Apologies?

Never. Okay, maybe. I'm sorry that I've been so ridiculously busy that I haven't posted in, um, forever. I'm not promising to do any better, but I thought I'd share my life via iPhone since my last post.

Last party in Chicago. :(


I learned how to make Oreo truffles!
Last dinner in Chicago. We all split fried ice cream and sopapillas.
Home with the kiddos. :)
Daniel showing off his wink.
Becky's college graduation.
Loving cousins.
Awesome trail of lights.
The military tribute.
Christmas morning.
I let the kids color on my phone and somehow this one got saved to my pictures.
Ella and I sewed together the chick Ari gave her for Christmas.
My going away party.
Quesadilla buffalo sauce extra pickle burger at Denny's. Now why isn't this on the menu?
Building up my earring collection.
All packed up for Colorado.
At the movies with friends.
Parmesan encrusted chicken. Seriously the BEST thing I think I've ever made. I'll share the recipe if you want!
The heater in my room.
Me acting cute. ;)
Frying up some chicken...
...and making some homemade buffalo sauce... (don't mind the disgusting stove- I didn't do that. It comes from living with four boys.)
...so I can have a buffalo chicken sandwich! So good! It would have been better with a bun instead of white bread, but oh well.
Superbowl Sunday special at Borriello Brothers. Any XL pizza with any toppings for $10. Mine had double pepperoni, double bacon, and double cheese, and I ate it for four days.

One more...

For a little comic relief!

Flashback...

I was going through some photos today, and I came across this one from our trip to the San Antonio Zoo over the summer. It was the very first picture of the day, and I love it.

Who can resist that face? And his hair...

I can't wait to see everyone in Texas next week. You know I'm missing y'all and now the end is in sight!

Fall in Millenium Park

First, I made this apple pie for my professor's birthday. Delicious!

Downtown Chicago has this giant park named Millenium Park. Right now it has the most gorgeous trees. Trudy and I visited it while she was here. It has this thing called "the bean".

This was at the Art Institute. That place was AMAZING! And it's free on Thursday nights, so I might just go back!

Six weeks left...

And I can't believe the time has gone by so fast. I'm still having a great time and really enjoying every day, even though it seems like we just keep getting busier! But since I last posted, a lot has happened. I'll try to recap some of the highlights here.

I went to the Harold Washington Library Center, which is like the biggest library in Chicago. It's one square block and eight stories tall. I was in heaven. This bookshelf holds only knitting and crocheting books.
I discovered the Art Here. Art Now. project. One of the artists involved creates sculptures using only recycled plastic bags and packaging.

I went to Union Station, hopped on a train and somehow got to Grandma's Girls, where I surprised Mom. This took a lot of help from Aunt Lisa.

I spent a day with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Penny. Grandpa took us for a ride to enjoy the fall foliage and picked me an apple to eat on the train back to Chicago.

I chopped off all my hair.

I went to a super fancy Target. It's even got an escalator for you AND you cart.

I had Thai food for the first (and second) time, and drank a delicious pomegranate martini.

I went to the northern suburbs of the city for a day with Amanda, another student in the program who lives in the suburbs. We attended a hilarious play, a charity event that included a cocktail hour afterward and a raffle. I won the raffle! (It was two tickets to an upcoming show, but I'll be back in CO then, sadly.) We then went out to eat with Amanda's family and basically just had a great time. Here's a shot of the fall foliage here.

Robert came to visit, and we checked out all the coolest museums, like the Field Museum. It was Rob's favorite.

We went to a 3D show.

We met Sue, the most complete T-Rex skeleton ever found.

We went to the Shedd Aquarium, where we saw a 4D show.

And this awesome octopus. We also got to see a tegu (think giant lizard) up close and personal and watcxh him eat some bugs.

I hosted an enchilada dinner for my program. Delicious!

Rob and I went up in the Sears (now Willis) Tower, to the sky decks. They were terrifying.

Here we are, 100+ floors above the street.

Pretty Chicago.

I made chicken and dumplings.

I made ranch cheddar burgers. I'm really getting good at this cooking thing. :)

I tried to be cute every day. It worked out occasionally. :)

I really have done so much more than just this but these are the basic highlights, not including school stuff. This at least gets me sort of caught up.

I'm planning another train ride soon, to Quincy again, so I can be in Missouri for Thanksgiving. The round trip ticket is only about $50, while a plane ticket home is $400. You know which one I'm choosing! Until then I'll just be working frantically on my Independent Study Project and trying to stay on top of all my school work. Wish me luck!