Wednesday, September 23

procrastination

The moving anxiety is beginning to hit me more and more as the days go by. I haven't done a thing to pack and I'm not sure where to even begin! Usually I'm a pretty organized person, but I just can't seem to find a good place to begin. I'd much rather sit and read a good book, watch some reality TV {I know...lame!}, or find a sister to adopt for Coop to play with! Anyone have any good suggestions for getting motivated to pack? I could use any advice! :)

5 More Days!


Monday, September 21

busy bee

How was your weekend?!? Hopefully, it was great. IKEA was amazing. I think we'll be taking more trips there soon. Oh, what I'd do to have them open one here. I'd probably live there!!! This week is going to be busy with trying to get ready to move....ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!!!

I'll be back after we move in with some before/after pictures and to share the things we bought from IKEA. We're going to the Kings of Leon concert on Friday, so I'm sure I'll have pictures from that to share as well. I'm hoping all our stuff is still safe in the storage place...guess we'll find out soon! Next time you hear from me, I'll be posting from our new office!! Have a great week!

Friday, September 18

walking and shopping

I'm so excited for tomorrow! My mom and I are going to do the American Heart Association Heart Walk in the morning. This is an association very close to our hearts. Last July 17, I got a phone call from my oldest brother, Andy, telling me that our dad was going to have emergency bypass surgery out of the blue. This is a story for another day, but he's doing okay now. Those people who have walked in the past, helped save my dad's life. I hope that our donations help other families in need. Plus, we will get free cholesterol tests {and other heart tests} to make sure we're keeping our hearts healthy. {Both my dad's dad and his grandfather passed away from heart disease. That means my brothers and I are at extreme risk for heart disease...if we don't take care of ourselves. Not to mention we have anxiety and high blood pressure that run in the family.....}

It's great to get some exercise and spend time with my mom all while we're helping others. I'm sure you're wondering why my dad won't be there?!? Well, he was given free tickets to the Notre Dame game. I suppose I'd be choosing that over a walk as well!

After the walk, Kurt and I are hopping in the car and driving 2 hours to Cincinnati....and I can't wait! We're going to the IKEA to shop for new house things!!!!!!


I L.O.V.E spending time in the car with Kurt. It's been something that we've done somewhat often within the past 6 years. We always have the best conversations. It simply feels great to be together and spend that time without any other worries. Of course, I love shopping, too! I love buying things for the house much better than for myself. It just feels great knowing that the things we buy together are going to make our house into our home. Lastly, I couldn't be more excited because I've NEVER been to IKEA. I've searched the website and catalog. I don't know how we're going to decide on just a few items. I think I'd get close to buying the entire store, if I could! :)

I'm sure Sunday will be a nice relaxing day spent watching football, etc. {P.S- Go IU!!}

Have a great weekend. I'm really hoping that I can share pictures of some amazing things bought at IKEA. Wish us luck!!!

Thursday, September 17

bleed blue

It's about to be the weekend, and I still have things to talk about from last weekend! Oops...I suppose I'm quite behind.

Sunday was an early morning. No, we weren't waking up to go to church {which my dad pointed out}, we woke up early to tailgate for the Colts first season game! We had plenty of friends to hang out with that were also going to the game. We packed our coolers and loaded up the cars with chairs, chips, and yummy dip {courtesey of yours truly} and headed to the lot just south of Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a beautiful day for tailgating and especially for a big Colts win! Nothings better than football and the beginning of fall. {I would love it even better without the bees!}

Check it out...





It was also Julia's first Colts Game.
She liked watching the cheerleaders better than the game {to be honest, sometimes I do, too!}.

Wednesday, September 16

booty dancin'

Saturday was my dad's birthday. In order to celebrate, my family went to a yummy restaurant downtown Indy. Of course, mini-me, Julia, was there to help celebrate. Normally when I pull my camera out and ask to take a picture, Julia wants nothing to do with being photogenic. But, to my surprise, Saturday night was different. Here are some of the pictures {minus the VERY random ones she continued to take of heads, ceilings, etc} from our photo shoot....at least it kept her occupied for awhile!

Things started out good...


...and then started turning a little more silly.


Trying to be a princess?!?


