We Miss Fort Myers

Since I was finally able to load all of our pictures onto my computer, I can fill all of our loyal blog readers in on the last bit of time we spent in Fort Myers... the week before the week before we moved - no I did not accidental type that twice, i really meant the week before the week before we moved - my family (minus Lo) came to visit. Here are some pictures...

Jon and I at Ichabod's

Me, Stew, and his friend Brandon

All of us to dinner at Ichabods

Stew hanging out with the Gorilla at Jungle Golf

Stew and I at Jungle golf - he wanted to drop the golf ball and try to get it in the picture - do you see it?

When my family left we got serious about moving. Saturday before Easter, Brooke and Tori spent all day at our house - the truck was mostly loaded and we were doing last minute cleaning and packing the "little" stuff - but WOW did we have a lot of little stuff! We could not have done it without them! LATE that night - like 9pm we FINALLY finished and treated them to dinner at Jason's Deli - MAN we MISS these girls!!!

Jon and I on Easter - our last Sunday @ McGregor :(

Jon enjoying his Easter bunny with his Grammy

Jon and his papa checking out the load Jon had to pull - I can't believe he drove this 1000 miles!

Jon and his papa right before we pulled out :(

Jon and I - our last few seconds @ Paseo!

We are loving Louisville, but we do miss Ft Myers, and the sunshine, and our lovely home in beautiful Paseo, and most of all our friends and family! We can't wait to visit, it couldn't come soon enough!

1 Year of Marital Bliss...

Jon and I took 2 weekends to celebrate our anniversary. On the actual day, May 16th, we just relaxed together, slept in, went to lunch, open gifts, went to see my bro dressed up for Jr. Prom, went to eat at Jack Frye's - which by the way was the ABSOLUTE BEST meal either of us had ever eaten in a restaurant! We also saw a movie - but it was boring! Here is a pic of us dressed up to go to dinner on our actual anniversary...

I got Jon a picture that he liked of me from after our wedding for his office and a subscription to car and driver magazine!

Jon got me a charm for my Pandora bracelet that is silver and gold with "M"s all over it! I love it!

This past weekend (The 22nd-24th) Jon and I went to Chicago to get away together for our anniversary! We stayed at an amazing hotel called the W Lakeshore and it was awesome! Here are some pics of our room...

There was a window that went from the bedroom to the bathroom...

And since it was our anniversary they gave us a lakeview room and breakfast vouchers... here is the view from our hotel window.

While shopping on the Magnificent Mile we found this lego store that had crazy things made completely out of legos...

Here is us in the giant bean in Millennium Park...

We also visited the Art Institute of Chicago! They had some pretty amazing works of art there that surprised us! We were able to see the American Gothic by Grant Wood, A Sunday on La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat, and a ton of Monet's work!

Saturday Night we went to see Legally Blonde the Musical on Broadway and had SO much fun!

And our FAVORITE thing we ate all week was Portillo's Chicago Hotdogs! Yes we had Chicago Pizza, and went to a really nice place to eat before the show, but we ate here TWICE it was SOOO good!

We also visited Navy Pier

And OF COURSE we road the Ferris wheel - which we could see from our hotel window!

We had a great time! What a joy to celebrate one year of marriage to Jon! He truly is my delight :)

Reasons Why I Need My Camera Charger

1. Tomorrow is Jon and I's 1st wedding anniversary
2. Tomorrow is also my little brother's Junior Prom
3. Sunday-Tuesday Meg, Liv, and Whitney are coming to visit
4. Friday Jon and I leave for a weekend trip to Chicago to celebrate our wedding anniversary

(It would be sad not to capture this all on film....)

5. Our blog has been devoid of pictures for far to long
6. We haven't even SEEN the pictures from our move
7. Non of Jon's family, or our FL friends have seen pictures of where we live

And the list goes on....

Dear UPS

I'm sorry I wasn't home when you brought my camera charger - I didn't know it required a signature :( Please bring it back...

On the Lookout

For my camera charger! In our move from Fort Myers to Louisville we packed our camera charger - somewhere - and it is still packed - somewhere - SO.... I ordered a new one (since there in no way we can unpack all the things that are still packed into our little apartment), and it should be here TOMORROW! woohooo, which means I can FINALLY upload and post pictures from our move, PLUS use the camera again! Especially for Saturday which is our 1 year Anniversary. My how this year has flown by! So, please UPS, delivery my charger on time :)

Mother's Day

We had a great time celebrating Mother's Day yesterday! We went to church, and in church Jon's 1st video that he has made for Highview played - it was a video interview of 2 families in our church who are going through/have gone through the adoption process. It was wonderful! (Mom cried and I was close). Dr. Moore delivered a powerful message on adoption, but vertical and horizontal. We were challenged to not keep reaching back to the orphanage (the world) but to remember that we were adopted - past tense - and we are now sons and heirs, living for the inheritance that is promised us.

