The MAVS are trying to kill me...

ASAHDFGSFFYGSFBVKJHNPOV#%$^^*(&)(*_P H:CNCHG FUGSFJ!!!!!!

The Dallas Mavericks make me SO ANGRY!!!! Really fellas?! I know the refs are making some bad calls, but COME ON! I can't watch this...they could seriously drive me to drinking...

Instead I am now going to indulge in Skinny Cow Cookies & Cream and watch the Lovely Bones...

Piece, Love & Cheeseburgerism

Let me go ahead and apologize if this entry ends up not making any sense. It truly is a battle for me to keep my eyes open right now...it's a cold, rainy, lazy Sunday, essentially the perfect scenario for an afternoon nap. And while that may become reality soon, I thought I would go ahead and make the most of this time and be productive.

I had another wonderful week in the Chi. Although I have been having a lot of fun, I am not dense to reality or lacking in my priorities. I need a job. Preferably one that involves more than learning the city and praying for people. I need something that can keep me a float and bring in some moolah. Otherwise, I'll be coming home...

I have complete peace and trust that God brought me here and has me here for a reason, so I know He will provide something, I'm just wondering what and when? I'm just SO ready to begin setting up roots and getting planted. God has so faithfully provided for me physically, spiritually, and financially. He has set me up with great community so far, He's given me opportunities to build new friendships, allowed me to find my way around and get acquainted with the area, a place to sleep at night, food in my belly, and the financial means to sustain myself here to where I'm not totally broke yet.

I truly believe that something will come along soon because I know without a doubt I am supposed to be here. I have been on the job hunt like crazy. I seriously have applied for so many jobs...that I can't believe my phone isn't ringing or that my Inbox isn't full. I have been on one interview and it went well, but I'm not sure how it is going to turn out.

I guess God is still preparing something for me and I am just to continue learning and enjoying this time because it's rare and it will fly by, so my friends that's what I'm doing...enjoying...and I am LOVING every minute of it.

This week I had the pleasure of joining Cheeseburgerism. What the heck is Cheeseburgerism you ask? Only one of the coolest, most clever ideas that I have ever heard of. Back in the fall of 2009, Chicago Magazine published the "Top 30 Cheeseburgers" in all of Chicago. Creator of Cheeseburgerism, Jeni, had this brilliant idea to try all of these cheeseburgers as a social event with her friends. Hence, "Cheeseburgerism" was born!

Members of Cheeseburgerism get together every other Tuesday evening to indulge in their love of cheeseburgers by visiting one of the Top 30 restaurants. Where the members end up is determined by the waiter/waitress at the previous burger joint. They are asked to choose a # between 1-30 and that's where we go next.

The first night I attended, I had the pleasure of going to the Prairie Grass Cafe' and enjoying what was voted as THE #1 burger in all of Chicago. It was incredibly tasty, but I'm not sure that it was the #1 burger in all of Chicago? According to the other members of Cheeseburgerism, they agree. It's definitely high on the list, but they all shared that they have had some insanely good burgers at some of the other restaurants on the list.

The #1 Cheeseburger in all of Chicago:

Ground sirloin burger, topped with blue cheese, caramelized, grilled onions, grilled tomato, and two potato wedges. DELICIOUS! I ate EVERY bite. Mainly, because this burger cost $15...and

it didn't even have a bun!!! Can you really classify it a burger, if there is no bun? Just a thought...

Anyways, next time we'll be heading to #6, Naha...can't wait!

