where's waldo: the kowe version

Just an average closet until you look a little closer... Somebody is VERY afraid of thunderstorms and found a safe spot in my gym bag at the bottom of the closet. Usually she hides under my skirts in my closet but last night, I was folding laundry and saw her cuddle into here so I grabbed my camera really quick to poke fun at her in her super terrified state...much like J does to me when I'm in the closet during tornado warnings!

So sad...you can see the fear in her little eyes...

She either got tired of pictures or she felt this was safer, but after I was finished putting away laundry, this is where she was.
And she ended the night here...in her other usual safe spot...behind the bathroom door. We leave the fan running for her so it helps drown out some of the noise. You can see that she is OVER having her picture taken.

little baby

So I took the dogs on a walk a few weeks back and when we got back in the house, I looked down to see that Lukey had picked up a special toy at some point. He found a pacifier and was carrying it in his mouth just like a little baby. I wish I'd had Josh with me because I couldn't get a good picture. He gets territorial when you try to take something from his mouth so I didn't want to get bitten. (Yes, I took it out immediately by tricking him with a tasty treat.) That's one cute kid, though!

The Big Three-Oh!

Josh is officially OVER the hill! He turned 30 on June 4th and we had a pretty good time celebrating it! I must say, 30 looks pretty darn good on my husband.

Soooo excited to get the Wii!! Doesn't he look like a kid in a candy store?!


We've had such a good time playing all of the Wii games (except I hate that I can't beat him at MarioKart to save my life). We also bought the WiiFit and have been on that thing nonstop. There's so much that you can do. It's so fun.

Yup, he still had enough wind to blow out all those candles...we got the traditional angel food cake PLUS an ice cream cake and then the next day we had a regular birthday cake. 30th birthdays apparently mean lots and lots of cake in our family, which as we all know, is fine by me!

I forgot to take pictures of him opening his other cards and presents from me and him with all of his black balloons that I bought him and all of his presents wrapped in black. But we both took the day off and went to Indy to an Indians game. We had a really lucky day.

First we were walking in and a lady gives us 2 free tickets (score!) which were right behind the Indians' dugout. Then Josh caught a ball that the pitcher threw right at me. I ducked and he caught it. We gave it to the little girl sitting next to us. Then, funnest of all, we were on the Kiss Cam!! So much fun. And finally, the rain held out for us, which we weren't expecting since there was an 80% chance of rain. So...we bought some lottery tickets. We're not millionaires, just FYI.
Then we went to dinner at PF Chang. Yummm.

Our luck turned, however, by that weekend. See, we planned a camping trip. Well, no. Let me rephrase that: I planned a camping trip. Everyone, and I mean EVERYone told me that I wasn't the camping type, that I wasn't going to like it, that I'm too high maintenance, etc. etc. etc. So I had a chip on my shoulder ready to prove everyone wrong. After all, I've been camping a lot in the past. Just because I made sure to find a campsite that had working toilets and showers so that I could apply my required daily hair regimen (trust me, you don't want me to avoid the hair regimen!)

So anyway, I had it all planned out. I planned a list 2 pages long, packed everything we could need and more, planned and bought the menu that I planned to cook (really!), and planned our activities for the entire weekend. So Friday night, it was just going to be me and Josh and then Shell, Dan & Griff were going to meet us Saturday evening. On Saturday, Josh and I were going to picnic and then head to Turkey Run and then have a fun campfire that night, followed by all of us canoeing on Sunday. Doesn't that sound well planned and fantastic?!?!

I was so proud of myself and so was Josh. Until, as I mentioned before, our luck changed. So we're in Indiana and we all know that means a good portion of the spring and early summer is spent in our "safe spot" due to tornadic activity. Well, at least those of us who are smart spend a lot of time in safe spots. I won't tell you what I think about the lunatics who don't heed Mike Prangley's warnings and suggestions. So all week, we had been blessed with horrific weather, thunderstorms, tornado warnings, rain out the wazoo. You name it, we got it. But I had faith that we were going to have a beautiful weekend. The weather called for scattered thunderstorms and rain all weekend, but in my mind, that's fine. It's the tornados that send me into a panic. So thunderstorms it was.

