Never say never

If you would have told me when I was the age in the above photo, that I would be EXCITED to see my brother, I would have thought you were crazy. Can't wait to see him and Christine!

Love this

I've gotten hooked on this blog--www.cakewrecks.com. Hilariously bad cakes. By far my favorite is the Darth Vader baby shower cake. When I'm pregnant (in like 5 years), I want this cake.

Who's the boss?

I'm very excited to head out to Connecticut this weekend to catch up with my brother and sister (in-law, technically; really just my sister). They have been living there for a few years and this is my first trip out to see them. I know, I'm a bad sister, but better late than never!

While I'm gone, I'm hoping that Andro will clean up the condo. I've been cleaning on Fridays (giving Andro the summer off from his chores for good behavior) but that is quickly coming to an end as my summer hours (half day Friday's) are over Labor Day weekend. I have a feeling, though, that a lot of his free time will be devoted to naps and video games.

Working Girl

I'm a big fan of all sorts of blogs. Blogs by people I know (Mae and Kasey), blogs by people I don't know, blogs about saving money, blogs about decorating and home improvement (younghouselove.com), to name a few. On one of the savings blogs I check out, they had an article on ways to make more money. My favorite tip was getting your dog a job.

While I think she is adorable and definitely has 'spokesdog' potential, Libby could never sit still long enough to model anything. And any career as the next 'Wishbone' is also out the window--she only understands commands about 45% of the time. But, Andro has found her a job nonetheless. We just have to move to Italy.

I think Libby would look great in that swim vest. The only problem I can really see is her complete hatred of water.

She's just furry because she's illegitimate--give me a tax break

As everyone knows, I consider Libby to be my daughter, not my dog. And to be honest, she is so spoiled, I'm pretty sure she thinks she's my child as well. She sleeps on the bed, has a very extensive toy collection (even if most are currently being held in squeak-atraz), and loves to dress up.

So, I was intrigued by this article that Andro sent me about giving pet owners a tax break. I think it's great--if it encourages more people to rescue dogs (like our rescue girl) I couldn't be more supportive.

I am currently trying to fight the urge to adopt another dog. I'm ready for another addition to our family, so is Libby, but I don't think our condo could handle 2 silly dogs.

One year later...

A year ago, after the wedding, I closed down (and deleted) my blog and Andro stopped blogging too. We both just thought there wasn't really much to write about without the wedding and settled into married life. It's been a wonderful exciting year full of all kinds of emotional ups and downs, and while I'm still not sure how much there is to write about it, I thought I'd add myself as a contributor to Andro's blog and give it another go. So this time, the blog will truly be a Dio family effort.

So--since we last posted in July 08, we have been traveling, a lot. With family spread out everywhere, we are almost always on the go (and every time I think it's going to be a slow month, we end up booked solid). After the wedding, Andro headed out to Las Vegas for a hacker convention (9 days in the city that never sleeps is a little too much) and I met up with him over the weekend. We love Vegas. As much as I'm an early riser, I love staying up all night there, it's kind of intoxicating. By the time I got there, however, Andro had had enough of the nightlife and was starting to get a cold, so we didn't go out a ton, but it was still fun.

Over Labor Day, the first in 2 years to be wedding free, we headed back to Indiana to visit my parents. By this point, Mom and Dad had started construction on their new beach home in Georgia, so we were approaching the 'end' of our Evansville visits. Mom and I have been going to the Holiday World Splashin' Safari park (we spend the whole time in Splashin' Safari) every summer since we moved to Evansville. We both LOVE waterparks and had a final trip to Santa Claus, Ind. Very bittersweet. Only a few days after getting back to Chicago, we had some terrible news. We lost my Aunt Janice. I can't even believe it's been nearly a year since she passed, it still feels like it just happened, it was so shocking. I will always be so grateful that she and my Uncle Mike made it to the wedding, it was the last time I saw her alive and she was so happy. A beautiful ceremony was held in her beloved Nevada and all of the family that could make it came together and celebrated her life.


For Libby's second Halloween, she went as LiBEE Dio. I thought she looked great, and so did she. Andro is still trying to come to terms with my love for dressing up the dog. He doesn't like it, I believe he says 'it's silly honey,' but he is slowly coming to terms with it and even picked out her costume for this coming year; which is being hand-made by her Gigi Campbell.

