Why I love life in Indianapolis!

I will never forget that two years ago when we moved to Greenwood, I couldn't believe that I was ever going to even like it here - let alone fall in love with it. We seemed so far away from "home" which seemed to me like it would always be Middlebury. And then, all too suddenly - here we are two years later and you would have to drag me away kicking and screaming!

First we began to meet "med-school" friends, then we began to make "other" friends (my dear friend Amber whom I met at the beauty school) - friends of friends who became closer than family, and then a year ago we found Mt. Auburn United Methodist Church - maybe this, above and beyond the other factors, "sealed the deal" if you will......and now, Greenwood is solidly home - with a Middlebury being our hometown. The shift may seem small on all surface appearances, but when you dig a little bit deeper, it feels big!

Although I had an AMAZING shower in Middlebury on June 26th that was full of friends and family from the "northern Indiana" region, my lovely church family (Sarah Taylor and Shari Greenbaum, in particular) volunteered to throw me a second shower for all of my Indy friends and surrogate family who could not come to the "northern" shower.

These women went above and beyond any expectations I had and threw me the most adorable, cute, and lady-themed shower I have ever been to! We had a brunch with casseroles, muffins, donuts, and fruit bruchetta. Then, my dear friend Sarah made the cutest cupcakes I have ever laid eyes on (by hand, mind you - also, please note she has a tiny child - I can only imagine the sacrifice in time she made to make me these!) The room was set up with cute summery colors and tablecloths, with flower centerpieces and the whole kit-and-kaboodle! The gift table was overflowing so much that the gifts couldn't even all fit. I absolutely LOVE everyone that was in that room, however, it should be noted that several of them knew no one else there, and came only for me - and this meant a lot. My sweet Gram and Momzie made the trip from Middlebury (they left at prior to 6:00 am - and dear, sweet Momzie is still restricted to a wheelchair or walker, so this was no "tiny" thing!)

I had friends from college, friends from now, friends from med-school, and friends and acquaintances from church. The generosity of the gifts was nothing less than enough to blow me away. People gave gifts that I know took sacrifices from them in other areas of their lives.

We are so appreciative, so humbled, and feel so undeserving. All we can do is make sure people know our level of gratitude and love. I can say without hesitation that we are more than ready for Miles' arrival. He has a little bit longer to go to finish "baking" completely in there, but I can't wait for him to get out here to meet all of these people who love him and are going to be there for him for his entire life! He is such a gift from God, not only to us, but also to so much of family and so many of our friends. He is already so blessed, and we are blessed to be his parents!

Blessings overflowing!

Sometimes it's the little things, and sometimes the bigger things - but no matter the "size" of the blessings that find their way to you, it is important to be appreciative. On any given day, it can be easy to get bogged down in the stresses of life, but then, you flip the switch in your mind from "I need this," or "I want this," or "How are we ever going to make this work?" to "I trust and have the knowledge that everything is going to be more than ok!" I have been making an even more deliberate move towards this attitude lately, and let me tell you, it makes me happy and even strangers on the street seem to notice that you are a happy person! The next thing I know I am having a nice couple minute conversation with the lady in front of me in line at Wal-Mart. Goodness knows it brigtens my trip to Wal-Mart, but maybe, just maybe she needed that too?

In the last week I faced a few disappointing factors - as explained with my last post, I went ahead and left The Post (a job I very much loved and appreciated) and it was a little bit bittersweet. There was a little tiny moment where I felt slightly sorry for myself. I made the decision to change my attitude. I need to be grateful that I don't HAVE to work. Yes, we are living on loan money while Nate studies to become a doctor - but do you know what?! This is a huge blessing. Not everyone has this option to stay home. People have been SO GENEROUS in helping us get ready for this new addition to our family (and to be honest, having a baby is, or at least can be, expensive!) I just am overwhelmed at the levels of generousity people have shown us! And all of this in a tough economy! It makes me want to raise Miles to know the good in people and the sacrifice that people give to help one another, and I guarantee we will be paying it forward. A few times a day I just go in to his room and think about how soon he will be here, and I savor those moments. Sometimes it is a little bit hard, he makes it tough for me to breathe, I am uncomfortable, I feel like I need to pee every moment of every day - but it is SO worth it to bring this child in to our lives (and the lives of those around us).

Last Saturday my friend from work, Jenifer, brought her amazing little boy, Niko over and we went to Buy Buy Baby (she had never been there!) It was so fun to hang out with them, but Jenifer and her husband are letting us borrow quite a few items for Miles! They are loaning us their swing, an activity gym, and a bumbo, and she has already said that we will be more than welcome to borrow more items. Talk about a huge relief and help! Many of these items are expensive and we simply wouldn't have bought them - not to mention that since we are borrowing them, when Miles gets done with them we will give them back and not have to store them! Thank you so much to Jenifer, Marko, and Niko for helping us in this huge way! A sweet lady from the church brought us a gift for Miles since she is going to be out of town on Saturday for my shower - and she got him such a cool gift - a mobile for his crib! What a great gift, we put it up and know he will love it!

