Ryan and I have been married for 5 years. That is so wild! We had a great time reminiscing about what we thought our first 5 years would be like, and what they turned out to be. First of all, we thought Ryan would go to PA school and I would teach full-time. Fail and Fail. We thought we'd have a house, two full-time incomes, and travel a lot. Nada. Never in a million years did we think we'd have two kids already, but the Bible isn't exaggerating when it says God's plans are WAY better! We feel so blessed to be where we're at. God has provided for us over and over and over, and exceeded our wildest expectations. We were so bummed every year when Ryan didn't get in to PA school, but God orchestrated the perfect position for him at Arlington Heights Fire Department, and saved us from hundreds of thousands of dollars in school loans. I never got a full-time teaching position, but I had the privilege of teaching part-time Kindergarten at a classical Christian school after Parker was born, and now I get to stay home full-time with our two adorable children. Really!? I am so thankful that we have what we do. We've never
needed anything, and when it looked like ends might not meet, they always did. The only answer is God.
I've also been blindsided by the Bible's "love" chapter lately. I used to be lamed out when people used 1 Corinthians 13 in their wedding. What, you can't find any other verse about love besides the most common one? Well, I guess I know why it's the most common. Here's what I've been learning. I love Ryan. I tell him that everyday. I love who he is, and I love spending time with him, but am I really
loving him? "Love is patient, love is kind..." Stop right there. Patient? Kind? I mean I am sometimes but not always. "it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not rude..." Definitely need to work on those, "it is not self-seeking, it keeps no record of wrongs..." How? "Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth. It ALWAYS protects, ALWAYS trusts, ALWAYS hopes, ALWAYS perseveres." Wow. "Love NEVER fails." Judging by the world around me, it sure doesn't seem like love never fails these days, but maybe if everyone tried a little harder to
be loving toward their spouse, the odds would be in their favor. I guess the Word really is 'living and active.'
So - August 16 - Our friends Lucas and Angie were super sweet and took the kids for the day so we could have a fun date downtown Chicago. We only live 30 minutes from the city, but we hardly ever go there because there are so many things to do just in Wheaton alone. However, I have to admit there is something extremely fun about being amidst the hustle and bustle of the city. We started our day off with lunch at Ikram. Ryan had been there once before with the guys from the firehouse and raved about howamazing it was. He wasn't kidding! For starters, they personalized our menu's.
The also brought out some bubbly :) From there, we pretty much had everything on the menu. haha. They get everything from the local farmer's market, so the food is incredibly fresh and in season. We had cauliflower soup, kale chips, a salad sampler that was made up of green bean, mixed carrots, apples & cherry tomatoes, kale, and broccoli quinoa salads. Two years ago I probably wouldn't have tasted any of these, but they were all delicious! Literally, flavors I have never experienced before. Then we had salmon with an apricot, cherry tomato and lettuce salad. Best salmon EVER! They leave the skin on and cook it to a crisp, so it's like a crunchy, omega-filled chip on top. The salmon itself was so juicy.
We were stuffed, but they convinced us to try their freshly-made peach ice cream, and they threw in a cookie sampler platter, too. We were there for probably 2 hours!
Despite the incredibly large meal, we decided to test out Chicago's new "Divvy Bikes." They are basically the Redbox of bikes. You can get a 24 hour pass for $7. You check out a bike, and you have 30 minutes to dock it at the next station. You return your bike, get a new code, take out a new bike and take another ride. We did feel a little pressed for time with the 30 minute limit because we basically wanted to ride up and down the lake shore path, but it kind of felt like a scavenger hunt. So fun!
Then we grabbed some Jamba Juice and went to Millenium Park for an orchestra concert.
After it was over, we considered going home, but the Divvy Bikes are open 24 hours, so we got the bikes out again and cruised up to Rock Bottom Brewery and got a pizza. Then we rode down Michigan avenue at 11:30pm. Can't say I've done that before! But I can't wait to do it again =) Thanks for a great day, Ryan!
