Yes We Can!!!

Okay, so I know that this post will be met with much criticism - but let's all agree to disagree and be respectful of each others opinions. I promise that I will be sensitive to all of you who voted Republican these past few weeks. (I believe that I am the only person in my circle of bloggers who voted Democratic - but as a side note, I did cross party lines and voted for "My Man Mitch" for governor.)

First of all, let me start by saying that I am an Independent. I swing both ways, depending on the issues and the candidates. Let me also start by saying that I THOROUGHLY researched each candidates positions on multiple issues, and that I am not a "celebrity" voter. I made my decision based on a pro-con list of the positions of each candidate. I am not in 100% agreeance with either candidate, but I voted to be best of my knowledge and ability. I feel that I took my responsibility seriously and in much consideration. I would have been okay had either party won, I just happened to prefer Obama over McCain. Now to the meat...

I am so proud to be an American. I think that as a country we are capable of so much. I am excited and enlivened by our new President-Elect, and can't wait to see the US emerge and evolve. I also really enjoyed watching the concession and victory speeches last night. John McCain was so eloquent and captivating - his passion and emotion was so beautiful and moving. I wish I would have seen more of that type of passion from him throughout the campaign. I just never felt like I had seen emotion like that from him previous to last night.

Obama's victory speech was inspiring to me... I am excited for "change" and the "yes we can!" attitude. I am enlivened by his fresh approach to many issues - and his desperate desire to change America (with our help) and make it better! Obama shared a story about a woman who was well into her 100's and had experienced nearly everything possible - which was moving to me. It expressed to me that we choose our attitudes. We can have been mounted with trial after trial, but we can still have hope for the future. "Here in America our history is not written for us, it's written by us!" - Barack Obama.

If you didn't vote, or watch the coverage from last night's election, I urge you to watch it on YouTube.com It was moving, regardless of how we voted. History was made, and we can now say that regardless of sex or race every single person has the opportunity to do what ever their hearts desire.

Please feel free to comment freely on this post - but please keep it polite with regard to everyone's feelings and opinions. (Thanks!)

Quarterly Update - Since it's been so long.

Again, it's been awhile since I've updated the blog... surprise, surprise!

I got a job. Yep, a job. I'm back in Real Estate. Are you surprised? The response to that question has been about 50/50.

I decided that I needed to give Real Estate another shot, I couldn't sit at a desk anymore! But I knew I couldn't do it alone. I investigated a few of my options, and landed a spot on a RE Team right here in Fishers. I'm still with Keller Williams (because they are the best!) and I'm with a really great team. It's the Evelo Team - if you live here in the area. You've probably seen their signs, they are pretty prominent here in Fishers. I wanted to be a buyers agent, but it ended out working out better as a listing agent... so here we are. It's been about 6 weeks now, so it's working out pretty well.

That's enough to catch you up to speed, right?

Oh yeah, and I have three listings. Three going on thirty (just so you know). Hahaha.

I went with the team down to Brown County this past week as a "team retreat" sort of thing. Brown County is a neat little touristy place about 40 minutes south of Indianapolis - it's kind of old time with little trinket shops, and ice cream parlors - you've seen those kinds of places before. Today was the first cold day that we've had this fall (20-40 degrees), so it was good day for layering up. It was a nice trip - just relaxing and fun. A nice break from the crazy schedules we normally have.

I'll have to tell you about the people on the team next time I get on here. They are all so different and individual in their own ways. It's been kind of fun getting to know each of them - they've become like family.

Okay, so now that I have caught you up to speed on the job situation, we can move on. Jared is doing well - still up in Kokomo. I mentioned to you that his time up there was temporary, right??? Oh well, we'll figure it out someday. But for now he's still enjoying being the "boss". : )

Right now, Jared is out in the garage doing "Man Things" - changing the pads on my brakes. The guy at AutoZone made fun of me because I told him that I needed the Brake Pads for a 2008 Honda Civic - he was like, "A 2008 already needs new pads?? Maybe you shouldn't stop so hard." I love how he thinks I'm a bad driver and he's never been in the car with me. But in all fairness, I've put 19,000 miles on my car already... so that's a lot of stop lights!