<While we're on the subject of food...I went to a Mexican restaurant with some friends after church today. The company was great, but the food...eh, it was different. Everything here is different, even down to what we call it. It was weird not having red salsa and butter on the table with fresh chips. Or when you ask for queso, you get melted grated cheese on a plate....seriously. This happened. I laughed so hard...> random comment

Also this week, I finally got to check out some IMPROV at iO with my new friend, Jessica (from couch surfing). iO is Chicago's BEST Improv Comedy Club. This is where favorites such as; Chris Farley, Mike Myers, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, and Bill Murray got their start. We had a really good time. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. I love that I have this available. Pretty much every night of the week they have certain comedy troupes who perform weekly and it's only like $5-$7 to get in. TOTALLY worth it. I can't wait to check out Jessica's troupe. They perform at an Irish pub next to the iO called Mullens every Monday night at 8p.m. and it's FREE! Score!

Oh, speaking of Tina Fey...I just love her. I saw Date Night last night and really thought it was cute. Mark Wahlberg was insanely hot in that movie. Wow. And I was pleasantly surprised to see Mark Ruffalo in the movie. I love him!!! I wish he had had more screen time.

I know that I mentioned the weather has been cruddy this weekend, but earlier in the week it was BE-YOU-TI-FUL! My friend Corey and I enjoyed eating outside on the patio at this fun brewery on Division called the Boundary. We sat outside for 4 hours Thursday afternoon enjoying tasty, dark beers and the most amazing Chicken Fajita Pita of my life!!! There are no words to describe how tasty it was. Here I am pre-lobsterness. I got uber sunburned. I really need to invest in some sunscreen...

Last night, Corey and I went to Piece which I've already been to twice in the 2 1/2 weeks I've lived here. I've decided that all we do here in the Windy City is eat, drink, and be merry. And I like it.

Us being silly at Piece:

Well, that's it til next time friends...

Lots of love from the Cold, Wet, Windy City,

Heather :0)

xoxox

My Weekend Told By Pictures

This was my entertainment while doing laundry yesterday. This sweet boy melted my heart and I wanted to take him home with me. Meet A.J. He didn't speak much English, but he would come up to me, rub my leg, and repeat "Hi" over and over, and twice said, "My name AJ. Give me hug!" and then he would reach out for a hug! *sweet awwww face! How could I resist!*






This just made me crack up...





This is a Tap Jam performed by the members of the Chicago Tap Institute. That's right folks. I'm not in Texas anymore. Jaimy and I enjoyed BBQ, red wine, and a front row view of the "you got served, minus the beef" tap off. It was awesome.





Peach Punch Tea @ Cafe Ballou. Delish.





One of the many indie boys to perform. I'm not complaining.




The most AMAZING pancake flight from my favorite brunch place: Orange, with a peel.

Everyone who comes to visit me will be taken there at some point. Don't worry.

Enjoying one of my favorite Scottish beers at the Tilted Kilt before heading to a Shabat dinner with my new friend Jeremiah (who also just moved here and is roomates with my roomates boyfriend. Texas is representin'. Small world.) Side note: The Shabat dinner was definitely interesting. I've never gone anywhere where I have blantantly been referred to as a Gentile. Seriously?! Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from that...

The name says it all. It's almost the equivalent to a Scottish version of Hooters, minus the lame beer and hot wings. They had real beer and fish and chips.

Love from the Windy City,

Heather
xoxoxo

Holy Rollers & Couch Surfing

Good afternoon my lovelies! There is SO MUCH to cover in this blog...if you read through all of this, bless you!!! This blog may get kind of random and jump from one thing to the next, but that's just so like me. Random.



Let me just start by declaring that God is doing some AWESOME work in this city...and A WHOLE LOT of work in me!



My prayer life has grown significantly, and I do mean SIGNIFICANTLY since being here. I find myself praying more than normal. I'm not just praying in the morning, at night, and when people specifically ask for it. I'm praying ALL day long---whether it be silently, out loud, in public, at our house, or at others, on the streets, with my roommate's, wherever, whenever.



God is using prayer in my life in a powerful way. I feel that He is specifically showing me things and allowing me to see what others around me may not. It is incredible how many opportunities I have had to pray, and what's even more amazing, is that I have boldly prayed without hesitation or fear! It's as though I have truly reached FULL freedom in Christ and have more direction and clarity on why He has called me to this city.

