Fall Break.

Fall break was October 16-20. I took full advantage of those few days and packed as much into my break as possible.

To start off, I made my break a day longer and skipped classes on Friday. (I don't suggest class-skipping, but it was necessary.) I left on Thursday afternoon with a car full of people and drove to Chicago. We made some pit stops, listened to the Age of Adz, and read Harry Potter. Out loud. It was a fantastic car ride, even though it took 12 hours.

We arrived at the home of a family whose daughter lives on my hall (she's wonderful) to find mattresses set out and a plate of chocolate chip bars ready for us to eat. On Friday, we slept late, ate breakfast, took our time getting ready, grabbed coffee, and headed into the city. By the time we found the train and got into Chicago, it was 4:00-ish. We went to Millennium Park and saw The Bean, then to Giordano's (best pizza EVER) for dinner.

Me and The Bean.

Reflection shot. Totally necessary.

With full bellies, we walked over to the Chicago Theater. (Work off the pizza? I think yes.) It was only a matter of minutes until we experienced the reason for our entire trip...

Sufjan Stevens.

Words cannot express how phenomenal this concert was. All I could think the entire time he was on stage was that this man is a musical genius. Seriously. He played the majority of The Age of Adz, including I Walked, Vesuvius, and Impossible Soul. He ended with Chicago, saying that Chicago is his dream city, and he used to escape there when he was younger. He said he still escapes, it just involves a tour bus and hotel room now.

He came back for an encore, and played some of his songs off of Illinoise. Decatur, Casimir Pulaski Day, and John Wayne Gacy, Jr. were among these. It was a fantastic experience, and I would gladly drive 12 hours to see him live again.

Saturday, we woke up early for an awesome pancake breakfast with the family we were staying with and to spend more time in the city.

Carl Sandburg on the train in.

The city view from Millennium Park

We did lots of walking, ate lunch at Max's Hot Dogs, and payed a visit to the American Girl Place!

Ok so this is not a great picture. I was overly excited and on the phone with Mommom. She took me on a trip to Chicago to go to the American Girl Place when I was ten, so I had to call her. I feel like it's only appropriate to be talking on the phone.

Sarah's is cuter for sure.

Saturday night I went to DeMotte, Indiana and hung out with Jess and Josh. THey grilled out, I ate their food, and we had a bon fire. It was really fun. Went to church with them the next morning, and then home!

This is the only picture I got. At the gas station being dropped off. Haha.

I spent Sunday night, all Monday, and Monday night at Mom and Dad's. Everyone was off of work and school, and we had lots of fun family time. No, really. It was fun. It included long chats and Harry Potter reading/watching. We had butter (root) beer and chocolate frogs (pumpkins) to go along with the movie. It was really fun. Tuesday included spending a few hours at the Greco's with Lauren, Andrew, and Kate and eating cookies. I went to dinner with David, and then we drove around and went to our old houses and then sat in our elementary school parking lot and talked. I went to Melissa's after that, and made puppy chow and hollowed out pumpkins. Then to Athens to spend the night with Katie! Wednesday I saw Mommom and Aunt K, then picked Virginia up from the airport and Asia up from her house and then back to school! Then went to the Chatt airport to get Lyss.

Basically, it was a fantastic break. I came back to school with a very full heart. Weary as it may have been from being so busy, it was very encouraged and overjoyed.