Yesterday I was out and about and decided I really wanted a Sweet Tea from McAllisters - I went in to get it, and the lady gave it to me "on the house" - I know it was only $1.49 - but it made my day - circling back around to the front end of this blog entry - its the blessings in life - sometimes they are big, sometimes they are small - but it is important to recognize all of them!

Closing the door gently, but leaving the window open......

Of all the jobs I have had since I was 16 years old, I have only been a little bit sad about leaving one. When I worked at The Hardware in North Manchester, I loved it, but when it came time to go it was because we had graduated from college and we were moving 2 hours away. I had enjoyed the people there and the job was fun!

Fast forward to today and my last day at The Post, and to be honest, I feel ever-so-slightly devastated. It is the right choice, the right time, and I know the reason I am going is what I want more than anything else in the entire world - and yet, there is a very real sadness leaving a job that I love and people I enjoying being with on a daily basis. It is not the end - just a transition. I will be able to visit. If I get Norman Rockwell withdrawls, I am sure no one will mind my coming in and wandering around the archives.

This job was what it needed to be when it needed to be. They have been so flexible with me here and so good to me. I have gotten to learn at lot, see a lot, and exercise my brains and my passions for history. It is funny to me that this job and the pregnancy were at the same time as one another. Both of these things I had so desperately wanted and prayed for and pined for for months on end were both given to me at the same time. It had a way of showing me what really mattered, and for that I am ever grateful and appreciative. I have made friends and connections here that don't end on this day.

This is not to mention that the job kept me occupied and busy while my dear, sweet husband studied for and took boards - and in an appropriate end to things, his board scores came through last evening of all times, on the eve of my last day here - laying to rest that particular chapter. His scores were great, or at least enough that he won't be taking it again.

I came in this morning to co-workers bearing gifts and cupcakes.....and in just a couple of short hours, I will walk away, knowing that I made the right choice. Perhaps not the easiest choice, but the right one, nonetheless - and Miles is worth every last bit of it!

A legendary weekend.......

Last night my dear father-in-law pointed out to me that claiming a "legendary" weekend is a pretty big deal. I am going to stick with "legendary" nonetheless, but I am going to place the blame on watching a LOT of How I Met Your Mother (if you know this show, "legedary" is used excessively.) Ever since we got rid of cable, I watch multiple episodes of this show every day. We have it on DVD. That being said, on another note, I am adjusting surprisingly well to no cable, but I still do have a lot of HIMYM on......

Ok, back to the weekend. The "weekend" actually began on Thursday. Wednesday after I got home I thought the air conditioning broke. BAD NEWS, PEOPLE......turns out it was this "energy saver" program our electric company had misled us about - but that is a different story. Sticking to the point, I thought the AC broke. Needless to say, I was kind of worked up about it. It was a CRAZY hot day and the house was turning in to an oven. When Nate got home, we got the problem sorted out, but suffice it to say I wasn't at all in the mood for cooking. We decided to grab dinner at a local Mexican restaurant. Bad choice - by the following morning we each had food poisoning of some sort, but neither of us knew the other one had it (it didn't really "hit" until about 8am. Here is the worst part, the food poisoning led to me having contractions for a few hours (it was just irritability from being sick, but I didn't know that at the time.) I was only 31 weeks on Thursday, and by 11:00 am I thought I was going to be making a trip to labor and delivery. Luckily, I had my regular appointment that afternoon, so I waited it out - and to be honest, by the time the appointment came around (1:30pm) I was feeling much better. I was still pretty rattled by the whole experience. We had our ultrasound - and Miles looks super-great. I have a few pics and I will do what I can to get them electronic and post them later (the key word here being "later" - goodness only knows what that might mean....)

By Thursday evening I was back in the mindset of my weekend with mom. Friday rolled around and I met mom on the northside around lunchtime. Friday looked like this:

Lunch at a great Turkish spot
Pedicures at a nice little salon
Shopping at Stein Mart
Getting checked in to the hotel
Dinner at a great fish/Hawaiian spot
Getting a book
Going to bed

Saturday was off to a bang with brunch at Le Peep. Then, it was off to Nordstroms to do some specialized shopping. CVS with mom to get some odds and ends and watch her play the sales like a pro. My dear hubby met us at Ted Montana's at 4:00pm so mom could see him and I could too! Ted Montana's is one of my all time FAV spots. We ran back to the hotel quickly and made our way to Noblesville.

