Denmark Withdrawal

I am going though some major Denmark withdrawal!! Ever since I noticed that Chicago is similar to Denmark, I can't stop thinking about my time abroad! Tonight I was the person who made dinner and I cooked Danish food. :) It was super delicious! And I talked some of my roommates into trying pickled beets. Needless to say, I don't think they enjoyed them. Which is fine by me because now I have the whole jar to myself!

I found a blog online today that has only made my symptoms worse. My Danish Kitchen is written by a woman who is Danish but living in the US with her husband. She has so many delicious recipes that I cannot wait to try out!! And she posted links to companies online that will ship Danish products to the States. I am so tempted to buy some kammerjunkere!!!!!!!! There were a lot of delicious things in Denmark that I ate and loved, but had completely forgotten about until today.

Oh Denmark, one day I will have money and will be able to afford visiting! Until then, I will just have to make due. Good night everyone! It is way past my bedtime and I need to get off the computer before I spend my entire monthly stipend on groceries from Denmark. :)

What I Did Today + Room Pictures!

Today I reorganized my room. And I think I like it now...before I was sharing it with another person. But now I moved some stuff around, and it feels more comfortable to me! I will put up some pictures. My room is a little messy though, so no judging! Haha :)

Today we didn't really have a lesson during Elevation. I had planned to talk to the kids about Cain & Abel, but there were only 6 kids. We normally have 30- 35 kids, so I decided that it would be best to wait until the majority of the class was there. Instead we played Never-Have-I-Ever. It was a lot of fun to get to know the 6 kids that were there better. After Elevation, I stayed for the Young Adult gathering, which was a really interesting discussion. We talked about Jesus' crucifixion. Realistically, that isn't a topic that I have spent much time thinking about. I feel like most of the things that we talk about during the Young Adult gatherings are topics that I have never really put a lot of thought into. I definitely think that between the gatherings and the discussions that my house gets into, my beliefs and views are going to be challenged a lot in the coming months.

After the gathering, I wandered around the city. I didn't really go anywhere specific, I just walked around the Loop. The Loop is the area of downtown that is contained within the loop of train tracks that the El makes. There are so many beautiful buildings in Chicago! It was a perfect day outside today, and so I took advantage of the warm weather to just wander and explore.

The Chicago Marathon was today. When I was walking around the city I saw a bunch of people with their medals on. It was really funny because most of them wanted to take off the medal because they felt weird wearing it, but their friends and family members that were with them wanted them to leave the medal on. I could definitely picture me and Rebecca in that situation--me forcing Rebecca to leave the medal on. I congratulated a lot of them, which I like to think made them happy. Running 26.2 miles is no small feat. I don't know that I would go so far as to say that I want to run a marathon one day, but I definitely think I want to run a half-marathon! My only problem is finding the motivation to get to the gym. It is especially hard right now because I keep putting off finding a gym! I know that once winter hits I won't be able to run outside, so I had better get a move on!

Ok, here are some pictures of my room! I will try and upload some more tomorrow morning because I am sure they will turn out better in the natural light.

Week's Goal: Find a gym!!

One Month In...

A month in. I can't believe it! It feels like I've been here both longer and shorter...if that is at all possible. Chicago is amazing! Sometimes I forget that I live here...I get caught up in the mundane, daily task of commuting to work on the El. But then I see something that reminds me, like the family I saw on the train yesterday after church. It was obviously a mother and father visiting their semi-grown up daughter. She seemed to be around my age, probably 25 or so. But the parents were so happy to be on the El! It just reminded me that I am living in a city that people come to for vacation. I don't want to forget that...I also don't want to put off experiencing all that Chicago has to offer until its too late. I mean, my office at Fourth overlooks Michigan Avenue! The view is something that people would probably pay to see. There are so many different neighborhoods, museums, stores, restaurants, parks, etc that I want to see and experience before my year is done.


It's funny. I've been realizing lately that one of the reasons I really like Chicago so far is that it reminds me of Copenhagen. The architecture and city layout are completely different--there were buildings I walked past everyday in Copenhagen that were from the 1300s. And the city was not designed to be on a grid like Chicago. But the people somewhat remind me of Danes. Maybe it is because their winter climate is similar, but I just get the feeling that Chicagoans really appreciate the summer and take full advantage of all the many parks. There was one day that I was in Lincoln Park walking between bus stops on my way from Fourth to PAWS and I just stopped and sat down on a park bench. I was surrounded by beautiful flowers and green grass. All around me were people running, walking their dogs, playing with their kids, and just enjoying the beautiful warm weather. It made me feel like I was back in the Tivoli Gardens! Granted, I don't think that it was ever 80 degrees outside when I was over there, but that's not the point. Now that the weather is getting colder people aren't outside as often. It will be interesting to see if the winter months remind me of Denmark as well. Probably because it was really the only time I've experienced living in a climate where it snows!


One of the other things that I realized recently is that although I tried really hard to not have any expectations, I had them. Everyone warned me that setting the bar too high would only make it harder to enjoy my time in Chicago, etc. But I think it is impossible to start a new chapter in your life without having a few expectations! I had expectations about my roommates, my job sites, the house we would be living in, the neighborhood, what church I would attend and Chicago as a city. For the most part, my expectations were completely off. It has taken me a little while to get used to, but I think I am glad that my expectations were not met. I am far from perfect, but I know that by August I will be a better person because I will have been put into situations that were unexpected. If you live in a world where everything is exactly what you want it to be, then where does personal growth come in? I believe that when we are put in new situations it is God challenging us to grow. When I agreed to accept the call to serve a year in Chicago, I definitely had the expectation that at the end of my time here I would have a clear picture in my minds as to how I am meant to live my life. Aka I thought that I would be able to discern graduate school plans. Based on how this past month has gone, I still have high hopes but I have accepted the fact that I probably will need more time. 

