The Best Summer - Brady

Up until now, I've always said the best summer of my life was the summer I was in Guy and Dolls at the La Porte Little Theatre. It was the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. I can't remember what I did during the day - maybe worked as a teaching assistant or something. At night we'd have rehearsal. And then after rehearsal, as I recall, we'd always go out and do something fun. Drive around and listen to music. Go to Taco Bell and dance in the parking lot. One of my most vividly fun memories from my whole life was a humid, sweaty, karaoke cast party over at the Krentzes' house. I remember dumping ice down the back of my shirt I was so hot from singing and dancing and basically just laughing hysterically all night long. Nobody parties like theater kids party.

It's different, for sure, but I think this summer has actually topped that one. I don't know how to write this without sounding ridiculous and weepy and sentimental, but I'm just so happy to be pregnant. If you knew me five years ago and knew my hesitation to even have kids, that would surprise you, but once we did decide to go for it we had to try a really long time and lost faith on a few occasions that it would ever happen. On top of that, I've had an easy, easy time the past eight months - no terrible symptoms, tons of support and love from my family and friends. I'm actually sad when I think of all of this coming to an end in October. Things are also kind of fun at work. My dog is a blast. Kevin and I have had a great time setting up the nursery and just enjoying the city, with no pressure to go anywhere or do anything major. So even though this summer hasn't involved sweaty dance parties or late night drives or even any Taco Bell, it's been just about the most content and exciting time of my life.

Anyway, enough of that. Here's a random smattering of photos I've taken with my phone since June that show lots of the little good things we've been involved in this season.

My two favorites at Shakespeare in the Park.

A birthday walk to Lake Michigan.

Molly getting a whole lot of love at Lake Wawasee. 

Happy birthday to me! 

We spent a couple of awesome days at Lake Wawasee at The Oakwood with Molly.

Reading on Kevin's parents' porch.

Good old Stone Lake.

Quebec City.

A Quebec City breakfast.

Berries from my parents' yard.

Dinner at The Stray Dog in New Buffalo.

The belly in Denver.

The belly at Lake Wawasee, growing out of my favorite DePauw sweatshirt.

The belly in Quebec City. I remember thinking it looked huge in this picture. Ha! 

The belly in Evanston (in my work bathroom).

The belly again, a few weeks later, in Evanston.

It's always hard to see summer go, this one especially, but right around the corner, I'm hoping, is the best fall, the best winter, and the best spring. 

32, 30, 20 - Brady

This weekend I hit three milestones.

I turned 32 years old.

I reached 30 weeks of pregnancy.

And I'm officially 20 pounds heavier than I was in January.

All good numbers, I'd argue!

Oh, you don't care, you say? You want pretty pictures of Lake Wawasee (where we celebrated this weekend), you say? Okay fine.

A Classic Indiana Fourth of July - Brady

Last year Kevin and my sisters and I all stayed in Chicago for Fourth of July. It fell mid-week and it just didn't make sense to travel to Indiana for one day (sooooo much traffic going in and out of Chicago). 

So this year we embraced the chance to do a good old-fashioned Fourth in Indiana. We spent the holiday in La Porte with my family and then scooted over to Lake Wawasee for the rest of the weekend. I'm posting a bunch of pictures below of our fabulous, classic Hoosier celebration. 

The Grand Marshall of the La Porte parade, my mom's friend Fern. 

Grandma's little Fourth of July message on her kitchen chalkboard.

Grandpa and Grandma's 45-star flag.

Molly sleeping away the day on Grandma & Grandpa's kitchen floor. 

Grandma & Grandpa's house, Friday morning. Love this place. 

Watching fireworks in LP.

Coffee on Grandma & Grandpa's porch. They hosted us Thursday night and it was like the best bed & breakfast I've ever visited. :)

Kevin, Cindy, and me at The Back Porch on Lake Wawasee.

Wood Boat Pilsner at The Back Porch. Yum!

Lake Wawasee coffee, Sunday morning.

A happy, confused Molly on a raft, with her rubber ducky.

The Oakwood Gazebo, where Kevin and I got married, at night. 

Wine at Wawasee.

Dogs & Life Dreams - Brady

For most of my adult life, I've wanted a dog. I've loved animals, especially big dogs, since I was a kid and just knew I'd get one someday. It took me longer to work up the courage to commit to a pet than I expected, but now that we've got Molly I couldn't be happier.

I keep having moments with Molly where I think, "Life dream fulfilled." Moments where I'm doing something with my dog I always wanted to and now I can't believe I'm lucky enough to have this sweet girl to swim with or to ride in the back of my Prius. Below are some pictures I've captured over the last two months that fall into the "life dream fulfilled" category.