After church we went to my parent's house for lunch. My grandparents, and my dad's sister and her family came over. We had a yummy lunch of lasagna, bruchetta, and salad followed by wonderful desserts (Cherry Delight, Beatty's Chocolate cake - thank you Ina, and Strawberry cake). Then we played Cornhole in the backyard and just enjoyed the day. I had never played cornhole before and it was so much fun!

For Mother's day this year we got my mom, Jon's mom, and Jon's grandmother Pandora bracelets (well my dad actually got my mom the bracelet so we just got her a charm). I love my Pandora Bracelet - it is a new kind of charm bracelet where you add beads that actually slide onto the bracelet. Here are the charms we got the mothers in our lives.... (Jon's mom's first, then Jon's Grammy's, then my mom's)

Chicago Bound

To celebrate our one year anniversary, Which is UNBELIEVABLY on May 16th (I just cannot believe it has happened so quickly), Jon and I will be spending a weekend in Chicago. We will actually be going the weekend following our anniversary because there is a convention happening in Chicago, for what we are unsure, but it has made it quite difficult to acquire a hotel room that is affordable, but none the less we are excited! We will be staying at "The W Hotel Lakeshore" and while we are there we will be seeing "Legally Blonde" the musical, on Broadway while we are there. We are very much looking forward to our trip. If any of you have suggestions of restaurants, or sights to see while we are there let us know!

Getting Settled

It has been far too long since we have blogged, so I will give you an update on the settling process.

Jon and I are "in" our home, and it is close to being finished - we still just have to hang a few pictures and the curtains. It is soooo much smaller than our first home, so unpacking was a chore just trying to get everything to fit. We ended up leaving a lot of things packed for the next move - we are no anxious for that at all! We love the area we live in. We actually walked to dinner the other night, and have walked to the grocery store! We live close to our jobs, to my parents, and to lots of shops and restaurants - which is fun!

On the job front - Jon started Monday at Highview, and is still aching to get started! The first week has been a lot of meetings, a lot of prep work, and a lot of ordering equipment, and once the equipment gets in he will probably be busier than we anticipate. I have also found a job here in Louisville, which I started on Monday. God has had his hand in our move so much I cannot even explain it all, but here is the short version... I was riding around Thursday looking for a job when I got a call from the Southern Baptist Seminary saying that a friend, Dan Dewitt, had recommended me for a job as "Concierge" to the new welcome center called the "Sesquicentennial Pavilion". I went in to interview Friday, and then for a second interview Monday. They called Monday night and offered me the job, and asked me to start on Tuesday. Needless to say it all happened very fast, but the job is fantastic, and I love it! Plus the benefits are amazing - Jon will get to go to school at Boyce for free, and I will probably start my Master's degree - very slowly- for free!

We miss Fort Myers so much, our Family and friends, and church, but God continues to show himself faithful in more ways than I can type :) We are so glad to be following His plan!

I will post pictures as soon as I can find my camera charger (or buy a new one)!

Upcoming Events in the Life of the Malko's

Life has been so busy lately that I wonder how it can get much busier, but I know it will! Jon and I are excited that my family (minus Lauren) will be coming to visit on Saturday. It is Stewart's spring break, and my parents are bringing him with his friend Brandon, not to mention it is their last chance to come to our Florida home! Jon and I both have 1 more week of work left as of today, and then we pack for a whole week. I still have to admit that this all seems more like something we are just talking about than something that is actually going to come to fruition! Keep my family in your prayers as they drive through the night on Friday! Pictures will come soon!

Change of Plans

So... one thing I have learned with this move is that we HAVE to be flexible! Unfortunately the landlord of that cute house in the previous post went back on some of the agreements we had made, so Jon and I are actually going to move into a different place. It is still an adorable condo, with a cute courtyard, hardwood floors, 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and a large eat in kitchen (no dining room). But it is really cute - I don't have a pic for now - but we will soon.

Other progress made: Got a new bank account @ Chase, and have our Penske truck reserved!

Thanks for your prayers - keep em up!