Time with Baby M

I love kissing this baby. I love touching her hands and feet and hearing her little grunts and baby coos. Watching Steve and Jess with Madison is the cutest thing in the world- I can't wait to share this with someone someday. As I've been told, it's the greatest blessing in the world.

Happy Monday!

love you e,
love, t.

Today's Daydream

I am on a She & Him kick right now. The more I listen to them, the more jealous I become. Sometimes her voice bothers me, but the simplicity of their music and sound is appealing to me. It's happy, sunny, music. It's music that makes me want to wrap my arms around someone without having any other care in the world. Too mushy? Probably. 

They're *not, but I would like to pretend they're* married. And they get to play music, together.

One can only dream.

love you e,

love, t.

Energy Lady

The past few days have been a different change of pace for me. I attended my first company conference which made my mind stir. I never realized how informed I was on the subject of energy conservation- all gained knowledge from working in the energy efficiency field. I amazed myself. The speaker discussed building regulations and displayed slides of poorly constructed homes (installation, window sealing, framing techniques, heating/cooling wrap etc). Constructors and builders everywhere cut corners to reduce costs and literally put up multi million dollar buildings that will have serious weatherization problems in less than 10 years. The worst part- no one recognizes it because no one is educated to know what to look for. I have learned so many valuable skills to carry with me whenever I look to buy a home, or build one. In addition, getting the opportunity to play dress up made me feel like the real working woman that I am. ;) Again, a nice change of pace from the office jeans and tee I wear every day [not complaining].

I finally had my "ah ha" moment at this conference. I learned a lesson in finding the value and potential benefit in your career- you will get out what you put in- something so simply stated, but so true. I kept thinking to myself, "who knew!?"

The past weekend was incredible, by the way. Homecoming was a great time that was well spent with friends. I feel silly posting pictures of that on here when I already post them to my Facebook- oh social media...check them out if you haven't yet!

On a different note, two more days until I go back to Chicago to visit this little pumpkin. I get daily pictures from the sis, and I love it.

Will I be doing anything for Halloween? No. Costumes are too hard, and it's really only a day for women to dress slutty and have an excuse to do it without losing their dignity (girls, I'm sorry, but you look ridiculous). I'm going to stay inside on this one and hold this little baby in her fluffy animal costume, drink some beers with the bro-in-law, and enjoy my night in hearing all the precious "twick or tweeeeats" from the door.

Also, Thanksgiving is coming soon which means I will be reunited with.... Gram!!! Could not be happier to bring in November for this very reason.

love you e,
love, t.

Oh Happy Day

What's making me happy this week:

10. All of this rain clearing out the air- my poor allergies have been going crazy!
9. A surprise cupcake left for me in the kitchen from a roommate.
8. New curtains in our living room.
7. Finding a bin full of sweaters and puffy vests under my bed.
6. The thicker burgers at Wendy's.
5. New iPhone.
4. Manicure and a $5 spray tan.
3. Face-timing with my niece- she's the cutest.
2. Message threads on Facebook with some girls that make me laugh every day.
1. HOMECOMING WEEKEND AT ANDERSON! And Camarada caramel apples that I will be buying tons of. Cannot wait to see everyone.

Today is my last day of work this week :) Woo hoo! Have a great weekend. Pictures to come.

love you e,
love, t.

A Rant on 24

A few of my friends have recently turned 24. This number won't hit me until December, but I've had so many thoughts about this particular birthday. No, it's not 25, or 30, but it still seems...old. It's so funny to say that because I know any 30-40 year old reading this would want to punch me in my face. Perhaps this train of thought stems from all of the expectations we (I) put on our (my) years.

Let's unravel this. Show of hands, who thought they would be somewhere different than they are now at fill-in-the-blank-age? Never would I ever imagine myself living in Indianapolis, working at an energy-efficiency company, semi-single (taking time to focus on ourselves... good thing! happy thing! -- to set the record straight), living in an apartment behind a fashion mall with roommates? Ah. Saying (typing) this out loud has me befuddled and kind of makes me laugh.

