Thanksgiving Weekend

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love that it is just a laid back day, filled with family and good food. What more could you want? We spent Thanksgiving weekend here in Rockford this year with my family. My mom cooked a full turkey and also some traditional Greek food. My mom also tried to replicate the sweet potatoes that my grandma used to make. They were tasty, but just not the same (sorry Mom). Nobody makes sweet potatoes the way Grandma used to make them. We always miss Grandma, but especially around the holidays.

We braved the madness on Black Friday and went shopping. We went out after Alaina's nap in the afternoon, not my usual 6AM routine. Surprisingly, I couldn't find anyone who was interested in shopping with me at that hour. Later that night I had my 10 year high school reunion. Hard to believe it's been 10 years already. Nate and I went with a group of friends. It was definitely an interesting experience. It was nice seeing some old friends. Below are a few pictures from the reunion.

Kalli, Jenny, Renee

Jingle Bell Run

Kalli and Anna at the finish line!

Today I ran in my first race! I ran the 5k Jingle Bell run in Rockford. A friend of mine convinced me to do the Couch to 5k program with her. It's a training schedule for people who have never run before. I was very sceptical at first. I was never a good runner and was certain that I would never be able to run long distances. My friend Anna felt the same way, but was determined to give running a try. Together we did the Couch to 5k program. It was a 10 week program that had us running every other day. We would meet after work for our runs. I remember the first week we had trouble running for a full 5 minutes. Who would have thought that 9 weeks later we would be running a 5k race? I hope to keep up with my running over the winter. Anna and I are already looking into other races to run this spring. I'm so glad that we decided to become runners. Not to sound cliche, but you can really do anything if you put your mind to it!

Kalli, Kate, and Anna. First time runners!

The rest of our running friends
Anna's husband, Paul, lost a bet and had to wear this t-shirt during the race. If you can't read it, it says 'I Love Jay Cutler'. He's a big Packer's fan...

Day at the Discovery Center

Today I had off from work for Veteran's Day. I took Alaina to the Discovery Center for the first time. She absolutely loved it! The 2nd floor has so many fun activities for toddlers and preschoolers. It was nice to let Alaina run free from one station to another. Everything was at her level and age-appropriate so she could play by herself. We met up with some of my teacher friends and their children so Alaina had other kids to play with. We will definitely be making more trips to the Discovery Center as Alaina gets older. Below are a few pictures from our fun afternoon!

The water table was Alaina's favorite place to play!

At first Alaina was afraid of these vacuum tunnels. Then she realized they were really fun and she wanted to press the button over and over again to start the vacuum!

Rolling around on the giant keyboard.

Alaina loved the pretend house area. She pushed around the baby doll in the stroller for awhile.

Alaina sitting in the truck.

The only picture I have of the two of us from today. Alaina was busy coloring a scarecrow, but it kind of looks like she's sleeping in this picture.

Weekend in Arizona!

Nate and I flew to Arizona last weekend. The best man from our wedding, Nick, got married last Sunday. We flew to Phoenix on Friday and then drove to Prescott, Arizona for the wedding. We had fun spending time with Nick and his bride, Shawna. Nick and Shawna's wedding was outdoors in a beautiful forest preserve. They had a fun, coffeehouse reception after the ceremony. Their wedding was very casual, laid-back, and fun. I'm glad we got to be a part of their special day. Nick and Shawn will be living in Paris permanently so unfortunately we will not get to see them often. I'm sure our paths will cross someday on one of our trips to Europe or one of their visits back to the US.

Picture of the wedding site. Such a gorgeous location and beautiful day!

Nate and Nick at the wedding ceremony. Nate was the best man.

Nick and Shawna saying their vows

Too cute.

Nick's Dad wanted to include a Serbian tradition in the wedding ceremony. All the men had to take a shot of Serbian liquor. Nate said it was pretty strong stuff!

Family photo after the wedding: Nick and Shawna with Nick's parents

A cute picture of the two of us after the wedding

Cutting the cake at the coffeehouse reception