How I Love Summer

Remember that time I said I was going to blog every week? Oh how young and naïve I was back then. Ha! While my intent was certainly there, I have failed miserably at documenting the summer in short snippets like I had planned, soooo here is yet another crazy long blog post. Oops!

June is when everything got a little crazy. And when I say a little…I mean A LOT. Between the beginning of June and the beginning of August, Darin and I slept in 16 beds. 16! It’s been a little crazy to say the least, but we sure did max out our summer! Before our sweet summer gets completely away from me, I wanted to document some of my favorite moments…

I Love Lucy…

For graduation, Darin surprised me with tickets to I Love Lucy on Broadway. Rachel and I grew up watching reruns of I Love Lucy on TV Land and have always LOVED Lucy. My Sweet Love knows me so well and gave the perfect gift to celebrate being an official college graduate!

Blueberry Muffins…

I recognize that it is pretty hilarious to document me baking blueberry muffins, but you must know that I am NOT a baker. In fact, I haven’t baked anything (from a box or from scratch) but maybe twice in my life. When I was about 12 years old, I had a serious Pinterest #nailedit moment while attempting to bake brownies for my parents birthday’s annnnd I never really tried again after that major fail. SO, for whatever reason, I baking urge came over me at the beginning of the summer and I decided to act on it. Ha! I found the recipe for the muffins on Pinterest, went to the grocery store and collected my ingredients, and got to work in the kitchen. And guess what? They were DELICIOUS! I was proud to say the least and Darin and I enjoyed the fruits of my labor (pun intended) for the next several days. Oh and for those of you who are wondering, the urge has since left me and I haven’t baked a thing since. Ha!

Joshua and Felicia…

We love Joshua and Felicia and are always happy to get to spend time with them! Back in June, they came up for the day and we had the BEST time with them! We started our day at the Original Pancake House (yum!), followed by the Cone, and finished up our adventure by getting food to make dinner at Jungle Jim’s. Josh has had quite a bit of experience abroad and kind of took over the cooking dinner department and it was DELICIOUS! We had an authentic Puerto Rican meal complete with plantains! Josh and Felicia, we love you all!

A Happy Highbaugh…

My sweet friend, Jen (or as I call her, Jen-Bear), got married in June and her wedding was absolutely beautiful. She had been anxiously awaiting the day she would get to marry her Prince Charming and it was such a gift to witness their love and the start of their marriage. She looked stunning, the ceremony was beautiful, and the reception had the best dancing I think I’ve seen…if you know Jen, this was not a surprise. Congratulations Jen and Thad!

Father’s Day…

I have the best Daddy in the world. I know everyone says they do, but I have to respectfully disagree, because my Dad is THE best of the best. I have always adored, respected, and loved my Dad, but I’ve realized that the older I get, the more I appreciate him for the man he is. My Dad taught me what it looked like to love his girls well and raised me to believe I was worthy of being loved, cared for, and respected. I always love having a day to celebrate and recognize people for being amazing, so naturally I love having Father’s Day set aside to celebrate the AMAZING Dad I have. I love you, Daddy!

Sitting Everything…

In July, Darin and I house-sat for some sweet friends of ours. When I say housesit though, I mean we house-sat, dog-sat, cat-sat, chicken-sat, duck-sat, bunny-sat, and fish-sat. Basically we did a whole lot of sitting. Ha! We made some fun memories and enjoyed our little stay-cation.

Gracie Girl…

Oh this part of the blog still pains me to write about. In June, Mom and Dad had to put down our sweet GG unexpectedly. I could cry again just thinking about it. I don’t know if it was because it was so unexpected or that I just really loved her, but it was/is SO sad. I think it was also especially sad because Gracie was the last trace of my childhood. That sounds silly, I know. But, with Mom and Dad moving, Rachel and I both being married, and everything else that has changed, my little Gracie Girl had remained through it all. And now she’s gone. Although I have loved each of our dogs over the years, Gracie had always been my favorite. She had such a silliness and sweetness about her that made me happy. She was also my little shadow when I lived with Mom and Dad and was the best homework helper and napping buddy a girl could ask her. I still have a hard time wrapping my brain around the fact that she’s gone…Mom and Dad’s house seems SO quiet without her around. I definitely miss my GG.

