Sick Day

I told Ian my time would come to be sick, and he'd get to take care of me, too. Well, that time would be now. I've come down with a nasty cold, just in time for working on Valentine's Day. Thank goodness for modern medicine! After lying in bed all morning, I now feel well enough to work on church things, blog, stare out the window at the snowflakes — which are starting to accumulate. Yay for boots! Speaking of which, I had a request for a photo of them.

Our one month anniversary was so much fun. We went to this really awesome Italian restaurant, the name of which I cannot currently remember. It was restaurant week. I can't remember if I mentioned this in the last post, but every year, Philadelphia puts on restaurant week, where all these nice restaurants offer a 3 course meal at a discount. Yay for saving!

In the past almost 2 weeks, we've accomplished more city-exploring, decided on a church, and garnered more funny and interesting anecdotes, all of which I shall now share in recap form.

1. Ian and I watched Good Night, and Good Luck, which is a fantastic movie. You should watch it! It's refreshing to hear a story about the media using it's influence in a positive way.

2. We've essentially decided on a church here: Tenth Presbyterian Church. It's within walking distance from our apartment (although it's a challenge in dress shoes when you're running ever-so-slightly late). The music is very traditional — hymns with an organ and accompanists (the first Sunday we went it was a brass ensemble, this past Sunday it was a men's choir). The teaching is sound, and they have great outreach programs. Also, they've got a vibrant college/career group. While we really enjoyed GCC, it's great to be around such a diverse group of people (families, singles, kids, seniors... everyone!). Ian and I decided that at this stage in our life, we need that... to be around more experienced people than ourselves, to learn about life, being married, faith. And everyone we've met so far is incredibly helpful and so welcoming. It feels like home, which I think is something every church should strive for. We've got contact information for a bible study too, with the executive minister. We'll keep you updated!

3. We rented National Treasure, and it's so crazy to see places, like the market and the Franklin Institute, that we know so well, in a movie! As they sneak out of the market, they use the doors I walk in every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Which brings me to the next recap.

4. We became Young Friends Franklin Institute members! Considering how expensive admission is, if we go 1.5 times to the museum, it will pay for itself. We had lots of fun wandering around, experimenting with electricity and walking through the heart exhibit, following the path of blood through the heart (the sign said the heart was appropriately sized for someone about the magnitude of the Statue of Liberty). And that day just happened to be the opening day of the Star Wars exhibit. We didn't see that, because it was so crowded, and cost extra. But it was so fun to wander around and see R2D2, young Anakin, Obi Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader.

And Ian and I joked, we often dreamed of a world where X-wing fighter pilots and storm troopers got along, but we never thought we'd see it happen... hah! We had lots of fun wandering around the city that day, too. Ian fake-licked a bear ice statue in front of the museum of natural history. So now I've got the Ian equivalent of his snapshot of me fake-kissing the frog statue.

5. We went to a landscape architecture lecture at Penn. It was really interesting for me to see a lecture so different from all the history lectures and readings I went to at K-State. After the lecture, we wandered around on campus and took a stroll down the famous Locust Walk. It was so beautiful! Photos don't do it justice, as it's hard to take pictures in the dark... :)

6. Ian and I had so much fun playing our falling tower game (thanks, Troutt family!), which is like Jenga, but harder, because you roll a dice to see what color you have to pull out. We got it quite tall, and Ian took a video he finds hysterical.

We also have photos.

Well, that's most of everything. I've got a few random photos to share, as well.

me and Ian after K-State FINALLY beat KU at home! yay!

Ian tries to move the giant sorry piece.

I test the giant Monopoly iron.

Finally, before signing off, we wanted to show you our card thing.

Our card thing is hungry — it can't live on an empty mailbox. So if you'd like to feed it, you can.

Card Thing
c/o Ian & Anna...

lol! Okay, shameless request for mail. You don't really have to mail anything, but we do want you to know we love you and miss you, and love hearing from you, whether it's a card, a phone call, e-mail or Facebook. It's a challenge for us to contact everyone, since there's a lot of you we miss, so feel free to give us a holler! It would make us very happy!