Is that Fall I see???

Fall is Nathan and I's FAVORITE FAVORITE time of year! This weekend we were very excited because we saw a glimpse of beautiful Fall weather that we love so much. YIPEEE!! It seems pretty early but since we had a short summer, I am hoping for a long Fall!
-65ish degrees
-the small of burning wood/leaves
-jeans
-harvesting of the fields
-Purdue football
-open windows
-sweatshirts
-homemade Apple Cider
-bonfires
-a cool evening breeze
-mums
-leaves turning colors... Oh my gosh I am getting soooo excited!!!

beautiful Fall!

my husband!

HE REALLY IS AMAZING!!!

I know I have said this before but I just can not say it enough...he is so good to me and I love him so stinkin' much.
After school today I went and had my hair highlighted and when I got home he surprised me and had the entire house clean!! He had put away the laundry AND all of the dishes, he had picked up the living room and put away all of the stuff on the counter. How awesome was that! He had a crazy busy day at work and still came home and cleaned the house! He is the best.

one smiling wife :)

dinner guest

Nathan and I had a dinner guest tonight... my baby brother Gavin! Gav had a day off from his DM training so he drove over and joined us for dinner. He has an amazing flank steak that he makes and offered to treat us to his cookin'. I agreed to make mashed potatoes and dirt pudding. We enjoyed a few glasses of wine, an awesome dinner AND learned all about Google Voice(how Gavin knows so much about all that crap Nathan & I will never understand!)

Gavin cookin us a yummy meal.


Gavin showing off his mad cookin skills...Nathan supporting him all the way!



brotherly love! Gavin showing Nathan the new Google Voice...you can tell Nathan is catching on quickly.

Happy Birthday Mom!!

Today is my moms birthday so I thought I would make a special post just for her.

She came to visit us this weekend and we sooo enjoyed having her here(we really wished she lived closer!) On Saturday, Gavin, Mom, Nathan and I played a fun round of golf and then met my moms brother Kevin and his wife out for dinner.

Today was a birthday first for mom...we took her to a pig show!!! Daddy would be so proud of her. After she calmed down and realized that the pigs were not going to eat her, I think she enjoyed it(a little bit).

Mom- thank you so much for being such a wonderful mother. You are the best mom and friend that any girl could ever ask for. I hope that someday I am half that mother that you have been to Gavin & I(Nathan too). You are the best. Sending Hugs and lots of love...happy birthday!

thoughts

Yesterday Nathan and I took a trip up to Chicago with Mike, Bridgette and Vicky. We went to listen to Rob Bell. Our group has done a study of his and got alot out of it so when Bridgette heard he was coming to Chicago and suggested that we all go. He was doing his Drops of Stars tour. We were not sure what to expect heading up there but left with LOTS to think about.

The night was full of of 'wow- I had never thought of it like that' moments but one in particular stuck out to me.

thought:

There are events in life that happen to us that we have no control over.When these things happen (sufferings, hard-ships, loss, hurt ect) we turn to God and ask Why? We then turn our focus to the Why? instead of the What now? We often dwell on the Why instead of asking the What now? The What Now? is hard but can be most beneficial.
We can either become better or bitter.. How crazy true is that? I had never thought of it this way, but there are so many times that we continue to ask Why? and instead of becoming a better person and learning from what has happened we become bitter. Even crazier idea: we might not have consciously chosen to let it make us bitter but by not choosing to let it make us better us become that way. interesting huh?
The last part of the convo hit me the hardest. I really don't know why and I won't tell you too much about it in case you have the opportunity to go see him. I will just ask this...have you even noticed that when rain drops hit the pavement they make stars?
guess it really is all about how you look at things.

just before the show started

the group...minus Joe(he was at a meeting with Oprah), Hilary, Jonas and Hadleigh(she doesn't like Rob Bell yet!)

we are so thankful for such great friends!!

fried

That's how Nathan and I feel today! Nathan had an inventory and left this morning at 4:30. His eyes look like they have been taken out and turned around and upside down a few times. Its not good. I had my first teacher day- full of meetings and to-do lists. I feel like my brain has been taken out and turned around. I got all 709 names entered into the grade book today and finished putting the final touches on everything for tomorrows first day. After I left school I needed to make a QUICK stop at Wal-mart to pick up note cards and markers.
I remember why my dad hated going into that place!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I stood in line for 25 minutes because some crazy lady in front of me had 10,512 coupons and price comparisons. Ok, so I am not a coupon clipper but I know many people are and I don't have a problem with it EXCEPT when the cashier hits the Total button and the lady pulls out about 10,203 more all of which must be scanned WITH the product! When they started going through her bags and pulling things back out I thought I would scream. I was so frustrated that I took all of my purchases that were on the belt, put them back into my cart and moved to another line. I JUST WANTED TO GET MY NOTE CARDS AND GO HOME!!!

