Doing a Better Job...

I created this blog a couple of years ago to keep our friends and fam updated with all that has been happening in Chicago with us...needless to day...days, turned into months, which turned into a year or two...and I haven't posted on here in a long time!!! I get a little sidetracked and seem to not be able to do too many things at once...my mom always said I wandered around to the beat of my own drum...now I get to wander around with an amazing husband...the coolest dog ever and some amazing friends!!
I will do a better job of keeping y'all updated on our happenings...because I also tend to not be that much of a sharer and feel more comfortable out of the limelight, so no one has to look at me...crazy thoughts in my head.

As of right now, we are about to move away from Chicago, to either CA or AZ depending on Mike's work.
I have gotten really involved with a Spiritual Community here called Bodhi and have been volunteering as their Bookstore Team Lead...because I am a bookworm...it just fits.
Recently a decision has been made on my part to become a Doula, someone who helps women through their pregnancies, birth and after delivery....to my excitement, there aren't any special requirements in order to become one...I am actually quite excited about it. I will be able to use my knowledge from my learnings at Bodhi and Spiritual Practices of Meditation, Prayer, Intention and Study and bring those into helping women enjoy the Process of bringing new life into the World. I will also be able to add more value to their home life as I am a Wellness Home Consultant, and we help people remove toxins from their home environment for their bodies to function at a higher level.

Looking forward to this new adventure.

Mike is still the foundation of leadership at Trader Joes, and my go to guy for all the new products they receive, it is fun to have him come home from work and find a new treat to taste test! Love that he works there.

He is active in his disc golf...he is in the process of healing from a back injury, pretty soon I will be able to get him on a yoga mat...maybe...
He takes Cashis with him to go play on his days off....and I think he is looking forward to not having to drive hours upon hours to play a round...

He has also started to train dogs, that just kind of happened. He has done such a great job with Cashis, everytime we walk Cashis, people rave about how well trained he is...so Mike and I decided to see if he can help other people with their dogs...we will see how it goes. I think it will be good for Mike, he is such an amazing teacher, explains things well and has the demeanor to train the dogs and their owners, so they all are happy!!


I will leave you with a picture of Chicago, or a couple, depending on how many I find on the computer...love this city...going to miss it when we move:

 Take Down!!!

 Pool anyone? at the Chicago Auto Show

 Really? So mad at you for making me sit on here with it being so cold...mean face

 30th Birthday!!! Wonderful weekend all planned by my hubby, he is amazing

 I was even sober...

 Lost my dear friend Richard in February...he is now forever surrounding us in Joy

 Can't be Summer without CUBS GAMES!!!

 Two favorites of mine...

 Love and Marriage...the "Married with Children" fountain

 Capt Mike...where to?

 Anniversary Sunset Cruise

 Dad and Mike at Diamond X in MT....LOVED this course, and yes, that is a cliff they are teeing off from...

The little less treacherous course at Pioneer Park

Your Married!?!?!

Yep!!

We are married.
That is how we roll...

I really hadn't thought of what my "ideal wedding day" would look like. I knew it would be relaxing, fun and totally low key. Mike and I had discussed it very early on in our dating life together...I think we both knew we were right for each other. He is just amazing to me, I love being around him. He is humorous, playful, adventurous, and just makes me laugh.
A dress didn't concern me. Where we got married didn't concern me. I am all about being simple, natural and really laid back...and that is how our day turned out!

We also have some goals/intentions we are working on; we want to purchase a house (preferably out west!) within the next couple years and work on some other large intentions for each other. The economist inside me couldn't justify spending thousands of dollars on creating a special day while we could save that money and create a thousand special days to last a lifetime.
The cost benefit analysis :) (putting some people to sleep here...) was leaning towards saving the money we would spend on a wedding day/weekend.


Mike actually needs to look into a career as a part time wedding planner, because he is the one who had the location in mind. One of his best friends here in Chicago has family that has private land called Donut Lake.

Its called Donut Lake, because there is a lake with an island in the middle.
So beautiful.

We decided to go camping for a couple days beforehand to just relax, bbq and fish!

Cashis wanting to go out on the boat...he was about ready to jump in and swim towards Mike.

I am sure most women would be very particular about how the day was to go, what she was wearing, all that jazz...It honestly never crossed my mind. Ok, there was a part of me that wanted the white dress with big fanfare, but the majority of me...didn't. How we did our wedding day was perfect for the type of personality we both have. We also kinda like surprising people too, so that is the fun part.

We ended up having such a great day, I was able to do yoga that morning on the island and Mike caught 17 fish the morning we got married! Talk about right timing! :)

I do remembering sitting by the lake while Mike was fishing thinking about all the people who have been a part of my life, and Mike and I discussed people we would enjoy being around on this day.
So just because we didn't have the majority of our friends and family with us physically, we had all of you in our thoughts and prayers. A big thank you to my favorite professors, and coaches, family friends from MT, from high school, family, former teammates and dear friends. I am sure Mike feels the same way about all of his buddies from CA, we know you would have made the day even better! We love you so much.

Here are some photos from that day:

Yes, Mike is wearing one of his Blackhawk hats...we joke that if he would have chosen to wear a Cubs hat, they might be winning the world series soon....all in all...

we're just saying the Blackhawks Stanley Cup win had everything to do with Mike wearing that cap on our wedding day...not that they had a kick ass team means anything....

This is Jim, he married us. He is a good friend of Mikes!

