Our First Date

If you curious about how our first date came along, check out how we met.

After Eric asked me to his senior prom via AOL IM'ing, we went through the weeks just like we had been. Gentle punches here and there, cute locker conversation, and the occasional high school note. One Friday, Eric handed me a note. In the note, he said that he thought it would be a good idea to hang out, outside of school. He felt, we should get to know each other a little better before spending prom together. I never wrote him back.

Saturday morning, my best friend at the time 'S' called me and told me there was a chance that she might be going to prom. She wanted us to go look at prom dresses, I jumped on the idea. She picked me up, we went prom dress shopping at some local stores, and then we were driving by the local coffee shop in our little downtown area. The same coffee shop where I knew Eric worked. I saw his car and asked 'S' if she wanted to go get a coffee and see the person I have been talking about 24/7. She agreed and we went in. As soon as we walked in, we realized it was packed but there was a small table by the window. We sat down and immediately I saw Eric running around like a crazy man. I decided to go up to the counter and order our drinks. On the way back to the table, Eric and I made eye contact. You could tell he was happy to see me. As 'S' and I were talking and drinking our drinks, Eric came up to our table to talk every couple minutes. Every time he would leave our table, he would slap me on the leg. One time while he was at our table, he mentioned that we should get together. I was bold and said, "how about tonight?" He agreed and our first date was set. You could tell he was excited, he totally forgot to ask for my phone number so I said, "don't you need my number?" I wrote my number for him on his waiters tablet. He said he would call me when he got home. Up until that moment the phone rang, I was a nervous wreck!

After we set our date up, I knew that I didn't know him good enough to be totally alone with him. I knew 'S' had to work at night, so I called my friend 'A'. She said she would hang out with us. 'A' got over to my house and we started getting me ready. I wanted to look good! The phone rang, I looked at the caller id and my heart jumped. It was him. I answered the phone and he sounded so cute, I was so excited for our first date. I gave him directions and less then a hour later, he pulled up in front of my house. The night began.

As Eric walked up my sidewalk, I remembering looking in the mirror one last time and then letting out a very girly squeal! I was so nervous but yet so very excited. After introducing Eric to 'A', our night was able to begin. We ventured down to my family room to watch a movie, Eric brought from home - "Stigmata". 'A' sat on the big comfy chair, which stuck me on the couch with Eric. Of course we sat at opposite sides of the couch, you could tell we were both a bit nervous. We all watched the movie, in silence for a while. After the night moved on and we got more comfortable, conversation during the movie picked up and we all started having a pretty fun evening until 'A' had to use the bathroom.

As soon as 'A' was up the stairs, Eric started crawling towards me. I was freaking out, my heart was racing and I didn't know what was going to happen or what the hell he was doing. All of a sudden, he grabbed a hold of me and next thing you know we were kissing. It was a great first kiss, that ended as soon as 'A' started to come back downstairs. When 'A' returned, Eric went to use the bathroom and I totally "kiss and told" to 'A'. We were both laughing and giggling about the whole situation, we were such big teenage girls! After we got done watching the movie, 'S' got off work and came over. We all decided to go play pool at a local bowling ally. After "playing" pool (I put playing in quotes, simply because I didn't really know how to play pool, so 'S', 'A', and I used our hands) we headed to Wendy's for fries and a vanilla Frosty (So good!). Eric and I held hands the whole time we were in the car. I felt so excited and my nerves were barely noticeable.

After a successful evening, Eric dropped 'S', 'A', and I off back at my house, said our good-byes and went our separate ways. The evening ended with no second kisses. The next few days we saw each other at random places, like the gas station, or the coffee shop. It wasn't until the next school day (which was a Tuesday) that things between us became "official".

