Indiana State Fair

In August Crowe had a team building day in which everyone was given a half day off and free admission to the state fair.  It was a beautiful day and lunch and fair food were a great idea!

We walked all over in and out of livestock buildings but came to a dead hault when I read this.

And this was laying below the sign.

Holy cow that is one big boar!!  I have trouble seeing how the thing even can stand or walk!  We kept walked and ended up on the midway with the carnival rides and decided we needed to have a group bumper car experience.  I was a little hesitant to get in bumper cars with my coworkers but soon people were slamming into each other and were chasing people around.  It was highly entertaining. 

A few quasi blurry moving pictures.

Hopefully next year Darren and I will be able to go, it was much more fun that expected!

Cheryl & Mickey's Wedding

In August we were able to go back to Nashville to see Cheryl and Mickey finally tie the knot!  They were married at the Catholic church right by Vanderbilt.

 

And their reception on campus at the University Club.  Are you sensing a theme yet?  It was a very Vandy wedding!

The reception was fun and got to spend some time with a lot of my current and former Nashville people.

Mickey and Cheryl had a blast.

There was a photo booth. I need to dig out those pictures because they were pretty funny!  Bit the night ended with sparklers, giant gold ones!

 

Congratulations Mr & Mrs Montgomery!

Baby Fever

In August when mom and dad were up visiting me (Darren was out of town), we went to the zoo.  I have to say I was quite impressed with our zoo.  It's small, very walking friendly and packs a good amount of animal punch in such a small space!

There were lions and tigers and bears (oh my) but what really attracted me to the zoo so early in moving to Indy was their baby elephant named Kalina!  She was about two weeks old when they put her out in the zoo with her mom. In these pictures I think she was 18 days old.  Too cute!

 

There was also a really young giraffe who was adorable!

They zoo also had traditional animals.  Cheetahs.

Black Bears.

Tigers.

Zebras.

And Polar Bears.

One of the neatest features of the zoo is their sea life exhibits.  They have a large group of dolphins and a dolphins that perform almost hourly.

The zoo had multiple types of penguins.  They are so adorable, but for some reason, stand with their backs to you so its hard to get a good shot of one.

Seahorses are one thing I've never seen at a zoo and they had about 30!

And the jellyfish exhibit is mesmerizing!

And the sea lions liked to show off for the crowds.

It was a really nice visit to the zoo!

Let's Go Blue!

One last Michigan game before moving down to Indianapolis.

Beautiful Couples

Just a fun layout with a few extra pictures. 

Brian & Kelly's Wedding

Right after our big trip to Europe we were off traveling again. This time to Chicago to see Kelly and Brian tie the knot.  The wedding sported easily the best wedding appetizers of any we've been too and in 2011, that was a lot! :)

We always have such fun when we are with group as evidenced by the crazy pictures!

Wow 2011 was a busy year! A quick recap since my blogging is woefully behind.

A new job which I was not enthusiastic about but getting back in the groove proved easier than expected.  It's just a job but making the most of it... Kicking butt and taking names. :)

A new home in a new state.  A move which I dreaded has turned out to be really nice.  People come visit, we will make Indy fun!!

Moving in with Darren.

An Engagement!!

Yet the year was not without some sadness.  We had to say goodbye to Darren's dad and grandma.  Also said goodbye to some others we considered family.  But said hello to some new family too: Marc - Heather's husband and Taylor (to-be), my cousin Emily and her husband's first child due in February. 

We saw a lot of friends get married: the Bateman's, the Moore's, the Wilcox's, the Luther's, the Montgomery's and the Fletcher's.  Sadly we did miss the Wilson's wedding earlier this week.

We saw one friend have their first baby: Baby Annie born in May to the Thomas'.

We did a lot of traveling, especially during the first half of the year, hitting 4 new countries including China, Thailand, Hong Kong and Macau.

I'm looking forward to 2012 and what it brings especially OUR wedding and babies for at least 4 family members/friends.

I set a few 2012 resolutions... Nothing earth shattering.  I'm just hoping if I write them down, I might stick to them.  I'm sure if I write them down, Darren will hound me about sticking to them as well.  My hope at least.

1. Going to attempt the photo of the day.  We shall see if I abort around January 5. :)

2. Catch up on blogging, the sooner the better!

3. Try to scrapbook more frequently. I think I will set the goal at at least 52 pages. I hope to double that but having a goal will be great.

4. I got 2 new cookbooks to add to my ever expanding collection.  I'm going to try to cook 52 new recipes from various sources in 2012.  I'm going to have the goal of one per week since with work and travel that will be too hard.  We will shoot for an average of one a week by year-end.  Too bad I couldn't start this week since I tried 3 new ones this week! :)

5.  Do something more active.  Not sure the plan yet, but get to doing something active, hopefully with Darren.

I wish everyone a happy and healthy new year.  Every year we hope life will slow down a bit so we can enjoy things more, but it seems that never happens.  So instead, let's all embrace the roller coaster we are on together and make sure we smile since we know our picture will be taken at the bottom of the steepest hill.

With Love,
Stephanie

Jason's Birthday

During one of our trips to Chicago to work at Darren's dad's house, we went out to dinner to celebrate Jason's birthday.

Here he is with Michelle.

 And with the amazing dessert we got!

July 4th

Yes yes  I know this date is now after the big move... And I owe some pictures of our new place... Which I need to take.  Hopefully this week!

July 4th weekend was one of our first weekends in Indianapolis and my parents came up for a visit over the long weekend.  My dad had this amazing idea (note sarcasm here) to take a paddle boat ride on the canal when it was 100 degrees out.  By the end he and Darren were dripping and exhausted!  Mom and I had a nice leisurely ride though!

That night, we were able to watch downtown Indy's fireworks from our front porch.  They were pretty good and not having to drive, walk or have to deal with the crowds was perfect!

 

 

 

 

Goodbye Nashville - Going Away Party 2

Before leaving Nashville I had one last dinner with friends.  Emily and Adam couldn't make the other party so we decided to have another small going away dinner.

With Emily.

With Jen.

With Adam.

And with Jon.