My brother stopped into town for a night in November, just around the time I began suffering from Addam withdrawal. I lived with him for 16 years full-time and another 2 years part-time while he was in college. I thought I had had my fill of him, but the truth is, I've started to miss my brother. It's not quite like the 'Leinfelder' withdrawal I go through if I don't see Tine and Andy every couple of months, but it's getting there. I'm taking my first trip out to see him and my sister Christine in Connecticut in a couple of weeks and am really excited.

We hit the road the weekend before Thanksgiving to hang out with our friends Ken/Kinsey and Jason/Michelle and Michelle's parents cabin. It's a gorgeous home they've built on a lake near the Dells in Wisconsin, and we spent the whole weekend drinking, watching football (we are all in the same fantasy football league), and wearing sweatpants. Very relaxing.

Andro and I drove then down to Evansville for the final Thanksgiving at Mom and Dad's house. Mom threatened to make me take all of my 'stuff' with me, but luckily I was able to buy myself some time (and got rid of a ton of stuff at home in Chicago). Libby loved Mom and Dad's big backyard and had a ball chasing her 'Aunt' Jenny and anything that Grand-dad would throw her way. We drove home with one thoroughly pooped pup!


In December, we drove north to Minneapolis/St. Paul to see the Leinfelder's. Great trip, as always, and way too short. We baked Christmas cookies at Aunt Jay and Uncle Tim's house, got to hang out with my cousins Paul and Tom, and just had fun with Tine and Andy. We spent Christmas in Arizona with Mae/Brett/Brooklyn/Deuce/Trini and Howard. It was great to see everyone and be there for the baby's first Christmas.


We took our long awaited honeymoon in February and let me just say--best idea ever. It was so cold here and getting on a cruise ship and sailing through the Caribbean was WONDERFUL. We enjoyed each and every minute, but by far, our favorite day was spent at the beach in Magens Bay on St. Thomas. I think we could live there as full-time beach bums.

In April, I finally had to pack up or throw out all of the stuff I had left at Mom and Dad's house over the years. It was a very intense couple of days of sorting through all the things that had been left behind. I threw away a lot, Mom decided to take some things with her, and I packed the rest into the Mazda. I have since been able to consolidate everything into the condo, and for the first time since I left for college, have all of my clothes and belongings in one place.

Tine and Andy came to visit in early May and we all went to Kiefer's to eat--what Andro describes as--the best steak in Chicago. It was good, that's for sure, but I'm not sure if it was my favorite. No visit with the cousins would be complete without the movies, so we all went to Star Trek and were pleasantly surprised by it. We used to watch Star Trek the Next Generation when I was growing up, and I remember being dragged along to the movies (especially #4 with the whales), but have never been a huge fan.

Over Memorial Day weekend, I flew to Georgia to visit my Mom/Dad and Addam/Christine. The original plan had been to fly in Saturday morning and fly out Monday night--I had the benefit gala two weeks later--but I got very, very sick and ended up staying until Tuesday. I felt fine when I landed and Dad picked me up at the airport, made it home and hung out with everyone for a bit. I got really tired and went to bed, only to wake up with a cold sweat and a fever over 102. Not fun. But at least I got to hang out with my family and honestly, even as an adult, there is no one I would rather have take care of me then my Mom when I'm sick.


A couple of weeks later we headed to Florida with the Stephenson/Feldman branch of the family. We got to stay in a gorgeous condo right on the beach and had a great trip. Andro and I went to Epcot by ourselves one day and then went through the Magic Kingdom with everyone. Andro had promised to take me to Disney World and we had a wonderful time--but we've both agreed, the next time we go is when our youngest child is 4 years old and we won't be going later than April (very, very humid).


For our anniversary, we drove back up to Bayfield and stayed at Aunt Jay and Uncle Tim's house on Madeline. Really, really wonderful trip. The whole family came up for the weekend of the 18th and we went out on the boat twice. As we get older and it gets tougher and tougher to figure out schedules and times to meet up, I really cherish the time we get with my family that much more. After everyone went back to the twin cities, we spent a few more days on the island just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful weather and scenery. I love it there.

So--that's been our year! Every day, it hits me just how blessed we are. We are surrounded with an amazing group of friends and family, who love and support us. And every day we get to spend together.

I can't guarantee that we'll update often, but keep checking!