We headed out after work on Friday and TomTom took us about 10 miles to the Southeast of Crawfordsville. I knew this was wrong (refer to my meticulous planning). I kept telling J this was wrong. We could both see dark clouds over to the west and kept just hoping that we would get our camp set up before it hit too bad. So we finally head in the direction that I think we should go, I ask a lady at a gas station and she says that we're on the right track. So we are driving along and come upon a shelf cloud that seriously takes up the entire sky...and the road we're on is smack dab in the center of the thing. Josh makes the mistake of saying out loud what we both know this means. And then I start to freak. But we keep driving, pass a church where they're playing outside, so I mentioned that they wouldn't be out if there was a tornado warning. We cross 231 and come between 2 houses and upon the blackest of black clouds. I felt like Dorothy. I'm screaming, Josh is screaming at me. I want to turn around and my fearless husband wants to drive INTO the blackness. I finally convince him that we NEED to turn around. He does so, but in a manner more suited for walking a tight rope than for running from a storm. He finds the perfect driveway to turn around in and then inches back toward 231. At that point, the wind picks up really badly and we have to wait for traffic. We decide the previously mentioned church is the best spot, so Josh (again, with the urgency of a sloth) finds a parking spot (the LAST one available, I might add) and I fumble to find my phone and his, but can't so I say screw it. I open my door, it swings back on me and I finally get out and feel like THIS guy, only not calm and not in a hurricane. So we make it in, chill with the 30 or so VBS kids (who, I admit, aren't nearly as scared as me), and finally get the all clear that we have about 40 minutes before another cell moves in. So we head home. I was depressed all weekend because the trip got ruined.

But when we came out of the church, I looked down the road to see this:

It's a little hard to make out, but it is a humongous tree in the middle of the road. Funny enough, we turned around about 25 yards further than where it is. Yep. We almost died. So this, my friends, is why I am so scared. I am certain that if we put the same address into TomTom today, he would point us in the right direction. J laughs at me, but I really feel like we were being guided and protected that day and I am very thankful! Even if Josh did scream at me and I screamed back. :)

Lincoln's 2nd Birthday

While we were in Hilton Head, Linc celebrated his 2nd birthday. We had a little party when we got home and here are some pictures of him with his cake. I forgot to take any of him doing presents I guess.

Messssssssy!

meet Carter

On March 5th, my dear friend and her husband welcomed this adorable little package into the world. His name is Carter and I (finally!) got to meet him last week. Jenn and I met at Buca di Beppo and celebrated her 30th birthday and I got to love on Carter for a while. So sweet and cuddly and cute.

Congratulations Jenn & Jeremy!!

surgery pictures

So, apparently we really know how to do surgery well! Here are a couple of pictures that we took a few weeks back when I had mine...

Step 1 would be to first have a sweet husband who takes two days off to pamper you. And a sweet mother in-law who brings you flowers and your favorite meal of alltime in addition to watching your dogs. And awesome co-workers who bring you more beautiful flowers. And pretty much a hundred other great people who check on you and make sure you're doing well. (Thank you, by the way.) So...that's the first step.

But the second step is to have entertainment. And boy, did I ever!! As you can see above, I had a collection of sweets (my favorite candy are Reese's Eggs, so the Big Cups are the next best things), Oprah (I had saved about 2 weeks' worth on DVR), a new book, a laptop and movies. In 2 days' time, we (and, yes, I said WE because J watched all of them, too) watched The Wizard of Oz, Juno, 27 Dresses and August Rush. Talk about chick flick heaven!! Also, good drugs should have been in the picture but actually I didn't take my pain killers after the first day at home.

One thing I found kind of hysterical is that I woke up after getting home the evening of my surgery and I was reallly drowsy and had sore throat from the thing, so I kind of whispered for Josh and he came running up the stairs. I had no idea how he could have heard me, only to find that he had me on a baby monitor...aka the speaker phone. He's so cute.

You can also see above that I even did a little work. A smidge. Only because I left for a training then on Monday, so I had to read through some things.

And here is Luke after getting home from Grandma's. He likes to keep my pillows nice and warm for me. But you can see that I get a bit of a stink-eye when I try to get him to move.

