Clancy vs. Clancy

Being the football fans that we are, last Sunday was a difficult day for the Clancys - THE BEARS PLAYED THE STEELERS! We were fortunate enough to get tickets for the game (our first time going to Soldier Field) and lucky to have friends with great parking spots for tailgating. We met up with friends form work and had the greatest time! Soldier Field was pretty cool and we had a great time despite rain. Unfortunately, the Bears prevailed and I was forced to pay up on a bet and wear a Bears jersey to work on Monday. Brett was in his glory!!!

Brett and I playing a little football by the lake...

In our seats...we have actually decided peanut heaven is not a bad place to watch a game...
Look what we found in the parking lot?!?!?!?!?!?!

2009 Chicago Half Marathon Finishers!

So the day started this morning when the alarm went off at 4:45 am. Whoah! We had breakfast at home and drove into the city before the sun was even up and the roads were covered in fog. After parking near Brett's office we hopped in a cab and got as close to Jackson Park as we could! With exactly 14, 847 people who ultimately finished the race, the registered races for the 5K and all the families, fans, and volunteers, it was a madhouse, but an organized madhouse. Brett and I were both a little overwhelmed as this was our first big race. We found the gear check table and then (of course) I had to go to the bathroom. After waiting in line for what might be the cleanest port a potties ever, we made our way to the start and found our pace group. The music was blasting and it was quite an experience. We finally crossed the starting line about 9 minute after the race officially started. By the time we hit mile 1, we were drenched. It was a little hotter and a lot more humid than either of us anticipated. The first four miles were through a more residential and commercial part of the South Side so there was plenty of shade. When we rounded the bend and ran by the harbor to get up to Lake Shore Drive, the sun was out and it started to get a bit warm. We made it to the turn still feeling OK (we briefly walked at mile 7 because I had a terrible cramp) but as soon as we headed back, there was very little breeze and the sun was just beating down. We had to walk several times which we hadn't anticipated and because of the heat we stopped at nearly every water table, something else we hadn't anticipated since, during training, we only stopped at one water fountain on our trail. I also was feeling blisters on several toes, again, something new! Even though we struggled the second half the important part is that we crossed the finish line - together, hand in hand. Literally! I can't wait until they post the race pics to see how both miserable and ecstatic we must look! The finish area was amazing...every five feet there was another table passing out more food and drinks. We got bottled water, Gatorade, water in cups, chocolate chip cookies, bananas, granola bars, cheese crackers, PB crackers, and almonds! I could barely carry it all. After finding some shade to relax we finally got up the strength to get our stuff and start back home. What an amazing experience this had been! The training and the race itself really taught me a lot about myself. About what I can and cannot do and what being part of Team Clancy means!!!
Oh yeah! We set a goal time of 2:11 and unfortunately finished at 2:23.51 and 2:23.52...we may have crossed the finish line holding hands, but I won...wink, wink!

It's Official - Race Day Tomorrow!

12 weeks ago when Brett and I started training for the Chicago Half Marathon, in the back of my mind I never thought I could do it. Well, it's official, I met him downtown after work yesterday and we went to the Health and Fitness Expo at Navy Pier and picked up our race packs! I have the t-shirt!!!Wish us luck...we'll be leaving about 5 am tomorrow morning to run our hearts out!

4 Years!!!

Thursday was our anniversary - 4 years! In some ways I feel like just yesterday we walked down the aisle and in some ways it seems like forever ago. Our real gift to each other was a pair of tickets for the upcoming Bears vs. Steelers game on September 20! But to celebrate the day, I had a large cookie cake delivered to Brett's office that he was kind enough to share with everyone. To my surprise, Brett had a beautiful vase of flowers delivered to me at school - pink roses and pink gerbera daisies, our wedding flowers! We went out to dinner Thursday night to a restaurant in Wheaton, that I have been dieing to try - Suzette's Creperie! Brett had the idea a while ago and unbeknown to either of them, my mom bought us a gift certificate to the very restaurant! So, we were able to splurge a little extra on an excellent bottle of wine, a 2005 (of course!) St. Emilion, Font Villac - superb. Not only was the wine fantastic, and the company wasn't bad :-) the food was delicious. Brett had a bone in pork chop with roasted peaches, plums, and potatoes and I had a Beef Bourguignon Crepe! We also had appetizers and desserts and went home with warm hearts and full bellys. The atmosphere in the restaurant truly makes you feel as though you have been transported to Paris!
We couldn't have asked for a nicer dinner to celebrate our wonderful day! I also couldn't ask for a better husband! "Love you babe!"

(After dinner we came home and watched the first game of the 2009 NFL season...Steelers vs. Titans....Steelers win!)

Clancy Fest '09

Sunday was our annual Labor Day picnic and we couldn't have asked for a nicer day! The weather held out and the day was FULL of good food, frosty drinks, and lots of fun! I had the camera out for a bit but I got a little wrapped up in taking pictures of the cute kiddos that were there and didn't get too many of the other guests. We had about 30 guests, and here are the lucky ones that got caught with my camera!

The night before, Brett prepared the meat, a very manly task!

Brett and his high school friend, Mark, playing bags! Mark's wife and daughter...Meg, a friend from work and her boyfriend, BradOur good friends, The BergersA beautiful pic of my sister in law, CariThe lovely Mrs. Leslie-Billings

And last but not least (especially because they brought Sangria!), our friends The TacosWhat a great party! We look forward to it every year because it is such a wonderful thing to be surrounded by such great friends! Thank you everyone for coming!

