comfy sleeping position

She loves her football.

deck the halls

a simple decoration...

...Hello December

I thought it appropriate to post something involving Christmas on the first day of December. This is one of Chris' ornaments on our tree that he received because of his love for running. Yesterday Chris got the tree down and setup it up, and then I picked out the ornaments and put them on the tree. I've also got most of the Christmas decor up inside the house (although I think I'll make a few things to put around the house) and we even put up some lights outside this year! (Thanks honey for doing the lights outside.) I'm sure there will be more Christmas pics this month.

So recently I realized that I forgot to post some news that involves running. So it's appropriate that I post about it now, given the picture I posted...Chris and I have signed up for next year's Indianapolis Mini Marathon! This was the race that I ran in this past May for the first time. Chris started running again seriously this past summer and he decided next year he wants to run a mini marathon and, I believe, also a full marathon. I told him I would run the mini again, but I'm still not sure about the entire 26.2 miles. Part of me wants to do it because next year would be a good time in my life to run it and then my brain kicks in and says, "you seriously want to run 26 miles?" So I think I'll wait until the spring to make my decision about the full marathon and see how things are going with training to improve my mini time from this year.

Goodbye November...

I took this picture earlier this month (there's no way the mum still looks this good now), and I wanted a chance to post it before November ended! Here's to the end of semi-warm days (although it's supposed to be in the 50's tomorrow), pretty leaves, pumpkins and the beginning of snow, ice, pretty Christmas lights and decorations, eagerly awaiting Christmas (and finishing Christmas shopping) and the New Year.

Scrapbook Sunday II

Sunday
Here's my scrapbooking picture for the week. This is in the same scrapbook of my family's trip to Orlando/Disney World.


A new technique I tried was stitching some sequence as borders on the top and bottom - another idea I found in a magazine. I liked this idea because I have a little bit of sequence that I'm wondering what I can do with and I have to hand-stitch because I don't have a sewing machine!

Also, while we were visiting my family over Thanksgiving, my mom showed me some homemade cards that she bought at a craft show recently. After looking at them, they seemed pretty simple. I've never been much of a card-maker until I started making cards for friends and family for special occasions over the last year. This is something that I might have to try out and maybe start selling some cards to make money. I'm typically slow at making things, but if I make several of the same cards, it won't take that long after the first one is done...hmmm, something to think about.

Thanksgiving 2009

Thanksgiving Day (Thursday)
I am thankful that we can set aside time from our busy lives to appreciate the important things in life.



Black Friday
No, I am not thankful for Black Friday (although I did participate by getting up at 3:30 am!). But I am thankful for the unique (but sometimes obsurd) opportunities that living in America offers. If I can look past some of the stupid things that are "America", I can see the "American" things that I am thankful for - safety, freedom, education, a life full of blessings.

(Side note: The line waiting outside Target in STL at 5am was crazy! The line was all the way to the end of the building and more. It took probably 5-10 minutes for everyone to get in the building! I took this after most of the people had gone in. The engineer in me was wondering how close they came to the building's maximum occupancy.)

Saturday
I am thankful that God gives us new days to start anew (and beautiful sunsets, but I've already mentioned nature).

(Side note: I couldn't believe this picture once I looked at it on my computer. This is the original picture with the only editing being the text!)

the best family

I'm forever thankful for my family. I wouldn't trade the world for these two. And if Chris acts the same way with our future children as he does with Maggie, I know he'll be a loving dad someday. Here's to a great Thanksgiving tomorrow with your family.

(Chris likes to take a power nap with Maggie when he gets home from work. Isn't this sweet? I'm glad I finally caught it on camera.)

Week of Thankfulness

Today I remembered that this week I wanted to include pictures of things I am thankful for since it's Thanksgiving! So here's a repost for yesterday.

Monday

Even the most simple things in nature can be so beautiful. Imagine what life would be like if there was no beauty in nature. I'm thankful that God made his creation as beautiful as he did!

Tuesday

I'm very thankful that we have this special gift in our lives called Maggie. She is quite the character sometimes, but I can't imagine life without her. She can be such a sweetie and can make you smile anytime you're down.

Trees and "waterfalls"

On our walk yesterday...

I was excited to see a picture in a magazine this week that showed an appropriate way that I could use the "waterfall" technique in Picnik. So I wanted to try it out.

Great weekend

Chris and I had a great weekend. Our small group had planned a bonfire/party at Brian and Amanda's near Crawfordsville on Saturday night. We decided to each bring some chili to share for dinner. So on Saturday, Chris made up our chili. He decided to make a white chicken chili. It turned out delicious! In the meantime I worked on packing up our shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child.

