and people think I'm quiet...

Ice! (Not my favorite!)

2012-01-24T10:14:00.000-05:00

Friday night was a mess!

Saturday morning was pretty icy! The city did a lot of work on the roads, so travel wasn't too bad.

It was actually kinda pretty to look at!

Favorite...

2012-01-24T09:57:00.002-05:00

...cheap entertainment from a cereal box.

Favorite...

2012-01-20T20:48:00.000-05:00

I decided to post about some of my favorite things....

I love Bath and Body's "Country Chic" scent! It is probably just a phase, like most things with me, but I hope it lasts until I make it through 2 body washes and 2 lotions that I got for Christmas!

"Why I Believe in Creation"

2012-01-15T18:50:00.002-05:00

Our church has started a series on "Believing." It is important to know what you believe about God and why. Last week, Tom wrapped up his sermon about why he believes God created us. Here is Pastor Tom's final point with this idea about love.

"This isn't scientific in the least, but I can't explain it. Two years ago this month, our granddaughter Addison was born. And I have never experienced a love quite like this before. I know, some of you aren't there yet - you've heard all these people say it too. I heard the same thing - yeah yeah yeah yeah. I can't describe it for you. I'm almost convinced the main reason for having kids is so you can have grand kids. It is indescribable how you feel. Now, there is no logical reason for me to feel this way about my granddaughter. There is no real logical reason that I should feel a concept of love to begin with. Let alone for somebody who is two generations removed from me and yet I can tell you that I have never experienced a love like this before. Without God, none of it makes sense. But with God, the Bible says God is love. Then it all comes together. Because I know that when He created me, He planted in me the capacity to love this little person in a way I didn't think I could. If you love anybody, if you love your son, your daughter, your husband, your wife, your mom, your dad, your grandchildren, if you love anybody - that intense love to me is the greatest foundation for the Creator Himself because there is no logical reason to love anybody. It should just be self preservation. I believe with all my heart that it's true: in the beginning God created. Do you?"
- Tom Ellsworth

Here is link to watch the whole sermon.

While it is hard to explain such a complex topic in a 25 minute sermon, it has definitely shown me that I have a lot to learn. In the mean time, I'm grateful to have a God I can rely on and who loves the imperfect me.

Amaryllis in Bloom!

2012-01-15T18:05:00.002-05:00

January Update

2012-01-10T20:38:00.001-05:00

Our new rugs have arrived! We special ordered some rugs to protect the hardwood. Luckily we had waited so long to pick that they became 20% off! We came home Friday to find them on our front porch. Luckily again, we HAVE a porch and it didn't rain!

A little fun photo editing! Such a cutie!

My amaryllis is blooming!

Today was the best day! I got to join Sarah and Grayson for Library time! It was a blast!

NYE

2012-01-03T09:00:00.001-05:00

View of the monument at street level...

View from our hotel room on the 10th floor...

View from the party - 48th floor!! It felt like we were in an airplane!

Our 7th anniversary was the best ever! Happy New Year everyone!

Merry Christmas from us!

2011-12-24T19:52:00.001-05:00

Lilly

2011-12-18T20:02:00.001-05:00

Tree

2011-12-14T20:37:00.001-05:00

Isn't this one of the most beautiful Christmas trees? Our good friends took us to a great place near Indy for brunch over the weekend before doing some Christmas shopping. I'm hoping to get our tree decorated soon!!

G&B visit

2011-12-06T17:18:00.000-05:00

We had a great visit with Uncle Bill and Aunt Gay. Grayson looks a little sleepy after the long car ride right before bedtime.

Grayson and Aunt Gay

Grayson got lots of love this past weekend!

But his favorite is Mommy! She knows just how to make him laugh!

Grayson's first Christmas will be very special!

Birthday

2011-12-06T17:17:00.001-05:00

We celebrated Craig's birthday with a great meal!

The cake wasn't even his idea, I just wanted chocolate!!

I just had to add one more picture of downtown...just beautiful!

Grayson at Thanksgiving

2011-12-06T17:15:00.000-05:00

Potters alley

2011-12-06T17:12:00.001-05:00

This was our third annual trip to Potter's Alley for Thanksgiving. A few things made it a little more interesting this year!

New to the shop: Marie has two very friendly furry friends that will gladly swipe their tale through your art work. They have also been known to drink the paintbrush water.

New additions to the group: Grayson and Mike came this year! Mike kept Grayson entertained while we painted. Grayson also loaned out his cute little foot as a stamp! I love the look he has on his face in this picture - "What is my grandma doing?"

Mom's ornament will look a little different after it has been fired, but I love how it turned out!

Craig decided to paint a Starbucks inspired mug this year.
Craig - Coffee? Starbucks? No way!
(This is the same guy who received about 4 Starbucks gift cards for his birthday - he loved it!)

Eric and Sarah deep in their creative process of creating beautiful pieces!

Beautiful downtown!

2011-11-27T20:05:00.000-05:00

Friday was the official lighting of down town. It looks beautiful! The whole square is full of lighted trees and strings of lights draped from the courthouse out across the block! Hope everyone has started their Christmas shopping - it will be here before we know it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T19:18:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! We will be celebrating over the next three days with great family and friends! It is hard to figure out what I'm not thankful for. We are blessed!

Busy, but great weekend!

2011-11-01T10:36:00.001-04:00

Friday night Craig and I headed over to campus for the IU Homecoming parade.

Campus is so pretty.

Homecoming Parade!

The band was in costume!

I think I counted 11 cyclers and 3 extras on this "trike."

All the floats were supposed to be lit up - this truck did a pretty great job.

Saturday the game kicked off at noon! IU vs. Northwestern.

Ben came for the game and then downtown for lunch.

Sunday we went to the farm to spend time with Craig's family on the anniversary of his Grandpa's death. Craig's cousin, Lilly kept us entertained after church before lunch. She is a very talkative 3 1/2 year old!

We even got a rundown of all her latest and greatest boo-boos!

It is always so pretty at the farm. Beautiful blue sky, colorful leaves, wind rustling through the dry corn.

We visited the cemetery and placed some flowers for Grandpa. Also heard a lot of history of family members buried there.

We decided that this was quite the headstone!

Things Grayson is good at...

2011-10-25T12:19:00.002-04:00

Being cute!!

and pulling mommy's hair!!

Childhood Experience

2011-10-20T17:34:00.000-04:00

Sarah reminded me of this essay that I wrote at some point...I think college. Going through some boxes, it appeared! Good memories!

Everyone needs a good laugh...

2011-10-20T16:51:00.000-04:00

and everyone needs to be humbled every now and then...

1st Grade...missing my front tooth (Tooth #E actually!) I'm pretty sure Sarah has a school picture with this shirt on too.

Funny...I remember having friends in 2nd grade, but you wouldn't guess it by the picture! PERM!!! Sarah and I loved this outfit - the sleeves rolled up to show the blue flowers and with shorts to match!

3rd grade - pretty sure that was my best attempt at doing my "wave" bangs. That was one of my favorite shirts for the longest time. My dad and I went shopping while Sarah went to a church youth group party one Saturday. The jeans we bought to go with it were way too big, but they had the blue flower accents on them too!

4th grade - turtle neck and elderly sweater...what can I say? The retainer was a nice touch of bling!

5th Grade at the new elementary school. If I remember right I had a couple vests that I loved to wear. Awesome. I started ortho appliances/head-gear in 3rd grade and then wore braces till 7th. It was one of the best investments ever made by my parents!

6th grade - Also a favorite shirt, I think bought on one of our trips to Arkansas to visit my Grandparents.

I guess this just shows that I have always been a big nerd! Hope you got a good laugh!

2011-10-18T16:18:00.002-04:00

As I'm still making my way through boxes and trying to get organized, I came across this picture. I'm sure there are many similar pictures - me with Grandpa at various events - plays, show choir concerts, band concerts, sporting events. I'll always remember my Grandpa and Grandma as being so supportive and playing an active role in my life!

Spa Day!

2011-10-16T21:34:00.001-04:00

Spa day was a success! This year I got a massage, facial, and manicure! I went for something new, shatter on my nails!

Spa treatments were followed by Cheesecake factory! The whole day was amazing!

Go IU!

2011-10-11T13:29:00.000-04:00

Saturday was a beautiful day for a football game!

IU vs. Illini

Once it was obvious that IU wasn't going to pull off a win, many people left. We took the opportunity to sit on the opposite side of the stadium in the shade! It was soooo much more enjoyable!

And we even got some cushion for our seats!

We enjoyed a beautiful Saturday in Bloomington!

