Spring Break in Chicago!

Spring Break has come and gone for the last time in my college career. That's a sobering thought. But what I did for spring break is anything but sobering! Each year as spring break comes around, my friends and I have tried to get trips together but it never seems to work out. Someone always has a doctor's appointment or plans with other people, so usually I just go home or to my grandparents. Well this year was different! My friend Kim and I had talked about going somewhere in early February. She has family all over the States, so we figured we could just go crash with them and enjoy a roadtrip. We sort of left plans at that and due to stressful school didn't plan anything for a while. As spring break drew nearer, we realized that we should probably plan something, and Kim realized that depending on where she was going to grad (or possibly med) school, she might need to visit there. After a    l   o   n   g   decision process, she decided on grad school at Wheaton College in Illinois.  So for spring break, we were headed to Chicago!

Our other former roommate, Leasha, couldn't make it up to Arkansas until Sunday so we had a few days to relax around Arkadelphia. It was wonderful! It felt like the summer I stayed in town all over again. Nate and Sean were around, we went to the lake and watched movies. It was lovely! That Friday, we saw our friend (Last semester's suitemate), Alyssa, married off, and I made her wedding cake (A lemon cake with raspberry filling and lemon icing. So tasty!) It turned out wonderfully!

After our relaxing, celebratory weekend, Leasha, Kim and I loaded up too early and hit the road.
We stayed in the town of Wheaton and went into Chicago all day Wednesday. Our main goal was to find K/L a place to live, so we looked at many apartments.

We had the opportunity to shop. A lot. Which is very uncharacteristic of us, but we found that we enjoyed it.
Our day in downtown Chicago was a blast! We saw every major attraction except Wrigley Field, and we were ok with that. Here's a few pictures of our trip. They probably explain things better than I can! (:

Chicago from the John Hancock
Building on the 96th floor.

"The Bean" at night. We had a lot of fun here.

More from the 96th floor

Kim and the Wardrobe from the Narnia movie.
Wheaton has a C.S. Lewis museum
that we caught just as it was closing.

C.S. Lewis head with the battle mask from
Narnia 2 in the background.

Wheaton College

C.S. Lewis' desk, where he wrote part of the Narnia books!

J.R.R. Tolkien's desk where Lord of the Rings was written!

A dinner of Thai food!

Picnic in John Q. Adams Park where
John Adams once lived. Neat!

We met this sweet puppy on the train.

Her name was Gracie. She had to get
off right after this because apparently
you're not allowed to have dogs on trains.

Our train ticket into Chicago

We met the Cake Boss!! Buddy was filming part of his
show and we got to take a picture with him.
(and we might be on his show! So, watch out
for the one where's he's in Chicago!)

Navy Pier

Chicago from Navy Pier

One of our favorite moments: Exploring the American
Girl Doll Store!
It was so cool! I'm sure the people around us
thought we were crazies.
Oh well! It was a blast.

It was good to be away from school for a while, but I still learned so much while I was in Chicago. We had the opportunity to spend time with many intelligent people.  It gave me a new appreciation for learning.
I also learned how thankful I am not to be moving to a city where I know no one and searching for a place to live, work, and getting acquainted with new culture.
Hope your spring break was as relaxing and fun as mine! (: