Mojito!!

What do all students have in common? We love FREE stuff! There's just something special about the word free when you don't have a job and are pinching and saving to get by. And what happens when you combine the word free with food? Something that reminds me of piranhas!

The business school host a Liquidity Preference Function (LPF, aka Happy Hour) every Friday, and this last one was held at the restaurant Carnival. The appetizers were oh so yummy, and it was just hilarious to see waiters running across the room and flocks of students chasing after the scrumptious food they carried!

One dedicated waiter really wanted to get us a drink, and when we informed him we don't drink alcohol, he made us a delicious concoction called a Mojito--YUMMY!

Ingredients:

• Rum (we skipped this part)
• Crushed mint leaves
• Sugar
• Soda Water
• Lime

Scrumpdiliumptious!!!

Attention All Snowboarders

I know Utah and Colorado have some great options when it comes to getting groovy on the slopes, but if you've never experienced snowboarding in the great city of Chicago, you are missing out! Check out these black diamonds...
This was a competition, with contestants coming from all over the midwest, held on Michigan Ave, downtown Chicago. We could not believe how serious everyone took this and the number of spectators it drew. It was tower of wood and metal, a couple rails, and that's about it. The difficulty of finding good slopes in the flat midwest...

Valentines Day Dance

In honor of Valentines Day Josh and I went to the ward Valentines Day dance!!! It was a BLAST! we danced up a storm. For all who know us well, know how much we love to dance! We even won 2nd place in the dance competition! Stanley Cannon was just on FIRE!! Impossibe to beat! It was tough competion with Spencer Clives groovin' moves and Matt hutchinson! Dang they gave us a run for our money $$$$.
and MONICA!!!!! She was HOT STUFF!! We had tons of F U N !!

Madsenowie

We've been "The Madsen's" for six months now!!! Hurray hurray! Whooop whoop! hubba hubba!$! What does six months of being married to your best friend get you? Read on, dear reader, to find out!

What I've learned about Barbie:

1. She looks SO good in the morning! She's cute in the evening too, but there's just something about the pure freshness of her sizzling presence that gets me in the morning.

2. She can cook a mean Chicken Cordon Bleau~just watch out!

3. She is fantastic at supporting our family in praying together, reading scriptures nightly, and holding FHE~ if there ain't FHE, she ain't a happy girl!

4. She is a true book worm! I guess we were just too busy during the courtship to find out, but she can get addicted to a good book! And the best part is we love reading together outloud.

5. She is super caring, sensitive, and involved. She cares deeply about how we are doing and in doing our best as a couple. She is my best friend.

5 Things I've Learned about Josh

1. He is really good at balancing school and marriage. He's always home for dinner, never makes excuses to cancel FHE, and always makes time to read a good book with me.

2. Josh is truly competitive. He is always up for a good game of scrabble.

3. Josh is a really good cook. He loves to cook by my side.

4. He is a spiritual giant and always is an example to me. he may not be 100% obedient to everything I tell him to do (mr. stubborn) but is always obedient to the Lord.

5. He is always trying to improve himself and our marriage. He is so supportive of all my goals and helps me reach them. I love him so much, he is my best friend.

Fire! Fire!

About 7:10 PM we got a loud bang on our door. Barbie and I were baking a birthday cake for a friend and getting ready to go play games with the Hall's. It sounded urgent, but nobody was at the door. I heard some yelling, and climbed the stairs to see what was going on (we live in the garden unit). Then I smelled smoke, saw a thick haze in our building hallways, and rushed outside to see smoke just billowing from the mansion next door--and in Chicago next door means 5-8 feet from our building wall to theirs.
Our street was lined with fire engines, men rushing wildly around the house. Loud crashes filled the air as windows were smashed, and as the front door was forced open the entire back porch erupted in flames--flames that would envelope the entire house, consume walls, roof, porches, and eventually softly lick even our own new home.
A nice couple lives there, and had left that afternoon. Nobody was hurt, and the inspector says the brick walls (for that's all that's left) are stable and won't crash in and kill us in our beds. Our building was evacuated, and it's something else to see valiant men working to save your own home.
Four hours later, and the fire is out; the street is blanketed in a layer of ice as water still spews from the fire hydrant. An answer to prayers, not even the screen windows are damaged on our building; the wood porches and outside stairs are wet (but not charred!) and we still have a home. I wish I could say the same for our neighbors.

Chicago Booth!

My school recently received a generous contribution and was renamed the Chicago Booth School of Business! Barbie came down this last Friday (hoping to cash in on some free food, but like most free things in a student town, it went fast!) and we did a small photo shoot! I love having Barbie around--she makes even the simple things in life grand!
Here's the neat cafeteria, where I have yet to purchase anything. But it's great for a free fork and spoon!
Here's a classroom--Professor Madsen!
I hang out here a lot :)