Pictures

I just wanted to get some relevant pictures out there, because I know that all too often I'm filled with too many words. I'll just leave it at that and let your eyes do the rest of the work.

Me pointing something out to Wil while we wait for the train. [Photo by: Jake]

Family at a bar on Navy Pier.

Navy Pier.

Talking to Wil on Navy Pier. [Photo by: Jake]

Three brothers on Christmas Day at the Home Alone house.

Walking to the train stop. [Photo by: Jake]

Water Tower. [Photo by: Jake]

The Chicago River at night, taken from a bridge. [Photo by: Jake]

Winnetka, IL train station. Waiting for the train back to Chicago. [Photo by: Jake]

Most recent pictures, from Friday, 1/27/12 at a bar for a coworkers party.

 Ok, so there are some Christmas pictures and a couple more recent ones, just to keep you up to date on everything. Hope you enjoyed, more pictures to come!

Post-Christmas/New Year/Texas update

Ok, so I know it's been a while since I've posted, but I've been extra busy lately! Luckily, not with work though. So much has been going on over the last couple of weeks, so here's a consolidated list with summaries of each event. Let's hope I don't drag this out too much.

Christmas was a lot of fun. It was really cool to have my mom and brothers see where I live and what I've been doing over the last 4 months. It was also nice to get a taste of Texas, as my mom brought me two bean and cheese tacos from Las Palapas! While they were here, we got to see a lot of Chicago and do some touristy activities, a lot of which I had just done with Kayla. On Christmas Eve we went to Fourth Presbyterian Church for a candlelight service, and it was really beautiful. We also stayed in quite a bit though, which was nice, because that's what Christmas has always been like: staying in, eating and being around family. We bought a 1000 piece puzzle on Christmas Eve and finished it the day after Christmas. When I say "finished it", I really mean "almost finished it" because there was one piece missing, which was highly upsetting. I don't really know where that piece could have gone because I don't have a cat or a dog and we didn't move the puzzle or anything, but my mom has a "sticky elbow" theory that may have been the culprit. Oh well, at least it passed the time sufficiently, and we had a lot of fun working on it together. Mom and Jake left on the 27th and Wil stayed until the 29th, so we went to an improv show and I think he liked it... I did, anyway. It felt so nice to get back to normal life, I must say, although I wasn't quite done with the festivities just yet...

New Year's Eve was very simple and laid back, which is kind of how I prefer it. I always miss going to Preston's house on Fleetwood when NYE rolls around, but this year I had a good time nonetheless. I went to a friend's apartment where he had about 10 or 11 people over and we just drank lightly and watch the ball drop. At midnight, we could hear the fireworks over Navy Pier being shot off, and although we could only watch them on TV, I still think it's cool that Chicago has it's own little celebration. The city is very similar to New York City in a lot of ways, and I guess this was kind of one of them. I had to work early the next morning, so I was in bed by 2, but I was pretty pooped about then anyway.

My next adventure was Texas! I spent the 4th to the 10th of January in Texas, which was just the right amount of time to travel all over the state. I wasted no time getting my first bean and cheese tacos from Las Palapas, as my friend John Paul picked me up from the airport and headed straight there. That was the first of many Las Palapas meals in the week to come, and I ended up eating 16 of their tacos over the next 6 days. Somehow, they never get old. (I'd like to just take a moment to say that, when I was little, I was very upset one day when I was promised bean and cheese tacos from Taco Cabana and Poppy brought tacos from Las Palapas. I refused to eat them, and Poppy told me that he'd give me a good deal of money (probably only a dollar, but I was a kid, and having a dollar was a big deal!) if I tried them and didn't think they were exactly like Taco Cabana's. I ended up really liking them but I still wanted that dollar because they weren't like Taco Cabana tacos (because they were much better). I didn't end up with the money, but I did have a new obsession, so I just wanted to say thank you Poppy for forcing this stubborn kid to try something new.) I went to dinner with Moppy, Poppy, Aunt Kelly and Uncle Tony (with mom and Jake, of course) at Sarita's, and ate enchiladas that I had been craving since I left. On that Friday, Preston and I took off to Waco, where we stayed at a friend's house and had a really good time with her and a few of our other friends. The next day we headed farther north to Denton and Dallas and I got to see quite a few of my college friends. On Sunday, we came home (Preston to Austin and Austin to San Antonio) and I got to see my dad and Patricia at Alamo Cafe, another favorite of mine. I think those are all the highlights of my trip, although I feel bad for possibly leaving anything out! I got to see most everyone I wanted, except for the DFW Kunzs, plus Grandma, Peepaw and the Bundes. I know I'll see the latter for Courtney's wedding though, and I'm so excited! I've already been looking at plane tickets, and that will be my next trip to Texas. I think I'll be heading down from the 3rd of May to the 7th (the wedding is on the 5th, so I will definitely remember that...) I can't believe Courtney is getting married! Too weird.

