Nashville

The weekend after mom and dad brought down the lockers, we went to Nashville, Tennessee for a weekend getaway with some friends. I love Nashville. There is just something about the city that makes me happy every time we turn the corner and can see the outline of downtown and the "Batman Building" in the distance. It's one of those "happy places" for me.

Ready for a fun night out!

Adding to the Collection

Almost a month ago, we added a piece to the Dennis Huntsinger Collection! Of course, I'm horrible at remembering to take before and during photos, so the after photo will have to do.

When we built our house, we always planned to put in lockers/cubbies in the back entrance from the garage. This is our "drop zone", the first place you come into when you get home. We had the trim carpenter give us a quote to build one when we were in the construction phase and we quickly decided that $800 was a little too salty for us.

Dad brought down the  piece almost a month ago now to install it and I don't know how we were surviving before! We have plenty of space to hang coats, put shoes and things you need to remember to take with you the next day. I plan to put baskets or bins in the shelves in the top and store our hats, gloves, etc. in that space. I just haven't found the perfect fit for the area yet.

It fits like a charm! This space has been waiting for this piece to arrive since it was built! I'm so thankful to have someone so talent to be able to build custom furniture that will outlast all of us! Dad, you are the best! I truly appreciate all of the furniture you have built us over the years, even the lovely dresser I painted when I was two. :)

Now that it's starting to warm up, the shop will start having seasonal hours, so there probably won't be any new pieces to the collection until Fall rolls around.

Arch Madness

I've always been a huge basketball fan, whether that is watching or playing. This year, Matt and I had the opportunity to go to Indiana State's Men's Basketball conference tournament, Arch Madness, in St. Louis. It was a little crazy that neither of us had ever been to the tournament before!

We had a packed car! Matt's uncle sat in a lawn chair in the middle of the van.

Snowcation

I am so over winter. I was thinking last night, its been four months of on and off snow and freezing cold temps. Will spring ever come?! My love loss for cold weather always gets the best of me when we book our "snowcation" in November before the reality of what the next few months hold. However, once we arrive, there is no place I'd rather be. What place is that you might ask? Snowmass, Colorado, right outside of Aspen.

Beautiful sunset over the mountains in Snowmass.

Workcation

View from my hotel room.

One of the great perks of my job is getting to work the events surrounding our board meeting in January...in Naples, Florida.

Oh yes, its rough, let me tell you, but someone has to do it! My boss and I headed to Florida on a Tuesday afternoon. Matt came to join me on Friday afternoon and my duties for my "workcation" were completed on Saturday night. Sunday Matt and I along with our friends Kim and Justin headed to Ft. Myers until Wednesday. Eight days away from the bitter cold and snow of Indiana, it wasn't long enough!

The majority of our events and board meetings were held at the Naples Beach Hotel & Golf Club which is a fabulous beach front property. They have a great pool area, beachfront tiki bar and multiple buildings that make up their family owned and operated property. Not to mention a golf course and fabulous spa (I had my first facial, and it was amazing! How have I gone so long without one of these?!). If you are looking for a family friendly vacation location in Southwest Florida, I would recommend checking this place out!

Snow Days!

So this is a little late, but wow, the Arctic Blast / Polar Vortex, whatever they were calling the winter storm that went through two weeks ago!

I wasn't very prepared as I assumed the weather people were going to get the forecast wrong and we wouldn't get the amount of snow predicted. Saturday, Matt and I went to Indy for the Colts game, you know, the one where they came back and beat the Chiefs? It was an extremely exciting night! We didn't have a bit of trouble getting home. Sunday is usually my grocery store day, but when we got up, everything was already snow covered and it was coming down in the most beautiful large flakes.

Photo Matt took from his truck, the trees are beautiful!

Matt went out around noon to start plowing snow and I decided  I wouldn't be going anywhere for the rest of the day. I started some laundry, cleaned up the kitchen and started the dishwasher and got cozy on the couch watching a Law & Order marathon. About an hour later, the power went out, panic immediately hit me. Thankfully it came back on in less than an minute, but I decided right then that I needed to get in the shower and charge up my cell phone in case it went out again.After getting out of the shower, I decided that I  should start cleaning the house, what else was there to do? Later that afternoon, I got an email that campus would be closed Monday, meaning I was going to get an adult snow day! I had planned on taking down the Christmas tree, but decided I could do it Monday and enjoy it one last night. Matt got home around 8:00 p.m. from plowing, ate some dinner and went to bed.

