August 19, 2010

Since my last post I have:

1) Graduated from Elmhurst College with a Bachelor's of Arts in Communication Studies.

2) Drove across the country with my parents.

3) Spent four weeks in Idaho finishing up all the planning for my wedding and spending time with my family.

4) Married my stellar husband Greg Zarko.

5) Honeymooned from Seattle down the West Coast to Crescent City, California.
The honeymoon was quite an adventure, we stayed in some awesome hotels as well as camped. We also ended up spending two nights in the back of our car since it was a busy weekend and all the campsites were full. We had such a wonderful time though and had so many awesome experiences, including enjoying the Redwoods, watching Fourth of July fireworks in Seaside, Oregon, visiting Mount St. Helen's, eating dinner in the Space Needle in Seattle, and many other things, like exploring tide pools along the coast.

6) Prepared all of the food for the Illinois reception after driving through the night and only getting 6 hours of sleep.

7) Got pregnant and suffered from terrible sickness almost the entire time.

8) Biked across Wisconsin pregnant. Well, only part way across Wisconsin, because I strained the tendon in my left knee and was unable to ride for two days. We hadn't taken a pregnancy test yet but we were positive that I was pregnant, so we kind of saw it as a blessing and thought that maybe I shouldn't have been biking that hard when my body was struggling so much.

9) Taught Vacation Bible School at our church to 4 year-olds that mostly don't speak English.

10) Went to Pierce, Conor, and Emmet's birthday and was able to enjoy what wonderful kids they are and how excited they were to see me.

11) Acquired a terrible cold that, combined with being pregnant, has completely wiped me out. I am not sure that job searching is in my near future.

In other news:

1) Greg is seriously looking at going back to school to study to be a Physician's Assistant. We are trying to determine, which school he should attend, how we are going to pay for it, and if there is any possible way we can make it work without me having to work. The trickiest part about the whole situation is that Greg's work schedule does not accommodate any school schedule so he definately has to quit the job he has now to go back to school.

2) At least for a while I will be helping a family who needs someone to pick their kids up from school, take them home, and be with them until their parents return a few hours later. The kids are 8, 6, and 4. Two girls and the youngest is a boy. It is sure to be an adventure, we will see if it is worth the gas money, if not, I may try to find a similar situation that is closer to home.

3) I made strawberry jam with Stephanie the other day, but I was feeling terrible and Stephanie was feeling anxious so we didn't cook it quite long enough. It's thick, but not thick enough to spread on bread. However, I am planning on pouring over pancakes and waffles, and maybe even making a yummy cake out of it.