Life in the Windy City- Kayla

As Nick said, so much is going on.  The city experience has been very interesting.  My first evening here, I attempted to meet Nick at work and proceeded to get absurdly lost; don't worry, I was eventually found.  Nick told me to "stay where I was" and then proceeded to find me- thank goodness for his great sense of direction.
Cleaning has been even more fun.  For those of you perusing my Facebook, you've probably seen my many status updates complaining about the state of our kitchen.  I'm pretty sure that we were spoiled in Columbia, as it is standard practice to clean a place after the previous tenants have vacated.  Apparently, this is not the case in Chicago...  Imagine that you are in a cave.  Now imagine that all the stalactites you see are made our of grease; this is what I found hanging from our stove knobs and the bottom of the stove door.  There were other deposits of this sort all over the counter where it starts to curve upwards.  My days so far have mainly consisted of painstaking cleaning.  It's happening.  After carefully cleaning the oven yesterday, we had our first experience with a broiling drawer, as our oven is gas.  We proceeded to make the best hamburgers I have ever had, along with some fantastic french fries made from potatoes that I chopped up myself.  It was the best meal I've had in a long time and a great way to celebrate our new life together.  I can see why people in the city eat so late, though.  By the time we went to the store, after Nick got off work at 6, rode our bikes home, and prepared the meal, it was 8pm.  So, we managed to not stick out too badly since we ate dinner like city folks.
The job search is on.  I spent this morning patrolling Lincoln Avenue searching for any place that was open.  I figured this makes sense since I plan to go to school 2-6pm.  Barista and service jobs at breakfast places seem to be a perfect place.  Unfortunately, I haven't found any bakeries in this area.  I know that I have two college degrees, but it just seems to make sense to look for something in the food service area since I plan on going to culinary school, and since I probably won't be holding that job for long; Le Cordon Bleu says that they try to place new students in restaurants after they start schooling.
On the school front: I went today to see what my financial situation looks like.  It looks as if we will be able to cover it, but not without taking out some student loans (in my name only).  They aren't super hefty loans, but they would probably take 5 years to pay back.  That isn't that much in the grand scheme of things though.  I know that I'm comfortable with doing this- I really want to go to school- but I need to wait until Nick gets home to make sure that this is okay with him.