We had a great time at the party. Brian and Amanda have a great house out in the country with a little bit of land. They have a 6-month great dane (Gus) and an older greyhound (Patti). They also have a couple cats, fish, and a peacock! I think Chris fell in love with Gus while we were there. So now, guess who wants a great dane (although he had wanted one before)? Anyway, we had a great time trying each other's chili, talking, and sitting around the bonfire on a beautiful night with a clear sky. There's nothing like sitting by a bonfire and looking up at the stars!

Then, Chris was happy that the Colts won on Sunday, and I had the chance to take our church's shoeboxes to the drop-off location. I was happy that our church collected 35 boxes! That's great for a small church like LCC. The pic below is all of the boxes in the back of my car!

Scrapbook Sunday I

So I've decided my Sunday "picture-a-day" posts are going to be about scrapbooking! I thought it would be something fun to write about. And, mainly, it will help keep me accountable to hopefully get at least one page done a week.



Currently I'm working on a scrapbook of a vacation my family took to Orlando in January 2004. This page is about the flower garden we walked through near the foot of the castle in Magic Kingdom. I made some rosettes to put on my page. I found these rosettes in a magazine recently and wanted a chance to make some. They're really simple - you just cut a strip of paper with edge scissors, gather/pleat the paper to make it into a circle, and use a button and thread to hold in place. (The wider the strip of paper, the bigger the rosette.) I'm excited to make more of these in the future.

2 days of Maggie

Friday

The sun finally came out today after it had rained all week. I caught this picture of Maggie.

Saturday

I was packing our shoeboxes today for Operation Christmas Child. I bought a squishy mini football and Maggie happened to find it. Yes, that was the first thing she picked up. She was so excited about it everytime I picked it up. Mainly I kept picking it up to keep it away from her. But I just had to catch her two expressions - one of anticipation because she thought I might actually let her have it and one of disappointment when I put it away. She just cracked me up. Maggie does have her own football, except it's much bigger, is green, squeaky, and made of plastic (instead of foam).

Running photography

Since I've been doing this "picture a day" thing, I've been noticing more things that I can take pictures of. But a lot of these have been while I'm running! It reminds me of the idea of running photography, which I believe is in the movie "Yes, Man". (Jim Carrey's character's girlfriend has a running photography group.) While I was first watching this movie, I remember thinking 'that's actually kind of a good idea'! And now I know why! You can cover so much more ground and see so much more than on a walk. The only problems I see are that you have to carry the camera with you the whole time and you'll probably have to stop running to take any pictures. This probably wouldn't be a big deal unless you're training and not just running to be running. Nonetheless, I may have to do this one day - maybe on an easy-run day...

Thursday walk

Here's a picture that I took while Maggie and I went on our walk this afternoon. It's been rainy yet again today. I'm looking forward to the next few days when it won't be raining!

Jones-Farmer Wedding

I thought I would post some more pictures from our trip to Missouri this past weekend. It was a long trip but yet fun. We also got to spend some time with Chris' mom and little sister since we drove out with them. And Maggie got to spend the weekend in Columbus with her "big brother" Max. Thanks to Chris' older sister for watching her while we were gone!

Friday night rehearsal - so sweet that Brittany had both her grandpa and step-dad walk her down the aisle.

Beautiful church

Big bouquet of bows!

Wedding day

Brittany's dress was so pretty!

No pictures of Chris and I, but Chris' mom has some on her camera. I'll have to get those because there are some good ones!

A posted a few more pix on my facebook. Go here for those.

Scrapbook morning

This morning I've been scrapbooking for a while. Today I was working on a book for a vacation that my family took to Orlando, Florida in January 2004...wow, that was a long time ago! (That's before Chris and I even got married.) This was a short trip so I think I'll be able to finish the book quickly, which is definitely a good thing.

Jeff Probst is my hero

This morning I caught up on the Survivor episode I missed last week while I did my workout. I've been watching this show for a while now. Chris and I would always watch it with some good friends while we were in college...good times, good times.

I can't believe Russell has found two hidden idols without any clues! At the beginning of this season, I didn't like this guy because it seemed like he was always scheming. But now I find myself wanting him to stick around! It's probably because I want the 4 old Foa Foa members to not get picked off one-by-one. We'll see how this season pans out and if Russell actually wins since he's said from the beginning that he was going to change the game of Survivor and be the winner!

New Aldi!

Today was the grand opening of the new Aldi in West Lafayette. So I had to take the opportunity to do my grocery shopping there today, especially since they had sent us a $5 off coupon. Man, was it crazy in that store today. Definitely busy and hard to get around the store, but Aldi is normally busy anyway. It seemed that a lot of people were happy that they added a store in W Lafayette. I'm quite happy because that means I can shop there whenever I want instead of just when I happen to be in Lafayette (which really isn't that often anymore). Plus it will just give Walmart more competition, which I always like.

Another 5 days of pictures

Wednesday
Look who was laying on the couch in the morning. This is her usual spot after she has to get up early with Chris on weekdays.


Thursday
Mmmmm...the smell of homemade chex mix is so yummy.

