The Holidays

We typically spend Christmas Eve with the Beaver side of the family, that has been a tradition for as long as I can remember. The family is growing with Jacob, Will, Paul, Cheney, Aidan and little Keegan was sick at home. We always have fun catching up with the cousins and watching the little ones play! Somehow Chris was stuck on the couch during the little cousin photo....

Dad & PJ, tried to take a little cat nap, though that didn't last very long!

Later that evening we went to church at St. Christopher's the 8pm service which was perfect for the 5 of us as we just didn't think we could stay awake until 11pm that night.

Christmas morning Chris and I exchanged our gifts and enjoyed some alone time!

We (My Parents) have been getting their Christmas tree from Gatewood's since before I was born. And the tree has always been real and it has always been flocked (the white stuff on the tree). I was just told the sad news that Gatewood's isn't going to flock trees anymore. And my Dad doesn't think that real green trees are as pretty so they are going to look for a fake one. Oh no!!!!! So I had to get a familiy portrait in front of the last flocked tree.

Chicago

We went up to Chicago December 12th and hung out with Kerri and the kids (Cooper & Kriston) for the afternoon. Cooper loves basketball so we taught him how to play horse using Cooper! Very fun! Then we went to our friends house Vicki & Dan Smith. Saturday Vicki and I went shopping downtown and it rained almost the entire time. The crowds were huge, but we had fun! The boys stayed home and truthfully I don't want to know what they did! They both are working long hours so it was some well deserved time to themselves without their wives around!

Blogging Award (Thanks Erin!)

How exciting! Erin sent me a Kreativ Blogger Award!

I will take this award with pride and follow the rules. I need to send this to 6 lucky bloggers...

List six things that make you happy. Pass the award along to six more bloggers.: Do not give the typical answers and go for the less obvious, as you all know that family, friends, God, etc would be on the list :

1. Starbuck's White Chocolate Mocha (decaf, skinny and no whip cream)
That is my favorite drink in the winter time. Decaf b/c I can't drink caffeine, it gives me a headache. I think that is thanks to my cheer coach in High School (Beth Horine Beaver) who made us stop drinking soda when I was a freshman.

2. After work, after dinner and a tired dog make me happy. That just means that I can relax on the couch and watch TV before heading off to bed.

3. A happy husband that can make me smile. And he does it without caffeine which is the kicker! Even at 5:30am before our adult fitness class he is happy and joking around!

4. Buying gifts for other people. Planning out the list of people and what we are going to get for them and thinking about the smile on their face when they open it!

5. Murad Energizing Pomegranate Lip Protector (with SPF 15) makes my lips happy every time I put it on!!

6. Exercise makes me happy, it is my time every day to myself where I listen to music, workout my frustrations and I don't have to answer the phone or check my e-mail.

So that is my list, though I think it could be longer! So my nominations go to.....
Kelly Applegate, Becky Meek, Katie Fox, Brandy McHugh, Nicole Kelker

Thanksgiving 2008

Both of our families live just outside of Indianapolis so it is very easy for us to see everyone over the Thanksgiving holiday! Chris and Blake started out with the annual Turkey Bowl football game which was held at Dillon Park this year. I went over to Mom and Dad's to help cook (oh and Randi got to come along). The big deal of Thanksgiving this year was the "Mystery Guests" that my parents talked about. Blake and I both got 3 questions to ask about these guests. 2 weeks ago I was out of questions to ask and couldn't come up with an answer of who the guests were going to be. I was at Bob Fearrin's 50th Anniversary of being in business in Carmel and he accidentally spilled the beans. Mom and I were getting ready to leave his open house at his office and he said see you on Thursday and I said ah ha, the mystery guests are Mr. & Mrs. Fearrin!!! What a fun time we had though! And the weather was nice enough that we attempted to take our annual Christmas photo.

Friday we did our usual Sunday routine, sleep in until Randi wants to get up (like 7:30am) and work out and eat at Panera. We attempted to go to a couple stores to shop and then I went downtown to have lunch with Web and Mo. It was great to catch up with them!