And here are the post-partypuppy pics :-)

Photog I am not...

Well apparently just 'cuz you have a fancy new camera does not mean you turn into an amazing photographer. While some of the images came out pretty good (unfortunately I don't know how), some not so much. Here is my first attempt at using the Nikon D60...

This one turned out pretty good of Lucy...
This one just makes me laugh. That tongue!Not sure what happened here...

Love the color in this one...
Lucy at night...

Lucy and Tuck during the day...
All in all, not so bad. I can't wait to sit down and watch the "How To" video and figure out what all these buttons are for.

Happy Birthday Weekend to Me!

Friday was my birthday - woo, hoo! The day was simply perfect. It was filled with smiling faces, thoughtful cards, and a little surprise party from my assistants and my new students! Brett surprised me with a sushi dinner at Sushi House (my favorite) and a fabulous birthday present - a new camera - that I got to go shopping for and pick out on Saturday. The rest of the weekend was perfect, hanging with Brett and the pups and one really great run!

Thank you everyone for the cards, texts, phone calls, etc. that were filled with love and well wishes! What a wonderful birthday!

An attempt at a birthday family photo...

In Love With My Best Friend

I often write about how our weekends are filled with fun adventures, good food, and great friends. This past weekend Brett and I spent it as we rarely get to do - just us. He was so sweet in wanting the weekend to be exactly what I wanted because I started back to work today. He wanted to take me out to dinner on Friday night, but I had beat him to the plans and cooked us a sensational meal. I tried something new and cooked scallops. So easy and turned out oh so yummy! Paired with green beans, one of my fav side dishes - Rice w/ white raisins - and a chilled bottle of Riesling we spent the evening chatting away on the patio.
We set the alarm Saturday morning and bright early we were out the door. Our first stop was of course, Starbucks for the usual and then we headed to the French Market. We shared a delicious cinnamon chip scone and bought some corn for the week. After returning home, we geared up for our cross training which turned into a bike riding adventure through DuPage County's Prairie Path and Forest Preserve Trails with stops at Herrick Lake and the Danada Equestrian Center. We ultimately rode about 13 miles and my behind was screaming when I lowered myself from the bike!

Brett took this picture of me in the racing corrals for the horses!By the time we got back to Wheaton we were starving and it just so happened that the local bank was having a community cookout so we stopped off there for some free hot dogs, live music and what every suburban cookout needs - a petting zoo! The pot belly pig was my favorite while Brett fell in love with a goat, pregnant with twins!
We went to rest for bit but were still looking for something else to do. At about 3:00 we decided to go to the Cosely Zoo, a very small local zoo that is free to the public! We spent an hour there...a great place for small children (if anyone questioned the creepy couple without kids, our plan was to say we were researching for when we do have them) but there are not too many animals on exhibit so we weren't there long.

Saturday night turned into date night and we dined at the lovely Buffalo Wild Wings. Oh how I love the yumminess of that place! After dinner we were off to the movies to see none other than...The Time Traveler's Wife (see why I love Brett?!?!) which happened to not be nearly as good as the book, big surprise, but that is beside the point. We enjoyed the movie and ended the night with some ice cream from Oberweis - chocolate peanut butter for me and a chocolate malt for he!

Sunday we had our longest run yet. I am happy to report that we ran 8 miles in 81 minutes and 24 seconds. We walked only about 2 minutes of that!!! We were on a high from our run and cooled down with Jamba Juice and that is were our weekend ended. We spent the rest of the day lying on the couch, snoozing, watching TV and playing cards.

I am the luckiest girl in the world to be married to someone I can call my best friend. I sincerely had the best weekend spending time with Brett doing fun little things. That is what I call true happiness.

Outrageous Oatmeal Cookies

Here's a recipe for some delicious oatmeal raisin cookies. Brett mentioned the other day that he thought they were his favorite kind of cookie so I thought I would surprise him today. I can't wait until he comes home and gets to have a big plate of these with a cold glass of milk. After we run of course! Hope you like...

Book Review: The Time Traveler's Wife

I have wanted to read this book for a while, but I will admit it wasn't until the advertisements and previews for the movie that I really wanted to read it. The movie looked like just my kind of flick...a little love, a little romance, the perfect chic movie so of course this has to be the perfect chi book, right? Yes and no! I broke down and bought the book last Friday because 'i was tired of waiting to be moved to #1 on the library's wait list. I am always a little hesitant to buy books because there will be some I will not read again. well, this will become one of those books that will be read over and over. I digress...back to my yes and no to being the perfect chic book. Yes this is a love story. A truly amazing love story that transcends time, age, and all the nuances in between. What I liked about this book though was that it did not follow your typical plot line. Boy meets girl. Boy and girl fall in love. Enter some dramatic problem. Problem solved. Boy and girl live happily ever after. This book truly makes you question the extent to which your decision affect the direction your life is going versus that of fate, predetermined destiny. I thought at one point I knew what was going to happen, but I was wrong and glad for it. Audrey Niffenger takes a difficult story line and does an impeccable job of guiding the reader through the story without ever getting lost. Not a difficult task considering that every other page is a different year and age for the characters. Anyone looking for a book to curl up with and not put down until the very last word is read - this is it. Not only will you love every second of reading it, you will be left wondering about the possibilities of time travel and thinking of the love story of Clare and Henry.