Waiting For This

So as a treat to ourselves, Katy and I planned a super exciting trip to Chicago before the beginning of our crazy Grad School Lives start. We packed in a lot of different things in the 24 short hours that we were there.

First, we took the train from University Park into the city. Then we got to our hotel room. The Congress Plaza Hotel. So we didn't have a great view of Grant Park, but we had an amazing room! A little history on the Hotel: Built in 1893, the north tower, which we stayed in, was designed by Clinton Warren, with Louis Sullivan and Dankmar Adler serving as consultants. I really loved the old architecture of the building!

Then we headed north to go to Edwardo's Natural Pizza. Chicago Style Pizza is sooooo good.

After dinner, we headed to the House of Blues for my annual Hanson concert. We had balcony access, which was much better than the sardine-like feeling of the floor, and offered a different view of the stage. There was a local band that started the show off. Hanson had contests for all of their venues to find an unsigned band or artist to perform, which I think is an awesome idea! Then Rooney took the stage. I hadn't heard much of them, but Katy had. They were good, and we've been listening to them since the concert. Then came Hanson, of course. They always manage to put on a great show with a lot of variety. I got some good clips and good pictures. I was very thankful to go back to a nice comfy bed after jumping around and singing all night. Here's the setlist (mostly for Danielle's enjoyment, make a playlist of all these songs and it'll be like you were almost there!):

Great Divide

Waiting for This/Watch Over Me/Rock N Roll Razorblade/In the City medley

And I Waiting

If Only

Been There Before

Thinking of You

Make It Out Alive

Carry You There

Crazy Beautiful

Me Myself and I

Musical Ride

Speechless

Thinking 'Bout Somethin'

Minute Without You

MMMBop

Lost Without Each Other

Give A Little

Sunday we woke up early and headed back north to Urban Oasis. We scored an awesome deal on a 60 min massage. We walked in and they gave us sandals to wear, then prepped us for our massages. It was so relaxing, we might have to make it an annual trip.

Then we headed to Goose Island. Good lunch and a great flight of beers.

The Art Institute was next. We could have stayed all day, but we managed to get out of there and do some shopping on Michigan Ave. Then we did the most miraculous thing. We walked the mile and a half of Michigan Ave, dodging pedestrians and practically at a slight jog to make it back to our hotel to pick up our stuff and make it to the train station with 4 minutes to spare.

One of the best weekends in Chicago I've ever had. And now it's time to get to the stress of school. I've made it through Orientation and classes start on Monday. It's going to be interesting, for sure. I feel a little overwhelmed, but I think it will be good! And if I have time, I'll be updating the blog with projects that I'm working on!

Wednesday Workings Champaign Style

Welcome back to my Wednesday Workings. I really liked sharing the progress of the projects that I was working on at Judson. Since moving back and going back to work at the bank, I haven't had a lot of projects to do. That will soon change in 7 short weeks with the beginning of school.

But for now, I had some time to work on things for our new apartment.

First, my dresser. I found an old dresser that someone was giving away, so I decided to do a little artistry to the top. I picked a Celtic design and traced it onto the four corners of the top of the dresser, then using a Dremel, I etched off wood veneer and exposed the particle board.

My next project was a welcome sign for our new place. We were both reading Lord of the Rings at the time, and came across the phrase 'Mae Govannen' in Elvish. It means Well Met. So I looked up the Elvish Font and carved it, again using my Dremel. I used tea and coffee to stain the letters, and the put a clear coat of polyurethane on it. I'm pretty proud of this.

For our dining room, we made a floating poster frame for our Map of Middle Earth (side note: I realize that having a Elvish welcome sign, and a Lord of the Rings themed dining room makes us just a tad bit nerdy, but I'm totally alright with that). The frame is made of acrylic sheets, balanced on two lengths of chain, suspended away from the wall, so that it 'floats'.

We took our boring white wall clock in the living room and painted it with blue and orange (wonder why?) using plastic bags for the texture.

Our last project was String Art. We painted two canvases and then used yarn that was dipped in white paint to create patterns. Then we placed the canvases on top of each other and pulled the string out. I like the mirrored look that it creates. It's a nice afternoon project to do, too!

That's it for now. It's been nice to get some creativity going and design stuff again. I can't wait for the semester to start!

It's been too long

I have come to a conclusion: I'm really bad at blogging when I have a lot to do. When I was in Elgin, I blogged a lot, and I'm going to attribute that to the fact that I didn't have a lot of friends there, and I wanted to let people know what was going on at school. Since I've been back in Champaign, there's actually stuff for me to do with people that I like spending time with. Instead of sitting here blogging, I'd rather just make plans to hang out, grab a drink, watch a movie, you know, the usual stuff. I guess I'll just give a quick recap of the last 5 months or so, even though my readers know everything that I'm about to type...weird.

So I lived with the Waters' up until about a month ago (has it already been a whole month, yikes!) I'm really grateful for their hospitality and willingness to let me stay with them. It was really nice to come home to a family, and kids that shouted "Sam's home!!!" when I walked in the door.

