Tennis is More Dangerous than Motorcycles

At the end of July, two of Cary Anne's old college roommates, Laura and Allison, came to visit us in Chicago. It was kind of a spontaneous trip. Laura and Allison were two of the people we were able to see when we went back to Kentucky for the 4th. (Before that, we hadn't seen them in a year and a half.) Then, about 2 weeks after we returned to Chicago, we got a text asking if they could come up for a few days. By that time, Cary Anne and I were on different work schedules (since I had started working evenings at Target and Domino's), so we had fun showing them around town separately. Cary Anne took them to the Lincoln Park Zoo, and I took them up on the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel (which I hadn't been on since my 8th grade class took a trip to Chicago back in 2001). Luckily, we didn't have some time where all four of us could hang out together.

At the beginning of August, Cary Anne and I took a free motorcycle safety course offered by the state of Illinois. We figured the course would help us be more comfortable on the Vespa, and if we successfully completed the course, we would get our motorcycle license without having to take the test at the DMV. Neither of us had our full motorcycle license (only permits), despite the fact we had already owned the Vespa for over 2 years. The course was 24 hours of training over 2 weekends. It involved classroom time and riding time. I was hoping our experience on the Vespa would give us a little advantage, but motorcycles with clutches and gear shifts are quite different. There were a number of wobbles and spills throughout the class. At the end, there was a skills test, which was rather nerve racking. Luckily, CA and I both passed, and we now officially have our motorcycle licenses. We celebrated by going to get ice cream.

Cary Anne's birthday was in the middle of August. Part of her gift from me was a tennis racquet because she had been talking about how she wanted to learn to play. We started spending a lot of our free time at the court. Sadly, on our first outing, Cary Anne managed to injure herself. She was collecting a ball that she had hit out of the court and stumbled into a pothole. I laughed a little because I thought she had just tripped, but she had a pretty good scratch on her knee and her ankle had twisted, so then I kind of felt like a jerk. Thankfully, it was only a minor setback. Within a week or so, she was ready to get back out on the court. While the weather was warm, tennis kind of became our go-to date, which was a nice break from dates like eating and going to the movies where we just sit around.

At the end of August, our friend Lisa came back to visit from the west coast. Lisa was one of the first people we met at our church, Community Edgewater, when we moved here. Sadly, about a year ago, she moved to Seattle, but she still returns from time to time to visit. This time, she convinced a friend of hers to host a rooftop party downtown. So for a few hours one night we got to live up on a swanky high rise. It was a pretty good way to end the summer.

Our Weekends > Your Weekends

About a month ago, Chicago hosted a “Clean and Green” weekend. Part of what our church, CCC Edgewater, did to take part in the event was to get our community garden cleaned up and ready for the growing season. I have no real business in a garden, but Cary Anne invested in a plot with our friend Lisa so they can grow their own veggies this summer. CA took the morning shift in the clean up, and she was put to work helping to build the raised garden beds, which means she was right in her element considering she spent her entire college career as a student aide in the theater helping to build sets. I took the afternoon shift, and my work was much less sophisticated. Mainly, I moved rubble. After the morning clean up, there was a large pile of rocks in the lot, so my team lined the perimeter with chicken wire to keep nosy animals out, and we placed the rocks at the base of the fence to keep it down. Overall, it was a successful weekend, and I know we're all excited to see things blossoming when the weather gets warm.

Then, a little over a week ago, my brother, Jonathan, and sister-in-law, Andrea, came into town for a weekend visit. It was exciting because not only had we not seen them since Christmas, but also because both them hadn't been to Chicago in years. Though the weather wasn't great, we were still able to do all the touristy stuff we wanted.

First up was a trip to The Bean...

Up next was Navy Pier...

After that, we took a short bus trip to the Willis (Sears) Tower, and a shaky elevator ride up to the 103^rd floor. I was a bit worried about the view considering skies were overcast, but once we got up there I realized there was nothing to be worried about.

One of the coolest things about the tower is the Skydeck, which consists of several retractable glass decks that visitors are invited to stand on, so they can look down and make peace with their God.  

