We're still alive over here

January's almost done! Yay!

We are alllllllmost there and think we just might make it.

Just as long as we wear our wool socks, drink lots of coffee and hot chocolate,

and make believe trips to Jamaica (:

I'm sorry we've been so quiet, I've had this weird headache all week

and husband has been busy, busy, busy with school and stuff.

Highlights of the week were:

~Snow! We've had such pitifully little snow this year

~Having a dinner of unlimited pancakes at IHOP

~Watching Downtown Abbey

~An afternoon of daydreaming together about building

a cabin in the woods with a cozy bed and big bath tub.

~Discovering the TV show "What Would You Do"

~Little unexpected moments together.

Like when I got off of work right as Josh had a break between jobs

and we were able to have an hour and half together before he had to go back.

So good.

~Being able to start the Jeep from inside the house now.

Yippee!! Yay for fancy gadgets bought with Christmas money!

~The satisfaction found in working hard

Hope you had a great week and have a great weekend!

xoxo,

lyss

P.P.S.

HA! This is so true of Chicagoans!

 Even though its written about New Yorkers...

just insert Chicagoan instead of New Yorker (:

Go here and read.

So funny

and so very true.

Again, 

Happy Weekend (:

P.S.

I cannot wait for February and to start decorating for Valentines!

Eeek! Hearts everywhere! 

I think it just might be my favorite holiday (:

Tender Mercies

With gray skies, cancelled plans with friends,

sad news, looming headaches and to do lists

this morning fairly sagged with quiet despair and sad sighs.

So husband took me off to one of my favorite spots and then to thrift for treasures.

Turns out yummy coffee, conversations without anything being said, and wandering 

was just what this sad overdramatic girl needed (:

And we found a clock!

Our last clock slowly ticked its last a good 6 months ago 

(which was actually a good run for a clock we bought at a

 yard sale 2 months before we got married for $1)

but we haven't been able to find a clock that we liked the look and price of.

Turns out we're quite fashionable AND cheap.

Maybe we'll be on time to church from now on (;

And Josh found lots of little treasures in our alley!

A pretty glass jar, little white bowls, hand painted plates, 

and a lovely little blanket for summer.

Oh the little mercies God gives on days when I wonder if he 

still knows and sees the desires of our hearts.

He is so very good to us (:

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

We're holding out hope that these gray skies mean snow is coming

and that those Christmas thank you notes will actually get done.

I mean, dream big right? (;

xoxo,

lyss

Today I'm Grateful For

• Meyer's Lemon hand soup in a pretty bottle. Because it makes my kitchen feel pretty and it's nice to have your hands smell good after you've washed dishes for the 5th time that day (:
• Unexpected mornings off to match unexpectedly long to do lists
• The gentle anticipation of summer and all the summer treasures I've been finding lately. The perfect white cotton grandma nightgown? Thank you very much thrift store!
• This playlist 
• Long phone conversations with best friends
• Questions and answers
• The smell of the last teeny tiny bit of our holiday candle burning 

xoxo,

lyss

The date that wasn't and other ramblings

We intended to go to the Adler Planetarium after I got off from work today,

but we did more of a walk in walk and walk out kind of thing because

some lamo had a headache and needed a nap (ahem, me).

I also didn't realize how rough I looked until Josh took a picture,

apparently winter is wearing on me more than I thought...

Husband started school again yesterday, yay 5th semester!

(5 seemed like way too low of a number. So I had to recount 3 times to make sure

and yes, its only the 5th semester)

We bought a coconut last week and Josh made really yummy

coconut milk, I underestimate that man's abilities in the kitchen

When I got on the "L" this morning I was surprised to find

a friend I hadn't seen in awhile and it was such a pleasant surprise to chat 

and catch up the whole way, 

much more fun than dodging coffee breaths and avoiding eye contact (:

I wrapped our celery in tin foil and its still fresh a week later,

my world is changed.

If only our broccoli faired as well.

I really want some Valentines candy but I'm unwilling to cave to the Valentines craze

before February, there is quite the warring within me. 

And those are the rambling of a young student wife with a headache,

who should definitely fix her hair before her husband takes a picture of her.

Happy Tuesday!

lyss

When life gives you lemons, forget lemonade. Make blueberry pie (:

If only to remember that life is a process 

and it is good (:

Happy Weekend!

xoxo,

lyss

That one time...

I offered to help one of my nanny families 

with pictures for their Christmas card.

I know.

I mean, would you just look at those eyebrows in the second picture?

Amazing.

..and there went my child photography career.

Good thing I still have nannying cute kids as a fall back (;

xoxo,

lyss

11th Date Of Christmas

We decided to claim Monday as our last day of holiday

(although it really ended a week earlier :)) and fully celebrate the day.

We feasted on a breakfast of an almond croissant and a vanilla latte

and spoke of dreams and plans and silly things.

Then we went and explored the highly famed Science and Industry museum.

Where we played with electricity, created mini tornadoes,

gawked over a big miniature circus, and were beckoned by a darling old man

to learn about how the first sewing machine was made (:

But our favorite part was the whisper room,

pure magic. 

And then we went and did normal stuff like grocery shopping

because it was really the only free day to do it (:

Morning

Slow to start with remnants of Christmas everywhere the eye rests.

Some coffee and a cuddles to get the day beginning.

Happy Weekend!

We'll be putting the Christmas goodies away
and enjoying the winter light before the sun sets in
3 hours :P

xoxo,

lyss

A Winter Picnic

For our 10th date of Christmas and to celebrate New Years Eve

we drove a little ways out of the city and had every intention of

of sitting on our blanket and having a bonafide picnic with our bubbly juice, french bread,

cheese, summer sausage, chocolate truffles and caramels.

That lasted ohhhh maybe 2 minutes, before the shivers settled in and we packed everything up

and retreated to the shelter of our cozy jeep.

Where we cuddled underneath our blanket with the back of the Jeep open 

and talked about how sometimes the recovery plan is so much more fun

than the original plan.

What a perfect way to herald out year 2012,

the year of "well, this wasn't exactly what we planned for,

but lets roll with it" (: