this story makes me bummed...

As most of you know I have been a long time golfer- I got my first set of golf clubs when I made my 1st communion in 2nd grade from Grandma and Grampa Whelan. I have followed and watched lots of golf- one of my favorite Sunday afternoon past times is to sit around watching the final round of what-ever tournament might be on. exciting I know!  I never was a Tiger(Woods) fan. I thought he was cocky, arrogant and annoying- that was until I overlooked his 'Tiger-ness' and just started watching him play golf. His mental compacity on the golf course is like no other, his ability to hit a shot from under a tree and stick it 2 feet from the pin is pretty amazing, his toughness to play through a knee injury and his desire for a private life with his wife and children were something that I really admired about him.





That was until today.
  When the news broke that Tiger was in a car accident I got nervous! Then I heard there was something a little strange about the whole thing and there was more to the story. I didn't beleive it!  I kept telling Nathan and I that I knew all of the cheating allegations were false. My therory?
   He had a sick kid- was being a great dad/husband and was running to the store to get something they needed. He was tired from being up with the baby, feel asleep @ the wheel and crashed his SUV.
OK no laughing... I really thought this is what probably happened.

Boy was I wrong and now I am bummed. I have been following the story and still can't believe it. Yes I know he is an athlete, but for some reason I thought he was a great role model and not a cheater. I have so many thoughts... my first was- what about his wife, children and mother- my heart breaks for them. my second...  How could he? He is married to a beautiful wife, has two healthy beautiful children and an amazing golf career. What could be so great to risk throwing that all away.   My next thought was what kind-of woman KNOWS, and thinks its OK, to sleep with a married man that his two children? She is just as wrong as he is in my opinion. My last thought - what now?   I guess we will have to wait and see...until then I will just have to say my 'thank you' prayers for my wonderful, loyal husband. How thankful I am for him!

Happy December!

Christmas is coming and the geese are getting fat...
Who will put a penny in the old man's hat?
If you haven't gotten a penny a half a penny will do
and if you haven't got a half a penny then God Bless You!

This was an old saying that my Grandma used to say when she called us around Christmas time. I had no idea where she got it so I looked it up today and this is what I found...

The charitable lyrics nursery rhyme!
The lyrics of this song were to associate the Christmas feast with geese which were traditional English Christmas fayre. The meaning that was conveyed to a child was that the festive period was where each should give to charity, according to their means...even if they could only give their blessing! 
  
I thought this was pretty fitting because Nathan and I are just home from shopping for the Christmas Angels from Church. This is a tradition that we started when we first got married and  really look forward to doing it together each year. The feeling that we had shopping for a special little boy and a little girl is pretty cool. I get excited thinking about the smiles on the little girls and boys face when they get open their present. We are so thankful that we are blessed enough to hopefully make some little boy and girls Christmas a little brighter! We hope that someday it is a tradition that we can pass on to our children(along with the rhyme of course!) too.

Happy Monday!

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!