Farming in the City; Partying in the Country

After flying back from Denver several weeks ago, Cary Anne's parents decided to hang out in Chicago for a few days. The day after landing, they were able to come to church with us, followed by a trip to the community garden. Cary Anne and Lisa have been diligently caring for their plot this summer, and on the Sunday afternoon we went, CA was able to pick a couple of ripe zucchini, then later fry them up for dinner. The next day the Cottinghams even joined several of us from church for the midnight premiere of The Amazing Spiderman.

On Independence Day, we all decided to venture down to Millennium Park. The weather was lingering around 99 degrees, so hundreds of other people in Chicago decided to head to the public fountains as well. Dozens of kids were on their backs making what would be snow angels in the shallow water. We took our shoes off, but resisted the urge to lay down in the water...probably because there was a kid in nothing but a diaper squatting nearby. After that, we made the short walk to “The Bean” and Navy Pier. By that the point, the heat and the constant nudge of tourists had grown pretty tiring, so we spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool at the Cottingham's hotel. That night, we drove back to Evanston for the annual fireworks show.

Overall, CA's parents got a great glimpse into our lives here in Chicago. They got to see the places we visit most often (including the restaurant where I work), and they even got to take in a few sites.

About 10 days after CA's parents headed back to Virginia, we made a bit of a road trip. Our friends Zach and Morgan were tying the knot in Indiana, and they basically invited the whole church, so a bunch of us decided to caravan down together. Sadly, the destination was roughly 4.5 hours away, which (for most of us) meant 9 hours of commuting...in a single day. Jon and Sarah Hane, another young married couple in our church, joined us in our car for the drive.

The trip to the wedding actually went quite smoothly. Spirits were high as we talked and laughed and flipped off the other cars from our church when they drove by. The wedding was at a park, and we pulled in moments before the ceremony was set to begin. At the entrance to the park was a small pond, and the park visitors in front of us had decided to pull over and feed the ducks by throwing bread crumbs DIRECTLY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD. So there we sat, worried we were going to miss the start of the wedding, starring at a group of ducks eating and a group of people who saw nothing wrong with what they were doing. Eventually, I just off-roaded it, and drove through the grass around the ducks. Unlike Cary Anne and I, Jon and Sarah had not worn their wedding attire in the car for the drive down. So we had to pull off into the woods so they could duck behind a stone shelter to put on their dress clothes. Also, I wandered off into the woods to pee...about 100 yards from the wedding site.

Luckily, everything turned out fine, and we arrived at the ceremony without missing anything. The ceremony itself was beautiful, all delicate and rustic (like a Taylor Swift music video). Our pastors, Rich and Dori, did a great job presiding over the ceremony and Zach and Morgan looked great. Much to everyone's relief, it was not a long service because the temperature was in the 90s and we were all sweating and fidgeting with our ties.

After the ceremony, we all headed to the reception. There's not much in the way of scenery in rural Indiana. I remember Zach once referring to it as mostly “asphalt and corn shit,” but there was one road side attraction our car just couldn't pass up- a very large, very random sneaker. It sat outside what appeared to be a basketball-themed hotel, and we made sure to pull over for a mini-photo shoot.

Once at the reception, the night really picked up because it brought together two of my favorite things- dancing and cheesecake. Cary Anne and I love to go to weddings and dance (or at least what we call dancing) to our heart's content. In recent history, this has mainly been with our friends from college, so this was our first time getting to see our Chicago friends cut loose, and they did not disappoint. There was much jumping and hand-waving and ridiculousness. Also, there was a cheesecake bar. At one point, I was dancing and eating cheesecake at the same time.

The drive home was much less spirited then the drive down. Cary Anne and I tried to sleep in the back seat while Sarah drove. As you can imagine, we were not a pretty sight the next morning at church.

A Mile High Get Away

If you follow this blog with an regularity, you may remember that Cary Anne's brother got engaged to his girlfriend on a year, Makenzie, shortly after CA and I moved to Chicago, and just a couple of weeks ago, it came time for us to fly out to Denver for the actual wedding. Our friend Ben drove us to the airport, and he brought along with him a mix CD he apparently used to use to get pumped during his 45-minute drive to Six Flags when he used to work there a few years ago. Surprisingly, it was largely U2, Coldplay, and show tunes. He cringed when a Gin Blossoms came on, but CA and I just laughed and proceeded to sing along. Our flight to Denver was pretty uneventful, except that we sat next to an old woman with a dog under her seat, and I kept trying to get Cary Anne to let the things loose mid-flight. She refused. CA's parents picked us up in Denver, and took us to the hotel. It was nice to see them considering we hadn't since they visited Lexington back in May of last year. The drive was a bit bizarre, coming from a metropolis like Chicago and being transported to a place where flat land stretches for miles until the mountains rise up to meet the sky. 

