so then there was this

Power House High

So once again I find that I have not kept up with this in a while...  So where to begin.... It's been a bit busy since I ran the marathon.  First of all I have stopped running, whoops.  On the bright side I am back in the gym on a regular schedule so I guess that is good.

Chicago from the top of the Sears Tower

The Sears Tower

The week after the marathon I volunteered with my friend Kate at Open House Chicago.  The event itself was really a great experience.  I got to see sites I didn't even know existed and visit other sites that I never would get to see otherwise.  In all the three years I have lived here in Chicago I never knew there was a second Sears Tower.  The original Sears Tower was built in 1906 and is still standing today with the Sears name on it unlike that other one that we all still call Sears because seriously Willis just sounds stupid.  I didn't work in the Sears tower but I worked at a different site on the Sears Complex.  I was in the original Sears Power House which has now been turned into a high school.

Kate looking out over the city

I went around the rest of the day with Kate and we checked out some other really cool sites.  We went to the Marshal Field building and went into one of the window displays on State Street.  We also went up to the Board Room before we headed down the street to go into the bridge house on the Michigan Ave Bridge.  One of the really cool sites we got to check out was the Tribune Tower.  The views from the executive offices was amazing.  Kate and I also checked out the original Chicago Motor Club building and the Seventeenth Church of Christ with its giant organ.  Overall this was a great experience to see parts of Chicago I had never seen before.

Over looking the Chicago River from
The Tribune Tower

A few days later I boarded a plane headed to LA for work.  I have not been to California since I was a senior in High School.  Once I got to LA I hopped in my rental car and headed to meet up with my old College roommate Nick.  I hung out with him for a while at his place in LA before we went to dinner at a Burger place called Umami.  It was a good tasting a la carte burger very similar to DMK which is down the street from me.  After dinner I headed East towards my office in California to find my hotel.

I stayed in Ontario which for me is so hard to grasp that this is not in fact Canada but somewhere on the West Coast.  It was a very built up area but one really cool feature was the San Bernardino Forest just a short drive away.  After work the first day I took the road headed to Big Bear and stopped frequently along the way to take a view out at the mountains.  I took a lot of pictures one of them even has replaced my MSU background on my cell phone.  The second night after work I headed to Mt Baldy.  It was much closer and at first I was very disappointed in the bland rocky landscape but once I made it most of the way up the road turned and I was encompassed in solitude between giant mountains on both sides.  The sun was setting so I just parked my car and sat around listening to nature (and misquotes) and just watched the sunset.

The next morning I headed home but first I made a detour for the weekend in Michigan.  I went to visit my friend Kristin.  Once she picked me up we went to dinner and then carved pumpkins with her younger sister.  I have been wanting to carve pumpkins for a while.  I tried all last year and no one would carve one with me so I just gave up on the idea.  It was the first time it really felt like fall just sitting around having a beer and carving pumpkins on a kitchen table.  I would say all three of them came out really well even the "cat rocking out on a guitar".

Saturday we headed up to MSU for homecoming against Wisconsin.  We tailgated at Kristin's sisters house which happens to be directly across the street from my old house, "The Green Monster".  After I had a few drinks I walked across the street to meet the guys who live there currently.  They welcomed me in and showed me the bar they built as well as what had been left in the house when they moved in.  The only thing remaining from our days in the house were the old keg tops we had nailed in the rafter in the basement.  We never ended up leaving Barbie's house but just enjoyed the nice fall day drinking on the front porch.  I tried to meet up with Jon and Alan at Peanut Barrel but we couldn't get in so Kristin and I just ended up watching the game at her sisters house.  This was the first time since high school that I have ever been in East Lansing for a football game where I was not inside the stadium.  The game is so loud you can hear it everywhere around.

Gear check at the Monster Dash that I ran

A week later was Halloween.  It is a great time of festivity around Chicago.  Friday night I went to a haunted house down on the lake with a few friends.  It was really a great haunted house I thought specially for only $10 and I do really enjoy supporting the Chicago Park District.  Saturday before I went out to my friend Nagy's party I volunteered from 5:40am till about 2:30pm at the Monster Dash.  This is a race that I would love to run but this year I was just burnt out from running so i just decided to volunteer instead.  I had just signed up to be a standard volunteer but once I got there I immediately went to work helping above and beyond I think what was needed.  By the time the sun came up the director of the event had asked me to manage about 30 college students and run the gear check.  Not going to lie it was a little over my head at first but after about 15 minutes of figuring out how to set it up I had the gear check running like a well oiled machine.  Afterwards one of the ladies running the event told me this is one of the first races they have not lost someones gear which made me feel really good. 

