time flys when you are having fun!

I woke up this morning and just had to shake my head.. I couldn't believe that it was time to head back to school already. We had a great break and really enjoyed the time off. On Friday we(Nathan and I, Gavin and Mom) made the trip into the City for some Black Friday shopping. This was a first! I know- its hard to believe but at The Railing house the day after Thanksgiving was reserved for decorating and cutting down the tree(s). Nathan thought it would be fun to see what all of the talk was about! Well, much to our surprise the city was VERY empty. I guess it was because everyone was headed to the mall instead but it was great for us! We walked up and down Michigan Ave checking out all of the deals without much hassle at all. Later in the day it got a bit busier but nothing like we had thought. For lunch Gavin wanted us to go to his favorite pizza joint(that he didn't know where it was)- so we walked and walked and walked to find this tiny little pizza place. We gave him a hard time but I must say it was pretty yummy. We all filled ourselves with a deep dish pizza and finished off the day with a little popcorn treat from Garretts!
  Saturday we spent the day decorating the house! It was a blast. Mom brought up some things from her house to share with us. I think this is something that every girl dreams of! My dad had gotten her a piece of Christmas Lenox each year when they were first married- it might be one of my favorite things to get out at Christmas. This year since we are going to be up here for the holidays she brought it us to put at our house!!! Thanks MOM(and Dad)!

 Nathan was a great sport and untangled the lights for us while he watched the Boilers!! :)

 After we finished the inside we headed outside to put up the rest of the lights. Nathan did a great job this year- I must say that our house looks the best on the block!

 

Sunday we went on a wild Christmas tree hunt only to find a drunk man that was trying to sell his tree farm. So unfortunately we will have to wait until later in the week to go cut down our tree. I will post pictures of the inside and out all finished once we get the tree up! :)
 Mom is heading out tomorrow(sad) it has been great having her here. The best part is that she is coming back in just a few weeks!

 This weekend I was also busy getting the 721photography blog up and running. Have I mentioned that I really love my new(2nd) job!

so Thankful!

I love Thanksgiving! I enjoy getting together with family, eating lots of good food, and having tons of fun.
Our Thanksgiving started on Wednesday after school and work Nathan and I headed to his parents to enjoy a feast with all of his family. Linda had made lots of yummy food for all of us to enjoy. After dinner we had fun playing with the kiddies and resting our full bellies.
Nathan and Marek were matching buddies all night long. It was so sweet seeing them have so much fun together.

Morgan is getting so big...she had fun sitting @ Mark and Nathan's old table coloring. She colored a beautiful picture for Nathan and I and she even traced her name.

After lots of laughs, playing with toys with grandma & grampa, and yummy food- Marek was a tired little guy.

The next morning we were headed to Indianapolis to spend the day with my mom, Gavin and her family. This has been a 'new' family tradition since daddy has been gone. We arrived to the Dunbar's beautiful home and were greeted by lots of hugs and love. Everyone enjoyed delicious food, catching up from the year and a REAL fireplace.

does that not look AMAZING...well it was!












Mom and her boys...that is what I call TROUBLE waiting to happen. :)

Gavin and Grampa McNulty- love this picture.

The Dunbars(Mary & David) and Mom...best buds when they were growing up.

Gavin & Leo sharing thier love...Leo is an outstanding young kid. He has a huge heart(I bet I got 50 hugs throughout the day!) and he even said the dinner prayer for everyone-pretty impressive for a 2nd grader if you ask me. Sure do love this kid.

This is Leo's older brother August...another great kid with a HUGE heart.







 so VERY thankful for my wonderful husband! I am so blessed to have his as my best friend, true love and husband. He was LOVING their fireplace.

can't beat a beautiful cozy fireplace.                                                           

















It was a wonderful day and we have so many things to be thankful for. I thank God everyday for wonderful life he has given Nathan and I. We are so blessed.

Not only was it a perfect Thanksgiving...there was plenty of left-overs too!!

beautiful weekend!

It was another beautiful November weekend up here in NWI! I am not sure what is going on with the weather but I am not complaining(I am a little worried how long winter lasts once it gets here but... enjoying the 50s while I can).
This weekend Nathan's mom came up on Friday night and the three of us went and scouted a hs girls basketball game- exciting I know! It was fun having her here- we made bets on the starting line-up and she WON! Guess she still has it in her. :)
Saturday my sister-in-law, Mandy and her kids came up to look at and pick out their pictures from their photo shoot a few weeks ago! There were lots of great ones and I can't wait till they come in. After they left we went for a run and then had a date night! It was very last minute but we enjoy a great dinner together @ Hooligans and finished it off with a fondue dessert!
This morning at church we heard another great sermon on 'waiting'. This week was about what to do 'in the mean time'. Lots of great lessons. The rest of the day was spent hanging Christmas lights(no they are not turned on yet!), and then I got into a cleaning mood. For some crazy reason I have been in the mood to rearrange and redecorate. Nathan is such a good sport and just smiles and goes along with it!
I have a GREAT Nathan story that I will share tomorrow. I will give you a hint...shoes. thats all for tonight. enjoy your sunday night.

