Monday, February 2, 2015

We have had quite an exciting weekend!We have officially experienced a Chicago blizzard and our first official snow day from school. My poor hubby had to still go into school, but the kids and I are staying indoors today. Yesterday around noon I let the kids get out and play in the 9 inches of snow that that already fallen. The blizzard warning did not go into effect until 2:00 and the temperature was not too bad so I let them get out and have some fun. The last several times we have had snow it was just too cold for them to be out playing, so we took advantage of the bearable temperatures. It was snowing the entire time we were out side so we were all pretty soaked when we came back inside. Just like it was predicted, the blizzard conditions swept over the city and it was pretty amazing to watch from our living room window. The yard that the kids had destroyed a few hours before had completely filled back up with snow and there was no trace they had even been outside. Lots of people shoveling and using their snow blowers, but the wind and the snow just kept filling the sidewalks back up. We watched people try to get in and out of parking spots and praying they were not going to hit a vehicle in their attempts. There were traffic jams on our street and lots of people pushing cars out of the way. As much as I hate this apartment I was thankful that we had a warm place to stay and praying for those who did not have shelter during these extreme conditions. The final snow totals came in this morning at a whopping 19.3 inches making it the 5th worst blizzard to hit the city.

Friday night we went to a gathering with another church plant in the city. Jeremy connected with a another church planter who ended up having a connection with one of our pastor's when we lived in Clarksville. It was a little stressful for me and my introvert personality. I had survived my screening that afternoon (thanks for your prayers) with my blood pressure not being too high, and meeting a group of new people is a little overwhelming for me. We went to the pastor's house where they were having a spaghetti dinner for their church group. It ended up being a wonderful evening. I connected with several ladies and we talked and laughed and just had a great time. Saturday we met up with our realtor and went to look at 4 houses outside of our neighborhood. The first three were real disappointments. There was one that I was excited to look at because the pictures online looked great, but the floor plan was ridiculous and I am not sure who measured the room size to put online, but the rooms were so tiny and no closet space. The last house we looked out was really nice. The house had been gutted and redone with brand new everything! Jeremy really, really likes the house, but it was the furthest of the houses from the kid's school and I am just not sure I want to go that far out of our neighborhood. The house also lacked that "Chicago" charm that I am looking for in a house. It was beautiful, but maybe too modern for me. Maybe if it was closer to our neighborhood I would love it a lot more. So, we continue to wait to hear from the bank and keep looking for other houses.