Stepping into the Holidays

Hello, friend! 

I hope that your Thanksgiving was full of time with the family, football, and good food. 

Did you enjoy your food as much as Ron did? 

My family and I went to Chicago as is our tradition, and visited the McDonalds parade. This time, we had a puppy with us! That was quite the experience, we had a black purse-like bag for Po to sit in, and we tucked him in a blanket so that he wouldn't be chilly in the Windy City!

I think that Po really enjoyed the parade. It was such a coincidence that we brought Po this year to the parade, and that there was a giant Kung Fu Panda as well!

Little pup, big city

Cool painting I saw!

After the parade, we drove to my dad's side of the family in Arlington Heights and celebrated Thanksgiving wth them. 

The next day I visited one of my very best friends, Lexi, and her family!! We brought Po so that they could meet him, and since they have dogs too, he became friends with Dulce the Pomeranian. That night we drove to Zoo Lights in Lincoln Park Zoo! There was a new Holiday Market going on, and ice skating, which drew so many more people downtown that it took forever to find parking! Especially since it was the first day of zoo lights. Maybe next year we can try the ice skating!

I honestly saw one animal at the zoo(a sleeping ape) the entire night which was kind of funny. It was not too chilly outside which made the night so much more enjoyable, and we strolled through the zoo enjoying the lights and talking with old friends from Chicago. 

Candy Cane Land?!

Even though there is a lot of pollution in Chicago, it helps with taking pictures in the dark because it's so lit up everywhere! After seeing all of those zoo lights, I feel like I am definitely in the Christmas spirit now. In fact, we have been listening to Christmas music non-stop ever since Thanksgiving ended. Yep! 

Well, HAPPY BEGINNING OF THE HOLIDAYS!

Joy :)

A Place To Start

Hello, friend!
I have been pretty busy with many events recently, that I haven't had time to sit down and work on a blog post in a while. Also, I think I was sort of stumped on what to write about. I want to try writing more thoughtful blog posts instead of here's this and that, which obviously is hard to avoid. We'll see how this transition works out!

Breakfast at Mickey's Diner Today

I would like to get it out of the way and announce that I have finished applying to seven colleges. I see this as a big step towards adulthood, and am anxiously waiting for (acceptance?) letters to come in. Now, I'm onto the search for scholarships!

By now, it's obvious that the Cubs won the World Series! WOOT WOOT!! For those of you who don't know me as well, I originally lived and grew up in Chicago and then moved to Ann Arbor in 8th grade, so I still see myself as connected to Chicago, especially now that I live closer to it in Wisconsin. I remember going to a Cubs game for a field trip in 5th grade in Mrs. Reynold's class and sitting with my two best friends, and my dad chaperoned. Those were the days. I just wish that I could have been in Chicago for the parade. We're SO close to Chicago and I hope that we can visit the city more often. 

Speaking of sports, three weekends ago, my family and I bought Wisconsin clothes. Last weekend we went to a game! It was a lot of fun, especially since we were winning. Sports can really bring a city together. It seemed like Ann Arbor revolved around UoM and the football team, and here in Madison, everyone is wearing red wherever you go!

The Entrance!

A beautiful sunset over the stadium! And the moon came out.

Here's a quick update on our puppy, Po-

Yes, he has a sweater!

When a puppy wakes up at five am, he thinks that it's play time from then on. My family and I have all had a lack of sleep due to our puppy, Po, but starting last week, he has been waking up at 7 am and patiently waiting to go outside! He's getting trained slowly, and knows how to do commands like sit, down, stay(sort of), and we're teaching him shake at the moment. I recently brought him up into my bedroom and he was so cute on my bed.

Overall, life has been good. I went downtown yesterday with my friend Chiara who is an exchange student from Italy. We ate pizza with noodles on it! It was actually delicious. I highly recommend it, 10/10. Then we went to a couple of stores; one was called, "Soap Opera!" When you walked in, there were rubber ducks EVERYWHERE, and it had all kinds of soap and bath products. It was amazing! 

I'm going to leave you with a quote of the day-

We are constantly learning from our mistakes and how we can improve for the next situation. Don't let the fear of failure hold you back from doing something you love!

Have a great day!

Joy :)