All in all, a good surgery. Fully recovered now and feeling great. We find out next week what we do next. Yay!!

weekend with the boys

For Shell's birthday, we got her a spa package and planned back in March to take the boys for an entire weekend. We thought it would be a better gift than pretty much anything else and she is such a busy bee that we knew some downtime would be welcomed. So this past weekend was the first time that we could fit it in with my travel schedule and Josh's work schedule. We got the boys on Friday night and had them until after church on Sunday. We had so much fun, but we definitely both zonked after church!! We were worn out!!!

So Luke and Kowe were excited for some visitors and they decided they needed to get groomed. Here is Lukey and as you can tell, he's a little unsure of what to expect.

Kowe Sue wasn't worried at all. She was ready to play and listened to the rules well. Aren't her little bows cute? Yeah, they only lasted about two hours...

So Friday night, I made homemade chocolate chip pancakes and after a trip to the neighborhood park, we built a tent for Griff and I to sleep in. They had a lot of fun building it with Uncle Josh.

Griff in the finished product.

We love our Uncle Josh!! The boys love playing with him. Things haven't changed, we still believe that I will be the disciplinarian in this family and Josh will be the fun one. Lucky me. That's okay though, it's still fun to see how much they adore him.

But I got to be the fun one while Josh helped some friends move on Saturday. I took the boys to the zoo to see the animals and to the park to play. It was pretty cold so we just visited for a bit, but Griff was sure to give us our fill of the neighborhood park TWO more times that day. He loves it.

Here is Linc with a goat. There were babies there who were born 4 days earlier and he loooved them. He laughed and laughed!

Then Griff wanted to inspect the sleeper.

And we got to pet the tiny pony. Just their size!

We (and by we, I mean Josh, me and the dogs...not the boys!) were exhausted by the end of the day! We had such a full day of playing and the Kowe was up all night worrying about Linc who was in the office in his pack & play, so she didn't get much sleep. But she was such a cute little mommy. Then Saturday night, she slept with Griff and I in the tent and she was SO good. She literally did not move from this position ALL night. And Griff had his arm around her for hours. Normally she is a little grumpy when she's in bed and doesn't like to be moved or jostled, but let me tell you that he is a BEDHOG and he wollers, but Kowe didn't mind one bit. It made us feel really good about the fact that we might someday have a permanent sleeping buddy for her.

We can't wait until we get them again! I'm sure Shell and Dan will welcome it, too!!

Happy Birthday Luke!

Lukey turned 2 on Friday!! Here are some pictures of his birthday celebration... Sweet boy to share his treats with his sister! I don't think she'd do the same.


He's so sweet.

Black Tie Dinner

CFS (the College at Purdue that I work for) is home to the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, which, if I might add, is ranked #1 in the nation. They have an annual Black Tie Dinner which is an entirely student run event, so that is how we spent our Saturday evening. This year's dinner was the 10th anniversary and we sat with one of the students who served on the board for the first 2, which was pretty neat. Let me just tell you that these kids did AMAZING things! I don't know as if I've ever been to such a fancy dinner.

The service was like a dance as they served in sync and the food was seriously out of this world! We ate and drank our little hearts out. We learned that we both like Rack of Lamb (whoduthunkit!) and I love Lobster Bisque...surprise!! They had a different wine pairing with each course, and add to that the several drinks we had at the cocktail hour, and let's just say that we felt good! I am going to get a menu from one of the students because we loved all of the wine, so maybe I'll post that once I get it.

It was really fun to get all dressed up. Mostly because I got to see this handsome guy all snazzied up!!...

This is my coworker, Wendi. One of my favorite people on earth. I somehow didn't get a picture when we took our office staff picture, but maybe I'll get it from one of the other girls. So Lora and Denise aren't pictured.
At then end of the dinner. Note that you can see a smidge of my tasty dessert!
Here is a picture of the centerpieces. The students went with a "Green" theme this year and the Horticulture Dept. helped them grow their own grass. They even sent some invites out in small pots of grass. Pretty impressive, indeed!
A picture of the students
After the dinner was over, there was a "coffee" hour, which involved Starbucks Liqueur. Josh obviously didn't partake (he hates anything to do with coffee, and more specifically, Starbucks), but I sure did have my fair share!! Below you can see the ice sculptures from which the liqueur was served.

