Travels

The last few weeks have been filled with travels and much needed hangouts with friends and family. Adam and I almost saw every person we know and love (there are some exceptions but I'd say we did pretty good). This last weekend, Adam was in a wedding for a friend from Asbury that he lived with for two summers in a row. Since he was in the wedding and involved in lots of boy hangouts all weekend, I opted to not go to the wedding but instead have him drop me off in Indiana to stay with friends for the weekend. I had so much fun. I got to stay with my dear friend, Kindra, for a couple days in Indianapolis. We talked about life, I got to see where she works and meet some of her coworkers, we held puppies because we love, 

ate at Yats (one of my favorite places to eat--yummy creole food on the cheap), went to her church and met a lot of people who go there, went to a chinese buffet because that's what you do when friends come in town, helped her help her friend who does flowers set up the flowers for a wedding, and just got a lot of hang out time together. We then had dinner with our good friend, Abby, Saturday night at a Sushi place. It was so much fun and good to just talk about life and laugh a lot. So much fun! 

#triple selfie

Then Abby took me back to Marion (where I lived last year and worked at IWU) and I got to see a lot of people that I had hung out with last year. 

I even got to see my friends, Jenna and Nate, who just had their baby last week! What a little cutie. Then Adam came Sunday and had dinner with us and then we were on our way back to the little, big city. It was so fun! I felt like I had been dropped off for one big sleepover. I'm glad we saw everybody but am also glad to be back. I have some seriously laundry to do since we've hardly been home the last few weeks.

Lauren's Wedding

I have been traveling every three days for the past 2 weeks so I have reconnected with several people and have several things to yet blog about. One of those things is that one of my dear friends from college got married over the weekend. She was such a beautiful bride and it was so fun to see everyone who could make it. I was in North Carolina for less than 24 hours but every minute was worth the early morning flights and time away from home.

My iphone doesn't do justice to how beautiful she looks so I borrowed a photo from her facebook from her photographers at Project: Life Photography. She looked so good!

Now onto my less than glamorous iphone photos.

 They got married under this amazing tree. It was gorgeous and most of the people were under it's shade (sorry James, who sat in the sun for the ceremony and the reception). The weather was in the 70's and felt glorious for the ceremony.

Before the ceremony, we got to grab these adorable lemonades and drink them before/during the ceremony. 

 Their ceremony was so God-centered and honoring which was so refreshing after being to our share of weddings where God isn't a part of the ceremony or only casually mentioned.

 Tyler and Lauren have known each other for a while but started dated almost 3 years ago and have been long distance for most of that time. Having my share of long distance, I am so happy that they will finally get to be together.

 So good to spend time with these girls! (Liz and Katelyn)

 First Dance

 Jenelle, me , Lauren, Katelyn, Taylor, and Kate. Had so much fun talking and laughing with these girlies over the weekend.

We decided that at least one of our friends needs to get married a year to keep our mini reunions up. Kate volunteered as tribute for 2 years from now haha She is so witty!

Family Visit photo dump

I got to visit my family this past weekend and it was so much fun! It was a crazy four days but I am so glad I got to go. Adam didn't get to go with me so I was a little sad but in reality he would have been sooooooo bored that it ended up being a good thing.

I landed in Washington D.C. and got picked up by Dad. We went to a lovely lunch and had a wonderful time talking. It was really fun. I think I'm at the point in my life that doing things with my parents are pleasant and enjoyable.

My dad dropped me off at home for me to get in Katie's car with Katie, Amy, and Chrissy to head up to NY to see my grandparents. I haven't seen my maternal grandparents for over 3 1/2 years which is pretty sad. They are getting older so I was glad that I got to see them. I think it was pretty overwhelming for them to have four of us up there at the same time but it still was a good visit. We had a load of fun on the way up and back.

We took the back way up and back and went by this old antique store that our mom used to stop at frequently. It was really fun to stop for old time's sake. 

 My sisters are very funny.

 We made it just a day trip so we could get back on Saturday night. Sunday we went to church and then had a relaxing day having lunch, hanging out, picking flowers, and taking a walk. Like I said, very relaxing.

Katie's dog baby, jack

Then I got to meet Liam!!! He is 3 months old today. So cute and look at those thighs! He's definitely doing well in the health department. He is a cutie and he even smiled at me. So cute. I also already completed one of my summer goals ;)

The rest of the weekend was spent playing and talking with everyone. There were so many little kids running around that wanted to be pushed on the tire swing and helped on and off of the trampoline. My mom really does have the best yard for little kids. She had a merry-go round, bouncing horse (like one you would see at the park), trampoline, basketball hoop, and so many trees to climb. It's awesome!

Here are all the kiddos minus J.J (Chrissy and Buck's son) and Liam (John and Jess's son).

I just had to share the rest of these photos because they are cute. Ryan made a friend with Uncle Kenny when Uncle Kenny let him eat his whip cream off his strawberry shortcake. When it was all out, Ryan would say, "We need more of dis" and walk up to Aunt Johanna to ask for more. He might have done that several times before we cut him off but oh boy, did he have fun.

 I played with these two the most this weekend because they were the youngest and didn't always get to play with the big kids. They are cute.

 Ryan

I made a friend with Muriel when she saw that I still had some ice cream left. She is really funny, very outgoing, and has such a cute voice. Little kid voices melt my heart every time.


