Sans Luggage in Lima

Our trip began a bit unfortunately, with the loss of all of our luggage, and its remaining lost for several days. Ken was partially hoping they would never show up, and then our pictures would look like we had done all of our sightseeing on the same day. 

For our first escapade around Lima, we visited the Larco museum, a former hacienda that was converted into a museum by an archaeologist, complete with its own erotic art gallery (which we refrained from taking pictures of--unlike a couple of our braver friends). 

Most impressive was the storage room, where thousands of pristine ceramics were being held behind glass because there were just too many to display! 

And while Lima might be a rather unattractive city thanks to its habit of leaving its buildings unfinished, it did have some lovely plazas. 

And some colorful slums!

And some colorful dances...

one of which I was a part of!

And although we did get sick of the same clothes and same buffets after a couple days, all's well that end's well, and since our bags met us at the airport on our way out of Lima, we were able to change out of our three-day clothes and climb into the thin air of Cusco. 

Christmastime is Here

Before everyone dispersed over the holidays, we took the time to have everyone over for a mini Christmas celebration. 

Someday we will have enough room to really accommodate everyone, but until then we will remain cramped and cozy.  

Nothing says Christmas quite like cookies and caroling. 

Turkey Day

This Thanksgiving I was grateful that no one got Salmonella.

(gloves are clean, I promise)

As it was my first turkey to roast all by myself, I was a bit preoccupied with continuously cloroxing my kitchen and avoiding any and all direct contact with the bird. Until it was done, of course. 

Also on the menu:

an enormous vat of homemade mac and cheese, a staple that has been added to our menu since moving to Chicago. It's also one of the only parts of Thanksgiving Ken claims to look forward to.

We spent the day with several other law school couples and their friends, enjoying great food and company. 

And then all fell into food comas. 

Peanut Butter

We are now back in the swing of things, but before I launch into a long list of back blogging, most noticeably about our recent jaunt to Peru, I figured I would post something that everyone would enjoy. 

I am at twenty weeks today, and have started to poke out a little bit. I always think I am a lot bigger until I see a really pregnant lady, and then my illusions of grandeur are deflated. However, I think it is safe to say that I am "showing".

And since I am at twenty weeks, we had a little ultrasound yesterday to officially meet our little peanut.

Actually, little is a bit of an understatement. Peanut is about a week ahead of where my estimated due date is, so we might be welcoming him/her a little sooner than expected.

And although Kenny remained strong throughout the ultrasound, I had moments of weakness when I was very close to asking what the gender was. In the end, though, we held out.

Any guesses?

Too soon?

We figured this was the last time we could use Ken's idea for our Halloween costumes for this year, since outside of Chicago people probably aren't as familiar with the sad story of the Cubs underperforming season in 2003.

Meet Steve Bartman and Moises Alou.

Can you believe we have so much Cubs paraphinalia?

Cross One Off the Bucket List

Last weekend we got the chance to drive over to South Bend and see our Cougs play Notre Dame! We were joined by the male counterparts of the law school crowd and enjoyed seeing campus and watching the game. One of our friends that came with us at one point described it as "Disneyland for religious people." Here's why.

Touchdown Jesus (Sacreligious? Possibly.)

which (who?) is also visible from the stadium, of course...

we also found first-down Moses, complete with horns

and the Basilica of the Sacred Heart.

They also have some great football traditions. Their tailgating is legendary--a huge college parking lot bumper-to-bumper with cars and tents and lots of food. Before their games the entire crowd lines up along one part of campus as the players walk down an alley to get to the stadium, and then the marching band is followed into the stadium by the fans. And even though BYU didn't end up winning (surprise, surprise), it was still a close game and the stadium was full of enough BYU fans that Ken was satisfied.

Lil' Peanut

Can anybody guess what this is?