I enjoyed the last night of our Christmas tree.

Monday morning, Matt was up early to finish plowing. I took down all the Christmas decorations and caught up with some of my friends on the phone. I was getting cabin fever and going nuts in the house, so I was happy that Matt wanted to go out and get something to eat. Finding somewhere open was a challenge! The roads were horrible and it was no surprise with the dropping temperatures and poor road conditions that campus was closed again Tuesday.

Tuesday, I was running out of things to clean so I decided to start organizing closets and cabinets. I found a shelf in the laundry room that was for those cabinets, but it would fit perfectly in the cup cabinet that I have hated since we moved in. I was extremely happy with the outcome! Unfortunately, I didn't take any before and after pictures :( I also cleaned and organized the pantry, which turned out to be a good thing because we discovered we had a mouse! That's a story for another time, though.

I must say, I was happy to get into the office on Wednesday and out of the house. Of course Matt wouldn't let me drive, and it was probably a good thing, so he dropped me off at work.

We are just at the end of January and I am already tired of the cold weather and snow (as I write this from sunny Florida)! It seems like every time a glimmer of hope for a warm up comes, it's followed by more snow and cold weather...is is summer yet?

Resolutions

It's that time of year again, time to make resolutions that by mid- February are long forgotten. However, I'm going to try to change the status quo by keeping mine all year! I want to get healthy, simplify and let go of the clutter!

Resolution #1 - Wear the Clothes in My Closet or Else...

The majority of you reading this probably have too many clothes in your closet. Or maybe you wear the same things over and over again overlooking all the other lovely things that are begging to be worn. Or maybe like me, you love to shop, can't pass up a deal and then feel like you never have anything to wear! So this year I am going to work on wearing what's in my closet and what's not worn or what doesn't fit, is getting donated.

So how am I going to keep track of what I've worn, you ask? I have turned all the hangers in my closet so the hook faces me. After I have worn an item or it comes out of the laundry, I will hang it up normally. At the end of the year, what I haven't worn I am getting rid of. I have even placed a small shopping bag in the bottom of my closet to place items in through the course of the year that I don't like or don't fit. Now, I didn't invent this trick, but it's the first time I have tried it. I am very anxious to see the outcome at the end of the year! Now I need to figure out how to track my folded items such as sweaters, sweatshirts and jeans.

Resolution #2 - Take Better Care of Myself
This one is a little broad, but its much needed. I have to start putting myself first and not skip working out because the house needs cleaned. So I am going to give it a whirl and try to take better care of myself. Some of the small victories I'm looking for are wearing my retainers consistently so hopefully they will fit again! Other small things include wearing lotion on my hands nightly and take a multivitamin daily. Oh course eating better and working out are on the list, but I want to strive toward lifestyle changes.

Resolution #3 - Use What You Have and Get Rid of What You Don't Need
We have A LOT more room in our new house than we did in our previous one, however just because we have more room doesn't mean we want to accumulate more "stuff". I want to simplify what we have, no more hanging on to this for "just in case". I've got a basement full of boxes that need sorted through. Although some are decorations, I'm guessing some of the things we've forgotten about and at this point, do we really need it? When it's all said and done, the "stuff doesn't matter".

Blogging more consistently is also on the list, but so far, I haven't been doing a very good job of that one!

NYE Expectations

New Years Eve...its seems to be the night that everyone wants to do something, but no one knows what, and plans end up getting made last minute. Maybe its just me but does anyone else find themselves in the predicament or feel the pressure to do "something"?

Happy Third Anniversary :)

Changing Traditions

Our family Christmas traditions seem to be changing yearly since Matt and I got married. I guess it all part of growing up, being a part of a new family and welcoming new members into your family. I will admit, its hard and sometimes, I hate that things have to change, but it's kind of fun right now with each year being a little different. However, one thing remains constant: we are on the road A LOT.

My brother's and I Christmas Eve.

Christmas Celebration at the Roman's.

Decking the Halls

I admit, I love Christmas decorations but not as much as my husband. He can't wait to put the Christmas tree up even if that means mid-November. Since we were having Thanksgiving at our house, I felt we needed to honor Thanksgiving properly and still have some pumpkin and fall decor out.

