Day 365

Today is the last day of 2014.  I feel like it requires me to reflect a little on the past year.

Over the year we've learned that the architecture in Chicago is gorgeous, the food is plentiful and delicious, family is only a short jaunt away, and I love my cat.  Fans, I think that I may actually have begun to like this place.  I don't know if I can say that I love it quite yet, but I do love the people I've met and the experiences I've been able to have over the last 365 days living here.

Also, if it weren't for Chicago I would have not made the largest collection of paintings I've ever been able to create.  Some of them are good, some of them are downright awful, and some of them are really beautiful.  I still feel pretty vulnerable posting the awful ones, but I think it's a good exercise in honesty.  Now you know that good painting takes a lot of effort.

So here is my last little project.  It's not a painting, another gift from the husband in my stocking, and of course, it's my cat--kind of.

What I love: I think I might be able to one day say Chicago.

Day 364

My sister gave us a Groupon to Waffles Cafe and On the Bun.  We decided before we start Whole30 to take a trip to Streeterville to try it out.  I ordered pound cake french toast that was OK, but the husband got Waffles Eggs Benedict and it was DELICIOUS.  Also, the hot chocolate and hash browns were wonderful!

What I love: Walking downtown even when it is 13 degrees Fahrenheit outside.  The city is very pretty and you meet and see such interesting people along the way.

Day 363

On a recommendation from a friend we took a trip to the Asian market.  There they had dumplings and all kinds of crazy seafood.

What I love: I love Asian markets and I may also love red bean dumplings, but I'm not such a huge fan of kimchi.  Thanks Chicago for broadening my food horizons.

Day 362

You are looking at my breakfast when the husband is out of town.

What I love: I love that my husband is the cook in our family because he likes it and he's good at it.  Also, I may love Cuties, the orange, not my husband.

Day 361

The husband flew to Kansas City over the weekend and I got to hang out with my mother and sister in law.  We took a trip to The Spice House and picked up spices for our Whole30 diet starting January 2nd.

What I love: Riding the Metra train, except when loud drunk groups get on.  Also, I love hanging out with family and maybe I also love Dimple's Donuts.

Day 360

I didn't paint this one, but I did pour the glitter.

What I love: The husband and I have this ridiculous stocking tradition where we buy each other gifts from the dollar store for each other's stockings.  This one is one of the fabulous gifts he gave me.  It brought me back to my Lisa Frank days in elementary school.  I gifted this one to my in-laws.  I love being close to them and being able to do goofy things like glitter art for them.

Day 359

The husband showed me this picture to let me know that he bought me a hip hop class.

What I love: I love dancing and I'm excited for a new year where I get to bring out my inner thug in the big city.

Day 358

Today some of our good friends gave me a new set of brushes and paper.  This is the result.

What I love: I love painting...most of the time.

Day 357

Today we visited a million people.  Well not a million, but we did visit a lot of people and this is one of them.

What I love: The people here in Chicago that I've met and I've learned to love.  Sometimes this place still drives me crazy, but I really am starting to love them.

Day 356

Today was a trip to the Christkindl Market.  It's a German market where they sell all things Christmasy and German which includes beer, brats, toys, ornaments, and treats.

What I love: I still love riding the train downtown and I love the red and white striped village where the husband and I always go get ourselves delicious treats.  While we were downtown the job he applied for called back and let us know that he's officially hired and it looks like he's taking a leave of absence from school and we'll be staying in Chicago for a couple more years at least.  This is not necessarily what I expected or planned, but this is the artist after 356 days of learning to love this place and I'd have to say that I'm OK with this and interested to hear what else this city has to offer.

Day 355

Today was a low key day at home where the husband and I got to spend all day together.

What I love: Sundays the husband tends to be really busy at church and I just hang out by myself, but today I go to hang out with him all day, just the two of us...making castles in the sky.

Day 354

Today you can enjoy a selection of the tile in my kitchen.  Isn't it lovely?  We spent pretty much our entire day cleaning our apartment.

What I love: I love clean hardwood floors and I while I'm not such a huge fan of our kitchen tile, I love when that's clean too.

Day 353

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL!

What I love: I love the last day before winter break no matter where I live.

