Rod and Jess’ Blog

I’m sad to see 2009 go and glad in some ways that it’s 2010. It’s a new year and things can start fresh; but at the same time 2009 was probably the best year of my life. I figure instead of resolutions I’m going to have 10 goals that I want to accomplish at some point in the year.

1. Take the GRE and apply to grad school. I’m thinking I want to get my Masters of Education in Student Affairs at Indiana University Purdue University, Indianapolis (IUPUI). I’m going to look at taking the GRE this spring and applying shortly afterwards.

2. Run a sub-2:35 half-marathon! I ran my half in 2:38:55 back in November so I’m hoping I can shave off three minutes and fifty-five seconds from my time. I’ve got a half-marathon in May so I’m hoping that I’ll be able to do it then.

3. Run a 10k. I have one of these scheduled for March 6th. It’s part of the training series runs for the Mini-Marathon. I’d like to do it in 1:10 to match my split during my half-marathon from November.

4. Run a 15k. I have one of these scheduled for April 10th. I think this will be interesting because it’s SO close to a half-marathon but I have to think of it as just another training length!

5. I’d like to lose one pants size. Currently I’m a size 12 and I’d love to be a solid size 10 again. I’d love to go lower but that’s a reasonable goal for me at this point!

6. Go on two vacations this year. I love to travel and seeing new places with the hubs. He’s great to explore new cities with and it strengthens our relationship to have more special shared experiences.

7. Go to the beach this year. Even if it’s just another trip to the Indiana Dunes I want to take a relaxing day at the beach. It was SO much fun doing that trip and it would be great to make it an annual event.

8. Start my 403-(b) at work! This is an easy one, up to a certain percent they will match and I’m not currently taking advantage of this. We do get also a retirement fund that is equal to a certain amount of my annual salary but it would be nice to also have something that I’ve funded myself.

9. Start tracking my calories better. I’m really good during the day but once I get home at night I tend not to pay attention to portion sizes. It’s not that I’m dieting or restricting myself but I know I am eating more than I really need. I need to be more mindful of my eating and work on making sure I’m actually hungry before standing in front of the pantry/fridge and snacking.

10. Drink more water! I’m really bad about making sure I drink my 64 ounces a day. My skin is better when I get enough water and I feel better overall. Plus I have a flatter belly without all that diet coke!

Some of these goals might not seem like they are that exciting or that impressive but I’m really wanting to push myself not only in big ways but in little ways too. It all adds up to a better Jessica in 2010!

Join me in not making New Year’s resolutions; what are your goals for 2010?

On Friday instead of participating in traditional Black Friday madness Rod and I continued our tradition of decorating the house and attending the Indianapolis Circle of Lights at Monument Circle.

I was excited to hang my two new ornaments from a couple of ornament exchanges I had participated in this month. The first was one from Sunny California!

The other was a couple of foodie related ornaments!

We hung the lights on the outside of the house and decorated with our new Christmas tree that we picked up last year after the season was over. It is SO much bigger than our old tree so it took a lot longer to put up than normal.

The dogs have their stockings and ours are hung. After we got the house decorated we had a frozen pizza for dinner while making hot chocolate to take down to the Circle! We even made peppermint whipped cream to top our decadent dark hot chocolates. Yum!

Each year we bring the dogs as it’s a great opportunity to expose them to crowds and celebrate the season with them. Here I am with Mario waiting for the “tree” to be lighted. We only go for the end of the concert and lighting but it’s always really special to be there when they do the countdown and flip the switch!

I love that Rod and I have our own tradition to kick off the holiday season! It’s only our fourth year of decorating and going to watch the tree lighting but it’s always so much fun. If we ever have kids it will be great to share this with them!

After a great (busy) first week at the NCAA I wanted a really relaxing weekend.  This one hasn’t disappointed so far!

With the subzero temperatures on Friday Rod and I hunkered down with a pizza (the Natural from Pizza Hut with the rustica toppings), a movie and some great beers.  I was pleasantly surprised with the Natural from Pizza Hut, because I was never really a fan of Pizza Hut before I stopped eating white flour and sugar. The multi-grain crust was pretty lackluster (I prefer Papa John’s 100% Whole Wheat), but the sauce and toppings were very good - especially the marinated roma tomatoes!  Since it was so cold we stayed in and snuggled with the dogs.

Mario hasn’t been a fan of the weather, and with as little fur as he has, I don’t blame him! 

Saturday we took a trip to Edinburgh for outlet mall shopping.  This was much needed since we both hadn’t bought much in the way of clothes since before the wedding.  We picked up a lot of wardrobe staples and replaced a lot of worn or ill fitting clothes.  The night was capped off with a stop at Shallos for dinner where we enjoyed a few beers off their winter specials, the Founders Imperial Stout and the St. Bernardus Abt. 12.