It feels so good to be back in a routine. I've started working regularly, as well as working out regularly. I've also gotten back into eating healthier and spending less money. It's hard to do those two when you have guests who want to experience Chicago cuisine and when you take a trip home and can't stop eating Mexican food! I'll be posting more about normal life soon, as I'm hoping that things will be changing around here real soon. Also, quickly, about the weather, it has been crazy fun. Last night it got down to 10 degrees! Today it snowed for probably 8 hours. It's building up out there, for sure. This is the second time this month that it's snowed like that, and it's always really pretty. But it's true that it gets ugly real quick after a couple days, and sidewalks are slushy and the snow has turned black from cars. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while it's fluffy and white! I'm not sick of it yet, but it's still early, so we'll see. Texas had the most amazing weather when I was there, it makes me miss home! Anyway, I'm going to go now, but expect an update soon! Thanks for reading, everyone!

Kayla's Trip

Every day that Kayla was here, we went nonstop to see the sights, eat the food and live the life of Chicago. There was no stopping us, and no stopping the tens of buses, trains, and taxis we took to get from destination to destination. The best part of her trip was that it actually got me going. Without her here (and even with the same number of days off), I would have probably stayed home quite a bit, played video games, read, worked out, and went out at night to the same places I've been going since I got here. Now, don't get me wrong, those are all great things to do on my days off, and I can't wait to get back to them, but sometimes it takes the adventurousness (yes, that's a word) of a visitor to get people out of their everyday routine. As you'll see, that's exactly what this trip did.

December 17 (Saturday)

Kayla's flight got in early so I had to be up at 8 to meet her at the airport. Luckily for me, it was snowing outside, and I got to walk through the snow while listening to Christmas music on my iPod. For those of you who have never done such a thing, please do. It seriously gives songs like "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" and "White Christmas" a new meaning.

Anyway, back to the main plot point. I took the bus, then the train to the airport where I met Kayla, and realized how nice it was to see a familiar face. As we were waiting to buy bus passes, a man sold her his 7 day pass (that now had 3 days left) for $5, for a total overall savings of $9. So after we finished our black market deal with him, I bought my pass and we headed out. Let me just stop right here to say that I am so glad I got a 3 day pass instead of using just a regular $20 or $30 card because I have never used the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buses and trains as much as I did over the following days. I probably would have spent $30 on all the rides we took, and I only had to spend $14. I also learned a valuable lesson about the availability and usefulness of the city buses, instead of just depending on the trains.

One of my favorite views in Chicago

Before we took her suitcase to my apartment, we went downtown and saw the Christkindlmarket, which is a little German "village" set up in the middle of downtown with little shops that sell ornaments, fudge, German foods and many other little knick-knacks (http://www.christkindlmarket.com/en/). Even though it was the middle of the day, we decided to drink some gluhwein, which is a hot spiced wine that came in a little Christkindlmarket ceramic boot. Delicious stuff, gluhwein, especially on a cold day. After that, we did a little bit of major sightseeing (Willis Tower, the JW Marriott I work at, and the Chicago River).

Christkindlmarket, in the middle of dowtown

Once we were over the downtown scene, we headed back to my apartment, set Kayla's stuff in my room, and were off again without missing a beat. We ate lunch at a little restaurant called Vines next to Wrigley Field to get ready for our grand adventure for the day (and my favorite part of the entire trip): the Home Alone house.

Wrigley Field

Every part of this little adventure to Winnetka, Illinois was enjoyable. It was my first time riding the Metra (the trains that run to suburbs and cities outside of Chicago, and actually runs all the way to Wisconsin) and it was much different than the city trains, and more like the Amtrak I rode from Fort Worth to Austin. Once we arrived in Winnetka, we saw the train station we believe to be part of the movie (but we weren't positive). We then walked past the little downtown area and onto Lincoln Ave., where the house is located.



