M.I.A. - Kelly

Yes, I know I've been missing in action recently. But I have been BUSY!!! For any of you I haven't talked to recently, I was offered (and accepted) a position as a school director at Teach For America's Chicago Institute (where new corps members are trained). Institute runs June-July, but the job has definitely already started. Aside from the work I'm doing to get ready to manage the staff members at my school, I've been at conferences in Texas and Arizona in past weeks. All of this, PLUS I'm still working my regular full-time job.

I have to admit it- I'm not quite as insanely energetic as I was in college, but I love being so busy again. I definitely thrive on a full schedule. I'm trying to keep balance on the weekends I'm in town- Lucy and I have been spending a lot of time chilling on the couch, walking around out neighborhood, and terrorizing the neighboring dogs in the backyard. It's a nice balance to my jam-packed weeks!

Anyway, I'll try to post a little more frequently, but all you're going to get are work updates until July... :)

Miami/Key West Photos - Brady

Ouch. Coming home from Florida to rainy weather and another quarter of hard classes is tough.

If, like me, you need to be reminded of what sunshine and relaxation look like, click on the link below to see some pictures from Kevin and my recent trip to Miami/Key West!

Miami/Key West Spring Break 2010

(And yes, it's both thrilling and pathetic that I still get a spring break at 27 years old.)

Teaching - Brady

Someone I met at a coffee shop today gloated to me that "all the smartest people" in her high school class who were going to have "big" jobs ended up as teachers. I'm having trouble containing my frustration. I'm not being sentimental about teaching. I'm not idealizing it. I'm saying that this is a reality: we will have trouble, as a country, of doing anything, improving anything, if we don't have smart, dedicated, talented teachers. We would all be lucky if the smartest people we knew became educators.

Patiently Waiting... -Amy

As a first year teacher, my job is "up-in-the-air" to say the least. It has recently had a brand new twist thrown in with the crazy budget cuts that the whole state of Indiana has had to make in education. While first year teachers moving around is something I knew would be coming no matter where I went (most schools base positions on seniority), I still was not prepared for how fast the situation would be upon me.

Luckily, I have not been told that I have to move... yet. I love the people I work with, I love 4th grade, I love everything about it. I would be BEYOND lucky if I got to stay. I am crossing my fingers anyways!

You could cross yours too... if you would like.

Hotels - Brady

Love 'em. I'm in Hammond, Indiana. Kevin's doing a trial here, and since I was done with classes, I joined him at the Fairfield Marriott. I arrived on the South Shore last night. While he ate with his boss and their client, I ordered in pizza, checked my email, Facebook, and the blogs I read, and then worked on a research project. This morning, I slept in, went to the free Continental breakfast, worked out while learning about Helsinki on the Travel Channel, ate leftover pizza and a quarter of a Ritter Sport bar, and am now sitting in the lobby (checkout was at 2) waiting for the Kevster to come and get me.

I just really like hotels. I like to sit at the desks in the rooms and use my computer, check out the workout rooms, use the little shower products (Pantene Pro-V, here), and get the free coffee in the lobby. I also like how they smell like chlorine and how when you come back from wherever you've been, your room is magically cleaned up.

My Chicago - Brady

Amy's post about imagining her real-life life in Chicago made me think about my own experience here. I was in a situation similar to hers. Kevin and I were engaged. He was in law school in Chicago, and I was living with my parents and working for La Porte's school system. I enjoyed our weekends together, but remember Kevin being the one who was really obsessed with the city. I figured we'd live here until we were both done with school and then move back to Indiana. (Which happened. Kind of.)

When I actually moved in, though, Chicago started to become my city. And just like I said in my comment on Amy's post, the day-to-day routines were what really made me love it. Some of my favorites were:

• Summertime Tuesday night movies in the park with wine, snacks, and friends.
• My walk to the Sedgwick Purple Line stop through the narrow brick streets and gardens in Old Town (especially in the spring).
• Shopping for Christmas presents at the small local stores near the Armitage stop.
• Nights at River Shannon, a great neighborhood bar. Christmas lights + peanut shells on floor + local beer.
• Saturday and Sunday trips to the Green City Farmers' Market.
• Showing up at friends' warm little apartments for parties and movie nights after long, cold, winter walks up Clark Street.
  
• Drenching our workout clothes in Lake Michigan to cool off after long runs on the Lakeshore Trail.
  
• Eating dinner with Kevin in our studio apartment, listening to new music he bought on iTunes (Sufjan Stevens' Illinois and Michigan albums, Wilco, and Death Cab for Cutie were favorites during that era).
• Being surprised and thrilled at how easy it was to live without a car here.
• Ranalli's. It was right behind our apartment building, had white Christmas lights up on their patio all year round, and served this delicious double-crust pizza as well as beer from all over the world.
  
• Stopping in to interesting neighborhood restaurants, bars, grocery stores, florists, clothing stores, etc.
• Living amazingly close to famous landmarks. Second City was 3 blocks from our old apartment, and we went to church occasionally on Michigan Avenue, right across from the John Hancock building.
  
• The Chicago Tribune on our doorstep every Sunday morning.
• Being able to give tourists and newbies directions. I felt SO accomplished when I could do that!
  

I think that as Hoosiers who have grown up close to the big city we tend to think of it as scary, expensive, hard-to-navigate, and therefore a place you only go on vacation. I am still surprised at how much I love it here and how comfortable I feel. I never expected to be a city girl, but I am. And I'm thinking Amy will be, too. :)

I'll leave you with some pictures of my first year or two living in Chicago - a very, very happy time in my life:

At the Green City Farmers' Market with Cindy, my mother-in-law.

Movies in the park.

Painting our apartment blue.

The apartment itself, just about in its final form.

... -Amy

So....





This is where Roger and I will be spending August 2 (sorry Brady... Happy Birthday!) - August 8.

Suckers.