I had such a good time reconnecting with family that it was hard to leave. I was very sad that we live far apart but this is where we are now. It's hard to remember that I like being here in the Midwest too in the moment when I get sad and think that my family gets to hang out all the time when I'm not with them (this isn't true-- we all live in separate places). I am excited though that I will see some of them before Thanksgiving ;) Whoot Whoot to quality time with people you love.

Quality time

I am leaving this morning super early ;/ on a flight to see my family on the east coast. I am super pumped. It is going to be tiring because of how much I am trying to cram in 4 days but I am so excited. I don't know if it's the possibility of warmer weather or traveling in general but it's got me thinking about how much I want to accomplish this summer. So here are my top ten goals


1. Meet my nephew. My brother and his wife had their first child back in February but I have yet to meet him. Obviously excited over here. Get to see him on Monday night!

2. Catch up on my Bible reading. Remember when I said I was reading through the Bible in a year? Well, I am 40+ days behind (don't judge...) so.... I need to get back on that and am hoping to do better with my schedule this summer.

3. Get a perfect sun hat or fedora. This one is pretty self-explanatory but I just really want a hat for a some reason so it's on the list of things to look at this summer. Probably doesn't help that my job is to place images of Kohl's products. I just see stuff all.day.long and it makes me want more... very bad habit but for now it's on the list.

4. Watch. Another materialistic thing but I've wanted a watch for about 2 years. I am just so particular that I haven't found one I like yet.

5. Go to at least one fruit festival. Wisconsin is a big producer of fruit: cranberries, strawberries, cherries, apples, you name it. There are so many different fields/orchards you can pick from and there are festivals that go along with the harvesting season for each particular fruit. I think it would be fun to go to one so it's on my list. I already know I'm missing the strawberry one but I'll have to try to make it another one. Gotta support the locals.

6. Water color paint. Back in January, I saw a watercolor postcard kit at a speciality paper goods store and really liked it. It looked fun and pretty. Well, Adam bought it for me the other day so I am excited to have a creative outlet and make pretty things.

7. Reconnect with friends and family.  I am excited because this summer if filled with so many trips and visit from loved ones. I cannot wait to have some good quality time starting this weekend! I know most trips will be short but it's better than nothing.

8. Finish Turbofire workout. I'm almost half way in this intense video workout system. I'm on week 9 of 20 and I think I will feel so accomplished if I finish it. I already feel better after doing it for 9 weeks so I'm excited to see how I feel as it goes on.

9. Find a job. My contract position at Kohl's technically ends the first few days of August so I'm looking to get into something more permanent. They might extend my contract but in general I think I want to be at a job longer term than 6 month contracts.

10. House School. Adam and I went to House School early this week aka helping and learning as we go helping some people from our church renovate their house. We really don't know anything about fixing up a house or even fixing much around the house so we are super excited (well I am at least, I actually don't know how he feels about it) to learn as much as we can from this couple. We are going to help renovate a kitchen, build deck stairs, and fix something in a garage (I don't remember what exactly).

So that's it for now. I'll keep you updated as the summer goes on. For now, I gotta board my plane.

Oh and it's my friend Jenelle's birthday today. So shout out to her. I get to see her next weekend so I am super pumped!

Scottish Fest and Church Picnics

Taylor, me and Tasha at the Scottish Festival

This weekend was filled with plenty of friend time. On Saturday, while Adam was off golfing and watching the NBA game with some guys, I was at the Scottish Fest with my good friend, Tasha, and her good friend, Taylor. It was super Scottish. We had caper tosses (those long logs that weigh over 100 lbs), axe throwing competitions, weight throwing competitions (the guys had to throw 52 lbs over a 10 foot pole that looked like field goal post in football), live music, real clans, burial ceremony demonstration, cricket how-to (we got to play a game!), and sheep herding. Like I said, really Scottish but super fun.

 I met Taylor for the first time this weekend. She is super cool. Her and Tasha were friends in college.

I'm obsessed with puppies so I got to pet this little guy and wanted to text Adam about it. Unfortunately I forgot my phone in the car so I had Tasha send it. She accidentally typed in his number wrong so this is the message we had with the owner of that said number. It was very entertaining.

We got to play cricket, which is a very interesting game. The other team didn't pick me to be on their team, probably because I had a dress on, but I didn't know I was going to play cricket and I am sick of wearing the only pair of shorts I have. Therefore, I decided to stick it to them. I got three of the four outs needed (we had an smaller team, therefore abbreviated game).

The goal of the game is to hit the bales off the wicket. The wicket is right behind the batter ( The wicket is the three wooded sticks and the bales are two small things that look like spinning tops that balance on the wicket) Our team crushed. It was awesome.

 Then we watched sheep herding. Those dogs are super obedient. It was incredible.

We had a church picnic yesterday. It was "unseasonably" cold. I don't believe that but that is what everyone tells me every time the temperature dips back down. We ate and then convinced people to play kickball. I was the referee to try and convince people to play. I didn't do a great job but it was fun and then we played for real.

 These girls are totes adorbs.

 We were wrapped in jackets, blankets, and towels while playing. 

I think our team lost but I'm not sure. We went really easy on everyone haha Even though it was cold, it was fun to share food and fun with our church.

Happy Monday!