If you have anyone interested in buying or selling - let me know!

Love you all!

Indianapolis Barbie!

I have to preface this post by saying that I received this as an email forward and thought it was funny. The characterizations made me laugh, but I have to tell you that my husband is a "southsider" so they are somewhat untrue. (Depending on how far south you go!!!) LOL

Enjoy! And please don't be offended by your part of town.

Mattel recently announced the release of Limited-edition Barbie Dolls for the Indianapolis market:

'Fishers Barbie'
This princess Barbie is sold only at Clay Terrace. She comes with an assortment of Kate Spade Handbags, a Lexus SUV, a long-haired foreign dog named Honey and a cookie-cutter house. Available with or without tummy tuck and face lift. Workaholic Ken sold only in conjunction with the augmented version.

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' Carmel Barbie'
The modern day homemaker Barbie is available with Ford Wind star Minivan and matching gym outfit. She gets lost easily and has no full-time occupation. Traffic jamming cell phone sold separately.

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' 38th Street Barbie'
This recently paroled Barbie comes with a 9mm handgun, a Ray Lewis knife, a Chevy with dark tinted windows, and a Meth Lab Kit. This model is only available after dark and must be paid for in cash (preferably small, untraceable bills) ...unless you are a cop, then we don't know what you are talking about.

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'Zionsville Barbie'
This yuppie Barbie comes with your choice of BMW convertible or Hummer H2. Included are her own Starbucks cup, credit card and country club membership. Also available for this set are Shallow Ken and Private School Skipper. You won't be able to afford any of them.

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'South Side Barbie'
This pale model comes dressed in her own Wrangler jeans two sizes too small, a NASCAR t-shirt and tweety bird tattoo on her shoulder. She has a six-pack of Bud light and a Hank Williams Jr. CD set. She can spit over 5 feet and kick mullet-haired Ken's butt when she is drunk. Purchase her pickup truck separately and get a confederate flag bumper sticker absolutely free.

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' East Washington Barbie'
This tobacco-chewing, brassy-haired Barbie has a pair of her own high-heeled sandals with one broken heel from the time she chased beer-gutted Ken out of Southside Barbie's house. Her ensemble includes low-rise acid-washed jeans, fake fingernails, and a see-through halter-top. Also available with a mobile
home.

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'Broadripple Barbie'
This doll is made of actual tofu. She has long straight brown hair, arch-less feet, hairy armpits, no makeup and Birkenstocks with white socks. She prefers that you call her Willow . She does not want or need a Ken doll, but if you purchase two Broad Ripple Barbies and the optional Subaru wagon, you get a rainbow flag bumper sticker for free.

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'IPS Barbie' (Indianapolis Public School)
This Barbie now comes with a stroller and infant doll. Optional accessories include a GED and bus pass. Gangsta Ken and his 1979 Caddy were available, but are now very difficult to find since the addition of the infant.

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' Mass Avenue Barbie/Ken'
This versatile doll can be easily converted from Barbie to Ken by simply adding or subtracting the multiple snap-on parts.

Don't hate me for posting this... it just brought me such a laugh. : )

Have a great MONDAY!!!!

-M

Finally! A Candidate To Vote For!

Check out the newest candidate for President! I hear he's pretty magnificent, but see for yourself. Just click on the title of this post.

Enjoy!

Vegetarians Needed

I need some serious help from all you vegetarians out there. By orders from the doctor, I am to only eat All Natural foods, not including meats. I am allowed fish, but no beef or chicken. I can only have fructose - no sucrose, or added sugar suppliments. And especially no salt. Basically, I'm stuck with fruits, veggies, and fish. I'm running out of ideas on how to make this food interesting, I can't eat another orange!






