All of our Favorite Things

Can you guess from the picture that we are foodies?  Can you guess where we are?

Yes, we're in Chicago!  The Windy City.

  It happens to be my favorite stop on our Great Tour of the Midwest.  I used to live there... when I was a little tyke...
Maybe that's why I thinks it's so great.  In keeping with our no-chain-restaurants theme, we decided to visit a few that we had seen highlighted on the Food Network channel.  Ginos East was delish.  Their pizza is very different.  Crust, cheese, then sauce.  We actually liked the kids' thin crust pizza the best.  Try it if you are ever there!

When I was growing up, the most famous and tallest building in Chicago was the Sears Tower.  It's still the tallest, but now it is called the Willis Tower.  We visited the 103rd floor with all the other tourists.
The views are fantastic:

Lake Michigan is gorgeous.

Willis Tower now has a section of the 103rd floor cantilevered out over the street with nothing but glass beneath.  Yikes.  I'm not usually scared of heights, but it kinda skeered me.  

Notice the death grip we have on each other. :)

While in downtown we also visited the American Girl Doll store.  Even though my girls have pretty much outgrown the dolls (sniff, sniff), it was still a fun stop for them to enjoy.  Another highlight for them was seeing a mall that goes up, not out.

The rest of our time in the Chicago area was spent in the suburbs.  Legoland Chicago was a huge highlight for our son the boys.

Life size animals and characters made out of Legos.  Crazy.

We also made a few stops for the grown-ups:

Weber Grill Restaurant (Schaumburg is the home of the original Weber grill)
Cabelas for my outdoorsman.
IKEA for mom.
We also visited the 3rd largest mall in America.  I know it would be amazing to some, but to me, if you've seen one mall, you've seen them all.

We finished off Chicago here.  I know it is sort of a chain, but we don't have one in NC, so it still counted.   The kids LOVED it.  I thought the food was okay, but not great.  

Do you have any favorites from the Windy City?

The Portal of Doomsday?

The next stop on our Great Tour of the Midwest was St. Louis.  God gave us the most perfect weather that day.  Seemed much too pretty for the predicted Doomsday.  :)

Since it was the end of the world day, security was beefed up.  The line for the ride to the top was, we were told, a two hour wait.  And by golly, we came this far, we were going up in that thing!
My adorable small town man didn't think twice about sticking his pocket knife in his pocket that morning, but as we approached the security checkpoint, he got a funny look on his face.  No weapons are allowed on the arch.  We stepped out of line to ask a park ranger about the pocket knives.  She was so kind.  Maybe she was just happy to see a good ol' American family.
The kids and I went ahead through the security line as he hightailed back to the car.  Kind-park-ranger-lady then escorted my husband to the front of the line.  Our wait ended up only being about 10 minutes once we made it through security.

I had seen pictures of the Arch many times before, but I had no idea of the magnitude.  See those tiny windows at the top?  They were each about 3 feet long.  Here's the view from the top looking down on the Mississippi River:

See the little tiny people?  Yikes!  Underneath all that grass is an underground museum.  Or a good place to observe the human race. :)
If you ever get the chance, GO VISIT the St. Louis Gateway Arch!

It makes for some really great memories!

Food and Music...

What More Could We Ask For?

Spoiler Alert: We just got back from a 2500 mile road trip of the midwest.  The next few days I'm going to bore inspire you with photos and such.  If you came here for deep spiritual inspiration or decorating ideas, come back next week.  Otherwise, grab a icy mocha and get comfy!

When we decided to make a stop in Nashville, Tennessee I asked around for suggestions of good eats.  

Several friends suggested the Pancake Pantry.  I'm so thankful for knowledgeable friends!

You know you can't go wrong with something called "Chocolate Sin."  Crepes, ganache, raspberries and whipped cream.  Yes, it was sinfully delicious.  Nothing like starting the vacation out right!

Even though Nashville has a wild nightlife, it was super family friendly during the day.  We started the day with a visit to the Visitor's Center because we're nerdy like that.  Sometimes nerdy-ness pays off.  They had this retro stage ready for photos.  The guy even encouraged the kids to pick up the guitars and act like stars.

Doncha just love that microphone?

Since my kids aren't huge country music fans, we decided to pocket the $75 and not take the Country Music Hall of Fame tour.  I know some of you are shaking your head in shame... :)
But we thought the sidewalk of stars was pretty neat and the FREE Dairy Queen Dilly Bars they were passing out put stars in the kid's eyes.

We (and I mean mostly my husband, but I liked the idea) decided that we would not eat in any national chain restaurants.  The kids were on board with the idea, so it made it kind of fun.  A couple of friends had recommended Jack's BBQ.  Come to Momma.  It was finger lickin' good.

