CHICAGO!

I was recently given the opportunity to go on an amazing vacation to Chicago . Where do I even begin? It became an experience of a lifetime. My friend, Amanda, her mom Vyki, my sister, Mari, and I went. No men and no kids. Vyki has cancer and gets her treatments in Chicago. She took us girls with her for her treatment and then we spent the rest of the week playing. Vyki has become someone very important in my life and it's so difficult to watch her have to fight for her life. We spent 2 days with her in the hospital and unfortunately the chemo hasn't been working so they didn't do the treatment. She spent most of those 2 days having tests run. As difficult as it was, I'm so glad we were there with her to hold her hand and cry with her. I pray that God has a miracle for her because no one deserves it more. I also grew closer to Mari and Amanda, whom I feel are both my sisters. We had many spiritual experiences and I have yet been able to talk much about them cause I start to cry. Yeah, I know I'm a big baby.

Chicago skyline.

Vyki rubbing...and kissing...the lions tail. It's supposed to bring good luck.

Us faking a counseling session.

At the bean sculpture. Amanda got a little disoriented under the giant mirrors and hit her head pretty hard as she stood up after this pic. She never ceases to entertain us.

Damon was obsessed with me trying the deep dish at Pizzeria Uno. I told him no way after I found out there was a Pizzeria Ora. He was bummed and told me it would probably be a dump. Come to find out, when we arrived, Vyki's friend, Mary, was pacing in front of the Pizzeria, terrified we would go in. I guess it's a very bad street, pretty much only used to get your drugs. Not to mention it had no customers...most likely a drug front. Mari took a quick pic and then we got the heck out of there. I ended up bringing home a frozen deep dish pizza from Pizzeria Uno as Damon's gift. What a bummer that he was right!

Vyki met Megan (far left) while they were both having chemo treatments quite a while ago. Megan and her hubby treated us to an amazing dinner cruise. We had such a blast! There was about 600 passengers aboard all enjoying dinner, dancing, and a huge firework show over Lake Michigan. It was an unforgettable night.

The Sears Tower ( now the Willis Tower) just finished their glass balconies. It was fun but a little freaky standing on the top of the tallest building in America and seeing under my feet aaaaalllllll the way to the ground. Awesome!

We went to Cirque Shanghai (Chinese Acrobats) and can I say...OH MY FREAKING HECK! How do people do those kinds of things? I was missing my Bailee during the show cause I know she would've loved it.

Hershey's Factory. Mari's eyes looked a tad bigger than her stomach, don't you think? That candy bar is $40, btw.

We did alot of shopping (duh). I know, I know....dream on, Ora.

One of the biggest highlights of the trip was going to the Blue Man Group. Now I understand what all the hype is about. Why did it take me so long to go to this?! The blue men took me out of the audience and took me up on stage. I was up there for quite a while and had so much fun. I played around with their act and they fed off of everything I did, making it SO HILARIOUS! What a blast! Seriously, once in a lifetime opportunity. I could write forever about it but I know it's way more exciting for me than anyone else. Who cares. It was awesome. After the show was over and we were waiting for our cab, there was quite a buzz around us cause people didn't believe I wasn't a hired part of the show. Nope. Just a crazy girl from Utah who apparently fits in a little too well with 3 blue men pretending to be aliens.

Thanks so much, Vyki! Love you!