The last 5 months have really flown by. I went to Lincoln's graduation in May to see Stephanie and Craig (finally!) graduate. And I got to see friends that I haven't seen in a long time! Oh yeah, and I got contacts. Forgot about that. After 20 some years of wearing glasses (and hiding behind them) I decided to try contacts. Yeah, I definitely like them.

The first weekend in June, I moved out of the Waters' basement into my new apartment with Katy. We're pretty much settled now (one month later) and it feels like home. We've done a ton of decorating. I will definitely have a separate blog for the before and after of the apartment, as well as some projects that I've done. We also had a little housewarming/Katy's birthday party. Both our families came, and a few friends. It was a good time.

Stay tuned for a Wednesday Workings blog. I'm being creative again!!

In the meantime, here are some countdowns that I'm looking forward to:

Going home for Cam's birthday party: 20 days!

Hanson Concert with Danielle: 41 days! (seriously, I can't get enough of that CD, but that's also another post)

Classes Start: 50 days!! (I am so ready! Registered for classes, loans accepted, book list available, I can't wait!)

My birthday/Labor Day Party/Baby Waters #3 due sometime: 61 days!

Sunday Structures 6th Edition

Welcome back to my Sunday Structures series. I know that it's been a while for one of these, but I've been busy lately. But this week I had a chance to get back into finding cool architecture to share with you all. This week it is Casa Mila, located in Barcelona, Spain. This also happens to be on my list of places to visit during Katy and Sam's Excellent Spanish Adventure, happening Summer 2011!! But that's a whole different story. Onto the building:

Designed by architect Antoni Gaudi (also known for Sagrada Familia, also on the list) and built between 1906-1910. It was built for one couple, but is now apartment buildings. It covers 100 square meters and has two circular patios, allowing the interior to get plenty of sunlight.

The outside is built from natural stone and meant to look like waves. The windows have decorative wrought iron. The interior has a huge atrium to see the night sky. The roof is pretty cool too. Gaudi disguised the stairwells and the chimneys with decorative work. They look like statues standing in groups or by themselves. Both the interior and exterior are free of straight lines, giving the appearance of waves from inside as well as outside the building.

I don't really have a lot else to say, I'm sure I could say more. But that will have to wait until I have experienced it. I cannot wait to see it in person!!

Back the team to gain a victory. Oskee-Wow-Wow, Illinois!

So I've been back in Champaign for a week now. It's been a very crazy week, that's for sure. I think I was busier in this one week than I was the entire semester in Elgin. Yikes.

Saturday we made the drive from Elgin to Champaign. We unloaded my belongings into a storage unit (I'm amazed that everything fit) and then headed over to the Waters' to celebrate Zeke's birthday. After the party, I moved my stuff into my room here. It's a pretty sweet deal, if I do say so myself.

Sunday, we all went to church and then small group at night here. I think I'm going to really enjoy it. It a different mix of people, so I think that will be good. After small group I got to go over to Katy's to hang out with her for a bit.

Monday was a bank holiday, so I hung out with Cor and the kids and did some shopping for necessary items.

Tuesday was my first day back at Busey. I was kinda just thrown back into things, which worked out really well for me. I'm glad that I remembered most of everything, at least the basic stuff, I might need some time and refreshers for some of the stuff that isn't done on a daily basis. It's good to be back there. I get to see some of my same favorite customers again!

Tuesday was fantastic. Rachel had tickets to the Illini/Purdue game. So Rach, Katy and I went. And we had AWESOME seats. The people that gave Rach the tickets had season passes with a parking space included! Even though they didn't win, it was still a good game. I'm going to have to learn all the songs for when I go to school in August. It's a necessity, it really is.

Wednesday, I went with Katy and Amanda to the gym. I got a great deal on joining, and it's not a bad monthly fee only $19.95. But the most amazing thing is that Busey reimburses you if you are a part of a gym, $12 every month. So basically I have a gym membership for $8 a month! Yeah, that's pretty awesome, you can go ahead and say it. The workout kicked my butt because I haven't done anything in a while, but I'll get there.

Thursday was pretty typical, I don't really think I have much to say about Thursday.

Friday was madness. Pure madness, but being short staffed made the day go by faster, and who can say no to free lunch...right? And also a free beer, ah yes, so good. It's like Crane was welcoming me back to Champaign...or maybe just my coworkers and friends. Regardless, good night, even though I was exhausted.

Today I had a Lia Sophia event. We introduced the new catalog that starts in February. Hurry now to purchase the pieces that are retiring at the end of January!! Also let me know if you want to host a party with the new catalog in February!! My guests got some good collectors pieces, and we generally had a good time. Then Rachel and I went to lunch and got ready for Winterjam at Assembly Hall. It was only $10 at the door. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. My favorites were Third Day (of course!) and Tenth Avenue North. I knew I liked 10th Ave before seeing them live, but they are fantastic, but they only got to sing 3 songs. Newsboys was really strange to see with Michael Tait as the lead singer. They sang some old school Newsboys, and also sang Jesus Freak. That will take some getting used to for me...seeing as I grew up with DC Talk and Newsboys. I feel like I should call them DCboys...or maybe NewsTalk, but I won't.