Good Family Time

2011-10-08T12:17:00.000-04:00

My Grandpa

2011-09-29T22:21:00.000-04:00

My Grandpa

My Grandma

Obituary for Lloyd Hale Beynon

Lloyd Hale Beynon, 87, of Danville IL, passed away at 10:43 AM on Monday September 26, 2011 at Hawthorne Inn Nursing Home in Danville.

Lloyd was born on March 29, 1924 to Louis and Emma (Squires) Beynon in Divernon, IL. He was raised and educated in Divernon where he graduated High School then left on April 7, 1943 to join the United States Army Air Force. On April 21st he was sent to Kearns Utah for basic training where he was promoted to Private First Class and then sent to Administration School in Bookings South Dakota. In August 1943 he was assigned to guard duty on the USS Argentina on a trip to Burtonwood England. As much as he wanted to fly his feet were firmly on the ground in England to help supply the troops. In June 1944 he was on Detached Service where he lived in private homes or an apartment and had a permanent 24-hour pass, a British Ration card and lived like a British civilian. In February 1946 he was promoted to Sergeant. In each of his assignments he was Administrator and Finance NCO. While serving in the USAA he met the love of his life, an English gal, Marjorie Mary “Joan” Tarzey and on March 19, 1946 they married in Bristol England. On April 10, 1946 he boarded the USS Tusculum Victory at Southampton for the trip back to the USA.

After his wife arrived from England they settled in Decatur, IL. Using the GI Bill Lloyd attended Millikin University in Decatur. After graduation from Millikin Lloyd, Joan and daughter Gay went to England where he attended Bristol University. Arriving back in the USA he worked for a short time for Firestone in Danville as office and credit manager. In 1952 he accepted the position of Customer Billing Supervisor, Ballast Department at General Electric. He held various positions all in the financial section until retiring in 1986.

Lloyd was a partner in a real estate partnership with Robert “Bud” Britton that bought and renovated homes. He was an avid participant in the Boy Scouts serving as Scout Master, on the council level organizing campories and was inducted into The Order of the Arrow. He was a life member of the American Legion Post 210, the VFW, the War Museum in Danville, Burtonwood Association in England and the Masons in Divernon.

Lloyd was a conservative and very generous man establishing three endowments at SIU School of Medicine in the memory of Gerry and Ted Murzynski. He also set up a Charitable Remainder Trust benefiting the Danville Public Library, Danville Area Community College Foundation and Provena United Samaritans Foundation.

Surviving are one son- Mark (Janne) Beynon, one daughter- Gay (Bill) Takakoshi, two granddaughters- Sarah (Eric) Lindley and Jessica (Craig) Barton, one great-grandson- Grayson Lloyd Lindley, a very special friend Nancy Naylor, sister in law Simone Tarzey, two nephews- Daniel (Netti) Tarzey and David (Ann) Leonhard.

His parents preceded him in death, as well as his wife Joan, two sisters Gwendolyn (Ed) Leonhard and Geraldine (Ted) Murzynski, one brother Louis Evan Jr. (Ruth Durst) Beynon. His mother in law Mrs. E.B. Tarzey and brother in law Hugh Tarzey.

Cremation rites have been accorded. All services will be for private family. Sunset Funeral Home and Cremation Center, A Life Celebration Home in Danville are in charge of arrangements. A burial of ashes will take place at Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Danville, Brush Creek Cemetery in Divernon, IL and Clifton Downs in Bristol England at a later date. Memorials can be made in lieu of flowers to Danville Public Library, Danville Area Community College, Provena United Samaritans Hospital or the donor’s choice. Condolences may be sent to the family at: http://www.sunsetfuneralhome.com/

Favorite Memories:
*Grandpa asking us each meal if we wanted prune juice to drink.
*Watching tennis or the daily soap opera after our cheese and butter sandwhich lunch.
*Grandpa's recliner.
*Our art work displayed proudly on the fridge.
*Break-your-bones bear hugs.
*"Painting" the lawn furniture with wet paintbrushes.
*Climbing the sky-high pine tree.
*Words like "Mum" for Mom and "Cheerio" for goodbye.

4th anniversary of my 25th Birthday!

2011-09-14T15:10:00.000-04:00

At work we get to order a special treat to share with the whole office! Always a big hit is the double cookie with icing in the middle from Sam's. It is sooooo good!

Probably one of my favorite birthday cards ever! Such a cute footprint from my favorite nephew Grayson! (He really does have all ten fingers and ten toes!)

Craig's version of making me a birthday cake - taking me to Starbucks for their birthday cake pops! These are the sweetest, buttery, yummiest things you will ever eat. About half of one is more than enough!

Our next stop was downtown Bloomington for the 4th Street Festival!

Even though it was super hot, there were still a ton of people out to look at all the amazing art. We did ending up buying one piece of art for someones birthday! I can't wait to give it to them!

Craig and I decided to buy this pretty chair, to be delivered late October!

Did I mention that it was hot!?! (and my husband is too!)

My free birthday dessert from Lennies. Yummy brownie, topped with syrup and ice cream! How did they know?

I got to make a couple birthday wishes this year!

My "cabin family" made me a fruit pizza! (Notice what the blueberries spell!) It was a great birthday and a great Labor day weekend. Probably my favorite part was spending time with Craig in between his two weeks of travel.

Remembering 9/11

2011-09-12T11:21:00.000-04:00

Random...

2011-09-01T20:21:00.000-04:00

Here are some of my favorite pictures/videos from this summer.

This morning...beautiful sky!

Kaden and Karter making each other laugh over the silliest thing - "yellow." These boys are the cutest and are definitely entertaining to be around!

Yesterday morning...silly neighbor's cat sitting on our back porch.

Craig enjoying his favorite nephew. You can almost feel the love that is being hugged to Grayson!

This is Sarah holding Grayson when he was just a month old, stroking his face. Her words at the end, "He is so sweet." This video melts my heart.

Craig was the Electricity and Woodworking judge at the Vermillion County Fair and the Woodworking judge at the Vigo County Fair this summer. He is so good with kids. He asks just the right questions to get the kids talking. One of the moms even asked him if he was a teacher.

My Grandpa has the clearest blue eyes. He was having a good day when we saw him last.

Yummy cantaloupe.

Go Diego Go! Just about everyone ~~makes fun of me~~ asks me about the Diego figurines that hang out in my car. Craig won them in a random gift pack after a 5K race. I just like them, that's the only reason I need!

It's weeks like this (when Craig is gone and I can blog all I want and eat all the junk I want) that I can have a dinner that consists of watermelon and m&m's. The eating right and running again can start next week after my birthday!

This picture brings an instant smile to my face! Grayson laughing at his Great Grandma Dodie!

This is the sunset after that crazy storm that caused the accident at the State Fair.

I LOVE Bloomington Farmer's Market!!

Furniture Hunting

2011-09-01T19:47:00.001-04:00

A couple Saturdays ago, Craig and I looked all over the Bloomington area for some furniture. It was the weekend before students came back to campus, so there were some pretty great deals going on! Nobody was eager to negotiate a lower price, but I think the sale prices were pretty good to begin with. We found this chair (above) and really like it. We asked about getting some pillows out of the same material. The sales lady looked up the information and quoted us the price of about $100-150 per pillow!! Wow! So we didn't buy any pillows...or the chair. We still really like it, but have decided to wait for now.

Our next stop was Longs Landing. This place looks HORRIBLE from the outside!

This is the roof of the place!!! How can that be safe? This picture actually doesn't do it justice.

We were told the used furniture was upstairs... we should have known from the stairs not to go up there!

This picture also doesn't do the floor justice. I was seriously walking with my hands out to my sides, expecting at any moment to fall through the floor. I'm pretty sure I got asthma and lung cancer while I was up there. Not only do they sell used furniture, but all the embedded smells and stains that come on the orange 1970s couches!

This is actually the piece of furniture that we bought from Long's Landing. We also bought 2 additional stools to go under the island. We had heard of this particular store from when we walked through some homes this spring at the Parade of Homes. Some of the homes were furnished by Longs Landing. It was a great place to buy a table, but I would be worried about buying any permeable materials.

On to the next place! We visited Thompson's furniture and they had huge selection. Craig really liked this chair. It has a neat look to it and is actually very sturdy and comfortable! I'm not sure that it goes with the look we are going for...whatever that is!

This is the love seat that we picked out!! We also got a couch to match. It has that look that the color is black, but really in the light - it is brown. It looks really good with our floors! I love having a place to relax. They delivered the couch with some scratches at the bottom, but came back this week and fixed them. They just pulled the extra material down, added a few million staples, and it looks good as new.

Ty Pennington reeeaaalllly wanted us to buy this table, but he was just asking too much for it! It was so so so cute, especially with the mirror to match.

