Jennifer's Trip Home: Part 1

I decided to take a quick trip back to Illinois last month, since, ya know, I had nothing else better to do :) It was a good excuse to head back, and after I eventually get a job, I probably won't be able to take any days off for 3 months.

I got in on a Saturday morning and went to Alexis' in-town softball tournament and immediately got an amazing sunburn. I'm still peeling. Mom took Lexi and I to my favorite pizza restaurant, Monical's and then we went shopping. Mom bought me some cute booties for wintertime and Lexi got me some Sillybandz for my birthday!

Lexi and I's Sillybandz!

Lexi and her pet guinea pig, Sheeba

On Sunday, Lexi, mom and I went to Mom's church and then Dad, Lexi and I went to the softball field to teach Lexi some softball situations. Dad cooked some hamburgers and Lexi and I walked Amanda's new puppy, Piper.

On Monday, Dad, Lexi and I went to Decatur to see Grandma and Grandpa French, Grandma Crose and Aunt Becky. We met Grandma and Grandpa French and Hometown Buffet and then went over to their house to pick some tomatoes. Grandpa gave me a shoebox full of tomatoes to take back to Boston...boy was that fun hauling around two airports, a subway and bus! :) But they were delicious and worth the trouble. After we visited Grandma and Grandpa, we headed over to Grandma Crose's apartment to meet up with her and Aunt Becky. We went over to one of the Crose Family's favorite restaurants, Ted's Garage, for dinner.

Lexi and Grandpa pick some huge tomatoes in his garden

Grandma, Aunt Becky at I at Ted's Garage

Tuesday was full of shopping! Lexi, Amanda and I went to grab Dad's present, visited Mom at work, went to Noodles for lunch and then back to the mall. Amanda got me some snow boots...Bloomington had some good deals on footwear, I guess!

Lexi tries on shoes in Sears and gives her best "Beyonce pose"

More on the trip in the next post...

Jennifer's Trip Home: Part 2

After shopping, Lexi had to make a quick stop at the orthodontist to get her rubber bands replaced. I think she chose hot pink and purple for her new colors.

Lexi gets her rubber bands replaced at the orthodontist

For dinner, we went over to Mom's place, where she cooked my favorite meal: salmon patties, cheesey rice and blueberry muffins. Mom also made a mint cake for my birthday. My family can't get enough of mint cake :)

The mint cake, with only 1/3 of the years represented

The party-goers...

We're the three best friends that anyone can have!

Amanda and the newest addition to the family, Bristol. She gives hugs!

By Wednesday, I was exhausted. We took it easy until the afternoon, when it was time to head to Peoria for a Chiefs game. We ate at Joe's Crab Shack and then got stuck in the restaurant after a huge storm hit the town. The game started about an hour late, but it was a lot of fun. Nothing says "Illinois" more than a "Farmer Night" and dancing corn stalks. We left the game a little early--everyone was so tired and we had to get up early (2 a.m.!!) to get me back up to Chicago for an early morning flight.

It's kinda hard to tell, but there are two corn mascots dancing after one of the Peoria Cheifs hit a home run.

It was nice to see the family...but now I'm trying to convince them to get out to Boston before the summer and fall ends! :)

A quote

"What happens while we wait to have our prayers answered may be more important than what we're asking God for."
-Jill Savage* (www.jillsavage.org)

This quote definitely resonates with me right now. Brought some peace to the obscurity.

*Jill savage is the mom of a high school friend of mine. She is the CEO of Hearts at Home, an organization serving thousands of women through conferences, speeches, books and daily wisdom.

Painting!

We love our new apartment out here, but we had to make one major change before we could start unpacking. The previous renter decided a bright turquoise was an appropriate color for one of the rooms. Every time we walked into the room we immediately wanted out, so we grabbed a couple buckets of paint and brushes and erased all that nastiness.

BEFORE

Luke and the amazing turquoise-neon room

AFTER

Ahhhh, so much better!

This was the first time Luke and I had to paint a room. We learned a lot and are very glad that our first try wasn't at a house we owned (there's a couple 'oopsies' here and there (; )

The New England Aquarium

About a month ago, Luke and I made our way to the New England Aquarium over by Boston Harbor and the North End. Our friends, Carrie and Martin just got year-round passes to the aquarium and highly recommended it...especially for penguin lovers, like myself.

The aquarium's centerpiece is a massive cylinder going up about three stories. The tank is full of fish of all sizes, stingrays, starfish, two huge turtles and various sharks.

The huge cylinder tank

The penguins were by far the show-stoppers of the aquarium! They had Rockhoppers, African and Little Blue penguins in a pond that took up most of the first floor.

Penguins!

While we were there, we got to see them eat lunch and it was very cool how they were fed. The penguins would actually line up! Many of the penguins have grown up since babies at the aquarium, so they were taught at an early age how to get in the box and wait. But some were still working on their patience, and budged in line. It was so cute to watch and see how each penguin had their own personality.

Some African Penguins line up to eat

A Rockhopper and African Penguin hang out after lunch

We also got to see Northern Fur and Atlantic Harbor Seals. These guys put on a little show for spectators and showed off their new tricks like bouncing balls off their noses and bringing back toys.

The seals!

The aquarium was so much fun and we will definitely be visiting those penguins again real soon!

4th of July...kinda late, I know

Sooo....yeah. Sorry I haven't blogged lately. Most of my writing-power has gone toward the ole resume and cover letters. I don't even want to start counting how many places I've applied to.

Enough of that, though. Here is what Luke and I did on the 4th of July!

We decided to spend the day walking around downtown Boston. It was kinda crazy, but we figured we would do this to say that we had done it, in case we didn't want to do it again. To make the day more fun, we met up with our new friends, Carrie and Martin. Martin just started his job as a features editor at the Globe and Carrie is looking for a graphic design job, like me. Needless to say, we have become great friends and love hanging out together!

Kids playing in the Frog Pond at Boston Common

We met up over by the Charles Bridge and went to a cute (teenytiny) Thai place for dinner and then headed over to the bridge to secure a spot to watch the fireworks. The crowds had already gathered by the time we arrived (about 2 hours before the fireworks) but we found a good spot and hung out until the show started.

Here are some pics of the night:

The sky put on its own fireworks show

Red line approaches Charles MGH Station

Fireworks!

Some bombs bursting in air

After the fireworks, the time we had dreaded had arrived: trying to get the heck out of the city. Many of the roads were closed and the cabs were full of people. So after meandering around Cambridge trying to figure out what to do, we said "goodbye" to Carrie and Martin and waited in the awful long line for the subway. Thankfully, this ride was free.