…..and that’s the rest of the story.

As I lay me down to sleep

My perfect day was hard to beat

30 years to celebrate

Loved by family, enjoyed my cake!

 

Honestly – as I closed my eyes on Friday night, grateful for my last 30 years – I couldn’t have picture anything more.  I wouldn’t have planned my day any different!

Saturday was proof that Nate knows me better than I know myself. He pulled off a grand scheme to surprise me with a few very important people making the trek to Chicago to let me know how much I mean to them.  My heart still jumps a little and my eyes still well up a bit just thinking about it!

• Should I have read into Nate’s increased texting volume? Maybe, but I didn’t.
• Should I have read into his day off and the cleaning? Maybe, but I didn’t.
• Should I have read into the ridiculous number of cupcakes he baked?  Probably, but I didn’t.
• Should I have read into his request to dress nice and straighten my hair? Maybe, BUT I didn’t listen – at all!
• Should I have assumed he was up to something when he left early to “wash the car?” Maybe, but again, I didn’t.

Most would say that I’m gullible – I just say that I trust Nate. I assume his intentions are pure and honest. I assume that he just knows me best and knows how to love me. Many of those behaviors listed above are TYPICAL for a weekend – like asking me to put a little effort into my hair or washing the car.  Nate loves a clean house as much as  I do and knows how happy I get when he helps out!!  BUT, making a lot of cupcakes – for a guy who hates excess - that should have been a clue.

So..Saturday morning, Nate tidied up a bit and took off to wash the car and grab a few groceries for lunch. He asked if burgers would be OK and I listed off the few condiments we were low on. I enjoyed another mug of coffee while I worked my birthday blog post. Against Nate’s wishes, I mopped the floor before I jumped in the shower. I thought it needed to be done.  About 5 minutes after I put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt,  Nate returned and pushed me to do my hair right away instead of after Miles was put down for a nap. He said that he would take care of lunch. Fine… While blow drying my locks, there was a knock on the door. Nate asked me to get it.

I opened the door with my freshly blown ‘fro to find my parents, my 2 sisters and a new fiancé, and my high school best friend (also with fiancé in tow) fresh off an airplane from DC.

WHAT?! <tears> duh, you know they were there?!?!

We chitted, we chatted – we munched on Jimmy Johns! They love me!

I skyped with my brother, his wife, and their 3 week old daughter…. And then there’s another knock on the door?!

My college best friend, his wife and their 4year old twin daughters arrived from Ames, IA. <tears>

The surprises didn’t end there.  Friends from Chicago even joined in the fun! AHH - too many emotions!

The apartment was PACKED, but we enjoyed brats and burgers, fruit, cupcakes, and great company!

Each of these people have had made an impression on me during my “youth,” and I loved being surrounded by them, celebrating my GOLDEN birthday! I’m honored that these people spent time and money to travel to Chicago, gave up their weekends to hang out with me, and celebrated my launch into my thirties!

Sorry… this is turning into a me, me, me post.  My intention was a story plus THANK YOU post.

Very few pictures were taken – I was busy taking in the moments instead of photo documenting. What a day! I wish I would have gotten more people shots instead of group shots, but here are a few random shots anyway.  I’m still kicking myself…..

   

 

Nathan! I adore you for loving me well and finding time in your busy schedule to gather a few special people I haven’t seen in a long time to create lasting memories! Thank you for going out of your way to take care of all of the prep that I would have normally obsessed about so that I could truly enjoy myself!  You are strong man and I’m lucky blessed to have you for myself!   Don’t worry… I will get you back!

Thanks again and I LOVE you all !!!

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Posted in: Banwarth's,birthday,Kelly,Keri,Miles,Nathan

30 – That fine wine’s got nothing on me!

I've never quite understood why people stress about turning 30… I’ve often dreamed about how  much the quality of life would improve once I reached THE arbitrary numerical threshold where you are no longer considered a thoughtless, careless young person, but a person with actual contributions and worthy of respect. This would be the day where I would finally feel like I belong in my own skin! I’m no longer a 30 year old trapped in a body of a toddler, tween, 20-something etc…..  (Don’t you just love how my mind works – I’ve been blessed with amazing powers for rationalization!)

Yesterday was my 30th birthday – the day I’ve been looking forward to since I was 3.  It’s also my GOLDEN birthday – 30 on the 30th!!  (This probably contributes to my strong desire to enter the next decade) Believe what you will, but even from a very young age,  I have always identified better with mature adults (my opinion, of course).  Just ask my family – I was that annoying 4 year old adding my opinions and life experiences to adult conversations. I just couldn’t bear to entertain myself with our guests’ children or my younger siblings. I was too “intelligent” for that.

