Chicago Pros and Cons

I can't believe it, but our time in Chicago is quickly coming to an end. I just can't believe that the summer has already come and gone another year. I really am so grateful for the opportunity that we had to live in Chicago for a summer. It not only taught me so much, but forced to me to grow up and be uncomfortable with change. Not gonna lie. I LOVED my bubble. I was very happy and confident in my bubble and coming to Chicago changed everything about my bubble.

This summer has been so good for me though. I learned how to quickly adapt to new surroundings and learned how to provide my own happiness. There were a lot of days that it was just me and Kelsey. No friends. no family, and nothing familiar around us. I could either sulk in my swank apartment or I could get out there and learn how to be a new kind of happy. I'm super pleased of myself too. Most days we did great. Some days were bad and all we wanted to do was sit around and miss all our friends, family, and stuff, but most days were great.

I also am most pleased with our move here to Chicago because for the first time in my life, I feel like a grown up. I mean lets be honest. I have only ever really lived in Spokane with mom and dad or in Provo with a thousand other people JUST LIKE ME! My life hasn't ever really required me to be grown up. I'm not saying I'm there yet, but it was up to me to find grocery stores and libraries and entertainment, and bus routes, and parks, and everything else I didn't mention. Now my stop to "grown-up hood" was kind of simple because I still didn't have to look for anything important, just fun stuff, but I do feel stretched for the things I did have to do. I mean come on! I can drive in Chicago and get lost and find my way out WITHOUT a GPS! Grandma Fransworth would be so proud considering she had to draw me a map from her house to the freeway for, oh I don't know, the first 5 YEARS that I visited her! I just feel a little more capable and thats a great feeling.

One day while Kelsey was swimming I decided to make a Pros and Con list of Chicago and here's what I've got so far. We only have a week left so I don't anticipate much change happening but you never know.
Cons

• The rain got really old. I love a good rain storm, but several times a week got really old
• We really missed yards. Not that we had one, well ever, but still. Missed em
•  I just don't think I'm a city girl. Too much for my taste for long term. 
• I missed my stuff aka kitchen aid, sewing machine, and jogging stroller
• I really missed my exercise classes
• I HATE HATE HATE HATE running in Chicago. I'm so tired of sucking in exhaust,  running through cigarette smoke, and getting stopped every block. There is NO where to run that doesn't have one or all of those things. 
• I missed cooking. I did great considering, but I really missed a full kitchen with a stocked pantry
• Missed easy library access. Kelsey asked for the library like every day. I didn't realize this, but the library was a daily visit some weeks especially in Holladay
• Missed the west coast/mountain summer: hiking, smores, swimming, canyons
• Parking is always stressful, even in front of our own house and that got old
• Chilly summers
• Traffic. Its like the merge or I-15 and I-215 all the time
• Food budget is out of this world!

Pros

• Chilly summers. Con and pro because to have 75 degree weather on July 29th was kind of awesome
• Nicest house and best landlord we have ever had. EVER!
• Tons to do out side of the house. I had so many lists that were never ending that it got overwhelming. There is SO MUCH TO DO HERE!!
• Forced me to grow up a little bit and helped me feel capable
• Reminded me every day of my testimony and how lucky/grateful I need to act
• I got to share the gospel every day without really trying. 
• It was a major confidence booster. If I can drive in Chicago and not get honked at I really think I can do anything
• Saw more things and cities and states this summer than any in my whole life
• Great parks complete with splash pads, swings, and FENCES!!! 
• I felt needed by my ward and friends. 
• I learned how to find stuff on my own and make the most of life with just me and Kelsey. There really wasn't anyone else to relay on so it had to be me
• Learned to hate Facebook and computer time. I have made a list of books that I can't wait to check out!!! 
• Always breezy
• Beautiful lakes and rivers
• Amazing bridges everywhere
• Traffic off of the freeway. I love how people drive here. They are in hurry and assume you are too so they let you in and keep things flowing. If traffic has stopped (off the freeway) people find a way to make it move and encourage you to do the same. 
• Stanleys
• Cops cant pull you over for speeding because there is no room :)

And here's a list of what I call Mentionables. Not good or bad. Just little facts of Chicago that I didn't want to forget. 