Friday evening was our annual Beaver, Fearrin, McHugh, Voris Christmas Party. Molly and her husband Jesse aren't usually in town over the holidays and this year they were here for Thanksgiving so we had our party early! What a treat to have all the 4 families and their kids and their kids kids!! I went a little crazy with the camera and took many photos of all the babies (5 of them this year, Carter, Lilly, Kennedy, Ansley and Ella). What a wonderful tradition! To the right you will see Carter and his Dad Kyle and below that is Ella. To the left you will see Ansley and Lilly and I didn't get any photos of Kennedy (sorry!) though I bet you can see them on the Applegate blog.....





Saturday we hopped in the car and headed to Batesville. When we arrived we were challenged to a game of Wii bowling. Chris's parents purchased a Wii and it got its fair share of playing this weekend! We had a wonderful meal on Saturday and lots of playing the Wii and I might add that I kicked butt in bowling! I am horrible at golf on the other hand. Wow, what a long post!

Chris turns 30!!

We have a lot to be thankful for in November this year! Chris turned 30 is the first thing. We had a very nice dinner at Kincaid's with the Beavers! He proceeded to open gifts and he received a juicer (which he was super excited about, why I'm not sure...) and a new cell phone (since his old one was eaten by the DD - which is short for damn dog).

We then drove to Shelbyville on Saturday and met the Powell's for a nice dinner at the Fiddler's Three with his parents, grandparents, sister and fiance!

Live to work or Work to live??

Being a small business owner has its perks....and its downfalls. Perks being that you as an owner can come and go as you please as long as there is another employee that can make somewhat good decisions staying behind. So going home for lunch or to let the dog out or run errands that normal people do on the weekends is fine!

Downfalls come when you are in a business that needs to be open over the holidays and you don't get 1 week off for Thanksgiving or 2 weeks off over the Christmas Holiday.

We are off to our family filled weekend of non traditional meals at my parents house (rib roast) and more traditional meals at Chris's parents house in Batesville.

Right now I would say that we are a 50/50 split of live to work and work to live. What are you??

The dog

Chris loves to take photos of our dog Randi. Every night after she winds down (which happens after at least an hour or 2 of play time!) she will lay down on her bed between the 2 couches that we sit on. There is always a moment when Chris needs to take a photo of her. This just proves that 1. she does actually wind down and 2. that she is super cute! The tongue sticking out tells us she is really tired.

The photo to the right she is looking at Chris saying, seriously stop taking pictures of me. That flash is driving me crazy!

Butler Homecoming

It has been awhile since I made it to Butler Homecoming. Vicki came down from Chicago and the AXO House was having a brunch to welcome back alumni! A great tradition that the girls are going to start (to hopefully help raise some funds for the house!)

Me, Jess, Vicki, Jen and Lisa enjoyed our time at BU despite the cold weather! We watched the parade (which I never actually remember doing at school) and we walked through campus to the College of Business. We checked out the Butler Bookstore and then made our way to Broad Ripple. No we didn't go to the game, I wasn't about to sit outside in the freezing cold weather!

Off to Chumley's for a warm adult beverage and then to the mall and to a movie and dinner to complete our day of fun.

It was great to remember what it is like to not have to work on the weekends! Boy I miss those days!

September 25 - 28

Well September 25th was our 4 year Wedding Anniversary! Being a Thursday evening, we played it pretty low key. We went to Kona Grill for dinner and sat out in the porch area. Mom made a surprise appearance (though she brought Chris's wallet to him which he left at VSP and she took care of the bill). What a great Mom!

Friday we drove to Cincy to hang out with Michelle (Chris's sister) and Kevin (her fiance!). Though their power was out when we arrived. Chris's parents arrived and we drove to Northern Kentucky University, just over the river for a comedy show featuring Jeff Duhnam. He was hilarious! We grabbed a bite to eat after the show at a very cool little burger place. We stayed overnight at Shell & Kevin's house.