I've been eating Salmon for dinner, with a little bit of Malt Vinegar (which has been pretty good) but it's only day 2, and I'm out of ideas! I can't have terryaki or BBQ sauce, so malt vinegar is pretty much my only added flavoring. I'm missing Sushi already (we love our sushi), but the thought of eating it without soy sauce doesn't sound appetizing. I know that most vegetarians aren't this strick in their diets, but hopefully someone out there has some new recipes for me to try. I've been spending my summer Saturday mornings at the farmers market, so I'm happy that I have some fresh fruits and veggies to eat! I also can eat cheese, so that's making it a lot easier too. I really had no idea how much junk we had around our house until I started this. Goldfish, chips, ice cream, cinnamon rolls, etc. and we have no reason to eat all of this stuff! Maybe I can convince Jared to join me on my trek of being a vegetarian for a few days...

Okay, I did say MAYBE.

I guess I should clarify that I don't have to do this forever, I only have to do it for about two weeks. They are trying to clean my body of as much sodium and sugars as possible. Apparently they want to see if they can get my blood pressure back to a normal level before they begin testing my kidneys, and they fear that due to my blood pressure and possible kidney problems I may end up with diabetes (hence the sugar limits). After two weeks I can go back to my unhealthy ways, however, I'm not opposed to enjoying so much that I keep it up. (I'm not saying I'll keep this up EXACTLY - I can't live long without chicken) But I'll certainly be more careful about what I put into my body.

So all of you vegetarians - or healthy eaters- out there... send me your favorite recipes, PLEASE!!!

I'll keep you all updated on how I do. As for now, I need to purge my fridge and cabinets... those goldfish are really calling!

Summer '08 - Update

Long time no see! It's been all summer since I've updated you on what we've been up to, so it's about time I get back to it. Don't worry, I have a lot of pictures! :)

Recently, Jared's grandma got some new living room furniture. She offered us the L couch that she had in the living room previous to the new furniture. Of course, we would never turn down furniture! Jared and Tyler moved it using Tyler's truck, but the way they packed it was hillarious. They got all five pieces in his truck so that they didn't have to make two trips. They had to take that trip realllllllllly slow. It's okay, I thought you might enjoy a good laugh at their packing skills. I know I did.
Yes, the corner piece hung over the edge about 18 inches. Ha.

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We also went to the new Lucas Oil Stadium a few weeks ago! They had a high school game there and we decided to go check it out. Seeing as how Jared LOVES sports, it was a lot of fun. It's so neat, what a nice stadium we have.
View from the upper deck.
Outside the entrance, where all of the sponsors are listed.
Julie and I at the new stadium.

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Haha, now this is quite a story. My dad and brother went out to California to visit my grandparents a month or so ago, and while they were gone my mom decided that she wanted to refinish the wood floors downstairs. She went and rented a sander...

It was so strong, she's pinned up against the island. It was so funny!

Needless to say, the floors still aren't done, but we only sanded a little bit, so it's not bad.

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We enjoyed going to the State Fair with a few friends. Here, Jared and his friends Luke and Matt are enjoying a snowcone. These guys have been friends since High School (and when they are together, ACT like they are still in high school). It was fun, we loved going with them.

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This car is the newest addition to our family. Jared's Cadillac finally broke down. I know, I cried too. It's okay, it was time for some change, and thankfully this change saves us a little money on gas. It's nearly perfect on the inside, as it is on the outside. Jared likes his car, and now they both fit in the garage. YAY, for change, right?
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My most recent painting, I really liked this one. I ended up giving it to a girlfriend, so I'll be interested to actually see it on a wall. A friend commented on it, and I love what she said, so I'm posting it here too:

"i like this one a lot. it makes me feel sentimental, because i'm young and married. it connects a boy and girl, and has a really youthful vibe. great work." ~ac
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My dad's birthday party! We had so much fun! It was a BINGO party, to celebrate his age. :)
A kings hat, goggle glasses, a cone to hear, and a button that says, "It's ALL about ME!" surely made this a party to remember.
Oh yeah, and a nightlight for the toilet... just in case he needs one! Haha. Our twisted family thought this was hillarious.

