The Month of Giving Thanks

This one's quite late, I know. This past week was the last week of the semester and I have been busy writing a final project, organizing a reading, and organizing a church Christmas party among other things. So... even though it's nearly halfway through December, here's the summary of our November:

So, first and foremost, Fall quickly changed to Winter all in the space of about a week and we discovered that our heating was not working. Turns out the furnace was broken and need to be replaced (though that has taken until now, in December) to get fixed.

The Cubs, Chicago's baseball team, won the World Series. For the first time in 108 years. So, obviously, the city was practically riotous. Seriously, sitting in our apartment 4 miles from Wrigley Field, we could hear all the fireworks, and everyone was honking their horns and shouting. Until three in the morning. On a Wednesday. I mean, it was all well-deserved, 108 years is a long, long losing streak. But it was actually a little scary, because I imagine it all sounded very much what a real riot would sound like. (There were, in fact, some acts of vandalism--most likely alcohol-induced--closer to the center of the city, but we're far enough out that our car was OK.)

There was even a parade a couple days later. I work right downtown on the main drag, so I got to witness it. There were so many blue-clad people. It was insane. But it's a change from the general malcontent and slightly angry attitude Chicagoans have day-to-day. At least everyone was happy and in a spirit of brotherhood, or pride or whatever.

The Chicago River dyed blue

Of course, that feeling was dashed by the election. Everyone knows what happened with the election. Like everyone in the whole world. So I won't say much about that, other than the American citizen in our household voted and made cookies; then we got up and went about our daily life as always.

Two big movies came out that we were pretty excited about: Dr. Strange with Benedict Cumberbatch (both of us being fans of his), and Fantasic Beasts and Where to Find them, a pre-spin-off in the Harry Potter/J.K. Rowling Universe. Ok, so I was more excited for the second one than Lawrence was, but we were both surprised at just how good it was. In fact Lawrence says he likes it more than Harry Potter and immediately said, "We're buying this when it comes out." (He's also started listening to the HP audiobooks and is slowly coming to meet my level of appreciation for the collection.)

For Thanksgiving we headed back up to Appleton, Wisconsin to spend the holiday with the Seidl family. It was great to get out of the city again (and also out of our freezing apartment). It's always a bit of a shock being around a lot of people since it's just the two of us most of the time, but it was fun, Much of their family was there or at least stopped in: their kids, grand kids and even great-grandchildren. We ate ourselves into a stupor and came back home with cheese and pie. We went out on Black Friday to get Lawrence some winter-worthy boots and a couple of Christmas decorations.

Just before we left for home, we stopped and got a small Christmas tree at a church. The next day we went and got trimmings and now our apartment is cozy and every now and then smells like a pine tree.

Next up is Christmas, and we'll be heading back to the Mountains.

October Here

Weather's cooling and leaves are changing color, trees are losing leaves and become more bare everyday. It's not dark when we wake up, and dark when we have dinner. To start off the month of October, we had some visitors.

I didn't have to work for three days due to it being a Chinese national holiday, so my good friend April came out for a few days (her husband joined a day later). She arrived on the first Saturday of the month and I went out to pick her up from the airport. An old friend of Lawrence's messaged him and said he was also in town from Switzerland for a wedding, so Lawrence went out with Nick while I picked up and hung out with April.

The next day, April's husband Adam arrived and we went apple picking at Royal Oak Farm Orchard, which is northwest, up near the Wisconsin border. None of us have ever been apple picking at an orchard before. It was a little chilly and overcast, and maybe a little over-priced, but it was a pleasant experience. We got to get pulled by a tractor through the orchard. We got soooooo many apples. Each of us came away with 1/2 a peck. I don't know exactly what a peck is, but just believe me that it's a lot. We tried to come up with as many apple recipes as we could including pie, baked German apple pancakes, pork chops, baked French toast, just raw apples. (We never actually ingested the last ten or so because they froze in our fridge and just were rotten after that). Needless to say, we've been appled out for a while.

 Lawrence had to take a day off to go into the immigration office and fill out a form for his actual green card, which still has yet to arrive. (Yes, he's here legally, the visa in his passport counts as his green card until the plastic one is printed and issued.) As I can figure, the guy at border control in Dublin never filed the paperwork and the US Department of State was never made aware of Lawrence's arrival, so the Permanent Resident card paperwork was never forwarded to them. Fortunately he was able to get there pretty easily on the train, because our car started having some issues.

