A Miscellaneous Day

There are some things in Chicago that everybody should do/see, but aren't on the BIG LIST of things to cross off. These are the miscellaneous things that--although somewhat forgettable--would still make you feel guilty about not seeing them (especially if you lived in Chicago for two months and never did so!). Thus, we declared Tuesday a miscellaneous day and set out for the wild blue yonder! Er, downtown.

We wanted to start off by going to the Maxwell Street Market and Jane Addams Hull House, but alas! The market is only open on Sundays and the Hull House is closed til August 3rd for cleaning! 0-2. Great start.

But onward we pressed! We started out by heading downtown to visit the Hancock Tower, which is a tower that's almost as big as Sears. It costs $15 a pop to go up to the observatory, but you can also ride the elevator (for free) to the 96th floor where there is a restaurant. (The observatory is on the 95th floor, so you even get to go up a smidge higher!) We briefly entertained the idea of grabbing a dessert at the restaurant, but neither of us was really hungry. So we walked around, looked out the windows, and called it. Once you've been to the top of Sears Tower and stood out on the ledge, the Hancock is just kind of like "Meh. Another tall building." Even though the Hancock has better views because it's right up close to Lake Michigan (and having a dinner there would be incredibly romantic), we had kind of exhausted the go-up-to-the-top-of-a-really-tall-buidling bug within us :) Next!

We worked our way up Michigan Avenue and stopped at the Water Tower, which was built in 1869 and, like Old St. Patrick's Church, was one of the few buildings to escape the Great Fire of 1871 unscathed. There wasn't much to see inside...just a small gallery of old black-and-white pictures of the devastation that the fire left behind. Let me tell you, Chicago was razed. The fire was 4 miles long and almost a mile wile. 300 people died and 100,000 were left homeless. Talk about starting a city over from scratch! The water tower even had a cool ghost story: apparently, one man stayed behind during the fire to keep pumping water (valiant hero or idiot? you decide). When the flames reached the Water Tower, he hung himself in order to evade burning to death. On multiple occasions, tourists, locals, and even police officers have reported seeing the silhouette of a hanging man in one of the windows at the top of the tower. Spooky!!

Next stop: Tribune Tower, the home of--you guessed it--the Chicago Tribune. This is a huge, gothic building that is either loved or abhorred by Chicagoans. By its 75th anniversary in 1922, the Chicago Tribune was enjoying greater influence in the Midwest and found it had outgrown its 17-story home on the corner of Dearborn and Madison streets. The company announced an international architectural competition for what was to be, in the words of the Chicago Tribune's legendary publisher Col. Robert R. McCormick, "the most beautiful office building in the world."

Tribune offered $100,000 in prize money--$50,000 for first place, $20,000 for second and $10,000 for third. In addition, 10 architects of national reputation were invited to compete and offered $2,000 each for their designs, in addition to possible prize money. In all, 263 designs were received from the United States and 22 other countries. Entries were presented anonymously, so the jurors would have no information about the architects until after making their decisions. Some designs took their cues from Greek temples, Egyptian obelisks and even pyramids. Others anticipated the steel-and-glass boxes of modern architecture. The winning design was of a soaring Gothic skyscraper with the unanimous vote awarded to New York City architects John Mead Howells and Raymond M. Hood.

The coolest part about the Tribune Tower though is the different rocks that can be found along the outside walls. You don't even notice these rocks if you're walking by quickly, but if you slow down you notice them and think "Hey, what's that weird rock jutting out from the side of the building? A piece of the Forbidden City in Peking? What?" This realization then leads you all around the outside of the building, where you'll see rocks from all 50 states, the Parthenon, Great Wall of China, Japanese shrines, the Arc de Triomphe, and more! It really is cool! How often in your life can you say that you've touched a piece of Notre Dame and a Giza pyramid...at the same time!?

Last stop: the Prairie Avenue Bookstore. We'd read about this a lot in our guidebook and, being the bookstore junkies that we are, decided to drop by. I can sum up the PAB in one word: boooorrring. The entire store is devoted to books on architecture...which is cool...if you're an architect. One of its claims to fame is that it's the oldest bookstore in Chicago, and believe me, it smells like it. I couldn't tell if I was in a historic landmark or a nursing home! In any case, it was a nice place to stop and rest for a bit. We sat down at this huge, ugly, octagonal table and took a load off. Brock even fell asleep and started drooling. Later we found out that that table was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and was worth tens of thousands of dollars. Whoops! Don't worry, Brock wiped up his spit :)

The day ended with an early dinner at the Corner Bakery Cafe, where we split an entree of yummy pesto cavatappi pasta and--what else?--a fudge brownie :) Afterwards we went to Barnes and Noble and just hung out for a little while (like I said, bookstore junkies), then biked home and watched "The Hunt for Red October."

I officially have a grandpa-crush on Sean Connery.

"Opaaa!!!" & Architecture

Greektown. It's only about a mile from where we live, but Brock and I had never really been there. Well, on Monday, we changed that!

We got there at about lunch time, and decided to do what the Greeks do best: eat! Here's a recipe for what Chicago's Greektown is: Greek restaurants + real Greek people who speak with a heavy accent + Greek flags + Greek restaurants + Greek restaurants + gyro stands. So, really, the only thing there is to do in Greektown is eat! :) We walked into a local store and asked the owner where the best food was, and, not skipping a beat, she told us "Greek Islands."

The restaurant itself was super cute! All Greek architecture/decor, a blue-and-white color scheme (the colors of Greece's flag), and complete with waiters who you could barely understand! This place was legit. The thing that sets Greek Islands apart from other restaurants in Greektown is that instead of giving you a "taste of Greece," they give you a "taste from Greece." Almost everything they serve in that restaurant--from the olive oil to octupus--is imported from the motherland!

I ordered a chicken gyro with a Greek salad...very delicious! Brock ordered lamb, or perhaps a more accurate sentence would be he ordered a lamb. I've never seen him eat so much meat! Good lamb is one of those things that you can't get just anywhere, so he ordered a plateful. Personally, I'm not a fan of lamb (too gamey) but Brock loved it said it was the best lamb he'd ever had (it did have a really good sauce on it, I'll give it that). Oh, and he had the most amazing potatoes, too! They were roasted and soaked in a mixture of lemon, olive oil, and tomatoes. Soooo good!

I don't know how we managed to find room for dessert (we always do!), but we ordered karidopita, which is basically a really moist cinnamon spice cake with walnuts, served with vanilla bean ice cream :)

Feeling sufficiently fattened (I'm not kidding when I say that I was full for the entire rest of the day...no dinner!), we set off to burn off some calories by walking through downtown on a self-guided architecture tour! Not gonna lie, Brock wasn't the best sport about this haha. But I dragged him through it! We must have walked around for 2 hours and saw 20 different skyscrapers and sculptures. I couldn't believe that we had been in Chicago all this time and I hadn't noticed these buildings before! They were gorgeous! I guess when you're walking around downtown you get so focused on getting where you need to go that you forget to look up at what's around you. It's a whole 'nother world when you lift your eyes above 45 degrees.

I honestly would not be able to describe to you the beauty of some of these buildings, but I did take pictures, which I will post to Facebook in the next few days :) One of my favorites was Old St. Patrick's Church--the oldest building in Chicago, and one of the few to have survived the Great Fire of 1871. It has two pillars on each side with spires on the top: one is in the Roman style, the other Byzantine. This symbolizes the coming together of both the Western and Eastern parts of the world. Pretty cool, huh?!

Anyway, that was our Monday :) After Brock went to work at 5:30, I came home, caught up on blogging for an hour or two, and crashed. Who knew architecture could be so exhausting!

The U.S. Coast Guard Band

Sunday was a great day! The best part of it happened at around 6:30, when we ran down to Millenium Park to see the U.S. Coast Guard Band. This was a FREE concert that was put on by the city of Chicago and it was amazing! The venue, Jay Pritzker Pavilion, is just stunning...

It looks like you should be paying big money to see a show there, huh?! But people just camp out on the lawn with a picnic, or sit up close in the red seats and chill! Totally awesome. I love Chicago.

Anyway, the U.S. Coast Guard Band performed flawlessly. There was also an incredible soprano opera singer who sang a few songs with their accompaniment (including "America the Beautiful"). The band played a lot of music from the '20s-'40s, and the fact that they were all wearing their crisp uniforms...I dunno, it just really seemed to bring you back in time.

