Musings on Life

To say that life has been a little crazy is an understatement.

Allow me to paint the picture.

Friday - Adam's mom brings Connor to visit for the weekend here in Indy.

Saturday - We have a great day playing outside and having tons of fun and going out to dinner.

Sunday - We have another fun day before Karen and Connor head back to Indy.  Then, Adam and I buy bikes and go for an 18-mile ride.

Monday - We get a 3am phone call telling us Adam's grandfather died.  He goes into work to take care of things, and I work on getting lots squared away so we can leave town.  We pack up and drive to Nashville.

Tuesday - We get up and drive to west TN to Adam's dad's house and spend the day there.

Wednesday - Visitation and funeral.  Drive back to Nashville.

Thursday - Pick up our wedding invitations and both get caught up on some work.  Adam and my parent's go to Connor's pre-K graduation, and I go to my friend's bachelorette party. 

Friday - We have lunch with old friends and then pick up Connor for the weekend.  Dinner with my family and then we go on and walk to explain to Connor that Pop died.

Saturday - We go pick strawberries and then clean up to go to a wedding.  Drop Connor off to spend the night with Karen and we go see Star Trek (it was excellent) before crashing at like 10pm.

Sunday - Brunch gathering with friends and then lunch and ice cream with Karen and Connor.  Then we go get some stuff taken care of for my work event, meet up with some other friends to say hello, and then dinner with the family.

Monday - I work the 5K/10K I've been planning for the non-profit I work for.  Connor has his first race experience handing out water at the water stop with my parents.  Breakfast with friends.  Naps.  Adam heads back to Indy.  We do dinner and I return Connor to his mom's.

Tuesday - I take my engagement ring to the store because one of the small diamonds fell out.  I get a 90-minute massage.  I run other errands and have lunch with a friend.  I drive back to Indy and am asleep within 2 minutes of getting in bed.

Wednesday - The construction people finally come and I listen to them hammer on the side of the house as they replace all the siding that was damaged by hail.  I am tired and cranky, but I get caught up on work again and start doing laundry.  3 loads down so far, probably 2-3 more to go.

It has been nuts.  We've had a lot of fun, but we've also just had some emotional stuff going on with the loss of Pop as well as just general busyness with both of our jobs and expecially the race.

I am so worn out.  I don't even know how we got through it all.  It was SO nice to get back home and feel like we can relax and not live out of a suitcase.

We have ZERO plans this weekend and couldn't be happier about it!

3 days away

In 3 days, I turn 30.

This really kind of blows my mind.  It doesn't feel like it's been that long ago that I was turning 25 and sort of having a mini quarter-life crisis.

In the past 5 years...

I've been laid off from a job I loved, had a job I hated, and then found an amazing job planning races and working with runners!

I've dated a lot, and I've had my heart broken a few times.

I found my best friend and got engaged!  (And am also becoming a stepmom to an awesome little boy!)

I've recently moved to another state.

I've traveled a lot.

I've run a lot.

I've learned a lot.

Honestly? I can't really summarize the last 5 years or even the 20s in words here.  It's been one heck of a journey, and I'm honestly not that sad to say goodbye to my 20s.

I feel excited about this next decade.  I'm getting married.  I'm going on a honeymoon to Italy.  I'll probably have another job or two.  I'd like to have some babies (not just yet, but in a few years.)  We will move back to Tennessee.  We'll probably buy or build our own house and become homeowners.  I hope to run more.  I will definitely love more.

On Monday, I'll only be a day older than I was a day before... but there's something about 30.  It definitely doesn't feel as old as I remember thinking it would back when I turned 20... but it feels solid.  I feel like I finally know who I am (well, for the most part.)  It took a lot of ups and downs in my 20s, but I feel like I've come into my own.

30.  Just seems a little hard to believe I'm there.

Engagement Photos!!!!

A few weeks ago, Adam and I headed back to Nashville to meet up with our awesome wedding photographers from Brown Lab Photography to take our engagement photos.  We did most of them in Shelby Park over in East Nashville, and we also took a few night shots around town.  I am so happy with how they turned out!  Here are a few of my favorites!

Coming Together

I can now say that at 3 months and 9 days out from the wedding, all of the BIG planning things are done.

1.  We have a wedding website!  Feel free to check it out here if you'd like.

2. We figured out how to register for our honeymoon.  We are so thankful to people who want to bless us, and since we pretty much have all we need for our home we set up a page to show people how they can make our honeymoon more fun and memorable.  You can check it out here if you'd like.

3.  We also registered at Bed, Bath and Beyond as well as Macy's since we could use some new towels, bedding and a few other small things.

4. We have our invitations designed and the paper picked.  I'm just waiting on the proof, and then we should have them in plenty of time to send out at the beginning of June!

5.  We picked out the tuxes!  YAY!

6.  We picked the menus for the reception as well as our rehearsal dinner.

7.  I secured our bartending services.

8. All of my showers and bachelorette party are on the calendar.  I am so thankful for the people working to plan them and make them happen!

