Easter Weekend

I just had one of the best Easter weekends I've had in a long time. Jamie and Braden came up to Kentucky for the weekend. So Chase and I packed up on Friday morning and headed south.

David stayed home to study for his big CFA test coming up in June, so he missed all the fun. One of the best parts of the weekend was seeing all my nephews together!

Because we all live in different states and have different schedules, we are only able to get the whole family together maybe once or twice a year, so any time we get to spend together is special. We used this opportunity to take some family pictures. The last time we had a family picture taken was 2007! Here are some of the shots:

Unfortunately, it stormed ALL weekend, so we didn't get out of the house much. We did get to cheer on Jackson at his baseball game on Friday night right before the storms hit.

The boys were supposed to have soccer games on Saturday morning, but they were canceled because of the rain. So our Saturday was more low key. After our photo shoot, Jamie and Braden went around to visit with other family and friends, and I went home to spend time with my parents. On Sunday, Jennifer and the boys came over for breakfast before Jamie, Braden, Chase, and I headed home. Dad made omelets, bacon, eggs, and biscuits. Mmm mmm mmm!

That was about it for the weekend. I can't tell you how much I enjoyed spending a few days with my family. Long overdue!

In other news, Baby Smith #2 is on the way (due Oct. 29)!! Jamie told me a few weeks ago but I was sworn to secrecy until she could tell the rest of her extended family this past weekend. We are all SOOO happy for Jamie and Shan. And we're all excited to add another bundle of joy to this growing family. Well, everyone except Braden. He's not so sure about the whole thing just yet, but he'll be a great big brother once he gets used to the idea. ;)

Happy (belated) Easter!

New Frenemy

**VIDEO**
Mom missed her curfew last night. She said she had Girls Night so she had to play with her friends before she could come home and play with me. Whatever. At least Dad came home to see me. I was peeved at first. And then she brought out the big guns: a new friend! The problem is, I'm not sure if he's a friend or an enemy yet. We're still getting to know each other, so ask me again in about a week. For now, we're frenemies.

What. Is. That?!

Time to teach this critter who's the boss around here!

Bye Bye Fur Coat, Hello Spring

Spring has arrived, and you know what that means -- time to do away with the winter coat and get ready for warm weather! And just so you know, we dogs do away with the fur coat for a reason. It's not just about cooling down as the temperatures rise. A shorter coat lets me chase birds at super speeds and bury my slick snout in rabbit holes. It's true. I think I read it in a book once. ;)

Ok, I don't know if it's true, BUT I'm pretty sure it does help me hone my hunting skills. And dog gone it, I just look so good!

Goodbye, fur coat....

Hellooooo, Handsome!

Oh, and check out my new collar! Pretty snazzy, huh? :)

Weekend Update

It's finally starting to warm up in Indy, and we couldn't be more ready for it! This weekend we got to turn off the heat and open the windows for the first time this year. Unfortunately, David didn't get to enjoy it very much. He's been on the couch with the flu for the last four days. :(

My friend Becky was here this weekend with her boyfriend, Richard. They were passing through on their way to Pennsylvania. They stayed with us Friday and Saturday nights. Becky's boyfriend is from England, so this was his first visit to Indy. We spent most of the day Saturday walking around downtown and Broad Ripple showing him some of our favorite parts of the city. Highlights from the weekend included:

• Showing off Lucas Oil Stadium, the new and impressive JW Marriott hotel, and Union Station (to name a few). 

  

  Union Station was converted into a hotel. Guests can stay in these train car rooms.

• Tasting Inhaling the best cupcakes I've ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth at The Flying Cupcake.

• Watching my first Grand National horse race, often called the world's greatest steeplechase, and seeing Richard's excitement at getting to watch it live all the way from the US. Ummm....not a big fan of this race. I didn't like seeing all the horses and jockeys falling down! I think I screamed a few times.

• Free wine tasting at a brand new restaurant in Broad Ripple that we just happened to stumble upon.
• Watching my first Masters Tournament....and actually enjoying it! Made me miss old Sunday afternoons on the greens with my parents. :)
• Chicken chimichangas on the patio at our favorite Mexican restaurant in the whole city (also the site of many/almost weekly gotta-get-away-from-work lunches from back in the day)!

• A 2 a.m. discovery of our broken mailbox. Not a good highlight, mind you, but a memorable part of our weekend. At the time I thought someone drove into our mailbox AGAIN, but after investigating the evidence in the daylight, it appears the post just split. Ugh.

Yesterday, after Becky and Richard left, I fled the house (and David's sick germs) to run errands and have lunch with Lindsay. All in all, it was a great weekend (for me) despite David being sick. He's slowly recovering thanks to lots of prescribed snuggling and kisses from Dr. Chase.

Facelift

I love making changes. Not frequently, mind you, but every now and then I do enjoy big changes. For instance, chopping off my hair. Or getting a dog. Or redecorating. Or starting new jobs. Or starting a book club. Or building a house!

As I was getting my hair cut the other day, I was thinking, "Gosh, I need a new project." Sooo....

Voila — I gave our blog a facelift! :)

You'll also see a new feature to the left. You can now receive an e-mail when we update the blog! I know it can get irritating to check it every day or week to see if we've posted anything new. And what if I get on a writing spree and you miss something (Heaven forbid!)? Just enter your e-mail address in the box to the left where it says "Follow by Email" and each new post will come directly to your inbox! I'm hoping this will make blogging more user friendly. You can always click on the blog post title in the e-mail to be directed back to our blog so you can leave comments and see the other stuff on our page. And you can unsubscribe from this feature at any time by clicking on the Unsubscribe Now link at the bottom of the e-mail.

Thanks for keeping up with us as we keep you posted on what we're up to. We love all the comments!! Keep 'em coming. :)

Home Sweet Hypothetical Home

In case you haven't heard, we're building a new house! Maybe. Sort of. Most likely. :)

We've signed a contingency agreement, which means we can start building as soon as we sell our home. In the meantime, we've picked out a property lot, the exterior colors, and some of the inside stuff. We're really excited about the prospect of moving into our next home in Zionsville. Hopefully we'll be able to sell our house this spring/summer and get the show on the road!

Click here to see the floor plan. Our house differs a little from the plan. We have a side load garage instead of front facing. We also added a morning room off the kitchen and a finished basement. And, of course, we opted for the upgraded master bath. :)

Here are a few pictures of some of the colors we picked out today. Enjoy!

Cabinets and countertops

Exterior brick (covers the entire front and wraps around the house on the first floor)

The tile on the left is the color of the hardiplank siding on the second floor, along the sides and back. The sample in the middle is the color of the front door, and the sample on the right is the color of the shutters (both are a gray color).