I did cave and let him get the Christmas tree out a few days before Thanksgiving and start setting it up. Since moving to the new house, it wasn't as easy to decorate since everything was going to be in a new place and we needed more decorations. It's amazing how our 7 1/2 foot tree looked so large in our last house but it looks so small in our new house! We both decided we needed to invest in a new tree, but not this year. Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the tree! But you can somewhat tell from this picture (and notice the snow outside!)

Early Christmas Present!

Every year for Christmas, my dad makes my brother's and I a piece of furniture, anything we want. Over the years, we have realized how fortunate we are to have someone so close to us that not only enjoys making furniture but has the skill. Purchasing furniture is EXPENSIVE and most of it is pretty much crap. This year, Doug, Billy and I all moved into new houses, so you can imagine we all pretty much knew right away what we wanted.

Our living room pre-Christmas present.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving, Mom, Dad and Doug all came to Terre Haute to celebrate! Billy and Megan were at her parents for the holiday. Having to share holidays and not always seeing everyone is one of the hardest parts about growing up and traditions changing, but we do the best we can to make it work.

This was my first time hosting Thanksgiving and I'm glad there was a only a small crowd! We baked a small ham and turkey breast. The bones and caucus is NOT for me! Mom also taught me how to make her mother's dressing which was surprisingly easy despite drying loaves of bread for the week and having the kitchen have a weird yeast smell.

I do have to brag on Doug and his fruit salad with a champagne sauce. It was delicious and absolutely beautiful. Although he gave me the recipe, I haven't had the chance to make it yet, but I fully indent to try it out sometime.

While Mom and I were in the kitchen cooking, Matt and Dad hung some Christmas wreaths on the front of the house marking the first of decorations to go up!

I loved having Mom and Dad down for a few days and Doug there for Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a wonderful time with their families!

Beach Vaca...Again!

The weekend following the Larry Bird events, Matt and I headed to Florida for a much needed vacation! While they were deicing the airplane on the runway, I realized it was a much needed escape from the frigid weather marking winter. We are fortunate that his family has a condo in Ft. Myers that we can use, which really cuts down on the cost of a get away! However, we figured it had been since January of 2012 since we had last visited.

Larry Bird

I'm sure everyone has heard of the guy named Larry Bird. He's a basketball legend. Did you know he went to Indiana State University? This fall, a statue cast in bronze was erected in front of Hulman Center of Larry Bird. This statue, along with a huge scholarship dinner is what kept my jets burning in high gear this fall!

"Starting Line up" to kick off the evening!

Beach Vaca

Every fall is crazy around the office at work. The students are back on campus, events start back in full swing and Homecoming is right around the corner. This year for Homecoming, I was in charge of Tent City, which is a large tailgate area (only on Homecoming weekend) where all the colleges, some departments on campus and mostly greeks have tents for alumni gathering. This year we had 61 organizations put in tents and my job was to organize all the chaos. I was so happy to have a get-away planned, less than a week after Homecoming I headed to Florida for a girls trip!

Me - Abbe - Jaylan - Bernice at Cirque du Soleil La NouBa

Bonge's

Getting everyone together to celebrate birthdays, much less any holiday is becoming increasingly harder, which I absolutely hate! In September we all got together to celebrate mom and I's birthdays. We all love the atmosphere and food at Bonge's Tavern and decided to take a chance at getting a table, after all it was a beautiful fall day!

Two Months!?

Where has the time gone!? It's been almost two months since I have written a post. I've often thought, "I should really blog tonight", but somehow haven't been able to get it done! There has been so much going on lately and I've got lots of fun things to share. We've celebrated birthdays, enjoyed the Colts back in season, met new babies, been on vacation and I've completed two major events at working including Homecoming and a huge scholarship dinner and statue dedication honoring Larry Bird.

So brace yourself! The creative juices are flowing and here comes a plethora of life updates from the Roman's!

Where do we go from Here?

Last week we met with our builder for the last time to go through the final bill from the house construction. It was a huge relief to finally get him paid for the overages (which didn't break the bank :) and close the chapter of home building. That's not to say there isn't still a long list of things we want to do around the house, but as far as contractors in and out, we are done!

Bar stools!

Little by little, we are purchasing the odds and ends to tie everything up in our house. If Matt had it his way, we would have just bought everything at once and been down with it. However, I need time to think about things and find the perfect item to fill a space. Not to mention cash flow!

And they're Baaackk!

It's move in weekend on campus, which means downtown is bustling with a lot more people and a lot of lost drivers that aren't quite sure if they are going the right way on all the one ways!