As a child, I always appreciated that:

• Adults understood and identified with me.
• Adults follow rules and require less tattling and correction.
• All makes sense in the world when you’re with adults.

Wow… If I had to spend much time with me as I child, I would be much greyer and have a lot less patience (thanks, mom and dad!) Lucky for all of you - I am finally aged to perfection!!.
Well, next year will probably prove to be a little better. Life  - like a fine wine – only gets better with age! (RIGHT?!?!)

Here are a couple of “30-year-old” quotes

At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgement.-Benjamin Franklin

The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits.  -Hervey Allen

Huh…. I agree, but never really thought of 30 as middle aged. Ouch. 

Anywho… onto my day! Luckily, this event was much more laid back than our 7th anniversary on September 4th. Sadly, I’m just now realizing that I forgot to post about that.  I’ll work on that.

Miles, Nate, and I got up in the morning getting ready to a typical Friday workday. Miles and Nathan greeting my with a present! I got rain boots – navy with white polka-dots (pictured below). Love!!!

Nate had a work meeting in Lincoln park at 8:30am, so he stayed behind and planned to use public transit later instead of commuting with Miles and me. I dropped Miles off at school and continued on to my job.

Around 4, I left work (a little early) to pick Miles up from daycare, parked the car and return to work for a little bit. Miles had never seen my lab or met my coworkers. Unfortunately, he was unusually shy and quiet.  Nate wanted to take us out for dinner downtown at a restaurant of my choice.  I chose the Cheesecake Factory in the Hancock Tower Plaza. We tried to enjoy a meal there for a previous birthday, but Miles was angry making the evening a tense one. I wanted a do-over!

We met around 5:30pm and had a great dinner.  I had the grilled fish tacos (again), Nate had steak diane with shrimp, and Miles ordered the mac ‘n' cheese. Our food was GREAT, but Miles wouldn’t eat a thing!  He said he wasn’t hungry. He started to spike a fever, his eyes glossed over and he was really chill. Uh oh! We packed up his food to go and headed home.

I was given the best surprise as we walked in the door.  Nate “fibbed” about his meeting.  He took the day off from work, cleaned the entire house (even the bathrooms), washed the sheets, made cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles, and bought balloons! I am an “acts of service“ kind of girl. This was my favorite kind of surprise!  Well done, Nathan!

38 yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting – 30 candles (12 of them are trick candles)

Self-lighting inferno? Uhm, scary!

                              

Sweet Cheeks eating a little frosting and my boots!

Kiss the chef? Yes, please!

Miles licked the frosting off of one cupcake, had a little tylenol and fell asleep on the floor in front of the fireplace.  We moved him into bed shortly after. (You’ll be happy to know he’s feeling better this morning!)
Cake, dinner, boots, and family – texts, phone calls (even one from China!), and FB messages! I couldn’t have asked for a better launch into my 30’s!

I love you!

Photos above taken by Miles – he perked right up at the chance to use the camera!

Miles loves his daddy, but isn’t feeling so well!

When your family is this cute, its tough to find anything to complain about!

Perfect Day!

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Posted in: Banwarth's,birthday,Kelly,Klinge's,Miles,Nathan

31

 

Last night, while tucking Miles into bed, we told him that he needed to “go to sleep right away – tomorrow is daddy’s birthday!” Miles replied, “Yeah, Santa and Jesus will bring you presents!”

Fast forward to today…….

6am – Miles strolls into our room, plops on top of Nate and yells “Trick or Treat, Dad!”  We’re pretty sure he meant “Happy Birthday!”  It’s the thought that counts right?!

Miles shaved with Nate and mimicked him all morning long. Nate must have felt super special!!

Nate is 31. 31 is synonymous with adult. Adults get gifts like books. Want proof? 

See – Nate’s gifts:

Nate is not a quitter. He is not weird. He’s not unemployed…… He just LOVES words about work, life and dreams.  Don’t judge! You should be more like him!

For dinner, we enjoyed some wild mushroom ravioli and steamed broccoli…

Followed immediately by cake - chocolate malt cake with an oreo buttercream frosting!! I found it here.

 

We loved celebrating your life with you, Nathan!

Before we say farewell to another great year, here’s one fine 31 year old….. photographed by the most adorable 2 year old I know!

