Spark-I'm addicted...and I know it. This was my rebuttal to my co-workers that were giving me a hard time.

Swimming with Becky- So grateful for this girl. She's kind, hilarious, and always leaves me in a better mood than I came with. She was educating me, her non-cable-having-friend, on "Naked and Afraid," and we amused ourselves trying to catch fish by hand...let's just say we would probably be naked, afraid, and really really hungry.

Date Night-On Friday after Jordan came home from work, we did a date night by the pool. We ordered pizza, talked, and watched the sun set, completely alone-it was amazing. Jordan is amazing. He is juggling a ton of things right now, and is doing an amazing job. Can't wait for school to be over so we can have even more amazing dates. P.S. Having a maintenance-free pool makes me never want to move out of an apartment.

Saturday Lunch-We met Jordan's family on Saturday at "Rush On Main" in Zionsville. Rush is a Chicago-ish themed resturaunt/bar so of course, Bushnell's have to check that out. It was ok-no Mr. Beef. Ellie is growing like crazy and is starting to coo and make incessant noise.



August Craziness

August has literally flown by. These two weeks have gone super fast...mostly from being busy, but I like to blame the fact that Jordan is cranking out the last part of this semester like a boss. It feels like every week is a step closer to the goal...and the faster we get through, the faster it's done. I hate living life in this mode, but right now, it feels like the best survival mechanism. Regardless, there is still a lot to be thankful for in our life. 

Community East-The hospital where I work is currently undergoing a total overhaul. The hospital is the oldest in the city, and is in desperate need of an update. In addition, it's the 65th anniversary of it being built. While it sounds countercultural, I really like where I work and the role that the hospital plays in the east side. It always feels "homey" and like the people who frequent the halls really need it. Not every hospital feels that way. Last week, they had a picnic to celebrate and it had me feeling all the feels. It felt real and genuine, and it made me proud to see the president of the hospital passing out meal containers to employees and people in the community. It felt judgment free and out of the norm...I liked it. So I sat under a tree and ate my free meal and felt proud of where I worked. 

 Instagram- Oh, Insta. Instagram leads to a lot of comparing and wishing I had a lot of material things, but every once and a while there's a gem of wisdom. This particular one hit me hard...and I'm trying to look at it on the daily to remind myself that forgiveness wins, and going the extra mile is worth it.

The Olympics- I. Love. The. Olympics. I'm a total sucker for the sappy commercials, the gossip about the athletes, the ridiculous pageantry, and the country pride. I love it all. The memory of Bob Costas getting pink eye in Russia will be a forever favorite. Jordan's about over it...one week in and he's done. Sorry, Jordy...there's a whole week left. 

Ray LaMontagne- On our first anniversary, Jordan bought us tickets to see Ray at White River State Park. It's still one of my favorite memories, so when I heard he was coming back, I kept an eye out for cheap tickets. I eventually found some the day before on Craig's List (Jordan was not happy with this decision...2 years after our first anniversary, Jordan isn't shy to tell me that he would much rather pay extra $$ than be inconvenienced. Oh marriage.) We met up with Corey and Brittany at the concert. It was an interesting night. Apparently Ray's voice was going out, so he did a lot more playing than singing. It was fun, but not great. Regardless, it was a beautiful night filled with lots of laughs. 

 Ft. Ben-I'm still tri training for GoGirl. While I still see myself as a "newbie" to the tri world, it's so crazy to think about my training this year compared to last. I could have never ran 3 miles without stopping last summer...like, not at all. Ft. Ben has been the an awesome addition to training. It's beautiful, and I'm soaking in the last part of the summer.

TPCC Downtown-So so excited. Yay for downtown, city sounds, old church smells, acoustic worship, great friends, good messages, and God centered teaching.

 This past Thursday was the first "gathering" at the church. Since we have joined Trader's, Jordan and I have still longed for a smaller atmosphere where you could be familiar with more faces and get more connected on Sunday mornings. Even though we've only been once, I can tell that this will be a great place for us. It's not just about us...but I think God wants us to be fulfilled in our church, and this will just add to that. Jordan and I continue to figure out what our life looks like in the future, and Jeremiah 29 points us in the direction we should be going. 

