Life Lately: In Random Mode

I don't know what your September is like, but ours kind of looks like a tornado hit our calendar. But I'm ok with this, because September is the best month of the year. September means that summer's heat is out the door, and I get to be surrounded by scarves and crunchy leaves and apple cider. There is no transition more fun for me than summer into fall. So bring on the busy month, because it's just full of good, good stuff! And here are a few random updates to catch you up on our life over here in our little corner of Indianapolis.

Dogs. We have been going out of town so much lately that we decided to just have a relaxing Labor Day weekend. Somehow relaxing turned into watching four dogs, two of whom could very well kill me on accident and maybe not even know it happened. LOOK at these guys! They're called mastiffs. I call them small horses. I was not a lot of help when we went over to check on these pups...in fact, I actually screamed a few times and stood in corner a few more times, while Michael thoroughly enjoyed himself. They are huge animals, you guys. And they act like puppies - meaning they love to run at you and jump at you, making them as tall as Michael. Yikesies.

The other two dogs, of much smaller proportions, lived with us for the weekend. Do you know I've had the same Christmas dream for all (soon to be 25) years of my life? I have pictured a tiny sweet brown puppy with a big red bow around its neck under my Christmas tree for as long as I can remember. And THAT sweet little puppy on the left is exactly from my dreams! Watching her was kind of a last minute deal, but we couldn't refuse a golden retriever puppy. I mean look at that face....could you? And this is no offense to the wrinkly guy on the right...he's a good dog too. I've just, never had Christmas dreams quite that wrinkly, if you know what I mean.

So four dogs for Labor Day, sounds like a good idea, right? Actually no, it doesn't even sound like a good idea. We were so blind-sided by puppy dog eyes. But we made it through the weekend and promptly deleted our dog-sitting profile online because, oh my goodness. What a weekend that was. We're ready for a break. 

(And a little brown puppy!) 

(But we're not allowed to have pets.) 

(I hope my manager doesn't read my blog.)

We did make a quick trip to Louisville on Saturday, to go to the temple and to see Michael's parents. We wish we could have spent more time with them (again, four dogs? bad idea), but hopefully we will soon.

These guys went home on Monday, and our life got significantly less hairy. They really were a lot of fun. 

But sometimes they were not. 

Later that night we walked around downtown with the Naylors. Those little kiddos are so much fun. We love being with them. And look at that sky! It was such a beautiful day. We ended it with dinner at one of our favorites here, and then finished up the last episodes of Parks and Rec. Yep, all of them. We're done, and we're sad about it. 

And then I tried to start my normal work week but my throat and stomach and head said, no that's ok, we'll just stay in bed, thanks. So I worked from home Tuesday and Wednesday and spent my nights finishing the last season of Parenthood. Yep, all of it. I'm done, and I'm sad about it.

Also, a little embarrassed by those TV confessions. They're the only shows we watch, promise. And by we, I'm not talking about Parenthood, because Michael kind of twitches when he hears me turn that on and it's only watched when he's studying. I don't really blame him...why do I like watching other people's drama? And crying in every single episode? It's beyond me. I just know I keep coming back for more. And I had a dream I was a member of the Braverman family, and that was a little much.

Finally, football time. We had college gear day at work and I rocked my BYU shirt. I was the only one supporting BYU in my office? Weird. I love this picture from the @byucougars Instagram. BYU is just the coolest. I miss that place so, so much. Go Cougars! :)

That's life lately...with good things in our future [birthdays, picnics, regattas (for real), book clubs, girls' nights, cooking classes, orchard visits, warm sweaters....] 

Oh September. You really are the best.

Nauvoo with Texans

Our summer has been full of family and full of road trips - just like a summer should be. Michael's sister Pam drove up from Texas with her fun family, and they invited us to meet them in Nauvoo. We were so excited to see them - Houston is too far away!

We had a crazy week, so we ended up not being able to start on our 5 hour drive until about 7 on Thursday night. And then we had the craziest late night drive. These pictures are all bad and blurry - but I had to document the series of strange events. It started when our gaslight came on (such a frequent occurrence...so depressing), so we started searching for a gas station. We finally found one - and it didn't accept credit cards. At all? We finally found another - and when I scanned my credit card it just flashed this message at me: "No one can pay now. No one can pay now." ?? Then we found a third gas station, and when Michael scanned his credit card it told him to go inside and pay the clerk - but inside was pitch black, empty and locked. We were getting desperate. 

