The Two of Us

Up North at the Cottage – 2012 Edition

By ben  |  2012/08/19 15:44 Posted in Adventures, Kayaking, Running, The Two of Us  |  Comments Off on Up North at the Cottage – 2012 Edition


Photo Album – Cottage June/July 2012

Jenelle and I had a few days to the two of us in late June / early July. We dropped off Eliana at my parents’ house, and we traveled up north to the family cottage. We brought the kayak along, stowed securely on top of the Prius. We didn’t foresee any kayaking opportunities at home in the near future, so we left it in a storage shed at the cottage for others to use.

We arrived on a Thursday. We realized en route that we forgot our paddles, but not to worry — we ended up renting two for the whole weekend for only $15, and they were really nice. Besides plenty of shopping, homemade breakfasts, and tasty meals at nearby restaurants, we spent most of our time kayaking. On Friday and Saturday, we visited Clear Lake, Big Arbor Vitae, and the Bittersweet Lakes Area. The last of these (Bittersweet) was the most exciting. We had to carry the kayak in between lakes to get around using portage routes provided on a map. We got video of this, so I may share that sometime soon.

On Sunday morning, I ran the Freedom 5K in St. Germain, finishing with a personal best time of 20:34. We celebrated at Paul Bunyan’s in Minocqua before heading back home.

It was a short but great time — Eliana was glad to see us when we got back, and we were thrilled to see her.

The Best of Everything

By ben  |  2012/02/17 08:56 Posted in Baked Goods, The Two of Us  |  Comments Off on The Best of Everything

Thanks to Jenelle, I had a super-terrific Valentine’s Day. As you can see from the above photo, I got two cards (one from Jenelle, one from Eliana), two bags of popcorn, a Foo Fighters CD/DVD, and a cake.

Let me go into more detail about the cake. It’s a red velvet cake, and Jenelle made it for me. Though I got a bit of help from others, I ate most of the cake myself over a period of three days. Prior to this one, I never had red velvet cake. It might just be Jenelle’s amazing skills, but I think this kind of cake is quite delicious. The taste is somewhere between yellow cake and chocolate cake, both of which I like. The cream cheese frosting is great, too. I’ve had that kind of frosting on carrot cake many times before, but never on an extra-tasty red velvet cake. I also appreciate that Jenelle did not put an entire vial of red food coloring into the cake as the recipe directed, instead using just a little bit. It doesn’t have to be bright red to be yummy.

So, to sum things up, I loved pretty much everything about the red velvet cake, especially the person who made it. Perhaps another cake like this will appear on the kitchen counter when my birthday rolls around. 🙂

Friendly Rivalry

By ben  |  2010/06/09 15:00 Posted in The Two of Us  |  Comments Off on Friendly Rivalry

As you may know already, Jenelle is a Cubs fan, and I prefer the Brewers. Not a year goes by without us attending at least one Brewers-Cubs game. This year, we’ve already attended two, and we’ll be at two more in September.

We always have fun regardless of which team wins. Whenever the Brewers manage a victory, especially when it’s a come-from-behind walk-off win like last night, I can usually get a good picture of a frustrated Jenelle. So, here it is!

Take Me Out to the Third Row

By ben  |  2010/04/26 20:55 Posted in The Two of Us  |  Comments Off on Take Me Out to the Third Row

I jumped online as soon as tickets were available for Cubs-Brewers games at Miller Park, so I was able to get seats just to the left of the Cubs dugout on the third base side for Saturday, April 24.  The Cubs got out to an early lead, and the Brewers were never able to get their bats going.  Even though it wasn’t the most exciting game, we had a blast!

Full photo album here!

Totally Blissful Years

By ben  |  2010/04/14 16:12 Posted in The Two of Us  |  Comments Off on Totally Blissful Years

The weather has been amazing over the past few weeks, so it hasn’t been conducive to blogging.  So, here’s my first attempt to get caught up.

We started dating on March 26, 2000, and got married on March 29, 2003.  So, we had lots of reasons to celebrate the last weekend in March.  For whatever reason, we kept things pretty low-key this year.  Rather than go out to a fancy dinner, we made steaks and other home-cooked goodies on Friday night.  On Saturday, we joined my parents and my mom’s parents at Cortese’s Restaurant for a VERY filling Italian meal.  There were enough leftovers to get us through Sunday.

Though the fanfare was kept to a minimum, I’ve loved every minute that I’ve spent with Jenelle, and I can’t wait to see what the next seven (or ten) years will bring us!

Homecoming

By admin  |  2009/11/07 20:39 Posted in Family Gatherings, Northwestern, The Two of Us  |  Comments Off on Homecoming

In celebration of the Northwestern football team’s upset victory at Iowa today, I think it’s time to post about our visit to NU two weeks ago. It’s been nine years since I graduated, and six years since Jenelle graduated.

We walked around campus for a while, making a special stop at the bench where we got engaged in March 2002. After that, we stopped at the university bookstore. There’s a lot more cool stuff now, including dri-fit running shirts. I used some restraint though, and limited myself to a new winter hat, which has already been very helpful on several long runs in the past month.

For dinner, we met up with my cousin, Katie, who graduated from NU earlier this year. She’s living in Chicago, and she made the trip up to Evanston to meet us. We ate at Thai Sookdee, a Thai restaurant that Jenelle and Katie both like. It was my first time there, but I enjoyed it as well. We had ice cream for dessert at J.K. Sweets.

That about wraps up our super-fun day in Evanston. Go ‘Cats!

A decade

By admin  |  2009/09/13 04:10 Posted in The Two of Us  |  Comments Off on A decade

About 10 years ago was when Jenelle and I first met, during New Student Week at Northwestern. While I don’t recall the exact encounter, it most likely occurred in a big group that was gathering outside NU’s Foster-Walker Complex to go to a social event sponsored by Campus Crusade for Christ. I was doing my best just to remember everyone’s name. It wasn’t love at first sight — sometimes it takes a little while. 🙂