So that same day he had it towed to a mechanic. Luckily Lawrence also had the following Monday off for Columbus Day, because the mechanic closed early on Friday and was closed Saturday for Jewish Sabbath. So it wasn't until Sunday that we found out that the engine needed to be replaced. (I think something had resulted in a drastic oil leak while Lawrence was driving sometime during the week.) Well, the car itself was only worth about $1000 (if we're being generous), and considering a new engine would cost about that, I decided it's better we just get a new (to us) car. I've already put a good $2000 into the car fixing this and that and replacing pieces in the last two years. I just didn't think it would be worth it to fix it to only have to replace something else three months later. I mean, it was an older car with over 160,000 miles on it. 

So Monday came and we got a rental, which Lawrence picked me up from work in. And we had a pretty stressful day, starting at a dealership in the south side (that will be the only trip we take to the south side for us, I think. Let's just say it's not a place you want to be after dark.) There had been a car there that Lawrence liked on the internet, but it really was not our cup of tea when we saw it in person (beige interior...*shudder*). We were having some trouble getting financed for anything else--and didn't really like the dealership, so we left and went to a dealership out in the suburbs. It was about 7:45 when we got out there.

There was a car there we had intended to get, but we couldn't get credit approval for it because there isn't much credit history on us (Lawrence has none because he's never lived in the US, and I just don't ever use credit), even though we had a good amount for the down payment and a decent score. It was late, we were tired and hungry and finally we got approved for a car and came home with a 2012 Ford Focus with less than 25,000 miles on it. So we've bought our first car together. To sum the whole experience up: It's one I hope not to repeat any time soon, and I might just go by myself the next time.

As it's Fall/Autumn now and it's getting cold now, we haven't been outside much in the last month. We did get out to the Botanical Gardens one Sunday afternoon, though. It wasn't much of an outing really, but it got us out of the apartment.




The day before Halloween, we got invited to carve pumpkins with another couple (and their tiny breadloaf-sized baby girl). It was fun. We aren't always so social, and Lawrence hasn't every really fully experienced the joy of pumpkin carving.

Happy Halloween!

~Jack O' Skellington and the Calverts

September

September was a busy month, with the semester under way. Regardless, over Labor Day weekend we decided to take a trip to Orlando and visit Universal Studios. Mostly for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We left Friday night after work (our flight was delayed a couple hours due to a hurricane over northern Florida) and finally landed around midnight and got into our hotel around one and collapsed into the giant king-sized bed (being awake for nearly 18 hours straight is killer.)

We got up and got breakfast, and promptly caught the shuttle to the park. We had prepaid tickets so didn't really have to wait in line, and we had arrived at the park early enough that we didn't have to spend too much time in lines. I led us straight to the Harry Potter section, set to get a wand first thing at Ollivander's. However, we were on the wrong side, so we took the Hogwarts Express to the other park (Diagon Alley/London). The train is awesome. The inside has compartments just like the movie, and the windows are actually screens designed to look like the English countryside passing, and Hogwarts and London. The compartment windows have shadows of students passing.

We went straight for Ollivander's and waited in line for a bit outside (you can go straight into the shop without waiting in line, but they do a little wand presentation), and the dragon on Gringotts let off a little breath of fire. Even though it's high up, you can still feel the heat. We watched the little presentation, (I passed on letting the costume Ollivander presenting me my wand as there were a handful of kids in the crowd so I let them have it instead). I did get a wand, one that interacts with the park. We had butterbeer and pumpkin juice and got candy at Honeydukes and walked through all the little trinket shops.

We had lunch at the Leaky Cauldron, rode the Gringotts ride. I was wearing my glasses and was worried about losing them on a roller coaster, so we didn't ride too many. It was so hot, though. We felt as though we were melting so we popped onto the Jurassic Park ride, something I remember from my childhood, though I remember the dinosaurs being much bigger. We got soaking wet on another river ride. We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the City Walk (too much food).