Day 352

Making circles again because I can and you can't stop me.

What I love: I love being creative and I love that these look like little worlds all smooshed together.

Day 351

Today I played the xylophone.

What I love: I love learning new things and I love singing and performing.  I also love the people I work with, have I mentioned that enough?

Day 350

I drive by this guy everyday on my way to work.

What I love: Even though I'm not going in every day I love that I can run to the conservatory to enjoy all kinds of beautiful varieties of plants year round when the gray sky becomes too unbearable.

Day 349

Just another typical day in which I didn't want to paint anything really boring so I painted this.

What I love: Watercolor, being creative, and finishing out this resolution even when it's hard!

Day 348

I created this advent calendar for my classroom to help teach them about different holidays.  This is one of the activities we made, a new year's eve shaker.  We did a countdown to winter break with them before they went home.

What I love: I love these younger grades and getting to do fun things with the kids during the holidays.  Also, I love that winter break is almost here!

Day 347

Today was our church Christmas party and there was a hot cocoa bar.

What I love: I love hot cocoa and I love this mug.  When I was in college I made these lumpy cups and put these crazy decals on them and of the 12 that I made, this is one of the two that made it all the way to Chicago.  It felt appropriate to bring it along to the party to enjoy my hot cocoa.

Day 346

Tonight was our work Christmas party and it was a blast.  I ate a lot of gummy bears and other very delectable treats.

If you really want to challenge yourself, try to paint gummy bears.

What I love: I still love parties and I get to go to a lot of really good ones here in Chicago.  I also love hanging out with friends and wonderful work friends.

Day 345

Chipotle to the rescue tonight...

What I love: I miss Cafe Rio a lot, but Chipotle is a pretty close second and keeps me pretty happy when Dante's just won't cut it.  It's not unique or special, but it is delicious.

Day 344

Just another day at work and going home to cozy up with the cat and the husband.

What I love: Quiet nights at home with the family watching movies.  I love the time I get to spend with them even when we're all very busy.

Day 343

I love this little student.

Today was just a normal day at work.

What I love:  I love my students.  They are certainly a handful, but they are also really incredible, talented young people.

Day 342

Today a teacher friend came to work to discuss report cards and she brought me a hot chocolate.  She's a lifesaver.

What I love: I love teacher friends and new year teachers that band together and keep each other from going crazy.  I'm really grateful for the friends I've made this year.

Day 341

"Try painting a church again," I said to myself.  Myself wasn't really willing to put in the effort today.

What I love: I love the beautiful churches here in Chicago and I love being able to see the Chicago Children's Choir.  What a beautiful concert!

Day 340

Today brings you a little word art about our grocery shopping trip.

What I love: I love grocery shopping with the husband and I love Aldi for it's cheap groceries and Costco for it's cheap gas.  Cheap is good when rent is high.  There's some wisdom for you today.

Day 339

Today was a lazy, cozy day indoors.

What I love: I love sitting at home and relaxing by the chaise with my delicious smelling candle and the cat.  Doesn't that sound lovely?

Day 338

I've been teaching my students about the weather and today we read a book about snowflakes.  I learned a lot about snowflakes and I'm not sure if they did, but they are really amazing.

What I love: I love snow and I wish there was more of it right now.  I've been hoping for a white Christmas, but it's been so warm lately.  I'm waiting for the cold to come and stay...forever.

Day 337

This has nothing to do with what happened today.  I literally was just playing with my brushes and trying out new things.

What I love: I love the opportunity I've had to participate in this project.  I can't believe I'm actually doing it!

Day 336

Oh Dots, I love them and I love decorating gingerbread houses.

What I love: I love friends that make decorating gingerbread houses so much fun.  I have truly been blessed here in Chicago with such incredible friends that keep me sane in the long winter months.

Day 335

My mom and little sister made this beauty for me.

What I love: I love the chocolate that I get to eat on a daily basis for 25 days, even though I shouldn't and I love the cute little felt project that they made for us.

Day 334

Today was the trip home...

What I Love: I love even the barren trees in the fall.  Ohio reminds me a lot of home with all it's farms and rolling hills.  The only thing missing is the mountains.  Man I really miss the mountains.

