Our Chicago...

I thought I would post some pics of the places we spend our time around Chicago. They're mostly places around our neighborhood. I haven't taken pictures of all the places I wanted to show you, but I keep forgetting to take my camera with me. Maybe I'll remember if it ever stops raining.

This is our building. I think I've posted this picture before, but it's the only one I have! We love the location of our apartment...it's near everything! We wouldn't mind if we had 2 rooms instead of 1 though!


This is our local Starbucks. It's about 3 blocks away, and Matt likes to call it his "office." I call it my "living room." This is where I met the infamous "Starbucks Girls" that I mentioned in previous posts. Funny fact, Matt and I saw the girls for the 3rd time yesterday when we were there!


I absolutely love this little area of our neighborhood. It's referred to as the Rush Street Triangle, and it's a block from our house. There are lots of restaurants and stores, and in the middle there is a fountain and tables. It's so charming! Matt and I had a picnic out there when the weather was nice last week. I'll have to get a better picture now that the trees are green and some flowers are planted.


We also spend a lot of time at Corner Bakery. I guess it could be called our "dining room," although we don't really eat there. It's our alternate option when we don't want to go to Starbucks to work. We like to switch it up so the employees don't get sick of seeing us at their place everyday! On more than one occasion I've gotten a free cookie for agreeing to fill out an online survey about their store...love it!


The only place in this post not within walking distance in this post is Matt's school. I don't know if it's one of his favorite places in Chicago, but he spends a lot of time there (and that's why we live in Chicago) so I thought it was blog worthy!


Well, that's all the pictures I have for now. I just realized that it looks like it is really cold in all these pictures. Some of them were taken awhile back when it was cold. We're still having weather with highs in the 50's, but we have had a few 70 degree days mixed in there! On the warm days, I love Chicago even more!

Please keep praying for Matt's job search. There are a few possibilities floating around, but nothing is nailed down yet. Right now, it looks like we'll be back in Montgomery. We're excited about that possibility, and that Matt has some prospects, but also growing weary of the waiting and wondering what will happen next! Also, I'm on the hunt for a teaching job, so if anyone knows of any openings, let me know!

Traveling and Visitors...

Well, since the last time I posted, Matt and I have been busy, busy, busy! It all started out with the Jones School of Law Moot Court team coming to town for a few days. Since Matt loves Moot Court (and I've come to love it after watching countless practices and rounds when Matt was in it), we wanted to support them and go to their rounds. They were here for 4 days & there was all sorts of excitement! Not only did they invite us along for their delicious dinners, but we got to see them advance all the way to the national finals! What a great accomplishment! They had a tough panel of judges in the final round, but I thought they should have won (but I'm sure I'm a little biased). Anyway, it was a pleasure getting to spend time with them and getting to see Matt support the program he was so involved in during school.

Shortly after their departure, Matt and I headed to Novinger, Missouri to spend time with his family over Easter weekend. And, now that Heath (his cousin) and Brook (my cousin) are engaged, I got to see a member of my side of the family too! It was a wonderful, relaxing weekend with so much delicious food! Here are some pics from the fun weekend...

(click to enlarge)

We brought Jen, Heather, & the nieces back to Chicago with us for a few days which was so much fun!! We went to the Field Museum, the Lincoln Park zoo, the Hancock Building, and lots of fun restaurants (I've just noticed that I have mentioned food several times in this blog...guess I love food!). We also squished into our tiny apartment, laughed a lot at Allie's silly faces and singing in her sleep, helped Chloe write some wonderful papers about her trip, and saw that both Chloe & Allie have their Uncle Matt wrapped around their fingers. I think my favorite quote from the trip was when Chloe said, "Mom, can I take a bath tonight? I need a break from Allie." When Chloe had finished with her bath that night, she came out of the bathroom and Allie said, "Chloe, that wasn't a very long break from me." Those girls crack me up! Here are some pics from that trip to enjoy...

(click to enlarge)

To top off all our traveling fun, Matt and I made a spur of the moment trip back to Alabama. Actually, we left Chicago the same day that the girls left! Matt was asked to be a judge on the final panel of the 1L Moot Court tournament. Again, he loved being able to participate in the Moot Court program & see the Board of Advocates continuing to flourish after he worked so hard on it last year. We also both had the chance to do some "networking" for job possibilities in case we move back there. (By the way, we are pretty much planning to go back to Montgomery unless something unexpected comes along in Texas.) Spending time with our friends was, of course, the highlight of the trip! We had lunches and dinners with a lot of them (again with the food focus), as well as staying with Stephen and Kayla. Oh, well the highlight of the trip for Matt was probably actually getting to see Lucy! Sorry friends, you come behind Man's Best Friend!! More pictures to enjoy...


After all of that excitement, Matt and I were glad to be back in our tiny apartment with a few days to rest and relax. Well, Matt can't relax too much because he has 2 papers and several briefs to write in the next couple of weeks! We don't have much planned for the next few weeks, but I'm sure we'll find something to keep us entertained in the exciting city of Chicago!!

P.S. I chopped off my hair while I was in Alabama!