a visit with family

this last sunday we had the chance to get together with casey's uncle and aunt, danny and monique, along with all their fun boys!

we really did have a blast!

they have a beuatiful home with such an awesome backyard for entertainment!
activities consisted of:
scrabble
homemade pizza cooked in a homemade brick oven
{that experience has most definitely made me want my own brick oven at my house, it tasted incredible!}
lots of chatting
oohing and ahhing over all their awesome pets
some great cake in honor of the indie 500
boys being boys and playing in the yard (boys as in ages of 10-25:)
glow in the dark sticks

and lastly, my favorite part,
fireflies!
real fireflies! i've never seen fireflies before and they were just magical!
i can't wait to see more of them this summer!

we all had such a blast over there for hours,
it was so nice to be around family who you can automatically connect with.
can't wait to get together with them again!

little love letters #3

dear mr. cutler,  t-minus 18 days til you take the DAT! show those angles and whole punches who's boss, mk? 
dear new purple nail polish, i love you.

dear biggest loser, we love you! it was so fun watching olivia win, everyone on the show looked incredible!

dear homemade ice cream machine, you rock. your cookies and cream ice cream rocked my socks off.

dear piano, i'm learning to play you (thanks to the wonderful teacher ms. camille)! i know, you were as excited as i was, especially bc i'm your only student who probably plays with nails that click and clack all over you (i'll work on that...) all that matters is we keep going!


dear doubles stuffed oreos, you disappear all too quickly for my liking.
dear jaden, you're quite fun to watch eating. thanks for being so much fun for casey and i to play with.

dear sewing machine, we're becoming friends too! all i ask is that you sew straight lines and not poke me. sound like a deal?

dear indiana, your weather is crazy! tornado warnings and crazy hail all in the same day? goodness gracious! once we saw it getting way windy outside, we hi-tailed our bums into the laundry room and began freaking out! so sad to see all the devastation that has gone on here in the midwest lately.

adios amigos!

our first ever half marathon!

i still cannot believe that we actually ran 13.1 miles today!

i'm so proud of us to say the least!

here's how the day went!!!

these first pictures are right before the race started,
we were so excited, couldn't believe we were about to start our 13 mile journey!
did i tell you casey's brother cody ran with us? yes, so bloggers, meet cody.

and so the race begins!
the course was gorgeous,
highways lined with huge pretty trees,
neighborhoods with the most awesomely beautiful homes,
huge to say the least :)
and the whole course ran around a beautiful reservoir/lake/marina.

the 3 of us ran together for about the 1st 7 miles,
and to be honest i think we were all amazed at how good we were feeling!
and then between 7-8 we came upon some HUGE hills.
casey and cody kinda pulled ahead,
so by mile 8 or so they were nowhere in sight.
the next 5 miles took FOREVER!
the 3 of us agreed after the race that we all hit a huge wall at mile 10.
WALL!!
the gatorade stations, water stations, misting areas, spectators, and food areas were all wonderful to help us keep going.
i really think what made the first 7 miles so easy was that there were so many people around you,
running,
happy,
it seriously made it so much to run with tons of people next to you!

and then finally there was a mile left, A MILE PEOPLE!
longest mile of my life!
but once i rounded the corner for the final stretch i just got chills over my whole body!
i just ran 13.1 miles! i did it!
such an incredible feeling.

right when i crossed the finish casey found me.
i stuffed a banana into my mouth like no savage has before,
along with cookies, an orange, more water, more gatorade, cookies, granola bars, and pretzels
(all complimentary of the half marathon:)
we found cody (cody and casey finished together)
and then we found camille and jaden who cheered us on,
such great sport for coming all the way out!

 

post-race:
my knees KILL.
the areas around my achilles tendon KILL.
my toe nails KILL.
but, we finished the race and are completely proud of ourselves for running our first half marathon!!!!

ps- thank you convenient iPhone for being an incredible multi-tasker:
music, telephone, texting, and pictures. thank you

T-minus 1 day

til casey and i run our half marathon!

yes.

you read correctly 

half marathon

13.1 miles

but we are rather excited!

we started training back at the end of february.

we were really good at constant training until casey went to mexico.

and then our training was pushed to the bottom of our list.

we'd only be able to do our long runs on saturdays and kill ourselves.

then finals came around and that was a joke trying to run, study, take tests, and pack!

then we went to AZ and ran in the brutally hot sun and just about died.

then we came to indiana and have not had the motivation to run.

ha!

i can count on 1 hand how many times i've ran.

so how prepared are we?

prepared enough to get through it!

we plan to run (use this term loosely) the 13 miles together while listening to the justin bieber pandora station.

