On the Road Again

Employment: noun the state of being employed.
aww.. it sounds so sweet:) I have finally accepted a nursing position! I will be working for an immediate care clinic. It's located right downtown which should be pretty exciting!

Jason had a hard week of studying so when friday rolled around we decided to hit the road and see what is on the outside of this insanely large city.

It was a beautiful day so I had to snap a few pictures as we passed the Sears Tower and headed out towards the suburbs.

One of my favorite parts of the city. Interstate 290 originates under this building, it's like a huge gate into downtown. It used to be the post office but is now mostly vacant.

3 Hours later we found Madison, Wisconsin! Jason had Cave of the Mounds on his list of places to see so we headed out the next morning. They took us on a guided tour through the cave.

This barn is from the original homesteaders who farmed the land before the caves were discovered.

Enjoying the sunshine!

My goofy husband prepared to scare all the bats out of the cave!

I put this one in black and white so you could see detail a little better. I'm not much of a photographer so it is a little blurry.

This was another cave stemming off the one we walked through.

And although we were reluctant, we returned Saturday night to the land of 10.5% sales tax.

Spiders..

Yes, I know I have been gushing about spring. However, I just encountered one of the few things I do not like about warm weather. Spiders!! I have been warned that "large" spiders like to inhabit our building in the summer and just came across the first one of the season. eww. So, after repeated beatings with a shoe and a chair leg crunching I'm sitting here shivering with the heeby jeebies as I stare across the room at it, to make sure it really is dead. I do apologize to those who like to keep spiders alive, but spiders and I do not make good roommates. yuck!

Is it Spring yet?

We had another gorgeous day on Friday, so we got our rollerblades out and headed for the lakefront trail. I think I have mentioned the trail before, but it stretches about 20 miles along lake Michigan. It's very well kept and made for some good rollerblading. We were enjoying the sun and exercise so much that we didn't realize how far we had gone. We followed the lake to downtown and headed out Navy Pier. By the time we got home we had gone over 8 miles. Jeff and Cassie came with us, and we took a few pictures along the way.

One of the marinas between our house and museum campus.

These pictures were taken right in front of the Shedd Aquarium.

Weekend Adventures

Jason had a weekend free of studying so we decided to get out of the city and explore some of the surrounding area. We had originally planned on hiking in Starved Rock State Park, but the snow changed that for us. Instead we headed down to Indiana to see what it had to offer. Our first stop was in Gary, and I think it is safe to say that was the last time we will ever go there! If you're interested in seeing what we saw, you can click here.

An interesting drug store we drove past in Gary selling human hair!!
We had brought our barbecue and packed a cooler for lunch, but didn't have the guts to stop in Gary, so we drove on to Valparaiso. It was an adorable town and we found plenty of "safe" parks.
It was by far the coldest picnic I've ever had, but the sun was shining and that made it perfect!
Coffee helped as well!
Jason did an awesome job on our bugers.
Of course no picnic is complete without a nap in the sun.

Paradise

Another beautiful day here in Paradise! Temperatures hit 45!! It was one of those days that brightens your mood and tricks you into thinking spring is coming. I'm trying not to be fooled as they are calling for snow this weekend. Jason has fridays off this quarter so we are hoping to get out of the city and get a little hiking done. We are having a hard time deciding where to go since for once we have so many options! 

Congratulations are in order for Jason and Sarah Sanderson as they welcomed a new addition to their family on the 3rd! His name is Wade Nathanael and you can see pictures if you click here!

Finally!

My temporary Illinois nursing license came in the mail yesterday!! I am so excited! 

Kathy got discharged yesterday, and is home with us now. Hopefully we can keep her comfortable until she is ready to make the long trip back to Washington. She's doing incredibly well! 

I said I would post a few more pictures from the past week, so here they are...

Jason and I with our crowns on at Medieval Times

We spent some time downtown walking around. This is the inside of one of the Macy's. The top 2 floors are offices but the rest is all shopping!
Dave and Kathy enjoying Pot Belly's sandwiches. I made the mistake of okaying hot peppers. They were hot!!

On Sunday we went out to coffee with Dana & Tyler who recently got engaged!

Yesterday marked 5 months of marriage for us!!

Hospitality and Hospitals

Hospital room couches have become all too familiar to us in 2008, as this is the second stay in 2 months. This hospital does have internet available to patient's families so my blog is truly coming straight from the source of action. Jason had his appendix removed the first week of the new year, and now his mother has joined him in the ranks if the appendixless.  It does not seem that Barnes and appendixes get along very well and I am slightly concerned about the last name I have adopted:) Kathy's did rupture so the surgery was much more intense. She is doing well now, thanks to Morphine, and we're hoping for a speedy recovery. The doctors are saying 5 days in the hospital so with 1 down that only leaves 4! She has been a tremendously good sport! 

Dave and Kathy have been visiting us for 1 week, and before the rush to the ER we were having a great time. I don't have pictures from all our adventures on the computer yet. However, I do have a few. 

Jason and Dave were able to visit metal machine companies and other businesses that Barnes Welding buys from.

The workers came for dinner one night. We had a lot of fun visiting with them. 

I have never been to a Medieval Times show, so we went for lunch on Friday. Inside the castle there is a huge arena where they do a show with knights, horses and the whole works. They also feed you an awesome meal, but don't give you any silverware so you eat everything with your hands. Messy but fun!