The greater Chicagoland area

Just got back from a wonderful weekend in Chicagoland with my travelling buddies, Pam and Jayne, and introducing our new sidekick, Maelynn! While Pam enjoyed spending time with her parents and a handful of "fake" aunts and uncles, Maelynn, Jayne and I visited the International Teams office in Elgin, the Malaysian restaurant in Arlington Heights, and Cantigny Park in Winfield. We all stayed at Pam's friends' house, who were all too gracious and amazingly brave to let three total strangers crash at their beautiful home in Hanover Park for two nights. In the midst of torrential thunderstorms and flooding one night, we ate Ben 'n' Jerry's Phish Food and revelled in the childhood familiarity of old McGee 'n' Me films, and the next night we took full advantage of their cool coffee machine and played epic card games like 5 Crowns and Skip-Bo until midnight, as Maelynn video-blogged the whole thing. Of course the weekend ended with the "native Chicagoans" exposing us tothe famous Portillos hot dogs and beef sandwiches, which really are as amazing as everyone says they are. Good weekend, good times, good friends! And in conclusion, I like the west side of Chicagoland much more than downtown.



Ten more days til I go home to North Carolina! And then... four weeks until I return to Indiana! No, I am not devoted to Fort Wayne as a city... no, I do not look forward to the winter here... and no, I did not fall in love with any boy this summer... I just prayed a lot, and God gave me peace that this is where I need to be, for now. My next commitment to this corn-infested land is until Christmastime. I'll be really busy - teaching English, leading youth ministry, living with internationals, and my latest assignment is to be "House Mom" to incoming refugees at #629 where I live, better known as "The Angaying Inn." Many blog entries will be written, and more pictures displayed, so stay tuned! Until Labor Day, I have two weddings to attend, hours of quality time with my family to catch up on, and about 1,000 friends to see, so it will be busy... but oh so good...