Danielle, Kari, Ashley, Me, Josh, Nikki, Karen, and Bryan

Saturday night was the Halloween party.  I dressed up in my costume I had made from miseclanous items I had gathered around the city.  Once it all came together I was Peter Pan.  I had tights, tinker bell, a knife, and I was ready to party!  My friend Josh came up and we went to a friends for a pre gathering before heading to Wicker Park.  It was great to see lots of my friends all dressed up and there were some really impressive costumes.  Though I must say my favorite costume was of these two girls I met wearing cheerleader shorts and shirts that said Go "Ceiling" and Go "Osolating".  I though the ceiling fan and osolating fan idea was very unique and smart and after I got it I really liked it.  Considering how little sleep I was going off I must say I was proud that I made it till 2am before I started to get cranky and went home.

A lot more pictures

View of Chicago from the
103rd floor

Back in July after a few glasses of wine Kristin and I decided to do the SkyRise Chicago Tower Climb at the Sears Tower.  Kristin got sick and never ended up making it out here so I did this solo.  It was kinda lonely going up the stairs alone but it was still a great experience.  I had no idea what to expect as this is not a traditional event.  I started out in the lobby and climbed 103 flights of stairs (2,109 steps) to the Sky Deck on the 103rd floor.  I was shocked that it only took me 22 minutes and 22 seconds to reach the top.  I was also surpised to find out that I took 196th place out of 2,231 participants.  My legs were sore but they healed.  It was a strange event but one that I think I will repeat next year as well!

After finishing the tower climb

Last weekend I ventured back to Michigan once again.  This trip really did turn into a venture as Michigan saw its first real snowfall which I happened to be driving through.  There were a few times it was a complete white out and the roads had a few inches of that really slick hard packed snow that cars just love to slide on.  I might be one of the few that find these conditions exciting to drive in.  I know go ahead say im crazy I don't care its nice to have to actually drive a car rather than just sit there and move a wheel to turn.

Walking around at home

Otis going for a walk at home

Grapes in the vineyard

Inside my Grandpa's old dairy

Old door

I had not seem my sister in almost 4 months and it had been January before that so it was great ot catch up.  I also met her boyfriend Dave who she now lives with.  I guess I had better get used to that idea that my little sister is living with him.  Mostly we just hung out but on Saturday we went to my old roommate Nick's (the one in LA) film "My Barista" at the East Lansing Film Festival.  It was a short film which really was the best out of the ones I saw that day overall.  Another film called "Poke" I really enjoyed and had a great message but the sound didnt match with the characters which was annoying.  After the film we all went out to Roadhouse for dinner and then on to the Film Fest after Party at Beggars Banquet.  We had to cap the night off with shots somewhere so we tried PT's but apparently their last call is at 1:15AM so we walked across the parking lot to The Riv where they had no problem taking our money in exchange for shots.  It was really great to see Nick and some of the people I spent a lot of time with in college all back in East Lansing!


My Barista from Nick Hurwitch on Vimeo.

Jesse, Me, Nick after Nick's film out in East Lansing

Own Chicago 26.2

a free photo Nike gave us at Niketown Chicago

Mom, Me, and Dad

So I am really getting bad at this posting thing.  I wrote one about the marathon and never posted it.  So whatever this is my blog and I can do what ever I want right.  I just have to listen to my friends make fun of my grammar because I never proof read these things before clicking publish.

I wrote about this before in this post way back when.  I used to be a runner in High School and then stopped and last year I started back up.  Well this year  I tackled the Chicago Marathon.  Yes I went from being a sprinter in High School to running 26.2 miles for fun.  Yup something might be wrong with me but oh well.

My name on a wall of all the marathon participants

I can now say I have run a marathon.  I have thought about buying one of those little decals for my car that say 26.2 but then I stop and think wait I have driven 25 miles in the past month who cares!  Starting June 13^th I started officially training for the marathon.  I was fortunate to have an awesome running buddy, Brittani, to train with all summer long.  I honestly think without her I would have skipped out earlier specially on those really really hot days in July and August.  One of the most memorable training runs was a 95+ degree night where we altered our course to end in Lake Michigan.  We jumped in the lake fully clothed and I have never been so happy to live along the lake as I was that night.  Through out  the training, over 118 days, I ran 352.1 miles leading up to the actual Marathon on October 9^th. 