TOM PETTY WAS CRAZY AMAZING! We had gotten pavillion seats, and this was the best money ever spent. I was very glad we did not go with the lawn seats! We had very nice seats right on the row with a great view of Tom Petty. Goodness only knows where on earth I got my love and obsession with Tom Petty, but he is just my favorite. Miles liked him too, I think he just already knows all the songs so well!

We made it back to the hotel by about 12:30am and crashed for the evening. Sunday morning consisted of breakfast and getting mom on the road. Sunday afternoon for me consisted of RESTING. Same goes for Monday. Honestly, same would pretty much go for today except for a few hours of work. I had so much fun, but I am BUSTED to say the least!

What a great weekend! I am very glad it was at this point in the pregnancy and no further considering my energy levels seem to be depleting at an ever increasing rate!

Ok, that is all for now - many details were left out, but this is what I could pull-off for this moment......best wishes for a great day!

Lucky 100?

As I was getting ready to begin this post, I saw on my blog "dashboard" that this is my 100th post. Really, it means nothing, but still 100 is kind of a fun and big number, a milestone of sorts? Without looking back, I think I started this blog somewhere around a year ago. Man, I find myself saying this phrase an awful lot as of the last few months, but "What a difference a year can make!" This past year has witnessed a lot of growth (and I am not simply referring to my ever growing belly!) I feel that the person I am today would have a lot of advice and direction to give myself one year ago. It is pretty amazing in life how things can have two distinct sides - in some ways, a year seems so long ago. I guess it seems as though I have "traveled" such a great distance. And yet, at the same moment, it seems like it was only a minute ago. Perhaps I need to get used to this sensation. Many people older and wiser than myself have assured me that this is the feeling that accompanies life on this earth.

That being said, here we are - a baby on the way in 9 weeks. A mommy who aches and is pretty darn exhausted. And a daddy who is spread pretty thin but doing a great job at everything. We finally made it to third year of medical school! We celebrated 8 years since we began dating, and in just another month will celebrate 5 years of marriage. Some days it feels like a wild ride and barely controlled chaos, but truth be told, I would not trade it for anything else in the world, and at the end of the day - this is what matters the most, isn't it?

In bigger news, I have one more ultrasound for the pregnancy tomorrow (as long as all looks well) - my measurements have just been a little bit on the small side, so the doctor said he just wanted to be sure all was well in there. If the tiny child's kicking is any indication, he is just fine - but I will rest a little (ok, maybe a LOT) easier with the reassurance of "seeing" that all is well. I am getting ready (actually today) to talk with my boss and I am pretty sure I will be giving them an end date for my job sometime in the next few weeks. This has been quite a "hot topic" in my mind just wondering what to do with this job. I love it so much, but with Miles well on his way, our priorities are different. We have known for quite some time that I would not be going back once he was born unless many things changed - and truth be told, this probably wasn't going to happen. Then, my "plan" changed into something along the lines of "I will work until as close to Miles being born as I can," but increasing levels of exhaustion and my mind wandering elsewhere have led me to different ideas in the past few weeks. The "purpose" of the job somewhere shifted from "it is important because it is keeping me busy and occupied" to "it is stressing me out because I feel like I am not as reliable and professional as I would like to be." Nate and I finally decided that it would be better for me to leave The Post on a really positive note rather than with decreased work-flow and productivity. I feel confident in this decision, but sad and upset at the same time. I don't want to be sorry I left to early later.....but I only can go on my feelings and thoughts as of this moment, and it seems to be the best option.

In upcoming events my mom comes in town this weekend and we will be having a girls weekend. Really, a "staycation" in Indy of sorts. We have a hotel room on the north side for Friday and Saturday night and will be seeing TOM PETTY! We will also be doing some shopping, some eating, and some general fun! Sunday through Tuesday my father-in-law will be in town. I haven't seen him in months, so it will be great to have him for a visit. The 24th is my 2nd and final baby shower here in Indy at our church. Grandma and Suzie will be making the trip down for that. Monday of next week Nate shifts from inpatient Peds at Riley to his outpatient Peds portion of his Pediatrics rotation. He is going to be working at an office in Franklin and I think it may be a little bit more mild in pace than Riley has been. I am pretty excited for a slower pace, but Nate is kind of sad to be coming to the end of his Riley experience - although it has been hard work, he has LOVED it. That kind of encompasses the month of July. The next thing we know, it will be the month of August. August is the last month of the pregnancy - and then BOOM - at the beginning of September we hope to be holding our little baby boy in our arms - I can't wait for that moment!