Painting

What is it about 4th of July weekend and home projects? For some reason I think we are genetically programmed to have to some kind of housework or home project during that weekend....It's like it's an American tradition or something. Chip came down to Indy on Friday night and we got to watch the fireworks from the apartment. It was cool, we could see the fireworks downtown out on window and in Plainfield out the other.

Then, I worked the John Mayer concert on Saturday at VWMC (and accidentally bumped into Jennifer Aniston backstage - greatest moment of my life! If I hadn't been in my management shirt I totally would've been a fan and asked to take a picture with her). Before I left though, we somehow ended up at Menards, buying paint samples. I've been saying for months and months that we need some color in this place and I guess almost a year after we moved in is the perfect time!

We decided on accent walls and only two of them in the main room of the apartment. We're all about wine-theme and I love bold, rich colors. So I kinda picked and then asked Chip to consult :) So here's some before and after.....

The supplies...

Somehow before we'd really even gotten started, Chip managed to get primer on his shirt. Kona didn't quite understand why she had to be on the other side of the fence. She was mad at us.

Kona approves!!

Brad Paisley

As Dad's Father's Day present, my boss at VWMC hooked us up with some suh-weeeet seats for the Brad Paisley concert. I have to admit, I was maybe a little more excited than he was because I've turned into a huge fan of Julianne Hough, who opened up for him.

In case you don't recognize her, she was on Dancing with the Stars with Helio Castronevez. Her country album is awesome. After her was Chuck Wicks, who I didn't really know at first, but he sings "Stealing Cinderella". He was really good as well and looks a lot younger than he sounds

And then, the big surprise (kinda of) was that Jewel was there! WOW! She is sooooo talented. It was amazing to get to see her in concert. She has a really powerful voice.


And finally, Brad Paisley came out and rocked the house. I have been on-site for his shows before, but never really paid attention. Which is funny, because I know most of his songs. So it was pretty cool to see him up there.

One of the coolest things about his show (being the techy that I am) was the video screen behind the stage. At one point there would be huge play, pause and, stop buttons on the screen and the guys onstage would "pretend" to hit them and stop and start the music. And they actually looked like they were buttons being pushed. Then, if you know the video game,"Guitar Hero", at one point they had two guys on either side of the scren who were supposedly playing each other during the song and there were crowd meters and everything. It even had the same note layout as in the game. Pretty cool. You can kind of see it in this picture...

Tim McGraw

Leila, Chris and I went to the Tim McGraw concert at VWMC back in May. I don't think any of us had ever seen him before. It was a good show! But it was soooo cold and rainy! I think we left before the last few songs because we were shivering. Here's a few highlights...

Chris was a little shocked by Tim's painted-on jeans....

Chris is bundled up for snow!!

Kona's New Bone

Last month, Chip and I were walking through the pet store and came across a huge rawhide bone that he decided Kona just had to have. This thing was almost bigger than her, but we thought it would be interesting to see what she'd do with it. I think she thought she was in heaven....

Thanks Dad!!

The Newlyweds

After almost 9 months of marriage, are you still considered newlyweds? Well, at any rate, here's a blog about "us". I'm stealing the idea from my sister-in-law and going to attempt to write about my fabulous husband and our life together for all of those that we love that we don't get to see often enough. With our crazy schedules, we have a hard enough time trying to see each other - let alone all of our friends and family. So I thought it might be nice to keep everyone updated on what we do!

For a little background, Chip lives in Fort Wayne and I live in Plainfield....yup, a little over 2 hours apart. It's rough, but we know that we are doing the right thing for right now. We're trying to set some things in motion for our future and I think we're doing a really good job. Yeah, it sucks about 98% of the time that we can't see each other, but it does make us appreciate the time that we do have together. And I heard on the radio the other day that they think newlyweds should live apart their first year or two. They said something about how when you're working up to the marriage, you get so focused on the wedding and the "happily ever after" that you don't think about the fact that after the wedding, it's not all roses and champagne. Well, maybe it is for some people, but that's not most people's reality....so I'm told :) But I kind of understand what they're saying. For us, it works because while we're in the "married" state of mind, we're able to appreciate each others differences and slowly work them into the relationship full-time, which for us means less bickering (shocking I know) and more real conversations about life and love and what we want from each other and out of life.

At any rate, Chip owns and operates his lawn maintenance business in Fort Wayne, and goes to school online full-time. And I live in Plainfield and work as an eBusiness Analyst and am beginning my MBA and doing some side work (for the 3rd year) at Verizon Wireless Music Center as an Operations Assistant. So, we've got enough on our plates to keep us busy and keep us from thinking about how much we miss each other. We're also lucky enough to have the best dog in the world (although we are biased). Kona is the sweetest, most loving dog I've ever known and I honestly don't know what I'd do without her! She keeps me from being lonely and barks when there are strange noises when Chip isn't here. And the best part is that she snuggles up onto my feet everynight while I sleep.

So there's the long and short of it, hopefully now you have a better idea of the craziness we call life!