Lots happening

I say this almost everytime I blog, but I need to blog more often. I sit at my desk every day for lunch. I don't know why I don't use that time once a week or so and just update a little. Oh well, we'll try.
My summer has been very busy, but very fun. It began in May with our yearly trip to North Carolina. We had a good time for the most part, but it wasn't as fun as the previous year. There were more family members there, which I attribute to Grandma Hickey's passing. My sister and brother-in-law came this year with Josh, and that was really the reason Justin and I didn't enjoy ourselves as much. We do not get along with my brother-in-law. He annoyed us when he was around, and when we avoided him people got mad. We just couldn't win. And in avoiding him, we ended up avoiding my parents which is half the fun of going down, spending time with Mom and Dad. The thing that bothered me most is that my brother-in-law acts as if he's doing someone a big favor anytime he's around my family. It's like he's playing the martyr. Like he really didn't want to be on vacation here, but he's doing it because my sister wanted to and because my Dad is sick, and because Grandma died this year. Justin and I truely enjoy the calmness of Murphy and enjoy spending time with my parents since we don't live right down the street from them. We'll see who decides to go next year and then plan our trip accordingly. We might end up in a different house or we may decide to go down at a completely different time.
June was also busy. Tiffany's bridal shower was toward the end of June in Fremont, OH. I traveled there for the afternoon, then went from there to my mom and dad's to spend a little time with them and my grandma. The last weekend of June, I threw Justin a surprise 30th birthday party. It was so stressful getting everything planned and coordinated, but he was surprised and the party was a hit. It was a great night and Justin refers to it as "The best birthday ever."
The big event in July was Tiffany's bachelorette weekend in Chicago. Again, it was a lot of planning and coordinating, but it worked out well and was fun. I really enjoy traveling by myself, which I never thought I would. Flights to Chicago are so cheap, it makes a really fun little trip. I'm going to try not to invite myself over to Tiffany's too often, though it's so tempting to just get on a plane and get away for a little while.
Tiffany and Jonas' wedding is this coming weekend. I'm excited for it, and I'm also ready for it to be over with. There's just been so much going on surrounding it and so much drama and planning and drama and money and drama. I am reminded at least daily why I decided to get married and Vegas and why I didn't bring any bridesmaids or friends with me. But I am happy to be a part of Tiffany and Jonas' day, and I wouldn't have dreamt of saying no. I love them both very much and I'm happy the asked me to be part of it. Still, it has run its course and I am ready for all the planning and hard work to come to fruition.
Justin and I are also getting more involved at our new church. We didn't attend as much as I would have liked this summer. All the events and the traveling really made it difficult to go. But I was able to teach Sunday school to the 2s and Ts class three times. I taught the first two weeks of June and then again just yesterday. It was fun and it felt good to be around kids again. I thought about signing up to teach some throughout the school year, but I'm not sure it's a comittment I want to make.
Instead, Justin and I have decided to become small group leaders for the youth group. Our church has a large youth group with about 90 or so kids. Two Sundays a month they do an activity for youth group and the other two Sundays they do small groups. The groups are divided by age and gender and they're really kind of an open format. It's not really a Sunday school or a Bible study, just more of an open discussion forum on what matters to the youth. I'm not sure yet where each of us will be, but we're excited to get to know the kids and see where it goes.
Justin and I have also started Power 90, a 90 day in-home boot camp. We'd gotten bored with Weight Watchers and needed some sort of work out program. We'd kicked around the idea of joining a gym, but weren't sure of the expense and anything we tried like biking or walking just didn't pan out. Justin had seen P90X on TV, but after looking into it, we realized we needed something to get us in shape before going to that. I asked a friend from high school about the Beachbody programs since he'd had a lot of success with them. He recommended Power 90. So we ordered it and have completed one week so far. I think it's a program we can stick to and we'll see what kind of success we get from it.
Well, there's where my life has been. There's where it's headed. I'll try to keep it up-to-date from now on.

Chicago

It's been over a week since my adventure in Chicagoland (they actually call it that), but I am just now getting around to blogging about it. I also have pictures to post on FaceBook, but I have yet to that as well. I've been neglecting the blog in general lately mostly because I haven't had much blog worthy to write about. In any case, a blog of my trip follows:

Every year, my in-laws ask for a Christmas list. Being 27 years old, I find this challenging every year. I haven't come up with a true Christmas list since I was maybe 10 years old, but I've been reluctantly doing it the last three years. The list is usually small and not well thought out, but my mother-in-law always gets me awesome things anyway (yay Kitchenaid mixer!). Well, this year I was thinking about it and I reached deep down into myself and found the ten year old that used to ask for outlandish and selfish things. She shouted at me rather matter-of-factly, "A gift card for Southwest to use for a trip to see Tiffany and Jonas!" And low and behold, that's what I got for Christmas. Actually, I got a Visa gift card from my in-laws and a Southwest card from my sister. I was good to go! Tiffany and I decided that spring would be a good time for the trip, and Jonas recommended that I come before the Edvard Munch exhibit left the Art Institute in April. So we decided upon the last weekend of March.

I flew out Friday night on probably the best flight of my life. The duration of a flight from Port Columbus to Chicago Midway is about 50 minutes. My particular flight encountered some turbulence; this combined with the shortness of the flight led the captain to decide not to serve drinks on the flight. This worked out perfectly for me. I was tired after a day of work and waiting around in the airport, so I leaned on the window and fell asleep. Without the disturbance of a drink cart and flight attendant, I slept the entire flight. I woke up to an announcement of our arrival into Chicago. It was surreal. I didn't remember a thing! Plus, after factoring in the time change, I got to Chicago before I left. Quite nice.

