The Windy City

This weekend we went to Chicago with a couple of our best friends! We have been planning this weekend trip since this summer and we were so excited when it was finally time to go!

We all took off on Friday and left early in the morning. After the 4.5 hour drive, we finally arrived in the windy city (and yes, it's extremely windy)!

After we checked into our awesome hotel, we were off to walk to city and see all it had to offer. We ate some delicious Chicago style Pizza at Lou Malnati's.

We went ice skating in Millenium park. It wasn't too cold but there were a lot of people on the ice so I was a little scared since I'm not the best ice skater.

That night we ate at Michael Jordan's steakhouse. We all had some huge, expensive steaks!

After a long day of walking the city we found a nice bar and had a few drinks with friends!

On Saturday, we didn't get up early enough for breakfast (walking wears me out)! Once we were up and ready we hit the streets once again.

We did a ton of walking and found some awesome shops like Garrett's Popcorn, Hersey's, the Nike Shop...etc

We made our way to the Navy Pier and it was extremely cold and windy by the lake! I thought we would blow away.

We had lunch out on the Pier at Harry Caray's Tavern. The restaurant had a ton of Chicago memorabilia that was awesome to look at. They had the foul ball that Steve Bartman caught (they have blown it up, but they have all the strands), major sport figures jerseys, tons of pictures with famous people and lots of other stuff.

After lunch we made our way back to Michigan Avenue for, what else, more shopping, until it was time to stand and wait for the Magnificent Mile Lights Festival. Mickey and Minnie came by on their float and lite up the streets one block at a time. We were 20 people deep on the street and couldn't see much! There were sooo many people there is was incredible.

After the first several floats we decided to make our way back to the Hersey's store and get a snack (Yum). Then we made our way to dinner at Weber Grill. This was a really nice BBQ restaurant in downtown that we all enjoyed a lot.

After dinner I was so tired from two days of non stop walking and shopping and eating that I went back to the hotel and crashed!! The boys went walking and had some man time together.

We woke up Sunday, sad it was time to leave the Chicago, but we were determined to use every bit of time we had. We went to breakfast at a place called Eatt, then we walked Michigan Avenue one last time and got some souvenirs!

Then we packed up the car and made the 4.5 hour, rainy drive back to Cincinnati.

Chicago has a lot to offer. It is a huge city, much bigger than Cincinnati and there is so much to do there. I think that we were successful in doing everything that we wanted. We had so much fun with our friends and are already planning where to go next year! It is nice to be able to get away from life for a couple days on a mini vacation, especially before the holidays get here and we are running around crazy and time flies by without us noticing.

Where did October go?

Wow, I can't believe how time is flying by! It's already November and before we know it Christmas will be here. It flew by so fast, it's already been a month since I posted last! There really isn't much to tell about October, it was really a month full of getting back into routine. I started my normal routine at work and I am loving the hours and the location, 15 minutes from our house. The days are long, but it is a small price to pay for only working 4 days a week!

Our weeks fly by with both of us working all day and our weekends are usually full of football. We are very proud of our #23 Bearcats and our Bengals for great seasons so far! We have attended quite a few home Bearcats games, but not one Bengals game this year, maybe we are bad luck!

This month we finally got our wedding video, which was so awesome to watch. There was so much that I didn't get to see since I was last down the aisle and hidden for most of the day. Our videographer captured the entire day and also gave us a separate disc with raw footage of people dancing. The speeches were amazing to see again. We were able to finally here my maid of honors speech that was riddled with tears and hard to understand that night, but on the video we caught every word. It was also nice to hear our best man's speech again, it was funny and heartfelt and I know it meant a lot to Chad.

As for the house, we haven't done much updating. Mostly, replenishing our funds from the last update. We did do some minor work: updated the front door handle/lock and the screen door handle. They used to be an awful shade of bright gold, now they are a much more modern brushed nickle. We also bought an ottoman for our living room, which has proved the come in handy a lot!

With October over, we have a fun-filled November in store. Chad had his first practice has a middle-school basketball coach. I am really hoping his season goes well and the kids win a lot of games. Chad has always wanted to be a head basketball coach and I want him to do well at it. I'm sad I will only get to attend a couple of his games because they are on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 4:30, and I won't be off work in time. I think this is silly, they should have the games later, what parent or fan can attend at 4:30?

In a week and a half we are going to CHICAGO with our best couple friends Lauren and Blake. This will be the second time I have been there, but the first time I was 11 and I don't remember much. We are only going for a weekend but we have 3 days packed full of fun things to do! I can't wait to go shopping at all the amazing store they have there and see the Navy Pier again. This was the only thing I can really remember about Chicago and I loved it. We are going to eat some amazing Chicago style food and go ice skating! We also have planned to see a parade and lighting of Michigan Avenue which should be fun! I can't wait.

After we get home from Chicago, Thanksgiving will be knocking at our door. Now that Chad and I are married, we have to try to figure out how to split holidays. Neither of us wants to spend a holiday away from our families and we can't do both in one day because Chad's family lives 2 hours away from us. So this year we think we have it worked out to where we can see both families for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Who knows what we will do in years to come. Especially once we have kids to tote around as well.

