Operation TOTBY

I can’t even begin to tell you what this gorgeous weather we’re having is doing for my soul. My dream job as a kid was a meteorologist, and sometimes I still think I would make a great weather woman because of how much I LOVE discussing the weather. It’s a perfect 70 degrees outside and our backyard is a breezy, sunny dreamland. I spent the morning outside with the chickens, also first accompanied by a delicious cup of coffee and el Biblio, followed by the more exciting company of my friend Elsbeth (+ adorable Madeline, of course) and her sis-in-law. I do not take for granted my privileged life as a grad student on mornings like these. What a blessing to be free to be outside when the weather is so favorable!

In light of the gorgeous weather and the arrival of summer right around the corner, the latest project we’ve taken on is Operation Trick Out The Back Yard. It started with the canopy of lights Jeremy put up over our patio (here’s a snapshot at dusk from the other night):

And then came the chickens, of course, which you know about. We’re planning to build them a proper run this weekend, so that they can have free reign of backyard space, without ruining all of our soon-to-be-planted new plants. The run will essentially be the entire strip at the back of the yard, along the garage between the compost and the sidewalk (which this picture is taken from):

The bulk of operation TOTBY involves the things we’ll be planting. We’re pretty pumped about finally having our very own real backyard for the purpose of having a go at vegetable gardening on a bigger scale (at least compared to our attempt at container gardening on the ledge of our Los Angeles pad). One of Jeremy’s best Christmas gifts this year was a collection of heirloom seeds, which will be fun to try, but before getting our veggie planning and planting on, we’re focusing on the big picture of the yard. Wednesday evening for Jeremy’s birthday, we took a trip to the most incredibl nursery I’ve ever stepped foot in: GETHSEMANE GARDEN CENTER.

This place is amazing. Every gardeners dream, I think. We had a wonderful time perusing the vines and veggies, collecting inspiration and ideas for our back yard. We decided to start out conservative, and picked up these two Trumpet Creeper vines to spiff up our fence:

So the actual planting is about to start happening! But we’ve got lots to work on. Here’s our current yard, as is:

You can see the raised, rectangular beds Jeremy built (filled with mostly unopened bags of soil). Those will be home to all of our vegetables, and we’re hoping to plant vines of green beans that will grow up the fence to the right of those beds. To the right of the big tree, Jeremy made a little pseudo-container for annuals and herbs. Along that side of the fence, we’ll plant the trumpet creeper vines, which will climb up the fence and fill with yellow and salmony trumpet flowers. The chicken coop, which you can see at the back left of the picture, will get moved pretty much where the compost bin currently lies (in the back right corner of the yard), to make a little more room for chicken wandering. Behind the run along the garage, we’ll have some more vines (we’re thinking Clematis vines) growing up those trellises currently leaning against it. Our last major endeavor (as of yet) will be a stone path, which will run between the two raised beds, past the chicken run, and right to the sidewalk that leads to the garage door.

Can’t wait to show you our progress as things start to (hopefully) shape up. I have to say, I didn’t think I would really get into yard work (I think I associated it with being really hot and tired and forced to pull weeds), but I’m beginning to see why gardening is so therapeutic for some people. I had the most delightful evening staining a trellis with the chickens wandering around the other night. Looking forward to getting back to it after a day of studying. Cheers!

wait wait… don’t tell me!!!

There is a long list of things I enjoy that as a kid I never thought I’d be interested in. One of those things is listening to NPR on a regular basis. I remember when I was a kid and my dad would turn on talk radio and I would CRINGE and think to myself (and sometimes out loud) “aaagghhhhh now this WHOLE car ride is going to be boooorrrrrrriiiiiiiiinnnnngggg.”

Now one of my favorite pastimes is listening to public radio. And one of my favorite things to listen to is Wait Wait… Don’t Tell me! If you haven’t heard it, you SHOULD. I fell in love with the show in LA during our weekly produce pick-up, and when we moved to Chicago I kept telling Jeremy we should try and go sometime. Well being the perceptive, generous husband he is, my Valentines Day present this year was a ticket to the show.