Then, we had to take 5 pictures looking up at the camera...


Best of all, the 'booty dance' face.


Apparently I make this face a lot when I'm talking about kids doing crazy things, weird stuff that happens, etc. {This is obviously an exaggerated face...} Well, Julia has somehow picked up on this face and now loves making it. One day while listening to loud music, she started making this face while bending over and shakin' her booty. And, the 'booty dance' was born! She looks so funny doing her dance. {I can assure you that she didn't get the dance moves from me!!}

Monday, September 14

two weeks

Two weeks from now, Kurt and I will be unpacking our things into our new house! I can't believe it's so soon. It feels like we've been talking about house things forever....

Pretty soon, that 'SOLD' sign will be taken down and the house will be ours!!

Things I can't wait for:
-Being back together with Kurt and Cooper everyday
-Getting to use our things again
-Decorating/{hopefully} doing DIY projects
-Our awesome house/yard/neighborhood!
-Our awesome neighbors {Josh and Mer}!!
-Snuggling with Coop {see below}

I found this picture on my camera this weekend....
Coop and I passed out together two weekends ago, so Kurt thought it'd be funny to take a picture of us!

I Cannot Wait!

P.S.- I'll be sharing some great pictures from the weekend soon!

Friday, September 11

phew...

...it's Friday! Although it's been a short week, it's felt really long and been crazy. I'm ready to relax and have some fun this weekend! After school, I'm going to have a couple beers with work friends then I'm meeting my mom to get a mani/pedi....ahhhh! Kurt and I are going to be celebrating our anniversary by using a $25 gift card at Olive Garden. {ha} We decided it's better to save money than go out and celebrate. {Kurt may need to be saving money anyways so that we can be celebrating something bigger and better in the near future! If you know what I mean. I'll keep dreaming!}

Tomorrow's my dad's birthday. We're going to Penrod {an art fair} to spend the day with him, then going out to dinner with my family for his birthday as well as my aunts.

Sunday is going to be an early morning. We'll be packing the car up to head downtown to tailgate and cheer on the Colts at their first {real} season game!!! So excited! I'll be sure to have pictures. I asked my mom the other night, "Don't you just love when football season starts? You just get some crazy feeling of happiness." It makes me want to sit inside on a sunny fall day with the windows open watching all the college games {with my boys} and drink beer.

Hope you have a great weekend!

P.S.- I can't believe September 11 was 8 years ago. I can picture exactly what happened that entire day. Make sure to say an extra prayer for all those who lost their lives and their families. Wow, time flies. Sad.

Thursday, September 10

six years ago...

...I was very sleepy as I drove to school as a senior in high school. As I sat in my car listening to music, I wished I was in Bloomington, IN. The night before, Kurt and I stayed up late talking on the phone. We decided that we were going to begin officially dating. Six years ago, I started dating the love of my life.


I love thinking back to all of the amazing things we've experienced together. Butterflies fill me up when I think of our future. I know it's going to be more than I can imagine. I know because it already has been better than I could have ever dreamed.

I am one lucky girl.
Thanks for being amazing.
I love you, Kurt!

Wednesday, September 9

wanna bet?

A couple months ago, while sitting on our comfy brown leather couch {that's probably covered in dust in the storage place}, I asked Kurt 'How much you wanna bet we both gain weight while living at home?'

Well, I'm not exactly sure how his end of the bet is playing out { I do know his workout schedule has decreased....}, I can assure you that I've been doing very badly!

While I could sit here giving you a l.o.n.g. list of excuses as to why I've been lazy, I'm not. The point is, I need to get my butt into shape. I need some motivation. And, most importantly, I need to quit eating SO many bad things.

I'm going to go eat one last cupcake {for a long time!} and watch tennis. Ha. Wow, I'm lazy!

Tuesday, September 8

yo quiero

All the anticipation of moving into our new house gets me excited to spend a lot of my free time searching websites {and stores} for new house decorations {and wishing I had money to buy all the things!}. Kurt is being the more practical one wanting to not get anything new unless it's absolutely necessary. I have quite a different perspective of things....but, again won't be able to support this shopping addiction anytime soon! No one said I couldn't look, wish, and drool over many things that would make our new place utterly amazing! Here are a few of my favorites....