Like I said, Christmas will be here before we know it. With such a jam packed November, I just know it is going to fly by! Chad and I love the holiday season and all that it brings (except the snow). I have already started to prepare, I ordered our Christmas cards off SnapFish, once again utilizing our wedding photos. Chad tells me people are going to be getting sick of seeing our wedding pictures on everything we send them, but I promised him this would be the last time. I want to be able to enjoy the holidays and not be running around so crazy that it passes me by. I hope that we are able to enjoy our first holiday season as a married couple with few bumps in the road. We will see!

With so much happening in November I should have a lot to post about. Hopefully I will have the time!

Catching up on life

So it has been quite a while since I last blogged....sorry! I have been very busy. I started a new job!! :) I am loving it so far. It is amazing to be on the same schedule as Chad and the rest of the world.

A lot has gone on in the last several weeks. We had a housewarming party and were able to meet several of our neighbors! I started my new job, like I said. We went to Chad's hometown and celebrated the anniversary of our engagement at the Oktoberfest. It is hard to believe a year has past since our engagement but on the other hand it seems like forever ago.

With all the updates we have done on the house, it is starting to feel like a home! We love it and are saving up money to do the final things we want to make it just how we want it.

Fall weather is well on it's way here and it feels wonderful outside! I love this time of year bunt in the back of my mind i know that cold weather is near :(! At least I will only have a 5 mile drive to work in the snow this year instead of 45 minutes! With fall comes a slower schedule. It seems like in the summer we have plans every night. October has come and we finally have some time to ourselves and time to relax! We are looking forward to quite nights in our home with no plans, just a movie and a glass of wine!



So this post was very random but not much excitement in the Blackburn household lately, just catching up on life.

Covered in Paint... and Sore!

It is true what they say, they being my mother, if you have things around the house that you are unmotivated to get done, throw a party and it will motivate you. And boy does it! I have done more around the house since we have decided to have a housewarming party in two weeks than I have all summer! This weekend I decided to buckle down and get the last remaining rooms of our house that needed painting done! And I am very proud to say that I did it! I painted three rooms in three days! They look sooo much better than before and I finally feel like our house is coming together and looking like a home! Now we have officially painted every room in our house! Phew!

First was our "yellow room" or "queen room" as we call it. When we moved in it had a Raggedy Ann and Andy boarder around it and thanks to some wallpaper-be-gone, I think that's it's official name,  and a fresh set of paint it had a major transformation. Unfortunately, I didn't take before pictures, so the pictures we took on our walk-through before we bought the house will have to do. :)

Before

After

Next was the "Princess Room" which my niece is very disappointed we painted, Chad is a little too :), but it needed to be done! It was painted pink on the bottom and white on the top with a princess boarder separating the two colors. Like so....

Before

We spent our Sunday running around town, literally in the car for hours, picking up box spring mattresses from wonderful friends who gave them too us for free! Now that we have something to put our mattresses on (instead of the floor, which made the room look like a frat house) and a some paint, Voila!

After

Last, but certainly not least, is the office. This room had a lovely Noah's arc boarder and a HUGE Noah's Arc mural on the wall. My mother in law and I took this boarder down with the wallpaper-be-gone when we first moved in so thankfully, it was just in need of some paint! 

Before

After

Before

After

This is our favorite room, and also the only room we bought new paint for. We love this color! The other two rooms we recycled and used left over paint from other rooms in the house! It was hard work and my body is hating me and so sore right now, but it was worth it!

Lastly, amist running around like crazy today, we also went and picked up our couch we bought for our front room! Check it out, I'm in love! 

There is still a lot to do on the house, little things, but we have time. I am trying to priorities now what can be done after the party and what I want done before (also what we have money for now). It was a crazy weekend with Chad being out of town and my last few days of my job. I am excited for tomorrow and to start my new job! When will I have time for home renovations now?

Labor Day Weekend

So we had a fun filled four day holiday weekend! After Chad got off work on Friday we went to my very favorite place to eat Chipolte. :) we had to scarf it down so we could meet up with Lauren and her kiddies! We packed everyone in the van and headed off to watch our friend, lauren's husband, coach high school football! It was extremely hot! We were all sweating to death in the humidity. The game was good and very close. Both teams played well, it was the first high school football game I have been to since.... Well... probably high school! It was interesting to see today's "youth" and how different and similar highschool is since we have been out. It sparked much conversation. Soon it was the kids bed time so we headed home! We were so tired from the heat we hit the sack to get some rest for the days to come.

Saturday we woke up early and went to our local farmers market. Unfortunately, there were only 4 tents of produce. We stocked up on corn and potatoes though! We were very excited to get home and get ready for that night THE FIRST UC FOOTBALL GAME OF THE SEASON! We put our UC gear on and made our way down to the campus that Chad and I miss so much. It was great to be back down on campus and see all the things that are different and all the things that have remaind. We ate at a campus pizza place with some great friends from college and met up with my parents who were tailgating. The game was great, a blow out, 71-10, or something like that. I hope we can play well all season! Being out of college is bittersweet, we miss it so much but we do like being "grown up" at times and having our own house and finances.