I'll admit it: I totally bawled during this concert on more than one occasion! The first time was when they played a medley of all the hymns of the U.S. military: the Navy, Marines, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, etc. During the medley, when they played--for example--the hymn of the U.S. Navy, they asked all the members of the audience who had served in the Navy to stand up. So with each new segment of the medley, a new set of men stood up out of their seats to be honored. To be in the the midst of men who had given so much for their country was really humbling; I started choking up and before I knew it my mascara was a-runnin'! There was even a recipient of the Medal of Honor in the audience. Did you know that out of the 42 million men and women how have served in the military, only 3,400 have receieved the Medal of Honor? And of those, only 100 are alive? Having one in the audience was more than cool.

I also cried during this one song they did called "Liberty." At certain parts of the song, the director of the band would provide narration...segments from the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, etc. But what really got the water works started was a portion he recited from a letter that Abraham Lincoln wrote. This letter was written Mrs. Bixby, a woman who had lost all five of her sons in the Civil War. These are the words that president Lincoln wrote to her:

Dear Madam,

I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant-General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle.

I feel how weak and fruitless must be any words of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save.

I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom.

Yours, very sincerely and respectfully,
Abraham Lincoln

As soon as I heard the words "altar of Freedom," I lost it! If I ever become a high school history or government teacher, I hope I can instill within my students the fiery patriotism that inspires men to not only love the USA, but to do good for it. If I can help mold a new generation of the type of men I sat among at that concert...wow. I don't think there would be anything better than that.

Cubs Game!

Take me out to the ball game!
Take me out with the crowd!
Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack
I don't care if I never get back!
For it's root, root, root for the CUBBIES!!!!
If they don't win it's a shame
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out at the old ball gaaame!!!

Wrigley Field--one of the oldest baseball fields in the United States. The land of Haray Caray, the curse of the billy goat, and 101 years of World Series failure. WE WENT THERE ON SATURDAY!!!

I'll admit it: Wrigley Field is captivating. You can't help but sit down in your seat, look out at the ivy-covered back wall and think about all the history that's gone down there. Babe Ruth calling his home run in the fifth inning of Game 3 of the 1932 World Series. The iconic players that have called Wrigley home throughout the years, the announcers, WGN, Yosh Kawano (the Cubs' equipment manager since 1943). Wrigley oozes the spirit of baseball's heyday, and you really can't help but fall in love with the place.

We sat in section 138, row 7, seats 101 & 102 and watched the Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-3. There were home runs, hotdogs and hammered people...doesn't get any better than that! I even memorized the entire Cubs line-up. Ready for this?

Left field: Soriano
Center field: Fukudome
Right field: Bradley
3rd base: Ramirez
Shortstop: Theriot
2nd base: Fontenot
1st base: Lee
Pitcher: Hart...but Zambrano is their main one
Catcher: Hill...but only because Soto is on the DL
General Manager: Lou Piniella

Not bad, eh?! Brock was so proud :) My FAVORITE part of the game was the end...where, because we won, everybody sang the "Go Cubs, Go" song!! And everybody raises these big white flags with blue W's on them (the W stands for "win"). Here's a link to a YouTube video of the "Go, Cubs, Go" song! You HAVE to listen to it! It's the best song ever!! Go, Cubs Go!

This game presented me with a huge moral crisis: I had to choose my baseball allegiances. Do I stick with the Rockies, who are the team from my home state? The Angels, whom my husband adores? Or the Cubs, the lovable losers that bulge at the seams with bandwagoners (and whose jerseys are really cute!!)? After much deliberation, it came down to a coin toss between the Cubs and Rockies aaaaannd...the Cubs won! My official allegiances are as follows: 1. Cubs 2. Rockies 3. Angels. The thing is, nobody hates a Cubs bandwagoner. You have to root for them! They haven't won the World Series in over 100 years! They play at Wrigley Field!

Oh, and Brock and I can still be married because the Cubs are in the National League and Angels are in the American League :) (Cubs and Rockies are both National Leaguers....trouble's a-brewin' for me!!)

After the game, everybody spilled into Wrigleyville (the area surrounding the stadium) and went straight for the bars (as if they weren't drunk enough!). Cubs fans looove their team and they looove their booze! Everybody was so happy and having such a great time--it was awesome!

Brock and I, however, headed to Mia Francesca, an Italian restaurant a few blocks south of all the hullabaloo. We knew we were in for a treat when we saw the menu: hand-written and xeroxed onto copy paper (because menu items are ever-changing!). We sat outside in a courtyard in the back, surrounded by a pretty mural of Tuscany and flowers spilling over the tops of the walls. The weather was perfect. We started the dinner out with some bruschetta which was made delicious by the heaping mounds of buffalo mozzarella on top :) Then we split a chicken dish with a side of linguine...you might be thinking "Chicken? What's so special about chicken?" But this was, without a doubt, the most sumptuous, divine chicken I've ever had in my life! It was inconceivably tender, topped with prosciutto, and smothered in the most delicious salsa rosata you could possibly imagine. If that wasn't enough, listen to what we had for dessert: banana-fudge gelato, sandwiched between two slices of banana-pecan bread, topped with a slice of caramelized banana, homemade whipped cream, and drizzled with chocolate and caramel sauces. HEAVEN. The best dessert I've ever had in my entire life.

Feeling very fat (it was more than worth it!), we hopped on our bikes and headed downtown to where Venetian night was going on. Venetian night is where a bunch of people dress up their yachts into certain themes (Harry Potter, Gilligan's Island, Michael Jackson, Hollywood, etc) and drive them all around the harbor for all to see. 500,000 people turn out for this night, so we though it was going to be awesome. Not so! There were only like 15 boats in the parade and they weren't all lit up with lights like we thought they would be. The night was basically an excuse for anybody over the age of 40 to throw a party on their boat, get drunk, play bad 90s music and act like they were still in high school. Act your age, people!!! When a 21-year girl is looking at you and thinking "Grow up!" you know you have a problem.

The night wasn't totally lost, however. It ended with an amazing fireworks show! It was seriously better than the 4th of July. So that was redeeming. Afterward, Brock and I went home and plopped into bed . . . talk about a long day!

Horsies :)

Friday is Brock's long day at work each week, and we were so tired from our 15-mile bike ride to the Museum of Science and Industry (not to mention walking around it all day!) that we vegged out until he left for work at 2PM.

I headed over to Navy Pier where the Budweiser Clydesdales were putting on a show! It wasn't much...just them prancing around the Navy Pier boardwalk all hooked up to the Budweiser wagon. But still! They were gorgeous! I took tons of pictures of them...click on the link at the end of the Museum of Science and Industry post to see!

After I'd done my fair share of oogling at the Clydesdales (which was notably longer than most people's oogling threshold) I went downtown to the Hotel Monaco to attend an alumni dinner for the BYU Communications Department. Since Brock was working, I went as a proxy...and for the free dinner ;) Overall, it was pretty blah. Like, what are you supposed to say when everyone around you is in advertising, public relations, broadcasting etc and you're . . . not. It was still nice to see some friendly BYU faces and to eat free chocolate cake!

The Museum of Science and Industry

On Thursday we used up the last of our CityPass booklet and visited the Museum of Science and Industry. After a scenic 7-mile bikeride down Lakeshore Trail to get there, here was what we saw!

1. U-505

This was my favorite exhibit. It was an ACTUAL German submarine used during WWII that Americans captured in 1944! This was a huge deal because, at that time, U-boats were owning us. When we captured U-505, we took all their maps, codebooks and secret stuff and were able to use it to our advantage. The submarine was HUGE!! I couldn't believe it. For some reason, I always though of submarines as these small little eggshells riding through the ocean...but oooh no. Check out my newly-updated Facebook album for pictures! I'll post a link at the end of this post.

We also got to go on a tour inside the U-505 (another CityPass bonus!), which was so so so cool. Even though the sub looks huge on the outside, on the inside it is cramped. Not a good place for claustrophobe! I couldn't believe that 59 men had to live in there for months at a time. There were probably 20 people on our tour and we barely had room to move around each other. And guess what? There were no showers! None! Not for 3 months! U-boats had to conserve all the fresh water they could, and showers were considered a luxury. Not only that, but there was one cook who was responsible for feeding all 59 men, 3x a time. Talk about hell! Haha being inside that tour was awesome. It was crazy to think that 65 years ago, Nazis were in there.

