Heidi - Crisp Snaps

Christmas Came to Town

12/29/2015

Merry {horribly belated} Christmas!!
Christmas may be over, but I am for sure not done documenting it! As promised, here is a photo dump of what we did the Saturday before Christmas, as well as our Christmas party last week.

We took my in-laws to a little town in Indiana known for it's small-town-Christmasy feel. Metamora has lots of little shops, eateries, lights and even a train! After we ate dinner at a little crowded diner, we wandered all around the little town, stopping in whatever shop caught our fancy. It was actually pretty cold that night, which only added to the Christmasy feel, and we made sure to get hot chocolate/cider to keep us warm while walking around. It was quite a lovely evening to kick off Christmas celebrations!

Aren't they so cute?

Christmas carolers around the fire pit.

This would be perfect in our living room! Not.

So many pretty lights!

Christmas Eve eve, we had a cozy little Christmas party at our apartment and ate snacks, drank hot chocolate & coffee, played games and exchanged white elephant gifts. It was quite the fun night, and we definitely want to start hosting a Christmas party every year!

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas!
I will {hopefully} post about ours before the New Year.

Don't Blink

12/22/2015

This past week was full to the brim with adventures and traveling. I'm still catching my breath!
Tuesday night we celebrated Loren and his classmates finishing their grad school classes with a well deserved night out in Bloomington. I am so proud of Loren and all his hard work this past year and a half and am excited for him as he started his externship yesterday.

Wednesday after work, I flew down to South Carolina for a quick visit to see Joy graduate from nursing school. She has worked so hard for this nursing degree and I was so glad to be able to celebrate this special life event with her.

Dark and cloudy the whole trip.

Finally reunited again!

Waiting for Joy to walk down the aisle.

She's all graduated!!

After the graduation, I hung out with my cousin Dennae until it was time for her to get engaged!! Her boyfriend had planned everything thoroughly, and the surprise proposal was perfect. Dennae had no clue! I am so happy for them and am excited to see how the Lord will use them together in the future.
So many wonderful things happened in one day!

I had to get a hot & ready Krispy Kreme donut.

She said yes. :)

After the engagement, I visited with my Aunt for a little bit before heading back to Joy's for her graduation party. When everyone had left, Joy and I ran to Cookout for some late night fries and catching up after all the craziness of the day.

And then Joanna joined us.

Friday morning, Joy, Joanna and I had breakfast at the most amazing crepe place, Tandem, before Joanna and I started our 7 hour road trip back home.
This was quite a whirlwind of a trip, but I'm thankful for every sweet moment with family and friends.

Our one short stop for coffee & fuel on the way home.

And that was most of the week. Saturday deserves a post all on its own, so be looking out for that soon.
I hope you all had a great week/weekend and are almost ready for Christmas!

Lots of Lights

12/15/2015

This weekend was relaxing and quiet. It was so nice to be home that I didn't even leave the apartment on Saturday!
Friday {date} night, we started what I hope will be a Crisp family tradition: hot chocolate in hand, we hopped in the car and drove around town scouting out the best decorated and lit up houses. We had a loose plan of where we wanted to go, and ended up at this collection of houses that had the most extravagant set-up I've ever seen. Snowmen and little toy soldiers and choirboys and Santas spread out EVERYWHERE over a span of several lawns.

Like I said, Saturday I didn't leave the apartment and it was the best. Loren studied for finals and I cooked some, cleaned some and read a lot in front of our cute little tree. Sunday was mostly the same after church and some grocery & Christmas shopping.

And now I just want to take a quick moment to congratulate one of my best friends on finishing nursing school and getting pinned yesterday!! She has worked very long and very hard and I wish I could have been there for her pinning, but can't wait to go visit and celebrate with her later this week. Way to go, Joy!

And that was our nice quiet weekend at home before the next couple of action-packed weekends. I sure do love this Christmas season!

Catch Up

12/10/2015

Well haven't these past few weeks been busy! I love the time from Thanksgiving to New Year's, because this time is well spend with family and friends celebrating what Christ has done for us.

Here is a little update from the past couple of weeks:

For Thanksgiving, Loren and I traveled down to Atlanta to spend the holiday with my extended side of the family. It was great to catch up with all the cousins, aunts, uncles and grandma, even for such a short time. I'll spare you food pictures, since we most likely ate lots of the same things. But mainly because I don't have any. Too busy stuffing my face! However, I will take a moment to note that my uncle smoked a turkey for the first time this year and it was AHMAZING.

Impressive Cincinnati skyline as we left town.

Cousins crowded on the couch.

Finally together again!

Friday after the good southern breakfast Aunt Bonnie prepared, we headed back to Cincinnati to spend a couple days with Loren's family.

