3-0

How cow, I am really THIRTY!! Jason had a nice celebration with family and friends for me on Saturday night. Thanks to everyone for all my birthday wishes. I got this card from the "Bears Fans" members of my family and I think it sums what I hope my 30th year to be perfectly:

30 is...

feeling comfortable in your own skin.

realizing you can do whatever you put your mind to.

being surrounded by loving friends and family.

knowing you deserve to be happy...

Emme-A Country Girl??

Emme spent Friday night and most of Saturday with our good friend Stephanie. Steph and I know eachother from IU and then worked together at Riley. She is a great friend to Jason and I and our girls. Steph is from a small town in southeast Indiana, Osgood. This was Emme's second trip home with Steph and each time she gets back, Steph claims Emme is a "country girl" at heart. These pictures add to her argument...Thanks Steph for exposing our daughter to Big trucks, mudd, tractors and a plethra of small town festivals. You're the best!

I Love Fall

As the title to this post states, Fall is by far my favorite season. I love the leaves, the breeze, the crispness in the air and good fall foods. In honor of this, here is a recipe I will be trying this fall. A teacher made it (so good) and passed the recipe on to me....enjoy!

PUMPKIN PIE CAKE

4 eggs slightly beaten

1-15 oz can pumpkin

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsps pumpkin pie spice

1 can evaporated milk

Mix above ingredients in order listed and pour into greased 9x13 pan

Sprinkle 1 box jiffy yellow cake mix over filling. Pour 1 stick melted butter over cake mix. Sprinkle 1 cup chopped pecans on top.

Bake 1 hour @ 350 degrees. Can serve with Cool Whip

Family Pictures

When a friend of Jason's from high school mentioned at a cookout this summer that she was getting into photography, I jumped at the chance for her to take some family pictures. We met two weeks ago at the Indianapolis Museum of Art..the slideshow at the left is the result.

Eating in Nashville

We had a great weekend in Nashville and lucked into eating at a few fun places. Saturday night, we were just trying to eat close to Opryland when we decided to eat at "Aquarium" (we only did this because the Macaroni Grill had 1 1/2 hour wait). When we first approached the restaurant, I was having flashbacks of when the girls and I ate at the Rainforest Cafe (not a good experience, scary and overstimulating). However, this experience was totally different. The center of the restaurant is a GIGANTIC fish tank filled with huge fish, sting rays, sharks and even an eel. The girls loved it!

I happened to bring my Parents magazine with me to Nashville to read in case I had trouble falling asleep at the hotel. Saturday afternoon as I was flipping through, there was ironically an article titled "8 Great Reasons to Visit Nashville". One of the reasons was about family friendly restaurants and they suggested a restaurant called, "The Pfunky Griddle". The concept is DIY pancakes. We ventured there for breakfast on Sunday and it was a total hit. We shared m&m, chocolate chip, banana, strawberry and blueberry pancakes...I have been dreaming about them ever since!

Grand Ole Opry

Alan Jackson
Darius Rucker (formerly of Hootie and the Blowfish)
Little Big Town
If you like country music at all, I would highly recommend going to a show at the Grand Ole Opry. We had a great time and watched performances by 12 different acts...Alan Jackson, Darius Rucker, Kathy Matea, The Charlie Daniels Band, and Little Big Town were the highlights for me.

Ike in Indianapolis

This picture is of our next door neighbor's tree that was knocked down by the wind we had last Sunday..wow.

It is hard to believe we had such fierce wind from a storm so far away. I can't imagine what it's like to actually be in the real wake of the storm. Our thoughts are with those families.

Howdy from Nashville

The girls and I are in Nashville this weekend visiting my brother and his girlfriend, Bonnie. He is in his third year of medical school at Vanderbilt. My mom came down with the girls and I and my dad also met us here from SC. We are having a great trip so far. Last night we had dinner at a nice restaurant, J Alexanders. We spent most of today at the Belle Meade Plantation Fall Festival (see pictures). After dinner tonight, my mom, Bonnie and I are going to the Grand Old Opery to see Alan Jackson, Charlie Daniels Band, Kathy Matea, etc. We are all very excited.

Jason isn't with us this weekend, although he is also headed south. He left this afternoon with a few friends to play golf in Southern Indiana and then attend the final round of the Ryder Cup tomorrow. Go USA!

Lucas Oil Stadium

The brick we bought my dad for his birthday last year. It was neat to find it at the Stadium. Can't wait for my dad to see it in person soon.
View of the skyline of Indianapolis from our seats.
Jason and I visited the new Lucas Oil Stadium for the first time on Sunday for the Colts game. It was fun to finally be inside after watching it be built for the last 2 years. Looking forward to seeing the Colts win some games there in the future.

Da Bears?

My cousins were in town this weekend for "Cousins Weekend/Colts vs. Bears game. It was a great weekend (minus the Colts loss). The girls loved having the company and have been asking for Becky and Cindy since they left.

Sesame Street

While we were cleaning out the garage, my mom found these shirts. They were my siblings and mine when we were growing up. How vintage, how cute! This is my new favorite picture of the girls.

Dress Up

Emme is really starting to get into playing dress up. Here she is in her new Snow White costume.

"Labor" Day Weekend

Our weekend was very productive. We managed to clean out our garage. It has been a mess since we bought the house, first being used for remodeling purposes, then storage, but we can finally park a car in it! Jason also installed a new garage door opener and keypad.

We also had a cookout with our neighbors on Sunday night. The girls loved playing with their friends-Braelin, Grayson, Ella, Carly, Maria, and Vinnie. Emme experienced her first game of "duck-duck-goose".

Today, Jason played golf and the girls and I did some shopping at the outlet mall. The girls each got a new pair of shoes for school at the Stride Rite outlet. Good thing I decided it was time to have their feet measured, Delanie had been wearing a size 4 sandle and measured a 5/12, Emme has been wearing a size 7 and measured a size 8....oops! We also found some good buys at the Gap outlet-my favorite store.

Can't every weekend be this long?

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

Thursday night Jason's company had an outing at the Indianapolis Indians Game. The girls love going to "take me out to the ball game" as Emme calls it. It was a great night for a game, although as you can tell by the girls hair, very humid!