We learned about all the mistakes they made when the Americans captured them. They just kind of panicked! For example, their codebook was lined with lead so that in the event of capture, they could just throw it into the sea and it would sink to the bottom. The Germans forgot to do that...whoops. Also, there was this valve where, if you took the cap off, it would let water in so you could purposely sink the submarine and all its precious documents. Well, they remembered to take the cap off, but didn't throw it overboad like they were supposed to. In their haste, they just left it on the ground! So when the Americans came in and saw water fill up the U-boat, they were just like "Hmm...maybe this big old plug will stop it." Haha

Anyway, the capture of the U-505 was kept top secret until the end of the war. Nobody knew about it. We broke some Geneva Conventions by not letting the German POWs write home, but we simply couldn't let that happen. If the Germans found out that the U-505 had been captured and not shot down as they'd presumed, our major advantage in maritime war would have been for naught. To make up for this, at the end of the war the POWs had 2 options: full American citizenship, or a free plane ticket home. Most of them took the plane ticket home, which actually wasn't the best idea. The captain, for example, was hated because he'd messed up so bad...not exactly the warm welcome he was looking forward to. Plus, in the 4 years that he'd been a POW, his wife had remarried. Ouch.

2. Apollo 8 Command Module

Okay, okay, I know we just barely got done with a visit to the Adler Planetarium, but that didn't make this exhibit any less cool!! The Apollo 8 CM was the first manned spacecraft to enter lunar orbit! Once again, I wish I could explain to you how incredibly awesome it was to stand there in front of it. It was more than awesome, actually...it was humbling. To have an icon of human creativity and engineering right before you, and to think "Wow, my species made that." Not only that, but it was my country that did it. The American space program made the Apollo 8. It makes me beam with pride just thinking about it!

There was also a great replica of the Apollo 11 lunar module, and a short video that accompanied it. The video was all about our landing on the moon, and halfway through it I just started bawling! I just love my country so much I couldn't believe that we did that. That such a monumental accomplishment was ours because of the freedoms the USA endorses, and the creativity that it fosters. To me, the space program is one of the prime examples of America's greatness, so I always get really sentimental about it :)

3. Colleen Moore's Fairy Castle

An accurate description of this description would be this: every little girl's dream come true. This thing made Barbie look like white trash. Silent film star Colleen Moore was always fascinated by dolls and doll houses. She owned several elaborate doll houses as a child, but later in life her father, Charles Morrison, suggested that she should pursue her passion for miniatures and doll houses by creating the "doll house" of her dreams. Her position as one of the most popular actresses in Hollywood gave her the resources to produce a miniature home of fantastic proportions. Beginning in 1928, Moore enlisted the help of many talented professionals to help her realize her vision.

Horace Jackson, an architect and set designer who worked for First National Studios, created the floor plan and layout of the castle with the basic idea that "the architecture must have no sense of reality. We must invent a structure that is everybody's conception of an enchanted castle."

Moore also enlisted the help of art director and interior designer Harold Grieve. Grieve had designed the interiors for Moore's actual mansion, so he was a natural to create the interiors of her fantasy castle.
By 1935 more than 700 individuals had lent their expertise—including surgical instrument lighting specialists, Beverly Hills jewelers and Chinese jade craftsmen. The price tag for this 8'7" x 8'2" x 7'7" foot palace, containing more than 2,000 miniatures, was nearly $500,000.

My two favorite artifacts from the castle were a teeny tiny dictionary...about the size of a thumbnail...which was the first book Colleen's father ever gave to her: "It has all the words you'll ever need to make life interesting." There is also a chapel in the castle, which is home to the world's smallest Bible! When opened, it's about the size of your thumbnail, and get this: it is completely unabridged. How they made type that small, I don't know...but it's pretty amazing!

So that was the MSI! Obviously, there were many more exhibits that we saw, but those were the three that stood out the most. On the bike ride home, we briefly entertained the idea of going to a pro soccer game at Soldier Field (which is right along Lakeshore Trail...our route to get home). The USA was playing Honduras, and then afterwards Mexico vs. Costa Rica. There were sooo many Mexican people walking towards the stadium who were so excited for the game! We were like "Aw man, this game is gonna be sweeeeet!" (Usually, the USA and Mexcio are the only teams worth watching for the Central American Cup, which is what this game was being played for). Unfortunately, we weren't playing Mexico...we were playing crappy Honduras haha. We checked out ticket prices and they were a little too expensive--$40. Had it been USA-Mexico, we probably would have done it...but USA-Honduras? Needless to say, it was a whomping :)

Here is the link for our updated Chicago photo album: Click here!

Night Run

Dang, I've gotten behind on my blogging! What this post is about happened last Wednesday...eeesh! :S Don't worry...I'll get caught up! :)

Honestly, Wednesday wasn't too eventful. We were tired from the past two days of walking around museums (Adler, Field) so we took a "chill day" :) We had dinner at Brother and Sister Kelly's apartment (they're our internship coordinators), which was really nice. The Kelly's love us because we go out and explore Chicago so much :) The other interns are just like BLAH and Brother Kelly will try to be like "Ok! Everybody name one cool thing you did this week!" And Brock and I are the only ones who ever say anything!

After dinner we decided to go on a night run, which we'd never done before. I was kind of nervous to do so because we headed out at 9:00 (when it was pretty dark) and I wasn't so sure about being out after dark. I

As it turns out, my concerns were completely unfounded! Chicago is bumpin' after dark! And not just with drunks or stupid teenagers...we saw plenty of families out and about, moms pushing strollers, dads carrying kids on their shoulders, lovers strolling along, etc. We planned on running to Navy Pier (where we heard they were having a dance) but on the way there we saw all these people sitting on the steps leading up to Buckingham Fountain. When we asked wait they were waiting for they were like, "Fireworks, of course!" Fireworks? We thought quickly about what day it was...obscure national holiday? Nope! Chicago just puts on a fireworks show every Wednesday during the summer...just for fun! How cool is that?! So we stayed and watched :) It was actually a pretty legit fireworks show! It went on for about 10 minutes and had a big finale and everything! We were sitting by the cutest little family...a mom and dad with four kids, two of them being twin boys about 4 years old. The kids were just running around being silly in front of everybody...no inhibitions whatsoever. And they were so excited to see the fireworks! It was funny, about halfway through the show a man walked by selling glow sticks, and he walked by extra slow right in front of them. When the kids didn't whine or complain or even ask for them, we leaned over to the parents and were like "Wow! He was walking really slow and they didn't even fall for it!" and the mom kind of laughed and said, "Oh, we trained them beforehand! 'Kids...NO STICKS!'" So cute :)

We got to Navy Pier but alas...the dance had ended. Oh, well! It wasn't a total loss thought because the Budweiser Clydesdales were on display there! Talk about magnificent animals. They are so majestic-looking and just beautiful. And HUGE!! I want one really bad now :) It was funny, there was this one horse in particular that I "connected" with. I would talk to him, and his ears would prick up and he'd lean forward just as if he were listening. So, after forming this unseverable bond with him, I decided to go around to the other side of his cage to see what his name was. As it turns out, the Budweiser wagon only uses 8 horses, but they travel with 10 so they can switch them out in case some get sick/tired. "My" horse was one of the 2 extra ones, and therefore his name wasn't posted on a fancy plaque like the others! Then Brock goes, "Kristi...your horse is A Horse With No Name!" I actually laughed at that joke! :)

On our way home, we stopped by Buckingham Fountain again because it was all lit up in different colors....pretty! Then classical music started blaring out over some speakers and there was a water show! Just like at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, but only smaller :) I actually almost liked this one better than the one at the Bellagio because the fountain is just stunning, it's all lit up, and you've got the skyscrapers of downtown Chicago as your backdrop. Plus, it's not overcrowded with tourists jockeying for the best view...it's a wide open space with just a bunch of families there hanging out together :)

Overall, it was about an 8 mile run. It felt really good--not just because we were high on endorphins, but because we got to see another side of Chicago, one we hadn't seen before. I would venture to guess that, out of all the major cities in the U.S., this is the most family-friendly one. Hands down. I feel like I crossed a threshold that night. You know how when you fall in love and you're like "Wow, this guy is awesome, I really like him" but then something happens and you're like "Okay, I love him"? It was like that. I'm officially in deep love with Chicago!

