BIRTHday!

Early this morning I received the happiest text message ever--Sarah and Joel's cute little baby boy arrived healthy and happy! He is so adorable. Look at his big little hands holding on to Sarah's finger. He looks so cuddly. Today I went out and found some St. Louis Cardinals gear for the little guy, as he will soon be moving to St. Louis Cardinals country--and he must be prepared. We're so happy that Mommy and Baby are doing well! I wish I could snuggle with him!!

Weird Illinois

The other day I was driving, and I saw this--a ginormous pink elephant with big glasses holding a martini glass in its trunk. All I can say is Springfield is a strange place. The elephant was just sitting in a parking lot like it belonged there. I would have expected something like this in New Orleans or someplace like that, but I guess you never know what to expect in Illinois.

Greg would agree with that! Last night (actually this morning) at 2:00 a.m. he got a call that someone had died, and he and his boss Rich had to go pick the person up. As they were driving back to the funeral home, Rich slammed on the brakes. Greg thought Rich had seen a deer. But it wasn't a deer. It was a big pink pig. In the middle of the road. At 3:00 in the morning.

Then today we had a strange tornado experience. My past tornado experiences have been really scary, but today's wasn't very scary--probably because there ended up not really being a tornado. But anyway, when I got home from work this evening, we checked the weather and saw that there was a tornado warning headed in the direction of Springfield. Pretty soon Sangamon County was included in the warning, so we headed over to Wal Mart, where we figured we would be safer than at the condo (although we did set up a safe spot at home for the animal children). Once we reached the Wal Mart parking lot, we could see these funny bubbly clouds in the sky. It didn't look very threatening, so Greg and I went to Wendy's and got a hamburger. Never would I have imagined myself eating a hamburger in the middle of a tornado warning. It took a little while for the storm to reach us.

Once the storm came, we went inside Wal Mart, but I kept wanting to come outside and look at the sky. At the moment I took this picture, I was about ready for Abraham Lincoln or someone to be beamed down from the sky--it kind of looked like something like that was going to happen. But alas, no Abraham Lincoln and no tornado. We stayed at Wal Mart for about 45 minutes while the storm blew over. There was some serious rain, thunder, and lightning, but no storm damage. At one point we determined that the storm had passed over us, so we went out to the car. But at that moment it started to POUR. So we decided that would be a good time to go to Dairy Queen for a Blizzard. :-) It was a strange date night, but turned out to be a date night nonetheless!

A Tall Adventure

Here it is--Chicago from the sky (but not an airplane)! Yesterday was an absolutely perfect day to venture to the top of the tallest building in the United States: the Sears Tower. (It's actually been renamed the Willis Tower, but that sounds silly.) My friends David, Teal, Melissa and I took off early Saturday morning to head up to the Windy City for our friends Rosie and Chris' wedding. We thought we might as well make a trip out of it, so we started off our day at the Sears Tower. The elevator ride to the top was pretty crazy. It only takes 60 seconds to go up 103 stories, which makes your ears really start popping. We were anxious (and a little nervous) to experience the tower's newest attraction: the glass balconies, which just opened last year.

So here's what it looks like to be standing 1,353 feet above the streets of Chicago!!! The glass balconies were really cool, but also really scary. Walking out onto them was kind of like a thrill ride that didn't move. I didn't think it would bother me at all, but seriously, the first step out onto those things is really SCARY. Even though you know in your head that it is (supposedly) safe, it still feels like you're walking off a ledge. And knowing that a piece of glass is the only thing between you and a 1,353-foot fall is slightly unnerving.

The glass balconies extend four feet out over the edge of the building. When you walk out on them, you are completely enclosed in glass--top, bottom, and sides. It's really clean glass, so you sort of feel like there is nothing there. The three of us girls were all pretty nervous when this picture was being taken. After our adventure at the Sears Tower, we headed to the shore of Lake Michigan to grab some lunch. We found a really fun pizzeria called Pizano's. Oprah says that they have the best thin crust pizza in the U.S., so being an Oprah skeptic, I thought I'd try a thin crust cheese pizza. It was delicious, although I think I would award the best thin crust pizza title to the Imo's pizza chain in the St. Louis area. But it was very tasty pizza, and quite the Chicago atmosphere at Pizano's.

