my first flood day

Front of Von Steuben

I've seen a lot of things on Foster Ave, but this was new 

(This is looking west at Foster and Pulaski for those of you who know the area)

Park, pool, or Lake...you decide

The view from the front doors of Anderson

Anderson Dorm, notice how the river flows under the dorm 

The Front of Anderson Dorm

As some of you may have heard, we had kind of a crazy weather weekend here in Chicago. The short story is that 90 billion gallons of water rained down on our city in about 2 days. Now I don't have any experience with flooding so it never entered my mind as an option, but flood it did right in my neighborhood. My street was not bad but everything around us was. The flooding really affected the North Park campus and they had to evacuate some buildings for the weekend. All in all pretty crazy. So because of all this we all had a "flood day" today...no class! The good news is that the water is receding, the dorms are open again. The bad news is that our neighbors in this Albany Park area were hit pretty hard. 

So Proud

While this week has been eventful on many levels (ie starting the fall semester and starting a new job), more than anything this week have been overwhelmed with pride and appreciation for my family.

There have been some significant things happening in the lives of my grandparents and I'm proud of the way that my family has acted in the midst of stress. I'm proud of my mom, aunt, and dad have worked hard to help my grandparents transition while still honoring them. I'm proud of Ben for helping to move grandma and for being there for my mom. I'm proud of Michele for jumping in to our family and for loving and honoring our grandparents so much, I can't imagine / remember our family without her. I'm proud of my grandma for aging with grace and patience and for making the best of her new home. I'm proud of my grandpa for deciding to have his 2nd open heart surgery for the sake of those that he loves. The fact is that none of these things are easy but I'm thankful that God has been preparing these things ahead of us and that he has given me a family this wonderful. I am also thankful that my grandpa survived his surgery today, praise God!

Another piece of my week was getting to watch Ben this week on the set of a music video that they shot here in Chicago. Now, it is always good to see him and I am always reminded of what a great friend I have in my brother but it is also just really great to watch him "work". I also get a thrill out of watching him play his music. So it was equally thrilling to watch them tape this video. I love how Ben interacts with everyone on the set and how he knows the name of the little old lady that is  assigned to sit next to him in the bus scene. I love how we can have deep conversations about the songs that they have written. And I love that he still has the same sense of humor (you all know what I'm talking about). 

Another source of my pride is that Michele started orientation this week as a graduate student. I'm so proud of how hard she works and how focused she is. I'm also so excited for her to pursue this degree and to have the chance to pursue her career as an artist.

So at the close of this week I am tired and feeling weary but I am also so thankful for my family and just wanted to brag about them for a bit...

My favorite things...

Usually my blogs involve lots of pictures because sometimes I don't know how else to describe what has been going on other than to show you. Unfortunately this summer has been different for me because I haven't been "going" as much as I've been staying put and "doing". Doing the hard work of learning greek (which is over!) instead of taking a bunch of trips was not my first choice for the summer but ended up to be just fine. So in complete Oprah style I decided to share what I would call my Summer Favs, also known as the things that got me through greek!...

Music...

"Take a bow" - Rihanna

" Trying to stop your leaving" - Dierks Bentley

"Love Song" - Sara Bareilles

"Free Fallin' (live)" - John Mayer

"With You" - Chris Brown

"Come on get Higher" - Matt Nathanson

Viva la Vida (album) - Coldplay

Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust (album) - Sigur Ros

Till the sun turns Black (album) - Ray LaMontagne

19 (album) - Adele

Memory Man (album) - Aqualung

Books...

While I did read my fair share of novels these were my favorite

"A Thousand Splendid Suns" - by Khaled Hosseini

"So Brave, Young, and Handsome" - by Leif Enger

"The Glass Castle" - Jeannette Walls

Recipe...

This is one that my mom found and it has been a refreshing a simple salad / salsa to have around and snack on

Black bean & Corn Salad

1 can whole kernel corn, drained

1 can black beans, rinsed & drained

2 large tomatoes, finely chopped

1 red onion, chopped

1/4 cup minced cilantro

2 garlic gloves, minced

** combine and mix with dressing 

2 T. sugar

2 T. white vinegar

2 T. canola oil (or I use olive oil)

1 1/2 t. lime juice

1/4 t. salt

1/4 t. ground cumin

1/4 t. pepper

** refrigerate for at least an hour before serving. Serve with chips, enjoy!

TV...

 The "O.C." (such a guilty pleasure but only a few more discs to go)

re-watching "Gray's Anatomy"

THE OLYMPICS

"It's greek to me"

Well folks I'm currently wrapping up my 8th day of intense summer Greek. Now as that might not sound like to much of a big deal to you let me tell you what a big deal this has been for me. I realized this past fall that part of my hesitation of going for the MDIV degree was that I had to take Greek and preaching. I realized that those are lame excuses and so I switched and faced my fears head on. So that brings us to this summer when I'm spending 6 weeks learning Greek.  As much as I expected to learn a lot of new things about this language and about the New Testament, I wasn't really expecting to learn as much about myself as I have. This first week really pushed me and it wasn't a very pretty process. Luckily my roommates were out of town so they did not have to try to live with me. But I feel like I'm finding my pace this week and I feel like I just might make it out of these 6 weeks alive. 

I've learned that...