I highly recommend it for a taste of real Tennessee bar-b-que.

We enjoyed seeing the home of the Tennessee Titans (football) and cooling off with Sunkist.  Why do drinks taste better in a glass bottle?  I'm not a soda drinker, but my family swears by it.  Thoughts?

I also recommend the Tennessee State (state of, not college team)Museum in downtown Nashville.  Besides being a great place to cool off in the heat of the day, it has a great collection of historical stuff that kids like.  Nothing like driving to another state for an end-of-year field trip!

Little man spent his own money on the straw cowboy hat.  I could eat him up!!!

Have you ever seen the Opryland Hotel?  I had no idea how amazing it truly is.  If you go to Nashville, you need to go see the hotel.  It is beautiful.  We should have spent the extra $75 and stayed there.  Wowsa!

One last little funny:

As we were leaving downtown Nashville headed out toward our hotel, our car started making a terrible noise.  Then we noticed it only made the noise when we drove past a wooded area.  I rolled down my window and realized it was the cicadas in the trees... not our car!   I've never been so glad to hear those annoying little bugs!  

Tornados, Fires, and BBQ

I had to be a little sneaky last week, lest the prowlers-of-traveling-blogger-houses were to come along.

We've been on a road trip of epic proportions... err, maybe that would better describe the amount of BBQ we've consumed.  Anyhoo, we are back in good ole NC and I can't wait to bore you show you the pictures of our travels and share some tidbits we learned along the way.  Don't worry, I won't take the time to tell you the history of the midwest, even though we learned some.

Like any good planner (bwahaha) we decided to tour the midwest smack dab in the middle of tornado season.  The whirling devils followed us all along the way, but we were protected.  I only called out "Auntie Emm, Auntie Emm" once.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Monday night my husband just happened to look out the window before heading to bed and noticed our side woods were on fire.
F-I-R-E!  All around our bunny's cage!
Because of his quick thinking we were able to put out the fire and rescue Luna without having to call the FD.  When all was said and done, we decided to give her some fresh water.  That's when we realized just how hot her cage had been.  Her water bottle was almost too hot to touch.  Poor little thang!

We're not sure how it started.  We grilled out, so possibly a stray ember that took its time smoldering.  We're so grateful the kids slept through the whole ordeal.


Today I am giving thanks for:
1. Protection from tornados
2. Protection from fire
3. Air conditioning


Happy June!!!

Just A Little Change...

We've spent some time talking words this week.
I hope you've been encouraged and challenged.
This video is a wonderful example of the power of words.  It's less than 2 min.

Critical Words

Words that build up.
That's what we all desire, need.
Words that make souls stronger.

A critical person adds to the wearing of the soul.  
I do enough of that on my own.
When I am surrounded by the criticizing, I have no hope of getting it all right.  That's a hard pill to swallow for a pleaser.
Do you have a critical person in your life?

I've learned (the hard way) that I will never be able to change the criticizer.  I will never be able to do all that is expected, the right way.  It is painful to live life alongside a person doesn't look for the good in others.

Thankfully, the Lord has opened my eyes to the lies I was believing.  I have realized what a gift I have in my husband (who chooses not to criticize me, when he has many opportunities on a daily basis.)
Even greater a gift, is my Heavenly Father who does not seek for the bad in me, yet rejoices in the good.
Sometimes we see God as the one with the giant "NEEDS IMPROVEMENT" stamp in His hand just waiting for us to do something wrong.  In actuality, He sees only good, through His love and mercy.  He does not tolerate evil, but when He sees me, He sees the beauty of my faith in Him.

Oh that I would look for the good in others.  It is not my job to look for the mistakes, the poor choices, the trivial.  I want to be a woman who chooses to seek the good in others and rejoices over them, just as my Heavenly Father does for me.

Choosing Carefully

With two preteen girls in the house, we've had lots of cautionary conversations about the pitfalls of gossip.  We've discussed it in our weekly 6th grade girls' bible study.  We spent part of our summer study looking into the power of words. We frequently talk through the importance of choosing words carefully.
It is a lesson that takes a lifetime to learn.

I live in a bubble of sorts.  I surround myself with caring women and genuine friends.  Nevertheless, I was recently reminded of the destruction gossip can bring.

I stood at a table of used textbooks and chatted with two acquaintances.  Both claim to be Christian women.  Neither had an excuse for what came out of their mouths as I browsed their wares.
They spoke of a mutual friend, not caring that I was standing within earshot.  Grumbling about insensitivity and other annoyances they found in her.
Wreaking havoc.
  
What is it about women and gossip?
It's relational.
It's about power.
It's about tearing another down to make myself look better or justify my feelings.
The irony?
It leaves a path of destruction on the character of the one speaking.


Oh that I may learn to choose my words carefully.