It was awesome. After the show, the hosts and panelists host a Q&A with the audience and after the Q&A we got to MEET THEM!!!!!

I have to say. Considering these people are public radio personalities, I was surprisingly  starstruck. I mean seriously nervous to talk to them. The moment I approached each of them, every clever, charming, NORMAL bone in my body disappeared and I turned into a hunk of awkward jelly-person. I’ve got photos for proof:

The only thing I could think of to ask PETER SAGAL was “So, is it weird that all these people you don’t know want to have pictures of themselves with you in them?” He told me that no, it wasn’t weird. “It makes me feel like I’m a fish and they’ve caught me.”

Here’s me visibly being awkward with Carl Kasell. Jeremy told me to ask him where he lives. Washington D.C. Flies out to Chicago EVERY WEEK for the show! What a guy.

I told Tom Bodett that I love when he’s on the show and that he’s really funny.

More visible awkwardness with Mo Rocca. I had no words for him. Just “Can I take a picture with you?” Love, awkward Erin.

Jessi Klein was the third panelist, but was gone before we made it up there. It was a great show. And I loved being weird around all of these public radio stars. Major points for the hubs.

our new neighbor

St. Hyacinth Basilica

April

Well it’s finally April. The dead of winter is over and this year spring really feels like spring. Ok, well spring hasn’treally sprung just yet and I hear April is an especially wet month here in Chicago. But this year the changing of the seasons is uniquely coinciding with a whole lot of new and different in my life.

We’re coming up one one year in Chicago this July, which makes it feel like a legitimate home. I’ve felt settled in and connected here since pretty early on, but being able to count ten months between moving in and now is concrete proof to myself that we’ve actually been here a while. I like it here. The Midwest is my true home more than I ever could have guessed and Chicago is growing on me all the time. And I’m thoroughly enjoying that can’t-wait-for-summer feeling you can only get in a place that experiences the sub-zero temperatures of the Dead of Winter.

I’m finally beginning to hear back from graduate school programs. I didn’t get into UIC, but De Paul accepted me and I’ve got faculty interviews at Rush in a week. It’s incredibly exciting and a bit surreal to think of myself in NP school this fall.

Our lease will be up in July and Jeremy and I will move out of our neighborhood. We like our apartment and our landlord is wonderful, but we’re excited to leave Wicker Park in hopes to find a more diverse, lower income community we can be a part of. Lately we’re spending lots of time perusing pad mapper, analyzing all kinds of Chicago maps, and going on neighborhood reconnaissance treks with our friends. We’re also entertaining the idea of buying something. Our dream life includes us buying an old (late 1800′s-early 1900′s) stone three or four flat building to live in and rent to some of our friends as well as local neighborhood peeps.

In other very EXCITING news, my siblings-in-law Josh and Bex Mann have finally arrived to the states with their baby girl, Mercy! It’s funny. It’s not like we get to see them or even chat with them much while they’re in Oregon, but it feels so good to have them back in Salem! Maybe it’s just knowing they’re a quick, easy, good connection of a phone call away that feels so great. We got to chat with them on the phone the day after they got home and it was so refreshing to hear their voices. I don’t think I would have known before they took the step, but it feels so wonderful to have parents and a baby among this generation of Manns. I’m so thankful for their new little family, and I am so looking forward to taking notes as these two incredible people raise a daughter.

I could write about a handful of other wonderful things I’m looking forward to and excited about, but this should do for now. So thankful to be alive!

A Tribute to 2010

Last year I started off the New Year looking ahead. I distinctly remember feeling like January 1st, 2010 was a clean fresh start with endless possibilities for new and great things. After revisiting a blog post I wrote in honor of the new year, I couldn’t help but peruse other old blog posts to see how the year had turned out. I think reminiscing is a good and healthy practice that everyone should discipline themselves to do every now and then. And so. Here I write a tribute to the year 2010, in the form of “Things that Happened in the Year 2010:”

We got a motorcycle.

Turns out there’s nothing like owning an old Honda CB350 in LA. I think the thing I miss most about living in a place where the weather is always favorable is being able to go for late afternoon rides anytime of the year.