I have seen a lot of things that I would most likely never see at home. For instance, I have witnessed a man overdose on the bus. I have seen a man get jumped over money right outside my door, and drug deals daily on the street. When I see these things, it hurts my heart, but then I'm quickly reminded that this is exactly what I prayed for...to be stretched, to be uncomfortable, and to be used. You would think that seeing all these things would scare me or make me feel icky and sad, but they actually make me love and want to serve God more.

God has really been convicting me recently how much I need to be praying for the world and it's people. When I see these things happen right before my eyes and when I hear about awful things on the news (earthquakes, volcanoes, etc...), it opens my eyes to how many lies and how much pain, hurt, loneliness, and suffering there is in the world.



I just can't seem to be stop praising Him enough for every little thing that He has done for me, is doing in me, and to all those around me. I feel so lucky to be chosen to be a part of His work here in the Chi. I am SO thankful for godly, passionate roommates who I can be real with and that I have totally connected with. We are truly learning a lot from one another and challenging each other in how we do life, yet we are walking diligently in the Spirit together through community, prayer, and worship.


So I just can't seem to say it enough, I love this city and I love these ladies that I live with. I am uber blessed!!! All we seem to do is laugh. I have belly laughed so much in the past couple of days that you would straight think I was drunk. We're goofy.


Heidi (over breakfast this morning): "I feel so irresponsible. It's 9:55 on a Tuesday. I'm 30 years old, I just woke up, I don't have a job, and I am eating banana pancakes with 6 others in the same boat."
Me ( I just laughed ridiculously): " Ummm...because we can! I love it!!!"



With all of that said, I feel like I am supposed to stay in this neighborhood. I really, really like it here. I mean, I have begun to build a community of friends here. I am learning this area very well. It has a lot of the amenities I enjoy like book and music stores, funky boutiques, wine bars, coffee shops, etc... I have easy access to downtown and almost anywhere I have interest in going in the city. You'll be happy to know that I am MASTERING public transportation. I've got the blue line, red line, and most of the important buses down! I'm fair proud of myself.



I'm really enjoying this time that I am getting to explore. It would be nice to begin to have some normalcy by having a job and my own place, but God will provide when the time is right. Therefore, I'm not too worried about it. I have applied for a lot of jobs, so now it's just the wait-and-see game. Thankfully, I am not in a place where I am TOTALLY broke yet :). I have been eating PB&J like it's going outta style!!! I'm going to be SO over it soon enough, but I have discovered Aldi's!!!


It's ridiculously cheap. Everything is pretty much ALL generic, but so far everything I have purchased has been good. I've also discovered Trader Joe's and when I'm feel saucy I splurge on some of their products. Thus far, my favorite finds: dark chocolate covered blueberries, tomato basil hummus, fat-free sea salt pita chips, and black bean salsa. Oh my lands!!!! Yum! All this talk of food is making me hungry...




*lunch break and run (it's still going good by the way~thank you Neshia Rudd for the Podcast interval recommendation. It really is worth checking out and has helped me tremendously!)




So what else has been going on...


OH! Let me preface this next story by saying that, NO...I have not lost my ever-lovin', cotton pickin' mind...so hold the sighs, the 'what was she thinking' thoughts, and breathe. My mum didn't raise no fool. I am here and I am OK.


There is this fairly new trend known as Couch Surfing. It's actually been around since 1999, but it's becoming more known in the states as of late. The concept of Couch Surfing is to provide accommodations (i.e: your couch) to complete strangers who need a place to stay while they are in town. It's kind of like hitch-hikers meets social media networking (facebook). Sounds a little scary, I know. My friend Jaimy convinced me that I really should get on that site and check out their meet up events because not all CS's are looking for a place to stay. They may just be visiting town for the day and looking for someone to go do things with. She encouraged me that it would be a great way to meet more people. I battled back and forth whether or not I even wanted to check out the site. 45 minutes later, I was on the site...


