Home Sweet Home in Georgia

In Georgia we find ourselves surrounded by the love of friends and family, a great church and an awesome on fire set of believers. We arrived last Sunday after a one night stint in Chicago so Alan could see the city. I was glad we stopped over as I hadn't been back that I can remember since graduating from college at Wheaton.

We stayed at the Millenium Knickerbocker right across from the Drake Hotel and off Michigan Avenue. Our plane got in early and we decided instead of cabbing it for $45.00 each way that we'd take the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) train system. Well, we walked and walked and walked and finally made it to the train where a nice gentleman assisted us in buying the right train ticket. I knew we needed to get into the loop but was unsure which stop would get us the closest to the hotel so we just got off at Washington and got a cab from there. Luckily that was the right stop for us so the cab was less than $10.00. All in total we spent $14.50 each way for a savings of nearly $60.00 round trip - yah! :)

The hotel was nice but our room wasn't ready when we checked in so we had a drink at the bar and then got a nice little corner junior suite that was beautiful and Alan took a nap while I unpacked and got the internet hooked up so I could phone mom and dad. That night we decided to go for a walk down to Lake Michigan and then go up to the John Hancock 96th floor lounge so Alan could see the city.

Well, it was FREEZING outside but it wasn't as freezing as it could have been I guess. The lake had several feet of snow on it in places by the shore and we passed a poor homeless man who was struggling to keep warm in the tunnel. Sad. :(

The John Hancock building was fun. It didn't take too long to get a table with a view of the lights of the city and we ordered a couple of drinks (coffee for Alan and I had a margarita - $12.50!! YIKES!). Anyway, Alan thought the whole building was fixing to collapse I guess because it was swaying with the wind. I told him it was quite normal and I think he relaxed when he realized no one else seemed to be bothered by it.

Next we were off to Gino's East around the corner for some deep dish Chicago stuffed pizza. The concierge at our hotel had given us a little coupon to get priority seating and a free appetizer and let me tell you, it's great! We bypassed the huge line, went right up to the front and got a table in less than 5 minutes and free garlic breadsticks to boot!! Unfortunately we ordered a medium pizza - BIG mistake and were completely stuffed after only one piece each. We decided to book it out of there and try to find the homeless man we had passed to give him the rest of the hot pizza but Alan started feelin really bad and so we had to rush back to the hotel and although we looked, we could not find the homeless man so nearly $20 of pizza just went to waste - yuk! God telling us not to be gluttons I think.

I guess we ended up going to bed around 8:30 or so and we got a really good nights rest so the next day we were up around 5am and decided to go for a long walk and then out to breakfast. We walked along Lake Shore drive to the Navy Pier and then went to Mary's diner for breakfast. I got a skillet and Alan got an omelette. The service was really good and although it wasn't the cheapest diner I've ever been to, it was really good food.

We left for the airport around 9:00 I guess and decided to walk to the Washinton street station inside the loop dragging our suitcases. When Alan first saw the train he was so glad because we'd been walking nearly a mile but I refused to spend the extra .50c on two transfers and so we had to walk a bit further to make it to Washington station. We laughed about that later about me being so "frugal" lol.

No problems getting from Chicago to Atlanta and mom and dad picked us up there at the airport. The last week we have basically spent entirely with family. I did some shopping, went to get my nails done and out to lunch with Christine on the Monday and on Thursday mom, dad, Alan and me went to the condo for a couple of nights so Alan and dad could go fishing. We went for a hike and got lots of exercise and it was nice. We also pulled the boat out so we could clean it and get the propeller and possibly also the pin hole leak fixed.

Now we're back home on Harden Hill. We went to church this morning, dad made a great lunch for the family and this afternoon Alan and I took a walk to downtown Watkinsville so I could show him a bit around. We even ended up running into an old boyfriend of mine and his dad selling boiled peanuts and pig skins. I'm not sure Alan had ever heard of pig skins nor had he seen them being sold by the side of the road before!

Alan and I sat outside Jittery Joe's and listened to a bit of a daughters of the revolution speech in a park they were dedicating across the street. It was a really nice and relaxing walk just being with my honey - the man I can't wait to spend the rest of my life on this earth with but also the man I get to spend eternity with in Heaven. God is so good and I love being in love! :)