Mom and Dad

I had an awesome cheering section consisting of my mom and dad!  I also had some awesome friends who woke up very early to either volunteer along the course or just come out to cheer.  I also had one of the best cheering sections running next to me for the first 16-18 miles.  We each had shirts made with our names on them and had lots of fun joking over who was getting more cheers along the course.  I am pretty sure I won that one!  I am very fortunate for the people that were on the course that day because without them it would have be so easy to just quite.

View from my parents hotel room

My parents came into Chicago Friday night and came with me to the Expo.  I have run a number of races before but the sights of that expo were something I was not expecting.  I felt like I was at a trade show not a race expo.  Vendor booths were super elaborate filled with tvs, demos, equipment, merchandise, and freebies.  I am not sure what my parents had expected but I know that I was a bit shocked.  After we left the Expo I took my parents to one my favorite restaurant in Chicago, Uncommon Ground.  After dinner we went back down to my parents hotel and hung out for a bit while they told me about their trip to visit my sister in Wyoming a few weeks prior.  I wish I could have joined them out there because they got to do some really cool behind the scenes type things because of my sister and her friends who work out there.

Saturday I joined up with my parents after I finally woke up.  We didn’t really have much going on so we just wandered around Michigan Ave and looked in shops and stuff.  We ended up down along the river at a little snack stand.  It was nice to just sit still for a few moments.  Normally I am always on the go and its really nice to just stop and let the world move around me.  Later in the day we went to dinner.  Since it’s the night before the marathon that means its pasta night.  I went with my parents to a small restaurant near my house called Rose Angelis.  The service was a bit slow but the food made up for that.  I left there after an appetizer, dinner, and desert uncomfortably full.  I don’t know if I have ever felt so uncomfortably full before. 

Elites and their crazy fast pace where their
feet hardly ever touch the ground

The morning of the marathon started super early with my alarm going off at 5:15am.  I met up with Brittani at the Belmont Redline stop along with many other marathon runners.  Once we made it downtown we made our way to Grant Park with everyone else to get to gear check, and the start corrals.  The start corrals were a bit too packed and we actually had to hop the fence to get into the pace we were looking for because the entrances were blocked.

Near mile 26!  So close to the finish

Once the race actually started it sorta didn’t even feel like a race.  I felt like I was in a parade.  There were so many people cheering and watching.  So many people kept cheering us on along the course.  At mile 4 FFC, one of the gyms in Chicago, was throwing out small water bottles.  I had one thrown to me and I was more amazed that I was able to catch it because my hand eye coordination is not the best.  That little water bottle proved quite helpful along the day so thanks FFC!  I saw some friends at mile 3.5 later on I saw them again at 11.5.  I also saw my parents twice on the course and a few other scattered about.  I had a few friends volunteering at the water stations and I managed to see all of them except for 1 which turned out to be standing behind two of my other friends at the water station at mile 12.

Brittani and I right after we finished

Somewhere between mile 16 and 18 I lost Brittani and I finished the remainder of the race by myself.  I was still getting cheers along the course from strangers which helped a lot but it just wasn't the same as having Brit next to me running.  I was slowly dying along the end of the course.  The sun was getting warmer and the trees more sparse along the course which took a toll on me.  At mile 25.8 I saw my parents again and they cheered me on which was enough to get me the remaining 1/4 mile.  I finished the marathon with a time of 3:57:30 which was super amazing because I was going for anything under 4:20.

Nikki, myself and Brittani post marathon

It was an amazing experience, one that I do not want repeat anytime soon.  As much as I enjoyed the experience of the actual marathon the 18 weeks leading up to it is not something I want to repeat again.  So much of my summer was lost to training.  Too many nights I couldn't go out because I had to go run in the morning.  The joy of the marathon was wonderful and I am so fortunate that I could train with out injury and complete this once and run it in an amazing time.  I couldn't have asked for a better experience for my first (and only) marathon.

Thanks to everyone who came to cheer it meant so much to me!