Saturday we had breakfast at First Watch (great coffee!) and then walked around Eden Park. We walked through the conservatory and Chris talked with one of the workers about cutting down his cactus plant. And we saw a 12 foot huge yellow and white snake, ew!!

Sunday was Will Ruschhaupt's 5th Birthday! I will always remember how old Will is because his first birthday was the day before we got married!

Go COLTS!

Hampton Beach, New Hampshire

We have just returned from our trip to Hampton, New Hampshire for a long weekend getaway. We traveled with Chris's Parents, Grandparents, sister and fiance. We rented a house that is on the ocean (though we found out it was without air conditioning). It was a relaxing get away.

We started out at lunch at the Blue Mermaid in Portsmouth. The Blue Mermaid was recommended by Rachel Ray from the Food Network! We then drove a short distance to the Coast Guard Station where the Portsmouth Lighthouse was located. Chris really likes lighthouses, so we had to make sure we saw this one!

On Thursday we picked up Michelle and her now fiance Kevin from the airport and hung out at the beach for awhile, just watching the surfers! We went to Little Jack's for dinner and had lobster! Never knew lobster could be so cheap $16.99!

Friday was the big day of the Seafood Festival, one of the main reasons we chose Hampton Beach, NH (besides Manchester, NH being a place that Southwest flies and we had free flights). The festival was packed and everything it was hyped up to be! We enjoyed the music and people watching and of course the food! Lobster Mac & Cheese, lobster roll (or lobster po-boy sandwich), lobster ravioli and more! Plus all the booths with free stuff!

Saturday it rained and rained and rained! Tropical Storm Hanna came our way and it just rained all day long. So that meant shopping for me and Michelle! I of course had already done research and found an outlet mall about 15 miles north of Hampton in Kittery, Maine. So we hopped in the car (a blue PT Cruiser I might add) and drove about 20 minutes over a big bridge and into another state! It was a success of course!

We finished off our last night at a local restaurant called The Old Salt! All in all a very relaxing trip! We walked on the beach, ate a lot and enjoyed the company!

Busy Weekend

Boy we had a busy weekend. Saturday we were at the Indians game for Velocity and Sunday we drove down to Sunman, IN for Uncle Larry's Surprise 50th Birthday Party!

Then we drove downtown Indy to see the new stadium where the Colts are going to play, Lucas Oil Stadium. AKA "The Luke". The stadium is amazing!

Randi

Well Randi is all better now and she has been playing a lot lately! We took her to my parents house a couple weekends ago (I think the last weekend in July actually) and she loved the lake, though she would only go in deep enough to where she could touch! She also was trying to attack the stick and dig in the sand which was fun to watch!

Though we got some bad news from the pet insurance company that had me in tears yesterday. Our appeal was denied to cover her right leg surgery. Not sure what we are going to do now.......

Chicago

Last weekend we took Friday off and headed north to Chicago! We picked up Aunt Lynn at the O'Hare Airport and drove to see The Noard's in Glenview!

We played with Cooper and Kriston inside the newly renovated basement and played baseball outside with Cooper.

That evening we drove to Vicki & Dan's house. Vicki had to work late so we ordered food in and hung out which was very nice to relax! Saturday it was the Cubs game! Have I mentioned that Vicki is the biggest Cubs fan around. She even has Cubs jeans, need I say more?? What a fun weekend!

Velocity

We have a new tenant upstairs at Velocity and one of the guys, Ben does professional photography. He volunteered to take our photos! I love this one of Chris and I!!

Chris's Cactus

So Molly has been keeping this blog thing and now it is my turn to post something that I bet you didn't know about me. I love cactus plants! Notice in some of the pics there are more flowers after it matured. The other two plants I bought last year at a cactus club sale at in Cincinnati.