Friday

On a long 8 hour trip to Springfield, MO, this is one of things we saw. We were going there for Chris' cousin Brittany's wedding. It never gets old to pass by this sight.

Saturday

Such a beautiful wedding in an old baptist church and the reception was a lot of fun too. And Brittany and Ryan are such a cute couple.

Sunday

Glad to be on our way back home, this is the view I had for the first half of the trip. A long day of 10 hours in the car for Chris and I.

5 days of pictures

Friday - The construction on Salisbury in West Lafayette (south of 52) is nearly complete. Yeah to smooth roads and nice sidewalks. I would regularly run on Salisbury when I was training for the mini marathon last year, so it's nice to see they've shaped up the sidewalks.

Saturday - We went to a concert of local Christian bands on Saturday night called Lafayette Rocks 2009 that was organized by our church. There were 5 bands that performed and they were all great! My favorite band was probably the last one named Alanna Story. The band is headed up by two sisters plus there are 4 guys that play back-up instruments (drums, keyboard, bass, etc). Alanna Story has amazing vocals, meaningful lyrics, and catchy music. You can check out their blog here.

Sunday - Paraphernalia from yesterday - a free t-shirt from the Turkey Trot race, a Rhett Morehouse Band CD, and an Alanna Story CD.

Monday - Since the weather has been so nice the last several days, we decided to grill a steak tonight. It was time to pull the porterhouse out of the freezer. Too bad I didn't get a pic of the finished product! It was delicious! I think it was my first time ever having porterhouse.

Tuesday - Love this background on our new laptop. After using my old computer (now almost 6 years old) since we got married, it was time to upgrade. We waited patiently for the Windows 7 OS to come out last month and found this great computer recently.

Geese and Cakes

Wednesday - There have been a ton of geese around our ponds recently - more than normal. This is what happens when Maggie and I approach them. Yes, they scurry into the pond.

Today - I'm making a snack for small group tonight. Chris gave me the idea to make a delicious jello cake (just a cake, then you poke holes after cooling and pour the jello over the top, refrigerate until set, and then add cool whip). Here's the cake about half-way through. It looks a little rough since my fork wasn't "poking" properly. I'm sure it will still taste good!

A Picture a Day

I've heard about this "Take a Picture a Day for a Year" recently. So I thought that I would give it a try. How hard can it be? There are lots of things to take pictures of - more than I probably realize now. But I probably won't be blogging every single day to post my pic - it'll probably be a few pics in one post and hopefully not more than a week's worth :) I think this will be a chance to take pictures I otherwise would not have taken.

So here this is the picture I'm using for Monday. It's one that I created from the bunch of pictures I took while I was in St. Louis in September.



Today - The inexpensive and easy pumpkin I made for the front door this year. I also can't believe it's November already!

Weekend with the Worrell's

Last weekend, Derek and Kim (friends from Peoria) were able to come visit us. We enjoyed catching up with them, playing Wii, going on some trails at the Celery Bog, and having lunch at the famous Triple XXX Restaurant (as visited by Guy Fieri on Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives). But I think the most exciting part of the weekend was our trip to Millenium Farms because of what we came home with.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and then I'll explain...

So we went to go pick our own pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. On the wagon ride to the patch, the guys spotted a huge pumpkin. So of course, they were curious enough to at least go look at it and hopefully bring it back. When the wagon parked, the guys made a b-line for the pumpkin, which was several patches over and several hundred feet away, while Kim and I were standing there laughing with the lady driving the tractor. It had rained 3 or 4 inches the day before and we thought the guys would have to cross through a really muddy area to even get there. (It ends up they didn't have to trudge through the mud.)

When the guys reached the pumpkin they originally saw, they soon discovered a similar one close by that was hidden by pumpkin vines. At this point, the guys decided they would each carry one back to the wagon. As you can see, they were rather humongous to carry that far! After several rest stops and us girls laughing the whole time, both of them successfully made it back with absolutely huge pumpkins. Kim and I picked our wimpy pumpkins (in comparison) and we were very satisfied with our picks.

We found out that the field the guys went to is the specialty pumpkins area. Those pumpkins were just ones that didn't get picked earlier by the owners and were up for grabs to anyone crazy enough to bring them to the wagon! Let's just say the guys were much more than satisfied with the pumpkin they got for $5 even though it required some brute-force strength and getting dirty.

So any engineer is probably thinking "I wonder how much those pumpkins really weigh." Well we were all wondering the same thing and didn't want to just guess about how much they weigh. So we pulled out the scale when we got back home. The small pumpkins weighed around 20 lbs each and the giant pumpkins were 92 and 98 lbs! I still can't believe the guys were able to carry each of those on their shoulder for such a long distance. Chris was carrying a pumpkin more than half his size!

I have a feeling we will be going back next year and my husband just might venture to the specialty pumpkin patch again. And thanks again Kim and Derek for coming to visit!