The only event that I could find was a CS Potluck that was being held on Sunday night from 5-10 p.m. at someones apartment on North Michigan Ave.After much deliberation, prayer, and getting over my fear that someone would rob me, stab me, poison me, and leave me for dead, I decided to check it out...by myself. *breathe*

It was absolutely one of the most BOLD, stretching, INCREDIBLE experiences of my life. I loved it. I got all the way downtown without any problem, found the apartment OK, walked in, and I met 8 awesome people who were in the same boat I was. It was really cool and crazy how God matched me with the right people. One girl that I connected with is a 25 year old nanny from South Carolina. She has been here for a little over a year, doesn't have a lot of girl friends, and lives in my neighborhood!!! Are you freaking kidding me? it was awesome. All the things I wanted to try and all the places I wanted to go, she loves or has wanted someone to go with her. *raises my hand* "Take me, take me!" Needless to say, we exchanged numbers and have plans to chill at Myopic books, rummage through records at Reckless, enjoy coffee at Ipsento, wine taste at Red+White and eat outside at Irazu's. I'm excited!!!
#confirmationyetagainthatgodwantsmeinthisneighborhood


This week Chicago is having their Improv Fest. I plan to check out some of the shows. One of the girls I met at the potluck, ironically produces her own Improv show, loves Texas, going out, laughing, and shares the name with my very best friend Jessica. We also exchanged numbers and plan to hangout. #superawesome

Adam our awesome host, is also new to the city and wants someone to explore the city with. He's in grad school studying Structural Engineering, so when school slows down I'm sure we will be getting together. #blownawaybythispoint

So all in all, my experience was very positive and broke every myth/judgement I had on the whole idea. I would totally recommend attending a Couch Surfing event to anyone who is looking to meet people. Just be smart, aware, and if you feel uncomfortable leave. To be totally honest, I didn't take my coat off, or put my purse down and I sure as heck didn't eat or drink anything until I felt OK (30 minutes in).

So this post is getting pretty long, so I better get busy doing other things. Besides my precious friend and roomate Brittney just walked in on this beautiful day with some "greenery" that she picked outside. As it turns out, the "greenery" she brought in, just so happens to be Poison Ivy! LOL...a genrous freak out is now happening, while the rest of us are laughing.

I love and miss you all!

xoxo

Heather

First Week in the CHI

By popular demand, it has been requested that I begin a blog about all my wonderful adventures and experiences in my wonderful, new city---Chicago! I must admit, I have a huge grin on my face just typing that. "My wonderful, new city---Chicago" has such a great ring to it!!!! I am still having moments where I'm like "Wow! I live here now!" I am not on vacation. I LIVE HERE FRIENDS!!!

Today marks that I have been here for exactly one week! Isn't that crazy?! My first week down and who knows how many more to go? It has been an incredible first week. I cannot express how much I am loving it here and how incredibly blessed I feel. I feel that God has shifted my spirit to feel more free. I don't really know how to explain it other than the fact that I don't feel restless or suffocated like I did back in Texas. Don't get me wrong, I love Texas, but I needed a stretch. Here I have an opportunity to explore new cultures, meet more interesting people that live a completely different lifestyle, and it is all so exciting!

Something about this city just makes me wanna be healthy. You literally cannot go anywhere without seeing people riding their bikes or running with their iPods, and on nearly every corner there is some type of organic market with fresh produce. It's awesome. I have truly enjoyed walking everywhere exploring things first-hand. I pass people and wonder who they are? where they're going? where they just came from? The possibilities are endless. With that said, I am going to do what I consider the impossible. I have decided that I want to become a runner. Yes friends, you read that right. It is not a typo. My overweight self is about to conquer this battle. Watch! In the past year and 1/2 I have lost a total of 43 pounds and I am determined to lose another 43. With God, all things are possible...and I sure am going to need to rely on Him for strength to do this... So yesterday marked Day 1 of becoming a runner and let's just say God has a sense of humor. What I am about to share with you actually happened. I promise you can't make this stuff up.