The World’s Fair Book and Supper Club was born.

Inspired by Matt Smith and dreamt up by my husband and Jonathan Charles Wright, the supper club was (and still is) a huge success. Jeremy and I hosted the first meeting. We made a six-course meal complete with wine pairings and Joseph Conrad’s favorite cocktail, the Singapore Sling.

Wes Anderson brought us The Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The fact that my husband saw this movie in theaters twice is testimony enough that its a best film of 2010. If you still haven’t seen it, you’ve been foolish.

Stories Books and Cafe released the recipe for the worlds most fantastic veggie chili.

I still can’t believe the man behind the counter offered to write his very own self-perfected recipe on a piece of paper for me. Boy oh boy, we’ve reaped the benefits of this one more than once.

I read this book:

And what a great idea it was. Everyone should read George MacDonald’s fairy tales. I recommend reading this entire collection. I have yet to read his longer works. Better add this to my list of things to do in 2011.

We discovered Scoops.

Scoops: the place that made me believe in gelato. Once we found this gem, we went there all the time. What flavors! One of my personal favorites: pear white wine.

I ate artichokes for the first time.

When I lived in LA, I learned of the glory of fresh vegetables. I wish Abundant Harvest could have followed us to Chicago. It was thanks to our CSA these artichokes found their way into our hearts and bellies.

My husband got a masters.

All those long nights at LMU finally paid off. I was very proud.

Jeremy finished his last year at JCMS (Johnny Cochran Middle School) and was hired by Teach for America.

Getting hired by TFA in Chicago was a surprisingly new direction for our lives. We made the decision to leave LA and packed our bags to leave within the next two months.

We said goodbye to our first apartment.

I’m convinced there’s a very real possibility we may never again live in a place as wonderful as 1331 1/2 Laveta Terrace. I loved everything about it.

We drove across the country in a giant Penske truck.

We lost our AC in the middle of the dessert, blew a tire, busted our trailer and still managed to make it to Chicago in one piece.

Chicago became our new home.

Summertime was a great time to come to Chicago. We quickly grew fond of the place and settled right in.

I got a new job.

I was amazed to find a job in a CTICU so quickly after moving to a new city.

I finally convinced Jeremy it would be a good idea to get a dog. Enter William.

What a brilliant idea. We love this little guy.

I discovered Mumford and Sons, and also fell a little bit in love with the music of Sufjan Stevens.

I’m late, yes I know. But boy have these two discoveries added lots of good to my life.

Jeremy and I rode 50 miles on our bikes in Hancock county, Ohio.

My trusty steed made it the whole way in mint condition, but we suffered two bum tires on Jeremy’s bike.

I survived the dreaded GRE.

I never thought I’d have to take this test, but I made it through with no major casualties.

I took up knitting.

Here’s the beginnings of my first project: a scarf.

I became an aunt.

Thanks to two of our favorite people in the whole wide world, we have a baby niece named Mercy in Ethiopia. Josh and Becca finally received news of a baby girl waiting for them to become her legal parents in just over a month!

We dove into wintertime for the first time in seven years.

It’s been a long time since we’ve really known winter. I am now the proud owner of a down parka. My husband has started drinking coffee. Big changes, people.

So there you have it. It’s hard to believe 2010 started out on a motorcycle in sunny California and ended in a down parka on the streets of Chicago. What a great year! I’m so blessed. Here’s to another great year behind us, with high hopes for the year ahead! Happy new year, folks.

Real love for this city

Truth is, I’ve had a difficult relationship with the city of Chicago over the past few months. Objectively, it’s a great city; better than LA. It’s got a lot going for itself. Decent public transportation, incredible architecture and history, successful sports teams (for the most part), actual weather. People love Chicago. And I think that’s my problem.

I don’t know when or why, but somewhere in my growing up years I developed a value of loving the underdog. Loyalty to places, ugly animals, sports teams that no one wants to be loyal to. This has made it very difficult to love Chicago with my whole heart. PEOPLE GO CRAZY FOR THIS PLACE!

