Repeat with me...

Yesterday at church we recited the following pledge that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote in 1963 on a card for volunteers to sign when they joined the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.  

I think the world would be a much better place if we ALL took this same pledge.

I hereby pledge myself - my person and my body -

To nonviolence, peace and justice

For all people everywhere.

Therefore I will keep the following commandments:

I will meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.

I will remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation - not victory.

I will walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.

I will pray daily to be used by God in order that all people might be free.

I will observe with friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.

I will seek to perform regular service for others and for the world.

I will refrain from violence of fist, tongue or heart.

I will strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.

I will listen with respect to those who love and teach me.

Carpool Shenanigans

Seriously, not one but TWO nights this past week it took 2 hours to get home from work. What the Whaaaa?

It's a good thing Niki Minaj carpools with me most days and will act a fool right alongside me.  I know the coolest people.  Just sayin'.

The Parents & Tyler Take On Chicago!

I'm ridiculously behind on this blog.  I need to wrap summer up being that we are now well into fall.  Okay, here's the rest of summer....

My parents came to visit (and to pick up Austin) and brought along my adorable, mischievous and hilarious youngest nephew, Tyler, with them.  It was super fun.

We went to the beach for a little sun bathing, picnic lunch eating and swimming.  It was fun while it lasted as made apparent by the pictures. Unfortunately, it didn't last long because some weird summer storm rolled in and it started raining like a mugg.

So, we packed it in, ran to the car and headed to the South Side so I could show everyone where I worked.  There were some students playing around the school so I put my sunglasses on, slouched in my seat and told my family to hang on because we were making this drive-by quick.  It was still summer break, after all.  Ms. Phelps wanted to remain anonymous.  You feel me? :)

We did a lot of sight-seeing.  Tyler in particular mentioned two things that he HAD to do while visiting Chicago - 1. Visit the Bean.  2.  Eat as much Garrett's popcorn as humanly possible.  Aunt Queen made both of those things happen!

My Dad insisted that I take his picture waiting in line at Garrett's as proof that he stood in line on a Sunday morning for popcorn and vowed to NEVER let that happen again! That's my Diddy! 

The following are just random pictures of Country come to Town! :)

Lord Jesus that is the cutest face ever in life!

It's no lie that I'm in love with these boys. 

One of the other really cool things we did was visit Arlington Park.  Going to the horse races with my Dad has always been one of my favorite things and this was no different.  The park is gorgeous and it was a great time.  We are absolutely going back every time that he is here! 

Summer was fantastic!  

They are coming back for Thanksgiving and I couldn't be happier!

Austin in Chicago!

I returned to Chicago after my whirlwind trip to Louisiana and brought my nephew, Austin, back with me.  He moved in for 2 weeks and it was ridiculous amounts of fun!  We explored Chicago, watched somewhere around 14 million movies, consumed a gazillion drinks from Starbucks, shopped, laughed, competed in GLEE Wii, and much much much more.  He is a great guy and handsome to boot!

Here's Austin's trip in pictures.

His first ride on the train.  He looks like he belongs in the city! :)

 We spent ALL day at Shedd Aquarium.

We celebrated the 4th of July by consuming this deliciousness!

We got our culture on at The Art Institute.

We took the obligatory picture at "The Bean".

We walked down Michigan Avenue and stopped at the River for another obligatory picture.

We drank Cherry Berry Chillers because they are awesome and we are awesome.

We went shopping with Austin's birthday money. Thank you, Dr. Dre.

We went to the Planetarium but it stunk so we left after 10 minutes and decided to take a walk by the lake and take more pictures. :)

We went to the beach and apparently Ric Flair was there. It was too hot to care and who knows who that is anyway?

We went to a midnight movie. The Goonies. Classic. 

We went to the Field Museum.

We went to Willis Tower and braved the Skydeck!

He fell asleep on the train. Too much fun, perhaps?

We went to the Suburbs to shop for skateboarding necessities.

We went to a concert in Millenium Park.

We went to the insanity that is Blue Man Group.

We went to Indiana Dunes State Park.

In short, it was FANTASTIC!

Dear Austin,

You are the most fantastic nephew ever.  

Thanks for still wanting to spend time with your old but waaaay cool Aunt.  

I love you!

Aunt Queen