This is another couch we considered...cute but not quite right.
I hope you have enjoyed some of the highlights from our furniture shopping adventure!

Locks of Love

2011-08-29T20:59:00.003-04:00

That is 10 inches of hair. Often twisted into a wet ponytail before running off to work. I decided that it was time for a cut! The hair is being donated to Locks of Love which is a non-profit organization that provides hair pieces to kids who need them due to medical reasons.

This is me jumping into the car at work before heading to the salon! (No Craig, I'm not driving and taking a picture. The car is in park!)

This is the back of my head at my class reunion! So far it is the only picture I have of my hair. It has taken me a while to learn how to do short hair again!

60th Wedding Anniversary

2011-08-29T20:36:00.004-04:00

On August 13th, my grandparents celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary. Their friends from Arkansas were sweet enough to make the trip as well to help celebrate.

At the party, Uncle Mike and Aunt Toni got to meet Grayson for the first time!

The honored couple! Happy 60th anniversary!

My grandparents have amazing love for each other. It is obvious that they not only still love each other after 60 years, but care about each other. They keep each other laughing, support and pray for each other. We strive to have that kind of marriage.

My Grandpa gave a "speech" about their history together. It didn't include all the details, but gave everyone an idea of the path their life has taken together. My grandparents concluded the speech with a song that they sing to each other that makes them laugh.

The decorations turned out very well!

The food was very good! My Aunt Toni and my mom put together a great party!

My grandma had made a special request for a chocolate cake with coffee icing! (The little one to the right) She split it into slivers later after the party and was nice enough to share! It was wonderful!

One Girl Retreat

2011-08-09T17:53:00.004-04:00

I had the opportunity to help with the second annual One Girl Retreat this past Friday and Saturday at my church. Two amazing ladies in the church co-wrote a book and put together this retreat that encourages girls to find the direction that God has for their lives and realize they can change the world. This year's theme was "Think. Be. Do." This YouTube video gives insight into the idea behind the book.

My friend Mandy was on the hospitality team and asked me to help her out with food and decorations!

Of course, no event is complete without food! We had bagels donated from our favorite place, Bloomington Bagel Co. They gave us everything they didn't sell Friday and we had MORE than enough for the 200+ girls and all the volunteers and leaders for breakfast on Saturday. We also served fruit, yogurt, and fruit juices.

My friend Mandy is actually up on stage talking to the girls. She also made an awesome video talking about the brain for Claudia's segment on "Think."

They had a lot of great worship time!

Chic-fil-a was kind enough to bring lunch! All the girls loved the chicken sandwhich, chips, and brownie.

The decorations went really well. This is Mandy and her cousin, Kayla who was also recruited to the hospitality team. Kayla put together the amazing balloon arch. It turned out to be a great event!

2011-08-02T15:48:00.003-04:00

We had another great visit from Grayson! I even got to hold him while he fought sleep and then finally gave in! What a precious face!

Grayson is so much fun! He really loves interacting with his mommy!

He gives very quick, sweet smiles!

House Update: The floor is finished in the laundry room, thanks to Craig and Uncle Bill!!! The washer and dryer are installed and working great! They are so efficient! Since purchasing the front loaders I have heard all kinds of mixed reviews. So far though, I really like using them. (As much as you can like doing laundry!)

Great visit with Grayson!

2011-07-19T14:58:00.002-04:00

More Grayson!

2011-07-13T20:43:00.002-04:00

I realized that I couldn't just post one picture of Grayson...so here are a few more pictures! Grayson got to meet his Great Grandma Dodie and Great Grandpa John a couple weekends ago. He definitely got a lot of love!

Uncle Craig playing with my ear!

Taking the world in a super cute farm boy outfit!

Admiring Grayson's smartness!

Great Grandparents having a chat after a diaper change!

Precious snuggle time with Grandma after supper! So sweet!

Slow progress!

2011-07-13T20:31:00.002-04:00

Mr. almost Smiley Grayson! I get to see him this weekend!

The floors are installed! They are beautiful!

Craig has one more step before the washer and dryer can be installed in the laundry room on top of the beautiful slate floor! I made my second trip to the laundromat yesterday. There is something quite humbling about folding your underwear in public.

The quartz counters were installed on Monday. Craig is working on installing the faucet!

We picked a stainless steel under-mount sink. I think we will like it! There is still so much to do, but we are slowly making progress!

Connected!

2011-07-07T20:40:00.003-04:00

I would just like to post tonight...just because I can! We are officially connected to the world again through internet, phone, and tv! I have more than enough bad things to say about Comcast, and you really don't want me to get started, but they finally got our services transferred to the new house!
We were also connected to the world through a brand new Bloomington Herald Times newspaper subscription for a few days. But...the paper boy has skipped our house this week, so hopefully a phone call gets that corrected soon!
I hope to be posting soon about the progress in our house. The floors are done being installed as of Tuesday at 4:00 pm! Monday the counters should arrive and we will have a kitchen! Craig is working hard on the tile in the laundry room. I have only had to make one trip to the laundromat and hope to never go back!

Who Knew?!

2011-06-23T11:57:00.002-04:00

Who knew it was so easy to put a few pictures up and sell appliances on craigslist?! I need more stuff to sell!!! We sold all the kitchen appliances to one person within 48 hours. We met with a couple last night who gave us money for the washer and dryer and will pick them up Friday or Saturday! It certainly helps that we asked very little for the appliances. I really felt like we couldn't ask a whole lot, considering we didn't know the age of the appliances or how well they worked since we have never used them. PLUS, most of the kitchen appliances were COVERED in grease! (One of the major motivations in selling them!) The few hundred dollars that we got for them is being put towards new ones! We got a great combo deal at hhGregg on pretty, stainless steel, CLEAN, new appliances that will be delivered on Monday!!
The third flooring guy that we hired is supposed to start today! I hope, I hope, I hope!! I can't wait to see those floors! We have awesome friends coming Friday afternoon to move the big things - beds, dressers, couch, table, etc. We will be camping out on the air mattress at the apartment through the weekend until we have appliances!
The counter-top people are measuring for their template on Monday. New counters will be installed in 2 weeks!
Moral of the story...Moving is STRESSFUL! But hopefully it will all be worth it. Now...I should get back to packing...blah.

2011-06-07T09:28:00.003-04:00

Mommy's Peanut is so cute!

Update on the house: Our friends Ben and Amanda came over for the second weekend in a row to help us with the house. Their project was to get the paper laid that goes under the hardwood floors. Of course, Amanda reminded us that we had to sign our names to the sub floor!

The tar paper is down and the dark bamboo flooring is ready! However, the floor guy that was supposed to start 8:00 am Monday morning, decided that blowing his knee out sounded more fun than installing our floors. He called Craig at 7:30 saying that he was loading up his tools and blew out his knee! So now we are scrambling to find someone who has the time and can do it for the same price!! This really hurts our timeline. The floors have to be installed before the counter top guys will come measure the re-installed cabinets. The counters will be installed 2-3 weeks after they measure for the counter top template. We were really hoping to have a kitchen by the time we moved in at the end of this month!

The Lindley family came for a quick visit on Sunday! Grayson brought his mohawk and fluffy sideburns!

Step 1 of finishing the cabinets: sanding! Messy, time-consuming job!

Craig and I got to run up to see Sarah and Grayson last Tuesday. Grayson and Craig had a good nap together.

Precious!

I'm missing Grayson...

2011-05-26T20:36:00.003-04:00

...and all his cute faces!

Grayson Lloyd Lindley

2011-05-03T21:45:00.004-04:00

PROUD grandparents!

Perfect in every way

serious bonding

precious long fingers

Wedding was awesome!

2011-04-26T22:36:00.008-04:00

Lots going on lately...in no particular order...

2011-04-04T22:22:00.009-04:00

Presents!!!

Sarah and Eric had a baby shower for Grayson this past weekend! Everything is actually put away and organized!

The excited expecting parents!

Beautiful Sarah! She is working so hard! I admire everything she is already doing for the sake of Grayson! She is going to be the BEST mom!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oscar!

