Welcome Fall!

Well, with it being Labor Day, what a better time to kick off the fall bucket list season? I have far higher hopes for the fall season for a couple of reasons.  1) Matt’s going to be done with his job at the zoo in about a month, so that will help give me more time/flexibility on the weekends with Luke.  2) We love the fall and it’s vey easy to convince the the two of us to get out of the house in order to go do something in the pleasant fall weather.  3) Luke is (as always) getting older, so it’s more fun to do these things with him. 

Here’s the fall list: 

1. Go apple picking
2. Pick out a pumpkin
3. Carve a pumpkin with Luke
4. Take Luke Trick or treating
5. Go trick or treating at the zoo
6. Go to the zoo one last time (pre-trick or treating season)
7. Drink/make hot apple cider
8. Have/attend a bonfire
9. Go to Grabill Country Fair
10. Go to Johnny Appleseed festival
11. Go to the apple festival
12. Play in the crunchy fall leaves
13. Have a fun grown-up night out
14. Make homemade applesauce
15. Take Luke to his first movie (it’s a hold over from the summer list)
16. Make insulated box for the water pipe
17. Attend fright night downtown
18. NCIS Premiere!
19. Have a nice anniversary dinner/trip
20. Donate box/bag of things to goodwill
21. organize Luke’s books
22. clean up guest room (hold over from summer)
23. hang curtains in guest room (hold over from summer)
24. Change out Luke’s wardrobe (appropriate season/sizes)
25. Attend home opener Komets game
26. Eat homemade chicken and dumplings
27. Plan Luke’s birthday celebration
28. Decorate front yard for halloween
29. Donate to a charity
30. Take Christmas Card picture
31. Get family pictures taken (hold over from summer)
32. Go to/Watch an entire football game
33. Wear an old favorite hoodie
34. Start Christmas projects
35. Make list of 25 things I’m thankful for
36. Apple-themed art project
37. Roast pumpkin seeds
38. Get a fall-scented candle
39. Make Leaf Rubbings/Leaf Art
40. Watch a Halloween Movie
41. Dance in the rain (hold over from summer)
42. Go out three times with friends

Well, all in all, not so bad!

So I’ve been trying to keep up and stay on my summer bucket list.  However, with Matt working 40-70 hours a week, most of the time I’m by myself with Luke so it’s harder to get things done.  HOWEVER, the final results of my summer bucket list?  77 out of 100 accomplished. 

1. Make a list of 50 things to do this summer!
2. Complete the 31 day blogging challenge
3. Go to the botanical gardens and take pictures (solo)
4. Go on three girl dates with friends (no boys allowed, big OR small) (Thanks Yvonne and Jennifer!)
5. Send 5 handwritten letters/cards to family or friends
6. Identify 100 things that make me happy
7. Spend a whole day without looking at my phone (Thanks trip to TN)
8. Spend a whole day without tv or computer (Thanks power outage!)
9. Read 3 books
10. Try 3 new foods (working on it—down to just one new food)
11. Complete 3 random acts of kindness (Paid for parking for someone at the game, let someone go in front of me at the store and helped someone find their way out of the hospital when it was actually out of my way)
12. Bake Cupcakes (and give them out)
13. Make a list of 25 things I like about myself
14. Go a full day without swearing (Thanks trip to TN)
15. Make a list of 50 quotes that inspire me
16. Clean out the guest room  (Working on it!)
17. Hang up the curtains in the guest room (When #16 is done)
18. Pull out the bush on the side of the house
19. Get rid of 100 things  (See #16)
20. Visit a farmers market (Southside farmer’s market)
21. Watch Fireworks (Tincaps game)
22. See a parade  (Technically we watched the TRF one on tv, but we’re planning on Harlan days)
23. Play in the sprinkler
24. Blow Bubbles
25. Eat Popsicles outside
26. Go Swimming  (Jury Pool)
27. Have a spray bottle/squirt gun fight
28. Play at a splash pad
29. Make s’mores
30. Catch fireflies
31. Go to a festival (Monroeville Days)
32. Get family photos taken
33. Go to a concert
34. Go to the movies (Luke’s first trip to the movie theater!)
35. See a drive-in movie
36. Go to a baseball game (Tincaps game)
37. Go to the playground  (With Yvonne and Luke)
38. Play in the rain (It FINALLY rained!)
39. Eat shaved ice
40. Go to a story time
41. Watch the Olympics (We’ve already watched enough that I can cross this off, but we’re still watching it)
42. Make Lemonade from scratch
43. Make breakfast for dinner
44. Ice Cream Sundae party
45. Go to the library
46. Go on 3 date nights with just us
47. Try a new restaurant
48. Have a candlelight dinner
49. Plan our anniversary (weekend getaway?)
50. Play a game together

100 things that make me happy (a work in progress)