Zoo Day…

I LOVE the Judd’s. SO, when an opportunity arose for me to go to the zoo with them came up, I jumped all over it! J I LOVED my day at the zoo with the Judd girls so much! Tiffany, I am so thankful for your friendship and think the world of you!

Palm Springs…

A while back, Linda, Darin, and I decided it would be a super fun adventure to take a vacation together. After searching for several months to find a destination and after orchestrating quite a few details, we decided on Palm Springs, California. Now if you’re unfamiliar with Palm Springs, let me give you some context…Palm Springs is where people vacation in the wintertime, NOT in the summertime because the temperature averages between 110-115 degrees every day. Seriously. Ha! But, we were up for the adventure (and seemingly unaware of just how hot 113 degrees can feel) and were just excited to get away together and make some memories.

We flew into San Diego and spent about a day and a half there, admiring the ocean and some of the hot spots of San Diego. My three favorite stops in San Diego were the beach (of course), a really cool park that was within walking distance of where we stayed called Seagrove Park, and Balboa Park. I LOVE flowers and the botanical garden in Balboa Park did not disappoint. Oh my goodness, it was so beautiful!

Seagrove Park

How cool are these bubbles?

Starting Our Morning Off In Style: 

Beach, Coffee/Smoothie, and Banana Bread

The Children's Pool- La Jolla

Balboa Park

After exploring San Diego, we headed over to Palm Springs. And after the 40-degree temperature increase, we arrived. Ha! We had such a wonderful time exploring Palm Springs and played quite a few rounds of Farkle during the heat of the day. My top 5 highlights during our time in Palm Springs were (in order of when they happened):

The Food, Smoothies, and Shakes: We ate the BEST food while we were in Palm Springs. We didn’t eat at one bad or mediocre restaurant the entire time we were there. In addition to the delicious meals we had, we also enjoyed some super yummy milkshakes and smoothies from juice bars. YUM!

Date Shakes

Linda's First In-N-Out Experience

Pedicure with Linda: Linda and I got a pedicure while we were there and we both walked away raving about the experience. It seriously was the best pedicure either of us had ever experienced. I loved getting to do something fun and girly with Linda and certainly treasure the sweet memory we made together that day. 

Farkle/Reading: As with any good vacation, resting and relaxing was a definite highlight! We Farkled it up a lot, watched three different comedians on DVD, and read a lot. I got SUPER into the Karen Kingsbury series I was reading called Forever Faithful. It’s a three book series and was seriously the best three books I’ve read of Karen’s. They were AMAZING!

Joshua Tree National Park: Towards the end of our stay in Palm Springs, Darin and went on an all-day adventure to Joshua Tree National Park…which we think should be named Awesome Boulder National Park. You see, to be totally transparent, I must share this story…as we drove through the park, Darin and I were mesmerized by the crazy rock formations we saw and were also amazed with how rugged the terrain was. As we drove, we saw lots of weird vegetation, including “Cactus Trees.” Well, after about 2 hours of driving, we were curious when we would enter into the “Joshua Tree” part of the park. After referring to our park guide, we discovered that the Cactus Trees were in fact the Joshua Trees. Ooops. Ha! Needless to say, the trees are cool and all, but the boulders were WAY cooler. I loved this time with Darin and loved admiring God’s creativity with him.

Mount San Jacinto State Park: On our second to last day in Palm Springs, we rode a tram (which is the largest revolving tram in the world) up 8,516 feet above sea level to the summit of Mount San Jacinto. The tram was both amazing and terrifying as we were literally suspended above the mountain. We hiked around, took lots of pictures, and soaked in the refreshing 70-degree temperature! 

