Simple Movie Night

 

The husband and I had a good old fashioned movie night last night (Captain America, to be exact). No Facebook, no checking instagram or email, no crafting. It was almost strange just sitting down without multi-tasking. It was freeing, actually. I need to make a note for us to do this more often!

Youth Cookout

Jake had his annual youth cookout at our place on Sunday. Since we live an hour away, it was great having all of them in our neck of the woods for an afternoon. We grilled out, played board games, sang the Canadian national anthem (yep), and even braved the heat outside for a bit. Such a fun afternoon with some of my favorite teenagers and their families!

Home Town Surprises

I have lived in the same house in southeastern Indiana all my life (well, my life before marriage). I felt like I knew everything my little area had to offer. But, thanks to my grandparents, I learned that my neck of the woods still has some gems to offer that I had no idea existed. 

 Grandpa told me there was a school-turned-restaurant around the Versailles area that "wasn't very fancy," but he thought I would like it. Grandpa knows me well.
 

Did I mention it had an antique shop attached? Yep. Surprise of the day was the only one that bought anything was Dad. He got a small marble topped dresser for a steal!

We then went down the road to an Amish bulk food store. So many spices, soup mixes, produce...I finally decided on a vanilla dark hot chocolate mix. Cuteness points go to the little Amish children in their overalls and bare feet riding bikes to the store.

Don't you love it when your home area surprises you? Me too.

Indie Day in Indy

Want to have your very own indie day in Indianapolis?

Step 1: Visit Homespun for modern handmade goods. Lots of my Christmas presents will be bought here.

Step 2: Go to Indy CD and Vinyl to get some new tunes.

Step 3: Have dinner at Twenty Tap. Order any burger with a fried egg on top.

Step 4: Marvel at how well-spent your day was!

Bits and Pieces

Future bro-in-laws/ Record shopping

Wreath making/ Mason jar chandelier 

Home grown tomatoes/ Zac O preforming at The Underground

Family Reunion

Had a great time today with the Taylor side of my family! We try to get together with them every year or so, and this year the shindig was at Mom and Dad's house. Plus, it was the perfect time to celebrate Grandma June's 80th birthday from earlier in the week. The best part of our get together was hanging out with some of my second cousins. I never got to know them very well when we were younger, and it was so neat to realize how much we had in common. I'm very lucky to be part of such a great family.

I Will Wait

Just in case you're as excited for the new Mumford & Sons album as I am, here's a little sample. 

Mumford and Sons concert

Oh.My.Goodness. That's all I can say after Jake and I saw Mumford & Sons live in Louisville on Monday night. We knew it was going to be a late night, but when one of your favorite bands that live on another continent come to town, you go!

We really enjoyed the opening bands (which sometimes is not the case at concerts). Mumford's stage setup was so neat, lots of cafe lights and candle-like spotlights. Their big screens on either side of the stage were in black and white, which gave the whole concert a vintage feel. Jake said he felt like he was in a Noir film.

The concert was made even better by the fact that we met up with our friends, Brad and Emily. It was so fun to catch up, and Emily and I swooned over Marcus Mumford the whole night. The concert was sold out (16,000 people!) and I now know that I am spoiled with the smaller shows we go to all the time. Definitely not used to the big crowds.

So now I'm still on the Mumford concert high and eagerly awaiting their new album that comes out next month! Can't wait!

 

Engaged!

My sister, Kels, is engaged! 

Dav proposed a little over a week ago at the Guilford Covered Bridge just down the road from our house. We are SO excited for Dav to join our family. It's such a blessing to know that your sister is marrying a great guy, and one that you'll be friends with for years to come. 

Congrats, Kels and Dav! Love you both so so much!

DIY Dream Catcher

 

I remember making these every summer at Girl Scout day camp. Love them! I recently made one for a friend and thought I would share.

You will need:

 

Embroidery hoop, yarn, embroidery floss, feathers, beads, scissors

Start by wrapping the embroidery hoop in yarn. I secured the yarn with a dot of hot glue.

Take a long piece of embroidery floss and tie it to the top of the embroidery hoop. To start the dream catcher pattern, loop the floss as shown about an inch away from where you knotted the floss. Continue to loop the floss every inch or so the entire away around the hoop.

Once you have gotten to the top of the hoop once again, continue to loop the floss, but this time make the loop on the floss attached to the hoop. You are making a second level of the pattern. Continue the looping until you reach the very middle of the hoop.

Once you get to the middle, knot the floss and cut off any access string. I added a bead to the end of the floss before I knotted it.

For added decoration, hang floss down from the bottom of the embroidery hoop. Add beads and feathers as you like. I secured my feathers with floral tape, but hot glue would also work (you can hide the hot glue mark with the beads if you use this technique).

And you're done! I also added embroidery floss to the top for easy hanging. Sweet dreams tonight!

Hello, reality

 

Well, the day every teacher dreads is upon us: the first day of a new school year. The end of summer. Oh, 5:30 am is going to hurt tomorrow.

We had open house last night, and I always forget how tall and tan and grown up they all look after two months of not seeing them. For the most part, they're excited to see their friends and maybe even their teachers (although they wouldn't admit it). And I have to say, I was excited to see them, too. Say a little prayer for all of us tomorrow. We're going to be tired puppies by the end of the day!

Indiana State Fair

Jake and I headed to the Indiana State Fair on Friday. This has been one of my family traditions ever since Kels and I preformed with our jump rope team back in the day (that's right, I have mad jump roping skills to this day). I think my favorite part of the fair every year is seeing so many things that just scream "Indiana." The FFA pavilion, corn planted in pots instead of flowers, cute old men in overalls, cows everywhere, local cider and other products for sale...yep, that's us.

 

We ate lots of deep fried candy bars for lunch.

 

I snagged myself a Grand Champion at the cattle barn.

 

We even got to watch some of Jake's youth do a great job preforming at the "Band Day" competition. Love those kilts!

Homemade Pesto

I have been growing basil in my garden for a while now in preparation to make this:

Then, this happened:

 

Some cute little furry animal decimated my basil crop. I mean, not even one little plant left. To say I was upset by this would be an understatement. All my pesto dreams are now in a bunny's belly. But! Luckily my friends Matt and Kourtney shared their basil crop with me and I finally got to make my pesto. Here's the recipe I used. I didn't have any pine nuts in my kitchen, so I found this recipe that doesn't call for them.

Basil Pesto

3 cups fresh basil leaves

2-3 cloves garlic

About 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Splash of fresh lemon juice

About 1/2 cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a food processor or blender, chop up the garlic until it is minced.

2. Add in the basil and cheese and start to blend. Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the machine is running. Blend until smooth.

3. Squeeze in a little lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Taste the sauce and adjust to your likings.

5. Put in a freezer container and freeze if you wish or use it right away.

Letting Love lately

Jake's band, Letting Love, has been quite busy lately. They played a battle of the bands at The Emerson in Indianapolis a few weeks ago, and just this past Sunday they opened for sosaveme at Jake's church in Anderson (more on that later). They also have quite a few shows lined up for this fall that I'm really looking forward to. It's been so great to spend time with these guys and see them grow as musicians. I'm really excited to see where the band is going!