Florida: Land of the gators

Oh, summer... it seems you have quickly turned to fall overnight. Which is why Luke and I took our last chance to feel the sun on our backs before winter rears its snowy, freezing head.

Luke and I hopped a plane to Florida last weekend for a quick "last hurah!" of summer. We headed to Palm Beach to enjoy the sun, sand and seafood. We stayed in a great resort right on the ocean, in which Luke spent most of his time jumping waves, while I watched to make sure he didn't get pulled under or stung by a passing jellyfish (he had some close encounters). And if you know us, you know we LOVE seafood. We made sure to get our fix of mussels, oysters, fish, you name it, each night -- well, except for one, which we caved for a Japanese steakhouse that was sounding very delicious at the time.

But, we had a great time and I am so thankful for the time to make memories together (and thankful to my parents for letting us use their timeshare)! Here are some photos from our trip.

Luke ordered a "whole snapper." Little did he know, that's exactly what he was going to get. To eat it, he had to pull the meat off the fish while steering clear of the tail and eyes.

This is the "after" shot.

The one thing Luke wanted to do on our trip was see alligators. Well, more specifically, wrestle alligators -- so we got as close to that as we could. We drove down to Fort Lauderdale and went on an airboat tour of the Everglades and saw some alligators swimming. It was so cool!

Can you see it there in the water?

Waiting for the boat ride...

Wahoo!!

Then we got to watch someone ELSE wrestle alligators. This guy got his thumb bit off by an alligator about six years ago. They reattached it, but he doesn't have any feeling in it anymore. Apparently, they get their alligators from trappers who collect "public nuisance" gators that make their way into the city. This group buys the gators so they aren't killed for their skins.

I don't know if you can see this guy - but he's barefoot. No big deal, right?

And then he took our camera into the cage with this big guy -- 12 feet to be exact -- and snapped a photo for us. I'm glad he didn't make us go in there...

We also spent lots of time on the beach. Here's Luke checking out the waves.

We couldn't have asked for a better trip!

Happy Anniversary!

It's hard to believe that three years ago I married my best friend. And I have loved every second of it.

One night more than five years ago now, we sat and drank countless cups of black coffee at the Hurricane Cafe off of Denny in Seattle. It's still as vivid as ever in my memory. Luke, I knew then that you were someone I couldn't live without--and I am even more sure of that today. It's been been en eventful three years as Mrs. Hill, to say the least. I have learned a lot about myself, what it takes to love someone else in both their best and worst moments, and how blessed I am to have someone who chooses to do the same for me.

In honor of three years of wedded bliss, we celebrated at one of our new favorite Chicago restaurants -- Sapori Trattoria. It's a quaint little Italian restaurant with small tables lining the sidewalk and white lights draping overhead, while the sounds of Italian music play in the background.

The restaurant surprised us with personalized menus -- happy anniversary to us!

I don't think we have ever been as full in our life as we were after this meal. Mussels, sea bass, pumpkin ravioli, tiramisu... so delicious. Needless to say, we had a hard time walking home afterwards.

Enjoying dinner and our city!

I married one of the most fun, young at heart, energetic, up-for-anything people in the world. Some of my favorite memories of the past three years are the adventures we've shared--driving across the country (24 hours straight) to Seattle in the middle of a snowstorm to surprise all of our friends, and moving to a brand new city. Some are just those quiet moments at home, telling each other about our days, or when you show up at the door with bouquet of flowers just because.

So cheers to three years of fun and a lifetime more, Luke. I love you!

A Minnesota (end of) summer

After a hard summer of classes and working for both Luke and me, we were able to take much-needed trip to visit friends and family in the beloved homeland -- Minnesota. We had a great time visiting with all of our loved ones, catching a Twins game, fishing and playing with our baby niece, Claire. It was simply, the best.

We were VERY excited to see a Twins game in-person with our friends Amanda and Travis, since we have been watching every game on TV this summer from Chicago. Even though the Twins didn't pull through with a win, we still had a great time!

My dear friend Betty (middle) is getting married in October, so my friend Jenn and I threw her a bridal shower. Lots of good food was eaten and good times were had by everyone :)

And while I was at the shower, Luke spent the day fishing with his friends Travis and John.

After a couple of days in the cities, we made it down to Wells. Luke's sister, Sarah, her husband, Nick, and 9-month-old baby, Claire, were in town for a visit. We had a great time hanging out and enjoying being together!

Luke sitting by the fire in the backyard.

It took Claire a little while to warm up to Luke, but once he started giving her treats, she was his new best friend :)

Look at this little bundle of love! She is one smart, spunky little lady.

New Bike

I finally got my bike together. After waiting about five days I had all the parts I needed to put the bike together. It was very difficult holding in the anticipation for everything to arrive but once it did, I took it out for a ride.

Got the brake, seat & gooseneck.

Red seat - found out I dont like it. I have a white one on the way.

Got the wheels!

Mocked it up before I had the rest of parts.

The living room workshop.

Making the chain the right length.

Finally Done!

(Only thing not on it is the grips but couldnt wait to ride)

A lot of fun to ride - very light and quick.

Nice day for a bike ride

Luke finished his bike (blog post to come!), so we have been enjoying lots of bike rides together along the lake. Our new favorite thing to do is ride our bikes to the Montrose Harbor a few miles north of our apartment and eat lunch at the Dock, right on the water. It's crazy, because you actually feel like you are on vacation in Mexico or something -- sitting out on the patio, looking out onto the beach and Lake Michigan. Here are a few snapshots from our latest excursion.

Cait and her Schwinn!

Riding to Montrose.

Lunch at the Dock. Somebody's hungry...

Harbor view...

Luke, his new bike and the Chicago skyline.

Bike in the Works

This is my first BLOG post ever.

Since I have had a hard time parking my motorcycle at work, I decided to take Caitlin's recently purchased Schwinn to do anything to avoid riding the train. Yes, I would rather ride a girl bike than cram myself into a packed traincar for 20 minutes on the way to work every day.

A couple of weeks ago I got almost a complete bike after a 3 hour drive for both my parents and me, who I met in Wisconsin. But that did not work because of the size. So, I went up to a used bike store the other day to pick up a road-bike frame to start from. Luckily, I could use a lot of the parts on that bike with this new frame.

The Miyata!

Bare bones

Had to give the old guy a bath.

Peeled off all the stickers while they were loose from the bath

I pulled out all the berings and used the dish soap to clean them up

I had to ride the girl bike 20 miles round trip to purchase this spray paint.

The only place to paint was sneaking behind the CVS, next door in the alley.

Used the shower to hang dry the freshly painted parts.

The Miyata with the tape off.

I am anixiously waiting on all the parts from Ebay!

Caramel rolls... mmmm....

You can thank me later. I am about to share with you quite possibly, the BEST caramel roll recipe I have ever had in my life. My mother-in-law, Lisa, gave it to me, and it is just delicious. Best part is - it's super easy and takes less than an hour from start to finish.

Ingredients:

2 packages refrigerated biscuits (Hungry Jack, Pillsbury Grands, etc.)
1/2 c. butter
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/2-3/4 c. chopped nuts

Instructions:

Melt butter. Add brown sugar and syrup. In a greased bundt pan, spread nuts, pour 1/2-3/4 of butter mixture. Pop open biscuits and spread them on end around pan. Pour remaining butter mixture over biscuits. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes and then turn pan over onto plate. Remove rolls and enjoy!