Today has been working on hanging up all of our awesome deals and just enjoying our Sunday.

We’re making buffalo chicken bites to toss in Spicy Garlic sauce.  After that we’ll put them on big salads and enjoy our pseudo-bdubs meal.

We’re also watching the NFC and AFC Championship games.  Go Cards and GO RAVENS (I haaate the Steelers, just like any good Bengals fan! )

Tomorrow I have off thanks to the MLK holiday, this is my first time since college!  I’m going to be getting an oil change and meeting the Lunch group from Fox at Fazolis.  I’m looking forward to a pretty low key day! 

How are you spending your MLK Holiday?  Do you have to work?

Today was the Butler University Young Alumni event at Hinkle Fieldhouse.  We enjoyed a Pizza and Popcorn lunch (along with soft drinks and beer) followed by the Butler Men’s Basketball game against conference rival Detroit.

At lunch we got to see Blue II up close and personal!

Before the start of the game.  Our seats were pretty decent and we were able to see where my dad had season tickets when I was at Butler!

Butler won 54-50 in a game that came down to the last few seconds!

Rod looks pretty great in that Butler sweatshirt!

It was a pretty close game and we had a great time.  If you want to read about how close it was check out this story on the IndyStar’s website.  Tomorrow we’re headed up to West Lafayette to watch the Boilers take on the Wisconsin Badgers.  It’s a basketball weekend before I start on Monday at the NCAA! 

Yesterday our new bookshelf was delivered and we put it up along with one of our favorite wedding gifts.  Here’s a picture:

We’re finally getting furniture in the front room!  I’m still working on putting things on the shelves - when I have it all figured out I’ll post again.  I love the way the bookshelf looks with the Weaver picture over it!

We’ve also had a little snow so I thought I’d post a picture of the lots next door in all of their snow glory. 

It seems like winter might finally get here - just in time for me to be driving to work in all the snow and sludge! 

Tonight we’re working on taking down Christmas decorations and then heading to Broad Ripple Brew Pub for a pint or two with the rest of Hoosier Beer Geek.

This week I’m enjoying my last week off from work.  Yesterday I spent it working on neighborhood treasurer things (and filled out paperwork for my background check for the NCAA), but today I slept in and watched the Simpsons on DVD for most of the morning.

We found the 9th season at Target for only $15!

Now I’m up watching tv and just hanging out before Rod gets home and we head to Costco to pick up TurboTax.  It’s not a very exciting week, but it’s relaxing and much needed before I start at the NCAA next week.

What are some of your favorite ways to relax?  How would you spend a week off in Indianapolis?

Due to the huge storm in Cincinnati this weekend we were unable to meet with Kelly from Crystal Catering and Anne from the State Museum. My parents were unable to come in from Cincinnati so instead we took our open Saturday to run errands (including trying to find the elusive perfect wedding shoes). Since we were down by Reis Nichols we decided to stop in and try on rings. This is something that I wasn’t really sure what I wanted, but I knew I wanted something I would be truly happy with because I’d be wearing it for the rest of my life!   Since Rod had spent quite a lot of time at Reis Nichols when purchasing my engagement ring he already had an idea of what he wanted in a ring. After trying on a few rings I quickly found the ring that was perfect for me!

Here’s what my engagement ring looks like (picture courtesy of the Scott Kay website), to give a reference.

Here’s the wedding band that we ended going with.

When we pick them up we’ll take a picture of the two together. Surprisingly enough that’s not the band for my ring, it’s actually a bit wider than the band on the engagement ring. There’s also a few other differences but it’s really a beautiful piece!

Rod’s wedding band, also a Scott Kay piece. When we pick up the rings we’ll get a better picture!

We also found our leather baskets for the programs (in pink and green) and the supplies so we can paint the aisle runner with our monogram (more on that project later!). It was a very productive Saturday and we topped off the day with a burger at Red Robin. Even thought we didn’t get to wrap up the food for the reception we checked a few more big things off the list. I wish my parents would have been able to come into town, but it’s much better to have them safe and sound in Cincinnati than risking the white death to come see us! All in all not a shabby Saturday!

Last week was a great birthday week.  It kicked off with lots of working out; an awesome beer and food symposium at L’Explorateur; a wonderful trip to the BMV (can you feel the love for the BMV?); and ended with a trip to Chicago.  I think the trip to Chicago in March is becoming an annual event (and trust me, I’m not complaining!).