1) You really do have to take it one day at a time

2) That it is possible to study something for 7 hours straight in the library (this was a new experience for me even though I am 2 years into seminary)

3) That I'm glad I had to learn all that hard stuff about the english language in Junior High

4) That I can get up and study BEFORE an 8:30 class and not necessarily need a nap later

5) That coffee and diet coke are things that I should not give up 

6) That I have never loved the weekend more!

A few weeks off

Winter and this past semester were two things that I thought would never end. That sounds a bit dramatic but seriously there were days when there was no end in sight for either of those things. But the semester did end and I more than survived with all A's and B's (you can applaud...) and the snow did melt and now it rains or is really humid. So there have been a few things going on since the end of school and since a picture is sometimes the best description of these good times enjoy some of the highlights below....

May 18th - Matty and Kris's Wedding

The NPU Gang

Memorial Day - I went home for a week over memorial day which also included a chance to hit up some graduation parties and RV's graduation. And even though it poured on memorial day, my dad found a way to still make it possible to grill and make S'Mores. I like my house and the people that hang out there.

Kristen's big day

The S'More adventure...

Tate's visit - After my time at home Tate come back to Chicago to hang out with me and to get some time with the Van Rossum's.

Classic Chicago bean picture

The biggest tourists of them all...
Tate and the her favorite babies

It's nice to have good weather and some time to relax. I just have a few more weeks though before greek starts and then my summer will look more like flashcards and tests. More to come...enjoy your summer!

Girls Weekend

I feel like all of my posts this spring have been about trips or people coming. It might seem like all I do is play but really it's just that everything else is just not something that you would really write a blog about. I mean if you want me to post my latest paper or case study or book review I would but I just don't think that would be a real "fun" blog to read. This semester is going well though, I feel like I'm connecting the dots in new ways and I am encouraged by how I am growing and being stretched. I also only have about 2 weeks until the end of the semester so things are a little crazy right now.

The real purpose of this blog is to show you some pics from a recent weekend visit with Melissa and Lily. I'm honored that they came out to see me and I'm also proud of how many Chicago things we crammed into one weekend. Even though we may have worn ourselves out it was a blast. It's fun to see how Lily is growing up and how her personality is coming out and of course it was good for my heart and soul to be with Misa for a few days. I have to admit that I was in a bit of a funk when they left. Having good friends is great...except when you live far away from them. **sidenote...I thought up a new idea today, I think that the year after I graduate from Sem I want to just spend a year traveling around the country connecting with all these people that I dearly love but never get to see. Consider yourself warned**

Here are a "few" pics from our many adventures that weekend...

Riding the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier













Molly's cupcakes...enlarge the picture to see the cupcake creation that Lily picked out :)

Lincoln Park Zoo














Energized by some cupcakes and ready for the cubs game!



















Lily sleeping off her suger overdose during the Cubs Game















Making breakfast...Lily enjoyed her coffee in a Nordy's mug, that's my girl!


Waiting for the El



















Lily Bean and the Bean
On top of the Hancock















Thanks for coming girls, I already miss you and can't wait for our next visit!

baltochicoxville

You know those cell phone commercials that combine all the different cities into one name...that's what I tried to do...maybe it's not that funny...

Anyways, the point is that to catch you up on the latest happenings in my life involves 3 different cities...Baltimore, Chicago, and Knoxville.


I went to Baltimore for Easter to spend some time with my aunt, uncle, cousins, and grandpa. I haven't been there for 5 years and the last time I was there was for my grandmother's funeral. It was a great weekend and it was fun to be there by myself but a little weird as I'm so used to being there with my family. It's funny the way that you remember places from when you were a kid and then you go there when you are 27 and it's not quite what you remembered. But I am very thankful for my family and it was fun to spend the weekend with them. I also confirmed that fact that I'm not the biggest fan of crabcakes (don't tell my gpa, good thing he doesn't read this!)







My adventures of the past few weeks brings us back to Chicago next where Sophie came to visit during her spring break. I really love when people come to visit because it makes me get out and do some fun Chicago things. Plus it was just really fun to have my sister here. I think she was frustrated that she couldn't really wear flip flops here seeing as it was snowing when she landed! So we managed to fit quite a lot into a fun weekend and I'm so glad that she came!


Last weekend found me in Knoxville with my CHIC iteam for a few days of dreaming and planning together. While it was kind of crazy how much we needed to talk through and plan, it was a great weekend for me. It was great to be with my good friends who are on my team and to do the hard work of brainstorming and planning together. I'm so thankful for the history that we have because I think it freed us up to collaborate together much better. I was also encouraged with how I found myself engaging in this planning. I found myself thinking about things that I wouldn't have thought 3 years ago and found that I had insights that I don't think I would have had 3 years ago and so for once it just felt like I'm actually changing in seminary. It's hard to get perspective sometimes and this was a chance for me to do that. I get so caught in this world that it is really helpful and encouraging when I can step out of it for a little while and see how all this hard work that I'm doing will impact ministry opportunities that I might have later down the road.

I always think that I'm going to slow down but as you can tell that doesn't happen to often. But I'm thankful for the chance to travel and to have people come visit. That always gives me something to look forward to and it's always refreshing for me to connect with family and friends. So that said, I have 6 days until Melissa and Lily come...YEA!!