The Field Museum: Part Deux!

With our CityPass booklets, one of the attractions you get admission to is the Field Museum. Which was great because, despite spending an entire Thursday there last week, we still had more we wanted to see! I'll list off in order the exhibits that we caught the second time around!

1. Tibet

Tibet is one of those places that has always fascinated me. I learned in a world religions class a couple semesters ago that it's the only place where the most mystical, esoteric form of Buddhism (Mahayana) is practiced. Who wouldn't be intrigued by that? :) And then there's the whole political junkie in me that's interested in the Tibet-China conflict. So I really wanted to go to this exhibit so see if I could figure out where I stood on that.

After reading through everything, I have to say that I agree 100% with the Dalai Lama. Despite being a spiritual giant, the Dalai Lama is an extremely intelligent man. He also has a warm sense of humor! Cross President Hinckley with Elder Talmage, and you've got it about right. Anyway, he doesn't espouse the whole "Free Tibet!" movement. And a lot of people kind of think of him as a sell-out for not doing so. But he's not a sell-out, he's smart. He realizes that Tibet needs China. It's a tiny, tiny region that could never survive any sort of attack all on its own. It needs China for protection. And China needs Tibet for its vast natural resources. The problem is: where do you draw the line between capitalizing on natural resources (to the benefit of both parties) and exploiting them at the expense of one?

I highly, highly encourage any of you interested in this issue to visit the following website: click here. It lists speeches that the Dalai Lama has given on this issue and a variety of other ones, including world peace, religious harmony, compassion and the environment. He truly is an inspired man and I have no doubt that he will one day accept the gospel. If there is one person I admire most outside of the Church, it's him.

On a sidenote, after visiting this exhibit I am officially boycotting Chinese products. No, seriously. If you knew about the egregious human rights violations they've committed in Tibet, you would too. I will not support the economy of a country who has such little respect for human dignity. "Made in China?" Then it's not made for me.

2. Evolving Planet

Wow, where to start on this exhibit! Basically, it took us on a journey through Earth history. Day 1 till now. (Yeah, it's kind of hard to summarize!) We walked through Precambrian period where life on Earth was limited to single-celled prokaryotes, passed a few mass extinctions, on to the dinosaurs, another mass extinction or two, and then arrived at present day! What I took away from this exhibit was that there is no. possible. way. that the Supreme Creator was not involved our planet's development. It was extremely complicated, and too many things fell too perfectly into place. God truly is a genius.

3. Underground Adventure

This was a special exhibit that our CityPass gave us admission to. We "shrunk" to the size of an ant and went inside the world of soil! We walked through the land of tree roots, worms, and wolf spiders...all the while being less than an inch tall! :) Haha once again, this exhibit was kind of for little kids. It was still pretty cool though! We learned about how important soil is to our everyday life. It totally gets taken for granted! For example: no soil? No cereal. (How will the grains grow that your cereal is made with?) No soil? No jeans. (Cotton has to grow somewhere!)

It really is one of those pervasive elements that affects your life in ways you don't even think about. Without it, life truly wouldn't be possible. Another testament to God's genius :)

4. The Road to Freedom

This was my favorite exhibit of the day. It was a collection of black-and-white photographs of the Civil Rights Movement. And it was powerful. I sometimes can't believe how much I forget history. Not in the literal I-can't-remember-it sense, but in the I-don't-appreciate-it sense. On Monday I got hit over the head with this realization as I walked through the moon exhibit in the planetarium. And now on Tuesday it was deja vu, except this time with the Civil Rights Movement.

The photographs we saw so perfectly captured the essence of what Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., and thousands of others fought for. Through the lens of a camera we saw their passion, their pain, their determination and their spirit. It was such a dark time in our nation's history. There were two pictures in particular that haunted me.

One was of a car. An abandoned car on the side of the highway. You wouldn't think much to look at it, but the plaque beside it told the story of a black woman who had been driving back from a peaceful protest she'd been a part of in Montgomery, Alabama. On the way home, she was shot to death and dragged out of her car. Now you look at the photograph closer. You can see a shattered window, bloodstains all over the driver's seat, and even a pair of deserted shoes left near the pedals.

The human capacity to love is one of the most defining, admirable characteristics of our species. But I suppose there is an opposite to everything. Our capacity for hatred chills me.

The second photograph was of a young, black boy riding in a car. His father had just been murdered. The car the boy was riding in was on its way to his funeral. The look on his face that the photographer caught truly is indescribable, but I'll do my best. The boy was looking directly at the camera. His expression pierced through the lens and into your soul, almost pleading for help. In them, you could see all the hurt, anguish, and sorrow of his people. There was even a hint of rage. Yet through all these emotions, you could see resilience. In his eyes there were thousands of people screaming for justice, willing to fight for it no matter the consequences.

I saw the entire Civil Rights Movement through the face of one boy.

I came out of that exhibit with a completely different perspective on American 20th century history. My appreciation for Martin Luther King Jr. was magnified a hundredfold, and I couldn't help but feel a tinge of bitter remorse for the hateful acts that my fellow countrymen perpetrated on their brothers. Americans can be so hypocritical sometimes. We always look back on the Nazis with such disdain for their ill-targeted aggression towards the Jews and indiscriminate violence. Yet a mere ten years later we were doing the same thing during the Civil Rights Movement. Granted, it was on a much smaller scale and--with the exception of a few crazies--we weren't on genocidal tirade to destroy the black race. But still: isn't it the feeling that counts?

A hotel owner, upon seeing black people in his swimming pool, doused the pool with harmful chemicals while they were still swimming in it. He ordered them all out, drained the pool of their "impurities," and then raised a Confederate flag over the freshly-refilled pool.

That type of hatred is what fueled Nazi Germany to shuttle Jews into concentration camps. Thankfully, our country wasn't so far gone that we could justify killing innocent people, as the Nazis did. But the hate was still there. That seething, tar-like hate that burned through reason and drove men over the edge of humanity.

After walking through this exhibit, I got to thinking about all the gay men and women out there who are comparing their battle over the marriage issue to the Civil Rights Movement. It makes me really, really mad. Like, beyond mad. How could any gay person who has any sense of what the Civil Rights Movement was all about, and any sense of respect for it, even dare to compare their "plight" to it? I won't get into this issue too much because doing so would draw negative energy into my body that I just don't want or need. But let me just say that if any pro-gay-marriage person ever comes at me with the argument of "it's the new Civil Rights Movement": I. WILL. LOSE. IT.

Overall, I'm really glad that we got a second day at the Field Museum. The stuff we saw there today broadened our minds, made us think, and enriched our lives. It would have been a shame to miss it!

The Adler Planetarium

"That's one small step for man...one...giant leap for mankind."

How appropriate that on Monday--the 40th anniversary of our landing on the moon--Brock and I went to the Adler Planetarium! :) Space is something I've always been fascinated with. Had I been blessed with a more mathematical mind, I probably would have sought to be an astronaut. I'm dead serious about that. But I'm the girl who got a C+ in Physics 121 and pees her pants at the thought of calculus. Oh, well! :)

Both Brock and I had never been to a planetarium before, so we were pretty excited to go here. And let me tell you, it was so cool! They had an entire exhibit on America's lunar travels and boy, did it make me long for the "good old days" when the entire nation was captivated with the space race. What a fun time that must have been! It seems like nothing impresses us anymore, doesn't it? For example, last night the pitcher for the White Sox pitched a perfect game. A perfect game! And nobody is even talking about it! (To put things in perspective, there have only been 18 perfect games in all of baseball's history, and thousands of games are played each season!)