After lunch we made our way to Navy Pier. Along the way, I literally found a little slice of Utah!! They had a building along Illinois Street that featured stones from each of the states and several countries. Utah's stone was very fittingly from the Salt Lake Temple. Seeing it made me feel nostalgic.

Navy Pier is such a fun place. It was quite chilly there right on the water, but there were still a lot of people out enjoying the sunshine. It brought back fond memories of the last time I was at Navy Pier--with Mom back in 2007 when she and I came to Illinois for a symposium. That was in February, so it had been even colder that day!

Being history people, we are also statue people, so we found this interesting statue there at Navy Pier. Lake Michigan looks so beautiful from there! It looks just like the ocean because you can't see the other side of it. It is indeed a great lake. You may notice that my attire changed slightly--I was so cold that I had to buy a Navy Pier sweatshirt. When I looked at the weather before planning what to wear, I had forgotten to factor in the wind chill. But anyway, continuing our water-based adventures, we decided to take a water taxi back to Union Station where we would then catch a train back to the wedding reception location.

Chicago is a beautiful city anyway (although it does produce some icky politicians), but seeing it from the Chicago River adds an entirely new element of awesomeness. They pour green dye into the river for St. Patrick's Day, and I don't know what you think, but it appeared that the dye hadn't quite worked itself out of the system yet--the water still looked pretty green :-) In this picture you can see the Sheraton where Mom and I stayed, which is probably one of the nicest--if not the nicest--hotel I have ever stayed in.

As we were floating down the river, we got to see something pretty cool--one of the drawbridges opened for some sail boats to pass through. It was really interesting to watch the entire episode. The bridge was up for about seven minutes, and during that time about ten sail boats came through. We could see the traffic--foot and car--backing up as they waited for the bridge to go back down. We passed under a lot of drawbridges, and we wondered how long it would take for a sail boat to make it the same distance we went in 30 minutes, if they had to wait for each of those bridges to open. We were really glad that we took the water taxi because we had been tired of walking, and it was a fun, new way to see Chicago.

After the train ride back to the suburbs, we went to our hotel, changed, and then it was off to Rose and Chris' wedding reception. It was so much fun! We met up with some of our other Lincoln Home friends there, and we enjoyed a beach-themed evening. The wedding reception featured an open bar--all the alcoholic beverages you could drink, all night long--scary! :-) I heard and saw my co-workers do things that I never would have imagined. I did have an accidental run-in with some alcohol though. For dessert they brought out cups of ice cream. I dug into mine. It was soooooo good. After a minute I said, "This ice cream is DELICIOUS!" Melissa said, "That's because it's topped with Kahlua!" Kahlua is a Mexican coffee-flavored liqueur. Ooopsie! So that was the end of my dessert. I woke up with a really bad headache this morning, so Melissa, Teal, and David were teasing me about having a hangover. No thank you! But anyway, we had a really great time. We were pretty tired this morning, so we slept in a bit, but then headed back to Springfield. It was nice to escape the Lincoln Home madness for a couple of days. It was just the remedy that my Travelocity roaming gnome cabin fever needed!

Looking Good

Greg made it home from Idaho the other day, and it's good to have him back. The animal children didn't know what to think about the fact that he had been gone. The dogs did not enjoy his absence. Lily, on the other hand, quickly took over his side of the bed, so she seemed a little disappointed when he returned :-) The other day I came home from work, and something looked different about our condo--pleasantly different. First of all, the pretty tree in the courtyard had blossomed, and then I noticed that the landscaper had come and made the grounds look really nice. Also, the condo located two doors down from us got new siding. That made a big difference! Its original stucco exterior had been peeling and didn't look very good, so now everything looks really nice.

