A Day in Madison

Mom, Kels, and I took a day trip to Madison, Indiana yesterday. We all three went to Hanover College right down the road, so we are frequent visitors of Madison. It has a historic downtown area with lots of unique stores, antique malls, and local restaurants. My new favorite store downtown is Red Dog Arms. It is full of 19th century antiques and civil war memorabilia (that's where I found that beautiful puppy pictured below). Of course, we had to grab shakes at our favorite late-night college restaurant, Hinkles on our way out. I love this town so much. It brings back so many memories!

Memorial Day Weekend

I just love a good three-day weekend.

This one was full of family time, friend time, youth group time, and even some time for just the two of us. 

We browsed through the comic book store (for Jake) and an antique mall (for me).

 

We went to a cookout with Anderson friends. 

 

At one point, the Letting Love guys pulled out their guitars and had an impromptu acoustic concert. It was awesome. I couldn't have planned that activity better myself.

 

...and we rounded out the weekend by putting our grill together and stuffing our faces with all of those cookout staples.

Shannon's Birthday

Last Monday Jake and I headed to Louisville to see our friends in Mike Mains and the Branches once again. We found out a few days before that it would be Shannon's birthday, so we snuck in a cake before the show started without her knowing. About halfway through the set Jake went onstage with the cake and Mike had the entire crowd singing to Shannon. After a great show, we went outside and played with some sparklers in honor of the birthday girl. We were so excited to celebrate Shannon's birthday with her. After such a tough couple of weeks she deserved to have a great day. Can't wait until these friends come into town (hopefully) sometime soon!

Kels's Birthday

Miss Tessie turned the big 2-3 this past week! We celebrated with a family party at Mom and Dad's house. Jake and I also drove to Lafayette on her actual birthday to eat some smiley face cookies and a trip to Starbucks. 

I can't believe Kels is out of college and just finished her first year of teaching! She's getting so old.:)

Mom and Dad also gave Kels a subscription to Umba Box for her birthday. She gets a box of handmade Etsy-type goods each month! It's a really fun gift if you're looking for something different for a friend or family member.

Emily's Wedding

This past weekend, one of my oldest and dearest friends, Miss Emily, got married. She looked absolutely beautiful in her vintage-inspired dress, headpiece, and jewelry. A girl after my own heart. :) Her reception was an amazing mix of my elementary school friends and their families. We danced the night away at Em's reception and just enjoyed each others company. It reminded me how lucky I was to meet some of my best friends so early in life. Not many people have that and I am grateful for these wonderful girls.

Congratulations, Rusty and Em! Your big day was truly something special.

Pacers Game

I am sorry for the lack of blogging the past week or so, friends. As you will find out with the next few posts, the Mister and I had a busy busy week. Fun things, though, so definitely no complaints here!

Last Thursday Jake and I went with Mom and Dad to see Game 3 of the Pacers/Heat Playoffs. All 18,000 of us were greeted with a gold shirt to wear to the game. It was pretty impressive to look out into the crowd and see a sea of gold!

I think the stars aligned to make this the greatest experience ever for my family. Gaither Vocal Band played the national anthem, to which Dad almost peed his pants (he's a huge GVB fan), the Pacers stomped the Heat and held Dwane Wade to four points, and Jake met IU basketball player Victor Oladipo. Holy moly, great night.

 

 No big deal, just hanging out with his friend Victor.

The Branches Need Your Help

If you read my blog with any consistency you know that Jake and I love Mike Mains and the Branches. Over the past year we have become friends with all four of them. They are the nicest, most sincere group of people you will ever meet. 

Unfortunately while in Texas this week their van was stolen, along with all of their gear and personal belongings. Think guitars, amps, Macbooks, clothes, wallets...everything.

The amazing part of this story is that they are still touring. They are borrowing equipment from other bands and are buying clothes and such along the way. Jake and I saw them on Friday in Cincinnati and their show was just as entertaining and enjoyable as usual, even if they aren't playing their own instruments.

They have set up a "store" where you can donate to help get them back on their feet. I encourage you to visit here to help them out any way you can.

Just to show you they still got it...

Banana Ice Cream

Wish me luck! I'm about to make these puppies into banana ice cream. I've never made it before, but this is a way healthier alternative to the regular kind. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out.

(See below for recipe)

 

Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients:
Frozen Bananas (approx 1 cup)
Coconut Milk (approx 1/2 cup)
Cinnamon & Nutmeg to taste

Directions:
Place above ingredients in a blender and blend until well combined. If ice cream is too thick add a little more coconut milk.

Update:
 It worked! And it was delicious. My advice would be to peel the banana before you put it into the freezer. It was not pretty trying to get the peel off while it was frozen.