But enough of my old-fogey rants. Back to the story! I really loved the space exhibit because I walked away from it feeling so proud of America and the type of men that she produces. I'd always had a respect for those men of the space race, but after learning more about them--wow. They were nuts! Not only were they sickeningly smart, but they seriously had no sense of fatal danger whatsoever. For example, when Buzz Aldrin landed the Apollo 11 lunar module on the moon, he looked outside and saw that where he was supposed to land was strewn with boulders. So he took semi-automatic control of the LM, cut radio signal, and went totally off course to land somewhere else. Obviously, everybody as Mission Control was FREAKING OUT, because the LM's fuel was rapidly going down and they had no way of knowing what was going on. Aldrin kept himself calm, cool and collected, landing with 15 seconds' worth of fuel left. Can you imagine that?! Knowing that if you mess up, you will crash into the moon, destroy the lunar module, and die a slow, painful death of starvation millions of miles away from home?! This is why men fly to the moon. If it were up to me (or any other woman!) we would pee our pants and cry because we actually think about our lives when we do dangerous things. Men treat it like a game of Nintendo! (Ooh! Jump here, press forward here, move to the side...awesome! We're on the moon! On to level 2.)

Yeah, so like I said, that exhibit really made me respect the lunar astronauts, cosmonauts, and physicists on a whole new level. Guess what they had in the exhibit! The Gemini XII! That was the 1966 manned spacecraft that was flown into Earth's high orbit, where Buzz Aldrin completed the first successful spacewalk at the end of a tether! I couldn't believe that it was actually there! That what was two feet in front of me had proven to NASA that man could maneuver successfully in space! Do you even know how cool that is?! You could even see the scars that the intense heat of atmosphere re-entry had left on the outside of the module! Aaaaahh I love space!!!!!!!

Guess what else we saw? Jim Lovell's space suit, helmet, and gloves! Annnnd the ripped flight manual from Apollo 13! (If you remember from the movie, Jim Lovell had to rip the cover off it it to help make a carbon dioxide filter.) We also saw a 4.5 billion year-old moon rock (no big deal) and even got to touch a piece of the moon! The moon!! :) :) :)

On the way out of the exhibit, there was this wall that said "I want to be the first ____ on the moon." And then there were sticky notes and pencils so that little kids could write their moon dreams down and stick them on the wall. It was so cute :) Dozens of sticky notes in little-kid-scrawl saying things like "I want to be the first dog", "The first president", "The first singer" and so forth. But--of course--there are always those people who have major chips on their shoulder and can't help but vent their feelings in the most inappropriate of venues. We saw certain sticky notes (in adult handwriting) that read "I want to be the first Messiah", "The first Communist (not kidding)", "The first Nazi", "To legalize equal rights to marriage for all people, gay or straight, across the nation". It's like come on, guys! This wall is painted in bright primary colors and has cartoon space cadets painted on it! Probably not the place for you to vent your political frustrations. Ugh. People are so stupid. But don't worry, we took those sticky notes down :) They now reside on our living room wall. We look at them whenever we need a good laugh at other people's idiocy :)

To be honest, all the other exhibits kind of paled in comparison to the moon one. I already kind of knew all the information presented in the other exhibits (the fact that I had just come off of two semesters of GE classes in geology, physical science and astronomy certainly helped!). The planetarium was kind of geared towards little kids who actually still have their lives before them by which to influence the exploration of the cosmos. Me? I'm already in college and not majoring in engineering, physics, or astronomy, so I guess the cause is lost on me :)

Brock and I saw two really cool shows at the planetarium (each about 20 min long). The first was called Cosmic Collisions, which basically took a look at the effect that collisions have in our universe. For example, did you know that our moon was formed by a cosmic collision? At least, that's the current theory. An asteroid the size of Mars hit the Earth and caused huge chunks of rock to break off! These chunks end up orbiting around earth, and within the course of one month they had all melded together and formed the moon!

The other show was saw was in this huge domed room. They darkened the room completely, told us to close our eyes, and when we opened them the entire night sky was on display on the ceiling above us! Awesome :) We learned all about constellations in that presentation.

All in all: the planetarium was rad. (Warning: this review may be skewed by the fact that free slices of cake were given away at 3:17pm, to commemorate man's landing on the moon 40 years ago.)

And I would be lying if I said that this trip didn't inspire us to go to Blockbuster and rent "Apollo 13." Which we promptly did :)

We Got High

...on the Sears Tower! :)

This past Saturday we went to the top of the SEARS TOWER!! Or, should I say "Willis Tower?" Which, as of last week, is it's official new name. LAME!! Forget that. I'm calling it the Sears Tower. Anyway, we bought these CityPass booklets for $69 that gives you access to 5 Chicago attractions: Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry, and the Sears Tower. Normally admission to all these would total around $130, so it's a FANTASTIC deal! But one of it's major perks is that with each attraction you get a "fast pass"...which saved us 3 hours worth of waiting in line at the Sears Tower! I felt kind of bad for just walking right ahead of everybody and showing the guy our CityPass...but not too bad :)

The elevator ride to the top took 1 minute...and there are 103 stories! There was this big TV in the elevator too that showed--as you ascended--how high you were with reference to other major buildings. So you knew when you were higher than the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, Empire State Buidling....pretty cool! Our ears were popping the whole way!

At the SkyDeck you can see for MILES! On a clear day (which it was when we visited) you can see four different states. But man, being up that high is super trippy. And kind of scary! I kept thinking terrorist attack, terrorist attack. Lovely thoughts, I know. Haha you could also feel the tower sway just ever-so-slightly in the wind...eeeek!

But the ABSOLUTE COOLEST, SCARY, AND INSANE part of it all was THE LEDGE!! You may have read about this in your local paper, it's a new addition to the Sears Tower. The Ledge is composed of three separate glass "pods"...glass boxes that jut out from the Tower that are about...oh...I would say 4'x8'? Anyway, those with the guts walk out on the ledge....and can see the street 103 stories below them through the glass!!! Soooo freaky! Knowing that all that separates you from certain death is about 3 inches of glass....not for those with a fear of heights!!

I personally loved The Ledge!! Stepping out onto it was such a rush! But, being completely inconsiderate of those around me (who were much more afraid than I), I started dancing around on the glass and they were like "AAAAAHHH!! Don't do that!!" Whoopsies :)

The Shedd Aquarium

On Thursday, Brock and I visited the Shedd Aquarium where I saw beluga whales--and thousands of other marine dwellers--up close and personal.

I officially love beluga whales so much that I have even composed a haiku in their honor:

Big, smiling faces

Lumpy bodies that look weird

Cute, white blobs of love

Believe it or not, my poetry abilities are inherent and weren't one of the things I learned at the Shedd Aquarium. As a native Coloradoan, I haven't exactly been to Sea World dozens of times (unlike my husband) so I was super-excited to go here! We started out in an exhibit called Amazon Rising, which takes you on a journey through the Amazon before, during, and after the flood season. One of the coolest things in that exhibit was a caiman...which is basically like a mini-crocodile! It sat with only his head sitting above the water...and he was dead still. The thing didn't even blink! Not a ripple around him! I kind of wanted a fly to buzz around his head just to see if he would savagely attack it or whatever. Or like have someone dangle a stuffed animal from a stick right in front of him...(awesome idea, I know!). We also saw PIRAHNAS, which are fierce-looking suckers!

Another cool thing we saw was a Caribbean coral reef. It was this huge, tubular tank right smack dab in the middle of the museum, with all sorts of Caribbean aquatic life in it. Colorful fishies, ugly fishies (tuna...NASTY), bonnethead sharks, rays, and so on. A scuba diver drops down into the tank to feed the fish 6x/day, and narrates what he's doing via underwater microphone, but we were never around to see this happen. Oh well. What would he say? "I'm going in the water...it's wet...I'm feeding the fish...I'm swimming around...I'm going back up...."

We also saw a 4D effects show called "Planet Earth." 4D is just a 3D show + when something on the screen splashes into water, you get splashed with water out of little holes in the seat in front of you, etc. You've probably been to one at Disneyland or something. Anyway, it was a a really cool show that was only about 15 minutes long, and it just took you from pole to pole on an aquatic adventure :) There were some AMAZING shots in it, too! From penguins in Antarctic to a mommy polar bear and her two cubs scaling a STEEP, snowy mountainside, to this crazy shark jumping FOUR FEET OUT OF THE WATER to catch its prey!!! It was awesome!! They slowed it down like 40x so you could watch the savagery nanosecond by nanosecond...sweeeeet.