Cary Anne was actually in the wedding so when she was involved in wedding activities, I was often running on the treadmill at the hotel. Therefore, I let her give you the run down on the actual rehearsal and wedding itself (since it was her brother and because she rarely contributes to “our” blog)...

"I was incredibly blessed to be asked to be Makenzie's bridesmaid, which came with additional responsibilities (unbeknownst to me at the time of acceptance) such as lip-syncing a song and dance organized by Aunt Summer at the rehearsal dinner, which naturally turned my brother the most flattering shade of red you've ever seen on a man his age/size. After we were all rehearsed and ready for the impending ceremony, I was able to sit and hang out with family and friends from Virginia and just reminisce about our time together there (I haven't been back since I got married almost 2 years ago).

The ceremony was gorgeous. I don't think you could've asked for more perfect weather or flowers or venue… We were up in the mountains on a deck that overlooked the valley. It was beautiful during the ceremony and after when the sun went down and you could see all the lights. Makenzie didn't want the bridesmaids to match (other than in color scheme) so I made the mistake of  decided to make my own dress. Needless to say, the weeks prior to the wedding were full of sewing and avoiding sewing and nervousness that the dress would look awful and wouldn't match… but it all worked out fine and I was fully clothed walking down the aisle and I have to say we bridesmaids looked pretty good together. The reception was fun and I danced my heart out, which didn't take much, the thin air up there is no joke!

  

It was a fantastic wedding and I can't believe my brother is MARRIED and I HAVE A SISTER! (can you tell I'm still super pumped about it?)"

The day after the wedding, Cary Anne and I had the chance to meet up with my friends Hunter and Ashley. I lived in a beach-side hotel with Hunter and Ashley back in the summer of 2006, when we were all part of a Campus Crusade summer project. Hunter and I were accountability partners, and we would often spend afternoons at In-N-Out, eating burgers and talking about Jesus and girls. In 2008, CA and I went to H&A's wedding in Kansas City, but we hadn't seen them since, so it was great catching up. We were actually crashing the 1st birthday of their daughter, Lily, who apparently had no interest in taking part in our photo. 

That evening we caught a flight back to Chicago with Cary Anne's parents since they had were planning on visiting for a few days and learning about our lives in the Windy City. But more on that in our next post...


Meanwhile, enjoy our 5 seconds-a-day from June...

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...

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.

"I knew the years would move quickly, but never quite as fast as this." -DCFC

Somehow I convinced myself it hadn'tbeen that long since I lasted updated this blog. Apparently it's beentwo and a half weeks...which is quite a while in blog time. So whathaven't I talked about yet?

A few weeks ago, CCC Edgewatercelebrated it's first Easter service, and we did so by gathering onthe beach at the shore of Lake Michigan. It was a great time. Thoughthe weather had been pretty cold the previous week, it was quitepleasant that morning, and I was almost hot in my button-up andsweater. We all spread out on some white tarps that were nailed intothe ground, and for about an hour we sang and listened to Rich preachas sea gulls called to each other down by the water. Afterwards, weall walked back to Rich and Dori's apartment for brunch.

About a week later, “Blue Like Jazz”the movie hit theaters. BLJ the book is a set of spiritual memoirs byDonald Miller that has meant a lot to me. I was given a free copy bythe Christian Fellowship at my school during my first week of collegeat Pace University. The concept of spiritual memoirs had never evenentered my mind before, and reading the book is what made me switchmy major from Theatre to English. The next year, I became a leader atPace's Christian Fellowship, and I had a great time handing out thebook to everyone, telling them how it changed my life. We would ordermini versions in bulk and carried them around in big mesh laundrybags. People on the subway would give me weird looks, and I wouldoffer them a free copy. As you can imagine, I was excited to see thefilm. We went on a Monday night with our friend Lisa. When we firstwalked in, the theater was vacant but a handful of others filtered inbefore to movie started. Overall, I really enjoyed it. Despite thelow budget and the complexities involved in turning a set of essaysinto one continuous plot, the movie was an engaging and earnest lookat faith and, in a larger sense, becoming an adult. Go see it if youget the chance.