I've read a lot lately about how mirrors can make your space look much bigger than it actually is. I'm all for pretty illusions like this one from West Elm. I can think of a bunch of places for this mirror to live in our new house.


We are going to need to spruce up both the master and guest bathrooms. I'm loving the color and pattern of this shower curtain from Crate and Barrel. I'd be happy each morning if I saw this before getting in the shower!


We can't forget Cooper {or the plans of adding a new doggie to the family!!!}. This dog bed {from here} would add a classy pop of color to our neutral room and look fabulous on top of our hardwood floors. It would also be a great cozy alternative to his bad habit of sleeping on the couch. {oops, sometimes it's so nice to cuddle with him!!} I bet we could get one that has enough room for two!
And, how can I decide on just a few things from IKEA that I'm smitten for?!? I've talked Kurt into taking a trip to Cincinnati {since we don't have one here...ugh!} so we can spend time going up and down each aisle at IKEA!!

This would look very cool above our kitchen cabinets! And for $5.00, I think this may have to be a for sure purchase.
I'm really loving these little vases. You could do so much with them! The patters/designs on them make me want them even more. I can't wait to display these with a pretty flower from our yard?!? Oh wait....if I can keep any plants alive!! :)
I can't even figure out what other items I want to include from IKEA; there are SO many. I guess I'll have to wait and see what we find when we make the trek to the actual store. Hopefully, I'll be able to bring home lots of good pictures {and things!} to show you! For now, I'll keep wishing for all these amazing things.

Friday, September 4

TGIF

I'm ecstatic that it's Friday and that the {long} weekend begins in 30 minutes! Thankfully, we don't have school Monday...this weekend is going to be a hectic one. I'm sure I'd bore you if I gave details and you probably really don't even care!! But, I am excited to {hopefully} do a little shopping for the house. When/if we can find time this weekend, we'll be heading to H.H. Gregg to buy our awesome new front loading washer and dryer!!! {I hope to share pictures soon!} Not too long ago I would have never thought I'd be so excited about getting a washer and dryer. :)

Have a great weekend!
Enjoy the extra day off.

Wednesday, September 2

10 things I hate {and love} about home

I love my parents very much. Honest, I do. They are the best parents anyone could ask for. They go above and beyond to help my brothers and me. They would go to the moon and back just to make us happy. If there is one lesson I've learned in my short little life, it's that moving back home after you've lived on your own {truly on your own, not like college on your own}, is one of the hardest things that you'll ever do!

I've decided to make a list of things I hate {and love} about home.

Things I love:
5. Being so very close to school.
4. Not having to buy groceries.
3. Not having to clean.
2. Seeing my parents each day.
1. Seeing and sleeping with Bailey each day.
{oops, maybe I should switch 1 and 2!}

Things I hate:
5. Thinking about all our stuff in storage we aren't using...
4. The less healthy food choices.
3. Not seeing Cooper each day.
2. Not seeing/sleeping with Kurt each day.
And, the number one reason I despise living at home, drum roll please......
#1. THE BUGS THAT ARE EVERYWHERE!!!

Last night, I killed the trillionth centipede {AHHH, I HATE THEM!} in my room. After stepping on it {as hard as possible}, I ran to get the vacuum and swept my entire room, top to bottom. The bugs this year are very bad. For some reason, my parents house is always bad with bugs. My mom knows how much I hate bugs, so she got the house sprayed about a month ago to keep them from coming in. Welp, guess that didn't work much. In fact, I think they are worse because they're coming out from the spray. UGH! I told my parents that I may be saying 'Goodbye' early if I have to kill any more bugs in my room!!! If our house is anywhere near as bad with bugs, I may pull some of my hair out.

Side note: our first unit at school is Insects. OH JOY! I have to pretend for 6 weeks that I love learning about bugs so the kids are excited about it, too.

GO. AWAY. BUGS.

You should be living outside!!!


P.S- Now my mom is mad at me, even though I was totally joking. :(

Tuesday, September 1

skinny dipping, frites, and LeBomb James

This weekend was beautiful {minus Friday}! And, we sure had a lot of fun!

