I HAVE MY VISA!

I have trekked to Chicago and have returned with my visa. And now I'm having dreams of random people and imaginary creatures stealing it in the night. The entire process was a lot simpler than I had anticipated, especially since the French paperwork up to this point has been... complicated to put it politely.
I would put a picture of the visa up, but there are creepy people on the internet, and I don't want them stealing my visa either, so *imagine visa photo here*.
Here's a few pictures of our trip to Chicago!
We actually stayed in Indiana and just took the South Shore commuter train into the city, which I would highly recommend to anyone going to Chicago, it's much easier. So while we were in Indiana we stopped at the Indiana Dunes and climbed up Mount Baldy to see Lake Michigan.

Then on Wednesday we went into the city and got my visa, saw all the big sights and met up with my cousin, her boyfriend, and my friend Jen for a really good, but incredibly filling lunch!
We didn't even go up the Sears Tower or anything because the view from the French Consulate was great! That's it below...

After lunch we strolled through Millenium Park a bit and saw the kidney bean. You can see Jared and me in the reflection just a tiny bit... get out a magnifying glass.
And then Jared found his own personal heaven. Shortly after our legs gave out and we headed home.

Great trip, but now prep for the BIG trip is in full swing. I'm still in Ada for a few more weeks before heading home, but I still can't believe I leave in 22 days. I have so much to do and I haven't even begun packing! Nine months is suddenly seeming like a much longer period of time than I originally thought. I know this experience is worth it, but it's still a long time. Hard to be upset when Paris will be an hour away though. If anyone wants to see me before I ship out, you'd better let me know soon... departure is only 22 days away. (this is crazy...)