My friend Mandy brought her dog over one evening and he is really good at begging! He really wanted some of my pizza!

~~~~~~~~~

We met up at Olive Garden to celebrate some birthdays! It wouldn't be complete if there wasn't some delicious tort to go on top of the pasta!

Soft handmade baby blanket from Toni and Mike

~~~~~~~~~

We bought a house! We close on it in a week and then begin some projects! We have 2 1/2 months before we have to be out of our apartment, giving us plenty of time to work on paint and flooring. Can't wait!

~~~~~~~~

Bachelorette Party!! This weekend is the wedding! Craig is the best man in our friends' wedding! We are so excited to celebrate with Ben and Amanda!

10K

2011-03-08T11:06:00.002-05:00

This past weekend Craig and I ran a 10k in Indy. We left the apartment around 6 a.m. to make the 8:00 race. It was pouring rain and minutes into our trip, the check engine light came on!! At this point I was ready to turn around and go back to bed. But with Craig behind the wheel and his determination to do whatever he sets his mind to, we kept going! When we made it to Indy we had to drive through a couple small rivers that were flowing across the roads. We had received a ton of rain and I really wasn't looking forward to running the event. However, the rain stopped so we could start the race and the rain during the race actually felt good because it was around 50 degrees. Also, the engine light ended up being an easy $100 air conditing issue that is already fixed! So it ended up being a good race and a great weekend!

Number of finishers: 1049
Number of Females: 530
Number of Males: 519
Average Time: 1:02:50

Baby Blue

2011-03-08T10:39:00.002-05:00

Last week I had the pleasure of spending some time at Sarah and Eric's helping get the baby's room ready! I feel pretty honored to be apart of the process! Sarah and Eric picked a great, bright shade of blue to cover up the neutral beige.

Step 1: taping the trim, windows, and ceiling!

The next morning when the bright sunshine was coming in the paint looked so great with the bedding they have picked out! It looks amazing! I'm so excited!

There was one minor sock fatality...but no paint on the carpet!!

Dana and her family just live a few miles down the road from Sarah!

There is Karter with his cute smile only seconds after the first picture was taken!

Valentine's Day!!

2011-02-15T12:05:00.006-05:00

This year, Craig made Valentine's Day very special!

I received these beautiful flowers at work on Monday! There is a pretty funny story about these flowers! Craig doesn't typically buy me flowers for special occasions. I think the last time he sent me flowers was the day before we got married, 6 years ago.
These Valentine flowers were all his idea - he didn't get them for me because I hinted around or mentioned them. Craig thought of them all on his own and ordered them last week to be a total surprise and delivered on Monday. So Sunday afternoon, Craig and I were sitting on the couch talking (no tv, music, other sounds) and his cell phone rang. He answered the phone and I overheard, "Hello, this is Ellettsville Flower Shop..." BUSTED! The flower shop was calling to confirm his order and inadvertently ruined the surprise! So while I still love the flowers, it wasn't quite the surprise that Craig was hoping for!

Craig made 6:00 reservations for dinner at Farm.

I couldn't help but take a picture of the appetizer - Artichoke Heart Crostini because of the cute heart presentation. So that first picture led to the next, photographing the whole wonderful meal!

Roasted Love Apple (Tomato) Veloute with Oyster and Basil

The soup was very good. The oyster was on the bottom of the soup and I decided to give it a try since I have never tried oyster before. My opinion of oyster: squishy eyeball. I tried my hardest to not show my disgust on my face and try to act civilized in public, but it was very hard. I like to try different foods, but I think oyster is crossed off the list to never try again!

Craig picked a very good house Rose wine.

"Good Life Farm" Greens with Danish Bleu Cheese, Pomegranate, and Chinnuts: Wonderful!

Citrus Broiled Salmon, Roasted Root Vegetables, Roasted Red Pepper Coulis
This was the thickest, most moist piece of salmon I have ever tasted. It was great!

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Mocha Cream and Raspberries

Amazing dessert!

Great day, wonderful meal, best husband ever!

When I got home I was surprised to find more flowers - a dozen white roses! Craig couldn't let the day go by without a flower surprise!

5K!!

2011-02-15T11:48:00.003-05:00

Only 80 days until the OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini Marathon!!

We participated in the race's 5K training series last weekend. And we did awesome!

Race stats:
1384 Finishers
730 Females
654 Males
31:59 Average Pace

Since Ben and Amanda have never run a 5K, they set a personal best! Craig also cut his best time by 3 minutes. It was a great, chilly morning for a fun run!

Skiing at Paoli Peaks!

2011-02-08T10:47:00.002-05:00

It had been several years, but we tried out our skiing skills this past weekend and had a blast!!

We went with our friends, Amanda and Ben

Our first trip up, remembering how to get on and off the ski lift!

Amanda looked like a pro with her goggles!

It was COLD, but SO much FUN!

A & B

View from the bottom of the hill

Last ride up the lift - frozen and exhausted!

Ice!

2011-02-02T16:28:00.003-05:00

This shot is from the inside of car looking out the side window! We finally took on the project of getting our cars thawed out. It actually took a while to get through the ice to get inside the car!

This is my front windshield.

View from the back window! If it wasn't for the spare scraper that we found in a box in the house, we would have never gotten in the cars. The defrost really helped the process too!

Front Deck View
We heard lots of wind over night, but most of the ice hanging on the trees was gone in the morning. I woke up to huge flakes falling, but it really hasn't accumulated to very much over the whole day. The mailman was delivering our mail when I was chipping away at the ice and he said the main roads are pretty good. I'm assuming it will be back to work tomorrow!

Back Deck View

Happy February 1st!

2011-02-01T16:17:00.002-05:00

We are in the process of round 2 of this winter ice storm! Our power is currently flickering! I just got the call - our office is closed again on Wednesday. Hope everyone stays safe!

Over the weekend we got to shop around with Sarah and Eric and "help" them register for their baby needs! We weren't much help figuring out what to register for, but it was a lot of fun to tag along! Baby Lindley sure is growing! Just one trimester left!!

When we were broiling some salmon last week, Craig took the dish out of the oven to turn the salmon over. He touched the salmon with the spatula and heard a loud pop! The dish cracked about 1 inch below the top - all the way around. We can't really figure out why it happened in a nice Pyrex dish that we have had since the wedding.

Weird!

Some of the Cincinnati Reds came to Bloomington Mall on Friday!

Brandon Phillips - pretty cool dude with his sunglasses and texting on his phone!

Devin Mesoraco

Craig stood in line for almost 2 hours to get some autographs for one of his friends that is a Reds fan!

Randomness

2011-01-25T13:43:00.004-05:00

This is personally one of my favorite pictures. It's almost like Craig is shouting at you through the picture, "I'm so famous" and "No pictures!" Craig was trying on his new suit and wasn't sure he liked it...yet.

I went for a little something different when I got my nails done for New Year's Eve. Sarah gave me the idea! My nails looked good with the dress, but my boss didn't really like them on Monday morning! He looked at them twice and then asked me, "What is on your fingers?" I laughed and just said they were left over from the weekend. He said, "My 1st grade daughter would love those!" So I took the paint off that night! After it started to chip it almost looked like I had been playing in the dirt for a little too long!

Our paperwhite lillies were beautiful this year! They are very tall and falling all over the place! I love getting them each year from Aunt Gay and Uncle Bill and watching them grow from tiny spikes barely poking out of the dirt to blooming by Christmas!

Since our tree was so massive this year, all the Christmas cards that we received found a place on the tree! It helped fill in the spaces!