 

picture: i did find a nice, quiet road to run on around here lined with farming fields til the eye can see.

it's a nice, serene view during my runs.

on saturday when you wake up, just know casey and i will have most likely finished our first ever half marathon that we are not prepared for :)

as of recently:

 jaden and i hanging out in the yard together.
casey mowing the 5 foot tall weeds grass.
cheesecake factory with some fun couples in the area.

casey continues to study
while i continue to look for a job,
what fun.

onto better news:

happy 31st anniversary mom and dad! woot woot!
look at you two, so cute from the 1st year til the 31st year,
can't wait to celebrate mine and husband's 31 years together!

logan, my brother

to mi hermano logan:
happy birthday brother!
i love you.
i'm pretty sure you don't read my blog but either mom or blair will and they will show you this.

8 reasons why you're an awesome brother:
1. you used to play tickle monster with me and tickled me til i peed my pants.
for some reason, i thought it was fun.
2. you married blair and had annalee and phoebe.
i love those 3 girls so much.
3. you teased me the least when we were younger, thank you,
even though it was because of you i broke my arm when i was 6...not pointing fingers or anything 
4. whenever you see me you call me "kimmm-berlay!"
i kinda like it.
5. you had the biggest head out of us 5 kids as a baby and your pictures show it's cuteness.
6. you live in arizona
that's not really a trait but i am jealous of the fact none the less 
7. you made the coolest twisted balloons like ever.
8. you love playing games and making fun whenever we visit you,
it's so much fun to be around you.


yeah that about sums up my love for you at the moment.
happy birthday brother dearest!

ps- how about you get that video chatting camera to work so we can video chat, eh?
k thanks, bye :)

little things as of lately:

playing with little jaden a lot
driving without the gps would be a disaster. i love that little device.
jaden and myself hanging out in the backyard full of white clovers, 79 degree weather, and slight humidity.
very perfect 

mother's day consisted of chocolate chip pancakes,
monkey bread,
mexican lasanga
double stuffed oreos.
dandelions are everywhere here in indie, we play with them lots.

"field" of white clovers.
hanging out in the hammock.

and my handsome husband in the hammock too!

hey mom,

why my mom is the bomb dot com: (1 day late)

she's like always has had kitties around,
she wore cool jump suits when she was pregnant,
she took cool pictures with my dad back in the day,

"she" got through law school with 3 little boys,
and then she had a fourth boy.

she actually blind folded herself to play pin the tail on the donkey with the 3 little boys.
she was always taking us kids swimming.
she put us in the best halloween costumes.
she let us all ride motorcycles growing up even though it's not the safest of hobbies.

she gave birth to me :)
she the lit the turkey on fire which is quite funny i'd have to say.
she always let us snuggle in bed with her.
she trooped us 5 kids around everywhere to do fun things.

she taught us how to work and how to have fun.
she put 80 candles on her dad's birthday cake.
she does balloons, which is awesome.

she jumped on the tramp in super cool spandex pants with the 5 kids and dogs.
she let kirk way too short of swim shorts, heh heh.
she had all 4 boys on 4 different baseball teams in one season, talk about super woman! can you imagine all those practices, games, and treats after games?!?!

she lets me steal borrow her clothes

she's constantly going going going.
ex: hiking timp in 1994? with 5 kids down at aspen grove
hiking timp with me in 2010.

yeah, i think she's pretty awesome if i do say so myself.
thanks mummy, i love you!


and to my MIL:
casey said you were pretty darn fun growing up.
and i'd agree that you're pretty darn fun now!

welcome to indiana

so....

we made it to indiana!

we're happy to be here and have our summer "officially" started.

out of the kindness of their hearts, we are actually living with casey's brother and SIL for the summer.

it was either live 45 minutes away from them and pay expensive rent,

or live with them and help them wih rent.

we chose the latter, you see.

we're incredibly grateful for this time to be with them and are excited for our summer adventures together!

casey studies for the DAT from 9-6 with an hour lunch break and then goes off to sell.

i'm amazed by how hard he works for our little family.

i love that man.

i on the other hand,
have been diligently going to place after place with my resume.

no luck so far, but hopefully something sometime will come along.

we're having a blast with the toddler running around the house.

jaden, our nephew, is so much fun!

he loves casey and calls me "ber"
(which melts my heart).

we're very excited to see him grow this summer!

cody (the brother) and camille (the SIL) are simply a blast.

i am so excited for our summer together.

they also have tons of cute/fun friends around the area
and are sweet enough to let us join in their festivities with them!

such as cinco de mayo!

yummy mexican food,
a bajillion rambunctious kiddlings,
along with funny adults
and games made for a great time.

look for more updates about our indiana summer!