Katie & Ed's Wedding

Jen and I left Indy at 10:10am on Friday and flew to Washington Dulles Airport. We got off the plane and went to see where our next flight was going to take off from and it said CANCELLED! Oh NO!!! So after a 6 hour layover we made it to Roanoke, Virginia and drove 1 hour to Lexington, Virginia. We caught up with Vicki & Dan and went to dinner at Tuscany. Thanks Katie for the referral, it was a great restaurant! Katie told us to meet her at The Palms (a local bar) after dinner as that would be where they all meet up after the rehearsal dinner. So off we went! I don't think Lexington knew what was coming their way with all of us!

After an evening spent with my new friend Grey Goose and Cranberry I was ready to go Saturday morning! We helped decorate the reception and Perfect Jen handled the flowers which turned out awesome! I didn't get any great photos from the wedding, but the bride and groom were all smiles as Katie and her Dad walked down the aisle. Katie wore a beautiful ivory lace dress and matching veil, absolutely radiant!!

The reception was so much fun and I loved the ice cream bar!!! Back to the Palms we went to celebrate the marriage of Katie & Ed, though they were off to their hotel of course, and my dreaded 30th birthday. The good thing was when people were guessing how old I was going to be they guessed 23 or 24!! Vicki kept reminding the entire bar how much time was left until midnight. Chris was out in Vegas for a conference and called me at midnight to wish his sweetie a Happy Birthday. And of course I received a phone call from my Mother who was in New Orleans for work, at the Piano Bar and the entire bar was singing Happy Birthday to me!

I love the little town of Lexington and I wish Katie & Ed all the best!

July 6th Party

Mom and Dad had a party on July 6th and I thought it was to celebrate Independence Day with family. Little did I know they had a little something up their sleeve. We played in the pool with Jacob, Will and Paul. And we went on a boat ride! The weather was hot, but nice and the company rocked! Thanks for thinking of me on my special day!

Finally Something Lucky

After all the bad luck we have been having with our dog Randi, finally something lucky happened to me over the weekend. My friends and I hosted a Wedding Shower and Bachelorette Party for our sorority sister Katie Rybak. The weather was a little windy, but we got lucky with no rain. We hosted the shower at my parent's house outside. The shower was fun and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.

The photo is Katie and her 3 sisters, Jennie, Annie and Mary Beth. Katie is in the fun yellow dress.

After the shower we rushed downtown to set up for the party which started at the Omni Severin Hotel downtown Indianapolis. As I drove downtown I picked up dinner (Moe's Southwest Grill) and they didn't have the order so I got the entire order for 10 people at $5.45!! Then when I checked into the hotel they upgraded us to a bi-level suite!! The suite was awesome, it had a huge living room and dining room table, large patio and an upstairs bedroom too! Then when we left to go out to the bars, I found $20 in the street!!!

I woke up on Sunday and felt great, even after all the blue motorcycle drinks I had the night before. Oh and did I mention that I ran into 3 of my employees? The good thing is that they realize I am a normal person that knows how to have FUN!!

Dog drama

Poor Randi! Last Thursday we took her back to the vet to have her knee checked because they thought it might be infected. Saturday morning when they got the test results back sure enough it is infected. Chris took her back to the vet and they did a procedure to flush out the infected area on her leg and kept her until Wednesday. Bad for our puppy, but we actually had dinner out one night.

So once again she has a cone on her head for 2 weeks and we start all over with carrying her up and down the steps again. Geez!!

Poor Randi!

So Monday morning we are back from vacation and Chris is out in California for a Velocity meeting and that leaves me to take Randi back to the specialist vet. Sure enough the Vet checks out her rear right leg and he could feel the tear in the ACL. He didn't even need to take x-rays (which saved us $200!). So she went under the knife again on Monday and had to stay over night at the vet for observation.

So Monday evening I had the night all to myself, no dog and no husband! What did I do then you ask, laundry from the trip and nothing else! I ate a frozen pizza (shhhh don't tell!).

