Engagement Weekend

March 21, 2008
Pete started this wonderful weekend off by flying us up to Chicago!! We were a little nervous we weren't going to make it because a really bad snow storm hit the midwest and when we woke up three flights had been cancelled. Thankfully our flight wasn't cancelled and we made it only an hour or so late.

Pete had made reservations for us at a Thai restaurant - Vong Thai Kitchen - my favorite type of food! We met up with his dad, Renee, his mom, and Lauren. It was an awesome restaurant.

Lauren, Tom (Pete's dad), and Renee


Pete and Nancy (Pete's mom)



Pete and I

After dinner we headed to our hotel. Pete had made reservations for us at a really nice place - Sofitel Watertower in downtown Chicago. We were just hanging out in our room when Pete got down on one knee, told me how much he loved me, and asked me to marry him! OF COURSE I said YES!!!



Check out this beautiful ring Pete got me!!

He also surprised me with tickets to see Wicked. Since we first met we have talked about going. For one of my birthday's he bought me the book and the CD of the musical. The theatre was so beautiful and the show was awesome!!

Then Saturday night we had reservations at Roy's - another one of my favorite restaurants. This was the place where we had our first "dressed up" dinner when we were doing the long distance thing!

Pete and I at Roy's. It was such a fun dinner. There was 12 of us. Some of Pete's closest friends and his cousins.

Despina and Steve! The are also getting married soon! Steve (aka Pieper) gave us a really nice champagne toast!! Pete is really lucky to have some GREAT friends! Pieper and Pete lived together for several years and are really great friends.

Luke and Nicole. They are having their first child in August! They were so gracious to treat us all to dinner that night!! As I said Pete has some really GREAT friends!! Luke was Pete's freshman roommate in college and then they went on to live with each other for the next 7 years.

Becky, Dave, and Mike. Mike and Becky are like Pete's brother and sister. They are actually cousins but they grew up spending so much time together. Mike will be Pete's best man and Becky will be a bridesmaid!

Ed and Tracy! Ed use to work at Hewitt with Pete years ago! They have stayed great friends through the years, been roommates a few times, and shared many fun times!

Becky, me, and Lauren

Tom, Gina, and Allison

The group - kinda of late night!!

Pete and BEN WILSON!! This is one of Pete's friends that I have heard about since I've met Pete. I finally got to meet him - and he did not disappoint!!

Sunday we made it up - some of us moving slower than others - and we headed down to Uncle Greg and Aunt Kay's place for Easter Dinner!! It was a great gathering. Aunt Kay brought me to tears when she gave me Peter's Great grandmother's Lavalier (from back in 1918). It was a beautiful necklace and it meant so much to me. Pete's family all ready make me feel so welcome and loved and a gesture like that made me feel like I was all ready part of the family.

Elysse, Jordan, and Dave

The ladies hard at work!

Lauren and Grandpa Studz

Pete, Grandpa Studz, and me

LEOOOOO and his cupcake!

Hannah getting ready for her debut as a top athlete!

The weekend was so PERFECT - we got engaged and got to spend a lot of great time with friends and family! What more can you ask for!!

USF Under Armour Softball Invitational - Clearwater

In early March, Pete and I headed down to Clearwater to meet up with Pete's Uncle Joe and Aunt Cheryl. We were there to watch his cousin Mallory play in a softball tournament. For Florida in March it was REALLY cold and windy!! We still found a way to have a blast!!


Uncle Joe, Mallory, and Pete


Aunt Cheryl, Uncle Joe, Mallory, Pete and me


Mallory in action at third base.

The ball in action!

Saturday night we had a few cocktails and some good times!!

First day at the softball park - Aunt Cheryl and I.

The Meeting of the Families!!

This past weekend Pete's mom and sister came to town and my mom, dad, youngest sister and her boyfriend also came to town!! It was the first time everyone got a chance to meet!! It was a lot of fun and as expected everyone got along wonderfully!!


Lea showing off how flexible she is on the way down to Park Tavern!


It was a BEAUTIFUL weekend so we took advantage of it by eating at one of my favorite restaurants - Park Tavern in Piedmont Park. Here is Lea and I!

The Mikos girls and my youngest sister Christina. The boys were playing golf while we enjoyed the park.

My mom and me!

The Cooley girls!

Cool Cat Lea!

The Mikos family and me!

On Sunday we went to the new World of Coke.

Lauren and I with the Coke bear. It was a little freaky - you could here mechanical noises inside the suite but you could tell by the personality that a real person was inside the bear.

It was all you could drink COKE and other drinks - it was fun!

Hanging out in Centennial Park before Lauren had to leave!

February in New York City

In mid February I went to New York city to take a class. Ideally I would have gone when it was warmer but it was kind of neat to see snow in the big city!! The traffic was HORRIBLE on the day it snowed. It was also a lot of fun taking the sub-way and bus each morning to class - I felt like a real New Yorker!!

Here is me braving the snow and cold weather!! My nice, new warm scarf helped a lot!!


Here is my gracious host Steve!



Here is the entrance to Steve's place. It was really cute. A bit small but actually pretty big for New York standards!

The only tourist thing I had time for during the week was a trip to Ground Zero on Friday.

Mom - this is the bridge I was telling you about. We walked over this area in 98. Now it is a temporary bridge over the road.

Here is a Memorial Wall by station 10.

Here are all the fireman and policeman that lost their life during 9/11.

Wall Street was really close to the sub-way stop so I walked down the street to take some pictures. Here is a blurry picture of the entrance to the New York Stock Exchange.

George Washington in front of the Federal Hall.

One of Trump's buildings on Wall Street

There was a lot of security in this area.

Front of the New York Stock Exchange.