Chicago Style

We love Chicago.

I haven't felt this way about a city since Edinburgh. Five minutes after arriving in Scotland's capital, I was in love.

Same thing with Chicago.

Even though our recent adventure over Columbus Day weekend wasn't my first time visiting this fabulous spot, it was the first time that I got a good feel for the city and all its treasures.

If work or school takes us there, we'll be happy as clams. No matter where work or school takes us, we'll still be happy as clams, but Chicago is incredibly cool.

So here's a look at the Chicago style adventures we had this last weekend.

We started out at the Art Institute of Chicago.

A little art humor presented by Steve.

Treasures in the Art Institute - Grant Wood's American Gothic and George Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Island of la Grande Jatte.

When I teach about these paintings I have an extremely hard time not getting distracted by the following connections:

President Eyring and Cameron Frye

Can anyone else relate?

Totally missed this part of the Institute last time I was here, and this is probably my favorite section - the Thorne Miniature rooms.

Next stop: Shedd Aquarium

Coolest jellyfish exhibit ever! Aren't they pretty?

More cool creatures - we were mesmerized.

After seeing live animals at the aquarium, we saw some dead ones next door at the Field Museum.

Meet Sue and Pumbaa.

One of the marinas off of Michigan Lake.

We caught a trolley and headed up North to explore the Magnificent Mile where we saw the following attractions:

This is close to the Chicago Water Tower building - in the heart of the Mile.

And not far away is the John Hancock Tower - Chicago's 4th tallest building, which has the best views of the surrounding areas.

Looking North...

A candy shop along the Magnificent Mall with some amazing displays.

Fruity candy is way better than chocolate candy. If taste wasn't evidence enough, here's fashion that also supports my claim.

Winding up our walk down the mile, we came to some fabulous river scenery.

Then we finished the day at Millenium Park.

Had to take pictures at Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate.

And some more pictures at the nearby fountains.

Favorite photo from the trip.

The next day found us at Navy Pier.

Carousels and Swings. Please make note of Steve's pose in the airborne pic - classic Adams.

What's a trip to Chicago without a stop at Sears Tower?

From what we understand, the locals prefer not to refer to this building by its official name - Willis Tower.

Another view of a marina. Pretty at dusk, eh?

The following pictures show the amazing architecture that characterizes the city as seen from our cruise on the Chicago River.

Back to the Pier for some cool evening shots.

This is a picture where we stayed (the gate, anyway) - a gorgeous home belonging to Steve's relatives who were kind enough to let us stay even though all the family was away for the weekend.

On our way out we stopped by the Chicago Illinois LDS Temple to check it out since we were so close.

Then we headed home.

Some gorgeous scenery to welcome us back to Ohio.

Autumn is the best.

Follow Up

Steve and I used to take lots of pictures on trips.

Not so much anymore.

We got to see a lot of great people while we were in Utah earlier this month, but we didn't take many pictures. Here is what actually got documented.

We...

Met Evan Casper - 9 days old at this point. He is super cute. And if I have my facts straight, he was named after my piano teacher from way back when - Evan Allred. Small world.

Celebrated our second anniversary. I've never completed a detailed post about our wedding - maybe someday - but it was a fabulous day and it's always fun to look back on and remember. The best part of it all is that we've had many "best" days since 09/03/09.

Hung out with family, which is always a highlight of trips to Utah. Steve and Lindsey graced us with lovely, often humorous, duets.

Took a leisurely stroll around Silver Lake with my brother, Cullen. We've grown accustomed to the rivers of Ohio (Autumn is insanely pretty here - dare I say even prettier than Utah - gasp!), but the mountains will always hold a special place in my heart.

Partied with the Berhan Bunch - Steve's friends from their glory days in Taiwan. Pretty cool that all of them have remained good friends three years later.

Toured the Nebraska state capitol on the road trip back to Ohio.

Stopped at some church history sites (Liberty jail was very cool). This picture is taken from the LDS Visitor's Center in Independence, MO of the Community of Christ's temple across the street. Our lack of time didn't allow a peek inside.

Visited President Truman's home, also in Independence, MO.

And that, in a very tiny nutshell, is a glimpse of our recent adventures in Utah (and Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio).

On Utah

A couple things on Utah.

*FIRST*

With school starting around the country, except in Ohio, I've been thinking about my time at college. A friend of mine recently moved to Provo to start her adventure at BYU and I could feel the excitement she has about the next four years of her life.

I figured I'd give her some advice, but it didn't include any of the following:

Frequent the International Cinema for quality films with quality people

Watch a star show in the planetarium

Take folk dance, or at least go to a Rec night on occasion

Where to study in the HBLL to actually study, rather than see/be seen

Fun places to live after you survive Heritage or Helaman Halls

Avoid the Wilk and opt for the Pendulum Court or MOA cafe for lunch

You don't have to physically go to the Marriott Center for Devotionals and Forums - it's broadcast all over campus. Good to know if your next class is in the Benson.

Cool teachers for the mandatory classes taken by all (hello, American Heritage and Book of Mormon)

Not-so-cool teachers for the same

Must see shows such as World of Dance, Christmas Around the World, and yes, even the Cougarette showcase

Go to a football game, even in you have no interest whatsoever in the sport - it builds character

etc.