So Randi is a cone head again for 2 weeks, plus they shaved her leg all the way to her butt and she is on 3 different medications. Poor thing! Now that the weather is warmer, all the dogs in the complex are out playing and she can't join them :(

The Vet was nice enough to shorten her recovery period which is so kind! Last time she went 2 weeks with the cone on her head and then 6 more weeks of isolation and no playing. This time he said we would go 2 weeks for a check up and then only 4 weeks for the check up and x-rays to make sure everything is coming along as it should. Thank goodness! So right around the middle of July she should be good to go!

One thing I have learned about though is pet insurance and we purchased insurance for Randi after her first surgery, so this one is essentially free! That is a good thing for sure!

I will upload some photos over the weekend!

Cancun Family Trip May 2008

Wow it was so nice to be away from the real world for one week. Though just before we left Randi started limping on her right rear leg (not the one that just had surgery).

We stayed at Moon Palace Resort and Spa in Cancun, Mexico thanks to my Aunt Lynn & Uncle Joe who are Members we received VIP treatment all week! Here is a photo of the compound. They have over 2,300 rooms, it was absolutely huge!

Upon arrival the margaritas began flowing and after about 7 of them I don't exactly remember the rest of the evening. What a way to start out the trip!! I was told we were kicked out of the pool that evening though I remember making it back to the room by myself while it was light outside.

We had so much fun with the family, Aunt Lynn & Uncle Joe and Luke, Kerri & Troy and the kids Cooper and Kriston, Tony and Corydon, and of course us, Mom, Dad, Blake, Chris and I. It went by all too quickly!

We did manage a family photo. I don't think my camera took one of the entire group. I will post it when I get that one. And a photo of me with Kriston and Cooper. It was great to hang out with the little ones that we don't get to see too often!

Our last night together before Blake, Mom and Dad headed back to Indy was Tuesday night and all the cousins enjoyed hanging out in the lobby bar and then off to Andromeda the disco bar where we held our own on the dance floor!

So many restaurants to choose from, Brazilian, Italian, Mexican, Oriental, Sushi Bar, Italian Restaurant 2, Seafood, and on and on.

Chris did get me out on a kayak where we did better than we did on our honeymoon and made it out pretty far actually.

It doesn't get better than sun, beach, family, food and drinks in a foreign country where no one can get in touch with you!

Thanks everyone for making our vacation one to remember!

Spring is here!

What a beautiful weekend! We worked for most of the day on Saturday, but enjoyed time outside on Sunday. The Monon Trail was packed and Randi sat on the porch watching all the people go by. She really wanted to go outside and play with her friend Lola (a black lab that is one of our neighbor's) but she is still restricted with no playing for another 3 weeks!

I hope you were able to get outside and enjoy the nice weather! We will be busy working the next couple weekends and will be stuck inside.

Randi update

Well Randi came home after surgery with a plastic cone on her head. I am usually the one that laughs at the dogs with the cone on their head. Not this time! Plus when we take her outside she has to use a lap belt which wraps around her belly. It is not easy taking her outside or carrying her up the stairs!

On March 12th her stitches came out, she had 14 of them! That also meant that she didn't have to wear the cone anymore. The other end result of no cone on her head is that she thinks she is OK and can get rowdy and play.

She is on the injured list for another 6 weeks until we take x-rays. So the week of april 21st she will go back for more x-rays to see if she is released. If she gets released then we can take her on walks, but no playing for another 2 weeks. This couldn't end quick enough.

Though I have learned all about dog insurance and we should have had this from the beginning!!!

I will try and post an updated photo!

Randi Powell Put on Injured Reserved List

Randi Powell was put on the IR list last weekend. She tore her ACL, yes dogs have them too. She went down while playing with her friend Lola, a black lab puppy that lives in our complex. She is out for a minimum of 6 weeks and could be up to 8 weeks. She went in for surgery on Thursday, February 28th and comes home today, February 29th. We hope the recovery is fast so she can return to the team quickly!

