Piper's Blog
Just One More Person's Thoughts Cluttering Up the NetYumminess vs. Not so Yumminess
For my last Saturday in Rockford, we went to Francesco’s to eat. It is totally swanky and it is like it’s own little contained city. If someone wanted a complete outing without driving all around town this is the place to go. There are like two separate bars. One has dancing to a live band. Then there is the restaurant itself. It has tons of different rooms! The food was good and the atmosphere was so nice. I split a HUGE piece of chocolate cake with Ali and her friend Tina. All in all it was a very pleasant night.
Speaking of food…I tried Panda Express today. I wasn’t impressed…
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Rock Princess
This past weekend (August 1st) was so much fun! I went to dinner on Friday at Alvarez with Adam, Dina, baby Caleb, Amanda, and Matt. It was just a pleasant night of talking and catching up. I’m going to miss them when I am gone.
On Saturday, Ali and I went shopping and I found some great pants at Target! It is super hard for me to find pants so I was thrilled and bought two pairs. I also am beginning to replace my work sweater collection. My grey zip up hoodie is beginning to fall apart. I bought a purple one and love it! I think I may go back and buy a black one too.
Saturday night, Ali and I went to a Riverhawks game. I have been wanting to see inside that stadium for a while now. It is so cute! For lack of a better term… it is quaint. The Riverhawks won 3-0 and I think the catcher is quite good. Ali and I also got a free t-shirt at that gate. So, I think the night was a huge success. When we got home we watched Reign of Fire. Score!
The next day, Ali and I went shopping for new perfumes. We thought it might be fun to get the same one BUT ended up finding different ones that matched our individual personalities perfectly! Mine is Vera Wang’s Rock Princess. (*Totally me*) Ali bought Viva la Juicy! (*Totally her*). I absolutely love the way I smell and probably look really creepy because I keep smelling my arm.
Also on Sunday, I received a call from Trevor. He and Katie are engaged! They are so sweet and I am very happy for them. Ali and I went to see the movie The Proposal to celebrate. LOL!
Amidst all this funness a lot of Gears of War 2 playing was going on. Couldn’t have had a nicer weekend.
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Approaching Wifehood
Bachelorette Party
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Ali and I arrived at Alicia’s house around 6 to start getting ready for dinner. Our theme was 50’s pin-up girl glam. We had seamed stockings and birdcage veils. We were rockin’ it! We ate at Garret’s which I thoroughly enjoyed! The food was yummy and the atmosphere was so classy. The girls also gave me my gifts there. The gifts were a mixture of nice and flat out silly. 
Then we went to 2nd Cousins. Srsly, we were the talk of the bar. Immediately, all eyes were on us and tons of women came up to us to compliment our style and ask what it was for. One of my gifts from the girls was a huge Rockstar Goblet. The bar was kind enough to make me a drink in that glass! It was so heavy! I needed both hands to hold it and carry it around! LOL! The best part of the bar was that there was a another bachelorette party there. Their theme was wearing glowstick necklaces. They were just glaring at us and the other bride looked really upset that we stole all the attention.
Rockford Bridal Shower
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Very good turnout! I was super glad that my old supervisor Sue made it! She gave Ben and I the most beautiful glass vases. They may have been my favorite gift. I was also thrilled Amanda and her mom Rebbecca came. They always tell great stories and I think Ben liked their gift the best. It is a digital picture frame. Super cool! The shower was very pleasant and I think everyone had good time. We played a 20 questions game where a name is pinned to your back and you have to ask other people yes or no questions to see if you can guess who you are. I was Pooh Bear!
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Last Weekend’s Movie Reviews
My Sister’s Keeper
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This movie was made by the makers of The Notebook. So I was expecting to bawl my eyes out, but it wasn’t quite as heart wrenching. I mean the movie theater got quiet and there were sniffles, but nothing major. The movie was good and bittersweet. Not much to say. A girl has cancer and is tired of it and wants her mom to just let her die. The best part of the experience was the man sitting next to me. He was loud and obnoxious before the movie and was getting his like 10 year old son all riled up. He had also brought his teenage daughter (*which he made it clear that this movie outing was for he*). The man was counting the number of males in the theater and would proudly let them know that “Hey buddy, you are the tenth guy here. We gotta stay strong.” This loud man also had one of those voices that carry even when they are whispering…so I was really worried that he was going to ruin the move. As soon as the opening credits start, he quiets down his boy and is quiet. The man was quiet the whole movie…then he start mopping his forehead with a napkin because it was hot in the theater. But then I heard a sniffle from him. And I saw Ali look over at him and smile. HE WAS TEARING UP! HOW CUTE IS THAT!
Transformers 2
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If you like the first one you will like the second one. There were some parts where I was like “Come on! That isn’t necessary.” I mean yes that happened in the first one too but this one was worse. There were more robots in it more often. So, that was a big plus to me. I was talking to a work friend, Luke, and he and I both really like the low, organic, yet metallic hum the Transformers have. One funny thing though is that Optimus Prime is pretty much sleeping the whole movie then wakes up to get an upgrade and then save the day. LOL!