Mom and Dad with their signs

A recap of Life

So I have been MIA for a while now.  I have been very busy and I have done quite a bit since my last post about Lolla.  I started to write a post about a trip I took to Michigan with some friends.  That post has not made it out of edit format and probably never will.  I went to Michigan again for a couple football games, Labor Day, and I have been pretty busy around here in Chicago.  So I figured I will just give a little recap of what I have been so busy doing.

Pure Michigan- Aug 10 to  Aug 14

Walking the streets on Mackinac Island

This is a trip that I have been planning for over a year.  I took a few friends with my to the cottage in Northern Michigan.  We went to Mackinac Island the first day where we walked around the island and then rented bikes and biked around the island.  Along the way around we made pit stops to enjoy a cool beer every few miles!  This trip had lots of inside jokes with one of my favorites being "is this Shelper's?".  The second day we drove to Northwest Michigan and went hiking up Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes which was voted the #1 beach in America!  We went down to the water and spent a little time playing in the waves of Lake Michigan before taking a drive to a few local wineries and a distillery.

Leland, MI

The weekend portion of this trip was spent running from the rain at the cottage.  So when it rains that only leaves an abundance of card game options, mostly involving drinking!  In between the rain and sun we managed to get some time in out on the lake. We played a fair amount of yard games mostly just kubb though.  Tyler and Josh took the weekend title of champions but I want a rematch!  It was truly a great trip with some good friends and I was very happy to share my love for Northern Michigan with some people that had never been up there before.

Running down Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes

Here are a bunch of pictures from that trip

Tyler’s going away- Aug 20

Shortly after returning from the Pure Michigan trip Tyler packed up and left us in Chicago.  He didn’t go without a proper goodbye consisting of drunkenness and fun, laughs and cry’s and surprises.  Jenni flew in from DC for the night just to celebrate with Tyler.  We took over Louies pub and sang lots of karaoke before wandering to another bar (that I don’t remember the name…..) for some dancing and partying.  It was sad to see Tyler leave but I’m sure he will have a great time in Germany and hopefully he makes it back to Chicago from time to time to visit all of us.

Chicago Air and Water-  Aug 21

I went with my friend Ashley to a party for the Air and Water Show down at Diversey Harbor.  Someone from her company was hosting the event and apparently has turned this party into an annual thing.  I got down there and just sorta stared.  They had a pool set up, porta-potties, two roasted pigs, and tons of food and people.  I mostly just hung out with Ashley and Nikki and watched the show and took pictures.  It was the first time I have been to this show and actually enjoyed it.  I think I mostly enjoyed the “water show” which consisted of cops arresting drunks and stupid people and chasing them out of the restricted area. 

Hungry, Hungry for Justice! 

MSU Yacht Cruise- Aug 26

This was sort of a last minute decision.  My friends Newman and Kari were both going and so I decided to join them.  It was a great idea!  We met up at Rock Bottom for a pre drink.  Some time in life I will learn its never a good idea to have a drink before an all you can drink event.  We made our way to the boat and set sail down the Chicago River and then out into Lake Michigan.  It was a great set up on Chicago’s First Lady.  The food, wine, and entertainment was great.  I had a lot of fun hanging out on the water and enjoying the magnificent Chicago Skyline with a drink in hand!  We made it to the after party where I claimed my free drink there though I didn’t drink it.  Somehow I let Newman talk me into going out in Wicker Park that night which I don’t really remember all that well but I do remember having a great time!

Enjoying some beverages on the river

Labor Day/MSU- Sept 2 to Sept 5

I went home for Labor Day Weekend and got tickets for the MSU game which was played on a Friday night.  I met up with a few friends and wandered around campus Friday during the day before I met up with my parents to tailgate and go to the game.  We ended up having 5 or 6 tickets for the three of us so I sat in the better seats of course!  After the game we drove to the cottage for the weekend.  It was a work weekend but that didn’t mean we couldn’t have some fun.  We had a large Labor Day BBQ with our neighbors and bon fires every night.  It was a great way for me to end my “summer”

Touchdown MSU

Tigers/Sox games- Sept 12 & Sept 13

Birthday Brat?

I have been a real fan of the Tigers since my friends dragged me to a game my freshman year on College.  Before that I found baseball to be boring.  So now that I am a fan of the Tigers I only had a short time span to go to Tigers games and watch them at home.  Now that I have moved from Michigan I only get to watch the Tigers when they play away.  I went to both night games this fall when the Tigers came to town to beat the White Sox!  The first night was for my friend’s birthday.  We had 3 rows of people so it was a lot of fun and Detroit blew out the Sox so we had to find some other entertainment towards the end of the game.  We started the wave and cheered obnoxiously for a floating plastic bag in the stadium.  