 

So I can go back and edit posts and so you might see this once and it doesn’t have 100 or you might look and it’s complete and wonder what in the world I’m talking about.  Either way---I’m not sure if a list of 100 is going to be easy or hard.  It seems like a lot, but if I get really specific, it might go quickly.  Let’s see! (in no particular order)

 

1. Taking pictures and looking back on them and thinking “wow, gorgeous!”
2. Playing with photography and trying new things
3. Finishing a book so good that I sigh when I close it
4. Laughing so hard I cry
5. Making someone else laugh so hard they cry
6. Seeing a new place
7. The smell of salt water
8. Swimming
9. Listening to music that makes me think of another place/time and smile
10. Finding ways to surprise Matt
11. Watching Luke turn into a “real person”
12. Winning contests
13. Walking in the sand
14. Camp
15. Campfires (and the smell of campfire smoke)
16. Getting through to a kid and watching them hit a milestone
17. Trying new foods
18. Making new foods
19. Cooking with Matt
20. Watching Luke try new things and like them
21. Watching Luke try new things and NOT like them
22. Carving pumpkins
23. Giving people presents
24. Stepping on Crunchy Leaves
25. Deep Dish Pizza
26. Spending time with my family
27. Making a new friend
28. Spending time with old friends
29. A well-timed, all-in-good-fun joke
30. Bad Puns
31. Komet Hockey
32. being proud of my city
33. Halloween
34. My Birthday!
35. Margaritas (high quality ones)
36. Potato Soup on a cold day
37. Walking barefoot in the grass
38. My Tevas
39. Watching everyone spaz when I actually look like a girl
40. New car smell
41. Trick-or-treating
42. Hanging out with old friends
43. Dancing with Luke
44. Dancing with Matt
45. The smell of the air after it rains
46. The sound of rain on the roof/windows
47. NCIS
48. Hanging out with new friends
49. Watching Luke dance
50. Hugs

Taking Luke to his first (real) parade!

So truth be told, I’ve taken Luke to a parade before.  His first fourth of July, matt and I went up to Crown Point and took him out for the parade.  However, being as he wasn’t even real food yet, it didn’t count.  This has to to be in a handbook somewhere…if you’re not even eating normal human food, milestone accomplishments are up for parental approval.

 

Oh Crap.  If I discredit his “first” parade, that means I took him to his first without Matt.  Then I have to listen to Matt complain about it.  Hrrrrm…we’ll solve this by saying I took him to his first NON-4th of July parade. 

Moving on: 

Matt had to work so ‘gram-ma’ went with Luke and I to Harlan for the Harlan Days parade.  I think I was more excited than Luke because I was interested to see how he handled it.  We almost went to the Three Rivers parade, but I chickened out at the the thought of taking Luke downtown with all of those people by  myself.  We watched on tv, however, and Luke stood pretty much right on top of the screen and waved, yelling “A-hi!! A-hi!!!”.  Since that day, when he’s on the sidewalk or waiting somewhere and he sees a car drive by, he waves and says hi to the passer-bys.  

We arrived and had to wait about 45 minutes for the parade to start.  This got a little boring, but he did enjoy waving at everyone going by.   The highlight was when the jogger passed by and he yelled “GO GO GO—RUN RUN RUN---USA USA!”.  It sounds like a bad joke but, “you know you’ve been watching too much Olympics when….”. 

Once the parade started, he did pretty awesome.  I think he was torn between thinking he had to wave to everyone, avoiding sirens and loud engines, and staring in wonderment every time someone handed him candy (or winged it at him).  For a toddler who can’t have most hard candies, he brought in a pretty impressive haul.  (Related note:  I can’t wait to take him trick or treating this year, he is going to have a blast!). 

I think his favorite part was seeing Icy coming down the street as he started jumping and yelling “ICY ICY HOCKEY HOCKEY!”

 

Some Pictures:

 Waiting with Mom

Waiting with Grandma

Practicing waving and dancing

Looking and watching

ICY ICY HOCKEY HOCKEY!

Should I feel weird my child was literally sitting in the gutter? Nah.

Hauling his candy bag to the car. 

Take me (and the family) out to the ball game, take me out to the crowd---

 

Look who showed up in the middle of the game!

 

 

Someone thought it’d be a good idea to give our family (complete with toddler) mini baseball bats.

 

What a beautiful night!

Update on my bucket list!

