Some cheesy jinxing

We've had a great past week! On Wednesday, we went to the world's best pizza place, Giordano's, with 5 of our seminary friends--Joey, Maiko, Jeff, Heather, and Holly--and that cheesy delectible goodness was better than we had remembered! Afterward, we attempted to walk off the goodness by exploring Millenium Park, home of the giant reflective jelly bean and some fountains that spit on children. It was so great to see everyone and to be downtown Chicago again.

We also got to know some new friends! Karen, a great retired-clergy friend from Oregon, hooked us up with Steve, one of her high schools friends from Nebraska, and he happens to work for a place called the Instituto del Progreso Latino (Institute of Latino Progress)--so we have some interests in common. Since Eric had told Steve that he'd like to become more involved in the labor world, Steve wanted us to meet another young guy, Matt, who does workforce development. SO...Steve and his wife, Daryl, had Matt and his wife, Olga, and us over for dinner at their fabulous condo on Belmont and Lakeshore Dr--on the 14th floor! We had an amazing view of the full moon reflecting over Lake Michigan after the sun went down. We also had a great time getting to know them--they are so interesting and fun!--as well as Matt and Olga. She is from Italy and they met there when he, who was living there for a while, bought some pants at the store where she was working and then set off the alarm. Such a great story. Hopefully we'll be seeing them all again soon!

Mira's mom came to town for a few days, and we took advantage of her car by driving to Ikea on Friday. It's a long drive, but it's worth it just for the 99 cent Swedish pancakes with lingonberries and whipped cream! We bought some great shelves, too! It was so great to see KrisMom, although she did stay out late both nights partying with her Science of Spirituality buds at Navy Pier and Naperville.

For those who are curious about our church-shopping, we have visited two churches--United Church of Rogers Park (where we got married), and Holy Covenant United Methodist Church. At UCRP, we experienced a good many reunions with old friends and are continually amazed at the racial and economic diversity and very participatory musical aspects of the service. Neither one of us had ever been to Holy Covenant before and we were both surprised at how at home we felt there. The preaching, the energy, sense of community, and both a reverence toward and a challenge of tradition all made this quite a unique place. While we are committed to still visiting other churches, we could see ourselves being very happy joining the HCUMC family.

While Eric continues to work at Blind Faith, Mira is in the interview process at two nonprofit organizations working with immigrant communities. She is excited about both possibilities, but doesn't want to be jinxed by talking too much about them! By the way, "jinxed" is not only a funny-looking word when you type it out, but would be a fantastic point-getter in a high-stakes game of Scrabble!