After our adventure in Palm Springs, we headed back over to San Diego to spend our last day of vacation there, which happened to be the 4^th of July. Since we all love the beach, we spent the majority of our day in the sun on the beach. Ahhh. So wonderful! AND we had the most amazing firework show from the airplane on our way home! Words can hardly do justice to express how grateful I am for the sweet memories we made on this trip. They are memories all 3 of us will treasure forever.

Lake Pickwick…

After flying the redeye home from California, we arrived in Indianapolis at 5:30am. We drove home, showered, went to church, and then I turned around and left to go to Lake Pickwick with my family for a few days…with no sleep in over 24 hours. Probably not the wisest decision I have ever made, but definitely worth it! Lake Pickwick has been a tradition of ours for the last 5 or so years and the plans for this trip came together just a few weeks before we left. Because of the last minute nature of the plans, unfortunately that meant that Darin and Jeremy had to work (the responsible ones). That was a bummer, but it was also sweet to spent time with just Mom, Dad, and Rachel…just like it used to be. We had the best time on the lake with our precious friends, the Kay’s, and loved basking in that sweet Mississippi sunshine!

Holiday World…

After going last year, Rachel and Jeremy decided that Holiday World would be the perfect adventure for “The Fab 6.” SO, at the beginning of July, we traveled to Santa Clause, Indiana and spent the day riding rides, baking in the sun, and making fun memories together as a family. We spent the majority of our time at the water park and rode some crazy water rollercoaster’s…who knew there was such a thing? It was SUPER hot, but we definitely made the most of our time together and have the tan lines to prove it ;)

Celebrating Nana…

During the same weekend we went to Holiday World, we also celebrated my Nana’s 80^th Birthday on The Spirit of Jefferson. We spent the afternoon cruising down the beautiful river and enjoying celebrating our Nana together as a family. Nana, I love you so much and am thankful to call you my grandma!

My Classroom…

I’m planning on writing an entire blog about my classroom, but in the midst of all of this summer craziness, I also set up my very first classroom. Eeeeeeeeep!!!!

Sweet Linda…

On July 17^th, we got a scary call from Linda telling us that she had been taken to the hospital because she couldn’t breathe. After lots of tests and close observation, they determined that Linda had A-Fib (an irregular and rapid heart rate) and a blood clot in her heart. We were really shaken up from this news, especially because there was nothing Linda could or couldn’t do to keep the blood clot from throwing and going to her brain, causing a stroke AND the doctor had said it could take up to 3 months for the clot to dissolve. Needless to say, we began praying earnestly that God would remove the blood clot and that her heart would get out of A-Fib and start beating regularly again. Darin and I went up to Wabash to visit her the following Monday and Tuesday, where we demanded her not to lift a finger during the time we were there. On Wednesday (the day after we left), Linda wound up back in the hospital, this time for 6 days. Darin and I came back up the next Sunday and Monday (Day 5 and 6) because they were planning on doing an echocardiogram where they would confirm or deny that there was a blood clot and shock her heart back into rhythm if there was indeed no blood clot. We had everyone praying that there would be no blood clot so that they could get her heart back into rhythm and begin recovering. Well, at 12:50am, only 6 hours before the procedure, Linda’s heart converted (put itself back into rhythm)! We hadn’t even thought to pray for this, but God decided to show off! He continued to show off 6 hours later when the doctor revealed that there was NO blood clot! I get tears in my eyes just typing this. We are so grateful that God answered our prayers in such a big way and absolutely believe that He has greater things yet to do in and through Linda!

