If you have slow internet.... Good luck.

Here are the promised pictures! About a million of them. I hope they all load for you. And they are in no particular order because I can't figure that much out. Haha, but at least you get pretty images and a sneak peak into what I've been up to!!

A glance into my neighborhood - the Gold Coast - at sunrise. If you are looking to settle in, the median home price in this area was $3,69,000 in October 2007 according to chicagohomeestates.com.

Katie at 6:30 in the morning enjoying the sunrise.

God's beauty and the fulfilling of one of my life dreams - to watch the sun rise over Lake Michigan. I've been able to see it set over the lake a hundred times, but I have always wanted to see it rise over the Lake. On Saturday April 4 I fulfilled that dream.

The blue tree. 8,223 children were abused in Cook County in 2008. 29,940 children were abused in the state of Illinois in 2008. Each year more than 3,000,000 children are abused or neglected throughout the United States. The trees were blue in rememberance of this.

My kitchen and dining area of the Chicago apartment (one of the few times the dishes are not overloading the sink and counter).

The living room and office and sometimes bedroom of the Chicago apartment. The apartment came fully furnished (minus the really sweet floor lamp), so we did not get to pick out the really sweet furniture. Actually, it is all pretty uncomfortable. But it works.

This is back in Jackson. By the mall there was a wonderful cart graveyard going on. I thought it was pretty sweet. I hope I'm not cursed for taking pictures at the cemetary....

The front of my office building. And the typical Chicago vehicle (the mini-cooper) that happened to be parked next to the biggest van in the world. Kind of similar to the fights that the tiny little cars have with the big public transit busses every day. This made me chuckle a little inside.

Katie "sitting" on some pretty sweet "rocks."

Near my office the cobblestone is showing through the pavement. I think it is sweet. I would almost be okay with going back to cobblestone roads. But not really. I just think they look cool.

This was on the Red Line (an El Train). For some reason that man had a kitten with him. I think the kitten was terrfied but it was so super cute!! I have no idea why the kitten was riding the El. Must be the newest form of pet transportation.

The black and white house that apparently couldn't make up its mind.

The snow at the very end of March, on my walk back from church.

And there you have it, folks! A picture post. Not highly exciting captions, but this is a small glimpse into my life over the past month or so. Sorry I have been negligent with my posting, but life is keeping me super busy. And I would really like to pass my classes this semester, even if it is not with flying colors.

I have been keeping a list of cool things I've done in Chicago. Remind me at the end of the semester to post it so you can all really see what I've been up to.

However, despite the lack of posting, I love you all and think of you all often.

Miss you much.

And I finish with this:

"Live simply so that others may simply live."