With only five days left, I give you, picutres.

The View from the Hancock Tower

Whirlyball (Basketball meets Lacrosse meets Bumper Cars

Overpriced Underwhelming Beignet at Taste of Chicago

The View of my Neighborhood from the Beach

One of many gorgeous views of the Chicago River

Where I live- Baumhart Hall

My BFF :)

Cloudy Day Skyline/Beach View

Chicago So Far

Though I expected to be insanely busy while in Chicago, I'm actually facing the opposite dilemma.

I'm spending most of my time in deep thought, which is not always a good thing. We have INSANE amounts of time to chill, and though I have desperately needed that in my life, it's about to twist my head into all sorts of knots.

I'm overwhelming myself with thoughts of my next steps and how to make them happen, and it's scary. I'm daydreaming even more than usual, and that's dangerous.

My time here has taught me some valuable lessons, for which I am super thankful. Primarily, I've learned to relate to an ENTIRELY different demographic of kids, and I realized that a lot of the struggles of teenagers are universal, BUT there are unique circumstances faced by each demographic that fall into their own category. I'm also reassured that the group with which I primarily have experience is DEFINITELY the group I am called to be around. I feel a little lost in this mix, but I'm enjoying the experience nonetheless.

I'm also EXTREMELY blessed by my living circumstances. We have the most amazing location, and even though I'm a little tired of looking at the same restaurants and high-end stores over and over, I will probably never live in a neighborhood this classy again, so it's great to enjoy in the meantime. I'm two blocks from the famed Water Tower, and that means I'm steps from the Magnificent Mile (which is really only magnificent if you have a magnificent bank account). I am forever admiring the architecture in this city - and it's pretty famous for it.

Of all the coolness in my hood, there are two things that stand-out the most.

One, I can walk to the beach, which means I can run on the beach, and the fact that Chicago's beach is right in the city makes it my favorite beach of all beaches. There is not much more in the world that is more beautiful to me than a city skyline, but throw in some blue water and sand, and you've got quite the masterpiece.

Two, call it what you want, but one of the many nicknames of my neighborhood is the "Cathedral District." There are BEAUTIFUL churches all over, and when I'm on town duty, I like to plop myself down on their stairs and entranceways. The other day, I stumbled in to Fourth Presbyterian's afternoon jazz service, which sits in the courtyard between its French Gothic building and it's English Gothic building. There I was, worshipping, to jazz, on a BEAUTIFUL Sunday afternoon with the shadows of skyscrapers like the Hancock Tower keeping me cool.

I'll post some pictures of some of my adventures as soon as I get them uploaded to my computer.

In the meantime, I still want you to send me stuff (see address below).

If you wanna reach me...

I like old fashioned mail. stamps. letters. i think you've heard of it.

if you feel like sending any while I'm in Chitown, this is the place:

Danielle Jeffcoat

Discovery Internships

c/o Conference Services

Loyola University Chicago

26 East Pearson- Baumhart Hall

Chicago, IL 60611

I'm taking a facebook hiatus, so you gotta reach me via all those old fashioned things like, oh, I dunno, cell phones, email... but letters would be cool. or cookies. or New Orleans Blend coffee.

Just make sure it gets there before July 24th, otherwise, send it to brooklyn. i like getting mail there too :)

Full Speed Ahead

People ask me all the time how it is that I can work as many hours as I do and still manage to breathe.

This week has been proof of just the way that happens, and none of it is because of me.

First of all, I am way ADD, and if I am not working intense hours in multiple places, I am more than bored, I am miserable. I don't do well with downtime. This is why I manage to fill my "downtime" with activities that stimulate my mind, and remind me of why I am here (God, praising him, serving him, etc...)

So in his way, God allows me to get by in a routine that is not only "survivable," but it is actually enjoyable.

Thursdays and Fridays are extremely long on my new schedule. Basically, after getting home late from church on Wednesday, I have to be up early on Thursday to hop the train to whatever school I've been assigned to for the day, only to run to the train after school so I can be at Barnes and Noble as close to my originally scheduled time as possible. Then, I work a full shift and get out after close, meaning I usually get home somewhere around 11:45. The next day, the exact same thing has to happen.

This week, I was assigned a job in my neighborhood for Thursday, which meant two things:

1.) No train for me to get to school

2.) No train for me to get to Barnes and Noble

Not using the subway gives more time to play with, as I didn't have to leave until much later, AND, I was able to come home for lunch (and take a nap....).

THEN, on Friday, I got out of work almost three hours earlier than planned. This enabled me to have an hour of time to myself in Downtown Brooklyn before heading off to Barnes and Noble. In that hour, I sat on a bench in front of Borough Hall in the sunshine while listening to the tunes of the keytar across from me, as a man used it to play everything from Michael Jackson to John Mayer. They were also filming Law and Order Criminal Intent on the street corner, where I saw Jeff Goldblum (who will forever be, to me, the quirky guy from Independence Day).