South Haven…

Darin and I had planned on taking a short trip just the two of us the last week of July to relax and gear up for the start of the school. We had talked about going somewhere in North Carolina or Tennessee because we had plans of meeting up with Rachel and Jeremy in Nashville for a concert at the end of the week. BUT, after hearing about Linda and wanting to be there for the echocardiogram, we changed up our plans and drove about 2.5 hours north from Fort Wayne, Indiana to a quaint little town on Lake Michigan called South Haven. It was WONDERFUL! Way too short, but oh so sweet! We spent our first evening getting settled at our cute Bed and Breakfast, walking around the town, checking out the beach, and eating at a yummy restaurant called Taste. We had the BEST appetizer I think I’ve ever had…bread to dip into a delicious marinara and goat cheese dip. YUM! I’m hungry just thinking about it. Ha!

The next day was our beach day! It sounds so ignorant of me to say this, but I never knew a lake could have such a beachy feel, complete with sand and waves! Ahh, I think that was my very favorite part of the trip. It was about 90 degrees that day, so we laid out until we couldn’t stand it any longer and then take a quick dip in the lake. I say “quick” because the water was FREEEEEZING! It seriously felt like an ice bath and took me a good 15 minutes to go under the first time we went in. Ha! After being beach bums for several hours, we came back to the B&B, swam for a bit, and then got ready for the rest of the day’s adventures, which included eating DELICIOUS homemade pie (I got raspberry, he got raspberry-rhubarb), taking a quick trip to Saugatuck, eating Italian, and watching a BEAUTIFUL sunset by the lighthouse in South Haven. It was such a great day and writing about it makes we want to snap my fingers and relive it!

Then all too quickly, our last day at South Haven came. We spent the morning on our picnic blanket admiring the lake and trying to memorize the sights and sounds. After maxing out our parking time, we went to a raspberry farm and picked our own raspberries! That was SUPER fun and yummy! I hadn’t picked my own raspberries since I was a kid picking them in my Nanny and Pappy’s backyard, so it brought back a lot of sweet memories! There is just nothing like a freshly picked raspberry. YUM! After that, we grabbed a quick lunch and then drove to grab some ice cream from a local favorite, called Sherman’s. We both ordered one scoop of ice cream, buuut we got a whole lot more than that! One scoop to them was the equivalent to three scoops for us. Ha! After eating our ice cream, we started making our way towards Nashville.

Outcry Concert…

After driving about 4 hours, we stopped and visited with our dear friend LD and spent the night in Bloomington, Indiana. The next morning, we got back on the road and spent our afternoon exploring Franklin and Nashville, Tennessee. That night, we met up with Rachel and Jeremy for the Outcry Concert (with Lauren Daigle, Kristian Stanfill, Bethel, Kari Jobe, and Hillsong). It was an AWESOME concert with the best company!

Mr. and Mrs. Jennings…

Felicia and Joshua are MARRIED! We were so honored to be a part of celebrating the new Mr. and Mrs. Jennings and love these two precious people to pieces! The bride was GORGEOUS, the ceremony was beautiful, and the reception was super fun! We are so excited to see how God uses and blesses your marriage!

 3 Years…

On the same day that we celebrated Josh and Felicia, we also celebrated our 3-year dating anniversary. In a lot of ways it seems crazy it’s only been 3 years, but in others I can so vividly remember that day that it seems like it was only yesterday. What an honor it has been to call this man mine for the last 3 years. I am often in awe that God gave me such a precious gift. I love that this is the first year we get to celebrate our dating anniversary as husband and wife and look forward to MANY more years of memory making and laughing through life together. I love you, Sweet Love!

We Are Boone County…

Last year, Darin and I attended the Boone County Fair for the first time and decided that from that point on, it would be a summer tradition. SO, Darin and I attended the fair the second day it was running and were not disappointed! We went to a frog-jumping contest, ate a corn dog, stumbled upon a sunflower seed spitting contest, watched some kind of horse competition, rode the Banana Slide and the YoYo swings, ran into some sweet friends, admired some quilts, and topped off the night with Holy Donuts. It was a good night!

And now that leads me to this moment…one week before school starts with a to-do list a mile long. Please join me in praying for this year and the kiddos I will teach and come to love!