Friends, Food and Fun

A few weekends ago we packed up and headed to Chicago. I needed to finish getting some Continuing Education credits, so we decided to do it in Chicago and to make a mini-vacation out of it.

The plan was for Wally to stay with our dear friends, the Giddenses, but somehow he hurt his back at the last minute and wouldn't move because of the pain, so the vet thought it would be best if he came with us. Praise the Lord that the hotel we had already booked and payed for accepted pets! (By the way, Wally seems to be fine now.)

Our first night in Chicago we ate at Gino's East with some sweet friends, the Hutchesons and the Anizors. Both of these couples were in our current Sunday school class before God led them to Chicago. It was so great to catch up with everyone. It's hard not to see the Hutchesons and the Anizors on a regular basis, but God is doing great things in their lives. After our deep-dish Chicago pizza, we headed over to Ghirardelli for some hot chocolate. It was freezing out, so that really hit the spot! Our time with our friends was brief, but it just gives us one more reason to go back!

The rest of our time in Chicago was great too. We spent most of the time walking along the Magnificent Mile, which is this part of town that stretches for a mile and is lined with big stores. It was so beautiful! There were a lot of people out doing their Christmas shopping, the trees were draped with bright white lights, the snow was coming down and best of all, I was experiencing all of it with my best friend. We also ate at Giordano's, which we think we've both decided is our favorite of the Chicago pizza places we've tried so far.

I spent our last morning in Chicago getting my CE credits while Ryan studied, packed and loaded the car. Before we left Chicago, we stopped at Chipotle. Still no clue why Chipotle hasn't made it to Louisville yet, but we're still hoping it will soon.

We had a great time in Chicago. We've already been twice this year, but we can't wait to go back!