Long Weekends and Great Friends = Love

Our good friends from Minnesota decided to take advantage of the long weekend and drive to Chicago to visit. It was so fun to have them here with us and to take them around to some of our favorite spots, and to explore a few new things with them. They are such a fun adventurous couple and we had a blast!! It is so wonderful to have such incredible friends in our lives-- to be excited for us and support us through this move! We love you, Samuel & Eliza!!

Here are some photos from our weekend.

We started off with breakfast at Lou Mitchells (of course)!







Next on the list was the Art Institute-- since Ryan and I just went, we dropped them off, and took a stroll through Grant Park.









We stopped by the Jazz Festival and listened to a great 1920's Jazz Band. I love music from that era!!





We met back up and walked up State street-- only to find an incredibly fantastic Tina Turner...



We also saw TONS of wedding parties, all throughout the day! The thing to do in Chicago is take your wedding party around in one of these:



And take pictures in front of the Bean, of course.


One of the coolest things you can do in Chicago is the Architecture Tour on the Chicago River. Chicago has the most amazing architecture, and what better way to learn about it than on a boat at sunset?? Samuel captured some great photos:


























After the tour we headed over to Willis (Sears) tower for the SKYDECK. In case you didn't know, the Sears Tower was once the tallest building in the world, and is currently the tallest building in North America. The SKYDECK takes you up to the 103rd floor!! The view is amazing, and they even have these glass boxes you can step out into, so it feels like you are floating above the city.





After the Willis Tower, we went straight to Giordano's for deep dish pizza. We were so hungry we didn't even take a picture of our pizza.


After church on Sunday (a momentous Church meeting for Chicago Members) we packed a picnic and headed to Grant park for to listen to some jazz at The Chicago Jazz Festival and relax in the park. It proved to be the best idea ever.












Please come back and visit soon!!!

RISE AND SHOUT!!

I grew up on BYU football. I didn't really get it, though. I definitely refused to memorize the BYU fight song, and would watch the games with my dad from time to time. When Ashley was in the band, we even went to some bowl games (yes, they were ALL the Vegas bowl) which was awesome, but I still didn't quite understand.

But then I became a Cougar.

I guess understanding BYU football is something that has to be experienced on the campus of BYU and in Cougartown. I definitely went to all the home games (thanks Dad for my All-Sports Pass both years!!) and slowly over time, learned the BYU fight song. Even the motions to go along with it.



Cosmo and I became good friends.



There is nothing like a game at Lavell Edwards Stadium.


Now, I live in Chicago. And somehow, on gameday Saturday I am wishing I were back in Provo to cheer on the Cougs with my mom and dad. I've even been following all the BYU news and drama (yes, I watched the Press Conference last Wednesday that declared our Independence!!) I am finding ways to watch the game (we don't get CBS sports--a sports bar will have to do) and getting so excited for kick-off. Dad, all those years of infusing me with Cougar-love finally worked. I am a Cougarfan.





My dad is the ultimate Cougar Fan.



Ok, maybe my COUGRBND sister had a little something to do with it too.

Namaste.

When Ryan first told me he had heard about this -- I was incredulous. Free YOGA in Millennium park? No way, I said. They would definitely charge you money for that. But when I looked up the events for Millennium Park in the summer, I was so surprised that my husband was right.

FREE YOGA. In the PARK. Could life get any better? Well, maybe if it was at 10am instead 8am, it could get a little bit better :)

Ambitious, we both got up on Saturday morning at 7:30 and ran the 1 mile to Millennium Park. I realized once we got a little closer that we didn't take yoga mats with us. We didn't even take a blanket, or a sheet, not even a towel, or trash bags (some people get creative). We decided we try it out anyway. What's more natural than yoga in the park, on the grass.

Ryan has never tried yoga before, and I love that he was willing to do it with me!! I think he had a good time, (aside from realizing how un-flexible he is--aren't all guys not- flexible??) One of the coolest parts about this yoga session was the live band that they had to play music for us. AMAZING! I also loved that we were there, in the sunshine, on a beautiful Saturday morning, with at least a couple hundred other yoga-ers. It was amazing! So refreshing.









After yoga, we checked out the bean, also known as the Cloud, in the morning light. Gorgeous!



Just look at that city skyline!!




We ran back to the condo and decided to use the gift certificate the owner of our condo gave us when we moved in, to Lou Mitchells. A famous breakfast hot spot in Chicago, that happens to be 2 blocks from our place (yes, when you come to visit we will make you wait in line to eat there with us, its so good). It is the official start of Route 66, and has been a Chicago must-go hot spot for a number of years.





I was happy to get seated outside on the patio, and enjoy an incredible breakfast with Ryan. What better way to gain back the calories you just burned?? A great start to a great Saturday!

Watch out for Cars!!

On Friday we finally decided to take our bikes out. We have been wanting to ride our bikes along the lake for weeks now-- but didn't have the proper locks, which is very important in a place like Chicago.

We rode down a main street that had a bike lane; which we thought would take us straight to the lake front bike trail --- it did not. All of a sudden we went from this:



to that-- note, we rode about a mile in between all those cars on the left!!



It was the most absurd thing I have ever done in my life. Trying to bike through 8 lanes of Chicago traffic!! I had to keep my focus as we weaved in between cars, and through narrow passage ways to finally find ourselves on the bike trail!!



With this as our view:


We rode along the trail for a few miles until we found a little beach to stop at.





This beach is right next to the city.







After napping in the sun, a little reading and some frisbee, we headed back on our bikes to explore the trails a little more. If you go just a few miles north of the city, you can see this:






I know you're so jealous of my cool bike helmet.



By the time we got back to where we started on the trail, the view looked like this:




And when we got back to our little home, our view looked like this:


What a great way to spend a Friday with my husband!! It was perfect!