The Flying Pigs

A few weekends ago Christy and I headed to Cincinnati for a quick trip to see our bestie Adi! Adi and her family were in town to run The Flying Pig race and it was a great time to connect in the middle and catch up! Even though the trip was short I feel like we shoved so much stuff into 24 hours! Adi's aunt is always the best host and we able to enjoy a lot of good food, coffee, and conversation over the course the time there. I treasure times like this and am thankful to have such amazing friends!

 The Flying Pig 5k.

 LOVE time with her!

 I can never get enough of this sweet little face!

 Ended the weekend with this amazing meal!

Until next time!

3 years.

Today marks three years of marriage for hubs and I!

It is crazy to look back over the past three years and see all the things we

have done, all of the places we have been, and all of the memories we have made.

Not only that, but all of the ways we have grown both as individuals and as a couple. I can honestly

say that I love Coy more today than ever before. I can also honestly say that there is still excitement

in our marriage, I still want him to the first person I talk to in the morning when I wake up and the

last person I want to see before I go to bed. I am still excited about our date nights and movie nights and everything in between. Love is such a gift and I am so thankful that I get to spend each loving and being loved by such an amazing man.

 

Here is a breakdown of our last three years together.

Where it all started...

 

 

Year One:

Year one of marriage was spent adjusting to living life day in and day out together. At times it was so easy to adjust to life together as a married couple and at other times it was extremely difficult. During this year we had a lot of BIG fights. The type of fights that we luckily don't have anymore, which included a lot of yelling, a great deal of miscommunication, and lot of tears (by me of course). Even with these fights it was exciting to begin to navigate life together.

(left over cake from our wedding - which ended up not being too bad)

For our first anniversary we spent a week in Mexico. Traveling to tropical locations is by far our

favorite activity!

 

Year Two:

I feel like year two is when we really started to enjoy marriage. Of course we enjoyed marriage during year one but by year two we had worked out some of our marriage kinks, the fighting became more minimal and life together became less hard work and more enjoyable.

For our second anniversary we enjoyed dinner at The Eagle's Nest...and it was fantastic.

 

Year Three:

Year three has been our best year by far. We have had so many changes over the past year. We bought our first home and have since settled in to being first time homeowners, and have loved every minute. We switched churches and went through the misery of church hunting while still doing our best to hold each other spiritually accountable while we had no church 'home.' I don't even remember that last fight we had. {Please note the word fight here - I am not referring to disagreements, which we have almost daily : ) } I feel like we have laughed more this year than in year's past. We have become annoying and finish each other's thoughts before it even comes out of our mouths. However, even with all of these amazing things, this year has brought a lot more personal struggles than in the previous years. And yet, through these struggles, challenges, and heartache we have grown closer, loved more, and relied on each other more than ever before. Coy is everything I could have ever hoped or imagine for. He makes me laugh, comforts me when I cry, and joins me on every adventure that we take. Year three has been so eventful I can only imagine what year four has in store for us.

 

I already think we are off to a good start...we rang in our first day of our fourth year of marriage the same we entered into our marriage during our wedding three years ago - dancing to Jagged Edge, Let's Get Married. Only this time we were dancing in the bathroom and not up the aisle.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



 

Maximize Your Life with Jillian

Last week I went to Jillian Michael's Maximize Your Life Tour. In case you didn't know, 

I am obsessed with her. Her tour did not disappoint. The whole time I felt like we were old friends. And in reality, after I got this tweet several weeks before I think that might actually put us in the category of good friends. 

In addition to the glorious-ness of this tweet I also had good luck leading up to the event when I won free tickets to the show. Although this didn't go exactly as planned (meaning the theater didn't have record of my winnings, they were nice enough to comp me tickets anyway). 

It was energizing and inspiring to hear Jillian. And while most of the things she said were not 'new' 

news to me, it is always nice to have a reminder about good eating and exercise. 

In addition to all of the good information she gave, she is FUNNY - like, laugh out loud funny. Some might think it would be boring to hear something talk for hours (3 to be exact) and while I admit that towards the end I did get a little tired, but for the most part she was totally entertaining and inspiring. I do feel a little jaded though that even though we are friend she did not meet me for dinner during her stay in Indy. 

Sorry for the poor pictures. Unfortunately I left my real camera at home and had to settle for poor iPhone pictures. That is Danni, the Biggest Loser winner from this season, on the left. I was super bummed that the Q&A she did was only for VIP holders, which I was not, but it was amazing just to see her during the thirty seconds it took her to walk across the stage. 

Here's to getting skinny healthy. 

Met Gala 2013

There is not much of a greater obsession I have then seeing celebrities dressed up in their best! Unfortunately, the theme for this year "Chaos to Couture" was a little much for this girl's taste. There was SO many outfits I hated, not just hated but made me throw up in my mouth when I looked at them. And on the other hand, there were none that I really loved. Such a disappointment from such an anticipated fashion event! So here is my best and worst dressed!

