The American (Teenage) Dream

Every child dreams (figuratively, not literally). Dreams about what they'll be when they grow up, things they'll do, places they'll go. These dreams change over time and vary from extraordinary to practical. For me, they bordered on the fairly practical side. I dreamed of being a cheerleader. Never happened. I dreamed of becoming a physical therapist. Never happened. I dreamed of being rich. Hasn't happened...yet. ;)

But I also dreamed of living abroad. Check! I dreamed of marrying my college sweetheart. Check! And now, I have one more dream to check off my list: seeing New Kids on the Block in concert.

Crazy, right? Not to this girl. New Kids on the Block was probably the first music group I was ever passionate about. I had all their tapes. I had T-shirts. Like every other 11-year-old girl in America, I was IN LOVE.

Unfortunately, when New Kids were around, I was too young to ever see them in concert. The closest I ever got was a taped recording of a concert that my sister Jennifer gave me. I think one of her friends went to the show or something. Or maybe it was one of those HBO concerts. I don't know; and I didn't care! I watched that tape countless times. I knew every word to every song. I knew the dance moves by heart (although I could never pull them off myself). I was....obsessed.

Well this past Tuesday, my dream came true. New Kids were in Indy for a show with the Backstreet Boys (another boy band fantasy of mine from high school). I went with my coworker Laura and some of her friends. To say it was a blast would be a huge understatement. I was like a 13-year-old girl again -- giggling like a schoolgirl when the lights went down, screaming like a crazy person, jumping up and down when they started to sing one of my favorite songs, and dancing like a fool as if no one else was around.

It. Was. Awesome.

People think I'm silly for going to a New Kids/Backstreet concert on the verge of 30 years old. I could care less what people think. If you had the chance to live out one of your childhood dreams, even if it's 19 years late, wouldn't you? I think a person would be crazy not to! Rock on, New Kids. Rock. On.

Lake Bound

We just returned home from a weekend at the lake with our friends. There were 13 of us who went up to Gravel Lake in Michigan (in a tiny town about 30-45 minutes north of South Bend, IN), the site of our friend's family lake house. It's been a scorcher in Indy for a few weeks, so we were ready to be away from the city and chillin' on the water. Chase came along for the adventure, too. We had a blast! We spent all day Saturday on the lake, either on a pontoon, floating in the water, or water skiing and tubing (I just stuck to pontooning and floating; no water sports for me this trip). :)  Unfortunately, David got sea sick pretty quickly and didn't feel well enough to go back out on the water after lunch. So he stuck around the house with Chase, took a nap (much needed after staying up til 4:30 a.m.!), and caught up on some Vanity Fair.

Here are some pictures from our trip! Enjoy!

Starting our day on the water!

Our little water rat. Swim, little dog, swim!

Doggy paddling as fast as he can.

Boat time! Chase never actually did ride on the boat with us, but EVERY TIME we pulled up to the dock, he would jump right on board! Think he was trying to stow away, but we were on to his little tricks. :)

"Please let me go, Dad....PLEASE!"

Ahhhh.....cooling off! I swear we floated for HOURS.

Nap time during lunch. Chase made friends with everybody! Clearly. That's our friend Ryan Jones.

Tube time!

Pontooning

We had about 20 minutes of a hard rain in the early afternoon, so we docked the boat. The girls went straight for shelter. The boys went straight for cold beers.

Shucking corn for dinner with John.

All's quiet on the lake as the sun slowly starts to set and the crew gets showered and ready for dinner.

Now that's a plate of meat!

Chase is exhausted! He's never slept so hard in the car before. He was out the whole way home, and has yet to really wake up. :)

Our weekend on the lake only had one small hiccup. We drove up on Friday after work, so it was dark by the time we got to Michigan. There was a detour once we hit the country, and at one point David and I couldn't agree on which way we were supposed to turn. We came to an intersection without a street sign and had no idea which way to go. I said left. He said right. So we went straight (ha!). We quickly knew we had to turn around when we were immediately surrounded by cornfields taller than the car on both sides of us. David wanted me to turn around at THIS house. I had a horror film moment and kept driving! He must've been crazy to think I would pull in at this house. It was really creepy at night. We didn't know if it would be as creepy in the daylight, on our way home today. It lived up to expectations. Yep, just as creepy.

Boys Will Be Boys

My oldest nephews, Jackson and Cooper, came to visit over the weekend, accompanied by Jennifer and my mom of course. They came down on Thursday night so they could hit up the Children's Museum on Friday (before the weekend rush). So Thursday we David grilled hamburgers and the boys played outside a little, despite the sweltering heat.

After dinner, Jackson wanted to play Wii. Cooper can't really play at this point, but he LOVES to watch. So Jackson and David did some Mario Kart racing. Then Jackson broke out the big guns (literally) for a hunting game. And that's when we all got involved. I was exhausted after working all day and knowing I had to get up early to do it all again Friday morning, but I couldn't resist seeing how my hunting skills compared to David, mom, and Jennifer. Jackson doesn't count. He was better than all of us because he'd played it so much. It was pretty funny seeing everyone take turns with the gun. We'd whoop and cheer when we did well, and there was a lot of "Switch your gun!" and "There's a deer on the right!" and "Shoot it, shoot it, shoot it!" We're crazy.