Hall Girls in Chicago

I (Molly) have been planning this get away weekend for my Mom since November of last year. We finally pulled it off. We being myself along with my cohorts in crime, Aunt Lynn Pierce (Mom's sister) and Kerri Noard (my cousin and Lynn's daughter). For weeks mom has been receiving these notes in the mail about Holly's Mystery Weekend January 25 - 27, 2008. She was told to pack in a suitcase for cold weather (or warm weather) and make sure to include hiking boots. I had to throw her off a little. At one point she was pretty sure she was going to Arizona to see our friends the Voris's to go hiking.

Sure enough I picked her up on Friday in Dad's Explorer and she was delighted to find out that I was going with her on this Mystery Weekend. We drove past the airport and onto I-65. She finally realized we were going to Chicago about 2 hours into the trip. When I pulled out the I-Pass she was totally confused. Thanks to Kerri for sending it to me!

We stop at Starbuck's just before our first destination and there we ran into Lynn and Cooper, surprise is on you Mom! Aunt Lynn was nice enough to fly in town for the weekend. We spend the afternoon at the Noard's house playing with Kriston and Cooper and catching up!

Saturday we were off on Day 2 downtown to the Red Door Spa. We have been talking about doing a weekend at the Red Door Spa for at least 10 years! What a relaxing day. After checking into the hotel, courtesy of Aunt Lynn's points (thanks Aunt Lynn) we got ready for a night on the town. Kerri had a surprise up her sleeve and booked a limo to take us around to the sights of Chicago. We hit the Plantation where you can see the skyline of the city, Wrigley Field in honor of Grandma Dee, United Center where the Bulls play and we were off to dinner at Roy's. It was a wonderful evening!

Sunday was breakfast and shopping. All of our favorite things together in one weekend. Thanks to all who helped me pull it off and thanks to Mom for being a sport and playing a long!

Randi to doggie day care!

Well just as the New Year began we purchased some days at Club Canine for Randi. Doggie day care helps us have a pleasant evening! We drop her off around 7:30am and she stays for 1/2 day until 1pm and then she goes home and sleeps. She picks her energy back up the next day of course. So while at doggie day care Randi has picked up barking which is not great, but oh well huh! The day care place has this big window you can look in and see the dogs playing and a couple times we have seen some other boxers that are about 2 of Randi!!

That's it for now!

Randi enjoyed the Holidays too!!

Just a few cute photos of our baby, Randi and how she got to enjoy the Holidays too! She got to be included on the activities on Christmas Day and she was so excited about it too! Thanks to Luke for being a good sport with her!


For Christmas Randi received 20 1/2 days at doggie day care. She had her first day last week and boy was she excited and nervous at the same time. She played with 2 other boxers, both about twice her size! She had fun though!

The Holidays!

Wow, Christmas and New Years came and went so fast. We were the travelers for the Holidays and we are lucky because we don't have to travel out of the state of Indiana!

We started in Chicago the weekend of December 15 - 16 to visit our friends Vicki and Dan. Vicki hurt her foot falling off a step stool in her closet and Dan and Chris went to the Rob Zombie and Ozzie Osborne concert. Tons of fun! My Mom was snowed in just outside of Chicago so we picked her up and drove her home too! Chris slept in the back seat and Mom and I talked the entire trip home!

On the 22nd we headed down to Batesville and left Randi at home with our new best friend Betsy! Poor Betsy, 3 weekends of fun with Randi!! Sunday we hung out all day in Batesville and traveled to Franklin to see my Dad's side of the family. Tons of little ones running around and having fun! The 24th we were at my Parent's house with family and stayed awake for midnight mass of course! Christmas Day I was up early (as always) and we did our own Powell Christmas and then off to Mom and Dads where Santa still comes. Yes Santa still comes! Mom's sister and her family joined us that afternoon.

And back to work on the 26th! We were back in Batesville on the 29th and 30th where we had the Powell vs. Perkins cook off. It was a little unfair b/c we made the main course, but everyone loved it! That is a first for me! Then we took photos of Vicki and the family as she missed her graduation from IUPUI b/c of the weather.