indiana state fair. and a video!

four months later and i'm finally ready to get this thing blogged!  i believe this was either the day before or after my birthday.  but that's the problem with blogging months later. you forget things like dates. oops.

anywhoo.

jackson and i drove to the fishers train station and actually rode the "fair train" from fishers to indianapolis.  the look on his face when we took our seats. i cannot explain.  he was seriously so thrilled (and so well behaved too!) it was really fun to be able to sit and enjoy this experience with him instead of driving him across town.  it was really sweet.  i think i liked it as much as he did.

once we arrived, we met up with our friends!  meagan and lucy.  it was fun to watch the kids run around and have fun together.  its so neat to see them have these experiences... everything is brand new to them and so exciting.  the fair is so much more fun when you have kids!

this might have been one of my favorite parts of the whole day.  the goats acted like they've not eaten in days.  so we just kept feeding them carrots.  we both got such a kick out of it. those goats are greedy little things and jackson thought they were so silly.

here's a quick little video i put together from our day.  i am obsessed with videos lately.  i hope you guys like them!

and last but not least...

because this boy loved riding on the train... and he's pretty dang cute!!

it was a really fun day and i'm glad we got to experience the state fair with our friends before they moved... one short month later and they were residents of texas!  i'm glad we had this little day together before they moved.  we miss them like crazy and looking at these pictures makes me miss them even more.  especially because those kiddos have been friends since little lu was born.  sap alert. i'll be quiet now!  i just miss my friends!!!

i have so many more blog posts drafted from the last few months so stay tuned!  happy thursday!

Read More

back on track!

after being away from home the majority of the last 10 days and working a full day (eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch because we had zero other options at home!) my body was craving some really good food!  i went straight from work to the grocery store.

 

does anyone else crave healthier foods after awhile?  i wouldn't say that my diet was the worst while on vacation but it wasn't the healthiest. and i drank more soda in that week that i have in months. so maybe it was kind of bad?! ;)

anyway. i'm feeling super motivated and ready to get back on track with my eating, exercise and sleeping.  oh the sleeping.

i'm also finding new motivation on my health journey by following this lovely lady. jess. over the weekend she did a fitness competition (her first!) and although she didn't win, she still has the best attitude and outlook on life in general. i've been following her on instagram for quite a while now but for some reason, her motivation and success has really struck something in me lately. so i'll keep following her and it honestly helps me feel like i'm getting myself back on track.  i'm not interested in any type of fitness competition or anything, but i am interested in getting in the best shape of my life. and that's kind of what she's doing. she strives to live a happy and healthy life and i really want that too!  so if you are interested, she vlogs daily and seriously, her attitude is the best!!

anyway. so now that i'm home and we're getting settled back into our normal routine (we have nothing on our calendars for lots and lots of weekends to come... how crazy is that?!) i'm feeling such a sense of motivation to keep moving forward in a positive direction.  and now that our refrigerator has been restocked... i'm looking forward to making some of my favorite (21 day fix approved) meals!

from looking at the photos, i'm sure you can figure out what my favorites are ;) what can i say? i find something i love and stick to it!

 

 (i should have eaten my breakfast before posting these photos. my stomach is growling so.much. right now.)

here's to a happy and healthy day!  as i type this, todd just suggested a family run/walk this evening and it kind of made my day. i'm looking forward to this day so much. and now... to eat my breakfast...

happy tuesday my friends!!

 

 

Read More

vacation hangover

is that even a real thing? if not, it is now!

if you need me, i'll be sorting through all of my emails and trying not to face-plant on my desk.  

after a super fun and exhausting 10 days off, it is back to the daily grind.  

on today's agenda: work, then grocery shopping (we have no.food.) and then lots of sleeping. for all of us. early to bed!

i'm looking forward to eventually being caught up and reading all of the blog posts  i have missed in the last 10 days!

what did i miss?

today, i'm missing this. 

 the place, and the guy. he's cute.

Read More

#thebrinksdosouthhaven2014 - our trip so far!

like i said before, i thought i would try and keep up with my photos this year and maybe even post in real-time... what in the world might that be like?!

here i am sitting on the couch with todd and jackson looking at last year's vacation post.  john is taking his nap, the brink's are with grandpa at the park and we are waking up from our afternoon nap and finished a late lunch.

jackson and i are a little behind on our sleep (he is actually very, very behind on his sleep!) so we are taking it easy today. it rained this morning and even at almost 4pm, it is barely 60 degrees. so we are honestly enjoying this lazy afternoon and soaking up this quiet time. 

as soon as the kids get home from the park, they'll all be running around like crazy ones once again.  jackson cannot get enough time with molly and jacob.  the three of them are sharing a room this year and once we get jackson back on a better sleeping schedule (grumpy baby!) they might all enjoy it even more.

anyway.  after a super fun wedding weekend (more to come on that!) we left on late sunday afternoon after jackson woke up from his nap.  todd and i packed while he slept and we made our way up north.  it was the easiest drive and we easily made it in about three hours.

we arrived after 8:30pm and jackson played with his toys with his aunt melissa and uncle alex while todd and i unpacked the car and put our stuff away upstairs.  it was late to bed (i believe jackson was asleep just before midnight?!) and early to rise on monday morning.  no matter how late he stays up... this kid is up by 7am. in fact, when he woke up monday morning, he came into our room to wake us up (so he wouldn't fall down the stairs in his sleepy state!) and said, "the sun is up! the sun is up!" he was ready to go.  if only we were that happy to be awake after less than 8 hours of sleep ;)

monday morning we hung around the house, played toys and had brunch and it was time for a nap.

once jackson woke up from his nap, it was time for a late lunch and off to the beach. to his surprise, molly and jacob (and uncle david and aunt megan of course) had arrived and were playing at the beach when we got there.  we played at the beach from about 3 until almost 6:30pm and it was time to head to the house and clean up for dinner.

for dinner we made our traditional stop for pizza (or pasta for some people!) at the vineyard. just like last year and the year before.  most of the boys shared a couple of pitchers of beer while the rest of us shared a couple of pitchers too.... of coca cola ;) and we walked back to the house.  had to get the keys so we could make our (first) stop at sherman's!  my favorite spot of the entire trip.

after ice cream and full, full bellies.  we made our way back to the house to start getting the kids ready for bed.  and after much, much fussing, crying, screaming, tears, etc. jackson was asleep by midnight. for the second night in a row. ;)

again. we're just hanging out and soaking up the quiet moments (and hopefully getting all of our sleep back on track because let's face it. this momma.is.tired.) there is much more adventure to come later in the week so stay tuned!

i hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!  what are we missing out on while we're away?!

Read More