For this I am Thankful

 

 Now that I have posted the obligatory food picture so that people will actually click on my blog post link, here are the things I am thankful for this year.

 

  The Grace of God and Salvation through Christ, because without Him everything else on this list would be pointless.

 



  That I am not a teenager. Hormones stink.

  For turkey.

  And leftovers.

  And siblings who smile at me until I share my leftovers with them.

  For my whole family. Kudos to this group of people for putting up with me for decades.

  That I got to go to Chicago and spend time with some amazing friends.

  That I got to volunteer at ALERT and work with a wonderful group of girls.

  That Christmas is almost here.

  For the color plaid.

  For Big Bend National Park.

  That I realized my addiction to caffeine and I now know how to compensate for it (which is basically to drink a ton of coffee).

  That for this year I have been given the good sense and the will to journal more.

  That Star Wars: The Force Awakens is coming out in less then a month.

  For Jon Foreman's incredible new EP set.

  That Andrew Peterson released a new album this year.

  And with that being said, I will leave you with this song.

What I did this Week: Home again, home again, jiggity-jig

  Sunday I was still in Chicago, and the Allen girls and I took a walk alongside of lake Michigan.

 

  Monday night, cookies were baked.

 

  Tuesday, I came home.

 

  Wednesday I re-attacked my Latin grammar after a week-long break.

 

  Thursday morning I made blueberry pancakes.



 

. 

Friday night, we popped firecrackers and my brothers amazed me with how quickly they could burn through 144 sparklers.

 

  And today, for the Forth of July, we ate hot-dogs, hamburgers and root-beer floats. Because what better way to celebrate America's independence than eating inherently American foods.









What I did this Week: Chicago

 I am sure has been very obvious that I am in Chicago right now, so here's the week I've spent thus far.

  Monday, I was still in Texas and I was packing.

 

  Tuesday, I flew out to Chicago to visit our dear friends the Allens. After I got there in the afternoon, we walked out to Lake Michigan.



  Wednesday, Rachel and I went into Evanston and I rode the train for the first time.

 

  Thursday, we went to downtown Chicago

 

  Friday, we made the most Texan meal I could think of: chili

 

 





  Then today, we took a dip in a very cold Lake Michigan. It is funny that a body of water which looks so inviting can be so cold.

 

And that was my week.

Downtown Chicago

 Today, Rachel's and my adventures took us to downtown Chicago.


Here's Moody Bible College

And here's a Chicago style hot dog, which I highly recommend if your in Chicago.

This is the Old Water Tower, which is the only building to survive the Great Chicago Fire.

Because I am just a big kid, we went to the Lego store.

Here's Rachel in Lush.

Here's the Hershey's store.



And Dylan's candy bar.

Here's Cloud Gate, also known as The Bean

Adventures in Evanston

    Today I got to explore one of the suburbs of Chicago. I do have to say, Chicago is a very pretty place thus far.

Comics for my brothers

The whole reason I went to Chicago. Just kidding.

My partner in crime

There was an uncomfortable number of these