Madness

It's officially dancing season.  March Madness is in full swing and I couldn't be happier.  This is one of the best times of the year in sports.  Wyatt and I had kind of decided we weren't going to fill out brackets this year.  Then we had dinner at his parents' house and his dad printed us off some brackets.  We filled them out against our better judgement.  I'm sure after one day, they're all busted  (I always fill two out...one realistic bracket and one Hoosiers all the way bracket.  Wyatt on the other hand cannot pick against his beloved Hoosiers and only fills one out).

The state of Indiana had 5 teams to make the field this year.  Go Indiana, go!  Purdue lost their game to Cincy last night (please note, even with out immense love of our Hoosiers we both chose our big in-state rival to win that one).  Notre Dame and Butler both won their games yesterday and play each other next.  Valparaiso and my Hoosiers play their first games this afternoon!  Hoo-Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers!

You can see where our hearts lie. #GOIU #HOOSIERS

Party Spotlight: Carter's IU Themed First Birthday

Last weekend my best friend hosted the most darling little birthday party for her son's first birthday.  She is clearly a super momma because she thought of so many great details and executed them flawlessly.  So much love for this IU themed party!  When Devin first told me she was having Carter an IU themed first birthday party I was thrilled.  She had so many great ideas envisioned for the party.  She enlisted me to design a few prints she used throughout her house and wish cards for guests to fill out.  I absolutely love the way the future Hoosier print.

Devin did so many DIY projects to add special touches to the decor.  She made all kinds of banners, poms, ribbon topiary and a ribbon wreath (sad I didn't get a picture of the wreath), cupcake toppers, straw flags, etc.  Carter's party was complete with a huge spread of yummy sweets and a popcorn bar!  Devin even made his smash cake with an IU logo on top.  

Wyatt and I had a great time seeing Devin, Jake, and Carter along with several of our friends.  And Carter was just too cute for words.

Since Devin had mentioned Carter's party months before, I had plenty of time to create my favorite project to date.  I'm really happy and proud with the outcome of Carter's present.  When Devin first told me about the theme, I thought it would be cool for a kid's birthday party to incorporate an IU themed ABC's into the party somehow.  Ultimately, that idea never made it past me picking out my own ABC's of IU.  They were too good to let go to waste, so I decided to make Carter a book for his birthday!  I designed it and had it printed through Picaboo.  I highly recommend Picabook.  It was easy to use and the product was excellent.

My heart melted when Devin posted this picture in celebration of the first game of the season for our beloved Hoosiers.

Play On Boys!

Congratulations and good luck to my Indiana Hoosiers Baseball team for making it to their first College World Series!!  The program has had such a stellar year. Keep it up boys! Go Hoosiers, GO!

And on that note, this seems very fitting.

Indiana, Our Indiana

Since this is a long weekend, Wyatt and I decided to meet for the day in Bloomington.  We decided we should try to avoid Indianapolis due to the race and immediately decided on Bloomington as the alternative.  We ended up meeting on Saturday evening and had a nice dinner at Uptown Cafe and a drink at the Tap after a few hours in the office Saturday morning and a visit with my Papaw Saturday afternoon.  I do recommend the Louisiana Hot Pepper Chicken from Uptown if you are ever in the area.  It rained in the evening and the short little walk across the square had me freezing and wet.  What a time to realize that I had taken my umbrella out of my bag while packing.  Luckily, we had parked right by the Tap so the walk to the car when headed in for the night was even shorter.  We spent today wandering around campus after breakfast at the Village Deli (can you believe it was his first time at the Village Deli?!).  I absolutely love campus.  I could wander around and be content on the regular there.  It is one of my favorite places ever.  It never disappoints in beauty and somehow we managed to find a spot I had never seen right in the middle of campus.  It's nice to get home and still have one more day off from work while already having a productive and fun weekend.  Hope everyone is enjoying their long weekend and staying safe so far!  Here are some of my favorite shots from today.

Clockwise: Simon Hall | Jordan Hall | Sample Gates looking on Kirkwood | Herman B statue-someone gave him a rose!

Herman B. Well Statue

Chemistry Building

Chemistry Building >>New Discovery of the Day

Enjoying a sitting area in Dunn Woods

Always, always, always have to stop by the Sample Gates | Close up was better than pic with Sample Gates in it

And we're not going away.

Happy March Madness to all!  That beloved time of year has finally arrived again.  For now, I'm only going to post this video.  I'll be back with more thoughts later but when my friend posted this video he posted it with the caption "No matter what your team does this March, it will not matter as much as what the Indiana Hoosiers have already done this year."  Those words really struck me.  It is so true. What our program has transformed into this season has surprised everyone.  I'm so happy for the progress shown and the promise and hope of even more brighter days ahead.


 

THIS IS INDIANA

Hoosierssssssssss win!!! I LOVE INDIANA UNIVERSITY!!!

This was a game to prove to those out there without faith in our team and program that WE ARE BACK!  That single game made the agonizing reality of the last three seasons completely worth it.  The old saying 'It has to get worse before it gets better,' must be true and those three seasons were surely the first part of the saying.  So far this season is on track to be the latter half of the saying.  I cannot say enough about how proud I am of my alma mater! Coming through the adversity of the aftermath of Kelvin, our future was in question.  Crean came in knowing that he could build a program that would do the University, the fans, and the game proud.  He struggled with the transition and as fans we struggled to keep the faith, but keep the faith I(and hopefully I can say we) did!  I was thrilled to see Crean come in with his enthusiasm for the game and what it means to us here in Indiana. I am also thrilled to see things starting to come together for him, his staff and the team...because that means it makes our role as fans a lot more enjoyable and our boys are winning some games!  Last night gave us something we'd been waiting for...something we knew was bound to happen and sooner rather than later.  As the time ticked down to those final seconds, I'll admit, my stress level was through the roof. Nail biter is definitely a good description! When it came down to that last shot by Christian, I screamed with joy when it went in! Immediately after as I watched the fans rush the floor in celebration, I began to get emotional.  I have never been so proud to be an Indiana Hoosier!



Growing up in Indiana, basketball has always been huge, especially with the Zeller brothers dominating for nearly ten years at my high school alma mater! Those boys taught my town to believe in what's truly special about basketball in Indiana.  Winning is something we're accustomed to down here now.  Each and every time one of the boys began to go through the college recruiting process, I hoped they'd join the Cream and Crimson....and finally the third and final brother did! Cody is making us unbelievably proud!