(Try not to judge me too hard for all the pictures I take of my dog, okay?)

Road trips:

Naps on our couch bed (Molly's a great cuddler): 

Hiking:

City adventures (in this case, Molly and I stopped on a walk at a coffee shop that has walk-up window - she waited very patiently for her dog treat, and I waited very patiently for my drink):

Boats and swimming, in Chicago and at Lake Wawasee (look at that scraggly mutt in the last photo!):

I thought getting a dog would stress me out or make me feel trapped, and it definitely does complicate life a little bit, but all in all she is such a positive, wonderful addition to our lives. I find that we look at all of our old favorite places in new ways. We're more likely to seek out parks and beaches and outdoor patios where we can take her rather than dark bars or the same old indoor restaurants we always visit. She's changed our lives, for sure, in a really great way. 

Two Pictures - Brady

Here are two of my favorite pictures from this fun weekend.

Sunday night sunset at Kevin's parents' Lake Wawasee condo.

Mr. Cuteness himself at Club Soda in Fort Wayne.

Trip to Evanston and Other Updates - Brady

It's been an eventful week. I had a great 4th of July weekend that involved a fancy party on Lake Syracuse (which included 3 awesome dogs for me to play with - I think Kevin is set on getting a greyhound someday based on his experience with one that was at the party), a more casual party at my grandparents' house in La Porte, and then fireworks on Lake Wawasee. You really can't beat Indiana in the summertime, especially if you have access to some water.

On Tuesday I went up to Evanston to have a discussion with the professor I'll work with next year, two of the research professors he works with, and another student who will work with my professor but in the clinical psychology program at Northwestern (my professor has a joint appointment, so he works with people in my program and with people in the psychology program). We talked about a chapter the professor wrote for a book that's coming out. It was a good visit. They had some snacks set out, the discussion was interesting, and a few of us went out for a beer together afterward. I was nervous until I got there and the discussion started. I don't feel like I was particularly great with them - it's been a long time since I've had a very academic discussion! I tend to second-guess everything I say in a new situation, but I told myself this time that these people will have about five years to get to know me. Whether I made a great impression, a terrible one, or anything in-between, they'll know the real me eventually.

Other than that, I just continue fluctuating between excitement over this next step and nervousness about it. In the last few weeks I've found myself jealous of people who know exactly where they'll be and what they'll be doing for the forseeable future. My cousin Katie and her husband Andy, for example, have this beautiful house, two wonderful kids, and jobs at the same company near my hometown. Amy is babysitting for them this summer, and I went over to visit her while she was working. For a little while, I would have loved to just switch places with them. Same thing with my best friend Lindsey. She and her husband have a GREAT house in Indianapolis, an adorable daughter, and jobs they like and can stay in for awhile. Sometimes I would love to be in a position like that instead of one where I live apart from my husband and have no idea where I'll be in six years. I know, though, that there will be plenty of time to settle in somewhere. There are good and bad things about any choice a person makes, and I really do believe I'm making the one that's right for me.

Lake Wawasee - Brady

I spent this Memorial Day weekend at Lake Wawasee, one of my all-time favorite places and next on my list of things I'll miss about Fort Wayne. The awesomeness of Lake Wawasee was especially apparent to me during this trip because the weekend was interrupted by an impromptu journey to the infield at the Indianapolis 500, one of the things I will miss LEAST about Indiana. Maybe you can get an idea of the heat, exhaustion, noise, and general disgustingness of the event by looking at this shot, from a couple of years ago:

Needless to say, I was happy happy happy to return to the lake on Sunday night after my 3rd year feeling like THAT.

Kevin and I both (separately, obviously) vacationed at Lake Wawasee as kids. When we were deciding where to get married it seemed like a logical choice. It's beautiful and fun, we have a history there, it was destination wedding-y without being inconvenient for most of our friends and family, and it was almost exactly halfway between my hometown and his (symbolic, huh?).

I'll obviously still visit the lake a lot even after moving to Chicago, but the close proximity to it over the last two years has been so nice.

Here are some pictures from the last few summers at the lake.

My mom and me on The Lillypad, the boat where Kevin and I had our rehearsal dinner. Also, the hotel where Kevin and I got married is in the background.

Kevin's parents' condo.

Reading/working on the porch. Probably my favorite thing to do there.

Kevin's dad, aka Swamp Monster, after a spill into the lake.

The view from Kevin's parents' porch. I could sit there all day. I take the comment from two pictures up back. Sitting here in the morning with a cup of coffee is my favorite thing to do at Lake Wawasee.