Tiffany and Jonas had taken to train to Midway to meet me. They greeted me with a three day CTA Pass and we were off. We got on the train and Jonas pointed out various buildings and landmarks, despite the difficulty seeing them in the dark. It was nice though and gave me a taste of the plethora of Chicago information I would glean from him the rest of the trip. We transferred from the Orange Line to the Red Line that eventually took us to Tiffany and Jonas's neighborhood in Uptown.

The couple's apartment was located in a nice residential neighborhood full of 1920s and 1930s buildings and houses. We entered through a gate into the courtyard of their building and then entered their apartment. I expected a teenie-tiny "urban" apartment. You know, the ones you hear horror stories about from New Yorkers. But I was pleasantly surprised to see a large light filled apartment.

That night, we went to a lesbian bar (now that I say that, I'm not sure it was an actual "lesbian bar," but in the least it was a bar with many lesbian waitresses and patrons) and had a really good pizza. It wasn't Chicago style deep dish, but it suited me just fine. I probably couldn't handle all the fresh tomatoes that generally top a Chicago style pizza anyway. Our pizza did have really good veggies including broccoli and lots of cheese. It was a good way to end a long day.

Saturday was a fun day. We began the day by doing a little shopping. We went into a few boutique-type shops as well as many shoe stores. Jonas, ever the shoe salesman, tried to talk me into a pair of knee-high black suede wedged boots. They fit well and were a good price, but just not very practical. I did buy a scarf and an awesome purse hook. After that, we continued onto Navy Pier via the train and CTA bus. It was quite cold and I imagine Navy Pier is much more enjoyable in nice weather. We were unable to ride the Ferris Wheel since the weather kept it from being open, but I did find Justin a Bears shirt, bought my nephew a post card, and saw the stained-glass museum that is located there. I love stained glass, especially Tiffany glass with it's art nouveau style. After Navy Pier we went to Millennium Park for a visit cut short by the weather before we began our journey to the Second City training stage.

Tiffany had gotten us tickets to see a Second City show on their training stage. The main stage was currently showing a satire on the Illinois governor and Tiffany figured I wouldn't really find it that funny. I was happy with her choice of Rubbed. It was a musical about a man who turns to selling marijuana and discovers a genie in his bong. The genie teaches him valuable life lessons about happiness and contentment. It was funny and entertaining. Very good time. After the show, we ate at Dinotto, an Italian restaurant around the corner. It was Earth Hour and the restaurant was participating, so we enjoyed our dinner by candlelight.

On Sunday, Jonas had to work at the Art Institute so it was a girl day. Despite the snow, we ventured out to have a fun day. Tiffany and I went to the Chicago History Museum. It was really nice and very informative. They had a collection of Lincoln artifacts, which was very cool. After the museum, we started walking along Lincoln Park toward some cool shopping. We found lots of cool shops and an awesome Belgian waffle place. We walked quite far, but it was a nice afternoon. We went back to the apartment and waited for Jonas to get home from work before going to a burger place in their neighborhood for dinner.

I had taken Monday off work, and wasn't leaving Chicago until later in the evening. So Monday, Jonas and I were able to hang out most of the day while Tiffany worked. I hadn't spent any time with just Jonas since he moved to Cleveland from Rosehill Plaza. For those who don't know, Jonas lived across the hall from me for a few years while Tiffany finished her masters at Case. So while Tiffany and I are old college buds, I have a relationship with Jonas separate from Tiffany. Tiffany's co-workers thought it odd that I was going to spend the day with Jonas while she worked. From an outsider's prospective, this would seem weird, but the three of us never thought anything of it.

Jonas and I set off for the Art Institute early in the morning. We got downtown too early, so we took the opportunity to see Millennium Park in the sunshine. We also went across the street to an old library building that is now a cultural center. It is home to the largest Tiffany glass dome. It was gorgeous, and the room itself is beautiful as well with mosaic tiled walls.

We then proceeded to the Art Institute where Jonas was able to get me in for free. We saw an exhibit of photographer Yousuf Karsh who photographed many personalities of the 20th Century. I was also surprised to see pieces that I didn't know were housed there, like Edward Hopper's Nighthawks and Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte by Georges Seurat (dodges things thrown by Ferris Beuller fans). American Gothic was on loan, so I wasn't able to see that which bummed me out. But the Edvard Munch exhibit was definitely worth timing my trip to see. I have to say that I didn't know (or perhaps more accurately: remember) much beyond The Scream, but I now have a really great appreciation for him as an artist. The exhibit was organized by theme. For example, all of his works pertaining to romance were in a room together, the ones showing angst in another. They also had works by Munch's contemporaries of the same theme in the room to show comparison. While I like Munch's dark side, it was nice to see that some of his work wasn't so "emo." I am really glad Jonas got me into the museum and showed me the exhibit. It was really a good day.

In all, I had a great trip. Despite some rain and snow, Tiffany and Jonas taught me how to get around town like a native. I enjoyed riding the train. I was also pleased to see that what people say about Chicago is true. It's a large city with a Midwestern feel. People were friendly like the guys at the waffle shop and the woman at Corner Bakery who offered to foot the bill for my sweater that I snagged in the bathroom. It was fun to get away for a weekend, see some sites, get a mental workout, and spend time with friends. I hope to make it back and bring my husband along for the ride.