Andrea, a portrait of total confidence

The final thing we all did together that Saturday was drive out to the 'burbs for a professional soccer game. Jon is a big fan of the Kansas City team, and it just so happened they were playing the Chicago Fire during his visit. (Yes, our soccer team is named the Chicago Fire. Why name the team after a national tragedy, I don't know. You don't see the Amish naming a sport's team the Pennsylvania Schoolhouse Shooting, do you?) Anyway, what I don't know about soccer could fill a book. We sat in the section with all the other KC fans, and they seemed to keep getting excited or mad about things I didn't understand. Everyone was very energetic despite the drizzling rain. In fact, there was one KC fan there with a trombone who only seemed interested in playing music and leading the crowd in cheers. I legitimately think he only watched a few moments of the actual game.

One of the funnier things about the event is that while we were there, our friend Jesse tweeted a picture of he and his wife, Ruth, at the game. Cary Anne and I studied the picture then went on a hunt to find where they were sitting. They were right in the front row, so it wasn't too difficult to find and surprise them. Oh, the perks of social media...

In the end, Chicago defeated Kansas City, and thing started to turn ugly fast. There was a lot of shouting and cursing, and I quickly realized why there are so many soccer riots in Europe.

The next day, we had some pizza with Jon and Andrea before they got on the road back towards Kentucky. Overall, it was a great weekend and makes me hope some of our other friends will be able to visit us here in the Windy City this summer.

Settling Down, Settling In

Well, we've certainly been keeping busy since our last update. First, on Sunday, my parents stopped in for a visit. My dad's job sent him up for some new training, and of course my mother couldn't pass up the opportunity to stop by and see our new place. Since my parents are tourists (and Cary Anne and I are barely more than tourists), we decided to head down to Navy Pier for the evening, where my mom enjoyed souvenir shopping and Pops enjoyed looking out at the boats.

That same day, word came from Colorado that Cary Anne's brother, Marshall, had proposed to his girlfriend of a year, Mackenzie. Their first date was mine and Cary Anne's wedding, so we like to believe that we had something to do with it. We all knew the proposal was coming, so it was nice to finally see it come to fruition. Back in August, Marshall moved across the country from Virginia to be closer to Mackenzie so it's good that things worked out, because if not I can only imagine how awkward it would have been.

On Monday, my Kentucky license expired so we headed to the nearest DMV so I could get a Illinois license, and it was...crowded, to say the least. When I would renew my license at the DMV closest to us in Lexington, it wasn't uncommon for the employees to outnumber the customers, but at the Chicago location it looked like a crowd waiting outside a Best Buy on Black Friday.

Luckily, despite the sea of people, my number was called in about 20 minutes. I guess when Illinois officials envision the streets of Kentucky they see a lot of horses and tractors because they didn't trust me enough to give me a license without making me retake the written test. Before going, I had reviewed the more obscure info in the state handbook, and I kept spouting off little tid bits to Cary Anne on our way to the DMV. Know what the punishment would be if I got convicted of illegally passing this school bus, babe? A three month suspension of my license and a $150 fine. In the end, my studying paid off because I passed with a perfect score.

After our trip to the DMV, we headed out to the suburbs to see my parents one last time before they headed home. Since we were already out west, I couldn't resist stopping by the local Krispy Kreme, since there are none in the actual city. The place was roughly twice the size of the store I worked at in Lexington, with a large sitting area, two production lines, and bays for the delivery trucks to back right up to the warehouse. I sent this picture to my old boss, Clayton, with the message, "They have chocolate cake!" Our store stopped making chocolate cake back at the start of the year, and I think Clayton is still bitter about it.

On Tuesday, Cary Anne and I headed to our weekly Bible study. We've been attending the Edgewater campus of Community Christian Church since we've been here in Chicago. Community Christian is a church that started out in Naperville, and has sprouted satellite campuses all over Chicagoland. The Edgewater campus, right now, is basically 25 people meeting in a rented out art studio, a big change from the mega-church we attended back in Lexington. 

After the Bible study, our group of 7 decided to head out and do some chalking, which is basically diet graffiti with a positive message. Apparently, this is something the Edgewater campus has been doing basically since they launched a few months back, so once a week we go out and use chalk to write short, encouraging notes on the the sidewalk for people to read on their way to work the next day. At first I thought the idea was a bit silly, but as the night went on, people kept coming up to us talking about how they had seen the chalking before and how much they enjoyed it. So, my attitude quickly started to change as I realized even the smallest gestures can have meaningful impacts. All in all, it was a great evening and really made us feel like we are actually starting to settle in here.