We are both finally home now, ate left-overs from last night and are just vegging out on the couch watching PTI(one of my favorites). I have a few things to get done before bed one of which is highlighting 450 papers informing parents when their child has PE. fun stuff. The other is a load of laundry(not one of my favorites). The school gets us new shirts each year and I think they are either hinting that they want me to get pregnant and get out of there or trying to tell me that I am just fat! My shirt is about 4 sizes to big so hopefully I will be able to shrink it before morning.

one exciting part of the day is that my new running shoes came in today... I love Zappos- they are so fast.

Happy Saturday!

Happy Saturday everyone.

Last night Nathan and I snuck in a quick round of golf before we went out to dinner with Mike and Bridgette. They invited us to a new restaurant called Bartletts, it's at the Dunes(Lake Michigan) and is was really cool. I had beef brisket(Mike said that was a ballsy move) and Nathan had grits and shrimp- to top it off they had sweet potato fries- my new favorite food! It was a really cool atmosphere and enjoyed the nice dinner with great friends.

Here was my plan for our day...sleep in, make pancakes, cuddle and watch ESPN, go for a run(because the next mini is approaching in 9 weeks), watch golf- aka Tiger, take a nap, enjoy a glass of wine and grill out, watch the sun go down from our little porch and save the dishes for tomorrow. Now doesn't that sound like a perfect day!!!

Well, this is what today is going to be more like... Nathan goes to work(he is already there),I head into school, grocery shop,put away laundry, run, enter 700 names into a grade book, start on lesson plans, Nathan does more work at home when he gets home from work, get gas for the grill,hopefully finish the day with a glass of wine while we grill out, do the dishes tonight because we have guests coming tomorrow. I really like option A better!!! Ol' well, nothing I can do about it, just get to it and be thankful for this beautiful day. As a very wise coach reminded me often...This is the day the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

Show us your Life!

Kelly @ Kelly's Korner does a weekly Show us your Life blog link. I have been meaning for some time now to join in on the fun! This weeks topic is Show us your favorite vacation spot. WOW!! What a hard topic. Nathan and I have been blessed with the opportunity to take some really fun trips. I picked my favorite(two)!




My top favorite was our honeymoon to Puerto Vallarta. It was absolutely the most beautiful place(outside of America) that I have ever seen. We stayed at the all-inclusive Dreams Hotel. They had the BEST food and all of their restaurants were very yummy. We had lots of R&R, we went zip-lining through the mountains, and enjoyed getting dressed up for dinner each night.

This was the view from our hotel room. I loved looking out and seeing the ocean and the mountains.

Nathan enjoying a little snooze...this was probably after his intense game of ping-pong with a couple we met.

We were walking to dinner the first night- the hotel had hardwood pathways that were beautiful.

Happy Newlyweds!!


Doesn't get more beautiful than this!! Look at this sky...picture perfect.

We had some friends recommend this restaurant- our table was actually on the beach!! Really cool.

We are on our way to go Zip-Lining(something that everyone must do at least once!! They called this car Mexican air-conditioning. It was pretty scary!

Each night we would take a walk on the beach, lots of fun.


Ok so that was my favorite non-American trip...one of these days hopefully we will head back1 Our favorite and inexpensive American trip was last fall when we took a road trip to Gatlinburg, TN! We rented a cabin called the Honey Bear and did lots of hiking and enjoying the beautiful fall weather. We went to the Dixie Stampede. This is a must if you visit Gatlinburg...you eat with your hands and watch a really cool show when the North competes against the South. The hiking is beautiful too. We choose a hike that was a little longer than we thought, but we saw snow at the top! The best part of the trip was being woken up by a bear on our front porch!! He was up early looking for some food.
A beautiful view from Cades Code!

The snow at the top of the mountain!

We were told there was a HUGE waterfall at the top of the mountain...we walked for 4 miles and this is what we saw. haha

Our Honey Bear cabin.

At the top of a mountain looking down over Gatlinburg. So beautiful.


Both of these trips were wonderful. We loved both of them in very different ways. We love traveling together and are already planning our next trip!

back in the saddle again

Today Nathan was up VERY early and off to work- I headed out a few hours later. We both got home around 7 and were VERY ready to head back to WV! It was a pretty overwhelming day for both of us. He had his director riding with him all day and I had my principal riding me all day(haha).
On my trip home I stopped and got....

Vanilla icecream
skim milk
bag of reeces cups

Can you guess what I am going to be making in a few minutes..homemade milkshakes make any day a better!!

looking through some lake pictures and found my new favorite

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Back home again in Indiana...

