A New Kind of Normal
On Sunday Dan and I took a walk. On that walk, God revamped something in us – He gave us a renewed passion for life. As we walked and talked, we realized we need to keep moving forward. I know I have mentioned that numerous times before. The life God has us living right now is the life that was in His plan all along. It has taken us a long time to get to this point, but we decided we needed to start to “do” stuff together again. Granted we hang out ALL the time together, but we typically just felt comfortable hanging out at Dan’s parent’s house. We felt guilty spending any money because of the job situation, but we know we have to continue to live life. You would think that with all this time we would want to go and do all these things. We will be the first to tell you, that you don’t want to when grieving. Some people dream of having all this time off, but when you are grieving, it is a different feel. But we decided on Sunday that it was time. It was time to do the things that make us happy – the things that bring life back into us. Not that the things we have been doing haven’t. We are just in a different season in life. We want to just be more intentional about the things we do.
As we talked on Sunday, we wondered what a day trip would look like. We both enjoy aquariums, so we thought why not Chicago? So today we hopped on the train and headed to the Shedd Aquarium and downtown Chicago. It was a WONDERFUL, fun, relaxing, rejuvenating day. We both looked at each other and said “this is the new normal.” We need to start doing this more often. We obviously had ample time to talk on the train and we were able to talk about our grieving process. We were not ready to do this type of trip before. Yes, we had the “time,” but emotionally we weren’t ready. We were so spent. Weeks ago, the thought of going to Chicago was overwhelming. Today it wasn’t. It was something we looked forward to. We are excited to do more of these trips in the future. Take more time for us. You may be thinking “isn’t that what you’ve been doing?” Yes, but it was different. We had to do it in the comfort of a home. We both grieved differently. We needed time to just “be.” We had so much to sort through (still kind of do). But this is a way we are able to move forward – getting out, just us two, doing the things we love.
So here’s what our day looked like.
We were so blessed to have such a beautiful day to be in Chicago! Warm, with only needing a light jacket, sun, and a light breeze.
The last aquarium we had been to was about 5 years ago in South Carolina. Granted the Shedd Aquarium seemed MUCH bigger when we were younger, but we still had a LOT of fun! It is just amazing to see God’s creativity with sea creatures!
Chicago skyline
I just LOVE all the color!
Such an interesting face!
They had a jelly fish wing – they were AMAZING!
Sea otters just messin’ around – they look like a big ball, but they are just rollin’ around
Gotta love the dolphins!
This poor sea lion was shot in the head, which made him lose both eyes – he was GREAT though!
The good ole beluga whale (first time I had ever heard of this type of whale)
The show…
I had a great appreciation for city skylines. After being in NYC twice, Chicago seems a little small, but still, a beautiful city!
Can’t go to Chicy-G without going to the BEAN!
Yeah, we are a little odd 🙂
And a little wierd…
So wish we would’ve brought our ice skates!
The Johnny Hancock…man he’s a big one!
This is about as creative as I get with photography…
We walked down to the John Hancock building with hopes of going to the Cheesecake Factory (if you know Dan, you know he is obsessed with cheesecake!). We realized that really, it wasn’t worth the money. So, we walked around the North Face store, and headed to Qdoba instead. I know, sounds boring, but we sat and people watched for awhile and surely is NEVER boring in a city! We realize how abnormal we looked. Kind of touristy with having just jeans on! Dan said at least I had a braid in my hair which added a little pizzazz. Whew! We had SUCH a great time together there! The Christmas decorations were beautiful, the weather couldn’t have been better, and it was good to talk about all that God has done and is doing in our life. Can’t wait til next week Tuesday when we choose something else to do!