Finally we had to cross the Mississippi and head into Iowa, hoping for a cooperative gas station. Our fourth try finally filled our tank. But then my phone took us some crazy way out of town, which involved driving on an abandoned road that led to a prison, crossing a $2 toll bridge run by a sweet old lady that was right by the prison (I wanted her to get in the car with us and leave that place). Then, we stopped so we wouldn't hit that deer. Then, we stopped so we wouldn't hit that fox. Then, we drove through cornfields and cornfields and suddenly our hotel appeared, kind of in the middle of no where. It was creepy. And add to all that the fact that we had our windows down and music loud and we were pulling out all the stops to stay awake because we were so completely exhausted - holy moly Nauvoo, we barely made it to you.

But the next morning we woke up to these little kiddos! Three nephews and a niece that live way too far away. We had such a good time with them.

Nauvoo is so great. I had only been there once before, with one of my BYU classes in a long ago November. We froze our way through a couple days there, and just loved it. This time the weather was completely perfect.

There are plenty of missionaries around Nauvoo to show you a good time. We went on a carriage ride with horses, a wagon ride with oxen, learned how to make barrels and rope and bread and candles, went to an old schoolhouse and printing press... it's the best.

They let us keep the rope that we made, and this is what ended up happening....Gary loved it. 

The Nauvoo temple is almost always in view, up on a hill over the city. It's beautiful. Michael's sister was married there ten years ago.

We went to walk around the temple grounds that night and took some pictures. I asked little Ben if he was going to get married in that temple, and he said, "No...not this temple. I want to get married in the cookie temple." I'm definitely going to his wedding.

We didn't have time to go inside the temple on this trip, but we'll definitely make our way out there again while we're in Indiana. I think it's such a beautiful place.

We took the kiddos to an old cemetery on Saturday morning, and had fun seeing who could find the oldest grave. We found the headstone of Seymour Brunson - Joseph Smith spoke at his funeral, and it was there that the Prophet introduced the doctrine of Baptism for the Dead. The whole weekend I was just wishing that Susan Black was walking around with us...she is an incredible church history teacher at BYU with a memory like no other. I wish I took her class 10 times.

Speaking of Ben and cookies. We ate a few cookies before leaving our hotel to see a show that night, and ran around outside beforehand to get some energy out. We noticed Ben was still hanging on to his cookie, and when we asked him why, he said "I'm just needing milk." This is a kid after my own heart. We finally convinced him to eat the cookie sans milk before the show, but I completely understand where he's coming from here. Doesn't he look so sad there on the right? Realizing his cookie had to be solo? Poor guy.

This is where they used to have church in Nauvoo. I could totally get on board with that - sunshine and trees during meetings. 

On our way out of town we went to Carthage, where Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were killed. The missionaries there do a wonderful job of teaching you about the final days of Joseph Smith's life, and bearing their testimonies of the Gospel that he restored.

Pam's family drove to Indianapolis after Nauvoo, and spent Sunday here with us. They thoroughly entertained us during church, and then we went on a Sunday stroll down the canal. At one point little Gary was feeding three geese from his hands that were the same height as him...and loving it, of course. Ben fell asleep on the way there and was pretty unimpressed with us waking him up for the experience. But he came around.

It's so fun to have family visit and see where you live. It somehow makes homes feel more homey when family has been there. Thanks for visiting, Walkers!

Through the Sunday Blues

Do you ever get the Sunday night blues? That feeling of, wait weekend, why are you leaving me so quickly? Things were going so well? We get that. I am the prominent complainer of Sunday night blues, but we both get it. Sometimes facing a Monday kick off to a whole new week of dental school and work is as unappealing as having an entire package of Oreos but no milk in the fridge.

Yesterday we did, thankfully, have milk though. And I used it with my Oreos to combat that Sunday night blues. Poor Michael used them to fuel his studying streak... he has monthly tests all through his second year of dental school that cover all his classes, for all of the past month. Always on a Monday morning.

