A Night Out on the Town

Last night, Don and I had a date night at The Vogue in Broad Ripple. We went to see Paolo Nutini in concert. He was fantastic, but I ended up falling in love with the music of one of his opening acts, Matt Hires. He was terrific! I ran up to the booth like a teenager and bought one of his CDs (hey, at least I didn't buy a t-shirt with his name across my chest...I draw the line there). I listened to it all day today...or at least when my kiddos were at specials! I have attached my favorite song from each Paolo and Matt for you to check out below. Enjoy!

Here is a pic of Matt Hires...

And one of Paolo Nutini...

Now, if only I had actual pictures of them instead of stock photos...oh, that's right, I could since I saw them live except that my husband wouldn't let me take my camera. Ladies, you all know the conversation I'm talking about...the one where they convince you that you won't want to carry it but then you kick yourself later for listening to him. Yeah, that one...well, that's why I don't have real pictures, people. Not that I could have gotten any. I am pretty sure that I was the only person under 8 feet tall at the joint last night. Who knew there were so many giants in Indianapolis?! It was ridiculous! I felt like a sardine. I got so annoyed with people that I actually kicked the guy in front of me (yes, on purpose...it was not one of my finer moments) because he was standing on my foot for what felt like 5 minutes. I mean, come on! By the way, I truly think that women that carry suitcases as purses should not be allowed in clubs. Not only could I have stolen a whole lot of money, cell phones, makeup, etc. without anyone the wiser, most of those bags are bigger than me. What can I say? My little 5'4" self didn't stand a chance with the giants...both human and leather!

A Visit from an Old Friend

Today, Hoosier and I got an unexpected but very welcomed visit from our old neighbor and friend, Anne, and her beautiful dog, Bentley. Bentley and Hoosier have been best buds since they were itty-bitty puppies, kind of like brothers (except for the occasional kiss and ok, hump, they send each other's way!). B and H used to play together every night on the tennis courts when we lived in the apartment. It was kind of ridiculous; Anne, Don and me walking our dogs down for a playdate at 9 or 10 at night, often in below freezing temps and inches of snow and ice.
Fortunately, it tired out our dogs and gave us a chance to decompress at the end of the day.

As soon as I heard they were stopping by, I told Hoosier, who immediately stood at the gate and waited for Bentley. Anyone who thinks dogs don't understand what people say to them, I beg to differ. Anyways, they immediately picked up right where they left off. It was nice for Hoosier to get some exercise that didn't involve me getting exercise :), as well as catch up with Anne. Here are a few pics of the puppies having a blast...



"Hey dude...give it back...it's MINE! By the way, when did you get so much bigger than me?"



"OK, seriously...you're at my house...give me my toy back."





"Just try to come and get it, H!"



It was a blast watching the dogs run around and play like they used to. In addition, it has been almost 3 hours since they left and Hoosier is still sleeping...aahhh...the joys of a tired puppy!

A Quick & Delicious Dinner

Well, tomorrow it's back to work I go so I haven't felt like doing anything today except sit around and read. Thus, I decided to make a quick, simple and really delicious dinner! The menu for tonight includes: Upside Down Pizza Bake and Chocolate Chip Pie...mmm!

The pizza bake is super simple and involves only a few ingredients. Here they are:

First, you put 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in an 8" square baking dish. Then, top it with 1/2 lb. sliced sweet sausage links (brown them first), 1/2 cup each of mushrooms and green peppers (sliced) and 1 cup mozzarella cheese.

Next, mix 1 cup Bisquick, an egg and 1/2 cup of milk together and pour on top. Last, top with another 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes and voila! Delicious!

As for dessert, I have to admit, I actually made this pie on Friday for a BBQ with friends and was asked for the recipe. I decided to put it on my blog for everyone to enjoy. Here's what you need:

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter, melted then cooled to room temperature

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 cup walnuts (sometimes I use 'em, sometimes I don't)

pie crust

Here's what you do:

Beat the eggs until foamy then add the flour, sugar and brown sugar; blend. Blend in melted butter and stir in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into pie crust. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Here's what it looks like (sort of...the picture came out very fuzzy for some reason)...

Delicious! Hope you have a chance to enjoy this quick and easy dinner! Happy cooking!

Turkey Run State Park

We spent a peaceful Sunday afternoon at Turkey Run State Park, which is about 2 hours west of Indy. It was beautiful! We had a picnic and then hiked the trails for close to 3 hours. Hoosier went along and loved hiking (especially when it involved water)! I'm not sure how many miles we walked, but it was a lot! We spent most of our time on the very rugged trails which meant hiking over rocks, through water and up and down a lot of stairs. At one point, the only way to get ourselves off a cliff was to climb down 2 gigantic ladders...not happening with a dog. So...we had to get creative and shimmy down the side of the cliff. Did I mention that it rained (a lot) yesterday? It was very muddy and very slippery. And, of course, our shoes, clothing, legs, and dog were covered in mud, but oh well, we had a great time!

The bridge we had to cross to get over Sugar Creek and to the trails...

H loving the creek!

We walked through a LOT of water!

What did I tell you?

Don climbing a tree...hope Hoosier doesn't start chasing something...

And down some rocks...

Surrounded by beautiful scenery...