At times our expectations are our worst enemy, our biggest criticizer. I should be at point A, point B, and point C. Not here. Not this! These thoughts are ridiculous. So I ask myself, "Okay then, where do you think you should be?" My answer is always, "I don't know, not here?"

The year of 24, of almost reaching my mid-20's...who knows what will come of it, and who really cares? Regardless of what age you're turning, what your career is, where you are in life- it shouldn't affect your thankfulness or your recognition that if you're surrounded by loved ones, have a roof over your head, and are paying your rent... the rest is silly nonsense. Put on your hot party dress, get a little tipsy, and enjoy your year of aging. Why the hell not?

Now for fun, take a look at the evolution of my birthdays:

21st- can you tell?

22

23

Happy recent birthday shout outs to some of my best girls- Ally Boardman & Kelly Millspaugh, & an early shout out to Shana Clatterbuck. Be proud, ladies! :)

love you e,
love, t.

Thoughts on Wedding Hysteria

This weekend was really relaxing. I spent most of my Saturday curled up on the couch with Kelly watching Kim K's fairytale wedding (Kim Kardashian for those of you who are not with it). I know, why waste my time doing that? I will be the first to admit I love watching *some reality television. Judge me, call me ridiculous, whatever! When I am cramping on a Saturday, what else do you want me to do?

This "storybook" wedding was painful to watch. I will venture to say that any psychologist/psychiatrist was most likely pulling their hair out. On the rehearsal dinner night, they were fighting so much so that they didn't even sit at the same table to have dinner. Are you kidding me?! I haven't gone through the wedding planning experience, but I know that tensions run high, and that couples get into arguments over stupid things. Not them. These were HUGE issues.Watching them interact with each other, listening to their conversations... it was obvious that they hardly knew each other at all.

There is a point to wasting my blog on Kim Kardashian. Watching this made me think about how many people I know that are so ready to jump into marriage. That's all they can think about. I want to voice that there is no rush to making a life long commitment to someone. The absolute smartest thing you can do is take your time. Value the time before you're married- work on yourself, work on the relationship, work on communication, on getting settled into a career, wait until you're both in the same place and are done with moving, etc. I guarantee the road will be a lot smoother. I would like to think I have a strong case here.

 

Here are some photos from the "fairytale."

In between the four hour long special, Kelly and I ventured to Flying Cupcake in broad ripple. After we watched the cake tasting on the show, we were craving some!

They were so incredibly yummy. For the record, I ate one there and took one home. :)

Hope your weekends were wonderful. Busy, exciting week ahead! Homecoming is on Friday and I'm only working until Thursday. Hooray for four day work weeks.

love you e,
love, t.

*some reality television shows that I can't stop watching: anything on Bravo (Rachel Zoe, Real Housewives, Top Chef), The Bachelor/Bachelorette, Project Runway, and that's about it. I'm not that bad, am I?

Something to Appreciate

One of my favorite things to appreciate about photography is how much emotion one photo can capture. Here is a picture of my sister, her husband Stephen, and the unforgettable moment they first met their daughter. So much love and joy in their expressions... it makes me cry every time!

 

Here is my first moment with my niece. Literally, she took my breath away. Tears were just sitting in my eyes for a few minutes as I took her in. The little peanut kept trying to work her way out of the blanket- I can already tell she likes things done her way (just like her mother).

Today I am a proud sister, sister-in-law, and Auntie. And I'm so thankful these moments were captured to hold onto forever.

love you e,
love, t.

T vs. Food

I recently watched an episode of Man vs. Food where he traveled HERE to Indiana. Crazy! I watched the entire show then immediately went to my car to go get a burger. I swear this show makes me crave whatever it is they are featuring. How can you NOT?!

So, I jotted down the restaurants and thought I'd share them. I hope to get to them sometime in the near future- maybe make a weekend out of it! I really love and appreciate good food, so I'm really excited to get a taste for each of their specialties.

