Our Morning Downtown

Josh didn't have to be to his clinical until noon today, so we decided to take advantage of the morning and get some errands done. We headed downtown to the Ecuadorian consulate office to take care of some things. We got done sooner than anticipated and had time to kill before Josh had to be back, so we took a nice stroll through Millenium Park and Grant Park. The weather was beautiful and it was sunny! Here are some of the things we saw:

The "face towers." These towers display various faces. Odd, but people like them. In the summer kids love to play in the water.


There was a modern art display in the park. This was meant to be a swing, and Josh had some fun on it!


I opted to just sit on it.


We had to stop by the "bean."


Taking a picture of our reflection


Another view of the "bean"







This is a very bizarre art display on the very south end of Grant Park. I drive by it all the time and have wanted to get a picture of it for a long time just so I can remember it, so I'm finally glad I was able to! I call them the legs or the walking feet, but the true name is "Agora." There are 106 of these sculptures, and they are supposed to be headless, armless people I guess. Strange, but they attract a lot of attention!

Our Home- Part 2

Back in February I made a post showing pictures of the outside of where we live. You can see it here. I had said that someday I'd post part 2, showing the inside. Well, today is that someday.

living room

living room again

dining room

kitchen

hallway

(tiny) (oldschool) bathroom

(tiny) bedroom. (Really, the only other thing that fits in here is our dresser.)


Well, that's it. The little cozy place we've called home for the past nearly three years. We'll only be living here a few more months, because when we return from Ecuador we'll most likely move to a two bedroom apartment. I will really miss this place! It's been a fun, charming place to live.

(And if anyone knows of someone in need of a furnished apartment for 10 months starting in September, let me know!) :)

White Sox

In case you don't follow baseball, or if you don't follow the White Sox, I'll inform you that they are doing pretty good right now. They just had a seven game winning streak! Josh and I were lucky enough to be able to get free tickets to this past Tuesday's game against the Cleveland Indians. It's is one of the great perks we get from med school {this along with the many free lunches Josh gets....almost makes the cost of med school worth it. :)} Every year students from the med school go to a Sox game and they have a big tailgating party beforehand with lots of yummy food. This is how we've gone to about half of the White Sox games we've attended. I didn't bring my camera, and I was wishing I had because we had pretty good seats! We were right above home plate, still up in the high section, but I don't think I've ever sat there before. It was fun to actually be able to tell when a strike or a ball was thrown. Here's to wishing the Sox a great season!

Baby Shower Fun

Last weekend some of my wonderful friends from the ward threw me a baby shower. They were so thoughtful to do it a bit earlier than usually since they, along with several other people, will be moved away this summer. Everything turned out great from the food, the decorations, and the gifts that were so generously given to me, including some homemade gifts! The girls in my ward are seriously talented. Thank you so much Cami and Emily for a great baby shower!

The invite:

Emily, Me, Cami

Emily made these cute decorations (it was a "nesting" theme)

I wish I had taken a picture of the cupcakes, they had little coconut and candy egg birds nests on top. So cute!

Emily also made this beatiful flower arrangement!

The Space Bag

Won't be needing our winter jackets for a while.


BEFORE....




AFTER!


These things are great!

Happy Nurses Week!

This week has been nurses week. What that means for me is that at work I get a few special gifts (we got a big umbrella, a kitkat, an ID badge holder, and a poem on a card...much better than a couple years ago when all we got were 5 m&m's each. Seriously.), a few free lunches, a "special" email from our manager thanking us for our hard work, and a few people got awards. It's kind of nice to be recognized, and it's great we get an entire week dedicated to us! Now if only we got pay raises....

Well, in honor of nurses week I found the "Top 10 Reasons To Become A Nurse." Maybe this will convince some of you to become nurses like it did me.

Top 10 Reasons To Become A Nurse:
1. Pays better than fast food, though the hours aren't as good.
2. Fashionable shoes & sexy white uniforms.
3. Needles: It's better to give than to receive.
4. Reassure your patients that all bleeding stops....eventually.
5. Expose yourself to rare, exotic, & exciting new diseases.
6. Interesting aromas.
7. Courteous & infallible doctors who always leave clear orders in perfectly legible handwriting.
8. Do enough charting to navigate around the world.
9. Celebrate the holidays with all your friends....at work.
10. Take comfort that most of your patients survive no matter what you do to them.

I really am happy to be a nurse, it's a great rewarding job!!

Updates

Well, Josh and I have officially decided to accept the Fulbright grant and move to Ecuador this fall! We feel it is the best thing for us. So, that means we'll have a busy few months coming up! Here's what will happen: I'll have the baby sometime in August. The due date is the 18th, but I'm really hoping and praying he'll come a week or two earlier than that, just to give me a little more time to recover and adjust to things because by Sept. 1, Labor Day weekend, we will be moving to Arizona. The baby and I will be flying and Josh will drive the car. A few days later Josh will drive to L.A. to take Step 2 of his medical licensing exam (there weren't any available days in Chicago before Sept.) Then about a week later, sometime mid-September, Josh will head down to Quito, Ecuador. I'll stay with family in Arizona another month to allow the baby to get a little bigger and get his 2 month checkup and vaccines. Then sometime mid-October I'll make the journey to Ecuador! We'll be in Ecuador through the following June, possibly til the beginning of July.

Now we're in the process of getting some of the details figured out. We just renewed our passports, and now we have to apply for visas. Another reason I hope the baby comes sooner rather than later is because we have to process a passport and visa for him as well and we have to wait until we have a birth certificate! Hopefully it all doesn't take long. Also, we plan to sublet our apartment fully furnished from Sept. to June/July, so if anyone knows someone who will be looking for a great place to live in Hyde Park, pass the word along!! It would be great for a student!!

