soccer

Tonight I had a late soccer game. The game started at 10:15pm. We lost but it was fun to play since I hadn’t for awhile. Before soccer I worked on organizing my hall closed. I put all of my stuff for each sport in a different reusable bag so it is easy to find everything. Then I hung each of the bags- So I have a swim bag, bike bag, soccer bag, strength training bag, and a race bag. It was fun and I feel super organized.

Palos and Church

Today we went to Palos to run trails with some friends. Palos is a HUGE forest preserve. I would like to explore it but I am certain I would get lost so I guess it is a good place to run with a big group. I met some new people. Everyone was very welcoming. Most of the guys were Hispanic so I got to listen to some Spanish while we ran. We took a group picture after the run—instead of say cheese it was “Queso!” : ) We went back and had a great church service. I wished my parents had been there. It was a guest pastor and he was very dynamic and really inspiring the congregation to dream. We had a time for prayer requests / thanks and that was intense. There was first an African American man that stood up and said that some people think that he is getting supported by the church but he just wants to make it clear that he is not and wants a person in the congregation to know that he should be treated as a human and not a dog.” That kind of shocked us but Pastor Laura handled it very well and just said “Thanks” and moved on. The next lady said she had been homeless for 3 months- and her children had been taken away from her, that she had been sober for 3 years and off medication and that the government was threatening to take away her visitation rights to her children. Then the next person said that she had been taken to the hospital and was a “Jane Doe” and the doctors could do nothing for her but God saved her and the thank the lord (Jeff later said that from the things she had said he thinks it was an overdoes situation). Then a women stood up and said she has just this terrible unsettling about Rwanda and really feels a calling but doesn’t know what to do about it….these were just a few. I was in shock. After church we went and got some Mediterranean pita sandwiches and then Jeff had to head out.

Saturday in Chicago with Jeff and Parents

Today we had breakfast at my place and then decided what we wanted to do. Originally we were going to go to the surgery museum but it was sunny and warm out so we felt like we should do something outside. We decided we would go biking. We had 2 bikes but needed to rent two more so we went to Millennium Park to rent two more bikes. However, they were closed : (. We decided we would take turns. Jeff and I went out for a 30 minute ride and while we were riding Mr. Crawford called and said he had arrived in Chicago. We were going to meet him for lunch so when we got back we had my parents ride the bikes home while we walked back looking for a place to eat. We met Mr. Crawford and he had the idea of eating at the Grand Lux. We put our name in and started walking North to meet my parents. We ran into Jeff’s mentor. That was quite a shock! We had a fun time at lunch. After that we went back to my place and played a few games and then it was time for my parents to head to the airport- sad. Jeff really needed to get some of his research done. We were planning on going running but we both didn’t feel like it. He said it was the first time I have ever said that I didn’t want to run- I must have been tired. I will have to take him to see the Zoo Lights some other time.

Friday after Thanksgiving

I woke up and went for a run in the morning. It was really nice to have some quiet time. When I got back and finished showering I went upstairs just in time to make it for breakfast devotions. After breakfast I went with my grandparents to Second Impressions. I got some Christmas decorations that I was really excited about. Soon after Jeff came and we had leftovers for lunch and then headed to Chicago. After we unpacked we went for a walk down Michigan Ave into the loop. We stopped at Caribou coffee to get some special drinks and then went continued the walk to Daly’s Plaza where they have a Christmas Market. After that we walked back. On our way back we ran into Critical Mass (bike group that fills the roads to protest cars). Jeff thought it was awesome and gave everyone high 5s as they passed- saying "Happy Friday". (video post soon)








We drove to Ethiopian for dinner. We had a nice time. It was nice that they weren’t busy so we could just relax and talk and not have it be too loud or feel like they wanted us to hurry so they could seat someone else.

Thanksgiving in Kzoo

The next morning we took the train to Kalamazoo. It was a pleasant ride. I really liked it. Usually I am sitting with strangers on the train and I don’t have anyone to talk to- this was so much nicer. My grandparents picked us up from the train and we went back to there place. Soon my Aunt Nancy and Uncle Paul and family arrived and alittle later my Aunt Lynne and Uncle Jim and family arrived. Later in the night my uncle Ed and Aunt Jan, Cousin Jimmy and Baby Eddie arrived. Eddie was the center of attention. He is just so cute! My Aunt Nancy had set up teams to play games together. My grandparents had bought a bunch of prizes for the winners of the games. It was really fun- there was wii bowling, apples to apples, shuffle board, and four corners. My little cousin Jake was determined to win and he ended up as the Champion- he chose the grand prize of 50 dollars and said he was going to go buy cables to fix his zippy swing in their yard (pretty cute if you ask me). It was fun to catch up with my cousins, aunts and uncles, and grandparents. I have a fun family!

parent in chi day 2

Today I went to work while my parents explored the city. It was so weird to get home from work and have people in my apartment. I liked it. We made some food to take for the Thanksgiving and my parents made dinner in my apartment. We had Adoba chicken, squash, and cranberries. After dinner we were going to go listen to the Blues and Blue Chicago but I didn’t realize that the live music started later than the bar opened so we decided to just walk around for a little bit.

Frontera Grill with Mom and Dad

This morning I went for a great run with my friend Alona. She is a really great person and I am glad we have become such great friends. We pushed the pace a bit which felt good.

My parents arrived in Chicago tonight! We went to Frontera Grill. I thought the presentation of the food was nice. Checkout my parents with the jicama salad and me with the Ahi Cevechi appetizer. We had a great time. It is too bad that my parents brought rain from Seattle to Chicago!