It was definitely a learning experience having a live tree for the first time this year. Our tree stopped drinking water and started losing needles. This is the pile just from taking off the lights and ornaments. Lesson learned: Apparently they make huge bags that you hide under the tree skirt and then just easily pull up and over the tree to get it out of the house.

UGG!! What a mess! It took forever to clean up the needles! My vacuum really got it's workout!

A couple weeks ago we ran to Assembly Hall to watch the half time of a women's game.

My friend Mandy is coaching some 5th and 6th grade girls and they got the opportunity to scrimmage during half time. They had just started their season and still had a lot of learning to do but it was pretty entertaining to watch!

On the left: New toothbrush. On the right: Craig's toothbrush.

No matter how hard I try to be the best dental hygienist possible, I have failed. I try and try and try to get the message across to my husband that he doesn't have to "scrub" his teeth and apply so much pressure! His toothbrush usually looks this bad after about a month! If I can't break my husband's bad brushing habits, how can I help the great patients in the Ellettsville/Bloomington area?!?!

Really?! Wow.

2011

2011-01-11T11:08:00.003-05:00

2011 has gotten off to a great start! We had a nice celebration on New Year's Eve with some friends in Terre Haute and watched the ball drop in the rain. It was fun to get dressed up for the evening even though we ended up being a soggy mess!

Blessings in 2010:
* News that we have a nephew growing bigger everyday in Sarah's belly!
* DC Marathon trip with Mom and Craig while visiting Aunt Gay and Uncle Bill
* San Diego Trip
* Los Angeles Trip
* 3 friends brought new blessings into this world - Kaden, Thomas, and Bruce!
* 3 friends tied the knot - Nicole and Derek, Jared and Jenna, and Blake and Elizabeth

Prayers for 2011:
* Easy delivery for a healthy Baby Lindley
* Grandpa Beynon treatment for Lymphoma will be successful and painless
* Mandy's Mom's breast cancer surgeries/treatment will be successful and painless
* Grandpa Woody's knee replacement will be successful and painless

The main thing that stands out about 2010 for me is the events that brought me closer to God, my husband and my family. I have had amazing support and felt lots of love! I'm excited about the new year and the new opportunities. Happy New Year.

Our Christmas Tree!

2010-12-04T12:35:00.005-05:00

Yesterday we went Christmas tree hunting! We went to a local tree farm and found the perfect tree! We were warned that there weren't very many good trees to pick from due to the drought, but we found our tree pretty quickly! I think we were a little over excited because we had never had a real Christmas tree. We have used Craig's grandma's fake tree for the past 5 years. We decided it was time for a change!

Craig spotted this one! 7 ft tall spruce!

It has a few areas of "character," but it has a nice shape!

That tree never saw Craig coming!

One last hug before we killed it!

With Craig's trusty new sharp saw that tree would have been down in 30 seconds, but I thought I had to try. I made NO progress, so Craig finished.

Ta Da!

The tree is cut! We found out that this kind of tree is pretty pokey - it's needles are sharp! Also, it has really sticky sap! I had to dig out the rubbing alcohol just so my fingers didn't stick together! We were warned that this tree is a little sensitive, so we bought tablets to put in the water. I have watered it several times already. I hope this tree will last through the new year and that we are good Christmas tree parents!

While we were waiting on our full service Christmas tree experience, Craig made a friend!

They had free cider and hot chocolate! It tasted very good and it was also a nice finger warmer!

This is the contraption that binds/wraps the tree after it has been shaken.

Our tree going in!

Craig strapping it to the roof!

I got the stand ready while Craig got the tree untied and brought up the stairs.

All lit up!

I put the ornaments on this morning. We definitely have a different branch to ornament ratio this year!

Our 6th Christmas! Fav ornament!

I'm so glad we got our tree yesterday 6 hours before it started snowing! It is definitely starting to feel a lot like Christmas!

Special Moments!

2010-12-04T12:27:00.002-05:00

Sarah had some special news to share with Grandpa!

Sarah and Eric are expecting!

Sarah showed Grandpa an 8 week ultrasound picture!

"That doesn't look like a baby!"

Hopefully next week they will have another picture that shows the gender!

We are all so happy for Sarah and Eric!!

2nd annual pottery painting!

2010-11-30T10:30:00.003-05:00

We went back to Potter's Alley again this year and had a lot of fun! I got a little too involved in my projects to remember to take any photos! I can't wait to see how everything turns out!

Catching up...

2010-11-23T15:49:00.005-05:00

Saturday we had some great company - Chad came for a visit!! We love guests! After some lunch, we checked out Oliver Winery. This next photo is when we were leaving, with the full moon coming up. It was a really pretty afternoon to sit outside under the heater and enjoy my new favorite wine!

Sunset at Oliver

All ready for Christmas!

me and Craig

It's hard for Chad and Craig to take a good picture together without acting goofy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sunset earlier this week

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I met Mom and Mike at McCormick Creek State Park while they were camping there a couple weeks ago. They happen to pick the perfect three days in November to go camping. We followed Mike around on some trails for a couple hours and had a great lunch at the camper.

Every great hiker needs a little rest!

The ground was completely covered in leaves!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before

The picture doesn't really do it justice, but we have rearranged our bedroom! Last winter I felt like my head was going to freeze off during the middle of the night because our bed was against the poorly insultated windows. I kept telling Craig I was going to go out and buy curtains...but never did. So this year, I decided we will just move the bed to a different wall! So in the end, no money spent and it feels like the bedroom is brighter and bigger!

After

Thomas

2010-11-10T20:13:00.002-05:00

Almost a month ago, we had a wonderful get-together with some high school friends. We got to spend some time with 5 month old Thomas!

Craig is holding Thomas in this picture - definitely checking him out!

Thomas looks almost as big as Eliza in this picture! David and Eliza made a great meal and it was so nice to catch up with everybody!

Bruce's Baptism

2010-11-07T22:04:00.004-05:00

Sweet, sleepy Bruce!

Last weekend, baby Bruce was baptized! Brandi (on the left in the black sweater) and Casey (on the right holding Bruce) were proud parents! It was neat to witness the ceremony.

Nashville

2010-10-17T17:52:00.002-04:00

This year for our "Staff Outing" we went to Nashville, IN for the day. We met at the courthouse for a picture before taking off for shopping. Of course shopping doesn't compare to getting pampered at French Lick like we did last year, but we still had a great time! Everyone was able to make it except Kim who was on her honeymoon! I really do work with a good bunch of people. As many as there are, it is amazing how well we get along (most of the time.)

Danielle took my picture of a cute hat I was trying on. (It really was cuter in person!) I would have bought it, but it was too expensive!

Amy got friendly with the mechanical orange talking man in front of the fudge shop!

We were treated to lunch at the Artist's Colony before shopping some more! It was a beautiful day!

10-10-10 Chicago Marathon

2010-10-15T16:57:00.004-04:00

It was a beautiful day to be a spectator of the Chicago Marathon! For the runners, however, it was warm! Craig and I joined Sarah and Eric's parents in Chicago to cheer on Eric as he ran his first marathon. I was so amazed to see the Kenyans take off and lead the pack.

There were sooo many people! 45,000 runners and 1.7 million spectators!

Spectators have to be well hydrated too!

Craig behind Sarah, Steve, and Linda

Craig, Jess, Steve, and Linda waiting at mile 12

Eric was a St. Jude hero and raised funds for the organization. Eric was able to raise over $1,300!

We saw a lot of pink! We made it to Chicago late Saturday night and different parts of the skyline were lit up pink.

Some of the scenery along the way during different stops to see Eric.