We all took turns being the BINGO master. And yes, we all wore the green dealer visor too. It was such a fun evening! Matt made it look easy, but it really wasn't!

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That's a pretty good update on what we have been doing this summer. We've had a few scares too. A few months ago I went in for an annual doctor visit and found out that I have really high blood pressure. 140/100, which I guess is not good. They told me that they think I have some damage to my kidneys and ran a bunch of tests. They made me urinate in a bottle for a full 24 hours (which was miserable!) and drew a bunch of blood. The tests came back inconclusive and have reffered me to a Kidney Specialist. I haven't set an appointment with her yet, but I will soon. I actually went in to my appointment concerned about having kids. We've been trying for some time, with no luck. Come to find out, high blood pressure can keep a woman from ovulating (sorry for the details guys!) which is probably why we haven't been so lucky. I am so greatful that it's just blood pressure that is keeping us from having kids... blood pressure is managable! Of course, this has been really hard for me to talk about and aside from close family, and my visiting teachers, I haven't mentioned it. I figure, it's time to get over my sensitivity and be greatful that overall we both seem to be in good health. I guess the real reason that I am sharing this is as a warning for all of you. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, go in for your annual visits. Check your blood pressure and cholestorol often. These are really simple things that can be corrected before they cause any other risk factors. I only wish I would have known that EVERYONE no matter your age or sex is at risk for high blood pressure. I just assumed that I was young and felt healthy, so I was. Never assume when it comes to your health! :)

Jared and I are both doing well, and are very happy. Things have really, really been looking up for us recently. We've both thrown ourselves into work and our callings, and we're enjoying every minute of it.

I promise I'll update more soon, and not wait so long between posts. I look forward to reading all of your updates too!

Bumper Stickers... a thing of the past?

"My friends are the kind that if the house was burning down, they would be making smores and hitting on the firemen."

I know I'm a little bit weird to have a post on my blog regarding bumper stickers, but this was something that I was thinking about earlier today in the car. While I was driving home from running a few errands, I saw a bumper sticker on the car in front of me. I don't know why, but I always get a little bit excited when I see one, and almost inevitably have to read it. You know, when you're at a stop light and the car in front of you has a bumper sticker, but the print is so tiny that you have to roll your car slowly forward as you lean across the dash and over the steering wheel - just to read it? If you ever look to the left and see someone in this precarious situation, now you know what they are doing (and will probably think of me).

The sad thing is that bumper stickers are becoming more and more infrequent. I say sad as if I have them on the back of my car somewhere, but in all actuality I don't want them on my car anymore than anyone else does. I just enjoy reading them! They are usually humorous!

Aside from the occasional (traditional) BS's that we see here in Indy...

(Notice that there is no Purdue BS listed... (BOOO PU!) Just Kidding. ) There really are very few others that we see on the road. Of course there are all of those circular ones with letters inside (which I hate to admit, but I have no idea what those letters stand for) is it supposed to be a conversation starter? Do you really want me to follow you home so that I can ask what those letters stand for?

And of course when googled the letters OCD it stands for hundreds of things... Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? Obsessive Camera Direction? Original Comedy Drama? One Chance Dance? Off Choice Decision? I mean really people! Can you just put the words underneath the letters??? I will roll forward until my bumper touches yours (if I have to) to read them, but please include those words!

Now that I've vented a little bit, I feel a little better. I do still love bumper stickers, no matter how tacky they seem to be. I will forever enjoy seeing them, and will do the "roll n' bump" if I have to in order to read them. :)

Just for laughs, I'll include some of my favorites - thanks to Facebook (Bumper Stickers for Facebook.com... seriously, the person who came up with that was brilliant! Sticker yr' friends!) that make me laugh. If you have a few that make you laugh too, feel free to post them!

"Friendship is like peeing in your pants. Everyone can see it, but only you can feel it. Thanks for being the pee in my pants."

"I have CDO... It's like OCD but all the letters are in alphebetical order like they should be."

"I'm not crazy, my reality is just different than yours."