As I walked into school, early that Tuesday morning. I decided to go in the doors that Eric's lockers were in. I saw him almost instantly. We exchanged smiles and he started walking with me in the hallway. As soon as we hit the first set of stairs, he said, "I'll talk to you later" and went up the stairs. At that instant, I was heart broken. I swore he didn't like me. I went through the day sad. I thought I had done something wrong. Oddly enough, I didn't see Eric in the halls that day. My frown turned into a smile at the start of 7th hour, when Eric handed me a note, a note that would change us forever. This was the note, he officially asked me out in. It was March 27th 2001, one of the best days of my lives. I was the happiest girl alive!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday

to my wonderful, hard working, caring, thoughtful and very charming hubby!

also

Happy 9 months to our Bug, Claire!

You are the light of our lives and the joy of our world!  

Here are some pictures of my wonderful hubby (and a few of Bug thrown in for good luck!):

  

How We Met

The story begins back in January 2001.

I was 15 years old and a sophomore in high school. Our history begins on a Saturday. That Saturday I performed in "Experimentals" (which are student directed high school plays). After all the plays were done, awards were given out and people conversed throughout the auditorium. As I was standing on the stage, talking to some friends a guy I never met came up, said "congrats", and gave me a big hug. I was a little in shock, didn't say much and really didn't think about that strange moment again.

After the performances were done, the individual plays go out to dinner. (By the time all the plays are done, you clean up, get changed, you usually are heading to a 24 hour restaurant around 10pm). We get to a local restaurant and have to wait for a bit for a table. (If I remember correctly, there were almost 20 of us.) As I was approaching the waiting area, I realized the guy sitting down was the same guy that gave me a hug on stage. So begin my bubbly, 15 year old self, I walk up to him, slap him on the leg and say, "how's it going" and blop myself down right next to him.

When our table was ready, our group headed to the far back room. They always stuck big groups as far back as they could get us. It's not like high school students are loud and annoying, right?! Ha! Okay back to the story - we got to our table, everyone was rushing around trying to find a seat. From Eric's perspective, he was trying to sit next to me but somehow we ended up at the opposite ends of the table. I just wanted to sit next to my friends, blind to what Eric was trying to do.

After about a 1/2 hour, all of our orders were taken. Let me tell you, high school students at 11pm order some strange things. I ordered a waffle with strawberries and whip cream and chicken lemon rice soup! As I was eating my soup, all of a sudden a sugar packet came flying through the air and landed directly in my bowl of soup. I was in shock! I looked around and could not find where it came from. I took it out, laid it to the side and went on eating my soup. Seconds later another sugar packet came flying across the table and again landed directly in my soup bowl. I looked up, now a little more pissed off and saw Eric waving at me and smiling. I was like, okay, creepy dude - what the hell are you doing?! I pushed my soup aside and decided not to eat it. All of a sudden, the creepy dude yelled down the table at me, "If you're not going to eat that, can I have it?!" I said sure, slid it down the table and tried to ignore him the rest of the night. As the bill came (which was always over 100 dollars and it always seemed like we never had enough money) the night was wrapping up, I was trying to figure out what the creepy dude was doing here in the first place. He was definitely not in drama. I finally found out that he was best friends with my director.

As my director was driving me home, we pulled up to a stop light and I look over and there is the creepy dude driving a girl I knew from middle school home. Thinking that they were together, I blew off the fact that I started to think the creepy dude was kind of cute!

The next night, I was on the computer (AOL at that time, IM'ing my friends - IM'ing was so popular back then) and I saw the IM name BlckNyte64 pop up as being online. One of my friends added this name to my list and I new the person's name was Eric but never thought anything more of it until that night. I stopped and thought, could this Eric be the same Eric at the restaurant last night?! I am a shy person but online was different, I was a little more bold. I clicked on his name, typed: were you at "'Round the Clock" last night for the drama dinner? He replied, "Are you that hot blond chick?" I was stunned! I said, "Yes" and from then on, we talked via IM almost every night but the interaction didn't stop there! The creepy dude, was not so creepy anymore!