O!!!!

Last Wednesday I took a day off work(yes it was a personal day!) to go with my three best NWI friends, Bridgette, Hilary & Vicky to see Oprah. talk about fun!

The day started out with a 7:30 alarm instead of a 6:00(yippee), then a trip to Starbucks to pick up everyone's special request followed by a road trip to the city with Vicky as the DJ(it felt like we were back in High School!!). We had MANY 'clothes' conversations leading up to this day so it was a success in itself that we made it out of the house and to the city! The day was full of lots of laughs, stories, a Oprah show and TONS OF Oprah crazies! What is an Oprah crazy you might ask...well how about the crazy lady that was sitting in front of us that kept yelling and waving at her like they were best friends, or the crazy lady that sat beside me that agreed VERY LOUDLY with everything she had to say, or the crazy lady that tried to walk back behind the set after the show was over or last but not least the crazy lady that was popping pills before the show and ran to push everyone over when her seat number was called.... those are Oprah Crazies and we saw plenty of them!
The show was not the best topic(it was Peter Walsh- the de-cluter guy) but it was still lots of fun and we finished off the night with a stop to get Garretts popcorn!
As we drove home we all decided that we really think we could handle more of those days- sure was fun.

the girls outside of the studio(Thanks so much to Vicky's hubby for getting the tickets for us & taking the pictures!)

Bridgette & I enjoying a pic while we wait for Hilary.

Vicky & I as we still wait for Hilary

here is Hilary....she was doing her 'mom stuff' in the car! What a tropper.


I am so very thankful for such wonderful friends!


On Saturday I told you we, along with mom, gavin and katy went to the Pacers/Celtics game. Nathan has never been to a NBA game is it was really cool to see his excitment too. We had a BLAST! 14th row, center court... as we walked on the floor to our seats I was in such awe that I looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. I was sooo excited I didn't know what to say. Those guys are HUGE! I didn't take my camera but got a shot from my phone. Pacers pulled an upset so it was a very exciting game.


As for this week- well my mom has been here(YIPPEEE) and Nathan had to travel on business(booo). Tonight is the first night we have had home together in a while so it will be nice to enjoy dinner and maybe catch a bball game or two. Thanksgiving break is just a few days away and I couldnt be more excited. I have already started the Christmas music and have slowly been getting a few decorations out at a time. I can't wait!!!!!
Last but not least the running has started again. After about a month off(I was really burnt out) I am ready to get started again. We registered for the Indy Mini on Sunday night so...let the training begin. I have tvoed(sp?) a few new shows to help start the process again. :)
gotta get a run in before Nathan gets home- I sure like saying that. I can not imagine what it like to have a husband that travels all the time. Another great blessing that we have together.

fun week!

I don't have much time this morning to blog because its a busy(VERY BEAUTIFUL TOO) day. However, I will give you a sneak peek of where I was on Thursday....


and today we are going to see....

vs.


and to top it off the Boilers won their season opener last night!!!
Happy Saturday everyone and stay tuned tomorrow for pictures and all about this week!

math

Now math was never my favorite subject in school by any means. Nor did I ever win the 'Math Award' like my husband did- however I did know my math facts. I can remember driving home from gymnastics practicing my multiplication tables with my dad screaming 7 X 7 =49!! (makes me laugh thinking about it).
The reason for the rambling you ask... well today at school I was teaching my 1st and 2nd graders bowling. Part of their bowling lesson was adding their scores at the end. They had to bowl the five pins down 6 times and add their scores at the end. I was SHOCKED and saddened by how poor the students math skills were. I asked a student what 10+1 was and he looked at me like I was speaking French! Another one said 5+3=6!! The best was when said what is 3+2 and the girl said 31!!! YIKES!
This is scary to me...these kids might know patterns and how to read chapter books however what happened to basic math. I think we will be doing bowling again next week just so they can practice their math!!

What is going to happen when they need figure out the sale price of an item!!!!! :)

update: if anyone read yesterdays post about Stellan you MUST read today. After a scary morning Stellan made it through the surgery and is now free from SVT. God is Good!!!