So what did I tell her?

Unpack your bags. Make a friend. Take that friend to J-Dawgs.

5.5 years at BYU and that is the one piece of advice I have to share with a fellow Cougar.

I just found a recipe on Pinterest for the sauce, so maybe I won't have to find an excuse to travel to Provo this week. Keyword: maybe.

*SECOND*

I knew this day would come sooner or later.

We finally registered our car here in Ohio.

Rest in peace, BLUIDQT.

Some people got it and some people didn't, but either way, gone are the days of providing free entertainment at red lights. No more random conversations in parking lots with people headed to the same place who had figured it out and wanted to tell me so.

Blah.

*THIRD*

The owner of Cafe Rio is now the Mission President of the Ohio Columbus Mission. After eating at Chipotle, he ordered cafe rio for zone conference - from Maryland!

I realize MP's have better things to do with their time than worry about the dearth of Cafe Rio in the Midwest, but what do you think the chances are that Cafe Rio will make its way to the Ohio before we move somewhere else?

A real quandary.

And on that happy note, Utah, here we come.

Hocking Hills

One perfect Saturday. Two gorgeous hikes.

Hocking Hills State Park

Old Man's Cave & Rock House

Autumn will see us back again.

Scofflaw

It seems we have some catching up to do.

Steve mentioned the visit from the Riggs family - it was completely awesome - so that brings us to our trip to Texas to see family, friends, and my old stomping grounds while I was a missionary in San Antonio.

We've already shared a bunch of pics on facebook, but for you non-fb peoples, here is the link to see the documentation.

Click here

The photos give a pretty good play-by-play of the trip, though some highlights from the trip are conspicuously missing. I might have been pulled over by a cop within an hour of arriving in San Antonio. As I'm writing this, I'm imagining what members of my family will say when they see this. I'm not going to name names, but here's what they'd say:

"Were you at least wearing your seat-belt?"

(just for the record, I ALWAYS wear a seat-belt...)

"Rum-dumb little kid!"

"That lead foot doesn't come from my side of the family."

"Amateur."

Each response would, in fact, be justified if I had been pulled over for speeding. But I wasn't - I'm not a total scofflaw. The officer and I chalked it up to technical malfunctions of the vehicle I was operating, so he sent me on my merry way with a warning. It sure was an exciting way to kick off our Texas adventures. The rest is history.

Recovering from Grad School

I finished my first year of graduate school. It took me a few days to recover from the strains of the year and I continue to spend many hours on this couch. Some hours are spent sleeping stomach down and some are spent back down, with a pile of books. Speaking of books, I am pleased to announce that this week I will be maxing out my library card! That's right people, in a quest to read one book per week this year I have checked out 50 books for the summer. I should be able to pull off the quest no problem as I only have to read 15 more and I've got 5 months left.

Besides all the reading, we started off our summer with a visit from one of my favorite cousins.

Juli Riggs and her family came out to visit her husband's mission and they were kind enough to spend an entire day with us and also treated us to some tasty eats and sweets.

We spent the evening at Schmidt's, one of the local favorites, down in German Village. The bratwursts, cream pastries, and company were awesome. We had such a good time at dinner that we decided to extend the evening and play a round of Dominion. As luck would have it Tyler and I won. Going clockwise around the table starting from me we have Brannick, Juli, Parker, Saskya, and Tyler. (At this point in the game no one had pulled ahead yet, so everybody was pretty happy.) The morning after our visit from the Riggs we took off to Texas to visit Kristen's mission and see more family and friends (Kristen promised to blog about Texas after I blogged so make sure you hold her to it).

Following the trip to Texas I started an internship at the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio. I was hired to work on the energy assurance plan (EAP) for the state. I have learned a lot about energy assurance and Smart Grid and have used tons of tools I learned during this year of grad school. I am pleased to say that the time I have devoted to my education has already been paying off with rich dividends. But what is work without fire? No summer would be complete without fireworks. This year we decided to celebrate Independence Day in America, rather than London, and we got to experience one of the best firework shows in the Midwest.

Nick and Dorsia invited us to Red, White and Boom, and they were kind enough to show up six hours early to stake out excellent seats. The seats were so good that we got to see Mayor Coleman ride by in his golf cart. Right before the fireworks started hundreds of teenagers showed up to hang out right in front of us. The build up to the show did not disapoint.

Sometime during the evening a group of Asians showed up and I couldn't help but take a photo of them enjoying our national holiday. I got the feeling that they were enjoying the festivities even more than the Americans.

After going through a year of graduate school Kristen and I have made some great friends in the John Glenn School of Public Affairs. Who knew that after a year in classes together we would still want to hang out with each other? We got to celebrate Abigail Rhodebeck's 26th birthday with a surprise party at her parents house.

We have a few other brillant plans for the summer and we will be sure to keep everyone posted on our adventures. We are heading out to Utah in September to pick up my parents' car to use while they take off on their adventure to Peru - hopefully we'll get to see many of you.