A Little Winter Solace

There's not much good to speak of in terms of winter weather in Chicago. But as I sit studying at my desk tonight, about 11pm, all is quiet out on State Street outside our apartment as the first flakes of a coming winter deluge begin to fall. And it's quite peaceful and pretty.

What Chicago Is.. and Isn't

Chicago is:
1. Ridiculously cold and snowy.
2. Grey for too many days in a row to count.
3. Obsessed with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and it's problems, there's even a newspaper that has a daily CTA
column. Hmm.
4. Full of good restaurants.
5. Racially diverse and yet quite segregated.
6. Fun to walk around.
7. Really puddle-y after a snow because obsessive amounts of salt are used to melt snow really fast.
8. Always full of traffic.
9. Really into sports, food, and beer.
10. My current home!

Chicago is not:
1. That bad of a place to live.
2. My favorite place I have ever lived.
2. As cold as I thought it would be, really!
4. That hard to get around.
5. Denver.
6. Sunny.
7. Very fit.
8. A boring place to be.
9. Culturally lacking.
10. Without a large body of water.

That's how I amuse myself on a cold, snowy night. The winter is kind of dragging here, but it isn't as bad as it could be. I love to compare Denver and here, because they are so different in so many ways. I think it is kind of cool how you could move to any region of the country and get a totally different vibe and culture. Josh is doing well on his interviewing/recruiting process and I am sure we will know in the next 2-3 weeks where he will be spending his summer. And probably where we will move/go after school is done, because the business school internships usually turn into a full-time job opportunity. Hope you are all well! Heidi

Random Updates

I realized that because I am not very good at keeping a diary, that that lack of a desire to put daily life on paper oten transfers to a lack of wanting to/ taking the time to blog. But, seriously, we have been busy, and that is a lot of it! For me, alot of time has gone into five solid months of studying for my Nurse Practitioner boards that I just passed on Friday 2/1! Here are the other updates...

-My brother Matt's cancer diagnosis is Hodgkin's lymphoma. We are relieved to know what it is finally and to have treatment underway. He will get 6 months of chemo and then 2 months of radiation. The prognosis is very good, and thanks for keeping him in your prayers.
-I got to visit him and my family in Denver two weeks ago. It was good to be able to see them all as well as support Matt. I was able to go to Pinecrest for a Sunday which was great, especially when Ray bowed in front of me in the foyer when I walked in and said, "I am not worthy." That story made Josh laugh a lot when I told him.
- Josh is doing well on his internship interviewing. He already has a full time paid summer internship offer in NYC, with some other offers likely coming.
-I turned 30 on January 27. I have decided not to be a woman who hides her age. I am proud of it actually...
Josh surprised me with a brunch with a bunch of Chicago friends and family at Cafe Lux downtown. (That's what the picture of all the people is...)
-My youngest brother Mark surprised me, by flying in from Denver for my birthday. That was fun and we all took in a great Italian dinner together. (There's a pic of me and him, as well as a picture of me with the Tiramisu at the Italian restaurant).

That's about it for now! Hope you are all doing well. It was good to see many of you when I was Denver, even if it was brief!

Heidi

Live Strong

So, we got the news this week that my brother Matt has cancer. He's the last person you'd think of that would have it. He won first place in the state wrestling competition at 189 pounds his senior year of high school. He went to a big 10 school, wrestled there and did well academically. He's an investment banker, a skiier, has about 2% body fat, and eats well. The past few months he lost his appetite, had excessive itching, and "knew" something was wrong. They finally figured it out when they saw his chest x-ray... It's probably lymphoma, but we won't know until his biopsy next Monday.

So, "why?" is the question that comes to mind. Really, no one knows. Life isn't promised to be easy or without struggle, we are just promised to have the grace and strength to deal whatever happens through dependence on the Lord. My prayer for Matt is of course, full recovery ...and additionally, that he has a new and clear perspective about life that guides him with clarity that none of us who don't go through what he does will have. Join us in prayer for Matt. Josh and I sent the above picture to him last night with our "Live Strong" bracelets that we bought to wear in honor of him. Why are we smiling? Because If anyone can fight this, it's Matt, and we'll be behind him 100%.

I don't know if blogs are supposed to be this "heavy," but really, life isn't always perfect. This is what is important in our lives right now, so please keep him in your prayers. I will be joining my family in Denver next weekend to show support and see what's going on from a medical perspective. We'll keep you updated.

Heidi

We spent the five days around Christmas with our family in Michigan-- We had a great time together. Lots of games, extended family moments, walks, and snow. Then the family came to Chicago for a couple of days the weekend after Christmas-- We went to the Museum of Science and Industry, which was fun and crowded. Our favorite parts of the musueum were the giant model train display... and I liked the baby chick hatchery! The down side of the weekend was when the City of Chicago towed Joe and Beth's car due to a sign they didn't see and in the process damaged the car. Moral of the story: don't park your car overnight in Chicago. Happy New Year everybody!

Re-emerging...

It's been nice being off from school for the past couple of weeks. The first quarter was very intense. It was one of those times when it takes all your time and energy just to keep up with the daily agenda. So it's easy in that kind of environment to lose focus and forget about everything else. This is especially true in business school, where the environment is very competitive and it's all about getting a job, making the grade and building your network. It can be pretty high pressure. And, if you aren't very grounded in who you are and very committed to staying true to that, your identity will be redefined for you, very quickly. It's been great over the past few weeks to get back into the spiritual disciplines and re-acquaint myself with the message in the Bible about who God is, who I am, what this life means, what the next is all about, and what truly matters. In a time and place when everybody's worried about the future - what career they'll have, if they'll be successful, how they will come to have meaning in their lives - I've been very comforted by God's promises for this life and the next. They are all that can provide true meaning. All the other stuff is meaningless in comparison.

Holiday Baking!

The pictures say it all. My neighborhood friends and I had a holiday baking party hosted by me at our house this week while Josh was in Boston and New York. We made lots of treats and had a lot of fun! Missed you though, Mandy, as this was our little tradition every year.... Heidi