(Sorry about the quality, taking them from Facebook and blowing them up for my blog diluted them a bit.) I look forward to reading some of your favorites!

TAG!!!

I was tagged by Alyssa (like forever ago!) but it was during my blogging absence, so I apologize that it's late, but here it is!

How To Play This Game of Tag:

Post these rules on your blog. Answer these 15 questions about yourself on your blog. List:3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, 3 random/surprising facts. Tag five people at the end of your post by leaving their names. Let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog. Here it is:

Joys:
1. Laughing so hard that my stomach hurts.
2. Spending time with Jared. Not doing anything important, just being stupid. :)
3. Sunshine.

Fears:
1. Roller Coasters.
2. Losing loved ones (serious fear!)
3. Not doing everything that I should for the ones I love.

Goals:
1. Finish school.
2. Have a family of my own.
3. Do everything possible to eliminate unnecessary stresses.

Obsessions/collections:
1. Bottled water. I know that we've discussed this before, but I LOVE bottled water. Some would say it's an obsession.
2. Animals. I certainly have a collection of them. Feel free to come to the Peyton Petting Zoo anytime you would like. (Just know that we may put you to work!) haha.
3. I love movies, and Jared would say I am addicted to chick flicks. I love certain movies and watch them over and over. What can I say, I love a good movie?!

Random/surprising facts:
1. I have a heart-ish shaped birthmark on my stoach just to the right of my belly button. Until now, only immediate family and Jared knew I had it. Hello world, here's my dirty little secret. :) (My mom used to call me her little carebear.)
2. I am TERRIBLE with money. I know, surprising huh?
3. I love to paint anything and everything. If it hasn't been painted in my house, it will. I've been known to paint rooms and then repaint them with the seasons. :)

I tag... KIERA (Now you can say that you were tagged), Kim, Kristin, Tashina, and Vandi.

Christmas Party? Already?!

Yesterday after church I had an Enrichment Committee Meeting (I'm not the president!) to plan for the next few upcoming activities. It seems like Enrichment Committee has become more than just the regular activities, and has exploded into much more. We now do the four quarterly activities and the weekly groups, also the Enrichment 101 and Service Groups. (I'll explain these later.) But needless to say, we're staying busy as a group!

When everyone arrived, Susan (our President) handed out the itinerary for the meeting. I briefly ran my eyes over it. When they fell upon the last item, my jaw dropped and I think I started sweating. "Christmas Enrichment Meeting Planning" - What?! Christmas already??? I've barely had time to recover from last years activity!!! (Even though it's a lot of work, I'm really excited about it.) Last year our theme was, "An Instrument in the Lord's Hand". We had a slide presentation of women in the church, scriptural and modern day, to the music of "Beautiful Savior". We had a lot of beautiful music, and a wonderful program with a speaker who talked about being an instrument in the Lord's hand, and how we should embrace ourselves as women. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. It was perfect, and it's going to be hard to top but we're going to try. I'm petitioning all of you for ideas. We don't have a theme yet, but I would love to know what other Christmas Enrichment activities that you have been to that have been successful. Any and all ideas are welcome!!! :)

We are also implementing a bunch of new groups which I'm really excited about! The first we are calling Enrichment 101. What things would you like to learn? Be careful what you suggest, because you're responsible for planning it! We'll see how well it works out, but I'm looking forward to it. Being recently newly married (I can still say that after three years right?) I still have a lot of things that I go to my mom for help with. Example: I never wanted to learn how to sew as a teenager, but now it's important to me! Or cooking, meal planning, home canning, emergency preparedness, food storage, and gardening - when did I become an old lady? I have an idea that I may end up planning a lot of these since I'm the one who wants to learn about all of this. Go figure. :) Let me know if you have any ideas for these activities as well, I always love suggestions.

