This is so great...

This is one of the funnier things that I've seen in awhile...

82 degrees...!

The past three days here have been amazing! It's official now that winter is over and the city is rejoicing. Today's high was 82...holla! I am also rejoicing because I have exactly 4 weeks left of school (that does mean that there is a lot of work due in those 4 weeks but oh well). So the weather and the fact that I can see the end to this semster makes me feel so good. And having a really great weekend doesn't hurt either...here's some highlights for your reading and viewing enjoyment.





Friday marked a big first for me, I went to my first Cubs Game! We got some tickets for a rooftop party so we weren't really in Wrigley but it was a great view and perfect weather . The only thing that would have made it better would have been if the Cubs had actually won (dang Cardinals!). We also got a front row seat to a fight between some construction workers who were working on the bleachers on the roof next to us, pretty exciting...yeah we don't get out much!




On Saturday I also had another first when I got up early to go to the library and work on a paper only to walk in a have the lady at the desk tell me that they weren't open yet. Who does that...goes to the library before it opens...I'm officially a nerd!


Saturday night Sheri and I meet up with Kristi (Sheri's sister) and Emma (Kristi and Sheri's friend from Sweden who is living with Kristi...got that?) in the city and we had a great dinner at SoPo's (my favorite place) and then some drinks in Wrigleyville. It was great to hang out with the girls and enjoy the city in the nice weather.
And Emma got to see Wrigley for the first time.


















Today topped it all off with an afternoon at the beach with Marissa, Laura, Anne and this attractive gentleman who decided to layout near us. This is why Chicago beaches are a little creepy at times.

Easter in Muskegon

This past weekend I headed up to Muskegon Michigan with Jeff G and Kurt Roberts to see the Ciccone's. I first met Tim and Maria when I was a sophomore in high school and Tim was an intern at 4C's. Then after I went to CBC Tim hired me to be his intern at Crossroads Covenant in Forest Lake Minnesota. So basically, we go way back...like 10 years back. Maria has some really great pictures of me in high school that should probably just stay in her scrapbooks. Anyways, it's always great to see them and I love that they are only a few hours away. Another really fun thing is that they have 2 great boys now and it's fun to watch them as parents now. Caleb and Josiah are great kids and it was fun to be around them.

It didn't really feel like Easter though because it snowed the whole weekend! Kurt and Jeff shoveled Friday morning, not really a typical Easter weekend activity...

The snow didn't matter much though because we mostly played inside with Caleb or sat in front of the TV playing guitar hero. I'm kind of considering taking up guitar except for the fact that my fingers started to hurt after awhile, or maybe that was because we played for 7 hours straight! This was Kurt and Caleb's jam session while we were babysitting...


After church we stopped and got some treats and Caleb picked out the muffin with the most chocolate on it which ended up getting all over his handsome Easter outfit... oh well, at least it tasted good! To avoid tracking chocolate all over the house, Caleb's handsome outfit came off at the table and then he ran off the chocolate as the Easter bunny...so funny


Kurt told us about a tradition that his family has of having egg wars on Easter. They decorate an egg and then fight each other with them. You have to crack your opponents egg with your egg before they crack yours with theirs...strange...but we did it and it was fun...


Check out Caleb's hair in the background of this pic, oh and this is Josiah...


Anyways, that was Easter. So fun and relaxing but cold, I'm ready for spring to come...

Holy Week

For some odd reason, I really enjoy Holy Week. I love walking through the events of that week and reading what Jesus said and did when he knew that it was his last week with those people. One of my favorite services of the year growing up was our Good Friday service at church and a big part of me is really bummed that I'm going to miss it this week. I'm also bummed that I don't get to be in the Easter choir at church either, even though many years I just made fun of what we had to sing! All that to say, I just really like Easter. But this week as I have been reading the texts about Holy Week and as I have been walking through everyday life things, I have been more and more aware of the restoration that God seeks for his people. Some of the things that have come up for me in the past weeks have just been messy. Walking through life with people is just messy sometimes and there is nothing you can do about it. As much as you might want to, you just can't fix it. You can't protect them from the messy things, and you can't always stop the messy things from happening to them. The only one who can restore and repair is God. I know this sounds so super basic but I just can't get away from it this week. Also in the midst of chewing on all of that I had a project for one of my classes to create a presentation in which we presented a biblical truth. So below you will find the result of my thinking about Easter and Jesus' death and the power of restoration that we have in Christ. Kind of a heavy subject I realize, but it's been kind of a heavy week...