Go Tigers!

Nikki and Fran

The next night I went back to the Tigers game with a much smaller group.  My friend from the night before and a mutual friend we both have.  Fran came to Chicago for work and joined us at the Tigers game.  I had not seen Fran since her wedding two years prior so it was great to catch up and hang out!

Me and the Birthday Girl

Birthday Trolley- Sept 17

The Birthday Girls

My “fitness friend” Brittani and my friend Nikki had a joint birthday party and rented out a trolley to take us all gallivanting around the city of Chicago.  During the day Brittani and I ran our 22 mile training run for the Chicago Marathon.  I then went to the bar and had a beer and watched MSU choke and lose to Notre Dame before getting ready for the trolley.  The trolley was a lot of fun though I was so tired from the run and watching MSU.  I had to rally to get some energy for this 3 hour trip of debauchery but it was well worth it.  We made a couple pit stops, first at Sheffield’s then McDonalds and our final stop was Duffy’s.  

Duffy’s was fun till I decided to go home.  The people at Duffy’s were nice enough to allow us to leave our extra alcohol in the vestibule but when I went to go home they were incredibly rude.  I went and grabbed my wine juice box to go home and the bouncer came up to me and said “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”  I said grabbing my wine and going home.  This wouldn’t have been odd till his next response of “Good get the fuck out of here”  That is when I got mad and then said something along the lines like ‘what the hell is your problem’ which just lead to a pissing match.  Needless to say that place would have been mostly empty without us so screw them they are a UofM bar anyways.

MSU/Central- Sept 23 to Sept 25

Me and Mandy at the game

I went home a few weekends later for the MSU vs Central football game.  Since my parents were out in Wyoming visiting my sister I went to Royal Oak and stayed with my friend Mandy.  We packed up the car to go tailgating and as we were leaving Bryan took off and ended up driving over my foot.  Surprisingly a small SUV does not hurt that much though I don’t want to test that out ever again.  Once we made it  to East Lansing we set up our tailgate and had a great time.  The weather was perfect!  It was great to hang out in East Lansing and go to the game.  We blew out Central so the game started to get a little boring but it was still a ton of fun.  Once we made it back to Royal Oak I went out with my friend Kristin for a while.  I have never spent much time in Royal Oak but it seems like a nice area.  Sunday I went up to Lansing and picked up my parents from the airport and hung out with them for a bit while they told me about their trip to my sisters before I made my drive back to Chicago.

Sparty

Driving back from Michigan

Kickball, Food, and Laughs- Sept 30 & Oct 1

Me and Amy.  I got her to join this season

I am playing my 3^rd fall season of Kickball currently and we had our mid-season party.  I first got there and wasn’t really feeling it but after a drink I was loosening up a bit and then by the end of the night I was just living on the dance floor.  I played some life sized Jenga, a little flip cup and of course dancing.  The DJ was pretty good, I kinda felt like I was at a wedding with the style of music they were playing.  They played one slow song and I danced with my friend Rachel and we acted like we were in middle school keeping an arm’s length away from each other.  I mean the DJ did tell us to make sure we save room for Jesus between us!

Chipotle Cultivate Festival

The Next day I met up with my friend Kiernan who I met way back before I even lived in Chicago through my friend Allie.  Kiernan has moved back to the States from Korea and was in town visiting.  We went to the Chipotle Cultivate Festival in Lincoln Park.  I had no idea what to expect from this festival but I was very impressed once I made it there.  The food was awesome and they had a larger selection of healthy vendors that all service Chipotle.  They also had a really good music selection which I went home and listened to for a while on Spotify.  After the festival I went to watch the MSU vs OSU game before going to IO Theatre for a comedy show.  The show was very entertaining especially when they asked for a volunteer and my drunk friend Kate had her hand up before the host even finished the questions.  She went up on stage and shared her story about the day and then the comedy crew reenacted her dream on stage.  It was so entertaining to watch both Kate on stage and then hearing her day in dream format.

Kate sharing her day

Even sitting down to write this made me remember things that I forgot I did in the past two months.  This just proves the point for why I started writing this in the first place.  I just wanted someplace I could go to read about all of my adventures.

Beth, Tyler, Nikki, Me, and Josh at
Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes