Chicago | Trees of Transition

June 28, 2017
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One Year into Marriage

Ten days ago Stephen and I celebrated one year of marriage on June 18^th, and we honored that milestone by fulfilling a dream that both of us have had of eating at the Signature Room on the 95^th floor the John Hancock Building in Chicago. We both have enjoyed drinks and desserts in the Signature Lounge, one floor up (which has an amazing view from the ladies bathroom); however, we had always looked down on the Signature Room with a bit of desire to try that expensive restaurant.

Since we have a baby on the way, we decided that this should be the year that we take the plunge and try the Signature Room. After driving downtown Chicago, parking, and getting our bearings, we walked over to the Original Cupcake bakery, Sprinkles Cupcakes, and both picked out our favorite cake. We hadn’t saved the top of our wedding cake (we ate it our first month! Check out this blog post: Why You Should Eat the Top of Your Wedding Cake the Month After Your Wedding ), so we tried their pineapple upside down cake and their chocolate marshmallow cupcakes!

Then it was time to head up to the Signature Room with the “rocket” elevator that takes you 95 floors in about a minute. We were seated by the northern view of Chicago:

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June 19, 2017
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John Hancock Building Lobby Spectacular!

Last night my husband and I enjoyed dinner at the John Hancock building and as we were leaving, we walked past this very sparkly display! It has water underneath it that looks like polished marble, and reflection is like glass. Looking into the center of this display reminded me of outer space.

Enjoy this cool display with me, and have a wonderful start to your week!

-Mary Hope

April 20, 2017
by mary.campbell.schuh 18 Comments

Opening Letters Written Ten Years Ago

The John Hancock Building in the Clouds

What would your “ten years younger self” say to you today? Well, I got to find out. Ten years ago I was finishing college, unmarried, full of dreams, and I had two great friends named Tiffany and Chelsea. We decided to write letters to ourselves and to each other that we would open in ten years—the date we chose was March 24th, 2017.
The letter idea came after a fun night of food at the Loring Pasta Bar in Minneapolis, and then we went to the 9th floor of the Guthrie Theatre to write letters to the person we would be in ten years… A month later we decided to write letters to each other as well to open on March 24th, 2017.

Every year or two over the last ten years, Tiff or Chels would mention “March 24th, 2017!” and we would smile and dream. Time moved faster and faster, and we arrived on the awaited date last month. We had thought we would meet in Minneapolis, but none of us lived there anymore, so we met in Chicago where two of us live, and Chelsea drove over her from Iowa to visit her Dad and us.

We moved on from the 9th floor of the Guthrie Theatre (“our” cool spot ten years ago) to the 96th floor of the John Hancock building (that is 87 stories taller!) At the Signature Lounge, we got a table, talked, and then pulled out our ten year old letters! Between us we had moved almost 20 times, but we all protected our letters (by keeping them with important papers). We decided to read each of the letters out loud, and the resulting inspiration, joy, and gratitude surprised me. It felt like we had church up there in that lounge. The words we had written to each other were still true–the encouragement, love, and kindness expressed through those letters was timeless.

Each of us have grown and matured, and many of our dreams that we wrote about in our letters have come to pass. We are not as starry-eyed and idealistic as we were in our twenties, but the faith we expressed in those letters is inspiring and nudges me to continue growing in my faith! We cried, hugged, and ate lots of food while talking about what we had written.

We have written new letters to open on March 24th, 2027, and who knows what will happen in THESE ten years?

~Mary Hope
P. S. The notecards I used to write my new letters are from Trees of Transition Cards: Photo Greeting Cards
P. S. S. If you want to see more about Chicago Architecture, such as the John Hancock Building check out:

April 8, 2017
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Jesus Gives Us Hope

Our stations of the cross went well with my 7th graders last night! My kids could use your prayers because then there was a drive by shooting (it’s in Chicago–south side) a block from the school right after we were done. I’m so thankful we can have hope because of Jesus and his resurrection!

-Mary Hope
#hope #prayforchicago #tulips #treesoftransitionart #peace

February 28, 2017
by mary.campbell.schuh 4 Comments

Celebrating a New Baby Girl!

My sister just had a baby girl, and it seemed like the conservatory in Chicago was celebrating too!!

I’m so excited!!

-Mary Hope

August 2, 2016
by mary.campbell.schuh 2 Comments

A Couple of Chicago Mothers’ Solution for Violence

Mondays at Malcolm X College tend to be harder days for students because of the violence that happens in Chicago over the weekends. Three weeks ago was an especially hard Monday morning after the police shootings of two African American men that week (followed by the retaliation shootings in Texas).
Mrs. Latsu, the Director of the LevelUp program that supports students who need to learn more college-level writing and math before they can take college classes, gives Motivational Monday talks to the students and staff during this concentrated course. Many of the students are at-risk students. Instead of her normal talk, three weeks ago she knew she needed to help the students mourn the shootings that have been happening. She talked about resilience, which led the students to talk about how they felt.
What they didn’t know is that they educated me (I was one of three white folks in the room) and gave me a window into how it feels to be African American in the inner city, especially an African American male.

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December 11, 2015
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Chicago from God’s Perspective

I snapped this photo from the plane, but it reminds me how small I am and how small a city like Chicago really is. Continue reading →

October 12, 2015
by mary.campbell.schuh 2 Comments

Light at Night

University of Chicago’s Rockefeller Chapel inspires awe during the day or at night. Fifteen years ago I gazed upward as I wondered around inside it with my family. The stained glass windows shone their jewel tones and the huge sanctuary suggested you might have been transported to England!
This chapel impresses at night as well. We didn’t have time to go in, but I just had to stop and snap these two photos. 🙂

And here’s a little more light at night from a wedding I celebrated at on Saturday:

By M. H. Campbell
Copyright 2015

October 16, 2013
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It’s Surprising What can Happen When You Hold out Your Hand! The Power of Encouragement to Help People Through a Transition

Last Sunday my sister ran the Chicago marathon, and after my parents and I saw my sister twice and cheered her on, hugged her and encouraged her, we moved to mile 12.5 to try to see her again. At that part of the marathon, near the Chicago River, there was quite a bit of people along the route, but it was mostly quiet when we arrived there. As we scanned the runners for my sister, I joined in with one lady who was saying encouraging words to the runners. Then I saw one older guy just putting out his hand to high five the runners, and so I put out my hand too.

“Go Runners!”
“You can do it!!”

I just put out my hand and high fived people who wanted one. It surprised me how several exhausted-looking runners ran out of their way to let me high-five their hand and say, “Good job! You’re almost half way there!!” I got to see how several people encouraging the runners could change the atmosphere of that part of the race course. My sister had already passed that point, but it was great to encourage those runners right then.

I made some little signs especially for my sister that read “Go, Ruth, Go!” and “We love you, Ruth!”

Around mile nineteen, in a Hispanic neighborhood of Chicago where there was bouncy Latin music playing, the runners seemed more hopeful, but many runners still wanted high-fives as they ran past. I did that until I saw my sister, then I got out into the road and ran with my sister for a 1/2 mile so that I could talk with her and encourage her (and see what it is like!). A couple girls cheered my sister on as we ran past.

At the end of the marathon, a stranger reached out to me so that I could get into the zone just before finish line, so I went up there and encouraged the runners at the end of the race. One guy could only walk, but he was only 100 meters from the finish line, and a lady next to me and I cheered him on. I was so busy cheering on others, I missed seeing my sister pass me, but I did hear them say her name over the loud speaker. My sister is a marathon runner!

It’s fun to encourage complete strangers. Try it sometime.