Post 100!

Ha. I'm not sure what even made me notice that this is my 100th post. I guess I better make it a good one. I'll try. We are keeping busy around here. Poor Hads has a bad ear infection which has attacked his eye, giving him pink eye symptoms. It's pretty icky. He's on medicine now and it seems that hour by hour he is acting more like himself. And right now that is "terrible two'ing"! A little early but I guess that means he will come out of it sooner right? Oh my can he kick and scream. It always seems to be for the craziest reasons. He also loves throwing/pushing things down the stairs. Not so good when he pushed a heavy metal and leather dining room chair down and put a big hole in the wall. Or his little bike that left more damage. He looks up at me and says, "uh oh!" Ah...that is just the beginning. He is way smarter than what we think!

Good thing he is so cute!

Loren is continually keeping busy, which is great. He has done quite a few videos for the YMCA of Des Moines and they seem to be loving his work. He also has been doing photo shoots and other random video jobs. He really enjoys all of it. If he can make it work, this is exactly what he would like to do. We are currently at a crossroads. As much as we love and appreciate our parents, it is time to make a change to our living situation. So, are we committing to staying in Iowa? That is the question...I feel different everyday. Having our family so close is WONDERFUL. However, pieces of us are still in Colorado. Uhg. I hate it. We have looked at some houses which has been fun. It just seems weird to me still. I don't know why. I just really miss all our friends. I thought by now I would be use to it all but that is a big NO! I guess they are irreplaceable friends. I know and believe that God has a perfect plan for us. I would just like Him to hurry it along! I can ask for that, right? I would like some consistency and order in our lives. We just need to figure out if that is here or somewhere else.

Well post 100 has been informational?? Now you know what is going on in our lives. Big decisions are to be made. It seems like we are always put in "risky" situations lately.
God is continually reminding us to seek and trust Him for everything.

Here is the 2nd love of my life!
I need to upload pictures, not from my phone. Isn't he the cutest thing you have ever seen?
I love him... even when he puts holes in the wall!

happy new year.

We have gotten off to a bad start.

We all managed to get bad colds over Christmas. Loren ended up with a terrible sinus infection and finally went to the doctor after a few days and got put on medicine.

New Years Eve was our 5 year anniversary.
We had planned a night out before Loren was really feeling bad. Loren was still not feeling the best but decided to go out to please his insistent wife. I really wanted to get out and have a fun
night since we had been in dealing with sicknesses the past few days.
I told Loren that we had to do something since it was our 5 YEAR ANNIVERSARY.
Well, lets just say it didn't end up so great.
We went to dinner at a very well reputable restaurant downtown (I'm not going to say the name because I do believe it was a complete fluke and we will try it again).
It was our first time there and we were eager to try it. Everything was wonderful from the ambiance to the food and to the drinks. We really had a lovely time celebrating us!
After dinner we met up with some friends and rang in the new year.
Then next morning we both wake up with churning stomachs. Yep, food poisoning. We both spent the whole day sick in bed. I guess I should not have forced Loren to go out after all.
We would like a re-do for our anniversary when we are both healthy!

Then this weekend poor Hadley came down with the stomach flu! And the list goes on of people
he has shared that with, including me. Hopefully that will come to an end.
He is feeling better but is still a bit sluggish.
Ah, to be healthy again. That is all I want.
I assume it's all uphill from here.

So, HAPPY NEW YEAR 10 days late.
We are looking forward to 2012 and direction in our random journey that we are on!

Family photos.

Merry Christmas from us to you!

Christmas time is here!

I LOVE IT! Christmas is everywhere! I no longer feel like I have to keep it "semi" bottled up! Yes, I have been listening to Christmas music since July and drinking egg nog (AE egg nog is by far the best-We've sampled many!) since October-but I love every bit of the wonderful season. This year is a bit different. No decorations of my own (except our stockings, I had to hang those). No lights on our cozy house. No hosting our annual Christmas party. No work Christmas Party. It's a different "season" for the Ekarts. When I think of all that isn't happening I tend to get really sad and lonely. So, none of that! All I have to do is look at my boy, Hadley. Nothing else in this whole world matters! He has been my companion and constant (in addition to my hubs) in this journey since we left everything that was comfortable. We took Christmas photos last week. I will post them soon, I promise. Until then, here is what brightens my day.

Girls weekend

My dearest husband suggested that I go on a trip with some girlfriends. I instantly jumped on the opportunity! My friend Diane from Denver, my friend Jessica from high school and one of Jessica's friends joined me. We had so much fun eating and shopping and walking and eating and shopping and walking!!

Some of the highlights included-

Eating at Frontera Grill. He is a world renown Mexican chef and the food was absolutely wonderful! We had to wait in line before they were even open. This place is extremely hard to get in to. It is well worth it though!

We also went to the Signature Lounge at the top of the John Hancock Building. I had a delicious Pumpkin Cheesecake Martini rimmed with graham cracker crumbs-yum!!! It is a beautiful view of the city, especially at night!

Garrett's Popcorn! It is simply the delectable. The Chicago mix is the best-cheese and caramel popcorn mixed!

Farewell to my good friend, Regis!

Ha...so I feel a little pathetic. I LOVE Regis! I am so sad that he will no longer be on in the morning while Hadley and I are starting our day. I suppose when you are 80 years old, you should retire. I do love Kelly too, I think she will do great without him. They were just such a wonderful team. His last episode was such a wonderful tribute to him. If you didn't get a chance to watch it, please do! I may have cried a few times;) I now am adding Regis's book to my Christmas list. He is an entertainment icon that has ran with the "big dogs" as far as entertainment goes. In my book he is a fabulous legend! Farewell, my morning coffee friend!

halloween.

We had a fun Halloween weekend. We usually go to our friends' Halloween party in Denver, sad to say that we missed it this year! Boo... We did have fun though. We decided to go out downtown. I was amazed by all the people dressed up. If you weren't, I would think you would feel a bit out of place. I also realized I am getting old?! It was a bit crazy for me. We are far passed the "going out" days. We are more the type to go to a low key place and have a drink with friends. But, nonetheless it was a particularly interesting people watching night. Here are some photos. Lor and Greg(friend from Denver who came to visit) were tribal people. Don't worry, it only took them six hours to paint their bodies. Ridiculous. Loren always has to out do himself. I chose something a little more classy, Audrey Hepburn. We had a fun night with some fun people.

The next morning we went to Waveland Cafe for breakfast. Not bad. We have decided that Des Moines is in desperate need of a really good breakfast place! Maybe we should open one?!
And yes, my lovely husband has a mustache again. "Movember". Not really sure why he had to start growing it in October???

On Trick-or-Treat night we were at my mom and dad's house. All the cousins were together. My parents had a few friends over for dinner and pumpkin bars...yum! Hadley loved being a little monkey! We did a little photo shoot with him.

And every little man has to have a pair of gold supras!