Sunday came and it was a rainy, gloomy day.... Chad's favorite! We had planned to go to the fireworks with chad's brother and my best friend but with the rain we decided to forgo the hours we would have to sit outdoors and save seats, the money we would spend on carnival food and fighting the crowd. Instead we decided to invited my parents over to see the decorative additions we have made to the house since they saw it last, mostly hanging pictures and an AMAZING dining cabinet my husband remodeled but painting it and adding new hardware!

Looks great! 

We went out to eat with them and my best friend and then came back and watched the fireworks from the comfort of our, dry, family room! We were very glad we didn't go when we saw how wet everyone was getting and the fireworks were not that great!

Monday came all too soon! We woke up early to hit up the local labor day furniture sales, bought a new couch for our front room, and then headed to Chad's sister, Jenna's graduation party. Jenna just graduated from college and to celebrate we thought what a great time of year to have a picnic! No one would have thought it would be 62 degrees out and cloudy! We were all wrapped in blankets and fighting the cold the whole afternoon so we decided, after eating to pack it in and call it a day. We went back to Chad's grandparents to let Jenna open her gifts and eat cake. We ate WAY too much food that day, but it was great to see family and spend quality time together.

Overall, we had a great weekend, filled with a lot of football, food, family and friends! We are so blessed to have all that we do and all the people around us that love us. And weekends like this remind us just how lucky we are!

Wedding Videographer: Highlights!

One of the best, last minute, decisions we made for our wedding was to hire a videographer. After reading many wedding blogs of brides who regretted not having video of their wedding, I broke down and found room for it in our budget. Although we don't have the final product yet, I am very excited that we will always have professional footage of our wedding day. Especially because, I was unable to see a lot of what happened: the boys getting ready, everyone walking down the isle, entrances into the reception... etc. Now, hopefully soon, we will have footage of the two of us getting ready separately with our wedding party, seeing each other for the first time at the park, our photo shoot at the park, our ceremony, our reception and our guests! Also included in our video is special messages from our guests dictating where they think we will be in 1 year. The theory is that we won't watch it until our 1 year anniversary but I doubt I'll be able to hold out that long! :)

I loved our videographers, they were great to work with and our personalities went together well! They were a husband and wife team, which I love, and they were very professional! I would recommend any bride to hire a videographer and if you are in the area hire ours (if you watch the video, that is their website).

So it has been just over 2 months since our wedding and although our videographer told us it takes 10-12 weeks, I'm so anxious I've been pestering the poor man and so he broke down and gave me a sneak peak video, a highlights video if you will.

There are many things I love about the video, the way it was shot, the angles and the way it was put together, and the fact its the first video of that day I've seen. There were a couple things I didn't care for, I wouldn't say I hated them but we asked for "rat pack" like songs, or Micheal Buble something along those lines and we don't really care for the song choice, also I wish it were longer! :) I just want to see more of that day!

I hope that I can learn to edit video/get a computer program that allows me to, and I can edit a video of my own once we get all the footage but until then, I will have to resort to watching the highlights video 5 times or more a day! :)

Anyways, without furthur ado here is the video, Enjoy!

Chad and Kristen's Wedding Highlights Video

The weekend is finally here!

As I mentioned in my first post, I am a nurse. I work night shift at a hospital, for the time being, and I just got done working three nights in a row! 12 hour shifts, three in a row! Needless to say, I am glad to be done for the weekend. When I work so many shifts I don't do much besides: work, sleep, eat and go back to work. I barely see Chad for a couple hours after he gets home from work and before I have to leave. We eat dinner together and try to spend a little time talking but mostly I feel like I haven't seen him in several days after working so much! So tonight is DATE NIGHT, or date weekend, because for the first time since May, we have NO PLANS ALL WEEKEND! We have the weekend to ourselves! I think we will go out to dinner, one of our very favorite things to do. We may go to a few festivals that are in town this weekend, hit up a farmers market in the town we just moved into and mostly just relax and spend some time together! I know Monday will come all too soon, but we are going to try to enjoy our weekend and our time together! :)

Introducing: The Blackburn's

Hi! I have just decided I wanted to start a blog to write about the happenings in our newlywed life. So here it goes...

I am Kristen, a nurse and wife. 

I currently work at a large hospital in the area, however, that will be changing in the next weeks (look for the upcoming post). I love to scrapbook, take walks, watch E!, and hanging out with my best friend, and husband, Chad. 

He is a teacher at a local school and a hopeful future basketball coach. We got married this summer with 200 of our closest friends and family watching. 

We had the most amazing wedding and could not have asked for anything more! We had a blast! 

We went on a honeymoon, immediately after the wedding, (and I mean hours after), to Mayan Riviera, Mexico. Although it rained a lot (Tropical Storm), we had a nice relaxing vacation! Now we are back, to our new home we bought weeks before getting married, and we are trying to figure out how to be grown ups! Look for upcoming posts on our life as newlyweds, homeowners, and family!