All in all, a great first week back. I am so excited to be back. And I'm so blessed that things have really worked out for my return. I know it's all God, because I could not have planned the events that have happened. I'm glad that I took a semester a Judson and took the leap to go there when I wasn't sure of what was going to happen, and I'm glad that I'm back in Champaign and ready to really start at U of I with a renewed passion for what I want to do with Architecture and how I want to accomplish it.

Now to start the next week, which is sure to be as busy as this last week.

What A Way to Start the New Year

Yay, 2010!! So I know we're into the new year already, but here's the year in review.

I think I had a pretty interesting 2009. I went through some pictures to get some highlights of the year. I started off the year in Ohio, I went to a few Illini Basketball games. Really cool to experience a Big Ten school's game. Loved the atmosphere!

Girl's Night with Rachel,

Easter at home, New Tattoo during one of my trips home.

Went to the Children's Museum in Normal with Rachel, where I also experienced my first parking ticket!

Also started selling jewelry with Lia Sophia. I love jewelry! Experienced the Taste of Chicago with Danielle, Watched my first UFC game, where I also had my first (and last) Jagerbomb (ick!).

I also moved to Elgin and started a blog (did you know I started a blog?) Celebrated Heidi's birthday at Howl @ the Moon, Saw Mat Kearney and Parachute (blog title comes from them today) for FREE, and started classes at Judson.

Celebrated my 25th birthday and went kayaking along the Chicago River to Navy Pier to watch the fireworks. Erin got married, Danielle and I saw HANSON for our annual House of Blues concert, and I caught Isaac's guitar pick!! Rachel and I went to Frank Lloyd Wright's Home and Studio in Oak Park, which was absolutely amazing. And I saw Addison Road and Sanctus Real at Judson.

November saw the Prosser Wedding and Thanksgiving with the Water's.

December included Christmas in the Chapel with Rachel, the end of the semester, a trip to Goose Island with Ryan and Katy, and going home for the first time since I moved in July. My year was full of change and new experiences.

2010 is shaping up to be another great year with new experiences. And the title of my blog says the most important thing. What a way to start the New Year. I've decided to pack up and move back to Champaign, and it's for a lot of reasons. I reapplied to the University of Illinois and asked them to make a decision by January 10, even though the deadline for applications was January 15. They did, and I just got the unofficial letter on Monday afternoon. I am in! And I didn't really doubt it, but it makes me feel really good!! So 2010 will be filled with moving back to Champaign, living with the Waters' (I love you guys and your willingness to have me), working at the bank again. I'm excited to go back and work with everyone again, even though there will be new people I've never worked with before. I am blessed with the opportunity that came up for me to go back. I will be starting school in August at U of I, finally! I'm so excited to start again. This past semester at Judson has shown me that I really do want to do this whole architecture thing, and I really enjoyed the first semester of getting into some basic design and learning to change my way of seeing things in order to create something.

So I've made a little mock Top Ten List to give some reasoning for my decision to move back, some of these are meant to be stupid, and some are serious. You can decide which is which.

Top Ten Reasons for Moving Back to Champaign.

10. I really missed going to Illini games.

9. I'm not quite ready for Windy City Winters.

8. I have to go to Champaign just to grab a drink with friends: and Elgin has nothing on Crane, Blind Pig, Piglet, Murphy's, Radio Maria, etc, etc, etc.

7. I really hate Chicago traffic, which explains why I didn't go into the city that much.

6. I don't really want to play big sister to classmates that have to deal with "the pressures of being on their own for the very first time"

5. Cost of Living in Chicago suburbs sucks (Read $600 for crappy cramped apartment vs. $500 for a spacious 2 bedroom)

4. Two extra years of being a productive member of society! (6 years at Judson; 4 at U of I.)

3. My family's personal fav: distance! 100 miles and 2 hours less between Champaign and Ohio as opposed to Elgin to Ohio.

2. Money, of course! All 6 years at a private instiution=$100,000+; 4 years at public university=roughly $40,000. You do the math!

And the number one reason why I'm moving back to Champaign...

1. Because I want to...and I do what I want!!

All kidding aside, when I really looked at the numbers and talked to financial aid at Judson, I realized the extent of what I needed to do, and things have just fallen into place for my return to Champaign. U of I has been incredibly accomodating. I have gotten a lot of correspondance with some of the staff there, and they made an early decision for me, which is something they don't normally do. I'm able to live with the Waters' and help them out while saving some money for myself. I'll probably be splitting rent when I move out of the Waters' too. Rachel and Sonny are in Mattoon doing ministry, which is closer to Champaign than they were before. It just feels good, and it feels right, and I feel really happy about it now. By leaving, I realized how much support I have in Champaign, so it just feels right to be back there.

2010 is going to be a great year!!