We found masks!

This past weekend, I headed down to Crystal's Friday afternoon to watch her kiddos while she coordinated a wedding. I had lots of fun with them, even when they both got sick.

My little buddy :)

He is amazing at these puzzles!

Dinner time!

So sick but still smiley!

Baby hands are the best.

Sunday afternoon when I finally got home, we decorated our little apartment for Christmas (more on this another day), and drank the first eggnog of the season in front of our little brightly lit tree.

He was very happy to see me. As I was to see him. :)

Colorful dinner prep!

So there you have the most exciting things that have been going on lately.
This week Loren finishes up his last classes for grad school (YAY!!!!) before finals this weekend/next week. More traveling for me next week (I'm coming for you, Joy!) before the rest of the Christmas festivities get underway. Have I mentioned that I love this season?

I hope you have stayed healthy and happy so far this season!

First Snow

11/24/2015

This weekend was relaxing, even if it was busy. Loren had another crazy intense week with meetings, final reports and who-knows-what-else to finish up before Thanksgiving break. But Friday night finally arrived and it was wonderful. I did some grocery shopping on the way home from work and scored a free Starbucks sample. Worth documenting, obviously. After a late dinner, we settled in for a movie, popcorn and hot chocolate. Sometimes a date night at home is just what you need.

Saturday morning I did some baking while Loren finished up his last report before we headed to Dawn & Keith's for a newborn/family photoshoot. As we were driving, it started to snow! I didn't think it would stick, but it did! At least for a few hours. The photoshoot was crazy but fun.

Those little kissy lips get me every time!!

Sunday after church, fellowship and lunch, we headed to Cincinnati for dinner and a movie night with Caleb & Chelsea and didn't take any pictures. But thanks for another fun evening, guys!

And now we are finishing up this short work week so we can celebrate Thanksgiving with family. Can't wait to see everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving week!

Nacho Average Weekend

11/11/2015

I apologize for this late in the week weekend roundup. I am recovering from some cold thing that attacked Sunday night. Unfortunately, Loren has gotten it now, so we are trying to lay low with lots of orange juice, tea, tissues and soup.
Anyway, back to the fun stuff. We had another fun and busy weekend. Surprised? Good. Friday night for date night we finally used a Groupon I snagged a while back and tried out a local restaurant that is known for their nachos and wings. The reviews did not lie! The pot roast nachos were pretty amazing and the wings were also tingly delicious. It just happened to be National Nacho Day, and we were happy to celebrate accordingly.

Saturday we got up pretty early for a Saturday so Loren could work. I ran errands and cleaned the apartment before Caleb and Chelsea came for our monthly get-togethers, which seem to get crazier and awesomer every time. After dinner and dessert we talked for a while and then played several games, which kept getting funnier. So thankful for this fun, encouraging couple!

Sunday after Sunday School, we headed to Cincinnati to meet our newest nephew Luke (Loren's side) who was born on November 3rd. And see the rest of the family, of course. It's always good to get together with almost the whole family. So thankful for the wonderful family I married into. :)

I hope you had a lovely weekend if you can remember back that far.
Happy rest of the week! :)

Sisters and Pancakes

11/3/2015

What a perfect week/weekend finishing out October! My sister and her family from Ohio came for a short visit on Thursday to meet baby Brady, so three of us sisters were able to get together for a short time. Always fun and crazy, especially now with all the toddlers and babies. After hanging out with Dawn and her clan for a while, Crystal and her family came over to our place for dinner.

The right way to eat ice cream!

Friday night for date night, Loren and I went and saw Ant-Man. It was delightfully hilarious and we quite enjoyed it.

Saturday we finally had a pancake party with the Daku kids. We ate lots of pancakes and bacon, watched cartoons and played an entertaining game of Quelf. Thanks for the fun and laughs, guys!

PC: Vashti

PC: Vashti

PC: Vashti

Sunday we went to church, ate chili, didn't take a nap (thank you daylight savings time for the extra hour in the morning) and worked on random things. I will say that DST caught up with me last night. I was dead tired and ready to go to sleep by 9:30.

Happy November!

Weekending to the Max

10/27/2015

Another fun and full weekend for the books! And here I thought October would be a quieter weekend month. It started off on Thursday when Carrie and some of her friends came to spend the night on their way to MI for a girls' weekend. They arrived pretty late in the evening, but we still had a good time over dessert.