#1: Gray Brother's Cafeteria in Mooresville. This is a buffet/cafeteria style joint with one exception... everything is homemade. Everything. YUM!

Famous for this strawberry pie.

This may not look appetizing to you, but country cookin' is in my roots!

#2: This one is really close to my apartment in Carmel. It's a burger place called Bub's Burgers & Ice Cream.

They are known for their big ugly burger and milkshakes. Yes. Please.

To those that are dieting/watching weight... I apologize for this post. I think food is just too good to not enjoy or share :)

Happy eating!

love you e,
love, t.

Madison's Long-Awaited Debut

Wow. Where to even begin? These past few days have been so extremely exhausting in all of those words ending in 'a-l-l-y' ways (Did that make sense? Probably not). In a nutshell, my sister had a baby, and I became an Aunt.

Let's start with baby footage first. Unfortunately, these are all I've got. I reached into my purse to turn on a camera that had no memory card in it. I know what you're thinking- "So, why didn't you just go buy a memory card?" Great idea; however, there was no time to. My sister's camera has a TON, so as soon as they're uploaded, we'll have a baby footage round two. Get excited.

This was a few hours after I arrived. Mooma called me around 7am and I left for Chicago immediately. Here we were walking around the block and constantly stopping whenever Jess had a contraction. It was a sick-cruel-weird sense of victory whenever she had one. Steve and I were writing down the time she was having it and how long it lasted. We often said, "Oooh, that one was 5 minutes from the last one!!!" All while my sister was hunched over in pain. Again, weird.

Then, it was time. Around 10pm on Thursday we left for the hospital and my parents stayed over night. The proceeding 24 hours were the longest ones of my life. Waiting, waiting, waiting. More waiting.

 

Mooma and I escaped the waiting area a few times to walk around the parking lot outside. Sigh... fresh air! For an 10am photo with less than 3 hours of sleep, I'd say we're fairly decent in this picture.

Several hours later, the baby came! I will never forget the image of walking (running actually) from the waiting room to the delivery room to see my sister holding her baby girl. Talk about a sob-fest. Bawling. Everyone! What an incredible moment to never forget.

Madison Renee Knox

I'm not sure what I want her to call me yet and vise-versa. Nicknames are common in my relational vocabulary. I'm sure it will come with time. Until then, I can't wait to get back to her. She is the most precious thing to hold onto! Thanks for sharing in my excitement, if you are :) I'm kind of obsessed with all things baby.

love you e,

love, t.

p-patching

I went to the pumpkin patch this weekend with some friends. It was chilly in the morning, but we all bundled up and headed to Stoney Creek in Noblesville. Some things to share about our experience:

1. We realized that a little baby horses have huge ______. I'm sure the children were asking questions about it.

2. Never go into a blacksmith's hut. You will be stuck hearing stories- some completely unrelated to anything blacksmith. And you won't know how to escape, because the man is old and he has no one to talk to, but he's just rambling on and on about NOTHING. His last story to us was of a five year old girl that showed up to the blacksmith convention with an apron and a hammer...... whaaaat? "Oh, uh huh, yes.... Thank you, bye!" RUN.

3.  Always look down for barrels of hay when walking around a pumpkin patch. 

4.  Taking pictures of children around you is considered creepy, no matter how cute they are...

5. Never ride a hay ride alone with a creepy tractor driver named Barry.

That's Barry in the background.

We went downtown Noblesville afterwards for some lunch and ended up at Logan St. Cafe. A little Italian place that had soups, salads, sandwiches, and my favorite, baked goods. It was so good. I highly recommend it to anyone in the area! I literally wanted to lick the bowl that my soup was in. And ask for a refill. I may or may not have thought about it for a while...

This was a good day to bring in the fall season. What are your favorite fall to-do's?? 

Happy OCTOBER, by the way. Time. Flies.

love you e,

love, t.