Three years ago on this date...

I said, "I do!" I am posting a wedding pic for posterity's sake. :)
To celebrate our anniversary, we went out the night before to stay in a really nice hotel in Northbrook. It was a 4-star hotel that we got on priceline for $220 less than the listed price! (If you don't use priceline, you should!) We decided to just eat dinner in the restaurant that is in the hotel. It is called "Rooks" and has this awesome chess theme. It was really fun. There were chess things everywhere. The food was delicious...and bonus, we were surrounded by business men and women who were dressed all snazzy and eating and drinking loads on the company's dollar. haha.
There was this cool vertical chess board. We would have played, but there were people sitting in the way.
The room was really nice. The decorating was very homey, not so hotel-y as some places.
Marcus was enthralled by the nice TV. We have a tradition of watching Law and Order marathons whenever we stay in hotels. Too bad there wasn't one on this time-- I'm thinking that's because we went on a Wednesday instead of a weekend.
The bed was SOOOOOOO comfy!
I was all settled in the comfy bed after dinner so we could watch some Law and Order substitute-- Cold Case. Eh, it was okay. :)
The next morning, on our actual anniversary (July 31) we went out to Walker Brothers for some delicious breakfast. Now Marcus is at work and I'm organizing this messy apartment. We have small group tonight, which is why we decided to celebrate our anni the day before. But really, waking up together in a nice hotel and then going out to a nice breakfast on the morning of our anni was really nice. I think we might make it a tradition!

Happy Three Years, Marcus!

Just another Tiojanco Day :)

A few more pics of another fun day. :)

A Day with some Fun Kiddos

Today was my first day with Asher and Avery- I'll be spending a few more days with them this week and maybe next. Babysitting my friend Julie's kids is always one of the highlights of my summers. They are such fun kids and they make me laugh like crazy...
He is always cracking up about something...

A cute pic of him playing catch with me.

She kept wanting to crawl down the hill...

She refused to nap today, but she was clearly tired... :) She maintained very cheery spirits all day, so I didn't mind if she was up all day. I caught her getting cuddly in the late afternoon. Julie, I promise I tried to put her to sleep! She just wouldn't fall asleep. :)

Birthday with Family

Mi familia was in town to help Brittney and Dan move in to their new apartment and we were able to go out to dinner and celebrate my birthday. I loved all of my gifts and appreciated everyone who sent gifts as well as brought them to me themselves! :) Thanks for everything!Here is a pic of the family who were able to come visit...our waitress Susie took it for us. haha.

This is totally one of my FAVORITE things I got. Rowan made me a card that says "Happy 24th Birthday Forever!!!!" -- haha, because he knows how much I was dreading turning 25 and when he asked me how old I was turning a couple of weeks ago, I told him that I will be 24 forever. He is so darn cute and thoughtful!

Joni sent me a frame, some lotion, and some stationery. Thanks, BFF!

Brittney got me some earrings from Aruba. Ooh-la-la

My parents got me some workout clothes amongst other things. :) YAY!

Happy Birthday to ME!

This is Marcus proudly announcing that I am 25:

I had a great birthday! This morning at our softball game we were tied until the bottom of the last inning and then I hit the game winning RBI! It was so fun. The team came out on the field and Marcus picked me up and everyone was cheering and hi-five-ing me. I was so nervous when I was up to bat because the other team intentionally walked the batter before me because they assumed I'd either strike out or pop it up and get out, but right before I went to the plate my manager came up to me and said all seriously, "All you have to do is hit a grounder and the runner on third will make it home and we'll win." YIKES. No pressure! But I did it, and it was soooo fun.

Then we came home, showered, and went to lunch at this place in Deerfield that we've always wanted to try, but turned out to be a dud- Kevin's Place. I don't so much recommend it.

Then we came home and I opened my present and we frosted my cake-- which was so cool because Marcus works next door to a bakery and they always throw out their yummy excess cakes once they cut them into the shape they want them for display- so this guy from Marcus's work goes over there every week or so and asks if they have any extras that they're going to throw out and brings it back to the music store for the guys to share. So this time Marcus got some deliciously fresh yellow cake (my fave) and we bought some chocolate frosting to go with it. This ain't your box-mix cake, ladies and gentlemen! It was so delicious!!
Then we went out to Thai Noodles Cafe in Libertyville. Marcus and I are on a Thai-tasting-rampage! We've been trying new Thai places all summer in search of the best! He's been raving about this place since college, so I finally got to go test it out. Indeed, it was scrumptious! After that we went on a walk in this park in Vernon Hills so we could digest a bit before hitting up Cold Stone- the only one still open in the north suburbs is in Vernon Hills and I've had these gift cards for a couple months now, so it was good to finally find one that hasn't shut down. It was delicious as well. After that we rented Juno and came home and watched it while I pigged out on my leftover dinner. haha. It was good to finally see the movie since everyone's been raving about it for so long. :)

I hope you all have fabulous birthdays in the coming year! :)

Enjoying my last few days...

Summer has been great, but I am ready for school to start. I still have about a month, but that's alright. Starting next week I actually have some things to fill my time again. Therefore, I'm trying to maintain a positive attitude of enjoying these last couple days of having literally nothing to do. I'm trying to fill them with lots of reading and poolside relaxing. Some of you may have heard of the crazy storm that hit the Quad Cities earlier this week. I'm posting two pics that my mom sent me- one of a huge tree outside my middle school, and one of my parents' deck where the electricity thingy came off of the house!

On another note, Marcus and I met with our adviser today and got some things planned for the fall when we start our grad program. Exciting indeed.

Mamma Mia!

My mom is in town and amongst the fun things we've been doing, we hit up the movie theater tonight! Now, many of you know that I pretty much refuse to see movies in the theater because I am guaranteed to fall asleep in a theater, but I have seen two movies in the theater this week! I learned the secret to not falling asleep...go to a matinee! Or at least an early evening show. We just saw Mamma Mia and I must add that to my top fave movies list. It was fabulously fun! I can't wait to get the soundtrack and the DVD when it comes out! :)

Day with the Hangs

Today I had a fun day with the Hang children.
Kayleigh said that she was not ready to smile yet and that she would smile later.

Malachi proudly said that he was ready to smile.

Selah was her adorable sweet self- very friendly and silly.

First entry

This blog started out as a way for my friends Jodi and Sarah to keep up on my life while they're out and about touring Europe for a few months, but then I just decided I'd let everyone in on the fun. :)
We had our nieces for a little over four days and they just left this morning. We had a lot of fun and it was good to get to spend some quality time with them. Lots more pics of their little vacation can be seen at http://adgealena.myphotoalbum.com

Tomorrow I'm watching Erica's kids all day and then my mom comes in town for the weekend to spend some time with me. Everything has been about my sister for the past few months so now that she and Dan are heading to Aruba, I get my mommy all to myself. Haha.
I got new glasses yesterday- It's hard to tell, but they have teeny little flowers on the side with sparkly (fake) diamonds in the center. They are Coach glasses (I didn't need Coach glasses, they just happened to be the ones I decided on.) Marcus said they are the only Coach item I am allowed to have. HAHA.