We've also been bouncing around ideas about "Service Groups". It's something that a few wards have been implementing around us, and it's becoming very popular and effective. Essentially, you convince people to join the service groups, and put them into 4 person groups. Everyone provides service for everyone else. Like, I just painted my floor so I would have invited my group over to help. And then the next person in the group would need something so we would all go to help her, and on and on until all four people have been served and had served. It started as a way to get the women in the ward to fellowship with an act of service - knowing that service draws women together. The groups are formed by very careful prayerful consideration which is a huge part of it too. So far, the Fishers 2nd ward has started it and after the first few groups, word of mouth has attracted many other women to join. I'm so excited to start, but we are still ironing out the details.

We're planning on rolling out these two new groups on September 30th, so I hope all of the other women are as excited as we are.

Let me know if you have any suggestions about these ideas, we're so excited to get them rolling!

Concrete? Really?

So I had a request to update you on my flooring... Don't laugh but I painted my subfloor concrete after ripping out my carpeting. After having seven puppies, two dogs, and two cats, our year and half old carpeting had seen it's day.

I thought that taking the carpet out was going to be the hard part. Boy was I wrong! That was the easy part! (I also didn't think that the garbage man would take it all... but he did!) We have linoleum in the foyer and the kitchen, so all we took out was the living room (15 X 25) so it really wasn't too much work. We left the linoleum where it was, and I'm glad about it now. After taking up the carpet and the carpet pad, and hauling it to the street, we realized that the tack strips that were laid to keep the carpet in place (along the edge of the walls) was nailed into the concrete.

Jared had to borrow a crowbar from my dad to get them up. After he had pulled all of the tack strips up, we had to concrete putty all of the holes from the nails that they used to lay the tack strips. Those two steps proved to be the hardest so far.

After puttying and sanding, we swept the floor, and then primed it with a latex primer. I wish I would have gotten pictures of each of the steps, but I didn't. The mistake that we made here, was that we used a white latex primer. For future reference if any of you ever consider painting your concrete... prime with a grey primer. OR, better yet, your local Lowe's store will tint your primer to the exact color of your paint (that goes for any type of paint and primer...even your walls!) which makes your coverage more even. We primed in white, so our first coat was very uneven, ultimately causing us to have to add two more coats afterwards. It's definitely cheaper to just prime it the right way to begin with.

After priming the floor, we painted it with a latex garage and porch paint. They had two different types at the store... they have a Latex Paint, and a Paint Epoxy. We chose to go with just the latex paint - because the paint guy told me that it would be more durable and strong (against dog nails, scratches, etc.). After three coats, the floor looks great. We chose a Chocolate brown color to match the paint that we used in the kitchen. All of our walls are a soft blue - white blue- color (called "windswept") except one wall in the kitchen which is chocolate brown. All of our trim is white so our house is very light and open. We thought it would be a great way to move our kitchen throughout the house. Not to mention, had we gone white or light, you would have seen EVERYTHING that fell on it. :) Hahaha, we had to think ahead.

After painting the floors the chocolate brown color, I am going to paint lines on the floor using a black to give it the effect of wood floors. I haven't begun this step yet, but I will make sure to update the next few steps. After I draw the lines on the floor, and everything is ready to go, we are going to go ahead and buy a clear epoxy (the other type of paint at the store!) to cover it. The floors ended up getting scratched as we moved the furniture around on them, so we decided that covering it with the clear epoxy would not only give it a good thick finish, but would look nicer as well.

I apologize for the picture quality, Jared has my camera in the car so I had to take these on my phone. Also, don't look at my messy kitchen... icky.

You can't tell in these pictures, but where the linoleum meets the concrete there is a tack strip that we can't take up. It's a metal tack strip instead of cardboard, and it holds the linoleum in place. We are getting rubber stripping to cover that area. Eventually when we re-carpet, it will come out and be replaced, but for the time being a rubber stripping will work just fine.

Once I get the lines painted, and the epoxy poured... and all of our furniture back in place I will be sure to take more pictures and re-update everyone. To be honest, this has been a lot of fun! Making (somewhat crazy) choices to designing your house can be a lot of fun, a little exciting, and sometimes scary... but it always works out for the best.