After the movie, we all went and ate atthe Ihop where our friend Josh recently got a job as a server. Lisahas been on a vegan kick lately, so when we were all talking aboutwhat we wanted, she said, “I can't eat anything with a face.” SoI said, “I guess you can't eat this, then,” pointing to the kidspancake in the menu that was topped with strawberries and whip creamin the shape of a face. I thought that was hilarious, but apparentlyno one else did.

The next night, Cary Anne and I wentwith a couple of friends from church to see Death Cab for Cutie playat the Chicago Theater downtown. I noticed that our concert-going ismoving in a circular pattern. When we were dating, we saw DashboardConfessional, Avett Brothers, Death Cab, City and Colour, and TheSwell Season. Now, since we've been married, we've seen Dashboard,Avett Bros, and Death Cab. Music has always been a big part of CA'sand my relationship, starting with when we used to trade mix CDs backwhen we were just friends. On this night, DCFC was playing with theMagik*Magik Orchestra, which was particularly amazing. The stringsbrought so much emotion to the music, adding a deeper sense of sorrowto songs like “What Sarah Said” and “Tiny Vessels” while, atthe same time, adding a greater sense of joy and beauty to works like“Soul Meets Body” and “Passenger Seat.” One of favorite partswas the fact that they played some of my favorites from their mucholder albums, like “No Joy in Mudville,” “Tiny Fury Bugs”(which includes a nice Chicago shout out), and “Army Corp ofArchitects.” Even the stripped-down, orchestra-less encore of“Steadier Footing” was great. All-in-all, it was easily one of myfavorite concerts I've ever been to, like discovering Death Cab forthe first time.

There's more to catch you up on, butthis post is already getting a little long, so I guess it will haveto wait until next time. Hopefully it won't be another half a month.

Celebrations (all of which involve food)

The great thing about moving to Chicago is that it has given Cary Anne and I a chance to pursue our dreams; the bad thing is that so much dream-pursuing has resulted in limited "quality time." Cary Anne has been working on shows for weeks on end, and when I'm not in improv class, I'm out trying to hit local open mics. Luckily, we have been able to squeeze a date into our busy schedules every now and then. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to see Cary Anne's show, "The Sea," and it was highly entertaining. I'm so proud of her for being a part of it. Afterwards, we walked down to a new burger joint of Belmont called Indie Burger, which combines great food and great music. The place had only been open for 3 days when we went, so everyone was extra nice and eager to please. It definitely has the potential to become a hipster hangout with all organic food and walls lined with concert posters. And since we discovered it so early on, we're like hipsters at the hipster place. Hipster Inception. However, we're not always so hip. Sometimes we just go to the Dunkin Donuts with a Baskin Robbins attached and eat with all the other fatties.

That same week end, we had a cook out at church. Three of our members were having a birthday during the following week, so after worship, we pulled out some tables and set up a feast. We probably should've started the cooking a little earlier because everyone had to wait and graze on pita chip while Zach cooked the meat (slowly) on a small grill by the parking lot, while Sam & I alternated holding the flashlight. Eventually, everyone got stuffed on burgers, brats, and chicken, and the board games came out. I passed rude, intimidating notes to the other teams during Cranium, and Cary Anne got way to into Apples to Apples. Later I created some racial tension. We started cutting and distributing the cake when Lisa came back with a slice and said, “Darius doesn't want his. He doesn't like chocolate.” Across the room I yelled, “Darius! How can you not like chocolate? You are chocolate!” He pretended to be made and flip a table. While I'm excited for our church to grow, right now I'm enjoying looking around the art gallery filled with 30 people, knowing I know everyone's name.

Then, on Monday, UK played Kansas in the NCAA Championship. I was hoping Cary Anne and I could  go to The Pony Inn for the game since it's the official UK alumni bar here in Chicago, but Cary Anne wasn't crazy about the idea since we went to the The Pony for 2 other tournament games and it was absurdly crowded. Luckily, our friend Josh called ahead. (Josh also moved to Chicago from Lexington. During the years I was working at Krispy Kreme, he was working only a few blocks away at the Movie Tavern.) The Pony informed Josh that there had been a line of UK fans waiting to get in since 4pm, and they were gonna stop allowing more people in over an hour before tip off. That successfully squashed that idea, so instead Cary Anne and I met up with Josh and his roommate, Courtney, at a surprisingly quiet bar in Wrigleyville. In the end, we all enjoyed watching Kentucky beat Kansas 67 to 59. Cary Anne kept rolling her eyes as I took to the streets yelling, "C-A-T-S! Cats, Cats, Cats!" No one joined in, and even the homeless people tried to avoid contact with me.