Quick recap…

Recent Indianapolis in one word: FRIGID.

The past two weekends, Sam & I were more than willing to participate in "Devour Downtown".  This takes place during two weeks out of the year with Indy's slowest tourism.  To keep things lively downtown, over 65 downtown restaurants participate in offering amazing specials on lunch/dinner!  

The first weekend, Sam was working downtown (only a few blocks away from my office!) so for lunchtime, we devoured Bazbeaux: Indy's best pizza since 1986 (and also a recommendation from my aunt!).  YUM.

(just imagine it a tad snowier)

This past weekend, we ate at Iaria's Italian.  It is apparently a hot spot with signed photographs lining the walls from many famous Americans!  

The next night, Sam was so kind as to introduce me to Fogo De Chao.  

Life is good when wrapped in bacon.

One of Sam's friends (and soon-to-be co-worker!) is in the Purdue Glee Club 

We got to see him perform at the Scottish Rite Cathedral downtown 

(the cathedral was incredibly ornate) and the show was AMAZING and so fun!  

We also did a little exploring of Broad Ripple.  It was a really fun place with lots to see!  We had to stop for a "cookie-wich" at one of the shops and were SO pleasantly surprised to find some Bluebell ice cream!!

I am officially official at work and excited to make the switch to scrubs!

Saturday was (actually above freezing) and rained the whole day!  We took advantage of the Art museum only about 2 minutes away.  It was a good escape from the weather, had fun stuff to see, and Sam and I picked out a couple new pairs of pajamas (included below…)  I really liked "Indiana by the Numbers": they were huge numbers made by Robert Indiana (originally Robert Clark but changed his name for the love of this state!) that have been around since 1980 that have made their way around town for many past events.  They are all now back at the museum, along with his LOVE sculpture. 

The Saturday rain washed the parking lots and roads clean of all the ice. But then on Sunday morning, I woke up to a BEAUTIFUL surprise!  Fresh snow, of course… 

Sam and I have been attending an INCREDIBLE church in Carmel.  Northview is simply an amazing place filled with wonderful people and I have enjoyed it so much already.  This past weekend began a series called "the 9" that takes a look at the Fruit of the Spirit and its nine characteristics… You know them (or at least the song!)  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  

I'll expand on the messages a little more later, but for now, I want to pass along an awesome resource that was opened up to the church.  RightNow Media is a COMPLETELY FREE online video library that is basically the "Netflix of bible studies" and offers over 2,000 tools on lots of topics!  And FREE. Sign up :)  

Super Bowl.  Not much of a game but loved watching it all anyways.  Sam only endured puppy bowl for about 10 seconds… But we both agreed on favorite commercial!  

Big things coming up:

A big storm is on the way!  

Please unite with my momma in praying for my heater!  
Some reports are saying up to 20 or 30" but we'll see what really happens...

Sam's BDAY coming up on Thursday :)  

Olympics beginning this weekend as well!  

Praying for safety and strong security in Sochi.

And praying for our athletes looking so… well… like this:  

PS. This now exists. (shout-out to rach)

Winter Wonderland Week One

8-5 sure is a change in pace (aka exhausting), 
but I am really excited for the semester & work!  

Cleaning snow off my car anytime I need to drive is new, too!  

But it is so beautiful, I definitely don't mind.

My drive to work is primarily along the (frozen) White River

walking to the office, thankful for my jacket

This is how I felt on Wednesday

Breaking in this awesome Christmas present!

This past weekend, Sam and I ate at BRU Burger Bar (delicious!) and got to walk around "Mass Ave"!  

It had a (snowy) downtown Bryan feel and the shops were so much fun!  We only had time for Silver in the City, Three Dog Bakery, and Mass Ave Toys, but definitely plan on going back to see the rest!  

We also got to go on a four hour tour of the city of Indianapolis.  I can't even begin to explain how much I LOVED this.  We saw indescribable parks, Speedway, downtown and its museums/canal/restaurants, the circle, fountain square, beautiful neighborhoods, memorials, cathedrals, Glick art center, the Monon trail, Broad Ripple, Fort Harrison state park, etc., etc., etc!  I won't even being trying to explain it all in a single post because it would be too overwhelming!  

From the tour, I've made a list of all the places I want to go and see and will post about them as they happen!  This city has SO much to offer and I'm hoping that there will be enough weekends to do and try everything!

A couple quick pics:

Speedway.  The Indy 500 is coming up in May!

Above shows an old church and the old baseball stadium.  These buildings (in addition to more churches, factories, train station, etc.) have been repurposed and are now apartments/condos!  How cool.

Right after the tour, Sam and I were feeling adventurous and although it was snowing, we went to The Virginia B. Fairbanks Art & Nature Park: 100 Acres.  These 100 acres are located right across the river from the museum and is part of the IMA (also, right around the corner from our apartments!).  We explored this area for a few hours and it snowed the entire time.  It was a BEAUTIFUL and a lot of fun.  Because of the amount of snow, half the time we couldn't tell where the trails were so we just ran all over!

Walking closer to the lake was unreal.  It was impossible to tell where park stopped and where lake began.  Underneath all the snow was a layer of ice about 2 inches thick that was raised up off the ground!  We broke through some of the ice that was near the lake, it was very strange and huge sheets of it came up like puzzle pieces.  

There were footprints all the way across the lake but we just believed whoever that was made it to the other side safely and we chose to stay where we knew there was solid ground beneath us, haha.

Eden II on the 35 acre lake

Checking out Eden II from Bench Around the Lake

NOTICE: A Flock of Signs was my absolute favorite

From far away I thought these were giant teeth (can you tell what I think about all day at work?)!  But once we got closer and pushed all the snow off these HUGE fiberglass benches, we uncovered Funky Bones.

Snow Angels :)

Chop Stick

100 Acres was so much fun! Sam and I will be back for sure!

This is right behind the apartments

I forgot in my previous post to add a pic of my patio!
There is a very cute cardinal couple that is extremely camera shy, but I'll catch them at some point.

Happy MLK day to everyone!

Shout out to my sis & dad that got to ski all weekend!  

If I weren't 18 hours away from y'all, I would've found a way to join ;)

Love you both!

"I am leading you along the high road, but there are descents as well as ascents.  In the distance you see snow-covered peaks glistening in brilliant sunlight.  Your longing to reach those peaks is good, but you must not take shortcuts.  Your assignment is to followMe, allowing Me to direct your path.  Let the heights beckon you onward, but stay close to Me.

"Learn to trust Me when things go "wrong."  Disruptions to your routine highlight your dependence on Me.  Trusting acceptance of trials brings blessings that far outweigh them all.  Walk hand in hand with Me through this day.  I have longingly planned every inch of the way.  Trust does not falter when the path becomes rocky and steep.  Breath deep draughts of My Presence, and hold tightly to My hand.  Together we can make it!"

-Jesus Calling, Sarah Young

"For this light momentary affliction is preparing us 

for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." 

- 2 Corinthians 4:17