memories

music city getaway

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

My best friend Emily and I have known each other for over twenty years. We met early in high school and became inseparable almost immediately.  She was a year ahead of me in school so went off to college and we briefly lost touch.  It wasn’t long before we found each other again and our friendship has just continued to grow as we move through various stages in life.  She’s been there for me through some tough and triumphant times and I’m so thankful for her.

I moved to Indiana when I got married in 2003 and a few years later, Emily began travel nursing as an RN. She moved to a different part of the country every few months for several years.  This was while I was in my baby-making hay day so it was hard to make time to see each other for awhile. She’s settled down in Nashville and now we have come up with a little way to stay involved in each other’s lives and see each other face to face a few times a year. We take turns visiting each other every 3 months. We’ve been doing this for a year and a half now and I love having our visits to reflect back on and look forward to.  I love that she will be active in my kids’ lives and memories as they are growing up.

A good friend I met in Indiana during undergrad went with me to visit Emily and her girlfriend, Lauren, this past weekend. Usually Ryan and I take the boys but this was a girls’ weekend bonanza extravaganza.

Whitney and I Friday night before heading out to see Brett Dennen live at 3rd & Lindsley. (Such a great show!)

Super awesome coffee mug Emily & Lauren got me for Christmas from a shop in Chicago. They know me so well! I adore it.

Heard that saying about a really good restaurant…”the line was out the door”?  Well, it was. Brunch on Saturday at Mas Tacos Por Favor was out the door and out of this world.

Whitney, Lauren, and Em waiting on their food.

My food: The chilaquiles special and iced coffee y horchata.

After brunch/lunch, we went to a flea market at the fairgrounds that comes to town once a month. Whitney found some weights. I window shopped and enjoyed the warm (hot) weather.  It was magnificent! We saw lots of neat things. I didn’t buy anything but enjoyed the vibe and scenery.

After shopping around the flea market, we went back to the house for some rest and to get ready for Saturday night. We had talked about going to several honky tonk bars on Broadway but we all ran out of steam. We’re not 21 anymore after all…

Of course, another highlight of the weekend : Eating more food at The Family Wash.

I love this lady.

And I love these lovelies!

After dinner we stopped at a local brewery’s taproom to try one of their signature beers.  Sorry, I didn’t like it. I’m a huge beer wuss. The more it tastes like water, the better.  

Broadway was busy!
The one open souvenir shop had some real treasures…
We went home and went to bed after briefly walking around downtown.  Sunday morning it was time to pack up and get ready to head back to cold Indiana. But not before eating some more good food.  

My Bed and Breakfast suite 🙂

Chicken n’ Biscuits at Edley’s. I can’t wait to go back and take the boys to this family friendly and delicious local restaurant. It’s a bbq joint with amazing atmosphere. As much as I love a pork bbq sandwich, I couldn’t pass up that amazing biscuit and local honey. It was my favorite part of the whole meal. Aside from the part where I was basking in 70 degree weather. I thought I was in Destin for a minute.
Whitney and I made it back to my house by about 7:30pm.  Just in time for me to play a few games and read bedtime stories with my sweet boys, who were very excited to have mama back home.  It was a perfect friend-filled, fun-filled weekend. Wouldn’t trade the memories for anything and can’t wait til I see them again in May!
xo, 
~C~

loads of love: valentine’s 2014

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Memory Lane:
Valentine’s Day 2012
Valentine’s Day 2013

This year, Valentine’s Day held a little something extra for us. Theo’s first school Valentine’s party.  After trudging through the the Pinterest-induced self-doubt and feelings of inadequacy, I marched right into Target around February 12th and bought Theo those Star Wars Legos cards for $2 that I knew deep down he really wanted.  His party was on the 13th and everything so try not to give me any more credit than I deserve here.

He was pretty excited about them. The night before his party, we went through the list of every child in his class and he chose which card and sticker to give to each person. He helped sign his name on every card and he really got into it. It was adorable stuff like “well, Brady likes green so I think he would want Yoda.”

When I picked up Theo from school, he was itching to show me all of his goodies. I held him off until we got home. Boy was on sugar overload for sure.

Since Ryan’s parents had agreed to keep the boys all weekend, I knew we had to celebrate with them on Valentine’s Eve. We had a quick and simple dinner followed by chocolate brownies with strawberry icing.

Finally, after dinner, we gave them little baskets that I’d quickly thrown together earlier in the day. For being in such a hurry, they were actually pretty cute and a big hit with the boys. A reminder that it doesn’t take much to make them happy. A heart-shaped bead necklace, some Cheetos, a few Legos, and a couple pieces of candy and they were ecstatic.

On Valentine’s Day, we got a LOT of snow. Ryan’s parents braved it to come pick up the boys and drive them back to their house for the weekend so that we could carry on with our plans. 
Plans were slightly delayed due to having to dig our car out of the driveway when we got stuck!
We had a dinner double date with friends and then went to see Labor Day at the theater (we loved it!). 

Saturday we slept in, got massages, ate lunch, and later went to the Florida Georgia Line concert. The whole weekend was like one fantastic, super long date! It was bliss but we were ready to go get our baby boys on Sunday morning. We visited with Ryan’s parents for a few hours to catch up and ended the weekend like all our others – stories and snuggles and sharing more love.
An amazing Valentine’s for 2014! 
love,
~C~

snow days: 2014 style

Posted on by mommyinthemidwest

Click below for depressing fun flashbacks:
snow: 2013 style
snow: 2011 style (itty bitty baby Theo!)

We got home from Christmas at my mom’s just in time to avoid having to drive in the blizzard conditions we’ve been experiencing here in the Midwest.  Throughout the day on Sunday, snow fell and we accumulated 12 inches.  Yesterday, wind chills were -40.  Ryan asked me if I wanted to go outside to see what -40 felt like.

No thanks.  Today we’ve warmed up to a nice -28 wind chill.  I’ve never experienced such meteorological madness! Luckily these insane temps are only expected to last these 2 days and then we’re supposed to get back up above zero.  Thank goodness, my office has been closed these two days and Ryan is able to work from home.  I can’t even imagine getting the boys out in this weather. I remember driving to work in scary snowy conditions a couple of years ago and I’m glad that I no longer have to contend with that stress and danger. Get to the point, right?  Sunday, while the snow was falling from the sky, a guilt fell over me as well.  I knew the boys would ask to play in the snow and that it would be way too cold by Monday for them to do so.  As much as I HATE the snow and the cold, I suggested playing outside and the boys jumped on the opportunity.  Theo got out much quicker than Dexter did and I had to get my camera out of the weather because it was getting too wet so I didn’t get many pics of my blondie bear.

Only Ryan gets credit for this awesome snowman.

Other than our fun in the snow, we’ve just been inside watching movies, snuggling, and playing Legos, Jake, and Batman. And eating. And just being generally lazy.  It’s like the best thing ever. 

Time for haircuts. Again.

The boys have been getting along and behaving surprisingly well considering we’re on our 4th day home. I think the LOAD of Christmas presents they’ve received in the last 2 weeks must be helping.  I’ve been playing with my camera, getting away from Auto and into Manual.

So what if our house looks like this?

Hope you’re staying warm.  Unless you’re at the beach. Then I hope it’s just unseasonably cold there. 
Just kidding.
Kind of.
xo,
~C~