Oh, and one last word to the wise, we didn't realize how much it would effect the heating and cooling of our house, but it really does! The thermostat is downstairs above the concrete, so when I turn the Air Conditioning on, the downstairs gets cool quickly and the upstairs stays warm because the concrete cools off so quickly. I have a feeling it will be the opposite in the winter, cool concrete so the heater will work extra hard. We'll see I guess!

--I added a link to a website oh how to paint your concrete floors; if you click on the title of this post. If you are ever interested in this project for your own home, I would definitely suggest doing a little more research than we did!--

Here I am again... After an "Extended Absense"

Downtown Chicago!

So here I am again after an incredibly long time of no blogging. I go through these phases where I blog a lot, and then don't blog for months. I promise I'm back for good... I have more time on my hands now. :)

A lot of stuff has happened since the last time I blogged. A lot of really major things! First of all, all of the puppies are gone. They have all been adopted and are all doing very well in their new homes. We occasionally get updates on them and hear that they are doing well. Thankfully, little Quinn got all of her hair back in, and is growing really well. Not to mention that she looks just like her mom.
Quinn with her new brother Rusty!


Quinn, getting so big!

Other than all of the puppies leaving our house (and us missing them TERRIBLY!) we have been enjoying Abbey and Lily. It has been nice getting to spend a little quality time with our girls. Kanye and Kaliegh (our cats) have been happier too! Less dogs to run away from! :)

Our carpet took a beating with the puppies. Especially downstairs. Last week we ripped out the carpet downstairs and painted the concrete. (I know, we're crazy!) but we're poor right now, and trying to save as much as we can, so instead of re carpeting we decided to just keep the concrete. Not to mention, if the girls have an accident it's super easy to clean up. We painted the floor chocolate brown to match the wall in the kitchen, and since everything else is light blue and white, it looks really nice. We're just adjusting to the cold floor in the morning! Haha. Someday we will throw down some wood floors. :)

We've also been pretty busy with other things. A few weeks ago, Jared and I went with our friends Matt and Heilit up to Chicago for a few days. It was a very nice trip, and we had relatively good weather while we were there. It only rained on Thursday morning, so we got pretty lucky. We played at The Art Institute of Chicago Museum, Navy Pier, a speed boat ride on the lake to watch fireworks, and then went to a Cubs game on Thursday afternoon. Not to mention the best part... eating at Gino's! <- That was a lot of fun.

Writing on the walls at Gino's was hard since they were already so full, but we managed to work that out by writing on napkins and taping it to the wall. :)
Kissy Face!
Us at Gino's - the best Pizza on the planet.
The SUPER LONG walk to Navy Pier.
Downtown Chicago from the Ferris wheel.

Navy Pier from 300 feet in the air. :)

Jared and I on the Ferris wheel.
Matt and Heilit... he was mean to me and rocked the car!
Girls on the Pier.
All of us together on the Pier!
Ferris Wheel - I rode that!!!

hahaha, it's not THAT tall!

Walking to the Pier.
After I conquered my fear of the Ferris wheel. I didn't move from that exact position the entire ride!
The boys, before we ate and played at ESPN Zone. Fun!

Jared and I

Heilit's pretty face!

Happy little walkers! We really did take Taxi's everywhere, I don't know how I got so many pictures of us walking, haha.

Navy Pier!

We also went to the Cubs game, which I will have to download the pictures of. We had a really wonderful time in Chicago, and are so glad that we went. Even for a short trip, it was just enough time!

Let's see, what else has been going on... my brother just bought a new IPhone, and is preparing for his mission. My sister is now officially divorced. My mom's business is starting to pick up, so that's something good. My dad got my brother a job in the shop where my dad works, so he's been having some fun with his best friend Chase.

Jared was recently promoted to General Manager in Donato's but it also included a transfer to Kokomo. It's quite a drive, but he's enjoying the job. He drives 45 minutes one way to work, but he says it's worth it. (And so does our bank account!) :) He's happy and healthy, so we can't ask for more.

I hope all of you are doing well, and are healthy and happy too. I mean it this time, I'll be back soon!