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 :)

GOIN' DANCIN'!!

So last night Josh had a wonderful date planned. Josh had gotten an E mail saying that there was going to be a dance at the Gleacher center. HURRAY!!! I was so excited they said they were even going to have dance instructions before hand... so we both get dressed up. I even wore my contacts. We get there and this is what we find!ok so the picture isn't of the best quality, but it shows that we were the only ones there!!! hahaha It was an awesome room surrounded with glass windows overlooking the river. So we figured we couldn't let this dance floor go to waste so Josh got out his cell phone that he has conveniently downloaded songs onto and we danced anyway! It was a lot fun. All that dancing gave us an appetite so we decided we would go out to eat. As we walked to the Cheesecake Factory we walked around the tribune building that has rocks from all around the world built into it. It has rocks from the Great Wall of China, The White House, etc. But this one was my favorite!! And yes it was as cold as it looks... -20 degrees with wind chill.... we were dying!! Here is one more pic of the delicious dessert we had! may I recommend the lemon raspberry cheesecake! Now it was REALLY to die for... the walk up michigan ave. in the freezing cold was worth it.

A trip down memory lane

A trip down memory lane...As I can never think of things to blog about I have "borrowed" ideas from other people's....Here's whatcha do.:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember.
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.
3. Remember, if you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺
4. Consider this a Tag: if you've read it, you have to do it!

(I copied this from Clarisa so she better at least write something!!! LOVE YOU CHICA!)

Referee Please

I need to get something off my chest. It's been a long, drawn-out discussion, and we need a referee to get things straight. A friend recently posted on her blog that some things she's just now learning about her spouse after several years of marriage. We've almost hit the four month mark, but I didn't just learn this. It's been bothering me every time I set the table, every time food of any sort is going to be consumed and a utensil is required: do you use a spoon or fork?

• What if it is served in a bowl? Of course, the rational, reasonable, and correct answer is that a spoon is required! How else can you get everything off the bottom of the bowl? Forks leave so much wanting in this sad realm, and yet Barbie seems fixated that if it has any solid-like mass, a fork has to be used. Examples include stew, macaroni, even ice cream on occasion! It is just unreasonable
• And then question 2, the one that leads up to question 1: do you serve the meal in a bowl or on a plate? Of course, if it's something solid, it should go on the plate! Take spaghetti for example: it clearly belongs on a plate, so that a fork can be used. In a bowl, a spoon would be required in order to get all the sauce left on the bottom, but a spoon clearly won't work for spaghetti! Some plates have lips, and I agree that these are preferred for things with sauce such as spaghetti, but to go to the extreme of a deep dish bowl? I rest my case.