If that doesn't give you the ultimate Sunday night blues, I don't know what could.

He studied this entire past week at every spare moment, and I have a small and very hazy memory of him getting out of bed at 4:00 this morning to study even more before that darn 8am test. He's a hard worker. And he's pretty tired. He needs the Oreos way more than me.

Yesterday my family had our first Google Hangout, and that was way too much fun. We did a lot of great catching up and laughing, up until we found the features that let you "dress up". Then we completely stopped communicating and just played around the rest of the time, as seen below. I couldn't stop laughing at those tiny devil horns. Also a very good remedy for Sunday night blues. Jaren was born to wear that monocle. And Lydia the Pirate is looking pretty good, too. Ali wore that graduation cap the entire time. I think she's looking forward to finishing grad school, yeah?

A while ago we found a good deal on JOHN MAYER concert tickets, and I have been counting down the days until we could finally go hear that voice. It was kind of poor planning though, seeing as the concert was right before Michael's first monthly test... he studied the whole drive there and I think maybe contemplated bringing his laptop to the concert. We loved it though, and I think it was a good break for him. Oh John Mayer... he sang me through so many Cedar/Provo drives. I think he cures my headaches better than Excedrin. And it was way too fun seeing him just play and play his guitar. It's like it's just part of him and he's not even thinking about it. Did you know his parents took him to see a psychiatrist twice when he was growing up, because all he would do is play his guitar and they were worried about him? True story. Music is just in him. And yeah...I get that the guy has made himself known as a jerk. But I still seriously love his voice and songs.

We had so much fun watching him play. Anyone who didn't stay for the encore was crazy because he came back and played Gravity. That is far and away much better than beating traffic, any day. We inhaled a serious amount of secondhand smoke that night (some of it with a funny smell), and we were the only ones in sight with a water bottle rather than an alternative choice of beverage...but, good music. Worth it.

Oh, and this is Twinkles. She spent her weekend with us, too. She looks kind of sad? But we showed her a good time, don't worry. I don't know what's going on lately, but Michael's dog sitting business is booming. That guy... he keeps life interesting.

Here's to another fun weekend and getting through those Sunday night blues.

AND getting through Michael's first monthly test today. He rocked it!

Thunder Over Louisville

We heard it was one of the best fireworks shows in America. So last Friday, we drove down to Louisville to catch the show and celebrate our anniversary weekend. Michael surprised me with a delicious Mayan dinner reminiscent of Puerto Vallarta, and we had shrimp ceviche for the first time since our honeymoon. We should have had 32 piña coladas like we did on our honeymoon too... but we didn't. 

That morning we went to the Louisville Kentucky LDS Temple with some friends. Michael's parents are at the temple every other weekend, so we love when our trips overlap with theirs. They were so nice to take us to lunch afterwards, and we had fun catching up. After that, Michael and I debated over which was more ghetto - changing our clothes in the Olive Garden bathroom, or in the car. We had differing opinions, so we just divided and conquered. (You guys, car is way more ghetto right? Right?) Then we drove close to the riverfront and prayed that we parked in a spot that would let us out of Louisville that night...we had heard some horror stories.

They had an airshow going on all day, and we loved it. Michael loved it much more. It took us a while to walk to the airshow because he wanted to stop and watch every plane on the way. We met up with a lot of our friends on the riverbank who were so nice to save everyone spots. (And bring extra blankets for the thoroughly unprepared and forgetful couples, which was only us. Dang it.) We killed time watching planes, laughing with friends, playing with their cute kids, eating delicious food, and watching the sunset over the river.

Then the fireworks started. I grew up thinking that the Opening Ceremony of the Utah Summer Games, one of Cedar City's many gems, had the best fireworks around. They really are good, you guys. Stadium of Fire was pretty good too, but somehow in my mind Cedar's still ranked higher (my love for Cedar is strong, and apparently beyond reason).