Cheers!!

The evening ended with a great cookbook on pairing every kind of food imaginable with every kind of drink imaginable. The authors of the cookbook were keynote speakers at the event and they were kind enough to bring along some cookbooks. Then on our way out, we were each offered Starbucks Coffee Mugs, which, again, I was thrilled for and Josh made me carry both. :)

We are already looking forward to next year!

silly

Here is a picture of Josh being silly with the dogs on his lap. Kowe's yawning. Luke looks scared. But I think J looks so silly here...I think he might have been making fun of my "pose" that everyone likes to tease me about.

cherry blossoms!!!

So I ended up just staying in DC for 2 days (1 night), but had all afternoon before I had to catch a flight, so I spent it being a tourist. I was so bummed that Josh and I had to cancel our trip. I'd never been to Washington, DC, so I was looking forward to seeing all of (or as many of) the amazing things that I could on our trip. Since that didn't happen, I decided that I'd try to get as much in in one afternoon...which involved heels and sore feet, but a ton of great experiences! The Purdue event the night before was at the Library of Congress, so it was a good first experience and I got to see the hustle and bustle right at 5:00 on my way to a dinner meeting. And then the alumna that I met with on Tuesday is a curator at the Smithsonian of American History (which is currently closed...bummer!), but in it's backyard (almost literally) is the Washington Monument. So after lunch at a fancy french restaurant, I headed to the Monument, the new WWII Memorial, the Reflection Pond & the Lincoln Memorial. Then I headed down to the Tidal Basin and sat in a nearby park to enjoy the gorgeous and abundant cherry blossoms!! They were literally everywhere, and I could even see them before the plane landed.

They were EVERYthing that I expected and more! I loved it. And best of all, I was there right in time, because they were in full bloom and some had begun to blow off the trees. There was wind expected Tuesday night, so I was told that a great many of them would be nearly bare by the next day or two. Phew!! I made it!

This was a closeup that will now become my desktop picture. I love it.

Tidal Basin pics...

I rounded out my trip with a visit to the White House and a quick trip through and around Georgetown...mainly to get to the shopping that is down there!

I am looking forward to next year when (hopefully) Josh can go with me! All I kept thinking all day long was how much I wished he'd been able to come. I would have loved to have seen Arlington Cemetary & the Arlington House as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Plus, next year maybe we can get a behind-the-scenes look at Dorothy's shoes when the museum opens!

ahhh, baseball season!

How excited are we (me) for baseball?!?! Here's hoping that we can make it to a few games this year! First stop: the Cubs!! Hopefully.

shouting it from the rooftops

Can I just take a second and say that, for the record, I have THE most amazing husband in the universe? I don't say it often enough, but who does say those things often enough to the ones that they love? I feel compelled today to shout from the rooftops how appreciative of him I am. Of course, he annoys the crap out of me a lot of the time, and we have our tiffs, but at the end of the day, I just need to make it known that I couldn't have survived the past month without him. He is supportive in every way imaginable, especially when it comes to our fertility struggles. He is positive, even if his jokes often aren't exactly what I am looking for. He has been by my side at every ultrasound, check-up, follow-up, and painful procedure that I have had to endure. He's standing right next to me holding my hand. He won't even fathom missing any of it. Even the quick, 10-minute appointments. I can't tell you how much this means to me. There are a lot of husbands out there who wouldn't rearrange their schedules to make uneventful and often disappointing appointments. But he does. He asks questions when he has them, and he thinks everything through. He is taking an active part of everything. He gives his opinion and I value that more than anything. This is particularly tough because I know that half of the time, he would rather have me make whatever decision makes me happiest. But his level head is helpful because he always has a different perspective than me.

Best of all, he takes me for Red Robin and a Mocha Frappuccino and gets me chocolate to make me feel better. What would I do without him???

cuties

Kowe says, "Go Boilers!!"I think I was baby talking...it looks more like I was yelling at Lukey, but I assure you, I was not. He's a good boy.