The next day we went an hour earlier so we could miss the lines for the rides, which actually worked out well. We rode the Hogwarts ride, which you walk through the castle for. The castle is really cool, they have so much detail in everything inside.  The ride made me a little motion sick, but it's probably the longest ride in the park. We rode another roller coaster, and Lawrence got a little nauseous and we didn't go on anymore roller coasters (we did go on some smaller rides though).

We managed to make it through too much rain for the most part, until we were on our way out of the park and the heavens opened up monsoon weather. We were drenched when we got back to the hotel. My Uncle Alex lives in Orlando, and after a couple days of phone tag, we managed to get a plan together for dinner. It's been over twenty years since we last saw each other (I was practically a baby the last time he saw me). We went out for sushi for dinner, and then dessert at the restaurant my uncle works. We were up early to return to Chicago and spent the rest of the day sleeping and watching movies.

The rest of September was far less exciting. School, work, cooling weather. Tooth crown, new contact lenses. Thought I broke the laptop, Lawrence took it to a coworker to brought it back to life. At least for now.



The seasons are moving forward and Autumn is here in full.

August

As August hit, I was soon under the groaning approach of the new school year, and I was tempted to try and do everything just because I had the time.

First part of August was hot, and then there were a couple weeks that cooled down, to the point we had to wear light sweaters at night. First part of August was also the Olympics (if you were under a rock and were not aware of this). We were invited to watch the opening ceremonies with two other couples from my church. The opening ceremonies are very long and we all nearly fell asleep, but we made it through.

We did more rollerblading, and found a nice little lake to take a break at during our 9-mile runs (skates). We survived more thunderstorms and humidity and heat.

The final week of the month, school started again. It was a headache to scramble to get everything settled at the university, as one of my courses got canceled, so I had to fill the slot with a different one to keep my full-time status in order to qualify for the financial aid funding I was granted. The main problem was my work schedule wouldn't allow for any of the other classes being offered, so I had to opt for an independent study class. I have a professor I meet with one on one every couple of weeks Lawrence signed up for a guitar class once a week on one of the nights I have class.

This is a short one, mostly because we didn't do much out of the ordinary and I should be doing schoolwork.

We got fresh peaches from the neighborhood farmer's market

So of course I made a pie.

Farewell, Summer!

July

This is a food festival Chicago holds

This one is a bit late, but whatever, it's summer, it's almost too hot to sit at the desk with the hot laptop. (I have to sit with a fan pointed directly at me). Temperatures have gotten pretty high here in the course of the season, reaching over 90 degrees some days, with about 80% humidity, which makes it pretty difficult to want to do anything. There have been afternoons where we just lay on our living room rug in front of the AC unit. 

Of course, July is the birth month of America and we get an extra day off work for it, so we took the opportunity to head up to Appleton, Wisconsin where some distant relatives(?) (the jury is still out as to whether or not there is any actual blood relation) of Lawrence's live. Kathy and Fritz were in attendance at our wedding. Their home is lovely and large, at the end of a cul-de-sac near an open field with a pond and a water tower. And it was completely air conditioned. We even got a bit chilly in our basement guest room, the first time we'd felt cold in weeks! It was a nice relaxing weekend away from the city, all the hustle and bustle that comes with that. We bought cheese, because Wisconsin, and then promptly left it in Kathy and Fritz's fridge when we left. Well, there's always

next time.

We got our own visitors from across the pond. Lawrence's friend Phil and his girlfriend Leanne came out to visit for a couple days during their "American Tour." We took them out for deep-dish, showed them our apartment, took them down to the lake, and Lawrence took them to Navy Pier. Shame they couldn't stay longer; it was also during the week so we didn't get much more than a few hours with them. 

Floppy hat, Harry Potter, Sand, Sunscreen

Along with the heat, summer has brought with it a series of pretty spectacular thunderstorms. There have been a couple that have been so loud, car alarms go off. We were going to go watch a Shakespeare play in the park with some other couples, but there was a thunderstorm instead, and we ended up just laying on our rug watching the lightning. The rain gets torrential. We've seen thunderstorms, but not like this. In Utah, the rain doesn't last long, and England doesn't actually get too many storms, but the Midwest has its own category of storms; the parking lots flood and the streets run like streams. In fact, we had a tornado warning once. Yeah, Illinois is also within the reaches of tornado alley. The tornado hit somewhere else though. 