Harry Potter 6
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Just like all the others. Had some truly amazing affects or emotion evoking images. But overall? Meh. In fact, I think the kids’ acting abilities are getting worse rather than better which is what I was hoping for.
Twilight
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Super fun! I may have liked it better than the book! There were some long mushy chapters that I felt were summed up nicely. It’s quick paced, adventurous/dangerous, and sexy. Also they don’t draw the movie out. I hope the sequel is as well done.
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Halfway There
Tuesday June 30, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My best work buddy’s last day at HS. It was a sad, solemn day. We went to eat lunch at the place we first ate together: Fatty McGee’s. We thought it was a nice symbolic way to come full circle. My lunches are now pretty sad. But, I’ve been keeping myself entertained. I will say though that I think he could have stayed just like one more month so that I would have someone to lunch with…
Wednesday July 1, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I met Caleb Duy! Dina was kind enough to bring him to HS for a lunch picnic. It was a little chilly outside but he slept right through it. So cute.
That night Ali and I subbed for bowling. I had forgotten how much I missed bowling. But I will say that the alley was super empty compared to when we used to bowl. I think the different night and early time AND summer are factors.
Some Random Days ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’ve been playing more Xbox and I really enjoy playing with Ben and Ali. Ali is progressing nicely. Sadly, the connection for the wireless isn’t too awesome so I’ve been having some difficulty playing lately.
A Mazda aficionado in Rockford spotted my forum sticker in my back windows. He actually joined our club and said that he had seen me! Ben freaked and was like “That’s my fiancee! Coo!” Apparently, the guy has been sort of watching my car and said he would have talked to me if I was a guy. He didn’t want to freak me out.
Thursday July 2, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The menfolk smoked cigars and we sat on blankets in the front park and watched the fireworks from the Road Ranger Stadium. They weren’t particularly awesome but just relaxing under the stars was nice.
Friday July 3, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ben, Tyler, and I went to the pool hall with Patti and Dave. Patti and Dave played in their league, so the three of us got a table and played. It was so much fun! I loved playing with Ben and listening to some great oldies from the jukebox. Ben came in first place with 3 games, I was second at 2 games, and poor Tyler won none.
Saturday July 4, 2009 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Went to the wedding of my boss’ son. It was in my favorite town of Marengo. The ceremony was so sweet. I actually teared up a bit because it was very similar to how Ben and mine wedding will be. The pastor preached about math and how 1+1=1 (*as in you are one family /one entity now*), 1+1=2 (*as in you are still unique people that work together and you love each other for your differences*), 1+1=3 (*as in God is a part of this relationship as well*). I really enjoyed it. The bride looked a little bit like a cake but still beautiful. The groom looked like a slightly pudgier version of Ben’s friend Justin! I really liked the church itself, too. One funny thing though was that John later told me that they forgot the wedding rings. So the groom reused the brides engagement ring and the bride borrowed John’s wedding ring! LOL!
That night, Patti, Ali, and Lorna went downtown to see the fireworks over the river. While they were gone the rest of us hung out on the back deck and watched the neighbors light fireworks. There were about 5 separate families doing fireworks! Some of them were the really big professional ones. It was a like a fireworks war! I thought that for not seeing professional ones and for not having to leave the house…it was a great deal!
Then, it began to get foggy so we went inside to talk and wait for the womenfolk to come home. Dave put on a record entitled “Castles in Spain” I believe. It is melodic classic guitar. I absolutely love it. It is so soothing and the perfect background music. I just cuddled up on Ben and shut my eyes and listened to the music and the talking. Pretty much the best time I have had in a while. I felt truly at peace.
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Much More
I forgot to mention in my last entry that Adam’s baby is here! His name is Caleb Adam Duy and he is precious! I’m so happy for Adam and his wife Dina!
Friday the 19th was weird. It was a super stormy morning. The lights actually flickered twice in the office and a lot of machines turned off. It made it eerily quiet. Because many of the people in my area are on laptops with docks, the power didn’t really affect us. BUT people who were on traditional tower machines got rebooted a lot of times. Off and on throughout the day people couldn’t get to their network drives. It was pretty bad.
Saturday, Patti, her friend Nancy, Patti’s mom, Ali and I all went to IKEA. It was a fascinating and huge place. Granted, IKEA’s look really isn’t my style. But it was a fun outing. The best part is that they have a cart escalator next to the regular escalator. Meaning you have a shopping cart on level 3 and want to continue shopping on level 2, so what do you do? Push the cart into the cart escalator (*it essentially is a big slide but the falling is controled by these spoke things*). Then you get on the escalator next to the cart. It rides down next to you the whole way! I thought it was a fairly neat piece of engineering.