But what a silly reason not to love a place. It really is great, and–more importantly–it’s mine now. So let’s quick reveal to the world the things that are not peachy about Chicago, so that the world has the truth and I can get on with enjoying my new home city:

1. Nature is far from here. Yes, there are trees, but where is the hiking? Where is the camping? Not that close. (Side note: did I miss fall? I saw some yellow trees, but what about the reds and oranges? Was that it?)

2. The air is not that clean. I smell trash sometimes.

3. This place is seg-re-gated. I see one person in this coffee shop who isn’t white.

4. Watch out if you own a vehicle here. The City of Chicago is ALL about taking your money. 6 hours at an impound lot, an hour in court, and another impending court date and we still haven’t gotten our $170 back for parking in what was NOT a tow zone, thank you very much.

5. People are way too into sports. (We’ve only been here four months and I know the mascots for all of Chicago’s sports teams.) I am skeptical all the people who claim to LOVE the Bears, the Blackhawks, the Cubs *or* White Sox, AND the Bulls are real sports fans. (Can you seriously be THAT into EVERY sport?)

Ok. You’re informed. Now we can all love Chicago with a real love!!!

Recently we saw this guy (Sufjan Stevens!) at the historic Chicago Theater. Boy what a great concert to see IN CHICAGO. Great great great times. That’s three greats. Props to my husband for suggesting attending this concert AND for laying down the cash to do so. Something else great about the concert was that we got to have drinks with the Van Elswyks beforehand AND we convinced them to stay the night at our place (instead of making the long trek back to theirs late in the night). It was a wonderful evening and we got to enjoy a delightful morning with them as well. Win.

Something else recent and completely unrelated: my friend Emily Schmunk is engaged to her boyfriend Kyle!!! Emily is this wonderful girl I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know since moving to Chicago. Turns out we went to Biola together. Also turns out she’s one of my favorite people to spend time with. I feel like we see the world through similar eyes, and she’s just great to be around. What a blessing to have found such a friend so quickly in a new and unfamiliar city. Her and her boyfriend have been dating longer than Jeremy and I ever did, which gives you an idea of what a neat thing it is to see them engaged. Jeremy and I are going to an engagement party for them tomorrow night. FUN.

Also fun: I’m really starting to feel at home in my job. I like the people I work with and I’m learning so much. I spent the past three days taking care of one of the sickest patients in our ICU. I made it through intubating her, bronching her, scoping her, placing central lines, starting her on continuous dialysis, giving her 15 rounds of various blood products, keeping her blood pressure stable, fighting to control all her bleeding, and talking her family through everything. The first day I had her she didn’t start out crazy sick. I was with her when she went downhill and after my first day with her I figured they’d pass her off to someone more experienced. To my surprise, I had her for two more days. It was sort of a wake up call: I’m not so inexperienced anymore. What an encouragement it was to see that my superiors and co-workers allowed me to take on so much responsibility. I had a lot of help from them those three days, and they were three difficult, long shifts that undoubtedly made me a better nurse. This is the kind of job I’ve been hoping for.

God has been so good to us in Chicago. William is behaving much better. Ma and Pa come next weekend. My husband is doing great at his new job AND is making our closet/dog room/book-stashing room into a lovely, cozy little office. It’s chilly outside. It’s November. Life is so good. It’s incredible how many things I get to enjoy. It has to be true that I take far too much for granted.

Dear west London, thanks for the music.

It’s official. I’ve found a favorite.

I hate when people ask me what my favorite of anything is. Movie? Color? Place to eat? It doesn’t matter what it is; I hate it. Favorite is such a strong word. It’s not fair. I can never provide an answer that represents myself well and is actually true. It drives me nuts. (You should know that I’m aware I am a little crazy. That’s beside the point.)

Moving on. I have a new favorite band. A favorite band. Perhaps someday I’ll regret claiming that Mumford and Sons is my favorite band, but today I just cannot help myself. I bought their album on itunes. It’s official.

I found these peeps at Lollapalooza, of all places. “Lolla”–as it is affectionately called by music-loving Chicagoans–is a huge 3-day outdoor music festival that happens in Grant Park every summer. Jeremy and I coughed up the cash to attend one day, to take part in a major Chicago summer tradition.