SATURDAY, I went for a run, which I planned on only doing for twenty to thirty minutes, as I haven't been keeping up and am out of shape

BUUUTTTTT

I ended up along the waterfront in Red Hook, which is now my favorite place in New York City. It's full of little bakeries, view of the harbor, old trolly cars, gardens, adorable houses, cobblestone streets, abandoned coffee factories... you get the point. There is apparently a man who sells key lime pies there that are supposed to be the best in the city. That's my next adventure. I then walked up Smith Street to work instead of Court and did some shopping both there, and at the Fulton Mall.

I call that a Saturday.

To round it all off, I have two days of subbing and Graffiti ahead of me, then I'm running to the airport, and hopping a plane to Chicago, where I plan to be completely lazy and unproductive for two whole days with my bestest friend in the whole wide world :) I see lots of really bad nineties movies in our future.

After Chicago, it's Mississippi for a wedding, some quality family time, and some adventures with friends I don't see often.

All in all, if you wonder how my schedule stays balanced, realize that these fantastic little breaks are constantly interspersed in there somewhere. It keeps me going. You just have to be willing to recognize those times. When you're life is overwhelming, be mindful of even the smallest breaks you have, and take the opportunity to thank God for them. Then, use them to take advantage of the places, people, and situations he's put into your life.

So I wanna be a writer

My writing skills are not so good anymore. I'm working on that.

I don't have a topic to write about. I'm working on that as well.

Jess says I should write about my love of sports. I've considered this. That said, I'm going to blog about what I am doing tonight.

After a semi-uneventful day in Milwaukee yesterday, we returned to Chicago very late. We've been discussing gracing Wrigley Field with our presence tonight, so upon my return from brew-town, I tried to browse stub-hub. Last I'd checked tickets were not set at ridiculous prices, so I was preparing myself for about a thirty dollar purchase.

Thirty dollars is what I'd payed for my last trip to Fenway. That, to me, is a very reasonable price for seeing the team with the most interesting history in baseball play in the park with the most interesting history in baseball.

The Cubs, in my own personal opinion, are the second most interesting team in baseball with the second most interesting park in baseball.

When we got to the apartment last night, stub hub was not working properly. We had to wait until this morning to buy tickets.

I have six words for the Cubs now

Who do you think you are?

We had to pay an obnoxious amount for our not-so-good seats to a night game. Now I know, this is a big game, and I'm excited. Pedro is pitching for the Phillies. It's Wednesday Night Baseball. I'm seeing Samardzija for the second time in person (once I saw him play football for Notre Dame). I'm not regretful. I'm glad we bought the tickets. I will be very proud to have attended this particular game.

BUT, I think it's absurd how much they charged for this experience. I could have, of course, not paid it, but I'm pretty sure I'd be very very sad if I did not.

Tonight should be nice. Watching the Bayou Brothers represent, and taking in the atmosphere of ONE of the most historic ballparks for the first time will be a worthwhile experience.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Somewhere between New York City and Chicago

I love Chicago.

It's different. It's not what I expected it to be. It feels smaller than I had anticipated.

But I love Chicago.

As far as feeling like a turn-of-the-20th Century midwestern town, it's right on, and I love it for that reason. I haven't gotten to explore much at this point, but I am enjoying what I've experienced so far.

Most of all, I'm enjoying Jessica time. I miss mer a lot.

Last night, my new friend Tommy that I met in Puerto Rico (but lives here), took us out for a little bit of an insider perspective of things, as well as a great dinner. He and his friend Roy were lots of fun, and they've been here for a long time, so it was kinda neat to hear the stories they had.

We did lots of walking, talking, and drinking coffee.

Or in Jeopardy terms: What are Danielle's three favorite things to do in a big city?

After the dinner we had (which is at a place known for its large portions), it was nice to just stroll along the river and enjoy the city lights while getting to spend time with fantastic people. It reminded me of some nights I've had in New York this summer (most of which have involved frozen yogurt). The difference is, here, I'm exploring somewhere new, which makes it even sweeter.

On the flight over, I slept as always, except about forty-five minutes into the flight, I woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. This normally, would frustrate the heck out of me, seeing as how I prefer to sleep from takeoff to touchdown. This time though, I decided to have some quality God time. I was listening to a worship playlist on my iPod and really thinking about the words in some of those songs, and how lately, despite serving as a missionary and enjoying the heck out of it, I've been a bit stale in my relationship with him. It's been driving me nuts. On the plane though, I started to get it. I started to really see the things he's done in my life. I broke out my Bible and started reading. As someone who normally does this daily, it shouldn't seem like a big deal, but like I said, stale lately. Most of my recent Bible reading hasn't been with the heart I know I should have.

I normally always choose an aisle seat, but for some reason yesterday when I got on the plane (and Southwest lets you choose as you get on), I decided to sit by the window. I stared out over the view and thought of all the things I've been blessed with, and the experiences I've had, and I was reminded to stop feeling sorry for myself. I cannot imagine having a greater life. Why am I trying to dwell on the things I cannot control and make myself miserable, when I could just as easily be admiring the blessings and realizing what it is I have. Even some of the things I think I want in my life, when I really look at it, I don't have any need for right now. I should enjoy being young and single in a new city, and all of the opportunities that lie within that.

So my Chicago experience so far hasn't been tainted with any negativity, and I feel my stale period coming to an end (thank goodness!).