No, we aren't dead.

O.K. so my future mother in law has been giving me a really hard time about not updating the blog so here it goes. I remain fairly confident that she may be the only person actually checking it and since we talk to her about 10 times a day this seems unnecessary but whatever.

Since we haven't updated since November we have a lot to share. We moved to Chicago as planned and I am happy to report that Jud and I are still in love even after a horrifying 13 hour drive from D.C. to Chicago in the moving truck. It was not fun.

After we settled into our lovely apartment we didn't sit still for too long. We spent Thanksgiving up north at the lake house (Manitowish Waters, Wisconsin for those of you who aren't in the know). It was wonderful. I love being somewhere that feels so remote and untouched. Right after Thanksgiving we jetted off to D.C. for a really special weekend. We celebrated Dennis' 60th birthday and Mary Jo was honored as one of the 10 Jewish Women to Watch in 2008 for her work in family therapy.

Soon after we returned from D.C. we left the lovely Chicago weather for Arizona and Hawaii. We spent 10 days in Arizona with my family and friends and then met up with the Barrett-O'Keefe clan in Maui. I always love being in Hawaii with the family since it is one of the only times all of us are together. After our time in Hawaii Jud and I returned to Arizona for another week. This was the longest time I had spent at home since the summer after my Freshman year of college so that was really great for me. Not to mention it's always nice to swim in January.

However the fun in the sun was soon over and we had to return to our new home in Chicago. Call me crazy but I was actually excited to go back and experience the winter. Don't worry I got over it in about a week. In fact, as I write this is it nearly the middle of April and it's 35 degrees out. I am officially over the winter. O.K. so back to our travels. I went to Denver and Vail in January to visit my favorite aunt's and ski for about 1 hour. I hadn't skied in a few years and was quickly reminded why I didn't really like it. Nevertheless it was fun seeing family and spending time in the mountains.

Apparently I needed a little more fun in the sun so it was off to Jamaica! This part is actually kind of interesting. Jud's cousin was getting married in Jamaica and the five of us (Mary Jo, Dennis, Lilli, Jud and me) were all scheduled to go. But when Jud got his class schedule for the semester we realized he would have to miss too many classes to go to Jamaica so he skipped out and Lilli brought a friend. At first it was a little weird being on vacation with Jud's family and not Jud but I ended up having a blast with everyone. I even let someone talk me into jumping off a 30 foot cliff into the ocean.

So that is it for our travels. Jud is loving school and doing great I might add. I on the other hand have hit a little rough patch. I have yet to find a job I am really interested in and am really getting tired of not working. I have not been totally worthless though. I have done some volunteering with the Obama campaign and have done a couple projects for my former employer to make a few extra bucks. Nevertheless I am ready to work. Oh, I forgot one thing. I applied to a masters program at DePaul back in February and I recently found out I was accepted! So in the fall I will begin the Master's in Public Service Management program at DePaul. I am really looking forward to going back to school and I found a program that looks like a great fit for me.

O.K. so this post was really just a cliff notes version of the last 5 months. Jud and I are really going to try to update more ofter so we won't have to bore you with such a lengthy post in the future. Feel free to click the link on the top right hand part of our page to see some of our updated photos!

John