He put a ring on it...yay!!! 

We were playing in the flowers

This is Michele...she introduced us...Mrs Matchmaker herself. 

She is so awesome, We both love her so much. 

We are having our little shin-dig at her place.

The sunset as we were leaving to head home. 

Hey...Mike Proposed...

I never thought in a million years I would ever get married.
Funny things happen when we least expect.

Below is all coming from Mike's point of view, since he was the one doing the proposing...
I decided to have a surprise picnic at sunset.
It just so happened to be what I consider the most gorgeous view of my favorite city (Chicago).
(Almost as gorgeous as my new wife)

Nancy didn't let me finish what I wanted to say as I went down on one knee because she started to cry, I left that place with a ring on her finger...and a bloody lip...ask me for details.

Here is a pic of the place we had the picnic

Our Version of Dates...

We love being outdoors and really active. 
We met at

Ginger's Ale House, 
attended a

a Cubs Game,
watched

the Bulls play, 

learned new sports: 

Still working on my form...

Thoughts on Each Other the First Time You Met...

Nancy: 
I seriously thought Mike was totally awesome when I first met him. Michele had described him perfectly. I love his sense of humor, we had a great conversation when we went out to lunch for the first time. He was tall (yes!!) and had the most beautiful eyes and warm, inviting smile. I was hooked...

Mike: 
A woman who is smart, beautiful, tall (yes!) and loves to play and watch sports...and has a sportscenter ring tone!  

About Mike "Mick" Hanson

Where were you born?
Colorado Springs, CO  

Did you play any sports growing up?

baseball, basketball, soccer

Favorite Color?

Orange and Blue

When did you move to Chicago? 

3 1/2 yrs ago

Why did you move to Chicago?

Work, sports teams, new adventure

What are 5 things you enjoy about Chicago?

1. sports (going to home games)

2. people

3. food

4. Lake

5. Summer

What are 3 things you like least about Chicago?

1. Winter/Cold

2. Traffic

3. Expensive

What are you currently doing in Chicago? 

marinating...

About Nancy

Where were you born? 

Billings, Mt

How many siblings do you have?

3 older siblings

How many states did you live in when you were growing up? 

2: MT and CA

Did you play any sports?

Y: basketball, volleyball and track (discus and shot put)

What is your fondest memory of childhood?

growing up in MT, absolutely love that state

Where did you go to College?

Northwest College (jr college)

Willamette University

What was your major?

basketball...kidding: Economics

Favorite Color?

Green

Favorite Animal? 

Grizzly Bears! 

Then our chow Griz (of course)

When did you move to Chicago?
July 2003...after graduating college

Why did you move to Chicago? 

because it felt like the best option at the time

What are 5 things you enjoy about Chicago?

1. Lakefront access, open to bike, run, rollerblade, play beach volleyball...love the land by the water and the city views are amazing and lots of organized sports for the 'young adult' in all of us

2. Hello...sports teams have bears in them: Chicago Bears and Cubbies! 

3. I actually enjoy the winters...just wish they were a bit shorter

4. Public Transportation, can get anywhere in the city, very accessible

5. How active and lively the city is, when its nice out...everyone is out and about

6. Bodhi! My favorite community 

What are 3 things you like least about Chicago? 

1. Politics

2. No mountains...

3. Its frigid 9 months out of the year

What are you currently doing in Chicago?

All sorts of things, I enjoy working on different projects and always look to grow and expand. 

I am the Bookstore manager at Bodhi Spiritual Center, a good thing since my friends call me the 'library.'

I take care of the little ones of the world (children of course) They are so much fun and I learn a lot from them.

About 5 years ago I partnered with Nikken, an international wellness company. We help people see, feel and experience advanced wellness solutions for better living by teaching and empowering them to live and share a balanced life through our unique philosophy of wellness. Basically I speak with people to discover if they have the types of problems our solutions can assist in solving...its quite enjoyable.

Have recently taken up the sport of Disc Golf (thanks to Mike) and have completely fell in love...believe I will be on tour shortly....ha

What do you enjoy about your work? 

I enjoy the community at Bodhi, we are a fun loving, crazy cool community full of great people. I love working with children. They are so intelligent and we can learn a lot from them if we are patient and willing to listen to them. 

And I love working with Nikken, they are a phenominal company that offers tremendous products as well as a philosophy that I have taken to heart and really enjoy working on to be balanced in all my areas. Nikken also offers us the opportunity to reach many people beyond my physical reach and presence. It has opened up my eyes to new ways of thinking in regards to earning money and building a legacy. I would not be the person I am today without Nikken in my life. 

Now to the good part...

How did you meet Mike?

Michele, one of my business partners, also worked at Trader Joes. 

She called me up one day all happy and stuff. 

She had mentioned that she was working with one of her favorite managers at TJs. They were discussing going to a Cubs game with her husband. Somehow the conversation evolved into Mike asking Michele if she knew of any single girl friends who might enjoy going to the game. And my name popped into her head. 

She called me up and told me that Mike, was totally awesome. Really laid back. Loved the outdoors, had a dog, enjoyed sports, was from CA...and tall! 

Michele asked if she could give him my phone number. 

I said, 'why the heck not.' He sounds fantastic.

She gave him my phone number and that night he called me up. 

We chatted for a bit. I don't remember much, except his voice sounded delicious. 

We decided to meet up for lunch the next day as it was his day off.

The rest is history because we have been together ever since!