But these. These were like nothing I've ever seen. They went on and on, from barges on the river and off the bridge. Sparks flew as they landed in the water, and they blasted a great arrangement of America's favorite theme songs over all the speakers. It was so.much.fun. you guys. I couldn't believe how great the fireworks were. Then, after an amazing "finale" that left us completely satisfied, they started them again. And THIS part was straight up crazy. They lit so many fireworks so fast for so long, it shook you. The sky filled up with smoke and almost hid the fireworks that were all competing for attention. It was incredible. 

After a few hours of waiting on the bank of the river, I had decided that it was a fun day but something we'd probably only do once. But after that fireworks finale....whoa. We will be there every year of our Midwest time. You should come.

We raced to the car after, and Michael took us straight down an oddly traffic-less road, right onto the freeway. There were no other cars, and no one in front of us as we crossed the bridge. Super odd, right? Then texts came pouring in from all our friends asking how to get home, because freeway entrances were closed. We still don't know 1) why Louisville wanted to close the freeways, 2) how the heck we found our way on so quick, and 3) if we did something illegal. ? We made it home in record time, people. 

So illegal or not, we're doing the very same thing next year. :)

p.s. Thanks to Heather for the photo of the fireworks, since my phone conveniently died right before the show!

Pets and Projects

Weekend, why are you so quick?

I had quite a productive weekend though,

if you count completely optional but fun projects that really don't need to be done as productive.

And I do.

Plus, it needs to be known that I completed two successful Pinterest projects

that didn't require Michael's involvement. Holla.

The first one required me to print a piece of paper,

and use a hole punch. And, that's it.

Whatevs, count it.

I couldn't bring myself to throw away any of the cute Christmas cards we got this year,

so it was a good solution. Now we'll put them out each Christmas and enjoy them again!

The next one has been on my mental project list for a while,

because for some reason I'm attracted to tedious crafts...

Some call it bad judgment. I'll call it ambition.

These cute and tiny (synonyms, almost always) magnets are up on our fridge,

from my Instagram photos. I made about 40, and I'm thinking I'll do another round in a while.

And you guys...we've been adopted.

By the cutest little cat ever.

We don't even really like cats? But we also just really want a pet, and we can't have one in our apt.

Nothing wrong with a frequent visitor though, right?

She comes around the same time almost every day, and just hangs out for a while.

Maybe we bought her some cat food. But we're still in the non-committal stage, don't worry.

I mean, we named her kitty. So that's proof of that. 

If you can't tell...Michael really likes her.

She sat just like that outside our bathroom door the whole time he was in the shower yesterday.

And they're both fast asleep on that couch, perfectly content.

I'm more of a bed person, so I left the party.

 

But I won't lie, I like her too. She's still pretty young, and super cuddly. We're not attached...

Ok, kind of.

Which is why today, when she didn't come around, we set some food outside in case she came by.

Then while we were sitting at the table, we heard her eating outside our door.

I was so glad to see her! So I pulled back our curtains and looked down.........

Yeah, NOT kitty. This really happened. 

Possums are SO SO gross. It didn't even care that we were inches from it right there,

it just went on eating cat food like a jerk.

Michael unlocked the door, so it ran off. And I just shuddered when I wrote about the experience.

Sick nasty.

Other happenings of the weekend included THIS makeover to our kitchen wall.

I painted it grey while Michael was volunteering at a clinic on Saturday.

I had my sister and her BYU painting expertise on Skype the whole time,

I'm a little (lot) afraid of solo biggish projects. 

But it's coming along!

No one told me that painting a wall looks super streaky while it's drying

(maybe because that's common sense, but in my paranoid state I didn't realize that),

so I was pretty worried about that for a good hour.

Luckily, I convinced myself that I liked the streaky look,

so it was pretty great when it ended up all the same color! It felt like a bonus.

Now I've entered yet another tedious task, me vs. the stencil.

When my kids tell me they don't want to do their geometry homework, 

because they'll never use it in life,

I'll have so many Pinteresty examples to throw at them.

They'll probably tell me they'll STILL never use it in life,

and I'll tell them that's probably good judgment.

We had fun downtown with the Toblers on Friday night.

We went to the Symphony, then had some delicious Mexican hot chocolate right in the circle.

And then, I stayed up pushing refresh on my ESPN app until I saw this beautiful sight.

Then I went to bed happy.