Normal visit, cont'd

Yep, I'm a little overdue for this continuation of my last blog. A week and a half ago I made a visit to see some friends for a couple reasons. 1) It was Jill's birthday so I thought I'd surprise her. And 2) It was the last Monday night (supposedly!) that Molly would perform at NV Lounge before going to CO for LT this summer, so I thought I'd go see her do that.

So I guess I didn't surprise Jill because she knew I was coming, but I did trick her with when I was coming. She had to close at Starbucks on her birthday (Sunday) and then open the next morning. Lame. I told her I would get there on Monday then and take her out to eat for dinner. I ended up on the road later than planned (as usual), but eventually made it to Starbucks with Molly to surprise Jill.

Monday was a lot of down time. Basically, I was just waiting around to take Jill out to dinner. I ended up making it to both Jill's and Tracy's Starbucks, then went to Panera for awhile. After Jill was off work we went to her place to chill, then Molly met us before going to Ned Kelly's for dinner, which is a decent steakhouse.

After that- more down time until NV Lounge. I eventually ended up back at the guys' house with Molly and met a few more people, including Gina and Katie. We were going over different songs to do that night, and glanced over More Than Words by Extreme. Before you know it, Molly was singing it and I was accompaning her on guitar.

NV Lounge was a good time because there were a lot of cool people there. I finally met Chris Pond, who didn't show up last time I was out there. I also met Katie and Meagan out there. David, Amber, Katie, Nate, and more people made it out that night (sorry I can't remember everyone's names!) Tracy performed (after much pleading ahead of time by me). Chris did some songs. Molly did some songs (including More Than Words). Then they closed at 1. Lame. But it was still a lot of fun.

I ended up sticking around all day on Tuesday, which meant a bunch of time at Panera again! I almost got to hang out with Leslie but she was uberbusy. I picked up Gina and a couple other ISU students for a Cornerstone home group BBQ at the Pastor Mike and Michelle's house, where Molly has been staying the past few months. Good times, but I had to leave early so I could actually get back to Chicago at a decent time.

in Normal

Visiting some friends in Bloomington/Normal now. Killing some time at Panera. Trying to update my blog and start another one for my youth group. Yesterday was a long day. Went to church where I sat in on Chinese class with the kindergarteners, then had bible study with the youth. Hung out a bit with Elisabeth and Stephanie. Then went home really quick to get my things together for coming here.

I met with Molly at Fazoli's where she was having a pretty deep conversation with her friend, Karen. After awhile, we parted ways so Molly and I could surprise Jill with a mini-birthday cake while she was at work. We decided to meet up after she was done closing. So Molly took me to the guys' house where I'd be staying to drop my stuff off. Then we picked up Jill and decided to drive out to the lake and look up at the stars. Molly has a convertible, too, so during the drive, Jill and I were able to gaze up at the stars. I'd never done that before and it was pretty awesome. So was hanging out at the lake because it had been awhile since I went to a more natural place and looked up at the beautiful night sky. I needed to be reminded more often how big God and His creation is and how small I am...

blessings

Molly and Tracy come to visit

I was tired as heck on Monday. Drove back on Monday morning after a late night hanging out with friends in Iowa. But part of the reason for driving back on Monday and NOT after Tuesday night (ahem...Ellen!) was to hang out with Molly and Tracy and see their friend, Leslie, perform in Lincoln Park. We attended a short showcase of around 25 ISU theatre majors. It was quite a show. There are certainly a lot of talented people there.

Like I said, I was tired! So when Molly and Tracy called to say they were in the city, I was asleep. But I got myself up quickly and took the Fullerton bus to the theater. I was able to catch the bus right away which almost never happens when I'm in a hurry. I met them at a thrift store about a block down on Lincoln, and then we ate dinner at a nice bar grill across the street from the theater. Then we saw the ISU students perform, which like I said, was amazing! Just before the show, we happened to find seats in front of Leslie's family so we got to chat with them a bit. Afterwards, I finally got to meet the woman herself. The reason I had visitors on a Monday night.



Leslie got a ride back to ISU with some other friends so I got to hang out with Molly and Tracy a bit longer. We went to an hispanic bar in Logan Square where they have salsa dancing on Monday nights. I had never been in there before so I didn't quite know what to expect, but it was a lot of fun. Some dude from Europe asked Molly to dance a few times. I showed Molly and Tracy all the 2 moves that I know. Matt stopped by for a minute. Not a bad night for missing $2 burgers!

I'm not used to people visiting me in Chicago at all! Lots has been happening this past year. And now, I hopefully get to hang out with Ashley this weekend.