The Great Midwest

Edit: Please forgive the picture formatting. It is not my strongpoint but I didn't want the post to be super long so I tried to shrink and condense a bit)

Back when I went to Romania, I managed to make friends with an awesome girl. We connected a lot mostly because we both had missionaries out on a mission. Nearly a year later, we both married our missionaries 2 weeks apart from each other. We bonded as newlywed girls and thankfully, our husbands bonded over mission stories and video games. It was not uncommon for them to be over until 2 in the morning playing Wii with us. Sadly, they left last summer for law school in Chicago. (Yeah, we make friends with really smart people who get accepted to top 10 law schools.) We've been meaning to visit and thanks to flight deals being really good, it only cost an extra $60 to stop in Chicago on my way to Virginia to visit my sister.
I flew in Thursday evening and was reminded at how "small" Utah is. I love traveling and seeing new sights- a costly past time for sure that my husband is sweet enough to support now and again.

Chicago was definitely an interesting place to see! I also learned through awkward confusion that there is a BIG difference between the Chicago Bears and the Chicago Cubs...my aunt I'm sure is humiliated. And my dad found it pretty funny as well. Chicago has a lot of unique architecture...both historic and strange: depicted well by the headless suit group in the park, and the quaint castle looking house which apparently is 2 or 3 apartments inside rented out for easily $1000/month.

 

For dinner, we went to a restaurant called Giordano's for some famous deep dish pizza. We got the barbecue chicken pizza. It was delicious! And we had leftovers for lunch! 

Friday I got to explore my way over to the Museum of Science and Industry while my friend was at work. The park area outside of the museum was breathtaking, with Lake Michigan just to the east of it.  Luckily, it was "free resident day", so I borrowed my friend's zipcode and got in for free rather than paying $27. I bought souveneirs and lunch so I think that counts for something. I spent about 3 hours in the museum and loved seeing the various exhibits. I highly recommend it if you ever get to Chicago. They had ancient weather machines, a replica of the engine in the Wright brothers' plane,

I was really impressed at the different live "shows" they offered. Some were basic science, and tours. But they also had "classes" where you can observe dry ice reactions, dissect a frog eye (eww!), and even pretend to be a doctor and help a patient. Also, there were tons of big screen tvs around the displays so you can learn more about each section/exhibit area. 

 

This was a model of the first steam liner train. I saw it on the way in and completely ignored it. I wished I'd looked at it more and had gone back for one of the tours they offered that day. 

After 3 hours in the museum, I decided it was time to check out the lake and head back to the apartment. One thing I disliked about Chicago was the wind....I know it's known as the windy city but it's just too much for my liking! Even in a pony tail my hair was super tangled after being outside so much that day.

Friday night, as promised, I was treated to a legit Romanian restaurant. Being pregnant and all, I was worried that the tastes of 4 summers ago would not be nearly as good. Thankfully I was wrong and minus the feta cheese I had to scrape off my mamaliga, it was delicious and made me just a little nostalgic for my last summer as a single girl, pretending to blend into a foreign city. 

On Saturday we went to the county line orchard just across the border in Indianna. It was setup to be like a pumpkin patch....only for apples. Sadly there were only 2 kinds of apples in season while we were there available for picking, but it was still fun. And even though it was a little gross to think about, I enjoyed eating an apple straight from the tree. They also had amazing apple cinnamon sugar doughnuts and other canned goods from their orchards. I bought the most expensive jar of jelly ever, but I rationalized it was all in the experience. The jar actually made it through the rest of my flights and has been tasty on toast several mornings

That night we went back into the city for dinner and to see a few more sights such as the famous Bean sculpture, the amplitheater, and the area near Millennium Park. 

This is traveling into town, still on Lake Michigan I believe. Down on the right aways is Navy Pier. We didn't stop there...the huge Ferris wheel told me it wouldn't have been my cup of tea anyways.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to attend church with them. It was a unique experience to meet people in the small branch they go to, just outside of the Chicago area. Most of the members there are converts and it was humbling to meet them and hear just a little bit about where they come from and their background. It reminded me how much I take for granted and how blessed I truly am. 

We also did a bake-off with their friends who went apple picking. There was everything from apple cake, to apple pie, to apple dessert pizza. My apple intake that weekend I'm sure was more than I have ever had in my entire lifetime. (Trying to get better about that.) The weekend ended all too soon and early Monday morning, I was back at the Chicago airport waiting my flight for the next leg of my adventure in Virginia. 

Thanks for hosting me Breanne and Ian! It was a blast. I'm pretty sure the 6 pounds I put on in the last month can be attributed to all the yummy food they fed me while I was there.