There's still a lot left.  My mom is busy working hard on all of the decor (she's making pretty much everything herself and with some of her friends).  I need to figure out about my bouquet (those are the only real flowers we're using - mom is making the other bouquest and bouts out of some awesome fake flowers from Hobby Lobby).  We need to find some random items like a basket for the flower girl.  We need to pick out gifts for the people in the wedding (and each other, though I've already figured out one for Adam!).  I need to figure out my hair.  Just stuff like that.

We have a busy summer on tap even with non-wedding stuff (for example, we'll have Adam's little boy for almost 4 weeks of the summer).  We have a few fun things planned like some concerts and a little trip for the 4th of July.  So it feels really good that we have all of the big stuff accomplished.

It is so exciting!  I can't wait to see everything truly come together on August 9!

Happy Birthday Tucker!

Yesterday, my sweet boy Tucker turned 7!!!

It's hard to believe he was once this small... I know he's a cat, but he is MY cat.  I love this little fella, and I am so thankful that I have such a great pet.  It's just been me and him for a long time, and he has kept me company while I lived alone the last 7 years.

And now he is also Adam's!  Fortunately, they really like each other.  Last night, we gave Tucker an extra treat and then he spent some time snoozing on Adam.  We're hoping for at least another 7-8 years with this one!

My Thoughts on Boston

I've been debating ever since last Monday afternoon about whether or not I wanted to post about Boston.  It's not that I don't have thoughts and opinions, but I don't know that I can say anything to really add value to everything else that is being said.

However, I am a runner.  Even though I wasn't in Boston (though I appreciated the numerous phone calls and texts I got from family and friends last Monday to see if I was there and if I was ok), I still feel affected.  This wasn't just about that race and those runners... it impacts the entire running community.  If you're a runner, chances are that you knew someone who was there.

I was relieved to discover that the people I knew running the race were fine.  I was relieved when only 3 lives were taken by this act (and not to discount those lives... three is still too many).  I was relieved when the FBI determined who conducted this terrible act, and I was even more relieved when the suspects were found.

These terrorists picked the wrong community to mess with when they selected a running event to perform this act.  I am proud of the way our community came together to help the FBI find who did this... by sending in pictures, by describing things they saw, and so on and so forth.  I am proud of the way our country united to stand against this act.  I am proud that we have organizations who could work so hard and quickly to find out who did it and to locate them.  I am proud of the way our running community throughout the country and the world has held events in honor of those affected by this tragedy and that we have all brought our prayers together for Boston.

Last week was a tough week.  Between all of this and the explosion in West, Texas, it can really get you down about the world we live in.  On a personal level, I also had a tough week... it's all inconsequential stuff - our closet system collapsed for the second time (just a hassle to get the rental company to fix it and to do it right this time), I fell down the stairs in our house (I'm ok, but a little banged up), and one of my parent's cats started having seizures (they determined he has epilepsy) and then the other one started vomiting and was lethargic (they think he has an infection and will be ok, but we're still waiting to see)... it just felt like a week that would never end.

But the sun rises again.  We have love.  We have each other. 

I ended up not working out the past 5 days or so.  I just needed a break from doing so much.  But it's a new week, and I have a new energy.  I'm tackling my to do list and getting back on the fit train.  Life keeps going, and I think we have to just keep our heads up and keep pushing forward.

Odds and Ends

Updates on my life via Sections and Bullets!  Haha.

Indy

• I'm pretty much in Indy full-time now.  It's so nice to feel settled, though I've still got a few projects on the list of some things to finish organizing here now that the rest of my stuff is moved up.
• It has been warming up!  Adam and I were able to run outside in a t-shirt and shorts last week.  It's by no means warm, but it's at least not ridiculosuly cold.
• I've been learning my way around a bit better - I've managed to successfully run all errands I needed to run in the past week or two.
• I've also been cooking dinner for us a lot.  This is both saving us money and helping us to eat a little better!  And we usually have leftovers for Adam to take to work the next day for lunch.

Wedding

• We had one of our tastings last weekend, and we were very impressed!  We still have a tasting with another caterer, but then we'll be able to make all the final decisions about who to use, what to order, etc.
• Once we do that, we're also going to order our cake!
• We're starting to figure out what we want our invitations to say and how we want them to look so that we can get that all to our awesome designer Matt and get those done in the next month or so in order to get them ordered on time.
• My flower girls now have dresses!  Their mom found them something at Macy's that is PERFECT!
• My mom is hard at work on decor - it's going to be amazing.
• I also found the fake flowers for all of the wedding party.  They look real and saved a ton of money!

