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.

New City, New State, New Time Zone

We've now lived in Chicago for a week and a half, and the days seem to be flying by. As you can imagine, most of our time up to this point has been defined by unpacking and applying for jobs. Finally, it looks like things are coming to a close on the unpacking front. When we first unloaded the truck and got everything from our old two bedroom apartment into our new studio, things seemed pretty overwhelming...

But slowly, box by box, our apartment started to take shape, and now it's almost completely organized. Here, I'll take you on a small tour...

This is our entry way. On the left is closet space, and on the right hang our movie posters.

As you come out of the entry way, on the left is our living room.

Just off the living room is our kitchen. And we though the amount of counter space at our old place was rough...

If you take a right out of the entry way, you'll enter our bedroom/office.

And just beyond our bedroom is more closet space and our bathroom.

So, the place is small, but we've managed to fit all of our stuff in, and it is helping us learn to humble ourselves, to realize we don't really need as much as we think.

Between unpacking sessions, we've been out hitting the pavement, looking for work. At this point we're both looking for pretty much anything, just so we can get a little revenue generated, so we've been applying anywhere and everywhere- book stores, restaurants, movie theaters, law firms, etc. We've both had some interviews, but at this point neither of us has officially been offered anything. Hopefully that will change in the coming week.

Luckily, we've been able to take the occasional break from unpacking and applying to get out and actually enjoy the city. Over the past week and a half, we've been to several free comedy shows (bet you can guess whose idea that was), and we've also made a trip into downtown (where the Christmas lights are already starting to show up), and we've even taken a walk along the coast of Lake Michigan near our place (despite the temperature being in the the low 40's).

We're basically tourists.

We're looking forward to really getting into the swing of the Chicago life, whatever that may hold for us. And we just hope it's exciting enough to keep our lives interesting and to keep you guys reading!