiting students, handling enrollment management issues, and basically doing a lot of planning of logistical stuff. Many of of the students that come through our office are teachers working on getting various certificates and endorsements, so it is very rewarding to help them grow and enrich the community.

In addition to the new job, in May, Ben and I packed up the homestead moved to a new apartment. Now, if anyone has not been to our old place, you should know that it was literally about the size of a shoebox. It was a "two bedroom" but I'd say that's only accurate if you looking for a two bedroom apartment that's appropriate for hobbits. Seriously. This new place is huge in comparison and we have plenty of room to spread out. We were also able to graduate from hand-me-down furniture left over from our college days to some new stuff. Ben was also thrilled that he has a patio for his brand new grill, courtesy of Ron. (Thank you, sir!) Ben is well on his way to becoming a steak guru and continues to grill out as the temperatures rapidly decline. He keeps me well fed.

A picture of the beach, just a few blocks from our apartment.

Also in May (conveniently, the weekend after we moved...oops, sorry, Ben!) my girl friends Jami and Jen and I were able to coordinate our schedules, which rarely happens anymore, and have our annual Girls' Weekend Trip to Galena, Illinois. We spa'd ourselves out with massages and mani/pedis at the Eagle Ridge Resort, then headed to the cute downtown area to shop and eat dinner at Fried Green Tomatoes. Then it was back to the resort where we stayed up late catching up on our gossip and reminiscing about the ol' days. It's a good thing our husbands weren't there, or they would have been driven crazy by our laughter and the retelling of stories they've all heard a thousand times. It was a great night with awesome friends.

Katy, Jen, and Jami...and yeah, Jen made us do this cheesy pose.

Over Labor Day weekend my parents came to visit and we had a nice time showing them around our new neighborhood. We also took my dad, who is a Sox fan, to a Cubs game (for the 2nd year in a row)...I suspect he's beginning to like it. I promised I wouldn't post any pictures of him in HIS BRAND NEW CHICAGO CUBS T-SHIRT, but I here is a cute one of my guys from the game. Sorry, Dad, I couldn't resist!

Dad's incriminating evidence. Actually, his shirt just says "Wrigleyville" after all...that doesn't mean anything, right?!?

My cute mom and I. We hardly watched the game. We just chatted away all nine innings.