Category Archives: Liz’s Life

Lake Tahoe Lunch Break

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Now that the ski season is over, my colleagues and I have taken a big collective sigh of relief for making it through a long and busy six months. I’ve already noticed the office pace has slowed down a bit. People aren’t working such long hours, stressing about deadlines or eating lunch at their desks.

One way I’ve been taking advantage of this time of year is to take a 30 minute walk outside in the California sun over my lunch break. It’s be soooo nice to be able to get my body moving in the middle of the day, soak up some Vitamin D and have a few moments to clear my head.

When I lived in a city, my quiet time was usually in a small park surrounded by loud busses whizzing by and now I have an entire forest with walking paths, sandy beaches and absolute quiet except for a few birds singing.

Nevada Beach Lake Tahoe

South Lake Tahoe Park

Lake Tahoe Summer

Lake Tahoe Hiking

Nevada Beach Lake Tahoe

South Lake Tahoe Beach

I can’t think of a better way to spend my lunch break!  Do you take breaks during your work day? How do you spend them?

The Grass is Always Greener…

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Well Easter has come and gone. I hope you had a wonderful weekend spent with people you love! We had a nice day in Tahoe- went skiing, did some relaxing and ate lots of ham.

I must admit I was feeling a little homesick on Sunday though. Luke’s friend was in town and they were on a mission to ski as much as possible. It was really windy and cold,  so I left the mountian early and ended up spending a bit of time at home alone.

I called some family and friends to see what their Easter plans were. Most of them were attending some sort of get together  – brunch, mass, dinner – with their families. I did my best not to feel bad for myself, but I couldn’t help wishing I was spending the day with them instead of sitting on the couch alone.

I sometimes feel like I have to choose between being close to the people I love or living in a place that lets us create the lifestyle and careers we want. My family lives in Toledo, Ohio, and while it’s a great place to raise a family, it doesn’t exactly have the outdoorsy lifestyle or natural beauty we love in Tahoe. Plus the job market is dismal there.

This dilemma is something I think a lot of other young people face. We’re told we can be/do whatever we want – travel the world, have a great career, live in a big city. As a result, we focus on building our independent lives and achieving our goals, which usually results in taking us away from home.

But giving up our aspirations to move home also doesn’t seem like a viable option. Won’t we be considered failures if we don’t reach for and achieve all the opportunities afforded to us? And in my case, if we don’t settle in a good location, won’t our kids eventually leave us and not come home?

I guess there is a tradeoff that we all eventually have to make. I really have no idea what end of the spectrum we’ll eventually end up on.

For the time being I am just going to focus on living in the moment. The life we lead in Tahoe has made us incredibly happy and right now it feels like where we’re supposed to be.  I’m sure the right path will make itself clear in time.

Do you guys ever grapple between being close to those you love and living the lifestyle you want?

One Year As “Mrs. Batman”

Posted in Liz's Life, Married Life, Wedding Planning by

Well, one year of wedding bliss is behind us. This past Sunday was one year to the day from when we said “I Do” in downtown Chicago. And what a whirlwind year it’s been!

St. Vincent DePaul Chicago Wedding

Before I got married people told me that the first year was the hardest, so I braced myself for an adjustment period and maybe a few arguments. Looking back on this year though, I must say this year has been nothing but happiness!

In fact, it dawned on me when a friend was telling me about her relationship woes, that I have not cried once this entire year. And I am a pretty emotional person who used to have a good cry about once every 1-2 months. Realizing that I have not shed a single tear (and it wasn’t an “easy” 12 months with our move and starting a new job)  just shows me how truly happy Luke makes me.

The same friend who was crying to me about her guy asked me for my one year of marital “wisdom.” I thought this was funny. What could I possibly know of value after just one year? But I thought about it and decided that my advice would be this:

Marry the right person.

Vauge, I know. So how do you know when it’s the right person? Well in my opinion, it’s about three things:

1. Sharing similar values and interests and dreams.

2. Finding someone who compliments your strengths and weaknesses and personality.

3. Choosing someone who you genuinely love to be around…. a lot. Someone you can have interesting conversations with, who makes you laugh, who is kind, considerate and who you don’t argue with often.

Oh, and it also helps if you think they’re super hot. :)

Now thinking back on our wedding, there’s one part that I smile most when I remember that day….our wedding swing dance! Here it is again for your viewing pleasure- don’t miss Luke’s big moment around 1.18.

Happy anniversary Luke! I am the luckiest girl in the world to have spent even one year as your wife. Love you to pieces.

Honey, I’m Home!

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Have you ever been part of a couple and find yourself doing quirky things that only the two of you understand? Things like pet names. Or ongoing jokes no one but you gets?

Luke and I have a lot of little things that from an outsider’s perspective would probably be viewed as strange, but to us is totally normal. Most of the time it’s me acting weird and Luke laughing at me- but that is to be expected.

One of these little routines happens every day when we get home from work. It started when I asked Luke if we could get a dog and he immediately shot the idea down. While making my case about why dogs are awesome, I think one of my arguments was that they are soooo excited to greet you when you get home, which is fun.

Luke didn’t think this was a very convincing reason to buy an animal, so I decided to show him just how nice it can be to have someone be SUPER excited to see you when you walk in the door.

The next day Luke got home from work and I ran to the top of the landing, started jumping up and down and yelled:

“MY BABY IS HOOOOOOOOME!!! HE’S HERE!!! YAY!!”

Then I stood there with a huge excited look on my face, bouncing up and down with my arms outstretched. Luke immediately cracked up and gave me a hug. I was so amused by his reaction that it became a nightly routine.

Of course it’s evolved as most things between couples do. Here’s a typical night…

Luke: *door opens*

Me: “MY BABY IS HOOOOOOME! HE’S HERE!! OH BOY OH BOY!”

*yelled from couch. Too lazy to get up anymore*

Luke: I’m NOT a baby!

Me: YES. YOU. ARE. and you’re HOOOOOME!

Luke: *walks over and kisses my forehead*

lol. Or if he’s on the road like this week, it goes like this:

*ring, ring*

Luke: Hello?

Me: My baby is NOT HOOOOOOME! He’s not HERE!”

Luke: Once again- not a baby.

Yeah…we’re pretty weird over here in the Batman house. :) I don’t know why I love this ritual of ours so much. It just makes me smile and also realize how happy I really am each night when he comes home.

What funny/weird/unique things do you do with your significant other?