Friday after school, Loren left for our church's overnight men's retreat. I got home around 6, only to realize that my apartment key had been given to Carrie earlier that day so they wouldn't have to leave early when Loren and I did. I was having some girls over for a sleepover in a short while, so I ran over to our clubhouse office where, thankfully, someone was still in the office and they cut me a new key. Was quite the relief to be able to get into the apartment without having to try to break in. ;)
Ally and Vashti came over a short while later, and we had a fun night with pizza, popcorn, ice cream, Gilmore Girls, nail painting and coffee. At some point, Ally headed home and Neah came over to spend the night. We ended up watching a movie and then talking for a while before getting a few hours of sleep. It's been a while since I've partied so hard! ;)

Vashti had to work Saturday morning, so after the girls left, I tried unsuccessfully to take a nap before going Dawn's to get some newborn snuggles and take care of laundry duty. It was the perfect rainy afternoon for snuggles.
By the time Loren got home that afternoon, we were both so exhausted that we took a nap before going on a Chick-fil-A dinner date.

Sunday afternoon after church, we had the privilege of taking engagement pictures for some friends. The leaves and weather were perfect, they were so photogenic and we had a blast. Maybe we'll do it again sometime!

And that was that! I hope you had a great weekend and got outside to enjoy some of the beautiful fall leaves. While summer is my favorite, this fall has been pretty spectacular (thank you, mild October weather).
Happy Tuesday!

Catch Up: Birthdays and Birth Days

10/23/2015

This month so far has already been a blur. How are we close to the end of October already!? So let's play a little bit of catch up.

At the beginning of the month, we celebrated sweet Jackson's 1st birthday with family and some delicious chocolate cake. He had not trouble putting away that piece of cake and immediately asked for more. His newest thing is puckering up his lips for kisses. So precious and irresistible!

We've had some random weekend game nights and car selfies (apparently "taking a call" is the new selfie pose).

This past Monday, October 19, I had the very special privilege of watching the miraculous appearance of my newest nephew as he joined this world. Brady Mark was born at 12:18 pm, was 19.5 in. long, weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz. and has the cutest, sweetest features! I am one blessed auntie! Everything went smoothly and pretty quickly, and mommy and baby are back home with the rest of the crazies. Can't wait to get some more newborn snuggles!

Those are pretty much the most exciting things that have happened lately. We've also had friends over a few times and went to the outlet malls near us for the first time last Friday for date night. I feel like we have been super busy lately, and our calendar can attest to this, but I just haven't taken many pictures to prove any of it. This weekend we have several things going on, so I will do my best to document it.

Happy Friday and have a wonderful weekend!

Best of Fall in Indiana

10/12/2015

What a fantabulous weekend this was. I was so sad to see it end! One wonderful thing after the next. Loren had his fall break on Friday, and I took the day off so we could have a full day of adventures together. I've been wanting to get back to Bloomington (they have the best food, apparently) and also visit Nashville/Brown County, since it has been recommended by so many. It was the perfect fall day, even though it was cloudy. The leaves are all starting to change, and the drive was quite pretty! I guess Indiana isn't so bad after all. ;)

Bloomington, IN

We left home around 8:45 so we could stop at this scenic barn and pasture that Loren passes on his way to school every day and has wanted to get a picture of in the early morning rays. Our next stop was breakfast in Bloomington. We dined at Uptown Café, where I ordered Huevos Rancheros and Loren chose their breakfast special of the day, the Hoosier Benedict. Super-fast service and delicious food and coffee! It was so good and we were so hungry when it came, that we didn't wait take pictures. Not that you wanted to see more food pictures, anyway. After we stuffed ourselves, we wandered a bit around Bloomington and the IU campus.

Nashville, IN

Our next stop was Nashville, an adorable little town nestled in Brown County about 30 minutes east of Bloomington. Nashville has over 200 little shops that offer anything from antiques to candles to fudge to art to leather goods to wood works to pottery and everything in between. Our decision to get some peanut butter and maple pecan fudge from Schwab's Fudge was probably the best decision of the day. Best fudge I've ever had! We wandered around the town, stopping in whatever little shop took our fancy. Eventually hunger struck again, so we stopped at That Sandwich Place, a rustic sandwich shop very proud of all things IU/Bob Knight, for a late lunch before taking some alley pictures and driving back home.

And our date day was not over yet! Since we got back home around 4, we decided to go see the early showing of Inside Out, which had FINALLY come to our cheap theater. Pixar, you've done it again! Later on after dinner, we sat in front of our "fireplace" (candles) and had donuts with apple cider. The perfect end to quite the perfect day!

Saturday we slept in, Loren worked and in the afternoon we headed to Cincinnati to visit with Loren's parents for a little bit before having a fun dinner and games with Caleb and Chelsea.

Sunday was also pretty relaxed and we didn't do a whole lot.

How was your fall weekend?