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Posted in: birthday,Miles,Nathan,Things my kid says,Video

Nieces... Oh how I love you!

I am proud to announce that I have another NIECE!!

Yes, that brings my tally to 4 beautiful baby girls that I get to love and watch grow into elegant, intelligent women!  I really cannot be more excited!!

Lydia Violet was born on September 13, 2011.

She is 7lbs 10oz and 21.5 inches long

She made us wait an extra 8 days to make her grand appearance...

I have not met her yet, but this picture speaks for itself.

She was well worth the wait!

Congrats, Russ and Kelly - She's perfect!

We love you, Little Lydia!

We can't wait to meet you!

Love,

Nate, Kelly and Miles

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Posted in: Banwarth's

Baby, oh!

I know you just got a fun drummer boy video yesterday, but we caught this little morsel too and just HAVE to share it.

Of course, he was a singing fool before I pushed play - so the facial expressions and strumming skills will have to suffice.

Feast your eyes! He'll be all grown up before you know it!

Contrary to popular belief, the Bieber-mania was not brought into our household by Nathan or myself. Rather, Miles' inspiration sprung from the sweet vocals of his little buddy at school.

Thanks, Charles, for providing endless hours of entertainment!!

Posted via iPhone

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Posted in: Miles,Video

Klinge House Beats

Did you ever want know how we pass time as lunch is prepared?

Well, today is your lucky day!

I now present, to you, the fresh styling's of Kid Miles and Daddy Nate.

Enjoy!

Posted via iPhone

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Posted in: Miles,Nathan,Video

Race Weekend, Part III: Time to Run!

Ah… Chicago! Once again, you’ve blessed me with fun opportunities!

It’s Race Day – right in my “backyard” :o)

August 14, 2011

4:30 AM - Time to wake up
I got myself ready to go. I ate a blueberry crisp cliff bar and downed some water. Next, it was time to get the boys ready to go. Nate was easy – it’s just a matter of waking him up and pushing him towards the shower. Miles was quickly walked through his morning routine and sat down to veg in his chair while I packed a bag of snacks and toys.

5:15 AM – Travel
Finally, out the door.  Only 15 minutes behind schedule – but no worries – I padded the schedule a lot!  We jumped in the car and raced down the express lane of 90/94 to my work parking lot (free-ish for me!).  Miles was wired already and excited to cheer me on! He loves race day! Once parked in the ramp, we loaded the goodies and the adorable child into the jogger stroller and trekked one mile (exactly) south to the race start. 

Here’s the view as we approached:



6:06 AM – Heading in
My nerves were ramping up a little. We pushed through the crowd towards my starting corral.  We looked around for friends who were also running. No such luck. Here are a couple views of large crowd chaos. I was in starting corral 12…
 


6:25AM – On your mark, Get Set……
Hugs and kisses from my boys and the best wishes for a great race. Thought about jumping the fence for a good position – my competitive spirit was quickly suffocated by nerves and adrenaline.


6:30AM – GO!!             

The gunshot rang out right on time, but I wasn’t able to cross the line for another 5-10 minutes.

Click route to see the map of the run. It was a NEW route – moved entirely to the city streets from previous years where a bulk of the race took place on the lakeshore path.  GREAT course!!

Now the time of day starts to get a little fuzzy.
Because of the way the course was set up, I was able to see the boys at Miles 2, 7, and the finish! They were able to stay at Grant Park the whole time. Miles was also always positioned right on top of Nate’s shoulders, making them easy to spot.

I was still feeling great at the 3 mile (5K) mark:


Here’s a picture that Nate got a Mile 7:

Here’s one that the professionals snapped around the same time – you can see that I LOVED seeing them! It’s hard to concentrate on running when the spectators are so adorable!

Nate took this picture (below) near the finish…. not my prettiest moment. I was tired.  Where’s the last minute energy boost? I look like I’m walking…. but I am not. I promise!


The bands were GREAT! Yes – there was live, local music every mile!  I heard many fantastic covers of high energy music.  Of the thirteen or so bands, 3 of them played the blues, while others played Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Third Eye Blind, Bon Jovi.. and more.  Some of the cover bands take their jobs seriously. For example, the Bon Jovi band had fluorescent leggings, eye liner, crimped mid-back length blonde hair, and sheer shirts. They looked the part and sounded incredible. The music really makes this race a blast!