Friday after school, Kurt and I went to a couple furniture stores in town that were having 1/2 off sales. We were looking around for some things for the house, but found nothing we liked. We have most everything for the house from our apartment, but we know we'll end up buying some things when we get in. We figured it doesn't hurt to look around...especially when there is such a great sale going on!! :)

After 'shopping' we headed over to our friend's {Lauren and Tom} house. We brought Cooper with us thinking he would love playing with their two doggies. But, they did everything but play together! We drank some beer, ate a little food, and caught up with each other. Too bad it was rainy or we would have been able to sit outside.

Saturday was a very fun day. The weather was beautiful. Josh came over to my parent's house {Kurt and I were dog sitting} to watch the Colts game. My brother, Andy, called and was bored so he and Julia decided to come over to hang out as well. I had to run to Target to pick up a few things, so I brought Julia along for the ride. She's getting so big and her personality is much bigger.....

She brought her purse along with us and carried it around the entire store. On the way, I could hear her talking and had no idea what she was saying. I quickly looked back to find her 'chatting' on her cell phone {Quinn's old one} with her sunglasses on!!! And, while we waited for a prescription to be filled, we looked around at the little girls clothes and the baby stuff.

It's really crazy how much she is like me when I was young. When I was little, I begged and begged my mom to buy me ANY {real} baby things when we'd go shopping. I'd always ask her to look at the car seats, strollers, diapers, clothes, etc. And, I'd always REALLY want them....the fake/pretend baby stuff wasn't good enough for my babies. Well, somehow Julia has picked up this quality, too! We walked through the baby aisles as she said, "This one's for my baby. This one's for MY baby. This one's for my pink baby....." It sure was rough when I had to drag her out of that section.... {ha!}

When we got home, we sat on the porch and started drinking some beer {well, Kurt and Josh had already started}. One of my best friends, Ashley, came from D.C. to visit for the weekend. It was so great to have her here and be able to spend time with her!! I drove her down to our new neighborhood to show her our house. I wish she would have been able to see the inside. Meredith came over, as well. We sat outside and hung out all afternoon while drinking a new favorite beer, Skinny Dip! {No, we did not go skinny dipping this weekend, but the beer sure made me feel good. Maybe better than skinny dipping?!?! I wouldn't know!}

After spending time outside, we decided to go to a restaurant in Broad Ripple called Brugge. Kurt and I had only had drinks there before and were very excited to eat there! It was SO good. One of the best things about dinner {besides the beer} were the l'enorme frites that came with all the 12 {I think} amazing sauces. Ummmmm......

{Everyone who came to dinner}

{Newly engaged and new homeowners!!!}

{Michael and Emily}

{Yoder didn't have a girl friend, so Kurt would have to do!}

{Kurt and I...before we got too full}

{Wish you lived closer! Miss you!}

The next time I go to Brugge, I think I'll be ordering beer {of course!}, frites, and {instead of dinner} the Nutella Crepe. Yoder got one for dessert and it was one of the best things I've tasted in a l.o.n.g. while. I was very upset that I didn't get to eat one as well. Good thing he was generous and shared a few bites with me!!

{Had to get a picture because it was so amazing!}

After dinner, we headed out to spend some more time together. Before we left my parent's house, Josh was asking us if we wanted to take a 'LeBomb James' shot when we went out. Of course, no one knew what that consisted of. He explained that you pour a couple bags of Splenda into your hands before taking a whiskey and something shot {?really the alcohol isn't the important part?}. After you take the shot, you throw the Splenda into the air, just like Lebron James does with chalk before every game!!!! We thought it was a hilarious idea, but Mer, Josh, and Kurt decided it wasn't the best thing to do if they didn't want to get kicked out of the bar....

They took this shot instead, without me I might add :( {Probably for the better!}

The night ended with us all sitting on the porch while listening to Diane Birch and enjoying time spent with friends.

Kurt and I are having a really hard time saving money for this new house we bought! I'm starting to freak out a little bit. I guess life's too short to pass up good times with friends to save money! Maybe we should just start eating less, since we know we probably won't stop buying drinks. {ha} And, no, we don't have drinking issues....just like to have a little fun and drink some good beer.