What are you excited about?

On Monday this week, Robin, Jaimie, Shauna and I had a girls dinner, which occurs monthly at Robin's house. We cook unique meals with unique food - food that usually involves ingredients I have never heard of before. First off...

Meet Robin

Brown haired, brown eyed, God-seeking, travel junkying, book reading, beautiful singing, salsa dancing, event planning, always smiling, excited-voice screeching gal who's always warm and inviting no matter what. I look up to her for so many reasons, but especially for her unwavering faith and strong marriage. Been friends for 3 years.

This month, we had a Jamaican style dinner complete with jerk chicken, rice and peas (kidney beans), and mango salsa....

We always have a great time talking about life, work, and faith. One thing Robin never fails to ask us every month is, "What are you most excited about if your life right now?"  The first time she asked me this, I was caught off guard, because, well, I've never really thought too deeply about what I'm excited about at any given moment. I appreciate this question though, because it gives me the opportunity (at least once during the month) to really think about what excites me - and it also challenges me to look at moments with a different attitude. Have you thought about it lately? What are you most excited about right now in your life?  Something to think about at least!

This week for me, I am really excited about heading home for the weekend.  I haven't seen my family since Easter, and I do cherish every time I go home.  I am a country gal and any excuse to get back there, I'm all over it.  I'm excited to see my parents and grandma.  Excited to have coffee with two wonderful ladies Saturday morning. Excited to see mom's spring flowers blooming. Excited to see the farmers out planting in the fields. And excited to run 10 miles on the hilly country roads to see if I can really do it - Cross your fingers for me. 

I'm in need of a relaxing weekend, because I have had one busy but FUN week.  Wanna see?

Monday
Girls dinner as mentioned.

Tuesday
Miley movie with my friend, JE. I'm not a big fan of chick flicks, but I took one for the team, and it ended up being pretty decent.

Wednesday
Dinner and hanging out with Aunt Mary and her roomie, Linda (I will introduce Linda later). I am fortunate to have an aunt who lives in Indy...the one aunt who got away from "The Hometown."   The rest of my family (minus some cousins) still lives in The Hometown. Anyway, Mary is more like a sister to me, even though she is almost___years old (Mary, I didn't type it!) We hang out often, run together, cook together, play tennis, etc.  Yesterday, she introduced me to Glee, and I think I'm in love.  Great show. To put it simply, she is great!

Meet Aunt Mary

Brown hair, blue eyed, motorcycle riding, meatloaf cooking, tennis playing, road running, mail-carrying, dog-loving, sports loving, outgoing, farmville-obsessing, ant-hating aunt who is the kindest and most giving person you will ever meet.  I look up to her for the humble kindness and giving attitude.  She has been my aunt for 25 years.


Thursday
I got my final shot for Africa! Yellow Fever--and as of 10 hours later, no side effects!  Remember, this was the nasty one my regular doc wouldn't give me. Thankfully, I survived -even though it HURT! phheeww!  Next feat--the 16 hours worth of plane rides! Only two weeks till take off!

Now, I am sitting on the couch of my friends, Danielle and Jeff, babysitting for their four babies. You never know where this off-the-cuff life will lead! Tonight it's in a king size bed complete with...

Levi

Gus

Josie

AND...

Kitchy

Goodnight!

The list is published!

I found my list - Finally! Check it out.

Indypendent living means 450 sq ft.

I live alone. I live in a studio. I love it. I can honestly say I probably will never have another roommate again...unless I make it down the aisle one day.  Right now the only aisle I'm walking down is the grocery aisle, so unless that changes, nope, nein, natta. 

I've been asked several times why I am so adamant about living alone. It's not that I'm unsocial or that I've had bad roommate experiences.  I actually had the BEST college roommates and we had thousands of off-the-wall good times--ohh the memories...

But there came a point when I just wanted to do my own thing and I didn't want to worry about making other people happy.... I don't have or desire cable, I don't clean my dishes every day,  I want to stay up till midnight with the music blaring and not feel bad, I want to feel responsible for my own mess, I want to decorate the fridge how I want it, I'd rather use windows than air conditioning, I need room in the fridge for my Busch Light, I don't find it necessary to own new fancy furniture at this point in my life, and I just want a place to get away and take a breather from my off-the-cuff life.

So, now I'm living economy style.  My parents came up to visit when I moved in and I excitedly offered dad a tour. He walked in, stood in the middle of the living room/bedroom floor, spread his arms apart and spun around in a circle proclaiming, "Wow, that was a nice tour."  Well, you all are in for a treat here tonight.  Here is my 360 degree tour!

The washer and dryer are hidden behind the curtain.

All furniture and decor you see here was either free, homemade or from a thrift store.

Behind closed doors. Literally every crevice of my apartment is stuffed to the brim.

Notice the VCR player -Rock on

This is where I hit snooze 10-15 times every morning.

The guest bed / couch/ desk/ dining room table

And now for some elements that make my studio more like home...

Glass bowl made by a friend

Homemade Pillows!

Rule of thumb: If the dust doesn't show up until a close up photo is taken, it's not really there.

Love my Indiana Wines

When all crevices have been filled, the corners come next

Boots and Tennis shoes - must haves for any girl

One of my favorite photos with my highschool peeps. 

Now, don't come steal all my cool stuff!

Corn, kids, dirt and Bratwursts!

This Saturday was a real treat. 
Morning
Earth day was celebrated in Indianapolis and I had the fun opportunity to help out in the kids tent or "adults who wanted to be kids" tent. Our group taught kids the difference between sweet corn and field corn while helping them plant sweet corn into Cow Pots.

To kids: "Can you guess what these pots are made out of?"

Response: "Paper!?, seeds?! dirt?! woodchips?!"

