Beautiful Day!

It was a beautiful day today! Yesterday, Andy and I attended a talk at Loyola by Erik Larson, the author of Devil in the White City. Andy asked the very last question of the evening, which had to do with which parts of Chicago really stuck with the author from his many visits here (while he was writing). He talked a bit about Graceland Cemetery where many of the people featured in the book are buried, but also mentioned the Lake. Lake Michigan was such an important part of the 1893 World's Fair and Larson said that it really made the scene come alive for him--it truly is a living entity which changes by the hour...and sometimes by the minute! And besides the change in the amount of garbage along the shoreline (thankfully, there's less now), the Lake is so similar to the Lake of 1893--similar in it's changingness. I thought that that was pretty cool to think about.

I took a picture today of my favorite tree in our park and was reminded of how the scene has changed over the past months. Here are pictures from October, February, and now:





I hear the weather will be even nicer tomorrow!

Catching up...

Mira here. I hope you are all well! It has been a couple of weeks since I have written and it feels like a lot has happened. We have experienced much sadness in the past weeks because of two family losses. First, my cousin, Renee, and her husband, Keith, lost their baby, Karly, after only 6 hours of life on April 1. Second, Jeff, the brother of Eric's brother's wife, Tanya, passed away last Thursday of yet unknown causes. So, if you would be willing to send comforting thoughts or prayers toward those experiencing these losses most deeply, that would be appreciated.

Thankfully, I was able to get to Cleveland to be with my cousin and her family. The Easter weekend weather was decidedly (and perhaps appropriately) un-springlike:

And of course, we are deeply saddened about the recent violence at Virginia Tech. What a dark journey of the soul it must have been for that young man to come to believe that this would be the only solution to his pain. How many others walk a similarly painful path but never act on it? The brokenness--both the cause and the effect--is overwhelming.

*****

We have been keeping busy in the past weeks. Eric spent three days last week video recording a preaching conference at Garrett Seminary that was led by Jeremiah Wright. Dr. Wright is the senior pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, a black church on the south side of Chicago that has over 8,000 members and happens to be the church that Barack Obama and some other predominant leaders attend. He really was a very powerful preacher! Some of our Garrett friends (Karl, Steve, and Anne) were back in town for the event, and it was great to see them, along with lots of former professors and Garrett staff who are still around.

I just completed a five-day intensive foundation course in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages at Global TESOL College and will be receiving my Certificate in the mail sometime soon! There were only two students in the class, so that made for a very relaxed and open learning process. Soon I will begin an online specialization course in tutoring. Oh how I wish I had known back at Casa Metodista what I know now about teaching--both English and Citizenship! I am really excited about possibilities to teach within the Church and outside it. Also, if we ever decide to travel abroad for a bit, I will be qualified to teach in English-language schools all over the world!

We've also had some visitors in the past couple of weeks! Cessie and her mom spent the first days of their spring break (both are teachers) here in the city, and we had such a great time hanging out downtown!

On our way to meet them, we saw this interesting sight--yes, that's a dog in the driver's seat!

It seems his buddy was running into the corner store to grab some refreshments.

Cessie and Cindy had an amazing view of the Magnificent Mile and of the Lake from their hotel room:

Of course, we had to see all the landmarks downtown. You can see the famous Chicago theater sign behind us, but the more important sign (in my opinion) was behind the photographer here--Potbelly Sandwich Works (where we had lunch, of course)!


Long-legged beauties at Navy Pier:

Cessie la Loca and Miracita:


At the bean:
With happy, full bellies at Giordano's Pizza:

This is my favorite series from the day--who knows what they were laughing about!





This past week, Scott and Hilary were in town from Athens, GA for an *exciting* education conference (Hilary had to give 2 presentations). Several times in the past, Eric and I had walked past Leona's restaurant and seen people eating these giant ice cream sundaes, but we had yet to try one....so while Hilary was conferencing, Scott, Goose and I stuffed ourselves silly! The food was amazing, and the sundae was even bigger than it looked through the glass. And chocolatey-er. Here are the full boys:


The next evening, we met up with Scott, Hilary and Hilary's brother, Hunter (who was also attending the conference) and had delicious Thai food. From Thai pastry, we headed to the Long Room that Scott's friend, Jason co-owns. We didn't get a picture of all of us, but we did try out the new photo booth in the back. The one with Jason's head sticking makes me laugh most. I think Eric thought his face was in the frame. It wasn't:


It was so great to see everyone!

"How's work at the BFC?" - "Oh, I'm managing..."

Eric here. That's right, folks, I have reached the soaring heights of restaurant middle management! So far it has been a good experience learning the ins and outs of making schedules, setting up a usable training format, and being the general tough-as-nails, no excuses, grizzled authoritarian that you all know me to be. Seriously, I do hope to be a positive influence on the place, and hope to help bring the Blind Faith employees and their morale up to the standards it has set for itself long ago. My own schedule is more consistent and set (which is good for making plans more than a week in advance) and the pay is as good as can be expected from a medium-sized, labor-intensive, mostly organic, vegetarian (all of which equal "expensive operation") restaurant. Also, I get to wear normal clothes.

This week, I have been invited by Dr. Larry Murphy to film a preaching conference up at Garrett and to do some basic editing to make it classroom usable. It will be my first project!

I am also looking forward to spending time with my side of the family today for an Easter dinner celebration--I am thankful for family in such close proximity, even if I don't see them as much as I should...

On a more somber note, my thoughts and prayers are with Mira's family as her cousin and her husband deal with the loss of their newborn child. Mira traveled to Cleveland to attend the funeral and offer her support and will be returning today. As we celebrate the Resurrection, let us remember those who are experiencing loss this Easter season.