We had a great dinner at Sushi Samba.  It was amazing, we walked in and there was a spot for two at the sushi bar.  We were able to get a seat and not have to wait at 8PM on a Friday night in downtown Chicago!

At the suggestion of my boss we checked out Simon’s in Andersonville.  It had craft beers on tap and Operation Ivy on the jukebox, what more could a girl want?  Oh that’s right, the THOR’S HAMMER VODKA behind the bar!    I’m also still wanting to drink what was in the giant viking behind the bar.

We had a great view of the Allerton, Hancock Tower and Michigan Ave from our room on the 10th floor of the Conrad.  It was a wonderful hotel with a simply amazing bed.  I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to stay right in the middle of the action!

Such great views, makes me miss the city already!

While shopping on Michigan Avenue I think I found the pair of shoes I want for the wedding.  Now I just have to find them in my size! 

You’ll notice that there’s a gap here in time, it was filled with a trip to the Hop Haus for “Zooburgers” (we had a wild boar burger) and off to Goose Island (the stilton burger is delicious!).  We saw Nate, Mary and Dave and had a wonderful time.  I miss all of them already!

I even got my picture taken in front of Tribune Tower (the parent company of the Fox/CW affiliate that I work for).

 All in all the weekend was a success and filled with great food, good beer and even better friends.  I’m glad for plenty of sushi and having the Megabus be a great way to travel between Chicago and Indianapolis.  Special thanks go out to Rod for planning the whole thing and having maps of where we were headed.

It’s been a great January so far with lots to do and lots getting done for the wedding.  Every once in a while though it’s good to get some time away from the wedding and out having a date night.  That opportunity happened for us last night! 

Through work I picked up a pair of Indiana Pacers (NBA) tickets and we were able to go to the game for free!  Who would have thought that I’d have so much fun at an NBA game, but we did.  Anyone who knows me and my love of college basketball would be surprised to know I had never  been to an NBA game and wasn’t a fan of professional basketball.  I’ve never been one for the slow paced, strategy game of NBA ball.  Although last night’s game might have altered my perception!  After trailing the Golden State Warriors the whole game the Pacers finally pulled out the win in the 4th.   The second half was fast paced, entertaining and reminiscent of a college basketball game.  I still don’t think I’ll be catching games on TV like I do with college basketball; but I’d go to another game in person, no contest!  Unfortunately we forgot the camera, but I did get one shot with the camera phone:

You can’t really see what’s going on, but one of the mascots was catching balls in a giant pair of pants.  Quality entertainment, right? 

 Afterwards we headed to our favorite downtown spot, Rock Bottom, for their (in)famous pint night.  We’re registered now for the Brewers Dinner on February 5th which will be another great opportunity to take a night out and not do anything wedding related! 

 What’s your favorite date night activities?  What do you like to do with your partner to get away? 

After a great gathering last night at the Harbison-Weaver home (thank you Nate for coming down from Chicago - we can’t wait to see you again!) and an extremely crazy New Years Day it’s time to post my new years resolutions and the things I’m most excited for in the New Year!

Favorite things about 2007:

1. Getting engaged on St. Patricks’ Day at the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Indianapolis
2. Going to San Jose and San Francisco for a wonderful 10 day trip after getting engaged
3. Buying a house!
4. Going to Denver for our second Great American Beer Festival trip
5. Spending the third New Years Eve with Rod!  :)  (although only the second as us as more than just friends!)

Resolutions for 2008:

1. Lose another 20 lbs (and keep it off) before the wedding. Do it by eating better and riding my bike more. Try to ride my bike three times a week and continue to walk the dog twice a day.
2. Try to firm up and tone my arms, back, stomach and chest to look good in a wedding dress and on the honeymoon. Actually use the weight set we bought last summer and begin a regimen of weight lifting and cardio.
3. To eat more locally grown, organic and free range meats (especially from the goose!).
4. To grow our own herbs (and maybe some vegetables) for better meals.

Things I’m Looking Forward to in 2008:

1. Getting Married!  I can’t wait to spend my life with the man of my dreams and spending September 13, 2008 drinking champagne and kissing Rod!
2. Flexing my creative muscle and working with Rod on making our wedding a truly personal representation of us.  This includes designing invitations, writing our ceremony and trying to come up with lots of special little touches for our guests and wedding party.
3. Getting to spend lots of time with friends and family.
4. Picking the menu for the reception - Rod and I are such foodies that picking the menu is going to be so much fun!
5. Going to someplace new for our honeymoon where we can spend time just the two of us relaxing and preparing for our life together.

What are you looking forward to in 2008?  Do you have any New Year’s resolutions?