Guess again kids - they're made out of cow manure! EWWW was the response heard over and over. We even had a few kids and adults throw down the pot and walk away appalled.  C'mon people -it's just reprocessed grass, hay and corn! Added bonus: no waste when replanting the seed. Just plant the whole pot and the manure acts as a natural fertilizer. Magic! 

Most people loved the poo and kept on planting!  Here are some commemorative poooo pictures!

Hey Indy Folks, look for single sweet corn stalks growing in a garden near you!

Evening

A shower was taken and fingernails cleaned - not that I minded. Any excuse to get dirty is fine by me (if you really call this dirty).  Guess you have to clean up to go out in Indy. Back home, you just show up and drink up. period. 

My good friend, Andrea, was in town for the night to celebrate her birthday - 25 big ones. Destination: Rathskeller 

Meet Andrea

Brown haired, brown eyed, independent, Dads-root-beer-owning, world-traveling, business-school-graduating, golf-playing, fast-shower-taking, home-owning, beer-drinking cat lady who moved back to Jasper to sell some Dad's!  How long have we been friends: 15 years. 

Meet Heather

Brown haired, hazel eyed, teeth-cleaning, spazzer-outer, money saving, book-reading, marathon-running, textbook-studying, wine drinking IUPUI dental student who I don't see as often as I should. We live 2 streets apart for crying out loud!

The Rathskeller downtown is one place we like to hang our hat in the summer time.  The outdoor Bier Garten and live polka music can't be beat..and neither can the Bratwursts!

Love at first sight

We had a great time taking all sorts of pictures

Laughing Pictures:

Awkward Pictures

...and Smiling Pictures (Good news! All of my friends do own normal facial expressions)

The Jasper buds are the best.  Been friends with these three for the past 15 years- Now who can say that?! So Blessed!

Ginger Tea with a Side of Pizza

I've often felt lucky to have such good peeps in my life.  Since moving to Indy, I've been fortunate to keep friends I had made over the years and also make new ones as I rumble along.  I will be blogging about them often, so let me introduce a few before I talk about tea and pizza.

Meet Adrienne (or Adrin)

Brown haired blue-eyed, thigh dancing, strassenfest-loving, fiber-craving, long-time-going-to-bed-getting-readier, fellow-beer-drinking, health nut who always makes sure I eat a good breakfast--and if I only eat fruit and yogurt--that's not good enough!  How long have we been friends: 15 years

Meet Jaimie (you met her earlier)

Blonde haired, blue-eyed, God-loving, allergy-prone, creative detail-oriented, iphone-loving, monkey-face making, heckofanAmazing cook and tax whiz who will do anything for anyone and  always go out of her way to serve others. How long have we been friends: 1 year, 8 months.

Meet Shauna (or Bacon bit)

Blonde hair, brown eyed,  family-loving, witty-pun-making, bottled-water-drinking, church-going, long-distance-running, swim-lesson-teaching, Saturday-grocery-store-shopping, hopeless romantic who loves to parallel park...My one goal is to see her tipsy at least one time in my life. 

How long have we been friends: 2 years 

Thursday was our monthly pizza-making girls night.  A night where we make homemade pizzas, drink bottled water, drink wine, drink tea and then pee like racehorses.

Lemme tell you more about this tea.  It is utterly amazing! and I recommend you make it right away and never look back, because it's the best thing since barbq sauce.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup honey

the juice of 1 lemon or lime

inch of ginger grated (i like to put it in a garlic press)

Mix together in a pot and heat on stove for about 7-10 minutes.  Add water to dilute.

Drink it without diluting and it coats the throat if you have a sore one.

This is also a great cure for an oncoming cold.  Why?

Well, you probably know that lemon is high in Vitamin C. It is also full of phytochemicals. These are plant constituents that help boost the immune system and much more. Ginger and honey are also well documented to help the immune system. (I wish I could admit that these fun facts came off the top of my head, but no, I found them using Google, another good friend.) Adrin however, would probably know these off the top of her head.

Thursday evening we tried lime instead of lemon and prob talked about how good it was for 15 minutes.  Yes, we lead an exciting life.

I thought bucket lists were supposed to be fun!

I'll admit, I'm a wuss when it comes to a few things. Two of those include:

running long distances

and getting shots

  Today I had the joy of experiencing both.  Nine miles and three shots later, I'm sitting in my living room/bedroom with sore arms, sore knees, and more relief than...I won't go there.  Relief that I'm one step closer to my trip to Africa (hold out on me Eyjafjallajökull!). Relief that I'm one step closer to finishing this mini marathon.  And relief that I'm one step closer to tomorrow! Two bucket list items..Africa. Mini-marathon.check.check. Is there really need for this much pain though?

I tend to think the worst when it comes to shots, so today the thoughts entering my mind were, "Yes, I'm going to be the 1 person out of 25 million that have the crazy side effect" and "I'm going to be the first person to have some never-before seen side effect."  and "It's going to happen while I'm running alone, and I'm going to die right there mid-mile as bigboy rides by on his segway." YIKES

So I get into the exam room and finally had my mind "clear," when my doc goes on to tell me she won't administer the yellow fever vaccine because it is a nasty one. NASTY! What!? She goes on to tell me that the side effects are significant, so they'd rather not. Good grief..looking forward to getting that one now.  Co-workers, friends...I may REALLY need someone to come with me to hold my hand!

Thankfully, my good friend Jaimie came to my rescue and helped me survive.  I am convinced I am going to need someone to talk to while I'm running my 13.1 miles on May 8.  I felt like this hour and half tonight went so fast thanks to her.  So grateful for good friends who can help keep your mind off the tough tasks at hand and tonight, the pain right above the hands...