25 for turning 25.

pretty soon i'll be turning twenty- five.
how strange. 
maybe i will reach these goals.
maybe not.
here's to trying!
also, i totally stole this idea from another blog.
and maybe two of those goals, but they are good goals :)

1. For one week, I only want to eat creative, simple meals that you just chop up, put on a plate and eat(gourmet meats, cheeses, fresh fruits/ veggies, GOOD bread, etc.) 

2. Read more books/ watch less tv & less comput.

3. Train for a half marathon with Jonas

4. Be money savvy

5. Learn more german. 

6. Spend more time with my grahmcracker.

7. Journal in the park on a regular basis again(while its warm)

8. Get off caffeine. That stuff is bad for you! & drink more water

9. Try to not be so tired all the time. 

10. Feel beautiful inside and out.

11. Stop gossiping..though i really don't think i'm that bad.

12. Maybe I can find a way to enjoy the cold, or at least not let it get me so down this year. 

13. Live a little more in the moment.

14. Prepare spiritually for things to come. Everyday.

15. Excel in my church callings.

16. Have a stronger marriage than ever before.

17. Learn the manual settings on my camera.

18. Stop biting my nails, or reduce the amount 

19. Visit the speed art museum

20. Do all that I can to help Jonas succeed in his goals

21. Try not to compare myself to others. Comparison truly is the thief of joy!

22.tone down my far too earnest personality 

23. play more tennis

24. Get the damage to my car fixed..it's not so bad, but annoying.

25. more patience. 

memorial day.

we didn't get to do much this memorial day- we would have loved to go to the pool or rock quarry- but we had to work. i still took a photo of all the flags outside the funeral home. 

when jonas got home, we had tacos on the patio and we spent the last little bit of daylight outside. we also finally got to see The Great Gatsby, which was fabulous, of course. everything about it made me happy...except maybe the Jayz music. hope you had a great day!

celebrations.

 jonas' mama has always made black forest cake for his birthday. i tried to make one last year, but it was not so pretty. i took the bakery route this year and we enjoyed the cake with family and friends. we had a lovely afternoon celebrating his birthday & then celebrating the Arrested Development premier. tv shows are so so important ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 love their shirts, the seal with yellow bow & that they brought frozen bananas.

 

 

 

 

let it be known.

a few weeks ago, my funeral director and embalmer licenses came in the mail. the funeral home had them framed and they now sit proudly with the others on the wall. it feels pretty darn great to see them there. i have been blessed with so much success and satisfaction from this work.

& i have some pretty great stories at the end of the day.

gorge hiking and a natural bridge.

today i wished jonas a Happy Birthday away from home.

we woke up from a restless night, but regained our strength with breakfast cooked over the fire (thanks, jonas!)

we went for a hike to Creation Falls and Rock Bridge.

jonas climbed all over everything..and i did not slip and fall..ahem..

and when we wanted to see Natural Bridge but were far too tired to hike the mile up, we took the Skylift.

the views were epic. we loved it.

& we ended things at Miguel's pizza, the fantastically popular local dive.

 

when we came back to reality, we took showers (a shower after camping feels so great) and then went out to Das Gasthaus with jonas' friend, Kyle. i was a little exhausted, but glad that jonas could have a special day :)

red river gorge.

my husband loves to camp- he would love to live outside all the time and build fires and climb trees.  in honor of his birthday, we spent some time at Red River Gorge. we even got to leave a little early because my employer let me go many hours before i planned (bless them, the night before at work was a little frustrating and tiring). we even had a nice, leisurely lunch on the way out to Stanton.  and the evening was spent swimming in Red River, taking in the scenery, setting up camp together, tons of ants, mama duck chasing her babies who were too slow, enjoying the fire in the cool summer evening, food cooked over a fire (yes!) and giving jonas an early birthday gift to use on the trip..hello giant, scary knife!

our life this week.

this week we have gone non- stop.

just being little tourists in this great city of ours.
i might be a little tired.

here are a few of the highlights:

 Wednesday: a little moon from our patio.
thursday: the front of a building on the way to see a play at Actor's Theater. 

 Friday: old louisville springfest.

whiskey bent valley boys singin a tune.

 the Bodies Vital exhibit at Louisville Science Center, where we played with some permanent exhibits.
too bad photos of the plastinates are forbidden, they are cool. 

a grand, gloomy and peculiar place.

our day at mammoth cave national park:

we had a great adventure today.

i loved being out in this beautiful day with jonas.

and deep in the cave, while on our tour, a college choir was there.

they sang two heavenly songs. 

i closed my eyes and soaked it in.

i had chills (not just because it was 54 degrees)

and i shed a few tears. 

it was something i will never forget.

there was magic in the air.

german american club.

once a month, the german american club has a biergarten and they serve german food. they had a live band, and all the old people dance. its pretty cute. we are glad to be a part of the fun. plus you know, here we are in kentucky, just trying to keep germany alive in our family!

buy local festival at the water tower.

i had my husband for once on a saturday :) we went to the Buy Local Festival & we got to go on a tour of the water tower facility and learn a little about where our water comes from. there are some greek gods and goddesses around the old water tower because when the tower was built, there was not much money and those statues were offered for one thousand dollars- and they came with an indian and a dog. so random. the festival also had a free photo booth, lots of local vendors (obviously), food trucks, live bands, and maple cotton candy (seriously!) we also spent some time by the river, it was a beautiful day.