Best Dressed (from the slim pickings):

 I could not be more enthralled with Blake Lively's beauty if I tried. I think she is by

far one of the most gorgeous celebrities out there. I loved her in this, and not to be a lesbian,

but I also thought that this dress made her boobs look fantastic! 

 Diane Kruger. I loved her simple, yet elegrant choice. 

 I love to hate Anne Hathaway and it was a little painful to put her on this list. However, I'm

loving her blonde hair, love the fluff at the end of her sleeves, and the love the sleekness, yet 'chaos' of this dress. 

 As with Blake Lively, I love to love Jennifer Lawrence. I couldn't stand not to put her on this list - even though her dress didn't exactly wow me, I still thought she looked excellent. She does such a good job looking amazing at these events and looks like she has been doing them all her life. 

 Kate Beckinsale. While this dress wasn't my favorite I was immediately drawn to her fantastic hair and smoky eye makeup. Love it and think she is just beautiful! 

Worst Dressed: 

 Not that this is news to anyone, but gone are the good ol' days of Michelle Tanner from Full House. These two sisters are always pushing the line with their hideous wardrobe. However, I found Ashley Olsen's choice to be excessively ugh.  

 Chloe Sevingy. Not sure what is going on with this head scarf, but gross. The whole thing is gross. 

 Poor Gweneth Paltrow, not only now is everyone talking about her being named the 'Most Beautiful Woman of the Year' by People Magazine, but she also chose this hideous dress that wouldn't even look good at prom in 1990. I hate that she picked this because I think she is so beautiful and has so much to offer - this dress choice was not it however! 

 Kristen Stewart...I think it's time you stop coming to these events. You are always a disaster.

 Madonna...but who would have expected anything less from her. 

This dress is so unflattering. The hair is fixed all wrong. And the whole outfit was a poor, poor choice for Miley Cyrus. I am no fashion guru, but I know for a fact this is a problem. 

Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Salad

Although I stole this recipe from Pinterest and from this website, I just had to share because it was SO good! It is also a good food experiment when Coy approves and when he is actually looking forward to his leftovers the next day! Coy left the avocado off of his and I added tomatoes to mine...delicious and easy!

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup shredded BBQ chicken
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 2 tbsp White Cheddar cheese, shredded
• 2-4 tbsp BBQ sauce
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 
  

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, toss together the quinoa, corn, black beans, chicken and avocado. Season with salt and pepper
2. Transfer mixture onto a bowl and top with shredded cheese, BBQ sauce, scallions and cilantro.
3. Serve warm or at room temperature

Notes

This recipe calls for already cooked chicken so plan ahead! As with any recipes that call for cooked chicken, I throw my chicken breasts and some water in the crockpot in the morning before I leave for work and let it cook all day until I return home around 6. The chicken just falls apart...it really is the best thing! 

Birthday Bliss.

Today I am celebrating not only one of my favorite people's birthday but two! 

Although several years a part, we have spent the last eleven years celebrating my sister

 Tamara and my niece Emma's birthday together! Today is no exception. 

I am so thankful to have both of these people in my life! 

I am so thankful for all of the laughs, tears, and even sisterly fights growing up with my sister. 

I am thankful for the beautiful mother, friend, and sister that Tamara is and for the way she leads by example. I am thankful that no matter what I can always count her for support and love. 

And I am so thankful for my sweet eleven year old niece! She is the oldest of seven nieces and nephews on my side of the family and she is amazing. She is much more mature (well at least most of the time) and confident than I think I was at her age. She is full of so much laugh and love and has the sweetest spirit. 

I look forward to celebrating many more years of joint birthdays with these two and am thankful that I have already had years of celebrating their life! 

 (first day of kindergarten) 

(first day of 5th grade - umm makes me feel reallllllly old)

The State Department and Indianapolis.

A few weeks ago the State Department and UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) made a visit to Indianapolis to visit the two refugee resettlement offices located here. The visit included a time for the refugee agencies to come together and discuss all of the good (and some bad) going on in the 'refugee world.' It was great to be able to get an update on things happening across the world and the way it affects our work here domestically. It was also great to be reminded of the great work being done by Catholic Charities Immigration and Refugee Services and how work done here affects thousands of individuals and families living across the globe. The day concluded (well for me anyways) at a stakeholders meeting, where around thirty community leaders gathered to share their concerns and thoughts on Indianapolis being such a large placement site. Although there were some concerns raised, the Indianapolis community is so welcoming of the refugee population and so eager to do what they can to make this transition to American life as easy as possible. Indiana has proven to be a step above the rest when it comes to hospitality!

Indy Star covered this site visit here.

This video also gives a great portrayal of the reason so many 

refugees flee their country each day.