I have no explanation for this random eyeball that was down the street from where we had lunch. It was huge!

Chicago skyline

Sarah on the lookout for Eric at mile 26!

Yay! Congratulations Eric!

Lark Ranch

2010-09-29T17:12:00.002-04:00

Just like the sign promised, we had the "Ultimate Fall Experience" on Friday!! We went to Lark Ranch in Loogootee, Indiana with a couple friends and had a blast!

Enter corn maze here! We were pretty lost most of the time!

Super fast slide!

Good, cheap fun!

Beautiful night!

Labor Day Weekend

2010-09-21T17:20:00.003-04:00

Beautiful sky

McCormick's Creek State Park

Canyon Falls

Craig managed to hike with his coffee without falling!

Birthday Cheesecake made by mom! Sooo yummy!

Birthday cookie at work - 2 layers of cookie with icing in the middle!

More of LA

2010-09-14T12:07:00.005-04:00

After we finished fishing and got the fish stink washed off, we drove up Highway 1 about an hour, toward Oxnard where Craig was staying for his training.

Highway 1

We found a cute winery along the way.

This winery charged $10 for a wine tasting! I think all the tastings we have ever done have been free, so Craig and I split a tasting. The owner was very nice and had worked for the government. She even knew where Crane was!

We found a second winery.

Also very yummy! This one charged for the tasting unless you bought a bottle. I ended up with three bottles in my luggage and it made my bag so heavy! (All three weren't ours!)

On Monday, Craig had to go to class, so the rest of us explored Ventura a little bit. We checked out the mall and then had lunch at the pier. (Amanda and I had a much better time at the mall than Ben and Tyler!)

Ventura Pier - 1872 -

Amanda and Ben

Our last night together we went out for sushi!

It was my first time trying sushi. We ordered about 5 different plates for all of us to share. I knew some of it was cooked and some was raw. I just told myself it was all cooked and tried everything! It was really good and I was surprised I liked it!

It ended up being a good trip and I'm glad we all got to go. I don't think I could have lasted the whole two weeks without seeing Craig. The three hour time difference made it pretty challenging to comunicate very well over the phone. About the time Craig was starting his evening, I was going to bed! I'm not sure when we will make it back to California, but I'm still shocked we had the opportunity to go twice this summer!

Deep Sea Fishing!

2010-09-12T15:05:00.003-04:00

Second day of LA trip:

We got up early Sunday morning to go fishing. We were pretty impressed with ourselves that 5 of us were able to make it out the door (with one bathroom) before 6:30 am! The boat headed out at 7:30 for 30-45 minutes before finding a good place to fish.

Seals and birds lined the rocks on our way out to the middle of the ocean! (Ok - It wasn't the middle, but it felt like it!)

Fishing poles were ready and the boat was rockin!

The morning was overcast and chilly. I was glad to have a long-sleeve t-shirt on and a light jacket to cut the wind. The sun eventually came out and fried my neck! In this picture the deckhand is flinging bait overboard to get the fish stirred up and hungry . (This is actually only a guess as to why he was throwing bait over people's heads. I basically had no idea what was going on most of the time. Deep sea fishing is a lot different that pond fishing from the bank. And I have only done that a hand full of times!)

Tyler and Craig were nice enough to bait my hook many times. (Several of my pictures aren't very good, but I blame it on the rocking of the boat and my queasiness!)

Craig baiting my hook with squid. The next day we ate calamari that looked strangely familiar!

Tyler caught many fish...like 7 or 8. He was definitely on a roll. I didn't understand it - his line was 2 feet from mine and I wasn't catching any! Finally he told me that my line probably wasn't on the bottom, told me what to do differently, and then 5 minutes later - I finally caught one! I only caught one the entire time, but I was happy to at least catch one. We mainly caught sculpin fish. They measured the fish and if it was over 10 inches, we kept it. We ended up with about 3 fish, but gave them to another couple that was fishing next to us.

Amanda caught several. Ben, to her right, also had good luck catching several.

Another beautiful, spiny sculpin! Craig found out the hard way that these fish aren't like Indiana bass that you can grab and take off the hook. He found out after he had his hand around it that it was venomous! His hand itched the rest of the morning, but apparently it wasn't too bad.

As we made our way back to the shore, the deckhands filleted the fish. The "extra parts" got thrown overboard and made for a great seagull and seal lunch. As we were fishing, we had a couple seals that would swim around our boat hoping to eat our bait before it got to the bottom.

Overall it was a great experience! I'm glad we got to go and experience something new that you can't do in Indiana!

Hollywood

2010-09-09T20:16:00.005-04:00

For some reason, I can't move the pictures around in this post and I'm out of patience trying, so here is Hollywood...in random order! We did the zoo and hollywood on the first day.

Christopher Reeve

I started taking pictures of the stars that I recognized. Then I realized...I knew most of the names and the sidewalk was very crowded, so I stopped after 10 or so. We happened to be there on Michael Jackson's birthday, so his star was full of people and flowers.

Dick Van Dyke - Danville native!

Rodeo Drive...around 6 pm after everything was closed.

We couldn't afford to shop here anyway!

Craig looks so happy to get his picture with me

$$ Rodeo Dr $$

Will Smith - "Change the world"

Roy Rogers (1949!)

The famous HOLLYWOOD sign

Chinese Theater

LA Zoo!

2010-09-07T21:01:00.003-04:00

The day started cloudy, but turned into a beautiful day for walking around learning about animals.

Our group (L to R): Amanda, Tyler, Craig, and Ben. I have face shots later in our trip!

Hopefully I'll get more of our trip posted soon!

Nails

2010-08-25T18:59:00.000-04:00

Craig waiting at the airport...what a perfect background!

Tuesday was a wonderful day! My mom came to Bloomington to spend the day with me! We got pedicures, spent the day shopping the square, and talked...a lot!

Our beautiful, pampered toes!

French pedi with flowers! How fun!

pHoTos!

2010-08-18T16:44:00.006-04:00

Craig was out of town last week and I had a little too much time on my hands! I found a free app for editing pictures and had a lot of fun!

My handsome husband

Wet flower at the farm

Barn/poppy at the farm

I tried to make our eyes stand out...

Blake and Elizabeth

I also spent a day with Sarah on Tuesday. We braved the 110* heat index and went to the Colts camp at Anderson. We were dripping wet just standing and watching. We finally decided that we weren't that big of fans of the Colts, so we only stayed about an hour.

My footprints

Frog at Oliver Winery

Flower at the farm

Lilly at Oliver

Moon and sky after a storm

The hairy elephant I got to pet!

The flower on our table outside at brunch

Zoo Wedding!

2010-08-01T21:43:00.003-04:00

Craig's friend from college got married Friday evening. Their ceremony was held outside at the Botanical Gardens at the Indianapolis zoo and the reception was held in the dolphin area. It was an amazing wedding!

Elizabeth and Blake before the wedding, getting photos and greeting the guests with an elephant.

Men of the wedding party!

We got to take pictures and pet the elephant before the ceremony. How neat! The elephant actually felt pretty hairy!

Cutest usher ever! Craig escorting Grandma Jo to her seat.

The weather was perfect, low humidity and slightly cloudy, keeping everyone comfortable.

A few birds greeted us on our way out of the ceremony.

The dolphin area was so neat!

Beautiful place to hold a reception.

Blake and Elizabeth after the wedding, getting relaxed with some appetizers and drinks after their special day. They had an amazing wedding!

Pool/Grill Time

2010-07-23T20:46:00.004-04:00

Last week before it got tooooo blazing hot, Craig and I enjoyed some chicken and potatoes on our community grill. While he was busy at the grill, I enjoyed some time by the pool.

2 Thumbs Up!!

2010-07-15T20:53:00.002-04:00

Welcome to Jessica's movie review:

LOVED this movie!! Very funny. Very cute. 5 stars. We will be buying this DVD!

Picnic and 4th of July

2010-07-06T10:50:00.006-04:00

Last weekend, Craig and I took a picnic to Oliver Winery. It was a beautiful, but warm day to enjoy the scenery.