I like our birdhouse by the front door with the cute, funny decoration that David and Teal gave us. He's a little dog-shaped solar light. He looks especially cool at night (but the real dogs are kind of scared of him).

So the other day I was driving home from work, and I passed three car accidents! The first one really threw me off course, and I found myself kind of lost in the Springfield ghetto. Luckily I was talking with Mom on the phone at the time, so she looked online and got me back to familiar streets. Then I passed another accident, and then as I approached the street where I turn off to the condo complex, I noticed that the traffic was getting really heavy. About 200 yards from my turn, traffic stopped moving all together. Mom read online that there had been a car accident on Peoria Road, and that Peoria Road was closed from Veteran's Parkway to Dirksen Parkway. Uh-oh--that was a problem, considering that our street falls right between the two parkways. Finally I got up to the Peoria Road turnoff and the police blockade. I could see our street, and the car accident was down past our street, but the blockade wouldn't let anyone through. There were two other cars stopped there, as if they were wanting to turn, so I pulled up by them. It turned out that we all lived in the blockaded area. Then this police lady came over and started freaking out. We were not in the way of the traffic, but she said we had to move. We asked her where, exactly, she suggested that we go, seeing as the only entrances to our streets were blocked. She said, "I don't care, just get out of here." So one guy started kind of getting in her face, and then I got out of my car. Everyone kind of stopped and looked at me. I had forgotten that I was still in my uniform! Anyway, finally another police man came and let us through. It was crazy and very stressful. My ten minute drive home turned into about 50!

Speaking of stressful, the heart of bus season has arrived at the Lincoln Home (we've been having days with 21+ buses and 700+ wild kids). And they fired one of the rangers the other day (surprisingly it wasn't me!). So we're pretty short-staffed, but the public hasn't gotten that memo yet, so they keep coming in droves. A few of us really needed a break from work, so Melissa, David, Teal, and I are headed up to Chicago tomorrow for our friend Rosie's wedding reception. Rosie used to work with us at the Lincoln Home. Melissa is going to be my date since Greg is unable to go :-) I am really excited, and I'm sure there will be some funny pictures to post!

Back to Charleston

While Greg has been away I've been keeping very busy! On Saturday I returned to good ol' Charleston, Illinois for the Historical Administration program symposium. I realized that I hadn't been to Charleston in over a year, and it was fun to be back on campus (especially since I didn't have homework or anything to worry about this time). There were four of us there from the class of 2007-2008: Sarah, Catherine, me, and Dan. It was great to see them, and we were able to swap stories about the funny places we work. We decided that the real world isn't all it was cracked up to be when we were in school, but we agreed that we all enjoy not having homework any more. It was also great to see our professors and to walk around campus and see a few changes that have taken place since we were there. The best part of the trip, however, was visiting my favorite Charleston family: the Stowells! It was great to see them. The kids are getting so big, and they were as cute and funny as ever.

On my way home, I stopped at one of my favorite Illinois eating establishments (I hope I can write about this one as my next freelance assignment): Krekel's Dairy Maid in Decatur. Decatur is not my favorite place--it smells like burning corn flakes and cat food (from all of the soy plants), and the whole city is kind of like the ghetto, but Krekel's is the one bright spot. They have delicious hamburgers and ice cream. I especially like it because it reminds me of the Malt Shop in Natchez. So I had fun adventures on Saturday, then I went to church, relaxed, and hung out with David and Teal yesterday. And today I got a lot of work done, including cleaning our bedroom. Since the bedroom is now clean, I was finally able to take pictures!

Here are the before and after shots of the entrance to the master bedroom at the top of the stairs. The linen closet had no door when we moved in, and the master bedroom was a really dark shade of red. I liked the color, but it made the bedroom feel too small. So here's how it looked before and how it looks now:

And here is what the master bedroom looks like inside. Greg and I bought some delightful new bedding a couple of weeks ago. The color is kind of washed out in these pictures, but the bedding is a really pretty mixture of green and gold.

I love our bedroom! The windows make it so nice and light, and we have a really good view outside. So that's the latest from the condo.