Hitting you with some culture

For those of you not in the know, I work at Hewitt Associates (I still don't like calling it AON Hewitt) and a large part of the company is located in India- specifically Gurgaon. As a result myself and my team have a lot of counterparts in India. Sometimes these associates are allowed to travel to the United States and currently we have two associates, Taresh and Jitender here with us. As part of their customs, they always bring gifts (hey, no complains here). These are the lovely gifts that I received. First up, was the gift from Taresh (which he admits his wife picked out and wrapped for him). He told me that the building design with the window is what princesses have designed for them-- so heck if its good enough for a princess count me in. The gift was also wrapped in the local newspaper which I found fascinating. I couldn't read a single symbol (its symbols, not letters) and Taresh was telling me what the newspaper said. Super cool! The next gift was from Jitender. My naive butt asked him if the elephant represented anything and he had to explain to me that it wasn't just an elephant but it was a god in Indian religion named Ganesha. Clearly my world culture knowledge is limited! He explained that this god is who they worshop everytime they start something new and Ganesha keeps away the obstacles when embarking on a new journey. I thought it was perfect for me :)

I have also heard many stories about India-- all of which almost dying in the cabs/cars due to the insane traffic. Apparently no one there obeys any traffic laws, and they regard them as "guidelines". If you get pulled over you can just pay off the cop and go on your way.

The world Cricket games also took place about a week ago and India won, which is a VERY big deal-- like think the Superbowl on steroids.

I really like learning about other cultures and find it good to help expand my world views.

Handy Hubby Strikes Again

Over Christmas Melanie sent us a new thermostat. You see, when she came to visit us for our wedding shower we were having some furnace issues and since the Winslow's are the experts in heating and cooling she helped us fix them. Mr. Winslow told her that our original thermostat was crap and we needed a new one. The reason that we (and when I say we, I mean Louis) hadn't installed it right away is that we were fearful that if we screwed it up we wouldn't have heat in the dead of winter. This past weekend with the nice weather Louis took the plunge and decided to install the new touch screen thermostat. He did a great job and it took under an hour. Plus he got to use his power tools, which is a great day for him.

As you can see the new one is super cool, and we still have to do some patching/painting since our old one was so much larger. For now we have a slightly ugly wall and a pretty thermostat. Now I just need to learn how to use the thing!

Spring Cleaning

We have lived in our house for about 2 years now and frankly we are collecting way too much stuff. I decided that it was time to do some spring cleaning and clean out the closets. My rule was if I haven't used/worn it in over a year, then it must go. Now, I started this little project while Louis was sleeping on the bed but when he woke up I convinced him to join the fun too. After all he has a slight hording complex (thanks Bill) and I need to try and manage :)

All of the stuff for Goodwill.

Louis is the person who collect shoe boxes (see, he is a horder) and I finally convinced him we don't need the boxes so lets get rid of them!

Trash pile. Lots of crappy t-shirts and ripped clothes

All bagged up. The white bags were for goodwill, as well as the brown bags. The black ones were trash or recycle.

Overall, it was a super productive Saturday. Not only did we manage to purge and clear our closets but we also dropped off the stuff at Goodwill the same day-- that way there was no way the stuff could simply sit around our house and collect dust waiting for us to drop it off.

Our Michigan Trip

This past weekend Louis and I went to Michigan to visit Melanie and Ryan. (And of course the rest of the Winslow family). It was really great to take a mini-break from work and our usual weekend routine and spend time with my awesome friend Melanie. Heck-- I had not seen her since my wedding-- talk about insane!!!! Melanie and Ryan were great hosts! They spoiled Louis and I and even tossed in a brand new Little Green Machine. :) We went out to a lot of nice meals and got to spend time with Janice and Kevin as well, which is always a treat. Plus, I had my first visit to Down River (the company that Kevin owns that Melanie also works at). Melanie's cat, Stevey and Louis developed a good bond while there so I am sure that they are both equally upset that we had to leave and come home. Melanie and Ryan also officially introduced me to Modern Family-- and heck that show is freakin hilarious. I watched at least 12 episodes while I was there. I will need to Netflix the rest of season 1. We also had a girls vs. boys Wii sport battle with Melanie and I coming out as the champs :) I can't wait for our next get together because everytime we see them it feels entirely too short! Thanks again for a great weekend. Oh P.S. I brought my camera but didn't actually take pictures-- oops!

Darn you Michigan!

Michigan and I are in a fight-- one that will last approximately 6 days until I actually visit there next week. You see, not only did Michigan steal my BFF Melanie, but now it is stealing Samantha. Ironically, Melanie and Samantha are from the same place in Michigan and went to the same high school. Now Samantha is leaving Hewitt, and Illinois to move back to Canton, and well heck, Melanie owns a house in Canton too.

Even crazier is the fact that Samantha's going away party (not to be confused with her fun happy hour last night) is next weekend when I will be in the very town she is moving to.

Also, why the heck is the state split up into two part-- that is just silly.

Want to know why MSU lost in the NCAA tournament last night-- cause Michigan stinks and steals my friends, thats why!

The Most Random Post Ever

I know I have been MIA lately but honestly I haven't had many fun things to write about. Instead I thought I would share some random pictures on my computer from college. Here is to a walk down memory lane.

This picture is just plain weird!!

Melanie and I's kegger senior year

Louis and I

Katie and I at Daddios

The Kramer/Malic Monthly Date

As many of you know, Katie and I have gotten together at least once a month since we graduated from IWU (we are going on 5 years in April-- crap that makes me feel old!!). We wanted to do something different besides hanging out at one of our houses for the February date so Katie came up with the idea of going to the Improv Comedy Club in Schaumburg. We grabbed dinner at Ram beforehand (the place was PACKED). The show was actually more funny than I expected which is always a good thing.

Here is a picture Katie took with her fancy new camera. Also, check out the super cute new hairdo she is rockin!!