~~~~~~~Friday~~~~~~~

This past Friday night we were invited to go to an Indianapolis Indians game with our friends Ben and Amanda who had free tickets. Our seats were really nice, directly behind home plate.

Amanda, Ben, and Craig

Unfortunately the Indians lost, 4-3.

The fireworks after the game were really great!

~~~~~~~Saturday~~~~~~~

Saturday morning we both participated in a 5K race. It was a pretty morning and most of the race was in the shade along a country road. The race was in memory of a Monroe Country Police Officer who was killed on the job. This was the second annual 5K. The proceeds went to a scholarship recipient who is majoring in criminal justice.

The rest of the day was spent working at the farm clearing trees and sweating! It was great to spend time with Craig's family and cousins.

Sunday morning we headed to Illinois and spent some time with friends at their cabin on the lake. We went boating and had a blast tubing! We both have some war wounds, but we had an awesome time! Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures on the boat. Overall, it was a great 4th of July weekend!

Old pics/weather

2010-06-22T09:39:00.003-04:00

These pictures date back to the mid 80's when my Aunt Gay and Uncle Bill took us to the Indianapolis Zoo! Last week when I posted some San Diego pictures of the giraffe, it reminded my Aunt of some pictures they had hanging around from when we were small. I love the sideburns!

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We have had lots of storms over the past week, resulting in some really neat views out the window. One evening we were watching the trees be blown sideways, the next evening we were on "lock-down" in the YMCA locker rooms due to tornado warnings, and the next night a double rainbow appeared after the storm. So far we have kept electricity and stayed safe!

Defore Wedding

2010-06-20T22:13:00.002-04:00

Saturday was a bright, beautiful, hot evening for a wedding! Craig's friend from college, Jared was married to his beautiful bride Jenna in Terre Haute.

First dance

Bouquet toss

College buddies: Jared (Groom), Kyle (Best Man), Craig, and Jeremy

San Diego

2010-06-11T19:28:00.005-04:00

No words are needed...San Diego is beautiful!

Wonderful Weekend

2010-05-25T09:32:00.005-04:00

The past several weeks in Indiana have been cool, rainy, and most of all...dreary! I think we were all ready for some SUN! So the sun came on Saturday and now the temperatures are in the 90*s and it is summer!

Craig and I both had a GREAT weekend. We spent it separately on Friday with me spending time with my friend Mandy and Craig with some of his friends from college who came into town.

Saturday afternoon, Craig and I headed to Brown County State Park! It was a beautiful day and it was really nice to hike in the shade.

Craig loves it when I take his picture!

I decided that we would do trail 8 all the way to the Lookout. Even though it said 3.6 miles, Craig swears that it was at least 6 miles. It took us a full 3 hours!!

There were some very muddy parts of the trail and then there were the stairs...if I counted correctly, 143 of them!

I played tour guide and pointed out the trees, the poison ivy, ferns, and the mud. Craig appreciated it. I tried to lead us in camp songs, but I couldn't remember most parts of them. It has been too many years since girl scouts and church camp.

We finally made it to the Lookout!!

This friendly guy guarded the stairs to the top of the Lookout. I just closed my eyes, made myself skinny as possible and tried to hurry past him.

This was the view from the top!

After a quick shower to wash off the bugs, we went to the Starlite Drive-in and saw Shrek The Final Chapter and part of Iron Man 2. Shrek was very good and very funny, but we couldn't make it through Iron Man. The other problem is that we were both low on sleep from Friday night and the movie didn't start until dusk, so after 9. By the time Iron Man came on after Shrek and an intermission, it was pretty late!

Sunday we went to Indiana University's Art Museum. Their featured artist was Thomas Chambers. We saw a lot of his ship and landscape paintings.

In front of the Art Museum

The fountain in front of the IU Auditorium

We both loved spending time with friends and loved our time together! It was a wonderful weekend!

Mini 2010

2010-05-09T20:30:00.004-04:00

Woohoo! Saturday was the Indy Mini and a neat thing happened: Eric, Sarah, and I all got personal best times for the 13.1 miles! Not only did Sarah get her best time, but she also ran the entire race!

The temperature was around 50 degrees, but with the wind chill, it felt about 40. The wind was very strong and gusty. I actually thought the weather was awesome during the race and felt the wind push me along. However, while we were waiting on the race to start and then after the race, everyone was sooo cold! This was the type of weather that I was really hoping for during the marathon in March!

Visit with the Grays

2010-05-05T19:52:00.003-04:00

This week Craig and I got to spend some precious time with Dana and her boys, Karter and Kaden! They were in Indiana visiting family and we were able to meet them at a park in Terre Haute. We met 3 month old Kaden for the first time. I didn't get any pictures, but he is a very happy guy who loves to "talk." While Kaden was having lunch, Craig and I were on Karter watching duty and we had a lot of fun chasing him around!

Craig couldn't resist picking up a remote control car for Karter. For only being 23 months old, Karter figured out how to run the car pretty quickly! It was pretty fun to watch the determination on his face as he worked the controls. We also got to test out his A,B,C's and counting skills. Karter is one smart kido!

We missed chatting with Kris, but had a wonderful time with the Gray family!

Nicole's Wedding

2010-04-25T21:34:00.002-04:00

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Derek and Nicole Bridge!!

Me and Eliza, the brand new Mom!

I'm so happy for them!

Not only did I get to see Nicole marry her best friend and help celebrate such a special time in her life, but Nicole and I got to chat quite a bit at the reception! It was so good to see her so happy! I wish them the best!

Girls Weekend

2010-04-25T21:04:00.007-04:00

Sarah, Mom, and I got to spend some time together last weekend. Eric was out of town for the weekend, so we met at Sarah's and had a great time. Friday night we ate some pizza and watched a movie. It was a very relaxing evening. Saturday morning Sarah and I went for a run together around Pendleton. It was a beautiful chilly morning and a great time to catch up with each other. After showers, we headed over to get manicures!

Showing off the lovely nails!! We also visited an antique shop where mom found some copper items!

They might not like it that I posted this picture, but I love how happy mom and Sarah look together! The rest of the day was spent shopping and it turned out to be successful for all three of us. It was great to spend the time together. I think Sarah has been trying to plan a girls weekend since before I got married. I'm glad it worked out!

This is a picture of the vines that cover our stairs. The flowers smell wonderful. So far the bees that are attracted to the flowers haven't bothered us. Spring has been beautiful in Bloomington!

The rest of our trip...

2010-04-04T19:02:00.005-04:00

Race day was such a beautiful day for walking around DC. After a shower, lunch, and a little rest it was good to walk around. We actually got to see a lot Saturday afternoon.

Vietnam War Memorial

Vietnam Nurses Memorial

Korean War Memorial

Lincoln Memorial

Don't we look tiny next to Lincoln?!

Washington Monument

World War II Memorial

We spent Sunday at Mount Vernon.

Monday was rainy so we spent it inside at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. It was a great trip!!

Expo and the Race

2010-03-30T12:07:00.004-04:00

This sign was outside the Armory where the expo was held the day before the race. Of course, it provided the perfect backdrop for some photos!

Jess and Craig

Jess and Nancy

We stopped for a late lunch salad at Union Station

Then we had some wonderful pasta the evening before the race!

Nancy, Aunt Gay, Craig, and Uncle Bill

The START line as the sun is coming up the morning of the race!!

The morning started around the mid 40*s, but quickly warmed with full sun and a beautiful blue sky with temps reaching around 75*. The first half of the race was full of spectators and lots of neat landmarks to enjoy. I really had a great half-marathon race, just a totally enjoyable run! My ankle really didn't bother me too much more than the rest of my body. Around mile 18 and 19 my pace really fell and I could really tell that I had taken the past 6 weeks off and hadn't trained to 20 miles like I was supposed to. The last 5 miles were really rough and I was so extremely glad to find that last mile. My spirits rose that last mile and I felt so much relief to finally be done!

When I first decided to run a second marathon, I was really hoping to finish around 4 hours. (I finished the Chicago Marathon in 4:38.) I was pretty much on pace in DC until mile 18 with my finishing time being 4:26. I'm disappointed that it wasn't closer to 4 hours because I still think I'm capable of a better time, but I really don't see myself attempting a marathon anytime in the near future.

I ran last night for the first time since the race. I could tell that my quad muscles are still repairing and the my ankle is still tender. I went back to my sports chiropractor today and she still recommends rest and ice. She said that according to where my pain and tenderness is she is still surprised that it wasn't a stress fracture.

Day One in DC

2010-03-27T18:20:00.007-04:00

Our trip to DC started very early last Thursday morning. Our flight was at 6:10!! However, arriving so early allowed us the whole day for sight-seeing! The weather was great and it was a nice day to walk around.

Our first stop was the Supreme Court.

We were able to attend a lecture in the courtroom and learn a little more about how the system works. It was neat to be in the same room that such important people sit to make such important decisions.

We then headed across the street to the Capitol.

We took a tour through the new Visitor Center.

The rotunda is amazing. It is hard to grasp just how tall this area is. Our tour guide told us that the Statue of Liberty could sit on the floor of this building and there would still be room above her head before the top of the ceiling.

The semicircular room, called the Statuary Hall has almost 40 statues. Each state is allowed 2 statues, but not all fit in this room. The tour guide also said that because the statues weighed so much, they were limited to how many the floor could stand to hold.

I just happened to stand next to this guy during the tour and didn't catch his name.

Our last stop was the Library of Congress.

I think the thing I was most impressed with here was the fact that every little detail of the architecture had a story. We had a very knowledgeable docent that explained so much of what we were seeing.

After all that sight-seeing we met a family friend, Helen at a wonderful Italian restaurant, Portofinos in Gay and Bill's old neighborhood. It was a very long day, but very very good day. It was great weather for walking around and seeing so much. It was also nice to sit and chat with Helen and catch up with Gay and Bill! I think we all slept very well that night!

Almost race time...

2010-03-16T12:49:00.003-04:00

I finally have a list made...a couple actually and I'm finally getting organized for our trip! I went to my chiropractor this morning for the last time before the race. I have really appreciated everything she has done to help speed up my healing. She was nice enough to extended her hours on two different days and stayed 2 hours after work just to accommodate my schedule.

My ankle is feeling ok. It was a little sore last week after I started slowly running on it again. So we decided that the best chance for my ankle to feel the best was to stop running again. The whole goal is to have fun at the race.

