Advent and then Busy, Busy

Hannah and I are preparing for a very busy Christmas. We will leave Chicago on Thursday and drive through the night to get to North Carolina on the 22nd. After hanging around NC and seeing folks Hannah will be flying with her family to Montana to see her sister and our new nephew in Missoula. Finally, we'll be back in Chicago on the 30th.

In the mean time Hannah and I went to see Wicked for Hannah's Christmas present. Wicked is a musical that tells the other side of the Wizard of Oz. It was a great time and we now have all the songs stuck in our heads. I've got some pictures here of the outside of the theater.

We also have been baking Christmas cookies, and on Sunday we built our gingerbread house. Tonight we went down to Greek Town with some friends and had some great Greek food. We are excited to be headed home for a little while and we look forward to seeing as many of you as we can.

Pictures from Zoo Lights

Not exactly Cut Bank.

That's a Semester

I finished up my work for the semester on Sunday. The semester seemed to fly by. I feel like I have learned so much since I have been here. Now that I have finished up for the semester Hannah and I are hoping to get out more and see some stuff. To start it off on Sunday evening we took a trip up to the north side. We went by Wrigley, found a good vegetarian restaurant, and then went to Zoo Lights. Zoo Lights is put on by the Lincoln Park Zoo. They put Christmas lights up all over the zoo and you can walk through for free. Here are some pictures from yesterday.
Peace,
Zach

Hannah @ the Zoo Lights ______________________

Snow

We got our first real snow today. I suppose it's a good way to welcome Decemer. Last night we went to see a recording of the NPR news quiz, "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me", for Zach's birthday. We sat on the third row and had a marvelous time. The panelists were Mo Rocca, Amy Dickinson, and Charlie Pierce, with a celebrity phone call from Amy Sedaris. They were all hilarious! It was sleeting as we made our way home, but we woke up this morning to 'thunder snow'; there was actually thunder and some lightning as it was snowing...bizarre. No snow day for me, however. I had to fight my way through the snow, wind, and sludge downtown to come to IIT. Thank goodness it's Friday! We'll try to get a few pictures to post before the snow goes away.

-Hannah

What we've been doing in Chicago: Hannah Edition

Ok, the long-awaited "Hannah Edition" is finally here!

I'm going to tell y'all about what I have been up to, but first I have to let everyone know how excited I am that I'm an aunt! Zach and I have a new nephew, Simon James Beery. He was born on November 22, 2006. Follow the Easy Street Beerys link on the side to see pictures! Zach, Mr. Wilson, and I also just returned from a wonderfully exhausting trip to North Carolina and Clemson for Thanksgiving and the Clemson-USC football game. The game didn't go so well, but we loved seeing everyone!

So what do I do in Chicago?
Officially, I am the Bindery Library Specialist for the Illinois Institute of Technology Downtown Campus Chicago-Kent College of Law Library...what a mouthful.

Basically I am in charge of all the binding for our library. My department does all of the behind-the-scenes work that goes on in an academic library. The entire Downtown Campus is a ten-story building in the West Loop. It consists of a law school and business graduate school. Since it's very specialized, we have a small staff in our library, which is nice. I really like everyone that I work with.

The only problem I have with my job is the commute. Downtown is only about 7 miles from Hyde Park, but it takes me an hour to get there. I have to take a bus and a train and walk several blocks to get to and from work everyday. It hasn't been too terrible yet, but I know the snow and cold are fast approaching. Oh, and some people say Chicago's called "the windy city" for the politicians, but I've experienced firsthand the wind whipping through the streets downtown...the buildings somehow create a wind tunnel-type effect...and it's cold!

I'm also happy to announce that I am in the process of applying to grad schools. I'm planning on starting a program in the fall to earn my masters of library and information science. I will go to school part-time and continue to work full-time. The law library is nice, but I would love to work in youth services at a public library someday, or perhaps as a reference librarian, and I'm really excited to get started!

For those of you who know him, Mr. Wilson has adjusted very well to the city...he spends most of his time lounging around the apartment and letting us know when the garbage trucks are in the alley. The neighbors all love him, and even express concern if he doesn't bark when they come in the front door of our building. One of our very favorite things to do is take long walks around Hyde Park or to the lake...it makes our whole little family very happy!

We are staying very busy, but with Christmas break coming up, look for more updates soon!

What We've Been Doing in Chicago: Seminary Edition

I thought I'd get you all caught up with everything we've been doing since we have been here in Chicago. This time I'll focus on school stuff.

For those of you who don't know, my school is called The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago. I am in the master of divinity program (MDiv). The program requires three years of classes and one year of internship. We are located in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. You should definitely check out that link to the wikipedia site. It lists famous residents of Hyde Park and some history of the neighborhood.

We are in the same neighborhood as: the University of Chicago, Chicago Theological Seminary (United Church of Christ), Catholic Theological Union, McCormick Theological Seminary (Presbyterian), and the Museum of Science and Industry.

This semester I am taking:

• Pentateuch & Wisdom Literature
• Greek
• Church History I
• Worship

One question that everyone seems to enjoy asking me is "Which class is my favorite?"
Well, so far my favorite class is Pentateuch. So far we have covered the entire Pentateuch from Genesis to Deuteronomy. My professor for this class is Ralph Klein. He has really interesting stories to tell.

Books I have enjoyed reading:
Texts of Terror by Phyllis Tribble
The Art of Public Prayer By Lawrence Hoffman
Also I have a copy of the new ELW pew & leaders desk edition, which is kind of exciting.

Coming Soon:
What We've Been Doing in Chicago: Hannah Edition
What We've Been Doing in Chicago: Social Life Edition

God's Peace,
Zach

Outside of the Apartment

Here are some pictures of the outside of the apartment building.

Pictures of the Apartment

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