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Thursday's Theme at Picture This is "Pretty". This shot is from about a month ago. A couple days after we moved to Omaha we went to my sister-in-law's house to celebrate our nieces' birthdays.
Pretty Mary Ellen and Pretty Elaine with their Pretty birthday cake:
This is my new favorite photo. You have to click on it and view it larger to get the full effect. I took this with the basic lens that came with my camera but it's such an odd perspective and it makes me laugh when I see it.
Roxy has finally come around to the carpet in our apartment. She has only known hardwood her entire life so the first few days she wouldn't lay on it. We would find her napping on a wooden chair or bookshelf. But now she loves it. As you can see...
Last Friday John and I went to a little vineyard in the country called Soaring Wings with some friends. They have live music in a little amphitheater on the weekends and one of our friends was playing. It was gorgeous but crazy hot and humid. I'm sure we'll go back again. I bet it's beautiful in the fall.
The American Idol auditions came to Omaha last Thursday and Friday. Omaha was the only city in the midwest to hold auditions so it was kind of a big deal for the city.
A sign outside a clothing boutique downtown
The day before auditions started one of John's former elementary students from Chicago called him to say that he was coming to town to audition. He is 16 now (the youngest you can be to audition). John had him in band and choir in elementary school but continued to stay in touch with him and gave him some voice lessons along the way. So when he and his family got into town on Thursday night we met up with them downtown for a bit.
On Friday morning we were curious to see the hype so we headed down to the Qwest Center and met up with John's sisters Lorie and Julie and Julie's boys Joey and Ryan.
Joe and Ryan are ready to audition
Killing time acting like weirdos
We met Brandon Rogers from last year's American Idol
I think this bronzed girl made it to the next round but her dress was so short that when she turned to walk away you could totally see her butt. Classy.
All of the people who made it to the next round actually have to come back in about a month. That's when they have a chance to audition in front of Simon, Paula, and Randy. So are you dying to know whether John's student made it to the next round?! Well, he did! I have a picture of he and John together but I can't post it because it's supposed to be a secret. They aren't supposed to tell anyone but their family whether they are moving on or not. So if he gets on tv, I'll post the picture and tell you his name. We are crossing our fingers for him!
One of her new favorite spots to hang out
I took these last week just after a storm.
On Saturday John and I headed downtown to the Old Market area. We went to an art gallery called the Bemis Center and walked around the Old Market a little bit. I snapped a few photos before melting from the heat. We didn't stay long but I definitely need to go back soon. There were so many photo opps that my head was spinning.
Last Saturday night was our last night in Chicago. We packed all day and most of the evening, but snuck out for a little bit for one last time in the city as residents. We headed downtown at about 9pm to go watch some fireworks on the lake front. On the way back we stopped at the fountains in Millennium Park and I got some cool photos there.
They blocked off some streets after the fireworks so the massive amounts of people could exit.
Millennium Park Fountains
I took these last week as we were still packing up our condo in Chicago. John got a box from school that was filled with one long piece of brown paper. If stretched from end to end it probably would have been about 25 feet long. So we put it on the floor for Roxy and it was hours of entertainment.
Everything is going well in Omaha! I've got so many photos to share that I can't keep up with them. I'll send out an e-mail soon to everyone I know with our new address and home phone number. And there are a lot of people I need to catch up with by phone too, so expect a call.
John and I arrived in Omaha on Monday evening and were greeted by 11 family members who were ready to help us unload our truck. Thank God for the help because we were exhausted. It's was an 8 hour drive with John driving the truck and towing a car, and me following behind in another. I actually do have a lot of photos to edit and post from our last night in Chicago as well as some of our new surroundings, but for now you only get three.
Here's an abreviated version of our trip.
Outside our condo in Chicago
Our truck pulling up to our apartment in Omaha, Nebraska
Outside our apartment building in Omaha (horse stables and grazing field to the left, apartment complex to the right)
More to come soon!
Thursday's Theme at Picture This is "trip", so this post is my contribution.