Well, we made it back today. What a wonderful trip it was. It was so nice just being the two of us... no Aldi, no Kolling, no cooking, no cleaning, no laundry & a special treat of watching TV/ typing on the computer in bed!! I will post tomorrow all about Day 2 and Day 3.

We decided a few weeks ago that we would make it a two-day trip home and we stopped in Dayton, OH to play a little golf. At least that was the plan, until the monsoon showed up- just as we got to the course the lightening horns sounded and the clouds opened up! No golf for us. Since it didn't look like it was clearing up anytime that night we went to Barnes and Noble and found a Bible study that Nathan and I are going to start(more on that later)!! We also stopped at this store called Gabriel Brothers(its alot like TJMAX) and I found a pair of J Brand Jeans for 19.00- originally 245.00, and no there is nothing wrong with them, I am still smiling from that find!! After shopping we headed back to the hotel and ordered pizza to be delivered and decided after the pizza we needed ice cream(surprise, surprise) so we headed out to Greaders. We ordered pizza in and drove 20 minutes for icecream...call us crazy.

This morning we were up early and headed home(tear, tear). We made a stop by Mom & Dad Taulmans to tell them about our trip.I also got a lesson on how to freeze sweet corn along with a yummy meal. Nathan and Dad played catch outside and we finished off the trip with a round of golf.

We are back to Saturday Evening Ave. and the phone calls from Aldi and Kolling have already started!! We have small group tonight at Vicky & Joe's and then tomorrow Nathan is up early for a VERY busy day(and Director visit) and I am headed into school all day. Although we are bummed to be back to work we are very blessed and thankful for our wonderful vacation and time together.

green grass and high tides!

After safely arriving to our cute little B&B- we quickly headed to bed so we could get up bright and early to take our whitewater rafting trip. Now I must say that I was VERY nervous...did I mention that I was VERY nervous. (some would say that over the last 10 or so years I have become somewhat of a nervous-nelly but that is for another day). Nathan tried very hard to calm my nerves but I was still pretty shaky before we took off. I had heard terrible stories about the outcomes of whitewater rafting trips and all I could picture was Nathan getting flipped out, hitting his head, floating down the river...ok so you get the picture.HOWEVER, thankfully that was not the case and it turned out to be an AWESOME experience.

The river was up at a level 4- meaning that it was pretty high and moving pretty fast. Our trip took us down the Lower New River that consisted of three level 5 rapids(the highest they go), five or six level 3/4 and the rest were level twos. Talk about a rush...I can not even being to explain how fun it was. Our guide, his name was Patrick, did a great job navigating a very fun trip. He let us jump out of the raft and drift down the river through a level 1 rapid, we stopped to jump off a 10 foot cliff and went racing through some great rapids and under the Gully River Bridge AND made it out without getting flipped out of the raft. Nathan and I were in the front of the boat so we could set the speed. Nathan wanted to go fast...imagine that! I got tossed around a little and landed in Nathans lap but that was the extent of it. Overall, we would recommended that EVERYONE try it at least once in their life. The water was beautiful, the scenery was breathtaking and the rapids were 'narly' as Patrick told us many times.

this gives you an idea of what our trip looked like!!


This is the Gully River Bridge that we rafted under- it is the tallest, single arched bridge in the Northern Hampshire.


After our rafting trip we stopped at a local restaurant to grab a little grub. We found a place called Tudor's Biscuit World...doesn't that sounds yummy??




Nathan getting ready to enjoy his Chicken' & Biscuits


I couldn't wait to dig into my Eagle Biscuit...it had Canadian Bacon, Cheese, Egg(but I gave it to Nathan), and a Hashbrown smooched between to delicious Buscuits!


What a great day...but it was not over yet!!! We were heading to a Power Baseball game that night.
We ate a local restaurant called Cilantro's that had some of the best Mexican food and then watched the baseball game. The end of the game is where it got exciting.

Mr. Belding from Saved By the Bell was the star guest for the night. He was doing a little karaoke at the end singing Brown Eyed Girl and Nathan INSISTED that I was the brown eyed girl he needed to sing to!! So here is Mr. Belding and me enjoying a little karaoke together.


I will be signing FREE autographed pictures for anyone who leaves a comment!! :)

The grass is sure green here in WV,the tide was high but most importantly God is Good!!

Country roads, take me home..

To the place I belong
West virginia, mountain momma
Take me home, country roads.

John Denver knew what he was talking about when he made that song. Talk about country roads, I have never seen any quite like these.

