Company!

My dad recently had to travel to Chicago for a conference. When my mom found out he was coming to Chicago she decided to come with him too! My little sister Lindsey, not wanting to be left out, came too, and then my little brother decided not to miss out on the fun, so he came out from BYU as well. It was grand. Their arrival coincided with Mike's arrival home from some interviews out of state, so my foxy dish of a husband met up with the fam (also foxy and dish-y) in Chicago and led them out to the boonies so they could see our humble abode.Once they got here we promptly lunched. We then went straight to the College Football Hall of Fame. Mike couldn't get over the irony that we were missing football games to go to the football hall of fame, but I was happy for the break from football. Also ironic. I've never really understood what the fake people are supposed to represent. But I guess it makes for some good pictures.

Practicing the kick off.Notice the ND and BYU flags next to each other.All Cougar Alumni/future Alumni. (Wow Nathan looks really tall here. He is quite tall, but not Goliath tall.)Then we went to campus and gave the grand tour. Luckily the rain held up while we walked around.Where Mike spends most his days:Outside a lecture hall in the Law School.Our "judging" faces in the courtroom.

Mike's official desk.Outside the Law School side door.

I really thought that bird was going to bite Linz. I'm glad it didn't.Dad and Knute.Nath and the famous Touchdown Jesus.We drove back to Chicago that night and went to Carmines for dinner. Their ravioli was DANG good- and that's coming from a major pasta snob. (I'm pretty sure we all had bread in our mouths for this picture.)

(Apparently this half of the table was able to swallow in time.)
Our photographers (Mom and Linz) had to catch a plane early the next morning, so we have no photos to document when I put the wrong address in the GPS and we ended up in the hood instead of at church the next morning. (True story.) We also have no photographic evidence of our trip to the top of the Hancock Tower, or the delectable lunch at the Cheesecake Factory afterwards. But we still had fun. Thanks for coming everyone! Come back again soon!!

Literary Heroines Who Ended Up With The Wrong Man

I saw this on a friend-of-a-friend's blog, and thought the idea was so brilliant that I made my own list. This is only my opinion, so please feel free to disagree and/or to add to the list! And now, without further ado, I bring you my list of literary heroines who ended up with the wrong man:

1. Jo March from Little Women
I don't care what anyone says, Jo and Laurie were meant for each other. I think my heart died a little when Laurie married Amy, and Jo ended up with the old boring guy.

2. Marianne Dashwood from Sense and Sensibility
I know he's a royal jerk, but I wish Willoughby could have straightened out and committed to Maryanne. They were such kindred spirits. And I wish Colonel Brandon could have ended up with someone who really loved him in return, and was not so obviously more compatible with someone else.
3. Olivia from Twelfth Night
Olivia and Orsino are both so dang melodramatic- they would be perfect together. (Granted, this paring would leave Viola and Sebastian together, and that wouldn't be very kosher seeing as they're twins and all.)
4. Mary Bennett from Pride and Prejudice
Poor girl. She and the awkward Mr. Collins would have made such a delightfully righteous couple. I was always secretly hoping they would end up together, but alas. He ends up with poor Charlotte.
5. Elizabeth Gilbert from Eat Pray Love
This is cheating a little bit since Liz is not a fictional character, and I really have no right to tell real people who they should be with. (Though I do claim the absolute right to completely dictate the lives of fictional characters.) Anyway, I was bugged that she decided to try and make it work with the wealthy, foreign businessman. Hasn't she ever seen a chick flick? The steamy foreign affairs never last.

6. Tommy from Never Let Me Go
This is also cheating as Tommy is a hero, not a heroine. Still, I was so sad that Tommy and Kathy didn't get more time together. Freaking Ruth.
7. Scarlett O'Hara from Gone with the Wind
This one is tricky since she ends up with no one. But I would have liked to see a reconciliation with Rhett Butler, her obvious match. It was implied that they do eventually return to each other, but this reconciliation has never been actually produced on print or on film. I'm still waiting for closure.

8. Christine Daae from The Phantom of the Opera
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to doom Christine to a life with an unstable stalker, sexy as the Phantom's voice is. I'm just not the biggest fan of Raul. He has no personality in the book, and he's not much improved in the movie either.
9. Katniss Everdeen from Mockingjay
I won't spoil the ending here for those of you who haven't finished it yet. Suffice it to say, WHAT THE CRAP.

10. Rory Gilmore from Gilmore Girls

Total cheating: This is a TV show, not a book. But I still think Rory should have ended up with Dean. I couldn't close out this list without throwing that in there.