Then we headed to the Oceanarium to see otters, dolphins and...my favorite...BELUGA WHALES!! They also had an Arctic exhibit nearby with penguins! So cute!! I love penguins! Right after we exited this exhibit (try saying that five times fast!) we went to a show called "Fantasea" that incorporated all of these animals. Not gonna, lie, the show was straight up HOKEY. Like this little girl is "randomly" chosen from the audience (who amazing knows exactly the format of the show and how to act!) and she goes on this magical journey using the special Shedd Aquarium talisman/necklace to transport her wherever she needs to go! Did I mention she hops in a boat that flys off into Neverneverland? Oh, and that the final scene is her putting a stethoscope to a dolphin's heart, then one to her own, and finding out that our heartbeats are all the same?? I was half-expecting Zac Efron to row out on a boat singing "We're All in This Together!" lol but seriously...despite the corniness of the show, it was STILL awesome to see the belugas and dolphins to all their stunts! Dolphins can jump SO HIGH! And they would shoot up out of the water and do like 720s! Rad. The penguins kind of sucked. They didn't really know what was going on lol.

After Fantasea we checked out Wild Reef, which was an exhibit that taught you all about...well...reefs! We saw jellyfish and seahorses and sharks and turtles and octopus and Nemo fish and all sorts of other cool stuff! One of my favorite animals was this special kind of sea star that looked really chubby! It was so cute! Oh, and sea cucumbers. They're super nasty and I would NEVER want to encounter one in real life, but from behind a glass window they're pretty cool! Do you know why fish swim in schools? Because sharks have really bad eyesight, so if fish keep together, from a distance that shark sees only a blob...which he interprets as being a whale! Pretty crazy, eh? (And this has been your public service announcement for the day...)

We topped our Shedd visit off by meandering through Waters of the World, which are themed tanks that hold over 90 aquatic habitats--ocean coasts, tropical waters, Africa, Asia, Australia, etc. This is where we saw the FIERCEST ANIMAL OF THE DAY: the spider crab!!! Basically...imagine a normal crab...WITH 6 FOOT LEGS!!! AAAAHH! I would seriously DIE if I ever saw one of these while scuba diving! Waters of the World is also where we saw the OLDEST ANIMAL OF THE DAY: an Australian lungfish named Granddad! He's been at the museum since 1933...now that's old!!

All in all: a fantastic, educational visit! :) I still can't wrap my head around all the different animals we saw. How did God come up with all of them?! He's definitely in tune with His right brain, that's for sure!

The Field Museum

Monday, monday! Back in Chicago, I completely wussed out on quitting Greenpeace and called in "sick" instead (food poisoning...). I'm such a baby! I just hate disappointing people :(

I was miraculously able to overcome my maladies and summoned up enough energy to spend a day at the Field Museum. Guys, this museum is AWESOME! By far, one of the coolest things I have ever been to. Monday was a free day, which meant that every ill-behaved YMCA group/blue-collar family from the greater Midwest made a visit. Brock and I were slack-jawed disgusted at the manners of some of these kids. Granted, it's much easier being on the outside looking in, thinking "What are their parents teaching them?! My children will never behave like that!" but at the same time, this is no excuse to accept rambunctious brats as the norm. I have no problem with kids being excited...talking a little loudly, saying "Ooh! Lookatthatlookatthat!" They're in one of the coolest museums in the world, for crying out loud. But when kids are YELLING, running around, disrespecting sacred artifacts and being downright annoyances to all those around them, it's time to draw the line.

Just watch, Heavenly Father will send me down the naughtiest bunch He's got sitting up in the heavens and just sit back and laugh.

Regardless of the sheer pandemonium that a free day at the Field Museum brings (hey, if you're gonna be cheap, deal with the consequences!), Brock and I had a fabulous time. The Field is MASSIVE. We were there for six hours straight and still left walking past exhibits we'd never noticed before! Here's a list of some of the coolest things we saw:

1. Sue! The world's largest, most complete, and best-preserved T-rex. She's actually not as big as you'd expect her to be! But awesome nonetheless :) Her skull, which weighs 600 lbs, was too heavy to put on the skeleton so it rests in a glass class nearby!

2. The Lions of Tsavo! In 1898, these two lions killed and ate 140 men who were constructing a bridge in Kenya. Caves were found piled high with human bones. Crazy!! Their skins were once used as rugs, but have since been taxidermied (now officially a verb) and put on display in the Field.

3. Hall of Jades. An impressive collection of over 500 jade artifacts from Neolithic burial sites through the Chinese Dynasties and up to present day. Gorgeous stuff!

4. Pacific Spirits. A celebration of the vibrant culture of Pacific islanders. They even have a real Maori meeting house, complete with hundreds of tribal carvings, that was donated to the museum on the stipulation that people remove their shoes before entering.

5. Pawnee Earth Lodge. This replica of a Pawnee dwelling is also an interactive exhibit that showcases their traditions. Cue Pocahontas :)

6. Inside Ancient Egypt. Mummies and hieroglyphics galore. They even have a real written excerpt out of the Book of the Dead!

7. Africa. This is a fun exhibit that starts in a Senegal market and takes you all around the continent. You even experience life on a slave ship!

8. Water. This was a special exhibit that you had to pay a little extra to go into. I know what you're thinking: "Water? What's so cool about water?" But this exhibit was awesome! It made me realize how crucial and special water is to our planet. It is the one thing that literally makes life possible here. We all know that water can go from a solid to liquid and a gas, but this exhibit showed how that amazing transformative ability is responsible for so much life! The more I learned about water, the more convince I became that there truly is a higher power looking out for us.

We also learned about how little freshwater there is available for us to us. On top of that, most of the freshwater is locked up in glaciers! When all is said and done, humans subsist on a fraction of 1% of the world's water. Isn't that insane?!

Other things we learned: Europeans use 30 gallons of water per person per day. Americans use 113 (Ethiopians use 3!). ?!?!?!? Brock and I have started taking "military showers" since this exhibit :) (Wet yourself. Shower off. Soap/shampoo yourself. Rinse. Done.) We also stepped on a scale and learned how much water is in our bodies! Brock has 16 gallons of water in him, I have 12! Crazy!!!

There are so many other exhibits that we saw and so many more that we wish we could have seen! You could literally spend weeks there. After a few hours we gave up reading all the plaques beside the exhibits because there was just so much information! We're definitely planning a second trip there. I would say that the Field Museum is definitely a must-see if you're ever in Chicago!

Carthage

On Sunday morning we went to Church in Nauvoo at 8am. There must have been 700 people there! It was insane what with all the visitors and tourists! All I could think about was: if I were called to be nursery leader in this ward, I would kill myself :) But Church was awesome...I've never seen a sacrament executed so efficiently. You'd think that with 700 people it would take forever, but these guys had it down to a science. General MacArthur couldn't have come up with anything better!

Sidenote: owing to the sheer mass of people in attendance at sacrament meeting, we were unable to locate our custard friends and pay them their $3! Brock and I have decided to take another trip to Nauvoo ourselves in a couple weeks, where we will give those people their money, do a temple session, and eat one of those peanut butter cream cheese brownies :)

After Church we did a little bit more sight-seeing around Nauvoo. All the shops and buildings are still open for tours on Sunday, which surprised me, but I guess when it's your missionary calling to do that, you don't get a day off! We went into the blacksmith where we learned about the tedious process of making covered wagons. And to think that some of those wagons sank midway through the Mississippi! Holy cow. Then I would really kill myself!

We also walked the Trail of Hope, which is the trail that the Saint took towards the river as they left Nauvoo. Along the way, there are dozens of plaques with inscriptions from Saint's journals on them. Each plaque talks about their faith, hardships and trials, and heartache at leaving their beautiful city. The trail ends at the embankment of the Mississppi. It was really cool to stand there and think about all the thousands of people who crossed right where I stood in pursuit of religious freedom.

After the Trail of Hope we went to the gravesite of Joseph, Emma, and Hyrum Smith (Joseph's parents were buried there also). It was surreal to be there and know that the prophet's bones were literally right under my feet. Oddly enough, it made him seem more "real" to me. Like, "Oh, wow, he was an actual person, not just a "character" from a book." Pretty cool.