At school, he would give me a flirty push, he would come by my locker to chat, he would walk me to class, etc... One day, maybe two weeks after we really started talking online, I was just finishing walking down the stairs at school, when I saw Eric approaching. I gave him a flirty little smile and he smiled back then all of a sudden he grabbed a hold of me, lifted me up and carried me all the way up the stairs. Things like this happened for the next few weeks. One night as we were talking online, Eric asked me to Prom. I agreed and was so nervous to tell my parents. I was scared about what they would think about me, a sophomore going to prom with a senior. A senior that I just meet and really barely knew but from that moment, everything started to change between us! (Don't worry in a good way)

To Be Continued..."Our First Date"

9 Years Ago Today

On March 27th 2001 (about 2:30pm - just before 7th hour) Eric and I started dating (via note)!

Happy 9 Years of Being Together!

The story of how we met, I will write soon. For now, enjoy some pictures of us from the last 9 years!

Claire's first " I Do"

 

Taking a Look Back 2000-2009

In the year 2000:
a. Was in my first high school plays.
b. Started my sophomore year of high school.
c. Was in swimming (swimming the back and free style).

In the year 2001:
a. Lost my Grandpa Linos.
b. Met Eric.
c. Was in more high school plays.
d. Was a gap (grade assistance program)tutor for math.
e. Went to Prom for the first time.
f. Got a job at Ace Hardware as a cashier.
g. Went to the Cayman Islands

In the year 2002:

a. Was a Junior in high school
b. Had one of the leads in the Spring play - "Prime Time Crime".
c. Was an assistant director for a student directed play but ended up staring in it after one of the leads dropped out.
d. Went to Prom for the second time.
e. Ran the mile in 8 minutes.
f. Went to Florida for Summer vacation.
g. Went to California for Christmas.                                          

In the year 2003:

a. Directed a one act play and won best directed/show!
b. Went to Prom for the third and final time.
c. Was one of the lead characters in the Spring Play - "Oliver Twist".
d. Became an Honor Thespian for troop 18.
e. Become a "Who's Who of High School Students" member.
f. Graduated high school - T.F. South Class of 2003!
g. Went to Colorado, white water rafting for Summer Vacation.
h. Started taking college courses at the local community college.
i. Got a job as a preschool teacher.

In the year 2004:

a. Working as preschool teacher/ art teacher.
b. Still taking classes at the community college - was an ele. edu. major.
c. Went to Florida.                                                    

In the year 2005:

a. Was in my sister-in-laws wedding
b. Got engaged!
c. Went to Canada for Summer Vacation!                                    
d. Started planning my wedding!
e. Started at Saint Xavier University Chicago - Clinical/Counseling Psych. major.
f. Got a job at Univar as an administrative assistant.
g. Got our first fur baby - Lucy "Lucy in the sky with diamonds".
h. Became a Psi Chi Honor member.

In the year 2006:

a. Turned 21!
b. Moved up at work - Chemcare assistant
c. Went to Las Vegas!
d. Got in major shape and shed some extra pounds.
e. Had our wedding shower.
f. Bought our first house.
g. Got married!!
h. Went to Cancun for our Honeymoon!

In the year 2007:

a. Had an internship at Bloom High School under their social workers.
b. Went to Galena with Eric
c. Got our second puppy - Penny "Penny Lane"
d. Got a new car - Pontiac G6
e. Got a job at Vanis Salon and Day Spa.
f. Was the Matron of Honor in my friends wedding.
g. Went to Nebraska for my Papa's dedication.
h. Graduated from Saint Xavier with a B.A. in clinical/counseling psychology.

In the year 2008:

a. Got a new job.
b. Went to Cancun for Summer vacation
c. Penny got attacked by the "nasty" neighbor dog.
d. Eric got injured playing Racquetball.
e. Was in my brother-in-laws wedding in California.
f. Lost Eric's Grandpa George.
g. Was in our friends wedding in Michigan.
h. Eric got a new job.
i. Found out I was PREGNANT!
j. Had Christmas in Nebraska.

In the year 2009:

a. Found out we were having a GIRL!
b. Had our baby shower.
c. Saw Claire on a 4D ultrasound!
d. Gave birth to Claire Constance!
e. Claire got baptized.
f. Got a new car - Chrysler Sebring.
g. Met some amazing new friends!
h. Started my blog.
i. Started cloth diapering Claire (and loving it!)
j. Celebrated Claire's first - Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas!      