Day 333

Today was my little sister's birthday and she took us to Scrambler Marie's.  It was pretty delicious and it was fun to have breakfast all together.

What I love: While we weren't in Chicago for any of this trip, I thank Chicago for the amazing opportunity to live so close to my sister and hang out on her birthday.

Day 332

These may have happened after Thanksgiving.

What I love: The husband made waffles from stuffing and mashed potatoes and then smothered them in gravy.  This is why we're getting fat, also I blame the chaise and my lack of willpower when it comes to delicious things like this.

Day 331

We pretty much spent the day eating and cooking.

What I love: I love being able to be with family and working together in the kitchen.  Also, I may love the husband's cooking.  He's pretty talented, which is why I usually let him do all the cooking.

Day 330

My cute little nephew and I explored the Toledo Glass Museum.

What I love: I love having family so close that we can go visit and hang out.  Also, I kind of love the Toledo Glass Museum.

Day 329

I started painting this after our drive to Ohio for Thanksgiving and then I realized that I was painting the trees green and it's November.  Trees are not green in Ohio right now.

What I love: I love the drive to Ohio to visit my sister and this time I loved taking the cat with us.  He was so funny in the car and didn't whine at all.

Day 328

THE CAT LOVES TO PLAY FETCH.

My cat is like a dog that makes him better than all cats.

What I love: Duh, I love playing fetch with my cat.  Thanks again Chicago for making it all possible.

Day 327

The cat loves to come and lay on my chest and sleep.

What I love: I love having company when Noah works late at night.  I love that we both love hanging out on our chaise lounge.

Day 326

This may make me a bad person, but I take my cat with me everywhere.  He likes trying out new places.

What I love: Taking the cat places and having kids wear him out so he'll snuggle with us all night long.  Oh my gosh, I'm becoming a crazy cat lady.

Day 325

We went to this delicious Chinese place that makes BBQ duck called Sun Wah.  IT WAS SO GOOD!

A big shout out and thanks to the Malli family for taking us along.

What I love: They had these fantastic bread like rolls that you put the duck on.  I love the food we get to enjoy here in Chicago and the friends that are always helping us enjoy new things.

Day 324

Oh Dante's Pizza, this is the sign above our favorite pizza place.

What I love: I love the hell themed decor in this place and the gourmet pizzas they make.  Thanks for always helping out in a pinch Dante.

Day 323

A nice shot of what I might look like during staff meetings.  Not my favorite painting, but I've reached a point of desperation with this project.  Sorry guys.

What I love: I certainly don't love staff meetings, but I do love all I've learned in the last year as a teacher and as a person.  I have learned more in this short amount of time than I have ever learned.

Day 322

My sad attempt at painting the cat.

What I love: Guys, I'm not a cat person, but this guy is just so darn awesome.  He's so fluffy and cuddly and playful.  Thank you Chicago for bringing us this guy.

Day 321

Today was a difficult day with this child.

What I love: Even though life is tough sometimes, I really enjoy having my own classroom.

Day 320

I woke up early before church to make these babies and since I've drawn a million cookies, but none of them look anything like cookies I thought I'd try one more time before the end of the year.

What I love: Butterscotch, milk chocolate chip cookies are so delicious and it was worth it to wake up and make these.  Our Primary program was today and it went so well.  The kids were amazing.

Day 319

Remember those mice?  So did we and after searching for a week or so we found out little kitty.

What I love: I love our kitten Roger, who is now Cicero.  He's pretty much adorable.  It was a long drive to get him, but totally worth it.

Day 318

While everyone else at our work party was drinking, I made myself a little tonic water, cranberry, and lime juice sans the alcohol.

What I love: I love parties and I really love the people I work with.  I have been incredibly blessed to have such talented and kind people to work with.

Day 317

This is my friend Carolyn.  I miss her.

What I love: Having teacher friends who help me even from halfway across the country.  I miss her during my training meetings A LOT!

Day 316

Here's a little birds eye view of my table at work.  I like to tell the kids to go, "to the bean!"

What I love: My job is very difficult sometimes, but I love this space and I love working with my students who can be really incredible.  I've seen a lot of progress in them and it's exciting.