Then we went to lunch at Uno Chicago Grill. The food was okay. But they had THE best breadsticks I have had in a really really long time. They were flaky and light but full of flavor. They also had an amazing desert menu. My favoite was a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie that served hot and with yummy vanilla ice cream on it. (*drool*)
Ali and I proceeded to the large Woodfield mall area to look for some bridesmaid shoes. Unfortunately that trip was a bust. But we had a good time.
Ali’s bridesmaid dress has already come in. If I didnt’ already write about this I will now. She ended up choosing the same dress that my ex-maid of honor chose! LOL! I thought that was ironic!
Sometime Sunday night or Monday morning my car got WATERMELONED! They smashed the melon next to the car and then finger painted my beloved Sebastian with the sticky pink mess. Luckily, I had left the house super early because I wanted to get to work early. Unfortunately, I couldn’t because I had to use my early time to go take my car to the car wash. (*sigh*)
On Wednesday, the 24th, Ali, Patti, and I traveled to Sacred Tattoo to see if Ali could get her nose pierced. There was a note on the door saying that they had all gone for dinner and would be back shortly. So, the womenfolk and I wandered down E. State St. and went into a cute little chocolate shop next to Carlyle’s Brewery. It was called Chocolat. As soon as we walked in, I heard a familiar voice. A friend of mine, Sarah, from HS told me that she worked at a chocolate shop in her spare time but I never knew where it was. Lo and behold, it was this one! LOL! She was so excited to see me and I introduced Patti and Ali. Sarah talked us through all their different chocolates …it was quite an interesting collection. The two that I found the most interesting was one that had olive oil and sea salt in it the other was a truffle that was mixed with red wine. The salt made the chocolate taste sweet. I think the truffle was my favorite though. Then, we went back to the tattoo shop. Right away they helped us and were super nice. Ali was promptly led to the back and had her nose pierced. Meanwhile, I talked to a tattoo artist about a potential tattoo for me. I’m excited!
On a side note: I have seen the sequel to Night at the Museum. I think I liked it better than the first one! It was great!
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Much
This past week contained…
1) A birthday celebration for Dave Wakefield at the Outback Steakhouse. It was delicious!
2) Met my lunch buddy coworker’s girlfriend. She was so nice and I would really like to get to know her better. But she is far away so that won’t happen.
3) Have been in the process of learning the card game Magic the Gathering. Learning from my fiance and lunch buddy. My lunch buddy was one game away from being pro!
4) Had an awesome time last night hanging with my lil sis. We went to Alvarez and feasted on yumminess and margaritas! Then we went to the mall parking lot and I gave her her first lesson in driving stick. She did quite well! But, I also think that I was an awesome teacher. LOL! Then, we went to go see the movie “Drag Me to Hell”. It was actually made to be a little funny rather than truly scary. So I actually sort of enjoyed it.
5) This weekend I have a lot to get done. Groceries. Re-hemming pants. Wedding stuff. Emails. The list goes on. But hopefully I can get it all done and then just chill tomorrow.
P.S. I miss Ben! But I am getting excited for the wedding!
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Beginning Week Two of Session Three
Much is going on at work. Boeing miscommunicating with HS and vice versa. It’s crazy! I really like my new supervisor. He is just so laid back and feel like a kooky uncle. I got to visit my old friends on Friday which was great! So much has changed.
Was invited to an Xbox night and played Gears of War 2! I must not have done too badly because they didn’t say I could never return! LOL!
Went to Alicia’s wedding! Yay! It was finally here! She looked beautiful and Tim looked handsome. The day was gorgeous. The most fun part though was meeting Angie’s family. I totally hit it off with her mom and dad.
It’s been a crazy week but I think that by the middle of this week, things will begin to slow down.
Anywho…that was just an update…more of a brain dump really before I forget anything…
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Angels and Demons
Last week, mom and I went to go see Angels and Demons. We loved it! One thing that was sorta funny though was that they made it a sequel to The Da Vinci Code. But in the books, it is the prequel. But I understood why they did it. After the movie, mom reminded me of something I said a long time ago when the books first came out. I said that The Da Vinci Code made for good reading, but the flow wouldn’t translate into a movie too well. BUT Angels and Demons was written like a movie already, the timing of things was quick, so it was awesome!
I’m back in Rockford, IL for my third session. I start on Tuesday and am looking forward to it. I don’t know what this session holds but I know it will be interesting. 
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Holy Baptism Batman!
May 16, 2009 A Day to Remember!
Ben was baptized! At 12:30, mom and I were present at St. Thomas for Ben’s ceremony. I was so proud I cried. Ben is truly undertaking a new chapter of his life. Together he and I will work on our faith to grow closer to God and to each other.
Then we all went to the Longhorn Steakhouse and had such a pleasant lunch.
When mom and I returned home there was a gorgeous bouquet of flowers on the doorstep for me from Ben! The note he had written (*which I won’t share here because I don’t want to make other women jealous of not having him*) was so sweet!
Sidenote: I leave either on Friday or Saturday of this week to return to HS. Wow…already…
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