Summer School, Sunday School

Life has been progressing as normal here in Chicago since Memorial Day Weekend, with both Cary Anne and I continuing in our theater endeavors. CA recently finished running sound board for a show at a theater only about 3 blocks from our apartment. Though I thought she was going to take more of a break after her last show, she decided to work on this one since it wasn't a huge time commitment and she even got paid a little. I also recently completed level 2 of my improv training at Improv Olympic. This class was a little more calm than my last one, probably because we met on Sunday afternoons rather than the evening, but it was still a good time. A lot of this course focused on group work and collaborating as a team, so it was fun bonding with my classmates for 8 weeks.

Also, our church, CCC Edgewater, recently changed it's worship location. For the past several months, we were renting out a small, single-room art gallery every Sunday evening, but the space was starting to get a little tight and we worried that an evening service with no child care wasn't an ideal, welcoming environment for families. (Though it was perfect for us 20-somethings who enjoyed getting to sleep in, then going to grab a drink at the bar around the corner after worship.) So for the past couple of weeks we've meeting in the mornings in the auditorium of George R. Swift Elementary School. It has lots of space, and the walls and curtains are a wonderful powder pink. (During announcements recently, I made fun of the place by calling in “Barbie's Dream Theater” and saying, “These walls are so pink they should call this Taylor Swift Elementary”.) But despite the odd color-scheme and fact that I'm still mourning my loss of lazy Sunday mornings, the move has been great, and we're already seeing some new faces.

This week Cary Anne and I went on a date night to Skokie Sports Park. I discovered the park when I drove past it on my way to somewhere else and immediately got excited because I'm a huge fan of miniature golf. In Lexington, there was a Biblical themed mini golf course (which we kindly refer to as “Jesus golf”) that, despite the cheesiness, was actually pretty good. We played there multiple times every summer. The Skokie course is supposed to be like an adventure around the world. You start off putting around the Sears Tower and Statue of Liberty, and soon you're golfing through the coral reefs of Australia and under the Great Wall of China. Overall, it was an entertaining course, and I think we had as much fun posing with the scenery as we did actually golfing.

After the golf, we walked over to the batting cages. The only park with batting cages in Lexington closed over 5 years ago and I don't think I had been in one since. CA told me she had never been in a batting cage. “Never? What have you been doing with your life?” I asked. "I'm a girl! And I'm worried I'm gonna get hit...in the boob." Luckily, that didn't happen. We basically stuck to the slow pitch softball cages while the 10-year-olds gearing up for little league laughed at us from the faster baseball cages. Overall, it was a fun evening.

Later this week we'll be flying out to Colorado to see Cary Anne's brother get married. As you can imagine, we're pretty excited. CA is a bridesmaid in the wedding and much of her time lately has gone into making her own bridesmaid dress. I'm always impressed by her ability to create stuff like that. I took the easy way out and just went to the store to buy new khakis and a tie. After the wedding CA's parents will be hanging out with us here in Chicago for a few days. I'll be sure to share details from our trip on the next post. 

"Summertime Girls are the kind I like; I'll steal your honey like I stole your bike" - LFO

It's finally starting to feel like summer in Chicago...most days. Everyone keeps talking about how great the city is during the warmer months, and Cary Anne and I are starting to see it for ourselves.

One of the best things about warm weather in the city is that the beaches of Lake Michigan are actually useable. (Walking down and sticking your bare feet in the sand isn't exactly pleasant when it's in the 40s.) Just a few weeks ago, our friend Kelly invited Cary Anne and I down to the beach for an afternoon of reading in the sun. Turns out, there wasn't actually much reading involved. We mainly just sat around and talked and threw rocks at seagulls. (We're sadistic in that way.) Sadly, I learned that just because the weather is warm, it doesn't mean the water is. Guess I'll have to wait a few more weeks to actually go swimming.

After the beach, we picked up our friend Sam and headed to a custard shop Cary Anne and I had been wanting to try called “Lickity Split.” During our year in Lexington, a self-serve frozen yogurt place called “Orange Leaf” got really popular, and expanded from one location to at least four in just a few months. With tons of flavors, lots of toppings, and reasonable prices, it wasn't uncommon for us to swing by on a nearly weekly basis. We've been looking for a suitable alternative here in Chicago, but so far nothing has blown us away. But it looks like we may be switching to custard now. Though “Lickity Split” only has 3 types of custard on tap at any given time, there are dozens of toppings assorted into different glass jars, like an old-school candy shop, making the combinations basically limitless. (I had vanilla custard with hot fudge and dark chocolate covered pretzels.) Kelly and Sam seemed equally impressed by the shop, and I would not be upset if it became a summer staple.

Recently, we got to travel back to Kentucky for Memorial Day. Our friends Chris and Hannah in Louisville were nice enough to put us up in their spare bedroom for the long weekend. The great thing about our friendship with C&H is that we're able to have great time with them even when we're not doing anything particularly exciting. That was evident over the weekend based on the amount of time we spent playing “Settlers of Catan,” looking up videos for old bands we used to listen to during our middle school years (think BBMac, Bwitched, and LFO), and the hours Chris and I spent shooting zombies on “Call of Duty” while our wives reevaluated their life choices. 

However, we did leave their apartment a few times. On Saturday we went for a walk down by the water front, where we stumbled upon bus loads of old English dancers. They had on puffy white shirts and bells strapped to their shins, and they marched around in a line twirling ribbons. It was very captivating and confusing. Sadly, it was over 90 degrees outside, so we quickly returned home. After cooling off, we decided to go bowling. Somehow, during the course of the second game, it was determined that Chris and Cary Anne, as a team, were trying to out score Hannah and I. Things looked bleak when Hannah stepped up for the final frame and we were down by 10 pins. She only succeeded in knocking down 9, and Chris and CA leapt into celebration. However, their cheering quickly turned to tears when we realized Hannah had gotten a spare in the previous frame, so her 9 pins were enough to put us in the lead. I started telling people to suck it. (I'm not a gracious winner.)

On Sunday, CA and I visited Chris and Hannah's church. I was distracted during the sermon because the guy sitting beside me had his iPad out. I thought he was taking notes, but when I glanced over I realized he was actually surfing Cracker Barrel's website. Later that night, my folks drove up to have dinner with us and show us photos from my cousin's wedding, which, sadly, CA and I couldn't afford to go to. On Monday, our other college friend Shelby came over for a big brunch. It was great catching up with her considering we hadn't seen her in well over 6 months. 

So far, summer has been off to a great start, and hopefully it will only get better. 

Last month, we (mostly me) also started a journaling project where we film 5 seconds of our life everyday. I'll be sure to post the videos here...