The weather for the race is forecasted to be in 50*s at the start with a high in the 60*s.

I can't wait!

Chicago Mid-Winter

2010-03-10T20:51:00.012-05:00

One of the many reasons that I didn't post a whole lot in February was because I spent a few days in Chicago for work! 3 out of the 4 doctors and 2 other co-workers and I went to Chicago Mid-Winter for 3 days. We all took some classes for continuing education and also had a little fun. In the past, a bigger group from the office has gone to the conference, but this year it was just a few of us. Dr. Compton drove Chelsea, Lisa, and me up to Chicago on a Thursday and we were home late on Saturday.

Here is Chelsea and Lisa sitting on the shuttle on our way from our hotel to the conference! Both of them were great to spend time with! It was good to get to know them better.

We stayed at the Hyatt and this was our view from the hotel room. I love Chicago's skyline!

The Hyatt was just off of Michigan so we could just take a quick walk to shopping!

Of course I made us stop to shop at Nine West!! I found some boots that were super on sale! I had totally worn out my old pair of black boots and it was great to find a wonderful new pair!

The other gals wanted to stop at Garrett's, famous for their popcorn. The line was out the door and I soon found out the reason it was so popular! I bought some of their Chicago Mix - cheesy and carmel popcorn mixed! It didn't sound good at first, but it was wonderful!

On the first evening, Dr. Compton took us to the Cheesecake Factory! It was wonderful...

This is one of two pieces of cheesecake that we shared. Of course we didn't really have room for dessert, but we ate it anyway!

Windy City!

When we weren't in class (or shopping) we spent a lot of time on the floor. The expo floor for all the latest and great dental products was huge!! (This is actually the same place that the expo was held for the Chicago Marathon.)

To receive many of the free samples we had to sit through a product presentation. Some were pretty cheesy, some were really flashy, and others were really informative. I almost had enough samples to fill another suitcase!

Unfortunately, the classes that I spent 8 hours in weren't too informative, but I'm still really glad that I had the opportunity to go. I always hate to be away from Craig, but I'm glad that I went.

Great night!

2010-03-09T20:36:00.002-05:00

I ran in SHORTS tonight! I was able to run with the endurance class tonight and it was a beautiful evening!

I was huffing and puffing on the hill work out tonight and I was feeling like I had lost a lot of my fitness. After the hill repeats though, I still had a lot left for the last mile back to the Y. So I am trying to stay positive!

Weekend

2010-03-07T21:09:00.002-05:00

Running went well this weekend!! I had no pain on Saturday's 3 mile run. When I was running Sunday, I felt some soreness and a little afterward. So the ankle isn't perfect, but it's getting there!!

We picked up some sturdier luggage today for our trip that is in less than 2 weeks - can't wait!

Here is another shot of Aunt Gay and Uncle Bill's house 1 month later!! Still have quite a bit of melting to do! I can't wait to see them!

Good news!

2010-03-04T22:44:00.002-05:00

My Chiropractor not only approved running this weekend, but actually recommended it! Whoo hoo! It is supposed to be 50 degrees! She said no more than 5 miles and not all at one time. It's a start and I can't wait!

Game Plan

2010-03-02T15:29:00.002-05:00

We have finally figured out what is going with my ankle. It all started after the first of the year and continued to get worse until I couldn't be in denial anymore. I went to a sports chiropractor who has been really great at trying to figure out what is going on. They tried a couple techniques and I saw some improvement, but still wasn't able to run. The pain was the most intense after I ran most of 18 miles in the snow. Last week we decided to do an MRI to check everything out. The MRI came back negative for a stress fracture but showed some swelling and a ligament sprain. The plan is to get treatments twice a week until the race to speed up healing. I will continue running in the pool and cycling to try to maintain some level of fitness. I can't wait for the race, which is only 18 days away, but I have no idea how my performance will be. The whole purpose in doing a second marathon was to improve and have more fun than I had at the last hot and humid race. I hope it is possible to feel good through the whole race and enjoy the beautiful landmarks and scenery.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T14:21:00.000-05:00

SNOW!

2010-02-07T18:49:00.003-05:00

30 inches of snow later, this is what Aunt Gay and Uncle Bill's house looks like! That is a lot of snow for a snowblower to handle! Craig, Mom, and I will stay with them a couple days before and after the race. Can't wait! March 20th, the day of the race, will be the first day of spring - hopefully it feels like it!

DC

2010-02-06T14:38:00.004-05:00

With only 41 days before the marathon, DC has some melting and warming to do! They have already received 2 feet of snow and they aren't done yet! These are some of the landmarks that I will be running by!

18 today...

2010-02-06T13:15:00.002-05:00

I'm stretching, icing, sipping on water, and relaxing after 18 miles! I've already drank my reward white chocolate mocha and downed a few carbs.

Bloomington only got about 3-4 inches of snow, but that was just enough to make it feel like I was running through sand. I met the group at the Y this morning, but they decided to run inside since the sidewalks weren't clear yet. Thankfully, one of the gals in the group really wanted to run outside, so we ran about 8.6 miles together. Then I took off towards Clear Creek Trail and finished out the 18. I caught a couple deep puddles and my feet got pretty wet. My feet weren't too cold once I got over the inital shock of the cold water, but my feet were pretty pruny by the time I got in the shower.

I am SO glad I am done with 18 miles. With only 6 weeks until the marathon, I only have 2 hard runs left!

I had to...

2010-01-31T18:06:00.003-05:00

Normally, I wouldn't buy an expensive race tech shirt, but I couldn't resist this one. I ordered this shirt this week and it has already arrived! It uses the sights, streets and neighborhoods of DC to form a runner's silhouette. I can't decide if I should wear it before the race or not.

Saturday's run was 16 miles and it went really well. I ran 8.25 miles with the group and then ran the course by myself again, backwards the second time. The weather was really cold, but the sun came out. At times I almost felt too hot in all my layers, but then the wind would really blow and I would have to put my gloves back on and pull my scarf over my face.

I am ready for it to warm up and for the race to be here!!

New Class

2010-01-21T21:27:00.002-05:00

Tonight was our first outdoor run for the new mini-prep class!! It was 40 degrees, raining, there were huge puddles everywhere, and lots of mud! We ran an out and back, about 3 miles. Then my coach was nice enough to run another 5 with me. My coach took some time off around Christmas so this was his first run in about 3 weeks. It was the fastest I had run for that length of time in a while. So overall it was a great workout! I got to talk with another one of the coach's about his experience running his first marathon at Disney. It was a great evening!

Yuck!

Warming up!

2010-01-17T18:27:00.004-05:00

Yay for 40 degrees! It has finally warmed up! I am so glad to be able to run outside again!

I had been doing most of my runs inside because it was too dark and cold when I had the opportunity to run. My shins have been sore off and on because of the indoor running. I really thought I had injured myself this week.

I could barely finish 5 miles on Wednesday (inside) because my shins hurt so bad. I stopped running half way through to walk, and that only made it worse. I stopped and stretched and really didn't feel any better. I finished the 5 miles, but didn't feel too great about it.

Thursday I was able to leave work on time and make it home with a little daylight left. I was so excited to run outside. I felt fine at first, but then my shins were on fire and I felt like I could barely walk. I cut the run by 1.5 miles, started ibuprofen and iced. I took ibuprofen all day Friday and by Saturday I was feeling fine! I was able to have a really good 16 mile run outside!

Craig met me half way through the run with his bike. It was around 35 degrees and pretty foggy, but the birds were singing and it was a nice quiet morning.

I have always been afraid that an injury would slow me down or stop my training. So hopefully, whatever was going on with my shins is over with. Also, hopefully I can do the rest of my training outside!

The endurance class that I joined at the YMCA ended in mid-December and starts up again on Tuesday. This new session is geared toward getting people in shape for the Indy Mini Marathon. My mileage requirements will be a lot different than the class's until I am done with the marathon. (Which is only 61 days away!!!) Before Christmas break, Craig and I sat down with the Coach and laid out a schedule. We will meet Tuesday night to discuss goals for everyone. I'm excited to run and have the support of the group again.

Too Cold!

2010-01-02T20:29:00.002-05:00

I knew when Craig and I first discussed doing another marathon, that doing a spring marathon would present some challenges. I knew it would be hard to find time to run during the busy holidays of Thanksgiving, Christmas, our anniversary, and New Year's. However, now that all that is over, I think it all went pretty well. I didn't get all the mileage in that I should have, but I made sure that I at least completed the long runs. The worst challenge has been this week with the temperature! I started out Monday for a 5 mile run, but the wind was just so strong and cold that I barely finished 3 miles. I should have run inside that evening, but since I got off of work early and there was still daylight to run outside, I really wanted to run outside.

Today was way too cold too, but it was a long run and I really didn't want to try to run inside. The sun was out and Craig was willing to get on his bike and go with me! We waited until the warmest part of the day, but it was still only about 18 degrees with a very nasty wind. My whole body was pretty warm, except for my face. I wore a scarf that I could adjust around my neck and mouth, but in some open areas it was terrible. We should have done and extra mile or two, but we were pretty frozen. Hopefully by my next long run it will be warmer.

I really appreciated Craig going with me today. He told me during the freezing adventure that it wasn't as much fun as he was expecting. Just like he experienced at the 5K race in November, Bloomington has LOTS of hills!

NYE

2010-01-02T11:48:00.002-05:00

The building on the left is the One America building. This was our view from our hotel room! On the 36th floor is the Skyline Club. We had dinner there to celebrate our 5th anniversary! We had a beautiful view of the city, nice live piano music, and great food!

It was a wonderful evening!

Happy Anniversary!

2009-12-31T13:30:00.002-05:00

5 years ago it was a very busy day surrounded by family and friends getting ready for an evening wedding!

1 year ago, Craig was on crutches with a broken leg. We can't believe how much has changed in one year! We are headed to Indy to celebrate our five years of marriage!

Welcome!

2009-12-29T20:54:00.002-05:00

Welcome Madison!!! the new addition to the Barton household! No, don't misunderstand! Maddie is NOT an addition to the Craig and Jess Barton house even though Craig has asked for a puppy for the last several Christmases. Madison is Chad and his girlfriend, Sarah's new puppy. She is a puggle, part beagle, part pug. She is ultra cute!

Maddie sleeps hard and plays hard.

Too cute!

Maddie got several "outfits" for Christmas!

She loves to snuggle!