It was a wonderful & memorable decade! I can't wait to see what the next 10 years brings my family and I! Our journey as a family has just begun!

PeekaBoo

3 Years Ago Today...

3 years ago today, I married my best friend! I really can't believe it's been 3 years, 3 years! Wow, I remember the day, like it was yesterday. It was a beautiful December day (as beautiful as a Chicago December day can be). It was 39 degrees and very sunny! We had a snow storm the day before, so the ground was covered in a beautiful snow for our wedding day (which is what Eric was actually hoping for!) The day was filled with friends, family, a beautiful ceremony,and an awesome reception! I loved every moment of my "big day". If I could, I would relive it all over again!!

Weekend in Chicago

Eric and I decided to spend the weekend downtown for our anniversary this year. We decided to try "Priceline - pick your own price", we put in 3 1/2 star hotel for $90. We thought, there would be no way we would get a hotel downtown, right by water tower place for so cheap. Well, we got it. $90 at the Hilton Suites, a block from water tower place and Michigan Ave.

To pack for a weekend away was so much easier when we were just "two". Now, that we have Claire it feels like we have to take everything! From a pack'n'play, extra diapers and wipes, clothes (extra clothes, incase of blow outs or spit-up explosions), toys, blankets, sheets...

We got downtown in the afternoon, Eric checked us in and took all of our stuff up to the room. Claire and I decided we would go park the car in Eric's parking spot at the Water Tower Place parking garage. To go maybe 3 blocks, park, and take an elevator took us over 30 minutes - oh, the joys of the city! Eric was waiting for us in Water Tower Place. We get out elevator and Eric immediately says, "we might have to change rooms! There is a little dog in the next room, that is crying...continuously!" We got back to the hotel and we did switch rooms. We went from the 4th floor to the 25th floor, so it was worth the switch! Our hotel room was so nice. It had a living room, bedroom, and bathroom. The view was great, our room overlooked Lake Michigan.

We got cleaned up and decided to head out in search of a restaurant to eat at. We walked around for a good 25 minutes but we didn't mind that too much, seeing it was a beautiful November evening. We decided to eat outside at Lux Bar. The food was very good! We walked around a little more before we head back to our hotel. Once we got back, we all got into our swim suits and headed for the pool (which was on the 30th floor).

Eric and I were very excited to introduce Claire to the swimming pool. We both love swimming and we hope she does too. We got into the pool area and wait a couple of minutes so the kids that were in the pool, could relax before we got in there. Claire and I went in first, while Eric video taped. Claire showed no emotion! Hey, at least she didn't hate it! She just looked around and kicked her feet now and then. We all stayed in for 10 minutes. We didn't want to stay in to long because Claire's skin would dry out. We lounged by the pool, while we were drying off. Another first to be checked off the list!

The evening/night was very uneventfully. We watched TV and Claire played on her blanket with her toys. The morning came and we just hung out and relaxed together. We got ready, checked out, and then had lunch in Water Tower Place before we headed out for our long walk to Macy's on State Street. We got to Macy's and it was raining, so we were unable to check out all the Christmas window displays, so we just walked around and browsed inside Macy's. When we were heading back, we decided to take the red line (subway). Just to take the subway is more work because you have to find a handicap elevator to go down into the subway, then you have to use the handicap ticket counter, take another elevator to get down to the plate form, get on the train (remember to put your stroller break on, because it is a wild ride), get off at a handicap stop, take two more elevators just to get back up to street level! We made two more stops before heading home. We went to a high dollar toy and baby store at 900 N. Michigan Ave. stores and then we walked through American Girl Doll Store! Hey, it's never to early to start looking!

The weekend was so much fun! We have decided to take more spontaneous trips like this one more often. Our next adventure with hotels and pools is New Years Eve. We are spending the night with Joel, Katreena, and Brayden in Schaumburg!!