We are free...enjoying freedom from work for a three day weekend, of fireworks, BBQ, ESPN's coverage of the Hot Dog Eating Contest, and family time, in no particular order.

We started the holiday weekend by taking 1st Place in our "Who's the most patriotic" office contest. As you can see from the pics below...there is no doubt as to who won the $50 gas card.

Friday night(7/4/08)...we enjoyed the company of Dan & Susan(& Avery& Romey), and Paul & Anita at the Taste Of Lombard, with a fireworks simulcast on AM 560 WIND, being run by the stylish "Freedom Elvis" pictured above. Thousands tuned in to hear the celebration starting at 9:30p on AM 560 WIND. They will let anybody with a laptop run the music for a fireworks show. It was a cool experience to run the soundtrack from a tiny tin trailer in the middle of 100,000 people in a field.

The rest of the weekend was filled with house projects(painting the gas meter and front porch railing and installing new gutter extensions to move rain water away from the house), BBQ, hot tub, family and fun, and awaiting the insurance adjuster as our neighborhood has fallen victim to severe hail damage from Wednesday night's storms...we had some damage, but were very lucky with only a handful of holes in the vinyl siding, and some roof damage.

The pictures show how lucky we were compared to some of our neightbors. It was the worst storm in recent history for McHenry county, and no one was hurt.

And of course...4th Of July weekend is not complete without a home fireworks display of the lamest festive smoking balls available!

Hope you had a great weekend!

We are terribly sorry for not blogging as much as we should for those that keep track of our blog daily. However, it has been a busy time in the Zapchenk house. The middle of the month brought many blooms to our backyard much like a HGTV renovation (aka Lynn and Rick Derks). Being green thumb inept Rick and Lynn came to attack the backyard with a vengeance. So much so that Rick had a little incident with the table saw and had to be whisked away to the emergency room. However, after finding out it was just the piece of wood that hurt his finger, he was bandaged up and back at work wondering why his bandaging was coming undone. Hmm...maybe because the nurse didn't realize he would go straight back to yardwork. The weekend ended with a great transformation, and we're so appreciative of the new yard, and promise to not kill anything. Check out the BEFORE & AFTER pics for yourself.

Eric celebrated his 35th birthday on June 17th and we were able to get together with some family for a quick lunch, and then a celebratory birthday meal at home consisting of pork chops, applesauce and macaroni and cheese. He received a new grill tool set and a USB Turntable that converts the songs on vinyl records into mp3's on the computer. Very retro!

Also, we traveled to Lake Geneva and stayed at the Abbey Resort. We definitely recomend it to others for some good getaway time. It is on the other side of Lake Geneva and tucked away from the hustle and bustle. However, the food is a bit overpriced, especially the Sunday Brunch! We were able to relax after a long week of work and side projects that had gone horribly wrong. Eric's favorite part was watching the boats being put in and out of the water.

Check out our new friend we met while exploring the area.

Also, Eric's grandfather Tom is still at the nursing home because of cancer and is not doing too well, please pray that he has rest and isn't in a lot of pain. Good news is he should be coming home this week to be closer to the family and in familiar surroundings. We love you all and have a great week!

So Eric and I finally had our Garage Sale that we have been waiting to have since before we were married. And we had enough stuff in this Garage sale to seem like we have been married for 10 + years. I have come to the conclusion that not only is Eric attached to many things, but he has kept every article of clothing and comforter he has ever had.

There were plenty of great stories that came out of this weekend. One being the insanely heavy ping pong table. Eric bought it for his snowy village set years ago and it has stowed itself in the basement fo quite some time. The time came for it to be sold at the Garage sale but first it had to be brought up from the basement. Now anyone who has ever carried pressed board you know how heavy that can be. Getting that thing out of the basement, was the angriest I have ever seen Eric in all the time I have known him. However, the ping pong table was defeated and we mustered up every ounce of strength to get it out into the garage.

We didn't make as much money as we thought with all the treasures we were selling. But, I feel we did make a difference in many families lives. No Joke my mom called it the Jesus Rummage Sale. After 1:00pm the crowd died down and we started packing up the items for the Charity coming next Friday. One family came back to pick up the couch and washing machine and they left with a vaccuum, end tables, a toy train, pictures, two TVs and whatever else they could pack in the trailer. Plus, the neighbor down the street knew of a foster care family that needed house hold items and they stopped by later on to take the curio cabinet, dryer, Entertainment center, clothes, light fixtures and toys.

All in all the stuff is all out of the house and with people who we felt needed it and we were able to have some fun memories. However, if anyone ever needs help with one we are the ones to call.

Thanks to my parents we were able to get everything into the garage by 8:30 pm on Friday and have time to treat ourselves to a little Coldstone.

A couple of weeks ago Eric and I ventured up to Appleton for a wedding of friend from High School friend (Millaine and Matt). We made it an extra long weekend taking off for the majority of Monday. Saturday we spent the day with my mom as Eric hooked up her surround sound in the salon which had worked on and off for the better part of four years. But, when you now have Eric in the family you can put him to work with any electronics.

That afternoon was the wedding and later that night the reception. Here, Eric and I look pretty dorky in this pic, but atleast Millaine looks great! We got to catch up with our friends and even boogied down to few catchy tunes. Sorry Mike, I hope that wasn't too many for you. Show off those white man moves! Ate some 10pm pizza which I loved and headed home to much needed rest.

Sunday we saw my Grandma and her new apt and she is livin' the dream. Plus, I must not forget to mention that we went to Dairy Queen on Sunday for some delicious treats. And topped off the Sunday evening with Ear candling assisted by my mom and dad. Exciting :) Monday late afternoon we drove home with me falling asleep and waking up to Freddy Kruger like sunburn on my forehead and nose. So much for getting some sun.

We have also been extremely busy with work events with Michael Medved coming to town for WIND and our 1st ever women's event with Jill Briscoe that went fabulous.

Lastly, for those that do not know already. Please pray for Eric's Grandpa Tom he is in the hospital because of prostate cancer. We love him and hope the doctor's have some answers soon.

Over Easter Danielle's Parents and Geoff came down to help us finish sprucing up the living room and kitchen. For those of you that have been over to our house and have seen the previous gloomy gray color scheme, it just wasn't us. And for those who haven't seen it (and we apoligize in advance that you have to look upon it) here it is BEFORE.

And here it is AFTER...

We hope you can all come over soon! Thanks to the Derks' for without them the walls would still be gray! Love you Danielle and Eric