Lately

Things have been very good lately for James and myself as we continue into this new mid-western Wheaton adventure. I have to admit, the honeymoon of our new house and my new job and our new little town is over. And that has created moments of me wondering how in the world I’ve landed myself in Illinois, in exile from friends and family on either coast.

But the weather is fabulous – mid 70’s, mild-to-no-humidity, and the early signs of fall crispness in the air. And these fabulous days are to be treasured in the mid-west (and the east coast). After a summer of heat waves, I’m loving the cooler weather. And I’m also aware that I’m soon in for a freezing winter. All that to be said, I treasure these early fall days. They have made me want to get out and about as much as possible, to explore and enjoy this area before we get stuck inside with shorter days and lower temps.

Two weekends ago James and I stumbled upon a great nearby town called Geneva. I think it will be our new “Lambertville,” in that it similarly has a large river and all sorts of cute little shops and restaurants. And we happened to hit upon it during its annual “Festival of the Vine.” We got there on a Saturday night, and enjoyed the food and street bands and wine samples so much that we went straight back Sunday after church. We sampled briquette and Cuban sandwiches and banana pie and brats and sweet potoato fries. (And I wonder why I haven’t dropped any weight this summer?) In any case, it was all great food! And there are plenty of undiscovered shops and restaurants coffee hang-outs yet to be explored there….i’m gonna save up on those coffee shops for the winter.

This last week was the inaguration of Wheaton’s 7^th president, and thus James and I attended all sorts of events. By far the favorite was the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, who performed an inaguration performance in Edman Chapel. We dressed up and went out to dinner with my co-workers beforehand, and the concert itself was phenomenal. It was a Mexican conductor who danced his way through the performance (literally), and they performed all Mexican songs in honor of Mexico’s bicentennial this past week. James and I promptly downloaded our two favorite songs after the concert: Danzon No. 2 by Arturo Marquez, and Huapango by Jose Pablo Moncayo. Download them! You won’t regret the 99 cents on iTunes – very fun and festive songs.

Also, James was just hired last week by Wheaton College to start a full-time position in the library, so he’ll be starting up this Thursday. We are so excited for this job - God has definitely blessed us here so far! Soon enough James and I will be having lunches together again.

That’s about the short and the long of it. Notre Dame continues to wrench our hearts. I continue to drag James along for random craigslist finds. We’re finally getting back into a decent running routine. I’m saving up for a sewing machine, to fill my winter with novice sewing projects. Life is good.