4/13/10 Day 1: I put on my drawstring athletic pants, a t-shirt, strap on my iPod, put on my running shoes and I head out the door. I make my way down the street doing a good warm up jog. As I approach the main street Milwaukee, I decide to increase my speed. At this point, I didn't want to look like a beginner so I keep up my fast stride, but realize that my pants keep wanting to creep down. So I continue running and I non-chalantly keep pulling up my pants. Moments later the unmaginable happens. My pants fall all the way down past my knees. MORTIFIED!!! There I am on a busy street showing my butt to the world!!!! Not that you need a mental picture, but can you honestly wrap your head around this? I freak out!!!!!! I pull them up quickly, hoping that noone is around. I was too mortified and embarassed to look around and look anyone in the eye. I duck into the first neighborhood street I can find, tighten my pants, and then I burst out laughing hysterically at myself. I was like "Really Lord?!??? Really?!!!" My first day of trying to lead a healthier lifestyle something like this happens. You'll be happy to know that despite this ridiculous incident, I continued to run. I ran/jog/walked/dry heaved a total of 2.3 miles!!! Today is Day 2; however, I will be wearing different pants :D.

I'm happy to report that the rest of my day went pretty smoothly. I found my way to the Bucktown-Wicker Park Public Library where I got my first form of Chicago identification!!! I now have a library card. The cutest, sweetest, little old man helped me. He had to be in his early sixties and was a major flirt. He kept calling me "Ms. Heathaaaahhhh *insert snotty British accent*" when he wasn't giving me a hard time about my southern drawl---which everyone here likes to point out! They honestly repeat everything I say, giggle, and then tell me how cute it is. I'm not used to that. Random side thought: I just love how everyone seems to call me "Ms.Heather." It's like people who don't know me seem to call me that. It's like God has deemed that a part of me. I do hope to change that "'Ms" to a "Mrs." one day :)

My library card. I may now begin checking out books for my "New to Town" Book Club I just joined! I found this Book Club on this awesome website called meetup.com. It's a site in which you can search for specific special interest groups and they meet all over the city. This book club meets everywhere from happy hours to restaurants and markets. Our book for the month of April: Julia Childs, My Life in France and our first meeting is at a tapas bar next Wednesday evening :). Im excited!!!

Since this post is getting pretty lengthy I will post some random photos of things I have done this week.

Enjoy...

My wonderful, fabulous, precious, insanely talented, loving roomates!

From L to R: Heidi, Karen, and Brittney in the back.

My new favorite thing:The French Press. You have not had good coffee, until you've had it from this baby. It is crazy tasty. This is Heidi's. I am off to buy one today with my Target giftcard. Thank you Peggy!

Water taxi ride with Kate & Karen. Well worth $4. It was a gorgeous day!!!

This one is for my dad... doing Tai Chi in Chinatown! LOL, I'm special.



At Villian's on S. Clark with my new friends Bree & Myles Hayes. They are wonderful. It was such a fun night of sharing, laughing, and good jazz music while enjoying Bree's drink "Pranqsters" (insanely good beer). Random side note: Bree grew up in Tyler, was 2 years older than me, we went to all the same schools, but our paths never crossed until tonight! We clicked instantly and I couldn't be more thankful to Mandy for connecting us. Thanks, Mandy!

Alright lovelies I will post more later...

I will leave you with these two gifts:

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again; Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious in anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding will guard your hearts and your mind in Jesus Christ." Philippians 4:4-7

www.myspace.com/missyhiggins

This girl is amazing. I cannot get enough of her music lately. Listen to the song "Going North."

My roomie Heidi said it's my song...

Love to you all from the Windy City,

xoxox

Heather