• Always can hear a train
• There is a festival celebrating something somewhere every weekend
• TERRIBLE roads! I mean potholes so bad that cars get stuck!! 
• Lightening bugs
• Parking is harder at night
• Everyone has a dog and takes them to day care
• Everyone also has a nanny. So I have worked in the nanny business for a small chunk of time, but it is crazy here. Most guardians at the park do not match the skin color of the child or children that they are watching. Everyone is a nanny
• Most of the people in our neighborhood speak English as a second language and Ukrainian as a first
• Street cleaning days
• Subway is everywhere
• Its surprisingly hard to find ice cream out side of a grocery store. There are a few ice cream trucks but not too many
• There are lots of bakeries and bars
• Divy Bikes
• Ubers
• Stroller bikes. These things I've got get a picture of. They are giant strollers that nannies rent to fit 1-6 kids in at a time. They are on street corners for the taking. Certain nanny services have their own. 
• Farmers markets galor
• Murals and paintings everywhere
• We are always driving on a bridge or under a bridge. It is pretty impossible to avoid them. 
• Random John Deer's set up stands to sell all sorts of stuff. Yo-yos, mangos on a stick, pork rinds, chips, soda, barbies, whatever. They just set up outside a park and wait for business
• Ice cream bikes. There is an old man that has connected a cooler onto the front of a bike, like the olden days and rides it around selling ice cream and ringing a bell. Ethan and I are kind of envious of this job actually. 
• Freeway driving is a max of 70. People actually drive the speed limit and again are super polite about letting you in. They will give you a window and you have to take it. 
• You don't have time to check over your shoulder when you drive. Everyone relies totally on their mirrors. 
• If you want to get over on the road, you don't wait for a window, you just sort go into that lane the cars will either go around you, get out of your way, or stop and let you in. As long as traffic keeps flowing people don't care what happens. 
• You have to honk when you get to the end of a driveway so people know that you are coming
• People always park in the middle of the road. Not like for a minute but straight up park. Its super annoying
• I miss lawnmowers
• There are rats everywhere! I have only seen them once but they have rat signs everywhere. It makes me want to hurl

Chicago has been great but I don't know if I would want to live this close to the city again. I just miss the "calm" life of the suburbs.  Ethan and I have talked a lot about what we like and dislike about Chicago but we always circle back to the same comment. Its just been a hard summer to decide how we really feel. We have felt welcome but have never really felt at home because its not our home. That vacation feeling is starting to wear off and we are ready to go "home." Not necessarily Provo, but to somewhere that can be ours completely for a little while. Ultimately we just want a house in a city for more than 9 months, but baby steps. Baby steps.

Navy Pier

Friday July 18th Kelsey and I walked down to Grand, caught bus 65 and rode it all the way to Navy Pier. Kelsey is really good on the bus now. I think she's getting used to public transportation making it easier and easier to ride it. She even thinks the bus is fun. Every time a bus passes she goes "Bus. Fun!"  But back to Navy Pier. We got there and honestly, it kind of was a waste of time. I'm glad we went to check it off our list, but its just Chicago's biggest tourist trap. Basically its a giant mall built on a pier. That's it. The view was very pretty, but unless you pay to do everything there, its really not that cool. 

While we were there we went to the stained glass museum. It was really cool and just short enough for a two year old. It was also inside so it was a whole lot of winning for our team.

Navy Pier did have music playing the whole time and Kelsey loved it!

On top of the mall is a mini carnival with some small carni rides. They were all crazy expensive so we decided to call it a day and head to the park next door.

This was the ceiling from the inside of the actual mall.

After Navy Pier we went to the Milton Olive Park. I thought it was going to be awesome, but it was more just a patch of grass in the city. We had fun though. There was a really pretty view and beach from the park so it was a nice break from Navy Pier. 

Kelsey loved all the flowers in the grass. I sat on a bench for like 20 minutes eating while she picked flowers and brought them to me. I'm just so glad it was a nice day.