Nathan and I are lovin life in West Virginia! We made it safe and sound...it was one crazy drive to say the least.
Our GPS, which we named Joleen, was NOT on her best behavior. The turn by turn navigation definitively got its workout. We started in Indiana, drove into Ohio, through Kentucky, back to Ohio and into West Virginia. We were on what Joleen called a Hwy but was more like a back woods scene out of a horror movie. I asked Nathan what we would do if our car broke down and he said he didn't know but just keep praying that it didn't happen or we might not be makin' it back home. Picture this.... 9pm, full moon, narrow and incredibly curvy road, small spooky towns, houses with no life or lights on, semis flying by, dark river with moon reflecting on right side, mountains on left and us in our sweet little Camry taking turn after turn at 20mph with IL license plates. I was ready to cry and Nathan was doing he best to get us out of there alive. It felt a little more like a roller coaster ride then a road trip.
Thankfully in the end, Joleen did know what she was talking about(although it was VERY questionable for a while) and we arrived around 11pm @ the Brass Pineapple Bed and Breakfast in Charleston, WV. It was a wonderful sight to see!!

Stay tuned tomorrow for pictures and stories from our first two days in WV.

zoo trip

Yesterday I got to go to the zoo with my good friend Vicky and her two adorable kiddies!! We headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo downtown around noon and enjoyed a fun filled day together. Allie(4) and Ethan(2) had a really good time and I enjoyed being the tag along. They have a really nice petting/farm area where the kids can pick veggies from a garden. Ethan loved trying all of the delicious veggies(Allie just wanted to see the baby chicks!) The goats(Vicky thought they were baby cows!) were out for petting which was a fun treat and the pig just had baby pigs that Allie thought were very cute(but smelly).
We made a quick stop for ice cream and then finished off the day visiting the gorillas and zebras. Such a fun day...now I know why my mom took us to the zoo so much!! Thanks mom!

Ethan and Allie enjoying the cows.



The kiddies munching down on their icecream treats.

Petting the goats.

Ethan trying out his turn @ the tractor wheel.

Vicky shows the kids the cows.


Nathan and I are heading out today for out last trip of the summer(sad)...we leave today for our road trip to West Virgina!! We are staying at a local bed and breakfast, going to go whitewater rafting AND hopefully going to play a little golf too. I can't wait!!
gotta get to packin... enjoy this beautiful day that God has given us!

small group baseball game

Last night our small group decided to take a trip to the ball park for a little baseball fun. We enjoyed great friends(we missed Hilary, Jonas and Hadleigh), yummy food and a neat baseball field.

The guys enjoying a good game and good beer. Notice that Nathan still has his work clothes on...that is because he worked until 7 and had to meet us at the game.


Mike & Bridgette


Vicky & Joe enjoy a tasty treat


Hilary & Jonas...well they couldn't be there but we were thinking of them!!



ok so this picture has a story: I nicely asked this man that was sitting in a chair if he would take our picture- thinking that he would stand up, move closer to us and take our picture. However, that must have been to much to ask because he didn't move!! We all got a pretty good laugh out of that one.


the girls


Bridgette showing off her 'Michael' moves- This statue just wanted to remind everyone that he was born in Gary, IN!!


This is pretty much all Bridgette could talk about all night...


fun times had by all!

confession!!

Wow...what a day! This morning started at 4:30 when Nathan got a call from the alarm company that one of his stores freezers were out. It was off and running from then on, and its now 5:30 and this is the first time I have sat down all day!! (I don't think Nathan is sitting down yet...he is still at work and has at least another hour left.) It amazes me everyday how hard he works...that is just one of the million reasons why I love him so much.

We have been traveling a lot since the the middle of July(we have one more fun trip planned!) and today was the first full day I have had to put our house back together. What a mess it was!! A run, spinning class, 5 loads of laundry, 2 loads of dishes, 2 cleaned bathrooms, a clean kitchen and a vacuumed and dusted house later this house is starting to look a little more welcoming and I feel like I have had a pretty darn productive day.

Ok so here is my confession... I have actually started to enjoy cleaning!! I KNOW I KNOW- it sounds crazy but here is my logic:
As a Physical Education teacher I have the privilege of teaching students the benefits and importance of living a healthy life. I teach them the bones, muscles, how to and how much to exercise, teamwork, and sport skills. As the year progresses I see their muscular strength and endurance, skill level, and knowledge of sports improve. However- I know they still have so much more to learn. They still have their whole lives ahead of them and hopefully some of what I have taught them will stick with them and they will live long and HEALTHY lives. BUT...I have no idea- I see no end product and there is no 'finished' at the end of the year. Schools starts again in August and I start the whole process over again.
This is where my enjoyment of cleaning comes in. This morning when I woke up and looked around at our house and saw a HUGE mess- I was a little overwhelmed. However, as the day progressed I saw improvement and now as the last dryer buzzer sounds I can say, 'I am finished'!! It is that feeling of accomplished that we strive for everyday.

now do you understand my new found enjoyment in cleaning.....