Catching Up

Wow, it has been a long time since we've posted anything. To try and catch everyone up I thought I would post a summary of our last five-to-six weeks...nothing too in-depth and boring but hopefully enough to give you a good idea of what's been going on:

• We were invited to our ex-neighbor's new-house warming in late October.  The Telfords used to live in the condo below ours and now live in a house a couple streets over.  Their house is gorgeous, we had a great time, and found out their street has a fantastic "block party" with horses, fire trucks, and amazing food sometime in the summer.  We are currently trying to find a way to get invited or crash their next block party.
• I had double hernia surgery in early November, and yes it hurt as much as it sounds. The surgery went very well and Sara was a great nurse.  I was out of commission for pretty much two full days and then started feeling better and better with each passing day (with the help of the pain meds). I never knew coughing, sneezing, and laughing could hurt so much. I'm close to my usual 93% and have started to work out again, although only with light weights. Thankfully there are no pictures to share...
• Also in early November, Sara and I made a trip back to Muncie to see my sister (it was her birthday) and to attend my father's charity event for A Better Way, 100 Men That Cook.  On our way to Muncie we met up with my family to have lunch with my Grandma Doudt in Columbia City, IN. It was great to see her if only for a couple hours. As for the charity event, it was a huge success.  We are so happy for A Better Way and my father. It was also a lot of fun to hang out and share a table with our friends Brian and Holly Ross and David Haynes.
• The next weekend in November, Sara and I flew down to Clearwater, FL for the weekend to attend Dickie Hart's wedding (friend from college). The weather was perfect and the food at the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception was amazing (sushi and steak!!).  We were in heaven.  I got to see a bunch of college baseball buddies and reminisce about how great we were (of course).  And as usual we busted a groove on the dance floor at the reception...I'm convinced people we don't know will hire us just to dance at their reception.  We also got to hang out with our friends Zack and Carrie Roper for the day on Sunday and meet their young son, Tyler. It was a great trip and really nice to be in warm weather as winter is quickly coming to Chicago.

• For Thanksgiving we made a trip to Cedar Rapids, IA as Sara's brother and sister-in-law, Eric and Amy, were hosting the festivities...which not only included fantastic food but also charades. Of course our team won on Sara's great "charading" of the song Earth Song.  Later in the evening, Sara and I destroyed the sibling team of Eric and Katie in Euchure. Twice.  I guess Thanksgiving is the holiday of giving thanks for winning games. We also took a family photo but we all swore not to share it with a wide audience since we took it in the early morning.
• Somewhere in and around these other events Sara and I found time to hit up two concerts at Lincoln Hall, a fantastic small venue south of us in the Lakeview neighborhood.  The first concert was Youth Lagoon and then just this past Tuesday we went to see/hear Clap Your Hands Say Yeah.  Great times!

I think that about sums everything up.