Amazing Grace

This morning in church we sang one of my all time favorite songs...Amazing Grace. It gets to me every time and today was no different. Tears started flowing just as the everyone sang the first words! Thoughts were flowing in my head just as fast as the tears were flowing out.
I thought about how blessed I am to have such an wonderful husband that loves me with all of his heart.I thought about my amazing mom and brother. I thought about how awesome Nathans parents are and have been to me. I thought about Mark, Mandy and our niece & nephew and how much I wish we could see them more. I thought about how thankful I was for the friends that God has put into my life(some of which were standing next to me). I thought about how blessed I have to have a job in a safe area with great kids. I thought about my friends and family who are aching. I thought about those that are missing God in their lives and said a prayer for them. Each thought came with a little prayer for Gods grace and unending love. The last thought was about a little boy that I have been reading about for a while now. His name is Stellan. When I entered the blog world there were lots of really cool things that I found, one of which was a blog called mycharmingkids. It is a mom that has 4 children and has a crazy passion for pictures. She is an amazing photographer so as I would check her newest work I would read her very public blog. Her blog and story are known around the world because of her son one year old son Stellan who is suffering from SVT(heart problems). Stellan is sick- very sick and is having surgery tomorrow that he might not make it though. This has been weighing heavy on my heart. Although Nathan and I are not parents yet we hope that someday we are blessed with the opportunity and I can not imagine what she and her husband are going through. I have thought about this sick little boy, parents and sibling today and have said lots of prayers for Gods Amazing Grace and unending Love on all of them.




Its hard sometimes to understand the ways of the world. However, I am confident that God has a plan for each of us. Sometimes it might not be the plan that we want (darn it!) but he does know what is best!

sunny saturday!

69 degrees+November 7= THIS IS AWESOME!!! What a beautiful day today. They were calling for snow on Tuesday and today its almost 70...that's Indiana for ya.

This week has flown by- I can't believe its already Nov. 7 either. I gotta get to Christmas shopping!! yippeee.
On Thursday night Mom and Dad Taulman came up for dinner! We had lots of good food and conversation. We even found out what they wanted for Christmas! However I am not getting too excited because last year they told us what they wanted then went and bought it for themselves before Christmas!! Santa was not very happy! Maybe if we are lucky there wont be a repeat of that trick this year! haha
Gavin also came over and spent the night. It was great having him here- oh how I love my lil brother!

Today we have been hangin at home watching the guy install UVerse. Yes- that means we are sort-of entering the 20th century. We now have HD- however no flat screen, just Gav's left-overs from his big TV purchase! (thanks Gav) The best part is that we now have BTN(big ten network) and are counting down the days until the Boilers take the floor!

Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day here!! We have some editing to do and hopefully get out for a run before church. Have a Blessed day everyone. Enjoy the sunshine!!

721 photography

I am working on getting a 721 blog up and running but until then here are a few pics from the past few weeks....


beautiful baby hadleigh


our cute as can be niece and nephew


jamison the future star



mr braxton the stud

kenzie & madyson having a great time!

awesome family


mr irresistible ethan


miss precious allie


hope you enjoy the pics as much as i did takin them!! i love my new job. :)

Fall Break

Fall Break was AWESOME! I couldn't say much about it before we left because it was a surprise to Nathan. When he got home on Wednesday he thought we were heading to my moms for the break. However MUCH to his surprise I had booked two nights at the West Baden hotel in French Lick, IN(home of Larry Bird). After the 'Erin, what are you talking about?' conversation was over and the bags were in the car we were off. We spent Wednesday at my moms and Thursday we enjoyed the day showing the two families their pictures that I had taken a few weeks back(yes jessie I will post some pics for you in my next blog :) !!) That night before we headed to French Lick we enjoyed a delicious dinner at my uncles restaurant- while we were there I also got to see 2 of my cousins, Leila, Michael and his soon to be wife(my soon to be cousin) Lara along with my grandma. That was a very nice surprise to the dinner!
After dinner we made the hour drive to our hotel. This is what we saw when we walked in.... it was absolutely beautiful.



On Friday we slept in.... until 11 o'clock!!!!! I have never ever seen Nathan sleep that long- it was awesome.
rough life huh...


We spent the rest of the day walking around the town and visiting Larry Bird Ave.
Nathan talkin to his idol

standing under the legands lane.

trying to take a picture together under the road sign...it was harder then you think!

and seeing the beautiful fall colors. We stopped for an ice cream snack on the hotels veranda and enjoyed watching the deer run in on the hotels grounds. This place was so big and beautiful. Every detail of the hotel was thought-of and just perfect.


Dinner was at a local pizza joint and then we went bowling. Now let me just say that I am no professional bowler however.... I BEAT NATHAN!!! This is the first sporting event(other than golf) that I have EVER beat him at ...it was a great feeling. I bowled a 167 and he had a ??? I wont tell because I don't want to embarrassed him too bad- but lets just say it was a big win!
After bowling we went into the casino and played a few slots. I lost my 20 bucks but Nathan won 30 so we came out 10 bucks up. If you can't tell we are pretty high rollers! haha

Saturday we got up early and headed back to my mom's to help her finish putting things back in the basement after her flood a few weeks ago and to help her hang Christmas lights. It was so nice to spend the day outside with her and in the country. How I pray that we will have a home in the country someday. It was hard to leave and there were tears shed but we were so thankful and blessed for the time that we got to spend down there.
We made the trip back last night so that Nathan could go into work today. We forgot about the time change but it was a very nice surprise this morning too.
This afternoon we are heading to take our niece and nephews pictures! I am so excited. I have lots of editing and things to get finished before that though so I better get back to work. Happy November(is that not crazy!)
God is good.