I am planning to make my last day of work August 1st. It will be nice to have a short break before the baby comes. I think I will be sad to leave my job! Though working isn't always my favorite thing, it has been a great job to have. I'll mostly miss the people I work with. I would like to return part-time when we return from Ecuador, but my position isn't guaranteed. Hopefully they'll be hiring nurses when we return!

Monday I hit the 25 week mark (almost 6 months for those who don't think in weeks), and I'm continually growing bigger! Here's the most recent belly picture:

I'm still feeling great and really have no complaints! We think we've settled on a first name. You can tell us what you think, but it probably won't change our minds. :) We like Owen. We wanted a name that wasn't too common, one that was short and easy to spell since he'll have to spell out his last name the rest of his life, and one that didn't have any obvious horrible nicknames (I'm sure he'll still get nicknames). Owen seemed to fit the criteria. We've got some ideas for middle names, but still not decided for sure. We've thought about using a family name, but not sure about that either. We just want something that goes well with Owen.

Well, that's about it for the big updates, execpt that it's been 10 years since Josh's HS graduation! I wish i had a picture of him then but they're all in AZ. Instead I'll just post a picture from his mission, it was almost 10 years ago.

My Latest Favorite Thing...

I've recently discovered something I think is so cool and fun, it's MSN Live Search Maps. The reason I love it is because they have a "bird's eye view" of any location you search for. The bird's eye location is a real satelite image! I love how you can see so much detail of a place you're looking for. I also thought it was also fun to search my address and see what my apartment and neighborhood looks like from an aerial view. It's not a live image, so it doesn't mean you can spy on your neighbors and friends, or need to worry about people spying on you {at least not by using this function. :) }

Check it out if you want! Live Search Maps

You can also get to it by clicking on the maps & directions link on msn.com

Spring has Sprung!

It's technically been spring since March 20th, but this is the first week or two it truly has felt like spring here in Chicago! We've had consistently nice, warm days and I'm finding myself spending much more time outside. The thing I find fun about spring here is the world seems to suddenly come to life. The blossoms literally bloomed overnight this week! Just on Monday I was looking at all the bare trees, wondering when they'd bloom. Then Tuesday the little buds opened, and today the trees look like this:

I took a stroll around my block this afternoon and saw all these pretty colors:

I also found a little furry friend. I think squirrels are one of the cutest, funniest animals to watch!

Have You Ever...

HAVE YOU EVER...

(M=Melanie, J=Josh)
(commentary by Melanie)

() Swam with wild dolphins {no, but we kayaked with wild ones!}
(M J) Climbed a mountain
() Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
() Been inside the Great Pyramid {hopefully someday...do they really let people inside?}
(M J) Held a tarantula
(M J) Taken a candlelit bath with someone {ooh la la!}
(M J) Said “I love you” and meant it
() Bungee jumped
(M J) Visited Paris {Summer 2001}
(M J) Watched a lightning storm
(M J) Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
() Seen the Northern Lights
() Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa {they don't let you anymore or else we would have!}
(M J) Grown and eaten your own vegetables
() Touched an iceberg
(M J) Slept under the stars
(M J) Changed a baby’s diaper
(J) Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
(M J) Watched a meteor shower {for my 20th birthday!}
(M) Had an uncontrollable giggle fit in the worst possible moment
(M J) Had a food fight
(M J) Had a snowball fight
(M J) Seen a total eclipse {lunar and solar}
(M J) Ridden a roller coaster
() Adopted an accent for an entire day
(M J) Had two hard drives for your computer
() Visited all 50 states
(M J) Had amazing friends
(M J) Watched whales {at Seaworld :)}
(M J) Gone rock climbing
(M J) Midnight walk on the beach
(J) Gone sky diving
() Visited Ireland {will someday!}
() Visited Japan {will someday!}
() Alphabetized your CDs {I'm anal but not that anal}
(M J) Gone scuba diving {I need to go again}
(M J) Played in the rain
() Visited the Great Wall of China {will someday!}
() Started a business
(M J) Toured ancient sites
(J) Taken a martial arts class
(M J) Gotten married
(M) Been in a movie {I was an extra in Fred Claus, though I couldn't find myself when I watched it}
(M J) Made cookies from scratch
() Ridden a gondola in Venice {still regret that we didn't do this!!}
(M) Recorded music {I've been to a recording studio to play my violin on one of my dad's CD's...don't ever ask to hear it though.}
() Bought a house {also someday}
() Been in a combat zone
() Buried one/both of your parents
(M J) Been on a cruise ship {and got sea sick too}
(J) Spoken more than one language fluently {Josh speaks English and Spanish}
(M J) Walked the Golden Gate Bridge {we walked halfway across and back...does that count?}
() Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
() Lost over 100 pounds
() Piloted an airplane
(M J) Touched a stingray
(M J) Helped an animal give birth {does a human count?}
() Won money on a T.V. game show
(J) Broken a bone {Josh broke his toe once}
() Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
(M J) Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
(M J) Ridden a horse
() Had major surgery
(J) Had a snake as a pet {we probably will sometime in the future too...}
(M J) Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
(M J) Taken a canoe trip
(M J) Eaten sushi
(J) Had your picture in the newspaper {Josh was for sports and for some medical research stuff he did at ASU}
(M J) Touched a cockroach {regretably}
(M J) Killed and prepared an animal for eating {a chicken, thanks to a pioneer trek}
() Been elected to public office
(M J) Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
() Had to put someone you love into hospice care
(M J) Dyed your hair {I do all the time, Josh dyed his goatee for HS graduation}
(J) Shaved your head {just his bottom half of his head}
() Caused a car accident
(M J) Saved someone’s life {probably more than we realize at work}