We stopped by the Nauvoo temple for a brief photo op, then headed out of town. When we arrived at Carthage we were pretty tired and didn't want to do the whole 45 minute tour. Luckily, a group was just about to come out of the movie and go into the house, so we dovetailed off of them. Unfortunately, it was a HUGE family reunion! It's great that Mormons have tons of kids and all, but c'mon people! Let's be reasonable here! Birth. Con. Trol. I shouldn't say that. But I did. Anyway! It actually worked out kind of nice. Because we couldn't all fit in one room, Brock and I lagged behind and went into each room after everybody had left. Sure, we missed what the tour guide had had to say (boo hoo) but it was cool to get those rooms basically all to ourselves for a few minutes.

Like Nauvoo, going to Carthage helped me bring things into context. Seeing the stairs that the mobbers came up, the window that Joseph fell out of, the bullet hole in the door that killed Hyrum...now, whenever I hear story of their martyrdom I'll be able to picture exactly how it happened. Granted, that's not necessary for one to have an appreciation for Joseph and Hyrum's sacrifice, but I would be lying if I said that it didn't enhance my understanding of it.

We heard the tour guide say that President Kimball had had the blood stain of Joseph removed because A) people were treating it like a shrine and B) it just didn't promote good feelings. So, naturally, after everybody had left the room, Brock, me, and a couple other people from our internship group set out of find it! We lifted a rug up off the floor (seemed like the obvious thing to do...) and there was a circle-shaped segment of the old floor that had been cut out. In its place was a "new" circle of similarly-colored wood, but the grain of the wood went in a different direction than the grain on the floor. Interesting....

Overall, our Nauvoo/Carthage weekend was amazing. Brock and I both enjoyed it immensely--our testimonies of the Restoration were fortified and our spirits uplifted. The cool thing about our religion is that if you believe in the Restoration, you believe in the Church! The two are not mutually exclusive. I guess it could be both a blessing and a curse...but for us it was a blessing :) I love this gospel, and I'm grateful beyond belief for the sacrifices of those brave men and women who gave everything to ensure that it would be brought forth in the latter days.

Nauvoooooooo!

(Sung in the style of the Yahoo! search engine jingle.)

That's where we went this weekend! Brock and I finally met our internship coordinator, Brother Kelly, along with his wife and family and all the other interns. Early Saturday morning, we all loaded into a 15-passenger van and headed off for the wild blue yonder!

Nauvoo is about five hours away from Chicago, which isn't too bad. On the way, Brother Kelly even treated us all to lunch at Wendy's, which was really nice of him! Once we got there, we explored the visitor's center for a little while (which smelt like an old folk's home...I wouldn't mention this unless it smelt really bad!) and then parted ways for about an hour. Brock and I stopped by the printing office, gun shop, and John Taylor's home for quick tours. Can I just say that getting tours from senior missionaries is probably one of my favorite things ever? So cute :)

The printing office was really cool and man did it make me happy not to have been a 19th-century newspaper maker! Talk about tedious. Back then, newspapers came out only once a week...perfectly understandable once you see the process of how they were put together!

The gun shop was . . . well, gun-ish? I dunno. We mostly went in there for Brock's sake! :) I'm not exactly a gun aficionado, so I couldn't really tell you what I saw, but I did learn that John Browning, a Nauvooan, was basically responsible for inventing modern guns and even the semi-automatic that they use in war today!

John Taylor's home was also cool, but the best part was a story we learned about a little wooden rocking horse in one of the children's rooms. John Taylor had hand-carved this rocking horse for his little boy, and his little boy loved it. When all the Mormons were forced to leave Nauvoo with little notice, the rocking horse got left behind. The little boy cried and cried, but wouldn't tell anybody what was wrong. A few hours later, he finally confessed why he'd been crying and John Taylor left that very night to go back to Nauvoo to retrieve the rocking horse. This, of course, was risking his life because people were out to get him, but he did it anyway because he loved his little boy that much. Isn't that sweet?!

After these tours, Brock and I headed back to the visitor's center to see a play that was put on by young service missionaries: "High Hopes and River Boats." It was basically a story of how life was in Nauvoo "back in the day." At 75 minutes long, it dragged on for about a half-hour longer than it should have! They did a pretty good job with it, but I'm not gonna lie: it was hokey. :)

We went "downtown" (more like downboonies!) and checked into our hotel, where Brock and I found out that we were going to be sharing a room with Brother and Sister Kelly. Niiiiiice :) haha. After check-in, we all kind of parted ways again and explored what the city had to offer! I had the most INTENSE craving for Oreos for some reason (please don't be pregnant! please don't be pregnant!) so the very first thing Brock and I did was find a gas station to satiate that!

We moseyed downtown a bit and wandered into a gift store, where I bought myself a small souvenir (a sun stone like the ones they have on the Nauvoo temple). Then we saw a fudge shop where we just had to sample a Mississippi mud bar (milk chocolate fudge + pecans + marshmallows). It was pretty mediocre, to be honest, but c'mon...how many times are you gonna be able to eat a Mississippi mud bar near the bank of the Mississippi?! Carpe diem, people!!

For dinner, we ate sandwiches at a local bakery, which had the most delectable-looking peanut butter cream cheese brownies on display! Yet after my Oreo/mud bar indulgence, there's no way I could have justified that! Even though I wanted to really, really bad. Brock promised me we would get one the next day, which didn't end up happening :( Also, we wanted to make it to a temple session but missed the last one of the day. So we're planning another day trip out to Nauvoo (this time just by ourselves) to do a session and GET THAT BROWNIE!! :)

We all met up after dinner to see another show: "Rendezvous in Nauvoo." It's the play that the senior missionaries put on at the end of the day, and it was quite possible the CUTEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN. The only thing cuter than old people is watching old people sing, dance and act! Seriously adorable :) I would so love to serve a mission in Nauvoo with Brock someday just so we could be in that show!

Then: the Nauvoo pageant! I know what you're thinking: that's a lot of shows! And it was, but it was awesome!! They had a little fair going on before the show which we had some time to tinker around at. They had a dance floor with circle dances going on, a live band providing the music, and other activities like log-sawing, the stick-pull game, and more. So fun! Lots of people were dressed up in period clothes, which was super cute and it really did feel like we were back in the old days what with everybody having good clean fun :)

The pageant itself was incredible. Such a testimony strengthener of the Restoration! Every Mormon should make an effort to see it at some point in their lives. I had never been to a Mormon pageant before, and wow do we know how to put on a good show! Not only was the production itself amazing, but the Spirit there was so strong (it helped that the pageant took place on a hill with the Nauvoo temple directly in the background!). Coming out of the pageant, I couldn't help but feel so grateful for the unthinkable sacrifices the early Saints made so that the Church could keep on growing. We are all forever indebted to them. It would do us well to pause to remember these courageous folk more than once a year on July 24th. I always groaned when somebody started reading "boring pioneer stories" in sacrament meeting, but this past weekend in Nauvoo completely changed my view on that. Pioneers were the bomb and there is so much that can be gained by learning about their challenges and the faith that got them through it all.

After the pageant we all headed back to the hotel, but I had a hankering for something sweet so Brock and I walked downtown to get some frozen custard :) We waited and waited in line, I ordered my custard, and then saw a teeny tiny sign on the cash register that said "NO CARDS." And we had no cash on us! Maybe they should think about making that sign, oh, I dunno, a little BIGGER and placing it somewhere where people can actually see it before ordering their food! Just a thought. Anyway, the lady there was really nice and was like "Oh, you don't have any cash? Are you going to sacrament meeting tomorrow at 8am? Just pay me then!"

Only in Nauvoo :)

As we shared our custard, Brock and I walked down to the Nauvoo temple, which was all lit up and pretty. I love temples. It's impossible to not feel the Spirit when you're one temple grounds, and the Nauvoo temple seems even more special because there is such a history to the area. I remember going to Nauvoo when I was little--really little, like probably 8 years old--and the only thing I remember is being freaked out that all these mayflies got into the house we were staying at (mayflies are scary and nasty!!!). But going there now, being all ma-toor and what not, I was sincerely struck by the special Spirit that is there. It doesn't feel like anywhere else I've ever been. It's more still. More peaceful. More in tune with holier things. That's probably how the Earth will feel when it receives its paradisical glory. I can't wait.

Greenpeace

I think I last left off with Greenpeace having ended my first day of training (last Monday). On Tuesday, we hit the streets and canvassed (canvass: verb To stand on a sidewalk and ask people to give a darn about the environment, and then get repeatedly rejected/insulted/scorned/assaulted/etc).