 

1. Make a list of 50 things to do this summer!
2. Complete the 31 day blogging challenge
3. Go to the botanical gardens and take pictures (solo)
4. Go on three girl dates with friends (no boys allowed, big OR small) (Thanks Yvonne and Jennifer!)
5. Send 5 handwritten letters/cards to family or friends
6. Identify 100 things that make me happy
7. Spend a whole day without looking at my phone (Thanks trip to TN)
8. Spend a whole day without tv or computer (Thanks power outage!)
9. Read 3 books
10. Try 3 new foods (working on it—down to just one new food)
11. Complete 3 random acts of kindness (Paid for parking for someone at the game, let someone go in front of me at the store and helped someone find their way out of the hospital when it was actually out of my way)
12. Bake Cupcakes (and give them out)
13. Make a list of 25 things I like about myself
14. Go a full day without swearing (Thanks trip to TN)
15. Make a list of 50 quotes that inspire me
16. Clean out the guest room  (Working on it!)
17. Hang up the curtains in the guest room (When #16 is done)
18. Pull out the bush on the side of the house
19. Get rid of 100 things  (See #16)
20. Visit a farmers market (Southside farmer’s market)
21. Watch Fireworks (Tincaps game)
22. See a parade  (Technically we watched the TRF one on tv, but we’re planning on Harlan days)
23. Play in the sprinkler
24. Blow Bubbles
25. Eat Popsicles outside
26. Go Swimming  (Jury Pool)
27. Have a spray bottle/squirt gun fight
28. Play at a splash pad
29. Make s’mores
30. Catch fireflies
31. Go to a festival (Monroeville Days)
32. Get family photos taken
33. Go to a concert
34. Go to the movies (Luke’s first trip to the movie theater!)
35. See a drive-in movie
36. Go to a baseball game (Tincaps game)
37. Go to the playground  (With Yvonne and Luke)
38. Play in the rain (It FINALLY rained!)
39. Eat shaved ice
40. Go to a story time
41. Watch the Olympics (We’ve already watched enough that I can cross this off, but we’re still watching it)
42. Make Lemonade from scratch
43. Make breakfast for dinner
44. Ice Cream Sundae party
45. Go to the library
46. Go on 3 date nights with just us
47. Try a new restaurant
48. Have a candlelight dinner
49. Plan our anniversary (weekend getaway?)
50. Play a game together

I must be crazy OR My “vacation”

So my Uncle bought a cabin in the Mountains.  Or so I was told.    Grandma wanted to go visit Uncle Rich’s new cabin and I said “Sure, I’ll take you”. 

Now, I’m not saying I believe in destiny or in a lot of “hippie dippy stuff” (as some would say) but there are times when even I say to myself “I think the universe is trying to tell us something”. 

We intended on leaving Wednesday and coming home Sunday.  There were issues with scheduling and it was moved back Thursday-Monday.  NBD, right?  It’s cool.  (#1)

Then Grandma came down with Shingles.   Hmmm, it’s not a bad case, so the trip is still on.  (#2)

Then her car (the method of travel) needed a transmission rebuilt.  (#3)

Then we had issues renting a car.  (#4)

Then the rental car we had----a mere 2 1/2 hours on the road--- had the check engine light come on. (#5)

…………

 

Ok, I hear you Universe! 




That being said, being either stupid or just Pierce’s (or perhaps they are one in the same), we continued on our journey and I’m glad we did.  We had a great time visiting with friends and family, seeing the new place and the country around there and having our fair share of laughs along the way.  Some pictorial highlights:

 

 

Pictures from Newfound Gap (near Gatlinburg)

 

 

Pictures from the river near where we picnicked.

 

Pictures from Luke’s first time eating a whole wedge of watermelon.  The last picture is my favorite.  He was saying “Mama wahwahlemon? More?”

 

Bald River Falls

 

 

The view from Rich’s back porch and the view on the front. 

Already adapting to the mountain laid back lifestyle. 

I’m HORRIBLE! I know.

Well, so with people giving me the appropriate crap, I’ll just go ahead and admit that I suck at life.    In my defense, however, I have been out of town for a week and then swamped since then. 

However, thank you so much for giving me the crap I needed to get writing again.  Hopefully I can get caught up while Luke naps this afternoon. 

Why do I blog? (day 31)

Well, I finally finished the 31 day challenge and honestly, it’s not make me any more of a reliable blogger. 

I blog for a couple of reasons, mostly to share my life with those I care about.  Secondly, I blog to share funny things that I’ve seen or experienced.  Lastly, I blog to have a place to unload my personal soapbox rants when and how I see fit.  Hopefully I can keep going with it.  

What’s in your makeup bag? (day 30)

I finally stopped laughing hard enough that I could answer this. 

Um…my makeup “bag” contains:

• one pressed powder and brush
• one mascara
• one lip stain
• one eye liner pencil
• one shimmery eye shadow
• one dark brown eye shadow
• one eye lash curler

Where have you travelled? (Day 29)

This is another vague one!  I’ve been incredibly blessed to have done a significant amount of travelling in my life.  I’ll highlight domestic and International.