One of Jeremy’s friends had told us that, as crazy as giant outdoor festivals can be (not to mention sweaty, crowded, boozy), Lolla was a neat opportunity to discover unfamiliar bands and new music. At the time I wasn’t so convinced, but still was looking forward to seeing bands like MGMT and The Arcade Fire perform live.

We arrived in the early afternoon, and stumbled upon a crowd waiting for Mumford and Sons to perform. Jeremy knew of them, and I remembered my friend Emily saying they were really great, so we stood in the hot sun under an umbrella and waited for them to come on. As I watched and listened, I said to myself, “I think I’m becoming a fan right now.” And I was.

photo by: Matt Ellis

Everything about this band is awesome. They’re described as four young men with “fire in their bellies, romance in their hearts, and rapture in their masterful, melancholy voices.” They come from west London and play the most brilliant music with clever lyrics and a wide variety of instruments. You’ve got to love a band that utilizes an accordion, a madolin, a banjo, and a dobro (have you ever even heard that word?). They all sing. They all play all the instruments. It’s clear they play music for the love of it, and that they don’t take themselves too seriously. Need I say more?

This music reminds me of all the reasons I love music. I’m so glad I have eardrums.

Things are Good in Chicago

Summer’s here. Summer is more than here. The longest day of the year has come and gone. But I feel like my summer’s just begun. I’m finally starting to feel settled into our Chicago home and it feels good. Sure, I’m going to jump back into working in less than two weeks, but in Chicago summer is SUMMER whether you’re working full time or not. And we’ve still got at least one and a half (fingers crossed) solid months of it left.

June 29th was the evening we spent our first night in our new home. It feels like months ago. Our incredibly patient and hard-working parents spent several days with us putting the place together. Before we knew it, we were on our own in a new city to start the next chapter of our lives. I loved it. I love Chicago. It’s the perfect fusion of my recently developed love for urban life and everything good about growing up in the Midwest. It’s hot and humid and stays warm at night. Our street is lined with beautiful trees and colorful flowers. I want to walk everywhere, and I feel like like a day hardly goes by that I don’t discover some incredible place to eat. Here’s a picture of this bagel shop down the street I just love. I cannot get enough of their honey walnut cream cheese.

We’ve only been here 24 days and I have a job, Jeremy is enjoying his, and we’ve met an incredibly wonderful group of people. There isn’t much more I could ask for at this point; God has pretty much dropped it all into my lap. If there was ever any doubt that moving to Chicago was the right thing to do, it’s GONE.

In a week and a half I start my new job. I’ll be working in the Cardiac/Transplant ICU at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, which is located downtown. The neighborhood is called Streeterville and it’s just north of the Loop, which is considered the heart of downtown and home to the central business district, where most of the tallest most famous buildings in Chicago reside. Getting to Streeterville isn’t too tricky without a car, thanks to the train and the Chicago bus.

Leaving my job at UCLA was one of the hardest things about leaving Los Angeles. I was anxious about looking for a new job when I felt like I was right where I wanted to be. I can’t tell you how excited I am to start this job, and how fortunate I feel to have gotten it. I’ll be working in an environment very similar to UCLA with a pretty similar patient population. The ICU cares for patients who have had cardiac surgery, cardiac transplants, other solid organ transplants, and possibly even in the next year lung transplants. It seems like a very solid unit with really neat people who are incredibly knowledgeable and serious about caring for their patients well. I’m confident I’ll be challenged there.

Jeremy is already doing a great job in his new work environment. Working as a Program Director for Teach for America seems like such a great fit for him. He highly respects and enjoys his staff already and is eager to start working with his new teachers. He’ll be in charge of supporting 18 core members, 14 of whom will be teaching special ed. for the first time. It’s his job to make sure these teachers’ students are progressing, and that his teachers are doing well despite facing the most difficult challenges and situations they may ever experience. These sound like daunting tasks, but I don’t doubt he’ll do great.