Me and Kayla at the Home Alone house


Seeing the house was like meeting a celebrity. We had both seen it over and over in the movies since we were little and now here it was in front of us. Let's just say it was amazing. It was a little smaller than I had imagined, but it was just as awesome. A couple other groups were taking pictures so we got some good pictures together in front of it, which was the most important part (the proof, you might say).

We ended the night at a couple of my favorite bars that I thought I would show Kayla, just so she would know where the coolest spots to hang out are. Bed was a welcome relief, however, after a long day of exploring.

December 18 (Sunday)

Sunday began with brunch (a Chicago tradition) at a little diner I like to go to called Stella's. We ate a delicious meal of french toast and eggs and headed out for a day full of fun and sightseeing.

Our first major stop was Navy Pier, which was packed full of people, despite the chill in the air and the wind coming off of the lake. It was just as fun as I remembered it though, and we quickly got on (and regretted) the Ferris Wheel that the Navy Pier is known for. It offered some amazing views of the city, but the wind was crazy and our little Ferris-Wheel-cart-thing was rocking ridiculously, however many feet above the pier and the lake surrounding it.

Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier

At the top

After our near-death experience and some candy shopping, we hopped on a bus to Millennium Park. It was my first time visiting, and we saw all the toursity things I hadn't seen before. The ice rink lit up at night, the amazing sculpture that encompasses the main stage of the auditorium, the famous Bean and these weird video faces projected onto large rock-like sculptures. I can't believe it took me that long to see some of the most famous Chicago sights, but I'm glad it's finally happened.

The Bean at Millennium Park

Next (and last) on our stop was the Lincoln Park Zoo. It was much more crowded on this trip, mostly because of the Zoo Lights, which is amazing display of Christmas lights that they have every year that is still completely free to the public. We didn't see much in the way of animals, but the light displays covering every surface of the zoo made up for it. It really got me in the Christmas spirit, something that I had been needing for a while. This was probably my favorite thing of the day, because it was so nice to be outside in the cold, looking at lights and being surrounded by kids (and even parents) in awe of the show around them. Something about it just felt so much like Christmas.

Zoo Lights

Lincoln Park Zoo

December 19 (Monday)

Our Monday started off slow, as we ate breakfast around the house and had a little trouble getting up and going (or maybe it was just me). As soon as we were out, though, we headed way south and hit up one of the stops Kayla really wanted to see: U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox.

U.S. Cellular Field, home of the White Sox

After arriving, we headed to the gift shop and found out from an employee that they weren't giving tours of the field, but there was a number we could call if we wanted to take a quick peek inside and snap some photos. And so it was! Kayla called the number, we found the office, and soon enough we were standing right behind home plate (but don't step on the grass, please). We got an amazing photo opportunity and left, feeling accomplished for taking the extra step to get the pictures Kayla wanted.

Kayla inside U.S. Cellular

We then went further south, to the University of Chicago, because that's where I had stayed last summer on my trip to Chicago. Not only was I eager to see the campus again and relive my first memories of the city, I thought the castle-like buildings would have a cool impact on Kayla, considering our college campus nearly resembled that of a high school.

The University of Chicago

It was just as cool as I remembered. I saw all the places we visited last summer, and it brought back memories of Sarah, Preston and Emily, some of my best friends that I helped form my opinion of Chicago as a city and as a place to live. It was kind of sad, in a way, just because I realized how far away I am from everyone, and how far we've all come in our lives. I can't say, however, that Kayla had such mixed emotions about the campus, but I think she thought the buildings were cool, which was kinda what I was hoping for.

Our night ended in a mix between the last two, a little bit of bar, but mostly a tired couple of sightseers. After a couple drinks we headed home for the night, wondering what the next day had in store.

December 20 (Tuesday)

Not that much, it turns out. We got up earlier than usual because Kayla had to leave by 4 to get to the airport, but after breakfast and lunch, there wasn't much time left in the day. We tried to redo our White Sox experience at Wrigley Field (home of the Chicago Cubs), but to no avail. Due to construction inside the field, they weren't allowing any visitors.

And that's essentially where this story, and Kayla's visit, ends. I had a great time with her and it was so nice to finally see a familiar face, and some of Chicago's treasures that I hadn't seen yet. After such an amazing trip, there was only one thing left to do... get ready to do it all over again with my mom and brothers in a week.

Holy Name, a cathedral we stopped in at downtown.