 

Domestic: 

California (San Francisco, Disneyland, Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur)

Reno

Grand Canyon

Petrified Forrest,

Winslow, Arizona (Mentioned in ‘Take it Easy’-Eagles)

Colorado (Denver, Rockies, Estes Park)

Mount Rushmore/Black Hills

Oklahoma City (memorial)

Texas (Houston, Dallas, Forth Worth)

Missouri (St Louis)

Mall of America

Chicago

Milwaukee

Nashville, TN

Memphis, TN (Graceland)

Chattanooga, TN (Rock City, etc)

Louisville, Ky

Tampa, Fl (Gulf of Mexico, Busch Gardens)

Orlando, Fl (Disney World, Cocoa Beach)

Pretty much all of Indiana

Various places in Michigan

Ohio (Columbus, Cincinnati, Sandusky, Kelly’s Island)

Georgia (Atlanta, Marietta, Kennesaw)

Gettysburg, Pa

Hershey, Pa

Outer Banks, NC

Virginia Beach, Va

Washington DC

Salem, Ma

Concord/Lexington Ma

Boston, Ma

Buffalo, NY

 

International:

 

Germany (Krefeld, Cologne, Bonn, Speyer)

Canada (Niagara Falls)

What am I looking forward to? (Day 28)

There’s a lot of things I’m looking forward to.   You know, while this blog challenge is helpful in some ways, it’s so darn vague in other ways that I get overwhelmed trying to decide what to write about.  Do they mean today?  Do they mean this week?  How about this month?  This year?  The next 5 years?  The next 20?  By the time I die? 


Let’s do it all! 

Today:  Going to bed.  I’m tired.

This week:  Pay day. 

This month:  Taking Luke to his first parade (Harlan days)

This year:  Taking Luke Trick-or-Treating for the first “real” time.

The next five years:  Taking Matt and Luke to Disney World at some point

The next 20:  Seeing what kind of person Luke turns into

By the time I die:  Flying cars

 

 

 

 

Well on second thought, that wasn’t so hard. 

My Favorite Recipe (Day 27)

Wow, this is a hard one.  I have a lot of favorite recipes of all types.  However, I think I’ll come up with a simple one. 



Searching, searching, searching…..


Ah, homemade donuts.

You are welcome. 

http://www.southernplate.com/2009/01/melt-in-your-mouth-doughnuts-made-at-home-foolproof-and-great-for-beginners.html

An old photo of me (day 26)

Enjoy.

My five favorite blogs (Day 25)

1)  The Bloggess   http://thebloggess.com/

2) Message with a Bottle  http://messagewithabottle.tumblr.com/

3) STFU Parents http://www.stfuparentsblog.com/

4) The Pioneer Woman http://thepioneerwoman.com/

5)  Damn You Auto Correct http://www.damnyouautocorrect.com/

Day 24: My favorite childhood book

Day 23: My Dream Job

I’d love to be a publicity photographer at Disney World.  I know, It’s kind of random, but it’s true. 

Day 22: The Best Thing to Happen This Year

Honestly, it’s a tie. 

I know, what a cheater answer, but it’s true. 

 

 

1) Luke starting to talk, to say please/thank you (unprompted) and really start displaying his sense of humor.

2) Buying our house. 

Day 21: My top 10 favorite foods

Yum, food. 

1. Steak
2. A fresh salad
3. Fresh (smoked) string cheese
4. Anything mint
5. Orange Chicken (from panda express)
6. French Fries
7. Potato soup
8. Asparagus
9. Fresh corn on the cob
10. Peanut Butter

What was a difficult time in my life (Day 20)

Probably the hardest time in my life was when the specialist told us we would never have a child on our own.  There are lots of medical options, but the problem is that insurance (at least here in Indiana) vary rarely pays anything for the treatments.  It was literally a time of grieving the (potential) loss of the child we would never have.  At literally thousands of dollars it would take us years and years to save up the money for something that might not even work.  Years of waiting for a take-home baby (as I had experienced a miscarriage during the process) makes Luke even that more special to me.  We’d like for him to have a sibling, but knowing how he literally beat the odds, we’re enjoying every moment knowing he might very well be our only child. 

What do I collect (Day 19)

Easy!  Kids books.  Luke has so many books he will probably never even read them all. However, I take them into work all of the time and so we get lots of use out of them.  I pick them up for pennies at garage sales and resales.  Very rarely do I pay anything close to full price for a kids book.

What is the meaning behind my blog name? (day 18)

It’s simple, Growing Up is Optional is my personal philosophy.  The actual website address, however, was a lot harder and as a result, a lot more boring. 

What’s my Proudest Moment? (day 17)

Honestly, my proudest moment to date is when Luke said “Thank You” to someone unprompted.  You can teach (almost) anyone to walk, to talk, to write their name, etc…but teaching someone to be grateful?  Wow. 

Some of my latest photography