The deal with Greenpeace is that, in order to make staff, you have to get three sign-ups in three days. Which really isn't too hard, but it does put the pressure on you! On Tuesday my canvassing location was on the Magnificent Mile...the busiest and "richest" street in Chicago. It's lined with every high-end retail store you could think of and teems with fat tourists, boob-jobbed gold-diggers, and rich old women who look like Cruella de Ville. Because the Mag Mile is so crowded and INSANE, it's really hard to get a "stop" (aka having someone actually talk to you). Everybody in Chicago thinks they are the busiest, most important person in the world, and nowhere is that more true than on Mag Mile.

I did, however, run into some beginner's luck and got a sign-up within the first hour of working! It was this sweet older woman (probably late 50s, early 60s) who was from this really environmentally-conscious town in Maryland. She was super gung-ho on being eco-friendly and as soon as I pitched her Greenpeace's Kleenex campaign, she was in.

FYI, here is Greenpeace's Kleenex campaign (you should be aware of this!): Kimberly-Clark, the makers of Kleenex (who also make Scott, Viva, Cottonelle, Huggies, Depends), don't use ANY recycled material in their products. Despite being horrible for the environment, what makes this sadder is that these are one-time use paper products...tissues, toilet paper, paper towels, diapers. Every time you go through a box of tissues, you've just blown through 90 years worth of tree growth in these ancient forests. And not just any ancient forests, mind you, but North American boreal forests. Located mainly in Canada, the boreal forests supplies North America with 30% of its oxygen. It's home to five indigenous tribes and 50% of America's songbirds. 80% of our world's ancient forests are GONE, and Kimberly-Clark is clear-cutting the boreal (one of the remaining 20%) at the rate of a football field per MINUTE. Yes, per minute! KC tries to soften this by saying that they "only" clear-cut for 15% of their products, but when you think about how HUGE KC is, 15% = a freaking ton of trees!!!

The solution is simple: all we are asking is that KC uses at least 60% post-consumer recycled material in their products, and if they must use trees for the other 40%, use tree farms where the trees are actually regrown...not ancient, virgin North American forests!

Click on the following link to find out more about this campaign, learn which tissue products are more eco-friendly, and learn what else you can do to help out with this issue!

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/forests/kleercut

Anyway, that was my pitch! I felt good getting one sign-up, but really wanted to get second one that day to kind of buoy myself in case I had a rotten day without one. The hours went by. It was hot, and after seven hours of standing, my feet were getting really tired. It was 5:45. I just knew somebody was out there who cared! I knew it! With only 15 minutes left of my shift, I went full throttle and upped my energy level. All of a sudden, a middle-aged man literally jumped right in front of me:

"Hi! Whatcha doin?" He had a beaming smile and twinkly eyes.

"Um, I'm with Greenpeace! Have you heard of us?"

He laughed. "Uh, yeah. But what are you working on today?"

I proceeded to give my my KC pitch and, once again, this was a guy who needed no convincing. He was just like "Great! How do I sign up?" and signed up to give a $50 monthly donation! Yeah! The guy was slick. He was a producer from LA who was in town shooting a commercial, and he was just the nicest guy. Greenpeace is all about finding those people. Not rich people (although that helps! hehe). But people who care and are just looking for a way to help. They're out there! My first day of canvassing was a testament to that.

My second day of canvassing can be summed up like this: Instead of being on Mag Mile, I was in the north part of town (Lincoln Square...Clark and Diversey). No foot traffic, rain, gloom, Cubs lost, people angry, slow, only two sign-ups the ENTIRE day between my team of four people. Mine was not one of them. The end.

Third day: only one sign-up to go! I was on Mag Mile again. I got my sign-up pretty early in the day...I saw a young couple walking towards me (the girl had dred locks and they were both wearing Birkenstocks...YES!). Of course, this couple signed up no questions asked. They were awesome. The rest of the day didn't go as well, I didn't have any other sign ups. It was a weird day. I was on a "team" with a guy who is a CRAZY good canvasser (5-8 sign-ups a day!) and he only got one sign-up, too. So I know it wasn't just me.

So.....I made staff!! Yay!! I was proud of myself for doing it. Canvassing is something I never thought I could do. And although it's way harder than it looks (seriously!), it's something I feel I could get really good at with practice. Anyway, Friday was my first day of canvassing being an official staff member. Once again, this day did not go so hot. Between my team of three people, we only had three sign ups. It was kind of rainy (not as bad as Wednesday) and people were such jerks! Greenpeace had just come off its Mt. Rushmore stunt so we were getting some flack for that, which is understandable, but aside from that passers-by were being just plain rude and mean. I couldn't believe it. It got so bad to the point were, with 10 minutes left in my shift, I just sat down and cried. I cried because I was sick of being treated so poorly all day, but mostly because it just broke my hear that people didn't care. All day I had watched people rush past me with their Gucci shopping bags in their Christian Louboutin heels, saying things like "I don't care", "I don't have time", "I'm too busy." Too busy what? Spending money to feel the empty hole in your life? Too busy to smile at me? Or to at least have the courtesy to say "No, thanks" instead of "F--- trees?" It was just sad. I felt like I was standing inside a glass bubble, looking out on our consumer society, screaming and banging from inside the glass calling on people to care about the world they call home, or to at least take a minute to listen to an issue.

Now that I think of it, that must be how Heavenly Father feels sometimes. He's just up there in heaven, watching as we go about our busy lives, hoping that we take time to realize what's important. Obviously, He can't make us do or believe anything. So He just has to sit there and watch as we make our own choices, for better or worse. When we make good choices that would lead us back to Him, it's probably feels like getting a Greenpeace sign-up. Except like, a billion times better. But when His sons and daughters are caught up in pride, or are more concerned with wordly things rather than what's important, He must feel a lot like I did on Friday afternoon as I sat on the sidewalk at Grand and Wabash, head in my hands, crying because people couldn't even realize something good when it was literally standing right in front of them.

Anyway, my dear team leader for the day, Cielle, saw me having a hard time and offered some words of encouragement. With 10 minutes left to go, she helped me literally pick myself up off the street and....I got a sign-up :) You just can't give up hope! Even when you think all is lost, there's always hope! But it won't come to you if you don't have faith, if you don't try! What a great lesson for me to learn that day.

Thus ends my Greenpeace experience. No, really. I'm going to quit tomorrow. After all these great experiences, you may be asking why. What is boils down to is that I work 11-6, and Brock works 5:30-11. Despite the successes of this past week, it's really sucked not seeing my husband! We didn't come all this way, paying all this money, to not see each other in Chicago and not have time to do anything together. As much as I would like to keep working at Greenpeace, family comes first.

I have truly loved this past week, though. I've gotten to be friends with people who I never--not in a million years--would have ever befriended otherwise.

A Clintonian liberal/whale lover/comic-book obsessed/6-ft tall/curly, short-haired/chain-smoker? That's Sarah. She has a huge tattoo of Elizabeth Taylor on her back, the Lorax on her left shoulder, and Magneto (comic book character) on her right. And she's my friend.

A pro-Obama, MoveOn.org activist who works 14-hour days in the name of saving the environment, and then rewards himself with copious amounts of alcohol on the weekends? That's Keeton. On Wednesday, a girl on crutches was hobbling past him, and he said "Hey, did you break you leg....kicking...global warming's ass?!" I laughed until my stomach hurt. And he's my friend.

A Portland-native who can't spell worth a lick ("orginization?"), uses the F-word like it's nobody's business and refers to everybody--male and female--as "buddy?" That's Tom. He drinks about seven cups of coffee per day and has a hearty, booming laugh. He laughs at lot at his own jokes, but somehow manages to make this not annoying. And he's my friend.

A girl who doesn't shave her armpits? Friend. Gay guy with a cyclops rabbit tattoo on his forearm? Friend. I've inhaled enough second-hand smoke to last a lifetime, and have seen more than my fair share of fearsome-looking body piercings. Obviously--coming from BYU---it's been like stepping on a different planet. But I'm so grateful for the experience I've had this week because these people opened my eyes to something I'd never been conscious of before: the environment. Not only that, but I've come to this awareness having been surrounded by some of the most passionate, dedicated people I've ever met. Each one of them rests their head easy on their pillow at night knowing they did something good for the world that day.

It's something I could get used to.