Fitness

• We are doing our engagement photos in a few weeks, and trying on clothes to figure out what to wear has just made me unhappy.  I know I am not fat or anything, but I have not been working out and it is showing.  SO....
• I am running again!  It's not a lot yet... just doing a mile or so in the neighborhood each day as more of a warm-up for the rest of my workout, but it feels good.
• I also started Insanity again.  After only 5 days of it, I already just feel better!
• Now that life feels a bit more settled, I'm determined to make working out a priority again.  I've got a wedding and honeymoon to look good for!

Honeymooning in Italy

It's been decided and booked.

Adam and I are going to take the dream trip for our honeymoon and go to Italy!

We've both always wanted to go, but at first we thought it was a bit too big of a trip to try to plan right now.  First, we talked about just doing a mini-moon and taking a long weekend to go to Colorado or something along those lines.  Then, we talked about going to a Sandals resort for a week, but we found out to do the one we liked it would cost almost as my last trip to Europe!  So we sat down one night, sent out some request for quotes from various travel agents, and now here we are all booked!

We start out by leaving the day after the wedding and flying to Venice.

After one full day and night in Venice, we hop a train to Florence for 3 nights.  We plan to explore the city, and we'll probably also take a train over to Pisa for a few hours to see the famous leaning tower and take the typical tourist photos with it.

While in Florence, we are also going to take a day and do a bike tour through Tuscany.  We'll get to to go to a castle, do a wine and oil tasting, have lunch out in the countryside, and just explore on bike.

Next, we will spend 2 nights in Rome.  We are going to take a tour of the Colleseum and the Vatican, but otherwise we will just wander around and explore the city.

To wrap up the trip, we will spend 2 nights on the Amalfi Coast in Positano.  It should be gorgeous!

We then spend one last night in Rome before flying back home.

We couldn't be more excited, and I wish it was time to go right now!  Neither of us are really "lay on the beach all week" kind of people, so we're thrilled that we're getting to go somewhere together that we've both always wanted to go.  It's going to be so fun to explore these cities together.  We feel like we've planned a good itinerary of being able to do some sightseeing, but also some relaxing.  We're staying in some nicer hotels (the one in Positano has an ocean view), and we've only booked a few tours.  We really just want to explore and take it in as we wander around.

I can't wait!  It feels so good to have this planned and marked off the to do list!  I am so glad we worked with a travel agent, too.  She got us some great deals, and it really took off the pressure of having to plan it all ourselves when we have so much other stuff going on right now!

Now to get the rest of the wedding planning done!

Some Updates

• I am now spending far more time in Indy with my man than I am in Nashville.  This is good in that I love being with him, and our home really feels like OUR home.  It's bad in that I have to miss out on some things in Nashville with friends.
• Work is work. :)
• I ordered my bridesmaid dresses.
• I also found flowers for the bridesmaids bouquets. (We're using silk flowers to save money, but they still look so real!)
• We have scheduled two catering tastings and are working on one more, and then we will pick our caterer and menu for both the rehearsal dinner and the reception!
• The Save the Dates went in the mail over the weekend, and I've been so excited to hear from people that they got them and love them! 
• We are booking our honeymoon tomorrow - we are going to.... ITALY!!!  We will do 10 days of traveling through Venice, Florence, Tuscany, Rome and the Amalfi Coast.  We may also add in a quick visit to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and we are discussing Pompeii.  We are definitely going to book a couple of tours in some of the cities.
• Next up is to decide on what we want with invitations so we can get the designer going, and Adam is going to set up a website for us that will be used for the RSVPs.
• We have CJ this weekend, and another friend and her two kiddos are going to ride up to Indy with us so we can take all the kids on Saturday to the big children's museum there in town.
• I bought some books on CD for the drive back and forth between Indy and Nashville.  I love listening to good tunes, and it's only a 4-hour drive... but it was time to find other ways to entertain myself when I am making the drive alone.
• I am hoping by the time May rolls around that I will be in Indy pretty much full-time with the exception of trips down here for our time with CJ or to come visit family/friends.

All in all, life is good... Just BUSY!

Oh, and I haven't run in almost 4 months.  Oops.  I'm determined to start working out again soon, but honestly?  It's been good for me to take a break.  I think I needed it, and I think it would have stressed me out to have tried to keep up the running over these last few months.

Call for Help

So Adam and I are pretty settled in our new home in Indy.

Granted, I don't quite live there full-time just yet. I'm back and forth between here and Nashville on a weekly basis.

To say it's a little crazy is an understatement.

I'm balancing loving Adam and developing our relationship, work, wedding planning, learning how to be a step-mom and toting a 5-year-old around, staying in touch with friends, figuring out how to make new ones in Indy, and so much more.

It's definitely nuts.  And I have had about 2 meltdowns in the last 2 months, which I would argue is not that many all things considered.

But all in all, it's good.

So how can you help?

One thing Adam and I are working on is saving money and eating at home more often.

If anyone has any quick and healthy recipes you can send me that you love and rely on, I would love to hear them!  Email them to me at melanie0513 (at) gmail (dot) com.

Thanks!