Aunt Barbara's Famous Chicken Enchiladas

I have had writer's block for the past week or so... I never thought it would be so hard to write a blog about my life. When I was in Copenhagen I think it was easier...I'm not sure why. Maybe because I was also traveling and taking classes? Either way, I have been racking my brain trying to decide what to blog about! (And in my spare time watching copious amounts of Mad Men! A seriously amazing show...) I finally have a few blog posts in mind, so hopefully I will be writing more frequently.


I made my Aunt Barbara's Famous Chicken Enchiladas. I added the famous to the name. I've made them for a couple of different groups of people and everyone seems to love them! I know I certainty love to make them! I will include the recipe down below for anyone who wants to try them out!! I made them because we had a special dinner last tonight. One of my housemates is leaving us! :( Stephanie was here last year living in Chicago, and she was able to stay in the house until her new job started. Well, her new job starts in a few weeks and so she is going to go home for a little while before heading off to William & Mary (I believe) where she is going to be in charge of something...organizing college volunteers, I believe. Anyways, last night was her last night here. It was definitely a bittersweet moment saying goodbye to her! I am sad that she is not going to be a part of our community here in Chicago but I am also excited for her to start her new journey. 


After dinner we watched Saved. For anyone who hasn't seen the movie, I copied and pasted a summary from imdb.com for you to read over. If you just click here, it will take you to the imdb (Internet Movie Database) site.


Mary is a good Christian girl who goes to a good Christian high school where she has good Christian friends, mainly Hilary Faye, and a perfect Christian boyfriend, Dean. Her life seems perfect, until the day that she finds out that Dean may be gay. After "seeing" a vision of Jesus in a pool, she does everything in her power to help him turn straight, including offering up her virginity. But none of it helps because Dean's caught and sent to a "degayification" center and Mary ends up pregnant. It's during her time of need that she becomes real friends with the school's set of "misfits," including Cassandra, the school's only Jewish girl; Roland, Hilary Faye's wheelchair-bound brother, and Patrick, the skateboarder son of the school's principal, Pastor Skip; whilst Hilary Faye turns her into a social outcast.


Anyways, the movie was a lot of fun and it was great to have one last community gathering before Stephanie left! I highly recommend renting and watching the film. Today was my first day at the 26th Street Location for PAWS. I will be splitting my time between the 2 different PAWS locations on Thursday and Friday. I had a really good day there and will try to blog about it tomorrow. I hope you all had a wonderful day!

Aunt Barbara's (Famous) Chicken Enchiladas

2 lbs. chicken

4 T. butter

1 large onion

1 lb. chopped spinach

3 c. sour cream

(2) 4 oz. cans chopped green chilies

1 t. ground cumin

¼ c. milk

salt to taste

10-12 flour tortillas

8 oz. Monterey Jack cheese, grated

Poach chicken, cool, then shred into small pieces

Melt butter and sauté onion for 5 minutes

Pre-heat oven to 350, butter large baking dish (13x9)

Steam spinach (I just microwave it), reserve ½ c. of liquid

Combine onion, spinach/liquid, sour cream, chiles, cumin and milk.

Add ½ of the spinach mixture to the chicken, mix well

Fill tortillas with spinach/chicken, place seam side down in baking dish

Cover tortillas with ½ of the grated cheese, then remaining spinach mixture, then top with remaining cheese

Bake until heated throughout and lightly brown (approx. 30 minutes)

More Info about PAWS and the Zoo!!!

I am so excited about this year at PAWS. I had my first 2 days of actual work there on Thursday and Friday. And now that I've had more time to get everything sorted out, I now have somewhat of an idea as to what my duties will be at PAWS.

First off, I am a Level 1 Volunteer in Dog Town and Kitty City. I really want to be at least a Level 2 by the time I am done...which I don't think will be very hard to accomplish. After serving 36 volunteer hours, you are able to take Level 2 training classes. I've already spent 16 hours in Kitty City just the past 2 days, so I think I will get to 36 hours in no time! They have different levels of volunteers because there are some cats and dogs that are more challenging than others. I don't think there can be a Level 3 Volunteer in Kitty City... Anyways! As a Level 1 volunteer, I have a variety of duties. Since I work 8 hours a day, my mornings are usually taken up by cleaning the different cat rooms. The rooms are ridiculously clean, but it is that atmosphere that helps get so many pets adopted! If it smelt terrible and there were stains everywhere, people wouldn't come into the center. I don't mind cleaning the rooms. It is almost like a race against the clock! We have to be ready to open the doors to the public at noon and often PAWS doesn't get weekday morning volunteers. That means it is up to me and the Vet Tech (the one I've been working with is Erin and she is amazingly nice!) to clean all 9 rooms. Some of them are really big! After we clean the rooms, we just have to socialize with the cats. Some of them are really scared because they are confused, so we just help make them feel more comfortable so people will want to adopt them. Finally, we help people who come into the center to adopt a pet! In order for people to go into the pet rooms, they have to take a survey and once they have that survey we (being the volunteers) take them into the specific cat/dog room and let them interact with the animals. On Friday I helped 4 cats get adopted and it was awesome! I haven't actually volunteered at all in Dog Town, mostly because Kitty City gets fewer volunteers and I want to make sure the help is evenly distributed. But mostly the responsibilities are the same, except you also have to walk the dogs.