Happy Belated Birthday Nicole!

Our friend Nicole joined the rest of us in the late twenties last week, so we went out to dinner to celebrate.
I can't believe that I will be 30 in less than two years! Where did this decade go? They say that 30 is the new 20, so I suppose that makes me 18?

Rock Chalk!

Way to go Jayhawks! After a thoroughly exhausting game, the Jayhawks defeated Davidson and are on their way to the Final Four. Hope they can beat UNC this weekend. It would be nice to put Roy in his place for leaving us!

Earth Hour 2008

Tonight we participated in Earth Hour 2008, which entailed turning off all lights and not operating appliances and electronics between 8 and 9 p.m. While the lights are off, you were supposed to replace as many light bulbs as possible with the more environmentally-friendly compact florescent bulbs. We have already done that, so we just enjoyed our hour in the dark. Chicago was one of the big cities participating, and apparently the skyline was going dark. In addition to all the theater signs and the Wrigley Field Marquee going dark, the lights illuminating the antennae on the Sears Tower were being turned off as well. Even though an hour probably won't make a huge difference in emissions, it still makes a nice statement about our commitment to the environment. Helping save the environment is not a political issue, and it's not a partisan issue - it's a real issue. And we should all do our part to make sure that there will be an Earth for our future generations.

Garfield Park Conservatory

Keeping with an environmental theme, we visited the Garfield Park Conservatory on the West Side of Chicago. The Conservatory has several themed rooms, like a desert room and a palm house, and some of the plants in there are over 100 years old. For instance, the azaleas in the show house were descendants of the azalea plants at the 1893 World's Fair held here in Chicago. We're not really plant people, but it was fun to see all the different kinds of plants and how they were arranged. Plus, it was sort of tropical-feeling in the green houses, so it made it not feel so wintery.

More Snow!

We are not too happy to report that it has been snowing all day. They say we're not supposed to get much accumulation, but it's no consolation. Seriously Mother Nature, it's nearly April. Throw us a bone here.

Happy Easter!

It didn't really feel much like Easter around here, what with the upper 30 degree temperatures and all the snow on the ground, but at least we had some sun. We went to the Episcopal church in our neighborhood. We had no idea what we were in for. The service was a bit quirky - nothing like the beautiful traditional service we're used to from attending Trinity in Tulsa. After the initial shock wore off (the rector literally acted out the Gospel, complete with pretending to peer in the tomb), it really grew on us. In fact, we are thinking of going back next week to see what a normal Sunday service is like.
After church, we met our friends, Scott and Nicole, for brunch at Bin Cafe in Bucktown. I had a mimosa flight (I think there were 4 different kinds), so that was really fun. We really have had a nice, low-key Easter. It would have been nice to be able to spend today with our family, but Easter just isn't one of those holidays that justifies the super expensive airfare to Tulsa. Hope everyone had a nice Easter!

Museum of Science and Industry

More touristing for us. We took my brother and his girlfriend to the Museum of Science and Industry over the weekend. My favorite parts of the museum are the chick hatchery and the miniature version of Chicago, complete with moving el cars. There is so much to see at this museum - you'd probably have to stay there for a whole weekend to really see everything. The museum building itself is pretty neat. It was built during the 1893 World's Fair and is the Fair's only remaining structure. It's in the diverse Hyde Park neighborhood, which is also home to the University of Chicago. Barack Obama actually used to live nearby. Definitely worth a visit if you're in town.