Montrose Beach

July 16th, Kelsey and I took advantage of the warm day and headed to Montrose beach for a day in the sand (still too cold for the water. When I say warm I mean it hit the 80's).
This is the north end of the city where we parked. Pretty cool huh?!

This is what the lake front looks like for miles. Miles of concrete pathway/stairways. The bottom level drops off straight into the water. Its pretty cool. The bottom level is actually always really tempting on a hot day but they try to keep people out of the lake in the non beachy areas so that life guarding will be easier. We all know that I would never job anyway. I'm too much of a wimp when it comes to cold water.

And here is Montrose Beach. Its no California and definitely no Pineview, but it was sand and a chance to get out of the city. 

Kelsey hated sand when we went to Cali in January but on July 16th I had a totally different girl. As soon as she saw the sand her shoes were off and they stayed off for 3 hours. She LOVED it. It was kind of scary because there was a lot of glass around so I just prayed really hard and then followed her picking up all the glass chunks that I found.

We ate our picnic on this rock wall and again she loved it. I think she just loved being outside since he day before was dedicated to laundry and cleaning.

If you look real close you can see Kelsey chasing the seagulls! It was hilarious until she came back with bird poop on her feet. She was so happy though, I didn't have the heart to tell her to stop. Naturally I joined in on the fun.

I' don't know if I'm proud or embarrassed,  but this is what our house looks like most mornings. I tend to get the energy to clean it up right before Ethan gets home so he never knows that I am turning into a closet messy person.

Notre Dame

July 12th was super rainy here in Chicago so after naps we decided to head up to Notre Dame and see a bit of South Bend. Notre Dame is only 1.5 hours away from us and so it was a pretty quick drive. 

We headed straight for the football stadium to look for Rudy. We didn't find him.
I also was hoping to get on the field so I could get a video of us chanting Rudy! Rudy! Rudy! like the rest of America, but that didn't happen either.

In all seriousness though the stadium looked pretty cool. My favorite part were the statues of all the old/iconic football coaches Notre Dame has had. I thought it was a great idea.

This is across from the stadium. Its pretty iconic although I honestly have no idea what its called but there it is. 

This is the older end of campus. All the buildings had Latin on them and looked exactly like they do in Rudy. I'm still a little disappointed we didn't run into Sean Astin. 

There were statues of people everywhere. We don't know much about the Catholic religion so we didn't know who they were or what they represented, but it really added to the feel of the campus.

The Golden Dome cathedral is pretty iconic at Notre Dame. Like everything we've seen all summer, the pictures do it no justice.

And here's miss humidity LOVING all the grass space at Notre Dame. Kelsey didn't sit in her stroller once. She ran and ran and ran and ran and RAN!!! It was so awesome for her. The only problem was trying to stop her from running into the actual mass that was taking place in the Golden Dome cathedral. 

 

Walking out of the cathedral at the start of Mass.

After our quick visit, agreed to drive the 20 minutes out of the way so that we could hit Michigan this summer!!! 

Here's what we saw of Michigan...

and here's what Kelsey saw of Michigan.

Good news!!! In Michigan the 7th Milkshake is free!

Also the gas was super cheap so that was a nice break. Papa Nelson, I'm starting to like your birth state.

On the way home we tried to stop at some of the more touristy places like the Indiana Sand Dunes and Lake Michigan from the Michigan side, but here's where we ran into car trouble. After dinner at Texas Coral (east coast version of Texas Roadhouse and equally as wonderful) our car started over heating. The sand dunes would have been a bust anyway because of the rain but it was still a bummer to miss them. I've always wanted to see sand dunes. Anyway, we pulled into a gas station and with many prayers and helpful conversations with the more savvy car people in the family, we were able to get the car fixed enough to go home. Although we missed the sand dunes because of the rain, I am grateful for the rain because we had to drive home with the heater on and the rain helped us stay cool enough to not die. I'm really making this sound more eventful than it was. We were really blessed and made it home safe and sound. It was an awesome trip. Definitely worth the drive.