July Is Over

Life Group-I love love LOVE these people. Dianne and Brandon finally returned from their amazing "tasty trek" last week, so we all got together for a cookout at the Kime's to catch up. Some how...some way...everyone ended up being able to make it. I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up a little when people kept trickling in and we had a full group. These people make my heart so full. Everyone is so different-different careers, different paths, different personalities-and it's amazing. If you had asked me three years ago if I would have a group like this to lean on...I would have laughed in your face. So thankful for God's faithfulness and community that he has given us through this group.

Swim Date-Abby and Ellie came over last week to swim when Jordan and I had the day off. The weather was hot and perfect for swimming. Ellie loved the water. After we swam, we watched Ellie for a bit so Abby could run to Kroger. She is such a happy and easy baby...when there are puffs involved...but it's safe to say that we don't have the fever for a baby yet. 

 Cleo-Haley called Tuesday night and said that our family cat, Cleo, had been hit by Mikayla when she was leaving for work. Haley was super upset, and I was oddly emotional about it. Cleo was given to us by Grandpa Stoelting, and it felt like a final part of him was gone. But, crazily enough, Cleo (who is seventeen freaking years old) actually lived. She has a broken pelvis and broken leg, but made it through the surgery, and is back home and healing well. All of it makes me want to cry and laugh hysterically at the same time.

 Jordan is 27- Jordan's birthday was on Saturday, he had to work...womp wooomp. Regardless, we has dinner and cake when he got home, cuddled, and went to bed. We're crazy like that. I am so so so thankful for this guy and the difference he makes in the world. He came home from work talking about all of the nice things that people did for him that day, and I wasn't surprised at all. If you know Jordan, you love him.

Fun fact: This was the first picture that I ever saw of Jordan. My dad had it on his camera when he came back from Canada. I'm going to guess that Jordan was 14 or 15. I had a crush on him from the moment I saw the picture...but we wouldn't even really be friends until 6 years later. It makes me teary-eyed just thinking about it. 

Tri Indy-This was sprint tri #4 this year. Originally, I had planned for this to be the olympic distance triathlon, but I'm glad that I decided against it. Jordan had to work, and embarrassingly enough, I cried that morning when I left and realized he wouldn't be there-he's the biggest support, and my rock-I didn't want to do it without him. But, of course, I made it just fine. 

Tri Indy is made up of a 500 meter swim in the White River Canal, a 10 mile bike to the velodrome and back, and a 5k run by the zoo and around IUPUI. Overall, the course was fun...but man was it hot. The last mile of the run was shaded for the most part, which was such a blessing. 

I was still a little upset that Jordan wasn't there, but I got to transition area and looked behind me and there was a gorgeous view of downtown with the sun rising. Unfortunately, the photo turned that into a bright white blob...oh well, the memory is there.

The view on the way to the swim was gorgeous. This is my favorite view of the city. The canal swim wasn't nearly as gross as I had imagined, but I did wake up with wonky feeling sinuses this morning...which I have no doubt is from the canal water making its' 

way into my nose numerous times.

I was excited to do the race with Sandy, an NP that I work with. TriIndy was her first tri last year, and she decided she wanted to beat her time this year-so proud of her! When we met at transition, she told me that she had randomly seen one of our patients who was also doing the race. This patient has been a swimmer for a long time, but vowed that after she finished chemo, she would do a race and "get back into it." To say that I was inspired was an understatement. To be surrounded by strong women like this is an amazing feeling- all of my anxiety and nervousness melted away, and it put me in the best mood I've ever been in before a race. Sandy and Ann, thanks for being amazing examples. 

Dani showed up and surprised us on the run course...and of course took this super 

flattering photo-she's good like that. 

Photo aside, it was a great surprise to see her, and it pushed me to finish the last .5 mile strong. 

Brittany finished her first olympic distance!!! WooHoo! She did great, minus a minor GI issue. In true Brittany form, she handled it gracefully and finished strong. So grateful for her good attitude and ability to instantly put me in a better and more positive mood. Love you, Brit!

A celebratory picture at the end with one of Sandy's adorable granddaughters. 

Cherry the Tom-This is our official July fail. Last year we tried to grow a tomato plant on our porch. It got out of control, took over our porch, and only produced 3 tomatoes. This year, we thought we would try a cherry tomato and we might have better luck...we thought wrong. After 3 months of love and care, we only have 3 freaking cherry tomatoes. THREE. Wow...we might get one salad out of the whole plant by summer's end!