We've also finally made it down to the beach. The water has always been a bit chilly, but now the weather is steadily hot, and we finally went. The first time we went, it was the day after a thunderstorm, so we couldn't get in the water because the bacteria level was too high, so we just laid on the sand and read. The next weekend we went, we actually got to go in the water and swim. (Water was still a bit cold). Gotta make use of it while the weather is still warm, especially since it is literally five blocks away. 

And so we wend our way through August.

Summer Underway

June was a pretty busy month for us here in the Galloway Calvert household. Both of us got Memorial Day off (ok, I know that's not in June, but close enough, since it was also the weekend before my birthday). The Saturday prior to Memorial day we went out to a dinner/show at Medieval Times Castle out in Schaumburg. It was the weekend just before my birthday (as aforementioned). There was a discount on tickets for that weekend so we went. It was fun, there were a lot of children, of course, but we got to eat with our hands just like in the good ol' days (baked half chicken, corn on the cob--which would not have existed in Medieval Europe--baked potatoes and bread rolls) all the while men in medieval get-up recited a cheesy script and large, beautiful horses trotted, swords clanked, and lances cracked in front of us. I'm 26, I'm an adult, and I know that wearing a paper crown will never get old.

 

On Memorial Day itself, we went down to Navy Pier. It was a sunny, hot day, so we jumped on a tall ship tour and spent an hour on the lake. We grabbed some dinner at a sea-food place on the pier and then headed back home. I'm pretty sure we saw the new X-Men movie at some point.

Tall Ship Windy at Navy Pier

Lawrence helping with the rigging

This is definitely not 26 candles

My birthday is on the first, and Lawrence came home with a tiny cake and candles (the candles were normal-sized, and there were not 26 of them, I doubt they would have fit on the cake!). We got Chinese from a place on the corner from our apartment, and just had a regular night in afterward.

A couple weeks later, we took a long weekend and flew back West for my younger brother's wedding. Lawrence and the Galloways haven't seen each other since our wedding two years ago. Even though we had to get up before even the crack of dawn to catch the plane, it was a lovely weekend, a nice break from the city. We rented a car, possibly the ugliest thing the rental company had, though the youngest boys thought it was funny.

We stayed at the Grandparents' house, took a dip in their indoor pool (actually remembered to pack swimsuits this time). It was a bit chilly on the day of the wedding, but it went through alright nonetheless. Lawrence and I Now we have a sister-in-law. Our family was in charge of the family luncheon the day after the wedding, and Lawrence shucked corn for the first time in his life. I guess that's an American thing...? Ha.My mom, the master of marinading, put together a great BBQ spread at the park for the families, and we filled ourselves on shish-kabobs, potato salad and pork chops.

Not everyone likes having their picture taken...

One of my sisters has a horse, and she led Lawrence around the little paddock. We had a good time playing twister with the younger kids, taking a tour of a Lego town, seeing robin eggs and beehives and horses and cows, and the snow still on the mountain caps. The night before we flew back, we stayed with an old friend of mine from college and then before we knew it, we were back to the city.

Our anniversary was the day after we returned. We didn't do much to celebrate. Went out for Mexican, came home and watched a movie. Happy two years to us!

We went out and purchased roller blades at the beginning of the month, and have since made good use of them, just about every weekend. There's a forest preserve just outside Chicago with a nice paved trail that we've done a few times, and there's a sculpture park not too far from us. We tried going along the beach, but there were too many people, and the trails weren't as well kept. But we've gotten some good use out of the blades, and we're keeping fit! We have managed not to come away with any serious injuries other than a few scrapes and bruises, and we're getting better every week.

Lawrence's birthday was on the 27th, which was a Monday, so the Saturday prior, I got us a reservation at the House of Blues, where we filled ourselves on fried chicken and lobster mac n' cheese to the ambiance of live blues music. Then I made a small cake (with the candles recycled from my birthday) on his actual birthday.



There's the sum-up of our month of June basically. The temperatures here in Chicago are rising, and we've had to break out the AC and a fan so we don't slowly steam to death in our third-floor apartment. I know I shouldn't complain about the heat, since I know full well within the next three months, I will start to complain about the cold.