Spring Break '08 Baby!

Hi everybody,
Sooo...I finished writing my last final on Tuesday morning, phew! Then I went to meet my friend Evelyn from D.C. who was in town for a conference at the Hilton on Michigan Avenue...ooh la la... We had a great dinner at The Italian Village on Monroe, have you ever been there? It's really cute. It's decorated to look like you're sitting in at outdoor courtyard in Italy somewhere. So we had A LOT of food and some chocolate mousse for dessert...mmmm...and then I stayed over at her hotel which had the comfiest big beds ever. Wednesday I went to my internship for a few hours, then when Ev finished her conference around 2:00 she came to see my office and we did a little sightseeing downtown. We walked through Millenium Park, made the hike over to Navy Pier, shopped at Borders, had some Starbucks, and then it was time for Ev to catch her flight back to D.C. It was a great day! Today, Linny and I brought some groceries down to Theresa's house on the south side, and then we took two of her daughters shopping downtown for the day. They're on spring break this week too and they said we saved their break...they've been sitting home bored all week. Hooray for us! We all bought some shoes, except for Linny, got some delish Garrett's popcorn and had a smoothie at Watertower Place. Another great day. So we aren't spending spring break on a white sandy beach somewhere...but we're still having a pretty good time. I'm working at the bar the rest of the weekend, but I don't go back to school till April 1st. Oh how I love sleeping in. Well that's all that's new and exciting around here. Dana's in Las Vegas with Josh and Linny and I are watching a movie with Toulouse. Three months from now I'll be in Europe...but until then I'll be right here on the big red couch. Love you all!

Ame
(and Linny and Toe)

Can it please hurry up and be summer?

Buon Giorno! I think that's hello in Italian...now I've just got to learn some Greek. This is my itinerary for the summer, pretty cool, huh? The map shows a 24-day cruise that I'll do about four times while I'm there. Venice is going to be our home port so we'll be there every 12 days or so, stopping for an overnight. That'll be really nice, because usually you get to a port in the morning and have to be back on the ship by 7 or 8 at night. It'll be great to have two or three days there at a time. Uncle Lee is still trying to figure out what would be the best ship job for him now that I found out that the clocks change themselves when you go to a different time zone. He had his sights set on being the clock changer...so now we have to come up with an alternative. I just found out that one of the girls I sailed with in Alaska will be with me this summer so that's cool, it's always nicer to get to a ship where you know someone. (Not that I have a hard time talking to new people...haha...) The hardest part about all of this is that I have to keep all my tattoos covered while I'm working. THAT will be a challenge. Looks like it's long sleeved shirts for the summer. Luckily the ship is super air-conditioned. Right. Well. Just thought I'd share my little map with you. If anyone wants to come visit me you can stay in the penthouse suite for the bargain price of about $20,000...

xo

ame

Have you ever seen such a cute girl???

Okay I'm talking about TOULOUSE, of course. She's just so cute I want to squeeze her til she pops! We've been on the couch a few hours now. Just watched Michael Clayton which was VERY good. I worked at the bar from 6am-noon, now I'm on a break and I go back to work tonight for more fun fun fun. Is anyone actually reading these? Haven't gotten a lot of comments lately people...Dying to know whats up with the family these days...

Okay well just thought I'd invite some participation. Hope everyone's happy and healthy.

xo

ame

Family Night

It's family night here at The Ashland. Me, Linny and Jason are eating pizza, having a beer and watching a DVD of me, Lin and Uncle Lee zip-cording through the Mexican Jungle. Whoa, flashback! Luce is sleeping on my lap and Dad is here trying to fix our furnace...we have no heat! And it's cold out! Who else is ready for summer to hurry up and get here???

Nothing much else going on really...Linny and I are both stuck into school, lots of papers to write and books to read. I have a paper due tomorrow that I haven't started yet, which is why I'm sitting here blogging. Ha. Let's hear it for procrastination! Spring Break is only a few weeks away... but I'll be staying in Chicago. No more vacations til I leave for the ship in June!

What's happening with everybody else? Ronnie's 51st b-day is coming up in a few days. Can you believe it's been a year since his Prom Party? Time flies. Well folks, that's all I've got for you. Sorry there's not more to entertain, but life is a little boring at the moment.