July Photo a Day...

I participated in another photo-a-day challenge this month. Thinking I'll take the next month off, though, as our lives are about to get busy!!!

 Self portrait: on our way to the County Crows concert.

 Favorite color: yellow.

 Texture: my summer whites of leather cross-chest bag, eyelet shorts and a burnout tee.

Letter: an invite to my dad and step-mom's 25th wedding anniversary. Looking forward to a weekend of family that includes a few road races, pool time and party! 

 Building: where we spend every Saturday morning.

 Open: new watermelon swim suit is a touch too big on Buggy.

 Finger: Luke pointing out the zebras at the zoo.

 Sign: this is on the wall of our CrossFit gym. And for the record, CF is much harder than any budget meeting I've been through.

 Obsession: gray & yellow bedrooms. Making this one come true...and can't wait to see how our master BR turns out!

 Plate: I've been collecting white plates for a while now in hopes to create a wall of plates at the new house. Love this shabby chic look.

 Pet: Katie dog has been staying with Bob & Laura all summer while we're in our apartment. Katie has been quite the traveler (Wisconsin & Illinois) and here she is smooching on baby Maryn in Peoria.

 Busy: we've hardly been busy this summer. But this is how we've spent a lot of our evenings...busy with night swimming at the pool.

 Eyes: Lane's self portrait.

 Stranger: this was a no brainer...Perfect Strangers!!! This was taken on an early morning steamy long run. Wrote our team name on the condensation of the Carmel Drive bridge.

 9 o'clock: The girls wanted their hair curled this particular morning. Mike thought it looked like Jon Benet...but I beg to differ: they looked darling!

 Upside down: Mike was trying to entertain the girls during a long visit to Grandma Great in the hospital. 

 Mirror: after one of our nightly trips to the new house.

 Heart: Izzy Lou's footprints circa 2009.

 Sun: watching the sun set out the front door of our new house.

 On the road: ever the clown, Laney. She'll do anything for a laugh. Trouble, that one.

 Cup: Mike's home brew (this was similar to a Sierra Nevada). It's all very tasty. And very high in the alcohol content.

 Best part of your day: This particular morning Laney Bug woke me up by whispering, "I love you mommy" followed by a wet willy. Best wake up call EVER.

 Chair: Izzy climbing a bar stool in Wisconsin. We're not used to being able to sit in a bar with kids. Only in Wisconsin, folks.

 Fun: both the girls find playing with olives far more fun that eating them.

 Floor: an early morning on the lake with Bug.

 Garden: we weren't anywhere near a garden this day, as we were at the hospital for a large portion of it. A bouquet of flowers sufficed.

 Lunch: we were on our way home from Wisconsin and decided to stop at IKEA for some lunch (we ate breakfast for lunch!). The girls loved running around the massive store while we shopped. Filled our cart up and then some. Bought even more a week later. Love this store.

Big: On our way home from Wisconsin we drove by wind turbines in northern Indiana. Did some research and learned these are over 300 feet tall and there are no elevators inside. The only way up is to climb. Yikes.

The. End. Taking a hiatus from the photo a day challenge, as I'll be busy unpacking and organizing. And you know what? I'm looking forward to some projects again!

Almost Done...

Over the course of the last few weeks our house has gone from drywall only to cabinets, flooring, counters, paint...all of which have made it look and feel more and more like home to us. We still visit every night, as nearly every day something is new. Hasn't lost its luster and hope it won't for a long time.

The girls still find playing in the empty house so much fun (and a nice reprieve from 9 weeks living in an apartment!). Here they are playing restaurant, where Izzy always orders a Diet Coke and french fries. Atta girl.

When our cabinets were installed. They look black but that are really a very dark, called Mocha. Love them.

View out our back wall of windows

View looking into the great room from the dining room. Can you see Izzy is in the middle of a fit? Mid-foot stomp & arms crossed. Classic.

Kitchen view from living room looking at back door entry and planning nook.

Planning nook and front hall entry

Mud room at the back door

Deck, before house was painted...all raw & treated wood

Mike's pride & joy...his finished garage. Of course he had to upgrade to having finished and painted walls. He judges our neighbors based on whether or not they've finished theirs. Mike is also pumped that one of our neighbors hand waters his shrubs/flowers/trees/lawn (takes pride in his lawn!) with a cigar in his mouth. Mike has mowed the lawn with one since before I met him. Too bad ladies, he's all mine.

Staircase newly built

Judges paneling and crown molding going in. And a diva to boot.

Front entry looking into great room

We have counters!

Painting is now complete. We have a few shades of green, black shutters, white trim and a red door.

Carpet went in early last week and this is how much the girls love it:

It's funny, the first day we had carpet the girls spent a long time up in their rooms playing while Mike and I were downstairs measuring for furniture. Mike looked at me after about 20 minutes and said, "Should we be worried we haven't heard a peep from the girls?" I replied, "You should be thrilled we haven't heard from them!" Living in the apartment you can hear everyone at all times. Heck, you can SEE everyone at all times. Exciting to soon have some quiet time and personal space.

Here's a pic of the sink, oven and wood floors newly installed

It's really starting to look like a home!

Shower stall newly tiled and the girls are playing in it...I'm wearing a smile because we're that much closer to completion.

The last few nights after we visit our house we've gone to the pool for dinner and swimming. It's been fun slowly getting acclimated to our new neighborhood and community. Even more fun to see the nearly finished project. Tomorrow is our first walk through. We close on Tuesday. Movers come on Thursday. I've never been more happy to move in my life. It'll be like Christmas morning opening all the boxes that have been packed up for months. Organizing clothes, linens, dishes in new cabinets and closets. Decorating our new space. This is the fun part. And we're almost there.

I've Been Hangin' Around This Town...

I apologize in advance for the randomness that is this post. However, I was scrolling through my phone and realized I had a few pics I'd like to save (as phones come and go and the memory card goes with them as well) and keep for my memory. So bear with me as these are in no logical order. Just my life. Just hangin' around.

 Working at the Finish Line we get to see new products, new styles, new trends on a daily basis. I love that the accessory buyer come to me with all the new running products. Running sleeves have become quite the trend in the past few years and I'm loving the crazy colors Asics just came out with. Yet another way to stand out on the Monon trail (like we needed any help in that area?!).

 Izzalicious enjoying a snow cone at the pool

 The girls at the Carmel Farmers' Market. If you've never been, they have the BEST sweet corn in town.

 More pool time

 Sisters. So stinkin' cute.

 Driving home from Wisconsin and both asleep at the same time. This has happened NEVER. Pure road trip bliss.

 Counting Crows concert at White River State Park. Beautiful night, beautiful venue, beautiful friends.

 Was a rare date night for Mikey and I. We had an amazing night together. Love.

 Friday CrossFit class at work. Much smaller class than normal, but always the most fun (read: learning new tricks such as hand stand push-ups!).

Scored the girls new watermelon "keenees" from Wisconsin's own Farm & Fleet store. I have an obsession with visiting this store every time we are in town, as they have great steals for children's clothes. These are my two favorite melons snuggling on my lap at the pool. They can be so sweet with each other at times...until it turns into, "She's touching me!"

You're welcome for the random post. Deep thoughts haven't been coming my way lately...just good old fashioned summer time fun!