Like I said, the boys went to the museum all day Friday while David and I went to work. They had been a few years ago when Jackson was about 5 and Cooper was 2. So of course they had WAY more fun this time around because there was a lot more for them to do.

Building a statue with Nonna.

Two little dinosaurs snuggled up in their dino nest.

When 5:00 rolled around on Friday, I was so ready to come home and start my weekend with family, only to come home to this....again:

UGH! It goes without saying, I was in a foul mood for a while after I got home. This is the third time our mailbox has been hit because of the speed bump they put it in, in front of our house. This time, the car hit it so hard that most of its headlight ended up in our yard. After looking up the part's serial number, we now know to watch out for '94-'96 Honda Accords. We filed a property damage report with the police, not that that will do anything. But we felt better having done something rather than nothing. And if we see that Accord....oh buddy...watch out!

But I digress from the great time we had over the weekend. We played more Wii (of course), and I'm embarrassed to say my shooting skills did not improve overnight. I wish we could have these visits more often!! For now, I'll have to settle with frequent trips to Kentucky for soccer, baseball, and football games. I can handle that! :)

Making Friends

I made a new friend recently! His name is....uhhh....Fuzzy Pete.


We met in my backyard a few weeks ago. The first time we came across each other, he was no bigger than a tennis ball. He appeared to have flown down from his nest, quite possibly for the first time. I saw him every single day after that for about a week or so. Sometimes he'd hop across the yard. Other times he'd fly really low to the ground, just above the grass blades.

His favorite game was Hide-and-Go-Seek. But he was so predictable; I often found him in bushes. And when he got mad at me, he would pout in Daddy's fenced garden, which of course I can't get into.

We had a jolly good time together, me and Fuzzy Pete. Unfortunately, his parents weren't too happy with our budding friendship. They attacked me and chirped at me every single time I was outside. They would even squawk at me when I was sitting INSIDE the house looking out the door. Crazy birds. I think they were so upset by our relationship that they took Fuzzy Pete away from my yard for good. It's been more than a week now since I've seen him......or his judgmental parents.

I miss my friend.

Fireworks, Family......and Fish

We had a fantastic Fourth of July this year! My parents, Dave and Connie, and Laura's parents (Tom and Debbie) came to Indy for the three-day weekend. It was the perfect opportunity to make our big announcement to everyone about Baby Stelsel, and a great way to start off a weekend of celebration.

I made dinner Friday night, so we had one low-key night just catching up and relaxing. Saturday, after showing my Dad where we HOPE to build a new house, we introduced my Dad, Dave and Connie to Friendly Tavern, one of our favorite mom-and-pop dives. The Parker clan spent the afternoon relaxing and watching the Wimbledon championships while David and his dad worked hard on our yard. That night we started the July 4 party early with a good 'ol cookout: brats, burgers, hot dogs, beer, and all our neighbors' fireworks shows.

Sunday we had Dale's World-Famous Fish Fry (yes, it has an official name now) at Kirk's house. It was quite a sight! Tom, Debbie and Laura's sister Emily were there. And Lindsay and Corwin showed up for a while, too. It was HOT HOT HOT outside, but nothing a cooler full of cold beer (and Ginger Ale) couldn't cure. :)

What a setup!

Cooking fish is serious business. Dad trained Debbie well.

David, Tom and Mom chillin on the porch.



On Monday we had breakfast together (minus the Kassenbrocks) at Le Peep, followed by an afternoon of lounging and playing cards. We went to Kirk and Laura's that night for Beer Butt Chicken. Yep, that's really what it's called. Here you can see why:



Chase did not care for the fireworks. Kirk's neighbors two houses down and right across the street were letting off the big booming fireworks for hours. Had we been sitting inside, he wouldn't have cared. But being outside all weekend with all those loud noises was like being in a war zone. He hated it. He kept jumping from lap to lap wanting to be comforted, which isn't really like him. His Aunt Laura came to the rescue and made some makeshift earmuffs for him. I don't know if he was any happier after that, but he sure looked darn cute. Like Grandma in her Sunday bonnet. :)

Couldn't have asked for a better July 4 weekend!! I say we do it again next year! ;)

Chase crashed after a weekend with all his grandparents. Bless his heart.





Oh, Baby!

David and I are thrilled to announce we're adding a new member to the family!

Baby Stelsel is due Jan. 4!

We couldn't be more excited. We feel so blessed already and can't wait to share this exciting time with our family and friends! I'll be posting updates and pictures here, so check back often.

Here are a few pictures from the last three months. Enjoy! :)

When we broke the news to Chase....

....he wasn't all that thrilled.

But we were ECSTATIC. Here we are with our first ultrasound picture around 7 weeks. It was so hard to keep this little miracle a secret for 6 more weeks!

12 weeks down....lots more to go! But never better!

This is how Chase broke the big news to our families. :)  Needless to say, he has accepted his big brother status since we first told him about the new addition coming our way.

Sporting my new Green Bay Packers shirt at 13 weeks. Thought I'd break it in early while it still fits. ;)