~9:00 AM - The finish

As I crossed the finish, they gave us bottled water, ice water soaked towels, a sports drink, bananas, popsicles, energy bars, pretzels and medals! They wouldn’t let us out of the finish corral until we posed for picture.


Again.. not my finest moment. Definitely not a glamour shot – but I am so happy (and tired). The high school version of me used to put up a fight to get out of running the mile for the presidential fitness junk. Now, adult me runs for fun! Weird!

The post race party was supposed to feature Brett Michaels, but he was sick with the flu. We hung out and watched Dan Evans (biggest loser contestant from Chicago) instead.

Well, until it started to rain, anyway… 

…… then we turned around, headed home, showered, and took naps.

Here are the final stats:

Race Splits (from my Nike+ run log):

My run ended with a total distance of 13.44mi in 2:14:40 for an average pace of 10'01"/mi.

My OFFICIAL race stats:

Finished In:

02:14:48

12114

Kelly Klinge

Chicago, IL

Age: 29 | Gender: F

Overall: 7685 out of 15317 · Division: 1140 out of 2490 · Gender: 3858 out of 9505

Pace	5 Km	10 Km	10 Mile	ChipTime	ClockTime
10:17	30:35	1:02:35	1:42:03	02:14:48	02:20:41

This race was SOOO much fun! I’m actually looking forward to next year.

Who's in??

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Posted in: Kelly,Miles,Nathan,running

Things my kid says

We are sitting at the island in our kitchen eating dinner. Miles is in the middle, Nate to his left and I to his right. Miles spills his beverage on his shorts, not accidentally….
Kelly: Oh no! Miles, you spilled your juice! Why?! (tossing my hands up)
Miles: Why? Z – X – 4 – 7 – 8 – 9 – 10 – 11.
Miles: Dad, you spill on yours pant! Why? (tossing his hands up)
_______________________________________________________ ____________________
Nate started the grill to make a few hamburgers for lunch. I started prepping a few sides.  Unfortunately, the grill was out of propane so Nate moved the main course indoors.
Nate: Kel, can I use this burner? The grill is out of gas.
Kelly: Yeah, sure.
Miles: Dad, are you learning to cook?
Nate: Yeah, buddy. Ha. I’m learning to cook.
___________________________________________________________________________
Nate and I have already finished eating, but are still sitting at the table with Miles trying to get him to eat a little more.
Kelly: Miles, eat your food so you can help me make a cake.
Miles: oooooooookay.
Nate: (picking up and filling Miles’ fork) Here, Miles. Eat some noodles.
Miles: oh, thanks. (eats the contents of the fork)
Nate: Ok, Buddy.  Eat some of your broccoli too.
Miles:(stabs a piece of broccoli) Here, Dad. Eat this. I’m sharing!
Nate: Miles, that’s your food. You eat it.
Miles: Dad, you eat it! I’m sharing! I’m a good boy! That makes you happy?!?
Nate: (eats the cold broccoli). Yes, Miles. Sharing makes me happy.
Nate to Kelly: He’s a smart kid.

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Posted in: Things my kid says

Race Weekend, Part II - The Millennium Park Adventure

After spending a few hours at the health and fitness expo, we hopped back on the bus and headed north into downtown Chicago. We were starving so we splurged for a couple of subway sandwiches.  Believe it or not, Miles has lived nearly 3 years on this earth and has never tried a subway sandwich.

I shared.... :)  I'm a sauce-less, mayonnaise-less person, so many would say that I'm easy to share with.  I did keep the cucumber slices and green peppers from his half, but he loved the rest of it! He ate spinach!  Raw Spinach!! It was a PROUD mommy moment... I would have taken a picture, but he would have known that something was up - likely leading him to spit out the healthy goodness he was feasting on!

With full bellies, we walked a little farther north in order to play at Millennium Park for a little while. Well, to be more specific, the Crown Fountains.

Before we left for the expo, Nate thought ahead and grabbed a towel and dry an extra pair of shorts.  Here's why...

First - there is creepy face showing through the clear glass bricks

Next - the face starts to wiggle a little

Finally - the mouth puckers and spits a large amounts of water.

Now... how does this apply to the Klinge's?Watch and relish the playful frolic!

It was a fun, care-free, family packed day before a big race. When I'm not training along the beaches of Lake Michigan while my boys dig in the sand, I love finding new places in Chicago to explore - like puddle jumping at a downtown park.

For those of you waiting for the actual race details, please stay tuned. The final installment (Part III) is coming, it's just taking a while to put together. I appreciate your patience.

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Posted in: Miles,Nathan