In other news, we’re on the hunt for a little pup! We’ve been talking about getting a Yorkie for a while and we’re finally taking steps to make that dream a reality. I’m pumped, and incredibly eager to find the right one and bring him home. You can count on lots of pictures and plenty of flip footage in the near future.

In conclusion things are going well, we really like Chicago, and-as always-you are WELCOME TO VISIT.

Success and the Road Ahead

FINALLY. A new post. Right? Ok so maybe you haven’t been eagerly waiting to hear from me, but I’ve been eager to find myself back at my wordpress again. 

We went to Chicago.

I had two hopes for this trip: 1. Find an apartment; 2. Get excited to live in Chicago. 

Mission accomplished. Done and done. What a city! It rained nearly the entire time we were there and we still walked everywhere (my feet were sore for a couple days following our return home). The streets are narrow, the sidewalks are wide and there are trees everywhere! People were nice and they were proud of their city. We saw squirrels and birds and butterflies all over the place. The architecture was a pleasure to look at and public transportation was never too far. Here’s us the day we signed our lease (in front of our apartment of course):

We love our apartment in LA. Love love love it. We thought it’d be hard to find a place that could make us feel the way our current apartment made us feel the night we first found it. But when we walked into this little living space, we both knew right away we wanted it to be our new home. It’s perfect. The walls need some new paint, and we’re downsizing when it comes to closet space, but it has all the old world Chicago charm I could ask for. It’s a couple blocks walk to the El, a hop, skip and a jump to the park, and down the street from a delicious bagel shop (yes!). 

Needless to say, we came home from Chicago excited to go back.

Jeremy had eighth grade graduation on Monday so he is now officially on Summer Break. As he was finishing up, I managed to stumble upon a couple of open positions in ICUs at a great Chicago hospital, Northwestern Memorial.

After talking with a recruiter at the beginning of the week, I now have two interviews scheduled for July 7th. I’m excited about the opportunity but keeping my expectations in check.

We’ve been spending time with friends and packing up a storm most of the week. We spent the better part of today planning paint colors for the new pad, experimenting with design websites and varying color palates. We’re excited about what we’ve come up with for the living room, dining room, bed room, and kitchen (can’t wait to get paint on the walls!!!):

We’re extremely fortunate to have two sets of loving parents meeting us in Chicago to help us paint, unpack, and enjoy our new city for the first few days. 

I know there will probably be rough patches ahead. Perhaps dead ends in the job search. Long days with little to do and no close friends to spend time with. Bad weather days and days where the dog pees on the leather couch (DID I MENTION WE’RE GETTING A YORKIE?!). But I can’t help feeling positive about it all for now. The Lord has so taken care of us thus far and He’s proved his faithfulness time and time again. Here’s to a close future full of eager springs, restful summers, beautiful falls, and dag-nabit HEARTY winters!

in recent news

Six years, ten months in LA and I still haven’t been discovered. Why stay, right?

Kidding. I’m not kidding about leaving, though. We really are picking up and moving this family in slightly over a month, headed for the windy city. The opportunity, weighing process, and decision to go all came in less than a week. And the final word on all of this happened April 30.

It’s funny how plans, expectations, life trajectories can change in moments. I remember the day Jeremy interviewed for this job. He called me, sort of raved about his time with Chicago, and suddenly we were both asking ourselves, “Could we consider leaving? Now?” We hung up agreeing to dial our respective sets of parents to see if they’d think we were crazy.

If you know us AT ALL, you know that we have come to LOVE this city. Los Angeles is our first real home as the junior Manns. We love our apartment. We love our neighborhood. We love our friends. Our time here has been more rich with blessing than we ever could have imagined two years ago. We weren’t looking for a reason to leave.

But God gave us a reason. A couple reasons, actually. And now–after the decision has been made and we’re jumping into moving plans–an abundance of reasons. Thank God (literally). I feel incredibly confident we’re doing the right thing. And as a result, I’m beyond excited to discover what God has for us in Chicago.

I hear it’s even more of a city than LA. I’m told you can actually get rid of a car and depend on public transportation. I know it must get colorful in the fall there. I think Chicago and I will get along just fine. And my grandma is only 6 hours away.