Hey hey hey ladies!

Jill, I'm glad to read that that you had a fantastic birthday! That Italian restaurant sounds delicious (YUM)! I'd love to try it when we come and visit you sometime. We'll have to pick a date to make a trip to your neck of the woods.

Speaking of trips - who's in for homecoming?! I'm planning on it and I might work on the Bobster to come too, if we're thinking of including the men. It could be fun to invite them along if they want to come. Maybe... ;) Thoughts on that? Anyone going to try to get Xmas at Luther Tix? I got my postcard in the mail! Woo hoo!

Jami - how exciting! I hope orientation at Luther goes well!! That definitely makes me think of our orientation. Wow - that seems like forever ago. And yet, it seems like yesterday. Funny how time works... Regardless, Jami I hope you have a great week! Keep us posted on how things go. Sushi as a send off dinner sounds awesome (I've been craving it for weeks now!).

Bob and I took a whirlwind trip to Chicago this weekend. GreatAmerica works with Bank of America on a regular basis, and B of A invited several of the GreatAmerica folks to a suite at US Cellular Field for a White Sox v. Yankees game. It was sooooo fun! We drove over with a Mitch, another GreatAmerican, and yesterday morning, checked into our hotel (a Hyatt we got on priceline - love it!), changed and headed to the game. The suite was very nice - lots of yummy food and drink, and a dessert cart came around with DELICIOUS cookies, bars, pie, cake, ice cream. Mmmm! The game was close, 12-9, and the White Sox had a chance to tie it up in the bottom of the ninth, but unfortunately, the Yankees won. We had drinks at the hotel bar afterward and then went to a piano lounge downtown... until 3:30 am! I haven't been up that late in a LONG time! Needless to say, I should be heading to bed soon. I dropped Bob and Mitch off at a golf course in the Quad Cities on the way back this afternoon, met my parents and Brett and Heather in IC for dinner and now I'm lounging with kooks, blogging on the coolest blog on the planet! :)

Whew! That's all I know. Ooo - and I also need to think of a good birthday present for Bob. I've got a couple ideas - noise cancelling headphones he wants, or... maybe... a puppy! We'll see about that one... If anyone has any brilliant suggestions, please let me know.

Have a great week ladies! Have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend - keep me posted on any fun plans around CR. We'll be here there and everywhere Saturday and Sunday, but around on Monday. Talk to you soon!! Love and miss you!

Jill, it sounds like you had an awesome birthday. You're making me jealous with all the talk of wine and pasta. :)

Yes, moving in to Brandt was a fun adventure... I will be moving in to a small dorm on monday, I can't believe it! Another Luther campus. Thankfully I can reuse all my Luther gear.

Chad and I are going to celebrate tonight before I leave him for a week for orientation. I will let you know how it goes. I hope wine and pasta will be in the picture. Or maybe sushi.

Love you all.

Thanks everyone for the birthday wishes! We didn't do anything too crazy, but it was good. Since my birthday was in the middle of the week, Bryan came and took me out to lunch which was nice to get out of the office. That night my parents were supposed to take us to dinner but there ended up being 18 people there. My grandma isn't doing the best, so a lot of family has been visiting recently. The dinner was fun, but chaotic too since all of my nephews and my niece were there.

We had a wedding in Waterloo last Friday night which was really fun. The reception went until 1:30am, which I'm pretty sure is the latest one I've ever been too. The party was hoppin'! I couldn't believe it though... the reception was at a country club, and the first hour was supposed to be open bar with provided beer and wine after that. The bride's dad decided part-way through the cocktail hour that it was his only daughter so that there was going to be open bar ALL NIGHT. Unbelievable. We were trying to figure out what the bar tab alone was, and my guess it was at least $15,000-$20,000.

Saturday night Bryan took me out for my birthday to Cafe di Scala. It's an Italian restaurant that is in an old Victorian home. We've been wanting to try it for a long time, so this was the perfect opportunity. It was absolutely fabulous (food, wine, ambience, service)! It would be a great place to go for great food and wine if any of you come to visit.

Other than that not too much to report... we're looking forward to football season, so starting next weekend we'll be in Iowa City quite a bit.

Hugs to all!

Jill, I am dying to know what you and Bryan did to celebrate your birthday this year! I hope it was fun! Ryan and I just got back from a week in Door County, WI---it was beautiful up there! If anyone is looking for a fun place to vacation, I would highly recommend it!

New students move to campus this Saturday---do you remember when we moved into Brandt?? Those first few days went by in such a blur! The new cafeteria is almost done! The next time you're all in town we should all go eat there! Homecoming?????

Yeah for the Pass Around! Happy Birthday Jilly Jill!

So excited for this lovely fall weather! Hope everyone is having fabulous weeks!

Hey Girls!
This is awesome. Jill hope you had a wonderful bday!
Just wanted to post something quick b/f I go to work.

Happy Birthday, Jill!

I hope you had a FANTASTIC birthday today! You are a wonderful friend and I know I speak for the entire Pass Around gang when I say that we're very lucky to have you in our lives!

Love love love you all, and hope to see you and celebrate Jill's belated birthday sometime soon!!!

Sara

PS - This is my first post! Did I do it right? ;)

Monday Monday

Hi girls,

How was the weekend? It was a hot and humid weekend in Decorah! Ryan and I went to see The Other Guys starring Will Ferrel on Saturday. We both thought there were some really funny moments, but it was definitely not my favorite Will F. flick---it's not one I'd like to watch over again like Anchor Man! :o) Other than that we didn't really do much--which felt great! I finished reading a book called The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova. It's sort of a mystery that revolves around a 19th century female artist in France---it was sort of a slow read but good. Sara, how is Gone With the Wind going? I hope you're all having a great Monday----I'm a bit sluggish today as I couldn't sleep through the crazy T-storm last night! Ugh. I miss you all and can't wait to see you soon! Homecoming will be here before we know it!

So excited!

I love it, Jenna! Looks great, and I love the StoryPeople quote on the side...perfect! I'm back from Nebraska from my cousin's wedding, and my parents have left to go see my sister in Pennsylvania and then attend another cousin wedding in Indiana. However, Bo and I are here in Iowa for the duration, and it's back to school - dare I say it - tomorrow! Luckily it's a completely rainy and disgusting day, so I might actually get some stuff done here at home. Ok, well this is a little post and just really to say how excited I am by the site! Yay! Good work, Jenna! ;)

Welcome!

Hello Ladies! Welcome to our new blog! Now we have a fun and new way to keep in touch! Sure, there's always facebook and e-mail, but this is a great way to keep all of our stories, updates, photos, etc. all in one place. I have invited all of you to be "authors" to the blog so we all have the same editing rights. And this is a completely private blog that only we as authors will have access to. I'm excited to read all of your posts!