More scenery...

What a lovely day! We already have plans to visit some of the other state parks soon (might as well visit them since that's who pays the bills around our house!), but first, we need to get some gear to make hiking with a dog a bit easier! Hope you all had as terrific a weekend as we did!

Cedar Point trip

Well, we just returned from Cedar Point this evening. We had a terrific time! We spent a day at Soak City waterpark, a couple of days at the amusement park and an afternoon at the beach/pool. It was fantastic! Here are a bunch of pictures from our trip...

We're just arriving...

We spent an afternoon laying out at the beach on Lake Erie...a water snake was absolutely terrorizing people that day. It kept swimming right along the shore. All the moms were freaking out and all the little boys were trying to catch it...it was highly entertaining!

Here are a couple of dorks...

We rode the Sky Ride so we could get some pictures. Here are a few of Lake Erie and the entire amusement park.

We ate dinner one night at Famous Dave's in the marina. We watched a guy parallel park his yacht-and I do mean yacht- right in front of the restaurant better than I can parallel park my car. I give him a lot of credit. During a family vacation a few years ago to Lake of the Ozarks, I tried unsuccessfully to park a jet ski on several occasions...it wasn't pretty. I'm sure my sister remembers having to climb over me to get to the front so she could park it. :)

Here we are on our last evening in the park.

My favorite ride in the park...Top Thrill Dragster. You go 120 mph up over 400 feet in the air and come straight back down...all in 37 seconds. It is awesome! We rode this 3 times. The last time was at night, and while we were standing in line, they had to shut it down. There were people stuck in all the cars. No idea why it was shut down, but a lot of people got out of line after that announcement! Not us, though...of course, we stayed in line. They got it going again, and we rode it. Still not sure what was wrong with it, but we survived! I know, stupid, right? That's how much I love this ride.

Coming home sucks! :(

Until we saw this guy! Of course, this picture was taken approximately 2 minutes after we picked him up from daycare so you can imagine he didn't care too much about our homecoming. The only thing on his mind...sleep! Mine too!

Weekend Update

Well, here we are three days after the 4th, and Hoosier is still a mess. If only our neighbors would stop setting off firecrackers...maybe then he would stop doing this...

He is actually under the computer desk (where I am currently sitting) with his face hidden behind the trashcan. If he hears a firework, he runs for the nearest "safe" place which is usually underneath something. Forget about it if we're outside!

Well, I promised I would update with pictures of the work we did around the house this weekend. We spent most of the weekend painting the guest room, hallway, entryway and bonus room. The hallway, entryway and bonus room are all a caramel color, and the guest room is one bright lime green (not what I anticipated when I picked it out). I think it will work, though. We have a very tropical bedspread and plan on putting up bamboo shades throughout the house.

I also spent a long, miserable 45 minutes hanging square mirrors in a grid pattern on the dining room wall. I am still not sure if I love them, but we'll see. I got them cheap at IKEA so what can I say?

Well, we're off to Cedar Point early in the morning so I gotta go pack and get to bed. I'll update with pictures this weekend!

I'm Movin' On Up...

to the 3rd grade! I've decided to loop with my kids from last year (OK, we're a year-round school so last month) and will be teaching them again this year (month, whatever) in 3rd grade! Can't wait for them to find out...hope the liked me as much as they said they did! :)

Will update later or tomorrow with pics of the housework we did this weekend!

Happy 4th of July (even though we hate fireworks at our house)!

+

= us sitting in the basement watching TV all night.

Last year was Hoosier's first 4th of July (he was only 6 months old). The result was a dog that shook and panted so hard, I thought he was going to die. For the next month or so, we had to drag (and sometimes carry) him outside just so he could go to the bathroom. Loud noises and anything in the sky (i.e. airplanes, clouds, thunder, lightning, etc.) still totally freak him out. In fact, he once tried to hide inside the freezer during a thunderstorm. For all of you out there trying to figure that one out, our freezer is on the bottom, and I happened to have it open at the time. He actually tried to crawl in, though. When he couldn't figure out how to get in, he just plopped down in front of it, and I had to physically move him so I could close the door. SO...that brings us to today...a wonderful holiday to celebrate our country's independence. Our family celebrates by eating a big meal - today's menu included red, white and blue pinwheel steaks, grilled foil-wrapped potatoes, peppery cheese bread and grasshopper pie - and retreating to the basement (the only place in our house where the sound of fireworks are muffled) and watching shows on the DVR. Here's to hoping we don't have to carry our dog outside to pee tomorrow! Happy 4th of July!

This Post Has Gone to the Dogs

I know, I know...once again, I have disappeared from my blog for quite awhile. The good news is...I am now DONE with grad school and on summer break (not that I've had much time to relax)! So, I'm back, ready to get some projects done around the house and share pictures with all of you. For this post, though, I figured I'd take the easy way out and just post pictures of my baby.

Here's Hoosier after one of our long morning walks on the Monon Trail. You'd think I was trying to kill him.

Look everybody...I just got a haircut! I can't decide if he looks more like a Poodle or a Chia Pet.

Aren't I handsome?


Well, Don's home today and tomorrow so we have a HUGE list of projects to get completed. I will post as we get them done so you all can see some more of the updates around the house.